Rechtsextremen kamen wegen Linksradikalen nicht durch
SPIEGELONLINE: Die Rechtsextremen kommen nicht durch - weil Linksradikale sie aufhalten: Mit Blockaden mehrerer S-Bahn-Strecken haben Angehörige der linken Szene den Beginn der heute in Frankfurt am Main geplanten NPD-Kundgebung verzögert. 200 Blockierer wurden festgenommen.

Frankfurt am Main - Am eigentlichen Startort der Demonstration war zum geplanten Startzeitpunkt (13 Uhr) kein Anhänger der rechtsextremistischen Partei angekommen, wie ein Polizeisprecher der Nachrichtenagentur AP berichtete. Auch in der Stadt seien nur vereinzelt Anhänger der rechten Szene gesichtet worden. Der Beginn der Veranstaltung verzögere sich dadurch auf unbestimmte Zeit.

Die Polizei nahm rund 200 Gegendemonstranten fest. Wie ein Polizeisprecher sagte, handele es sich bei den Festgenommenen um Personen aus der linksautonomen Szene. Einige hätten Gegenstände auf Bahnlinien geworfen und seien vorübergehend in Gewahrsam genommen worden. Die Polizei spricht auch von "Brandanschlägen". Gegendemonstranten blockieren Marsch der Rechtsextremisten (mehr)

SPIEGELONLINE:
Struck fordert neues Verbotsverfahren gegen NPD

Mark Alexander

Voting On the New Seven Wonders
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Voting for the new seven wonders of the world ends on Friday night and the results will be announced on Saturday. But how wonderful will the wonders be? The Vatican suspects an anti-Christian bias.

One doubts whether the ancients went through quite as much effort to arrive at its list of the world's seven wonders. The monuments, from the Colossus of Rhodes to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, were all huddled around the Mediterranean Sea. And the list was compiled by a handful of scholars at the Museum of Alexandria.

This time around, things are being done a bit differently. On Saturday in Lisbon organizers of the "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign will present the winners of contest that kicked off at the beginning of the decade -- a search that started with 200 nominations and has involved a team of researchers travelling around the world to narrow down the candidates. Fully 90 million people have cast their ballots for the final seven -- a number representing well over half of the entire world's population when the first list was compiled in 140 BC. The World’s New Seven Wonders (more)

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Opera House losing wonder race

Mark Alexander

Umweltverschmutzung in China führt zu Massensterben

Foto von Chinas Umweltverschmutzung dank der Welt

WELTONLINE: In China geraten die Folgeschäden des rasanten Wirtschaftswachstums außer Kontrolle: Knapp eine halbe Million Menschen sterben jährlich an den Folgen verseuchter Luft und verschmutzten Trinkwassers. Aus Furcht vor Unruhen verhindert Peking die Veröffentlichung detaillierter Daten zu Todesfällen.

Chinas Bevölkerung zahlt einen hohen Preis für den Aufstieg des Landes zur Werkbank der Welt. Einer Studie der Weltbank zufolge sterben jährlich etwa 460.000 Chinesen an der Folgen der Umweltverschmutzung.

16 der 20 weltweit am stärksten verschmutzten Städte liegen in China. Die massive Umweltverschmutzung hat Krebs zur häufigsten Todesursache in städtischen Gebieten gemacht. Die Zahl der Krebserkrankungen stieg 2006 in den Städten um 20 Prozent. Rund 350.000 bis 400.000 vorzeitige Todesfälle allein in Chinas Städten werden auf die Luftverschmutzung zurückgeführt. Massensterben durch Umweltverschmutzung (mehr)

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
Choking on Pollution in India

Mark Alexander

Keine Handys mehr für die Extremisten?
WELTONLINE: Der Innenminister sieht die gängigen Werkzeuge der Polizei kritisch und fragt sich, ob der deutsche Rechtsstaat mit der Bedrohung durch den Terror fertig wird. Besonders sorgt er sich um Sympathisanten der kriminellen Netze. Für sie wünscht er neuartige Auflagen.

