A steady stream of migrants tried to swim to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta Wednesday, after a record influx of arrivals sent diplomatic tensions soaring between Madrid and Rabat.   

Spain has summoned the Moroccan ambassador to explain comments by its prime minister over the Spanish north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which are claimed by Rabat.

The spat comes at a sensitive time in relations between the two countries, in particular over the Western Sahara region, a former Spanish colony claimed by Morocco.

The first Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight landed in the North African kingdom Tuesday to mark the latest U.S.-brokered diplomatic normalization deal between the Jewish state and an Arab country.

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned Morocco's normalisation of ties with the Islamic republic's arch foe Israel, calling it a "betrayal of Islam".

Morocco imposed a lockdown on Casablanca and shut its schools Monday, the day they were supposed to reopen after summer, in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Morocco has rapidly expanded its fleet of drones as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, deploying them for aerial surveillance, public service announcements and sanitisation.

Verdicts are expected Thursday for 24 suspected jihadists accused over the murder of two Scandinavian women beheaded while on a hiking trip in Morocco.

Winding up an 11-week-long trial in an anti-terrorist court in Sale, near the capital Rabat, the defendants are to make their final statements before judges withdraw.

The Moroccan government on Thursday announced a "new social deal" with employers and the main labour unions, under which many workers will enjoy a pay rise.

Dozens of activists linked to the Hirak protest movement that rocked northern Morocco in 2016 and 2017 had prison sentences of up to 20 years upheld by a court of appeal on Friday.

With its watchwords of dialogue and coexistence, the Mohammed VI Institute that trains Muslim prayer leaders to serve in Morocco and abroad was Saturday one of the first stops on Pope Francis's visit to the kingdom.