Gaza in shock after rare double homicide

Posted by | Posted in credit repair | Posted on 24-12-2011

The Media Line Staff

Gaza City, Palestinian Territory Omar Ghraieb (The Media – The Gaza Strip is all abuzz about a grisly murder of an elderly couple in a story that brings together drugs, money, the dangers of leaving home and family, and a desperate escape by tunnel to Egypt.

It’s the routine stuff of tabloid journalism in America and Europe, but here in this tiny coastal enclave, killings like those of Mustafa Al-Huweihi and his wife Salma are quite rare, despite all the violence associated with the ruling Hamas movement and the other Islamic groups in Gaza that are in constant war with Israel.

What is known is that on Dec. 12, the Al-Huweihis, aged 60 and 62, were found murdered in their home. The local police said that their initial investigation pointed to a single suspect, Samer Al-Huweihi, the couple’s 21-year-old son. But Samer had fled to Egypt, so the story was left unsolved.

Spotty media coverage of the murders only whetted the public’s appetite by leaving a wide berth for speculation about who was responsible, the murder weapon and the motive. Some reports alleged that Samer killed his parents with a knife, others that he shot them in the head with a Kalashnikov. All agreed that the motive was money. But what was the money for? Some reports said he needed it to feed his drug addiction while others said he wanted to travel.

Suddenly, six days later, the police announced an arrest: Samer had been handed over to them at the Rafah border station by Egyptian police. A trial awaits Samer and he faces the death penalty, but the police are firmly convinced he was behind the brutal murders and this is how they have reconstructed the events of Dec. 12, starting at 1 a.m.

“Samer had taken three Tramadol pills [a narcotic-like pain reliever] and then used a AK-47 Kalashnikov and shot his father Mustafa in the head while he was sleeping in their living room,” Ayman Batniji, Gaza’s police spokesman, told The Media Line. “Samer sat near his father’s body for 10 minutes before deciding to kill his mother Salma because she would have discovered her husband’s dead body if she woke up.

“Samer entered his parents’ room and shot his mother in the head. He then went to his room and stayed there for two hours before taking his father’s keys and driving his father’s car to the gas station where his dad works. There, Samer stole 96,000 shekels ($25,500) and then called a friend who owns a cab and asked him to give him a lift to Rafah.”

Getting out of Gaza isn’t easy. Israel maintains a land and sea blockade to prevent Hamas from smuggling arms and fighters into and out of Gaza. Egypt allows a single crossing point on its border, but those seeking passage have to register. So, Batniji alleged, Samer escaped Gaza that night through one of the many tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border that are used to smuggle consumer goods, weapons and people.

Samer reached the Egyptian town of Al-Arish, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, where he was arrested for entering Egypt illegally and having a huge amount of money in cash on his person. “Local police in Gaza issued a warrant for Samer’s arrest so when he was returned to Rafah border he was immediately arrested,” Batniji says, ending the story.

Arafat Al-Huwehi, Samer’s 29-year-old brother, said he got a call in the morning from the cab driver who gave his brother a lift to Rafah, telling him that his brother had fled to Egypt and confessed to killing his parents. The driver thought Samer was joking but decided to tell Arafat anyway. Arafat went to his parent’s house immediately to find the lifeless bodies of his mother and father drenched in blood.

Samer himself filled in the details in a statement to the police and in an interview with The Media Line that describes a promising start to life foiled by drugs. He had begun out well enough, winning a scholarship during high school to study at the American University of Cairo (AUC) in Egypt.

“I was very happy. I left for Cairo and started an amazing year in the American university there,” he recalled. “[But] I was taken by the nightlife there and I became friends with a bad circle of Egyptians. I became a drug addict and I started drinking. My grades started deteriorating so I lost the scholarship and came back to Gaza.”

One of Samer’s Gazan colleagues and a friend from his AUC days recalled the change in his friend. “Samer was such a polite, clever and hard working student that made us all proud. He was shy yet social and funny,” said the friend, who was hesitant to speak out at all and then only without being identified.

