Black People In Business - World Wide

Know a hero? Nominate them!

JamJam — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:15:05 +0000

Nominations for 2012 CNN Heroes are being accepted online through August 31.

But these outstanding men and women would not have received this honor without someone taking the time to nominate them.

Tell us about individuals who are giving back in your community, people whose selflessness and personal stories inspire you. Your efforts could have a big impact.

Appreccia Faulkner nominated her mother, Diane Latiker, who opened her home to youth in a gang-ridden neighborhood.

Jack Harvey nominated someone he met at a conference: Derreck Kayongo, who recycles partially used hotel soap and distributes it to developing countries.

Marlene Jones nominated her real estate broker, Sal Dimiceli, who helps 500 people a year with food, rent and other necessities.

Latiker, Kayongo and Dimiceli all became Top 10 CNN Heroes in 2011, and the global recognition brought $50,000 to each honoree. Seeing them acknowledged on the world stage was rewarding to those who nominated them.

“Sal makes such a difference to people in this community, I wanted someone to know about him,” Jones said. When Dimiceli was honored as a CNN Hero, “I said: ‘Wow! I made a difference!’ “

Do you know an everyday person changing the world? It’s easy to nominate them as a CNN Hero. Here are some suggestions we hope will help you in crafting your nomination.

â¢ Think about what makes your hero special. Ask yourself: What makes my nominee unique? What specific accomplishment has he or she achieved that is truly remarkable? What impact has his or her work had on others? We encourage you to watch videos of previous CNN Heroes to familiarize yourself with the achievements of the inspiring individuals we honor as “everyday people changing the world.”

â¢ Take a look at our nomination form. We suggest you review the information requested about yourself, your nominee and his or her work before filling out your submission.

â¢ Tell us about your hero. Take your time and write from the heart. Remember: What you share — in your own words — is the most important factor in advancing a nomination for further consideration. You can enter your answers to the essay questions directly on the form, or write them first in a word-processing document and “cut and paste” them into each answer field. Please note the information you provide will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

â¢ Click “Submit.” If your nomination has been successfully transmitted, you’ll see a “thank you” message on your screen. If you provided us with your e-mail address, we’ll also send a confirmation your nomination has been received. And yes, we read each and every one.

That’s it. Nominations for 2012 CNN Heroes remain open through August 31.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who is eligible to be considered as a CNN Hero?
A: Nominations must be in the name of a single individual, at least 13 years of age, whose accomplishment occurred (or continued) after September 1, 2011. Nominees in the “Young Wonder” category must be 25 or younger. Groups and organizations are ineligible for consideration. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Citizens of voided countries are also ineligible. For complete details on eligibility requirements and other rules governing selection of CNN Heroes, please read our legal disclosures.

Q: How will I know if my hero is selected?
A: Because of the high volume of nominations received, we cannot respond individually to each submission. However, if your nomination advances, we will contact you and your nominee through the contact information you provide.

Q: What if I don’t know my nominee’s address, e-mail and telephone number?
A: Please make every effort to provide as much contact information as possible. We require either an e-mail address or telephone number so we may quickly contact your nominee to obtain permission for consideration as a CNN Hero.

Q: May I submit additional supportive information about my nominee?
A: There’s space at the end of the form to provide links to articles or websites with more information about your hero. Please do not send additional material unless requested.

Q: May I mail or fax my nomination?
A: No. All nominations must be submitted online through our website.

Q: What if my nomination form is rejected?
A: When filling out your form, please note that certain information is required. Those fields are marked with an asterisk (*). If you are not certain of your hero’s nationality, select “Other” from the country drop-down menu. Likewise, if you’re unsure which category his or her cause belongs in, just click “Other.”

CNN is not responsible for technical problems that may prevent your submission from being successfully transmitted. You may wish to first write and save the answers to essay questions in a word-processing document. That way, if you need to resubmit your nomination, you can “cut and paste” those answers into the form without rewriting them.

Q: Can I buy tickets to “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute”?
A: Unfortunately, seating is limited and by invitation only. Air dates and times for the global broadcast of “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” will be announced later this year.

Have other questions or comments about CNN Heroes? Contact us.

