Educational astronomy project to tour Morocco in November  (Read more...)

Football : Moroccan international Marouane Da Costa joins Ittihad Jeddah

Saudi club Ittihad Jeddah announced on Saturday, January the 5th, that it signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Moroccan international footballer Marouane Da Costa. The Saudi club posted on its Twitter account a video showing the signing of the contract with Da Costa, who has been playing with Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir. It also noted that the Moroccan player passed the medical tests in Dubai. Da Costa took part alongside the Atlas Lions in the final phase of the 2018 World Cup

Tangier : Police arrest two French nationals for drug trafficking

The prefectural service of the Tangier judicial police arrested, Friday, two French nationals, one of Moroccan origin and the other of Tunisian origin, for their alleged involvement in possession and trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances. The national police (DGSN) said in a statement that initial data shows that the suspects were using a plant seed and gardening equipment store to deal in drugs (chira and cannabis). Searches inside the store and the apartment shared by the two

Imlil killings : The Swiss suspect was in direct contact with ISIS, says BCIJ director

More details on the Swiss-Spanish national accused of having links with the killing of the two Scandinavian tourists near Imlil have been made public by the director of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), Abdelhak Khiame. Interviewed by Swiss newspaper 24 Heures and quoted by French-language newspaper Le Desk, the Swiss suspect was radicalized in Geneva after converting to Islam. According the same source, the Swiss national who also bears a Spanish citizenship is a

The next African Union summit scheduled for the 9th of February in Addis Ababa

The 32nd Ordinary Summit of the African Union will be held in the Ethiopian capital from the 9th to the 11th of February, says the continental organization. The meeting will discuss «refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa : Towards durable solutions to forced displacement». The Executive Council (of Foreign Ministers) will start working on the resolutions that have to be submitted to the Presidents for approval. It is clear that, unlike the summit held in

Unlike Morocco, Mauritania allows its nationals living abroad to vote during elections

Just like Algeria and Tunisia, Mauritania has just granted its nationals living abroad the right of taking part in parliamentary elections. On Friday, January the 4th, Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), a body that runs elections in Mauritania, shared the final lists that includes the names of candidates running for four parliamentary seats granted to Mauritanian diaspora in Africa, Asia, Europe and America, said the Mauritanian Press agency. The vote is scheduled for

Migration : The European Union says aid granted to Morocco will be delivered soon

After Spain's secretary of state for migration Consuelo Rumi announced that she would fly to Brussels to enquire about the money the European Union is granting Morocco, the body responded in a letter sent on Friday, January the 4th. In a letter, the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said that aid granted to Morocco won’t be delayed, reports Spanish news agency Europa Press. The Commissioner stressed that

One third of women arrested for terrorism in Spain are Moroccan

«Nearly 35% of women arrested for terror-related cases in the last decade in Spain are Moroccan», concluded a study conducted by the two criminologists Ariadna Trespaderne and David Garriga. These 21 women were aged between 19 and 25. They were mostly single with a migration background, explains the study quoted by online newspaper Ceuta al dia. 60.9% of these women are Spanish and 34.8% of them are Moroccan. 56.5% of them were born in Spain and 39.1% in Morocco. On the other

Tourist arrivals up 8.5% in Morocco by end of November

A total of 11.3 million tourists visited Morocco in the first eleven months of 2018, up 8.5% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Tourism Observatory. The number of foreign tourists increased by 15%, while the arrivals of Moroccan expatriates rose by 2%, said the Observatory which has just published its statistics on tourism in Morocco for November 2018. The increase of foreign tourists concerns several countries, including Italy (+ 15%), Germany (+ 10%), France (+

An ONCF train runs off its rails near Casa Port railway station after collision

An ONCF train derailed on Friday morning near Casa Port railway station in Casablanca. The incident took place at around 8am. The reasons behind the train’s derailment are not known. Contacted by Yabiladi, a source within ONCF, Morocco’s national railway operator, confirmed the information. The same source stated that «it was a minor accident that did not impact rail traffic». Meanwhile, ONCF has not communicated on the incident yet. Meanwhile, ONCF reacted to the

Moroccan international footballer Mbark Boussoufa joins Saudi club Al Shabab

Moroccan international footballer Mbark Boussoufa has signed a contract to join Saudi club Al Shabab during the winter mercato. The Saudi club announced on Thursday on Twitter that its management board chaired by Khaled Al-Baltan has signed a professional contract with Moroccan national team captain Mbark Boussoufa, noting that the contract is operational until the end of the season. Before joining Al Shabab, Boussoufa (34) played for the Emirati Club Al Jazira the previous year.

