Rabat - Real Madrid arrived on Sunday night in Rabat. The team is spending its first night in Morocco at Rabat's Sofitel Jardin des Roses.

Real Madrid players will have to travel to Marrakech, 300 km south of Rabat, to play their first match of the tournament.

In a statement released on its official website, FIFA announced that “due to difficult pitch conditions at the Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah Rabat, the FIFA Organising Committee has decided after consultation with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to play match 4 (Cruz Azul FC v. Real Madrid CF) in Marrakech and not in Rabat as previously scheduled. The match will kick-off on Tuesday 16 December at 19:30 local time.”

Rabat - Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said, that moving his team's semifinal clash against Cruz Azul to the Grand Stadium in Marrakech instead of Complex Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, does not constitute any obstacles to the Spanish giants.

Speaking to the press upon his arrival at Rabat-Sale airport, the Italian coach said that his team is ready for all the possibilities and that changing the game's venue does not cause the Los Blancos any problems.

Real Madrid squad arrived in the capital Rabat on Sunday evening led by the team president Florentino Perez and the club's talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rabat - The Moroccan national team of American football will represent the African continent during the upcoming American Football World Cup set to take place in Sweden between the 4^th and 18^th July 2015.

The Moroccan team of American football won the African championship on Saturday at the expense of the Egyptian team with a score of 26-6, in Egypt.

Speaking to Moroccan Hesport website, the president of the Moroccan Association of American football (ANMFA), Ahmed Belkadi said that the Moroccan national team of American football has made it to the World Cup in spite of the difficult circumstances and the lack of financial resources.

He added that the game against the Egyptian team was not at all easy given the significant pressure faced by the Moroccan team that was caused by the presence of thousands of fans supporting the team of Egypt.

The Moroccan Association of American Football had launched an online call for donations to finance their trip to Egypt, since the financial resources of the ANMFA are very limited and has always operated with the help of volunteers and fans.

Rabat - The Ministry of Sports has reportedly suspended two high-ranking officials from their duties following the disastrous state of Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.

The Ministry has reportedly stripped Karim Akkaoui and Mostapha Azeroual, respectively the ministry's secretary general and director of Sports, from their signing authority in order to "ensure the smooth running of the investigation" it has launched to find out who will be held accountable.

The Minister of Sports and Youth, Mohamed Ouzzine, announced that his Ministry will form an investigative committee that will enquire into all the stages of the Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah’s pitch installation with natural turf.

Mohamed Ouzzine went on to add that this investigation aims to find out who will be held responsible for the poor condition of the pitch of Rabat’s stadium on Saturday.

According to sources cited by Le360 news website, representatives of Valtech, the company in charge of the installation of the turf, presented documents showing that they had attracted the attention of the Ministry of Sports to the fact that the turf commissioned for the Complex Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah was not suitable.

The company, which was awarded four contracts worth 27 million Dirhams, went on to add that the turf was also different from the one installed in the Grand Stadium of Marrakech, Adrar Stadium in the city of Agadir and the Moulay El Hassan stadium in Rabat.

However, the Ministry of Sports insisted to install a turf similar to that of Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu despite the warnings of Valtech voiced through official letters.

The same source added that following Saturday’s scandal Valtech have been pressured by the two Ministry officials to issue a press release to assume responsibility for the turf's poor condition.

Due to heavy rain in Rabat, pools of water appeared on the field, which created significant problems for the players at Saturday’s game between Cruz Azul and the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Due to the poor condition of Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, FIFA announced that the Club World Cup Semifinal between Cruz Azul and Real Madrid, scheduled to take place in Rabat, has been moved to the Grand Stadium in Marrakech.

Rabat - An armed gunman has taken siege of the Lindt Chocolat Café in Sydney’s Martin Place. An undisclosed amount of hostages were in the café, with reports of up to forty people inside. The event is currently being described as a single individual’s terrorist attack.

The gunman, Man Haron Monis, is a 49 year-old Iranian refugee who came to Australia in 1996 after being granted political asylum. He has self-described himself as a Muslim cleric. Mr. Monis has a long history with the law and is currently out of jail on bail after being an accessory to his former wife’s murder while also facing more than forty sexual and indecent assault charges. He was also convicted for sending offensive letters to families of deceased Australian soldiers.

