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.
Source: Asia Times: Israel is standing up to American pressure to leave the Iranian nuclear program to Washington, despite recent reciprocal high-level visits and an “unprecedented” US$10 billion arms deal. Its intensions appear to be two-track: to push the US into more decisive action and to prepare world opinion for […]
Source:CNN By the time the rescuers were able to go back into the area, it was too late for Shahina. They brought out her body on Monday and took it to the nearby schoolyard that has become a makeshift morgue.It was unclear whether she had died from the fire or […]
Source: CNN Willem-Alexander was sworn in as the first Dutch king in more than 120 years on Tuesday after his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated the throne, ending 33 years as the country’s monarch. The 75-year-old monarch handed over power in a constitutionally ordained ceremony in the Mozes Hall of the […]
Source: NY Times Op-Ed By FAZLE HASAN ABED BANGLADESH, my country, is again in tears. Last week in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the capital, a poorly constructed building that housed garment factories and other businesses collapsed. More than 300 have been confirmed dead, and the final death toll could well […]
FORT CARSON, Colo. — A female soldier in the U.S. Army pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of desertion after fleeing to Canada to avoid a second tour of duty in the Iraq war. Pfc. Kimberly Rivera was sentenced to 10 months in prison and a bad-conduct discharge after entering […]
by Jeannie Wurz, swissinfo.ch April 29, 2013 – 11:00 Naturalisation is a Swiss political hot potato, with moves afoot to make the process harder in the face of rising immigration. […]
France 24: French Socialist Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault wrote a letter to members of the government Thursday asking them to avoid using English words, even when dealing with technological innovations. The request comes after Arnaud Montebourg, minister of industrial renewal, and Michèle Delaunay, minister for the elderly, announced they were creating a new […]
by Areej Abuqudairi | Apr 29, 2013 | JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — Activists and civil society groups warned that the practice of early marriage persists despite an amendment to the […]
AFP | Apr 29, 2013 | 23:44 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Palestinian Christians near Bethlehem on Monday urged Pope Francis to speak up against an Israeli decision to build its controversial separation barrier on a route they say would cut off their community. “We cry to your Holiness with a feeling […]
Salman Al-Awdah ARABNEWS Friday 26 April 2013 O YOU who believe! Have taqwa with Allah, and be among the truthful.” (Al-Qur’an, 9:119) Many people understand truthfulness to mean truthfulness of the tongue through speech alone. In reality, truthfulness is a vast curriculum. It is as much one of the characteristics […]
MIKE CORDER | AP ARABNEWS Tuesday 30 April 2013 AMSTERDAM: King Willem-Alexander became the first Dutch male monarch in more than a century Tuesday as his mother Beatrix abdicated to […]
Source:CNN Obama went for it anyway, joking about his appearance — “These days I look in the mirror and I gotta admit: I’m not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be,” he said — and his recent “rookie mistakes,” one of which being his remark about California […]
Source:Spiegel. More than 3,000 people worked producing cheap t-shirts for European clothing chains in the highrise sweatshop that collapsed in Bangladesh last week. Hundreds died because the facility was lacking even the most basic safety standards. More:
Source:The Local. German soldiers are moonlighting illegally at private security firms while off-duty, a newspaper revealed on Monday. Working as heavily armed guards on freighters or in war-zones, some do it for the cash and others for the adrenaline kick. More:
Source: Qantara.de Selim Reid set up Germany’s first Muslim car sharing service to spare his mother disparaging remarks and to reduce the number of extra-marital affairs. Cigdem Akyol spoke to […]
Source: Spiegel International More than 3,000 people worked producing cheap t-shirts for European clothing chains in the highrise sweatshop that collapsed in Bangladesh last week. Hundreds died because the facility […]
Source: CNN Money The latest tragedy in Bangladesh once again raises the issue of the high price of cheap clothing, and puts pressure on the world’s largest retailers to take meaningful action. Last week, nearly 400 people were killed in Bangladesh when a nine-story building housing five garment factories collapsed. […]
Source:The Local Germany’s top Roman Catholic has called for women to be allowed to become deacons, which would enable them to perform baptisms and marriages outside of mass – a novelty for Catholic women. More:
Source: UPI.COM A terminally ill Irish woman does not have the right to be assisted in ending her life, the country’s Supreme Court ruled Monday. Marie Fleming, who has multiple sclerosis, appealed to the court after losing a challenge earlier this year to Ireland’s absolute ban on assisted suicide, The […]
Source:UPI.COM A woman in Spain recently gave birth to the first child born in the village of Los Giles in 45 years, causing a stir in the village. First-time parents Beatriz and Iker gave birth to Ainara in the village in Spain’s Almeria province three weeks ago, thinkSPAIN reported. The […]