In SoHo, Kosher Rules Get New Twist

JamJam — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:15:05 +0000

By SUMATHI REDDY

The plans for Jezebel look like many other SoHo restaurants aiming to draw a hip, downtown crowd.

The difference is in the details: A gold-plated shofar will serve as the door handle. Art work will include familiar pieces but with different faces (Woody Allen in a commissioned re-creation of “The Last Supper”). And an Orthodox Jewish overseer will keep a close eye on the kitchen at all times to make sure all’s kosher. Literally.

“We’re looking to change the norm of where the bar for kosher is,” said Menachem Senderowicz, 34 years old, one of Jezebel’s two owners. “We think we can take it up more than two notches and bring it to a whole new level.”

“We want to become the kings of kosher,” interjected co-owner Henry Stimler, 32.

Messrs. Stimler and Senderowicz are stylish, fast-talking former finance types who plan to open Jezebel in June. It is the first restaurant for their group B&Y Hospitality (British and Yiddish, since Mr. Stimler is British and they both speak Yiddish), and they’ve hired James Beard Award-winning chef Bradford Thompson in the kitchen and Nick Mautone, formerly of Gramercy Tavern, to design the drink program.

The duo, who grew up Orthodox but now classify themselves as “modern Jews,” say the kosher aspect of the restaurant is almost an afterthought, albeit a carefully planned one that will include prepaid Shabbat dinners (and special ovens to keep the food hot) and unpasteurized kosher wine, which can only be handled by observant Jews.

The owners say there is an unmet need for a cutting-edge restaurant for the Jewish demographic that is populating the likes of the nearby SoHo synagogue, where Torah cocktail parties and a Hamptons services are among the offerings, according to the website.

But they insist they are not aiming for a predominately kosher or even Jewish clientele.

“It’s just a wonderful coincidence that everything that comes out of the kitchen is kosher,” said Mr. Stimler.

Jewish food is certainly having a moment in New York, with restaurants such as Kutsher’s Tribeca and Mile End Delicatessen in Brooklyn reinventing old staples like gefilte fish, chopped liver and matzo-ball soup.

But Jezebel is doing the exact opposite. While it will pay homage to certain staples, such as potato latkes, the food is described as modern American fare “that happens to be kosher.”

Roasted bone marrow, lamb bacon and chicken sausage are among the creations that Mr. Thompson, who isn’t Jewish, is whipping up for the menu.

Jezebel isn’t alone in aspiring to cook up gourmet kosher food with crossover appeal. Ladino Tapas Bar and Grill opened last month near Columbus Circle, and Pardes, a downtown Brooklyn restaurant, opened in 2010.

Ladino chef and owner Alexandre Petard estimates that about 35% of his clientele isn’t kosher. Supervised by the Orthodox Union certification agency, Mr. Petard is able to have live music and serve alcohol only on Saturday nights, after the Sabbath has ended and the restaurant opens—when complimentary handmade cigars are also available.

“I’m the first kosher tapas restaurant,” said Mr. Petard, who is French-born and not Jewish.

At Pardes, Moshe Wendel said once he increased his prices after opening, it was more difficult to attract diners who didn’t keep kosher. “Most kosher restaurants aren’t using really high-quality product,” he said. “There’s a very small amount of it, first of all, and the prices are so high. So I out-priced the crossover.”

Perhaps the best known among the new wave of modern kosher restaurants is Prime KO in the Upper West Side, a Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar.

Owner Joey Allaham, who also has two other restaurants, estimated that about 40% of his customers aren’t Jewish. “We don’t only cater to people who are observant,” said Mr. Allaham, who rejects the label “hip,” saying his restaurants are food-focused.

Prime KO, unlike most kosher meat restaurants, remains open on Friday nights for Shabbat dinner. Since money can’t be exchanged once the Sabbath begins (at sunset on Friday) and most hot food can’t be cooked, all dinners are prepaid and prix fixe.

Jezebel, too, plans to remain open on Friday night and has bought two special CVap ovens that are moisture-controlled and designed to hold products for a long period, Mr. Thompson said.

“We want it to be fresh, like you actually choose what you like that night,” he said. “We’re pushing it as far as we can and still staying within the guidelines.”

