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

Spain : The government questioned about the safety of Spanish fishermen in Morocco

Spanish Socialist deputies in Huelva, Malaga and Lugo have submitted a series of written questions to the government to know if the Spanish government will ask the European Union to negotiate the security conditions Spanish fishermen are exposed to when operating in Morocco under the fisheries agreement, said Europa Press. Negotiations between the EU and Morocco will start on the 16th of April, the three MEPs Pepa Gonzalez Bayo, Miguel Angel Heredia and Margarita Perez Herraiz said.

«Deep State» : A series produced by Fox and shot in Morocco

«Deep State» is the first big-budget drama series in the U.S. produced by Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa and shot in Morocco. The shooting which started in May 2017 was mostly taking place in Morocco, and most precisely in Casablanca. The city was chosen to represent the «hot and dusty» climate of Beirut where the story’s events take place. As described by the series' lead actor Mark Strong, who plays the role of Max, «Morocco is an instant scene

For some Muslim scholars Queen Elizabeth is descended from the prophet Mohammed

Allah save the Queen, who is apparrently a descendant of Prophet Mohammed, at least this is what some Muslims think. Queen Elizabeth's alleged Muslim origins are making headlines again, reports The Economist. In the Middle East and North Africa several scholars and journalists are trying to figure out whether the 91-year-old monarch is truly of a Muslim ascendence. Referring to an article by Moroccan newspaper Al-Ousboue published March in Casablanca, The Economist suggests that the Queen

Münsten: The assailant is believed to be psychologically disturbed

A van drove into the crowd Saturday, 7th of April, in the city of Münsten (Germany) killing three people and injuring many others. According to several German sources, the driver is a 49-year-old man who is psychologically disturbed. «The assailant has tried before to commit suicide», according to ZDF TV channel while Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German daily newspaper said that the authorities have not found elements proving that it was a terror attack, reports Midi

The Atlas Lions to have three more friendlies before the 2018 World Cup

Morocco's national football team is scheduled to play three friendlies tooling up for the 2018 World Cup to be hosted this summer by Russia starting from June the 14th, said the Royal Moroccan Federation (FRMF) in a statement issued on Satuday. The Atlas Lions will face Ukraine and Slovakia on the 30th of May in Switzerland on the 4th of June, before playing against Estonia on the 9th of June in Tallinn, the same source said. The national team had won its first two friendlies against Serbia

Germany : Three people killed in a vehicle-ramming attack Saturday

A truck drove into the crowd on Saturday afternoon in Münster, a city in western Germany, reports Le Monde. Germany's Interior Minister said three people were killed in the Münster vehicle-ramming attack and about 30 others were wounded, six of them are severely injured. The driver killed himself with a gun after the attack. The police do not exclude that this might a terror-related attack but call to avoid “any kind of speculation”. People were advised to stay away from

Three Moroccan nationals arrested in Spain for smuggling glass eels to Asia

Three Moroccans were arrested in Spain for belonging to a criminal network that smuggles glass eels to Asia, Associated Press reports Friday. Four Chinese citizens and three Spaniards were also arrested in the same operation which has been conducted in March by the European Union’s police body and revealed today. The Spanish Civil Guard seized 460 kilograms of glass eels in southern Spain. They were intended to be sold for 400 million Euros, said the same source. The network takes

Close to Qatar, a British lawyer defends journalist Taoufik Bouachrine

British lawyer Randy Dixon joined journalist Taoufik Bouachrine’s defense committee. The new recruit has published this Friday, April the 6th, a long statement bearing his signature, on Alyaoum24, a newspaper that belongs to Bouachrine. In order to assert the rights of his client, Mr Dixon wielded the threat of «seeking the support of the African Commission of Human Rights and other bodies at the African Union», as well the «Working Group on arbitrary detentions»

Migration : Tangier’s Archbishop compares Europe to Nazi Germany

Archbishop for 10 years in Tangier, Santiago Agrelo, who is known for criticizing the Spanish migration policy, compared the way Europe is dealing with the migration issue to that of the Nazi regime. In an interview with La Voz de Galicia, Santiago Agrelo, who has been campaigning for migrant rights for years, said that today's society is adopting «an attitude similar to that of the Germans at the time of the concentration camps». Although the Archbishop admitted that sometimes he