Bundesinnenminister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) will den staatlichen Maßnahmenkatalog gegen Terror-Sympathisanten und "Gefährder" deutlich ausweiten. „Man könnte beispielsweise einen Straftatbestand der Verschwörung einführen wie in Amerika“, sagte Schäuble in einem Interview des Magazins „Der Spiegel“. „Die andere Frage ist aber: Kann man solche Gefährder behandeln wie Kombattanten (Kämpfer) und internieren?“ Schäuble denkt auch an Auflagen für Gefährder, die nicht abgeschoben werden können, „etwa ein Kommunikationsverbot im Internet oder mit dem Handy“. Schäuble will Handy-Verbot für Extremisten (mehr)

SPIEGELONLINE:
Spiegel Interview: Schäuble fordert Handy- und Internetverbot für Terrorverdächtige

Mark Alexander

«Un évènement privé» pour Michel Dobkine

Photo de Rachida Dati grâce au Figaro

LE FIGARO: Michel Dobkine évoque des «raisons privées» et dément les informations de presse parlant de mauvaises relations avec la ministre.

Le directeur de cabinet de Rachida Dati a confirmé samedi matin qu’il quittait ses fonctions. A 52 ans, Michel Dobkine, ancien directeur de l’Ecole nationale de la magistrature évoque «un évènement privé» pour expliquer son départ. «Pour ce travail, il fallait être là à 100%. Or, j'étais là à 85%», a-t-il expliqué à son cabinet.

Selon des proches, le magistrat doit prochainement se remarier. Sa fonction, peu compatible avec «une vie de famille normale», aurait «généré des tensions», explique son entourage. Une raison sensiblement différentes de celles avancées samedi par l’Est Républicain et la radio France Info. Selon ces médias, ce sont bien des désaccords répétés avec Rachida Dati qui seraient à l’origine du départ de Dobkine. Le directeur de cabinet de Rachida Dati démissionne (suivant)

Mark Alexander

Garnier, Adecco in the Dock for “Racist Recruitment Campaign”

Garnier image courtesy of Google Images

BBC: The French cosmetics company, Garnier, and Swiss employment agency Adecco have been found guilty of carrying out a racist recruitment campaign in 2000.

A French appeals court overturned an earlier acquittal and ruled both companies had colluded to find only white women to sell make-up in Paris.

They were fined 30,000 euros ($40,865) and a former Adecco employee was given a three-month suspended jail sentence.
Garnier's parent company, L'Oreal, said it was not racist and would appeal. Garnier, Adecco fined for racism (more)

THE GUARDIAN:
You’re worth it – if white. L’Oréal guilty of racism

Mark Alexander

The Met Daren’t Sack the Al Qaeda Fanatics Within!
DAILY MAIL: Up to eight police officers and civilian staff are suspected of links to extremist groups including Al Qaeda.

Some are even believed to have attended terror training camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Their names feature on a secret list of alleged radicals said to be working in the Metropolitan and other forces.

The dossier was drawn up with the help of MI5 amid fears that individuals linked to Islamic extremism are taking advantage of police attempts to increase the proportion of ethnic staff.

Astonishingly, many of the alleged jihadists have not been sacked because - it is claimed - police do not have the "legal power" to dismiss them. Eight Al Qaeda fanatics working for the police (more) By Stephen Wright

Mark Alexander

Airport Chaos Set to Continue Due to Islamic Terrorism and the Jihad
THE TIMES: Passengers must prepare for another summer of airport chaos amid the continued fight against terrorism, Gordon Brown said yesterday.

The Prime Minister said there would be months of disruption following last weekend's failed car bombings, but insisted the measures were necessary for public safety. Tens of thousands of holidaymakers were stranded after the attempted attack on Glasgow airport last Saturday. Summer of airport delays on way, says Brown (more) By Richard Edwards

Mark Alexander

Donations to the Roman Catholic Church Almost Double and Pilgrims Flock to the Vatican in Their Droves as the Ratzinger Effect Takes Hold

Photo of Pope Benedict XVI courtesy of TIMESONLINE

THE TIMES: With donations to the Church from around the world almost doubling and pilgrims pouring into Rome in ever-greater numbers, Vatican watchers are beginning to reassess the two-year-old pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI and noting a positive “Ratzinger effect”.

Today the Vatican will publish the Pope’s “motu proprio” decree allowing broader use by Roman Catholics of the Latin Tridentine Mass — the pontiff’s last act before leaving for his traditional summer holiday.

The move, which amends the Second Vatican Council’s decision in the 1960s that worship should be in the vernacular, is regarded as yet another sign of Benedict’s conservative attachment to tradition and doctrine. Some senior Catholics in Britain have accused him of “encouraging those who want to turn the clock back” and say that they fear the rite will revive preVatican II prayers for the conversion of “the perfidious Jews”.

The Vatican denies this, however, and points instead to the huge appeal of the Latin Mass — and Gregorian chant — not only for disaffected right-wing Catholics but also for many ordinary believers who value “the sheer beauty” of the ancient liturgy. “This is a Pope who — contrary to conventional wisdom — is in tune with the faithful,” one Vatican source said. The Ratzinger Effect: more money, more pilgrims – and lots more Latin (more)

Mark Alexander

All Government Buildings to Fly Union Flag Every Day as a Sign of Patriotism and Britishness

Union Jack courtesy of Google Images

THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown's order that all government buildings should fly the Union flag every day of the year shows how fast things are changing. When the Countryside Alliance was organising its last and biggest march in London in 2003, I suggested to it privately that every marcher should carry a Union flag. They had thought of this, they said, but had rejected it because nowadays the flag was associated with Right-wing extremism.

And so it came about that the largest and most patriotic of modern British protest movements effectively banned the national flag from its events. Yet today a Labour government wishes to wave that flag every day, from every pole. What is going on?

The answer is that "Britishness" - the very word was not much used until recently - now matters again. Flying the flag is only the first step to victory (more) By Charles Moore

Mark Alexander

Sweden with Its Warm Welcome Allows in More Than Its Fair Share of Refugees

Photo showing the ever-increasing Islamization of Sweden courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Halim Ibrahim and his family are among the half of all Iraqis who choose Sweden as their destination when they flee to Europe from their war-torn homeland.

"We wanted to get as far away from Iraq as possible," said 50-year-old Halim, standing outside his ground floor flat in southern Sweden.

"Everyone wants to go to Sweden, it has always been good to Iraqis. They respect human rights here. I wanted my children to
grow up in a safe country, that's why we chose Sweden," said Halim.

The Ibrahims are not alone in coming to Sweden to make a new home.

Financial strain

Last year Sweden received 8,950 asylum applications from Iraqis, nearly half of the 22,200 who came to Europe. The United Kingdom received only 1,305, according to UN statistics.

With only nine million inhabitants, Sweden is feeling the financial strain of receiving such a high proportion of refugees. Iraqis choose Sweden as new home (more) By Stina Backer

Mark Alexander

Iran Turns Its Back on Petrol-only Cars
BBC: Iran has announced that it will stop producing purely petrol-driven cars and produce more dual-fuel vehicles, which also run on gas.

The minister of industries said the production of petrol-only cars would stop in just over two weeks' time.

Correspondents say it is not clear whether Iran can produce enough gas, or supply it to petrol stations.

The government introduced petrol rationing last week, a policy which provoked widespread anger and violence.

The move was an attempt to reduce the large subsidies the government spends on petrol and to limit the country's rising petrol consumption. Iran ends petrol-only car making (more)

Mark Alexander

UK Muslims Burn England Flag


Mark Alexander

When the Moors Ruled in Europe
The following two videos about the Moors in Spain are quite fascinating; though when watching them, one should be aware that much has probably been whitewashed in the name of political correctness. For all that, they are well worth viewing.


Link: sevenload.com

Link: sevenload.com
Mark Alexander

Cavuto Show: Robert Spencer on the Jihad Doctors’ Plot
With thanks to Roberts Spencer of Jihad Watch, where I saw this interview:


Link: sevenload.com

Mark Alexander

Abdul Rashid Ghazi Would Rather Die Than Surrender

Photo of Abdul Rashid Ghazi courtesy of the BBC

BBC: The deputy leader of radical Islamic students besieged at the Red Mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad has said he would rather die than surrender.

Abdul Rashid Ghazi's defiant statement came as the stand-off, which has seen 19 people killed, entered a fourth day.

President Pervez Musharraf has ordered his security forces to hold back from a full assault.

Gen Musharraf is said to be anxious to avoid casualties among women and girls still inside the complex.

Mr Ghazi had earlier said he would leave the mosque on certain conditions, including being allowed to look after his ailing mother.

The offer to end the confrontation came after Mr Ghazi's brother Maulana Abdul Aziz - leader of the mosque - was captured while trying to escape wearing a woman's burqa.

Pakistani government ministers dismissed the deal.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Ghazi said he would not surrender unconditionally.

