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

Ceuta : «Mule women» can now use trolleys when carrying goods

It’s good news for Moroccan «mule women» who carry everyday heavy loads across the borders between the Spanish enclave Ceuta and Morocco. In fact, a new initiative is going to allow these women to carry their goods on trolleys, making it easier and more practical for them, reports AFP on Thursday. The new initiative applied by the Ceuta authorities this month came into force following the pressure put by NGOs, which denounced the frequent incidents in the crossing border.

Morocco’s Walid Azaro is Egypt’s highest-scoring foreigner in a single premier league

Moroccan professional footballer Walid Azaro who currently plays as a forward for Al-Ahly is now the highest-scoring foreigner in a single season of Egypt’s premier league, said Arab News on Wednesday quoting Egyptian sources. The 22-year-old player scored Tuesday his latest goal against the Wadi Degla team reaching in total 18 goals. By this record, the Ait Melloul-native who started his career with Adrar Souss in the third division of the Moroccan league left behind Angolan striker

Quebec mosque shooting : The assailant was targeting Muslims and feminists

While plotting the Quebec mass shooting that killed six people and occurred on the evening of January 29, 2017, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, Alexander Bissonnette was googling Muslim-related information. Recent revelations suggest that he has also visited the website of feminist groups at the Laval University in Quebec to get information about their upcoming activities, La Tribune reported on Monday. A report revealing details about Bissionnette’s

Repatriating Moroccan migrants in Libya is taking longer than expected

The repatriation of Moroccan nationals in Libya, recently announced by the Moroccan authorities, is taking longer than expected. The Libyan Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency announced that seven Moroccan nationals had returned to the Kingdom in the last two weeks while four did the same on April the 2nd as well as three others last weekend, reports Wednesday Alyaoum24. The repatriated Moroccans stopped at the Tunis airport to take a flight to Mohammed V airport in Casablanca, adds the same

Finland : Moroccan knife attacker said he was «in war against women»

Abderrahman Bouanane, a Moroccan asylum seeker accused of killing two people and injuring 8 others during a stabbing attack on the 18th of August in Finland, told the court that he was «in war against women» when he attacked women in central Turku, said Reuters quoting Finnish media sources. The 22-year-old suspect who is being tried on charges of terror-related murder explained that he had been to a mosque before the attack to record a video talking about the «U.S.-led air

Podemos warns against the «threats» Spanish fishermen are subjected to in the Sahara

Two days after granting the EU fisheries council a go-ahead to relaunch negotiations for a new fisheries agreement, Moroccan and European officials are gathered around the same table. This meeting will be held in Rabat from April the 18th to the 22nd, said EFE. EU countries are rushing to conclude this primordial agreement before the expiry of the current one set to end on July the 14th. However, while this initiative has been welcomed by Andalusia, Galacia and the Canary Islands, Spanish

Lloyd’s and Casablanca Finance City launch a London charm offensive for foreign investors

Lloyd’s, an insurance market located in London, which has been granted recently a CFC Status by the Casablanca Finance City Authority (CFCA) of Casablanca Finance City (CFC), an economic and financial hub created in Morocco, launched on Tuesday a charm offensive with the help of the CFC in London to attract British investors to Morocco, said MAP news agency. Lloyd organized a series of meetings with its clients and potential investors in its iconic London building to showcase the

Morocco : U.S. Assistant Secretary answers student visa-related questions on a Facebook live

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl Risch answered Monday, 16th of April, student visa-related questions asked by Moroccan internet users in a 30-minute Facebook live, said a communiqué sent to Yabiladi on Tuesday by the US Embassy in Rabat. Hundreds of internet users interested in carrying their studies in the United States seized the opportunity asking questions about the conditions and procedures to follow in order to be granted a student

Turkey : One of ISIS’ main recruiters in Morocco arrested in Spain

A 26-year-old Moroccan national was arrested on the 6th of April in Şanlıurfa (south-eastern Turkey), following an international arrest warrant issued by the Spanish police. I. J. is suspected of being «one of the leading ISIS’ recruiters in Spain and Morocco who sends [fighters] to Syria and Iraq,» report EFE and Europa Press. According to a press release issued by the Spanish Interior ministry, the Moroccan alleged terrorist «is one of the first 'foreign

