North Africa

A generation protests in Morocco: from delivery-room tragedies to demands for dignity What began as local outrage over the deaths of pregnant women during Caesarean sections has rippled into a broader youth-led movement in Morocco, forcing the kingdom to confront persistent gaps between its gleaming skylines and the battered public services most citizens rely on. Under the banner of GenZ 212 — a name that nods to Morocco’s international dialing code and a generation connected online — young people are calling for better…

South African activists held by Israel after Gaza aid attempt are “in good health and high spirits,” Pretoria says South Africa’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said a group of its citizens detained by Israeli authorities after attempting to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip are “in good health and high spirits,” and that efforts to secure their safe return are “advancing steadily.” The detained activists were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla — a civil society initiative that sought to reach Gaza by sea amid a protracted…

A grand tomb returns to the Valley of the Kings after two decades of careful work In the ochre light of Luxor’s early morning, a doorway that has been closed to the public for most of the 20th and 21st centuries has been thrown open again. The tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III — the 18th Dynasty monarch who presided over Egypt’s late Bronze Age heyday between about 1390 and 1350 B.C.E. — has been restored and reopened after a painstaking, Japanese-led conservation project that stretched over two decades. The burial chamber,…

Two killed as Morocco’s Gen Z protests expose a generational fault line When word spread on TikTok and Discord that young people across Morocco would converge on town squares and police stations to demand better schools, clinics and jobs, it felt like an experiment in 21st-century dissent — decentralized, fast and anonymous. What unfolded over a few days was far more combustible. In Lqliaa, near the port city of Safi, police opened fire on a crowd trying to “storm” a police station, killing two people, authorities say. The…

Nicolas Sarkozy Sentenced to Five Years in Landmark Libyan Funding Case PARIS — A French court on Thursday handed former president Nicolas Sarkozy a five-year prison sentence after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case tied to millions of euros of illicit funds allegedly originating from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Judge Nathalie Gavarino said prosecutors proved that Sarkozy allowed aides to approach Libyan officials for financial backing during his successful 2007 presidential bid. At the same…

Alaa Abdel Fattah’s pardon: a relief that raises bigger questions about Egypt’s politics President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to pardon the prominent British‑Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah after six years behind bars marked an emotional turning point for a generation of Egyptians who once filled Tahrir Square with hope. But the gesture — long demanded by rights groups and the British government — offers relief more than resolution, and leaves unanswered questions about rule of law, diplomacy and the costs of…

Ancient gold bracelet disappears from Cairo museum days before landmark opening What happened Egyptian authorities launched an urgent search this week after a 3,000-year-old gold bracelet vanished from a restoration laboratory at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The artifact — a delicate cuff studded with lapis lazuli beads dating to the reign of King Amenemope of the 21st Dynasty (circa 993–984 BC) — was reported missing while conservators were preparing items for an exhibition in Rome, the Ministry of Tourism and…

At least 61 people feared dead after two migrant shipwrecks off Libya, UN agency says TRIPOLI — A vessel carrying 74 people, mostly Sudanese refugees, capsized off the Libyan port city of Tobruk on Sunday, leaving only 13 survivors, the U.N. refugee agency said Monday. The tragedy came a day after another boat carrying dozens of Sudanese caught fire off Libya’s coast, in an episode the International Organization for Migration said claimed at least 50 lives. The two incidents underscore the perilous journeys many are taking…

Egypt announces troop deployment to Somalia, intensifying Horn of Africa contest Egypt has announced it will deploy troops to Somalia under a bilateral security agreement, a move Cairo says is intended to bolster counter‑terrorism operations and help stabilize the war‑torn Horn of Africa nation. Officials described the steps as the completion of planning for the deployment, but they provided few operational details, leaving open questions about the size, mandate and timetable of the force. What Cairo says Egyptian…

Analysis: Egypt’s luxury resort at Mount Sinai — a test of faith, heritage and development When the first pilgrims come down from Mount Sinai at dusk, they still carry the small, sandy relics of a place that has been consecrated in the imaginations of billions: a rocky peak where, in the stories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, a prophet received the law. St. Catherine’s Monastery, a fortified Byzantine complex tucked at the mountain’s base, has for centuries been the human anchor in a landscape that Bedouin communities…