Xinjiang users' e-mail restored

E-mail services have resumed and the restriction on the number of text messages one can send was lifted in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Saturday, about eight months after a riot last year in Urumqi, the regional capital.

Xiao Yong, a local resident, found he could now send and receive e-mails as before and there were no longer restrictions in surfing 32 Websites.

The restriction on text messages has also been lifted, according to a spokesman for the regional government. Communication services would open further step by step, the spokesman said yesterday.

The regional government began to control communications after the riot on July 5, which was orchestrated via the Internet, text messages and long-distance phone calls.

The access for Xinjiang residents to two Websites, Xinhuanet.com and people.com.cn, was restored on December 28, followed by access to sina.com.cn and sohu.com on January 10.

Other services have also been gradually resumed, including international long-distance calls by some departments and text messages from banks, securities dealers and weather forecast departments.

Internet connections, international phone calls and text message services were cut in some areas after the riot, in a move to crack down on the violence and prevent it from happening again.

"These restrictions played an important role in maintaining the stabilization of the region, but also brought inconvenience to the residents. However, people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang have shown understanding of and fully supported these measures," said Yang Maofa, director of the communications administration bureau.

Source: Shanghai Daily

Source: East Day.
Link: http://english.eastday.com/e/100322/u1a5100453.html.

Islamic nations raise $850 mn to help Darfur

Mon Mar 22, 2010

An international conference organized by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has raised $850 million to help people in Sudan's Darfur.

The Sunday one-day conference co-chaired by Egypt and Turkey in Cairo planned to raise $2 billion to help the war-ravaged Darfur region.

"Stability and development in Darfur is the only guarantee that will lead to the voluntary return of refugees and displaced Sudanese back to their homes," Press TV correspondent in Cairo quoted the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit as saying.

"I hope this is a turning point that will help Darfur overcome its crisis once and for all," the Egyptian top diplomat added.

In addition to Muslim nations representatives from, European states, UN agencies and aid groups as well as the US were present in the conference.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa who participated at the conference urged international support for the reconstruction of Darfur.

"The reconstruction of Darfur is our obligation. It is essential at this time to create an atmosphere of stability and peace in Sudan before the presidential election, which will take place next month in addition to the referendum that will determine whether Sudan will be divided into north and south or will be united as one state," Moussa added.

According to the United Nations' figures, clashes that erupted in Sudan in early 2003 have claimed up to 300,000 lives and drove more than two million people from their homes.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/121388.html.

Maghreb Andalusian Music Festival opens in Algeria

2010-03-21

Algeria will launch the first Maghreb Andalusian Music Festival in Kolea on Monday (March 22nd), Liberte reported. "We have invited leaders of festivals in Tunisia and Morocco to exchange experiences and initiate collaborations," event commissioner Abdelhamid Benblida said at an Algiers press conference on Saturday. Musical troupes and artists such as Syrine Benmoussa and Testour Set from Tunisia, Libya's Hassen Laribi and Shabab El Andalous from Rabat will perform at the event.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/03/21/newsbrief-06.

UN Western Sahara envoy visits Sahrawi camps

2010-03-21

UN Special Envoy for Western Sahara Christopher Ross on Saturday (March 20th) visited the Sahrawi refugee camps to meet with official negotiators, Saharawi news agency SPS reported. Ross' 9-day tour of the Tindouf camps, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania aims to revive direct talks between parties to the Western Sahara issue.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/03/21/newsbrief-01.

Tunisian anti-smoking law takes effect

2010-03-21

Tunisia's strict new anti-smoking came into force on Friday (March 19th), ANSA reported. The law bans smoking in spaces such as public gardens, train and bus stations, airports and municipal offices. Under the new legislation, restaurants and bars face closure if they fail to provide designated non-smoking areas.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/03/21/newsbrief-02.

Morocco swarms with street vendors

For many of Morocco's poor or unemployed, selling goods on the street provides a way to earn a meager living.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 21/03/10

Street vendors can be found all over Morocco, from working-class districts in outlying towns to the city centers in Rabat and Casablanca. For these unofficial traders, selling their fish, vegetables, fruit, clothes and other wares on the ground or from handcarts, life is far from easy.

They spend their days hoping to turn a decent profit and fearing that their goods will be confiscated by the Auxiliary Forces. Illiterates, graduates, young and old people, women and men – they all devote themselves to a profession that enables them to earn a fistful of dirhams a day.

In Rabat's city center, 36-year-old Mohammed sells socks and sunglasses. He hopes to one day have a proper shop so that he can offer his family a stable life. As an informal vendor, he said, he earns between 30-50 dirhams a day.

A law graduate, Mohammed has been seeking a steady public-sector job for over a decade.

"No private company will recruit university graduates, so I've sat several competitive exams, but I've never been lucky enough to pass," he said. "I'm not ashamed of being a street vendor, despite my level of education, even though deep down I really hope for a better life for my children."

This hope is shared by many vendors who would like to see their source of income become more stable. They include women who do everything they can to overcome the hardships inherent in their profession.

One such woman is 44-year-old Rehma, a widow with four daughters aged 8-19. She sells smuggled goods such as shampoo, soap and pajamas. "I spend all my time on the move buying my goods and selling them to my customers in several cities," she said.

"I would have liked to have a store of my own, but I can't afford it," Rehma said, adding that the authorities ought to take measures to help street vendors instead of driving them away from major roads.

Many people would like the authorities to build shopping centers at strategic locations and rent them at reasonable prices, so as to legalize this kind of informal business activity.

Sociologist Mohamed Kamal told Magharebia that despite the criticisms made regarding the existence of street vendors, the sector does help to maintain a certain socio-economic balance. He says that Morocco should draw inspiration from the experiences of countries that have successfully established legal venues for street vendors.

The government is working to bring more people into the formal economy. On January 19th, Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Reda Chami told Parliament that an effective way of organizing the sector was overdue.

In the past, he explained to legislators, the approach centered on town planning. Premises were built for street vendors in special locations.

The ministry has begun exploring the issue in partnership with local councils and chambers of commerce in order to find a lasting and effective solution, Chami said.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/03/21/feature-01.

US House passes healthcare overhaul

The US House of Representatives has narrowly approved President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, the healthcare reform bill.

The bill cleared the House on a 219-212 vote Sunday night. Republicans were unanimous in opposition, joined by 34 dissident Democrats.

The vote sends the bill, already approved by the Senate, to Obama to sign into law.

The legislation will extend health coverage to 32 millions of uninsured Americans, bringing to 95 percent the proportion of under-65 US citizens with private insurance.

Republicans say the $940 billion bill was a heavy-handed intrusion in the healthcare sector that will drive up costs, increase the budget deficit and reduce patients' choices.

The healthcare overhaul would usher in the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion US healthcare system since the 1965 creation of the government-run Medicare health program for the elderly and disabled.

It would require most Americans to have health coverage, gives subsidies to help lower-income workers pay for coverage and creates state-based exchanges where the uninsured can compare and shop for plans.

Major provisions such as the exchanges and subsidies would not kick in until 2014, but many of the insurance reforms like barring companies from dropping coverage for the sick will begin in the first year.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121385§ionid=3510203.