Rabat - Princess Lalla Salma, chairwoman of the Lalla Salma Foundation for Cancer Prevention and Treatment, chaired, on Thursday in Rabat at the Sheikha Fatma Center in the National Oncology Institute, the signing ceremony of a draft agreement between the Foundation and Morocco's Roche Laboratories (Roche Maroc) to help poor patients get innovative medicines.

"Initiated in 2009, the access program enables disadvantaged patients to get anti-cancer therapies meeting international standards. This program helped over 1,500 patients yearly to benefit from Roche innovative therapies," said a statement by the Lalla Salma Foundation.

The renewal of the draft agreement was inked by secretary general of the said Foundation Latifa El Abida, Dr. Peter Hug, Roche director for eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Dr. Bart Vanhauwere, director general for Morocco and north Africa and Sanaa Sayagh, pharmaceutical director for Morocco.

"We are glad of this sustainable partnership which will enable Roche Maroc to contribute to the development of oncology and facilitate the access of Moroccan patients to our innovative products against breast cancer and other types of cancer," said Peter Hug.

"We hope to continue bringing our support, under the national anti-cancer plan, in the fields of clinical research, training of health professional, diagnosis and awareness-raising," he added.

Following the signing ceremony, Princess Lalla Salma visited, along with Peter Hug, Bart Vanhauwere and Sanaa Sayagh, the pharmacy of the Sheikha Fatma Center and the central unit for chemotherapy drugs. HRH Princess Lalla Salma also visited cancer inpatients.

With MAP

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Rabat - Police officers in Rabat have reportedly convinced a young woman, who had been followed and harassed by an unknown man, to refrain from filing an official complaint against the perpetrator after he had been caught by authorities, according to details of the incident posted on Lesiteinfo.com.

The story is far from an isolated incident but Morocco’s legislature has so far been slow to pass a law condemning and punishing perpetrators.

In March, Bassima Hakkaoui, Moroccan Minister of Solidarity Women, Family, and Social Development, proposed a revised version of a draft law that would sentence those convicted of the crime with up to six months in prison.

The status of the bill remains unclear, but Hespress released a video discussing the opinions of a variety of Moroccan citizens on the law earlier this month.

The woman anonymously said she had been walking on King Mohammed V Avenue towards the marketplace at Bab El Ahad when, “as always”, an elderly man - 50 years old or older,  began following her and tried to engage her in a conversation:

“Hello,” he said, to which she replied: “Do I know you, sir?”

The man said they had not met before but would like to know the woman other over a cup of coffee. After the man refused to accept multiple rejections to his offer, she approached a police station nearby and told the officers about the man, who they caught just as he tried to escape.

The authorities asked the man to show his national identity card, but he produced a business card instead, prompting the officers to yell at him further to provide the documents requested.

The woman declined to provide further details of the events that unfolded over the course of the next hour, but said the officers insisted she dismisses the case since the “man had children” and because she would have to visit a court and deal with the hassle of a trial.

To the perpetrator, she explained that “he had absolutely no right to approach a woman in the street as he did, that the streets do not belong only to men and that it was time that this harassment of women who ‘dare’ to walk in the street stopped.”

Another hour later, she decided to drop the case “not without regret.” She told the harasser that she could have lodged a case against him not because she knew people “in high up places,” but that, as a citizen, she had a "right to walk freely in the street without being harassed.” She also said he was a “pervert” and that his mother, sisters, daughters, and wife suffer every day from the same kind of harassment from other men.

The Police discouraged her from posting her story on social media as well. “It is my right,” she retorted. “We are a country of law, right?”

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Rabat - Tangier's judiciary police disbanded, on Thursday, a criminal network specializing in fraud and illegal immigration through the use of fake IDs, said national police DGSN.

Police-led investigations helped to nab 4 individuals, including a woman with a criminal record and wanted for organizing illegal immigration operations, a middleman accused of recruiting candidates, a minor would-be immigrant, and a police officer in Benslimane implicated in the network's activities, said DGSN in a statement.

The woman was apprehended while preparing to get the sum of 60,000 dirhams for helping the minor illegal immigrant by using counterfeit papers.

