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Dubai Financial Crisis.

2009-11-28T14:06:00.000Z

Dubai World, the country's largest conglomerate, wants to suspend payment on its 60 Billion dollar debts until May 2010 at the earliest. RT's financial contributor Max Keiser says the World is entering the Phase Two of the global economic crisis, and suggests it is likely that the US Dollar will be replaced as the Global Reserve Currency.

Investors put off by Malaysia’s high-cost, low-speed broadband

2009-11-26T06:35:00.000Z

Business Times Singapore) - Consumers in Malaysia pay some of the highest prices for broadband in the region, one major reason being the monopoly which state-owned Telekom Malaysia (TM) holds on submarine cable landing rights, a senior executive at a multinational company has asserted.

There is no shortage of gateway service providers seeking landing rights because of the pent-up demand for quality bandwidth, but the government must deregulate or liberalise gateways in order to improve competitiveness by providing larger broadband at lower costs, said Ryaz Patel, Intel Electronics country manager for Malaysia and Brunei.

Patel’s comments that the lacklustre quality and high cost of broadband is hurting the country’s knowledge aspirations come on the heels of warnings by Australian businesses that slow Internet speeds were putting them off investing in Malaysia.

Malaysia Australia Business Council vice-chairman Michael Halpin said large technical documents from Australia had difficulty getting sent over because of the poor quality broadband.

“Australian and American investors see this as a nuisance and an impediment to them to do business successfully here,” he said.

In a press briefing on Intel’s roadmap for 2010, Patel observed Malaysian consumers pay significantly more for broadband, but even to buy broadband wholesale as a service provider was ‘“frighteningly expensive” compared to its neighbours.

His comparison of regional costs showed Malaysian broadband offers some of the lowest speeds in the region, but at the highest costs.

For the fastest bandwidth of 100 megabit per second, Singapore users pay nearly US$85 (RM286.56) or US$10.20 mbps.

For 4mbps in Malaysia, consumers pay US$76 or US$35 mbps. Vietnam’s 3mbps bandwidth — although a tad slower — costs users US$50.55, or US$16.85 mbps.

In the region, broadband costs in Indonesia and India also tend to be higher.

TM is likely to resist liberalisation as it has invested huge sums in infrastructure and now owns or leases capacity on more than 10 submarine cable networks which span more than 60,000 fibre-route miles.

But Patel said if Malaysia aspires to be a knowledge-based society, it needs to get more computers as well as quality and affordable broadband into more homes.

“(And) the single biggest link has to do with landing rights.”

Malaysia is aiming for 50 per cent household broadband penetration next year from about 30 per cent now. Broadband users can access 10MB speeds next year when TM rolls out high-speed broadband in selected suburbs in the Klang Valley in the first phase of its nationwide rollout.

Last month, Thailand broke a state-owned enterprise hold on submarine cable landing rights in the country by granting a licence to the first private operator, True Internet Gateway Co Ltd, which pointed out it would be able to source submarine bandwidth capacity from a wide range of providers directly, resulting in greater bandwidth being available at more competitive prices.

China banks' rush for billions could trip markets

2009-11-25T12:33:00.001Z

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) -

Chinese banks, under government pressure to shore up their finances, are set to unleash a wave of billions of dollars in capital raising that could strain equity markets but also spur innovation in debt instruments.

The banks could go to the market with a slew of new stock and bond offers as they look to raise as much as 300 billion yuan ($44 billion) over the next few years, according to some estimates.

The move would follow a surge in bank lending in the first half of this year, encouraged by the central government under its broader 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus plan. But now the regulator, worried about a lending bubble, is cautioning banks to ensure their capital is adequate.

Three of the country's top four listed banks, Bank of China Ltd , China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications have already started work on fundraising proposals, a source told Reuters on Monday.

"There's no doubt there will be a massive wave of fund raising from Chinese banks, but the key question is when, where and how," said Fan Kunxiang, analyst at Haitong Securities Co. "If banks all rush to sell shares within a short period, it would unavoidably be a blow to the stock market."

The Chinese lenders aren't the only ones in Asia looking to raise capital. Japan's banks, for instance, could be raising tens of billions of dollars to meet stricter capital rules. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , Japan's top bank, said last week it would raise $11 billion to meet coming regulations.

In the latest wake-up call to lenders, China's top banking regulator Liu Mingkang warned in an article published on Tuesday that banks need to protect themselves from credit risk caused by changes in the country's industrial structure.

Analysts said small- and medium-sized lenders could be the first to feel the pinch, lacking the resources of larger lenders.

In a potential sign of things to come, mid-sized Industrial Bank said on Monday it would raise up to $2.64 billion in a rights issue to plug a capital shortfall.

Earlier this year, rivals Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Minsheng Banking Corp announced plans to raise a total of about 53 billion yuan via share sales.

'ROOM FOR INNOVATION'

Chinese banks must keep their capital adequacy ratio -- a key measure of their ability to absorb losses -- above 8 percent by law. But regulators late last year urged small- and mid-sized listed lenders to aim for 10 percent or higher.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has used various measures to tighten those rules this year and repeatedly warned against reckless lending.

Bank of China's capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.6 percent as of September 30, compared with 12.6 percent for ICBC , China's largest lender, and 12.1 percent for China Construction Bank. All were well above the 8 percent regulatory minimum.

Concerns about new capital raising have weighed on banking stocks since mid-year when the regulator first started signaling its caution.

Shanghai-listed shares of ICBC are up a scant 1.3 percent since mid-year, while Bank of China is up 2.3 percent and China Construction Bank is up 4.2 percent. All those are well behind a 13.2 percent rise for the broader market.

The need for more capital could continue to weigh, and even spread if the broader market cannot absorb the huge sums of new funds required.

"The market has largely priced in expectations of fund-raisings by banks," said Wu Yonggang, analyst at Guotai Junan Securities. "But if regulators suddenly raise ratio requirements ... all banks will be short of capital, and that would scare investors in the stock market."

The looming pressure is already forcing market players to look at other ways of raising capital.

Some of those, including use of debt markets, could provide an opportunity for China to introduce innovative financial instruments, such as bonds with deferrable interest payments, said Liao Qiang, an analyst at Standard & Poor's.

"Compared with overseas markets, China has very limited types of instruments in the debt market that banks can use to replenish capital," Liao said. "There's room for innovation."

Other analysts pointed out the new capital raising could come over a longer period, which would lighten the load on markets.

None of China's dual-listed banks need new equity now, but there may be such a need over the next two to three years, Citigroup said in a November 19 report. Bank of China also said on Tuesday it is studying various ways to raise capital but has no plans for now to do so.

"I think big banks such as Bank of China and China Construction Bank are not in a hurry to raise capital, but it's natural for them to start thinking about it," said Guotai's Wu.

(US$1=6.832 Yuan)

Xenophobia against immigrant workers

2009-11-22T10:57:00.000Z

Zimbabwean migrants in search of employment in South Africa are facing persecution from local people who are blaming them for taking their jobs.The persecution, which forced about 2,000 migrants to seek refuge in a rugby stadium, began on Tuesday when the migrants' shacks in a farming community in De Doorns were levelled.Local residents say they are tired of competing with Zimbabweans for space and jobs.

A visit to the unofficial capital of Southern Italy - Naples

2009-11-20T01:10:00.001Z

Amanda and the 48 team visit the unofficial capital of Southern Italy - Naples

Venice Losing Residents but Not Dead Yet

2009-11-18T04:55:00.000Z

The historic city of Venice, Italy, with its famous waterways and beautiful buildings is losing official residents at a rapid rate causing some people to say it is now a "living museum" and to hold a mock funeral over the weekend. But city officials say millions of tourists still flock to the famous city and there are still thousands of "unofficial" residents and there are efforts underway to bring people back. Sabina Castelfranco reports for VOA from Venice.

Zimbabwe and the 2010 world cup.

2009-11-18T00:27:00.000Z

Africa is gearing up for the football, or soccer, World Cup due to be held in seven months. Host South Africa is spending billions of dollars improving sports, transportation and tourism facilities. But neighboring countries are also hoping to cash in on the two billion dollars sports fans are expected to spend during the month-long extravaganza. VOA's Scott Bobb visited Zimbabwe's tourism trade fair (in October) and has this report from Harare.

Economics 101 - Boom and Burst Cycle.

2009-11-09T01:36:00.003Z

Chris Harman - talk abot the burst & boom is an inherent logic in a capitalist economic system. Every 10 years more or less this cycle takes place.He is a socialist. He spoke at Kings College London about the recent economic failrue in America, by corporations claimed to be too big too fail.

Malaysia firefly glow fading - 20 Sept 09

2009-09-21T07:49:00.001+01:00

Hyperinflation - Germany 1923.

2009-07-01T02:19:00.002+01:00

09 June 2008 - A teaching resource to support an explantion of the economic process of inflation; how the Weimar Government reacted and how it contributed to the Year of Crisis 1923.

Malaysia’s economy shrank a worse-than-expected 6.2% in the first quarter

2009-05-29T17:09:00.000+01:00

From The Wall Street Journal | By Elffie Chew - 29 May 2009

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s economy shrank a worse-than-expected 6.2% in the first quarter from a year earlier because of a steep fall in exports and manufacturing, data released Wednesday showed.

Central bank Gov. Zeti Akhtar Aziz said economic conditions remain tough, and the economy is likely to register a similar performance in the current quarter.

The first-quarter contraction is the country’s first in nearly eight years and the worst since the fourth quarter of 1998 when GDP fell 11.2% from the previous year. It was more severe than the median 4% forecast by 18 economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires, and reverses the 0.1% growth eked out in the fourth quarter of 2008.

“We are now going into the third month of the second quarter; from what we have seen, export demand continues to be weak and economic conditions are still challenging despite early signs of an improvement,” Ms. Zeti said. Second-quarter gross domestic product “will be similar to the first quarter.”

Economic conditions, however, are expected to improve in the second half of 2009, supported by the government’s fiscal-stimulus measures and Bank Negara Malaysia’s efforts to increase financing for the private sector, Ms. Zeti said.

“Though Malaysia’s first-quarter GDP was worse than expected, it is not out of line with patterns in the region,” said David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics in Singapore.

For 2009, the current GDP forecast is a range of between a 1% contraction and a 1% expansion, but Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said Tuesday that it “will definitely be below minus 1%.”

Prime Minister Najib Razak will announce a revision to the full-year GDP forecast on Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires predict a median contraction of 1.6% for 2009.

IMF undecided over global recovery strategy

2009-04-26T19:20:00.000+01:00

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:03:07 GMT | PressTV

The International Monetary Fund has failed to provide the blueprint for pushing global finance and governance toward healthy conditions.

There appears to be a deepening disagreement among finance ministers attending the IMF spring meeting on Sunday over how and when to abandon recession-busting policies by the world financial body.

