Polisario-aligned NGO warns French companies against investing in Sahara  (Read more...)

A Moroccan dinosaur tail to help build schools in Mexico

The tail of a Sauropod, a dinosaur that once lived in the Atlas Mountains, spanning Morocco, will be auctioned to raise funds. That money will be used for the construction of schools destroyed by the earthquake that hit Mexico in September 2017, reports the International Business Times, an online economic newspaper. The funds raised after the auction sheduled for Tuesday, January 23, will help rebuild and refurbish thousands of schools that were damaged or destroyed in the disaster. The

A Moroccan national arrested among a group of migrants in Tunisia

25 migrants including a Moroccan national were rescued, on Wednesday, 150 kilometers away from the coast of Sfax, said the Tunisian Ministry of Defense on its official website. They were spotted at dawn, when the harsh weather broke down their boat, according to the same source. Seven Libyans, seven Bengalis, five Sudanese, three Egyptians, a Tunisian, a Moroccan and a Chadian national were among the rescued migrants. The ministry said that the 25 migrants left Monday the coast of Zouara

CHAN 2018 : Morocco beats Guinea (3-1)

The Moroccan football team of local players beat their Guinean peer on the score of 3 goals to 1, Wednesday at the Mohammed V stadium of Casablanca, in the second game of the first round (group A) of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN-Morocco), reports MAP news agency. The three goals of the Atlas Lions were claimed by Ayoub El Kaabi (27th, 64th, 67th minutes), while the only goal of the Guineans was scored by Saidouba Bissiri Camara (28th minute). This achievement allows the Atlas

 AML’s Diagoras ceded to Greek Attica

Diagoras, a ship operating within the Africa Morocco Link, was ceded to BMCE Bank of Africa's Greek partner, Attica, «as originally planned», an authorized source close to the file told Medias 24. The latter indicated that the ferry had been «acquired for 6 months», a period that was renewed twice. The restitution to its previous owners was therefore «contractual». «We are going to replace it soon with a more suitable and less expensive ship in charge

The PSA Kenitra plant wants to target the South American market

The PSA Kenitra plant, a future Moroccan car plant belonging to french car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen, is planning to export vehicles to South America, reports El Periódico de Aragón, quoting Jean-Christophe Quemard Executive Vice-President of Africa- Middle East at Peugeot S.A. In an interview with L'Economiste, the manager stressed the interest the French car manufacturer has for the South American market. «Morocco’s plan is really intended to serve the region. We

Amsterdam : A 14-year-old girl refused entry on a bus for looking Moroccan

A 14-year-old girl was denied entry on a GVB bus in Amsterdam for looking Moroccan, NL Times reported on Tuesday. Her mother Dounia Tapijt, explained that on the 21st of November her daughter and another girl were waiting for bus 38 in Amsterdam Noord, from Elzenhagen to Molenwijk. According to her account the two girls were told by the bus driver that «they had to wait outside». When the teenager asked why, she was told by the same person that he would rather «not have that

The Moroccan authorities prevent 300 migrants from entering Ceuta

Earlier on Tuesday, January 16, most precisely around 7:30, a group of 300 migrants tried to force their way into Ceuta trying to climb the metal fence that separates Morocco from the Spanish enclave, reports the Spanish news website Ceuta TV. The migrants tried to jump over the fence, «which led the Moroccan security forces to temporarily close the border for about 20 minutes before they could jump,» the source added. Following this attempt, security forces from the Spanish Civil

Abdellatif Merdas’ murderer sentenced to death

Hicham Mouchtari, accused of killing in March 2017 MP Abdellatif Merdas, has been sentenced to death, reports Media 24. The accused was found guilty Monday, January the 15th, after a hearing that took place in Casablanca’s Appeal Court. The sentence was required by the public prosecutor. His widow, Ouafae Ben Samadi, his nephew, Hamza Mouchtari, as well as Roukia Shahbou, are all considered as accomplices, actively participating in the commission of the crime. They were sentenced to life

USA’s APHIS lifts the ban on citrus imports coming from Berkane

The U.S is to lift a ban it imposed on citrus imports coming from the Berkane region, reports on Tuesday Fresh Fruit Portal. The embargo on Moroccan tangerines, clementines, mandarins and sweet orange was put when the country detected Mediterranean fruit fly, known as Medfly, in the imports in December 2016. According to the same source, the ban imposed by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture responsible for

