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 JT – Apr 25,2016 – JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Monday called for a collective global response to the growing refugee crisis, explaining that its impact is much greater than any one country or any one region’s capacity to cope. The Queen made these statements […]
Monday, April 25, 2016 Topics: Bible Just a day before the start of Passover last week, two of Israel’s most prominent rabbis got together to discuss the delayed coming of the Messiah. Rabbi Moishe Sternbuch is head of the Rabbinical Court and a leader of one of Israel’s largest and […]
April 25, 2016 Women in different parts of Damghan county, northern Semnan province, roll their infants below one year of age in pink roses, believing that it will keep them fresh and healthy. They perform a ritual called Gol Ghaltan (literally meaning rolling in flowers) in April-May when roses bloom […]
MAKHMOUR, IRAQ | BY STEPHEN KALIN Towering over his Kurdish partner at a checkpoint in northern Iraq, U.S. volunteer John Cole cuts an unusual figure on the road to the newest front in the war against Islamic State. Seven feet (2.1 meters) tall and holding his assault rifle upside down, […]
New, commercially available encryption software ‘had and is having major, profound effects on our ability’ to collect intelligence, ‘particularly against terrorists,’ James Clapper told reporters at a Monitor-hosted breakfast. By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer APRIL 25, 2016 Save for later Michael Bonfigli /The Christian Science Monitor View Caption WASHINGTON — […]
The Independent Kim Sengupta Twenty-eight secret pages of a report locked away in a room in the Capitol in Washington lie in the centre of a crisis between America and Saudi Arabia which threatens to have severe and widespread repercussions. The US Congress is considering legislation which would enable the […]
Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP Published: 25 Apr 2016 12:33 GMT+02:00 Solar Impulse 2, the Swiss-based plane attempting to be the first aircraft to circumnavigate the globe on solar power, has landed in California after crossing the Pacific from Hawaii. Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard completed the 62-hour leg of the journey on […]
Syria has been rocked by fighting in recent weeks, particularly around the city of Aleppo. Photo: AFP Obama, UN envoy voice alarm at ‘fraying’ Syria truce Published: 24 Apr 2016 08:57 GMT+02:00 Syria’s fragile ceasefire is in grave peril, US President Barack Obama and the UN’s special envoy warned, as […]
APR 25, 2016 – 14:24 Many of the clandestine immigrants from Europe work in seasonal agricultural jobs (Keystone) According to a report released by the State Secretariat for Migration on Monday, the number of clandestine immigrants residing in Switzerland is estimated to have decreased over the last decade. The authorities […]
Apr 24,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – MARK LEONARD We have entered the age of migration. If all the people who live outside the country of their birth united to form their own — a republic of the rootless — it would be the fifth-largest country in the world, with a […]
Burying drowned migrants is part of a broader Greek problem Apr 20th 2016, 12:55 by M.TZ. and ERASMUS | MYTILENE THE newly established graveyard, a short drive west of Mytilene port, is a desperately sad place. In the middle of an olive grove, there are dozens of mounds of crumbly earth, some created only a […]
In late antiquity, the religion split the Mediterranean world in two. Now it is remaking the Continent. Robert D. Kaplan May 2016 Issue Global Europe was essentially defined by […]
ANADOLU AGENCY BERLIN PublishedApril 22, 2016 German former President Christian Wulff attends a talk on Islam in Germany in Berlin on April 21, 2016 (AFP Photo) Former German President Christian Wulff spoke against growing anti-Islam sentiment in the country and stressed that Islam belonged to Germany, contrary to what far-right […]
Kerala | Written by Sneha Mary Koshy | Updated: April 24, 2016 02:34 by Taboola The Thazhathangadi Juma Masjid in Kottayam is for the first time allowing women, from the local community, to come inside. Kottayam: Highlights Thazhathangadi Juma Masjid popular with male tourists in India and abroad Women […]
TNN | Apr 24, 2016 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/configspace/ads/AS_Top.html Trichy: The 1,019-year-old Nathrsha Mosque that stands in the heart of the city was cleaned by civic body workers on Saturday. As part of […]
Nasrudin stood up in the market-place and started to address the throng. ‘O people! Do you want knowledge without difficulties, truth without falsehood, attainment without effort, progress without sacrifice?’ Very soon a large crowd gathered, everyone shouting: ‘Yes, yes!’ ‘Excellent!’ said the Mulla. ‘I only wanted to know. You may […]
Jim Michaels Friday, 22 Apr 2016 Getty Images The U.S.-led coalition air campaign has incinerated about $500 million of the Islamic State’s cash stockpiles and cut its oil revenues by an estimated 50 percent, according to a senior defense official. The Islamic State has been forced to ration fuel […]
By John Heilprin Apr 22, 2016 – 11:00 Nature already needs extra protection, like the Rhone glacier where tarp is used to help prevent ice melt (Keystone) Switzerland’s essential alpine character stands little chance of surviving predicted man-made global warming, even if the Paris agreement succeeds in putting the world […]
April 23, 2016 TEHRAN – President Rouhani has asserted that Iran has been in the frontline of counterterrorism both ideologically and pragmatically, saying if it had not been for Iran’s supports, Damascus and Bagdad would have fallen into the hands of Daesh, the Arabic acronym for ISIL. Rouhani made the […]
Apr 23,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – MARK LEONARD The consequences of Russia’s intervention in Syria stretch far beyond the Middle East. The Kremlin’s military campaign has tilted the stalemate in favour of the government and derailed efforts to craft a political compromise to end the war. It also heralds the […]