2026 World Cup : Palestine and Egypt support the Moroccan bid

Egypt and Palestine are added to the list of countries that have showed their support for Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup. The President of the Egyptian Football Federation and member of the FIFA Council Hany Abu Rida has announced that Egypt will back the Moroccan bid, reports Les Lions de L’Atlas. On Thursday, Palestine declared that it is firmly supporting Morocco in its fight to beat the North American joint bid for the organization of the international tournament,

2026 World Cup : A dinner party at the National Assembly to support the Moroccan bid

MP Mustapha Laabid (LREM) announced that the France-Morocco friendship, a group he is heading, will organize at the beginning of May at the National Assembly an evening party to support Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup, reports Atlasinfo. The French Football Federation and the President of the National Assembly, François de Rugy, will participate in the event. «I am organizing in the National Assembly at the beginning of May an evening party to support the Moroccan

Agadir : A military vehicle crashes a car after driving against traffic

On the highway linking Agadir to Marrakech, a traffic accident occurred in the middle of the day in the rural district of Drarga (3 km away from Agadir). Mohamed Reda Taoujni, an eyewitness, told Yabiladi that a military vehicle that was driven on the wrong lane hit a car on Thursday. According to Taoujni, who posted photos of the accident on his Facebook page, said that «the military vehicle’s driver would probably have fallen asleep while driving which may have caused the

The Austrian government wants to ban schoolgirls from wearing the veil

The Austrian government, formed by the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP, conservative) and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ, nationalist), announced Wednesday the drafting of a new bill banning schoolgirls from wearing the Islamic veil, said EFE. «Our objective is to fight against the creation of 'parallel societies' in Austria, which includes wearing the (Islamic) veil in nurseries and primary schools,» said Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to Ö1 radio station.

Muslim communities in Spain worried after the Murder of a Moroccan woman

Muslim community representatives in the municipality of Roquetas de Mar (Southern Spain) have expressed their «worries» after the dead body of a Moroccan woman was found on Saturday 31st of March. They demanded «the Spanish authorities to do everything they can» and «investigate the death», of the Moroccan national said online newspaper Ideal. «We want to know who killed her,» they said. The victim, aged 48 years old, was single and

Polisario : Following a heart attack, Ould Salek transferred to a clinic in Spain

Mohamed Salem Ould Salek had a heart attack yesterday afternoon, and has been in a state of coma since then, said a Moroccan media. «As requested by his family, the Polisario’s foreign minister was transferred in a hurry through a plane from Algiers, where he resides, to a clinic in Seville», a source that required anonymity told Yabiladi. This incident, which has not been confirmed yet by the Polisario’s media platforms, comes only twenty-four hours after the death of

Antonio Guterres recommends extension of Minurso's mandate for another year

The UN Secretary-General has sent members of the Security Council his annual report on Western Sahara. The final copy is similar to the preliminary one released on March 29th. In his report Antonio Guterres called members of the Security Council to extend the MINURSO’s mandate for another year, until April the 30th 2019. The Portuguese diplomat emphasized that , «the socio-economic, humanitarian and security consequences of this protracted conflict weigh heavily on

A Moroccan-Belgian woman paid by Tariq Ramadan to keep quiet

A survey conducted jointly by Mediapart and the Belgian online newspaper Le Vif, provided evidence for the story of a Belgian-Moroccan woman who claimed being granted by Islamist scholar Tariq Ramadan a significant amount of money (27 000 euro) to keep quiet. Their story that lasted 5 years can be summed up in one word: «destructive». The woman identified as Majda. B, believes that her relationship with Ramadan was abusive describing him as «destructive

A man tears off a Moroccan teenager’s scarf after punching her near a beach in Belgium

A 16-year-old Moroccan girl was beaten Friday in Ostend, Belgium, by a man who torn off her scarf, reported RTL Info on Tuesday. The girl who was on a school trip to the city said the man called her «vuil Marokkaans» (bloody Moroccan) before assaulting her. «My daughter and her friend were walking near the beach», said the mother of the victim to a reporter from the same channel. Furthermore, she said that the man pushed her daughter violently and when she turned around