Morales inaugurated for further term as Bolivian president

Fri, 22 Jan 2010

La Paz - Evo Morales was sworn in Friday in La Paz for a second mandate as Bolivian president. In the presence of Spain's Crown Prince Felipe and of presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Michelle Bachelet of Chile, the ceremony sought to underline Bolivia's varied heritage.

As a new symbol that breaks with the colonial past, Morales, 50, received a presidential sash that incorporated the Whipala - the seven-color flag of indigenous communities - and a medal with the effigies of two historic indigenous leaders.

On Thursday, the left-wing populist Morales, the first president of indigenous descent in Bolivia's history, took part in a traditional Andean ceremony that sought to give him positive energy for his new five-year term.

An Aymara priest officiated at the rituals at the archeological site of Tiwanaku, about 70 kilometers west of La Paz at an altitude of 3,800 meters, along with around 20 authorities of indigenous communities, known as "Mallkus."

Dressed in a white tunic with traditional motifs symbolizing prosperity, wisdom and success, Morales addressed thousands of supporters and made offerings to "Mother" Earth.

Morales, a member of the Aymara indigenous community, first took office in Bolivia in 2006, and he was re-elected in December with over 64 per cent of the votes. He is set to govern with full control of Congress.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305288,morales-inaugurated-for-further-term-as-bolivian-president.html.

US Vice President Biden in surprise visit to Iraq

Fri, 22 Jan 2010

Washington/Baghdad - US Vice President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Iraq on Friday to visit with US troops and hold talks with Iraqi government leaders, United Nations officials and US military commanders. Biden's meetings in Baghdad included Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the UN's special representative for Iraq, Ad Melkert, according to a statement released by Biden's office in Washington.

Biden expected to discuss preparations for national elections in March, as well as ongoing US and international efforts to restore security and rebuild Iraq's economy.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305290,us-vice-president-biden-in-surprise-visit-to-iraq.html.

Building boom transforms heart of Beirut

ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
Friday, January 22, 2010

BEIRUT (AP) — Blocks of historic Ottoman-era buildings, once pocked by bullet holes, have been majestically restored, and new high-rise apartment towers with mirrored facades front the glittering Mediterranean, signs of an unprecedented real estate boom that is transforming Lebanon's capital.

Beirut's building craze, despite chronic political turmoil in recent years, has astonished even the experts, turning Lebanon into an investment haven at a time when other regions — including the oil-rich Persian Gulf — are hemorrhaging cash. Even the seemingly unstoppable city-state of Dubai has hit the brakes after a massive debt crunch there rattled world financial markets.

"The market is continuing to really stun a lot of people and to attract some new players," said Raja Makarem, founder of Ramco, a leading real estate company. He added that Lebanon has seen a 30 percent increase in property value for each of the past four years.

Lebanon has seen a window of relative peace since the devastating Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 and deadly gunbattles two years later between Hezbollah and its political rivals in the streets of Beirut. Since then, political wrangling has continued, but Lebanon's many factions have managed to keep their differences from exploding into violence.

Moreover, the financial meltdown that hit Dubai and elsewhere may have even helped Lebanon. While real estate buyers in Dubai were mostly investors and speculators depending on bank loans, the demand in Beirut is mainly from end users buying with cash, Mukaram and other experts said.

Real estate isn't the only sector booming: Tourists have rediscovered the coastal nation with its beaches, scenic mountains and freewheeling lifestyle. This week officials announced that Lebanon attracted a record 1.8 million foreign visitors in 2009, earning an estimated $7 billion, beating the previous record of 1.4 million tourists in 1974 — just before the 1975-1990 civil war broke out.

For many, especially those who have not visited Beirut in a while, the transformation from the real estate frenzy is striking.

Blocks of elegant buildings with apartments selling at prices ranging between $5,000 and $8,000 per square meter have arisen downtown. Some are restorations of buildings dating back to the era of 19th Century Ottoman rule, others are brand new ones on plots where old rubble had long been bulldozed away. High-rises also now stand on land reclaimed from the sea.

The names of the new projects are as ostentatious as the developments themselves: The Beirut Souks, Venus Towers and Sama Beirut (Beirut Sky) are just some of the massive architectural projects underway.

"It's the new Beirut. It looks nice and modern, but the problem is you have to be rich to enjoy it," said Iman Haidar, a 42-year-old mother of two walking recently through Beirut Souks downtown — a 100,000 square meter (1,076,400 square foot) outdoor shopping mall.

