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Morocco Swelters in a Record Heatwave

The sun sets over the old quarter of Casablanca, Morocco’s biggest city. (AFP)
The sun sets over the old quarter of Casablanca, Morocco’s biggest city. (AFP)
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Morocco Swelters in a Record Heatwave

The sun sets over the old quarter of Casablanca, Morocco’s biggest city. (AFP)
The sun sets over the old quarter of Casablanca, Morocco’s biggest city. (AFP)

Morocco was hit by a fiery weekend heatwave that saw temperatures reach nearly 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), the country’s weather service said on Monday.

A statement from the General Directorate of Meteorology (GDM) said Saturday was “the hottest day, with exceptional temperatures never before recorded” in some regions.

“Absolute records of maximum temperatures were broken,” the GDM said, with the highest in the kingdom recorded at 49.6 degrees in Sidi Slimane in the northwest.

The highs exceeded average monthly temperatures for the time of year by between five and 12 degrees.

However, the GDM did predict a drop in temperature over the next two days in the north and east.

Last year was the hottest ever officially recorded in Morocco, with an average national annual temperature 1.4 degrees higher than normal for the years 1981-2010, the GDM said previously.

The heatwave in northwest Africa comes as countries including Spain, Canada and the United States swelter in extreme temperatures.

Scientists say heatwaves have become more likely because of climate change.

As global temperatures rise over time, heatwaves are predicted to become more frequent and intense, and their impacts more widespread.

In May, the World Meteorological Organization and Britain’s Met Office said there was a 40 percent chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily surpassing 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures within the next five years.

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Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.