Worldcrunch
Arab countries remain largely missing in action as the region goes up in flames. Those that have recognized Israel are keeping a low profile, the Saudis are talking about a Palestinian state, but they are not averse to crushing the pro-Iranian forces and targeting Tehran. And yet a regional war would upset the current balance.
As the Olympic flame of Athens prepares to illuminate the world of sports, Africa remains in the shadows. Yet the world’s youngest continent has an unparalleled potential to become a major hub for sports on a global scale.
Once again, this week didn’t get any less weird.
When a violent earthquake rocked the High Atlas in 2023, traditional earthen buildings resisted the seismic shocks better than other more modern ones. Yet despite its resilience and sustainability, this valuable cultural heritage is the victim of misperceptions and risks abandonment.
Located between Marrakech and Casablanca, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is trying to replicate the recipes that have made the United States’ Silicon Valley successful, fusing research and business — with special attention given to green energies and food sovereignty.
As the world’s technologies change, so do the countries with not only advantages in production, but also geography and diplomacy. China knows this, and sees that investing in Moroccan resources is a particularly smart bet in the long run.
The practice of sending humanitarian aid to foreign countries has always been political, but Morocco’s decision to refuse offers of search-and-rescue teams raises questions about national sovereignty and politics in times of crisis.
Time is the most precious resource when it comes to disaster relief, and yet French teams have been left waiting for Morocco’s approval for their aid. Looking at recent tensions might explain why the country is hesitating on accepting help in a time of such dire need.
Algeria faces a real risk or going bankrupt by 2029. How did it come to this, in one of the world’s leading hydrocarbon producers?
Despite the official “consensus” by Arab League nations to welcome Syria back to the organization after 12 years of suspension, several key countries were opposed on principal — including key questions still open in North Africa.
Whether it’s in Tunis, Algiers or Rabat, France is faced with the near-impossible task of finding its diplomatic footing in countries that were under its colonial rule last century.
The World Cup in Qatar has been political on many fronts. Right now, with the event in an Arab country for the first time and Morocco as the first Arab team to make the quarterfinals, the Palestinian question is now very much on the agenda.
In West and North Africa, survivors of migrants who’ve vanished have come together to support each other and pay tribute to their family members. But above all, they’re trying any means possible to find out the truth and get justice after years of silence.
The writer, a Bogota native, was in Tangier for the recent celebration of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice. She had been warned about how shocking the ceremony could be, but an impromptu invitation from a local family brought her back to her own.
A new generation of Muslims want to do things differently. This is especially true for women — Muslim feminism has never been as visible as it is now.
In an interconnected world, we are faced again with the negative implications of the so-called “butterfly effect” when a localized conflict can have far-reaching consequences and trigger lasting crises. For our world’s broken food systems, the war in Ukraine should be a wake-up call.
Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed caused a stir by appointing Najla Bouden, the first female head of government in the Arab world. But as the president has assumed full powers a decade after the launch of the Arab Spring, it is a choice with a mixed message.
? Goeie!* Welcome to Thursday, where world leaders pledge to quit coal, #MeToo accusations hit China’s highest levels of power and the world’s new best cheese has been elected. Our Bogota-based journalist Laura Valentina Cortés Sierra also shines a light on the violence against LGBTQ+ in some Latin American countries, following the murder of a […]
In a country where homosexuality is still penalized, the feminist LGBT+ group Nassawiyat launches a poetic and political video series to try to change conservative mindsets.
Due to climate change and pollution, entire neighborhoods and cities on the continent are destined to vanish. A new vision of African urbanism is needed to replace the illusion of the “city without limits.”
Since the beginning of the year, a fake doctor has been offering free consultations to young women on Instagram order to solicit intimate photos or incite them to commit sexual acts.
The pandemic and subsequent closing of the border with Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, put an end to the ‘atypical trade’ that sustained the Fnideq region.
In the kingdom, a ‘revenge porn’ case revived the debate on article 490, which criminalizes sexual relations outside marriage. Activists say it’s time to modernize the country on the issue of sexual freedom
The North African country was quick to react when COVID-19 first showed up and is now outpacing places like Germany in a rush to immunize its citizens.
A doctoral student in Casablanca is using a series of podcasts to help free his countrymen from one-size-fits-all notions about how men can and should behave.
From France to China, these female worship leaders not only provide spiritual guidance but also encourage diversity and dispel stereotypes, from both within and outside of their community.
In a kingdom torn between the rise of Islamism and always-connected digital world, more and more women are undergoing invasive operations, sometimes risking their lives.
Viewed from the proverbial (and literal) 30,000 feet, the most stunning consequence of the coronavirus pandemic may have been the sudden closing of national borders. In an increasingly open world, the past six months of severe international travel restrictions continues to disrupt lives and hobble the global economy. Last week, the six-months-long closure of the […]
With edgy lyrics and an attitude that’s too legit to quit, rapper Houda Abouz — aka Khtek — is pushing against the grain and gaining a substantial following.
When Lesotho recently discovered its first coronavirus case, it marked the arrival of the pandemic in every country in Africa. Already, 70,000 people have been infected across the continent and the World Health Organisation warns of upwards of 190,000 deaths in Africa this year from COVID-19. The economic impacts are also forecast to be devastating: […]
By distinguishing between refugees and migrants, international law underestimates the plight of people displaced by poverty and climate change.
Since this summer, Morocco is the theater of an unprecedented wave of arrests and forced displacements of Sub-Saharan Africans forced to hide.
In the 1950s, El Morocco was the It-spot for New York’s who’s-who — and the perfect place for a young Garry Winogrand to hone his skills as a street photographer.
Social media and dating apps have revolutionized the way young people live, and given women the right to seduce.
An estimated 15,000 undocumented Moroccans work in construction sites, bakeries, and in skilled trades across neighboring Algeria.
Algerian authorities have been accused of harsh treatment of asylum seekers.
Young, poor Moroccans, desperate for a fleeting sense of power and control are turning to a nasty chemical cocktail called ‘karkoubi.’
This photograph of a mechanic working in the rain in the coastal Moroccan city of El Jadida was shot from the hip. Discovering this image also takes me back to a trip 20 years earlier in Tunisia, one of the only times I ever needed to get my car repaired in 60+ years of travels.
Our various road trips through North Africa almost always included encounters with caravans of Berber nomads and their camels, making their way to bigger cities to resupply.
MARRAKESH — It is a 21st-century Parisian experience par excellence: You turn a cobblestone corner or exit some quaint square and come face-to-face with a small, tiled alien critter pasted on the wall of a Haussmann-era building. That is the work of Invader, the French-born street artist who claims to have been educated by alien […]