The GodFather

Rabat - Morocco’s capital Rabat will on January 12-13 host a two-day forum to discuss the important contributions of African diaspora’s remittances to the continent’s development. Exploring the “Reduction of Remittance Costs for the African Diaspora,” the forum will include plenary sessions, which will focus on different themes and challenges that the continent’s diaspora faces. The panels will include the contribution of diaspora members to the development and poverty alleviation in Africa through remittances, as well as an overview and perspectives of the diaspora remittances. The third theme will be the digitization of financial services, tackling the constraints and challenges members of the diaspora face. According to a statement from Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the forum’s main objective is to announce a High-Level Political Declaration, or Declaration of Rabat, which will include recommendations resulting from the plenary sessions. The recommendations will also foresee the establishment of a “steering committee” to support countries in Africa and their actions to reduce the costs of remittances from African diaspora to their home continent. “The recommendations of this declaration are to be proposed to the AU Summit scheduled in February 2023 with a view to reaching a decision to promote and increase the transfer of funds from the African diaspora to the continent, in particular via the reduction of their costs,” the ministry explained. Several reports confirm the importance of African diaspora remittances in contributing to their country’s respective development and GDPs. In May of last year, a World Bank report documented an increase in migration remittances to sub-Saharan Africa by 14.1% to reach $49 billion in 2021. The report confirmed the same development with an increase of 7.6% of remittances sent to the Middle East and North Africa in the same year. The cost of transfers, however, remains the highest in the world, said the report. Similarly, Morocco's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that a shipment of $200 charges averaged 8% on average for sub-Saharan Africa in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 6.4% internationally. As for Morocco’s diaspora remittances, their number exceeded $9.5 billion at the end of the first 11 months of 2022. About 10% of the total remittances are directed to investment but only 2% of the remittances are directed to “productive investment,” according to Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita. This challenge “must be solved at the legislative level by putting measures at the level of investment code,” Bourita said last month, stressing the importance and role of Morocco’s diaspora in the country’s development in all sectors. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353445/morocco-to-host-forum-on-reduction-of-remittance-costs-for-african-diaspora

Rabat - Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Umrah and Hajj announced on Monday that all COVID-related restrictions imposed on Muslim pilgrims seeking to perform Hajj rituals will be lifted this year. In the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia implemented restrictions for three years on the number of pilgrims it receives as well as added an age limit to protect vulnerable pilgrims. “The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age restrictions.” The Saudi ministry wrote in a Tweet on its official account. The country had previously restricted pilgrims aged above 65 years from performing Hajj rituals. Prior to the COVID outbreak, Saudi Arabia received 2.5 million pilgrims in 2019 in what is the world’s largest religious gathering. In 2020, the number dropped to only 1,000, before rising again in 2021 to 60,000 who were all fully vaccinated. Saudi Arabia has since removed most of the COVID restrictions, including the mandatory proof of vaccination and the proof of a negative test. Four days prior to the latest announcement, Saudi Arabia issued another Hajj-related announcement saying that in 2023, priority will be given to those who have not performed Hajj rituals before. The ministry further details that male guardians of female pilgrims are exempt from this rule provided that the woman has not performed Hajj before. The new rule was announced on Twitter: “Priority is given to those who have not performed Hajj,” the ministry said. “The Mahram [guardian] of a woman is excluded from this condition if she hasn’t performed Hajj before, and the Mahram has to request an exception,” the minisrty concluded. Read Also: Hajj to Continue Requiring Male Guardians for Female Pilgrims © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353452/saudi-arabia-lifts-covid-related-restrictions-on-hajj

