Princess Lalla Salma honoured in Senegal.
Princess Lalla Salma, spouse of king Mohammed VI of Morocco, was decorated by President Abdoulaye Wade with the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, the highest honour bestowed in Senegal.
The decoration ceremony was attended by Senegal's First lady, Viviane Wade, and by Morocco's ambassador to Dakar, Moha Ouali Tagma.
"Princess Lalla Salma deserves the award for her humanitarian actions in Morocco and abroad," Vivian Wade told the press following the decoration ceremony, noting that "this decoration is also a gesture of admiration for Morocco and for the royal family."
Princess Lalla Salma arrived in Dakar on Sunday to take part in the 15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (CISMA), convening in the Senegalese capital on December 3-7.
So you want a break?
This week Gran Canaria airlines have started a new service between Morocco and the Canary Islands. The flights will be twice weekly (on Mondays and Fridays) - the catch for those living in Fez and wanting a short vacation is that that the flights depart from Agadir. Domage bizef!
Chers amis de la Communauté internationale en Médina,
Pour ceux d'entre vous qui avaient eu connaissance, par Zelliges & Mosaïques, du ''pot'' de la Saint Nicolas en Médina, l'Evènement est toujours bien prévu le 6 décembre mais le site a changé.
C'est au riad Alkantara, chez Abdelfattah et Camille ( 24, Oued Souaffine - Douh - contact@riadalkantara.com), qu'on se réunira finalement à partir de 18 heures (le riad Batha abritant une activité culturelle ce soir là). Que nos aimables hôtes soient remerciés d'accueillir les anciens comme les nouveaux résidents, ceux qui sont inquiets comme ceux qui sont sereins, pour mieux se connaître et mieux se faire comprendre, en toute amitié et sans protocole aucun.
La réunion pouvant servir à ''donner une voix'' à la communauté étrangère de la Médina, n'hésitez pas à en parler autour de vous et à y faire venir des résidents que nous ne connaissons pas : il y en a beaucoup.
A bientôt et bien amicalement,
Bertrand Lavezzari
Consul général de France à Fès
Riad AlkantaraOnce more in English!
Riad Alkantara
Dear friends of the international community, living in the Medina,Some of you may have already heard (through Zelliges & Mosaïques) about the ''drink'' planned for the celebration of Saint Nicolas, on 6. December. The Event is still here but the venue has changed.
Riad Alkantara, with Abdelfattah and Camille as hosts ( 24, Oued Souaffine - Douh - contact@riadalkantara.com), will finally welcome you, from 6.PM on, (as riad Batha is staging a cultural event that same evening). Our gratitude being expressed to them as they will welcome old as new foreign residents, those who worry as well as those who keep cool.. the goal being to get to know each other better, make some points of common interest and spread understanding, in all friendship and without protocol.
This meeting might even provide the foreign community in the Medina with a ''voice'' of its own. So, please, don't hesitate to spread the invitation to those unknown of us, among the foreign residents. They are plenty.
Welcome, all !
Yours, friendly,
Bertrand Lavezzari.
Consul général de France à Fès
Morocco to turn prison cells into cultural centres
Riad Alkantara, with Abdelfattah and Camille as hosts ( 24, Oued Souaffine - Douh - contact@riadalkantara.com), will finally welcome you, from 6.PM on, (as riad Batha is staging a cultural event that same evening). Our gratitude being expressed to them as they will welcome old as new foreign residents, those who worry as well as those who keep cool.. the goal being to get to know each other better, make some points of common interest and spread understanding, in all friendship and without protocol.
This meeting might even provide the foreign community in the Medina with a ''voice'' of its own. So, please, don't hesitate to spread the invitation to those unknown of us, among the foreign residents. They are plenty.
Welcome, all !
Yours, friendly,
Bertrand Lavezzari.
Consul général de France à Fès
Morocco to turn prison cells into cultural centres
Secret jails that once held Moroccan soldiers arrested after failed coup attempts in appalling conditions are to be converted into centres that will beat witness to their history.
Morocco's Advisory Council on Human Rights has signed an agreement for the project with the government, the president of the CCDH, Ahmed Herzenni said.
"We will convert the centres that were places of terrible abuses of freedom into memorial spots that celebrate hope and the future," said Herzenni.
But one of the country's most renowned detention centres, where 58 soldiers were jailed for 18 years after their part in a failed 1971 coup against King Hassan II, is not on the list of centres up for restoration.
Tazmamart
Herzenni said discussions with the victims and their families were still going on over whether to include the Tazmamart prison in southeast Morocco on the list.
