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China reduces US Dollar holdings
- Published 03/16/2010
The Treasury Department said Monday that China's holdings dipped by $5.8 billion to $889 billion in January compared to December. Japan, the second largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, also trimmed its holdings but by a much smaller $300 million to $765.4 billion.
Net foreign purchases of long-term securities, a category that includes government and corporate debt, totaled $19.1 billion in January, as net purchases of private corporate bonds fell by $24.8 billion, the biggest drop on record.
Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque dies.
- Published 03/16/2010
Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque in
Cairo, was
born on October 28, 1928. He died on March 10, 2010, aged 81.
Sheikh Tantawi died from a suspected heart attack as he was boarding an
aircraft in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where he had been attending a
prize-giving ceremony. He was buried in the Muslim holy city of Medina.
Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi was one of the most influential, but also controversial, religious figures in the Islamic world. As Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, he was head of Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning. His rulings carried great weight — particularly in Egypt, where most Muslims are Sunnis — and he was a revered figure among many of the world’s estimated 1.4 billion Muslims.
But Sheikh Tantawi was appointed by President Mubarak and considered by some critics to be too close to the government. Certainly his moderation on issues such as women’s rights and his willingness to accept that there were “good Jews” infuriated radical Islamists. His forthright opposition to Islamic suicide bombers earned him the hatred of al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist groups.
Sheikh Tantawi received a doctorate in Koranic studies from al-Alzar university before becoming a religious teacher in Libya and Saudi Arabia as well as his native Egypt. In 1986 he was named Grand Mufti of Egypt and ten years later was appointed both Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque and Grand Sheikh of al-Alzar University, which runs religious colleges and schools and other educational institutions across Egypt and receives much of its funding from the state.
Deception and the collapse of the financial markets.
- Published 03/13/2010
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Foreign Policy: Trinidad and Tobago - the world's newest narcostate.
- Published 03/12/2010
US pardons sought for 'criminals' who helped free slaves
- Published 03/12/2010
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Rev. Calvin Fairbank spent 17 years in a Kentucky prison — suffering beatings and brutal labor — for committing the felony of helping slaves escape to freedom. Released in 1864, a broken man, he kissed the dirt of Ohio upon reaching that free state.
"Out of the jaws of Hell!" Fairbank cried, according to his autobiography.
In the 19th century, Kentucky convicted at least 58 people for "seducing or enticing slaves to leave their lawful owners." Defendants faced 20 years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary, where some died. One, David C. McDonald, was forgotten and languished in prison until 1870, five years after slavery was abolished.
Now, several men are working to clear the names of those — men and women, black and white — whose "crimes" today would be recognized as among mankind's finest acts.
They want Gov. Steve Beshear to issue pardons for the slave rescuers, albeit posthumously.
"I want to resurrect their names and deeds and give them their proper place in history," said James Prichard, 56, a retired state archivist who spent much of his career studying slavery in Kentucky.
An unsual Muslim man with an unsual message for International Women's Day
- Published 03/8/2010
sage and in his practice the Prophet Muhammad (s) elevated the status of women in the context of his time and our time. Here are some quotes from the Qur'an, the revealed words of God:-- Women are a garment for you and you are a garment for them...(Qur'an 2:187)
- Our Lord! Grant us comfort of our eyes from our wives and offspring and gives us all (the grace) to be those who are examples of the righteous. (Qur'an 25:74)
- Consort with them (your wives) in kindness, for if you dislike something in them, it may be that you dislike a thing wherein God has placed much good. (Qur'an 4:19).
- Men are the protectors and maintainers of women....(Qur'an 4:34)
- The believer who has the most perfect faith is the one whose behaviour is best and the best of you are the ones who are best to their women. (At-Tirmidhi)
- No believing man should dislike a believing woman. If he dislikes one of her characteristics, there will be others that please him. (Muslim)
- The best of you is the best to his family and I am the best among you to my family (Imam Ahmad)
- Paradise lies at the feet of mothers (Nisa'i, Ibn Majah)
- It is the generous (in character) who is good to women and it is the wicked who insults them.