The IMF's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Ministers were also unable to finalize a USD 500b boost to the IMF's resources put forward earlier this month by the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in London. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's managing director, said there were already differences among members over 'an exit strategy'. Strauss-Kahn said there was consensus about the need to borrow more during the crisis: "Some of us, including the IMF, are arguing that the stimulus is necessary, but at the same time, you need to have a view about what is going to happen in three years' or four years' time, and prepare the exit strategy from the stimulus.

" Some blame the disagreement among finance ministers on the restructuring plan the United States has proposed for the IMF. The Europeans are especially resistant to such radical changes. Rejecting the call by the US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner to cut the number of IMF seats from 24 to 20, by 2012, Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders endorsed the current number of seats. "I think that for the moment the representation around the table is attractive.

The European countries are having to finance the Fund very strongly so we have to take into account the size of each country's participation in the Fund," Reynders noted. The IMF warned this week that the world economy would contract this year for the first time since the World War II.

China’s stimulus package is hitting home

2009-04-14T07:00:00.000+01:00

BEIJING, April 14 – Wall Street Journal

China’s $585 billion government stimulus programme appears to be kicking in, new data suggest, raising the chances that the world’s third-largest economy may be turning a corner.

Chinese demand for raw materials, hard hit in past months, is showing signs of recovery. Crude-oil imports hit a one-year high in March, the government reported Friday. Steel mills in March imported record quantities of their key raw material, iron ore, in anticipation of a pickup in demand in coming months.

Banks have extended a stunning 4.58 trillion yuan, or about $670 billion, of new loans in the first three months of the year, according to data published Saturday – nearly as much as the 4.9 trillion yuan issued in all of 2008. And the stock market, which had been battered, is on the rise, with the Shanghai composite stock index gaining 2.8 per cent on Monday, pushing it to a 38 per cent increase for the year to date.

The signs augur well for the global economy. China has been one of the world’s most voracious consumers of raw materials. While its aggressive spending plan reflects the power of its state-dominated economy, there are signs that its thrifty consumers are starting to spend more.

Car sales hit a monthly record in March, according to figures issued Thursday, marking the third consecutive monthly rise. Housing sales in major cities have also picked up, with lower prices attracting buyers.

The optimistic outlook has spread to businesses. The National Bureau of Statistics said last week that its survey of managers’ confidence rose in the first quarter after plunging in the final quarter of 2008.

Overall, it appears that the state’s push has helped keep China from slipping into a downward spiral in which poor economic conditions and declining confidence feed off each other. The size of China’s stimulus, announced in November, gets some credit for that: Along with the US plan, it is one of the largest in the world. But the vestiges of China’s command economy have also proved useful.

“China is unusual in that it has this incredible capacity to mobilise all its institutions,” said Vikram Nehru, the World Bank’s chief economist for Asia. The government’s ability to direct bank lending and investment spending has meant its stimulus efforts have worked faster than many initially expected.

“There is now a growing degree of confidence that the stimulus package is having an impact,” he added.

Beijing’s programme still has considerable work to do, with new data also charting continued contraction in the country’s export sector. The global slump in demand has battered exporters, leading to millions of lost jobs.

Exports fell 17.1 per cent in March from a year earlier, after a 25.7 per cent decline in February, official data showed Friday, a reflection of China’s vulnerability to weak economies in the US and other export markets. That left a trade surplus of $18.56 billion for the month, far higher than February’s figure but less than half the levels recorded late last year.

That is also being reflected in slower accumulation of foreign exchange reserves. New data from the central bank, released Saturday, showed the dollar value of reserves fell in January and February before picking up in March. They ended the quarter at $1.9537 trillion, compared with $1.946 trillion at the end of December.

Analysts say swings in the currency market also affected the headline figure for the reserves, which are held in multiple currencies but reported in US dollars.

But the government is pushing cash through the economy, and the state investment programme is driving new infrastructure projects.

Funds budgeted for investments that started in the first two months of 2009 surged 88 per cent from a year earlier.

While improvement in China alone isn’t enough to reverse the global economic decline, it is still welcome news, given that China is one of the few major nations that is expanding.

Like China, the US government also has launched a significant fiscal stimulus, of $787 billion, the impact of which is only now beginning to show up in the economy as tax cuts swell worker paychecks.

US consumers – their retirement accounts and home values depressed – are showing a reluctance to spend as readily as they usually do. Car sales in the US, in contrast to the records being set in China, are extremely low. Spending on infrastructure is taking awhile to kick in, despite talk of “shovel-ready projects.”

Weaknesses in US banks and, even more, the near-paralysis of the important market for securitised credit, remain major impediments to renewed economic growth.

China needs support from demand in the rest of the world to sustain a recovery. Without that, it is still unclear whether China’s economic engine, having been jump-started by government investment, can keep running in a higher gear.

Export manufacturing remains the primary employer of China’s 140 million rural migrant workers. About 20 million of them are unemployed, and if the export crunch continues for several more months, that could exhaust their meagre savings.

Key to the effectiveness of China’s stimulus plan so far has been a race by local governments to spend the money.

After November’s stimulus programme gave them the go-ahead, authorities in the northern city of Harbin started expanding their port in March. The provincial government is trying to launch even more ambitious port works by October.

“Thanks to the stimulus plan, our proposed projects get a lot of support from the central government,” one official in Harbin said.

In central China, state-owned Henan Coal & Chemical Industry Group started work on 15 expansion projects on April 1, declaring its planned spending of 22.4 billion yuan a response to the government’s call to maintain 8 per cent growth this year.

That kind of reaction is partly why many analysts expect first-quarter economic data – to be released this week – to show activity picking up relative to the fourth quarter of 2008, even if headline growth rates remain very low by Chinese standards. The World Bank expects China’s economy to expand 6.5 per cent this year.

“I think it’s fair to say the economy has bottomed. But bottoming is not recovery,” said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Among the reasons for economists’ caution before calling a recovery is that China has had at least one false dawn in recent months. In early anticipation of stimulus-related orders, domestic steelmakers started ramping up production in December and January, helping to push up prices and freight rates.

But the anticipated demand didn’t materialise, and steel prices have been mostly falling since February.

The stimulus gets credit, at least, for stemming panic. Peter Li, chief financial officer of HLS Systems International Inc., a Beijing-based maker of industrial automation products, says he is getting orders from railroad projects as part of the stimulus plan.

“People are not in as much of a rush to sell inventory. They don’t expect prices to go down,” Li said. “The biggest impact of the stimulus plan so far is really on the psychological level.”

Credit Suisse starts shutting US offshore accounts

2009-04-12T16:17:00.000+01:00

Reuters pic

ZURICH, April 12 — Reuters

Swiss bank Credit Suisse has started closing down the offshore accounts of US clients who have not declared the money to the US authorities, a newspaper reported today.

The Sonntagszeitung newspaper said the bank had about 2,500-5,000 US clients with undeclared offshore accounts worth about 3 billion Swiss francs (RM27.9 billion), without citing its sources.

The paper said Credit Suisse had started parting company with its US offshore clients, giving them the option of moving their accounts to its CS Private Advisors subsidiary, which would report the accounts to the US tax authorities, or writing them a check.

It quoted an unnamed Credit Suisse manager as saying the bank was only applying the new “zero tolerance” policy in individual cases for now but was considering a more general withdrawal from the US offshore business.

Credit Suisse was not immediately available for comment on the article. Sonntagszeitung quoted a spokesman as declining to confirm the report, but noting the tougher approach of foreign authorities on offshore wealth management in recent times.

“CS sticks to all valid rules and regulations in various countries,” a spokesman told the newspaper.

The move comes after rival UBS said last year it would stop offering offshore services to US citizens after US authorities alleged that the Swiss bank has helped rich Americans hide money away from the taxman in Swiss accounts.

A newspaper reported earlier this year that Credit Suisse was writing to its US clients holding Swiss accounts asking them to sign a form that would reveal them to US tax authorities.

Indonesia 2008- Bali Island, Gili and Java Island

2009-04-09T02:59:00.001+01:00

April 05, 2009 - Trip in Indonesia .
-Bali Island
-Gili Island
-Lombok Island
-Java Island in the city Yogyakarta also name Jogjakarta

ING: Ringgit to decline 4.5% after by-elections

2009-04-09T02:06:00.001+01:00

April 08, 2009 - The Ringgit may weaken by as much as 4.5 percent after Pakatan Rakyat won two out of three by-elections yesterday night, according the ING Group.

Too big to fail? Nationalize

2009-04-05T23:00:00.000+01:00

April 05, 2009 - Leo Panitch: Can G20 avert crisis Pt2

35,000 UK firms to go bankrupt in 2009

2009-04-05T22:17:00.001+01:00

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 05:28:54 GMT | PressTV

At least 35,000 firms and 125,000 people are expected to go bankrupt in Britain this year, an insolvency expert group has predicted.

Begbies Traynor, a UK-based Corporate Rescue, Restructuring and Personal Insolvency company, has forecast that 35,000 firms -- 95 firms a day -- will go bankrupt this year, the Sunday Times reported.

Nick Hood at Begbies said the number could rise to 40,000 by the end of the year.

"The rate is accelerating - on a bad day we could see 20 businesses going under a day," he told the paper.

The figure would be 18 percent higher than the previous peak during the 1991 recession in Britain.

"It feels much worse than the 1990s - there are much fewer options to rescue businesses today. In the past you could go to another bank or small-business owners could re-mortgage and use equity from their homes - today that is next to impossible," Hood added.

British Finance Minister Alistair Darling told the Sunday Times that the UK was far deeper in recession than the government expected and that the country was unlikely to return to economic growth until the end of the year.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in January that British gross domestic product (GDP) will contract 2.8 percent in 2009.

Begbies also predicted that as many as 125,000 people will also go bankrupt in 2009 -- equivalent to 342 people a day. The figure amounts to the highest number of personal bankruptcies since 2006, when 107,000 people went bankrupt.

Consultancy firm Hay Group also predicted on Sunday that more than 600,000 people will lose their jobs in Britain this year.

Based on a survey of 140 of the top 1,000 firms, the group said nine in ten firms plan operational cuts in 2009-10 and that a fifth of the companies plan a big restructuring of their businesses in response to the recession.

Unemployment in the UK rose to above two million in the three months ending January for the first time since 1997 as a result of the global financial crisis taking its toll on the country's economy.

UK ecomically worst in Europe

2009-04-05T20:37:00.002+01:00

The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government:
Daniel Hannan MEP: European Parliament speech of 26/03/09
Daniel Hannan is a Conservative MEP for the South East of England and author of The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain.

Can G20 avert the crisis?

