Can MOROCCO and ALGERIA Finally End Their COLD WAR?

I would have liked to recommend this video! However, this video ends abruptly and unexpectedly! One thumb down! It does not cover the period 2000 and beyond! Another thumb down!

Libya's Military Chief Killed in Plane Crash Near Turkey's Ankara with Palki Sharma

Was it an assassination? What will happen in Libya, a divided country?

Pakistan Strikes $4 Billion Arms Deal with Libya for joint developed Pakistani-Chinese fighter jets with Palki Sharma

Recommendable! Serious stuff! Pakistan wants to be the defender of the Muslim world. Libya is already a divided country at war with each other.

Morocco: Activist Lachgar Jailed for 30 Months for Blasphemy, Insulting Islam

No hero in my opinion! This feminist/LGBTQ activist "slammed the [Islam] as fascist and misogynistic"! The punishment for such extremism is certainly harsh, but this kind of provocation was over the top and unnecessary! What was the point?

Freedom of speech has some limits!

New dinosaur is unlike anything we've ever found | Unique armoured dinosaur discovered in Morocco

Very recommendable! 

Why Algeria-France Relations Have Collapsed

Very recommendable! Confirms one more time that President Macron is a fool!

Russia-Printed Counterfeit Notes in East Libya Devalue Dinar

The megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible at work!

Egypt Leading in African Investments: Is Cairo Fudging the Data? with Palki Sharma

Recommendable!

Spanish company Acciona starts work on Africa’s biggest desalination plant in Morocco

Good news! Desalination is salvation! A new love story made in Casablanca (without Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman)

"The $650m public-private partnership scheme sees the first phase producing 200 million cubic metres of drinking water a year from 2026, rising to 300 million later.

That would be enough to serve 7.5 million inhabitants of one of the world’s most water-insecure countries. ...

The plant will run entirely on wind energy. Acciona has signed a power purchase agreement with a Moroccan renewable energy producer. ..."

Acciona starts work on Africa’s biggest desalination plant - Global Construction Review A consortium led by Spanish contractor Acciona has broken ground in Morocco on what will be Africa’s largest desalination plant at Lamharza Essahel, about 40km south of Casablanca.

Credits: Human Progress Weekly Progress Roundup

Morocco becomes huge customer for Israel's defense industry

Good news! 

"... Morocco is one of the Arab countries which normalized relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords in 2020. Its influence on Israel's defense industry has been most significant. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI), between 2019 and 2023, Israel was the world's ninth biggest exporter of defense equipment. SIPRI found that even though Morocco and Israel did not normalize relations until December 2020, Israel was already in third place in terms of Morocco's defense imports providing 11% of its needs. ..."

Morocco becomes huge customer for Israel's defense industry - Globes "Globes" looks at the major Israeli defense systems procured by Morocco, culminating in a $1 billion deal with IAI, which foreign media reports is for Ofek spy satellites.

Tunisia’s Transformation Into a Transit Hub: Illegal Migration and Policy Dilemmas

What is going on in Tunisia!

"... The government’s failure to develop a coherent and realistic approach to migration has had a particularly destabilizing effect. ...

Tunisia’s use of migration as a geopolitical lever to exert pressure on European countries ...

... Tunisia is at the center of a significant shift in the Mediterranean migration landscape. The country has emerged as a key transit point for sub-Saharan African migrants and asylum seekers from Sudan, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, and elsewhere aiming to reach Europe. Years of deteriorating political and economic conditions had already compelled Tunisians to migrate. However, in the second half of 2022, sub-Saharan Africans surpassed Tunisians as the largest group migrating to Europe from Tunisia.3 This trend gained momentum in 2023, consolidating Tunisia’s status as a migration hub. ..."

Tunisia’s Transformation Into a Transit Hub: Illegal Migration and Policy Dilemmas - Carnegie Middle East Center - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Earthquake-Proofing Earthen Buildings like in Morocco. Really!

Is this an example, where human ingenuity failed over millennia? 

I think, this headline is a bit too clever!

Is it that these houses are so easy to build that structural reinforcement was not a serious consideration in times past?

Is the danger from dying in a collapsing earthen house fairly low given infrequent earthquakes?

Or is this an excuse/rationale to provide more modern housing to survivors in Morocco?

"After thousands of earthen buildings crumbled during the earthquakes in Morocco earlier this month, questions about the buildings’ structural safety have grown more urgent. 

Traditional styles: Many of Morocco’s fallen buildings were made of unfired mud bricks and rammed earth—an ancient building style found across the world. 

Beyond material: While the earthen buildings have a reputation for “seismic vulnerability,” ..." (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Global Health NOW)

"... This building style is common across Africa, as well as parts of Europe, Asia and the Americas ...
Indeed, modern concrete construction without proper seismic reinforcement can also fail during quakes, as seen in recent disasters in Turkey and Syria. ..."

After Morocco Quake, Earthen Buildings Come Under Scrutiny Recent disasters have raised questions about the seismic vulnerability of mud-brick and rammed earth construction. Can this traditional building style be made safer?

North Africa - History Of Africa with Zeinab Badawi

Very recommendable! Learn about the founder and first queen of Carthage, Dido!