“Everyone liked Samer, then he started changing gradually and next thing you know Samer lost his scholarship. We were all shocked, Samer was the perfect student and such a good guy, but he became friends with a bad crowd who influenced him.”

Back in Gaza, his parents were angry and disappointed with their son. The friend recalls getting e-mails from Samer about how much he missed the freedom he enjoyed in Egypt. But as Samer recounted those days back in Gaza, he was as determined to clean up his act as he was to escape. He applied for another scholarship, this time in America. He succeeded again and was off to the U.S. in 2010, but he repeated mistakes he made in Egypt.

“I became friends with a bad circle there and I went back to drugs and drinking. My grades started deteriorating again. I was involved with girls and my reputation was diminished. I came back to Gaza; my parents were heartbroken and decided they would not let me go back to America. I got angry and began using Tramadol,” he said. “Things became worse from there.”

By his accounting, Tramadol “affects your mind to the extent that it stops working and the drug takes over.” It was about that time that Samer suddenly got in touch with his friend from AUC again after a hiatus of several months. “He said his parents were horrible for preventing him from going back to the States and that he is trying to go back to his old self but that he can’t,” said the friend, who said he was offended by its tone. “He said that he hopes I’m happy because he lost everything and he is back to drugs. He said I was always jealous of him but now he’s nothing.”

His parents had had enough with his Tramadol addiction and refused to give him money to pay for his habit, which turned out to be a fatal decision for them. That led Samer to kill them with the aim of getting the cash he knew his father kept and fleeing Gaza. “After killing them I felt ashamed and regretful, but it was too late, so I had to flee to Egypt,” he recalled.

Samer is behind bars now. Local police say they are still investigating how deeply Samer was the under influence of drugs when he allegedly killed his parents. Either way, they say, he faces either execution or life in prison. Arafat, Samer’s brother, has no sympathy and says he wants the police to apply the harshest punishment.

“I thought I was a good guy, but after being exposed to outside influences my bad side woke up,” Samer said in his statement. “I had an inner conflict between my good and bad sides. I wanted to be good but being bad was so tempting so I couldn’t resist, especially when I was taking drugs.”

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

View full post on Social Issue Stories

Read More

Saudi labor quotas raise hackles from Jedda to Cairo

Posted by | Posted in bad credit debt consolidation | Posted on 01-06-2011

The Media Line Staff

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia David Rosenberg – Saudi Arabia’s latest effort at getting more of its citizens to work is running into opposition everywhere from boardrooms in Jedda to the living rooms in Cairo amid fears that masses of trained and inexpensive expatriate workers will be sent packing and replaced by inexperienced and high-priced locals.

Labor Minster Adel Fakieh reignited the controversy over the weekend when he told business executive in Jedda, the country’s commercial capital, that companies would be able to keep an expatriate employee on their payrolls for no more than six years and that some businesses might lose the right to hire foreigners altogether.

The comments set off a firestorm of criticism in the press by businessmen, who said they would struggle without their expat employees. In Cairo, Saleh Nasr, an official with the Chamber of Commerce, warned that the rule would increase unemployment if Egyptian guest workers are sent home. The Labor Ministry was forced a day later to “clarify” the minister’s remarks.

The kingdom’s 8 million expats – in a population of about 26 million – keep the Saudi economy running. But they also deprive locals of jobs. Even as the economy booms on the back of high oil prices, the official unemployment is 10.5 percent and will likely grow as waves of university students enter the job market.

“Saudization” of the labor force has been a topic of discussion for a long time, but the campaign has taken on more ramifications because of the Arab Spring. Fearful that unrest may spread to the kingdom, the government has boosted spending and created jobs. In Egypt, expat jobs and the money they send home is an important crutch as the economy slows in the face of domestic political turbulence.