2009-04-05T10:58:00.002+01:00

April 03, 2009 - Leo Panitch: G20 trying to patch up the 'old world order'

The financial crisis and the real economy

2009-04-05T10:19:00.003+01:00

October 07, 2008 - Leo Panitch: The death of the US trade union and Great Society have left the real economy vulnerable

Obama should save the banks, not the bankers Pt.4

2009-04-05T02:35:00.001+01:00

April 04, 2009 - Tom Ferguson: Obama's plan "recipe for disaster, if the US reflates and the rest of the world doesn't

G20 leaving 'sheep' in 'wolf' care, says Morales

2009-04-05T01:40:00.000+01:00

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:40:04 GMT | PressTV

Bolivian President Evo Morales

Bolivian President Evo Morales has slammed the G20 summit's decision to inject USD 750 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Morales said that countries at the root of the crisis cannot solve the problem, or in his words: "the wolf cannot keep the flock," a reference to the injection of more than 1,000 billion dollars through the IMF and the World Bank to fight the global crisis.

"It's like giving money to the wolves, or to entrust the care of the flock: the wolf is not going to keep the sheep, it will devour them," Morales told the foreign press in La Paz, commenting on the decisions G20 in London to tackle the crisis.

"It is not possible that the countries of capitalism, which has caused the financial crisis, are now the same from where comes the solution," said the Socialist leader, adding that few countries are at the origin of this financial crisis, but '180 (Countries) must cope'.

"As long as we do not touch the structural points of capitalism, it will be difficult to resolve the financial crisis," said Morales about the G20. "If we want to solve economic problems, we must first end the free market, then the speculative capitalism."

Morales remarks echoed those of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who said earlier in the day that the G20 nations' plan to spend more than a trillion dollars would strengthen "one of the great guilty ones behind the crisis: the International Monetary Fund."

"It's impossible that capitalism can regulate the monster that is the world financial system... Capitalism needs to go down. It has to end," Chavez said during a visit to Tehran on Friday.

Bolivia is experiencing the beginning of economic deceleration with 5 percent growth at best in 2009, against 6.5 percent in 2008.

US jobless rate jumps to 25-year high

2009-04-03T23:36:00.001+01:00

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:12:31 GMT

Over 5.1 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of recession in 2008

Unemployment rate in the US has reached its highest level in 25 years, after 663,000 jobs were lost in March, official figures show.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the jobless rate spiked to 8.5 percent in March from February's figure of 8.1%.

The figure, however, is less than the 741,000 jobs lost in January -- which now stands as the biggest monthly drop in 59 years.

This means that 5.1 million jobs have now been lost since the beginning of the financial downturn in 2008, over 2 million of them in the past three months alone.

The unemployment rate roughly lined up with economists' forecasts of a loss of 658,000 jobs in March, according to a survey by Briefing.com.

The job losses were felt throughout all areas of the economy including the manufacturing and construction sectors, business and professional services industries as well as the government.

Employers have also cut back the number of working hours, as the average hourly work week fell to 33.2 hours, lowest in record since 1964.

The number of people forced to work part-time, but who would prefer to get a full-time job, also climbed 423,000 to nine million.

The sharp and continuing increase in unemployment suggests that job losses are likely to keep increasing for the rest of this year and into 2010.

G20 split on financial downturn

2009-04-03T16:05:00.001+01:00

April 03, 2009 - Leaders of the 20 world's most powerful countries meet in London to find a way out of the current global financial crisis and help prevent future crises. Will the G20 reach a unified stand on how to kickstart the ailing global economy?

Istanbul

2009-04-03T16:00:00.000+01:00

November 24, 2007 - Travel to the only city in the world that straddles two continents.

G20 leaders arrive in London ahead of summit

2009-03-31T20:00:00.003+01:00

March 31,2009 - World leaders have begun arriving in London ahead of this week's G20 summit, where they will discuss ways of dealing with the global financial crisis.

But the summit is attracting much anger, with large protests expected.

Barbara Serra reports from London.

G20 protesters' anger amid global recession

2009-03-31T19:55:00.002+01:00

March 28, 2009 - While politicians are set to discuss their solutions to the global recession at the G20 summit, hundreds of small groups have held demonstrations to have their say.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of London in a peaceful march calling for changes to be made to the global financial system.

But events in Rome and Berlin were marred by some violence. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports.

The Subprime Crisis of Credit Visualized - Part 2

2009-03-30T18:32:00.002+01:00

The Short and Simple Story of how the subprime Credit Crisis exploded.

to recap Subprime Credit Crisis part 1

Geithner's Oligarchs

2009-03-30T16:43:00.001+01:00

March 30, 2009 - William Engdahl : Obama must confront the oligarchical power of Wall Street to solve crisis

The People's Republic of Wall Street

2009-03-29T16:20:00.000+01:00

Pepe Escobar: What's behind the "no banker left behind" bailout

Chomsky on Geithner

2009-03-28T21:31:00.001Z

G20 protesters' anger amid global recession

2009-03-28T20:19:00.001Z

Obama should save the banks, not the bankers

2009-03-25T20:16:00.002Z

Tom Ferguson: Stimulus package is dangerously small; plan for toxic assets shovels money to bankers

U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

2009-03-25T19:18:00.002Z

By Binyamin Appelbaum and David ChoThe | Washington Post Staff Writers | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document. The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

The administration plans to send legislation to Capitol Hill this week. Sources cautioned that the details, including the Treasury's role, are still in flux.

China economy ‘has bottomed’, says central bank adviser

2009-03-25T09:00:00.000Z

HONG KONG, March 25 – reported by malaysianinsider – source : Reuters

China’s economy has touched bottom but further interest rate cuts remain an option, a Chinese central bank adviser said on Wednesday.

Fan Gang, who sits on the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy advisory committee, said a 25 per cent rise in car sales and accelerating investment in China indicated the economy was showing signs of improvement.

“Before (the economy) bottoms out, it has to bottom. I believe it has bottomed, with the stimulus package and signs of recovery in some industries,” Fan said in an interview during the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong.

Steel and energy consumption were declining at a slower rate and may have turned positive in March, while the transportation sector was warming up, he said.

However, high inventories and overcapacity in some industries remained the biggest short-term challenges for the economy, he said.

Further interest rate cuts remained an option.

“I don’t think anybody would rule it out. But it depends on China’s liquidity, how China’s recovery takes place and how the stimulus package works out,” he said.

As exports have collapsed in the face of sharply declining global demand in recent months, high inventories and overcapacity in some industries posed the biggest short-term challenges for the Chinese economy, Fan said.

The Chinese government has targeted 8 per cent growth this year, its lowest growth since 1999, but the World Bank forecasts only a 6.5 per cent expansion.

Fan said China’s sharp economic slowdown meant deflation was an issue in the short term, but he warned that inflopment of a diversified and competitive monetary system would be useful because competition between currencies can create more discipline.”

Subprime Credit Crisis

2009-03-25T07:12:00.003Z

The Short and Simple Story of how the Credit Crisis started.

Najib: RM250b liquidity to help entrepreneurs

2009-03-23T14:25:00.000Z

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 - Reported by Malaysianinsider - source : Bernama

The government has a huge liquidity of RM250 billion in its coffers to help local entrepreneurs cope with the current global economic crisis, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the government would also provide incentives to encourage banks to issue loans to businessmen in need of financial aid such as providing repayment guarantees to banks to reduce the liability risk.

"One of the important elements in facing the global economic and financial crisis is to ensure the country's financial system is able to disburse loans to entrepreneurs who are in need of financial aid," said Najib, who is also Finance Minister, when opening the 2009 MIDF (Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd) Bumiputera Entrepreneurs' Symposium.

"So long the banking sector does not give out loans, until then efforts to stimulate the world economy will not succeed," he said. Among the incentives provided are credit guarantee scheme for small-time businessmen by the Credit Guarantee Corporation under the supervision of Bank Negara which will provide 80 per cent guarantees for loans approved under the scheme.

Zambia bans foreign currency use

2009-03-22T19:13:00.000Z

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:13:24 GMT | PressTV

Zambia has banned the US dollar in domestic transaction, along with other foreign currencies to ensure the kwacha gains economic value.

In the last six months, Zambia's kwacha has plunged 30 percent against the US dollar, forcing a decline in export earnings and pushing foreign investment to almost zero.

The bank of Zambia has banned non-residents from borrowing kwacha in order to boost currency losses.

Zambian Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Felix Mutati reiterated that there would be heavy penalties on business that uses foreign currencies especially the US dollar.

According to Mutati, introducing statutory instruments is aimed at ensuring business firms trade in Kwacha and that "the effects of dollarisation" are curbed.

Zambia's main industry comes from its copper resources which are the largest in Africa. However, the recent fall in world copper prices has taken a heavy toll on the Zambian economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says because of its dependence on copper, Zambia is "highly vulnerable to the adverse effects associated with the global recession."

Zambia now hopes to save its drowning economy with measures, such as using a $200-million loan from the IMF to boost its foreign currency reserves -- which have since August 2008 gone down by 40 percent -- and enforcing a one-year foreign currency ban.

California's unemployment level climbs to 10.5% in February

2009-03-21T08:21:00.000Z

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:21:04
Ross Frasier, Press TV, Los Angeles

Financial crisis produces some winners

2009-03-20T22:53:00.000Z

20 March, 2009

Prior to G20 summit, EU trying to jumpstart economy

2009-03-20T06:01:00.000Z

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:34:54
Anna Moya, Press TV, Brussels

International conference on Islamic banking starts in Moscow

2009-03-20T04:12:00.000Z

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:27:19
Svetlana Korkina, Press TV, Moscow

Obama outlines plan to help small businesses

2009-03-19T07:35:00.000Z

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:59:42
Colin Campbell, Press TV, Washington

World big banks to meet in London

2009-03-07T17:27:00.000Z

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 07:27:12 GMT | PressTV

Chief executives from leading banks in Europe, Japan and the US will discuss the financial crisis in an upcoming meeting in London.

The British government will host the talks on March 24, ahead of an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and emerging economies, Japan's Nikkei economic daily reported on Saturday.

Chief executives of the US-based JPMorgan Chase and Co. and the British bank HSBC have been invited to the meeting, the report adds.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group President Nobuo Kuroyanagi from Japan is also expected to attend the meeting.

The home mortgage meltdown in the American housing sector has resulted in big losses and massive write-downs among financial institutions in both the US and Europe.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in late February that the US banking sector lost a combined $26.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

JPMorgan Chase has announced that it expects 12,000 job cuts as part of its takeover of the failed Washington Mutual retail bank.

Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, has also been hit by losses in the US sub-prime mortgage market. In North America, it has reported a loss of $15.5 billion.

HSBC announced in March that it was seeking to raise 12.5 billion pounds ($17.7 billion) from shareholders through a rights issue in Britain.

Ecotourism in Malaysia.

2009-03-01T12:23:00.000Z

Malaysia in one of 12 mega biodiversity countries in the world.

