shifts

The Moroccan Sahara dispute is one of the most persistent and complex regional conflicts in North Africa, lasting over forty years. This ongoing disagreement involves the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is supported by Algeria. The conflict centers on sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national identity, making it a highly sensitive and crucial issue for regional stability.

In this ongoing dispute, China’s role as an emerging global power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council is particularly significant. China’s involvement is strategically important due to its increasing influence in international affairs and its promotion of a multilateral approach to global stability. As a result, China’s position on the Sahara issue holds critical strategic importance, not only for Morocco but also for the broader regional and international community.

Recently, Moroccan scholars and researchers have been actively examining and questioning China’s stance on the Sahara conflict. They ask whether China recognizes the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 as a valid political solution. There is also an ongoing debate about whether the Chinese Communist Party holds a neutral position or leans toward supporting one side. These questions are important because they influence how Morocco and its allies perceive China’s diplomatic approach.

Furthermore, experts are eager to determine China’s official stance on Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern territories. Given China’s foreign policy focus on non-interference and respect for territorial integrity, the analysis assesses whether China follows these principles in this situation or if its actions suggest a departure. Overall, China’s changing position in this dispute has significant implications for regional stability and the future diplomatic landscape of North Africa.  

First: The evolving strategic landscape of Moroccan-Chinese relations

Since the announcement of the strategic partnership between Morocco and China in May 2016, bilateral relations have experienced significant growth across various sectors. These include the economy, infrastructure development, energy projects, technological progress, and higher education initiatives. Morocco also actively participated in China’s ambitious “Belt and Road” initiative, which aims to enhance connectivity and foster economic cooperation among participating countries. Through this involvement, Morocco has established itself as a key financial partner for Beijing in North and West Africa, strengthening regional ties.

This expanding cooperation and engagement have transformed Morocco into a strategic launchpad for China’s broader strategy in Africa. The partnership has enhanced the country’s international reputation, presenting Morocco as a stable, open, and welcoming partner for foreign investment and diplomacy. Furthermore, this strengthened relationship has indirectly influenced China’s stance on the Moroccan Sahara issue, where China has adopted a more cautious, pragmatic, and balanced approach, demonstrating a deeper diplomatic understanding and respect for regional sensitivities.

Second: China’s stance on the Moroccan Sahara issue

China’s official position at the United Nations is neutral, consistent with its traditional foreign policy principles of non-interference and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

During discussions on extending the MINURSO mission’s mandate, China emphasizes the need for a realistic, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution. It advocates for the “continuation of dialogue” between the involved parties, refrains from harsh language toward Morocco, and seeks to maintain a balanced tone while not recognizing the Polisario Front as a sovereign state. Although this position seems “neutral,” it implicitly supports Morocco’s sovereignty.

Third: China’s position on the Moroccan autonomy proposal

In 2007, Morocco proposed its autonomy initiative as a practical political solution within the framework of national sovereignty for the ongoing conflict, and this initiative gained support from many major countries in Africa, as well as in the Arab and Western worlds, including France, the United States, Britain, Germany, and Spain.

Regarding China, it did not explicitly support or oppose the initiative but expressed indirect approval, noting that it “contributes positively to international efforts to find a solution to the conflict.” Since then, China has not opposed the Moroccan proposal but has shown tacit acceptance, especially when calling for “realistic and viable” solutions.

Fourth: Factors Affecting China’s Position

Many key factors and influences shape China’s stance on the Moroccan Sahara issue.

The principle of sovereignty and national territorial integrity: China rejects any efforts at secession, as it faces similar challenges within its territory, such as those in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet. Therefore, it tends to support countries that uphold their territorial integrity, although it has not explicitly stated this.

Relations with Algeria: Despite the increasing closeness between China and Morocco, Algeria remains a key energy partner for China, especially in the gas sector. This leads China to carefully balance its diplomatic efforts to protect its interests with both countries. Investing in regional stability: China believes that regional stability benefits its economic interests, so it prefers peaceful and stable solutions to disputes without supporting separatist movements that could cause chaos or armed conflicts.           

Fifth: Is China’s stance shifting?

