Morocco's Royal Navy foils migrant hijacking attempt off Tan-Tan  (Read more...)

Madonna puts fun in sexagenarian in Marrakech

To celebrate her 60th birthday in Marrakech, the pop queen, Madonna, mobilized the country’s most talented fashion designers. The diva posted on her Instagram account photos taken by Moroccan contemporary artist Hassan Hajjaj, says French-Language newspaper Le 360. Madonna photographed by Hassan Hajjaj in Marrakech during her 60th birthday party./Ph. Instagram The sexagenarian changed her look to become a modern, chic and edgy Berber woman with a Louis Vuitton head cover. The Moroccan

A Muslim couple denied citizenship for refusing a handshake

A committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, refused to grant citizenship to a Muslim couple after they rejected a handshake and refused to answer questions asked from people of the opposite sex, says Agence France-Press. «We found out that they were not integrated in the Swiss society», said Gregory Junod, mayor of the city located near the Geneva Lake. «When we require to be citizens of a certain country, we must comply with its laws and gender equality», he added. The

Football : Morocco's Munir El Haddadi to stay at Barça for another season

Spanish-Moroccan striker Munir El Haddadi has decided to stay at FC Barcelona for another season rather than be loaned to another club, reports MAP press agency quoting El Mundo Deportivo. The managers of the blaugrana club reaffirmed to the young player their desire to continue the adventure together. According to the technical director of FC Barcelona, Eric Abidal, El Haddadi represents the future of the Catalan club. In May, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected an

Morocco’s Hamza Mendyl joins Schakle 04 on a five-year contract

Moroccan defender Hamza Mendyl signed on Friday, 17th of August, a deal with the German club Schalke 04, reports Reuters. The 20-year-old football player left French club OSC Lille for a five-year contract, one year before the start of the Bundesliga season. Mendyl was part of Hervé Renard’s World Cup squad. He flew to Russia with the Atlas Lions but did not have a chance to play with them, says the same source. He will be joining Moroccan midfielder Amine Harit who has

Saudi Arabia : Several mobile apps to make hajj easier

While two million people are expected to perform Hajj in Mecca, starting from Sunday the 19th, several mobile apps in different languages have been created to facilitate their arrival, says France 24. Dubbed «Smart hajj», this initiative will allow pilgrims to find their way or get emergency medical care from the Saudi Red Crescent, after sharing their location. The Ministry of Pilgrimage has created the «Manasikana» app, which operates as a translator for non-Arabic

Houthies urge Morocco to withdraw from the Yemeni war

Houthies have urged Morocco to withdraw from the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.   A senior Houthi official said that «there is no reason to kill the Yemeni people and support the intervention». This call comes as rumors circulating lately, suggested that Morocco will withdraw from the war. The Kingdom was one of the first countries to join the Saudi war against Iranian-backed Shiite militias in the country. «When Saudi Arabia made its decision,

Huelva Gate : Lawyers launch a crowdfunding campaign to help ten Moroccan farm workers

In Spain, the Association of the Administration of Justice Users (Ausaj) has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for ten Moroccan farm workers in Huelva, reports La Mar de Onuba. These women have filed complaints in May, denouncing sexual and labor abuse. They are, currently, stuck in the Iberian country to attend hearings related to the complaints they lodged. Through a platform called GoFundMe, Ausaj is seeking the help of people who are closely following the case of these

Football : Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri leaves Malaga for Leganès

Morocco’s international footballer Youssef En-Nesyri is leaving Spanish club Malaga to join Club Deportivo Leganés in the outskirts of Madrid, reports local media. Through this transfer, the 21-year-old striker will be playing in Spain’s Primera División after Malaga fell to the second one last season. Reportedly, Leganès has concluded a six-million euros deal with Malaga to secure the transfer of En-Nesyri. The latter was happy to start a new adventure with

A Swedish court rules in favor of a Muslim woman who refused handshake at a job interview

A Swedish court has ruled in favor of a Muslim woman who refused to shake hands with her employer during a job interview, reports Euronews. The Labor Court found, on August 15th, that the 24-year-old woman, who was working as an interpreter in Uppsala (Southern Sweden), was indirectly discriminated against. The court ordered the company to pay her 40,000 Swedish Kroner (€ 3,829). «The Labor Court ruled that refusing to shake hands with someone from the opposite sex was a religious