Clearing office cubicles and factory floors to make room for Saudis isn’t as simple as it seems. While there are a half million Saudis looking for work and tens of thousands more graduating from institutions of higher education at home and abroad, there’s a mismatch between their skills and the needs of the economy.

“The poor quality of labor has to be lifted to meet the demand businesses in the private sector,” said Nancy Fahim, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in the United Arab Emirates. “That’s a long-term challenge. While they are investing in educational systems the fruit will only appear later. It’s about striking a balance between long-term features of labor market and current needs of population.”

Just over two weeks ago, the government and the South Korean company Samsung inaugurated the $100 million Samsung Naffora Techno Valley in Jubail, which will serve as a recruitment, education and training hub for Saudi engineers and includes dormitories, dining facilities and a sports center.

Another problem is cost. Private sector employers don’t offer the same pay and conditions as the public sector, so Saudis naturally gravitate to government jobs. Of the 8 million or so expats working in Saudi Arabia, about 6.9 million are employed by private businesses. By comparison, only about 680,000 Saudi nationals work in the private sector.

“The public sector provides higher pay and compensation and more comfortable working conditions,” Fahim told The Media Line. “This creates huge distortions between the private and public sector. But the public sector has become saturated with workers, so Saudi nationals have to move into the private sector.”

Businessmen complain that Saudization will boost their costs. The money they have invested in training expat employees will evaporate if they are forced to leave after six years. Meanwhile, the government made it tougher for businesses this week to close the public-private wage gap after King Abdullah approved increasing the minimum salary of Saudi civil servants to 3,000 riyals a month and ordered a 15 percent inflationary allowance.

The government’s newest effort to address the problem, unveiled early in May, would rate companies as green, yellow and red, according to their level of compliance with Saudi employment quotas. Red companies will be barred from renewing the work visas of their expat workers while green companies will be entitled to take foreigners from the other two categories and transfer their sponsorship without the approval of their current employers.

“Saudization has become a national necessity rather than a choice,” Labor Minster Fakieh told reporters, who estimated as many as 40 percent of all business would be classified as yellow or red under the so-called nitaqat (Arabic for “limits”) program.

Further details, including incentives to green employers, are to be announced June 11 so that businesses, employees and expats are still unclear about what lies in the future. It was in this context that Fakieh’s remarks this week set off protests.

In Egypt, Saudization could end up forcing large numbers of the estimated 2.5 million Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia back home to a country of already high unemployment. Nasr of the Chamber of Commerce estimated that 70 percent of them have worked in Saudi Arabia beyond the six-year maximum.

Egypt’s jobless rate jumped three percentage points in the first quarter of the year to 11.9 percent as hundreds of thousands of expats fled the fighting in Libya and the tourism industry, a major employer, is in the doldrums. Worse still, the Saudi program might become a role model for other Gulf states, sending more Egyptians packing.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

View full post on Labor Stories

Read More

Educated, unemployed youth – a recipe for trouble in occupied Palestinian territory

Posted by | Posted in credit repair | Posted on 30-05-2011

Gaza, Palestinian Territory (IRIN) – The lack of job opportunities for young people in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has created an unemployment crisis that could further destabilize the Arab region, experts warn.

“The largest generation, which was born in the’80s, has reached working age… young adults are now perceived as the most problematic age group,” notes sociologist and demographer Philippe Fargues, also director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute in Florence.

“Their growth has outpaced the resources available to them, from employment that provides income and status, to freedom, participation, and agency,” added Fargues, who in a recent paper suggested that the “youth bulge” will reshape the Arab world.

Frustrated Arab youth, he argues, have been left with two options: stay in their countries and protest, or leave to seek work and opportunity abroad. The number of people in the 15-29 age range is the largest the Arab world has seen.

The latest figures from the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics put 21.7 percent of the population out of work. This breaks down to 30.8 percent of the population in Gaza and 17.4 percent in the West Bank.

