TOPIC

/ location

Western Sahara

Western Sahara

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Western Sahara. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

French troops in Algiers in 1956. The North African nation of Algeria suffered some of the most brutal forms of colonial rule. Photo: AP

African nations push for recognition of colonial crimes and reparations

The economic cost of colonialism in Africa is believed to be staggering, with some estimates putting the cost of plunder in the trillions.

1 Dec 2025 - 4:02PM

Want to write like an award-winning author? This Moroccan masterclass might help

24 Feb 2025 - 12:00PM

Japan plans conveyor belt that can move 25,000 drivers’ worth of freight a day

26 Jun 2024 - 1:24PM

Why we still love globes, and the ‘political minefield’ of making them

In this age of Google Earth and GPS, people still buy globes – they help us ‘find our place in the cosmos’, one maker says, adding that countries can be very sensitive about their territory’s depiction.

13 Apr 2024 - 5:15AM

An artist paints a globe at the studio of Bellerby & Co Globemakers in London, England, on February 27, 2024. Many people still buy globes despite the invention of technologies like Google Earth and GPS. Photo: AP

China-Africa relations

In the Sahara Desert, Chinese labourers work to build a 575km rail line. Why?

Chinese workers are building a railway in the Sahara Desert, in China’s latest step in diversifying its iron ore supply.

8 Apr 2024 - 2:31PMvideocam

‘A little bit tired’: UK man reaches goal of running length of Africa

Sore and sandblasted but triumphant, runner Russ Cook reached the northernmost point of Africa on Sunday, almost a year after he set off from its southern tip.

8 Apr 2024 - 3:48PMvideocam

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Opinion | Second Trump term would worsen Palestinian cause

The former US president has a track record of helping Israel at the Palestinians’ expense. If he wins a second term, Donald Trump’s foreign policy could lead to increased warfare in the region.

9 Mar 2024 - 7:59AMvideocam

Then president Donald Trump is applauded by his ambassador to Israel David Friedman and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on August 13, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Anti-racists slam blackface use in Spain’s Epiphany parades

The practice of parade participants painting their faces black with exaggerated, red-painted lips tarnishes the memory of enslaved people and disempowers black children, says black politician Rita Bosaho.

6 Jan 2024 - 9:12PM

Israel-Gaza war

Thousands of Moroccans rally against Gaza war, Israel ties

The crowd of about 10,000 people in Rabat denounced what protest leaders called a ‘war of extermination’ as well as the normalisation of relations between Morocco and Israel.

25 Dec 2023 - 2:24AM

Israel-Gaza war

Gaza hospital blast revives support for Palestine as fury spreads in Mideast

Within hours of a blast that was said to have killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, there was a furious response around the Muslim world.

19 Oct 2023 - 11:37PMvideocam

Demonstrators in Yemen carry weapons as they protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues. Photo: Reuters

Natural disasters

Politics slowing aid after Morocco quake, Libya flooding

The responses in both Morocco and Libya – one a stable nation, the other torn by war and ruled by rival governments – show the difficulty of separating humanitarian aid from political considerations.

13 Sep 2023 - 3:16PMvideocam

People receiving aid in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Talat N’Yaaqoub, Morocco. Photo: Reuters

41 migrants, including 3 kids, missing after Mediterranean shipwreck

Their metal boat overturned in bad weather during the night of Thursday to Friday after setting off from Tunisia, said a joint statement from the UN agencies for refugees, children and migration.

9 Aug 2023 - 11:08PMvideocam

Arab states sour on Israel in blow to US aim of Saudi peace pact

Tensions between Gulf states and Israel are rising three years after historic peace deals, slowing down hoped-for investments and setting back US efforts to further integrate the region by including main power Saudi Arabia.

31 Jul 2023 - 11:09AMvideocam

Key suspect in EU corruption scandal cuts deal with prosecutors

The alleged ringleader of a European Union cash-for-influence corruption scandal linked to Qatar and Morocco has decided to reveal information about the affair in exchange for a lighter sentence.

18 Jan 2023 - 12:33PM

The European Parliament is reeling from the corruption scandal, where four people, have been arrested. File photo: EPA-EFE

Fifa World Cup 2022: Morocco fans scramble for tickets for Spain match

The last Arab and African side still in the tournament, Morocco has been willed on by some of most impassioned supporters at the event.

6 Dec 2022 - 11:16PMvideocam

A fan supporting Morocco poses prior to its knock-out match against Spain. Photo: AP

Outside In | After 27 years of failed climate meetings, we need a new approach

After the COP27 talks in Egypt ended with yet more dodged commitments, there is a sense that these mega meetings are not fit for purpose. Perhaps real agreements on climate action, driven by formal scientific guidance, should be made away from the media glare, to avoid grandstanding.

26 Nov 2022 - 4:26AMvideocam

Extreme weather

Britain, France brace for hottest day as Europe fires rage

London is predicted to be hotter than the Caribbean, the Western Sahara and popular holiday destinations in Europe as temperatures soar to record-breaking highs early this week.

18 Jul 2022 - 10:49PM

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

23 migrants dead in mass crossing into Spanish enclave, says Morocco

Video images of apparent aftermath of mass crossing attempt of 2,000 into Spanish enclave Melilla showed bleeding and motionless people.

26 Jun 2022 - 4:37AMvideocam

Riot police cordon off the area on Friday after migrants arrive on Spanish soil having crossed fences separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. Photo: AP

‘Fair trial’ urged for Moroccan fighter facing death penalty in Ukraine

Moroccan man Brahim Saadoun was sentenced to death this month in a pro-Moscow separatist region of Ukraine for fighting on behalf of Ukrainian forces.

20 Jun 2022 - 9:12AM

Opinion | How Russia learned from West’s actions in Iraq, Kosovo and Guantanamo Bay

Legal solidarity with Ukraine is certainly right but it raises troubling questions about Western double standards, and how this undermines the rules-based international order the West says it champions.

12 May 2022 - 4:00AMvideocam

Books and literature

How Stories of the Sahara inspired a creative director to succeed

When Penelope Luk, creative director of Crafts on Peel, read Stories of the Sahara – the defining work of celebrated Chinese travel writer Sanmao – it changed her life forever.

23 Feb 2022 - 4:45PM

When Penelope Luk, creative director of Crafts on Peel, read travelogue Stories of the Sahara, it changed her life forever.

Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement