Morocco overwhelmingly approves curbs on king's powers (AFP)

RABAT (AFP) – Moroccans have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution curbing the vast powers of King Mohammed VI after authorities offered reforms in a bid to quiet protests inspired by uprisings in the Arab world.

More than 98 percent of voters had backed a new constitution put forward in a referendum on Friday, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui announced on state television just after midnight. Voter turnout had been 72.65 percent, he added.

Faced with demonstrations modelled on those that ousted long-serving leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, Mohammed VI announced the referendum last month to devolve some of his powers to the prime minister and parliament, saying the reform would "consolidate the pillars of a constitutional monarchy."

Critics were quick to denounce the result and the youth-based February 20 Movement, which organised the weeks of pro-democracy protests, announced it would hold another demonstration on Sunday.

"The movement will demonstrate peacefully on Sunday to protest against this ridiculous result," Najib Chaouki, one of the movement's leaders, told AFP.

"This referendum was illegal because it was marked by massive violations of democratic principles," he said.

The United States had hailed the referendum on Friday, with State Department spokesman Mark Toner telling reporters it was "an important step in Morocco's ongoing democratic development."

Under the draft constitution, the king will remain head of state, the military, and the Islamic faith in Morocco.

But the prime minister, chosen from the largest party elected to parliament, will take over as the head of government.

Mohammed VI, who in 1999 took over the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty, offered reforms after the February 20 Movement organised weeks of protests that brought thousands to the streets to call for more democracy, better economic prospects and an end to corruption.

The reforms fall far short of the full constitutional monarchy many protesters were demanding and the movement had urged a boycott of Friday's vote.

Throughout a brief campaign, the new constitution was fiercely backed by Morocco's main political parties, unions, civic groups, religious leaders and media. The campaign was dominated by the "yes" side, with few signs of an organised "no" vote movement.

Pro-government newspapers hailed the vote Saturday, with Liberation praising the "massive participation and serene atmosphere" while Le Matin said the vote had been held with "serenity, enthusiasm and patriotic engagement."

Liberation praised voters who "chose to meet their date with history and give body and soul to the social and modernist project whose realisation all Morrocans aspire to."

Along with changes granting the prime minister more executive authority, the new constitution will reinforce the independence of the judiciary and enlarge parliament's role.

It will also remove a reference to the king as "sacred", though he will remain "Commander of the Faithful" and "inviolable".

The new constitution will also guarantee more rights to women and make Berber an official language along with Arabic -- the first time a north African country has granted official status to the region's indigenous language.

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U.N. council approves Ethiopian troops for Abyei (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council on Monday unanimously approved a U.S.-drafted resolution authorizing deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian troops to Sudan's disputed Abyei region for a six-month period.

The resolution establishes a new U.N. peacekeeping force, called the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, or UNISFA. Its adoption comes a week after north and south Sudan signed a deal in Addis Ababa to demilitarize Abyei and let Ethiopian troops monitor the peace.

Although the resolution gives UNISFA the authority to use force in self-defense and to protect civilians and humanitarian aid, it does not call for UNISFA troops to monitor compliance with human rights laws, as most peacekeeping forces do.

Instead, the resolution "requests the Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) to ensure that effective human rights monitoring is carried out" and report the results to the council.

It was not immediately clear how long it would take the Ethiopians to deploy to Abyei, a region straddling the north and south that some believe may have some oil reserves. Council diplomats said they hoped the deployment would be swift.

The resolution said the 15-nation council was "deeply concerned by the current situation in the Abyei Area, and by all acts of violence committed against civilians in violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law including the killing and displacement of ... civilians."

South Sudan is due to secede from the north to form a new nation on July 9. But the north and south have yet to agree on who possesses Abyei, stirring fears a long-running quarrel over the region could sour the secession and could spark a broader conflict.

In a power play ahead of the split, Khartoum sent tanks and troops into Abyei on May 21, outraging the south, human rights groups and regional and global powers who called it a violation of the 2005 deal that ended Sudan's long civil war.