The accused were remanded in custody to complete the probe, under the competent public prosecutor's office, while manhunt is still on to arrest other people involved in the network, it added.

With MAP

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Casablanca - Kamal Lahlou, president of Moroccan Association of Independent Radio and Television (ARTI), was elected as chairperson of the Confederation of African Independent Radio and TV, said on Thursday a source from the confederation.

Lahlou's election took place, on Tuesday in Casablanca, during the constitutive general assembly of the confederation, held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the liberalization of the audiovisual sector in Morocco, organized by ARTI, the source added.

CEO of Hit Radio (Morocco) Younes Boumehdi was elected secretary general of the body, while Fouad Omari, director general of Cap Radio (Morocco) and Jacques Dez from Radio Kledu (Mali) were elected treasurer general and assistant treasurer respectively.

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Fez - After two days of being subjected to horrendous physical and psychological violence before the eyes of hundreds of students at the Faculty of Science in Meknes, Chaimae comes out in a statement to Alyaoum24 news outlet to tell her story in detail. 

Restraining tears and with a lump at her throat, Chaimae describes the amount of violence inflicted on her by the radical leftist student group known as “The Interim Program.”

Chaimae was accused of spying on the leftist group who hold a different ideology than her own. “About twenty students attacked me and dragged me from my hair to the university. I know them one by one. They used to eat and drink at the cafeteria where I work. I was out when they came to me armed with swords and dragged me from my hair to the university campus,” she said.

“They called out for all students to attend the trial and they started making verdicts. Some said my hand should be severed. Others said my eyebrows should be shaved and my hair cut. Finally they decided that my eyebrows should be shaved and my hair cut,” She added.

The terror the sixteen year old suffered at the hands of the ISIS-like students was tremendous. The physical wounds may heal with time, but the psychological scars would remain.

 “Zouhir and Zakia were the ones who executed the verdict; they beat me, and shaved my eyebrows. She tied and blindfolded me. I was crying and beseeching them to remove the blindfold, which they did. I recognized them one by one…” she said with tears in her eyes.

After filing a complaint against the perpetrators, Chaimae said that the police arrested some of the “monster[s]” that attacked her and that the investigation is still ongoing. “I don’t want what I have experienced to happen to another girl. I also want that the perpetrators get their deserved punishment.”

The Moroccan university has always been a theatre for ideological confrontations with a history of assassinations, murders, and violence between different ideological factions.

Despite the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of a new world political order, the leftist ideology is still deeply rooted in the Moroccan university. The frequent clashes between the Islamists and the leftists inhibit the Moroccan university from achieving its goals and living up to the expectations of Moroccans.

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Rabat - Moroccan Minister of Higher Education for Scientific Research and Training said a “student who does not speak English should go and dig up his grave and bury himself,” during a Study Day organized by the Faculty of Science and Technology in Settat.

The Minister, Lahcen Daoudi, who has zealously stressed the importance of English in our contemporary world on many occasions, said he was unsatisfied with the lack of interest among students in studying this language.

The minister said that students have not yet grasped his frequent calls for the study of English saying “my call has not yet had its effect.” Daoudi has reiterated that the future of Morocco and the world lies in science, which is now being produced in English.

The Minister said that his recommendations for students to enroll in English departments to study English were not welcomed. He expressed his surprise at the meager number of students at the department of English at the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences of Agadir.

Daoudi added that Moroccan graduates are welcomed in job markets globally, calling on students who wish to register for doctoral studies to complete their projects and not quit before getting their PhDs. Some students, he noted, receive PhD scholarships without completing their doctoral projects, and he considers this a waste of public money.

Daoudi also stressed the need to promote and modernize the Moroccan universities, calling on the regional councils to play a role in this regard. Concerning higher education fees, Daoudi said that the rich should normally pay for their studies, because not doing so is "unjust and does not serve social justice in Morocco".

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Rabat - Errachidia police services dismantled a criminal network for drug trafficking and marketing, on the basis of accurate information provided by the general directorate for national territory surveillance.