Remember last year's The Witcher 3 first-person mod? Well, its creator has released a new version for the recent The Witcher 3 Next-Gen update. The "Gervant First Person" mod for CD Projekt Red's hit title added full support for first-person combat within the game, and we now have a new version. It's an interesting mod for sure that provides some more depth to the game's combat system. We're pretty sure that fans will appreciate it. Although it's an interesting mod, it does come with some limitations, as mentioned by the creator 'crthdr'. Geralt's FP shadows do not work correctly with Ray Tracing In rare cases it is very hard to interact with some objects in FP. You can switch to TP for interacting with these objects. Realistic foot placement is disabled in FP. FP is not supported for Ciri. Boat camera is of lower quality. Lock On Target (auto rotating camera to locked target) does not work. Vanilla limitation: the higher FOV is the more streaming issues will occur Those interested can give this exciting mod a spin via Nexusmods right here. As always, follow the provided installation instructions before using it. We've included a video of the mod in action in 4K resolution down below: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen is available globally now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. As you might have guessed, this first-person mod only works with the PC version. Originally released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One back in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its expansions have since received numerous rewards. Here's what we had to say about the game upon release: "The Witcher 3 is quite possibly one of the most fascinating video games of this decade, and perhaps even of the next. And it's not due to the graphical fidelity, which certainly raises the bar, but instead for how it presents to us a magnificent story held within. It was such that it truly engages us in a way that is perhaps distinct and very rare. I think that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will become a benchmark for how stories are told. The significance of which, might not be immediately apparent, but The Witcher 3 is a very significant video game that will continue to influence the gaming industry far beyond its initial release. This game, without a doubt, is recommended. Even if you don't like RPG's this will wow and amaze you." https://wccftech.com/the-witcher-3-next-gen-first-person-mod-available-now/

iOS 16 was a major update, considering the number of additions it brings to the table. While Apple is gearing up to announce its AR Headset in the coming months, we are hearing that iOS 17 will feature "fewer major changes than originally planned" this year. Apple's developers and engineers are heavily working on the operating system for the AR/VR headset. Scroll down to read more details on the subject. iOS 17 to bring minor additions to the table as Apple's developers and engineers focus more on xrOS for the AR/VR Headset This is not the first time that we are hearing details on the operating system for Apple's forthcoming AR Headset. Apple's engineers and developers have been working on xrOS for several years. Since the company is expected to announce its AR Headset sometime in 2023, developers are focusing less on iOS 17 features along with other operating systems. The news is shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, suggesting that iOS 17, internally codenamed Dawn, could come with fewer new features in contrast to what the company had originally planned. As mentioned earlier, this is because the company and its developers are working more on xrOS for the AR Headset. Gurman also claims that Apple's macOS 14 will fall under the same approach. iOS 14 was released back in 2020, while iOS 16 was released to the general public in September of last year. Both of these updates were major, considering the scale of features that they offered on iPhone and iPad devices. The updates brought revamped Home and Lock screen controls for enhanced personalization, a new App Library, widgets, and much more. iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, and watchOS 10 will be announced at Apple's WWDC event later this year in June. We will keep you guys updated on the latest, so be sure to stick around for more details. What are your thoughts on Apple's upcoming AR Headset? Let us know in the comments. https://wccftech.com/apples-focus-shifts-to-ar-headset-with-ios-17-rumored-to-feature-fewer-major-changes/

It looks like NVIDIA has decided to offer its next gaming graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4070, in a Founders Edition flavor. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 To Come In Founders Edition Flavor: 200W TDP Design & AD104-250/251 GPUs The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card will be the next GeForce RTX 40 product to hit retail shelves. A few days ago, we reported that the graphics card would be going into full production by the mid of February and it looks like that indeed seems to be the case since the company already has a Founders Edition variation in the works. Our friends at RedGamingTech seem to have received the first pictures of the packaging for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition graphics card. The box looks very legit and uses the same design scheme that has been adopted by the GeForce RTX 4090 & RTX 4080 FE cards but while the outside looks very familiar, the insides are very different. The holder or the cut-out in which the actual card will be placed is much smaller than the one we saw on our RTX 4090 and 4080 packages which means that this will be a totally new Founders Edition design. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition Leak Box Pictures (Image Credits: RedGamingTech): While the full dimensions of the card cannot be seen on the back, the Width of the card is listed at 112mm which is much smaller than the 137mm width of the GeForce RTX 4090 & RTX 4080 cards (Founders Edition). As expected, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 will ship with the PCIe Gen5 cable adapter and utilize a 2x 8-pin design, similar to the vast majority of RTX 4070 Ti AIB cards. Now the reason why the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti never got a Founders Edition card is also very funny, to be honest. NVIDIA wanted to use the same cooler as the RTX 4080 on the card before the card got Unlaunched and relaunched as the RTX 4070 Ti. NVIDIA didn't have enough time to make a large quantity of brand-new coolers labeled with the proper RTX 4070 Ti branding and decided to just go ahead with an AIB-only launch. Earlier, Moore's Law is Dead also revealed some renders of the GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition design which does look like a standard 2-slot design with a flow-through fan layout. As far as the specifications are concerned, we don't know what the final configuration would be but the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card will utilize the AD104-250/251 GPU core which will peak with a 200W TGP. The AD104-250 & AD104-251 GPUs are virtually the same chip and the latter isn't going to be featured on the RTX 4060 as we thought so. Instead, the 251 designated chip will utilize a slightly different circuit as pointed out by HKEPC, allowing for lower BOM costs (around $1 Less) & also helping improve power efficiency slightly. https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-founders-edition-pictured-utilize-ad104-250-251-gpus-200w-tgp/

