Soufiane El Bakkali, Moroccan Athlete Wins Race at Rome’s Diamond League (Italy) : June 10th, 2021

Soufiane El Bakkali recorded the world’s fastest time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for men this Thursday, June 10th at Rome’s Diamond League.

El Bakkali broke the world’s fastest time record of the season. 

The Diamond League is a series of field athletic competitions that take place every year. The first competition took place in 2010 and replaced the IAAF Golden League, organized in 1998. 

Soufiane El Bakkali’s timing for the 3,000 meters steeplechase race was 8:08.54, ranking as first in the category.

source/content: moroccoworldnews.com

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pix: moroccoworldnews.com

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MOROCCO

Lamia El Aaraje – Moroccan-French Candidate Wins the 20th Arrondissement of Paris: June 06th, 2021

Lamia El Aaraje – Politician

On June 6, Sunday – the Moroccan-French Lamia El Aaraje was elected as deputy to Paris’ 15th district. The French National Assembly after the second round of by-elections on Sunday.

The arrondissement, often referred to as Menilmontant, is situated on the right bank of the Seine River. It contains two of the city’s cosmopolitan districts, notably its namesake, Menilmontant, and Belleville.

A Doctor of Pharmacy, she has been previously elected as municipal councilor and counselor of Paris in the 20th arrondissement in 2020.

She holds the Socialist Party’s only seat in the French National Assembly.

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pix: https://mobile.twitter.com/mdelafosse/status/1401624826830262277/photo/1

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FRENCH / FRENCH-MOROCCAN

UNICEF Morocco Appoints Achraf Hakimi ‘Champion for Children’ – May 2021

The UNICEF office in Morocco announced the appointment of Moroccan international football star Achraf Hakimi as children’s rights champion.

Hakimi, 22, is triumphing not only in his humanitarian works but also in his football career.

The football player is a key element in both his international club Inter Milan and Morocco’s national team.

UNICEF launched the initiative to appoint public figures from all fields, including arts, academics, and sports among others to engage in its efforts to help raise awareness of children’s rights.

Champions for Children are prominent individuals from arts, music, academics, ICT, sports, community-based organizations, or other fields who help to raise awareness of children’s rights.

The initiative is in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the “most widely ratified human rights treaty in history,” UNICEF said.

source/content: moroccoworldnews.com

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pix: Moroccan football player Achraf Hakimi. Photo: UNICEF

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MOROCCO

Naima Lamcharki Wins Best Actress at Malmo International Arab Film Fest : April 2021

Moroccan actress Naima Lamcharki won the best actress award at Sweden’s 11th annual Malmo International Arab Film Festival (MAFF). 

In the film “L’Automne des Pommiers” (Autumn of the Apple Trees), directed by Moroccan director Mohamed Mouftakir, Lamcharki plays the role of a wisdom-filled grandmother, filling a crucial role in the film’s unique dynamic. 

Along with the Malmo International Arab Film Festival, the film won awards at the Moroccan Film Festival of Tangier. Namely, the prize for the Best Picture 2020, the Critics Prize 2020, and the Prize for the Federation of Cineclubs 2020.

Naima Lamcharki has accomplished many other great feats throughout her career as an actress. Starring in films like The Garden of Eden (1998) and Bad Faith (2006), her career in the international film industry dates back to 1958. 

Two years ago, Moroccan actress Fatima Atif won the best actress award at the ninth edition of the Malmo Arab Film Festival for her role in the film “The Healer”, where the director was Moroccan.

source/content: www.moroccoworldnews.com

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pix: moroccoworldnews.com

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MOROCCO

Mohamed Mechbal Awarded 2021 King Faisal Arabic Literature Award : February 2021

Professor Dr Mohamed Mechbal has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Literature in recognition of his project ‘ The New Rhetoric ‘.

The King Faisal Foundation initiated the award in 1977. The award recognizes the exceptional contributions of five groups of individuals and institutions. These include,  service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic language and literature as well as medicine, and science.

Currently he is Professor, Rhetoric and Literary criticism, University of AbdelMalek Essadi, Tetoun, Morocco

Award/s:

  • Sheikh Zayed Prize for Critical Studies 2018
  • Katara Prize for Critical Studies 2018

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pix: moroccoworldnews.com

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MOROCCO

Robert Purvis, Moroccan-American Who Helped 9,000 Slaves Gain Freedom

Robert Purvis.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1810, Robert Purvis was the grandchild of a woman known as Dido Badaracka. She was captured in Morocco at the age of 12 and transported to the US to serve as a slave.

According to American historian Margaret Hope Bacon, Purvis described his Moroccan grandmother as a “full-blooded Moor of magnificent features and great beauty. She had crisp hair and a stately manner.”