Investigations led by security services helped arrest four suspects, on Friday in the city of Arfoud, said a statement by the national police (DGSN), adding that 12 suitcases containing 300 kg of hashish, three vehicles and the sum of 570,000 were also seized during this operation.

The accused were remanded in custody to complete the probe, conducted under the competent public prosecutor's office, said the statement, noting that investigations are under way to establish possible links with other organizations, inside Morocco or abroad.

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Rabat - The 15th edition of the Mawazine Festival-Rhythms of the World (May 20-28), organized by "Association Maroc-Culture", kicked off, on Friday in Rabat, with an agenda full of the world's headliners from the music sphere.

The first day was marked by performances given by Arab and foreign stars as Kadim Al Sahir, Chris Brown, Diana Haddad, and Rokia Traoré. Held under the patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, the nine-day fest will offer music-lovers and festival-goers daily musical shows featuring also Moroccan stars.

Created in 2001, the fest brought together an audience of over 2 million people during its latest edition.

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Rabat - The 22nd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22), slated November in Marrakech, is an occasion to improve expertiseand build capacities to fight climate migrations, said, on Friday in Rabat, Foreign Minister and Chairman of COP22 Steering Committee Salaheddine Mezouar.

In order to weather the impact of climate migration, it is necessary to launch projects and initiatives to curb consequences, promote investment and develop expertise in the field, said Mezouar in a speech at an international conference on "climate migrations: tendencies and challenges".

Studies conducted on the phenomenon showed that nearly 250 million people face migration because of climate change, he said, underlining that the COP22 should give a strong signal to international community, civil society and regional governments to forge ahead with the implementation of Paris Agreement.

The COP22 will urge the States to take decisions to slash and mitigate the repercussions of climate change, and civil society should pledge to mobilizing actors and raising awareness concerning this plague, mainly in the African continent, he said.

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By Kainoelani Lee

Rabat - The United States Embassy in Rabat held its 15th annual blood drive on Wednesday.

The embassy organized the blood drive as a way to give back to the local community and had scheduled the event to meet the very urgent annual need for blood donations before Ramadan begins. Ramadan marks the ninth month of the Islamic year, where strict fasting from sunrise to sunset occurs. Ramadan will begin June 5, 2016 and is scheduled to end on July 5, 2016.

This blood drive is conducted annually in response to the national blood shortage in Morocco, where initially, the National Center for Blood Transfusion made an urgent request, calling on Moroccan citizens for blood donations on the need for blood in certain cities in Morocco.

The U.S. Embassy of Rabat reported that nearly two thirds of its personnel participated in the blood drive and donations. Even U.S. Ambassador, Dwight L. Bush, and his wife participated in donating their blood.

In total, the U.S. Embassy of Rabat was able to collect a whopping 35 liters of blood.

If you haven’t donated blood recently, and would like to, the U.S. Embassy of Rabat encourages contacting the National Center for Transfusion to locate and learn about blood drives in your local community.

Further contact information for the blood drives/donations:

Centre national de transfusion Sanguine, Public Health Department

Address: Madinat Al Irfane, Rabat, Morocco. Phone:+212 5377-74993

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Casablanca - Sara Belkziz was crowned Miss Morocco 2016 on Saturday evening in a ceremony held in Casablanca.

Sixteen candidates took part in the final of the third edition of Miss Morocco, which was held at the Morocco Mall in the presence of large audience and significant media coverage.

The lucky winner received the highest number of votes of Moroccans, who were called to choose their favorite candidates on social media.

The title of first runner up went to Saloua Bergayou (Casablanca), while the second and third runners up were won respectively by Yassmine Bennani from Fez and Racha Racha Zair from Casablanca.

On Friday, Miss Morocco’s organizing committee posted the pictures of the 16 finalists on its official page and called on Moroccans to vote for their favorite candidates by sending text messages to the number 9050.

Unlike beauty pageants organized in Western countries where contestants are required to wear swimsuits, Miss Morocco’s candidates wear the emblematic Moroccan caftan.