For Mr. Thompson, the challenges of adhering to a kosher kitchen resulted in a number of challenges. No dairy means using substitutes such as whipped coconut milk for cream and almond milk for cappuccinos.

One unusual aspect of Jezebel: It is among the first kosher restaurant in the city—and possibly the U.S.—to serve unpasteurized, or nonmevushal wine, which must be handled at all times by a an observant Jew.

Most kosher certification agencies won’t permit this. But Rabbi Aaron Mehlman of the National Kosher Supervision agency on the Upper West Side is willing to give it a try.

“It’s an extra level of attention, and it’s very time consuming,” he said. “You have to have one or two people keeping track of these bottles. It’s also a pilot project. If it doesn’t work, I’m going to cancel it. We’re going to be very strict about it.”

Menachem Lubinsky, president of Lubicom Marketing & Consulting, a kosher food consultant, said Rabbi Mehlman is more lenient than some other certification agencies. “There are people who won’t eat in a place that he supervises,” he said. “But he has a strong base of people who will eat there.”

Messrs. Stimler and Senderowicz say they avoided more stringent certification agencies because they may have had a problem with some of their decisions, from the music and artwork (which includes “Jewified” Andy Warhols) to how the hostess dresses.

“We’re taking something that was very outdated and putting a very modern twist on it,” said Mr. Stimler. “And will some people say, ‘Uh, uh, uh’? Of course. But we think we’re doing a very great thing, a very needed thing.”

Write to Sumathi Reddy at sumathi.reddy@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

Ladino Tapas Bar and Grill, a kosher restaurant, is able to have live music and serve alcohol only on Saturday nights, after the Sabbath has ended and the restaurant opens. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the restaurant was able to have live music only on Saturdays.

A version of this article appeared May 14, 2012, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: In SoHo, Kosher Rules Get New Twist.

EPA and American Rivers Award $1.37 Million in Grants to Restore Potomac Highlands Rivers, Clean Water

JamJam — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:15:05 +0000

Release Date: 04/12/2012Contact Information: Stephanie Lindloff, 518-482-2631 (American Rivers)
Amy Kober, 503-708-1145 (American Rivers)
Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron.donna@epa.gov (EPA)

FROSTBURG, MD. (April 12, 2012) – The Environmental Protection Agency and American Rivers today announced the six recipients of $1,373,119 in environmental grants to benefit communities, and protect rivers and clean water in the Potomac Highlands region of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The announcement was made at Frostburg University in Frostburg, Md. by EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, and American Rivers Senior Vice President for Conservation Chris Williams. The university will be involved in the Frostburg Grows, Grow It Local Greenhouse Project, submitted by Western Maryland Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. one of the six projects selected to receive a grant. This project will convert unused mine land into a five-acre greenhouse complex designed to train community members for high quality jobs while producing local food and tree seedlings.
Under a cooperative agreement with EPA, American Rivers is implementing the environmental grant program which supports local economies and quality of life improvements in the Potomac Highlands, as well as protecting the Highlands’ valuable ecosystems, some of which host the most diverse and globally important resources on Earth.
"The communities that comprise the Potomac Highlands will significantly benefit from this grant," said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin." The projects receiving grants today undertake a variety of approaches to achieve tangible economic and environmental benefits for this unique area. These grants will provide jobs and job training as well as a significant boost to recreational activities."

“American Rivers is proud to be part of this ambitious grant program, supporting the work of communities across the Potomac Highlands to safeguard the clean water and healthy rivers that are central to the region’s economic prosperity and quality of life,” said Chris Williams, American Rivers’ senior vice president for conservation. “We congratulate the grant recipients for their hard work and innovative ideas. We hope these projects inspire other communities and are replicated across the region and the nation.” "The exciting Grow it Local Greenhouse project will not only have numerous ecological benefits, it will also support the regional economy and green jobs, a priority of Governor Martin O’Malley," said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin.

Today, American Rivers also announced the availability of a second round of funding through the Potomac Highlands Implementation Grant Program. In 2011, EPA awarded American Rivers a $1.8 million to administrator this grant program. A total of $300,000 from that original fund has become available for organizations to apply for. This round will have the same requirements as the first round. Awards will range between $150,000 and $300,000, so one or two additional grants will be awarded. Proposals are due May 25th. All of the details can be found in the Request for Proposals at www.americanrivers.org/potomachighlands, including staff contact information.

