Iran’s alluring tourism at FITUR 2016
Tehran Times Tourism Desk TEHRAN — Representatives of some Iranian tour and travel agencies are introducing Iran’s hidden treasures to tourism experts at the 36th edition of FITUR, the premier […]
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.
Israel begins construction on Jordan border fence
By AFP – Jan 21,2016 – JORDAN TIMES OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel has begun construction on a fence along its border with Jordan, the defence ministry announced Wednesday, its latest such barrier intended to keep out illegal migrants and fighters. It will be the latest “security fence” built by […]
Islam’s path to modernity
Jan 21,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Mohammad Fazlhashemi Many in the Muslim community have long taken issue with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The declaration, these critics attest, was created by colonial powers with a long history of gross human rights violations and amounts to yet another […]
Syrian refugees in Jordan beware: Sub-zero temperatures, snow forecast for next week
By Hana Namrouqa – Jan 20,2016 – JORDAN TIMES A Syrian refugee walks back to his family’s tent after collecting wood to be used for heating, at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, some 90km northeast of Amman, on Wednesday (AP photo by […]
Thoughts turn to revolution in Davos
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Thoughts turn to revolution in Davos By Matthew Allen JAN 20, 2016 – 11:00 “Waiter”! While improving lives, robots may also take jobs. (Reuters) Intelligent robots and drones, 3D printers, self-driving vehicles, data mountains, smart production lines, fintech and blockchain – the fourth industrial revolution is […]
Denmark’s New Front in Debate Over Immigrants: Children’s Lunches
By DAN BILEFSKYJAN. 20, 2016 LONDON — It is being called the “meatball war.” To be precise, pork meatballs and other pork dishes such as roasts have become the latest weapons in the culture wars playing out in Europe over immigration after a Danish town voted this week to require […]
Unholy Alliance: Christian Zionists and the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
by MICHAEL WELTON Imagine thousands of people cheering and shouting for Israel in the huge Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. On stage, Ehud Olmert, the mayor of Jerusalem, proclaims: “God is with us. You are with us.” The crowd hollers, whoops and some blow the shofar. But none of […]
Turkey, the U.S. and Europe Are All Partly to Blame for the Festering Syria War
Behlül Özkan Become a fanAssistant professor at Marmara University; Author Turkey, the U.S. and Europe Are All Partly to Blame for the Festering Syria War Posted: 01/14/2016 12:46 pm EST Updated: 01/14/2016 4:00 pm EST Tweet ISTANBUL — On Tuesday, 10 German tourists lost their lives when a bomb […]
US-RUSSIA TALKS Top diplomats to meet in Zurich on Syria, Ukraine
JAN 15, 2016 – 21:30 Ahead of Syria peace talks in Geneva, top officials are meeting in Switzerland to prepare the way (Keystone) The top diplomats for the United States and Russia will meet in Zurich next week for talks on Syria and Ukraine just ahead of the World Economic […]
Stratfor: Annual Forecast 2016
Forecast DECEMBER 28, 2015 | 12:56 GMT With old geopolitical realities resurfacing across Eurasia and commodity prices stuck in a slump, 2016 is shaping up to be an unsettling year for much of the world. A logical place to begin is the country that bridges Europe and Asia: Turkey. […]
Hawking warns new technologies may threaten human survival
dw.com © Provided by Deutsche WelleThe Cambridge professor said that humans had to be “careful” for the next 100 years to ensure survival. His statement follows a 2015 warning on the risk of using artificial intelligence in conflicts.World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has once again issued a warning on technological […]
Finding ourselves playing the mediator
By Talat Masood Published: January 19, 2016 rime Minister Nawaz Sharif meets Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on January 19, 2016. PHOTO: PM OFFICE The current toxic rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is another manifestation of the deep decay that has set in the Muslim world. The two […]
Driver given a warm sendoff by royal family
APPRECIATION: The 76-year-old Sri Lankan driver Watti with the family at the farewell party. ARAB NEWS Published — Tuesday 19 January 2016 RIYADH: Members of a Saudi family went out of their way to give a warm farewell party to its non-Muslim Sri Lankan private driver after 33 years of […]
Rawdah in the Prophet’s Mosque
YOUSUF MOHAMED Published — Tuesday 19 January 2016 MADINAH: Pilgrims during their visit to the Prophet’s Mosque are keen to visit the Rawdah, a place located between the Prophet and Aisha’s house, peace be upon them, and between the Prophet’s Minbar (or pulpit). “Between my house and my pulpit […]
Brave Australian couple who moved to Iraq with their three young children arrived on the SAME DAY that ISIS forces invaded – but they stayed anyway to help refugees
Tim Buxton, his wife Sarah, and their three small children moved to Iraq The family moved from Brisbane to the Kurdish area in north Iraq in 2014 ISIS invaded the day the Buxton’s landed in the war-torn country In the past 18 months they have helped hundreds of refugees find […]
World should have paid more attention to region — UN official
By Muath Freij – Jan 19,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – By Muath Freij AMMAN – The influx of Syrian refugees heading to Europe is a result of the lack of attention paid to the region in the past five years, the president of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Mogens Lykketoft […]
Pakistan Charsadda: Deadly assault on university
From the sectionAsia Media captionThe BBC’s Shahzeb Jillani: “The gun battle was intense. Blasts were heard” A gun attack on a university in north-west Pakistan, has killed at least 19 people and injured 50, officials say. Nearly three hours after the attack began, an army official said firing had stopped […]
The complex reality of ‘home’ for Palestinians
Jan 20,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Ramzy Baroud When Daesh militias swept into Mosul, Iraq, in June 2014, Ibrahim Mahmoud plotted his flight, along with his whole family, which included 11 children. Once upon a time, Mahmoud was himself a child escaping another violent campaign carried out by equally angry militias. […]
For peace talks on Syria to succeed
Jan 20,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Editorial The future of the projected peace talks on Syria, scheduled for January 25, hangs in the balance as both sides of the conflict are making demands that may thwart negotiations even before they start. The initiative to hold peace talks was unanimously endorsed […]
Forget the Syrian refugees. America needs to bring its Afghan and Iraqi interpreters here first. They risked their lives for our country. Let’s do right by them.
Last week, President Obama decided to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States. But there’s another group of foreigners who deserve our help much more – the 50,000 men and women who served as interpreters for American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. During my two deployments, I worked with […]