"We have decided that we can be martyred but we will not surrender. We are ready for our heads to be cut off but we will not bow to them," he said. Pakistan cleric makes defiant vow (more)

Mark Alexander

Look Out, Spain! Jihad Should Strive to Liberate Any Land that Once Belonged to Dar ul Islam (House of Islam), Says Ayman al-Zawahri


Mark Alexander

Oil Hits $75 a Barrel
FINANCIAL TIMES: Oil prices rose on Friday to $75 a barrel for the first time since August on renewed unrest in Nigeria’s delta oil producing region.

Low US petrol inventories and strong summer demand also contributed to the bullish sentiment.

Analysts said further price increases were likely as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the group thought to be responsible for most of the attacks in the region, called off this week a one-month truce. Attacks by militants had cut about 25 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production.

Shell, Nigeria’s largest foreign oil producer, said recently that it would not re-start its production in a key sector of the delta region for the rest of 2007 as security concerns persist. Oil hits 11-month high of $75 (more) By Javier Blas in London

Mark Alexander

Iranian Régime Shows Signs of Instability
THE TELEGRAPH: It has been a long time coming, but unmistakable cracks are beginning to appear in the edifice of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's autocratic regime.

Ever since the ayatollahs overthrew the Shah and seized control of the country in the bloody revolution of 1979, the government of the Islamic Republic has owed its survival to a combination of brutal repression and a highly effective security infrastructure controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.

Most of the country's professional and middle classes were wiped out after Khomeini's takeover, and subsequent attempts by more moderate elements to tone down the revolutionary rhetoric have been repressed. A campaign by the Iranian Reform Movement in 2000 to make the country more democratic and the government more accountable collapsed when its leader was shot in the face by a young religious fanatic.

More recently, Mr Ahmadinejad, a former commander in the Revolutionary Guards, has quashed any hint of dissent, closing newspapers and censoring access to the internet.

Which all makes the recent riots over the introduction of petrol rationing most heartening. Here we have a country that is awash with oil - Iran produces 4.3 million barrels a day and possesses the world's second largest known oil reserves - and yet it cannot provide sufficient quantities of refined material to meet the needs of its 65 million people. Iranian banks feel the heat (more) By Con Coughlin

Mark Alexander

Dirty Dealings: New Evidence Suggests Sarkozy Was the Victim of a Smear Campaign by Chirac and de Villepin
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, was the victim of a smear campaign by his predecessor Jacques Chirac and former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, new evidence suggested yesterday.

The alleged plot was directed against Mr Sarkozy when he was interior minister in 2004, at a time when his two superiors were desperate to quash his presidential ambitions.

The fresh evidence, recovered by computer experts from the hard disc of a laptop belonging to a retired spymaster, could lead to Mr de Villepin being placed under official investigation.

It also stood to further tarnish Mr Chirac's legacy even though he cannot be questioned about the case because he was president when the events took place. Files 'expose Chirac plot to smear Sarkozy' (more) By Henry Samuel in Paris

Mark Alexander

Fears for Obama’s Safety
THE TELEGRAPH: A man has been arrested for illegal possession of a knife outside Barack Obama's hotel amid growing fears about threats to kill the man hoping to become America's first black president.

Davit Zakaryan, 24, was questioned and searched after Mr Obama's Secret Service guards saw him allegedly loitering outside the Fairfield Inn in Ottumwa, Iowa, just before the Democratic candidate was about to start a day's campaigning.

It is believed the Secret Service agents became suspicious because they recalled seeing Zakaryan's car, with Ohio plates, at an Obama event the previous day.

He has been charged with possession of an illegal weapon and driving without a licence. Fear for Obama's safety after knife arrest (more) By Toby Harnden in Washington

Mark Alexander

Pope to Grant Universal Permission for the Celebration of the Tridentine Rite of Mass
THE TELEGRAPH: The text of Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio granting priests universal permission to celebrate the Tridentine Rite of Mass has been leaked overnight to the blog Whispers in the Loggia. And it looks as if the prayers of traditionalists have been well and truly answered.

From now on, a priest "does not require any permission" to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass for himself, says the Pope, and lay people can attend such semi-private Masses. In other words, the power of bishops to ban the Rite – in which the priest celebrates Mass facing the same direction as the people – has been removed after nearly 40 years. Holy Smoke By Damian Thompson

Mark Alexander

Blair’s Legacy: Britons Are Spending More Than They’re Earning
THE TELEGRAPH: Watching many British consumers en route to a debt crisis has been like observing drivers of cars with faulty brakes, heading confidently towards the edge of a cliff. When alerted to looming disaster, these debtors and motorists kept giving the same reply: "Relax, everything's in control." Then, whooosh!

