Africa

The death toll from Friday’s quake in Morocco has climbed to 2,497, with 2,476 people injured, Morocco’s state news agency reported on Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that more than 300,000 people have been affected by the devastating quake that struck Morocco Friday night. The 6.8-magnitude earthquake has claimed 2,122 lives so far— making it the deadliest the country has seen in decades.

The Iranian foreign minister has extended his sympathy and condolences to the government and people of Morocco over the recent quake that has left hundreds of people dead and many others injured in the country.

More than 1,000 people have been killed after a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck and area southwest of tourist hotspot Marrakesh in Morocco on Friday night, according to state TV.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi cancelled a trip to South Africa because he feared being arrested for his role in the Rabaa massacre, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, a former minister of trade and industry, has claimed.

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush, under fire for meeting with her Israeli counterpart, has been dismissed, senior sources in the government confirmed on Monday.  She left the country on Sunday for Turkey.

Libya's prime minister has suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush and referred her for investigation after Israel announced its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen had met her last week despite a lack of formal relations between the two sides.

Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations have invited six states - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to become new members of the bloc, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa whose country is hosting a summit meeting of the BRICS grouping has confirmed.

Egypt is ready to resume full diplomatic ties with Iran after over four decades without the need for mediators but wants the efforts to patch up ties to remain behind the scenes, a ranking Egyptian official says.

Iranian President, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, is scheduled to fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday to attend the 15th BRICS summit.

The world is confronting an unparalleled water crisis, with five of the most water-stressed countries being Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar, a new report by the World Resources Institute shows.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian left Tehran for Pretoria on Wednesday to attend an economic meeting in the South African city.

A group of US senators and rights activists has urged the Biden administration to withhold a larger portion of US military aid to Egypt, saying the North African country’s human rights record “has continued to deteriorate” over the past year under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

People across Egypt have been left frustrated while struggling to complete daily tasks in the heat because of constant power cuts. The outages, which are primarily affecting villages in Upper Egypt, as well as the Delta region and the capital Cairo, come amidst soaring temperatures of 40C to 50C this year.

The office of South African President has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit of BRICS leaders in Johannesburg next month. The decision was taken by the two nations, it added.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that arresting Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits the country next month for the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg would be a declaration of war with Moscow.

Israel has recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, according to the Moroccan government and a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says the goal of his tour of African countries was “to strengthen the Islamic Republic’s strategic depth.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says Western countries use a raft of measures to put independent states under pressure.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who is on a state visit to Kenya, says the Islamic Republic welcomes the enhancement of relations with all African countries.

Kenyan President William Ruto has officially welcomed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the presidential palace in Nairobi.

The Iranian foreign minister says Tehran welcomes resumption and development of ties with Egypt and Morocco.

Spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned a terror attack on a school in western Uganda, which killed and injured scores of students.

Nearly 3,800 people died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region last year, the highest number since 2017, new data from the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project (MMP) show.

The spokesman of Iran’s administration says the Islamic Republic is fully open to a resumption of relations with Egypt, as Tehran pushes to boost relations with Persian Gulf Arab neighbors and other regional states.