Courtesy of Bernama TV

Gaza war grips Israeli economy

2009-01-27T03:06:00.000Z

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:14:49 GMT | PressTV

Israel's economy will fall this year for the first time since 2002 because of the gloomy global economy and the effect of the Gaza offensive.

In its latest report Israel's central bank said Tel Aviv's budget deficit would stand equal to about 4 percent of the gross domestic product. The bank says the economy is expected to fall by 0.2 percent in 2009.

The report noted that the deficit is a part of the cost of Israel's 23-day offensive in Gaza, which killed 1330 Palestinians and injured 5,450 others.

The war, according to the bank, will widen the budget deficit to 4.1 percent of the GDP from 2.1 percent in 2008 and will also discourage tourism.

The bank revised its estimate from 1.5 percent growth for 2009, saying the economy will plunge this year for the first time since 2002.

"We are producing much less than we predicted and much less than in previous years," said Yosef Saadon, a spokesman for the Bank of Israel.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 Index shrank by 4.4 percent to 637.23 last week.

The bank is preparing to cut the key interest rate from a record-low 1.75 percent to help the ailing economy.

After the start of the war, economists warned that the Israeli economy would be threatened if the invasion of the Gaza Strip was prolonged or the scope widened.

The estimated daily cost of the military operations stood at tens of millions of shekels (dollars).

According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Israeli economists acknowledged that the costs of the attacks on Gaza would skyrocket if Tel Aviv called up large reserve forces or launched a ground attack.

The Israeli Defense Ministry declined comment.

France offers Islamic finance degree

2009-01-26T06:00:00.000Z

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:26:20 GMT | PressTV

The financial success in the Persian Gulf region has turned Islamic banking into a fast-growing section in Europe.

A French business school has offered an Islamic finance degree for European Muslims who seek to pursue a career in Islamic banking.

Strasbourg University's School of Management has accepted 36 students from France, Algeria, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Tunisia into the 11-month postgraduate masters-level course.

Islamic bankers avoid 'Riba' -- usually translated as 'usury' -- and promote investments under the precepts of Sharia law, sharing the risk and profit among partners in a way that does not resemble gambling.

"It's another way of investing, another way of acquiring property. We prefer to avoid risky ventures," explained Strasbourg school researcher Ibrahim Zeyyad Cekici.

The financial success in the Persian Gulf region has turned Islamic banking into a fast-growing section in Europe, dominated so far by London-based institutions.

"Financial institutions and regulatory authorities are faced with more and more demand from new economic actors that have ethical and religious concerns when seeking finance and investment," AFP quoted the school as saying.

Liberty Dollars - what happened to it now?

2009-01-14T14:23:00.000Z

Myself (Von NotHaus) and a few Ron Paul compatriots were interviewed today on our local Fox 7 News affiliate and our NBC affiliate here in Evansville, Indiana. At issue was the seizure of Liberty Dollar property and freeze of assets by FBI and Secret Service agents. In an effort to make the best of a bad situation, we went to first see if we could help in any way, and were at least able to get Ron Paul in the local news for the first time. Thanks to Fox 7 WTVW in Evansville for their fair and sympathetic coverage. Don't know if I can exactly say the same for our NBC affiliate. They obviously had an agenda in their coverage and made several mistakes in their coverage, including saying that the man they interviewed who lost $5000 was suing the Liberty Dollar, which is NOT true! He was actually joining a class action lawsuit to sue the Federal Government. That broadcast can be found among my other videos.

Liberty Dollar office raided :

The future of an Evansville-based company that produces a "private voluntary barter currency" known as the Liberty Dollar is in question after federal agents raided the facility this week, according to an e-mail sent by its founder.

Federal officials reportedly raided the group's headquarters, located in a strip mall at 225 N. Stockwell Road, early Wednesday morning and seized documents and precious metals.

FBI Agent Wendy Osborne, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Indianapolis office, directed all questions on the raid to the Western District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office. A spokeswoman there said she had no information on the investigation.

Bernard von NotHaus, the group's monetary architect and the author of the e-mail, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Von NotHaus developed the Liberty Dollar in 1998 as an "inflation-proof" alternative currency to the U.S. Dollar, which he has claimed has devalued since the Federal Reserve was established in 1913. The silver medallions are produced by a private mint in Idaho on behalf of Evansville-based Liberty Services, which also issues paper notes which the group says are backed by silver reserves.

Liberty Dollar employees were at the office this morning cleaning up after the raid. They referred all questions to von NotHaus.

According to the e-mail, about a dozen agents arrived Wednesday morning and seized gold, silver, platinum and nearly two tons of recently delivered Ron Paul Dollars. They also took all the files, all the computers and froze the group's bank accounts, the e-mail said.

"We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed," von NotHaus wrote in the e-mail, which was sent to Liberty Dollar customers. "We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money."

The e-mail said the gold and silver that backs up the paper and digital currency was confiscated, as were the dies used to mint the Liberty Dollars themselves. As a result, it warns that recent orders placed for Liberty Dollars may not be filled and it encourages supporters to band together for a class action lawsuit.

The e-mail repeatedly defends the Liberty Dollar as legal.

"You did nothing wrong," von NotHaus wrote. "You are legally entitled to your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together and further our goal to return America to a value based currency."

- Gavin Lesnick | courierpress | November 15, 2009

Zoom Malaysia Domestic Tourism Promotion

2008-12-27T07:59:00.000Z

Who is Bernard Madoff?

2008-12-26T04:29:00.000Z

"It's all just one big lie."

- Bernard Madoff to his sons about his $50 billion "Ponzi" scheme

Fraudster Bernard L. Madoff was national treasurer of the American Jewish Congress and Yeshiva University. So where did the $50 billion go?

The latest massive financial scandal is the giant $50 billion pyramid or "Ponzi" scheme run by a New York Zionist Jew, Bernard Lawrence Madoff. How can anyone lose $50 thousand million? Where did the $50 billion disappear to? Israel?

Fraudster Bernard L. Madoff was national treasurer of the American Jewish Congress and Yeshiva University. So where did the $50 billion go?

Madoff told two "senior employees," i.e. his sons, Mark and Andrew, at his apartment the night before his arrest that the Madoff hedge fund and his investment advisory business was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme," according to court documents. His investment fund business was insolvent, and had been for years.

Many of Madoff's victims were fellow Jews looking for consistent returns on their investment, which his "Ponzi" scheme had been able to provide until a large number of investors tried to withdraw some $7 billion worth of funds in November.

As the Wall Street Journal reported:

News of money manager Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud sent shock waves through upscale communities in the New York area and Florida where wealthy individuals had entrusted billions of dollars to Mr. Madoff for decades. Ira Roth, a New Jersey resident, who says his family has about $1 million invested through Mr. Madoff's firm, is "in a state of panic."

"This is going to kill so many people," said a current investor in Mr. Madoff's fund. "It's absolutely awful."

...Many of his clients knew Mr. Madoff personally but had little understanding of his investment strategy, which reported remarkably consistent returns of some 1% per month. They often referred to it as a "black box."

Madoff also allegedly said that the losses from the fraud were at least $50 billion, according to the criminal complaint. He told his sons that he was "finished," and that he had "absolutely nothing" and "it's all just one big lie."

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

So who is Bernard L. Madoff? Apart from running his "investment company" and being a former chairman and director of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASDAQ), Madoff is a very committed Jewish Zionist who has served as the treasurer of two leading Zionist organizations. Like Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers, Sanford Weill of Citibank, and Maurice Greenberg of A.I.G., the major culprits behind the $2 trillion bail-out, Madoff is another New York Zionist Jew who has committed a massive financial fraud and cheated Americans and others out of untold billions of dollars.

From the left: Bernard L. Madoff, Yeshiv
a University Board treasurer and Board chairman, Syms School; Sy Syms, vice chairman, Board of Trustees; and Josh S. Weston.

Madoff is a former national treasurer of the American Jewish Congress (AJC) of New York City, one of the major fund-raising organizations for the state of Israel. Founded by the Hungarian Zionist rabbi Stephen S. Wise, the AJC claims to be "the first Jewish Defense Agency to support the establishment of a Jewish state" and boycott Germany in the 1930s. Wise was a Zionist who had been trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, where Michael Chertoff's rabbi father and grandfather also studied and taught.

Belfer Hall is the main building at Yeshiva University.

Isn't it lovely?

Madoff is also the treasurer of Yeshiva University, a private Jewish university in New York City, where he is chairman of the board of the university's business school, the Sy Syms School of Business, which he has endowed with large donations, from his "Ponzi" scheme no doubt.

Madoff has been a member of Yeshiva University’s Board of Trustees since 1996, and was elected chairman of the board of Syms School of Business in 2000. (Yeshiva University is clearly trying to erase traces of Madoff from their website, but the cached versions remain.)

At Syms, where Madoff is the chairman of the board, "Jewish tradition provides the framework for consideration of ethical issues, an integral part of the student's education." Does the "Jewish tradition" taught at Yeshiva U. support giant "Ponzi" schemes like the one run by their chairman? Is this the kind of business they teach the students at Syms? Cheat the "goyim," i.e. non-Jews, and steal their money?

That is exactly what the Talmud teaches, make no mistake about it. It is the main reason that Jews have been despised and expelled from so many nations throughout history.

Anyone familiar with the teachings of the Talmud, i.e. "Jewish tradition," will know that such anti-Christian schemes are at the heart of such an "education." This is why so many of the financial criminals involved in the current Zionist-produced "credit crisis" are Jewish Zionists who have been indoctrinated in such "Jewish traditions." The Zionist criminals involved in 9-11 and the cover-up of the truth are all tied to the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, which is a similar Zionist institution.

Yeshiva University has a branch in Israel, as does the American Jewish Congress. Madoff has been the main treasurer of both Zionist institutions during the period he ran his giant "Ponzi" scheme. If Madoff has lost billions of dollars, as is alleged, these institutions should certainly be investigated as possible recipients of stolen money. The Zionist criminal structure relies on its tax-exempt "religious" network of schools and charities. These institutions are the frame of the Zionist criminal and racist network and should be investigated and closed if they are found to be teaching racist ideologies. Jewish racism is no different than any other racism and should not be tolerated in a free and democratic society like America.

courtesy : wakeupfromyourslumber

A Malaysian Tourism Campaign

2008-12-05T22:46:00.000Z

Dr. Paul on the Global Financial Summitt

2008-11-18T00:34:00.000Z

The Congressman discusses the G-20 summit taking place in Washington this weekend that will address the global monetary system.

The Wedding "bells" in August 08.

2008-10-21T04:28:00.000+01:00

The brief period, a week, of the August 2008 – had been hectic to many. There were just too many weddings to attend . Why was it so?:

1. Do not tell me that there has a been a TOC, an acronym for Transfer of Culture from the Chinese to the Malays. For the Chinese 8.08 may has means a lot in terms of Fung Sui for Prosperity, ha ha!