Over the past five or six years, cautious voices have warned eager borrowers that they were taking on far too much debt. Just because they could afford their monthly repayments (for now), it did not mean that "maxing out" on credit cards, overdrafts and mortgages was a smart move.

Unfortunately, too few consumers wanted to listen. Those of us who predicted a crash landing were dismissed as Cassandras. We didn't understand the new paradigm. Debt was cool, a financial fashion item. Saving was for wimps. Only fuddy-duddies and stick-in-the-muds didn't have debt.

Now, however, as the price of money rises and the pain of higher interest charges is beyond that which many troubled borrowers can tolerate (100,000 went bust last year), debt is starting to look decidedly démodé, the unattractive bling of bankrupts. The trouble is, we're stuck with £1,300 billion of it - and it's going up by £1 million every four minutes. Blair’s legacy is a nation engulfed by debt (more) By Jeff Randall

Mark Alexander

Une démission surprise à la tête de l'UBS
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Démission surprise à la tête de l'UBS: le directeur général Peter Wuffli, 49 ans, se retire de ses fonctions avec effet immédiat et quitte la banque, a annoncé dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi l'UBS. Il est remplacé par son bras droit Marcel Rohner.

"Le Conseil d'administration d'UBS a nommé Marcel Rohner, actuellement Deputy Group CEO, Group CEO avec effet immédiat, a indiqué le numéro un bancaire suisse dans un communiqué. Agé de 42 ans, il était jusqu'ici responsable des activités de gestion de fortune de l'UBS et suppléait aussi au patron Peter Wuffli, en place depuis 2003. Peter Wuffli cède sa place à son bras droit Marcel Rohner (suivant)

FINANCIAL TIMES
UBS axes Wuffli in surprise shake-up (more) By David Wighton and Peter Thal Larsen

Mark Alexander

Doctors Weren’t Good Enough for the Australian Health System, but Anybody’s Good Enough for the NHS!
DAILY MAIL: Two of the doctors being held in Britain in the failed terrorist plot tried to get jobs in Australia.

Sabeel Ahmed, 26, and Khalid Ahmed, 25, were turned down by authorities in Western Australia state because their medical qualifications were not up to standard, a state official said.

Neither was denied entry for security reasons.

A third suspect - Muhammad Haneef, 27 - was arrested last week.

Australian police are quizzing four more Indian doctors today who worked in the NHS.

The medics - all of whom knew Haneef - were being questioned following raids in Perty and Kalgoorie in which computers and other material were seized.

The police said 31,000 documents, including foreign computer files, had been confiscated and links to the London and Glasgow bomb plots were becoming "more concrete". Australia turned down NHS 'bomb' doctors 'because they weren't good enough' (more)

Mark Alexander

Common Smoke from Commons’ Folk! One Law for the Common Folk, Another Law for the Commons Folk!

Photo courtesy of the BBC

BBC: MPs have been accused of flouting the smoking ban - and even sneaking cigarettes in the Commons toilets.

Although it is not illegal to smoke in the Palace of Westminster, both Houses decided to ban it from Sunday - the same time as the rest of England. MPs ‘smoking in Commons toilets’ (more)

Mark Alexander

Giorgio Finds His Rainbow: What Armani’s Infidel Devotees Will Shortly Be Wearing

Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

THE TELEGRAPH: The Age of Aquarius finally arrived for the Italian couturier, Giorgio Armani, in Paris last night (Wednesday), exactly a week before his 73rd birthday.

As the actress Cate Blanchett, sitting front row, murmered “this rocks”, Armani, once known as ‘Mr Beige’, swapped from minimal to magic. Armani on a rainbow trip (more)

Celebrating 60 years of Dior haute couture By Hilary Alexander

Gaultier’s romp through history

Mark Alexander

Islamic Economics: Iqtisad al Islamy
ISLAMIC-WORLD.NET: Islam uniquely considers distribution as the economic problem, and Muslims do not share the obsession of capitalists and communists with production. Because Islam differentiates between the basic needs and luxuries, there exists no concept of relative scarcity of resources in Islam. The resources available on earth are sufficient to secure the basic needs (food, clothing, and shelter) of fifty billion human beings. Such a misunderstanding has concealed the reality that starvation, poverty, and economic backwardness, result from maldistribution exasperated by man-made laws and systems. Under the Islamic system, Nigeria alone could support the whole of Africa, as occurred in the past when, under the system of Islam, Africa sent food to relieve the famine in Medinah during the rule of Omar bin al-Khattab.

