Morocco

Initially scheduled for January-February 2025, a new speculation suggests that the African Cup of Nations 2025 could be held in the summer, with the Confederation of African Football agreeing to hold the competition in July-August 2025 in Morocco

The 80 human footprints discovered in 2022 in Larache, south of Tangier, date from around 100.000 years ago; the footprints were dated by a study recently published in the journal Nature according to which they are Homo sapiens footprints

The controversy over the waste that ends up in the country from the European Union has been reignited, after Eurostat stated that the kingdom imported 0,8 million tonnes of European waste in 2022

Bouchra Karboubi, from Morocco, has become the first Arab woman to referee an African Cup of Nations football match, having refereed the match between Nigeria and Guinea Bissau, at the Felix-Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan

The country won the vote to head the UN Human Rights Council after a heated showdown with South Africa, which argued that Rabat's human rights record made it unfit to chair the body

The school calendar, at all levels, will be extended by one week and the baccalaureate exams will be postponed, starting on 10 June 2024, as part of measures in response to three months of strikes by teachers

The poverty rate in Morocco has increased, multiplying by 4 in two years, due to the 2020 health crisis, lockouts and job losses, reported the Royal Institute of Strategic Studies

The 2nd edition of the African Book Festival in Marrakech, to take place from 8 to 11 February 2024, has been announced, with a rich programme focusing on the editorial and scientific current affairs of African writers, thinkers and intellectuals

Morocco’s Lower House has adopted the 2024 Finance Bill in second reading, with approval by 87 MPs and rejected by 31 others

Morocco was awarded best African football team in 2023 by the Union of African Sports Confederations for its feat at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first national team from the continent to reach the final four of a World Cup

Morocco's National Railways has pledged to invest $1,56 billion as part of its "development plan", including the launch of a tender to purchase 168 trains, 150 of which for urban transport services, including high-speed commuter and intercity trains

After being awarded the organisation of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, the country is considering the construction of the second largest stadium in the world with a capacity of 113.000 seats

The country is the largest automotive production centre in Africa, with more than 250 automotive suppliers, many of them subsidiaries of foreign companies, employing some 220.000 people