Terror Cell dismantled in Morocco Moroccan security broke up a 27-member terrorist network, officials announced earlier this week. A statement from the Interior Ministry said the group was affiliated with an al-Qaeda member and was planning to target security services and rob banks. According to the ministry, the cell's Moroccan ringleader aimed to set up an al-Qaeda base in Morocco and send recruits to AQIM training camps in Algeria and Mali. Algerian government cuts food prices after deadly riots At least three people have been killed and 300 others injured in riots that erupted across Algeria amid rising food prices and a housing crisis, according to state-run media. The protests began last week over spiraling costs of basic food items, including milk, oil and sugar. Some staples are subsidized by the government. To curb the escalating prices of sugar and oil, the government slashed duties for sugar and oil by 41%, Algerie Press Service reported Sunday. Tunisia arrests bloggers and rapper Tunisian authorities have rounded up bloggers, activists and a rap singer in a string of arrests that come in the midst of what is being described as a nationwide uprising. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that it had been alerted that at least six bloggers and activists had been arrested or had disappeared in locations across Tunisia, and that there were probably others who had been targeted. The arrests come in the context of a “cyberwar” between the Tunisian authorities and web activists, who have been struggling to break through the country's extensive censorship wall. Libyan gov't insists Scottish flag be put on containers of cleaning supplies In a typically eccentric move, the Lybian government has requested that containers of cleaning supplies ordered from Scotland – 15,000 British Pounds worth – be adorned with the Scottish flag. TR Bonnyman was chosen to supply janitorial products and chemicals to Libya. The Scottish flag appears to have particular significance in the North African country, following tumultuous and unforgettable scenes at an airport in Tripoli, Libya's capital city, in the wake of the 2009 prison release of Abdel Basset Ali al Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie jet bombing. Southern Sudanese vote on referendum Southern Sudanese have turned out in droves to vote in a historic referendum to decide whether they want to secede from Sudan or remain united. The week-long poll started on Sunday at 8:00 local time [05:00 GMT] across Sudan. It is also being held in eight other countries that have substantial numbers of southern Sudanese. Read more here. BM