Rabat - American Tim Curran used a DNA sample kit to try and find his birth family a year ago and the results have led him all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Morocco. Curran was adopted at birth in California in 1961 but has since tried to find his birth parents and family. The searching process became a lot easier thanks to the easy home DNA kits, he noted in his article on news page CNN. Curran was astonished to find out that his father was from Morocco, and his Mother was from Iowa. The extensive DNA database even allowed Curran to find his parent's contact information and other close relatives. Originally from Casablanca and born in the 1930s, Curran’s birth father emigrated to the US in 1959, where he resided in San Francisco. Curran’s parents met in San Francisco as his mother moved there after high school. Curious and amazed by the findings, Curran wanted to know more, especially the answer to the question of why his dad left Morocco in the first place. After unveiling a few stories about his birth father, Curran decided to travel to Casablanca to find out more. He was understandably anxious about finally being in contact with the family he had never met before, writing: “They probably had no idea of my existence.” His estranged family lives in Dar Bouazza in Casablanca and welcomed him with open arms in a true Moroccan style. However, he regrettably learned that both of his birth parents have now passed away. Curran’s reunion with his Moroccan family and his general experience in Morocco was “weird and magical” as this was the first time Curran had ever traveled to a Muslim-majority country. The language barrier made things tricky and he has since decided to learn French in order to communicate with his newly found family on his next visit. Excited by the sights Curran saw in Marrakech, Fez, and Casablanca he recalled: “I saw things that my father could have seen while he was walking in the colorful medina.” Filled with happiness reflecting on his time in Morocco, he explained it is indeed possible to have a meaningful connection even with his estranged family from afar. © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353393/american-finds-long-lost-moroccan-family-through-dna-results

Rabat - A Chinese tire company Qingdao Sentury has announced its plans to invest $297 in the building of a car tire factory located in the northern Moroccan city of Tangier. The company chose Morocco as Qingdao Sentury believes the North African country offers a stable economy and political environment. In addition, the company recognized Morocco’s prime geographic location for distribution to Europe in particular. In explaining its reasons for selecting Morocco, the Asian company noted that the country has favorable investment conditions, good trading policies, as well as strong and easy access to European and American markets. The factory is projected to begin operations by the end of 2024, as the construction is only expected to take approximately 18 months. There are high hopes for the new tire production line as the factory directors hope to create 3.6 million tires in the first year of business. After the first year, they hope the initial figure increases to 6 million tires by the end of the second year. The company is relying on self-raised funds to progress with the project until completion, the operating costs of the factory are estimated at $210 million, with hopes of a $51.88 million profit. The Morocco build comes under a larger project that plans to have multiple factories across the world within the next 10 years. The Chinese company has already made international investments as it opened the first of its international factories in Thailand in 2015. However, the growing demand for products made the company expand its business beyond its current locations in China, Rayong, and Thailand. Read Also: China Resumes International Travel Despite Global Restrictions on its Travelers © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353392/chinese-tire-company-to-invest-nearly-300-million-in-moroccan-factory

Rabat - Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has described the investigation of Morocco’s involvement in the corruption scandal currently engulfing the EU parliament as “judicial and media harassment.” Bourita praised Morocco’s relationship with the EU, decrying that their cooperation “faces attacks.” “Morocco's position has always been that the partnership must be protected by both sides,” added the top Moroccan diplomat. The remark came during a joint press conference held with Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Thursday in Rabat. Borrell also expressed his concern about the scandal, urging everyone to wait until the official investigation releases its results, and adding that no official judicial opinion has said that Morocco is guilty. The EU’s position is that there is zero tolerance for corruption, he also said, adding that he expects everyone to cooperate with the official investigation. A scandal broke in December 2022 when four Members of the European Parliament were arrested under charges of corruption and money-laundering. Allegations then emerged that Qatar bribed the EU officials to win their influence, allegations which the Gulf country has denied. Since the start of the investigation, authorities across Europe have confiscated $1.6 million in cash and several digital devices linked to the case. Further reports then alleged that Morocco was also involved in the bribery operation, with a former parliament member raising suspicions that the North African country tried to solicit votes for a free trade agreement with the EU on fruit and vegetables. The allegations led Morocco’s Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to file a defamation lawsuit in Paris. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353391/moroccan-fm-eu-corruption-reports-are-judicial-and-media-harassment