The $300 million mall was built by Solidere, Lebanon's largest construction and development firm, on the site of a historic souk, or market. But with its high-end retail outlets, it is nothing like the bustling souks that existed there before the civil war, where people from all over the country came to buy everything from vegetables and clothes to jewelry.

Solidere has taken the lead in flattening and then rebuilding much of downtown. Many, like Haidar, worry that Beirut is turning into a hotspot for high-end investments unaffordable to most Lebanese.

Experts say many of the new apartment owners are citizens of oil-rich Gulf nations and wealthy members of the 12-million strong Lebanese diaspora living abroad, who want to keep a pied-a-terre for regular visits to Beirut.

In fact, many of the luxury apartments lining Beirut's famed corniche with panoramic views of the Mediterranean seem uninhabited, their glass facades unlit at night.

The number and value of property sales have leaped over the past year, according to figures released by Lebanon's leading Bank Audi this week. The value of real estate sales in December around the country was $1.25 billion, up 40.8 percent from the same month in 2008. The number of sales in all of 2009 were up 27 percent over the previous year, it said.

"The global crisis that has strongly impacted the real estate market in the Gulf has somehow pushed investors to turn toward Lebanon," said Tina Chamoun, marketing manager for Plus Properties, the Dubai-based real estate marketing company currently promoting two high-profile projects in Beirut.

The $700 million developments, Plus Towers and Venus Towers, involve five luxury residential towers with duplexes and penthouses downtown and along Beirut's waterfront.

Chamoun says sales are going beyond expectations — mainly Lebanese, but also Gulf nationals.

Also, several five-star international chain hotels have opened in Lebanon before the end of the year, including waterfront Rotana and Four Seasons hotels and Le Gray, part of the British-owned CampbellGray Hotels.

Another of the new projects is the 50-story Sama Beirut, which promises to be Lebanon's tallest skyscraper once completed in 2014.

The project, launched earlier this year, has been criticized by some who say the tower will destroy the architectural heritage in the historic area.

The developers were unfazed.

"Mixing modernity with history is enriching," said Massaad Fares, who heads Prime Consult, marketing and financial consultants for Sama Beirut.

Mona El Hallak calls this diversity an urban catastrophe.

"Downtown Beirut used to be a meeting point for people from all backgrounds. Now if you don't have money, there is nothing for you there, you feel you are not welcome," said the architect, who is a member of the executive committee of APSAD, an organization that campaigns to classify Lebanon's old buildings as heritage sites to protect them.

She says old cultural heritage buildings are being destroyed to make way for towers without any urban planning involved.

"Ten years from now," she said, "the city will not even bear resemblance to the Beirut we know," she said.

Source: News Times.
Link: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Building-boom-transforms-heart-of-Beirut-332362.php.

Brit scuba diver sets world record for longest underwater stay

London, January 23 : A British scuba diver has rewritten pages of Guinness World Records after spending more than two days underwater.

Will Goodman, originally of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, London, survived being 20ft down for 48 hours, nine minutes and 17 seconds in the Indonesian island of Lombok.

The 32-year-old professional diver was fed rations through a tube and watched gangster films on an underwater iPod during the challenge in a metal cage.

"The first 24 hours were paradise, very serene and meditative, with rays and fish swimming past and lightning strikes illuminating the water above me," the Sun quoted him as saying.

But when Will, who now lives in Indonesia, surfaced, his hands were swollen, his puckered skin began to fall off and he had "nappy rash from hell".

He explained: "It felt as though my legs were being stabbed. I felt like I''d been bricked into a wall and my mind became distorted. All I thought about was having a nice cup of tea."

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-36646.html.

The Anthem of the Khilafah

By shark

Adopting a slogan/anthem that can be acclaimed to distinguish a certain group of people from others, or a certain state from others is one of the permissible matters. The Muslims in the past had a slogan which they used when they met their enemies on the battle field.

This was used at the time of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم and by his agreement. They took the slogan of (Ha Mim, they are not helped) in the battle of the trench and Qurayzah, and the slogan of (You, the helped, bring death, bring death) in Banu Al-Mustaliq, and so on.

This is besides the favors bestowed by Allah سبحانه وتعالى upon man of the characteristics created in him such as hearing, sight and speaking, all of these are included in the evidences of ibaha. So, man sees, speaks and applauds whatever he wants unless there is specific evidence related to any of them, which then he must observe.