The agreement followed recommendations from a 2004 truth commission presented to King Mohammed VI on serious human rights violations between 1960 and 1999.
Attention Fashion Tragics!
The famous French fashion and style outlet Galeries Lafayette has decided to expand with an investment of 130 million dirhams in Morocco. The French department store chain has signed a partnership agreement with Aksal which gives the Moroccan retail group exclusive operating rights to its brand in Morocco. So we can expect the fashion tragics to be making a few more shopping trips to Casablanca.
Margot the Marrakech Mystic Says...
When hemlines go up, so does the market. Well, in Morocco, djellaba hemlines for both men and women have come way up in the past few years. From ankle-length, they have now come up to mid-calf length. But what’s been going up in Morocco is real estate prices!
The agreement followed recommendations from a 2004 truth commission presented to King Mohammed VI on serious human rights violations between 1960 and 1999.
Attention Fashion Tragics!
The famous French fashion and style outlet Galeries Lafayette has decided to expand with an investment of 130 million dirhams in Morocco. The French department store chain has signed a partnership agreement with Aksal which gives the Moroccan retail group exclusive operating rights to its brand in Morocco. So we can expect the fashion tragics to be making a few more shopping trips to Casablanca.
Margot the Marrakech Mystic Says...
When hemlines go up, so does the market. Well, in Morocco, djellaba hemlines for both men and women have come way up in the past few years. From ankle-length, they have now come up to mid-calf length. But what’s been going up in Morocco is real estate prices!
With the worldwide economic slowdown, I imagine it will affect Morocco, even though it hasn’t yet done so very much. Tourists are still coming, and according to a friend I know who owns a travel agency, Europeans don’t seem to be cancelling their holidays to Morocco, at least not yet.
So, if and when the economic downturn hits Morocco, will hemlines come down again? We’ll see.
You can reach Margot here: Margot
Morocco's new smart card
A source in the Morocco's national security service tells us the contact-less smart cards, required for all citizens over 18, will be used to fight terrorism. Artists are issued an additional professional card.
Morocco's national security service has begun issuing millions of "contactless," biometric identification smart cards to simultaneously fight terrorism and guarantee respect for "citizens' rights and liberty," according to that North African government.
Moroccan citizens over 18 years old are required to carry the new ID, but on the upside; the card conveniently supplants birth certificates, certificate of residence, certificate of life, and certificate of nationality in "all procedures for which these documents must be provided."
Artists, however, will continue to be issued a professional ID card by the Ministry of Culture.
The smart cards hold personal details and biometric data, and can be used as travel documents, as well as a way for the government to "control migration flows." Naturally, no one besides the cardholder and authorized government entities will have access to the personal data in the bar code and on the microchip.
French aerospace giant Thales provided the system, which included the security software, document production equipment, and the "connectivity with the Automated Fingerprint Identification System which acquires digital fingerprints."
This is the world's first national ID system based on contactless smart-card technology, according to the press release. The Direction Generale de la Securite Nationale (DGSN) has issued at least a million cards to date and plans to distribute 20 million more over the next four years.
The ID cards for artists, meanwhile, afford them a "more structured environment" in which to work and ensure "conditions necessary to promote creativity," according to the Ministry. There also are unspecified "social benefits."
The rising popularity of shisha among Moroccan women.
A whisper has it that there is concern in more conservative circles about the growing number of women who now publicly smoke shisha. Well, the news for those conservatives is that they need to "get out more often" . Shisha is hugely popular and the worst thing they could do is drive it underground where the authorities can't keep an eye on it.
A source in the Morocco's national security service tells us the contact-less smart cards, required for all citizens over 18, will be used to fight terrorism. Artists are issued an additional professional card.
Morocco's national security service has begun issuing millions of "contactless," biometric identification smart cards to simultaneously fight terrorism and guarantee respect for "citizens' rights and liberty," according to that North African government.
Moroccan citizens over 18 years old are required to carry the new ID, but on the upside; the card conveniently supplants birth certificates, certificate of residence, certificate of life, and certificate of nationality in "all procedures for which these documents must be provided."
Artists, however, will continue to be issued a professional ID card by the Ministry of Culture.
The smart cards hold personal details and biometric data, and can be used as travel documents, as well as a way for the government to "control migration flows." Naturally, no one besides the cardholder and authorized government entities will have access to the personal data in the bar code and on the microchip.
French aerospace giant Thales provided the system, which included the security software, document production equipment, and the "connectivity with the Automated Fingerprint Identification System which acquires digital fingerprints."
