US economic growth slows sharply
Source: BBC The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter a year ago, official figures show. The […]
China Shandong: Miners rescued after 36 days
Source: BBC Four Chinese miners who had been trapped underground for 36 days have been rescued, Chinese state media say. The men were trapped by a cave-in at a gypsum […]
Why Catholic leaders don’t endorse presidential candidates
Source: Crux With just days left before Iowa casts the first votes in the presidential nominating contests, Republican candidates have been crisscrossing the state touting their Christian bona fides, appealing to […]
American Atheists suit against Ten Commandments monument advances
Source: RNS (RNS) A lawsuit brought by American Atheists seeking the erection of an “atheist monument” near a Ten Commandments monument at a Florida county courthouse has gotten the go-ahead from a federal court judge. American Atheists, a national advocacy organization based in Cranford, N.J., has tried to put a […]
Covering nude statues in Rome for Iran head draws Catholic leader’s scorn
Source: RNS ROME (RNS) Controversy over Italy’s decision to cover nude statues during the visit of Iran’s president continued to spark debate as the leader of the Syrian Catholic Church […]
Happy hour and drinks are still flowing in the Gambia, the newest Islamic state
Source: The Guardian It may be the world’s newest Islamic state, but on the Gambia’s beaches it was business as usual. Dreadlocked, muscular young men offered their company to middle-aged female tourists, the sweet scent of marijuana hung on the ocean breeze, bars advertised happy hour cocktails, and bared breasts […]
Minaret and Muslims in Mexican city set to host pope
Source: Yahoo News San Cristóbal de las Casas (Mexico) (AFP) – The domed mosque with a minaret rises above small homes in a seemingly unlikely place: A southern Mexican indigenous […]
Europe launches ‘most wanted’ list, Paris attack suspects featured
Reuters International JAN 29, 2016 – 18:02 AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Move over FBI: Europe now has its own “most wanted” list, with suspects in Islamist militant attacks on Paris looming large. European police agencies on Friday introduced the list on a website hosted by Europol, as part of a push […]
Iran and France cancel diplomatic lunch to welcome Hassan Rouhani after French refuse to take wine off the menu
Iranian officials asked that a lunch between the two countries’ presidents be Halal and alcohol-free Caroline Mortimer @cjmortimer Thursday 28 January 2016 156 comments Hollande and Rouhani were supposed to meet for lunch at an upmarket restaurant in Paris Getty Images A lunch between the French and Iranian presidents in […]
SECURITY IN GENEVA: Secret service information led to pass withdrawal
JAN 24, 2016 – 13:45 Those involved worked as baggage handlers (Keystone) More than 30 Muslim employees at Geneva airport had their runway access passes withdrawn in December. After an initial lack of information on the move, the head of Geneva’s security ministry, Pierre Maudet, has now spoken out about […]
The Swiss woman who was kidnapped in Mali – twice
BEATRICE STÖCKLI By Veronica DeVore JAN 28, 2016 – 17:13 Stöckli, right, with expedition leader Andrea Vogel and local children in 2008 (Andrea Vogel) Beatrice Stöckli will not be deterred. The Basel native settled in Mali some 15 years ago, was kidnapped in 2012 – and then returned to the […]
‘The full dangers within us’
Jan 28,2016 -JORDAN TIMES – RAMI G. KHOURI How should we view and respond to the growing flow of refugees and migrants from, within and beyond the Middle East? Is this mainly a temporary humanitarian challenge? An occasional security threat? A cultural and political concern for mostly white and Christian […]
The ‘lost generation’
Jan 28,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh By “lost generation” I am not referring to Gertrude Stein’s famous description of the generation that grew up during and after World War I in America and Europe. I am borrowing the term to describe the current, sad, state of our young […]
Apartheid Israel
Jan 28,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – George S. Hishmeh The unbending nature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose extremist policies have crippled any peace negotiations with the Palestinians, has once again emerged this week when he revealed his intention to return Israeli settlers to Hebron, a prominent Palestinian town in […]
Britain is at war with Yemen. So why does nobody know about it? Owen Jones Owen Jones
Saudi Arabia has British military advisers and continues to bomb Yemeni civilians with British weapons. Yet our government is strangely quiet about it Britain is arming and aiding a fundamentalist dictatorship that’s bombing and killing civilians. This is an incontestable fact. The Saudi tyranny – gay-hating women-oppressors who kicked off […]
Report: Breast-feeding increase could save more than 800,000 lives annually
Epigraph: And We have enjoined on man concerning his parents — his mother bears him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning takes two years — ‘Give thanks to Me […]
When the West wanted Islam to curb Christian extremism
Source: Washington Post By Ishaan Tharoor, who writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor at TIME, based first in Hong Kong and later in […]
Can Humanism replace Religion?
religionandotherthings.wordpress.com: Can Humanism replace Religion? Today religion is often seen as a source of conflict and intolerance in the world with calls to do away with the theistic philosophies altogether and replace them with the so-called secular or humanist principles. So is it finally time to rid ourselves of religion? Or […]
The Religious Sources of Christian Terrorism
Huff Post: by Babak Rahimi, Associate Professor of Communication, Culture and Religion at University of California, San Diego — News reports live a short life in the media. Many seem to have already forgotten the militant organization that continues to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. But then many […]
The difference between a hijab and headscarf
The Muslim Times’ collection about Hijab Source: Huffington Post By Rawan AbuShaban: She likes hummus. Hijab has been the topic of longstanding debates in both western and mainstream Islamic discourses alike. However, how […]