A Moroccan Girl

 Morocco announced on Sunday withdrawing its forces from Guerguerat zone, a strait on the Moroccan Sahara territory.

King Mohammed 6 had ordered a unilateral withdrawal from the zone in conformation with the U.N. Secretary General’s recommendations.

The Moroccan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday, that Morocco took into consideration the statement of U.N. spokesperson concerning the dangerous situation in Guerguerat. It announced that in respect of the U.N.’s request, the forces will immediately withdraw.

The spokesman for the U.N. Secretary General had released a statement on Saturday calling on all parties to “unconditionally withdraw all armed elements from the Buffer Strip as soon as possible”.

The standoff in Guerguerat began last year when U.N. troops stepped in after Moroccan troops crossed beyond Moroccan-controlled areas in what they said was a road clearing operation, prompting the mobilization of Polisario forces.

Polisario accused Rabat of breaking the terms of the ceasefire last year by trying to build a road in the U.N. buffer zone. Morocco says it was just a clearing operation that broke no terms of the ceasefire.

Ministry of foreign Affairs released a statement back then saying that it was intentionally done just one month before the return of Morocco to the African union in an attempt to create chaos.

Zambia’s Foreign Minister Harry Kalaba reiterated his country’s previous decision to withdraw its recognition of the self-proclaimed Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, an entity established by the Algeria-backed Polisario front in February 1976.

“I reiterate my statement made on July 9, 2016 in Rabat,” Kalaba told Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) news agency on Saturday.

In his interview with MAP, the foreign Minister reiterated that his country supports the efforts exerted by the U.N. to help the parties find a long-lasting solution to the conflict.

He stressed that Zambia seeks to contribute in a constructive way in these efforts by adopting a position that is neutral and open to the concerned parties and supporting an efficient dialogue.

The Zambian FM added that his country believes that “Morocco’s return to the African Union affords the African family an opportunity to push for this question, which has lasted for a long time, towards a peaceful solution in a spirit of African consensus, dialogue and mutual respect.”

Moroccan boxer, Ahmed Benjeddou (69kg) has won the belt of the Universal Boxing Organization (UBO) by defeating Georgian Giorgi Ungiadze on Saturday night at the Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan in Berkane in eastern Morocco.

Benjeddou, a former undefeated African Champion was in control throughout the entire fight against opponent, Giorgi Ungiadze, reported the Universal Boxing Organization. After 12 rounds the 40-year-old super welterweight boxer managed to win the game.

“Every time he had success it was loudly appreciated by the enthusiastic spectators cheering him on,” the UBO said.

Benjeddou began his professional boxing career in 2009, and racked up a total record of 39 victories, including 26 by KO, and has 32 losses in a total of 71 fights to date.

“With the victory, Ahmed Benjeddou took his professional statistics to 14-0-2 (3), and is now a hero to a whole nation,” Said UBO representative. “He can almost certainly expect a lengthy period of celebration from his proud and patriotic countrymen.”

source moroccoworldnews

Tangier’s Primary Court sentenced two men last Friday after the leak of nearly a one-and-a-half minute video, which became viral on Whatsapp, showing the two men engaged in full sexual acts.

The two accused men are a university student and a real estate agent.

Morocco has repeatedly imprisoned men under penal code article 489, which criminalizes “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex.”

The same article punishes homosexual conduct with sentences between six months and three years in prison and fines of MAD 120 to 1200.

In a previous case of arrest of two men on charges of homosexuality last summer in Agadir, at least 20 Moroccan nongovernmental organizations called for the repeal of penal code article 489.

Despite the 2011 constitution’s  commitment to “banish and combat discrimination against any person, by reason of sex, color, creed, culture, social or regional origin, language, disability or any personal circumstances,” homosexuality remains illegal in Morocco.

Canada’s Immigration Minister, Ahmed Hussen, unveiled Canada’s plans to resettle 1200 Yazidi survivors of ISIS, at a press conference held in Ottawa Tuesday, according to CBC News.

In response to a unanimously adopted motion, tabled by the Conservative party at the end of 2016, the governing Liberal party held a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday where Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced the government’s plan to bring in 1,200 Yazidi survivors of ISIS to Canada.

According to Hussen, 400 have already made their way to the country quietly, aboard commercial airlines. To assist it in making the $28 million cost of the program more manageable, the government is promising to help private citizens and groups to sponsor survivors.

Spearheaded by Conservative immigration critic, Michelle Rempel, the original Yazidi motion provided asylum for an unspecified number of Yazidi women and girls. The only change the Liberal government made to the proposal was to include Yazidi boys as well, who have suffered their own form of trauma as easy targets for ISIS recruitment.