The Highlands region is the headwaters of the Potomac River, which flows through the nation’s capital. The region’s streams and forests, which provide an estimated 186,000 jobs in the timber industry, are a rich habitat for fish, wildlife, and plants, as well as increasingly popular recreation and tourism destination. Many of the region’s streams have been damaged by harmful logging, mining, dams, and other development, but opportunities abound for river restoration and revitalization.

The grant recipients are:
MARYLAND
Frostburg Grows, Grow It Local Greenhouse Project (Frostburg, MD)
Sub-grantee: Western Maryland Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.
Amount: $300,000
This project will convert unused mined land into a 5-acre greenhouse complex designed to train community members for high quality jobs while producing local food and tree seedlings. The environmental, social and economic benefits include reducing Potomac basin flooding and acid mine drainage, reestablishing natural forest habitat on strip-mined lands, creating two permanent, sustainable jobs and a training facility that will help create additional job opportunities, and providing local healthy food to the residents of western Maryland.

PENNSYLVANIA
Marsh Creek Watershed Conservation Easement (Adams County, PA)
Sub-grantee: Land Conservancy of Adams County, PA
Amount: $250,000
The Land Conservancy of Adams County will permanently preserve more than 147 acres of forest through a conservation easement on lands owned by Boyer Nurseries and Orchards. These high quality forestlands include the headwaters of Marsh Creek and are adjacent to more than 900 contiguous acres of preserved forestland that provide important bird habitat. LCAC is seeking other sources of funding to preserve additional orchard lands.

VIRGINIA
Shenandoah Valley Priority Lands Project (VA)
Sub-grantee: Potomac Conservancy
Amount: $150,000
The Priority Lands Project will protect important riverside, agricultural, and forested lands in the northern Shenandoah Valley with permanent conservation easements. Conservation of these key lands, totaling more than 1,100 acres, will preserve water quality in the Shenandoah River, the Potomac River’s largest tributary. It will also safeguard farms, forests, scenery, and the heritage and recreational opportunities for which the Valley is known.

Restoring Peyton Creek (Staunton, VA)
Sub-grantee: City of Staunton, VA
Amount: $209,244
This creek restoration project will improve water quality, encourage 21st century redevelopment, and beautify the Staunton community. The City of Staunton and its partners will remove 300 feet of culvert and restore streamside plantings in Gypsy Hill Park; daylight the stream and restore streamside plantings along 600 linear feet at Gypsy Hill Place; restore the Churchville Avenue Floodplain and; establish a rain garden and restore streamside vegetation along 200 feet of recently daylighted creek at 280/274 North Central Avenue.

Restoring Waynesboro’s Riverfront Parks (Waynesboro, VA)
Sub-grantee: City of Waynesboro
Amount: $163,875
The City of Waynesboro will restore riverside habitat, stabilize streambanks, and improve management of polluted runoff to improve water quality at two public parks along the South River. The project will also improve habitat for eastern brook trout, enhance recreation opportunities, and build upon the South River Greenway project currently underway in Waynesboro.

WEST VIRGINIA
Gandy Ranch Project Restoring Habitat and Landscape Connections (WV)
Sub-grantee: The Nature Conservancy
Amount: $300,000
The project will protect a 455-acre landscape connector between the Laurel Fork Wilderness Area and the Seneca Rocks/Spruce Knob Recreation Area of Monongahela National Forest. It will restore and reconnect red spruce/northern hardwood forests to expand the habitat of the federally protected West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel and Cheat Mountain Salamander. Partners include The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, the Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative, the US Forest Service, and the Mountain Institute.

American Rivers is a leading organization working to protect and restore the nation’s rivers and streams. Rivers connect us to each other, nature, and future generations. Since 1973, American Rivers has fought to preserve these connections, helping protect and restore more than 150,000 miles of rivers through advocacy efforts, on-the-ground projects, and the annual release of America’s Most Endangered Rivers®.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, American Rivers has offices across the country and more than 100,000 supporters, members, and volunteers nationwide.

