Canadian François Crépeau accuses Government of putting migrants’ lives at risk

Washington (AP) — Emboldened House Republicans issued a stern but symbolic rebuke to President Barack Obama over immigration Thursday, passing a bill declaring his executive actions to curb deportations "null and void and without legal effect."

Sydney: Australia's conservative government on Friday further tightened immigration laws by introducing controversial temporary visas for refugees which do not allow them to settle permanently in the country.

The left of center government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has been forced to call new elections less than three months after taking office. Unable to pass a budget through the Rikstag (parliament), Lofven faced a choice of either resigning or calling snap elections, slated for March 22, 2015. Although the budget was the trigger, most observers believe that immigration policy is at the root of the fall. David Crouch of the UK Guardian explains:

PARIS – The economic crisis in Europe doubled the number of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian immigrants in France between 2009 and 2012, raising the percentage of European immigrants in France to 46 percent of the total, according to a report released Friday.

 “I’m going to make a Moroccan Shabbos dinner; you must join us,” said Asma Chaabi, visiting Miami from Rabat, Morocco.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas and 16 other states, including Wisconsin, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration, arguing that he had violated his constitutional duty to enforce the laws and illegally placed new burdens on state budgets.

Rabat - The 10th edition of Aeromart, an international business convention of aeronautical and space industries, will see the participation of six Moroccan companies, LaVieEco reported.

Noureddine Bellaoui, aka "MagicNoor" made his first appearance before the Moroccan public in 2012, invited by comedian Hassan El Fad in Marrakech laughter festival to present a magic trick in his "halqa".

ROME - (NewMediaWire) - December 1, 2014 - If countries of the Mediterranean want to stem the tide on forced migration and human suffering, they must put agricultural, food and rural development at the core of regional cooperation, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today.

MEPs acknowledged Lebanon's struggle with the enormous migration flows and voiced their concerns about the internal crisis there and growing extremism across the region, in a Foreign Affairs Committee debate with its Prime Minister Tammam Saeb Salam on Tuesday afternoon.

When net migration falls, David Cameron can take the credit: for making Britain poor, hostile and pessimistic.

Moroccan-born comedian Gad Elmaleh and Belgian singer Stromae are virtually unknown to the British public. But in London they play to sell-out crowds at top venues - one sign of how rising immigration is changing Britain's population and economy.

The Swiss government avoided a new headache on Sunday when voters rejected a popular initiative to impose radical immigration curbs, but the result is unlikely to lend it any leverage in talks with the European Union related to migration.

A campaigner in Australia is lobbying the Minister of Maori Development to change immigration laws in Aotearoa to match legislation across the Tasman, which prohibits certain rights for New Zealanders.

PHNOM PENH, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- The General Department of Immigration rounded up 1,168 foreigners from July to November for living illegally in the country, Xinhua news agency reports citing the National Police on Tuesday.

Fewer and fewer people choose the EU as a long-term residence, but Germany is the exception to this rule, according to an OECD finding, most likely due to the effects of the eurozone crisis. EurActiv Germany reports.

EU countries are cutting back on search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean, leaving the job up to fishermen like Kamel Ben Ramdan.

Beijing/ with Map – Morocco will launch an air route to China in a bid to encourage Chinese investment in Morocco, Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics, Aziz Rabbah, said Friday.

A new study has shown that Germany's social system experiences a financial gain because of immigration while at the same time accruing losses due to a lack of integration.

The Prime Minister sets out plans to overhaul the benefits system to reduce the number of migrants coming to the UK and announces an emergency fund to help communities with large foreign populations.

Amsterdam (Map)– Morocco topped the favorite travel destinations for Dutch tourists, according to a survey conducted by Dutch leading travel website, Riksja Travel.

Paris(Map) – The UNESCO nominated on Thursday 'Argan, Practices and Know-how Concerning the Argan Tree' for possible inscription in the 2014 Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Swiss will once again head to the polls this weekend to decide whether to dramatically slash immigration numbers, this time in the name of saving the environment in a proposal opponents have labelled xenophobic.

A man who has spent two months in a Tucson church to avoid deportation is not getting any help from the president's new executive action on immigration, even though his attorneys say he's eligible.

Britain has reported a big increase in immigration last year despite government efforts to control the numbers of arrivals.

At many times in Europe’s turbulent history religious leaders have turned a blind eye to violence and discrimination. At other times faith itself has set the battleground. This awareness heightened both the strangeness and the poignancy of the Nov. 25 speech by Pope Francis to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Rabat (Map)- Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo, 83, will receive the Cervantes prize, the most important prize of literature in the Spanish-speaking world.

Rabat(Map) – King Mohammed VI will pay, as of November 27, an official visit to the People’s Republic of China, at the invitation of president Xi Jinping, the ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery announced on Monday.

