RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Refusing to let a tumultuous soccer game strain diplomatic and economic ties, Morocco and Senegal pledged Monday to give fresh momentum to their relationship and boost trade and investment between the two African nations.
The prime ministers of Morocco and Senegal signed 17 agreements in the Moroccan capital Rabat on increasing investments in sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, fisheries and mining.
The signings came a week after the chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final between the two countries that saw Senegalese players walk off the field protesting a penalty and fans trying to storm the field. Rights groups in Morocco described a surge in hate speech following the match, which Senegal won 1-0.
“Those excesses must be understood as emotional outbursts produced by fervor and not as political or cultural rifts,” Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said at the opening of a Moroccan-Senegalese joint commission in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
“The friendship between Morocco and Senegal is stronger than emotions,” Sonko added.
Officials in both countries say the relationship is anchored in strong economic ties.
For Senegal, a heavily indebted West African nation, Morocco is a leading African investor. Senegal is seeking to attract investment from abroad, and Morocco has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Senegal’s banking, energy and agricultural sectors. Morocco is also home to a large Senegalese community.
For Morocco, Senegal is a key export destination. Morocco shipped more than $200 million worth of goods to Senegal in 2024, and has sought to expand its economic and diplomatic footprint across Africa as part of a broader strategy to strengthen its continental influence. The North African kingdom is also home to the influential Tijaniyya Sufi order, whose followers include large numbers of Senegalese disciples.
Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said the relationship between Morocco and Senegal is based on “solid foundations.” He added that the two countries remain “faithful to the spirit of brotherhood, solidarity and respect.”
Senegal's Sadio Mane holds the trophy aloft as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Youssef Loulidi)
Morocco's Achraf Hakimi, left, and Senegal's Sadio Mane battle for the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Youssef Loulidi)
Senegal supporters clash with security services after a controversial penalty was awarded to Morocco late on during the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Youssef Loulidi)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aiming to shake up the Golden State's media landscape, the California Post launched on Monday with a new tabloid newspaper and news site that brings a brash, cheeky and conservative-friendly fixture of the Big Apple to the West Coast.
The Los Angeles outpost of the New York Post will be “digital first” — with social media accounts and video and audio pieces — but for $3.75 readers can also purchase a daily print publication featuring the paper's famously splashy front-page headlines. Perhaps most memorably: 1983’s “Headless Body in Topless Bar.”
“The most iconic thing about the New York Post, and now the California Post, is that front page,” said Nick Papps, editor-in-chief of the LA newsroom. "It has a unique wit, and is our calling card, if you like."
Monday’s inaugural edition goes straight at Hollywood during awards season with the full-page headline: “Oscar Wild - Shocking truth behind director Safdie brothers' mystery split.”
Papps declined last week to reveal what stories his reporters were chasing and what bombs the political columnists will throw in its first editions. But he promised the growing staff of between 80 and 100 will focus on issues important to “everyday, hardworking” Californians, including homelessness, affordability, technology and “law and order.”
Of course, the Post's infamous gossip column will get a Tinseltown version, Page Six Hollywood, that will keep a snarky eye on red carpets and celebrity culture. And sports fans can expect comprehensive coverage of the state's major league teams, as well as the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Papps said.
“No matter what your politics are, sports is the great connector,” he said.
Adding another title to Rupert Murdoch 's media empire, the California Post will draw from and build on the venerable New York paper's national coverage, which is known for its relentless and skewering approach to reporting and its facility with sensational or racy subject matter.
“There is no doubt that the Post will play a crucial role in engaging and enlightening readers, who are starved of serious reporting and puckish wit,” Robert Thomson, chief executive of Post corporate parent News Corp., said in a statement last year announcing the move. In typically punchy Post fashion, he portrayed California as plagued by ”jaundiced, jaded journalism."
The California Post could make an impact with its combative style and conservative stance, said Gabriel Kahn, professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, who added “our statewide press is boring as bathwater," especially when it comes to politics. He expects a major target to be Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has possible presidential aspirations and has become a Republican boogeyman.
Readers shouldn't anticipate that the new publication will become known for breaking big stories through old-fashioned journalism, Kahn said.
“There’s a crass cleverness in the way that tabloids present news that actually works well on social media,” he said. “It could be entertaining.”
Kahn doesn't expect the California Post will turn a profit. He points out that the New York Post isn't a big moneymaker for News Corp., but rather it serves another purpose, which is “to bludgeon its enemies” and curry favor with people in power on the right.
Nonetheless, the corporation's New York Post Media Group, which includes several media properties, is a player in both local and national politics. It routinely pushes on culture-war pressure points, and it has broken such political stories as the Hunter Biden laptop saga. The Post has an avid reader in President Donald Trump, who gave its “Pod Force One” podcast an interview last summer.
However bold its intentions, the venture is being launched into a turbulent atmosphere for the news business, particularly print papers. More than 3,200 of them have closed nationwide since 2005, according to figures kept by Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. The online world spawned new information sources and influencers, changed news consumers' tastes and habits, and upended the advertising market on which newspapers relied.
California, with a population of nearly 40 million, still has dozens of newspapers, including dailies in and around Los Angeles and other major cities. But the nation’s second-most-populous city hasn’t had a dedicated tabloid focused on regional issues in recent memory. Meanwhile, venerable institutions like the Los Angeles Times have been hit with major layoffs.
The launch of a paper edition of the Post “defies logic" as news outlets in major metro areas are rapidly shrinking their print footprint, said Ted Johnson, a media and politics editor for Deadline in Washington, D.C., who reported in Los Angeles for 28 years.
“But Rupert Murdoch, his first love is print,” Johnson said.
The first issue of the tabloid newspaper The California Post is offered for sale at a bookstore in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The first issue of the tabloid newspaper The California Post is displayed in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - The New York Post is seen at a newsstand in Manhattan, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz, File)
