A creative outlet for Casablanca’s youth

Moroccan children attend a music class at the Stars Cultural Center in Casablanca. (File photo/AFP)
Updated 05 January 2018
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A creative outlet for Casablanca’s youth

CASABLANCA: “Teaching young people to dream again” is the vision of a Moroccan cultural center in a rundown Casablanca district, once home to a group of radicals.
Based in a white building next to a tramline and opposite a mosque, the Stars Cultural Center in Sidi Moumen regularly hosts more than 300 young people for classes in music and music theory, classical dance, hip-hop, English and French.
“When we tell young people that violence is not a means to express themselves, we must find them other means,” said filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, who co-founded the center with artist Mahi Binebine.
Ayouch’s connection with the district began with on of his films showed how young people in the neighborhood were becoming radicalized.
That seed of an idea eventually led him to set up the center in the district that was home to 12 suicide bombers, who carried out the May 2003 attacks in Casablanca.
Yacine, 14, is studying piano and music theory and hopes that one day he can become a concert musician and perform with an orchestra.
“The training is much better than at the Casablanca Conservatoire,” he said.
Students’ families pay for the lessons but those on limited means receive subsidised rates.
The center offers free film screenings, hosts foreign artists and gives shows that attract spectators from far and wide.
“Back in 2014, there was nothing — no culture, no cinema,” said the center’s assistant manager, Soumia Errahmani.
But funded by private donations and foreign cultural institutes, the center has shown that “there are also stars and not only terrorists” in the district, she said.
The 24 year old, her hair covered with a headscarf, said the project had taught her that “if you want, you can.”
She herself signed up for a class because she had “always dreamed of playing guitar and percussion.”
She put together a band, Africa Vibes, and stayed. Now she manages student registrations at the center and works to “reassure parents.”
In Morocco’s conservative society, “the relationship with art in general, and with dance in particular, is very difficult,” she said.
But today, “parents come to see the shows, they are proud of their children,” she said. “Mothers, who were worried about seeing their daughters dancing, come to ask for advice, some borrow books.”
Ayouch, who grew up among the tower blocks of the working-class Paris suburb of Sarcelles, said the center aims to break down the “invisible walls” both mental and geographical, which “confine culture to the city center.”
In November, he opened a similar center in the Beni Makada district of Tangiers, an over-crowded neighborhood known for drug dealing and police raids.
Director Annafs Azzakia Ben Sbih told AFP the center aimed to “show that there are also young talents” and change the way people see a neighborhood many would previously have avoided.
Further centers are planned in disadvantaged districts of Marrakesh and Fes.
Ayouch said the idea is to create “a network with similar programs and shared programs, with passionate teachers who are trained and rewarded, who can make openings for young people to jump into,” Ayouch said.
It was through the center that Meriem, 21, became a rapper. She is working on a new record, “What belongs to girls,” and dreams of going on tour.


Nintendo says its new Switch 2 console will be released in 2025

Updated 17 January 2025
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Nintendo says its new Switch 2 console will be released in 2025

  • The initial reaction to the Nintendo Switch 2 was lackluster, and the company’s Tokyo-traded shares slumped 4.3 percent on Friday

LOS ANGELES: Gaming giant Nintendo revealed its newest console Thursday in a highly anticipated announcement gamers had been waiting for since rumors of its release first spread years ago.
But the initial reaction to the Nintendo Switch 2 was lackluster, and the company’s Tokyo-traded shares slumped 4.3 percent on Friday. Nintendo’s shares had surged to a record ahead of the announcement.
The successor to the Nintendo Switch system will be released this year, the promotional video says.


In the video, Nintendo showcases a larger version of the Switch that looks similar to its predecessor. It also shows the system’s controllers, or Joy-Cons, will attach to the side of Switch 2’s main unit rather than slide in.
The Nintendo Switch 2 will play Switch 2 exclusive games, as well as both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. Some Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2, the company said.
The announcement did not provide many details on the console. Nintendo says more information about the system will be available during the company’s April Nintendo Direct event. The Kyoto-based game developer said it will also host “Nintendo Switch 2 Experience” events in several countries, where players can get a hands-on experience with the new system.
Those events are planned for cities such as Los Angeles, New York, London and Paris beginning in April. Ticket registration for those events begins Friday, Nintendo said.


