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Tunisia parliament adopts anti-racism law

Tunisia's parliament has adopted a law criminalizing racist speech, incitement to hatred and discrimination, in a vote hailed as a historic first in a country with a significant black minority. The legislation was approved on Tuesday night after a lengthy debate with 125 members of...

Morocco navy fires on migrant boat, wounding one

The Moroccan navy opened fire on a boat transporting migrants from the North African country, wounding one of them, a military source said Wednesday. Despite warning shots, "the motorboat that was carrying 58 migrants hidden under tarpaulin made a hostile move which forced the...

Morocco navy says 615 migrants saved in weekend ops

Morocco's Royal Navy said Monday its forces rescued 615 migrants from 31 boats that ran into trouble in the Mediterranean at the weekend while trying to reach Spain. The Spanish coastguard announced Sunday that in 48 hours it had rescued nearly 1,200 migrants bound for its shores -- a...

Libyan forces capture fugitive Egyptian militant

The self-styled Libyan National Army says its troops have captured a prominent militant wanted in neighboring Egypt. In a statement posted on its Facebook page Monday, the army said Hesham Eshmawi was captured in an "operation" in the eastern town of Derna. A Twitter account run...

Tunisia extends state of emergency

Tunisia's presidency Friday announced the extension of the country's state of emergency, imposed in 2015 following a series of deadly jihadist attacks. The decision to prolong the state of emergency until November 6 comes amid a tense political climate ahead of legislative and...

Sudan seizes two newspapers as EU urges press freedom

Sudanese security agents confiscated the entire print runs of two newspapers Thursday, their owners said, days after the European Union and Washington pushed for press freedoms in the African country. Agents of Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) seized...

Fighting forces Libya to close Tripoli airport again

Libya has closed the only functioning airport in the capital Tripoli again after rockets were fired in its direction, officials said Tuesday, days after flights had resumed following an earlier shutdown. Matiga airport, a former air base used for commercial flights since the main...

UN envoy says hard to hold Libya elections in December

The UN envoy to Libya told AFP that it will be difficult to hold elections as hoped on December 10, following a new wave of fighting in the North African nation. "There is still a lot to do. It may not be possible to respect the date of December 10," Ghassan Salame said in an interview....

Libya urges 'effective' UN action to end Tripoli violence

Libya's internationally recognised government has called on the UN to take "concrete and effective" action to protect civilians and halt fighting near the capital that has killed more than 100 people since late August. In a statement late Friday, the Government of National Accord (GNA)...

Sudan gets new government as PM keeps finance

Sudan's new 21-member cabinet was sworn in on Saturday, with Prime Minister Moutaz Mousa Abdallah also assuming the finance portfolio in a bid to revive the country's ailing economy. Sudan has been grappling with an acute foreign exchange shortage and inflation above 65 percent for...

Libyan officials say unknown missiles hit Tripoli airport

Missiles were fired at Libya's capital Tripoli, including the city's only functioning airport, forcing authorities to divert flights to anther airport to the south, government and airport officials said Wednesday, less than a week after the U.N. brokered a cease-fire between rival armed...

Libya oil company offices attacked, causing fire, casualties

Security forces of Libya's U.N.-backed government on Monday stormed the headquarters of the country's national oil company in the capital Tripoli shortly after gunmen had gone into the building, shooting randomly, setting off explosions and taking hostages, officials said. At least one...

Armed groups agree to keep Tripoli ceasefire: UN

Armed groups vying for control of the Libyan capital have agreed to set up a mechanism to "consolidate" a recently agreed ceasefire, the United Nations' Libya mission, UNSMIL, said Sunday. On Tuesday, the United Nations persuaded various armed groups to halt fighting that had killed...

UN says 'criminals' impersonating its staff in Libya to target migrants

The U.N. decried Saturday "reliable reports" that smugglers and traffickers were impersonating its staff in Libya to target desperate migrants and refugees, and demanded action to hold them to account. The U.N. refugee agency said reliable sources were indicating that smugglers and...

France partly to blame for Libya crisis: Italian minister

France is partly to blame for the crisis in Libya, Italy's Defence Minister Elisabetta Trenta said Monday, ruling out Italian military intervention there. "France, from my point of view, has a responsibility," the minister wrote on Facebook, evoking the military intervention in 2011 by...

Morocco king pardons 188 people linked to Hirak protests

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has pardoned a total of 188 people linked to the Hirak protest movement on the occasion of Islam's Eid al-Adha religious feast, the National Council on Human Rights said Tuesday. The council initially reported that royal pardons had been granted to 11...

Morocco restoring military service

Morocco's government is moving to restore military service, with men and women between the ages of 19 and 25 expected to serve a year in the army, navy or air force. King Mohammed VI's ministerial council on Monday approved the draft law that is expected to comfortably win lawmakers' backing...

Italy threatens to send stranded migrants ‘back to Libya’

Italy's far-right interior minister threatened Sunday to send "back to Libya" nearly 180 people stranded for three days on an Italian coastguard ship if the EU did not step in to resolve another migrant row with Malta. The 177 people have been sat off the coast of the Italian island of...