EMPTY PEWS: One in four shuns religion in Switzerland
By Susan Misicka MAR 31, 2011 – A quarter of Swiss don’t attend church at all(Keystone) The role of organised religion in Switzerland is an increasingly small one, according […]
Author Archives
Rafiq A. Tschannen
Rafiq A. Tschannen is a Swiss national. He converted to Islam and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at the age of 16 after reading the German translation of the Holy Qur'an. He worked in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, first as Finance Director in the private industry and later as Chief Executive Officer of NGOs and International Governmental Organizations. He is now devoting his time to The Muslim Times as Editor for Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Switzerland and as Associate Chief Editor.
SAFETY CONCERNS: Building owner blocks Islamist conference
APR 24, 2017 – Members of the Islamic community in Switzerland demonstrate “against terrorism and Islamophobia”(Keystone) The owner of Zurich’s World Trade Center will not allow the Islamic Central […]
From aspiring stylist to extremist widow: one woman’s Syria story
By AFP – Apr 24,2017 – JORDAN TIMES Twenty-three-year old Islam Maytat from Morocco poses for a photo with her children Maria (left) and Abdullah in the Kurdish-majority city […]
Terrorism for financial gain is a real threat – but it’s also nothing we haven’t seen before
Relying on the stock market to react rationally to a terrorist attacks is hardly a sound investment strategy. Borussia Dortmund shares actually rose the day after the attack Tom Smith 7 […]
Marine Le Pen may have progressed this far, but it is a Macron presidency that will present a new start for France
Yet what exactly that change will look like remains to be seen Mary Dejevsky @IndyVoices Macron mobilised support with his En Marche! movement AFP Not, perhaps, the best of results for France and Europe, but by no means the worst either. The far-right National Front candidate, Marine Le Pen, appears […]
Turkey only received €790M of €3B pledged by EU, Presidential Spox Kalın says
DAILY SABAH ISTANBUL AA Photo Presidential Spokesman İbrahim Kalın urged the European Union to fulfill its obligations within the scope of the migration deal reached between the bloc and Turkey. Kalın told a news conference that Turkey only received 790 million euro of 3 billion euros pledged by the bloc […]
Kashmir: The forgotten cause!
HATEM BAZIAN@hatembazian The image of Farooq Ahmad Dar, a Kashmiri shawl weaver, bound as a human shield on the bumper of an Indian military jeep is an atrocious display of an army that has become well-accustomed to human rights violations. On April 9, Mr. Dar was detained for no […]
Important in calculating the risk of Daesh
JORDAN TIMES – Amer Al Sabaileh Since the appearance of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, over the last few years, journalists have been analysing the situation, but much of the coverage has focused on the number of fighters and their nationalities, which suggests a misunderstanding of the region and its […]
If a nuclear bomb is dropped on your city, here’s where you should run and hide
Finding a good shelter as soon as possible and going inside is critical to surviving fallout Dave Mosher and Andy Kiersz, Business Insider Mushroom cloud from nuclear explosion/Overdone cauliflower cheese. […]
Three African countries chosen to test world’s first malaria vaccine
Ghana, Kenya and Malawi to begin pilot scheme trialling experimental treatment next year Cara Anna Three African countries have been chosen to test the world’s firstmalaria vaccine, the World Health […]
Donald Trump’s first 100 days: The madder he gets, the more seriously the world takes him
Now the ‘flexible’ and ‘pragmatic’ US President is sending a naval battle group to threaten North Korea Robert Fisk @indyvoices The more dangerous America’s crackpot President becomes, the saner the world believes him to be. Just look back at the initial half of his first 100 days: the crazed tweeting, the lies, the fantasies and self-regard […]
RELIGIOUS MINORITIES: Readers react to ‘outrageous’ burka ban article
By swissinfo.ch POLITICS APR 21, 2017 – Two tourists from Saudi Arabia have a break in Interlaken in October 2016 (Keystone) swissinfo.ch readers have been holding a lively debate over whether direct democracy leads to a majority of society tyrannising religious minorities. An article published by swissinfo.chexternal link on Wednesday, […]
I deeply sympathise with the parents of Charlie Gard, but perhaps the kindest thing is to let him go
I can understand his parents’ rage and their determination to fight for their child, because my nephew was brain-damaged and trapped in a coma last year from which he never recovered Janet Street-Porter Friday 7 April 2017 Charlie Gard’s parents want to take their son to the US for treatment […]
Nuclear war has become thinkable again – we need a reminder of what it means
Paul Mason As Trump faces down North Korea, it’s alarming to think that most of the world’s nuclear warheads are now in the hands of men who are prepared to use them ‘This sudden mania for speaking of nuclear warfare, among men with untrammeled power, should be the No 1 […]
When Daesh is defeated
Apr 18,2017 – JORDAN TIMES – Ramzy Baroud Back in the Middle East for a few months, I find myself astounded by the absence of strong voices of Arab intellectuals. The region that has given rise to the likes of Michel Aflaq, George Habash, Rached Al Ghannouchi, Edward Said and numerous […]
The mullah-led development model
Apr 18,2017 – JORDAN TIMES – Nadeem ul Haque A longstanding debate in economics — and among social scientists more broadly — centres on how best to deliver international aid to developing countries. Should these countries’ governments rely on top-down wisdom from donor capitals? Or should they focus more on funding bottom-up […]
Isis has finally reached central Egypt – but that’s not even al-Sisi’s biggest problem
By declaring emergency laws, the President is proving to the world that private investment in his country cannot increase. Who wants to invest in a nation whose capital is ‘invested’ by Isis? Robert Fisk @indyvoices Monday 10 April 2017 09:30 BST Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has introduced emergency laws following […]
Open letter to Mohamed Aïssa: the Ahmadis in Algeria also wish to fight the Takfir!
Lettre ouverte à Mohamed Aïssa: les Ahmadis en Algérie souhaitent également lutter contre le Takfir ! The Minister for Religious Affairs, You have not answered my last letter to ask you for an interview on the question of the Ahmadis, and we do not blame you. We understand that judicial […]
Britain First ‘Invades’ Birmingham Islamic Bookshop
‘This whole bloody place is a disgrace.’ 17/04/2017 12:05 Chris York Senior Editor, Huffington Post UK Britain First has “invaded” an Islamic bookshop in Birmingham prompting localChristians, politicians and the police to spend Easter Sunday “uniting in peace”. Members of the far-right group filmed themselves in the store on Alum […]
Punjab University’s retired Ahmadi professor found murdered in her home
April 18, 2017, A retired Punjab University professor belonging to the Ahmadi community was found murdered at her house in Lahore today. According to police, retired professor Tahira of […]