U.S. military personnel in Morocco for the Exercise African Lion 18

Combined multilateral exercise African Lion 18 has been launched this month in Morocco and will last until the end of April, said a communiqué issued by the US embassy in Morocco and sent Monday to Yabiladi. Participants from 15 countries representing Africa, Europe and North America will attend the exercise alongside «900 U.S. military personnel». Organized annually and led by the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, the African Lion 18 is created to

Rabat’s Bar Association says court documents must be written in Arabic

All documents presented to courts in Morocco must be translated from French to Arabic, insisted the head of the Moroccan Bar Association in Rabat in a letter sent to lawyers Monday, said Anadolu news agency. The letter published on Monday, 16th of April, on the Rabat Bar Association’s facebook page and signed by Mohamed Barigou calls the nation’s lawyers to «reject the use in court of all documents written in French». «This comes in response to a January ruling

Human Rights Watch launches a new campaign for the LGBT community in the MENA region

International NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality (AFE) have just launched the «No Longer Alone» campaign to raise awareness among people in the MENA region about the LGBT rights through a series of stories and testimonies. Through 16 Arab countries, including Morocco, this initiative gives 34 people the opportunity to come out and tell their stories. Known figures from the above-mentioned countries are among the people who

Sahara : Security Council to start consultations tonight

UN Security Council is to start consultations tonight for the adoption of a new resolution on the Sahara. The draft resolution, already sent to the council’s members, is expected to «call for the final withdrawal of the Polisario elements in the buffer zones and urge the other parties to exercise restraint», a source told Yabiladi. «Unlike last year, Morocco can accept sending a technical committee to the region with the exception that it would not be limited to El

Marrakech : A Spanish tour guide suspected of being a serial rapist

Speaking to the American TV channel NBC, a young student claimed that a Spanish tour guide have allegedly raped her during a trip to Marrakech. In 2013, the South Florida woman went on a trip to Marrakech with a group of friends. They have collaborated with the travel agency Discover Excursions, based in Seville (Spain). According to her, the tour guide Manuel B.V. urged the girls to stay in the hotel by night and asked them to «have a drink» in one of the rooms. Innocently, they

Morocco to apply taxes to Airbnb and Booking.com

Morocco is looking forward to limit the services of Airbnb and Booking.com, online marketplace and hospitality platforms, in an attempt to «level the playing field» for traditional hotels, said Bloomberg on Tuesday. Moroccan officials will apply taxes and regulations on online portal Airbnb, starting form 2019, making up for the damages more than 3,800 hotels and hundreds of travel agencies have been suffering from lately, said Mehdi Taleb, head of regulation, development and

The leader of an Algerian Amazigh group calls for reopening borders with Morocco

While the region is witnessing a huge buffer zone crisis in the Sahara, an Algerian party leader has urged Morocco and Algeria to reopen borders. «Closing of borders separating Algeria and Morocco is an irrational inconsistency», said Mohcine Belabbas, general secretary of the Rally for Culture and Democracy while attending a meeting in Tunis. Last November, Abdelmajid Menasra, vice-president of the Movement for the Society of Peace (Algerian Islamist party) also called for the

Terrorism : Four Moroccan-Dutch nationals arrested in the Netherlands and Belgium

On Monday, the Dutch public prosecutor announced the arrest of four Moroccan-Dutch nationals suspected of plotting a terrorist attack. The arrests were carried out in Oudenbosh, Rosendael and Antwerp, Belgium following the request of the Essen National Prosecutor's Office. Dutch police’ report shows that digital data was seized in three houses in Oudenbosch and Roosendaal, a warehouse in Sprundel, and two houses in Essen and Antwerp. However, neither weapons nor explosives were found in

80 sub-Saharan illegal migrants arrested near the Nador coast

80 sub-Saharan illegal migrants were arrested Sunday, 15th of April, by the Moroccan authorities in Nador while they were trying to enter Spain, reports EFE. The migrants’ attempt to reach Spain was foiled, according to the same source, after the authorities conducted two separate operations in two beaches near the city of Nador. 25 illegal migrants were arrested off the Moroccan coast en route to Spain during the first operation while 55 others, including women and