Moroccan Concert Stampede Kills 11
A stampede on the final day of the Mawazine festival in Morocco killed at least 11 people and wounded 30, reports CNN. Five women, four men and two children are among the victims of the stampede that took place in the nation’s capital city, Rabat, Saturday night, according to local reports. Thousands of people filled the Hay Nahda stadium that evening. Singers Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder were among the performers at the eight-day music festival.

Attorney Gen. Eric Holder Returns to Caribbean Roots
Attorney General Eric Holder made a visit to Barbados this Memorial day weekend. But it wasn’t just a few days of fun in the sun that brought Holder to the Caribbean island. Holder met Saturday with attorneys general from several Caribbean nations. “They are talking about U.S.-Caribbean cooperation on narco-trafficking, crime, gangs and judicial law enforcement technical assistance,” Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller told The Miami Herald. Holder, whose father was born in Barbados, will also be honored by the nation. The government is set to rename the Tamarind Hall Municipal Complex “The Eric Holder Centre.” In addition, the Barbados Parliament held a reception in Holder’s honor following Saturday’s meeting.

Obamas to Honor Stevie
It’s no secret that President Barack Obama is a serious Stevie Wonder fan. After all, it was the multi-Grammy winner’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” that was the Democratic nominee’s theme song during the election. And Obama’s campaign frequently had Wonder’s “Higher Ground” blasting at speech stops. So now that Obama is the leader of the free world, he has the power to ensure that his musical hero gets his just desserts. And that’s just what Obama did. The White House has announced that the president and First Lady Michelle Obama will present Wonder with a prestigious Library of Congress award on Feb. 25. A concert will be broadcast the next day on PBS as part of its Performance at the White House series.

Is the Video Game Racist
The Japanese maker of the Resident Evil 5 video game says there’s no ground for complaints that its latest installment is racist. The fact that a White man strides into an African village to complete a mission of blowing away hordes of crazed, pitchfork- and machete-wielding Black zombies has nothing to with race, the company says. But those who post on a Web site called Black Looks, which comments on issues of race and gender, strongly disagree. They say that the new game, scheduled to be released in coming weeks, depicts “Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a [W]hite man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young … fearing, hating, and destroying [B]lack people.” Chris Kramer, a spokesman Capcom, said, however, “The Resident Evil series has been around since 1996. It was first set in the American Midwest, and since then, it’s gone to South America, Antarctica and Spain. For Resident Evil 5, our developers wanted to focus on pushing the current generation console’s capabilities for rendering light. They wanted to see if they could make light as fearful as shadows. They wanted the players to go from a dark environment to a bright setting, when they’re momentarily blinded. As their pupils adjust, they become vulnerable to attack. They wanted a location that would have hot, bright, flat light. And they chose Africa.” He said, too, that the original story for Resident Evil referenced a virus that was engineered somewhere in Africa. Returning to the continent brings the story full circle, he said, adding that prior versions of the game, which has sold 34 million copies worldwide, featured Americans, Asians, Spaniards and Latin Americans.
 

L.A. Police are called to Stevie Wonder’s home. LAPD came to Stevie Wonder’s house Monday afternoon after one of the singer’s cousins showed up with a refrigerator, TMZ is reporting. Law enforcement sources told TMZ there has been an ongoing dispute between Wonder and his relative. Cops were reportedly called last Friday after the cousin showed up. The police told the cousin to leave and not to come back. But Monday the cousin disobeyed the police and showed up anyway at Stevie’s San Fernando Valley home, this time with a fridge and other personal items. According to reports, when he unloaded his things onto Stevie’s property, the Grammy-Award-winning singer’s security officer called the police, TMZ reports. Cops showed up but Stevie, who was not there at the time, called in and asked the police to leave. Stevie said it was a “family matter.”