By using labels like "Third World" and "First World," this economic conspiracy has worked behind a deceived populace who fail to realize that the "Third World" countries are actually First World in terms of resources. While organizations like Mercy International and UNICEF keep the masses content under the circus act of "humanitarian aid," the capitalist machine works behind the stage to gobble up the resources of the world.

The implementation of Islam would eliminate the stranglehold by which the elites control the polices of the world and milk its resources. Unlike the current systems, Islam will not impose any limits on the amount of wealth that an individual can acquire, thus creating and maintaining an incentive to work. The shortsightedness of limiting production stems from the man-made ideologies that fail to understand the nature of creation. Because the Islamic system reflects the wisdom of the Creator, then the implementation of Islam will provide a society conducive to life that will address the needs of humanity based on the correct understanding of life. Muhammad (saaw) said, "The son of Adam, if he had two valleys of gold, would desire a third and would not be satisfied till he bites the dust."

While generating massive abundance and wealth of resources by eliminating all the restrictions and oppressive systems that prevent production, Islam will safeguard against abuses of exploitation in acquiring wealth by limiting the way in which wealth is acquired. For instance, Islam denies the "free" market of Capitalism which has led to the situation of "survival of the fittest". Such an unrestricted environment has led directly to the current situation where multinational companies have scavenged the resources of the world like parasites unrestricted in their "freedom." Under the Khilafah, natural and vital resources would be categorized as public property and a right of every citizen of the state - Muslim or otherwise - in accordance with the Prophet's (saw) Hadith that states, "The humans have a right to three things - water, green pastures, and fire-based fuels (An-Naar)."

In Islam, public revenue from oil and natural resources would be used to secure the needs of the whole Muslim Ummah, and not to line the pockets of casino owners. The Khilafah would provide public and vital resources without charge to cover the needs of every individual and family, and the monopolies that multinational corporations maintain to dictate the lives of the people would dissipate.

The Shariah also defines certain rules that regulate company structure, effectively preventing abuse and corruption. For instance, Islam forbids monopolies by outlawing the hoarding of wealth (Al-Ihtikar), and eliminating copyright or patency [sic] laws that would open the avenue for potential monopolies to develop. Also, Islam protects the ownership of businesses and companies by restricting ownership of companies only to those who contribute both capital and effort to the company or business, thus effectively putting the seal on such concepts as "corporate takeover" from ever becoming a reality. Introduction (more)

Introduction to Shari’ah

What is Usury (Riba)?

Contracts in Islamic Commerce and Their Application in Modern Islamic Finance

Monetary & Fiscal Policy in Islam

Trade & Business in Islam


Mark Alexander

Shari’ah-Compliant Finance

Photo of HSBC (Dubai) courtesy of Council on Foreign Relations

COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: There are few principles more central to modern economics than interest, the fee charged for the opportunity of borrowing money. Interest spurs economic efficiency and creates wealth by helping borrowers and lenders make exchanges to their mutual advantage. Islamic law, or sharia, forbids either paying or charging interest. For decades this theological ban has had limited effect on international economics, given the feathery relative weight of Middle Eastern investors and businesses in global markets. But now, an influx of oil money is bulking up Middle Eastern financial influence and giving rise to a new boom industry: sharia-compliant financial services.

In order to win the “sharia compliant” seal of approval, businesses must adhere to all theological requirements of the Quran. Jawad Ali, a partner at King & Spalding, a law firm that assists businesses in structuring sharia-compliant deals, explains in an interview that this means not only shunning interest but also adhering to a host of other requirements. A real estate firm, for instance, cannot rent property to banks, casinos, businesses that deal in pork or pork products, or any other business that itself doesn’t follow sharia.

Still, Ali says, the most complicated compliance standard is commonly the interest ban. Businesses work around this restriction by developing creative ways to substitute fees for interest. Say, for instance, a business is interested in purchasing a property. Instead of borrowing money to make the purchase, the business can structure a transaction such that a bank acquires the property and leases it out for a set fee. This primer by the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance outlines other similar sharia-compliant financial arrangements. Yet there is no absolute standard for sharia compliance beyond meeting the subjective demands of would-be investors, and there is no governing body overseeing Islamic banking, so standards vary region-to-region and firm-to-firm. Banking on Islam (more) Prepared by Lee Hudson Teslik

Mark Alexander

Torture Still in Common Use in Turkey

Image courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Widespread use of torture is continuing in Turkey despite the government's "zero tolerance" policy, says human rights group Amnesty International.