This question poses a challenge for researchers and those interested in the Moroccan Sahara conflict, as increasing signs suggest a possible gradual shift in China’s stance in the years to come.

– Growing Chinese trade and investments in Morocco, including the Mohammed VI Smart City project, the Atlantic port in Nador, and solar energy initiatives.

– Enhancing strategic visits and high-level diplomatic meetings between China and Morocco.

– China’s diplomatic language, like “realistic solution” and “viable political solution,” hints at autonomy and is a key reference for the Moroccan autonomy proposal.

– China’s ties with the West, especially the U.S., are weakening, pushing China to build and diversify its alliances in the Global South, including with Morocco.

In conclusion, it can be said that the Chinese Communist Party’s approach to the Moroccan Sahara issue is marked by a kind of “thought-out neutrality,” balancing core principles of Chinese foreign policy with increasing strategic interests in Morocco. Despite China’s public commitment to the policy of “neutrality,” its diplomatic and economic actions imply implicit support for Morocco’s sovereignty over its deserts, or at least a practical acceptance of the autonomy initiative. Therefore, in light of international geopolitical shifts, Morocco has a strategic opportunity to strengthen its ties with Beijing and convince it that supporting the autonomy proposal does not conflict with its political and diplomatic principles but aligns with its vision of global stability.  

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) — Despite an apparent reversal on mass layoffs, the Department of Veterans Affairs is still planning a workforce reduction, prompting legal challenges, staff unrest and warnings from frontline nurses who say the cuts will harm the very veterans the VA is meant to serve.

The VA has signaled it would not move forward with mass layoffs initially envisioned, but recent developments show the agency is still on track to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs by the end of 2025.

Internal contracts and legal challenges suggest broader restructuring efforts are underway, yet the scope and restructuring framework is unclear, raising concerns among lawmakers, unions and frontline workers about their potential impact on veteran care and employee rights.

In a VA press release last week, the agency secretary, Doug Collins said the “VA is headed in the right direction,” thanks to departmental reviews conducted since March.

“A department-wide [reduction in force] is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA. Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving veterans that we will continue to pursue,” Collins said.

30,000 employees to be cut

The VA, which employs over 467,000 medical professionals, administrative staff and others, also announced the press release that it’s on track to reduce its workforce by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of fiscal year 2025 through retirements, resignations and attrition.

The department says this voluntary path eliminates the need for a formal reduction in force.

However, that conflicts with a $726,000 contract signed in May by the VA and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to prepare for a mass layoff. The contract was prepared because the VA said it lacks the internal expertise for such a wide-scale restructuring and requires OPM to supply seasoned human relations specialists to guide layoffs.

Neither the VA nor OPM responded to multiple phone and email requests for comment on the status of the contract. And, so, the VA’s actual plan remains mired in lack of information and confusion for employees, veterans and congressional representatives.

A VA spokesman said Monday that the department is “in the process of winding down that contract with OPM.”

Of the 83,000 VA positions Collins previously set as a goal to cut, according to the department’s latest update, the agency had shed nearly 17,000 positions as of June 1, with another 12,000 departures expected by Sept. 30.

“Nobody in their right mind thinks you can cut 80,000 workers and not cut resources to the veteran,” said Irma Westmoreland, chair of the Veterans Affairs division of National Nurses United, who was reacting to the original plan.

Nurses skeptical

VA nurses on the front lines remain skeptical that reduced staffing can be carried out without affecting patient care, one of their union representatives said. The VA is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing services at 1,380 facilities to more than 9.1 million enrolled veterans each year, according to the agency.

“The VA says nurses and doctors won’t be affected, but that just means they’re cutting all the support staff,” Westmoreland said. “That’s still going to impact patient care.”

Westmoreland said the VA has failed to include frontline staff in restructuring discussions, and that the resulting fear and confusion already have caused widespread staffing shortages. That’s because many have decided to retire or switching to another health care system.

The remaining staff is facing burnout by being assigned additional tasks outside of their role to fill the staffing gaps, Westmoreland said.

“People who can retire are retiring. People just hired are leaving. And the rest of us are being stretched thin to do non-nursing work like cleaning, delivering trays, even transporting patients,” she said.