Last month, CD Projekt Red released their long-awaited next-gen update for The Witcher 3, improving the game’s lighting, effects, and visual detail, as well as adding some new content inspired by the Netflix Witcher TV series. It was a solid update for fans, but what if you’re still into physical media and want to purchase the new native Xbox Series X/S and PS5 versions of The Witcher 3 on disc? Rumors recently began to spread that physical versions of The Witcher 3 – Complete Edition for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 would be released, and CD Projekt Red has now provided a statement to Insider Gaming confirming the fact… “CD Projekt Red is planning a physical release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition for late January 2023. It will be available both for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The box will include a disc containing the base game and the Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine expansions. All official DLCs and upgrades released during the last seven years by CD Projekt Red will also be part of this set — including the free next-gen update, featuring dozens of visual, performance, and technical enhancements (including ray tracing support, faster loading times on consoles, a variety of mods integrated into the experience, and much more). The box will contain only the aforementioned disc. Price and availability are determined by retailers in each territory.“ CD Projekt Red are still remaining mum on price or a launch date, although per Insider Gaming’s report, The Witcher 3 will cost in the $30 to $35 range, and will arrive on January 26. Of course, take these details with a minor grain of salt until CDPR actually confirms them. The Witcher 3 can be played on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. The next-gen features are available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 (get more detail on them here). https://wccftech.com/the-witcher-3-next-gen-edition-ps5-xsx-physical-edition-january-2023/

One of the major features that Apple introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro lineup is the addition of the Always-On display. While Android smartphones have rocked the functionality for a while now, Apple took its sweet time to offer its own rendition. However, it remains to be seen how much impact the Always-On display has on the battery life. Scroll down for more details on the Always-On display battery drain test on your iPhone 14 Pro models. Check out how the iPhone 14 Pro Max performs differently with the wallpaper for Always-On display enabled, disabled, and turned off Apple added the functionality to customize the contents of the Always-On display on the iPhone 14 Pro models with the release of iOS 16.2. Users can now enable or disable the wallpaper and notifications on the Lock screen when the Always-On display is enabled and the screen is dimmed. YouTuber PhoneBuff conducted a test that took into account whether enabling or disabling the wallpaper for the Always-On display has an impact on the overall battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro. It was discovered in the test that enabling the wallpaper for the Always-On display consumes 0.8 percent battery per hour. In contrast, disabling the wallpaper for the Always-On display consumes 0.6 percent of the battery per hour. Surprisingly, disabling the Always-On display altogether does not show any signs of battery loss for a specific period of time. PhoneBuff also compared the iPhone 14 Pro's Always-On display with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Unlike the iPhone, the clock would move across the screen on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, possibly to avoid the risks of screen burn-in. Both smartphones consumed the same amount of battery life with the Always-On display enabled without the wallpaper - falling down to 84 percent in 24 hours. You can check out the video below for more details. It is interesting to see how the iPhone 14 Pro Max performed in the Always-On display battery drain test. We will share more details on the subject, so be sure to stick around. Did you turn the wallpaper off for the Always-On display on your iPhone 14 Pro to save battery life? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. https://wccftech.com/test-shows-impact-on-iphone-14-pros-battery-life-after-enabling-and-disabling-wallpaper-for-always-on-display/

