As members of the UN Security Council are expected to vote a new resolution on the Western Sahara dispute, Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric turned down a question on the territorial conflict in a daily press briefing, held Monday. «There’s a vote tomorrow at the Security Council on MINURSO. Can you update us on what the Special Envoy [Horst] Köhler, is doing? Are the preparations for the third round moving ahead? What
Morocco received no offers in a tender to import 363,636 tons of soft wheat from the European Union, under the preferential tariff trade agreement, announced on Monday the country’s grains office ONICL, quoted by British news agency Reuters. The tender submitted by the Moroccan office «called for wheat to arrive by May 31», the same source said, adding that the country received no answer. The deadline set by ONCIL ended on April 25th. For the record, Agriculture and
In 2018, Morocco’s military spending reached $3.5 billion. During the same period, Algeria spent $9.6 billion on defense, revealed SIPRI in a recent report on global military spending.
According to a biannual economic outlook report made public by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), growth in the Middle East and North Africa region is likely to slow down in 2019. Forecasts presented by the Washington-based international organization suggest that growth in the MENA region is «expected to decline to 1.5 percent in 2019, before recovering to about 3.2 percent in 2020». IMF explains that this downturn is linked to a series of factors, that include «slower
On Monday, Marrakech was home to the first fashion show French luxury label Christian Dior holds in Morocco, Reuters reports. The show was organized to showcase the brand’s new «Cruise» collection, which was attended by several Hollywood stars, including actresses Lupita Nyong’o, Shailene Woodley and Jessica Alba. Dior’s fashion show, held outside the brand’s calendar, was hosted by the El Badi Palace, a ruined palace commissioned by the sultan Ahmad
Moroccan-Belgian professional footballer Mehdi Carcela received, Monday, for the third time the Belgian Lion Award, a football award in Belgium given annually to the best Arab origin player in the Belgian First Division A. Carcela was granted the same award in 2018 and in 2015, reports Belgian newspaper DHnet. The midfielder was handed the award by State Secretary of the Brussels-Capital Region Fadila Laanan. In January, 29-year-old Carcela was ranked second by the Belgian Golden
Scheduled for May 3rd, 4th and 5th, the Triestete Running Festival is making headlines in Italy, after its organizers refused to let African athletes register for its half marathon. Accused of racism, the sports event’s organizers said that they have «excluded African athletes to avoid their exploitation». Speaking to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, organizers said that these measures were taken to make sure that African athletes are «not underpaid», compared to
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-thani, has named Fahad Ibrahim Al-Hamad Al-Mana the country’s ambassador to Morocco, the Qatari News Agency (QNA) announced on Monday. The designation of Qatar’s new ambassador to Rabat was announced six days after Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani received his predecessor Abdullah Bin Falah Al-Dosari at the end of his diplomatic mission in Morocco. سمو أمير البلاد المفدى يصدر
In the 1920s, American Colonel Charles Sweeny proposed to the French to form a squadron to «support France’s war effort in Morocco». The squadron bombed Chefchaouen in a move that was condemned by the U.S. Department of State.
Morocco is Ryanair’s biggest market in the Middle East, wrote Reuters Monday, quoting the Irish low-cost airline’s head. Speaking about expanding the firm’s routes to Jordan, Ryanair’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said that the firm is planning to fly 150 million passengers in 2019, with «the vast majority on routes in the European Union and in non-EU countries, including Israel and Morocco». According to the same source, Morocco tops the list of