For more information on EPA’s strategy plan for restoration and protection of EPA Highlands Action Program, go to www.epa.gov/reg3esd1/highlands-plan.html.
For more information about the grant recipients, go to: www.americanrivers.org/potomachighlands.

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Published by: United States Environmental Protection Agence (EPA) (yosemite.epa.gov)

Bill Gross’s New ETF Roars Out of Gate

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:15:05 +0000

By KIRSTEN GRIND

Bill Gross, the co-chief investment officer and founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., recently pulled off an unusual feat: He beat his own performance.

Mr. Gross’s new actively managed exchange-traded fund, the Pimco Total Return ETF, returned 2.52% from its Feb. 29 launch through April 12, according to investment-research firm Morningstar

.

Enlarge Image

Bloomberg News

Pimco’s Bill Gross has launched an exchange-traded fund.

Not only did that beat its benchmark, the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index, by 2.48 percentage points—it also trounced the mutual fund whose strategy it is supposed to track. The Pimco Total Return fund, the world’s largest bond fund, with $252 billion in assets, returned just 0.74% during the period.

Pimco, based in Newport Beach, Calif., is a unit of Allianz SE.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Gross said the ETF has “certainly exceeded our expectations.”

But the gap between the two performances underscores both the promise and the risk of investing in actively managed ETFs.

An exchange-traded fund is like a mutual fund, except that it is traded on an exchange like a stock. Most ETFs track stock or bond indexes. There are only 43 actively managed ETFs in the U.S., compared with 1,422 ETFs overall, according to ETF researcher IndexUniverse.

Investors Take Notice

When Pimco announced that Mr. Gross, known to some as the Bond King, would introduce an ETF, investors took notice. “This is the biggest launch of an actively managed ETF ever,” says Timothy Strauts, Morningstar’s ETF analyst.

Enlarge Image

The Pimco ETF has assets of about $402.5 million thus far, already ranking the portfolio fourth-largest among all actively managed ETFs, according to Morningstar. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BOND.”

But why has the performance of the ETF been so much better than that of the mutual fund that is supposed to follow the same strategy?

The chief difference is that the two funds can’t invest in the same way, Mr. Strauts says. The Total Return Fund is so big that, in order to take a sizable position in a certain section of the market—say, corporate bonds— Pimco often must use derivatives to gain access. By contrast, the ETF can easily move into and out of bond positions without causing big market dislocations.

“There are going to be differences in holdings,” Mr. Strauts says.

The advantage of managing the smaller ETF is that it offers Mr. Gross and his team much more flexibility in investment decisions, says Dave Nadig, director of research at IndexUniverse. Because the ETF can buy and sell bonds quickly, it is able to move more nimbly with market fluctuations. It also is able to buy into single bonds, which it isn’t able to do in the Total Return Fund.

For example, Mr. Gross has increased the ETF’s exposure to high-yield financial corporate debt from 4.3% at the fund’s inception to more than 12% on March 31, according to IndexUniverse. He has done that in part by increasing exposure to a single Citigroup

bond, as well as increasing holdings in the debt of American International Group

.

Those concentrated positions would be impossible to replicate in the larger bond fund, Mr. Nadig says.

A spokesman for Pimco says some divergence between the two funds is to be expected, particularly because regulatory requirements prevent the company from using futures, options or swaps.

“Even if he did want to make that kind of increase in financial corporate debt, he wouldn’t be able to do it that quickly, without moving the market,” Mr. Nadig says. He likened the Pimco Total Return fund to a giant ocean liner and the ETF to a speedboat.

Dangers

But while speedboats move faster, they also can be more dangerous. Holdings in ETFs are reported on a daily basis—unlike mutual funds—so it is easy for investors to track a fund manager’s performance almost in real time.

That transparency comes at a cost. Because the products are traded on exchanges, the high-frequency trading that dominates the stock markets could whipsaw the ETF. During the May 6, 2010 “flash crash,” several ETFs briefly plunged in value before snapping back—locking in big losses for investors who had electronic “sell” orders set at certain prices.

