Latest North Africa News

Moroccan police officers wearing face masks patrol Ain Diab beach in Casablanca, Morocco, Wednesday, Sept.23, 2020. Morocco first decreed lockdown measures on March 20. Today, police checks are part of the scenery in hard-hit Casablanca, the country's economic powerhouse, or Marrakech, a major tourist destination at a standstill. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar)

Morocco faces down COVID spread with tough rules

Sep. 27, 2020 5:03 AM EDT

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — With air and sea borders closed for months and eight cities barring people from entering or leaving, Morocco has been pulling out the stops to stanch the spread of coronavirus. Still, the kingdom on the Atlantic coast, a magnet for tourists in better times, has registered more than...

FILE -- In this Sept. 22, 2016 file photo, fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government rest and reload weapons during an offensive against Islamic State militants, in Sirte, Libya. The warring parties in Libya and their international backers — the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Jordan vs Turkey and Qatar — violated a U.N. arms embargo on the oil-rich north African country that remains “totally ineffective,” U.N. experts said in a new report. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)

Russia, China block release of UN report criticizing Russia

Sep. 25, 2020 11:50 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China blocked the official release of a report by U.N. experts on Libya that accused its warring parties and their international backers -- including Russia -- of violating a U.N. arms embargo on the conflict-wracked country, U.N. diplomats said Friday. Germany’s...

In this photo made from UNTV video, Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, at UN Headquarters. (UNTV Via AP )

The Latest: Boris Johnson to urge global unity against virus

Sep. 25, 2020 6:36 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times EDT): 6:25 a.m. Japan’s new prime minister says he’s determined to host the Tokyo Olympic Games next summer as “proof that humanity has defeated the pandemic.” The Games this year were postponed because...

Egyptian police disperse rare, small protests; 10 arrested

Sep. 25, 2020 5:39 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Egyptian police dispersed exceptionally rare, small street protests that erupted in a northeastern province on Friday and arrested 10 demonstrators, a security official said. The development — an unusual show of defiance in a country that has moved to stamp out...

FILE -In this Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019 file photo the sun pierces the clouds over international waters north of Libya in the Mediterranean Sea. Over a dozen migrants trying to reach Europe drowned in the Mediterranean Sea when their small dinghy capsized off the coast of Libya, the United Nations reported Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, the latest shipwreck to underscore the deadly risks facing those who flee the war-afflicted North African country. (AP Photo/Renata Brito, File)

UN: At least 16 drown in migrant shipwreck off Libya coast

Sep. 25, 2020 4:51 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — At least 16 migrants trying to reach Europe drowned in the Mediterranean Sea when their small dinghy capsized off the coast of Libya, the U.N. migration agency reported Friday, the latest shipwreck to underscore the deadly risks facing those who flee the war-afflicted...

Egyptian arrested for smuggling narcotics in box of dates

Sep. 25, 2020 1:56 PM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — Police at Cairo’s international airport arrested an Egyptian man returning from France on Friday with over 600 narcotic pills and two packs of marijuana stuffed into a carton of dates, according to airport authorities. Egyptian customs officials found 620 tablets of Tramadol, the...

In this UNTV image, Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi, speaks in a pre-recorded video message during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, at UN headquarters in New York. The U.N.'s first virtual meeting of world leaders started Tuesday with pre-recorded speeches from heads-of-state, kept at home by the coronavirus pandemic. (UNTV via AP)

The Latest: UN panel says corruption hits the poor hardest

Sep. 24, 2020 8:16 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times EDT): 8:08 p.m. A U.N. panel says tax abuse, corruption and money laundering are draining hundreds of billions of dollars from governments that could help the world’s poor. A report from the high-level panel on International...

FILE - In this May 24, 2020 file photo, Sudanese worshippers gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Khartoum, Sudan. The International Monetary Fund has signed off on Sudan’s economic reform program, a move that can eventually allow the highly-indebted African country receive debt reliefs and hence rebuild its battered economy. The IMF released a statement Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, saying that its staff will be monitoring the implementation of a “home-grown” economic restructuring program. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, file)

IMF endorses Sudan's reform plan for battered economy

Sep. 24, 2020 7:49 AM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has signed off on Sudan's economic reform program, a move that can eventually allow the highly-indebted African country to get debt relief and move ahead with rebuilding its battered economy as it transitions to democratic rule. Until the end of June 2021, IMF...

UN watchdog: 'Staggering' $36M embezzled in South Sudan

Sep. 24, 2020 6:49 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The United Nations commission on human rights in South Sudan says “a staggering $36 million” has been misappropriated by government officials and senior politicians since 2016 as widespread corruption continues to drain the world’s youngest nation. “It is...

In this June 14, 2014 file photo, Egyptian women shout slogans and hold banners during a protest against sexual harassment in Cairo, Egypt. An announcement last month that Egyptian authorities would investigate an alleged 2014 gan rape of a 17-year old girl at a Cairo hotel was welcomed as a rare moment of triumph by rights activists who now fear the government is trying to discourage victims and witnesses from speaking out. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

Probe of gang rape case that shocked Egypt ensnares many

Sep. 24, 2020 2:17 AM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — An announcement last month that Egypt’s top prosecutor would investigate an alleged 2014 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a luxury Cairo hotel marked a rare moment of triumph for human rights activists. Those hopes were quickly dispelled after authorities detained possible witnesses...

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