MSI has showcased its next-gen Spatium M570 Gen5 SSDs along with the latest white-colored graphics cards at its CES 2023 booth. MSI Gives First Look At Spatium M570 PCIe Gen5 SSDs, Powering Desktops & Laptops With Up To 12 GB/s Transfer Speeds MSI is working on not just one but two next-gen Spatium SSDs based on the Phison E26 controller, the Saptium M570 series. The family comes in two flavors, a standard Spatium M570 variant and a PRO variant. The difference between the two drives is not just the performance but also the cooling design. Starting with the MSI Spatium M570 PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD, we are looking at up to 10 GB/s read & write speeds, up to 3000 TBW endurance and all the essential software utilities added through the MSI Center software suite. This SSD lineup will come in 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB flavors. The SSD uses a similar heatsink to the ones we have already seen on the PCIe Gen4 Spatium drives. The MSI Spatium M570 PRO dials up the performance a notch with up to 12 GB/s Read and 10 GB/s Write speeds. The drives will also come in three capacities but the extra performance comes thanks to the updated finned heatsink which also includes a flattened vapor chamber plate. The design is also far more premium with a geometric shroud that adopts an elegant red-gold chameleon paint. MSI is expecting to ship its first PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSDs in the first half of 2023. They also showed off various demos of the Spatium Gen5 drives running on laptops and desktop PCs. MSI has also showcased its very first white-colored Gaming X Trio graphics card which adopts a full-white color shroud, backplate, and even the fans. The PCB should retain the black color but we are likely to see these cards within the GeForce RTX 40 series family. Once again, there's no word on the pricing of these cards but expect more information soon. https://wccftech.com/msi-showcases-next-gen-spatium-m570-gen5-ssds-white-gaming-x-trio-graphics-cards/

Wlc back again

to the Community Don't forget to read Community Rules. T/C

Hello, I really appreciate your kind words and this topic. But as a follow of my deen, I'm not celebrating this day. Thanks again ^^

Rabat - Morocco’s King Mohammed VI sent a letter of condolences on Saturday to the Vatican’s Pope Francis following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In the message, King Mohammed VI said he “learned with deep sorrow the news of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.” The King further expressed in the letter to Pope Francis, Christian communities, and the catholic church, his “deep condolences and sincere feelings of compassion.” The announcement comes on the same day as the Vatican announced that Former Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.The former Catholic pope is the first in over six centuries to step down from his position. He had been struggling with poor health. On December 28, Pope Francis asked Catholics to pray for his predecessor, saying that he was “very sick.” The Vatican’s Press Director Matteo Bruni issued a statement announcing the news. “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” the statement read. Pope Benedict had stayed at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican since stepping down as pope. He had promised to stay “hidden” after his “unorthodox” decision to step down from his position. Read Also: Vatican Announces Death of Former Pope Benedict XVI © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353326/moroccos-king-mohammed-vi-sends-condolences-to-vatican-following-death-of-pope-benedict

Rabat - Remittances from the Moroccan community abroad exceeded MAD 99.5 billion ($9.5 billion) at the end of the first eleven months of 2022. According to data from Morocco’s foreign trade watchdog, the Exchange Office (OE), monetary transfers from Moroccans abroad to their families rose by an annual rate of nearly 15%. The flow of foreign currency from Moroccans abroad has been on a steady increase over the past four years despite a slight dip in 2019, the data revealed, showing that the volume of remittances at the end of November went from MAD 59.8 billion in 2018, to MAD 59.7 billion in 2019. The volume of remittances transferred back to Morocco peaked between 2020 and 2021, going from MAD 61.2 billion to MAD 86.8 billion despite the COVID-induced global economic downturn. Remittances are of strategic importance to Morocco; they represent one of the county's four prime sources of foreign currency next to tourism, exports, and foreign investment. According to the OE, remittances accounted for 6.5% of Morocco’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020. Converging reports suggest that Morocco ranks second -- behind Egypt -- among Arab countries in terms of the volume of cash remittances. Morocco has over five million nationals residing abroad. However, having a large number of skilled workers overseas is putting the country at an economic disadvantage. Over 600 Moroccan engineers move abroad every year in search of better living conditions, putting the national economy at a great disadvantage. Human capital flight is estimated to have cost the Moroccan economy a cumulative figure of $87.7 billion between 1970 and 2010. Read Also: Remittances from Moroccans Abroad Rise to $7.3 Billion in 2022 © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/12/353314/remittances-from-moroccans-abroad-exceed-9-billion-in-2022

