Morocco

The latest happenings from the celebrity circles of the Middle East in pictures and words!

Here's a look back at some of the year's bizarre and controversial fatwas. Weird is the word! Some are a source for debate, others an invitation for mockery or bashing, and still others, fit into a class of their own as 'bogus' fatwas. Like the Saudi Muslim Sheikh who tried to ban an airport on account of its phallic design...

A run-down of the top predictions from the prominent men and women in their field of regional 'predicting' and fore-casting. These Arabian 'predictors', primarily for the Arab world but also for the global future, share some of their ominous foresights for the year ahead.

As expected, the King of Morocco appointed on Tuesday the members of the new government following the win of Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in elections held late November.

As the year comes to close, many are relieved that a year of stormy clouds and unabated anger is behind us. Things can only get better or is there still worse to come? In 2011, it turned out that we could not forecast the range of violent weather, nor could we predict the rage of people. From the Gulf to the Caucuses, and from the USA to Japan the world felt pain in 2011.

The Central Bank of Morocco expects an economic growth of 4% to 5% next year.

Since the outset of this year, small French and Spanish firms have raided the Moroccan market.

The turnout at the first parliamentary elections in Morocco following the approval of a new constitution in July reached 45%

The 2012 fiscal law may be ready before the early legislative elections which are expected to take place on 25 November.

Morocco's interior minister declared early legislative elections have been scheduled for Nov. 25.

As the Muslim world welcomes Ramadan 2011, set to start early next week, we wait with baited breath to see if the world will witness a time of peace and thanksgiving in the Middle East or an escalation in the unrest.

A Moroccan military transport plane crashed Tuesday in a mountainous southern region, the information ministry said.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the American foundation founded by billionaire Bill Gates, launched an initiative to reinvent toilets.

Morocco's holiday home market was decimated by regional events, leaving several large-scale developments stalled.

This summer, thousands of Moroccan families are visiting loan companies and specialized financing institutions to take loans for travel and vacations.