Monis reportedly entered the café at around 10 AM wearing a backpack and a black bandana. He disabled the automatic sliding glass doors and forced patrons to put their hands in the air after revealing a sawed off shotgun. He later forced hostages to press a black flag bearing white Arabic text of the shahada against the café window. Extremist jihadist groups commonly use this flag worldwide. There are reports that Monis demanded for the flag of the Islamic State militant group to be delivered to the café, though these remain unconfirmed.

At around 3:40 PM, five hostages including two Lindt employees were released from the café, running to the Australia police for safety. It is believed that Monis released them to read his demands to local media outlets, however police have urged for the demands not to be reported.

Mr. Monis had been in contact with police by forcing one of the hostages to list his demands to them over the phone. He has also forced hostages to be in contact with local media outlets.

While hundreds of heavily armed police circled around the café, Sydney’s entire CBD was put on lockdown. The immediate area surrounding the café was completely closed off to the public, with New South Wales premier Mike Baird urging affected workers to work from home until the situation is contained. In address to the Australian public, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described the situation as, “profoundly shocking,” after meeting with The National Security Committee of Cabinet twice in the past day.

At 2:31 AM, police confirmed that the siege is over. A male hostage ran from the café after 2:06 AM, with another group of hostages following suit. Gunshots were heard as police stormed the café. At least two hostages were visibly injured. Police have not yet released a full statement on the extent of the injuries or the fate of Man Haron Monis, but they have confirmed that the siege is over.

By Jack Stanovsek

Rabat - With the apparent Islamic extremist link to the recently resolved hostage situation in Sydney, many Australian social media users have fought back against Islamaphobic reactions from their fellow citizens.

When Rachael Jacobs, a local Sydneysider, noticed the Muslim woman sitting next to her on the train silently removing her hijab, she told her to keep it on. “I’ll ride with you,” she tells the woman.

The reaction from the Australian public to a terrorist attack has been described as hopeful and a model to follow by for the Western world: don’t judge an entire group based off of one individual’s actions.

Rabat - Moroccan national Zaki Moussaoui has been appointed director of Power Systems Architecture at Tech giant Apple.

An executive power system Architect with over 20 years of power system experience, Zaki Moussaoui has more than sixty international patents and applications on topics encompassing digital control, CCFL drive/control, isolated topologies, modules, automotive, LED Drivers and Solar power management.

Moussaoui worked as Systems Architecture Division Vice President at power management company Exar Corporation from February 2012 until June 2014.

He also worked before that as a senior manager for ten years at another power management company Intersil, specializing in the development of highly efficient power management and precision analog technology for applications in industrial, infrastructure, mobile, automotive and aerospace.

Rabat - Saàd Eddine El Otmani, chairman of the National Council of Justice and Development Party and former Minister of Exterior Affairs, revealed that an autopsy was performed on the body of the late Abdullah Baha, who died in a train accident in Bouznika last Sunday.

After the Moroccan public became suspicious of Baha’s death, Saàd Eddin El Otmani posted via Facebook that an autopsy had indeed been performed on the late minister’s body.

Though Facebook users insisted for more detail on the autopsy as well as the postmortem report itself, El Otmani did not relay any more information.

The former Minister published this information after reportedly closely following Moroccan social media users who continue to ask for an open investigation into Abdulah Baha’s death. Many find it suspicious that Baha was checking the scene of Socialist Union Party MP Ahmed Zaydi’s death when the train accident occurred.

With the Abdulah Baha dying last Sunday and buried the following morning, many question whether one day was enough time to perform an autopsy that yielded accurate results.

Rabat- The initial investigation into Moulay Abdellah Stadium's field conditions in Rabat during the quarterfinal match of the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday the company in charge of the stadium's construction cut corners when designing the field's drainage system.

Mohamed Ouzzine, Minister of Sport, claimed that after the immediate investigation, the company did not construct the necessary drainage system for the stadium, resulting its near flooding Saturday.

He explained that the company constructed with the sports complex's maintenance conducted earlier reports defending its quality, sacrificing the credibility of the report's findings.