According to the UN, 43.4 percent of the Palestinian population is under 15, and in the Gaza Strip 63.4 percent of 15-24 year-olds are unemployed. This figure rises to 75.8 percent among women.

Few options

And yet, since the Israeli blockade was imposed in 2007, migration has not been an option for the vast majority of Gazans. As a result, there are few options left for young people looking for a job.

“This generation faces many more difficulties than we did,” said Mahmoud Abu Libda, a supervisor in an engineering workshop supported by the ACT Alliance in Khan Younis, south Gaza.

Libda trains young men to be mechanics – perhaps the only trade still flourishing in Gaza. Continual electricity cuts and a reliance on generators mean that mechanics are rarely in want of work. Every year there is a huge demand for places at the workshop, with at least 150 applicants for 22 places.

“The most important thing for them is to find a job,” he added. “We could work in Israel, Gulf States, but with the blockade we are living in a prison here. Being part of a political faction [Fatah or Hamas] or joining the extremists [Al Qaeda] are the easiest ways to be supported and earn money in Gaza.

“I brought my son to work [at the workshop] to avoid him getting drawn into an extremist group – to protect him. It is dangerous working with the resistance.”

Abdullah Nam Rooti, 21, who is in his final year of training with Libda, said: “I was very excited to get my place on the course. Most people I went to school with are unemployed. Most who can’t find work are working in the tunnels, although work has slowed down since Israel’s slight easing of the blockade.

“One time, a tunnel collapsed at two points and trapped three of my friends inside,” he added. “If I had not got on this course I would have worked in the tunnels too and I would have been very scared. It would be better if we could work outside. I would go any place that offered me work, although prefer to live and work here.”

Too many checkpoints

Chris Gunness, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told IRIN: “Young people in Gaza face a double whammy – high educational achievement and no work. Having a highly educated, unemployed population is a recipe for discontent, frustration and worse. This is in no one’s interests, least of all Israel.”

In the West Bank, the economic situation is different but still bleak. There is no blockade but the Israeli occupation means the job market cannot support this generation of job seekers.

“In the West Bank we have heard much about economic success but years of occupation have set the base line very low. Nor is this economic success spread evenly across the population,” says Gunness.

“Running an economy and empowering young people with employment is a huge challenge when road blocks and checkpoints make getting to and from work difficult and products must be exported through a regime of occupation. In the West Bank it is really very difficult to get a proper career and work life. That’s why we have so many micro-finance projects there.”

Ironically economic migration for most Palestinians in the West Bank means working, often illegally, in Israel.

According to the bureau of statistics, the number of Palestinians employed in Israel and Israeli settlements had risen from 75,000 to 78,000 in the third and fourth quarters of 2010, of whom 17,000 have no work permit and 50 percent work in the construction industry.

In Gaza, international observers predict that the recent opening of Rafah border crossing by Egypt, may see a flood of workers leaving the Gaza Strip to seek employment opportunities abroad.

Ever since protests started across the Arab world earlier this year, the Hamas authorities have so far managed to dissolve any efforts towards spontaneous protest swiftly.

pg/eo/cb

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

View full post on Social Issue Stories

Read More

G8 talks money for Egypt and Tunisia

Posted by | Posted in clean credit | Posted on 28-05-2011

G8 leaders has promised $20bn (£12bn) of loans and aid to Tunisia and Egypt over the next two years and suggested more will be available if the countries continue on the path to democracy. David Cameron revealed he had intervened to prevent the package from being presented as more generous than it was in reality, suggesting that some at the G8 had wanted to present it as worth as much $40bn

View full post on All Stories

Read More

UAE and Qatar Pack an Arab Punch in Libya No-Fly Operation

Posted by | Posted in credit repair | Posted on 31-03-2011

The Media Line Staff

Israel Arieh O’Sullivan – While the six-warplane Qatari contingent plays an arguably symbolic role in the Western-led coalition against Libyan strongman Muammar Al-Qaddafi, the powerful squadron sent by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will likely pack a real punch, analysts say.

