RAGEH TARGET OF BANK CON By Adrian Shaw 15/05/2007 More Top Stories Have your say: Top Stories forum EX-BBC newsman Rageh Omaar almost became a victim of bank fraudsters who rifled £2.3million from the accounts of wealthy clients, a court heard yesterday. The gang, helped by a Halifax building society worker, stole identities, created bogus accounts and laundered the proceeds through car dealers. But a West London Barclays manager phoned the police when a man purporting to be Omaar - the so-called "Scud Stud" who found fame covering the Iraq war - called in. Advertisement Nigerian Oluwasegun Adekunle, 27, who lived in Central London, was jailed for five years for conspiracy to defraud and money laundering and was ordered to be deported. Shana Campbell, 24, a customer service adviser at Halifax in Bexleyheath, Kent, got four years and janitor Steven Fabian, 44, two-and-a-half years. Three Berkshire car dealers were given sentences ranging from 27 to 12 months for money laundering. Judge Anthony Pitts told Southwark crown court this was "rife" in the trade. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_method=full%26objectid=19104751%26siteid=89520-name_page.html Last week there was £1200 missing from my mom's account. She asked the bank (Halifax) and she was told that a Somali guy was working at the time the money went missing and so she needs to report to the police. Mom had changed her mind as she didnt want the Somali bloke to get into trouble incase he didnt take it. Now she is convincing herself that she cant remember whether she has taken the money herself!

Terror arrests for possessing talcum powder Three Muslim Scots accused of running a bomb factory and being members of al-Qa’ida have claimed a suspicious substance they were linked to was simply talcum powder. Brothers Irfan and Naim Nasim and their cousin Asid Ashraf were arrested and held for three days after white powder was found in a flat above the offices of MP Mohammed Sarwar and then MSP Gordon Jackson last weekend. Officers acting on a tip-off took the men to Govan Police Station in Glasgow and told them to strip so their clothes could be taken for tests. They were left in their boxer shorts, had their mobiles taken off them and were given a blanket each before being put in separate cells in a specialist anti-terror holding unit. The three shopkeepers claim they were insulted by police, called "f***ing a***holes" and quizzed at least 10 times by Special Branch officers. During interviews they were repeatedly accused of making bombs and being members of al-Qa’ida. They were among six people - including a 15-year-old boy - arrested in last weekend’s anti-terror raid on the flat in Paisley Road West. Families were evacuated from the building and a newsagent shop owned by the Nasim family was closed down as police and bomb experts swept the area. Police later said the powder was "non-threatening". The three men say it was just talc left by Polish workers, the flat’s former tenants. Irfan, 26, a married father-of-two, said they were cleaning the property when police swooped. It is one of five flats in the block owned by the Nasim family. Irfan said: "The treatment we received was disgraceful. "They said, ‘you are terrorists, you are with al-Qa’ida, you were making bombs’. "There is no one more westernised than me. I was born and educated in Glasgow and have never been to Pakistan. "I prefer Spain for my holidays, I drink and I don’t go to the mosque. "Do I sound like a Muslim fanatic who supports terrorism? "We all have Scottish nicknames. I am called Tony, Naim is called Jamie and Asid is called Sid. "I only knew the full extent of was happening when we were given the Sunday Mail in our cells." Asid, 27, is demanding an apology from the police. He added: "I am the only one of the three of us who goes to the mosque and has been to Pakistan. "We have been picked on because we are Muslim. I don’t know where the police got their information but they could not have been more wrong." Their solicitor, human rights lawyer Dilip Deb, said: "This has been a botch-up job by the police." He added: "To suggest my clients are terrorists is laughable and I will be demanding a full apology. We also want compensation for Mr Nasim whose shop had to close all day Saturday losing thousands of pounds worth of business." Police released the 15-year-old on Sunday but the five others including Irfan, Naim and Asid were taken to Glasgow Sheriff Court last Monday. They were charged with obstructing police and freed on bail. Strathclyde Police said: "Inquiries are ongoing and further charges may follow. Any complaint will be fully investigated." http://www.themuslimweekly.co.uk/

Originally posted by Jacaylbaro: Somali Married couples need a lot of sex education ,,,,,,,,, lool That cracked me up. Of courses, singles know better, dont they?