Young gorilla rescued from aircraft hold recovers at Istanbul zoo

Updated 13 January 2025
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Young gorilla rescued from aircraft hold recovers at Istanbul zoo

  • Both gorilla species — the western and eastern gorillas, which populate central Africa’s remote forests and mountains — are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature

ISTANBUL: A young gorilla rescued from a plane’s cargo hold is recovering at an Istanbul zoo, officials said on Sunday, while wildlife officers consider returning him to his natural habitat.
The 5-month-old gorilla was discovered in a box on a Turkish Airlines flight from Nigeria to Thailand last month. After a public competition, he has been named Zeytin, or Olive, and is recuperating at Polonezkoy Zoo.

“Of course, what we want and desire is for the baby gorilla … to continue its life in its homeland,” Fahrettin Ulu, regional director of Istanbul Nature Conservation and National Parks, said Sunday.

“What is important is that an absolutely safe environment is established in the place it goes to, which is extremely important for us.”
In the weeks since he was found, Zeytin has gained weight and is showing signs of recovering from his traumatic journey.
“When he first came, he was very shy. He would stay where we left him,” said veterinarian Gulfem Esmen.
“He does not have that shyness now. He does not even care about us much. He plays games by himself.”

FASTFACT

The 5-month-old gorilla was discovered in a box on a flight from Nigeria to Thailand last month.

Both gorilla species — the western and eastern gorillas, which populate central Africa’s remote forests and mountains — are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
As Istanbul emerges as a central air hub between continents, customs officials have increasingly intercepted illegally traded animals.
In October, 17 young Nile crocodiles and 10 monitor lizards were found in an Egyptian passenger’s luggage at the city’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

 


Meta nixes diversity and inclusion program as it prepares for second Trump administration

Updated 11 January 2025
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Meta nixes diversity and inclusion program as it prepares for second Trump administration

MENLO PARK, California: Joining companies such as John Deere and Walmart, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is getting rid of its diversity, equity and inclusion program that includes hiring, training and picking vendors, a company spokesperson confirmed on Friday.
The move, which was first reported by Axios, comes on the heels of the social media giant’s decision to end its third-party fact-checking program and scale back policies on hate speech and abuse.
Citing an internal memo sent to employees, Axios said the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant said the US Supreme Court “has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI. … The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.”
In practice, this means Meta will no longer have a team focused on diversity and inclusion and the company said it will instead “focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background.”
The company will also end it’s “diverse slate approach” to hiring, which meant that a diverse pool of candidates was considered for every open position.
Other companies that have ended DEI programs recently include McDonald’s, automaker Ford, Walmart and farm equipment maker John Deere.


US citizen denied entry into Poland after security staff object to handwritten notes in passport

Updated 08 January 2025
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US citizen denied entry into Poland after security staff object to handwritten notes in passport

  • The unidentified passenger arrived at Krakow’s Balice airport on a flight from London
  • She will remain at the airport for a return flight to London on Thursday

WARSAW: A US citizen has been blocked from entering Poland because her passport was defaced with handwritten notes, border officials said Wednesday.
The unidentified passenger arrived at Krakow’s Balice airport on a flight from London shortly after midnight, according to Justyna Drozdz, a local border security spokeswoman.
The woman was stopped at passport control because her document contained handwritten notes of locations and airport names under visa stamps from the countries she had visited.
The woman told border security staff she was unaware it was not permitted to write on passports or ID documents, Drozdz told Polish news agency PAP.
She will remain at the airport for a return flight to London on Thursday.
As a general rule, it is not permissible for the holder to write in a passport other than to provide a required signature and emergency contacts. Airlines and immigration officials often deny boarding or entry if they feel a passport has been damaged or defaced.
It was not clear why border officials elsewhere had not questioned the woman about her passport.


