Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull ‘Dance Again’ With RedOne

Jennifer Lopez hooks up with Pitbull on her new single “Dance Again,” . It’s an insipid little tune that has the singer looking for a little booty call. The song has a smooth upbeat sound and a steady thumping dance beat that would be hard to miss on the club floor. Pitbull, who collaborated with Lopez on her 2011 song “On the Floor,” kicks off the song with a quick rap, with J-Lo jumping in on the chorus. In fact, the song is very similar to “On the Floor,” according to MTV. Producer RedOne...

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Swiss solar plane to attempt 48-hour flight to Morocco

The Swiss sun-powered aircraft Solar Impulse will attempt to fly from Switzerland to Morocco in coming weeks, in its longest flight to date, organisers said Wednesday.  "After its inaugural flight to Paris and Brussels in 2011, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg's solar airplane will attempt, for the first time ever, to fly over 2,500 km (1,550 miles) without using a drop of fuel, finally landing in Morocco," said the project in a statement. Piccard and Borschberg will take turns to pilot...

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Graft, corruption found in Morocco public sector

An audit court has found evidence of graft, corruption and insider trading in Morocco's state-owned firms and entities, putting to the test a government promise to end such practices. The Supreme Court of Audit's latest probe revealed that bourse watchdog CDVM had not properly investigated cases of insider trading involving five individuals that netted them gains of close to $30 million between July, 2006 and January 2007. The report, published late on Wednesday on the official gazette, also...

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Outspoken Morocco rapper charged over "insulting" song

A Moroccan rapper was charged on Friday with insulting public authorities in a song that was posted on YouTube, at the start of a trial criticised by his supporters as a new attempt to muzzle an outspoken critic of the monarchy. The court, in Casablanca, adjourned the trial of Mouad Belrhouat, known as El-Haqed or "The Sullen One", to April 4 and refused him bail, his lawyer Hatim Bekkar said. It is less than three months since El-Haqed was sentenced to four months in prison for assault after...

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Qatar boosts stake in French media giant Vivendi

Qatar Holding has increased its stake in Vivendi, owner of the world’s largest music and video-game makers, as the Gulf state ramps up its investments in France. The investment arm of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund purchased 5.6m shares in the Paris-based media conglomerate to increase its shareholding from 1.55 percent at the end of 2011 to two percent. The value of the stake has been estimated at around €354m (US$468.81m). Founded in 1853, Vivendi’s main assets including French film and television...

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Spain and Morocco compete for oil search in Canary Islands

Spain and Morocco are competing in the search for oil in the deep-sea area of Canary Islands, near the sea border with Morocco. This can be inferred from what the Industry, Tourism and Trade Minister José Manuel Soria has stated today during a radio interview at Radio Onda Zero. Soria confirmed that Morocco "is already carrying out surveys" in the area, which is allegedly located "on the border of the imaginary line ideally separating the Kingdom of Morocco from the Kingdom of Spain". According...

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Google Chrome became the world’s most popular browser…for a day

Last week, Google’s Chrome browser became the world’s most popular browser for the first time, topping the charts for just a single day (on a Sunday no less) as it continues to see increased usage all over the world. Chrome’s growth was charted by website analytics service StatCounter, which noted that on March 18, Chrome became the world’s number one browser for the day, as it overtook its rivals — Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox — in India, Russia and Brazil. Accounting...

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Morocco's Roman ruins: Stunning, with few tourists

Visitors to Morocco usually head straight for the beaches or plunge into the winding alleys of exotic medieval markets, but this rich North African country also has a wealth of ruins from its days as a Roman colony. Few visit Morocco's handful of 2,000-year-old sites, but they are well worth the side trip, not least because the ancient city planners had a knack for picking the most stunning locations for their towns. In addition, the lack of tourists gives them a haunted undiscovered feel. The...

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Actor Omar Sharif's grandson: Gay and Jewish

It's not easy being gay in Egypt. It's also not easy being Jewish. Omar Sharif Jr., grandson of two-time Golden Globe winning actor Omar Sharif (senior), admitted Sunday to being both, in an article published in the April edition of The Advocate. Hailing from the North African nation struggling to redefine its relationship with democracy and human rights, Sharif wrote his "confession" to urge elected officials to speak out on the issues of religious and sexual freedom. "I hesitantly confess:...

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King of Morocco Knights Chabad Rabbi

Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Raphael Benchimol of the Manhattan Sephardic Congregation was honored with the Knight of the Order of the Throne from Mohammed VI King of Morocco, in New York on March 11. br 2,="" Yet today only 1% of the estimated 600,000 Moroccan Jews worldwide live in the North African country, with the overwhelming majority immigrating to Israel and other western countries. Rabbi Benchimol, who was born in Rabat, Morocco and studied in Chabad Yeshivas both in Rabat and the United States,...

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Egypt's Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III dies

Egypt's Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III has died at the age of 88, state television has announced. The cause of his death was not reported, but the leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority had suffered from health problems. Coptic Christians make up 10% of Egypt's 80 million population. After attacks on Coptic Christians in recent years, Pope Shenouda urged officials to do more to address the community's concerns. Pope Shenouda led the church, one of the oldest Christian...

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10 Most Popular People On Twitter

Millions of followers hang on their every tweet. Here are the 10 most popular people on twitter  ...

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#Morocco: Rape-Marriage Law Will Be Amended #RipAmina

Morocco on Thursday said it would amend a law allowing rapists to marry their underage female victims after the suicide of a teenage girl raised doubts about the effectiveness of reforms to women's rights in the country. Sixteen-year-old Amina El-Filali killed herself last week near the northern city of Larache by swallowing rat poison after a six-month forced marriage to the man who raped her. Local human rights activists say the law violates women's rights and was created to avoid damage to...

