Hamas 'tightening grip' on Gaza Heavy fighting is continuing between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Gaza, with reports Hamas now controls almost the whole Gaza Strip. It comes despite the two sides saying they had agreed to a truce to end days of fighting which has killed 80 people. But Hamas's military wing says it has so far received no orders to put down its guns. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, is to make a statement on the future of the unity government. Sources close to Mr Abbas told the BBC he is deciding whether to change the Palestinian cabinet or dismiss it altogether, thereby ending the three-month-old unity government that was meant to stop the violence. Gun battles Hamas militants are now targeting Fatah's security and political command centres in Gaza City, following a series of battles on Wednesday in which Hamas made important gains in the north and south. Hamas has reportedly taken control of the headquarters of the Fatah-linked Preventive Security force. Another key security headquarters, the National Security building, also came under a barrage of mortar shells overnight. In other parts of the Gaza Strip, Fatah forces blew up key positions rather than surrender them, according to AP news agency. Hamas has issued an ultimatum to Fatah militants in Gaza to lay down their weapons by 1600 GMT on Friday or risk having them taken from them. Truce conditions At least 17 people were reported killed in fighting on Wednesday, with 80 reported to have died since Saturday. Mr Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, issued a statement on Wednesday, calling on all sides to halt the fighting. A senior Fatah official told the BBC that it had agreed to a list of conditions from Hamas for a truce, including appointing an interior minister responsible for all Palestinian security forces, and shared control of Gaza's boundaries and borders. Fatah said it had accepted the conditions in principle, but that more dialogue between the two sides was needed. A truce agreed on Monday was quickly broken and fighting escalated across northern Gaza. Fatah and Hamas agreed a unity government in March to bring an end to factional strife and Western sanctions, but it has not stopped the rivalry. Analysts say that if the fighting is not checked, Palestinians could be split into a Fatah-controlled West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The international community has called for a ceasefire, and Arab League head Amr Moussa said the fighting was destroying the Palestinian cause. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6751079.stm

^^Whats that then?

^^I see another courst case looming Arn't we all busy today after yesterday's shananigans? Or is it case of waking up after lunch?

^^Whats that then?

:rolleyes: Chubaka and Sulekha - Iranian Clerics = Shiicah Clerics = Invent your own religious doctrine and should not even be considered. You see them (Iranian) driving around Dubai with plaster on their nose dropping their kids off at school. Its absolutely normal for them. They the friendliest of people though,,,,

Three Sunni mosques burned in Iraq Agencies Baghdad: Three Sunni Muslim mosques were attacked and burned south of Baghdad on Thursday, Iraqi police said, in apparent reprisal attacks after suspected Al Qaida militants blew up the minarets of a revered Shi'ite shrine at Samarra. Tens of thousands of Iraqi and US soldiers were on the streets of Baghdad and other cities enforcing curfews imposed after Wednesday's bombing at Samarra's Al Askari mosque toppled its two golden minarets. An attack on the same mosque in February 2006 unleashed waves of sectarian violence in which tens of thousands of people were killed, tipping Iraq close to all-out civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. The latest Samarra attack, condemned by US President George W. Bush and other world leaders, immediately raised fears of similar retaliatory violence. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Police said unidentified gunmen on Thursday attacked the al-Mustafa and Huteen mosques in the town of Iskandariya, where the Sunni Grand Mosque was destroyed on Wednesday. The al-Bashir mosque in nearby Mahaweel was also attacked. The streets of Baghdad rang with gunfire overnight as gunmen attempted to attack a major Sunni mosque in the centre of the city, residents said. The mosque attacks south of Baghdad happened a day before US commanders have said all American troop reinforcements would be in place as part of a security crackdown in the capital involving 28,000 extra US soldiers. The crackdown is aimed at securing the capital so Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki's government can reach political targets set by Washington aimed at promoting national reconciliation. gulfnews.com