Yeah there is drama, but French politicians are on another level. My cousin who is half french tells me that the French have this spontaneity about romance and almost all the time, they get top marks from their wives and even more so from their mistresses.

^^ Well well well..How do you know? Yes, He shouldnt threaten with divorce everytime. Women threaten to get divorce from their husband everythime they get angry which is the wisdom behind this. Edit: Oh..what is so comical about this Xanthus and Lily? There is no pleasing you guys, you object to women pleasing her husbands Good wives guide and then you object to men pleasing their wives.. So what is the deal?

Apostates are mostly confused bunch. Take this lady who was featured in the observer: Her father was assasinated by Isrealis and now she is christian who fronts the campaign 'Arabs for Israel' and she 'now really understand why Israel wanted to kill her father.' http://observer.guardian.co.uk/woman/story/0,,2075590,00.html it has made Darwish one of the heroines of the Conservative Right. Amazing how many of these "brave" women just happen to have books to sell. They feed the West the propoganda it wants to hear and like obedient sheep the fools in the West duky oblige by filleg the coffers of these "heroes" to the brim. The ignorance and the prejudice of the west is reinforced and these "brave" people make their millions. Everyone is a winner!!!

Sarkozy soap opera grips Paris By Caroline Wyatt BBC News Will she or won't she? Paris is abuzz with the question, as voters wonder whether Cecilia Sarkozy will be a full-time First Lady or not, as her husband Nicolas assumes power at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday. Other nations have soap operas to keep them entertained. France has its own real-life political drama, which has so far kept millions tuned in - from the gripping episodes during the long-term feud between Nicolas Sarkozy, 52, and his former mentor, the outgoing President Jacques Chirac, to the recent cliff-hanger of the sporadic absences of Cecilia from her ambitious husband's side. The 49-year-old former model and mother of his youngest son, Louis, 10, was with Mr Sarkozy as he claimed victory in his speech to cheering supporters on Place de la Concorde on the evening of 6 May. But she was not with him earlier on Sunday afternoon when he went to vote, even though both of her stunning blonde daughters were at his side. Cecilia was also noticeably absent for most of the final weeks of his winning campaign, even as President Chirac's wife Bernadette turned up to give her support at Mr Sarkozy's final rally in Montpellier. Marital 'furniture' Cecilia's recent absences have puzzled and intrigued the French, not least because for a long time she was one of her husband's closest political advisers. When he was minister of the interior from 2003, her office was next to his and she was known as a decisive and calming influence on Mr Sarkozy behind the scenes. However, the couple had a well-publicised split when Cecilia left Mr Sarkozy in May 2005 for several months for the international communications consultant, Richard Attias, confiding to friends that she had had enough of being treated like "part of the furniture". The rumours flew on the internet, and among Paris-based journalists. But when Paris Match published a series of photos of Cecilia with her lover in New York, it was a step too far . The editor of the magazine, Alain Genestar, lost his job - the result, most believe, of severe pressure from above. France's new president has been known to ring editors personally in fury when upset by coverage, and is said to have a long memory for journalistic slights. Happily for relations between the French media and their new president, Cecilia returned to Mr Sarkozy's side a few months after the split, in January 2006. Only a few newspapers had reported his affair - during her absence - with a French political journalist . Over the past month, there has been little coverage in the French media of Cecilia's on-off presence. Mr Sarkozy is a close friend of many of France's media barons. In fact, this week Paris Match boasts a picture of the couple kissing on its front cover. "Cecilia shares in his victory," reads a sub-heading, followed by several pages of photographs of the presidential pair together on the night of his victory, along with Cecilia's two daughters from her previous marriage and Nicolas Sarkozy's two sons from his first marriage. Cecilia was also back at his side, along with their youngest son, as the new president sunned himself on a billionaire's yacht off Malta for a few days after the election. 