Rabat (Map)- South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won arrived this Monday to Rabat on a three-day official visit to Morocco.

My fellow Americans, tonight I’d like to talk with you about immigration. For more than 200 years, our tradition of welcoming immigrants from around the world has given us a tremendous advantage over other nations.

Barack Obama is ordering far-reaching changes to the US immigration system that will protect nearly five million people from deportation, and will have implications for undocumented Irish migrants.

The new plan tests the limits of his presidential powers and inviting a showdown with newly-emboldened Republicans.

NIGEL Farage has been forced into damage-limitation after Ukip's Rochester and Strood by-election candidate Mark Reckless suggested EU migrants settled in the UK could be forced to leave if Britain quit the 28-member bloc.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has set a December deadline for switching off analogue broadcast signals within Nairobi, 45 days before a three-month negotiation window period ordered by the Supreme Court expires.

Washington (AP): President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he will sidestep Congress and unveil administrative actions on immigration, measures that could spare from deportation as many as 5 million people illegally in the U.S. and set up one the most pitched partisan confrontations of his presidency.

President Obama is reportedly about to announce that up to five million illegal immigrants will no longer be subject to deportation, but most voters oppose his plan. The majority, in fact, continue to believe the federal government already isn't doing enough to send illegal immigrants back home.

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama is poised to give relief from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants who are parents of US citizens or of permanent legal residents, according to a source familiar with White House deliberations.

Marrakech- Moroccan tourists are traveling to Israel at a remarkable rate, with over 2239 visiting this year.

Parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and residents are eligible for Canadian residency and perhaps, citizenship under the Parent and Grandparent Programme (PGP) (Shutterstock).

CHIOS, Greece—Amer Khalif, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee, swam frantically toward the Greek coast-guard boat, screaming "Help, help!" Two friends panted behind him, clinging to their inner tubes and splashing in the clear Aegean water on a warm September morning.

New York- In the world population, there are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims, making Islam the second largest religion. As Dr. Omid Safi states in his book "Memories of Muhammad", "whether some of us think of ourselves as Americans first or citizens of one shared planet first, it is simply part of being an educated citizen to have accurate knowledge of the faith of Islam."

In August, the Magazine reported on a couple who spent millions of euros to save migrants in danger of drowning at sea. Their 60-day mission has now ended - so what did they achieve, asks Alison Gee?

"We helped to save around 3,000 men, women and children who would have otherwise been likely to perish," says Christopher Catrambone who - as we reported earlier - set up the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) with his wife, Regina, and daughter, Maria Luisa.

"They are not refugees, they are all illegal immigrants" is the phrase most often pronounced as a kind of mantra by several anti-immigration politicians, mostly by the Lega and in general by critics of migration as we talk about disembarking.

Rabat (with Map) – The US Embassy in Rabat moved Monday to its new location on Mohammed VI Avenue in Souissi, Rabat which will host the office of the US Agency for International Development for Morocco (USAID-Morocco).

Rabat- Jean-Pierre Legrand, leader of the National Front in Roubaix, France, has proposed to “entrust the keys of a disused church to Muslims” who suddenly find themselves without a mosque.

After denouncing the far-right group to which he says he once belonged, UK Twitter user Matthew Lester gained attention on Sunday when he visited a local mosque to apologise to Muslim community members.

Rabat(Map) - The Moroccan Expatriates Council (CCME) decided "regretfully" to freeze its partnership with the "Tropenmuseum" until further notice, sources from CCME said.

San José (Costa Rica) Map– The President of the Republic of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis received last Friday at the presidential palace in San José a Moroccan parliamentary delegation which is taking part in the work of the human rights commission of the Forum of Presiding Officers of Legislative Assemblies of Central America and the Caribbean Basin (FOPREL).

Brussels (Map)-The Council of Moroccan Ulema for Europe strongly condemned the "criminal fire attack" on the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg, calling it "a despicable act contrary to the values of tolerance and coexistance."

Forget the euro crisis, Europe is endangered by its anti-immigrant fervor.

MELILLA,—For nearly a decade, Spain has counted on tall border fences to discourage migrants from crossing illegally from Morocco into two small Spanish enclaves on Africa's Mediterranean coast.

Rabat - Africa has made history. During the closing session of the First Global Forum on Youth Policies, held in Baku, Azerbaijan that was held on October 28–30, the birth of the African Network of Youth Policy Experts (AfriNYPE) was announced, the goal of which is to advance the cause of youth policies in the region.

Canada's government is considering legislation to curb immigration rights for polygamists.

At a press briefing today, House Speaker John Boehner warned President Obama not to act alone on immigration.

According to the 2014 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, Casablanca is the 5th most popular destination city in Africa with a total number of international visitors that amounts to 989,219 and a visitor spend of $737 million(US$).