Meesha Lunaan iyo Philastiin waxbaa ka so socda. Yahuuduna want to fix their failings of last summer. They are eager and need the right excuses. Watch this space,,,

Passions run high as region's hotspots ignite Gulf News Report Dubai: The Middle East was literally on fire yesterday as a senior Lebanese MP was killed in a car bomb that also claimed nine other lives in Beirut, hours after saboteurs destroyed two minarets of a holy Shiite shrine in Iraq, site of a 2006 bombing that shattered its golden dome and unleashed a wave of sectarian violence. In Gaza, the power struggle intensified between rival movements Hamas and Fatah. At least 22 people were killed yesterday. The chaotic scene is likely to inflame religious and political tensions in the region. Analysts also warned the Arab world was descending into a "systematic collapse." In Lebanon, an explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront, killing prominent lawmaker Walid Eido, his son and eight others. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He was a senior aid to former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was also killed in a car blast in 2005. Eido, a former Sunni judge, is the seventh politician to be killed since Hariri. Eido's murder would further fuel tensions between the government and the opposition led by Hezbollah. The blast was the latest in a series to hit Lebanon in the last three weeks as Lebanese troops battled militants in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr Al Bared. Following the killings, Lebanon's parliamentary majority leader Sa'ad Hariri blamed Syria for Eido's murder and called for the Arab League to "boycott the terrorist regime" targeting his country. Hours earlier, a group said to belong to Al Qaida in Iraq blew up two minarets of Samarra's Al Askari shrine. The assault stirred fears of a new explosion of sectarian bloodshed. To try to ward off an upsurge in Iraq's unending cycle of violence, Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki swiftly imposed an indefinite curfew on traffic and large gatherings in Baghdad. Before the curfew took hold, arsonists set fire to a Sunni mosque in Baghdad, and another Shiite shrine was blown apart north of the capital. The Interior Ministry said members of "a terrorist group" had been arrested and were being interrogated. Mousa convenes meeting The White House promised an all-out effort to prevent the attack from sparking a surge in violence. "What we're hoping is that there won't be a new wave" of clashes, said spokesman Tony Snow, who blamed Al Qaida for the attack. In Gaza, Hamas fighters and forces loyal to Fatah movement battled for control of the strip in an escalating Palestinian supremacy struggle described by Gazans as a civil war. At least 22 people were killed yesterday, raising the death toll since the current surge of bloodshed began to 70, hospital officials said. "This cycle of violence threatens the future of the entire region," Dr Abdul Khaliq Abdullah, a UAE professor of politial science told Gulf News last night. Mainly extremist parties and religious terrorists are "trying to undermine stability and prevailing regimes," he added. Late last night, Al Jazeera TV quoted officials as saying that Arab League chief Amr Mousa had convened an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the worsening violence in the region. gulfnews.com

Waxan filaya some good old fadhi-ku-dirir in Hargaisa in July IA

Grant, welcome to SOL. I think you have found the right place to share your experiences of a time most of us (if not all of us) did not experience. Do please indulge us with whatever you can of your experiences if and when time permits. Originally posted by Libaax-Sankataabte: Please find the pictures and post them here. You are sitting on gold here. I can see you rubbing your hands gleefully ya LST Dabshid: He told a story of how people couldnt believe and got upset with you guys after you showed a flim on the Apollo Moon Landing. LooooL

He and his friends need to realise that holding Somalia/Somalis to ransom under a so called peace conference with pre-conditions will produce more animosity and mistrust. Their imported Ethiopian muscles will deflate soon.

^^I think he is talking about his friend Bashir Yusuf. Do you know him?

Dollars! All figures are in dollars so deduct 50% and the figures wont seem so high.

Edit Xan, I know it in Burco the late Indo Dheere (Allah yarxamu) built it.

I got it off google earth whilst i was looking for Jaamac Qabar. I couldnt find it

La, la , la. Ana ac'raf lugal carabiya akhi. Laakin anta ma talakalam luuqal Somaal Xan did you see this mosque?

