News Flash

Felipe VI of Spain and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano to visit Rabat on January 9

The King of Spain Felipe VI and his wife, the queen of Spain Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, are expected to visit Morocco on the 9th of January. Invited by King Mohammed VI, the royal couple will spend three days in the kingdom, Spanish daily ABC reports. The visit has not been officially announced yet, but according to the same source, Mohamed VI and Felipe IV will participate in a high-level conference, bringing together two hundred Spanish and Moroccan businessmen. Indeed, the two countries

Helena Maleno : Providing assistance for a person in a dangerous situation is not a crime

Several human rights groups and organizations have signed a joint document supporting the Spanish journalist and activist, Helena Maleno Garzón. The Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH), the Africa-Europe Interact network as well as several other associations, foundations and companies signed the document. The Spanish police accused Helena Maleno of being involved in facilitating illegal immigration, believing that she is helping migrants enter the Spanish

Spain : An alleged member of Spanish-Moroccan Daesh was arrested near Madrid

The Spanish police arrested a man on Monday morning in the Madrilenian town of Majadahonda, for allegedly being part of the terrorist group «Islamic State», said the Spanish Interior Ministry, quoted by Antena 3. The alleged terrorist is a 19-year-old Moroccan national who was granted the Spanish citizenship. He had gradually become radicalized since he was 16 years old. According to the ministry, the young man «had a very advanced stage of indoctrination that he showed

Morocco’s Sherine Hossni named Miss Arab World 2017

Sherine Hossni, a 23-year-old Moroccan national was named on Saturday Miss Arab World 2017 winning the pageant held in Giza, Egypt, reports GDN news. Competing with 16 other contestants, the young student from Tafraout was selected as Miss Arab World –Morocco on November the 22nd in Ouerzazate. Rania bin Ashoush from Algeria and Fawsya Abdul Ridha from Bahrain were respectively named as the first and second runners-up while Fatten Al-Shamsi from the United Arab Emirates and Ghofrane

MMA : Morocco’s Rizlen Zouak beats Jacqualine Trosse in 27 seconds

Rizlen Zouak, a Moroccan MMA athlete defeated on Saturday, 16th of December, her South African rival, Jacqualine Trosse at the Xtreme Fighting Championships, currently held in South Africa. The Moroccan champion announced her victory through her official account on Facebook. The fight was broadcast on the Fight Sports channel, as well as on a Facebook page. Since her first international MMA game on June the 24th in London, the professional judo champion has set herself the challenge of

Mohamed El Bachiri wins the 2017 Equality Prize

The book A jihad of love by Belgian-Moroccan author Mohamed El Bachiri has just won the 2017 Equality Prize, reports literature website En Lettres. The award was received during the fifth edition of the 2017 Equality Festival, held in Gand, Belgium, from the 14th to the 16th of December. Living in the Molenbeek district, Mohamed El Bachiri had lost his wife Loubna Lafquiri, a mother of three children, during the Brussels attacks on March 22nd, 2016. The Zaventem airport and a subway train at

The Real Madrid channel publishes a long documentary dedicated to Achraf Hakimi

The official Real Madrid channel has recently published a documentary about the Moroccan-Spanish football player Achraf Hakimi. For one hour, the program «Campo de Estrellas» («The field of stars») shed light on the journey of the Madrid native player, speaking about his childhood and his first experiences in the field. In the documentary Hakimi’s parents, siblings, childhood friends, coaches and teammates were there to talk about him. «I had been dreaming

Norway adopts a program to support voluntary return and reintegration

In Norway, some Moroccan migrants choose to return to their country of origin. However, they are forced to abandon their decision because of the lack of financial resources. But this situation will change, with the signing on Wednesday of an agreement between the International Organization for Migration in Morocco (IOM) and the Norwegian Embassy, states the IOM in a statement. The initiative is part of the program of assistance for voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) launched by IOM in

Morocco’s admission to ECOWAS is postponed

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa is not giving Morocco an answer on its admission bid in its upcoming summit scheduled for the 16th of December in Abuja, Nigeria, an authorized source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation told Yabiladi on Friday. In fact, the Pan-African organization has decided to postpone deciding on Morocco’s application, the same source explained.