A new report acknowledged improvements in the Turkish criminal justice system in recent years.

But Amnesty said a "culture of impunity" allowed the authorities to escape accountability and the courts to disregard medical evidence of torture.

There has been no immediate response from the Turkish government. Torture ‘still common in Turkey’ (more)

Mark Alexander

Allah Loves Beards!
Allah has lots of time to worry about hair! In fact, He's got a thing about it! So if you men wish to gain favour with Allah, you must let your beard grow (and flow), and trim your moustache. Be warned: If you do not, you will not find favour with Allah in the Hereafter! Now you know it. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!

Trim the moustache closely, and let the beard flow (grow)". (Muslim)

"Act against (contrary) to the polytheists, trim closely the moustache and grow the beard." (Muslim)

"Trim closely the moustache and grow the beard". (Muslim)

"I have no connection with one who shaves, shouts and tears his clothing e.g. in grief or affection". (Bukhari and Muslim)

"Any one who shaves has no claim to the mercy of ALLAH." (Tabraani)

Laws Pertaining to the Beard
Miscellaneous Laws Pertaining to the Beard
Laws Pertaining to the Hair of the Head
Laws Pertaining to the Moustache
Laws Pertaining to Nasal Hair and Eyebrows
Laws Pertaining to Body Hair
Laws Pertaining to Pubic Hair
Laws Pertaining to Dying One’s Hair

Mark Alexander

"Rien n'indique qu'il s'agisse d'une attaque terroriste”
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Une rame du métro de Londres a déraillé jeudi matin à l'heure de pointe, faisant une vingtaine de blessés légers, a annoncé la police britannique qui a écarté à ce stade une piste terroriste.

"Rien n'indique qu'il s'agisse d'une attaque terroriste", a affirmé un porte-parole de la police, qui parle d'un "incident relativement mineur".

"L'obstruction d'une voie" pourrait être à l'origine de ce déraillement, a pour sa part indiqué un porte-parole de la compagnie gestionnaire du métro londonien, Transport for London (TFL).

Les alertes à la bombe dans les transports se sont multipliées en Grande-Bretagne, placée pendant plusieurs jours en alerte terroriste maximale après les attentats de Londres et Glasgow vendredi et samedi dernier. L'alerte a été abaissée du niveau "critique" (attentat jugé imminent) au niveau "grave" (attentat probable") mercredi, après l'arrestation de huit suspects. Londres: une rame de métro déraille faisant une vingtaine de blessés (suivant)

Mark Alexander

Muslim Protestor Over Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad Found Guilty
DAILY EXPRESS: A web designer who called for British soldiers to be brought back from Iraq in body bags has been found guilty of inciting murder.

Mizanur Rahman, 24, of Palmers Green, north London, made his inflammatory remarks over a loudspeaker at a demonstration against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Europe.

He told a crowd of around 300 near the Danish Embassy in central London in February last year that British and American troops should return in body bags.

The Old Bailey saw film of Rahman in which he said: "We want to see them coming home in body bags.


"We want to see their blood running in the streets of Baghdad." Cartoons Protest Man Found Guilty (more)

Mark Alexander

”Those Who Cure You Are Going to Kill You”
DAILY NEWS: LONDON - "Those who cure you are going to kill you."

That, a British priest said Wednesday, was the cryptic warning made to him in Jordan by a purported al-Qaida chief months before the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow that have been linked to a group of foreign Muslims working as doctors in Britain.

British authorities have said the attacks bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaida operation, but security officials say investigators are still trying to determine whether there was any direct link between the alleged plotters and an outside mastermind.

Canon Andrew White, a senior Anglican priest who works in Baghdad, said he met the man privately with a translator and sheik after holding talks with Sunni Muslim tribal and religious leaders April 18 in the Jordanian capital, Amman. He meets regularly with extremists in an attempt to calm Iraq's sectarian violence.

He said religious leaders told him the man was an al-Qaida leader who traveled from Syria to the meeting. The man, an educated Iraqi in his 40s and dressed in Western clothes, warned of attacks on Britain and the United States, White said.

