Hizb ut-Tahrir Wilayah of Pakistan held a demonstration in protest at the visit of the US envoy Richard Holbrooke to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The demonstration reiterated the Hizb's rejection of the US occupation of the Islamic lands and called for the expulsion of the occupiers and the unification of Pakistan and Afghanistan to deter the attacks of the aggressors.

Britain to launch glossy ads to win Pakistanis over to the West

On Feb 10 2009, The English newspaper The Guardian revealed that Prominent British Muslims were being recruited to star in a UK government-backed advertising campaign aimed at preventing people in Pakistan from engaging in extremist activity, the Guardian has learned. The three-month public relations offensive, called I Am the West, consists of television commercials and high-profile events in regions such as Peshawar and Mirpur. It is being funded by the Foreign Office which is paying up to £400,000 for a pilot project. The campaign has four key aims: to ensure Pakistanis realise the west is not "anti-Islamic", that British society is not "anti-Islam", to demonstrate the extent to which Muslims are integrated into British society and to stimulate and facilitate "constructive debate" on the compatibility of liberal and Muslim values. If the West really wants to show that it is not against Islam and Pakistan , the very least it can do, is: a) stop its military campaign against FATA, b) withdraw its forces from the Afghanistan , c) permanently discontinue its interference in Pakistani politics and d) cede its support to agent rulers.

Obama's economic plans: Lifeboats for the rich and powerful

It expected that Obama's $780 billion dollar economic stimulus plan will become law by next week. The stimulus plan includes tax cuts, additional spending on infrastructure and aid to the US states, which are experiencing grave budget difficulties. Only a portion of the stimulus will be spent in 2009, the bulk of the money will be spent by the end of 2010, when supposedly the effects of recession are still likely to be lingering. However, stimulus plan does very little to address the needs of the common man. Worse still is the news that Obama's treasury secretary is looking to pump $2 trillion dollars to prop up failing banks. The American people must be wondering why almost $3 trillion of tax-payers money-their money- is in effect going to the super rich such as the banks and the big corporation who are going to rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure. What the US government is doing is nothing short of daylight robbery- a modern sort of robin hood where the poor are robbed to pay for the life-styles of the rich.

Confusion over ICC's warrant to arrest Bashir

The International Criminal Court has denied media reports the court's judges have agreed to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al Bashir. According to The New York Times newspaper and the Reuters news agency, diplomats at the United Nations have said International Criminal Court judges have approved an arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar al-Bashir. But the ICC has issued a statement saying that no warrant has been issued and the judges have not made a decision. An official announcement is expected sometime in February. The ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is seeking to charge President al-Bashir with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide for the Sudanese government's role in the conflict in the western region of Darfur. The reports did not say which charges the judges had agreed to. The ICC is under pressure from Europe to issue a warrant against Bashir for the alleged genocide in Darfur. But American efforts to seek a compromise with Europe over Bashir's future have so far stalled any such judgement.

Bakiyev ready to sell Kyrgyzstan to the highest bidder

Kyrgyzstan's president accused the United States on Wednesday of refusing to heed repeated calls to pay more rent for its air base in his country but did not say if he would welcome a fresh U.S. offer. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said last week he would evict U.S. forces from Manas, an important staging post for U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan. He made the announcement in Moscow after securing more than $2 billion in Russian aid and credit. Speaking about the Americans, He said, "Over the last three years I have personally raised this question with (top U.S. officials). I have always said to them: 'We have to review the terms of our agreement. Prices have changed and Kyrgyzstan is in a difficult financial situation'. "And they always replied: 'Okay, Okay, Okay, Okay." They repeated that for years. But how long can one wait? We are a sovereign nation. We must have some respect for ourselves." Indeed, Bakiyev idea of national dignity is to rent out Kyrgyzstan's military assets to the highest bidder and facilitate military occupation of the country by a foreign power.

Holbrooke's visit brings no reprieve to US bombings in Pakistan

Mr. Holbrooke's trip to Pakistan, and his four-day tour of Afghanistan, which began on Thursday, was part of a top-to-bottom review of American policy in the region ordered by President Obama. However, Holbrooke's visit did not bring an end to the American bombing of FATA or an increase in bilateral aid. In fact his silence was further confirmation that there is no difference between the policies pursued by Bush and Obama.

