Year: 2006

Tunisia, Most Competitive Arab & African Economy

Tunisia has the most competitive Arab and African economy according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, published by the World Economic Forum.

The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, together with leading research institutes and business organizations.

The report, which polled 11 thousand business leaders, enjoys high credibility in international business mediums and among decision-makers in the finance business.

Internationally, Tunisia ranked number 30 out of 125 countries, climbing seven positions compared to last year

Order A Fatwa

Need a custom-made fatwa (religious decree) to fit your needs?
Apparently you can get that in India for the great price of $22 per fatwa.
This month being Ramadan and all, I bet you could get a special offer if you order a bunch, sort of like a “buy 2 get 1 for free” or something.

Among the fatwas bought were decrees saying Muslims may not use credit cards or double beds. One cleric issued a fatwa in support of watching TV; another wrote one against.

So let your imagination run wild and order the fatwa you want as long as the offer lasts. I doubt these clerics will even have a problem issuing fatwas that directly contradict with the teachings of the Koran.

What a scandal!!

[Source: TIME]
[Via: Moorish Girl]

Earth Hottest in Thousands of Years

The world’s temperature has increased to levels not seen in at least 12,000 years, U.S. climate scientists report in today’s issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.” Rapid warming has occurred in the past 30 years, the researchers said, and there is little doubt that human activities are the primary factor.

Study coauthor James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies said the new findings imply that the world is “getting close to dangerous levels” of manmade greenhouse gases.

The study concludes the Earth is now reaching and passing through the warmest levels in the current interglacial period, which has lasted nearly 12,000 years. This warming is also forcing a migration of plant and animal species toward the poles, the researchers said.

“But if further global warming reaches 2 or 3 degrees Celsius, we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know.” Hansen said.

European scientists recently reported dramatic openings over large areas of the Arctic’s perennial sea ice pack in August and a study released last week found Greenland’s ice sheet is melting far faster than scientists had previously thought.

Two other studies published this month by NASA scientists indicate that Arctic sea ice is melting at extraordinary rates.

Furthermore, British scientists reported this month that ice core records from Antarctica show the current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide – the leading greenhouse gas – are higher now than at any time in the past 800,000 years and increasing at an unprecedented rate.

[Source: Environment News Service]

Study: Muslims, Arabs saw pay drop after 9/11

Post-9/11 anti-Islamic and anti-Middle Eastern sentiment hasn’t just taken an emotional toll on Muslim and Arab men living in the United States. It has also put a dent in their checkbooks, a study indicates.

Arab and Muslim men saw their wages and weekly earnings drop by 10 percent after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the research reveals.

The largest decreases, according to the data collected from over 4,000 men between 1997 and 2005, occurred in locations that reported higher rates of ethnic and religious-based hate crimes.

Part of the reason pay fell is that these men, mostly from predominantly Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, found fewer opportunities and had to find work in different industries that paid less than the jobs they used to be employed in after 9/11, said the study’s co-author, Robert Kaestner, a University of Illinois at Chicago economics professor.

In addition, Kaestner said, most Muslim and Arab men, possibly wary of the reception they might receive in another state, curbed their travel within the country after 9/11, which may have kept them from seeking better jobs.

[Source: Chicago Sun-Times]
[Via: The Emirates Economist]

Another Year, Another Ramadan

The holy month of Ramadan starts tomorrow in Tunisia. It already started today in Saudi Arabia and a number of other Arab countries.
So as usual, we’ve started another Ramadan with the whole crescent appearing/disappearing act.

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone.
May it be a happy and blessed month for you all.

This Ramadan is even more special for us this year because it’s our first as a small family with the addition of Adam. It might not really change much in reality, but it just feels great.

Ramadan is a great time of year, and a great chance for people to get closer to God and to each other. So I hope you all get the chance to make the best out of it.
Let this not be just another Ramadan wasted on excess food and endless lists of useless series.

Shakira Live In Tunisia

ShakiraColumbian pop star Shakira will be performing live in Tunisia soon; most probably this November 2006 at the Menzah stadium, where others like Michael Jackson, Sting and Mariah Carey performed before her.
(Or at least that’s what WebManagerCenter are reporting, based on information from a trusted source.)

Personally, I think this should be a more successful and fun concert than both of Mariah’s concerts put together, which more or less were a flop from what I’ve heard.

If this turns out to be true and I’m in the mood at the time, I think I just might go; Shakira’s got a couple of songs I really like, and I haven’t been to a live concert for a while, so maybe…

[Via: Chouchitou]
[Source: WebManagerCenter]

Anousheh Ansari, First Muslim Woman On International Space Station

Iranian-born Anousheh Ansari made history last thursday, when she became the first Muslim woman to reach the International Space Station on board Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with two astronauts.

Ansari is also the world’s first female space tourist. She accompanied NASA’s Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin.

The three blasted off on Monday from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their TMA-9 space vehicle docked successfully with the ISS at 0521 GMT.

Ansari, who owns a telecom company in the US, paid $20 million to make her space dream come true after a six-month course of Russian language and cosmonaut at the Gagarin centre in Stellar City near Moscow.

The first muslim man in space was Prince Sultan ibn Salman ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al Sa’ud of Saudi Arabia who traveled to space aboard a NASA space shuttle in 1985.

Triple-Standard DVD

Some promising news from the DVD standards front…

The electronics industry is in a fine mess, with two blue-laser disc standards (Blu-ray and HD-DVD) competing to succeed ordinary red-laser DVDs.

However, two top Warner engineers, Alan Bell and Lewis Ostrover, have been working on a cheaper and more elegant solution.

Blu-ray uses a 405-nanometre wavelength laser to read data from tracks 0.1-millimetres-deep on the top surface of a disc. HD-DVD, on the other hand, uses the same wavelength to read recordings at a depth of 0.6 mm.

Warner