This is the world's first national ID system based on contactless smart-card technology, according to the press release. The Direction Generale de la Securite Nationale (DGSN) has issued at least a million cards to date and plans to distribute 20 million more over the next four years.
The ID cards for artists, meanwhile, afford them a "more structured environment" in which to work and ensure "conditions necessary to promote creativity," according to the Ministry. There also are unspecified "social benefits."
The rising popularity of shisha among Moroccan women.
A whisper has it that there is concern in more conservative circles about the growing number of women who now publicly smoke shisha. Well, the news for those conservatives is that they need to "get out more often" . Shisha is hugely popular and the worst thing they could do is drive it underground where the authorities can't keep an eye on it.
"Shameful" mingling?
According to Miriam (18) from the Fez Medina, 'All my friends enjoy shisha and it is so much better than cigarettes.' However not everyone agrees. Authorities in Casablanca actually shut down shisha cafes throughout the city after receiving several complaints during the holy month of Ramadan that the cafes promote vice and spread disease.
Moroccan preacher sheikh Abdul-Bari al-Zamzami, a member of the Moroccan Scholars Association claimed that the cafes were dens of vice and corruption.
"Shisha cafes are a disgrace to the city and to all Morocco. They are a way to seduce minors and spread corruption," he said.
In addition to the personal health risks of smoking sihsha, which include lung cancer, shisha cafes have been linked to the increased prevalence of tuberculosis in several Arab countries. According to the World Health Organization regional office in Cairo, about 17 percent of TB cases in the eastern Mediterranean are attributable to smoking the water pipes.
Recent statistics issued by the Ministry of Health indicate that Casablanca has the highest number of TB cases out of any Moroccan cities, with 25,562 cases reported in 2007 alone. The rate of infection was estimated at 82 cases for every 100,000.
Haya added that in addition to health problems cafes encourage many ethical violations since men and women "mingle in a shameful way."
Casablanca mayor Mohamed Sajed declined to comment on the decision to close the cafes.
Moroccan preacher sheikh Abdul-Bari al-Zamzami, a member of the Moroccan Scholars Association claimed that the cafes were dens of vice and corruption.
"Shisha cafes are a disgrace to the city and to all Morocco. They are a way to seduce minors and spread corruption," he said.
In addition to the personal health risks of smoking sihsha, which include lung cancer, shisha cafes have been linked to the increased prevalence of tuberculosis in several Arab countries. According to the World Health Organization regional office in Cairo, about 17 percent of TB cases in the eastern Mediterranean are attributable to smoking the water pipes.
Recent statistics issued by the Ministry of Health indicate that Casablanca has the highest number of TB cases out of any Moroccan cities, with 25,562 cases reported in 2007 alone. The rate of infection was estimated at 82 cases for every 100,000.
Haya added that in addition to health problems cafes encourage many ethical violations since men and women "mingle in a shameful way."
Casablanca mayor Mohamed Sajed declined to comment on the decision to close the cafes.
Not exactly a den of vice!
The controversy over shisha cafes started in the City Council where many members considered them hotbeds of indecency and accused many of its regulars of replacing tobacco with pot or other narcotics.
And from the desk of our Sport's Editor...
According to Dominick, the Moroccan national team beat its Libyan counterpart 3-1 on Saturday in the first leg match part of the final round qualifiers for African nations championship for locally based players (CHAN-2009). Finally - Spare a thought for another historic city.
Restaurant in St Marks Square...
Venice has just been hit today by the worst floods in more then two decades. Tourists have had to flee as waters took over huge areas of the city.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
According to Dominick, the Moroccan national team beat its Libyan counterpart 3-1 on Saturday in the first leg match part of the final round qualifiers for African nations championship for locally based players (CHAN-2009).
Two Moroccan goals were scored by Mustapha Allaoui at the 11th and 63rd minutes, while Mohamed Madihi scored the third goal at the 85th min. The Libyan goal was netted at the 21st min. by Oussama Saad El Fizani.
The return match will be played on December 12 in Tripoli. The winner will qualify to the finals of the first CHAN- 2009 tournament slated for February 22 through March 8, 2009 in Cote d'Ivoire.
Restaurant in St Marks Square...Venice has just been hit today by the worst floods in more then two decades. Tourists have had to flee as waters took over huge areas of the city.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
1 comment:
Wow, this is very interesting gossip! I feel concerned about all these young women smoking shisha and about the tuberculosis! I would like to know more about where and how to get these biometric ID cards. Also, can foreign residents get them, too? Where and how?
Margot,in Marrakesh
margotmystic.wordpress.com
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