http://www.salaam.co.uk/news Salaam News - the muslim spin on the events that matter There is no economic alternative to the western model, went the mantra. Now the collapse of this absurd economic orthodoxy that has dominated politics for nearly 30 years is inevitable. Its triumphalist arrogance, its insistence on orthodoxy, has been comparable to Soviet communism in its scale. Then 9/11 and for the next seven years a sideshow was offered as a distraction with caricature villains and thriller drama. While eyes were on the absurd charade of the "threat of Islamist terrorism to western civilisation", the real doomsday scenario that poses a far greater threat to western civilisation (whatever that is) was gathering pace right next to Ground Zero, in Wall Street. Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253804 The freedom crusaders's shock and awe barbarity campaign has liberated thousands of innocent civilians from their lives. While the crusaders have now seen that defeat is at hand, they are now spinning their war to a victory that is non-existent. But victims of the barbarity could be less forgiving and blowback that dwarfs the 11 September attacks could be a nightmarish reality. Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253806 "Palestinians ceased to exist in the United States on Thursday night. Both Joe Biden and Sarah Palin managed to avoid the use of that poisonous word. "Palestine" and "Palestinians" – that most cancerous, slippery, dangerous concept – simply did not exist in the vice-presidential debate. The phrase "Israeli occupation" was mercifully left unused. Neither the words "Jewish colony" nor "Jewish settlement" – not even that cowardly old get-out clause of American journalism, "Jewish neighbourhood" – got a look-in. Nope", writes Robert Fisk. Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253807 Neoliberalism was founded on fraudulent financial engineering underwritten by "shock and awe barbarity". The latter fell apart in Afghanistan and Iraq. The former, based on debt reinforced by brute might, came unstuck soon after and we are in the midst of a full blown credit crisis. The frightening question now is how will a humiliated and bankrupt "hyperpower" react to the required savage downsizing? Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253814 As recession looms in the West, cracks are appearing in the oil-fueled boom that has made Dubai, with its futuristic skyscrapers on the turquoise waters of the Gulf, a global byword for unfettered growth. Banks are reining in lending, casting a pall over corporate finance and building plans. Oil prices have been dropping. Stock markets across the region have been falling since June. After insisting for days that the oil-rich Gulf region was fully "insulated" from financial troubles abroad, the Emirates' Central Bank made about $13.6 billion available on Sept. 22 to ease credit problems, in an echo of bailout measures in the United States. Monday 06th October 2008 Business http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253810 There is no shortage of anti-Muslim hysteria In Europe and the surge in Islamophobia has reached new heights. Sensible debate has been replaced by racist and bigoted opinions that feed the flames of hatred and are just a step away from past scenes from Europe's darkest hour. Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253808 Balfour Beatty, the UK construction group, has been forced to surrender £2.25 million in unlawful proceeds after a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation found inaccurate accounting practices at an Egyptian joint venture. The payment, which will be swelled by Balfour Beatty’s contribution towards the SFO’s costs, relates to accounting irregularities at a joint venture between Balfour and an Egyptian company established to build the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandra, Egypt in 1996. Monday 06th October 2008 Law http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253815 In 1998, five Cuban men were arrested for infiltrating groups in the US that were plotting attacks on Cuba. They have not received a fair trial and two have not seen their families since. While the case is a cause célèbre throughout Latin America it is virtually unknown in the United States. It is a story that in many ways encapsulates the conflict between Cuba and its neighbour for the past half-century and has ramifications both for the current bogus "war on terror" and for the US presidential election campaign. Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253805 The world's seas are absorbing so much carbon dioxide that they are 30 per cent more acidic than they were at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The change is three times greater and has happened 100 times faster than at any other time during the past 20 million years. Monday 06th October 2008 Nature http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253809 Changes in women's lives in Bamian are an enormous step for Afghanistan as a whole. And they may point the way to broader possibilities for women, eventually, if peace can be secured in this very conservative Muslim society, which has been dominated by militia commanders and warlords during the last 30 years of war. In a country with low rankings on many indicators of social progress, women and girls are the most disadvantaged. Monday 06th October 2008 Women http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253812 Heba Said Ahmed, who had polio as a child, won a gold medal in power lifting at the Paralympic Games in China this summer. She broke a world record in her 82.5-kilogram, or 181-pound, weight class, lifting 152.5 kilograms. She was lauded as an Egyptian Hercules but in reality the plight of the disabled in Egypt serves as familiar reminders that medals and world records were never the point for Ahmed. Monday 06th October 2008 Sports http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253811 Wednesday's near conclusion of a civilian nuclear deal between the United States and India has already been described as a "non-proliferation disaster". But for Washington and Delhi, apart from lucrative business opportunities, the accord is a major step in a military relationship that could blossom into a fully fledged alliance. Monday 06th October 2008 Politics http://www.salaam.co.uk/news/index.php#253813