Kuwait PM to visit Guyana in April
- Published 03/5/2010
Negotiations of the agreement began in 2005, John Isaacs, the Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, and he welcomed the
Kuwaiti commitment to have the contentious issues of the agreement
settled in this round of negotiations. The agreement is to avoid tax being levied twice on the remuneration or any other money earned by a Guyanese or Kuwaiti.A major goal of bilateral tax treaties is to remove impediments to international trade and investment by abating the risk of double taxation that can occur when both contracting states impose tax on the same income. A bilateral tax treaty generally increases the extent to which exporters residing in one contracting state can engage in trading activity in the other contracting state without attracting tax liability in that latter.
Abdulaziz al-Sallal said the Guyana/Kuwait Double Taxation Agreement would provide a “proper environment” for investors. He said such an agreement would build on agreements signed between Guyana and Kuwait when President Bharrat Jagdeo visited last month.
Kuwaiti Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shimali and Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who accompanied President Jagdeo on his Middle East tour, had signed an agreement on encouraging bilateral investments. There were also agreements signed on political consultations and cultural relations. Rodrigues-Birkett had said all of this is being done as Guyana looks to create appropriate regimes for investment. As Guyana looks to start drilling for oil this year, she said it was important to learn from the experiences of countries which have done well in managing their oil wealth, such as Kuwait.
During President Jagdeo’s visit, Kuwait agreed to give Guyana US$10 million for infrastructure projects. That will most likely go towards developing new housing areas on the East Bank, where the government recently acquired 2,000 acres of land from the Guyana Sugar Corporation to develop 10,000 new house lots.
Guyana and Kuwait established diplomatic relations in 1975, and Guyana currently has US$50 million in debt to Kuwait.
Trinidad's ASJA Muslims and Ministry of Education invest in Early Childhood care
- Published 03/3/2010
education of our citizens. In our schools, the intake is composed of
the population’s children, there is no discrimination whatsoever,” Ali
said. He added that at the beginning of the preschool system they were charging fees but faced a few problems.
At the Ministry’s Hayes Street, St Clair, Port of Spain office, Le Gendre explained that a board will be established on the conclusion of the centres. “It will be joint between the denominational body and the Ministry of Education and also all the teachers would have their salaries paid by the ministry,” she said. The minister added that similar contracts have been signed with the Roman Catholic and Anglican Education boards.
Islamic Scholar Issues Anti-Terrorism Fatwa
- Published 03/2/2010
Suicide bombers have been described as the "heroes of hellfire" by a leading Muslim scholar in a fatwa condemning terrorists as the enemies of Islam. Pakistan-born Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said there were no "ifs or buts" about terrorism and such acts had no justification in the name of Islam. In a news conference he called on Islamic leaders to convey the message that acts of terrorism cut people off as true followers of Islam.
"They can't claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim Ummah (the Muslim nation), no, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are leading towards hellfire," he said. "There is no place for any martyrdom and their act is never, ever to be considered Jihad," he added.
Dr Qadri, who spoke at length in both English and Arabic before his
audience, said his fatwa - a religious edict or ruling - was an
"absolute" condemnation of terrorism without "any excuses or pretexts". "Good intentions cannot convert a wrong into good, they cannot
convert an evil into good," he said. "Terrorism is terrorism, violence
is violence and it has no place in Islamic teaching and no
justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses or ifs or
buts."
He insisted that Islam was a religion of peace that promotes beauty, "betterment", goodness and "negates all form of mischief and strife".
The 600-page fatwa by Dr Qadri, founder of the global
Minhaj-ul-Quran movement, which has thousands of supporters across the
world as well as in the UK, will be translated into English in the
coming weeks. A fatwa, an edict issued by a learned Muslim scholar, may concern any aspect of Islamic life.
Tim Winter (Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad), a lecturer in Islamic studies at Cambridge University, said while there had been similar fatwas in the past, Qadri did appear to have gone further than most. "To declare the miscreants as unbelievers is unusual, because it is not really clear that the rules allow one simply to say that they are not Muslims," he told Reuters.
"Those who are already hardliners will pay no attention at all. But 'swing voters' -- poorly educated and angry Muslims, who respect mainstream scholars, will probably take note. "Certainly it is a helpful initiative," he said. While Qadri has followers across the globe, it is in Pakistan, where he has millions of followers, and in the diaspora that his impact would be greatest, Winter said.
Britain has about 1.7 million Muslims, mainly of Pakistani descent, and the security services say that nearly all major terrorism plots since 2001, including the 2005 London bombings which killed 52 people, were linked to Pakistan.