"It was like meeting the devil," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Baghdad. "He talked of destroying Britain and the United States and then said, `Those who cure you are going to kill you."' Priest may have received clues before U.K. attacks (more) By Paisley Dodds, Associated Press

Mark Alexander

Ayman Al-Zawahri: ”Unite in Jihad” O Ye Men of Faith!
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In a new al-Qaida video, the terror network's No. 2 calls for Muslims to unite in jihad and talks of plans to set up new camps in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Meanwhile, Islamists in Germany say that al-Qaida are no longer radical enough and call them "non-believers."

Al-Qaida's No. 2 has released a new video calling for Muslims to unite in jihad and talking of plans to set up bases in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.

The video was obtained by the Washington, D.C.-based institute SITE, which monitors radical Islamist communication, on Wednesday ahead of its official release.

In the one-and-a-half hour video entitled "The Advice of One Concerned," Ayman al-Zawahri, who is al-Qaida's No. 2 after Osama bin Laden, talks about the terror organization's future strategy. The network, he says, plans to set up camps in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia to train jihadists. Although al-Qaida is believed to already have camps on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is known to be present in Iraq, the claim the group plans to set up new camps reflects a new self-confidence on the part of the terror network. Bin Laden's Deputy Calls for Muslims to Unite in Jihad (more)

Mark Alexander

Evangelism Can Combat Islamic Terrorism, Says Bishop Akinola
TIMESONLINE: Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria, the world’s most powerful Anglican leader, tells Religion Correspondent Ruth Gledhill that his conservatism is the true faith and that evangelism can combat Islamic terrorism

When Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria, consecrated 20 bishops in a single service, an observer asked how this was possible. He replied: “You have not seen anything yet.” This is a man whose name strikes fear into the souls of Western Christian leaders. Heading a Church of nearly 20 million practising Anglicans, he is the most powerful leader in the Anglican Church. While churches are closing in the US and Britain, he cannot open them fast enough. If things continue as they are, his could well be the future face of worldwide Anglicanism. Time is running out for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to avert schism.

Dr Akinola has become a totem of conservatism in the debate over homosexuality. The irony is not lost on him that he is attempting to preach a gospel back to England that was brought to his country by English missionaries in the mid-19th century. To modern, liberal, Western eyes, Dr Akinola is at the most extreme end of fundamentalist Christianity. Few can imagine the “broad” Church of England being led by such a man – but in Nigeria he is at the more liberal end of the Christian spectrum. More importantly, he is in the front line of relations between Christianity and Islam. In the northern, Sharia states of Nigeria, Christians have been driven from their looted homes, even murdered. The relationship with Islam is central to his ministry and he has found a way to counter Islam without violence: it is called evangelism. For God’s sake (more)

Mark Alexander

The Gay Issue Continues to Bedevil Unity Of Church
TIMESONLINE: The head of the Anglican Church in Nigeria says that his 120-plus bishops will boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference unless the US Church halts its liberal agenda.

In an interview with The Times published today, Dr Peter Akinola, Primate of Nigeria and Archbishop of Abuja, says that he has lost faith that the Episcopal Church of the United States, which precipitated a schism with the ordination of the gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003, will ever listen to the conservative evangelical leaders of the Global South churches of Africa and Asia. African bishops ready to boycott conference in row over gay clergy (more) By Ruth Gledhill

Mark Alexander

The Flipside of Green?
THE TELEGRAPH: The son of Al Gore, the former vice president and prominent environmental campaigner, was yesterday arrested for possession of drugs after being pulled over by police for speeding.

Al Gore III, 24, was stopped as he was driving a blue Toyota Prius, a hybrid car, along a freeway near San Diego, southern California, about 100 mile per hour.

Sheriff's deputies who stopped him said they smelled marijuana in the car and recovered less than an ounce of the drug. The officers also found the prescription drugs Xanax, Valium, both tranquillisers, the pain killer Vicodin and Adderall, a drug for attention deficit disorder. Al Gore’s son arrested for drugs (more) By Catherine Elsworth

Mark Alexander

Bank of England to Raise Interest Rates
THE TELEGRAPH: The Bank of England is set to raise interest rates to their highest level in more than six years, a move that will further squeeze homeowners and consumers.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee is widely expected to push interest rates to 5.75pc as Governor Mervyn King and his fellow policy makers seek to bring inflation back under control and cool the economy. Bank of England set to raise interest rates (more) By Richard Blackden

Mark Alexander