Recent conditions in the stadium spurred the FIFA Club World Cup committee to move the semifinal match between Cruz Azul and Real Madrid, scheduled to take place on Tuesday in Rabat, to Marrakech.

Rabat - Eight days after he lost his Abdelllah Baha, his closest companion and friend, Morocco’s Prime Minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, lost his sister on Monday.

His sister Meriem Benkirane who lives in the city of Casablanca died after battling against a long illness.

A new tragedy that will deepen the sorrows of the Benkirane family just a week after the tragic death of Abdullah Baha, Abdelilah Benkirane's right hand and long-time friend.

Rabat - Local authorities in Casablanca have reportedly denied that plans exist to build a 114-story skyscraper in Morocco’s economic capital.

Two weeks ago, the Saudi Bin Laden Group, the world’s largest construction firm headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, announced that it is moving forward with plans to build the tallest skyscraper in Europe and Africa in Casablanca, Morocco.

The tower was reported to be 514m tall, and the project is valued at over $1.5 Billion.

However, local authorities in Casablanca, denied the report, saying that there are no plans to build the skyscraper.

Hespress quoted head of the Urbanization and Development Agency of Casablanca Anfa (AUDA) Khadir Lamrini as saying that “neither his agency nor the administrative region of Greater Casablanca received any project to build Africa’s tallest tower in Casablanca.”

“There is no project to build a 540-meter tall tower in Casablanca. The tallest tower in Casablanca will be built by Othman Benjelloun, and it will be comprised of 42 stories, only,” Khadir Lamrini added.

Rabat - A Saudi scholar came under fire over the weekend after he stated on a television program on the Saudi MBC channel on Saturday that women are not required to wear the veil in Islam. To make his point, he appeared with his wife, who did not wear a veil.

Citing some of the hadiths (sayings) of the Prophets, he said, “we should not require women to cover their faces.” He pointed out that during the time of the Prophet and his companions, “Muslim women did not cover their faces.”

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Others attacked him for allowing his wife to appear unveiled on a primetime TV show, something uncommon in the conservative country.

Taroudant - Light to heavy rain hit several parts of Morocco last week but Ifrane, or little Switzerland, was battered by heavy snowfall leaving the town with its typical picturesque winter image.

Perched on the heights of the Middle Atlas Mountain range in Morocco more than 1,700 meters above sea level, Ifrane is a cool resort for Moroccan families and tourist during summer and a popular winter destination for ski-lovers in winter.

Ifrane, meaning caves in Tamazight (Berber language), organizes a yearly ‘snow princess contest’ and crowns a ‘Miss Snow Ifrane’ to highlight the Amazigh region’s diverse culture.

The purity of its atmosphere and its natural parks safeguard a rich ecosystem and was deservedly ranked as last year’s second cleanest city in the world Calagary in Canada.

The beauty of the snow covered trees and houses stunned photographers, who rushed to snap a couple of picturesque shots of the snow village.

Photo credit: Adnan Herrar

Taroudant - Waleed Seif, head of the National Centre for Cinema, apologized to Moroccans and denied claims raised from insulting social media posts satirizing the way Moroccan ex-minister Touriya Jabrane received Egyptian actor Adel Imam at the Marrakech International Film Festival.

Waleed Seif claims his Facebook page was hacked, with hackers writing the insulting statements to shake, “The deep respect [he] hold for Moroccans.”

“My Facebook page was hacked over the past few weeks. I didn’t have enough time to follow what was going happening on the page because the National Centre for Cinema kept me busy until late,” Seif claims.

The Egyptian critic and screen player wrote an apology to all Moroccans and to the ex-minister via Facebook.

“My sincerest apologies to all friends when my page was hacked while I was busy, my sincerest appreciation to the Moroccan people, to the Moroccan ex-minister and Moroccan cinema for honoring artist Adel Imam. I give my upmost respect for the remainder of the Marrakech International Film Festival.”

The Egyptian critic added, “I assure everyone concerned that all Moroccan friends who know me, namely the great critic Mustapha Masnaoui and young critic Mohammed Shwaika, are well aware of how much I respect the brotherly Moroccan people and the radiant Moroccan cinema.”