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Forbes Magazine List of Billionaires Includes Three Moroccan Businessmen

Every year, US News and World Report releases its ranking of the best colleges and universities in the United States. For parents and high school students, the report is a useful guide in making the crucial decision of where to obtain the best secondary education. There is another famous ranking in the United States. Forbes Magazine, much to the chagrin of those of us who struggle for a living, releases its list of the world’s wealthiest individuals. For some reason, the public is always fascinated by this list and is eager to learn the names...

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Apple shares hit $600 ahead of new iPad release

Shares of Apple Inc. have hit and surpassed the $600 mark as investors anticipate the release of the third-generation iPad on Friday.  Apple stock hit $600.01 shortly after the market opened on Thursday morning. By midday, the stock was trading at about $592.80, or up $3.22 per share from a Wednesday closing price of $589.58. The brief rise to $600 is historic for Apple, marking the first time the firm's shares have hit such a high price.  Apple is currently the world's most valuable...

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Syria's year of protest and insurrection

It is a year since President Bashar al-Assad's men responded to peaceful demonstrations in the southern Syrian town of Deraa with automatic weapons. A few weeks before he had blithely told a reporter from the Wall Street Journal that Syria would not catch the virus of revolution that was tearing through the Arab world. The reason, he said, was that the president shared an ideology with the people, which would give Syria immunity. The irony of the last 12 months is that Mr Assad was not wrong...

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King Mohammed VI of Morocco will visit South Korea

King Mohammed VI will make an official visit to South Korea in the coming weeks, as part of a tour that will take him in several Asian countries. The Moroccan sovereign will meet with several Korean officials in order to develop the cooperation relations between Morocco and South Kor...

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Moroccan girl, 16, forced to marry her rapist (On 2MTV)

The case of a 16-year-old girl who killed herself after she was forced to marry her rapist has spurred outrage among Morocco's activists and calls for changes to the country's la...

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ERFOUD DESERT STARS WIN FIRST EVER FLAG FOOTBALL GAME PLAYED IN MOROCCO

Morocco successfully played the nation's first American Flag Football game at the Goulmima Stadium as the Erfoud Desert Stars beat the Goulmima American Football Club in a close game. The teams played an extended version of the game (40 minute halves) because the players were so excited about the match. The Desert Stars, coached by Peace Corps volunteer Ross Wood, won the match, but for the future of the sport in North Africa, just as significant was the fact that many spectators who attended...

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Morocco protest after raped Amina Filali kills herself

Moroccan activists have stepped up pressure to scrap laws that allow rapists to marry their victims - after a 16-year-old girl killed herself. Amina Filali swallowed rat poison after being severely beaten during a forced marriage to her rapist. An online petition has been started - and protests are planned for Saturday against a law branded by campaigners as an "embarrassment". The penal code allows the "kidnapper" of a minor to marry her to escape jail. 'Dishonour' Women's rights groups...

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Suicide of Moroccan girl, 16, forced to marry rapist sparks outrage

The case of a 16-year-old girl who killed herself after she was forced to marry her rapist has spurred outrage among Morocco's internet activists and calls for changes to the country's laws.  An online petition, a Facebook page and countless tweets expressed horror over the suicide of Amina Filali, who swallowed rat poison on Saturday to protest her marriage to the man who raped her a year earlier. Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code allows for the "kidnapper" of a minor to marry his...

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Protests spread in Morocco's north Rif mountains

Anti-government protests in Morocco's impoverished northern Rif mountains are spreading after a second village clashed with police resulting in serious injuries and 10 arrests, reported the state news agency. For the past 10 days, there have been demonstrations in the small village of Beni Bouayache following the arrest of a local activist.  On Sunday they spread to the nearby town of Imzouren. The state news agency said a number of police were injured when they stopped a protest march at...

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On this day (March 2 1933) The film King Kong premiered

King Kong opened at the 6,200-seat Radio City Music Hall in New York City and the 3,700-seat RKO Roxy across the street on Thursday, March 2, 1933. The film was preceded by a stage show called Jungle Rhythms. Crowds lined up around the block on opening day, tickets were priced at $.35 to $.75, and, in its first four days, every one of its ten-shows-a-day were sold out — setting an all-time attendance record for an indoor event. Over the four day period, the film grossed $89,931. The film had its...

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Morocco tourism grows slightly despite world economic downturn

The number of tourists visiting Morocco was up by one percent last year, at just over 9.34 million, despite the world economic downturn, tourism official Kamal Bensouda said Thursday. Tourist income was also up, by four percent, at 59 billion dirhams (5.36 billion euros, $7.12 billion), he told MAP news agency. The steady results came despite recession in Europe, a continent which accounts for 80 percent of Morocco's tourists, Bensouda said. Most visitors are French, Spanish, or Moroccans living...

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Morocco to import 1 mln T of s.wheat by end-May

Morocco will import between 1 million and 1.1 million tonnes of soft wheat during the March-May period of this year after the government decided to suspend import duties on the commodity for two months, the finance ministry said on Friday.  Finance and Economy Minister Nizar Baraka told a parliamentary committee that 125,000 tonnes of locally-produced soft wheat from last year's harvest remains to be collected by end-May, a statement posted on the ministry's website said.  The North...

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Facebook Timeline Arrives for Business: Prepare Your Page

Facebook today introduced a major revamp for business pages that gives you more control over the look and feel of your company's page. The new page layout helps you interact more easily with your Facebook fans, enabling enhanced graphics, the capability to feature posts, and private messages with fans. Most Facebook users are familiar with the new Timeline layout. Not only does it organize status updates onto a timeline, making it easy to call up a Facebook user’s posts by month and year, but the...

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