Mideast anti-virus measures spark worries of setback in liberties
Armored vehicles in the streets, hundreds arrested, smartphone surveillance — sweeping measures to fight the coronavirus have raised concerns in the Middle East over the erosion of already threatened human rights. As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 3 billion people are now ...
Macron unveils curbs on foreign imams and teachers amid wariness over 'separatism' risk
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he would curb the practice of foreign countries sending imams and teachers to France to crack down on what he called the risk of "separatism. Macron has so far stayed away from issues related to France's Muslim community, ...
Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of the Moroccan capital Sunday to protest against a new U.S. Middle East peace plan which the Palestinians say favors Israel. Carrying Palestinian flags, the demonstrators, including local politicians and trade unionists, marched in Rabat chanting "Long Live Palestine. They ...
The Spanish coast guard said it had rescued about 200 migrants on Christmas Day, plucking them from makeshift boats in the Mediterranean Sea. It said they were saved in a number of separate operations off the coasts of Spain and Morocco, but gave no information ...
Moroccan court jails journalist on abortion charge that she denies, riling rights activists
A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced a journalist to a year in prison for sex outside marriage and having an abortion, both of which she denied, in a case that has outraged rights activists, who say the charges are politically motivated. Police arrested Hajar Raissouni, ...
Moroccan activists denounce arrest of journalist on abortion charges
Moroccan rights activists on Monday demanded the release of a journalist facing trial on charges of abortion and sex outside marriage, saying her arrest was politically motivated. Dozens of activists staged a sit-in outside the Rabat court before the first hearing in her trial, chanting: ...
Morocco and Spain to bolster cooperation to curb illegal EU-bound migration
Morocco and Spain pledged on Wednesday to cooperate more closely to curb illegal migration, an issue fueling the growth of far right and populist politics in Europe, following a near halving of migrant arrivals in mainland Spain this year from 2018. The two countries will ...
20 missing from migrant boat after ferry rescues 27 off Spanish coast
Spanish rescue services are searching for at least 20 people missing from a migrant boat found adrift in the Mediterranean after a passenger ferry rescued 27 people still aboard on Wednesday. The number of migrants arriving in Europe by sea, already declining steadily since 2015, ...
Caster Semenya declines Rabat 800-meter race invitation, organizers say
Caster Semenya was invited on Friday to run in an 800-meter race in Morocco on Sunday — after previously saying she had been denied the right to participate in the event — but the invitation came too late for her to get there, her ...
Pope hits leaders who build walls to keep migrants out, saying they ultimately imprison themselves
Pope Francis said on Sunday that political leaders who want walls and other barriers to keep migrants out "will end up becoming prisoners of the walls they build. The pope made his comments to reporters aboard the plane returning from Morocco in response to a ...
Moroccan suspects in slaying of Nordic trekkers acted alone despite Islamic State vows: official
Moroccan authorities believe four suspects in the killing of two Scandinavian women in the Atlas Mountains were acting on their own initiative, even though they had just pledged allegiance to Islamic State, an official said on Sunday. Boubker Sabik, spokesman for the Moroccan security and ...
Morocco links suspect in Scandinavian women's slaying to militant group and probes grisly video
A man suspected in the killing of two female tourists, from Norway and Denmark, in Morocco's Atlas Mountains belongs to a militant group, a prosecutor said on Wednesday, without identifying the group. The women's bodies were found on Monday in an isolated area near Imlil, ...