Spain : Nearly 20,000 Moroccan women to work in strawberry fields in Huelva

Around 20,000 Moroccan women will be hired to pick strawberry and red berries in Spanish fields, in Huelva, said the Spanish Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security. The last campaign hired 5,000 women, the same source indicated, adding that 11,500 seasonal workers have already been sent to Spain in the past. On the other hand, 7,500 of these workers are being hired for the first time. Selecting women expected to take part in this campaign will take place on the 17th, 18th and 19th

Imlil killings : 7 new suspects, including a Swiss-Spanish national, before examining magistrate

The public prosecutor at Rabat Appeal Court presented on Thursday to the examining magistrate seven new suspects, including a Swiss-Spanish national as part of the investigation on the killing on Dec. 17 of two foreign tourists near Marrakesh (Imlil commune). The public prosecutor said in a statement that the seven new suspects were brought to the examining magistrate in conformity with the additional petition to question them about terrorist acts, including forming a gang to prepare and

A high school teacher arrested in the US for trying to traffic a girl in Morocco

An American junior high school teacher was arrested on Wednesday, January the 2nd, for trying to «arrange for men in Morocco to have sex with an underage family member», reports local online newspaper Waco Tribune-Herald quoting officials in Texas. Settled down in Mexia, a city in Texas, the suspect was arrested after she returned from Morocco. The woman had allegedly made «arrangements last month to take the girl to Morocco and meet with men to allow them to have sex with

ISESCO proclaims 2019 year of Islamic cultural heritage

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), proclaimed 2019 year of heritage in the Islamic world in application of the resolution of the Tenth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers. In a statement released on the occasion, ISESCO invited Member States to take the necessary measures to celebrate this great event and underscored the importance of the civilizational and cultural heritage, in all its tangible and intangible manifestations in preserving the collective

Decapitated woman in Oued Ifrane : Police arrest three people with alleged links to the tragedy

Less than eight days after authorities found the body of a decapitated young woman in Oued Ifrane, three people were arrested in addition to the first suspect. On Tuesday, the investigating judge at the Meknes Appeal Court decided to put the main suspect in pretrial detention and prosecute the three other people. According to daily newspaper Al Akhbar, quoted by Le 360, the three new arrestees are the taxi driver who drove the victim home the day she was murdered, the employer of the alleged

Morocco dismantles a migrant-smuggling network in Tangier

Policemen in Tangier dismantled, on Thursday morning, a criminal network involved in organizing illegal emigration operations and human trafficking activities, national police said in a statement. Investigations led to the arrest of three people and the owner of a house in which there were 17 would-be immigrants, including 14 Algerian nationals, the source added. Policemen seized Algerian passports and identity cards, lifejackets, a zodiac inflator, mobile phones, sums of money and two cars

Football : Moroccan striker Khalid Boutaib to join Egypt’s Zamalek

Moroccan international player Khalid Boutaib, 32, is expected to join Egyptian club Zamalek. According to a source within the club, Zamalek is «interested» in the Atlas Lions’ striker who currently plays for Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor, says 2M.ma. Reportedly, Khalid Boutaib was going to Cairo to meet the Zamalek president, Mourtada Mansour. Meanwhile, Turkish media announced that the player has already signed a contract with the club for 2 million euros. Khalid

Da Costa, Hakimi and Ziyech in the African team of the year

Weekly magazine «France Football» has selected three Atlas Lions, namely Manuel Da Costa, Achraf Hakimi, and Hakim Ziyech, for its African team of the year, reports MAP news agency. The names of the three Moroccan internationals appear alongside other football stars in Africa, including Egypt’s Mohammed Salah, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly, and Sadio Mané. Yassine Bounou, a Moroccan footballer who plays currently for Girona FC, was