[Source:WSJ.com]
In choosing to nationalize troubled mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC -- a surprise decision made over the weekend -- U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is heading down a path rarely traveled by a developed-nation government. That path could ultimately bring the financial crisis home to regular taxpayers for the first time.
Australia is to raise scrutiny of foreign investors, the first example of a nation taking concrete steps towards controlling activities of sovereign wealth funds and state-owned companies.
The government published six principles it said were intended to “enhance transparency of Australia’s foreign investment screening regime”.
Read the rest of the article : [Source:FT.com]
In drawing up individual rules for dealing with sovereign funds, the risk for recipient nations is that they lose the goodwill of investing countries. A much better course is to draw up a global code of conduct.
[Source:WA Business News]
Litigation funding provider IMF (Australia) Ltd has reported a net profit of $3.3 million for the six months to December 2007, representing a 65 per cent rise over the corresponding period last year.
Total income from continuing operations rose 37 per cent to $9.0 million over the period due to a total of eight matters concluding during the half-year, while EBITA increased by 39 per cent to $6.0 million.
The group's cash position was $31.7 million, having generated $7.8 million in the six months to December 2007.
On Friday, IMF revealed basic earnings per share of 2.91 cents for December 2007, up from 1.78 cents in the corresponding period of last year.
The company, which is jointly run between offices in Sydney and Perth, expects to report net profit before tax of at least $15 million and net profit after tax of at least $10 million for the full 2008 financial year, equating to earnings per share of just over 8 cents.
In determining how best to distribute surplus funds, IMF has implemented a share buy back, with plans to acquire about 11.3 million shares in the company equating to almost 10 per cent of the 144.4 million issued shares on issue.
Shares in the company ended the day even at 50 cents each.
[Source:Times Online]
My teenage son is a Star Wars fan and I'm hoping to use a trip to the troglodyte caves in Tunisia, which I believe were used in the films, as bait to get a little more enthusiastic about our next summer holiday. A week's holiday on the beach suits my wife and I the best, but are the caves are easy to visit in a day, or will we need longer? Jeremy Lenz, Plymouth
Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: In fact, you are in luck. The former troglodyte dwellings in Matmata, in southern Tunisia, make a great day trip from the coastal resort of Jerba.
They are about two hours drive away, and even if you know your Chewbacca's from your Chukha-Trok's - don't worry, I had to look that up it's a fascinating day's diversion.
Most famous of the sets is the Hotel Sidi Driss, which is made from five interconnecting craters of former troglodyte dwellings. It's a bit forlorn these days, and rather kitschly cashes in on the its featuring in four of the films including playing the cantina where Ponda Baba attempted to pick up a fight with Luke Skywalker and ended up by having his arm sliced off by Obi-Wan Kenobi's light sabre. Apparently.
Most photogenic of the natural sets is the nearby Ksar Ouled Soltane. Once a four-story fortified grain store, it has now been renovated, and featured as slave quarters in the Phantom Menace.
You can do the above as a day trip from Jerba regardless of where you are staying, but to holiday in style you should stay at the Movenpick Ulysse Palace on Jerba is from £720pp, through Wigmore Holidays (020 7836 4999). The price includes flights from London to Jerba, transfers and B&B accommodation. There is a discount on this rate for children under 16 - 30 per cent if sharing their parent's room, and 25 per cent if in a room separate room from their parents.
The one-day private excursion to the troglodyte villages costs £85, which includes a driver/guide.
Other Tunisian specialists include Cadogan Holidays (0870 615 4390), or Indus Tours (020 8901 7464).
For more details, the Lonely Planet's Tunisia guide (£13.99) has useful tips on visiting the sites. Or see http://theswca.com/travel/tunisia.html for some good photographs of the sites.
