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 Caroline Alexander Bloomberg June 26, 2013 Syria’s Kurds are carving out a self-governed zone as the decay of President Bashar al-Assad’s government creates an opportunity for a people who […]
By Hasnain Kazim SPIEGEL.DE The situation in Afghanistan is becoming so precarious that Afghan diplomats no longer want to return to their homeland. Up to 100 foreign service employees set for rotation back to Kabul from assignments abroad have now defected. A total of 105 Afghan diplomats were meant to […]
The rift currently dividing Turkey also runs right through the middle of many families. SPIEGEL reporter Özlem Gezer has an uncle in Istanbul who loves Erdogan, a cousin who sleeps […]
June 27, 2013 – 11:27 By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) – Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australian prime minister for the second time on Thursday, a day after toppling Julia Gillard and three months ahead of elections in which opinion polls show the ruling Labor Party faces a devastating […]
RIYADH: GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS STAFF Thursday 27 June 2013 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced July 8 (Shaban 29) as the last date for seeking Umrah visas. All Saudi diplomatic missions across the world will continue issuing Umrah visas until the “end of Shaban,” said Osama […]
KUWAIT CITY: ARAB NEWS Thursday 27 June 2013 More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria’s uprising, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The death toll from the civil war is now 100,191 people, it said. Violence raged as US Secretary of State John Kerry ruled out […]
Source: Asia Times: The geopolitics of Central Asia has begun shifting in anticipation of the NATO forces ending their combat role as well as their pullout from Afghanistan and the proposed establishment of the nine American military bases in that country. Kyrgyzstan today gave the final touch to its strategic […]
Source: The Local Pressure is mounting on Germany to ban racial profiling for police checks. A report by the German Institute for Human Rights concluded a change in policy was “urgently required.” More:
Source: ET LAHORE: The biases and prejudices in school textbooks are one of the main reasons for the radicalisation of young people and poor quality of education in Pakistan, said academics and civil society activists at a conference here on Wednesday. “These are not textbooks as much as propaganda brochures which […]
By Zubair Khan Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been blessed with the holy presence of its supreme spiritual leader Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (Allah may strengthen his hands). He arrived in Germany on 22nd of June 2013. Since his arrival is busy in various programs including inauguration ceremonies of mosques as […]
Source: TOI VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has set up a special commission to review the activities of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank to ensure that it operated in “harmony” with the mission of the Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The appointment of the five-member panel, which includes four prelates and a woman Harvard professor, is the […]
Source: Asia Times. Western corporate media is head over heels with the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, 61, as he magnanimously chose to depose himself to the benefit of his son, the former heir apparent Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, 33. In a positively Kennedy-esque speech on national television, the outgoing […]
Source: The Local Police in the northern German city of Bremen have been left baffled by the theft of a famous 12th century “bishop’s ring” from the cathedral museum. More:
Source: BBC News Two prominent US bloggers have been banned from entering the UK, the Home Office has said. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer co-founded anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of […]
Source: LUBP Justice Baqar is also a Shia – a death sentence in Pakistan today. The ASWJ-TTP terrorists who attacked him share the same ideology – Takfiri Deobandi which is closely linked with global Salafist-Wabahist movements. As global events have clearly shown, this mindset cannot tolerate the Other. This mindset […]
Source: Dawn.com WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Wednesday handed a significant victory to gay rights advocates by ruling that married gay men and women are eligible for federal benefits and paving the way for same-sex marriage in California. The court, however, fell short of a landmark ruling endorsing a […]
Source: ET The June 23 incident at the western base camp of Nanga Parbat, in which nine foreign tourists and their local guide were gratuitously killed, raises many questions. Reports indicate the area has been cordoned off and search parties are scouring all possible approaches to and away from the base camp. […]
Reuters VOICE OF AMERICA June 19, 2013 LONDON — Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback on Wednesday when Britain’s top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran’s nuclear program. The Bank Mellat […]
by Matthew Allen in Zurich, swissinfo.ch June 26, 2013 – 11:38 Marc Rich, the billionaire oil trader who set up Swiss commodities giant Glencore Xstrata, has died at the age […]
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE ARABNEWS Wednesday 26 June 2013 GENEVA: A widely anticipated peace conference for Syria will probably not take place next month as hoped, UN peace envoy to Syria […]