Iraqi archaeologists piece together ancient treasures ravaged by Daesh

Updated 08 January 2025
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Iraqi archaeologists piece together ancient treasures ravaged by Daesh

NIMRUD: A decade after jihadists ransacked Iraq’s famed Nimrud site, archaeologists have been painstakingly putting together its ancient treasures, shattered into tens of thousands of tiny fragments.
Once the crown jewel of the ancient Assyrian empire, the archaeological site was ravaged by Daesh fighters after they seized large areas of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014.
The precious pre-Islamic artefacts destroyed by the jihadists are now in pieces, but the archaeologists working in Nimrud are undaunted by the colossal task they face.
“Every time we find a piece and bring it to its original place, it’s like a new discovery,” Abdel Ghani Ghadi, a 47-year-old expert working on the site, told AFP.
More than 500 artefacts were found shattered at the site, located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Mosul, the city in northern Iraq where IS established the capital of their self-declared “caliphate.”
Meticulous excavation work by Iraqi archaeologists has already yielded more than 35,000 fragments.
The archaeologists have been carefully reassembling bas-reliefs, sculptures and decorated slabs depicting mythical creatures, which had all graced the palace of Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II nearly 3,000 years ago.
Seen from above, the pieces of the puzzle gradually come together. Shards of what just several years ago was a single artefact are placed side by side, protected by sheets of green tarpaulin.
Bit by bit, the image of Ashurnasirpal II appears on one bas-relief alongside a winged, bearded figure with curly hair and a flower on its wrist, as the restoration brings back to life rich details carved in stone millennia ago.
Another artefact shows handcuffed prisoners from territories that rebelled against the mighty Assyrian army.
Partially reconstructed lamassus — depictions of an Assyrian deity with a human head, the body of a bull or a lion and the wings of a bird — lay on their side, not far from tablets bearing ancient cuneiform text.

“These sculptures are the treasures of Mesopotamia,” said Ghadi.
“Nimrud is the heritage of all of humanity, a history that goes back 3,000 years.”
Founded in the 13th century BC as Kalhu, Nimrud reached its peak in the ninth century BC and was the second capital of the Assyrian empire.
Propaganda videos released by IS in 2015 showed jihadists destroying monuments with bulldozers, hacking away at them with pickaxes or exploding them.
One of those monuments was the 2,800-year-old temple of Nabu, the Mesopotamian god of wisdom and writing.
IS fighters wreaked havoc at other sites too, like the once-celebrated Mosul Museum and ancient Palmyra in neighboring Syria.
The jihadist group was defeated in Iraq in 2017, and the restoration project in Nimrud began a year later, only to be interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and restart in 2023.
Mohamed Kassim of the Academic Research Institute in Iraq told AFP that “until now, it has been a process of collection, classification and identification.”
About 70 percent of the collection work has been completed at the Assyrian palace site, with about a year’s worth of fieldwork left before restoration can begin in full force, said Kassim, noting it was a “complex operation.”
His organization has been working closely with Iraqi archaeologists, supporting their drive to “save” Nimrud and preserve its cultural riches, through training sessions provided by the Smithsonian Institution with financial support from the United States.

Kassim said that the delicate restoration process will require expertise not found in Iraq and “international support” due to the extent of the “barbaric” destruction in Nimrud.
“One of the most important ancient sites of the Mesopotamian civilization,” according to Kassim, Nimrud is a testament to a golden age of “the art and architecture of the Assyrian civilization.”
The site was first excavated by archaeologists in the 19th century and received international recognition for the immense lamassu figures that were taken to Europe to be exhibited in London’s British Museum and the Louvre in Paris.
Other artefacts from Nimrud have been on display in Mosul and Iraq’s capital Baghdad.
The site has also attracted figures like British author Agatha Christie, who visited there with her archaeologist husband.
On a recent tour of Nimrud, Iraq’s Culture Minister Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani hailed the “difficult” work carried out by archaeologists there, collecting broken pieces and comparing them to drawings and photographs of the artefacts they attempt to reconstruct.
The vast destruction has made it impossible, at least for now, to ascertain which antiquities were stolen by Daesh, the minister said.
And the process will take time.
Badrani said he expects that it will take 10 years of hard work before the marvels of King Ashurnasirpal II’s palace can be seen again, complete.