More U.S. banks put on "probation"

Posted on by

(Reuters) – U.S. federal regulators have raised the number of struggling banks which they have essentially put on probation, forcing them to fix their problems to avoid potential failures, the Wall Street Journal said.

Citing data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act requests, the paper said The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), along with the Federal Reserve, have issued more memorandums of understanding so far this year than in all of 2008. At the current rate of at least 285, the Fed, OCC and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp are in line to issue nearly 600 of these secret agreements this year, the paper said, compared with last year when 399 such agreements were issued. The memorandums — which can force financial institutions to increase their capital, overhaul management or take other major steps — are not bound to be made public by the banks, the Journal said. The OCC, a division of the Treasury Department that supervises national banks, could not be reached outside regular business hours.

Egypt:Al-Azhar senior scholar refused to describe Shia as Infidel

Posted on by

Al-Azhar senior scholar, Sheikh Ashour, rejected the claim of Sheikh Yaqub based on “Shias are infidel” and stressed that Shias are not infidel and they are not going out of Islam.  In a TV program “Cairo Today”, quarrel was erupted between Mahmoud Ashour, and Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Yacub, senior scholars of Al-Azhar, about Shia doctrine and their expansion in Egypt. Yacub called Shia as Muslims who are out of Islam because they are allegedly insulting the Sahaba and believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s) is the first succession of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He said: “there are fundamental differences between Shia sand Sunnis. By Observing the Shia TV program we can easily understand the deep differences between Shia and Sunni. On the other hand, Sheikh Ashour said that Shias were not going out of Islam, because after reciting the word “there is no God but Allah” all of them are Muslim and belong to Islam. He pointed out that the Shias differ from Sunnis in the jurisprudence, but they are agree in the word “there is no God but Allah and prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger of God”, as well as the holy Quran is the book of God and the miracle of the Messenger of Allah and Kaaba is our Qiblah, so they are not infidels even if they imprecate Sahaba. He pointed out that the Shias may have some differences between themselves, as well as Sunnis, but we should not imprecate each other, because this is a big plot against Muslims which planned by enemies and unbelievers. He added: Egyptians fond the household of Prophet (pbut), but they are not Shia. There is no horror because of converting some people to Shiite religion and it doesn’t mean in future we would encounter the wave of Shia thoughts.

Ahmadinejad receives presidential order on August 3

Posted on by

The conformation ceremony takes place on Monday, where re- elected president receive his order from Supreme Leader in front of influential figures.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as the 10th president of the Islamic republic on August 5. 

Iraq:Grand Ayatollah Sistani Emphasizes National Unity

Posted on by

In a meeting with the Iraqi government spokesman, Ali ad-Dabbagh, he emphasized the need for the government officials to serve the people. And latest political conditions in the country.
In related news, the Iraqi News Agency announced that in separate meetings that Dabbagh had with Iraqi other sources of jurisprudence in holy Najaf, including Ayatollah Ishaq al-Fayyaz and Ayatollah Mohmmad Sa’eed Hakim the religious authorities stressed unity and national confidence in order to guarantee Iraq’s future.  The government spokesman briefed them on the latest political conditions in the country.

UN chief calls Benazir Income Support Programme model for other countries

Posted on by

UNITED NATIONS, July 31 (APP): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday praised the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), saying it was oriented along the lines of his vision of helping the world’s most vulnerable people. The secretary-general made these remarks during a meeting with Chairperson of BISP Farzana Raja at UN Headquarters in New York when she briefed him on the progress resulting from the eight-months-old programme, which is aimed at empowering women and reducing poverty. Ms. Raja told Pakistani journalists after the 30-minute meeting that the Secretary-General took note of the fact that BISP is based on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the globally agreed set of social and economic targets that are supposed to be realized by 2015. She said that Ban proposed that Pakistan share this “model programme”  with other countries, especially those in South Asia. “I congratulate the President (Asif Ali Zardari) and you for helping the most vulnerable people of your country,” Ban told the Chairperson. “This programme is good for your country, good for your people and should be shared with other countries.” Through sheer hard work, she said, programme is already extending financial help to 2.2 million deserving families against the target of 3.5 million in which the household woman receives Rs. 1,000 per month. The idea, she added, was to bring the women into the mainstream.  Besides cash help, the programme caries other benefits like health and accident insurances as well as vocational training so that the recipients ultimately become self-sufficient. Farzana Raja said she also told the secretary-general that the programme was non-partisan designed to help the most deserving Pakistanis. “This is not a party specific programme, it is for the people of Pakistan, because of its transparency, the entire world, donor agencies are cooperating and are sending their offers to us,” she said. Ms. Raja said a poverty census was being carried out across the country with the help of the World Bank to identify more deserving households so that they could benefit from the programme. In addition, She said the BISP was also helping the families of the victims of bomb blasts and those of the earthquakes as well as the displaced persons from the Swat region.

During the meeting, Ms. Raja also conveyed messages of greetings from President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to the secretary-general who warmly reciprocated their sentiments. She also said she invited Ban on behalf of the Government of Pakistan and he accepted the invitation.

Farzana Raja also paid a courtesy call on the President of the UN General Assembly, Miguel D’Escoto Brokmann. Earlier, she conferred with Ajay Chibber, Assistant Secretary-Generl and Regional Director at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).