Val, its mostly odeyaal having a good old laugh followed by the serious stuff when the sheikh sees fit. What is the infatuation with GOLD?????? I'm sure this is not part of the daqan laakin its like a big deal now. So what gives?

NG Looks like you consulted a higher authority Lets just say I know a few more places of 'interest' than 3 years ago

LooooL, Thats an easy one. Must have been made easier for the young lad. Laakin he redeemed himself,,,,, You would see me standing near the exits for a quick getaway if the lady with the stick approches,,,,

Those who make mistakes are required to entertain the audience with song, dance, poetry, jokes or a riddle. Ngonge, i think you got picked and messed up big time embarrassing all your 'boys' hence why you hate the xeero. Maybe you should have just picked a girl to dance with instead of trying to sing a Hasan Adan Samater number

Well, people are different and all see things slightly differently. A man who marries later on in life will have his own reasons. With the brits its easier for them to co-habit now as their rights are pretty much the same as a married couple's. Why marry and waist all that money just for a certificate and church bells?

LoL, you can access the records of your child's future potential husband/wife when they come to ask or before you go to ask Google :cool:

LoL@Lily I need a break. A lengthy one at that. Full of sleep, sleep and more sleep!

Google Watching You CAIRO — Internet search giant Google is building the most comprehensive database of personal information, a step that sparked fears of an online Big Brother society, The Independent reported on Thursday, May 24. "The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as 'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?'" said Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, unveiling the new plan. The information users seek and their physical location will be collated and used for lucrative personalized advertising. Company chiefs believe gathering more facts about users is a logical step to organize the world's information. "We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms [software] will get better and we will get better at personalization," Schmidt told a conference in London this week. The company recently started its mission by launching iGoogle, which allows users to personalize their own Google search page and publish their own content. Another service, launched two years ago, allows users to give Google permission to store their web-surfing history - what they have searched for and clicked on - and use this to create more personalized search results for them. Set up in 1996 by two students at the US University of Stanford, Google is the world's leading search engine, taking billions of requests in 100 languages. As well as the standard search, it offers an e-mail service and last year it bought the popular video-sharing site YouTube for £884million. The name comes from a misspelling of the word "googol" which refers to the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. The verb "to google" - meaning to search on line - was added to the Oxford English Dictionary last year. Privacy Google argues that its ambitious plan should not raise privacy concerns. "This is about personalized searches, where our goal is to use information to provide the best possible search for the user," said its privacy counsel Peter Fleischer. "If the user doesn't want information held by us, then that's fine. We are not trying to build a giant library of personalized information." However, privacy protection experts fear that governments can compel search engines and internet service providers to surrender information. "The danger here is that it doesn't matter what search engines say their policy is because it can be overridden by national laws," one expert told The Independent. Google has also raised concerns when it proposed $3.1bn acquisition of DoubleClick Company. Fears have been stoked by the potential for Google to build up a detailed picture of someone's behavior by combining its records of web searches with the information from DoubleClick's "cookies", the software it places on users' machines to track which sites they visit. The Article 29 Working Group, a body representing Europe's data protection watchdogs, has already written to Google requesting more information about its information retention policy. Ross Anderson, chairman of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, said that Google will make it impossible for internet users to protect their privacy. "A lot of people are upset by some of this," added the professor of Security Engineering at Cambridge University. "Why should an angst-ridden teenager who subscribes to MySpace have their information dragged up 30 years later when they go for a job as say editor of the Financial Times?" "The precise type and size of this problem is yet to be determined and will change as Google's business changes." islamonline.net