Another concern: The ETF doesn’t have a long track record. Keith Beverly, a principal at financial advisory firm New Paradigm Advisory Group in Durham, N.C., is still trying to decide whether to recommend it for his clients.

On the other hand, the fees are attractive. The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.55%, versus 0.90% for Class A shares of the Total Return Fund, according to Morningstar.

Ultimately, a bet on the ETF is a bet on Mr. Gross. While the Total Return Fund is up 2.88% through March, putting it near the top 10% of its peers, it returned only 4.16% in 2011—its worst performance in five years, according to Morningstar.

Analysts and even Mr. Gross don’t believe the ETF can stay this hot over the long-term.

“We can’t do 2% better than the market every month,” Mr. Gross says.

Write to Kirsten Grind at kirsten.grind@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared April 14, 2012, on page B8 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Bill Gross’s Shiny New Toy.

The parent trap

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:15:05 +0000

According to The Tennesseean, the actress’ mother, Betty Witherspoon, has filed papers claiming that John, her husband of 42 years, married a woman named Tricianne Taylor, while still married to her.

Betty filed a petition for annulment of John Witherspoon’s wedding in January to Taylor. A video shows pregnant Reese walking into the courtroom. She doesn’t make any statements. Her brother also appeared at the hearing, reports people.com.

Article continues below

Los bancos franceses no están en riesgo, dice el presidente del banco central

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:15:05 +0000

Por WILLIAM HOROBIN y NOEMIE BISSERBE

PARÍS (EFE Dow Jones)–No hay ningún grupo bancario francés en riesgo, ni siquiera en el caso de darse un escenario “extremo” en Grecia, dijo el lunes el gobernador del banco central de Francia, Christian Noyer.

Noyer hizo esta declaración durante una rueda de prensa en París, en respuesta a la pregunta de si el Banco de Francia había estudiado el escenario extremo de una salida de Grecia del euro.

La situación de Grecia se ha deteriorado con fuerza, dado que las elecciones no lograron producir una mayoría que apoye los términos del rescate obtenido de los países de la eurozona y del Fondo Monetario Internacional. Noyer dijo que este programa es necesario para Grecia y que interesa a los ciudadanos.

Los bancos franceses han reducido mucho su exposición a la maltrecha economía de Grecia desde agosto del año pasado. BNP Paribas SA, el mayor banco de Francia por capitalización de mercado, tenía sólo 200 millones de euros en deuda griega a 31 de marzo de 2012, mientras que Societe Generale SA tenía 200 millones de euros a finales del mes pasado.

Credit Agricole SA, sin embargo, sigue estando muy expuesto a Grecia, al controlar la entidad Emporiki Bank desde 2006, un gran lastre para las finanzas del banco galo.

Con respecto a los temores de un contagio de Grecia, Noyer dijo que el país heleno es un caso muy particular y diferente de cualquier otro país de la eurozona. Los fundamentales económicos de España, por ejemplo, le dan una fuerte capacidad de recuperación, dijo Noyer, que además es uno de los responsables de políticas del Banco Central Europeo.

Nelly decides not to boycott presidential elections

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:15:05 +0000

Published May 15th, 2012 – 06:05 GMT

Egyptian actor Nelly Kareem said that she will not boycott the Egyptian Presidential Elections that are scheduled to take place by the end of July. She is impressed with former secretary general of the Arab League Amr Musaâs presidential campaign and feels that he will be able to make a difference if elected, said Nelly.

According to the internet website MBC.net, previously Nelly announced that she would boycott the elections since none of the candidates are worth voting for and did not believe their agendas would improve the current instability in Egypt. However, once she listened to Amrâs agenda, she was very impressed and felt he could be the right man for the post.

Nelly said that she hopes the new president of Egypt will be sincere and will aim to improve the unstable conditions and bring security to the country and its people.On a different note, Nelly is currently filming the scenes of her new television drama âThatâ (Self) and hopes to have it ready to be aired during the holy month of Ramadan.

The drama stars Nelly, Basem Samrah, Intisar, Hani Adel and Nahed Al Sibaei. The script is written by Mariam Naom and is directed by Kamilah Abu Thiri.