Six F-16 block 60 fighter jets of the UAE air force were on standby to enforce no-fly zone operations over Libya after arriving on Sunday at the Italian air base of Decimomannu on the island of Sardinia. Another six Mirage 2000s followed via Souda Bay in Crete.

The F-16 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin are the most advanced ever produced and contain capabilities beyond those of the U.S. Air Force. The key American ally has yet to participate in any strikes, but when it does, its jets will likely show formidable power.

“The Qatari force is just for show. The UAE is actually capable of doing something and being quite formidable,” Theodore Karasik of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, told The Media Line.

The UAE has pledged 12 warplanes as its participation in the coalition effort to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. It became the second Arab country after Qatar to send planes. Qatar dispatched six Mirage 2000 jets and over the weekend has joined in the no-fly campaign. Despite their missions, they have yet to notch up any strikes or air combat.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is assuming command of the no-fly zone, which had until now been a largely American, British and French effort. Under a mandate of protecting civilians from Al-Qaddafi’s forces, they have been blasting his air force out of the skies, but also striking at his land forces.

Western powers have stressed the importance of Arab participation in and endorsement of the airstrikes in Libya. While the 22-member Arab League endorsed the military action most of the Arab world has balked at joining it. Qatar and UAE are the sole Arab countries to participate in Operation Odyssey Dawn over Libya.

“We felt it was important for an Arab country to join, and because other Arab countries weren’t involved militarily, we felt we should,” Gen. Mubarak Al-Khayanin, the Qatari Air Force chief of staff, told reporters at the Souda Bay air base.

Both Qatar and the UAE air forces have trained rigorously with their Western counterparts in order to wage missions exactly like the ones deployed for now.

“Years of training, joint exercises and interoperability between the West and the UAE and Qatar is now coming to fruition,” Karasik said, adding that the two countries were also using their participation as a stepping stone for greater regional prominence.

“Both the UAE and Qatar have robust foreign policies that seek to heighten their presence regionally and on the world stage,” Karasik said.

His words were echoed by Qatari General al-Khayanin. “We are physically small country, but with leadership comes responsibility,” he said. “Certain countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt haven’t taken leadership for the last three years. So we wanted to step up and express ourselves, and see if others will follow.”

Qatar, with vast reserves of oil and natural gas, has parleyed its relatively small size with its vast wealth. It sponsors the Al-Jazeera television news network, which has enormous impact on public opinion across the Arab world, and is hosting the 2022 World Cup, which will enhance its prestige and economy.

Sheikh Khalifa Al-Nahyan, the emir of Abu Dhabi, has led the UAE in adopting a more assertive foreign policy over the past two years. Earlier this month, it dispatched police to help with a Saudi Arabia-led deployment of troops in Bahrain, which was torn by weeks of mass protests.

The mission is aimed at protecting civilians and Arab participation, however, could change if the mission becomes too bellicose.

Qatar has already acted to gain from the Libyan turmoil. It became the first Arab country to recognize the Libyan rebels as the single legitimate representatives of the country. A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Doha said the country saw the Provisional Transitional National Council (PTNC) as the representatives of all Libya’s regions. The 31-member council represents major Libyan cities and towns.

The Qatari government announcement came a day after the rebels reportedly signed an agreement with the state-owned Qatar Petroleum company to market crude oil from fields in Eastern Libya.

“We contacted the oil company of Qatar and thankfully they agreed to take all the oil that we wish to export and market this oil for us,” Ali Tarhouni, a rebel official in charge of economic, financial and oil matters, was quoted as telling reporters in the rebel-held eastern city of Benghazi.

According to Tarhouni, the fields controlled by the rebels are presently producing from 100,000 to 130,000 barrels of oil a day and the first supplies of crude should begin flowing in less than a week.