Therefore, it is allowed for the Islamic State to adopt a slogan with which it applauds and by which it distinguishes itself from other states, where it uses it in its relations with other states, and it accompanies the Khalifah in his visits to other heads of states or during their visits to him. It can also be used by the public in their occasions, where they applaud with it in their assemblies, public gatherings, schools and broadcasts, and the like.

In regards to the method of applauding, i.e. the intensity of the voice, the lowering, or speaking with or without a nasal sound etc, all of this is allowed, because the Muslims used to declaim their poems with an exciting voice in accordance with the occasion they were applauding.

The state has adopted that it should have an anthem, which it uses when necessary, and it accompanies the Khalifah in his official meetings with the heads of states. Additionally the Ummah would use it on certain occasions.

The following has been noted for the anthem of the second rightly guided Khilafah after its establishment by the permission of Allah سبحانه وتعالى:

1 – It should mention the fulfillment of the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم regarding the return of the second guided Khilafah, and the rise again of the banner of the Uqab, the banner of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم.

2 – It should mention the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم when the Khilafah is established and the earth will bring out its treasures and the heaven will send down its blessings, and the earth will be filled with justice after being filled with tyranny.

3 – It should mention the conquests and spreading of goodness in all of the worlds regions with the Khilafah ruling over all, particularly the lands of the three mosques to which journeys are made: al-Masjid ul Haram, the prophetic masjid, and al-Masjid ul-Aqsa after uprooting the Jewish entity.

4 – It would be concluded by the return of the Ummah as Allah wanted her to be: The best Ummah brought to mankind, where its main goal is to attain the good pleasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Who would honor her with His favor, Mercy and the High Garden of Al-Firdaws.

5 – Takbeer has to be repeated in it. This is because takbeer has a special impact in Islam and in a Muslim’s life. It is takbeer that reiterates in their victories, and in their holidays, and on their tongues and is mentioned on every effective occasion.

The above is an excerpt from the book “Institutions of the Khilafah State” by Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Source: http://www.khilafah.com/index.php/the-khilafah/khilafah/8621-the-anthem-of-the-khilafah.

Source: Haqeeqat.
Link: http://www.haqeeqat.org/2010/01/23/the-anthem-of-the-khilafah/.

Afghan commission postpones parliamentary vote

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – Afghanistan on Sunday postponed parliamentary elections until September due to a lack of funding from donor nations after widespread fraud in last year's presidential poll.

The announcement came as President Hamid Karzai left for Turkey, the start of a tour that will include Berlin and London. Karzai will appeal for financial and other support for his government.

Another flawed election would erode support for Karzai's government at a time when he has pledged to battle corruption and improve services.

The Independent Election Commission has said it needed about $50 million from the international community to pay for the parliamentary election, budgeted to cost $120 million.

That money has not come through in time to hold the vote as planned on May 22, according to commissioner Fazel Ahmed Manawi. He also attributed the delay to security concerns, logistical challenges and the need to improve the election process at a news conference to announce the decision.

The vote will be held on Sept. 18 instead, Manawi said.

"There is no doubt that we are faced with different kinds of problems, but the major problem in our way is the lack of budget funds and security concerns," he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said it respected the decision and would continue to work with the Afghan government "to pursue election reform for the upcoming parliamentary elections and for the long term."

Manawi said the international community has not refused to help pay for the vote but is studying the request.

U.S. lawmakers and other critics had pressed for a postponement in the wake of last August's disputed poll that re-elected Karzai, warning that holding the vote without substantive electoral reform could undermine support for U.S. aid to the insurgency-wracked country.

Chief U.N. envoy Kai Eide also said earlier this month that there is a provision in Afghan law that permits the elections to be postponed for a few months.

Karzai had insisted the constitution, which specifies the elections be held by May, must be observed.

But Manawi said Sunday that a review of the constitution and the electoral law paved the way for the postponement.

The August presidential vote was so tarnished that U.N.-backed fraud investigators threw out more than a million ballots — enough to force Karzai into a second-round vote. The runoff was later canceled when Karzai's top challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out, saying he was not confident the vote would be fair.

Some nations also were concerned that having to guard polling stations in May would be a distraction for the 37,000 U.S. and NATO reinforcements being deployed with orders to stall the Taliban's momentum.

Two U.S. service members were killed Sunday in a bombing in southern Afghanistan — the second strike to kill American troops in as many days in the area, which is expected to be the main focus of a U.S. troop surge.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, has warned the risk to foreign troops will increase along with the influx, which is aimed at stabilizing the country.

At least 24 American deaths have been reported so far this month — compared with 14 for the whole of January last year.