The attack targeting a veiled girl in Toronto did not happen, according to police

An incident involving a 11-year-old girl who claimed that her hijab was cut by an individual outdoors «did not happen», according to the Toronto police, reports CTV news on Monday. On Friday, local police said it was investigating about a girl that claimed being attacked by a man with a pair of scissors while going to school in the eastern part of the city. According to the police, the girl was on her way to school when she noticed that a man was trying to cut her hijab with a

Spain’s MCP invests in the construction industry by acquiring a stake in TGCC

Mediterrania Capital Partners, a Barcelona-based private equity fund, is to acquire through its third fund (MC III) a stake in ‘Travaux Généraux de Construction de Casablanca (TGCC)', a building and real-estate company, announced the company in a communiqué sent to Yabiladi on Monday. The new acquisition is set to support the company, founded in 1991 by Mohammed Bouzoubaa and operating in Morocco and Sub-Saharan Africa, through its expansion plan in both the

Masdar installs more than 19,000 solar home systems in Morocco

Masdar, the Middle East’s largest exporter of renewable energy, announced on Monday, 14th of January, at the Abu Dhabi’s Sustainability Week that it has managed to equip around 128,000 homes with solar home systems, reports the Emirates News agency. According to the same source, the company has installed a «landmark off-grid solar power project that extends energy access to 19,438 homes in more than 1,000 rural villages in Morocco». The project entitled «the

Bank al-Maghrib sets dirham band on the first day of the new exchange rate regime

As announced on Friday, 12th of January, Morocco is adopting a new exchange rate. On the first day of this new regime, the dirham is determined within a band of 8.9969-9.4524 Moroccan dirhams to the U.S. dollar set by Bank al-Maghrib, reports Reuters on Monday. This was revealed also by Medias 24, which indicates that every morning; Morocco’s Central Bank will have to determine the currency reference exchange rate against the dirham on the basis of quotations from banks with the status

Orlando Bloom celebrates his 41st birthday in Marrakech

Orlando Bloom, a British-born Hollywood actor, celebrated his 41st birthday in Marrakech, attending the third race of the Formula E season on Friday, 12th of January, reports E News. Accompanied by his famous friend, Leonardo DiCaprio, the star mostly known for his epic role in the film series Lord of the Rings, quad biked in the desert all while posing with Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of Formula E. He also drove one of the race cars with the help of Sam Bird, ABB FIA Formula E Champioship

Morocco is in the process of launching a $4.6 billion natural gas project

Morocco will soon accept bids for a $4.6 billion natural gas project, reports Bloomberg on Sunday quoting Energy Minister Aziz Rabbah. In an interview in Abu Dhabi, he said that the Kingdom is intending to «process gas for power and provide gas to industry». «This is a project to build an integrated plant to process gas», he said indicating that the bid will be for a group to build the industrial unit as the financial and technical consultants were chosen. The

Toronto : Schoolgirl gets her hijab cutt off

On her way to school, a young girl was assaulted on Friday in Toronto because of her hijab, reports The Guardianaq and La Presse. Khawlah Noman, 11, was approached by an individual in his twenties. The latter cut off the girl's veil using a pair of scissors, according to Toronto police. Je pense de tout cœur à Khawlah Noman, qui a lâchement été attaquée ce matin à Toronto. Le Canada est un pays ouvert et accueillant. Les attaques de ce genre ne

A train crashes into fence in Casa Port railway station

In the afternoon, a train coming from Settat crashed into fence on Saturday at the Casa Port train station in Casablanca. A source at the station told Yabiladi that the passengers were safe and sound. The Moroccan National Railways Office (ONCF), on the other hand, did not explain the reasons behind this accident, but our source told us that it was due to a brake problem, which prevented the train from stopping completely. The fence was hit and the locomotive was damaged. The same source

CHAN Morocco-2018 : Morocco beats Mauritania (4-0)

The Moroccan football team of local players beat its Mauritanian counterpart by 4 to 0, on Saturday at the Mohammed V sports complex of Casablanca, in a game of the first round of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN-Morocco), that will run from Jan. 14 to Feb. 4. Morocco scored its goals thanks to players Ayoub El Kaabi, Ismail El Haddad and Achraf Bencharki. This victory helped the Atlas Lions to rank first, awaiting the second game that will be played by Guinea and Sudan.