[Source:www.bcheights.com"]
By: Leon Ratz
Posted: 2/18/08
Tonight, the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College brings ancient antiquity to life as it opens its doors to Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire. This long-awaited exhibition, organized by the Brooklyn Museum, features 21 mosaic tiles and a reconstruction of the beautiful ancient mosaic floor from a synagogue in Hammam-Lif, Tunisia. The exhibition also showcases 40 works from the Brooklyn Museum's Roman Art collection, including contemporary jewelry, coins, marble statues, and ritual objects, along with nine intricately woven North African Islamic Tiraz textiles.
Dr. Nancy Netzer, McMullen Museum director and professor in the art history department, said, "Superbly conceived by the Brooklyn Museum to pose larger questions about links among various faith communities in Late Antiquity, this exhibition and its public programs draw on strengths of the Boston College faculty's research and curriculum and on the University's commitment to exploring the relationship among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to the present."
The exhibition commences on the lower floor of the museum with an introduction to the ancient world of Tunisia and its surrounding areas, with ancient objects associated with the Phoenicians, Greco-Romans, Jews, early Christians, and Muslims. Included in this collection is an ancient Phoenician funerary Stela, which features the lunar goddess Tanit of Carthage, dating from the second Century B.C., a green jasper Gnostic gem from the beginning of the first millennium depicting the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris, along with an inscription of the name of God in Hebrew, and a bronze coin of Constantine the Great dating from the fourth century C.E. Many of these objects offer a spectacular insight into the interconnectedness of early Christianity, pagan Greco-Roman traditions, and Judaism in North Africa. For instance, one item on display is an incense burner from the fifth century C.E. which was probably not produced in a Jewish context. The cup at the top of the burner, however, includes an inscription in Greek along with a depiction of a menorah, the unequivocal symbol of Judaism throughout ancient antiquity. On display directly next to the incense burner is a strikingly similar early Christian lamp from the sixth century C.E. Dr. Ruth Langer, associate professor of Jewish studies in the theology department and academic director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning said, "These works reveal a society where Jews were more integrated and accepted than ancient texts would suggest."
The lower floor also includes a stunning collection of nine beautiful Islamic textiles from North Africa. Featuring cotton, wool, and even silk textiles, this collection demonstrates the importance of textiles in the region for common-day and religious use. In fact, Dr. Sheila Blair, professor of Islamic and Asian Art, points out that given the beautiful design of these textiles, evidence suggests that many early Christians used them to wrap the bones and relics of saints.
The exhibition continues on the top floor with its centerpiece: the ancient mosaic floor of the Hammam Lif (ancient-day Naro) Synagogue. These mosaics were discovered by chance in 1883 by French army captain, Ernest de Prudhomme, while preparing ground for gardening. A panel in the center of the floor includes a Latin inscription that states that the mosaic floor of the synagogue was a gift by a certain Juliana. The floor is divided into four sections around the inscription, bearing beautiful images of baskets of fruit and bread, fish, a hare, a lion, a date palm tree, and two distinctively Jewish menorahs. One analysis of the mosaic floor suggests that the upper part of the floor depicts Creation, with symbols such as the giant fish (leviathan) and ox common to Jewish tradition associated with the creation vignette, while the lower part of the floor represents Paradise, with mosaic panels depicting symbols and imagery associated with the Garden of Eden. For instance, the date palm tree (the namesake of the exhibition), according to researchers at the Brooklyn Museum, might represent the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil of Eden depicted in the Book of Genesis. Other mosaics in Prudhomme's collection on display at the McMullen (separate from the sanctuary floor) include panels depicting fish, gazelles, a rooster, a hyena, a partridge, and perhaps even a personification of Roma. "Today, these panels provide a fascinating contrast to the much richer archaeological evidence for synagogues of this period now known from the Land of Israel," Langer said.
The exhibition opens tonight at the McMullen with a reception at 7 p.m., and will be on view through June 8 before traveling to Miami's Lowe Art Museum. So grab your Indiana Jones hat and visit the McMullen this spring to see ancient religions and cultures merge to form a truly unforgettable mosaic.
© Copyright 2008 The Heights