Contacted by The Media Line, Qatar Petroleum said it had no comment at this time.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

View full post on Social Issue Stories

Read More

Police fire tear gas to disperse protesters in Bahrain

Posted by | Posted in credit repair | Posted on 15-02-2011

Windsor Genova – AHN News News Writer

Manama, Bahrain (AHN) – Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in numerous Bahrain villages on Monday injuring 14 people.

The demonstrations, which were inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that toppled the two country’s respective leaders, were staged in the villages of Diraz, Bani Jamrah and Nuweidrat.

Activists calling themselves “the Revolution of 14th February in Bahrain” organized the rally using the social networking site Facebook.

The demonstrators demanded more political freedom and jobs. They vowed to continue the protests until the government grants their demand, according to Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

Prior to the demonstration, the center had called for the release of political detainees and open dialogues with opposition groups.

Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Khalifa said protests in the country are allowed by law.

Shiite protesters and police also clashed before parliamentary elections in October.

Shiites constitute up to 70 percent of Bahrain’s population but face job and housing discrimination from the mostly Sunni-controlled government. Bahrain’s ruling royal family are also Sunnis.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

View full post on Social Issue Stories

Read More

Tunisia Sees Renewed Violence Amid Fears Ben Ali Loyalists Plan Comeback

Posted by | Posted in credit repair | Posted on 07-02-2011

The Media Line Staff

Tunis, Tunisia (TML) – A wave of violence across Tunisia over the past week has many government officials and observers worried that loyalists to the ousted regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali are seeking to reassert control over the country by plunging it into renewed chaos.

Two people were killed by police on Saturday in the northern city of El-Kef after a crowd gathered to protest in front of a police station. A day earlier two youths died in a mysterious fire that broke out in the police station in Sidi Bouzid, where they were being held. The deaths follow a week of unrest around the country, including an attack on a synagogue, youths rampaging through the streets of Kasserine and the capital, Tunis.

Echoing the views of many Tunisians, the country’s newly-appointed interior minister, Farhat Rajhi, said last week after his offices were besieged by a group of some 2,000 people, that he believed the unrest was being staged. “There is a conspiracy against state security and there is a conspiracy in the security forces,” Rajhi told the Hannibal TV network.

The latest turmoil comes as the interim government, formed after Ben Ali fled Tunisia on January 14, has finally begun to win over public opinion, restore order and begin a program of political and economic reforms and elections. While steps have been taken to dismantle the 23-year-old Ben Ali regime, most key positions remain in the hands of the ex-president’s loyalists.

Tunisia, where anti-government unrest erupted in December, is regarded as the inspiration for the wave of mass protests spreading across the Middle East. But, the struggle to rid the country of the remnants of the old regime even after its leader steps down threatens to be repeated in Egypt where protests calling for President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster marked the 13th day.

On Sunday, the major opposition groups met with Vice President Omar Suleiman to discuss a blueprint for reforms that would put the country on a path toward democracy.

Sadok Belaid, a former dean of Tunis University’s law school, said many Tunisians are disappointed with the fruits of their so-called Jasmine Revolution. Not only has there been an upsurge of violence, but the interim government has failed to take critical steps to cleanse the country of Ben Ali’s rule, particularly banning his Rassemblement Constitutionnel Democratic (RDC) party.

“The revolution of January 14 didn’t achieve more than 30% of its objectives and the main things remain to be achieved,” Belaid told The Media Line. “If the government doesn’t act with greater speed to accomplish what the people want, it will lead to real turbulence in the short or medium term.”

The interim government of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi has been working hard to establish its credibility with Tunisians. Ghannouchi, a member of the RDC but regarded by most as a technocrat, himself quit the party and has gradually whittled away the presence of Ben Ali loyalists in his cabinet.

Last week, Tourism Minister Mehdi Houass promised that the state of emergency proclaimed in the dying days of Ben Ali’s rule would be lifted this week. “We wanted to do this step-by-step out of caution and to ensure total security for people,” he said.

