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Moderate Islamists claim Moroccan election win

RABAT: Morocco s Justice and Development Party (PJD) claimed victory on Saturday in a parliamentary election that

Written on November 26, 2011 | Posted in International, News, US, morocco | Leave a comment

Arab world protests at a glance

A summary of developments in the Arab world, as instability and anti-government protests inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia spread in the region. ___ LIBYA: Libyan forces fire machine-guns at mourners at a funeral for anti-government protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi. A doctor at one Benghazi hospital said 20 people were killed Sunday. Libya is oil-rich, but an estimated one-third of its people live in poverty. The protesters demand the resignation of Moammar Gadhafi, who has ruled for 42 years. Gadhafi has clamped down, but has also promised to replace some government administrators to defuse anger. Human Rights Watch said more than 200 people died – mostly in Benghazi – from Thursday through Saturday. Switzerland-based Libyan activist Fathi al-Warfali said 11 people were killed in the city of Beyida on Wednesday night. The latest numbers brought the toll to at least 225 since Wednesday. ___ TUNISIA: Several thousand protesters swarm the governmental palace to demand the ouster of the provisional government. Police briefly fired warning shots to disperse the crowd that defied government warnings not to challenge emergency measures enacted after the toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’’s 23-year rule last month. ___ MOROCCO: Thousands of people march in cities across Morocco, demanding greater democracy in the North African kingdom. Demonstrators shouted slogans calling for economic opportunity, educational reform, better health services and help in coping with rising living costs. The demonstrations are Morocco’’s first since anti-government protests started spreading throughout the Arab world. The demonstrators” main target was the parliament, though they will likely put pressure on King Mohammed VI, who is seen as a reformer, but still holds absolute authority. ___ YEMEN: Yemen’’s president offers to oversee a dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition, in a bid to diffuse 11 days of protests across the country calling for his ouster. Opposition groups refuse all dialogue with Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key U.S. ally, as long as security forces suppress demonstrations. At least nine people have died since the protests began. The demonstrators demand the resignation of Saleh, who has ruled the Arab world’’s poorest nation for 32 years. The main grievances are poverty and corruption. Saleh’’s promises not to run for re-election in 2013 or to set up his son as an heir have failed to quell the anger. ___ BAHRAIN: Bahrain’’s opposition weighs the regime’’s offer for talks after nearly a week of protests calling for the tiny Gulf nation’’s monarchy to give up its near-absolute control over key policies and positions. Deep bitterness underpins the political haggling after battles that included riot police opening fire at protesters, then pulling back to let them occupy a landmark square. At least seven people have been killed and hundreds injured. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’’s Fifth Fleet, the main U.S. military counterweight to Iran’’s efforts to expand its reach into the Gulf. Other Gulf Arab leaders strongly back the nation’’s ruling Sunni dynasty, fearing that Shiite powerhouse Iran could gain further footholds through the uprising led by Bahrain’’s Shiite majority. ___ JORDAN: Jordan’’s King Abdullah II calls for “quick and real” reforms to give the public a greater role in governing and to eliminate corruption following anti-government protests over the last seven weeks. Activists are demanding a stronger role in politics and greater political freedoms. The king, a hereditary monarch and close U.S. ally, called for a change in a heavily disputed election law that critics say favors his loyalists. He did not mention curbing his own power to dismiss the prime minister and the parliament and rule by decree. ___ KUWAIT Descendants of desert nomads demonstrate for a third day to demand Kuwaiti citizenship and its lavish benefits. The stateless Arabs hold no citizenship but have been settled in the oil-rich Gulf nation for generations. Security forces fired tear gas to disperse them on Saturday. Kuwait’’s parliament speaker appeals for an end to the protests. (AP)

Written on February 21, 2011 | Posted in 2011, Health, ISI, International, Iran, News, Politics, UN, US, USA, War, ad, ads, africa, aid, call, corruption, dha, education, live, military, morocco, police, poverty, tests, uth | Leave a comment

Kadhafi’’s son warns of ”rivers of blood” in Libya

TRIPOLI: The son of Libya’’s strongman Moamer Kadhafi warned Monday the country would be destroyed by civil war if protests end his father’’s rule, in a speech broadcast as bursts of gunfire broke out in Tripoli. Saif al-Islam Kadhafi offered reforms to end the violent uprising gripping the country, but he warned the protests were a foreign plot and would be crushed in a “bloodbath” if the government’’s offer was rejected. The turbulence gripping the Arab world following the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia also spread to Morocco, where thousands rallied for change across the country. And Bahrain’’s Sunni Muslim ruling family came under increased pressure to open meaningful negotiations with the Shiite-led opposition, as protesters refused to be bowed and camped out in the capital Manama’’s Pearl Square. The deadliest confrontations were in Libya, where Human Rights Watch said it feared a catastrophe with at least 173 people dead after a brutal government crackdown on demonstrators demanding an end to Kadhafi’’s 41-year iron rule. Intense gunfire was heard in the heart of Tripoli and several quarters of the city Monday for the first time since the uprising began, but sounds of celebration also rang out to produce a confused picture. “Libya is at a crossroads. If we do not agree today on reforms, we will not be mourning 84 people, but thousands of deaths, and rivers of blood will run through Libya,” Kadhafi’’s son said in a speech that gave a lower death toll. But Saif al-Islam Kadhafi’’s threats betrayed a note of desperation, and he suggested that the eastern city of Benghazi, an epicentre of the unprecedented protests, was now out of government control. “At this moment there are tanks being driven by civilians in Benghazi,” he said, dismissing the uprising as a foreign plot aimed at installing Islamist rule and insisting it would be ruthlessly crushed. “We will take up arms… we will fight to the last bullet,” he said. “We will destroy seditious elements. “If everybody is armed, it is civil war, we will kill each other.” But despite the tough talk and finger-wagging, Kadhafi also made some concessions — pledging a new constitution and new liberal laws. Libya’’s unrest has spread from the flashpoint city of Benghazi, where demonstrations began on Tuesday, to the Mediterranean town of Misrata, just 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Tripoli. Witnesses described security forces, backed by “African mercenaries,” firing into crowds “without discrimination,” and a lawyer told AFP at least 200 people had been killed in the five days of unrest. “The United States is gravely concerned with disturbing reports and images coming out of Libya,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley. “We are working to ascertain the facts, but we have received multiple credible reports that hundreds of people have been killed and injured in several days of unrest — and the full extent of the death toll is unknown due to the lack of access of international media and human rights organizations.” France, Germany and the European Union weighed in with calls for the violence to stop immediately and Libya’’s permanent representative to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, said he was quitting to “join the revolution.” (AFP)

Written on February 21, 2011 | Posted in 2011, IPL, ISI, International, UN, US, USA, War, ad, ads, africa, aid, call, dha, europe, france, islam, media, morocco, tests, uth | Leave a comment

Beyond the Test World: Morocco take cricket into schools

The Moroccan Royal Cricket Board, in its development plan, has started introducing cricket in schools. In April cricket was introduced in five schools in Rabat, Sale, temara and now cricket has been taken to an other city named Marrakech. On July 5, cricket was taught to about 300 kids in Marrakech, and the players of the Australian team who were visiting Morocco from June 29 to July 9 assisted the board in coaching the kids….

Written on August 11, 2010 | Posted in Cricket, ISI, Sports, australia, morocco | Leave a comment

Moderate Islamists claim Moroccan election win

Arab world protests at a glance

Kadhafi’’s son warns of ”rivers of blood” in Libya

Beyond the Test World: Morocco take cricket into schools

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