SAM METZ

FILE - Migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, are stopped by Tunisian Maritime National Guard at sea during an attempt to get to Italy, near the coast of Sfax, Tunisia, Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The bodies of 19 people were recovered Tuesday, April 23, 2024, off the coast of Tunisia, one of the primary points of departure for those seeking to traverse the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. More than 49,000 people have come to Europe by sea this year, including more than 7,000 from Tunisia to Italy. (AP Photo, File)
European leaders laud tougher migration policies but more people die on treacherous sea crossings
Authorities in Europe have recovered bodies of people who attempted to migrate across both the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea this week.
 
Engineers and workers stand inside Safran Aircraft Engines repair plant outside of Casablanca, Morocco, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Moroccan officials are aiming to turn the country into an aerospace hub, luring investors and manufacturers who have aimed to spread out their supply chains and find willing workers since the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo)
As airplane makers struggle to meet demand, Morocco wants to become a manufacturing hub
Moroccan officials are aiming to turn the country into an aviation hub, luring investors aiming to spread out their supply chains to more nations with available and affordable workers.
 
In this photo provided by the Tunisian Presidency, Tunisian President Kais Saied, left, shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in Tunis, Wednesday April 17, 2024. Meloni and Saied signed new accords part of Italy's larger "Mattei Plan" for Africa, a continent-wide strategy aimed at growing economic opportunities and preventing migration from Africa to Europe.(Slim Abid/ Tunisian Presidential Palace via AP)
Italy’s leader keeps the focus on migration on her fourth visit to Tunisia in a year
Italy’s leader has acknowledged that Tunisia “cannot become the arrival point for migrants coming from the rest of Europe.”
 
Fatima Barri, 57, prepares food to break her Ramadan fast in her home which was damaged by the earthquake last year, in Amizmiz, near Marrakech, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo)
Morocco’s earthquake killed thousands. But survivors marking Ramadan say it didn’t shake their faith
Communities hit hard by last year’s deadly earthquake in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains have marked the holy month of Ramadan with a mix of festiveness and despair. The task of rebuilding is daunting.
 
FILE - Moroccans take part in a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza and against normalisation of relations between Morocco and Israel, in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. An activist who criticized Morocco’s decision to normalize relations with Israel was sentenced to five years in prison, as some of the Arab world's largest pro-Palestinian protests continue to sweep the country. (AP Photo, File)
A Moroccan activist was sentenced to 5 years for criticizing the country’s ties to Israel
An activist who criticized Morocco’s decision to normalize relations with Israel has been sentenced to five years in prison.
 
People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israel finds the body of a hostage killed in Gaza, while talks will resume on a cease-fire
Israel’s military says it has recovered the body of a 47-year-old farmer who was held hostage in Gaza. Meanwhile, negotiators prepare for another round of talks on Sunday in Egypt on brokering a cease-fire six months into the war.
 
A view of the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, where a Cuban art exhibition is being held, in Rabat, Monday, April 1, 2024. A show at Morocco's Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is one of the first exhibitions of Cuban art at an African museum. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Morocco hosts one of Africa’s first exhibitions of Cuban art, a milestone for Afro-Cuban painters
A show at Morocco’s Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is one of the first exhibitions of Cuban art at an African museum.
 
FILE - Tunisian lawyer Chokri Belaid attends a news conference at the lawyers' bar in Tunis on Dec. 29, 2010. Four people were sentenced Wednesday, March 27, 2024, to death and two given life imprisonment over the 2013 assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Tunisia sentences 4 to death over pivotal 2013 assassination
A public prosecutor in Tunisia says four people have been sentenced to death and two to life in prison for the murder of a left-wing politician more than a decade ago.
 
A woman sprinkle orange blossom water after it was distilled, in a cultural center in Marrakech, Morocco, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Moroccan cities are heralding in this year's spring with orange blossoms by distilling them using traditional methods. Orange blossom water is mostly used in Moroccan pastries or mint tea and sprinkled over heads and hands in religious ceremonies. (AP Photo)
The scent of orange blossoms is bringing the world to a spring tradition in Morocco
Orange blossoms are among Morocco’s quintessential fragrances. Moroccan women are welcoming spring by collecting the waxy white blossoms in copper pots used to distill the scent that’s folded into honey-laden pastries, sprinkled on mint tea and used in religious ceremonies as an ode to paradise.
 
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks after his visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Arabic reads, "Rafah border crossing". (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
UN chief says it’s time to ‘truly flood’ Gaza with aid and calls starvation there an outrage
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres says it’s time to “truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid” and calls the starvation inside the enclave a “moral outrage.” Guterres calls for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
 
A Moroccan traditional bath, known as hammam, is empty of customers, in Rabat, Morocco, Monday, March 4, 2024. Climate change and a yearslong drought have forced Morocco's famous public baths to close a few days a week in an effort to save water. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
To save water, drought-hit Morocco is closing its famous public baths three days a week
Climate change and a yearslong drought have forced Morocco’s famous public baths to close a few days a week in an effort to save water.
 