The Egyptian screen write posted a sarcastic statement Egyptian dialect on his Facebook wall on December 6^th, mocking the way Touria Jabran was, “very excited to kiss,” Adel Imam and the, “ecstatic state,” in which she received the Egyptian actor.

Rabat - The Moroccan police said Tuesday they had arrested seven suspected members of a terror network spread across Morocco and Spain which planned to recruit women to join the jihadist Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Rabat - On January 10th 2000, Spanish giants Real Madrid were once challenged by the Green Eagles of Raja Casablanca during the FIFA Club World Cup that took place in Brazil.

The then Oscar Fullone's Raja Casablanca played against the star-studded Real Madrid coached at the time by Spanish manager Vicente Del Bosque.

Raja managed to score first at the 28th minute through Achami's header assisted by Kharbouch, before adding the second goal with the help of another header by Raja Casablanca player Moustaoudia at the 59th minute.

The Los Blancos managed to go back in the game thanks to the free kick of Fernando Hierro at the 49th minute, Morientes (53rd minute) and a right-footed kick by Geremi (88th minute).

The game played at the Estadio do Moroumbi in Sao Paulo was indeed won by Real Madrid with a score of 3-2. However, it was Raja Casablanca that produced the greatest of performances and played the beautiful football.

Rabat - Real Madrid announced the creation of a new school of football in the city of Mohammedia in partnership with oil refiner La Samir and Mustapha Bakkoury's Fatema foundation.

The Spanish club president Florentino Perez and Secretary General of Moroccan Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) Mustapha Bakkoury inaugurated on Monday in Mohammedia a new football school aimed at teenagers and children from underprivileged and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Created on the Real Madrid model, the new football school will be financed and managed by Fatema Foundation with the support of national oil refiner La Samir.

"This school is a social project to train young people and to improve their social conditions," La Samir President Jamal Baamer was quoted as saying.

"The initiative is a first in the Mohammedia-Casablanca region where other institutions will emerge soon," he added.

From his part, Real Madrid President expressed his admiration for Morocco and the fact that his club is very popular among Moroccan football fans.

"I love Morocco very much, to whom I am thankful for the affection towards my team," Perez said.

"While on Moroccan soil, Real Madrid feels like home. Real Madrid is associated with 500 training centers in the world, where 48,000 children learn and play football," he added.

Real Madrid sponsors also two football schools in Tangiers and Benguerir.

Photo courtesy le360

Rabat - The Moroccan subsidiary of Servicom, has reportedly signed a contract with the National Office of Airports on the modernization of elevators of the Mohamed V Airport in Casablanca.

The total amount of the contract is worth around 439,470 euros under which Servicom will be responsible for the modernization of six existing elevators, according to media sources.

Established in 2011, Servicom Morocco is a distributor and installer of elevators, escalators as well as air conditioning and heating systems in Morocco.

Rabat - Maghreb Confidential site has reported that Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been urgently hospitalized Tuesday in Paris. The plane transporting the ill president landed at Bourget Airport (Paris).

The Algerian President would subsequently be transferred to Val de Grace Hospital.

This is the second time in just over a month that Bouteflika is being treated in France, after being hospitalized in a clinic in Grenoble last November. In the last few weeks he was shown on Algerian television hosting foreign dignitaries to portray that his illness does not prevent him from running the country.

The Algerian opposition is asking for early elections, as the current president is no longer fit to govern. Their demands fall on deaf ears. Many predict that the new president has already been chosen behind closed doors and he will be introduced as soon as Bouteflika is no longer in the picture.

Although reported by various Algerian media outlets, the information is still not confirmed by official sources.

Rabat - Following the snowstorm that hit the province of Ifrane, about 30 kilometers from fez, this week, the national road 13 linking Midelt with Azrou has been congested in Timhdit because of the snow.

The snow blanketed the road in the region of Timhdit, a small village in the province of Ifrane, known for its wintry weather, and the traffic was slow.

Mustapha Cahfi, head of the highway equipment department in Timahdit, said in a video posted by CBC News that cars "had to form a caravan, led by a van," to continue moving safely.

The road traffic becomes very slow and risky when the snowstorm hit the region.