By giving tax advantages for Shariah-compliant finance in his budget, Brown starts turning the world of finance Islamic green!
The chancellor has introduced legislation which will now treat these Sukuk transactions as being similar to conventional bond transactions, thereby removing the tax disadvantage for its use.

This change should lead to a sharp increase in the usage of these kinds of Islamic financing instruments - not only by businesses which want to be Shariah-compliant, but also by other businesses which want to diversify their investor base and tap into the immense pool of Islamic finance in the oil rich Middle East.

The chancellor has not only created the framework for London to emerge as the leader in the global Islamic finance industry but his changes are likely to be replicated in many other countries.

Islamic finance will move from being niche to the mainstream as a viable and valid financing option for all. - Darshan Bijur

BBC: Changes to the tax system unveiled in the Budget will potentially make the UK a key world centre in the development of Islamic finance - a market currently estimated to be worth $400bn globally.

Islamic finance is based on Islamic principles and jurisprudence (Shariah).

The basic Shariah prohibitions are on the earning (or payment) of interest, speculation, contractual uncertainly and transactions which are overly advantageous to one party at the expense of another.

The Shariah also prohibits any participation in weapons, pork, gambling, pornography and alcohol businesses.

Overcoming most of these prohibitions is very difficult in the conventional finance system.

The Islamic finance industry has thus developed various Shariah-compliant structures in order to provide investment opportunities and to meet the financing needs of businesses and investors who want to comply with the Shariah. Islamic finance: From niche to mainstream by Darshan Bijur

Mark Alexander

Iran seizes British sailors and marines
YAHOO NEWS: The Government is demanding the "immediate and safe return" of 15 British sailors and Marines who are being held by Iranian forces. They were taking part in a routine operation boarding merchant ships in Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized by Iranian naval vessels.

The sailors and Marines had completed a successful inspection of one ship, reportedly a dhow, when the group and their two boats were surrounded.

They were then escorted by Iranian vessels into its territorial waters. UK Sailors And Marines Seized By Iran

BBC: Fifteen British Navy personnel have been captured at gunpoint by Iranian forces, the Ministry of Defence says.

The men were seized at 1030 local time when they boarded a boat in the Gulf, off the coast of Iraq, which they suspected was smuggling cars.

The Royal Navy said it was doing everything it could to secure the release of its personnel, who are based on HMS Cornwall. UK sailors captured at gunpoint

WATCH BBC NEWS REPORT

TIMES COMMENT: Pawns in a deadly game of high stakes

Mark Alexander

Norway not in Israel’s ‘good books’
BBC: Israel has cancelled a meeting with a visiting Norwegian minister after he held talks with the prime minister of the new Palestinian unity government.

Norway was the first Western country to recognise the new government which contains members of the militant group Hamas and its main rival, Fatah.

Israel says it will not deal with the new administration, and has called for a continued international boycott. Norway-Hamas link angers Israel

Mark Alexander

Daniele Mastrogiacomo freed; meanwhile, Alan Johnston’s father appeals for his son’s release

Daniele Mastrogiacomo (Photo courtesy of the BBC)

BBC: An Italian journalist freed after being kidnapped by the Taleban in Afghanistan says he saw his captors cut off the head of one of two Afghans with him. Captive speaks of Taleban horror

Alan Johnston (Photo courtesy of the BBC)

BBC: The father of missing BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has appealed for information, one week after his disappearance in the Gaza Strip. Father’s appeal for BBC reporter

Mark Alexander

OECD to investigate Britain’s commitment to clean deals
Britain's commitment to fighting bribery is to be investigated by a prominent anti-corruption group.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's move is prompted by the UK's decision to drop a probe into defence firm BAE Systems. Fresh criticism over BAE inquiry

Al-Yamamah Scandal

BAE System’s Dirty Dealings

Al Yamamah Bribery

’Government should be stripped of power to halt prosecutions’

Aljazeera on Britain's dropping of BAE Systems fraud inquiry


BAE: Al-Yamamah and National Security


Al Yamamah III


Mark Alexander

New Iranian banknote depicts atomic symbol

Image courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Iran has put its determination to complete the nuclear fuel cycle on paper, with a bank note depicting an atomic symbol.