The selection of the 16 candidates who took part in the final required several weeks of work from the organizing committee. During the first stage, several castings were organized in Casablanca, Fez, Agadir, Tangier, Marrakech, and Rabat to select the candidates.

At the end of the first stage, 16 young women were chosen to spend a 10-day training under the supervision of coaches and professionals in the fields of choreography, communication, and personal development.

The winner will succeed to Fatima Zahra El Hor, who won the second edition of Miss Morocco in May 2015.

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Rabat - Moroccan police arrested a French national in the coastal city of Saidia in northeastern Morocco with local girls filming pornographic movies on a yacht anchored near the city’s beach.

According to the Spanish international news agency EFE, which cited the Moroccan daily newspaper Akhbar Al Yaoum, the man was arrested a day before he was scheduled return to France.

During the investigation, the French national revealed that he had recruited women between the ages of 18 and 28 to participate in pornographic films that he intended to commercialize in Europe.

The same source added that the detainee, 50, took Moroccan girls to a yacht equipped with a cabin fitted out as a studio, where they filmed porn scenes.

In addition to the French man, six actresses were also detained, as well as two individuals who were mediators between the French national and the Moroccan girls.

The authorities opened an investigation to find out if anyone else is linked to this criminal network.

This is not the first time that Moroccan authorities have dismantled a network specializing in filming pornographic films.

In 2014, the authorities arrested a network of Moroccan nationals headed by a French man who works in the pornographic industry, making porn films in Marrakech.

Last year, a video caused uproar after it was widely shared among social media users depicting a young employee at a nightclub in Marrakech dancing in a full erotic striptease before a Saudi customer.

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By Anthony Abte

Rabat - The 2016 Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program announces its call for applications for the 2016 fellowship round.

The program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, allows young and mid-career professionals from Morocco and around the world to study at one of 15 host universities in the United States for one year.

Throughout this year of non-degree studies, fellows from Morocco will experience American culture and academia and will explore in depth an issue of common concern in both the United States and Morocco. In addition to their studies, fellows attend lectures and conferences and conduct practical hands-on work. Due to the program’s flexibility, fellows can travel away from their host universities to engage in a variety of ways with American counterparts, including 30-day placements at relevant institutions.

The program began in 1978 and has hosted more than 4,600 from 157 countries in the past 38 years. More than 40 universities have participated in the program since its inception. Seventeen fields of study are available within four categories: sustainable development, democratic institution building, education, and public health. These program fields account for a wide variety of civil society, and leaders from all regions of Morocco are encouraged to apply.

The program is open to any English-speaking Moroccan leaders who have a university undergraduate degree and at least five years of related work experience. Applicants should have a strong record of public service in their communities and should have limited or no experience in the United States.

Applications and more information can be obtained through the Moroccan-American Commission for Cultural and Education Exchange (MACECE). Full details, requirements, and a link to the application portal can also be found through MACECE. The application deadline is September 1, 2016.

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Rabat - Moroccan Zakia Belkhiri’s selfies in front of an anti-Islam protest of a far-right nationalist group in Belgium has gone viral with tens of thousands of likes and shares across social media.

Last week, about 40 members of Vlaams Belang, a far-right Belgian political party, showed up to protest the third annual Muslim Expo, a festival celebrating Muslim culture, held in Antwerp, Belgium.

While the protestors chanted their anti-Islam slogans, a young girl originally from Morocco posed in front of the group to take selfies.

The Moroccan young woman managed to successfully steal the spotlight, with some of the anti-Islam protestors reportedly entertained by the way she was taking selfies. Photographer Jurgen Augusteyns captured photos of her doing so.

When Belkhiri left the annual Muslim Expo, she started to take photos of herself under signs that read "no headscarves", "no mosques", and "stop Islam".

She told BBC Trending she took the photos "to show that things can be different. And that we can live together, not next to each other but with each other."

She said her selfies had not been a form of counter-protest, and she just wanted to "share joy and peace".

The Moroccan activist was immediately labeled as a “herald of peace” – a true hero “fighting against islamophobia with humor, love and selfies.” She was put on a pedestal as an “icon for tolerance”, and the selfie considered as the perfect cure against discrimination.

