A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Protests in Morocco following poll result
RABAT – Morocco’s “Arab Spring” protesters said they were undeterred, despite a landslide victory for King Mohammed in a referendum on constitutional changes they say do nothing to ease his autocratic grip on power.
Preliminary results of Friday’s poll showed 98.5 per cent of voters approved the text on turnout estimated at 73 per cent by officials.
The opposition said the turnout figure looked inflated and alleged irregularities in voting procedures.
The charter explicitly grants executive powers to the government but retains the king at the helm of the cabinet, army, religious authorities and the judiciary.
The result followed a state media campaign in favour of the “Yes” vote. – (Reuters)
Bahrain opposition doubtful about national dialogue
MANAMA – Talks between Bahrain’s opposition and pro-government groups began on Saturday, aimed at healing deep rifts opened when the state’s Sunni rulers crushed protests led by the majority Shia earlier this year.
The opposition has expressed doubts about whether the national dialogue, decreed by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, can accomplish anything, noting that it has only 35 of the 300 seats at the bargaining table.
Across town, witnesses said some 500 protesters marched from nearby Shia villages towards the Pearl roundabout, the epicentre of mass protests this year, and were dispersed by riot police using tear gas.
Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Dhahrani, chairman of the dialogue and also a speaker of parliament, told the forum: “We start without conditions or limits, our only condition is accepting one another.”
The government had sought to ease tensions before the start of the dialogue, offering concessions such as the launch of an investigative panel led by Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian- American war crimes expert who is also heading a UN inquiry into events i
Shriver seeks to terminate marriage
LOS ANGELES – Six weeks after Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed he had fathered a child out of wedlock, wife Maria Shriver filed divorce papers to end their marriage of 25 years.
The former TV journalist and Kennedy heiress cited irreconcilable differences, but offered no additional details about the break-up.
She did not list a date when the couple separated, although they announced they had done so on May 9th.
A week later, the former California governor and one-time action star admitted he fathered a child with a member of his household staff years ago.
The filing signals an end to a union that began with a storybook wedding in 1986 in Cape Cod. – (AP)