The 50,000 rial note shows electrons in orbit around an atom on a map of Iran. Iran defiant with atomic banknote

Mark Alexander

No prizes for guessing what lies behind this heinous crime!
THE GUARDIAN: A taxi driver was today jailed for life for bludgeoning his wife and three children to death with a rounders bat over her affair with a married man.

Rahan Arshad, 36, committed the murders and then fled on a pre-booked flight to Thailand, leaving the bodies to remain undiscovered in the family home at Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, for almost a month.

He beat his wife with the bat more than 23 times in their bedroom before attacking his children. Pathologists needed dental records to confirm the identities of the four victims.

Arshad, who worked as a driver for Tripps taxis, murdered Uzma Rahan, 32, their sons Adam, 11, eight-year-old Abbas and daughter Henna, six, because of his wife's affair with a married man named Nikki, Manchester crown court heard.

The jury took two hours and 15 minutes to find Arshad guilty of four counts of murder. He showed almost no reaction as the verdicts were read out. Taxi driver guilty of bludgeoning family to death

Mark Alexander

”No military solution to Iraq”
THE TIMES: The new US commander in Iraq has admitted that insurgents have intensified their attacks during the security crackdown in Baghdad, as he warned that there was no military solution to the nation’s bloody conflict.

General David Petraeus, appointed last month to oversee the White House’s fresh plan for Iraq, said that his troops were limited in what they alone could achieve and that some of the militant groups causing violence in the country would have to be engaged in political discussions. No military solution to Iraq, warns new US commander

Mark Alexander

Muslim protestor found guilty at the Old Bailey
A man demonstrating against cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed has been found guilty of soliciting to murder.

Abdul Muhid was convicted on two counts at the Old Bailey.

Muhid, from Whitechapel, east London, led the crowd in chanting "bomb, bomb the UK" and produced placards with slogans, the court heard. Cartoon protest man found guilty

Mark Alexander

Heavy losses on stock markets throughout the world continue unabated
The global stock market slump has powered into its second week, pushing the UK's main share index below 6,000 for the first time since October.

By midday the FTSE 100 had recovered slightly but was trading down 97.8 points, or 1.5%, at 6,018.4.

In the past five sessions, about £111bn has been wiped off the index's value.

The drop mirrored heavy losses in Europe and Asia, with investors dumping stocks because of concerns they are overvalued and growth will slow.

"It looks like it's becoming a domino, with one market pulling down the other and I don't know where the domino effect will stop," said Jose Vistan of AB Capital Securities.

"You throw away technical and fundamentals out of the window," he explained. "Emotions are the ones driving share prices right now." World stock drop hits second week

FTSE falls as global sell-off gathers pace

Mark Alexander

Woe is Denmark!
THE TIMES: Riots that have resulted in 643 arrests in Copenhagen are expected to continue this week after anarchists travelled from across Europe to protest against the eviction of anticapitalist squatters.

They were answering an appeal to demonstrate against the seizure by antiterror police of Youth House, a centre for far-left activists. Once host to Lenin, it has now been bought by a Christian group.

Barricades were set up in surrounding streets, cars were burnt and officers pelted with petrol bombs after clearing the building on Thursday. Police responded with teargas but the clashes continued despite the arrests that included 140 foreigners. Anarchists move in after international appeal to join rioters

BBC: Bulldozers have begun the demolition of a building at the centre of rioting in the Danish capital Copenhagen, after the eviction of squatters last week.

About 650 people have been arrested following three nights of clashes between protesters and police.

The unrest has been some of the worst seen in the Danish capital for decades. Denmark rioters’ squat demolished

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad Pays Visit to Saudi King
”Iran is a rising power bolstered by the removal by the US of its two great enemies - the Taleban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Iran's Shia allies are now the dominant force in Iraq, while Tehran's influence is spreading more widely into Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Sunni-ruled states like Jordan and Saudi Arabia are watching Iran's rise with a degree of anxiety.” - Jonathan Marcus, BBC’s Diplomatic Correspondent

The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has left Saudi Arabia after a brief visit for rare talks between the two Middle Eastern powers.

His discussions with King Abdullah in Riyadh focused on regional issues including Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinians, correspondents say.

Mr Ahmadinejad said the two nations wanted to "expand our stable ties".

The meeting comes at a time of tension over regional conflicts and a growing divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Correspondents say the fact that the meeting is taking place at all is an indicator of Iran's growing influence. Saudi king meets Iranian leader

Watch BBC video: Iranian leader makes Saudi visit

Mark Alexander