Month: November 2011

Islamic Banking has experienced a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent over the past three years and is predicted to almost double to $1.8 trillion in assets by 2016, yet suspicion is still present on the power of Islamic banking to eliminate the problem of leverage: Western Debt Crisis Spurs Growth of Islamic Finance (Reuters)…

Seeing the trees: a close-up look at the voting in Egypt; a man votes for the first time because his son was killed in Tahrir Square and his wife refuses to vote for the same reason: One Egyptian Voter Cast a Ballot in Honor of His Son (Washington Post with Foreign Policy) The community service…

NATO’s killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers provokes a crisis as Pakistanis demand the US abandon the airbase from which its drone strikes are launched, to the delight of the Afghanis: NATO Strike on Pakistan Military ‘Couldn’t Come at a Worse Time’ (Christian Science Monitor) Pakistan Orders US to Leave Airbase in Row over Deadly Nato…

Amid relief over the release of the American students, liberal Muslim critic of the regime Mona Eltahawy left detention with “her left arm and right hand broken and in casts,”saying she had experienced “the tip of the iceberg of the brutality Egyptians experience everyday” … Prominent US-Egyptian Columnist Alleges Police Sexually Abused Her in Detention…

The military’s failure to fulfill its promises to the Egyptian people has left Egypt in a highly complicated and awkward bind: Egyptian Military Using ‘More Dangerous’ Teargas on Tahrir Square Protesters (Guardian) US Hardens Its Line Against Egypt Military (Christian Science Monitor) Toss the Egyptian Transition Plan Out the Window (Christian Science Monitor) Egypt Protesters…

“”Our demands are clear,’ said Khaled El-Sayed, a protester from the Youth Revolution Coalition and a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election. ‘We want the military council to step down and hand over authority to a national salvation government with full authority.’ He also demanded” trials “for the ‘horrific crimes’ of the past few days,…

With the death toll mounting, Egyptian youth realize their trust in the military has been betrayed, Muslim puritans seek to take advantage of the discontent while the resignation of the cabinet raises questions as to whether next week’s  elections will take place on schedule: Egypt’s Tahrir Square Protests: A Second Revolution Unfolding Now? (Christian Science…

A rally dominated by Islamist groups of various stripes threatens the military regime in a manner reminiscent of last January’s demonstrations … Egypt Fills Tahrir Square, This Time with Islamists in Lead (Christian Science Monitor) Egypt: Violent Clashes in Cairo Leave Dozens Injured (Guardian Unlimited) Will Egypt’s Tahrir Protests Today Dislodge Military Control?  (Christian Science…

The Arab League ultimatum has no impact on Assad and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood welcomes Turkish, but not Western, intervention as the situation increasingly resembles a civil war: Syria Defiant in Face of Arab League Warnings over Crackdown (Guardian) Muslim Brotherhood Rejects NATO Intervention in Syria (euronews) Syria Conflict ‘Similar to Civil War’, Russia Says…