2. The Malays beings Muslims may also had been thinking to do the weeding bash or feast before the Ramadhan which was coming on the first of September. Thus it was decided to be on Saturdays of August 08, school holidays.

3.Or you have to wait after the PMR for those with kids taking the exam or the SPM – which may means during the monsoon!

For me, the reason was simple, my daughter, the bride to be then, is teaching at a Matriculation college and so is her fiancé. Both of them had a two week teaching leave / holiday. Their second week break, coincides with the one week school break where all her sisters and brothers at schools could joined, in the celebration. I nodded, without a voice of objection. So we did the holy matrimony celebration during that school holiday, on its first Saturday. The bride and groom to be, could sort out what ever is needed during the first week of their break. In terms of time-line and scheduling, it was just perfect.

There were only two Saturdays involved during that school holiday. Saturday was the choice to facilitate others in the working class to join the ceremony, more so for the friends of the bride and the groom to be included. Saturday is a common non working day in Malaysia – the west coast / Sabah/Sarawak and the East Coast / Northern States of the Peninsular. On the second Saturday, a wedding reception was hosted by the groom.

Well there were too many “walimah” clashes, we did receive many apologises for it was just impossible to travel from end of the state to another let alone across the country – to be in a feast of almost at the same time. Some of my maternal Unties and Uncles, went to Alor Setar, for Che Pah and Ayah Sin – Son in Law wedding reception. Congratulations to Che Pah & Ayah Sin, who married off their daughter Nurul Hanani a week before me to Mohd Habib. But unfortunately the reception at the groom’s place was unable to be attended by my sisters, though living in Alor Setar, they were back in Kelantan for my daughter’s wedding.

I like to express my deepest gratitude to those relatives and friends who had attended the function, especially to Long and Sue Zaq. To others - uncles, unties, other relatives and neighbours and friends – who came after the ceremony, too. Many thanks for their well and best wishes.

At the groom’s reception in Paloh 6 Gemas, I am thankful to those who had taken the trouble to be there, on my side, Abang Pin, Tik & Yee, Afrizal & Sue, Ruslina & Roslan, Syams & Ellis, Zana & Min (Yu Nah) and kak Ze’s side, Abang Mat & Kak Diah, Shahida and Eddie, Danny & Julie, Maizuni and Azlan. – all with their kids.

Kak Ze’s big immediate Family
Sitting : Nurhannan, Hessa Kawthar, Salsabila, Najya Syakira
Squatting : Sumayyah, Mus’ab, Muhammad, Mufaddal, Ruqayyah
Standing : Hidayah, Anuar (menantu), Madihah, Azizan (Kak Ze), Salehah
Last row : Manan (Abe Ma6), Mardhiyyah.

Fed keeps US rates steady at 2%

2008-06-25T23:43:00.000+01:00

The main federal funds rate, at which banks charge each other, has been kept at 2%, marking the first time in 10 months the Fed has failed to reduce interest rates.

The latest decision was approved by a 9-1 vote with Richard Fisher, president of the Fed's regional bank in Dallas, calling for a rise in interest rates now to fight inflation.

It is a situation that the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, recently described as being caught between "fire and ice". . . more news

Who sets global Crude Oil prices?

2008-06-13T20:41:00.000+01:00

Courtesy : Commodity Online

MUMBAI: As Crude Oil is setting the global economy on fire and fears of recession, there is a frequent question people ask. Who sets the oil prices?

The answer generally comes: oil price is set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a permanent intergovernmental oil organization, created in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

But the fact is that it is not OPEC that sets the global oil price. One of the most common misconceptions about OPEC is that the Organization is responsible for setting crude oil prices.

Although OPEC did in fact set crude oil prices from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, this is no longer the case. It is true that OPEC's Member Countries do voluntary restrain their crude oil production in order to stabilize the oil market and avoid harmful and unnecessary price fluctuations, but this is not the same thing as setting prices.

In today's complex global markets, the price of crude oil is set by movements on the three major international petroleum exchanges, all of which have their own Web sites featuring information about oil prices.

They are the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX, http://www.nymex.com), the International Petroleum Exchange in London (IPE, http://www.ipe.uk.com) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX, http://www.simex.com.sg).

OPEC does not control the oil market. OPEC Member Countries produce about 45 per cent of the world's crude oil and 18 per cent of its natural gas.

However, OPEC's oil exports represent about 55 per cent of the crude oil traded internationally. Therefore, OPEC can have a strong influence on the oil market, especially if it decides to reduce or increase its level of production

Food Crisis, collapsing economy and a political suppression, Mugade in Rome with Grace Shopping.

2008-06-10T11:58:00.000+01:00

Malaysia Travel Video

2008-06-06T22:55:00.000+01:00

Travelling to Malaysia? Learn more about this beautiful nature rich country in South East Asia. Malaysia has indeed one of the world's famous tourist attractions. Discover Malaysia, a truly Asia.

Check RM100 notes for fakes

2008-05-23T07:11:00.000+01:00

Friday May 23, 2008

PETALING JAYA: Check your RM100 and RM50 notes, folks! Hold each note up to the light and if you can't see the first King's watermark portrait, it’s a fake.

Fruit vendor Loh Man, 53, discovered three days after a couple bought RM15 worth of fruits at his stall in Old Klang Road that the RM100 note they used to buy the fruits with was counterfeit.

Loh Man realised something was amiss when the colour on the note started to fade and the watermark of the King was missing when the note was held up to the light.

1) The security thread on a real note is embedded in the bill and appears on the reverse side of the note as a silver dotted line. When the note is held up against light, it is seen as a continuous dark line and the repeated text 'BNMRM100' can be read. This feature is missing on the counterfeit note, where the 'security thread' appears as a silver dotted line.

2) No raised Braille feature on the counterfeit note.

3) The holographic design on the LEADA (Long-lasting Economical Anti-copy Device) strip represents the same motif as used in the purple patch as well as the text 'BNMRM100'. The colour of these elements change when the viewing angle is changed. The counterfeit note features just a silver thread with a floral pattern.

4) The portrait of the first King on the right of the real note is raised (Intaglio Print). This effect is missing on the fake note.

5) Watermark portrait of the first King is missing in the counterfeit note. The numeral 100 watermark at the base of the King's watermark is also missing.

He sought the help of MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong who said this was the first RM100 fake note he had come across. He said he had been previously alerted of RM50 fake notes.

“Just hold the notes up to the light and check,” he advised the public at a press conference.

“The watermark portrait can be seen easily. At the base of the watermark, the numeral 100 is clearly visible in a real note but absent in counterfeit ones,” he said, adding that fake notes were also deeper in colour.

To demonstrate how easy it was to pass off the RM100 fake note as the real thing, Chong and a few reporters tested them out on merchants, who thought the notes to be real.

“I am very surprised that I managed to get through five merchants without being detected,” Chong said, adding that one trader took a close look at the note but still did not suspect anything.

Chong said he had seen a number of fake RM50 notes but claimed that Loh's fake RM100 note was more sophisticated.

”I will bring the matter up to Bank Negara,” he said.

Coutesy star

A must for anyone going to Okinawa

2008-05-20T15:03:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 20th May, 09:16 AM JST

For anyone planning a trip to Okinawa, the Okinawa Island Guide 2008-2009 is a must. The 122-page glossy magazine is chock full of information about the island’s tourist and historical spots and also includes many feature stories about Okinawan food, culture, arts & crafts, a guide to healthy aging, plus area maps of Naha, Chatan, Okinawa City and other locations.

Whether it’s tips on driving to diving with whale sharks, this 4th edition of the magazine is perfect for both first-time visitors to Okinawa or veterans. The guide costs 1,500 yen and is available at most bookstores.

See the Guide

Courtesy JapanToday

Iran using euro, yen in oil deals

2008-05-06T02:15:00.000+01:00

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:33:23

Iran has completely switched away from US dollar in its oil trading.

Iran has switched from dollar to euro and yen in oil trading, says international affairs director of the National Iranian Oil Company.

Hojjatollah Ghanimifard in an interview with Fars news agency said since last year Iran's oil transactions have been conducted in euro and yen, and dollar has been completely replaced by these two major currencies.

"Iran has reached agreements with all its crude oil buyers to pay in foreign currencies other than the US dollar," he added.

Ghanimifard also noted that Iran's crude oil transactions in Europe are conducted in euro, while both euro and yen are used for its oil sales in Asia.

MMM/BGH

English Club Vs English Club in Moscow

2008-05-02T07:28:00.000+01:00

Page last updated at 15:45 GMT, Thursday, 1 May 2008 16:45 UK

Moscow confident of final success

By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
BBC News, Moscow

This final is the biggest sporting
event to hit the Russian capital
since 1980

For days, the British media has been filled with doom laden stories about what a disaster the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow on 21 May is going to be. Even the BBC has not been immune.

To believe the reports, thousands of British fans face a series of seemingly insurmountable hurdles to getting to the match.

Visas will not be issued in time, there will be no flights available, Moscow hotels are full, and prices are astronomic.

. . . . read more

Cristiano Ronaldo's goals have been the key to
Manchester United's success this season [AFP]

Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't want Moscow mentioned until Manchester United has successfully defended its English Premier League title.

The Portugal winger doesn't want the Red Devils to lose focus in the league amid the euphoria of reaching European football's showpiece match on May 21 in the Russian capital.

"It's a great feeling to be in my first Champions League final,'' Ronaldo said after Manchester United's 1-0 victory over FC Barcelona. . . . . read more

A Malaysian Advanture

2008-04-22T16:11:00.000+01:00

Guy Wells is one of the lucky winners of the Postcards From Malaysia Contest that ran at the end of 2006 to usher in Visit Malaysia Year 2007. This Australian traveller ventured from the East Coast to the West Coast of the Peninsula, making friends and experiencing new adventures the whole way through.

We set off to Malaysia without doing much research for what we felt was a well-earned break after another set of University exams. With our trust Lonely Planet guides to Malaysia in hand, we arrived in Malaysia at about 10pm, fortunately we had decided to book a hotel just off Petaling Street for a night so that we could get our feet and decide our next destination. The Transit train from the airport was a breeze, and made Melbourne’s International Airport look like a small domestic airport. We got to the Hotel and decided it was time for a snack, fortunately some of the food stalls never seem to close, so having dinner at midnight was no issue.

Before leaving KL we thought it best to have a look around the city, so we spent the day just wandering around, something that would be a breeze in most Australian cities, but we somehow forgot about the humidity, and found ourselves stopping every 20mins for another drinks break. We eventually made it to the Petronas Towers, and the KLCC shopping centre, however we were a little late to get tickets to go up to the Sky-bridge, something that should you get the opportunity would be well worth a look. The area surrounding the Petronas Towers, shows a great deal of planning, with a huge park and play areas right in the middle of the city. Clearly a lot of time and money has gone into the planning and infrastructure of Kuala Lumpur in the last 10 years to make it a first class city.