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks at a press conference after holding meetings with his Moroccan counterpart during an official visit to Rabat, Morocco, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo)
Spain’s prime minister meets with Morocco’s king and discusses migration and the Israel-Hamas war
Spain’s prime minister has visited Morocco as the two nations reckon with a spike in migration to the Canary Islands and a Europe-wide debate and protests about agricultural regulations and imports.
 
FILE - Moroccan navy attempts to intercept a boy swimming to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, at the border between Morocco and Spain, on May 19, 2021. The Moroccan navy said it intercepted 141 people attempting to traverse the Atlantic Ocean as migration from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands has spiked since the beginning of the year. Morocco's Royal Armed Forces said in a statement Sunday Feb. 18, 2024 it was able to rescue all passengers on a boat off the coast of the Western Sahara, a disputed territory with a coastline that Morocco has controlled since 1975. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)
Morocco intercepts a boat with 141 people as African migrants increasingly attempt to reach Spain
The Moroccan navy has intercepted 141 people attempting to traverse the Atlantic Ocean as migration from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands spikes.
 
FILE - A view of the port of Bizerte, Tunisia, where boats similar to the ones used by migrants to reach Italy are docked, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Tunisia's coast guard retrieved the bodies of nine people who died after their boat sank on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, marking the latest disaster for a surging number of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
After record year, Tunisia reports migrant deaths from shipwreck near Libyan waters
Tunisian coast guard retrieved the bodies of nine people who died after their boat sank on Thursday, marking another tragedy as migrants continue to attempt to traverse the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
 
FILE - President of the Islamist party Ennahda and candidate for the Parliamentary election Rached Ghannouchi votes in a polling station south of Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019. Tunisia's leading opposition figure was sentenced Thursday Feb.1, 2024 to three years in prison for accepting external financing. Rached Ghannouchi, the 82-year-old leader of Ennahda, is among the critics of President Kais Saied to face prison sentences amid a broader crackdown on opponents. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Tunisian opposition party leader sentenced to 3 years as crackdown on president’s critics continues
The head of Tunisia’s largest opposition party has been sentenced to three years in prison. It’s the latest display of the North African country’s crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied.
 
FILE - A view of Tunisian Central Bank in Tunis, Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011. Cash-strapped Tunisia wants to borrow billions from its central bank to shore up budget deficits and bandage its ongoing economic crisis. In a meeting behind closed doors, the North African country's parliament on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, mulled a request from the President Kais Saied's government to borrow funds after it previously overhauled laws designed to guarantee the bank's independence. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Tunisia wants to borrow billions from its central bank to address deficits. Experts call that risky
Cash-strapped Tunisia wants to take the unprecedented step of borrowing billions from its central bank to address budget deficits and bandage its economic crisis. Experts warn could bring inflation and lessen faith in institutions.
 
FILE - Tunisian President Kais Saied gives a speech at the new government's swearing-in ceremony at the Carthage Palace outside the capital Tunis, on Feb. 27, 2020. Tunisians will head to the polls on Sunday for the country's first local elections since President Kais Saied wrote a new constitution that voters approved last year. (Fethi Belaid/Pool via AP, File)
Tunisians vote in local elections on Sunday to fill a new chamber as economy flatlines
Tunisians head to vote in local elections on Sunday to populate a new second legislative chamber focused on economic development.
 
This photo provided by the Tunisia presidency shows Tunisian President Kais Saied, right, shaking hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Thursday Dec. 21, 2023 in Tunis. Russia is working to deepen political and economic ties and spread its narrative about wars in Ukraine and Gaza. (Slim Abid/Tunisian Presidency via AP)
Russia’s foreign minister tours North Africa as anger toward the West swells across the region
Russia is working to strengthen ties to North Africa and spread its narrative about Ukraine and Gaza as the United States’ popularity throughout the Arab World diminishes.
 
FILE - UN soldiers stand guard in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Nov. 30, 2012. The United Nations Peacekeeping efforts is under resourced as its $5.5 billion budget for worldwide operations is less than the New York Police Department's $6.1 billion budget, even though it has 30,000 more personnel, the UN Under-Secretary General, Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 at a two-day UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in Accra, Ghana. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
United Nations bemoans struggles to fund peacekeeping as nations demand withdrawal of missions
The United Nations’ top peacekeeping official has defended its missions worldwide even as many countries where peacekeepers operate are demanding their withdrawal.
 
FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2019, file photo, Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, center, attends the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, in Beirut, Lebanon. A Mauritanian court handed down a five-year sentence to Aziz finding him guilty of money laundering and self-enrichment, his attorneys told The Associated Press on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
Former president of Mauritania gets 5-year prison sentence for corruption
Attorneys for Mauritania’s former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz say he has been sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering and self-enrichment.
 
This image provided by Archimede shows a scene from the film "lo Capitano." (Greta De Lazzaris/Archimede via AP)
Italian migration odyssey ‘Io Capitano’ hopes to connect with viewers regardless of politics
Matteo Garrone’s migration odyssey “Io Capitano” played at the Marrakech International Film Festival this weekend, returning to the country where pivotal scenes were shot.
 
This image released by Beall Productions shows Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, left, and Lina Soualem in a scene from the documentary "Bye Bye Tiberias." (Frida Marzouk/Beall Productions via AP)
Hiam Abbass’ Palestinian family documentary ‘Bye Bye Tiberias’ applauded at Marrakech Film Festival
A documentary about Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass that depicts how four generations of women in her family were shaped by exile has premiered before an emotional audience in Marrakech.
 
U.S. actress Jessica Chastain, chair of jury for Marrakech International Film Festival, attends the opening ceremony, in Marrakech, Morocco, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Marrakech kicks off film festival in the shadow of war in the Middle East
The Marrakech International Film Festival began on Friday, bringing American and international movie stars to the Arab world as war in the Middle East has led to the cancellation of other film festivals.
 
A Moroccan cobalt mine denies claims of arsenic-contaminated local water. Automakers are concerned
A German newspaper investigation is raising questions about the future of a Moroccan mine that was meant to supply carmakers a mineral critical for electric vehicle batteries.
 
A woman walks past rubble that was caused the September earthquake in Amizmiz, outside Marrakech, Morocco, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Morocco has pledged to rebuild from a September earthquake in line with its architectural heritage. Villagers and architects agree that earthquake-safe construction is a top priority. That’s created a push for modern building materials. But the government says it wants to rebuild in line with Morocco’s cultural and architectural heritage. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Morocco debates how to rebuild from September quake that killed thousands
After many natural disasters, people debate how to rebuild without changing their community for the worse. Morocco has pledged to rebuild from a September earthquake in line with its architectural heritage.
 
The site of recently unearthed archaeological ruins, in Chellah necropolis, Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Archaeologists have unearthed more ruins of what they believe was once a bustling port city near the capital of modern-day Morocco, digging out thermal baths and working class neighborhoods that the country hopes will lure tourists and scholars in the years ahead. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Moroccan archaeologists unearth new ruins at Chellah, a tourism-friendly ancient port near Rabat
Archaeologists have unearthed more ancient ruins of what they believe was once a bustling port city near the capital of modern-day Morocco.
 
FILE - Thousands of Moroccans take part in a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and against normalisation with Israel, in Casablanca, Morocco, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. Countries in the Middle East that have normalized or are considering normalizing relations with Israel are coming under growing public pressure to cut those ties because of Israel's war with Hamas. The protesters' demands present an uncomfortable dilemma for governments that have enjoyed the benefits of closer military and economic ties with Israel in recent years. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)
Opposition mounts in Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel
Countries in the Middle East that have normalized or are considering normalizing relations with Israel are coming under growing public pressure to cut those ties because of Israel’s war with Hamas.
 
A participant walks past flags outside a convention center hosting the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, in Marrakech, Morocco, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank kick off their annual meeting in Marrakech on Monday, one month after a deadly earthquake struck Morocco and killed nearly 3,000 people. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
IMF and World Bank pledge Africa focus at first meetings on the continent in 50 years
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are holding their annual meetings in Morocco, one month after an earthquake killed nearly 3,000 people in the North African country.
 
People displaced by the earthquake gather at a coffee shop and drink tea, in Amizmiz, outside Marrakech, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Villagers in hard-hit regions are weighing how to best rebuild as Moroccan authorities begin to providing rehousing funds to those whose homes were destroyed by last month's earthquake. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Morocco begins providing cash to families whose homes were destroyed by earthquake
Moroccan authorities will start providing money to families whose homes were destroyed in an earthquake last month that took nearly 3,000 lives.
 
FILE - Islamist party leader and parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi speaks during a meeting in Tunis, Tunisia, on Oct. 3, 2019. Family members of jailed lawyers and politicians, including Ghannouchi, in Tunisia want the International Criminal Court to investigate claims of political persecution and human rights violations as an increasing number of President Kais Saied's opponents are arrested and several in prison stage hunger strikes. Jailed dissidents' sons and daughters in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, will announce plans to pursue action at the court. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Families of imprisoned Tunisian dissidents turn to the International Criminal Court seeking justice
Family members of imprisoned dissidents in Tunisia want the International Criminal Court to investigate claims of political persecution and human rights violations in their country.
 
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