Morocco expels two Norwegians from Laayoune  (Read more...)

Italy : Four Moroccan nationals in the dismantling of a hashish trafficking network

Four Moroccan nationals, aged between 23 and 42 years old, were arrested by the Italian police in Turin, reports the Italian news agency ANSA on Wednesday. The suspects are linked to a drug trafficking network operating in the Borgo Dora district in Turin. «Hashish wholesalers take a commission that accounts for 1,200 euros per kilo», and they sell their goods in the market using the label «Dragoes», indicates ANSA. A police investigation was opened in May and in a

Azilal Province: Three people killed in collision between bus and taxi

Three people were killed and three others injured Wednesday morning following a collision between a bus and a taxi at Douar Aït Oumras (Azilal province), according to local authorities. The accident also resulted in the death of a child and injury to a girl who were by the side of the road after being hit by one of the vehicles involved, the same source said. It added that an investigation was opened to determine the circumstances of this accident.

17 Hirak activists receive prison sentences in Al Hoceima

The Criminal Chamber of Al Hoceima’s Appeal Court sentenced on Tuesday, 30th of October, 17 Hirak activists to prison sentences. These activists protested, in June, against the conviction of leading Hirak figures in Casablanca. Speaking to Arabic-language online newspaper Hespress, Hirak lawyer Abdelmajid Azeriah said that four people from the same group were sentenced to four years in prison. Another activist was sentenced to six years in prison, while seven others received a three-year

Malian, Guinean and Congolese nationals can enter Morocco using eTA

Nationals from Mali, Guinea-Conakry and Congo-Brazzaville will be able to use «Electronic Travel Authorization» (eTA) to enter Morocco.   The information was the subject of a letter sent by the regional representative of Royal Air Maroc in Gabon, Aziz Cherradi, to the headquarters of the national carrier. In this letter, shared online, Cherradi indicates that Malian Guinean and Congolese nationals wishing to travel to Morocco must «from now on request their eTA at least

Migration : Spain to grant Morocco 2.5 million euros to purchase equipment

Spain is to grant 108 vehicles as well as IT equipment to Morocco, Senegal and Mauritania to help them «strengthen the monitoring of their borders», reports Spanish daily El Pais.   The Iberian Kingdom will give Morocco nearly 3.2 million euros, says the same source. Indeed, Morocco will receive by the end of the year «75 vehicles», says the newspaper, quoting a report issued by the Spanish Interior Ministry. The grant was authorized by Interior Minister Fernando

Nador : Morocco foils an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of Ecstasy

Authorities in the Beni Ansar border crossing foiled on Tuesday, a smuggling operation of Ecstasy, says MAP news agency. The investigation led to the arrest of four individuals suspected of being involved in the operation. Two of the arrestees are from Spain while the others are from the Netherlands, said the General Directorate for National Security in a statement. The police have seized 40,172 Ecstasy tablets, hidden in a Spain-plated car, said the same source. The suspects were placed in

The Netherlands refuses to extradite Said Chaou

The Dutch Supreme Court announced on Tuesday, October the 30th, that it is not extraditing Said Chaou, reports Dutch online newspaper BNDeStem. Chaou, who is accused of heading a criminal network, and getting involved in international drug trafficking, will not be handed over to the Moroccan authorities which requested its extradition. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Chaou «might not benefit from a fair trial» in the Kingdom, indicating that his co-defendants were

Football : Hamza Mendyl suspended after receiving 5 yellow cards

Moroccan footballer Hamza Mendyl, who currently plays as a left-back for Schalke 04, was suspended after receiving five yellow cards in the last appearances he made with the German club, reports NRZ. Mendyl is the first Schalke 04 player to be suspended since the beginning of this season. The decision does not surprise his manager Christian Heidel, especially as Mendyl «plays in the same style he had in Lille» and is «only 21 years old». Meanwhile, his coach Domenico

