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.
STORY SUMMARY There is good news and bad news on the Arab-Israeli peacemaking front this week. The good news is that the United States and the Arab League’s ministerial committee seem energized to restart Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. This culminated a few days ago in the Arab clarification that the 2002 Arab […]
STORY SUMMARY Israel sought to reassure the Syrian regime Monday that its weekend airstrikes against military sites near Damascus were not aimed at boosting the rebels, as activists claimed at least 42 army soldiers were killed in the attacks. Early morning airstrikes against what Syrian state media reported were scientific […]
Over the last six decades, the U.S. has invested $299 billion in military and economic aid for Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries currently in turmoil. Egypt tops a list […]
By Jakarta Globe on 12:26 am May 7, 2013. An Indonesian human rights organization has blasted a US-based interfaith group’s decision to recognize President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for championing religious […]
Source: The Daily Star. DHAKA: A number of copies of the holy Quran were burnt when the stalls and pushcarts of hawkers were set ablaze during the violence at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram mosque Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of people gathered near the south gate of Baitul Mukarram […]
NERVANA MAHMOUD Special to The Globe and Mail On late Saturday, Pope Tawadros II led his first Easter Mass as head of the ancient Coptic Christian Church in Egypt by […]
A Muslim group’s effort to move its campus from College Park to Maryland’s rural Howard County is being met with opposition from local residents, who say dense construction plans for the site would spoil the quiet character of the area. Although both sides insist that the debate turns solely on […]
Source: The Local. Just to name two examples – of course a democracy must reform its citizenship laws if the danger emerges that a growing part of its population is being shut out of the political process because they have no right to vote. And of course schools need to […]
Source: Guardian via Wasim Sr. As Pakistan’s election campaign enters its dying days, no town has escaped the attention of the country’s politicians as they crisscross the country, plastering every spare billboard, lamp-post and shop-front with posters bearing their heavily airbrushed faces. Except Rabwah, a sleepy riverside settlement in the […]
by CORINA LASS (please bear with us – Google translate from German being used). Herford. The years after 2000 were troubled. Parental divorce, comprehensive school Friedenstal, vocational training year, training […]
Source: NY Times: JERUSALEM — The twin airstrikes in Damascus on Friday and Sunday attributed to Israel appear to be more about Jerusalem’s broad, mostly covert battle with Iran and Hezbollah than about the bloody civil war raging in Syria. Despite intensifying concern over the future of Syria, Israeli political […]
Source: Daily Telegraph via Wasim Sr The politician most likely to be Pakistan’s next prime minister is a wiser man and a more mature leader than the one who governed twice in the 1990s before being overthrown in a military coup, according to one of the women who knows him […]
Source. Wasim Sr Click HERE to see video in Youtube. Now watch Tahir ul Qadri’s condemnation of prostration to any human:
Source: Huffington Post /AP By FARID HOSSAIN DHAKA, Bangladesh — Police banned all rallies in Bangladesh’s capital for the rest of the day Monday after at least 20 people died in clashes between police and large numbers of Islamic hardliners demanding that the government enact an anti-blasphemy law, officials said. […]
Source: BD News 24. By Moinul Hoque Chowdhury Hifazat-e Islam’s Dhaka blockade is a demonstration of the muscle power of religion-driven politics, but under a non-political banner in a year when parliament elections are due, political analysts say. The radical Islamist organisation enforced the Dhaka blockade within a month of its […]
by Burhan Aldroubi Source: The Williams Record Western imperialism, a modern segment of historic imperialism, continuously inspires discussion in our classrooms. Realist and morally deterministic arguments go head to head, with both regrets and admissions realized as afterthoughts. Formal discussions about Latin America or the Levant can perhaps be viewed […]
Source: The Economist: A new study reveals what Islam means in different countries ISLAMIC law, in many eyes, has overtones of rigid puritanism. Yet some of its staunchest backers are also strong supporters of religious pluralism, reports the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank, in a survey of 38,000 Muslims conducted in 39 […]
Source: ET LONDON: Prince Harry has reportedly revealed the sex of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child, saying it will be a boy and that he is excited about welcoming his first nephew. And while Prince Williams and Duchess of Cambridge, whose maiden name is Kate Middleton, have made no […]
Source> BBC.Com. Arn Chorn-Pond was a child in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. Born into a family of artists and musicians, he was sent to a children’s labour camp where he escaped death by playing his flute for the camp guards. His brother and sister […]
Source: BBC.Com She has the sweetest face. Beate Zschaepe smiles gently at the camera as she twirls for the video the police made for their files. She is dressed in a girlish pink top as she performs the required choreography shortly after giving herself up. It is a face of […]