RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Flash floods caused by a storm in northern Morocco killed at least four people as the country struggled with days of heavy rain and water releases from overfilled dams that forced mass evacuations, local authorities said Sunday.
Three children — a girl and two boys aged 2 to 14 — and a man in his 30s died in a car that was swept away in a village near Tétouan, about 270 kilometers (168 miles) north of the capital Rabat, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry citing local authorities. Another person remains missing.
Local authorities said they will open an investigation into what happened.
The flash floods were caused by a storm system known as Marta, which moved into Morocco over the weekend and dumped up to 92 millimeters (3.6 inches) of rain on some northern cities, Houssine Youabed of Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology told The Associated Press. Storm Marta also reached neighboring Spain and Portugal.
Days earlier, another storm, Leonardo, hit northern Africa and the Iberian peninsula. In Morocco, it overfilled dams and rivers, damaging homes and crops, triggering minor landslides and forcing more than 150,000 people to evacuate.
The turbulent weather has also secured at least a year’s supply of drinking water for Morocco and boosted resources for the country’s critical agricultural sector, officials said, providing relief after a yearslong drought.
A mother and her son evacuate through a flooded street road after heavy rainfall in Ksar El Kebir, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo)
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday, exit polls indicated.
Polls by the country’s three main broadcasters suggested the moderate Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with around 70% of the votes, compared with about 30% for Ventura. Most official results were expected by 11 p.m. (2300 GMT).
The ballot was an opportunity to test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Enough) party the second-biggest in the Portuguese parliament, as well as gauge the public appetite for Europe’s increasing shift to the right in recent years.
Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal’s center-right minority government, repudiating Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.
He won the backing of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to halt the rising populist tide.
In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead with no executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions.
However, the president is an influential voice and possesses some powerful tools, being able to veto legislation from parliament, although the veto can be overturned. The head of state also possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is called an “atomic bomb,” the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
In May, Portugal held its third general election in three years in the country's worst bout of political instability for decades, and steadying the ship is a key challenge for the next president.
Ventura, an eloquent and theatrical politician, has rejected political accommodation in favor of a more combative stance.
Making it through to the runoff was already a milestone for Ventura and his party, which have recalibrated Portuguese politics.
One of Ventura's main targets has been what he calls excessive immigration, as foreign workers have become more conspicuous in Portugal in recent years.
“Portugal is ours,” he said.
During the campaign, Ventura put up billboards across the country saying, “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare.”
Although he founded his party less than seven years ago, its surge in public support made it the second-largest party in Portugal’s parliament in the May 18 general election.
In March, the winner will replace center-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.
Ballot papers at a polling station during the Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, casts his ballot in Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, arrives at a polling station before voting in Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
Presidential candidates Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, right, and Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, shake hands before a television debate ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election, in Lisbon, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, arrives for a television debate with opponent Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election, in Lisbon, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Presidential candidate Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, waves to the crowd during a campaign rally ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election in Lisbon, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)
