Morocco, Sudan, UAE.

Today's three stories you should know.

Morocco

Rescuers in Morocco say they are getting closer to a five-year-old boy who has been trapped down a well for four days in an incident that has gripped the nation. The boy, Rayan, appears to have fallen to the bottom of the 32m deep well, which narrows as it descends to such an extent that rescuers cannot go down themselves. They have therefore dug a huge parallel hole from which they hope they can tunnel over to rescue the boy. The hashtag #SaveRayan has gone viral across North Africa.

More from Middle East Eye here.

Sudan

One of the leading anti-coup groups in Sudan, the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, has rejected an attempt by the United Nations to bring it to the negotiating table with military leaders who overthrew the country’s government last October. The pro-democracy activists accuse the UN of failing to condemn the coup outright and of being soft on its leaders. Anti-coup protests have persisted in the streets since a transitional military-civilian government was toppled by the army.

More from Al Jazeera here.

UAE

France is to help shore up the air defence capabilities of the United Arab Emirates after several drone attacks, launched from Yemen by the Houthi armed group, have shaken up the population in the normally peaceful Gulf state. Paris has close military and economic ties to the UAE and maintains a military base there.

More from the New Arab here.