'Struck by lightning' France has long been fascinated by one of its most glamorous power couples and their fiery personalities and continuing marital dramas - including the story of how they first met. Cecilia Maria Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albeniz was born in Paris to a pianist father of Russian origins and a Spanish mother. A law student and parliamentary aide as well as a model, she was first married at the age of 27 to the 51-year old children's TV presenter Jacques Martin at the town hall of the chic Paris suburb of Neuilly in 1984. The man who performed their marriage ceremony was a certain Nicolas Sarkozy, then the 29-year old mayor of the suburb. Three years later, Mr Sarkozy and Cecilia met again and he was apparently "struck by lightning" as he fell in love with her and she with him. The two left their respective spouses for each other, finally marrying in 1996 and playing out much of their subsequent relationship in the media spotlight. Since then, Cecilia and the children have often appeared in magazine photo-shoots with Nicolas Sarkozy portraying their happy family life, with Paris Match showing the couple holding hands and enjoying a walk in the park on a recent weekend trip to London. So what will happen next? Will Cecilia be a First Lady in the Bernadette Chirac mould, keeping her counsel and rarely speaking to the media except to promote her charitable interests? Cecilia Sarkozy herself has gone on the record as saying she has always been keen to preserve her independence. "I don't see myself as First Lady - the whole idea bores me," she said in an interview in March 2005. "I am not politically correct." 'Many but discreetly' But does it matter whether there is a full-time First Lady in the Elysee Palace? The French are, after all, famously tolerant of what their presidents get up to in their private lives. The late Francois Mitterrand managed to keep a mistress and an illegitimate child secret for most of his presidency. Even though the chattering classes in Paris knew, nobody thought it necessary to inform the French public. The outgoing President Jacques Chirac has also admitted to having loved many women "as discreetly as possible" though it is not clear if his wife Bernadette agrees with his assessment. "The French are very tolerant. They will brush off affairs, they will disregard financial scandals by French presidents," says one man who should know, Jean-Francois Probst, a long-time adviser and former chef-de-cabinet of Mr Chirac. "But in some ways the French are also very conservative, and I think if there is no traditional First Lady to represent them, many would be upset." In his book Testimony, Mr Sarkozy himself wrote last year: "Today, Cecilia and I are reunited for good, for real, doubtless for ever... We are not able and do not know how to separate from each other." He recently explained Cecilia's absence on the campaign trail as a deliberate strategy to take his family out of the relentless glare of the media, when the far-right leader Jean-Marie le Pen tried - but failed - to make political capital out of Cecilia's temporary absence. All the signs point towards Cecilia Sarkozy remaining at Nicolas Sarkozy's side and becoming France's First Lady as he takes office this week. However, in this age of les pipol (people), as celebrities are dubbed here, the French will doubtless be tuning in enthusiastically for the next episode of the gripping real-life drama that is Elysee Palace. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6656717.stm

