In a speech delivered on this occasion, Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of the South Zone, said that "the last two days of each edition of the Exercise African Lion is one of the highlights of this event."

"They are the culmination of a year's work in planning and conducting a series of military activities, even preparing the environment for engagement worthy of a well-established coalition," he further noted.

"The objectives of the 2022 edition are achieved with satisfaction," he said, noting that "Exercise African Lion, which is now in its 18th edition, is born of a visionary will of two great nations, the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco, to consolidate their military cooperation, but also to contribute to the building of prosperity and stability in the world.

"At a time when many questions are raised about the current geopolitical context marked by a lack of security and economic visibility around the world, the Exercise African Lion defying COVID 19, stands year after year as an example of North-South cooperation, which has become essential to the integration of reliable partners, imbued with the same convictions," he stressed.

For his part, the American Major General Andrew Rohling, Commander of SETAF-AF, stressed the importance of this event, expressing his satisfaction with the achievement of the objectives of the exercise. African Lion 2022 is an opportunity to exchange experiences with partner countries and consolidate military cooperation, he noted.

"African Lion" is a combined joint exercise organized each year by the FAR and the U.S. Armed Forces.

This year's edition, which will continue until June 30, sees the participation of 10 African and international countries, including Morocco and the United States, as well as some twenty military observers from partner countries in the regions of Agadir, Benguerir, Kenitra, Mahbes, Taroudant and Tantan.

The collapse of the café's pediment of the cafe, located at the Boulevard Abdelmoumen, also caused two minor injuries among viewers who were following the progress of a soccer match, said the same source.

Immediately notified, the regional command of civil protection has dispatched four ambulances and three vans on site. The three victims, all male, were transported in serious condition to the Ibn Rochd hospital, where they died.

The two injured were also evacuated to the same medical facility to receive the necessary care, adds the same source.

In a statement, the ministry said that the crescent moon announcing the month of Dhu al-Hijjah of 1443 A.H. was not observed on Wednesday evening (June 29).

Therefore, the month of Dhu al-Qi'dah 1443 AH will have 30 days and the 1st Dhu al-Hijjah will be on Friday, July 01, 2022, and Eid Al Adha will be celebrated on Dhu Al Hijja 1443 corresponding to July 10, 2022.

May God shower in this blessed month HM King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, protector of the Nation and religion, may God assist Him, with His blessing, His favors and His benefits, and renew such occasions for the Sovereign in glory and for HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and all the members of the Illustrious Royal Family in well-being and for the Moroccan people and the Islamic Ummah in progress and prosperity, concludes the statement.

The acting Uruguayan Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Walter Verri, stressed in a statement to the Moroccan news channel M24, that thanks to this strategic position, the Kingdom is largely qualified to play the role of gateway to Uruguay to Africa and the Arab world, and in return, Uruguay can play the same role for Morocco to access the markets of Mercosur countries (Southern Common Market) via Montevideo.

The Uruguayan official, who met with a Moroccan parliamentary delegation led by speaker of the House of Advisors, Ennam Mayara on a working visit to Uruguay, said he discussed with his Moroccan interlocutors ways to promote trade and economic ties between the two countries, stressing that Morocco and Uruguay are endowed with enormous potential for better cooperation and closer economic relations.

In the eyes of Walter Verri, the many points that the two countries have in common, militate in favor of the promotion of investments in the fields of renewable energy, industry, agriculture, fisheries and tourism.

For his part, Mayara said that the meetings he had in Montevideo with government officials, parliamentarians and Uruguayan businessmen were "fruitful, frank and constructive".

After highlighting the major projects promoted by the Kingdom, whether in the political, economic, social and cultural fields, the speaker of the House of Advisors said that Morocco, thanks to the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has opted for the consolidation of South-South cooperation, in a spirit of solidarity and following a virtuous win-win approach.

Reacting to the latest attempt of grouped assault of illegal migrants, from sub-Saharan African countries, against the metal fence at the level of the province of Nador, using unprecedented violence, the European parliamentarians stressed the imperative to help Morocco to face these international mafias that do not back down from anything.

"Morocco is a strategic partner for the EU. The main culprits of the tragedy that occurred in Mellila and the unfortunate loss of life are the international mafias, which organize these violent attacks,'' said MEP Petar Vitanov.

Advocating for the support of the Kingdom's efforts, the MEP Tomáš Zdechovský, meanwhile, stressed that "the massive jump of 2000 sub-Saharan migrants at the Spanish border is another proof that Morocco is a credible partner of the European Union, which also suffers from the migratory pressure".

Vice-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament, Bulgarian MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, called for support for Morocco's "humane migration policy in Africa".

We should support Morocco as the main strategic and reliable partner of the EU to fight trafficking, mafias and control irregular migration," he tweeted.

Since the attempted group assault on the metal fence in the province of Nador, causing a huge stampede and fatal falls from the top of the fence, several voices in Europe have called to support Morocco's action, which fully assumes its responsibilities in migration management, to protect its borders and curb the influx of illegal immigrants.

The latest reaction is that of president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, who pleaded for the support of Morocco, which is suffering the consequences of the phenomenon of illegal immigration.

“Morocco, as a country of transit, suffers from the illegal migration problem, and we should help it to manage the mafias of human trafficking and to control the migratory flows'', he said on the radio ''Cadena Ser''.

Rochdi succeeds Khawla Matar of Bahrain to whom the "Secretary-General expresses his gratitude for her efforts and dedication in the search for peace in Syria," said the spokesman of the UN SG in a statement.