India to make soft drink from cow urine

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, India's leading Hindu cultural group, has developed Gau Jal or Cow Water, at its research centre in the Indian holy city of Haridwar on the River Ganges, and hopes it will be marketed as a 'healthy' alternative to Coke and Pepsi. "We refer to gau ark (cow urine) as gau jal (cow water) as it has immense potential to cure various diseases. We have developed a soft drink formula with gau jal as the base and it has been sent to a laboratory at Lucknow for testing," said director Om Prakash. Hindus worship cows and slaughtering them is illegal in some Indian states. Cow dung is traditionally used as a fuel and disinfectant in villages, while cow urine and dung are often consumed in rituals to "purify" those on the bottom rungs of the Hindu caste system. In some Indian states, cow dung and urine are sold in regular dairy shops alongside milk and yogurt.

Iceland unveils world's first homosexual leader

This week Iceland announced a new government that will be headed by the modern world's first openly Lesbian leader-Johanna Sigurdardottir. Sigurdardottir, 66, is a former air stewardess who was divorced from the father of her two sons, a banker, and now lives with her British-educated girlfriend Jonina Leosdottir, a 54-year-old author, playwright and journalist. The couple signed a civil partnership agreement in 2002. "I don't think her sexual orientation matters. Our voters are pretty liberal, they don't care about any of that," Skuli Helgeson, Social Democratic Alliance's general secretary, told the BBC. In most of Western Europe politicians are openly declaring their homosexuality. Only last week, Roger Karoutchi became the first French government minister to disclose his homosexuality. Other notable European politicians who have declared their homosexuality include the Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, and the governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit.

America on the brink of a major economic catastrophe

Recently, the famous US future trend forecaster Gerald Calente was interviewed by economics writer Lew Rockwell about the American economy. This is what Calente said, "We are going from the "Panic of '08" into the "Collapse of '09", and it is unstoppable. It will be the greatest depression ever. In the middle of February or March, there will be disastrous collapses of other retail giants. There will be a collapse in commercial real estate which will dwarf the subprime problem.

There will be a revolt in this county, and the government is planning on ways of suppressing it. For example, Arizona is training police for economic calamity and riots. The military is building detention centres, and training military for riot control. There's no stopping this.
The Obama administration will take draconian measures, such as calling a bank holiday, confiscating gold, or something else dramatic which will really hurt the little people and enrich the too-big-to-fails.

Those in the know aren't trying to save the economy. The ship is sinking, and the wealthy are just scrambling to secure their own life boats."

Gaza: Value of a British life versus a Muslim life

On 1/2/2009 the BBC reported that the family of a British cameraman shot dead in Gaza in 2003 have accepted a reported £1.5m payout from Israel. James Miller, 34, from Devon, was filming a documentary when he was shot dead in the town of Rafah. His family, who have said he was shot by a soldier, said it was "probably the closest (we) will get to an admission of guilt on the part of the Israelis". An Israeli inquiry cleared a soldier of firearms misuse but a UK inquest later ruled Mr Miller was unlawfully killed. How many Palestinians have been unlawfully killed in Gaza by Israel and through the economic blockade by the western powers in collaboration with the neighbouring rulers? And yet there is no compensation or pressure from western governments on Israel to conduct an inquest. Truly, the West has turned upside down its own concept of human rights- where the blood of western citizens is worth much more than the blood of Muslims. The Messenger or Allah (saw) said, "The blood of a Muslim is worth more than the Ka'ba and all its surroundings."

Saudi fighter jets happy perform air tricks

No sooner had Israel bombed Gaza to smithereens, Saudi hawks performed complex air tricks at Al Ain air show in the UAE. Rather than deploy the fighter jets in Palestine the Saudi leadership were happy to donate 61 truckloads of food, 30 ambulances and a variety of other meagre supplies to alleviate the pain and suffering of the Palestinians. What is the point of spending billion dollars on military hardware that will never be used to defend the blood and honour of Muslims?

US rewards Musharraf for spilling Muslim blood and safeguarding American interests

On his visit to Washington, Musharraf was offered a job at the famous Middle East Institute. The institute's former head, former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlain said Musharraf should be the institute's next scholar-in-residence on Pakistan. Musharraf on his visit was unrepentant and defended his policies of sending Pakistani troops into FATA and allowing US to bomb the tribal areas with impunity. If he accepts, he will surpass America most loyal agent Gamal Abdul Nasser in designing pro-American policies for the Middle East. His track record in securing American interests in Pakistan is just a taste of things to come.