Moroccans detained in Libya: The government is to launch a third repatriation operation

What is the estimated number of the Moroccan migrants detained in Libya? This question has left the Minister of Relations with Parliament, spokesman for the government silent during a press briefing organized on Thursday afternoon. Mustapha El Khalfi, on the other hand, announced that the commission in charge of the file is working on the 3rd repatriation operation but without giving more details. Last week, 235 Moroccan migrants returned home on two planes. Previously, 190 had also

Terrorism : 4 people sentenced from one to three years over terror-related charges

The Sale anti-terror court has sentenced on Thursday, 14th of December, four individuals to between one and three years in prison over terror-related charges. The court also sentenced to one year in prison and fined two other defendants for praising terrorist attacks. Moreover, it has decided to postpone until January the 4th the examination of the case of eight people, including three women, prosecuted over terror links. These eight defendants are accused of «forming a gang as part of

Catalonia attacks : The Abouyaacoub brothers buried in Mrirt

The two young men who took part of the cell that carried the Catalonia attacks in August were secretly buried on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday in their hometown, located in central Morocco. Younes Abouyaaqoub, along with his brother Houssaine Abouyaaqoub, were both shot dead in August, reports EFE news agency. The parents of the brothers asked that the bodies of their two children should be buried in Morocco and not in Spain. A request to which the Spanish judicial authorities

Reporters Without Borders call for the release of Ali Anouzla

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international NGO that promotes and defends freedom of information and press, released on Thursday, 14th of December, a communiqué calling for the release of Ali Anouzla, a journalist whose trial was postponed today. The organizarion also urged the Moroccan judicial authorities to «drop the serious terrorism charges» that are still pending since 2013. «The Moroccan judicial system's conspiracy against Ali Anouzla must

King Mohammed VI is not attending the upcoming ECOWAS summit

King Mohammed VI’s visit to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, has been canceled. Scheduled to the 16th of December, the sovereign is not participating to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), reports Ilaf, a London-based online newspaper. Quoting a diplomatic source, the same source stressed that the king is going instead on a working trip to Guinea Conakry next Monday. The summit was scheduled to be held in the Togolese capital of Lomé in the same period, but the

USA : Scott Pruitt’s work trip to Morocco sparks questions about his expenses

Scott Pruitt, an American Republican politician who is currently serving as the fourteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has just returned from a four-day trip to Morocco, reportes the Associated Press. During his trip to the kingdom, the official held talks with his Moroccan couterparts trying to promote the importing of natural gas. Arrived in the United States of America on Wednesday, 13th of December, Pruitt stated that the trip «allowed us to

Atlantic Currents 2017 outlines the new challenges for Atlantic Africa

The 4th edition of the Atlantic Currents annual report was published today. It was presented during the opening ceremony of the 6th edition of the Atlantic Dialogues conference, organized in Marrakesh by the think-tank OCP Policy Center which also publishes the report. In 176 pages, this document focuses on the contemporary issues that block development in Africa. It is «to promote a new geopolitical construction of this region,» said a statement issued by the

Two killed and three people injured crashed by a wall that collapsed in Casablanca

At least two were killed and three people were injured after a wall collapsed in Mohammed El Khamili avenue, Casablanca, on Wednesday 13th of December, confirmed a communiqué sent to Yabiladi by the local authorities. Two people who died were sitting inside their cars parked near the wall. The two injured were transferred to the Mohammed V hospital right away while firefighters worked on pulling the victims stuck inside their cars, a source on site told

Belgium : A station for coaches heading to Morocco is planned in Brussels

An average of fifty buses travel to Morocco from Brussels during the peak season. The absence of a large bus station often leads bus drivers to park in Stalingrad Avenue or in the surrounding streets. Nevertheless, car traffic in these streets is blocked, reports the Belgian regional newspaper LaCapitale, quoted by the Dutch-language media house Bruzz. Minister of Mobility and Public Works of the Brussels Capital Region, Pascal Smet, came up with a solution. Pascal Smet, in