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.
By MEGHAN KENEALLY Dec 23, 2016 The United Nations Security Council has passed a previously postponed vote to end Israeli settlements after the U.S. abstained from voting. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power gave a statement after the vote saying that the U.S. chose not to vote on the […]
Dec 22,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Rami G. Khouri The centuries turn over, the big players evolve, the local battlefields change, but the results remain the same: when external military powers intervene in the Middle East to secure their national interests, the result is inevitably local chaos that also generates retaliations […]
By AFP – Dec 22,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Libyan men guard the amphitheatre in the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna in Al Khoms, 130 km east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on Sunday (AFP photo) LEPTIS MAGNA, Libya — Ali Hribish stands by the Arch of Septimius […]
In what is probably the most ridiculous news you will hear today, a PIA flight has taken its passengers for a wild ride, literally. PIA flight PK307, which was bound to go from Lahore to Karachi, actually ended up in Muscat, Oman. The aircraft in question was a Boeing 777-340(ER) jet. […]
The intention of Isis’ terror attacks is to provoke European states to ‘persecute’ Muslims within their frontiers in acts of reprisal for the mass killing of western Europeans Robert Fisk @indyvoices There is something infinitely naive in our pursuit of the identity of those behind the massacres which Isis is […]
Mirror Scott Campbell The Berlin Christmas market massacre suspect has been shot dead in Milan by police after pulling out a gun during a 3am stop. Anis Amri reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar”, or god is great, and shot an officer in the shoulder just moments after getting off a […]
Source: International Business Times By Christina Silva Arabs have “wronged Islam and distorted the image of Muslims,” Saudi Prince Khaled Al-Faisal warned in a speech this week. The prince said Muslims should “not […]
Source: Jordan Times Bana has 330,000 online followers By AFP – Dec 21,2016 ANKARA — Seven-year-old Bana Al Abed, whose Twitter account gave a tragic description of the bombing of […]
Published December 20, 2016 Associated Press UNITED NATIONS – Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on all countries to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and said the most vulnerable victims are women, children and refugees caught up in conflict areas around the globe. Ban, addressing the […]
Dec 21,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Michael Jansen Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted to Monday’s assassination of Andrey Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, by vowing to redouble efforts to normalise relations between their countries. Ties have been strained by the war in Syria, where […]
Reuters International DEC 21, 2016 – Handout pictures released on December 21, 2016 and acquired from the web site of the German Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) Federal Crime Office show suspect Anis Amri searched in relation with the Monday’s truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. REUTERS/BKA/Handout via Reuters (reuters_tickers) […]
OPINION By Steve Crump DEC 21, 2016 – http://www.swissinfo.ch Steven Crump and his family will have the opportunity to apply for Swiss citizenship. In deciding to do this, he wants to be clear that he isn’t abandoning the United States. It is possible to be both Swiss and American, he […]
Not feeling obliged to stick to the letter of tradition when cooking our Christmas dinner, we’re free to concede that Turkey isn’t all that great anyway and go for chicken or roast lamb instead Avaes Mohammad Tuesday 20 December 2016 There aren’t many Muslims who don’t appreciate the warmth and […]
The Local news@thelocal.de 21 December 2016 Photo: DPA German police are searching for a Tunisian man whose ID document they found in the truck which attacked a Berlin Christmas market on Monday, German media report. 12.15pm A report in Bild suggests that the Polish man found dead in the passenger […]
Police, journalists and onlookers were scattered around the damaged Christmas market the day after the terrorist attack. DW’s Ben Knight joined them. Police, many of them armed with automatic weapons, kept themselves warm on Tuesday by ordering people away from their red and white plastic cordoning tape. Keeping a tight […]
December 20, 2016 TEHRAN – Iran, Russia, and Turkey issued a joint statement on Tuesday agreeing to try to broker peace talks between Syrian militants and the Syrian government and to expand the ceasefire in Aleppo to other parts of the country. The statement came after foreign ministers of Iran, […]
FAISAL J. ABBAS | Published — Wednesday 21 December 2016 Faisal J. Abbas Monday’s atrocious attacks that targeted civilians at a Christmas market in Berlin and Muslims praying in a mosque in Zurich resemble two sides of the same coin of hatred. Both acts of terrorism should be condemned, […]
By Isobel Leybold-Johnson, Julie Hunt in Basel http://www.swissinfo.ch Foreigners moving to canton Basel City receive a voucher for free German lessons, paid for by the canton – in a scheme that is unique in Switzerland. The aim is to increase integration. But not everyone is making use of the voucher […]
Source: The Independent By Mary Dejevsky There will be claims, in the aftermath, that the anti-Assad opposition was betrayed by its Western backers, and accusations of ‘appeasement’ – but the […]
Jessica Hartogs, Special to CNBC.com Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016 | 7:56 AM ETCNBC.com The prolonged conflict in Syria has already had a devastating economic impact but could yet spiral to cost the country more than $1 trillion, according to a new report. The report published Tuesday by children’s charity World […]