The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organisation representing some 500 Islamic groups, said the fatwa was welcome. "It is entirely laudable for scholars such as Tahir ul-Qadri to speak out against terrorism," it said in a statement.
To download the English summary version of the Fatwa in PDF format, please here.
The right to worship must be respected says Guyana's President Jagdeo
- Published 03/1/2010
The President alluded to his visit to the Middle East and made it clear that Guyana’s foreign policy focuses on expanding relations in a merging dynamic world, of which the Middle East is an important part. Jagdeo said, “The Middle East is a very important part of the future, not just because many people share their predominant faith in that part of the world, but also because it a very important source of investment and trade.” The latter, he said, will assist in helping many people in a material sense.
The President also referred to his publicly
criticized visit to Iran and noted that the main criticism, that the visit
will affect ties with the United States, was not a widespread
view. “The United States never said to me that they were offended and I
was pleased that President Obama named an envoy to the Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC),” he said.The OIC is an umbrella body for about 50 Muslim nations.President Jagdeo lamented the fact that here, “we Guyanese” were “pontificating” on the effect of Middle East associations on relations with the United States. To this end, Jagdeo asserted that his administration practices an “independent foreign policy.” “We are not here to please any country…We are here to look after the interest of our people. Of course there is global solidarity, etcetera, but I am not going to determine our policies on whether the United States likes it or not,” he said.
The Head of State highlighted that there is a kind of mental slavery existing among some Guyanese, who, he said, are yet to emancipate themselves. He likened it to anticipating what “masters”, in this case the United States, would require, and subsequently working to advance the same. Jagdeo said, “Here in Guyana we have a group of people subscribing to what I call, the slavery syndrome, and have not emancipated themselves in thinking…Here we have people anticipating what the United States may want but Obama himself has spoken about opening up dialogue with the Middle East…Yet the locals here, they are defending the so-called interest of the United States of America.”
The President boasted of religious tolerance
in Guyana and the ability of Guyanese to live together irrespective of
diverse cultures. Jagdeo noted that human rights, tolerance and respect
for people’s religions have been the core of messages advanced by
industrialised and developed nations. He pointed to two recent cases in
Europe’s “developed countries”; both widely publicised across the
globe. The first in France, when the French President Jacques Chirac
has said he supports a law that would ban pupils wearing religious
headwear in state schools. This law would affect headscarves worn by
Muslim girls, as well as skull-caps worn by Jewish boys. The law would
also cover religious symbols like large Christian crosses. But religious
leaders say the ban would be unfair because it would be taking away the
freedoms to practice religious traditions.The other in Switzerland, the most recent, November last year, when the people of Switzerland voted to ban the construction of minarets on mosques from which imams call the faithful to prayer. It was a decision that drew strong reactions from political and religious leaders across Europe. In a referendum, 57.5 per cent of Swiss voters, and 22 out of 26 cantons (provinces) supported the ban on the Islamic towers, despite official opposition from the Swiss government. Leaders of the Swiss People's Party, which put forth the measure, called the construction of minarets a sign of "Islamisation."
Muslim groups were joined by the Vatican in condemning
the vote as a sign of religious intolerance, while a number of nationalist
parties throughout Europe embraced it as a stance against the erosion of
Western values. Though the government has said it will enforce the ban,
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf suggested it could be
overturned by the European Court of Human Rights, over which Switzerland
currently presides, should it be determined as running afoul of the
European Convention on Human Rights.Reflecting on this, the President questioned, “If you can’t allow architecture to survive and blossom in your country, how will you allow people to practice their religion?” He added that clear for all to see is the growing pattern of intolerance in those countries that often lecture on tolerance. Accordingly, Jagdeo observed that unless “we” demonstrate by example and show that Guyana has the model, where people can live and respect each other’s faith, then we would be failing in our task.
The Head of State opined that an understanding and general education will expand into respect for diversity. Also present at the celebration of the Holy Prophet Mohamed’s life and works were Sheik Abrahim Habach Imam, a Syrian native who works in Florida and Moulana Siddiq Ahmad Nasir from Georgetown. President Jagdeo commended them for their wealth of knowledge. “His (Moulana Siddiq Ahmad Nasir's) lecture I am sure will lead us all to greater understanding of the Holy Quran, the life and the works of the Holy Prophet,” President Jagdeo said