Although the VA plans the staffing cutbacks, the department is requesting $441.3 billion in fiscal year 2026, according to its budget request released in May. Paradoxically, that is a 10% increase from the 2025 fiscal year budget.

Budget approved in House

House Republicans approved a $435.3 billion budget on June 25, but the Senate must prepare its version of the spending plan. The Military Times noted that “the plan is unlikely to pass as its own standalone measure, but instead is expected to be approved sometime this fall as part of an all-of-government spending package.”

The VA said the funding increase, if it happens, would be prioritized toward health care, benefits and national cemeteries.

Much of what is coming has not been shared with Congress, and congressional staffers who work for the House Veterans Affairs Committee say they are in the dark about the agency’s plan.

“VA indicated to the committee in June that they are ‘allowed to do planning, but no execution’ of a reduction in force,” a committee statement said. “They have developed recommendations for an RIF for VA Central Office positions, but that plan has not been signed off on.”

Requests ignored

Staffers also noted that repeated requests for documentation by Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee have been ignored, raising questions of whether veterans will be negatively impacted by the proposed changes.

“We continue to have serious concerns about the effects of VA’s plan because details remain so limited,” said a Democratic staffer who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak for the committee. “We are conducting an ongoing investigation into VA’s workforce reduction efforts.”

Meanwhile, legal challenges to President Donald Trump‘s March 2025 executive order to mandate sweeping federal workforce reductions had complicated VA’s path forward.

The order was initially blocked by a federal court, but the Supreme Court lifted that injunction Tuesday, allowing agencies like VA to resume planning for workforce cuts while the legality of the order is still under review.

In a separate lawsuit, a federal judge in California issued a preliminary injunction in June against the Trump administration for stripping federal workers of their union rights.

Unions file suit

Six major unions — National Nurses United; American Federation of Government Employees; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; National Association of Government Employees; National Federation of Federal Employees; and Service Employees International Union — filed that suit.

In a June press release from National Nurses United, the unions argued that Trump’s order violated the First and Fifth amendments by taking away collective bargaining rights without due process from nearly 1 million federal employees. Westmoreland said the case is critical for protecting care quality and the rights of VA staff.

“Collective bargaining rights are critical for union nurses so we can advocate for our veterans and ensure they get the care they deserve,” National Nurses United’s Westmoreland said. “We will fight for our veterans who put their lives on the line for us.”

The court has temporarily stopped the administration from stripping federal workers of their union rights. The injunction is still in place while the lawsuit plays out.

Representing veterans as president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2092, Robert Malosh said the administration’s actions have created a culture of fear and uncertainty among staff.

Life-threatening gaps

Malosh, a veteran, recounted the union’s role in addressing life-threatening gaps in emergency care at the main VA hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“For almost 30 years, [certified registered nurse anesthetists] were expected to respond to emergency airway calls from home. We identified that risk and bargained for 24-hour on-site coverage,” he said. “Just last month, a CRNA told me they saved a life. If they weren’t already in the building, that veteran would have died.”

Malosh said that cases like this spotlight the value of unions in identifying blind spots and advocating for both staff and veterans. He described a troubling case involving podiatric surgeries being delayed due to administrative interpretation of care eligibility rules, potentially placing diabetic veterans at risk of amputation or worse.

He also pushed back against a VA back-to-office mandate, calling it a disruptive change that was poorly planned and worsened care delivery.

Back to the office

According to the VA, it announced its back-to-office mandate Feb. 3, ordering all employees, except those with approved arrangements, to work full-time at their assigned duty stations.

The announcement followed Trump’s presidential memorandum Jan. 20 for a back-to-office mandate across all agencies and departments in the executive branch, according to the White House.

Malosh said a number of issues arose with that mandate: For one, employees struggled with Wi-Fi issues due to the influx of people connecting, causing disruptions for telehealth medical appointments.

Also , mental health professionals who had been working privately from home were moved to shared offices and cubicles, causing veterans to feel uncomfortable due to lack of privacy. Malosh said some veterans saw people in the background of a private call.

As the VA moves forward with plans to reduce its workforce, questions remain about the long-term effects on veteran care and employee stability.

With ongoing legal challenges, congressional scrutiny and staff uncertainty, the future of the agency’s restructuring efforts and their consequences for the nation’s largest health care system remain unresolved.