Britain admits its foreign policy radicalises Muslims

Since 7 July 2005, the British government and its supporters have avidly refused to blame Britain's foreign policy for the radicalisation of its Muslim populace. But recently, the security minister told a conference in London otherwise. He said, "Tony Blair, I'm afraid, would never accept that our foreign policy actually had any impact on radicalisation. That's clearly rubbish. Gordon Brown is much clearer. The causes are so diverse. We didn't understand it, we still don't totally understand it but we actually have a far, far better understanding than we did in the past. To pretend what happens abroad has no impact is nonsense."

The minister also suggested that Israel's action in Gaza earlier this month would also hinder the Government's efforts to prevent the radicalisation of British Muslims. It is very hard to believe that the British government, which has a longstanding history of colonisation, oppression and occupation of nations and peoples now realises that there is an inconvertible link between foreign policy and radicalisation. Perhaps Brown's sudden clarity has more in common with America's change of tone towards Muslims under Obama.

The West and not Israel is the issue

For too long now, the diabolical behaviour of the Jewish state towards Palestinians have preoccupied Muslim minds. The Jewish state's deeds are a synthesis of Western endeavours to divert the attention of Muslims away from their colonisation. Instead, if the Muslim masses focussed their energies on ridding their rulers and their colonialist masters from the region, the problem of Palestinian people will be resolved once and for all.

Obama seeks better colonisation of the Muslim world

Earlier this week, speaking to Al-Arabiya Television Obama told the Muslim world that America is not your enemy. The comments echo those made during the presidential inauguration, when Obama said, "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." However, America's continued silence over Gaza, and its persistent drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt gravely undermine Obama's claims of respect towards the Muslim world. On the contrary, it suggests that an arrogant America seeks nothing more than better colonialism of the Muslim world through the select appeasement of a few over the oppression of the majority. And just to prove the point, Obama launched a tirade against phantom al-Qaeda for failing to provide education and healthcare, whilst absolving the agent rulers from providing these basic services. Indeed, it is America the vanguard of capitalism that is not only intellectually and morally bankrupt, but is the new sick man of the world.

IMF: The worst economic crisis since 1940

This week the IMF again changed its economic forecast for the world economy, and announced that the present crisis is the worst since WWII. Wealthy nations will experience their worst recession in the post-war period as a financial crisis continues to spread throughout their economies, the International Monetary Fund said as it slashed its global economic forecasts. A contraction of two percent is expected in 2009, even with massive fiscal stimulus packages planned by all rich countries. "We now expect the global economy to come to a virtual halt," said Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist. This is not the first time the IMF has revised its forecast and it suggests that the IMF like the Western politicians and capitalists have no clue about the recovery-if it happens at all. The leaders of capitalism cannot even agree on the scale of the economic crisis. George Soros, who "broke the Bank of England" in the crisis of 1992, said the size of the problem facing the world's financial system is "significantly larger than in the 1930s" i.e. larger than the great depression.

Islamists in Somalia take control

On 27 Jan Al-Shabab seized the seat of the Somali parliament and said that it will establish Shariah law in the city. Al-Shabab took over Baidoa, a day after Ethiopian troops who had been propping up the government ended their two year occupation. "We will establish an Islamic administration for the town, and appeal to residents to remain calm," al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Muktar Robow said. The takeover came as Somalia's parliament meets this week in neighbouring Djibouti to elect a new president. It appears unlikely the parliamentarians will be able to return to Baidoa, 155 miles (250 kilometers) southwest of the capital. Al-Shabab, has been gaining ground as Somalia's American-backed government crumbles.

Obama follows Bush and bombs Pakistan

Since assuming office, Obama has followed Bush and bombed Pakistan's tribal belt. With the administration terming Pakistan's border with Afghanistan as the most pressing issue of the Obama presidency, and with the arrival of an extra 30,000 US soldiers this year in Afghanistan, the situation is bound to deteriorate. America could not have executed its war without the aid of the Pakistani leadership. During the Bush years the connivance and treachery of the Pakistani leadership reached new heights. Under Kiyani and Zardari it is expected that the betrayal will surpass the records set by Musharraf and his government.