At the press conference, Ahmed Hussen reminded reporters of the special needs the Yazidis will require because of the extensive hardships and genocidal traumas they have experienced.

“Many have experienced unimaginable trauma and vulnerability, both physical and emotional and many will have unique physical, psychological and social needs, such as trauma counselling.”

The resettlement is being carried out at a deliberately slow pace to ensure its smooth operations. They are taking lessons, the immigration minister said, from Germany who welcomed 1,000 Yazidi survivors over the course of one year. “We know from the German experience this involves working in an extremely volatile and dangerous environment, so the security and safety of our personnel, as well as the survivors themselves is of paramount importance to us.”

Asked for her reaction to the government’s announced plans, Michelle Rempel told reporters that the announcement represents a “small flicker of light” for the 1,200 Yazidi survivors. She added that it is her hope that the move inspires deeper discussions at home in Canada and all over the world.

Located on the northern tip of Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, Ceuta is one of only two land borders between Europe and Africa, making it an attractive entry point for many migrants in search of a better life.

Around 500 migrants stormed the 8-kilometer (5-mile) stretch of barbed wire and steel fencing that separates Morocco from the Spanish territory on Friday, in what was the largest incursion in more than a decade.

The border was again breached on Monday, when 356 migrants forced their way into Ceuta. Ecstatic, some kissed the ground shouting, “Thank you lord” and “Viva Espana”.

There are now more than 1,400 migrants waiting to be processed by authorities in Ceuta, which has requested more tents to house the influx of new arrivals.

Western Sahara trade dispute

The crossings come amid heightened tensions between Morocco and the European Union over a bilateral free trade agreement on agricultural and fishery products.

Until late last year, the deal encompassed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975 known for its abundant offshore fishing. But on December 21, 2016, the European Court of Justice challenged Morocco’s claim to the region, ruling that it was not subject to any EU-Morocco trade agreements.

Although the decision was welcomed by the Western Sahara independence movement, Polisario Front, Morocco’s government reacted angrily, issuing Europe a stark warning over immigration if it failed to respect the original terms of the deal.

“Any obstacle in the application of this agreement is a direct attack on thousands of jobs… on both sides, and risks the resumption of migratory flows, which Morocco has succeeded in containing through a deliberate, sustained effort,” the agricultural ministry said in a statement.

‘Morocco will open and close borders as it sees fit’

Morocco’s response has been interpreted by some analysts as an attempt to pressure the EU by hitting the bloc where it hurts: the migrant crisis.

“Morocco’s entire foreign policy is influenced by what’s happening in Western Sahara,” Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a North Africa expert and professor at the Sorbonne University in Paris, told FRANCE 24. “If the EU does not support Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara and turn a blind eye to products coming from this region, then [Morocco] will open and close its borders as it sees fit.”

Europe has been struggling to deal with an influx of migrants fleeing war and poverty in parts of Africa and the Middle East. Italy and Greece are among two of the countries hardest hit by the crisis, with an estimated 344,793 people arriving on their shores in 2016, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

With more and more migrants arriving in Spain each month, there are concerns that the country will soon also be stretched beyond capacity – especially if Morocco halts efforts to control its border with Ceuta.

The last mass attempt by migrants to cross into the Spanish enclave was on New Year’s Day, when more than 1,000 people tried to jump the double fence separating the two countries. The incident left five Spanish and 50 Moroccan border guards injured, including one officer who lost an eye.

Source  France24

Three family members died and four others were injured on Tuesday night following the collapse of their home in the neighborhood of Sidi Youssef Ben Ali in Marrakesh.

The incident occurred at 9 p.m. According to the Wali of Marrakech, Abdelfatah Bjioui, it was caused by the latest rainfall.

Medical sources revealed that a 46-year-old woman was killed instantly while two children respectively 4 and 13 years old, died later at Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech due to injuries.

Three other people were slightly injured and will be discharged from the hospital in the morning, according to the source, the operation of rescuing the wounded people lasted until 2:30 AM.The source said the family had been renting this house for more than 50 years.

The Wali confirmed that the police opened an investigation following the incident, and noted that there were no other damages in the neighboring houses.

Morocco has been ranked 86th in the Index of Economic Freedom established by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank, labeling it a moderately free country.

