News Flash

A van ran into a crowd in Barcelona

A white van ran into a crowd this afternoon in Rambla, Barcelona's main thoroughfare, right in the city center, AFP quotes El Pais. The Spanish daily, based on several police sources, announced that at least 10 people were killed, while radio Cadena SER, quoted by the Reuters agency, said that the number reached 13 deaths, specifies Le Point. According to police sources, it was a white van. The driver was reported to have left the vehicle and fled. The police launched a major operation to try

Ceuta : border reopened for passage of vendors and wares

The border separating Morocco from Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in the Kingdom, has been reopened on Thursday for the passage of vendors and goods, says EFE. Sources from the local prefecture told the same source that the trade activities were resumed normally today. «On Wednesday afternoon the Ceuta prefecture began allowing Moroccan street vendors, whose livelihood is largely dependent upon trade with the Spanish enclave, to cross at the Tarajal border checkpoint», states

Italy : A Moroccan national drowns after saving a child

Yassine Faid, a 25-year-old Moroccan national, drowned after rescuing a child who slipped from a pedal boat into Lake Bolsena in Capodimonte, near Naples. The young man was on his honeymoon with his wife, says the Italian newspaper Gazzetta di Mantova. The incident took place on the 11th of August in the afternoon. The resident of Roverbella was on vacation at the lake with his wife and some family members to celebrate his recent wedding. Yassine Faid had rented a pedal boat with the daughter

600 migrants rescued in 24 hours by the Spanish coastguard

600 migrants have been rescued in the last 24 hours during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean from Morocco to Spain, the Telegraph reports. Spanish coastguards have saved 593 people on Wednesday, 424 of them in the Giblartar Strait and 169 near Alboran, a small islet in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean, about 50 km north of the Moroccan coast and 90 kilometres south of the Spanish province of Almería. The migrants made it using two rafts, one of them was

Morocco’s GDP to reach 3.2 in 2018, according to the government

The Moroccan government stated on Wednesday 16th of August that the local economy will grow by 3.2 percent in 2018 as compared to this year (4.8%). The government’s expectations are more positive than the ones published by Morocco’s planning agency (HCP) which indicates that the economy will grow to only 2.9 in 2018. The government suggests that the budget deficit will move down to 3 percent of gross domestic products, less than 3.5 percent registered during the current year, as

Cerastes Vipera : A viper that lives in the Moroccan Sahara

Cerastes Vipera is a venomous viper species dwelling in the deserts of North Africa. The reptile is small, it has a large and triangle head with small eyes placed on the junction of the side and top of the head. The Sahara sand viper mostly lives in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Chad and Egypt. In a video published on The 14th of August by Atheris.earth, an association that improves knowledge about reptiles and amphibians, Cerastes Vipera is filmed moving on the

An 11-year-old Moroccan child killed in a car accident in Italy

Ali El Haddachi is an 11-year-old Moroccan kid who was killed in a car accident on Sunday. He was the youngest of his three brothers. Ali was playing football with his friends near his house in Genoa (north-western Italy). At around 7 pm, he was hit by a 57-year-old Italian in his car who was speeding, reports the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, which was quoted by 360. The incident took place in Ferrada di Moconesi, in the region of Val Fontabuona near Genoa. «The child

Western Sahara : Horst Köhler officially appointed as the new personal envoy

The former German President (2004-2010), Horst Köhler was officially appointed on Wednesday, 16th of August, the personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara. A press release sent by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Rabat, declares that «the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has named Horst Köhler, the former German President, as Personal Envoy for Western Saharav. The statement said that Horst Köhler «will

Germany : A Moroccan national detained for threatening to kill his girlfriend’s toddler

A 26-year-old Moroccan national who has threatened to throw himself from the window carrying his girlfriend’s baby is detained in Dresden, capital of the eastern German state of Saxony, and is facing 6 months to 10 years in prison. According to Sachsische Zeitung, a German newspaper, the man argued with his girlfriend on Sunday, then things escalated when he climbed to a window and attempted to jump while holding an 8-month baby. The same source also indicates that the man was holding a