Rochdi brings over 20 years of experience in political affairs and international coordination in conflict and post-conflict areas, including through her latest assignment as Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, with the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL).

Prior to this, Rochdi served as Senior Adviser to the Special Envoy for Syria and Director of Peer to Peer with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Geneva.

Earlier, she served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon, and Deputy Director of the Representative Office of the United Nations Development Programme in Geneva.

Rochdi holds a doctorate in information systems from the National Institute of Statistics and of Applied Economics in Rabat and a Master's degree in Mathematics and Fundamental Applications from the University of Paris Sud 11.

In his weekly column on the news site ''Machahid 24'', published Wednesday under the title ''the Algerian military regime, the only enemy of Algeria'', he notes that ''Algerian generals have always sought to promote a culture and hostile attitudes towards Morocco through their visible and invisible media so that the official policy of hostility against the Kingdom is inscribed and continues in a favorable cultural and psychic environment".

This specialist on Algeria cites, among other evidence of this obsessive hostility, the campaign conducted at the instigation of this regime against the footballers of the Algerian team who decided to spend their vacations in Marrakech, which has caused indignation and anger of the media at the behest of the Algerian generals.

As for the reaction of the generals and their press in the aftermath of the tragedy that occurred near Nador following an attempted forced entry by migrants, which reaction illustrates an unspeakable attitude of hostility aimed at harming Morocco, he adds, stressing that "this incident has been instrumentalized by the Algerian generals to undermine the credibility of the humanist migration policy of Morocco unanimously welcomed by the international community".

He adds that what counts above all for the Algerian generals is to show that they are capable of "cracking down" in response to the strengthening of relations between Morocco and Spain, which has had the immediate effect of marginalizing Algeria in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

He also notes that the quarteron of Algerian generals in power is able to fan the flames and tensions being, like the mafia networks of human trafficking, disturbed by the policy of Morocco, especially in the field of management of the migration issue.

For him, the questioning of the party that benefits from this immigration drama unmasks without a shadow of a doubt the identity of the authors and real instigators, namely the Algerian generals.

For the Algerian generals, hostility towards Morocco is the very source of their legitimacy which justifies their maneuvers against the Kingdom, a country that works tirelessly for the good of the Moroccan people and for the interest of friendly countries, while the Algerian military regime only aggravates the already intolerable situation of Algeria.

''By acting in support of a negative energy, the Algerian generals harm first the Algerian people and also their foreign relations, which makes them the only and true enemies of Algeria,'' he concludes.

"The Kingdom assumes its responsibilities in migration management and fully supports South-South cooperation, while placing the human element at the heart of its concerns," the Italian newspaper says, highlighting the efforts made at the legislative, legal and social levels by Morocco, under the enlightened vision of HM King Mohammed VI, to support, regularize and facilitate the integration of migrants.

For the news site, ''Europe and immigration exporting countries are called upon to collaborate and support Moroccan action to protect its borders and curb illegal immigrants,'' noting that ''multilateralism remains the only possible solution to deal with the large influx of migrants".

"The Moroccan-Algerian border is difficult to control because of the presence of human trafficking mafias, supported by parties who want to exploit and politicize these dramas," he said, referring to the recent attempt of grouped assault of illegal migrants against the metal fence in the province of Nador.

This attempt, carried out with "unprecedented violence by mafia networks, is not innocent," the Italian newspaper comments, adding that "external actors are trying to harm Moroccan-Spanish relations, which have recently experienced a dynamism and positive development.

Speaking at the opening of the first edition of the Year of Spain at the Higher Institute of Commerce and Business Administration (ISCAE) Group, Diez-Hochleitner Rodriguez stressed that in 2021, a year marked by the repercussions of the Covid-19 and the crisis between the two countries, Morocco and Spain have recorded trade of about 16.8 billion euros, noting that in the same year, exports from Spain to Morocco have posted an increase of more than 20 pc while exports from Morocco to Spain have increased by 10 pc.

He welcomed the organization of the year of Spain at the ISCAE, noting that this is the year of re-launch of bilateral relations after the visit of president of the Spanish government to Morocco last April, which has opened a new stage in relations between the two kingdoms.

For him, the core of bilateral relations should be based more on mutual knowledge, noting that such knowledge should focus on the training of young Moroccans and Spaniards so that "we can make the most of the complementarity and synergy that exist between the two countries".

The two countries that have a win-win relationship in the economic and commercial field have not yet exhausted all the possibilities, he said, pointing out that there is still much to do, starting by training future Moroccan and Spanish executives through academic collaborations such as the memorandum signed between ISCAE and ESADE Business School, ranked in the top 20 management schools in the world.

Speaking at the opening of the first edition of the Year of Spain at the Higher Institute of Commerce and Business Administration (ISCAE) Group, Mezzour welcomed the new stage in relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, trust, permanent consultation and fruitful bilateral cooperation.

He added that this event focused on the family business, as a model of authentic leadership, given the centrality of this type of businesses in both Morocco and Spain and the challenges they face particularly in terms of succession between generations and the development of these companies.

The Minister also referred to the memorandum of understanding signed between ISCAE and ESADE Business School, noting that this is a partnership initiated with one of the leaders of the School of Management in Europe and Spain.

Mezzour also said that this memorandum will allow future leaders of Morocco and Spain to have mutual knowledge on the two countries and the importance of partnership and development of economic and trade relations, explaining that this agreement provides an ideal opportunity to initiate a reflection on ways to promote relations between Moroccan and Spanish companies both bilaterally and at the level of third markets especially in Africa and South America and initiate joint cooperation projects.