U.S., Russian crew blast off for space station

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:15:05 +0000

By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya

KOROLYOV, Russia |
Mon May 14, 2012 11:47pm EDT

KOROLYOV, Russia (Reuters) – A Soyuz spaceship carrying two Russians and one American astronaut blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday after more than a month’s delay over a problem with the hull of the Russian-built capsule.

NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba, veteran cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, who is departing on his maiden space flight, launched in clear skies aboard the Soyuz TMA-04M rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0301 GMT (11:01 p.m. EDT on Monday).

Three minutes into the flight, the crew members gave a thumbs-up signal to a camera on board the capsule. An anchor inside Mission Control outside Moscow told assembled scientists and students that the three astronauts were feeling well.

The trio will berth early on Wednesday, joining Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA’s Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers aboard the ISS, a $100 billion research complex orbiting about 240 miles above Earth.

Since the retirement of the space shuttles last year, the United States is dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the ISS, which costs the nation $60 million per person.

Moscow hopes a smooth mission will begin to restore confidence in its once-pioneering space programme after a string of launch mishaps last year, including the failure of a mission touted as post-Soviet Russia’s interplanetary debut.

Tuesday’s flight was delayed from March 30 to allow Russia’s partly state-owned space contractor, RKK Energia, to prepare a new capsule for launch after an accident during pressure tests damaged the Soyuz crew capsule.

The previous crew of three at the ISS returned from the station in late April, following a delay due to safety fears after an unmanned Russian Progress craft taking supplies to the station broke up in the atmosphere in August.

That was one of five botched launches last year that marred celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin’s first human space flight, including a long-awaited unmanned mission to return samples from the Martian moon Phobos.

(Writing by Robin Paxton in Almaty and Alissa de Carbonnel in Moscow; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Spain country profile

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:12:31 +0000

Located at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Europe and Africa, Spain's history and culture are made up of a rich mix of diverse elements.

Through exploration and conquest, Spain became a world power in the 16th century, and it maintained a vast overseas empire until the early 19th century.

Spain's modern history is marked by the bitterly fought Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, and the ensuing 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

After Franco's death in 1975, Spain made the transition to a democratic state and built a successful economy, with King Juan Carlos as head of state.

The constitution of 1978 enshrines respect for linguistic and cultural diversity within a united Spain. The country is divided into 17 regions which all have their own directly elected authorities. The level of autonomy afforded to each region is far from uniform. For example, Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia have special status with their own language and other rights.

Andalucia, Navarre, Valencia and the Canaries in turn have more extensive powers than some other regions. Asturias and Aragon have taken steps to consolidate language rights.

In 2006 a Catalan referendum backed by the central government gave the region greater autonomy.

The Catalans won nation status within Spain and the region's parliament gained extra powers in taxation and judicial matters. The country's regional picture is a complex and evolving one.

One of Spain's most serious domestic issues has been tension in the northern Basque region. A violent campaign by the Basque separatist group ETA has led to nearly 850 deaths over the past four decades.

Eta declared a ceasefire in March 2006 saying it wished to see the start of a democratic process for the Basque region. The move divided opinion in Spain.

Tentative moves to negotiate a lasting peace were dealt a blow when Eta carried out a deadly bomb attack at Madrid's international airport at the end of the year. In June 2007, Eta called off its ceasefire.

The group announced another ceasefire in September 2010, but this time, the government said it was not prepared to enter into negotiations unless Eta renounced violence for good.

International negotiators urged Eta to lay down its weapons at a conference in October 2011, seen as a possible prelude to Eta's dissolution. Neither the Spanish government nor Eta was officially represented.

Until 2008, the Spanish economy was regarded as one of the most dynamic within the EU. However, the mainstays of the economy were tourism and a booming housing market and construction industry, and so the global economic crisis of 2008-9 hit the country hard.

The bursting of the housing bubble tipped Spain into a severe recession and by the end of 2011 the country had an unemployment rate of nearly 23% – the highest jobless rate in Europe. Austerity measures imposed by the government in an effort to reduce the level of public debt sparked a wave of protests.

Spain shares the Iberian peninsula with Portugal and its territory includes the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and two North African enclaves.

From Velazquez in the seventeenth century, through Goya straddling the eighteenth and nineteenth, to Picasso in the twentieth, Spain has the proudest of traditions in art.