Rabat- Teenage striker Ilyes Housni’s father Abdellatif Housni has said that although his son currently plays for France’s youth national team, he loves Morocco and that it would be an honor for him to represent Morocco in the future. Abdellatif Housni told Moroccan sports outlet Al Mountakhab that Ilyes received his training in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) since he was 12 years old, adding that he is now comfortable with the Parisian team after signing a professional contract. Abdellatif noted that if Morocco's Royal Football Federation (FRMF) contacted Ilyes about representing Morocco, he would be honored to do so. Abdellatif said, “We are currently awaiting a call from the football federation.” “Even though my son currently wears the French national team's jersey, he loves Morocco and it would be an honor for him to wear the Moroccan football team's jersey,” he added. The young Moroccan striker recently signed his first professional contract with PSG, lasting until 2026. PSG coach Christophe Galtier described Ilyes as a “unique player” because of his “physique and the runs he makes.” Born in 2005 in Creteil, France, Ilyes has represented France in the U-17 national team twice and has been training with the senior PSG squad for the past few weeks. The young footballer trained with a number of French clubs, including FC Paris and Joanne Ville. On October 1, 2022, Housni gained notoriety with PSG's U-19 team after scoring a goal in the Championnat National U19. Additionally, in a 3-1 friendly win over Quevilly-Rouen at the Camp des Loges earlier this month, he scored his first two goals with PSG’s senior team. Read Also: Hakimi, Mbappe Reportedly Pushing for PSG’s Signing of Amrabat © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353327/ilyes-housnis-father-confirms-sons-desire-to-play-for-morocco

The long anticipated Granblue Fantasy: Relink is finally about to end its lengthy development cycle. Japanese developer Cygames announced as much today on Twitter while also sharing a new teaser trailer. At the very end, we can see the confirmation that Granblue Fantasy: Relink will be released at some point in 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam. Originally known as Granblue Fantasy Project Re: Link, the game was initially meant to be co-developed by PlatinumGames and Cygames. However, in February 2019, Cygames announced that it would fully take charge of the development of the game (now officially titled Granblue Fantasy: Relink). In late 2020, Cygames announced a 2022 release date. However, the studio had to delay the game once more to 2023, allegedly because of the pandemic. An action RPG at its core, Granblue Fantasy: Relink will allow players to control a party of NPCs or play with friends in online co-op (up to four players in total). Cygames did not say if cross-platform play is supported. Cutting-Edge Visuals, Gorgeous Environments Walk through the beautiful 2D artwork of Cygames and CyDesignation, now realized in full 3D. From lovingly crafted landscapes to detailed objects, enter a realm where experiencing a world bursting with character takes precedence over photorealism. You will feel the wind from the deck of an airship, visit quaint towns for the first time, and do battle across sprawling hillsides. There's plenty to discover on this journey. The Hallmark Artwork of Granblue Our beloved characters have been meticulously translated into 3D, complete with painterly lighting and shading techniques. Character models, and their equipped weapons, have been carefully crafted to be appreciated from any angle in Granblue Fantasy: Relink. Facial expressions have been given an equal amount of care, ensuring that the whole cast comes alive during the adventure. https://wccftech.com/granblue-fantasy-relink-is-definitely-coming-in-2023-says-cygames/

Four-year-old Philippines retailer Hardware Sugar has divulged its returns during its initial years as a seller of computer components. It is a small shop in no way comparable to Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, and others, but it gives insight into some of the more recognizable brands being returned and the percentage rate of failure from its shelves. Hardware Sugar displays failure rates of brands during their four years of business selling PC components Not surprisingly, graphics cards are at the top of the failed components, with only two companies sold on their list — Gigabyte and MSI. The retailer sold 129 MSI graphics cards and 141 Gigabyte GPUs but saw a five percent failure rate for the latter manufacturer. MSI witnessed a failure rate of 1.5%, with only two returned over four years. Motherboards were also limited to MSI and Gigabyte, with 470 units sold and 388 for the latter and failure rates of 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively. Other limited component sales were on RAM and NVME SSD, with TeamGroup in both spots and G.Skill in RAM sales, and Samsung in SSD sales. TeamGroup had the highest failure rate in both categories, with RAM failing at 1% and NVMe SSDs failing at 1.2% in the last four years. G.Skill RAM was close to TeamGroup's failure rate, reaching 0.66%. Samsung never had a return on SSDs over the previous four years with Hardware Sugar. Power supplies and cooling products received the vastest amount of companies sold through Hardware Sugar, with PSUs offered by the retailer four brands and three brands for cooling supplies. In power supply failure rates, Seasonic came out at the most failed at 1.8%. The only manufacturer not to have a single failed unit through the Philippines retailer was DeepCool. However, only 46 units were sold, while the other manufacturers — Corsair, Cooler Master, and Seasonic — sold over 100 units over the last four years. Cooling supplies had the most interesting numbers, with NZXT being the only manufacturer in the list, which also involved Corsair and DeepCool, to have any failed cooling supplies with a percentage of 4%. The only missing information was when talking about motherboards from MSI and Gigabyte. It is unknown whether it was a single CPU-based brand (i.e., AMD or Intel), which leads one to wonder what company saw the most significant failure over that time. https://wccftech.com/retailer-discloses-failure-rates-for-popular-hardware-over-four-years-worth-of-tracking/

