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.
Bassem Mroue| Associated Press DAILY STAR LEBANON BEIRUT: A young, red-bearded ethnic Chechen has rapidly become one of the most prominent commanders in Al-Qaeda splinter group ISIS that has overrun swaths of Iraq and Syria, illustrating the international nature of the movement. Omar al-Shishani, one of hundreds of Chechens who […]
Three Israeli teenagers killed by Palestinians. Vicious, cruel, unforgivable. True. At least 37 Lebanese children killed by Israel. Regrettable, unfortunate, but the ultimate fault of “terrorists”. Untrue. The slaughter of the children at Qana in Lebanon in 1996 – among 109 civilians killed by Israeli shellfire as they sheltered in […]
ARABNEWS Published — Thursday 3 July 2014 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has instructed Grand Mosque authorities to open the newly expanded annex buildings of the […]
A decision by a chain of pharmacies to sell an over-the-counter DNA paternity test has provoked serious ethical concerns. Sun Store, which operates mainly in French-speaking Switzerland, has decided to sell the PATERtest in its larger stores. Although such do-it-yourself tests are available on the Internet, it is believed to […]
Summary Japan took a historic step away from its post-war pacifism Tuesday by ending a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since 1945, a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe but a move that has riled China and worries many Japanese voters. The change, the most dramatic […]
SUMMARY: by Rami G. Khouri, The Daily Star, Lebanon There is no single thread that explains the turbulent Middle East today, no single map being redrawn, no one dominant force that motivates the actions of hundreds of millions of agitated people. For thousands of years – almost 10,000 years to […]
By Christoph Reuter, SPIEGEL.DE There’s a loud thump. In the bright midday sun, Mohsen, the driver, fails to see a speed bump on the road to Mosul. Fortunately for him, the speed bump is a Kurdish one, made of asphalt. “The ones made by the government in Baghdad are cement […]
France’s law banning women from wearing face-covering veils in public is not discriminatory, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday. The court’s decision follows a case brought by […]
Interview Conducted By Bernhard Zand In an interview, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, warns that his country is threatened with collapse under the pressure posed by ISIS terrorists. But, he says, it isn’t a civil war yet. You have to cross a total of four checkpoints before you […]
BANNU: Pakistan’s military launched a ground assault in the North Waziristan tribal area on Monday, beginning a new phase in its offensive against Taleban militants, after nearly half a million civilians fled the fighting. Troops moved on Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, around 9:30 a.m. (local time), officials […]
The title of the news has been changed by the Muslim Times, to make it more readable for our readers. Source: NY Times: AMMAN, Jordan — As Syria’s civil war […]
PNN/Palestine (updated) An hour ago, following the information an Israeli journalist from Haaretz posted on Twitter, different news agencies have started reporting that the Israeli army might have found the bodies of the three missing settlers near Halhoul, north of Hebron. This information has just been confirmed and the families […]
by Khaled Neimat | Jun 30, 2014 | 23:49 AMMAN — A security buffer zone of around 400 kilometres separates Jordan’s border from the military operations in Iraq, an MP who attended a closed-door meeting with the government said on Monday. Deputy Yihya Saud (Amman, 2nd District) quoted Interior Minister […]
Source: Arab News Philanthropists will distribute more than 7.5 million packets of iftar meals among worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah throughout Ramadan. “Everyday they supply 250,000 iftar meals, […]
By Katrin Kuntz in Qaraqosh, Iraq It was the evening of Tuesday, June 10 when Salam Kihkhwa walked into a mobile phone shop in the Qaraqosh city center to purchase […]
Interview Conducted by Samiha Shafy and Mathieu von Rohr SPIEGEL: Mrs. Gates, how does it feel to be so rich that you can use your money to influence the lives […]
AFP | Jun 29, 2014 | JORDAN TIMES OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved a $90 million socio-economic development plan for occupied East Jerusalem which focuses on increased security presence in the area, the municipality said. “One of the main goals of the plan that was approved […]
Four million Canadians carrying the anti-Semitic ‘disease’? We’ve heard this kind of despicable propaganda before Not long ago, I was handed the most outrageous, vile, dishonest and slanderous calumny uttered against the people of Canada. It was contained in a full-page advertisement in the National Post (founder, Conrad Black), a […]
BY ROBERT FISK, THE INDEPENDENT Well, God bless Barack Obama – he’s found some “moderate” rebels in Syria. Enough to supply them with weapons and training worth $500m. Congress wants to arm these brave freedom fighters, you see. And Obama, having sent his 300 elite Spartan lads to Iraq to […]
Source: CNN This week marks the centenary of the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. This was a key trigger for the devastating First World War, setting off a chain reaction that saw key European powers, including Germany, Russia and Britain, entering conflict soon after. One hundred […]