In the 86th place, Morocco is the best ranked in the Maghreb region, far ahead of its neighbors. Tunisia ranks 123rd, while Algeria ranks 172nd. With a score of 61.5 (against 61.3 last year), Morocco is ranked 9th in the MENA region just ahead of Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran and Algeria, but far behind the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

For over two decades, the Index of Economic Freedom has measured the impact of liberty and free markets around the globe, and the 2017 Index confirms, according to the foundation, “the formidable positive relationship between economic freedom and progress.”

In this 23rd edition published in February, the agency compares 186 countries based on ten criteria, from ownership rights to entrepreneurship. With a liberal view of the economy, the think tank defines economic freedom as “a fundamental right of every human being to control his work and property.”

In its analysis on economic freedom in Morocco, the Heritage Foundation believes that the Kingdom “is benefiting from a commitment to economic reforms that encourage a dynamically evolving private sector.”  

According to the foundation, one of Morocco’s strength resides in its open market, where the level of commercial, financial, and investment freedoms is high:

“Trade is important to Morocco’s economy; the value of exports and imports taken together equals 81% of GDP while the average applied tariff rate is 3.0%. Foreign and domestic investors are generally treated equally under the law. The financial sector is competitive, and there is an ongoing campaign to increase modernization and transparency. The Casablanca Stock Exchange does not restrict foreign participation.”

However, despite all the efforts deployed by Morocco to raise a healthy and just economic environment in the country, and its status a strong reformer in the area of private-sector development, the foundation criticizes the government’s willingness to confront long-standing challenges that require deeper reforms, particularly in connection with the rule of law.

The foundation considers the Moroccan judiciary system as not independent of the palace, and states that “officials engage in corrupt practices with impunity,” before adding that “corruption is a serious problem throughout government and law enforcement.”

Criteria on property rights, integrity of government and judicial efficiency are therefore not well rated. At 37.1%, government integrity is harshly criticized: “Property ownership is weakly protected. The court system is highly inefficient. Corruption is extensive, and the judiciary is strongly influenced by other branches of government. Expropriation is possible even if rare.”

“A large segment of the labor force remains marginalized because of an inflexible regulation of labor.” In the report, the foundation recommends implementing deeper reforms. “Procedures for setting up and registering a private business have been streamlined in recent years. Despite some improvement, labor market rigidity continues to discourage dynamic employment growth.”

A few hours after the announcement, the Observatory of Oukaimeden (South of Morocco), affiliated with Cadi Ayad University, in Marrakesh announced via its Facebook page that Morocco is “taking part in an important discovery in the field of exoplanets.”

“Rehearsing the excellent success of the MOSS Telescope, which as soon as it was installed in 2011, had discovered four new comets and four new geo-cruising asteroids,” wrote Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Director of the Observatory, on his Facebook page.

Benkhaldoun went on to add that with “more than a million measurements sent to the Minor Planet Center, of the International Astronomical Union, the Oukaïmeden Observatory ranks among the 10 best in the world in the discovery of small bodies Solar system. It was also ranked” 7th in 2016 and 37th of all time on more than 500 observatories.”

Further details have not been revealed yet to confirm if there is a match between these announcements.

The discovery will be announced in a press Conference on February 23 in the University’s Headquarters.

The only information revealed thus far, is that the Moroccan discovery “was carried out thanks to the TRAPPIST-Nord telescope installed a few months ago at the Oukaïmeden Observatory.”

Four Moroccan cities, led by Marrakesh, ranked among the top 10 African cities for quality of life in a new survey published Tuesday.

Marrakesh, nicknamed the Ochre City for the walls surrounding its old Medina district, clinched the top ranking, with three other Moroccan cities -- Casablanca, Rabat and Fez -- in the top 10.

"They are cities that are not huge, where real work has been done to improve infrastructure, people's quality of life (and) housing in a stable political context," said Swiss urban sociologist Jerome Chenal, who directed the survey.

The study of 100 cities, which included all of the continent's capitals and its largest urban centers, was based on criteria including social and living conditions, infrastructure, governance and environment.

Johannesburg and Cape Town scored second and ninth, respectively, while Egypt also had two cities in the top 10, Alexandria and Cairo, in the first survey focusing on life in African cities for ordinary people.

"Until now, rankings for Africa were done for investors and expatriates," Chenal told Afrique Mediterranee Business, the Paris-based magazine that commissioned the study.

"We never asked how people lived, whether young or old, rich or poor," he told AFP.

The Mauritius capital Port Louis came fourth, while Tunis was sixth in the study  at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).

EPFL says it will conduct the study each year in the hope of standardizing data on African cities.

But Ouarzazate’s location also makes it a perfect spot for a different kind of out sized production: Morocco hopes to get more than half of its energy from renewable sources in less than 15 years. This part of the country is one of the sunniest places on Earth, so it was a natural site for a sprawling complex of solar power plants named Noor, the Arabic word for "light."