Rabat - Authorities in Belgium are seeking to deport Moroccan imam Hassan Iquioussen to Morocco. News outlet BFMTV quoted sources that Belgium will deport the imam directly to Morocco. Belgian authorities arrested Iquioussen in September of last year. The imam has been facing a European arrest warrant issued by French authorities. The French Council of State gave the green light for the imam’s deportation last year after the Interior Ministry accused him of “proselytizing speech interspersed with inciting hatred and discrimination.” Following his arrest, converging reports stated that Belgium refused to hand the Moroccan imam to France, where he was wanted. BFMTV, however, stressed that Belgium attempted to deport the imam back to France in November, but France did not respond. In response, Belgium decided to send the imam to Morocco to avoid “unreasonably” keeping him in detention. “In order to not prolong the detention of Hassan Iquioussen unreasonably, the person concerned will be returned to the Moroccan border,” BFMTV quoted Belgian authorities as saying. AFP quoted a source confirming the same information, stressing that France’s goal is for the imam to “remain outside the national territory and be returned to Morocco.” The deportation will require another consular pass to be issued by Moroccan authorities to allow the imam’s deportation. In September last year, Morocco canceled a consular pass it issued for the imam’s deportation. Moroccan news outlet Le360 quoted a diplomatic source emphasizing that a letter from Morocco’s consular services was sent to French authorities to inform them that the previous consular pass for the imam's expulsion to the North African country was “no longer valid.” Iquioussens legal case sparked uproar from many, including his family and rights groups. Last year in August, the League for Human Rights (LDH) criticized France’s actions against the imam, stressing that “there is a clear principle in a secular and democratic society: the only limits to freedom of expression are the possibility for others to exercise the same freedom, and public order. This principle must be respected.” Born in France, Iquioussen is the father of five French born children. He is also the grandfather of 15 grandchildren. The imam, however, does not hold a French citizenship. Iquioussen’s request to renew his ten-year residence in France had also been denied by the French government. © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353323/belgium-wants-to-deport-imam-hassan-iquioussen-to-morocco

Rabat - Domestic demand, measuring the sum of expenditures from households, investors, and government, in Morocco is slowing in 2022 on the backdrop of the lingering economic bottleneck. National expenditures grew by a mere 4.3% at the end of the third quarter of 2022, almost half the growth rate recorded last year at 8%, according to data from Morocco’s state-owned economic intelligence agency, Higher Commission of Planning (HCP). Expenditures from Moroccan households have especially slowed down, dropping from a 6.4% growth rate at the end of the third quarter of 2021 to only 2.4% a year later. The trend also affected government expenditures, as their growth dropped from 5.7% to 4.1% over the first three quarters of 2022, the HCP data points out. The downturn in domestic demand echoes a larger trend within Morocco’s economy. Following the multiple shocks that affected the international economy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and deadlock in the Ukraine war, Morocco’s economic growth is showing no signs of recovery. At the end of the third quarter of 2022, Morocco’s economic growth took a nosedive, dropping to 1.6%, down from 8.7% the previous year. Besides international shocks, the drop in Morocco’s economic growth is due to the drought that gripped the country’s agriculture throughout 2022. The country’s rainfall-dependent agriculture contributes an average of 13% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Amid the severe episode of drought, the added value of agriculture dropped by 15.1% compared to a 16.6% increase last year.Your support allows us to continue delivering quality journalism that is accessible to audiences across the globe. Every contribution, however big or small, is valuable for our mission and readers. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353324/domestic-demand-slows-in-morocco-as-purchasing-power-takes-hit

Rabat - King Mohammed VI sent a message of condolences and compassion to the family of Brazilian football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pele. In the message, the monarch said he learned about Pele’s death “with deep sorrow,” stressing that the world has lost one of the best and most talented soccer players. “Pele was loved and admired around the world and helped make football a symbol of peace, coexistence and understanding between different peoples and cultures,” the King added. The King recalled his sincere condolences to the family of the legendary footballer, emphasizing that Pele had “great esteem for Morocco, a country that keeps the memory of his visit in 1976 with his club Santos FC.” Pele died on Thursday at the age of 82 after a long battle against cancer. The footballer’s death caused mourning in the football world, with several leagues and teams holding moments of silence in his honor and wearing black armbands. US President Joe Biden also joined in, paying a tribute to the iconic football player who helped popularize the sport in the US. Brazil’s then-president Jair Bolsonaro announced three days of national mourning on Friday. Many of the sport’s top talents, as well as its governing body FIFA also mourned the legendary football player. “Since the news was confirmed, the world of football has been united in their sadness and in sharing their memories and love of a man who was simply named ‘O Rei’ – The King,” FIFA said of Pele's death. Pele is the only player in history to have won three World Cups, and is regarded as the highest-scoring player in the history of the game. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/01/353322/king-mohammed-vi-pele-helped-make-football-a-symbol-of-peace-coexistence