Change of culture gives Chinese a taste for people's capitalism Some are betting their houses, others giving up jobs to trade - but there are fears a bubble is forming Jonathan Watts in Beijing Tuesday May 15, 2007 The Guardian Even before the doors of the securities trading hall opened at 9am, Yang Jingshan was queuing up to part with a huge chunk of his life savings and much of the ideological baggage of his youth. On the advice of his daughter, the 50-year-old Beijing shop manager joined the morning surge of speculators on a mission to buy his first shares. Waving his registration paper amid a jostling crowd at the CITIC Securities centre, Yang opened an individual trading account, on which he plans to stake 100,000 yuan (£6,600). Article continues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Such an act would have been unthinkable during his teens. In the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the mere mention of such capitalist behaviour would have led to public denunciation, imprisonment or death. In today's China, it is those who fail to speculate who feel they are losing out as bourses surge amid a stock-buying frenzy. In trading halls, on internet sites and through mobile phones, millions are playing the markets. "Stocks are doing so well that everyone in Beijing is excited. That is why I am investing," said Yang. "I don't know much about it, but I will listen and learn from more experienced players." Even by the standards of the world's fastest growing major economy, share values are rising to staggering levels - and so are the risks to novice investors such as Yang. Since January, the Shanghai Composite index has gained 50%, following a rise of 130% last year. Despite fears that a bubble may be forming, records tumble almost every day. Last week, the Shanghai Composite index broke the 4,000 mark for the first time, two months after hitting 3,000. On Wednesday, trading volume in China was greater than the rest of Asia combined. Even Tokyo - long the dominant market in the region - was made to look a pygmy in comparison with the 377bn yuan worth of business done in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The social impact is huge. Unlike in the west, where big institutions are the main market movers, the supercharged growth in China is being fuelled by individual investors. People are buying stocks to boost their retirement funds, students are speculating to pay for their education and housewives are borrowing from banks to expand their families' share portfolios. Thrifty In the past year, the number of A-share trading accounts has jumped from 65m to 95m as more and more people chase the get-rich-quick dream. It is already a frenzy, but the pace is accelerating. According to the domestic media, 370,000 new accounts were opened on May 8 alone - equivalent to almost half the total for the whole of last year. Despite its reputation as a nation of thrifty savers, China is seeing a huge shift of capital from safe banks to risky stocks. The logic for the change is beguiling. Bank interest rates are often lower than the 3% inflation rate so money loses value. Stock valuations, however, have tripled in less than two years. So far, almost everyone is a winner. The domestic media is filled with stories of instant fortunes and huge gambles. In the west, the Chongqing Morning Post has proclaimed a 60-year-old former cleaning lady as the "goddess of stocks" because she doubled her 20,000 yuan investment in two months. In the south, Nanjing newspapers have reported on Xiao Feng betting his three apartments and two cars on the market. Further north in Xian, the focus is on a Buddhist monk, Shi Changxing, who opened a trading account last week. Initially, it was reported that he was motivated by a desire to raise more money for charitable causes, but it emerged he was lending his name to a friend who wanted to speculate more than he was allowed. The bigger the risk, the more it seems to pay off - at least for now. Qi Xiaotong, a newspaper editor in Shenzhen, put her family home up as collateral for a 1.3m yuan bank loan, then bet the lot on the stock market. "I felt a huge pressure at the time, but now I don't think there is any risk at all because I have already doubled my money," she said. "My family trusts and supports me in this." For others, making money has become a passion. Yang Yugong, aged 53, gave up his job as a drama teacher at Beijing's top performing arts academy so that he could spend more time at the trading hall. He claims to have made about £5,000 in the past week, on top of the 1.2m yuan (£80,000) profits in the previous 18 months. "I hate weekends because this place is closed and I love coming here so much." Despite strong corporate earnings, the authorities are increasingly worried that a bubble is forming. In recent days, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochu has publicly expressed "concern" at the sharp rise in stock prices while the security regulatory commission has ordered brokers to educate clients about risk. Tougher moves may be ahead. The state council has consulted economists about the possibility of a new capital gains tax. The Macroeconomic Research Institute, one of the government's leading thinktanks, has called for an interest rate rise. According to analysts, the longer such cooling measures are delayed, the greater the potential damage from a correction. "A-share valuations could soon advance into clearly unsustainable territory," warned Goldman Sachs in a recent report. More bearish analysts said social stability is at stake because millions of people are exposed to a downward shock. "Mainland investors are about to learn a painful lesson that stock prices do not reach the sky and not everyone can be rich," wrote Andy Xie in the South China Morning Post. "If the bubble grows for another year or two, the unsustainable demand may become too large for a soft landing... At some point this will destabilise the country." Hiccup There have been collapses in the recent past. The last great bull run in China ended in 2001 when the Shanghai bourse nosedived, countless individuals lost everything and the newspapers were filled with stories of suicides. This time, a lot more money and people are involved. The stakes were apparent on February 27 when a 800bn yuan hiccup in the Chinese markets was blamed for a huge sell-off around the world. Yet the optimism is unshakeable, partly because of a widespread belief that the government will not allow a meltdown ahead of the Olympic games. Despite a 60% increase in new accounts, Gu Xiaoyi, the manager of CITIC Securities trading centre in Beijing, said the market still had plenty of room to grow. "I'm not worried about overheating. There are probably only about 50m people trading in China. That is a small fraction of the population. Most people I know are making money. That is because everyone is buying now. When they start selling, that is when people could lose out." For newcomers to the market, however, a downturn seems a remote possibility. "Yes, I have heard the warnings from experts and from the government," said Yang after buying his first shares. "But I believe that nothing bad will happen before the Olympics. Until then the trend will be up." Marching to a new tune Such is the new passion for capitalist speculation that pranksters in Beijing have proposed a change in the lyrics of the national anthem. "The March of the Volunteers" is the call to arms enshrined as the anthem when Mao Zedong took power in 1949. Its lines tell citizens to rise and "brave the enemy's fire" in the fight to defend China and communism. A satirical version has recently been buzzing across Beijing mobile phones, which urges residents that they should rise to "invest all of their funds in the tempting stock market", the Beijing Evening News reported on Wednesday. "The Chinese nation is at its most crazy hour, all let out the cry to buy! ... Cherish the dream of overnight wealth. March on! March on!" the text message read. http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2079797,00.html

