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☆ Four blasts kill one, injure three in Western Sahara, Moroccan authorities say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

RABAT, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Four explosions late on Saturday in the city of Smara in Morocco-controlled Western Sahara killed one man and injured three others, local authorities said. The blasts damaged two houses, authorities said in a statement, without adding further details. Morocco considers Western Sahara its own territory, but the Algerian-backed Polisario Front wants an independent state there. Morocco has said autonomy is the most it can offer to the territory as a political solution. Twenty-eight other countries - mostly African and Arab - have opened consulates in Dakhla or the city of Laayoune, in what Morocco sees as tangible support for its Western Saharan rule.

Persons: Ahmed Eljechtimi, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Western, Polisario Front, UN, Polisario, UN Security, Thomson Locations: RABAT, Smara, Morocco, Western Sahara, Algerian, Polisario, Algeria, U.S, Dakhla, Laayoune

The visit was Staffan de Mistura’s first to the Western Sahara since he was appointed in 2021 to oversee U.N. efforts to guide negotiations that date back more than three decades. Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a conflict with the pro-independence Polisario Front. The region is believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources and is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. The United Nations said in a statement leading up to the trip that he “looked forward to further deepening consultations with all concerned on the prospects of constructively advancing the political process on Western Sahara,” and noted that the visit would precede the publication of a Western Sahara report to the Security Council next month. Morocco referenced its preferred plan to grant the region a form of self-governance that falls short of independence.

Persons: De Mistura, “, Joe Biden hasn't, Mistura's, Joshua Harris, Washington's, Harris, Lounès, ” Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United Nations, Polisario Front, Security, Trump, U.S, Embassy, APS, “, Moroccan Autonomy Initiative Locations: Western, Morocco, Western Sahara, Spanish, Polisario, United Kingdom, United States, Israel, ”, North Africa, Rabat, Algiers, Algeria, Sahara, “ Morocco, Moroccan

☆ Atlas Lionesses: The Moroccan soccer revolution and the players inspiring a generation of girls
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Alasdair Howorth For Cnn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Morocco players celebrate after advancing to the knock out stage of the Women's World Cup. Her impact on the Moroccan women’s team has been equally dazzling. Chebbak’s legend has only grown this summer in leading the Atlas Lionesses at their first ever World Cup. Frustrated with the lack of women’s soccer, Illa and a few friends set up a team of their own. Nouhaila Benzina, pictured alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino, has become a history maker during the Women's World Cup.

Persons: Ghizlane Chebbak, Mohammed VI, King, Chebbak, –, Prince Moulay Abdallah, King Mohammed VI, Cheebak, Khadija Illa, “, Alex Grimm, Larbi Chebbak, Ghizlane, didn’t, Misr El, Paul Kane, ” Chebbak, ”, Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech, Morocco’s, Morocco's, Reynald Pedros, Gary Day, Illa, Colin Murty, Fouzi Lekjaa, Nouhaila, Gianni Infantino, Harold Cunningham Organizations: CNN, of Nations, Morocco women’s, National Women’s Football League, FIFA, Moroccan, Rabat’s AS, AS, CAF Champions League, Confederation of African Football, South, Chebbak, Getty, Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Women’s Football League, CAF Women’s Champions League Locations: Morocco, South Africa, Sahara, Egypt, Germany, South Korea, Colombia, France, Laâyoune, Rabat, soccer, AFP, Moroccan

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own, but the Algeria-backed Polisario front demands an independent state there. The NSC's head, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, met Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita on Wednesday, Morocco's foreign ministry said without offering further details. At that meeting, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said: "I hope we will meet very soon in a different desert but with the same spirit." Moroccan media reported a possible plan to reconvene in the Western Sahara town of Dakhla. Holding it in coastal Dakhla could pose a challenge for Washington, which has never followed through on Trump's pledge to open a U.S. consulate in Western Sahara.

Persons: Yair Lapid inaugurates, Moroccan Foreign Ministry Mohcine, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Donald Trump, Tzachi Hanegbi, Nasser Bourita, Eli Cohen, Israel's, Abraham, Dan Williams, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Christina Fincher, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Moroccan Foreign Ministry, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, REUTERS, Wednesday, Western, Reuters, National Security Council, National Security, Israeli, Abraham Accords, Moroccan, Washington, Thomson Locations: Rabat, Morocco, REUTERS JERUSALEM, RABAT, Sahara, Western Sahara, Algeria, Polisario, Israel, statecraft, Moroccan, Spain, NEGEV, Abraham, Dakhla, U.S, Laayoune, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain

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