Which Men Are Marrying and Why? By Hwaa Irfan Writer, counselor, editor - Egypt The US mainstream society today, there has been a steady decrease (40 percent) of marriage annually from 1970 to 2002. The declining marriage rates have reached federal concerns in the past few years with US Congressional committee hearings taking place. As a part of the process toward welfare reform, a study published by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University , United States explores the state of men and marriage in the United States . A national survey was carried out on male heterosexuals aged 25 to 34. Below are some of the findings. Unmarried Men The survey found that men today are less likely to consider marriage as a process towards adulthood and building a family than in the past. The reasons for delaying or avoiding marriage given ranged from: 74% wanted to have fun and freedom. 46% felt the demands of work make it difficult. 47% felt that they were not financially buoyant enough to establish a home. 40% wanted to hold a nice wedding. 36% felt that the single life held more interest. 22% felt that the idea of marriage was good for others, but not for them. 60% did not trust women to tell the truth about previous relationships. 66% were worried about divorce. 70% felt that it was acceptable for a woman to have a baby on her own. 29% did not want children. 62% feared loss of personal freedom. Men Likely to Get Married It was found that men from traditional or religious backgrounds hold positive views towards women and children and were therefore more likely to get married. Men who grew up with both parents, whose fathers participated in their upbringing or held religious values, were more likely to get married, contrary to 55% who were not. Among the married men surveyed, 63% had been living with both their parents at 15 years of age, unlike 55% of unmarried men. 83% of married men agreed they got married when they were ready to settle down. 35% of men surveyed got married when they were ready to have children Reason for Getting Married It was found that 53% of men who were ready to get married had fathers who were actively involved in their upbringing. In their choice of spouse, 75% looked for a woman who would be a good mother. A majority of young men were seeking a “soul mate” to fulfill their emotional, sexual, and spiritual desires, as well as to share in providing financial stability. Married Men 94% of married men said they were happier being married than single. 73% of married men said that their sex life was better in marriage. 68% said that marriage had helped them to become financially stable. Percentage of Persons Age 35 Through 44 Who Were Married by Sex, 1960-2003, United States Children The report on the survey pays attention to the issue of fertility. In America in the 1880s, approximately 75% of households had children (under 18) as compared to 33% in 2000. There has been a sharp drop in the birth rate since the 1960s, and an increase in the 1980s and 1990s has been as a result of immigrant population. The report therefore concludes that adults are less likely to be living with children and children are less likely to be a consideration in daily life. Of the men surveyed: 75% of married men felt that children should be brought up in a religious home. 59% of unmarried men felt that it is not important for children to be brought up in religious homes. Two-thirds of married men surveyed did not see children as the focus of a marriage. Conclusion “Finishing schooling, obtaining full-time employment, and being financially independent” are now the sequence of events in the move towards adulthood, when in the past marriage was the primary and important step towards adulthood, states the report. “For men, even more than for women, marriage is a transformative event. Getting married tends to change men's behavior in notable and predictable ways. When men marry, they begin to lead healthier and more productive lives. They work harder and do better financially than men who are not married. They are less likely to hang out in bars, to abuse alcohol or drugs or to engage in illegal activities. They are more likely to spend time with relatives and to be involved in religious and community activities. Their sex lives are better. They are more responsible and involved fathers.” Wives take care of the health of their husbands and provide emotional support, stability, and a financial advantage if they work outside of the home. However, among men looking for their perfect partner in life, the survey deduces that the process of constantly looking for the ideal partner may lead to dissatisfaction with a current girlfriend in the hope for a better one. The report also considers the factor of the pornography industry and its role in creating the “soul-mate/babe” as an ideal that can never be realized. Sources: US Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1961, Page 34, Table 27; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1971, Page 32, Table 38; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1981, Page 38, Table 49; and US Bureau of the Census, General Population Characteristics, 1990, Page 45, Table 34; and Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001, Page 48, Table 51; internet tables (www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2002/tabA1-all.pdf) and data calculated from the Current Population Surveys, March 2003 Supplement. The Social Health of Marriage in America (last accessed January 10, 2005) http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1157365799017&pagename=Zone-English-Family%2FFYELayout