This time Picking pope like ‘visiting the dentist’
Source: The Local A German cardinal on Thursday said the upcoming papal conclave to pick the next head of the Catholic Church would be as pleasant as a visit to the dentist. More:
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.
El Comandante has left the building
Source: Asia Times: Unfortunately for turbo-capitalists in Washington and Brussels, the death of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez from cancer does not signal an end to the spirit of Chavism. With his “socialism of the 21st century” and defiance of centuries-old patterns of subjugation in Latin America, El Comandante struck a […]
What went right at Almaty
Source: Asis Times: By Richard Javad Heydarian After eight months of diplomatic hiatus, Iran and the “P5+1” powers – the United States, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany – were finally able to return to the negotiating table. In Kazakhstan at the end of last month, to the […]
The United States frets as Egypt nears the financial cliff (or: where are the Muslim friends?)
By David Ignatius The Daily Star Story Summary As Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government slides toward the financial cliff, what’s the right policy for the United States? Mursi has been dithering for a year in negotiating a roughly $5 billion rescue package from the International Monetary Fund that Egypt desperately needs. […]
Indonesian women who made it big (in Saudi Arabia)
Two Indonesian women, who came to work in Saudi Arabia as domestic helpers, have become millionaires after inheriting millions of riyals from their late Saudi husbands. The Saudi men initially employed them as domestic helpers but later married them. One of the women living in Riyadh received SR 5 million […]
MWL TV channel to spread Islamic message, defend Muslim causes
JEDDAH: P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR ARABNEWS Thursday 7 March 2013 The International Media Organization, an affiliate of the Makkah-based Muslim World League, has announced plans to establish a television channel and […]
Jordan: 8,000 saplings to be given to mosque, church goers on Friday
by Hana Namrouqa JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — Mosque and church goers will leave on Friday with tree saplings to plant in their gardens under a campaign to raise awareness about […]
Arab League clears member states to arm Syria rebels
CAIRO — Arab League ministers decided on Wednesday to let member nations arm Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar Assad, and invited an opposition coalition to take the League seat formerly […]
Israel mistreats Palestinian children in custody: UNICEF
Courtesy: Yahoo News JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military are subject to widespread, systematic ill-treatment that violates international law, a UNICEF report said on Wednesday. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17, most of them boys, are arrested, […]
Catholicism’s future
Source: The Economist: FATHER Brendan Hoban is a priest in a remote Irish village who is also active in the national and international Catholic scene. In the midst of this busy life, he told me, he often reflects on something he heard from a professor when he was in seminary 40 years ago. “Irish […]
U.N. Peacekeepers Held by Syrian Insurgents in Golan Region
By RICK GLADSTONE and ALAN COWELL New York Times Syria’s civil war entangled the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the disputed Golan Heights area between Syria and Israel on Wednesday, when 30 armed fighters for the insurgency detained a group of 20 peacekeepers investigating a damaged observation post, the United […]
A Marked Life – by Saba Imtiaz
Source: the revealer “His last gesture was that he pointed to me that he had been shot in the back,” Aijaz recalls. “We barely managed to give him a spoonful of water and dragged him into a car. He took his last breath before we reached the hospital.” By Saba […]
Private sector adds 198,000 jobs in February: ADP
(Reuters) – U.S. private employers added a larger-than-expected 198,000 jobs in February, bolstering hopes that hiring across the economy is improving, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 170,000 jobs. January’s private […]
Mother Teresa Humanitarian Image A ‘Myth,’ New Study Says
Source:HUFF POST: A new study by Canadian academics says Mother Teresa was a product of hype who housed the poor and sick in shoddy conditions, despite her access to a fortune. The Times of India, reporting on the controversial essay, wrote that the authors asserted Mother Teresa saw beauty in […]
As NATO pulls out of Afghanistan it might leave Central Asia in a mess
Source: The Economist: FOR all that the United States, at the head of a NATO coalition, intends to disentangle itself from its war in Afghanistan by the end of next year, Afghanistan itself will not be at peace. Nor will some of its neighbours. To the east, Pakistan last year […]
Ghana Must Go
Source: All Africa. Com Estranged from his children, pining for his ex-wife, and atypically barefoot in the dream home he designed himself, Kweku Sai, the prodigal surgeon pride of Ghana, dies of a heart attack. This happens in the first tightly coiled sentence of Taiye Selasi’s debut novel Ghana Must […]
The State’s Role in Pakistan’s Ethnic Violence
Source: Huff Post via Wasim Sroya Violence against minority groups has become a staple of life in Pakistan these days – a crisis that country’s government has been complicit in impelling. The most recent attacks against Shias, the minority Muslim group in the country of 180 million, occurred Sunday evening […]
“Dirty Dozens” group blacklists 12 cardinals for pope
Source: CNN Rome (CNN) — A group representing survivors of sexual abuse by priests on Wednesday named a “Dirty Dozen” list of cardinals it said would be the worst candidates for pope based on their handling of child sex abuse claims. Their presence on the list is based “on their […]
10 Memorable Hugo Chávez Moments
Source: Newyork Times: President Hugo Chávez was known for his grand overtures and bold attacks. A exceptionally gifted orator who relished media attention, he continually came up with show-stealing lines. Below are 10 of the many moments that made Mr. Chávez such a distinctive force in Venezuela and across the […]
A Tiny Village Where Women Chose to Be Single Mothers
Source: NY Times: LOI, Vietnam — They had no plan to break barriers or cause trouble. But 30 years ago in this bucolic village in northern Vietnam, the fierce determination of one group of women to become mothers upended centuries-old gender rules and may have helped open the door for […]