The government has replaced 34 security officials from the Ben Ali years and has issued an international arrest warrant for the former president, who is now living in exile in Saudi Arabia. Four policemen were arrested in connection with the deaths of the two prisoners; and the police chief of Kesserine was detained as well.

Ghannouchi’s latest cabinet reshuffle on January 27, reduced their number to three from ten and played a major role in finally calming the Tunisian street for several days until the new round of violence emerged.

But not everyone is convinced that the Ghannouchi government is really calling the shots in Tunisia, Mastoid Ramadan, an activist with the Tunisian Human Rights Union, told The Media Line.

“Politicians, human rights activists and those who know believe that the real government isn’t the one you see, that there’s another government, mainly of old guard who are working behind the curtains,” Ramadan said. “These people have such deep interests – they won’t give-in quite easily. There will be more unrest to come.”

He pointed to the dismissal last Thursday of 24 regional governors from the Ben Ali years. Ramadan said he believed that 19 of the new appointees were RDC veterans and cited remarks by the interior minster who said he didn’t know how the new governors were chosen. ” That shows there’s something fishy,” Ramadan said.

Belaid, the former law school dean, said he didn’t believe Tunisia was yet on the brink of deep turmoil, even though he said signs pointed to old regime officials arming and funding people to oppose the interim government. He warned that Tunisia’s neighbors weren’t happy with the fall of the Ben Ali regime and might not be averse to letting the ex-president’s loyalists stage attacks from their soil.

In Algeria, opposition is demanding the immediate end of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s regime. Opposition leaders said on Saturday that it will go ahead with a planned protest next week. In Libya, no major protests have been reported, but Mu’ammar Al-Qadhafi, who has ruled the country since 1969, publicly chastised Tunisians for ousting their leader.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

View full post on Social Issue Stories

Read More

The Pros & Cons of Loans on Car Titles

Posted by | Posted in bad credit debt consolidation | Posted on 24-03-2010

Due to the economic crisis that we are experiencing with banks failing, mortgage companies going bankrupt and just all around crisis. I can imagine that you are wondering what options you may have. Well I have one that you might be efficient for you. Getting a loan on your car title. While this doesn’t pertain to people who still owe money on the car. You can go to your bank and see if they will help you refinance. 

Now I am going to give a list of the pros & cons to getting a loan on your car title. Let’s start with the cons (every one seems to like bad news first) 

PROS

  1.  It can get you through the payday gap
  2. You can pay bills or buy groceries
  3. You still get to keep your car

Hm, not that many to go off that, I personally don’t think..

CONS

  1. You are charged insane interest rates
  2. You can lose your car if you don’t plan your finances accordingly
  3. Did I mention losing your car if you don’t pay back based on your pay schedule
  4. They don’t give you money based on how much your car is worth,

Now this is my opinion and you are going to do what you are going to do but I am hoping that before you getting loans on car titles, you’ll think & act responsibly with your credit. So i thought i would create this article and let you know there is hope for you & your situation.

Now I want you to take a big breath, and I want you to follow me through this rationally. Before you go get loans on car titles, is there anything that you can eliminate or do without? You really don’t need 768 different channels do you? Do you need that $4.67 chai latte every morning. I know, they are SOO good but really in the times when you are considering a loan. It’s okay to go without for a minute or two. So the first solution is to eliminate anything & everything that might be eating up your daily costs

Ok, now that we have eliminated the extra garbage that was eating into your profits, let’s look at the slightly bigger picture. Are you living somewhere where you can perhaps, oh I dunno reduce down to? Reduce the amount of house you have.

Instead of driving to work, sell your car and get a bus pass, but now if you live out in bum dum Egypt, that might be hard but there are additional resources such as walking if you are within a 5 mile radius. I promise you’ll love your body after a few weeks of doing this.

