Barca announce Morocco visit

Barcelona will visit the Moroccan city of Tangier in the off-season to play a friendly match as part of their preparations for next season. The game - which will be contested against a selection of local players led by Rachid Taoussi - is scheduled for July 28, and will be the Catalans' second pre-season friendly after an encounter with Hamburg on July 24. "We have more than 50,000 supporters in Morocco with four Barcelona fan clubs and thousands of followers in this country on Facebook," Barca...

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Morocco hosts musicians — and imprisons its own

Morocco's glittering Mawazine international music festival wraps up this weekend with performances by Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, after nine days of showcasing the North African kingdom's cool factor — even as dissident Moroccan artists are imprisoned for their anti-establishment sentiments. The 11-year-old "Rhythms of the World" festival in the capital Rabat has always highlighted Morocco's contradictions as the country spends millions to lure top world artists to perform at generally free...

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The Plan - Award Winning Short Film

A man quits his job, leaves his girlfriend and drives to Vegas to put all of his money on red. ...

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Sarkozy couple holidaying in Morocco royal residence

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was voted out two weeks ago, and his wife Carla are enjoying a holiday in one of the Moroccan king's residences in Marrakesh, a local official said Tuesday. "The residence belongs to the royal family and is located in the heart of the palm grove," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "The residence where Sarkozy is recharging his batteries is generally reserved for the king's guests," he said. "It is very secluded, shielded from the...

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Morocco: Prison for Rapper Who Criticized Police - Muzzling a Musician, Country Hosting Music Festivals Strikes Sour Note

The sentencing of a rapper on May 11, 2012 to one year in prison for "insulting the police" shows the gap between the strong free-expression language in Morocco's 2011 constitution and the continuing intolerance for those who criticize state institutions. The sentence was handed down one week before the opening of the international Mawazine music festival in Rabat, which is held under the patronage of King Mohammed VI. Mouad Belghouat, better known as "al-Haqed" (the sullen one), has been in pretrial...

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Nokia cites 45 patents in lawsuits against HTC, RIM, Viewsonic

The mobile phone company says that the patents relate to everything from power management to application stores. The suits were filed in the U.S. and Germany. Nokia has unleashed a massive lawsuit campaign against HTC, RIM, and Viewsonic. The mobile phone company said today that it has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against HTC, and a host of lawsuits across the U.S. and Germany against Research In Motion and Viewsonic, in addition to HTC. Nokia argues that...

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Morocco minister won’t stop trial of YouTube rapper

Morocco’s justice minister said he would not stop the trial of an outspoken rapper charged with insulting the authorities in one of his songs, despite an outcry from rights campaigners who say the case is an attack on freedom of expression. Human rights activists had expected this sort of prosecution would cease after a moderate Islamist opposition party, the PJD, was elected to lead the government last year with a promise of reform. But the government’s influence remains limited by the power...

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