SALE: A Moroccan court has sentenced a fourth local man to death for the Islamic State-linked murder of two Scandinavian university students hiking in the Atlas Mountains.
In an appeals hearing, the court also confirmed death sentences for terrorism and murder it had previously imposed on another three Moroccans over the young women's brutal slaying.
All four defendants had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The ruling late Wednesday toughened the initial life sentence imposed in July on 33-year-old plumber Khaiali Abderahman, condemning him to death.
Maren Ueland, 28, of Norway, and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, of Denmark were knifed to death in their tent last December, and the murderers posted video of the slayings online.
Morocco only rarely carries out death sentences. Its last execution was in 1993.
Morocco: 4th death sentence over killing of Nordic hikers
Morocco: 4th death sentence over killing of Nordic hikers
Turkiye seals preliminary deals for largest foreign-funded railway project
- The funding will support the 125 km (78 mile) long Northern Ring Railway Project, which will carry passengers and freight from Gebze to Halkali via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge connecting Istanbul’s two main airports
ISTANBUL: Turkiye has reached preliminary agreements with six international lenders to secure $6.75 billion for a new railway line across the Bosphorus in what would be Turkiye’s largest foreign-financed railway project, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Tuesday.
Once completed, the line that will pass through north Istanbul is expected to carry 33 million passengers and 30 million tons of freight annually, he said, adding that it will open “a new era in logistics” by boosting the country’s rail capacity between Asia and Europe.
The funding will support the 125 km (78 mile) long Northern Ring Railway Project, which will carry passengers and freight from Gebze to Halkali via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge connecting Istanbul’s two main airports.
Preliminary deals were reached with the World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the minister said.
“We aim to complete the tender process and hand over the site this year so that (construction) work can start,” Uraloglu said.
An uninterrupted rail freight across the Bosphorus Strait is currently possible through the Marmaray railway tunnel and only during limited hours daily. According to the ministry’s website, a total of just 1.7 million tons of cargo were transported through Marmaray between 2020 and October 2025.