A Moroccan national denied Spanish citizenship for saying Ceuta belongs to the Kingdom

A Moroccan national has been denied Spanish citizenship for declaring that Ceuta belongs to the North African Kingdom, reports El Faro de Ceuta. When she appeared before the judges, the Moroccan woman did not know the answer to some key questions. In addition to not knowing the president of Catalonia nor the typical dance of the region, the candidate said that Ceuta belonged to Morocco. Therefore, the court decided that she «was not integrated enough to be

An on-site investigation team in Syria to study the repatriation of Moroccan women

A Moroccan-Spanish security team arrived in Syria three days ago to conduct an on-site investigation, regarding the repatriation of Moroccan women held in the north of the country. The information was revealed, Thursday, by Mohamed Ben Aissa, head of Morocco's Northern Observatory for Human Rights (ONERDH). «The team arrived in the area controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces and started interviewing Moroccan women, individually», he told Yabiladi on Thursday, 16th of

Morocco loses five places in the FIFA ranking, one month after participating to the World Cup

After being ranked 41st in the world in June, Morocco lost five places in the FIFA ranking in August. Leaving the 2018 World Cup after losing to Iran and Portugal, the Moroccan national football team is now positioned 46th, scoring 1418 points. The Atlas Lions are ranked behind Ghana 45th and ahead of Bulgaria 47th. Qualified for the international tournament, held during June and July in Russia, the team was ranked 4th in Africa. Morocco dropped in the list, moving to the fifth place in the

Sahara : The Polisario is satisfied with the actions of Horst Köhler

The Polisario is pleased with the efforts made by the UN Special Envoy for Western Sahara Horst Köhler. «He was able to instill a new dynamic in the process of settling the conflict in the Sahara», Khatri Addouh, the Polisario’s «speaker of the parliament» told the Algerian press agency. «Since he was appointed as a personal envoy for Western Sahara, the issue has once again made it to the international scene», he added, reports the

Growth rate to stand at 3.2% in 2019, says Morocco’s Prime Minister

The national growth rate will stand at 3.2% and the deficit at 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, wrote the note on the 2019 draft appropriation bill, elaborated by the Head of Government's office. The note also provides for the continuation of the dynamics of the non-agricultural sectors, which will post a value-added growth of 3.7%, versus 3.3% in 2018, provided that the price oil barrel is 68 dollars and cereal crop reaches 70 million quintals. According to the same source, to

Spain's PP to question Josep Borell on the closure of commercial borders in Melilla

Spain’s right-wing party, People’s Party (PP), urged on Tuesday, 14th of August, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borell to answer questions on the closure of commercial borders, separating Morocco and Melilla, says Europa Press. Following the footsteps of Melilla’s president Juan José Imborda, PP's MP Carmed Dueñas said that the Kingdom’s decision was a «diplomatic slap in the face for Spain which shows that Sanchez is not respected in

Netherlands : A series on Moroccan mafia to be broadcast in October

A series inspired by the book «Mocro-maffia», will be broadcast in October the 11th in the Netherlands, reports Dutch online newspaper Totaal TV. Based on the book published in 2014 and written by two Dutch journalists, Wouter Laumans and Marjin Schrijver, the series sheds light on the new generation of Amsterdam’s criminals for several years, one of the authors told the Telegraaf. The series was produced by Thijs Romer and Moroccan-Dutch producer Achmed Akkabi, known for

A Moroccan national arrested in Spain for stabbing a 21-year-old woman to death

A 21-year-old woman died on Monday, 13th of August, in the municipality of Durcal (Spain), after being stabbed by her partner, a 39-year-old Moroccan national, reports EFE. Around midnight, the suspect allegedly stabbed his girlfriend multiple times. He then left her body near a hospital before fleeing. The hospital’s staff called the police after they tried to save the young woman, who died forty minutes later. The Guardia Civil arrested the alleged killer minutes after his escape. The

Morocco’s insurance Wafa Assurance says its first-half profits fell by 25 percent

Wafa Assurance, Morocco’s largest insurance company, announced on Wednesday, 15th of August, that its profits are expected to fall by 25 percent in the first half of 2018, compared to the same period last year, reported Reuters Africa. The company believes that the drop is linked to insurance-related losses. According to Wafa Assurance’s estimates «profits would be about 400 million dirhams as its insurance losses hit 240 million dirhams» during the first half of the