The move followed an attack on a convoy of northern troops and U.N. peacekeepers which the north blamed on the south and which the U.N. said was likely to have been carried out by southern police or soldiers.

As Khartoum moved in, tens of thousands of villagers fled south in a panicked exodus to escape looting and burning.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Will Dunham)

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Super Bowl hero warns of 'anarchy,' if NY approves gay marriage

Former Giants receiver David Tyree says passage of New York's same-sex marriage billl would lead to "anarchy."The New York State Assembly approves a same-sex marriage billThe bill also must clear the Republican-controlled State Senate where its fate is uncertainFormer New York Giant David Tyree is a hero from Super Bowl XLIIHe disapproves of gay marriage on religious and secular grounds

(CNN) -- Former New York Giants receiver David Tyree's celebrated catch in the closing seconds of Super Bowl XLII was pivotal to his team's victory. Now out of football, he is trying to claim a last-minute win over another foe -- same-sex marriage.

On the same day that the New York State Assembly approved a same-sex marriage bill, Tyree warned of dire consequences if the legislation becomes law.

The bill's passage would "be the beginning of our country sliding toward ... anarchy," he said

Tyree made the comments in a video released Wednesday by the National Organization for Marriage, which is spearheading opposition to the bill. The legislation must now clear the Republican-controlled State Senate where its fate is uncertain.

His disapproval of gay marriage is based on religious as well as secular grounds, Tyree said.

"Marriage is the only relationship that actually mirrors the relationship with God," he said.

He also argued that same-sex parents are ill-equipped to raise a child of the opposite sex.

"You can't teach something that you don't have," Tyree said in the video. "So two men will never be able to teach a woman how to be a woman."

It is not justifiable to alter a long-standing institution "because a minority -- an influential minority -- has ... an agenda," he said.

In an opinion column for Yahoo News, the group's chairman, Maggie Gallagher, said Tyree told her he decided to speak out after his former teammate Michael Strahan declared his support for gay marriage last week.

The video appeared to take a page of out the playbook of the group's adversary, the Human Rights Campaign, which has released a steady stream of video testimonials from celebrity advocates of gay marriage in recent months. Uma Thurman, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Avery of the New York Rangers and others have appeared in their videos.

Tyree seemed to chide notables who oppose same-sex marriage, but keep their opposition to themselves. "I am disappointed when ... not enough guys ... lift up something as honorable and near to God's heart as marriage," he said.

"We're doing God an injustice by not making his heart known to our country."

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Obama Approves Use of Predator Drones in Libya

AP/FILE

A Predator drone takes off on a U.S. Customs Border Patrol mission from Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

The U.S. is not at war with Libya and has not taken sides, but President Obama nevertheless has signed off on the use of armed predator drones in the North African nation that has been torn by a weeks-old bloody conflict, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

"What the president has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is going to use those, and in fact he has approved the use of armed predators, and I think today may have been in fact their first mission," he said.

The president approved the use of two unmanned aircraft around the clock to pick off targets in urban areas in Libya. The U.S. military tried to launch them Thursday but turned them back due to bad weather.

Obama already uses the drones to target terrorists along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Gates said the drones will enable more precise attacks against Col. Muammar Qaddafi's forces.

The move carries political risks as it could further alienate the president's anti-war base as he ramps up his re-election campaign. And several members of Congress already feel spurned by the president because he launched "limited" military operations without consulting them first. Stepping up the U.S. effort there could draw more ire from them.

Obama has gone to great lengths to portray the U.S. military as taking a backseat role in the international campaign, sanctioned by the United Nations, to protect Libyan citizens from Qaddafi's bloody crackdown on dissenters. 

But his efforts have been complicated by the stalemate in Libya, where the presence of a NATO-led mission has not been able to give the upper hand to rebel forces who have resembled the gang that couldn't shoot straight.

Gates pushed back against suggestions that the drones provides more evidence that the mission in Libya is expanding beyond its original goals

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