Building Collapse Kills 11 People in Morocco's Fez

The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
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Building Collapse Kills 11 People in Morocco's Fez

The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)

Eleven people were killed and six others injured when a four-storey building collapsed overnight in the Moroccan city of Fez, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Rabat, state-owned broadcaster 2M said on Thursday.

Authorities said a search for others who might still be buried was ongoing. Media showed footage of rescuers and residents digging through the rubble, Reuters reported.

An investigation has been launched into the incident, and residents of adjacent buildings were asked to evacuate as a precaution against potential further collapses, authorities said.

Fez, a former capital dating back to the eighth century and the country's third-most-populous city, has seen similar incidents in recent months, including one in December when two buildings collapsed, killing at least 22 people.

In 2010, the collapse of a minaret in the historic northern city of Meknes killed 41 people.

Adib Ben Ibrahim, housing secretary of state, said last year that approximately 38,800 buildings across the country had been classified as being at risk of collapse.



Algeria Orphanage Fire Kills 11

A general view of the capital, Algiers (Reuters file photo)
A general view of the capital, Algiers (Reuters file photo)
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Algeria Orphanage Fire Kills 11

A general view of the capital, Algiers (Reuters file photo)
A general view of the capital, Algiers (Reuters file photo)

A fire burning at an orphanage on the outskirts of the Algerian capital has killed at least 11 people and injured 19, the country's civil defense said Thursday.

The civil defense was "continuing efforts to put out the fire" in the Mohammadia district of Algiers, with the cause of the blaze unknown.

"The provisional toll is 11 dead," it said, without specifying the age of the victims.

Ten of the injured suffered burns of varying severity, while emergency crews evacuated five people ⁠with disabilities from the orphanage to safety, the civil protection agency said.

National television showed Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb visiting the wounded in hospital.

Algeria has been sweltering under a heatwave for several days, and nearly 1,000 fires have been recorded in the space of a week.


Syria Foils Attempt to Smuggle Weapons to Hezbollah from Iraq

Syria's (L) and Iraq's national flags are pictured near the Iraqi-Syrian border, in Al-Qaim, western Iraq on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
Syria's (L) and Iraq's national flags are pictured near the Iraqi-Syrian border, in Al-Qaim, western Iraq on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Syria Foils Attempt to Smuggle Weapons to Hezbollah from Iraq

Syria's (L) and Iraq's national flags are pictured near the Iraqi-Syrian border, in Al-Qaim, western Iraq on January 23, 2026. (AFP)
Syria's (L) and Iraq's national flags are pictured near the Iraqi-Syrian border, in Al-Qaim, western Iraq on January 23, 2026. (AFP)

Syrian authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle in a shipment of advanced weapons and missiles over the border from Iraq, the state news agency ‌SANA reported on ‌Thursday, citing ‌an ⁠Interior Ministry source, ⁠who said preliminary investigations showed the shipment was intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah.

US President Donald Trump ⁠said in June ‌he ‌had spoken to Syrian President ‌Ahmed al-Sharaa about ‌combating Hezbollah.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's office said Sharaa had assured him Syria would not take sides in Lebanon's internal affairs.


Katz: Israel Will Keep Troops in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza 'Security Zones'

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: FILE PHOTO - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: FILE PHOTO - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
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Katz: Israel Will Keep Troops in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza 'Security Zones'

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: FILE PHOTO - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: FILE PHOTO - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Pete Hegseth early Thursday that Israel is determined to keep its forces in "security zones" it has carved out inside Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Katz's office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister "emphasized Israel's determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel's borders and the communities near the border from the threats posed by jihadist forces.”

"We have never asked the United States to act in our place along our borders," AFP quoted Katz as saying.

His comments come days after US President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull Israeli forces out of Syria and Lebanon, according to US news outlet Axios.

Citing a US official, Axios reported that Trump told Netanyahu the Israeli deployment was fueling tensions in Syria.

"They don't want you there. You should redeploy," Trump told him, according to Axios.

After the December 2024 overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

Israel has also carried out repeated incursions into Syrian territory since then, as well as bombings, and has said it wants a demilitarized zone in the country's south.

In Lebanon, Israeli forces remain deployed in what the military describes as a security zone extending roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) into Lebanese territory.

Lebanon and Israel are engaged in talks to end hostilities after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war by attacking Israel in March.

The two countries concluded their fifth round of talks in Rome on Wednesday.

The US-brokered negotiations are aimed at having Israeli forces steadily withdraw from Lebanon, starting with two "pilot zones" located outside the "security zone" that Israel has established in the south.

In Gaza, Israel's military controls 60 percent of the territory and is present on the entire outside perimeter along the borders with Israel and Egypt.