Can I add number 61 61. Use your imagination

Peacenow Sorry if it feels that we are ganging up on you but I feel that this has to be said. Putting on a suit in Italy shouldnt fool you or make you feel superior. At least those pizza delivers and cleaners work for their livelihood. But it dont mean that you are better. Why dont you come to London and see the stockbrokers, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, accountants who are all Somalis and muslims and earning 5-6 figure salary..Funnily enough they remain humble and grateful for their blessings. Also you are showing lack of understanding when it comes to Islamic knowledge. Saying inshallah doesnt mean one should become lazy and good for nothing. Our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) exhorted us to "tie your camel and then trust in Allah." In other words, we should do everything we possibly can in any given situation, then we hand our efforts over to Almighty Allah. As muslims, we should believe in Qadr, but I am not saying 'lets sit on our hands and wait for the decree to happen'. This reminds me when my cousin who is very educated girl visited this family in Italy. The husband was a dentist and he thought that he was the best thing since sliced bread. Fair enough, but when he also was looking down on my cousin and believed to be this uneducated hijabi clad girl, that was what got my goat.

War gabdhahani mayey yihiin..All I am doing is help you out

What do you think of Madaxweyne Malaay or Nabadsuge Neberi?

60 Ways To Keep Your Wife's Love, and the romance alive! http://www.lightuponlight.com/islam/modules.php?name=Stream2&file=index&lid=431 Ahmad Shehab - 60 Ways to Keep Your Wife's Love - Guaranteed 1. Make her feel secure and sakinah - don't threaten her with divorce 2. Give sincere salaams 3. Treat her gently - like a fragile vessel 4. Advise in private, at the best time, in the best way and atmosphere 5. Be generous with her 6. Warm the seat for her, you will warm her heart 7. Avoid anger, keep wudu at all times 8. Look good and smell great for your wife 9. Don't be rigid or harsh-hearted or you will be broken 10. Be a good listener 11. Yes for flattery, No for arguing 12. Call your wife with the best names, cute nicknames, names she loves to hear 13. A pleasant surprise 14. Preserve and guard the tongue 15. Expect, accept, and overlook her shortcomings 16. Give sincere compliments 17. Encourage her to keep good relations with her family 18. Speak of the topic of her interest 19. Express to her relatives, how wonderful she is 20. Give each other gifts 21. Get rid of routine, surprise her 22. Have a good opinion of each other 23. Have good manners, overlook small things, don't nitpick 24. Add a drop of patience, increase during pregnancy, menses 25. Expect and respect her jealously 26. Be humble 27. Sacrifice your happiness for hers 28. Help at home, with housework 29. Help her love your relatives, but don't try to force her 30. Let her know that she is the ideal wife for you 31. Remember your wife in dua 32. Leave the past for Allah subhanahu wa ta ala, don't dwell on, dig into, or bring it up. 33. Don't act as if you are doing her a favor by working or providing, Allah is the Provider, the husband is the carrier of the sustenance to the family 34. Take shaytaan as your enemy, not your wife 35. Put food in your wife's mouth 36. Treat your wife like she is the most precious pearl that you want to protect 37. Show her your smile 38. Don't ignore the small things, deal with them before they become big 39. Avoid being harsh-hearted 40. Respect and show that you appreciate her thinking 41. Help her to find and build her inner strengths and skills 42. Respect that she might not be in mood for intimacy, stay within halal boundaries 43. Help her take care of the children 44. Give her gifts with your tongue, be an artist with your compliments 45. Sit down and eat meals together 46. Let her know that you will be traveling or returning from travel, give her sufficient notice 47. Don't leave home in anger 48. Maintain the secrecy and privacy of the home 49. Encourage each other in ibaadat 50. Respect and Fulfill her rights upon you 51. Live with her in kindness, goodness, fairness in good and bad times 52. Kiss your wife, foreplay, "Don't jump on her like a bull" 53. Keep disputes between the two of you, don't take it outside 54. Show care for her health and well-being 55. Remember you are not always right or perfect yourself 56. Share your happiness and sadness with her 57. Have mercy for her weaknesses 58. Be a firm support for her to lean on 59. Accept her as is, she is a package deal 60. Have a good intention for her