Riyadh-based club Al Hilal and the Saudi Pro League (SPL) have made a habit of making international headlines in recent years, but almost exclusively it’s been for off-field matters involving money and player transfers.

Whether it was Brazilian superstar Neymar’s 90-million-euro ($98m) blockbuster signing in 2023 and subsequent departure 17 months later after playing just seven games, or their unsuccessful attempts to lure other big names like Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen, the club and league are never far from the headlines at this time of year as the summer transfer window kicks into gear.

And now, once again, the whole world is talking about Al Hilal – but for an entirely different reason.

For once, they’re talking about the football because Al Hilal has only gone and defeated Manchester City – a star-studded side that has won four of the past five English Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League title two year ago – in the Round of 16 at the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) in the United States.

As far as world football’s elite clubs go, Pep Guardiola’s side sit right near the very top. But on this night in Orlando, now etched in Saudi football folklore, they were no match for Al Hilal; the thrilling, see-sawing encounter ending 4-3 after a simply remarkable 120 minutes of football that heralded the arrival of Middle East club football onto a global stage.

Al Hilal’s historic victory makes them the first Asian club to beat a European club in a FIFA tournament.

Al Hilal’s coach, Simone Inzaghi, who only joined the club a few weeks after guiding Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League final in May, likened the challenge to climbing the world’s tallest mountain.

“The key to this result was the players, and the heart they put on the pitch tonight,” the 49-year-old Italian said.

“We had to do something extraordinary because we all know Manchester City, that team. We had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and we made it.”

Heroes across the park

Towards the end of the game, the Everest metaphor was apt because Al Hilal’s stars were completely exhausted; the hot and humid weather conditions, along with the enormity of the occasion, conspiring to sap almost every last ounce out of their being.

But they simply refused to give in or give up. Despite conceding three goals to City, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was a brick wall between the sticks, making numerous heroic saves to keep Al Hilal in the contest during the first half.

Striker Marcos Leonardo could barely walk by the end of the game, but his iconic celebration of what proved to be the match-winning goal will be remembered by Al Hilal fans for a long time to come.

Key midfielders Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic may as well have worn gladiator armour, such was their fight and determination, while unheralded Saudi players such as Nasser al-Dawsari and Moteb al-Harbi made a name for themselves on the sport’s biggest stage.

“All the players were exceptional in everything, in the possession phase, the non-possession phase,” Inzaghi continued.

“It is barely three weeks that we are together and you can see the level of application, they really put the effort in. As a coach clearly that is very satisfying.

“The lads delivered that performance, they have reached the quarterfinals.”

Pre-match, few pundits gave Al Hilal more than a puncher’s chance of victory against the defending CWC champion Manchester City, who had a perfect 3-from-3 winning record in the group stage.

City, a super team known around the world, had multiple opportunities to win the match but failed to capitalise at key points late in the contest. Their stunning defeat to Al Hilal will likely be the subject of post-tournament revisionism that attempts to downplay the importance of the CWC to mega clubs at the end of a gruelling, 10-month 2024-25 campaign.

But what of Al Hilal? They, too, were at the end of a long, and ultimately unsuccessful campaign, finishing second in the SPL behind Al Ittihad and falling at the semifinal stage of the AFC Champions League Elite.

Like their City counterparts, when you include international football, many of Al Hilal’s stars had played more than 50 games this season and faced three taxing CWC fixtures in the intense heat of an US summer.

But they also came into this game devoid of three of their regular starting XI, including two of their most important attacking threats in Aleksandar Mitrovic and Salem Al-Dawsari.

Together, they combined for 55 goals and 25 assists in all competitions this past season, leaving an unbelievable void in attack; while Hassan al-Tambakti, a central defender who is the preferred partner of Kalidou Koulibaly in the heart of defence, was also sidelined after injuring his knee in training on the eve of the game.

It meant Neves, their best midfielder, was deployed in the heart of defence, forcing other reshuffles across the pitch.

Against a stacked Manchester City side that had replenished its stocks significantly ahead of this tournament, this was a game that Al Hilal would ordinarily have had no right winning.