Spain rescues 339 migrants from the Mediterranean

Spanish coastguard managed to rescue 339 migrants that were on seven makeshift boats in the Mediterranean sea, AFP reports. «339 people have been rescued, in seven canoes, between one o'clock in the morning and now,» the spokesman said. The rescued migrants were transferred to Tarifa (southern Spain). Among them at least 19 minors and one baby, says the same person. «The number of boats arriving on the Spanish coast this summer is unusual,» she said. «There are

Morocco and Nigeria create a committee for agricultural insurance

Morocco and Nigeria have founded a steering committee to set up an insurance scheme that would cover the Nigerian agricultural sector, This day reports today. The new committee will have to «use parametric products and leverage on the Moroccan model for crops covering selected areas of between 5000 and 10,000 hectares of land», the same source points out. According to the Nigerian online newspaper, this committee will bring together representatives of the Moroccan Agricultural

The Moroccan team to take part of the 2017 UCI Road World Championships

The Moroccan cycling team will compete in the 2017 UCI Road World Championships scheduled for 17-24 September in Bergen (southern Norway), according to the Royal Moroccan Cycling Federation (FRMC). This qualification comes after the results of the national senior, under-23, and junior teams that will take part of this year’s edition. And it was also included in the program contract concluded by the FRMC with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Moroccan National Olympic

Spain : Morocco's consul in Almería violently assaulted by a Moroccan national

The Moroccan consul in Almería, Hicham Dehane, is on sick leave after being violently assaulted by a Moroccan national. The 29-year-old man beat him in the office, causing a fracture in his left arm, says La Voz de Almería. The incident took place on the 28th of July, after a man named Adil attacked the consul, annoyed by the slowness of the administrative delays in obtaining his passport. The thirty-year-old would first have been shouting before physically attacking the

Azemmour : A man allegedly accused of cannibalism and murder

Local media platforms have reported on Monday, a very shocking murder that took place during the weekend in Azemmour, a coastal town near El Jadida. According to h24info, a man was arrested for murdering a 14-year-old teenager, eating his heart and drinking his blood. Relying on the story published by the daily newspaper Al Akhbar on Monday, the Attorney General of the Court of Appeal in El Jadida «extended on Saturday by 24 hours, the custody of a person accused of murdering his

Donald Trump finally denounces Charlottesville' s events

Donald Trump, the president of the United States has finally denounced on Monday, August 14th the «racist violence» that took place in Virginia and led to the death of a female counter-protester during a rally organized by right-wing activists in Charlottesville, according to AFP news agency. «Racism is evil», he said from the white house. «And those who cause violence on its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other

Morocco holds the first Sambo competition in Ain Diab

Casablanca’s Ain Diab beach has hosted the first beach Sambo competition, according to Inside the Games, a website specialized in bringing the latest news about the world of Olympics, Commonwealth and Paralympic Games. The game was attended by 60 athletes with different age and weight categories. «Almost from the very beginning of the competition, fans from all over the beach began to draw to the site where they passed», said Dalil Scully, president of the Royal Moroccan

Cycling : Anass Ait El Abdia, a Moroccan national to take part of the Vuelta a España

Anass Ait El Abdia is the only Moroccan to participate to the Vuelta a Espana, an annual multi-stage bicycle race that will be held in Spain from the 19th of August starting from Nimes, France and will end on the 10th of September in Madrid. The athlete will represent the United Arab Emirates, reports the official website of the Emirati team. Sporting director, Simone Pedrazzini is confident about winning : «We have a good team, they are all in good shape», he told the

The Sudanese president leaves Tangier quietly

After spending holiday in Tangier, the Sudanese president returned to his country. Omar Hassan Al Bashir will presume his political activities by holding a meeting with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn, expected this Tuesday in Khartoum. A very important visit for both countries. Al Bashir’s visit to Morocco has angered several human rights activists. They have called El Othmani’s government to arrest him according to the two international warrants