Flamenco music and dance are widely admired around the world while Cervantes' novel Don Quixote is one of the most popular ever written.

Cinema is much loved and the films of directors such as Pedro Almodovar attract huge audiences.

Islamic insurance: tackling global hurdles

JamJam — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:12:31 +0000

According to Ernst and Young, the market for Islamic insurance, known as Takaful, will touch $12 billion this year. Whether in the East or the West, whether the company is young or established, ambitions in the industry have not flagged. AMEinfo.com talked to Ghassan Marrouche, General Manager at Takaful Emarat, Dubai, and Marcel Omar Papp, Director Client Markets at Swiss Re in Kuala Lumpur.

“Takaful Emarat was established in 2008. Since May 2008 we are listed the Dubai Financial Market (DFM)”, says Ghassan Marrouche, General Manager at Takaful Emarat (EM) in Dubai. According to the Ernst and Young World Takaful Report 2011, there were ten Takaful operators in the UAE in 2008. They generated contributions of $640m. Globally, contributions grew 31% to $7bn. In 2011, the global Takaful industry will reach $12bn, Ernst and Young predicts.

The quest for security

For Takaful operators such as Takaful EM it has also been difficult during the first years to find a Shariah-compliant re-insurance. Attracted by the huge potential, leading reinsurers such as Munich Re, Swiss Re or Hannover Re developed Re-Takaful. “We entered the market in 2006, first from Zurich, then through our branch in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur”, says Marcel Omar Papp, Director Client Markets at Swiss Re in Kuala Lumpur. With contributions of $1.2bn in 2009, Malaysian Takaful operators are world leaders, says Ernst and Young.

The world’s second largest conventional re-reinsurer, Swiss Re, believes that the Takaful bonanza is far from over. “Look at the market penetration in the Mena-region and South East Asia. There is still huge potential, whether in the segment for individual or corporate insurances”, says Papp.

In Saudi Arabia for example, every citizens spends on average $40 per year for insurance products, only half the amount in Argentina and more than 100 times less than in Switzerland. Ironically, Switzerland’s leading conventional life insurer Swiss Life has not yet touched the fast growing Takaful market, although the stock-listed company runs branches in Dubai and Singapore: “Currently, we are not planning to develop Takaful products”, says Swiss Life spokesperson Irene Fischbach in Zurich.

Takaful EM’s Ghassan Marrouche agrees with Papp: “Products which combine insurances with saving plans are still rare in this part of the world. We recently developed a new solution which enables families to save for the children’s education, all Shariah-compliant. We also offer a whole-of-life map, for example for people who want to retire at age 65 with a small fortune they can save over the years.”

Takaful expansion challenges

According to Marrouche the challenges for Takaful lie in human resources. “In order to build up a Takaful operator, your internal systems must run properly. This is an intensive, but a solvable issue. Finding the right staff is most challenging, because it is time consuming and tricky.” Takaful EM generated some Dhs40m of premiums in 2010.

As demands pick up, new distribution channels become inevitable: “Prior to my joining of the company last December, we had a small team of direct sales people”, Marrouche told AMEinfo.com “Meanwhile, most of our business is generated through brokers. We are currently in the process of closing deals with banks, so that we distribute our products through an Islamic bank. We will announce the agreement shortly, Insha’allah.”

Expanding to new markets is for Ghassan Marrouche and Marcel Omar Papp an option. “Firstly we want to expand our operations in the UAE, but on a later stage we will look at setting up branches in the GCC and in the Levant”, says Takaful EM’s Marrouche. Ernst and Young says that “most GCC markets have witnessed a slowdown in Takaful growth, with only Saudi Arabia’s cooperative insurance market remaining strong on the back of compulsory medical.”

Swiss Re’s Papp identifies potential in Europe, “as 55 million Muslims live in Europe. But it is not that easy to set up Islamic insurances in non-Muslim countries.” Although the UK is home of five Islamic banks and there is Islamic banking in France, Germany and Switzerland, the Takaful industry is yet to conquer Europe. According to Ernst and Young there are only two Takaful operators, one in the UK and one in Luxemburg.