From a sleek new observation tower, you can see rows of gleaming, 20-foot-long curved mirrors stretching out in every direction across the barren plateau — about 500,000 in all.

The curved mirrors concentrate the sunlight like lenses, focusing a huge amount of heat onto long rows of metal pipes filled with molten salts, heating the liquid up to more than 700 degrees. That heat is then used to boil water, make steam and spin turbines, just like a regular power plant.

The technology is called concentrated solar power, or CSP, and as with the photovoltaic panels of more conventional solar power plants, the mirrors here follow the movement of the sun, from its rise over the desert in the east to sunset over the mountains to the west.

But what sets this technology apart is that the power can stay on even after the sun has gone down.

“After the sunset, the hot salt is giving back the thermal energy to the heat transfer fluid, and it goes to produce steam during the night,” says Youssef Stitou, a senior project engineer for Morocco’s renewable energy agency, or MASEN.

The ability to store some of the sun’s energy for up to three hours after sundown addresses a common criticism of solar energy: that it's useless when the sun doesn’t shine.

CSP is hardly a new idea — the first CSP plant was built in California more than 30 years ago — but the concept is starting to get a lot more traction. And it’s potentially transnational for countries like Morocco that have huge renewable energy resources.

Many countries are investing in renewable energy, but few are doing so as aggressively as Morocco. The first phase of the plant, Noor 1, started generating power in 2016, and by 2018, it could become the largest plant of its kind in the world.

But CSP is also expensive. Just the first phase of this three-part project cost nearly a billion dollars. And it could be a risky investment, according to some renewable energy experts.

“Whether they bet on the right technology, they will find out in the years to come,” says Christian Breyer, a professor of solar economy at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland.

Morocco is pumping up its solar capacity fast, but Breyer says it might not be fast enough to keep up with the speed of innovation in the industry. Photo-voltaic panels and batteries to store their output have improved so quickly that they threaten to outshine concentrated solar plants like Noor.

“From that point of view, we will see a race between these two technologies,” says Breyer. “It’s really the question how to get the technology cost-competitive, and for that, they have to grow very fast.”

Morocco is hoping its huge investments in Noor will help bring down prices for concentrated solar technology around the world. But the country is running another kind of energy race, too. Twenty years ago, only about half of Moroccans had electricity. Now, almost everybody does. And the country’s population and economy are growing fast.

“Everyone starts to have his own smartphone, PC, laptop, TV,” says Samir Rachidi, a project manager at MASEN.

Rachidi says if Morocco doesn’t aggressively develop renewable energy, “then our economic growth would be in hostage of foreign fossil fuel.”

Morocco still gets most of its energy from imported fossil fuels, but with so much sun and wind, King Mohammed VI has declared that by 2030 more than half of the country’s energy should come from renewable sources. The king also promised to tamp down demand by making the country 20 percent more energy efficient.

The government is hoping the Noor plant will help it meet those goals. It’s also hoping the project will help kick-start a domestic renewable energy industry that could one day be able to sell cheap renewable electricity to its neighbors.

But royal decrees only get you so far. Morocco’s renewable energy revolution will ultimately have to survive on market economics. And Rachidi says, so far, the numbers don’t always add up.

“Actually, now we are importing like 16 percent of our needs from Spain because they have overcapacity,” he says, “and sometimes it’s really much cheaper to get electricity in Spain than to produce it in Morocco.”

That kind of competition will help determine whether Morocco’s big bet on concentrated solar power will pay off. Rachidi and others here hope that by 2030, they’ll be able to look back on the Noor plant as the laboratory that made Morocco a solar superpower, and not just an expensive mirage in the desert.

WhatsApp was first conceived in February 2009 as "an application that lets your friends and other contacts know what you're up to", focused only on its status feature and without messaging capabilities.

But the service has evolved far beyond that and to celebrate its eighth anniversary on February 24, the company has decided to revamp that first feature by allowing the use of pictures and videos on it. Furthermore, as stated on the blog post, the status updates will also be end-to-end encrypted, as messages exchanged on the service have been since November 2014.

The updated WhatsApp status is another move by its parent company, Facebook, to try to lure users of the Snapchat Stories feature. Back in August last year, Facebook's Instagram announced the release of its own Stories feature, which has received several updates since.

WhatsApp has recently been reviewing its supported platforms to focus on the most-used ones, and has already removed some versions of Windows, Android and iOS from that list.

Source: WhatsApp Blog via MSPoweruser