A suicide bomber in southern Helmand province also targeted U.S. troops in a market Saturday, killing two Afghan children, officials said. NATO would not specify if it was the same attack that killed the two Americans, pending notification of their families.

Helmand government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said the bomber was targeting U.S. troops on a foot patrol and three civilians also were wounded in the attack in the Khan Neshin district.

NATO said in a statement that the two civilians killed were children.

Karzai planned to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari as well as Turkish officials during his visit to Turkey. He was then to travel to Berlin on Tuesday to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leading lawmakers before heading to London for conference Thursday, when international and Afghan officials will discuss ways of shoring up the government in Kabul.

Haitians mourn their dead; another survivor found

By VIVIAN SEQUERA and BEN FOX, Associated Press Writers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Hundreds gathered for the funeral of the archbishop of Haiti's stricken capital Saturday, a rare formal ceremony that captured the collective mourning of a shattered nation where mass graves hold many of the dead.

Meanwhile, as the U.N. said the Haitian government had declared an end to searches for living people trapped in the rubble, yet another survivor was saved. Rescuers said they reached Wismond Exantus by digging a narrow tunnel through the wreckage of a hotel grocery store where he was buried for 11 days.

Exantus, who is in his 20s, was placed on a stretcher and given intravenous fluids as onlookers cheered. He later told The Associated Press he survived by diving under a desk during the quake and later consuming some cola, beer and cookies in the cramped space.

"I was hungry, but every night I thought about the revelation that I would survive," Exantus said from his hospital bed.

Authorities have stopped short of explicitly directing all teams to halt rescue efforts, and hopeful searchers continued picking through the ruins. But U.N. relief workers said the shift in focus is critical to care for the thousands living in squalid, makeshift camps that lack sanitation. While deliveries of food, medicine and water have ticked up after initial logjams, the need continues to be overwhelming and doctors fear outbreaks of disease in the camps.

"It doesn't mean the government will order them to stop. In case there is the slightest sign of life, they will act," U.N. spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said. She added that, "except for miracles, hope is unfortunately fading."

All told, some 132 people have been pulled alive from beneath collapsed buildings by international search and rescue teams, she said.

Experts say the chance of saving trapped people begins diminishing after 72 hours. One mother still missing her children said it's too soon to give up.

"Maybe there's a chance they're still alive," said Nicole Abraham, 33, wiping away tears as she spoke of hearing the cries of her children — ages 4, 6 and 15 — for the first two days after the quake.

Only a small number of funerals have been held since the 7.0-magnitude quake struck, with most people buried anonymously and without ceremony in mass graves on the outskirts of the city. An estimated 200,000 people died, according to Haitian government figures cited by the European Commission. The United Nations said Saturday the government had preliminarily confirmed 111,481 bodies, but that figure does not account for corpses buried by relatives.

While the two-hour ceremony was held for Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot and vicar Charles Benoit, who also perished in the Jan. 12 earthquake, people in the crowd of about 2,000 wept for deeply personal losses.

"We feel like we have lost everything. Our child, our country, our friend," said Junior Sant Juste, a 30-year-old father whose 3-year-old daughter died when his home collapsed.

The Mass, celebrated in a small park near the collapsed cathedral, offered "a way to share the pain and find solidarity," said his wife, Roth Boisrond.

As many as 200,000 people have fled the city of 2 million, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. About 609,000 people are homeless in the capital's metropolitan area, and the United Nations estimates that up to 1 million could leave Haiti's destroyed cities for rural areas already struggling with extreme poverty.

The quake destroyed key government buildings including the National Palace, hampering the work of what was already a weak and inefficient state. In the days after the quake, aid groups complained about the U.S. military control of the international airport, which became key for supplies because of a damaged seaport.

Flights have since increased, but President Rene Preval and former French Cabinet Minister Nicole S. Guedj on Saturday appealed for the creation of a U.N. humanitarian intervention force to coordinate and mobilize aid in international disasters. The force could be known as the Red Helmets, they suggested, as opposed to the blue-helmeted U.N. military peacekeepers.

"The great problem is the coordination of aid," Preval told reporters at the archbishop's funeral. "What's needed is that the aid be organized at a global level so that it can be mobilized rapidly so there will be no confusion on the ground."

In Miami, Latin pop stars helped raise money for the American Red Cross to aid earthquake victims. Shakira, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Paulina Rubio, Daddy Yankee, Juanes and others were scheduled for a Saturday live edition of a Univision variety show.