Purvis received his early education in Philadelphia at the Clarkson Hall, a school for black children, run by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society — one of the first organizations ever to advocate for ending slavery in the US. He also studied at Amherst Academy in Massachusetts.

Robert Purvis became a prominent officer of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also served as president of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society between 1845 and 1850.

Robert Purvis, as the main organizer of the network, earned the nickname “The President of the Underground Railroad.”

The US Embassy in Morocco has paid tribute to Robert Purvis, an American man of Moroccan descent who dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery.

source: www.moroccoworldnews.com/yahya hatim

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pix: moroccoworldnews.com

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U.S.A / MOROCCAN-AMERICAN

Lbachir BenMohamed – Scientist, Immunologist. Cutting Edge Work on New Covid-19 Vaccine in the US

Moroccan scientist Lbachir BenMohamed is making headlines in the US for working on a universal COVID-19 vaccine — a vaccine that would work on all variants of the coronavirus, even those that have not appeared yet.

At the Institute for Immunology affiliated to the University of California, Irvine, BenMohamed is leading a nine-member research team tasked with developing a universal COVID -19 vaccine .

Vaccine on a patch

Another original concept that BenMohamed and his team are working on is the injection method of the vaccine.

While all currently-available COVID-19 vaccines are injected through a syringe, the in-development universal vaccine would be administered through a patch, similarly to the widely-available nicotine patches.

Currently:

  • Professor, of Immunology,University of California, Irvine (2014). Founder and Head of Cellular and and Molecular Immunolgy
  • Assistant Researcher, University of California, Irvine (2002)

Education:

  • Diploma – Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Alghadir, Morocco
  • Licence (Bachelor’s equivalent) – Biochemistry
  • Diploma of Advanced Studies in Immunology – University of Paris VII (aka) Paris Diderot University
  • M.S. in Immunolgy and Parasitolgy – Pasteur Institute, Paris
  • Ph.D. in Immunology – Pasteur Institute, Paris (1997)

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The immunologist and his team are developing a universal vaccine against COVID-19.The immunologist and his team are developing a universal vaccine against COVID-19. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) / pix: moroccoworldnews.com

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U.S.A. / MOROCCAN AMERICAN

Moroccan Achraf Hakimi – ‘Fastest Football Player’ in Bundesliga’s History : 2020

Achraf Hakimi Mouch (aka) Achraf Hakimi. Professional International Football Player.

The German Bundesliga football league has named the International Football player Achraf Hakimi as the fastest player in Germany with a record speed of 36.49 km/h (22.67 miles/h)

Achraf Hakimi plays as full-back for Serie A club – Inter Milan . He is on loan to Borussia Dortmund. He is also a key player in the National Football team of Morocco.

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pix; en.wikipedia.org / Hakimi with Morocco at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

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MOROCCO. SPAIN

Bouchra Karboubi – First Female Referee to Lead Professional Football League Game : Morocco : October 2020

Bouchra Karboubi. Professional Football Referee.

Historical moment for Women’s Football in Morocco. Bouchra Karboubi lead as the Central Referee in a ‘ Botola Pro 1’ a Top-tier Professional League game in Morocco.

-2018 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) selected Bouchra Karboubi among the ‘Elite A’ or First Class Category Referees

-2016 -Appointed as International Referee

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pix: sport.le360.ma

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MOROCCO

World Record Winner of ‘Marathon des Sables’ – Lahcen Ahansal

Lahcen Ahansal . Athlete. Long distance runner.

He has the world record for most wins by an individual – 10 wins. The first in 1997 and then 9 of them consequtively 1999 upto 2007

Marathon des Sables is considered to be the toughest running race in the world. It is a six-day ultradistance event that covers 254 km across the Sahara Desert in Morocco.

Lahcen Ahansal is also an organiser to trekking in Southern Morocco and the ‘Zagora Marathon’.

Other Events:

  • 2010: Winner of the Al Andalus Ultimate trail 
  • 2006: Winner of the Ultra Marathon of Belgium (100  km )
  • 2006: 2 nd  place in the Beaujolais Marathon (team winner)
  • 2006: 3 th  place at the Ultra Marathon Verbier , Switzerland
  • 2002: 2 nd  place in the 100 km of Biel , Switzerland
  • 2001: Winner of the Swiss Alpine Marathon ( Davos , Switzerland)
  • 1999: Winner of the Défi Val-de-Travers , Switzerland (74  km , 2952D +)
  • 1998: Winner of the Super Marathon des Gorges du Verdon , France
  • 1998: Winner of the Austrian Ultra Marathon
  • 1995: 3 rd in the Moroccan Super Marathon (contested in the Atlas Mountains)

– A Book by Belgian journalist Marie-Pierre Fosny ‘Marathonien des Sables – Lahcen Ahansal, Nomadic Child and Desert Star’

pix: moroccansoftheworld.com

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Morocco