“To come across the other side of the equator and
meet a group of people with a completely different background yet similar outlook and humour to us, 2 young Australians, was pleasantly surprising.”

Fortunately we had some friends staying in KL at the time of our visit and they were more than happy to take us out for dinner and drinks, there is nothing much better than being in a foreign country and having the locals to show where and what to eat, while at the same time getting a better insight into the culture. We were also given a lesson in the barter economy, quickly learning the benefit of the ‘local price’ as opposed to the ‘tourist price’. Having only been in Malaysia for a day at this stage, we were challenged to eat a number of new foods, some of which were unforgettable and some we would prefer to forget. The Durian or “king of Fruits was one we were told so much about, including one friend saying it was like eating ice cream on a traditional Malaysian toilet (jamban). We just had

Far too quickly our two night/three day experience reached its close. But both Nicky and I knew that this, along with so many of our underwater experiences in Malaysia, had been memorable enough to guarantee our return. Soon!!

From KL it was decided that we should see a little of the east coast of Malaysia, we had been told of an island off the coast of Terengganu called Pulau Redang, which was known for its white beaches, and great snorkelling. Those wishing to go to an island like Redang are recommended to book accommodation, which includes meals and boat transfers. What better way to travel than by bus, nobody can complain about an 8 hour bus ride for 30 MYR. After travelling through parts of Indonesia and China, we were unsure of what quality of transport to expect, but were pleasantly surprised by the air-conditioned comfort of the buses, a tip to future travellers: Ask for super VIP buses (the same price for a little bit of extra comfort).

The Island of Redang must be seen to truly understand the island, or what parts of it we managed to see. Upon arrival on the island, you almost felt relaxed immediately, with resort style accommodation, 3 meals a day, and guided snorkelling trips off the bright white beaches. It was a pleasant surprise to only see a few other Westerners, with most other guests to the island from mainland Malaysia.

“The time spent in Penang was a whole world away from Redang, with some beautiful old world charm and some great night
markets.”

“In the next 3 days there was a lot of beach volleyball and soccer played as well as having a laugh all around.”In the next 3 days there was a lot of beach volleyball and soccer played as well as having a laugh all around. The friendships made in those 3 days were amazing and possibly the best memories of the trip. To come across the other side of the equator and meet a group of people with a completely different background yet similar outlook and humour to us, 2 young Australians, was pleasantly surprising. The time spent with these people was so enjoyable that on our return to KL we visited them again, and were treated to a tour of the city by locals.
From Redang, we had heard lots about Penang, so it was decided that this would be our next stop. The overnight bus took us from Terengganu to Penang, arriving at 6 am. We were told that Chulia Street was the place to go for cheap accommodation, being students, we had to have a look. We decided it was best to grab some food for breakfast and then decide where to stay. Dim Sum was something we hadn’t had yet so we decided its as good a breakfast as any. We sat down, waiting for the sun to come up and feasted on Dim Sum.

The time spent in Penang was a whole world away from Redang, with some beautiful old world charm and some great night markets. All we had heard when we mentioned that we would be going to Penang was that the food there was amazing, so it was decided that we would spend much of the next few days eating. It was amazing to watch the Roti Canai being made in front of you, it puts all pizza makers to shame.

After walking past the Beca riders for the last couple of days and not getting a lift off them, we decided to ask one if he could take us to the botanical gardens, naively not knowing how far it was, he thought about it for a second and then decided it was much too far, his friend saw the funny side of it and was rolling around in tears. When we found out how far it was we too couldn’t stop laughing, and to think this guy was actually considering it, it would have taken him an hour!!

The night markets up at Batu Feringghi are well worth a visit, and have a few large eating areas surrounded by hawker stalls to choose your favourite dish. The market has lots of arts and crafts along with the watches and CD’s/DVD’s.
After 3 days in Penang, it was time to get back to KL to spend the last day shopping and catching up with the friends we met in Redang before we headed back to the winter of Melbourne. Staying again along Petaling Street, we frequented the hawker stalls for food and clothes, thinking we were getting everything for an absolute bargain.

The friends from Redang told us we had to go down to Klang to visit them. We jumped on a bus and off we went. We were again treated to dinner and drinks, and a great night amongst friends. Eating as travellers the whole time, it is good to go to peoples favourite restaurants and eat what they recommend.

Due to leave for Melbourne on a night flight, we had 1 day to go in Malaysia, after recounting the stories and determining if there was anything we had yet to do, our friends managed to not be working and took us for a drive, visiting temples and more eateries, the fun didn’t stop till the moment we jumped on the plane to go home.

The hospitality showed by all Malaysians, was very welcoming and helpful, allaying any fears or concerns a traveller may have. We were pleasantly surprised by the progression of KL city and the quality of the transport both within the city and interstate bus services. Malaysia is not always high on the tourist hit list for Australian travellers, however, after visiting the country, I would recommend it as a destination to visit.

Dollar Falls to Record Against Euro as EU Inflation Quickens

2008-04-22T15:56:00.000+01:00

By Ye Xie and Bo Nielsen

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to a record low against the euro as European inflation accelerated last month, reducing chances the European Central Bank will follow the Federal Reserve in cutting interest rates.

The currency had its biggest decline versus the euro in three weeks, weakening to $1.5979 as U.S. housing starts dropped more than twice as much as forecast to a 17-year low. The Canadian and Australian dollars and the Norwegian krone increased after crude oil touched a record $115.07 a barrel. . . . . read more

US Dollar Shows Little Hope for Rebound on Further Record-Lows

2007-11-07T08:43:00.000Z

Tuesday, 06 November 2007 17:32:11 GMT

Written by David Rodriguez, Currency Analyst

The US dollar continued to set record lows against the Euro and Canadian dollar, defying calls for a worthwhile correction on unflappable anti-greenback sentiment. Limited economic data on the day left currency traders to force movements off of broader speculative interest, and dollar-selling remained the dominant theme in broader currency markets. In fact, the downtrodden buck fell against all major foreign counterparts on a daily basis.

Euro bulls sent the single currency to yet another record, touching heights of $1.4569 before a marginal retracement through the New York afternoon. The British Pound likewise saw strong bids through Tokyo and London trading hours and established fresh 26-year peaks of $2.0905. Anti-US dollar sentiment continued to bolster the Canadian dollar, which shows few signs of slowing its ascent at C$0.9240 per USD. A bounce in global equity markets was not enough to keep the dollar bid against the Japanese Yen, and indeed the greenback remained relatively unchanged at 114.52 yen through time of writing.

The lack of economic data did not stop traders from forcing strong price movements across major currency pairs, and pure market flows away from the greenback served as the only real justification for the move. One prominent bank claimed that the relative underperformance of US equity markets encouraged many clients to pursue risky asset classes in Europe and elsewhere. Others cited further sovereign bank reserve diversification as a prominent driver of daily exchange rates. Whatever the underlying justification for the dollar rout, it remains relatively clear that speculators show little interest in forcing a worthwhile correction in the downtrodden currency. The trade-weighted dollar index has now fallen in seven of the past nine active days, setting fresh-record lows of 75.99 at time of publication. Given such overwhelming bearish momentum, we see little reason for a dollar bounce through subsequent currency trading.

US equity markets proved far more fortunate through NYSE price action, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 50 points to 13,591. A surge in energy stocks pushed broader indices higher, and the S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to 1,510. Tech stocks were the smallest gainers through the session, however, with the NASDAQ Composite a mere 0.2 percent improved to the psychologically significant 2,800 mark.

US Government Treasury yields were slightly higher through the trading session, as the 10-year added 2 basis points to 4.35 percent. Yet shorter-dated yields remained relatively unchanged at recent 26-month lows of 3.67 percent. Speculators seem convinced that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut short-term interest rates through the medium term, and money market rates continue to decline through the period. In fact, Fed Funds Futures now show a 64 percent chance of an FOMC interest rate cut on its December 11 meeting.

Written by David Rodríguez, Currency Analyst for DailyFX.com

Caspian Sea leaders sign declaration

2007-10-18T19:34:00.000+01:00

source almanartv

17/10/2007

The Second Summit of the Caspian Sea Littoral States ended its work in the presence of heads of state of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan Republic, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in Tehran on Tuesday afternoon. They released a declaration on major regional and international issues.
Following is an excerpt of the declaration:

The Caspian Sea littoral states will make efforts to reinforce peace, stability, economic development, and good neighborliness in the region. The sides will have equal rights in international cooperation and are determined to boost relations in political, diplomatic, economic, scientific, technical, cultural, and social spheres.

The sides will make attempts to efficiently utilize the Caspian Sea’s rich resources and expand economic cooperation, particularly in the energy and transportation areas. The sides hereby announce that only Caspian Sea littoral countries are allowed to use the resources of the sea.
The sides agree that the Caspian Sea legal regime should be drafted as soon as possible.
The Caspian Sea should only be used for peaceful purposes and any problems related to the sea should be resolved diplomatically by the littoral states.

The sides will make efforts to develop mutual trust and reinforce regional security. They will also avoid using military force in mutual relations.
The sides believe that the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is one of the most important foundations of international peace and stability. The sides confirm that all signatories to the NPT have the right to generate and utilize nuclear energy for peaceful purposes within the framework of the NPT and the International Atomic Energy Agency Statute. Stances at the summit

In his speech to the conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that the third summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2008, and a joint economic conference will be held in Moscow next year. "The presidents of the five Caspian Sea littoral countries agreed to meet every year, and their foreign ministers will meet every six months," he added. Asked about the propaganda campaign against the conference, Ahmadinejad stated that the declaration that was signed at the end of the conference was a robust response to those countries that were opposed to the meeting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation is for peaceful purposes. The countries have “expressed the idea that peaceful nuclear activities must be allowed,” Putin said, reiterating that Iran should be allowed to pursue its nuclear program for peaceful purposes.

Putin discussed issues pertaining to comprehensive security and stability in the region and the joint campaign against "international terrorism and extremism.” Among other things, Russia has proposed building a canal as soon as possible to connect the Caspian Sea to the Black and Azov seas to help establish the North-South Corridor, he said.

Russia is the only country helping Iran to construct a nuclear power station for peaceful ends, he added, referring to the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

For his part, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev stated that the convention should be finalized as soon as possible, and the dialogue between the countries should be sped up. "I believe that the Tehran summit and the declaration we will adopt here will be a turning point in the development of cooperation between Caspian states in all fields and in insuring stability and peace in the region, and that the Caspian will become a sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow said he was optimistic about Caspian states’ cooperation and the agreements made by the five countries on ecology, shipping, tourism, and the use of hydrocarbon reserves.