Morocco’s Maryem Amjoun wins the Arab Reading Challenge

Moroccan student Maryem Amjoun won on Tuesday, 30th of October, the Arab Reading Challenge, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The 9-year-old girl was awarded during a ceremony, attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Morocco’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates at Dubai Opera. According to a communiqué issued by the Moroccan Ministry of National Education and sent to Yabiladi on Tuesday, Maryem Amjoun is a third-grade student who

Sahara : Horst Köhler meets the Ivorian President in Berlin

One day before the opening of the G20 Africa Partnership Conference, held in Berlin on Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy to Western Sahara met on Monday with the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouatarra. The latter is close to the Kingdom’s position on many international issues, including the Sahara conflict and Morocco’s bid to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). At the end of the meeting, President Ouattara said on his Facebook account

Weaponry : Morocco purchases F16 Viper fighter jets for its Royal Air Force

Morocco will receive in 2021 the country’s first F16 Viper fighter jet, a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. According to French-language online newspaper Le360, these new fighter jets were ordered by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces from the American aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin. «Morocco was one of the first African countries to express interest in acquiring a number of F16

The next African Union summit to be hosted by Addis Ababa on November the 17th and 18th

The next extraordinary African Union summit will be held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) on the 17th and 18th of November. The meeting will be exclusively devoted to the reforms introduced to better the work of the continental organization. This important project is led by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the current chairperson of the African Union. This change is well perceived by Morocco which is in favor of reforming the Union’s Constitutive Act. While waiting for this meeting, the

Emir of Qatar receives Morocco's DG of Police and National Territory Surveillance

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani received, on Monday in Doha, Abdellatif Hammouchi, director-general of national police and of national territory surveillance, who is on a visit to Qatar to take part in the 12th international event for homeland security and civil defence in the Middle East "Milipol Qatar 2018". The audience took place in the presence of Qatar's prime minister and interior minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, who has met earlier in the day

Morocco : The Royal Navy assists 400 migrants off the Atlantic

The Royal Navy assisted, on the 27th and 28th of October, 397 migrants who were carried by several boats in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, a military source told MAP news agency. 382 migrants, in total, were brought to the ports of Tangier, Al Hoceima and M’Diq, while 15 others were rescued on Monday near Moulay Bousselham and were transported to the port of Casablanca. The boat that was carrying the last group of migrants, broke down, says the same source.  

Migration : Spain's Foreign Minister refers to Morocco’s «shared responsibility»

Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Josep Borrell and his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita have agreed to improve cooperation when it comes to the migration crisis, referring to Morocco and Spain’s «shared responsibility», says Europa Press. Josep Borrell participated in the World Policy Conference, held from the 26th to the 28th of October in Rabat, to discuss the main challenges of the international community. During his stay in Morocco, Borrell met on Saturday his Moroccan

Royal Air Maroc to launch three new routes in 2019

On April, 2019, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is launching three new routes linking Casablanca to three major capitals : Amman (Jordan), Abuja (Nijeria) and Vienna (Austria). According to a communiqué sent by RAM to Yabiladi on Monday, these three routes will be operational three times a week. The flight linking Casablanca to Vienna will be scheduled on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11 am. Flights from Vienna to Casablanca will be at 3:40 pm. The company is also strengthening its network in

Melilla borders : Moroccan-Spanish working groups never met, reveals Borrell

On September the 13th in Rabat, and after the Morocco’s Director General of the Customs Administration met with his Spanish counterpart, the two parties agreed to create a «joint working group» to examine the closure of borders separating Melilla and northern Morocco. Six weeks later, the joint working group never met, said Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell during a press briefing held Saturday, 28th of October. «You know, a month is not enough to

The Muslim community raises money to help the Pittsburgh shooting's victims

Two Muslim groups in the USA have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help the victims of the Pittsburgh shooting which took the lives of 11 people and injured six others on Saturday, 27th of October, says online newspaper the Hill. The American-Muslim community have managed to generate $111,757, a few thousand dollars less than the campaign’s goal, $125.000. Des musulmans américains s’unissent pour venir en aide financièrement (obsèques, soins, etc.) aux