Morocco - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Rabat

Morocco

June 15, 2026

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Morocco's midfielder Azzedine Ounahi celebrates scoring with teammates during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E African qualification football match between Morocco and Niger at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat on September 5, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)

Culture

10 MENA teams at 2026 World Cup: Morocco eyes title, Iran faces visa hurdles

Jordan is competing in its first World Cup, while Iraq is making only its second appearance, as teams from the region seek to advance against European and Latin American powerhouses.

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Archaeologists at the entrance of the Contrebandiers (Smugglers) Cave, some 12 miles from the Moroccan capital, Rabat, Sept. 18, 2021.

Culture

Fossil discovery repositions Morocco at center of human evolution 800,000 years ago

Once overlooked, Morocco has emerged as a focal point of human prehistory, with new discoveries and a landmark report reshaping what we know about our species’ evolution.

An emergency vehicle drives through flood waters as residents are evacuated and relocated to other towns as preventive and emergency evacuations are carried out to move residents living near flood-prone areas following the weather alert and the rise in the water level of the Loukkos River, with flooding expected in the coming days, in Ksar El Kebir on Feb. 1, 2026.

Storm Leonardo displaces 140,000 as heavy floods hit northern Morocco

Heavy rains from the storm have flooded northern Morocco, prompting mass evacuations and straining emergency services.

Latest News

From Egypt to Lebanon: What’s at stake for regional states on Trump’s visa ban list?

Culture

Morocco’s next generation of writers fights for a place on the shelf

A customer browses books at a bookshop in the Moroccan capital Rabat on August 9, 2018. On the main arteries of old Rabat, dozens of itinerant booksellers offer books in French, Arabic, and sometimes in English, up to ten times cheaper than their originals. Despite being prohibited, the pirated-books market is largely tolerated in cities across the North African kingdom. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Morocco’s markets rise as World Cup spending fuels largest IPO in decades

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO - AUGUST 20: In this handout image from Populous, digital renderings of the proposed Stade Hassan II stadium in Morocco, projected to be the largest football stadium in the world with 115,000 capacity are depicted on August 20, 2024 in Casablanca, Morocco. The stadium design is by Populous and Oulalou + Choi (Photo by Populous via Handout/Getty Images)

Naima Morelli

In Rome, reporting on Middle East culture

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: Chairman James Risch speaks to Brian Hook State department Special Representative for Iran as he testifies during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Holds Hearing On US-Iran Policy on October 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Intel: Congress piles on the Pentagon over possible North Africa drawdown

The leaders of the House and Senate foreign affairs panels today expressed concern over a possible Pentagon plan to draw down US troops in Africa, which could impact plans to fight terror in Tunisia and Morocco.

Libya is only small part of Turkey’s ambitious Africa overture

Although Turkey’s moves in Libya capture a lot of headlines these days, Ankara has been busy on other fronts in Africa.

Demonstrators shoot slogans and hold a banner showing a portrait of Omar Radi, a Moroccan journalist detained over tweet criticising judge, during a demonstration, on December 28, 2019, in the city of Rabat. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Solidarity swells in Morocco after crackdown on free expression

Moroccan journalist Omar Radi has been released pending trial in March, but other YouTubers, rappers and students remain in jail for criticizing the king and the regime.

Moroccan YouTubers forced to silence

A day after Mohammed Sekkaki recorded a witty rant against the king and uploaded it to YouTube, Moroccan police raided his home and arrested him.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a news conference at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir - RC26FD9RQLKO

Intel: How Israel — and Netanyahu — stand to gain from Pompeo's Morocco visit

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Morocco for a one-day trip aimed boosting ties with a country that the State Department deems a "critical partner" across a range of issues ahead of the visit.

Migrants queue in line, during the second phase of a campaign to regularize illegal migrants living in Morocco, in Rabat, on December 15, 2016. / AFP / FADEL SENNA (Photo credit should read FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

How bus ban reflects Morocco's broader migration policy

The well-known Moroccan bus company CTM denies accusations that it prevents "Africans" from boarding some of its buses.

Israel’s soft power victim of Netanyahu’s policies

The absence of Israel from the Paris Peace Forum reflects the spirit of its leadership, belittling multinational initiatives and neglecting soft power tools.

Moroccan activists hold the poster of Hajar Raissouni, a journalist charged with fornication and abortion, during a protest outside the Rabat tribunal, Morocco September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal - RC16585AAC30

Debate on individual freedom reopened in Morocco

The case of journalist Hajar Raissouni reopened the debate on individual freedoms in Morocco, and revived calls to annul the law chapters that criminalize them.

Palestinians seek Egypt’s support to join free trade pact

Palestinians are anxiously awaiting admittance to an Arab free trade agreement that should help reduce their economic dependence on Israel.

Young Moroccan activists rally for climate action

Morocco is already taking big steps to combat climate change, but young people want their country to do more, starting with addressing the local problems that limit public engagement.

Moroccan activists hold signs in solidarity with Hajar Raissouni, a journalist charged with fornication and abortion, during a protest outside the Rabat tribunal, Morocco September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal - RC18C4FF30F0

Moroccan sex 'outlaws' protest criminalization of sex outside marriage

Following a Moroccan journalist's arrest for an alleged abortion and extramarital sex, thousands have signed an online petition to end the state's criminalization of sex outside marriage.

Moroccan king announces plan to promote social, economic equality

As Morocco's king marks 20 years on the throne, he's preparing a plan designed to aid the poor, largely through education.