Putin arrives in Tehran despite warning

2007-10-18T19:15:00.000+01:00

SOURCE ALMANARtTV

16/10/2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin, brushing off the threat of a reported plot to assassinate him, arrived in Iran on Tuesday for talks with Iran's leaders focusing on Tehran's nuclear row with the West. The Russian president was officially welcomed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Saadabad castle in Tehran.

Putin is due to attend a summit of five Caspian Sea states aimed at bringing them closer to a deal on dividing the sea and its huge oil and gas resources. Putin is visiting the Islamic Republic ahead of parliamentary elections in December and amid speculation on how he will maintain a grasp on power in Russia after he quits the top job. His visit also comes amid increasing pressure to impose sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program, something Moscow and other allies are against.

Kremlin officials said on Monday that plans for the visit were in doubt after a Russian news agency report said about assassination plot against him. Iran said the report was baseless and Putin shrugged it off. "If we have a chance to keep up these direct contacts, then we will do it, hoping for a positive, mutually advantageous result," Putin said in Germany before his arrival. Tehran says the visit by Putin and other leaders at the Caspian summit shows U.S. efforts to isolate it are failing.

SOWETO ON THE TOURIST TRAIL

2007-10-18T09:50:00.000+01:00

Flying car to take off in a year

2007-10-14T12:25:00.001+01:00

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:46:20

Terrafugia Transition

MIT scientists take another step towards aero-auto hybrids by producing the first automated folding wing for light sport aircrafts.

For many years researchers believed aero-auto hybrid vehicles would be commercial failures; however, MIT scientists say they are on the way to overcome existing problems.

The team hopes to use 'Terrafugia' which was manufactured in 2006 and displayed as the world's first automatic folding wing, to complete a roadworthy aircraft within a year.

The first patent for a vehicle capable of both driving on roads and flying in the air was issued in US in 1918.

MHE/HGH

Iran transit stop for Indonesian pilgrims

2007-10-13T18:34:00.000+01:00

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:16:48

Muslim pilgrims carry out Hajj rituals.

Prior to arrival for Minor Hajj in Saudi Arabia, a ritual destination for Muslim pilgrimage, Indonesians choose Iran as their transit stop.

Mohammad Kazem Kholdinasab, Director of the Department of International Affairs at Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, affirmed, "Indonesian pilgrims will be coming to Iran before they enter Saudi Arabia. They will stay in Iran for around two or three days."

By 2008, Iran is anticipated to host over 25,000 pilgrims.

During last year's visit to Iran by the Indonesian deputy minister of culture and tourism, both countries signed an agreement on initiating executive programs within the field of tourism.

For more Auto Accessories click here

Parties attack Brown election decision

2007-10-07T10:25:00.000+01:00

Parties attack Brown election decision

source almanarTV

07/10/2007

UK opposition parties say they are disappointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision not to call an autumn election. The Conservatives say Brown was frightened by opinion polls in the Sunday Times and News of the World which put the Tories ahead of Labor.

Brown said a vote was being delayed so people had time to see how successful his policies were.

"I'll not be calling an election. I have a vision for change in Britain and I want to show people how in government we're implementing it," Brown said.
"Over the summer months we've had to deal with crises, we've had to deal with foot-and-mouth, with terrorism, with floods, we had financial crises." He added.

Conservative leader David Cameron said Brown had shown "great weakness and indecision", and had made a "humiliating retreat". Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said that Brown had a "crisis of confidence", and that his decision showed "a loss of nerve".

Iraq's refugee number increases

2007-09-18T21:24:00.000+01:00

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:29:55
Source: AFP

Iraqis are suffering dire consequences of Bush's war

The number of people displaced in Iraq has increased, despite US officials' claims on security improvement in the war-ravaged country.

The International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday that the number of Iraqi refugees has grown by about 50,000 to 2.25 million since July.

Shia Muslims make up some 65 percent of the displaced while 31 percent are Sunnis and 4 percent Christian, according to an IOM survey of some 114,732 families.

"The majority of the displaced assessed are renting substandard shelter or are staying with friends of family, placing new burdens on host communities," the IOM said in its latest "Emergency Needs Assessments" report on Iraq.

The problem is compounded by many provinces now restricting entry and registration of displaced persons, and by the decision of Iraq's neighbors Syria and Jordan to impose visa requirements in order to stem the flow of refugees, it added.

The organization's latest review warned that the alleged progress in parts of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar were by no means uniform or certain to continue.

Increased security, particularly in the capital, is the central aim of US President George W. Bush's "surge" strategy, which has come under heavy attack at Congressional hearings in recent weeks for not being successful.

DT/DT

Making Money off Poland's Communist past.

2007-08-31T05:20:00.000+01:00

UNIFIL mandate extended in Lebanon

2007-08-24T20:53:00.000+01:00

Source Al Manar TV

Readers Number : 21

24/08/2007 The UN Security Council voted unanimously Friday to extend the mandate of the 13,600-strong UN troops in Lebanon and called for a permanent cease-fire and long-term solution to last summer's Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The resolution adopted by the council emphasized the need for greater progress in resolving these and other issues stemming from the Second Lebanon War. The Security Council reiterated its intention ''to consider further steps to contribute to the implementation of a permanent cease-fire and a long-term solution.''
Earlier this month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the council to extend the mandate of the force, known as UNIFIL, praising the troops for helping to establish security in southern Lebanon following the Israeli aggression. The resolution commends UNIFIL's positive role, with Lebanese troops, in helping ''to establish a new strategic environment in southern Lebanon.''
The current mandate of the force - comprising 11,428 ground troops, 2,000 maritime personnel, 185 staff officers and 20 local staffers - expires on August 31. The resolution emphasized the need for further coordination between UNIFIL and the Lebanese army in the southern border region to establish ''an area free of any unauthorized armed personnel, assets and weapons.''
It condemned all terrorist attacks on UNIFIL.

America’s Extensive Islamic Heritage Detailed in Exhibitions.

2007-08-16T08:12:00.000+01:00

09 August 2007

Organization works to increase awareness of Islamic experience in America

By Jeffrey Thomas
USINFO Staff writer

Washington -- Some years ago, Amir Muhammad began researching his family’s roots without any thought that it might lead him to America’s little-known Islamic heritage. Until then, he assumed that most American Muslims arrived in the 20th century, and he was unaware of any Islamic connection in his own family prior to his personal acceptance of Islam 35 years ago.

But Muhammad discovered he does have Muslim ancestors, as do many African Americans and Native Americans, and that the story of Islam in America reaches back much further than most people imagine.

In 1996, he established the nonprofit organization Collections & Stories of American Muslims (CSAM), of which he is president and curator. His goal is to uncover and preserve America’s Islamic heritage and to create a greater awareness of the Islamic experience in America.

CSAM exhibitions have been displayed at universities, public libraries and community centers in the United States and abroad, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, located in Washington. Muhammad is seeking a building to house his collection.

Muhammad begins his account of America’s Islamic heritage with Moors fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. One of them was Estevanico, a Moor born in North Africa, who accompanied Spanish explorers in 1527 to what would become the Southwestern United States.

Slavery enters the story of Islam in America with the early European settlement. One of the myths Muhammad seeks to dispel is that enslaved Africans brought by the settlers had no organized religion and could not read or write.

He cites the story of Ayuba (Job) Suleiman Diallo, who was captured in 1730 in The Gambia and brought to Annapolis, Maryland, where he was sold into slavery. Diallo wrote a letter in Arabic to his father, according to Muhammad. The letter came to the attention of James Oglethorpe, the founder of the U.S. state Georgia, who helped buy Diallo’s freedom. Oglethorpe sent him to London and then back to his homeland to work for the Royal African Company of London. While in London, Diallo wrote down in Arabic three copies of the Quran from memory.

The CSAM exhibition includes four Quranic suras written in Arabic by a man named Charno in 1768, petitions written in Arabic by South Carolina Muslims seeking their freedom in 1753 and 1790, and photos of a diary in Arabic kept by a man named Ben Ali around 1829. Sources from the 17th and 18th centuries often refer to African Americans as Muslims, or as bearing Muslim names, or as practicing the Islamic faith. Muhammad notes that many early American Muslims had engraved on their tombstones a hand with one finger pointing up as the Islamic symbol of God’s oneness, and their tombstones were facing toward Makkah.

In every war the United States has fought, Muslims have played a role. Two Muslims who fought with distinction in the American Revolutionary War, Peter Salem and Salem Poor, have been honored on U.S. postage stamps.

Muhammad also has found records of 292 U.S. Civil War veterans with Islamic names who fought for the Union and more than 5,200 American Muslims who served in World War I.

By the later 19th century and early 20th century, Muslim immigrants were arriving in America from Yemen, Albania, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, India and Poland. In 1899, Syrian immigrants in Ross, North Dakota, established what may have been the first Muslim place of worship in America. But the “first effective mosque in North America” was built by Albanian Muslims in Biddeford, Maine, in 1915, according to Muhammad.

He says that as a Muslim, he has found the stories that he uncovered inspiring. American Muslims from various backgrounds “kept their faith no matter how bad things were,” he said during a presentation at the State Department August 9.

“Muslims and Islam have been a part of the American fabric for centuries,” he said. “It is part of the many threads of culture, colors, religions and lifestyles that make up the American pluralistic quilt.”

Muhammad has written several books, including America’s Masajid and Islamic Centers: A Pictorial Account, Muslims in America: 7 Centuries of History, People of Color in Pre-Islamic and Islamic History and Contributions of Muslims to the World.

More information is available on the CSAM Web site.

Caught without a country

2007-08-06T05:54:00.000+01:00

Five years ago, the Thai police arrested Afang Chue Mua and threatened to deport her, to send her to back to Myanmar. But Afang was born in Thailand and so were her parents.

They are members of one of seven hill tribes living in Northern Thailand. David Hawkins, reporting for AlJazeera from mae Chan in Thailand, investigates the country's stateless people.

Robert Zoellick heads to Asia .

2007-08-05T01:32:00.000+01:00

Newly appointed World Bank President Robert Zoellick will travel to Asia next week. He will visit big aid donors Japan and Australia as well as poor borrowers Cambodia and Vietnam.

a career in environmental consultancy?

2007-06-25T10:12:00.000+01:00

Any young graduates in environmental sciences & related fields out there interested in building a career in environmental consultancy? I would like to hear from you.

Must warn you, though - hard work, low pay, may need to travel to or be temporarily located in remote places, ride leaky boats on choppy seas, wade through mud and swamps, get bitten by leeches, wake up early but sleep late, sleep in cheap rickety chalets, etc.

Must have the patience to watch paint dry, besides the ability to think on your feet. Ability to quote at least Popper, if not Freud, is an added advantage.