Strategy & Simulation Games tend to cycle. We've had several strong years recently, with 2020 being a recent highlight. None of the recent years lacked; this will be my seventh consecutive list for the two genres, so I should know. This list can include no game in early access and no reboots, remakes, or re-imaginings (sorry, Tactics Ogre: Reborn). Also in Wccftech's Best Games of 2022 lists: Shooters, Fighting, Platformer, Adventure, Indie, Action, Horror, and Multiplayer. As an interesting aside, this sort of feels like the end of a circle. 2016 was my first time writing best-of lists for Strategy and Simulation (separate at that time), and some familiar entries here bring back some fond memories. The best example is the very first game on my list: Genre: Strategy (Grand Strategy). Platform: PC. No year is complete without what has become a tradition; a SEGA-published strategy game being worthy of any game of the year list, never mind just the strategy & simulation list. Acting as the end of Creative Assembly's run in the Warhammer world, this marked a perfect end to the trilogy, particularly if you want the pure Total War experience with the Immortal Empires campaign. As the culmination of the Total War: Warhammer trilogy, the story-focused approach combined with massive multiple-part battles feels like the right thing to do. While aspects can make you feel rushed, this is undeniably intentional as you're in a race against all other factions on the map, and the more I play it, the more I like it. The battles feel genuinely epic, with even regular ones seeing significant improvement thanks to excellent design. AI improvements on the campaign map, combined with the unique features of factions, also add another layer to the game. There are a few niggles here and there; the AI has issues during battles. Corruption on the campaign map also feels imbalanced, but while these can be irritating (corruption mainly), they are minor issues in the grand scheme. All in all, Total War: Warhammer III is an excellent game.Genre: Simulation. Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series S/X, Nintendo Switch. SEGA appears again, making me repeat something yet again: SEGA is one of the best publishers in gaming today, particularly if you're of a strategic (with a dash of simulation) mindset. Two Point Campus, the follow-up to Two Point Hospital, carries on from the original. The developers seem to be setting up a Two Point Universe, giving us a collection of slapstick management simulations for anything and everything. Police or Fire services next? Thanks to solid gameplay and a good sense of humour, as well as Two Point Studios strengthening the management aspects, I'm looking forward to the next outing. Two Point Campus follows the track laid by Two Point Hospital, keeping the same comedic look and tone, the same humour in its courses and curses. Like their first title, this combines strong simulation and management mechanics with accessibility that works well with the aforementioned tone and aesthetic. Two Point Studios know their work, and they're no doubt leading the class in more ways than one. Genre: Strategy (Turn-Based Tactics). Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series S/X, Nintendo Switch. Following on from Total War, Marvel's Midnight Suns also represents the circle I mentioned initially. Firaxis, developers of XCOM2, return and appear on this list. I, being the cynical arse that I am, assumed Marvel's Midnight Suns was going to be a run-of-the-mill game, essentially XCOM but Marvel. How wrong I was. Yes, this is a turn-based tactics title like XCOM, but that's where the similarities end. Integrating deck-based mechanics almost perfectly, it also integrates chance due to you never being sure if you will draw a helpful card. In addition to engaging combat, Firaxis has also included strong RPG mechanics, branching out from their usual style and performing admirably. Marvel's Midnight Suns is a strong tactical RPG that feels like something that wouldn't be amiss in the MCU. Some elements can feel a little bloated, but it's a very strong game. The characterisation is top-notch, with some excellent scriptwriting and voice-acting to support it. Outside of the RPG aspects, combat is fun, engaging, and challenging - particularly at higher difficulty levels. I've had a lot of fun with the game, and I'm still having fun with it, and I can't help but think that fans of the genre - and Marvel - would enjoy it as much as me. https://wccftech.com/wccftechs-best-strategy-simulation-games-of-2022/