Some sources claim that Bilkhiri went to stay with family in Morocco until “the storm has blown over.”

According to BBC, the recent bombings at the Brussels airport resulted in an increase in support for far-right groups.

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Tétouan - Members of the Customs services at the Bab Sebta border post foiled an attempt of currency trafficking for the sum of 17,000 euros, a source from the said customs services said on Saturday.

During a routine operation on Friday at the Bab Sebta crossing point, the Moroccan Customs services members thwarted the attempt to smuggle the money to the occupied-city of Sebta, it said, noting that the seized money was hidden in the dashboard of a Morocco-registered car.

The money trafficker, a Moroccan national, was arrested for disregarding legal procedures concerning currency rules and regulations, it added.

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Fez - With only sixth months to go before the end of his term as Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Training, Dr. Lahcen Daoudi has shifted into high gear to strengthen the position of English in Moroccan higher education.

After stating a few months ago at the university of Agadir that a “student who does not speak more than one foreign language should dig his own grave and bury himself,” Daoudi now seems to have decided to move from words to deeds.

In a study day organized by the Faculty of Science and Technology in Settat, Daoudi said that a ministerial note will be circulated to all Moroccan universities concerning the ministry’s new criteria for doctoral defenses beginning in September 2017.

Under the new scheme, students who wish to defend their doctoral projects must have at least one article written in English, part of their bibliographical references in English, and an abstract in English.

The jury hearing the defense will also be required to include a member who has mastered English. Daoudi said that while his decision might seem hard for students, it was made for their benefit and interests.

The new “amendments” have been received with cynicism and mockery on social media and are considered by many mere grandstanding because the minister has no real authority over research centers at the universities.

One commenter noted that “[sic] the minister himself if he wished to enroll in doctoral studies would not be admitted because he has no technical authority over universities, professors, and research centers

Generally, Moroccan university and higher education institutions are regulated by law 01.00, an advanced law granting the university full independence from the ministry and from the central administration. The independence provided to the Moroccan university is financial, managerial, and even logistical.

The Minister of Higher Education has very limited authority. He or she can nominate officials for high positions at the university, can preside over the boards of universities, and is a member of the Supreme Council for Education and Training.

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Rabat - Prince Moulay Rachid, who represents King Mohammed VI in the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, visited on Monday an exhibition on Morocco's contribution in humanitarian action and peace-keeping operations.

On this occasion, Prince Moulay Rachid was given details on the contribution of the Royal Armed Forces in over half a century in peace-keeping operations and the protection of civilians.

The exhibition demonstrates Morocco’s commitment under the leadership of King Mohammed VI to promote world peace and security.

With a surface area of 70m2, this exhibition, organized by the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, highlights Morocco’s contribution in humanitarian action.

With MAP

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Rabat - A photo of Gandhi Djuna, better known by his stage name Maître Gims, holding the Moroccan flag before his performance at the Mawazine Festival scheduled on Monday at OLM Souissi stage in Rabat has gone viral.

The Congolese-born French rapper and singer shared with his 950,000 fans the photo of him holding the Moroccan flag, with a statement that reads “With very close family @aarab_youssef live RABAT.”

Before performing for the Moroccan public, the singer will give a press conference at the Villa des Arts in Rabat at 11 a.m. local time.

Avec la famille très proche @aarab_youssef en direct de RABAT ???

A photo posted by MAÎTRE GIMS (@maitregims) on May 22, 2016 at 6:34pm PDT

A singer and songwriter, Maitre branched out on his own and is now recognized by many as one of the most popular singers in France, selling over 1 million copies of his popular solo 18-track album Subliminal, released on May 20, 2013.

The Maroc Culture Association, the organizer of the festival, said that the 14th annual Mawazine Festival in 2015 drew a record 2.65 million spectators and is expected to receive more people this year.

As with the previous festivals, Mawazine will host more than 60 performances and of some of the most talented Moroccan and international artists.

EN DIRECT sur #Periscope : En direct de RABAT https://t.co/bgqjy4OESl

— Maître GIMS (@MaitreGims) May 23, 2016

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