Several men are in the locker room of a golf club.A cell phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker-function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen. MAN: "Hello." WOMAN: "Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?" MAN: "Yes." WOMAN: "I am at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $1,000. Is it OK if I buy it?" MAN: "Sure, go ahead if you like it that much." WOMAN: "I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new 2007 models. I saw one I really liked." MAN: "How much?" WOMAN: "$90,000." MAN: "OK, but for that price, I want it with all the options." WOMAN: "Great! Oh, and one more thing .....the house I wanted last year is back on the market. They're asking $950,000." MAN: "Well, then go ahead and give them an offer of $900,000. They will probably take it. If not, we can go the extra 50 thousand. It is really a pretty good price." WOMAN: "OK. I'll see you later! I love you so much!!" MAN: "Bye! I love you, too." The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room are staring at him in astonishment, mouths agape..... Then he smiles and asks: "Anyone know who this phone belongs to?"

Xanthus..habiibti..didnt mean to hurt you. Look what you made me do 'ME'. Now stand in that corner and gacmaha kor u taag!

I always wonder why the Somalis in Italy dont care much for their deen.

Xanthus dear..oh you are incorrigible You may benefit reading this link http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=286&id=1625 Me Eedo..it appears that you are protesting too much.. could it be possible that one is enjoying the show?

Puuja I have heard about it. In fact I thought it was a beach full of sambuusi. I love sambuusi (too much sometimes) so that is a place I havent forgotton.

Hunguri I am never in stress for some reason...well except when I was in a tiny boat from Kismayo to Mombasa. So that aint the answer. I am convinced it is the catar. It could be a somali myth though. Ngonge So much for advice. You wanna get me divorced eh? Incidently there is somthing to be said for short hair. I cut my hair to number 1 when i was in Somalia last year..Thanks God for hijaab Luckily it grew back by the time I returned home. Xanthus Wasnt sure if madoobiso was haraam. Will check into it. I have heard about the pulling thing. It will multiply apparently. I was really shocked this morning, I wore safaleeti all mornning before we were leaving for work. I feel like that one hair is making some sort of statement. Northern I am told that Just For Men is excellent. Do you think it is?

Maybe Ngonge could give me advice? Madoobiso maybe in order rather than xino. He will know best

I thought Barawe was beautiful. Nice clear clean beaches wiht no one insight. Truly remarkable it was.

I am truly shocked today. I spotted my first grey hair and I am not even 30 yet! Could it be all the catar I have used on my hair in the last 5 years?

I miss her already. She had front Bring her back.

Try Cali Falaax shorts. Waad leersan also. Hunguri..Great to see you. Someone was in mourning since you been gone..#la# la# #la

: Why men like to gaze on the female form Cos they are pervs? Trust me..teendho ma celiso their constant gaze!