But this is also why football is the beautiful game; the impossible made possible.

The scenes of celebration in the dressing rooms, and across the cafes and streets of Riyadh in the early hours of Tuesday morning, were reminiscent of another of Saudi football’s recent milestone moments – their 2-1 win over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar.

The shockwaves of this result will reverberate around the football world in the same way. After two years of distraction about money and potential star acquisitions at Al Hilal, this match was the coming-out party for club football in Saudi Arabia.

Acting Enforcement Director Cara Petersen has served with the United States agency since it was founded.

The top remaining enforcement official at the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has tendered her resignation, saying the White House’s overhaul of the agency has made her position untenable.

Acting Enforcement Director Cara Petersen, who has served at the agency since its creation nearly 15 years ago, said that current leadership under US President Donald Trump “has no intention to enforce the law in any meaningful way”, according to an email first obtained by the Reuters news agency.

“I have served under every director and acting director in the bureau’s history and never before have I seen the ability to perform our core mission so under attack,” Petersen wrote in an email.

“It has been devastating to see the bureau’s enforcement function being dismantled through thoughtless reductions in staff, inexplicable dismissals of cases, and terminations of negotiated settlements that let wrongdoers off the hook.”

Petersen’s departure comes four months after the agency’s enforcement and supervision chiefs also resigned amid efforts by President Donald Trump to dismantle the CFPB.

An agency spokesperson and Petersen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In addition to seeking to cut the CFPB’s workforce by about 90 percent, acting Director Russell Vought and chief legal officer Mark Paoletta have said they will slash agency enforcement and supervision and have dropped major CFPB enforcement cases en masse, including against Capital One and Walmart. The agency has even revised some cases already settled under the prior administration.

The dramatic changes come as Republicans have complained for years that the CFPB, created in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, is too powerful and lacks oversight. Democrats and agency backers contend it plays a critical role in policing financial markets on behalf of consumers.

“While I wish you all the best, I worry for American consumers,” said Petersen in her email. A federal appeals court in Washington has yet to decide on the Trump administration’s effort to undo a court injunction blocking the agency from firing most agency staff.

The College Football Playoff will go to a more straightforward way of filling the bracket next season, placing teams strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions.

Ten conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director came to the unanimous agreement they needed Thursday to shift the model that drew complaints last season.

The new format was widely expected after last season’s jumbled bracket gave byes to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State, even though those teams were ranked ninth and 12th by the playoff selection committee.

That system made the rankings and the seedings in the tournament two different things and resulted in some matchups — for instance, the quarterfinal between top-ranked Oregon and eventual national champion Ohio State — that came earlier than they otherwise might have.

“After evaluating the first year of the 12-team Playoff, the CFP Management Committee felt it was in the best interest of the game to make this adjustment,” said Rich Clark, executive director of the CFP.

The five highest-ranked champions will still be guaranteed spots in the playoff, meaning it’s possible there could be a repeat of last season, when CFP No. 16 Clemson was seeded 12th in the bracket after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey was among those who pushed for the change in the second year of the agreement, though he remained cautious about it being approved because of the unanimous vote needed.

Smaller conferences had a chance to use the seeding issue as leverage for the next set of negotiations, which will come after this season and could include an expansion to 14 teams and more guaranteed bids for certain leagues. The SEC and Big Ten will have the biggest say in those decisions.

As it stands, this will be the third different playoff system for college football in the span of three years. For the 10 years leading into last season’s inaugural 12-team playoff, the CFP was a four-team affair.

The news was first reported by ESPN, which last year signed a six-year, $7.8 billion deal to televise the expanded playoff.

Pells writes for the Associated Press.

The US-Israeli plan to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, amid the use of starvation as a weapon of war, enables Israel to “force the ethnic cleansing of a huge part of Gaza’s population”, argues Matt Duss, the executive vice president of the Center for International Policy.

United States President Donald Trump visited the Middle East, which saw a shift in US policy on Yemen, Iran, and Syria.

Duss tells host Steve Clemons that the Democratic Party would be wise to learn from Trump’s foreign policy. “The Democrats have completely left the antiwar, pro-diplomacy, pro-peace lane open for Donald Trump to fill,” he says.