Now here is the final thought, maybe get a second job as a freelancer & no I am not here to sell you on loans on car titles or work at home schemes. I am here to really help you make ends meet. Why am I taking this time to educate you. Jesus cares about you and he wants you to live a productive life. There is so much out there to do. I suggest you get plugged into your community so that you can help one another & maybe come up with better resources instead of going to get a loan that can potentially harm you even more than where you started.

Find your passion or something you are good at, get on Craigslist, browse around. There are a million opportunities out there waiting to be shifted through and to be utilized!

I strongly encourage you to keep your options open & look around for alternatives. Now if you decide that you are going to go ahead and get a loan on your car title. Please, i strongly encourage you to borrow responsibly! For those who believe and those who teeter on the thin line, pray this through, don’t act hasty. It truly is your life at sake.

Good luck!

Loans on Car Titles

Loans on car titles [http://loansoncartitles.com]

Author: S. Similien
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Make PCB Assembly

Read More

The Pros & Cons of Loans on Car Titles

Posted by | Posted in bad credit debt consolidation | Posted on 24-03-2010

Due to the economic crisis that we are experiencing with banks failing, mortgage companies going bankrupt and just all around crisis. I can imagine that you are wondering what options you may have. Well I have one that you might be efficient for you. Getting a loan on your car title. While this doesn’t pertain to people who still owe money on the car. You can go to your bank and see if they will help you refinance. 

Now I am going to give a list of the pros & cons to getting a loan on your car title. Let’s start with the cons (every one seems to like bad news first) 

PROS

  1.  It can get you through the payday gap
  2. You can pay bills or buy groceries
  3. You still get to keep your car

Hm, not that many to go off that, I personally don’t think..

CONS

  1. You are charged insane interest rates
  2. You can lose your car if you don’t plan your finances accordingly
  3. Did I mention losing your car if you don’t pay back based on your pay schedule
  4. They don’t give you money based on how much your car is worth,

Now this is my opinion and you are going to do what you are going to do but I am hoping that before you getting loans on car titles, you’ll think & act responsibly with your credit. So i thought i would create this article and let you know there is hope for you & your situation.

Now I want you to take a big breath, and I want you to follow me through this rationally. Before you go get loans on car titles, is there anything that you can eliminate or do without? You really don’t need 768 different channels do you? Do you need that $4.67 chai latte every morning. I know, they are SOO good but really in the times when you are considering a loan. It’s okay to go without for a minute or two. So the first solution is to eliminate anything & everything that might be eating up your daily costs

Ok, now that we have eliminated the extra garbage that was eating into your profits, let’s look at the slightly bigger picture. Are you living somewhere where you can perhaps, oh I dunno reduce down to? Reduce the amount of house you have.

Instead of driving to work, sell your car and get a bus pass, but now if you live out in bum dum Egypt, that might be hard but there are additional resources such as walking if you are within a 5 mile radius. I promise you’ll love your body after a few weeks of doing this.

Now here is the final thought, maybe get a second job as a freelancer & no I am not here to sell you on loans on car titles or work at home schemes. I am here to really help you make ends meet. Why am I taking this time to educate you. Jesus cares about you and he wants you to live a productive life. There is so much out there to do. I suggest you get plugged into your community so that you can help one another & maybe come up with better resources instead of going to get a loan that can potentially harm you even more than where you started.

Find your passion or something you are good at, get on Craigslist, browse around. There are a million opportunities out there waiting to be shifted through and to be utilized!

I strongly encourage you to keep your options open & look around for alternatives. Now if you decide that you are going to go ahead and get a loan on your car title. Please, i strongly encourage you to borrow responsibly! For those who believe and those who teeter on the thin line, pray this through, don’t act hasty. It truly is your life at sake.

Good luck!

Loans on Car Titles

Loans on car titles [http://loansoncartitles.com]

Author: S. Similien
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Read More

Powered by Yahoo! Answers