Protests continued for a second week in Morocco's neglected Rif region, and spread to cities throughout the country—bringing together Arabs and Berbers to demand democratic reform.
Protests spread across Morocco as thousands demonstrated solidarity with activists who took to the streets in the fishing port of al-Hoceima and were met with mass arrests.
As Morocco is readmitted to the African Union, it is pushing for the suspension of Morocco-occupied Western Sahara, placing the AU in a difficult position.
The UN International Organization for Migration reports that 2016 saw more recorded migrant deaths than any previous year, with a minimum of 5,079 lost at sea.
As the Paris Agreement took effect, hailed as the first binding climate change treaty, activists charge that it is actually "binding" in name only, with no enforcement mechanisms.
Thousands of Moroccans held protests in several towns and cities after a fish vendor was crushed to death in a garbage compactor while trying to retrieve fish confiscated by police.
The passing of Mohammed Abdelaziz, leader of Western Sahara's Polisario Front, occasioned confusion in media coverage as to the difference between Arabs and Berbers.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, on a tour of North Africa, met with Sahrawi leaders seeking independence from Morocco—but not Berbers seeking independence from Algeria.
The conflict over Western Sahara spilled into Morocco as clashes between Berber and Sahrawi Arab students at universities in Marrakech and Agadir left two dead.
Moroccan-born Younis Abdurrahman Chekkouri, who spent 13 years in the Guantánamo Bay prison, was released to his home country—where authorities prompty detained him.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and related networks are said to control Saharan smuggling routes for Moroccan hashish to fund their regional operations.
Spain's conservative-led parliament passed a law that outlaws unauthorized protests, bans filming police, and allows summary deportations of African migrants.