Email me you CV if you think you want this kind of life. :-)

Ishak bin Ariffin
via Natura (M) Sdn Bhd.
305C Jalan Bandar 12, Taman Melawati, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603-41 066 077 Fax: +603-41 066 011 Email: ishakvnsb@po.jaring.my or vianatura.sb@gmail.com

Unreported World Somalia

2007-06-05T18:22:00.000+01:00

The brief peace brought by the Islamic Courts

Democracy Now : interview about Somalia

2007-05-14T03:19:00.000+01:00

The crimes of Ethiopia and US special Forces

TRAVEL - Taman Negara Malaysia

2007-05-05T15:47:00.000+01:00

Taman Negara is Malaysia’s Primier National Park. It is the nation’s largest, covering some 4343 square miles or 434,300 square Hectares of protected area of pristine evergreen tropical rainforest spanning three states, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang right in the middle of peninsular Malaysia. The Sultans of these three states set the area aside in 1938 to become the Taman Negara, a name adopted after independence. It is today the world renowned ecological tourism heaven with the world’s longest canopy walkway.

An Animated Proposal

2007-05-02T22:40:00.000+01:00

a trip to BATU TALAM – the ghost haunting the public minds.

2007-01-30T21:07:00.000Z

POLITICAL APATHY ON THE RISE ?

What do they say…..

>>>SNIP

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front on Sunday trounced a lone challenger — Ng Chee Pang, 22, a little-known independent with scarcely any political experience — to retain the legislative seat of Batu Talam in eastern Pahang state.

The National Front's candidate, Abdul Aziz Mat Kiram, secured 89 percent of 7,080 votes cast, beating Ng by a majority of 5,857 votes, the Election Commission said. Ng received 419 votes, while another 385 ballots were spoilt.

"The support for the government has grown stronger," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "Considering the voter turnout of 67 percent, we can clearly state that the opposition's effort to boycott the by-election was not welcomed by the voters in Batu Talam."

Two key opposition groups refused to field any candidates in order to protest what they claimed were discrepancies in the voter roll, and concerns the vote might not be transparent. Government authorities rejected the accusations and called the boycott a publicity stunt.

The National Front had been more concerned that many of Batu Talam's 10,525 eligible voters might not bother to show up because Abdul Aziz seemed assured of triumph.

SNIP <<<

Quote……
The Associated Press
Published: January 28, 2007

Bloggers note:

Probably it is okay for a Western Country to have that kind of electorate turn out. But not by Malaysian standard. Even for a general election that percentage is a bit low. Malaysian are particular and pay great attention to voting. Though, those who were adults during the Emergency where we Malaysian had bitter memories, that generation is gone. But there is a consistent reminder from local politicians of the more recent May 13 event. So, to a Malaysian it is important to place a cross on the right spot, a vote for peace comes the eventful election day.

The voting and active generation today are those born during the emergency period, a battle for Malaysia not to fall to the reds. They are better educated and well read compare to the earlier generation, they grew up in independence era. The saw and experienced the good things the independence brought to them. Why then should there be an increase in political apathy? Is there a shift in perception? Yes there is.

What do others say…

There are voices that raised the slogan for a need of change to level the playing field. The Election Commission Chairman was cited as the authoritative voice for that requirement. Among what he had said - is cited as:-

Proposed the present Election Commission (EC) be dismantled.

The election laws are 50 years old and designed to serve the emergency period and therefore it needed revision.

The election laws need to be dismantled drastically.

The drastic dismantle is needed to make EC and the election more transparent.

Restructuring is needed to be fairer to the participating parties and the electorates.

The existing election laws are no longer suitable for the present age.

Too many weaknesses with the existing election laws.

Proposes an independent EC to be formed with law experts, NGOs and political parties participation for inputs to crystallized the formation of that EC

Not stopping there he emphasized the need for more powers with the EC in the following six areas.

1. To determine the formation of a political parties and guarantee their freedom of participation in any election.

2. To control all matters during the campaign period

3. To exercise justice and media freedom in the election process

4. To control and enforce laws and punish those involved in misuse of public properties during the campaign period.

5. To have the powers to exercise justly in determining matters relating to expenditures by participating parties during the election.

6. Powers to control and prevent corruption and vote buying activities.

Is what he is saying lead to the present ghost that is haunting the public minds. Coming from the horse’s mouth those leaders who love this country have to do something. Otherwise political apathy will grow and with it a ticking time bomb.

What does the blogger hears,

What do the laymen here feel? They felt that the political culture in this country is developing towards a negative future. The politicians wants power to control the resources for their own individual gains and ends. To the extent of selling the country and its future to their very own perceived enemies or other friendly parties. All are done for their own short term financial gains at the expense of long term well being of the country and the population at large. Same shit from any political parties. They need our crosses to do just that and they are willing to purchase from us just for that! They are losing faith in this system of party politics. That is the ghost that is haunting the people’s minds.

That is the crucial crux the leaders have to make good to bring people back to the ballot boxes!

Its all quiet on this front.

2006-12-16T17:31:00.000Z

Normally school holidays are occasion for marriages. But surprising enough not this long school holiday for Perwians. Well, looking back not even the year 2005. No weeding celebration! Did I miss any? I did receive a few from batch mates in

Kuala Lumpur but I had to decline politely. It was their daughter’s wedding, Ehhem, to be exact one was for a friend himself. The wedding for friends’ daughters started last year and the figure grew triple this year. Thinking to myself, theses things will grow on you. One day if life is long enough you will start realizing that you are attending your batch mates’ (school mates) cucu (grandson/daughter’s) weddings.

Today I was in Kemuning attending my cousin’s son wedding. She is my paternal cross cousin. Her daughter in law came from Kelang Valley, not far from Kuala Lumpur. Quite a few of her kids live around Kuala Lumpur. Relax, do not jump off your chair yet. I know she have nothing to do with Perwi. I am not being carried away, just have a little patience and do read on. I stayed there for almost 3 hours from approximately 3pm to 6pm.

Small world.

There was a family of four, that came too, in a Mercedes. I recognized them especially the mum. As for the driver, I knew he gave a lift to my daughter from Pasir Puteh to Machang, some 25km away. My forth daughter and their youngest go to the same UNIVERSITY COLLEGE in Johor. My daughter told me of the man. I did told her that he is related to us.

On her return trip back to UNIVERSITY. I send my daughter to Pasir Puteh. There my daughter introduced me to her Machang friend who was with her elder sister. I asked the elder sister which part of Machang is she from then asked her who her parents are. Then I told her where I am from, so and so and who my parents were and said that were are related. The girl then asked me, "Which side, my mum or dad?" I replied with a smile, "both".

Typical Malaysian, Kelantan Wedding procession,
picture above was in front of bride’s house.

When they reached the tent I left the staircases and walked to welcome them. I shake hands with the dad, the elder daughter was there and was telling something her mum. The mum interrupted our conversations and started calling me by name and asking the where about of all my other sisters. She told the small reception group that had encircled them that I was, showing a hand gesture about the height of her waist when I frequent their home, in Pangkal Changgong. She said anak Wan Som, as the dad was ushered to the eating table. Their mum is related to me through my Pa.

The dad then remarked while filling the plates, “I thought it was weird that that girl did not know where the exact location of her house and asked me to leave her at the local post office.” By then he understood that we had just moved back to Machang. Then he continue, Tok Gawa Sohok (that’s my grandpa), we are cousins. That man is popularly known as Wan Ismail Pangkal Changgong.

2006-12-16T15:22:00.000Z

Obituary :

Mak Su Esah ( Arwah Pak Su Soh ) Temangan telah kembali ke Rahmatullah 3 hari lepas. Arwah Pak Su Soh adalah adik kepada Arwah Ayah Daud Bin Ishak suami kepada Arwah Wan Khadijah Haji Wan Ishak.

Archive Economy & Travels

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Dubai Financial Crisis.

Investors put off by Malaysia’s high-cost, low-speed broadband

China banks' rush for billions could trip markets

Xenophobia against immigrant workers

A visit to the unofficial capital of Southern Italy - Naples

Venice Losing Residents but Not Dead Yet

Zimbabwe and the 2010 world cup.

Economics 101 - Boom and Burst Cycle.

Malaysia firefly glow fading - 20 Sept 09

Hyperinflation - Germany 1923.

Malaysia’s economy shrank a worse-than-expected 6.2% in the first quarter

IMF undecided over global recovery strategy

China’s stimulus package is hitting home

Credit Suisse starts shutting US offshore accounts

Indonesia 2008- Bali Island, Gili and Java Island

ING: Ringgit to decline 4.5% after by-elections

Too big to fail? Nationalize

35,000 UK firms to go bankrupt in 2009

UK ecomically worst in Europe

Can G20 avert the crisis?

The financial crisis and the real economy

Obama should save the banks, not the bankers Pt.4

G20 leaving 'sheep' in 'wolf' care, says Morales

US jobless rate jumps to 25-year high

G20 split on financial downturn

Istanbul

G20 leaders arrive in London ahead of summit

G20 protesters' anger amid global recession

The Subprime Crisis of Credit Visualized - Part 2

Geithner's Oligarchs

The People's Republic of Wall Street

Chomsky on Geithner

G20 protesters' anger amid global recession

Obama should save the banks, not the bankers

U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

China economy ‘has bottomed’, says central bank adviser

Subprime Credit Crisis

Najib: RM250b liquidity to help entrepreneurs

Zambia bans foreign currency use

California's unemployment level climbs to 10.5% in February

Financial crisis produces some winners

Prior to G20 summit, EU trying to jumpstart economy

International conference on Islamic banking starts in Moscow

Obama outlines plan to help small businesses

World big banks to meet in London

Ecotourism in Malaysia.

Gaza war grips Israeli economy

France offers Islamic finance degree

Liberty Dollars - what happened to it now?

Zoom Malaysia Domestic Tourism Promotion

Who is Bernard Madoff?

A Malaysian Tourism Campaign

Dr. Paul on the Global Financial Summitt

The Wedding "bells" in August 08.

Fed keeps US rates steady at 2%

Who sets global Crude Oil prices?

Food Crisis, collapsing economy and a political suppression, Mugade in Rome with Grace Shopping.

Malaysia Travel Video

Check RM100 notes for fakes

Friday May 23, 2008

A must for anyone going to Okinawa

Iran using euro, yen in oil deals

English Club Vs English Club in Moscow

Moscow confident of final success

A Malaysian Advanture

Dollar Falls to Record Against Euro as EU Inflation Quickens

US Dollar Shows Little Hope for Rebound on Further Record-Lows

Tuesday, 06 November 2007 17:32:11 GMT

Previous Articles

Caspian Sea leaders sign declaration

Putin arrives in Tehran despite warning

SOWETO ON THE TOURIST TRAIL

Flying car to take off in a year

Iran transit stop for Indonesian pilgrims

Parties attack Brown election decision

Iraq's refugee number increases

Making Money off Poland's Communist past.

UNIFIL mandate extended in Lebanon