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.
Forever young
Source: times of India When a group of young swimmers gathered to participate in the swimming contest at Narmada river in Gujarat three years ago, they were surprised to see a frail, elderly lady lining up to dive in. It was a competitive contest and swimming in the river during […]
The eighth wonder of the world
source:asiatimes on line recently questioned conventional wisdom as to the relationship between the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank, and indeed the very basis of the dollar itself. (See A very secret agent (Asia Times Online, July 27, 2011). Comments poured in, and the subsequent discussion and debate has […]
A secret war in 120 countries
source/credit:asiatimes on line Somewhere on this planet an American commando is carrying out a mission. Now, say that 70 times and you’re done … for the day. Without the knowledge of the American public, a secret force within the United States military is undertaking operations in a majority of the […]
Middle East Rings in New Era with Mubarak Trial
Source: Spiegel International Egypt ushered in a new era on Wednesday by becoming the first Arab country to put its former ruler on trial without foreign intervention. The sight of Hosni Mubarak lying on a hospital bed inside a courtroom cage should serve as a warning to other despots. More […]
Still not enough children for the future
Sourc: TheLocal As Germany’s population ages, the number of children is dropping precipitously. Now people under 18 make up only 16.5 percent of the country’s population, the lowest rate in Europe. Read more….
Attitudes toward German citizenship changing
Source: TheLocal What defines a modern German? More people believe it’s not race or national origin that matters, but whether a person can adjust to life in Germany and properly integrate into society, according to a new study. More here…
Altaf Hussain’s expresses condolences on the death of Ahmadiyya leader’s mother; clerics stormed him with fatwas
Readmore Please Compare these so called scholars with the practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him
When in Rome … (actually, When in Dubai…)
By annabelkantaria, mytelegraph When visiting a foreign country, to what extent should you go to fit in with that country’s way of life? I pose the question as the Holy month of Ramadan begins across the Muslim world and, with it, comes a debate provoked by the Association of British […]
Dar Al-Hekma girls attend global leadership forum in Singapore
By ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: Construction Products Holding Company (CPC) has sponsored the participation of three girl students from Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah in the five-day Global Leadership Conference 2011 held recently in Singapore. The conference was in preparation for the Earth Summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro, […]
Bahrain ‘fully supports’ Jordan GCC bid
AMMAN (Jordan Times) – His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday held talks with Bahrain’s King Hamad Ben Isa Al Khalifa, which focused on developing the Jordanian-Bahraini relations and the current regional conditions, according to a Royal Court statement. During the talks at Rawda Palace in Manama, both leaders stressed the […]
Prince Naif wins libel case against UK paper
By AGENCIES, ARAB NEWS LONDON: A UK court has ordered the newspaper The Independent on Wednesday to pay Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior of Saudi Arabia, Prince Naif, libel damages over an article which accused him of ordering police chiefs to shoot and kill unarmed demonstrators during this […]
Germany Investigating Facebook Tagging Feature
Courtesy: NY Times By KEVIN J. O’BRIEN Published: August 3, 2011 BERLIN — A German regulator said Wednesday that he had asked Facebook, the social networking leader, to disable its new photo-tagging feature, which he warned could violate European privacy laws. Read More It is becoming more evident that the […]
France, the world’s most depressed nation?
France 24: France was proclaimed “world champion of misery” by its own press this week after a report published in the US rated the French as most likely to suffer from clinical depression. The statistics are there, but is the reality? A World Health Organisation (WHO) report published in the […]
Vilnius mayor crushes car parked in cycle lane
The mayor of Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, has been filmed using an armoured vehicle to crush a car parked illegally in a cycle lane. “That’s what will happen if you park your car illegally,” Mayor Arturas Zuokas, an avid cyclist, says in a clip posted on the Vilnius City website. The […]
Private sector added 114,000 jobs in July
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Private employers added more jobs than expected in July, though less than in June, but planned layoffs rose to a 16-month high, according to separate surveys on Wednesday. The data comes ahead of the U.S. government’s key jobs report on Friday, which is forecast to show […]
Author Henning Mankell on Anders Breivik – ‘No One Is Born Evil’
Source: Spiegel International In a SPIEGEL interview, bestselling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell talks about his reaction to the Utøya massacre, the absurdity of Anders Breivik’s ideas and the need to engage in dialogue with the right wing. SPIEGEL: Anders Breivik has confessed to the Oslo bombing and Utøya massacre, which killed a total of 77 […]
Lenient Courts – German Justice Slammed in Honor Killing Study
Source: Spuiegel International What drives families to commit ‘honor killings?’ Who are the killers and where do they come from? A new study commissioned by the German police has found that the killers are almost always first-generation immigrants from poor backgrounds, that cases aren’t increasing and that courts are making mistakes […]
Meeting Fate in World’s Largest Refugee Camp
Source: Spiegel International Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing into eastern Kenya to escape hunger, drought and Islamist militias in Somalia. Their new home is the world’s biggest refugee camp in Dadaab, which some of them will never leave. But the example of one man shows that it can […]