Almost 1.5 million Muslims begin Hajj
By AFP – Sep 10,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Muslim pilgrims circumambulate around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, located in the centre of the Masjid Al Haram (Grand Mosque) in Mecca on Saturday (Anadolu photo) MECCA — From Asia, Africa and points in between, nearly 1.5 million Muslims began […]
Pilgrims in Mina for the start of Haj
SIRAJ WAHAB | Published — Saturday 10 September 2016 MINA: Pilgrims, both domestic and foreign, have gathered in the tent city of Mina on Saturday as this year’s Haj begins. With prayers on their lips, beads clutched in their fingers, water bottles in their hands, e-bracelets on their wrists and […]
The blessed ‘Day of Arafat’
MARIAM ANWER | Published — Friday 9 September 2016 Praise be to Allah alone, who guides His servants to worship Him and blesses them with special seasons, days and nights as opportunities to draw closer to Him and His Pleasure. The 9th Day of Dul-Hijjah is one such day and […]
In Syria’s Homs, war-ravaged ancient market slowly reemerges
By AFP – Sep 08,2016 – JORDAN TIMES A photo taken on August 14 shows an alley at the ancient market in the heart of the mostly government-controlled Syrian city of Homs (AFP photo) HOMS, Syria — In the heart of the Syrian city of Homs, workers clear […]
Saudi Oger faces huge debt restructuring as rescue talks collapse
Debt restructuring now most viable option — sources By Reuters – Sep 08,2016 – JORDAN TIMES DUBAI/RIYADH — The Saudi Arabian government has ended talks aimed at saving construction giant Saudi Oger, which is now facing the prospect of a multi-billion-dollar debt restructuring to stave off collapse, according to […]
Arabia: Haji’s go high tech during Hajj
Each bracelet carries a bar code readable by smartphone. It indicates the pilgrim’s identity, nationality, place of lodging in Mecca, as well as other information, the vice secretary of the ministry of hajj and umrah, Issa Rawas, told AFP. Close to two million pilgrims have converged on western Saudi Arabia […]
Exclusive – Mecca mayor says no delays on pilgrimage expansion projects
Reuters International SEP 9, 2016 – Muslim pilgrims pray during Friday prayers at the Grand mosque in Mecca September 9, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (reuters_tickers) By Dahlia Nehme MECCA (Reuters) – Construction projects to expand capacity at Mecca’s Grand Mosque and other Islamic holy sites will be completed in about […]
Israel-Palestine clarity
Sep 08,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – RAMI G. KHOURI Moments of sudden clarity in political developments can strike anywhere and at any time, as I experienced in relation to the Palestine-Israel conflict while riding the F-train subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan Tuesday morning. Three separate stories I read in the […]
Saudi Arabia cannot pay its workers or bills – yet continues to fund a war in Yemen
In Saudi Arabia itself, the government seems unable to cope with the crisis. The ‘Arab News’ says that 31,000 Saudi and other foreign workers have lodged complaints with the government’s labour […]
Problems integrating refugees in Germany
Sep 07,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – MICHAEL JANSEN Germany faces serious problems trying to integrate most of the 1.1 million refugees who entered that country in 2015 and the 300,000 expected this year. Three-quarters of refugees who travelled to Germany last year are male and two-thirds less than 33 years […]
After setbacks, Daesh digs in with focus on deadly attacks
Analysts warn the group is far from finished By AFP – Sep 06,2016 – JORDAN TIMES This undated file image posted on a militant website on January 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows Daesh militants marching in Raqqa, Syria (AP photo/militant […]
Christians: Integral part of the Arab world
Sep 07,2016 -JORDAN TIMES – EDITORIAL Heads of 22 regional churches met on the Dead Sea shores and agreed on the need for a unified ecclesiastical voice of Middle Eastern churches as an instrument for entrenching peace, tolerance and acceptance, greatly needed in the climate of death and atrocity much of the […]
Syria says peace plan remarks show Britain’s Johnson out of touch with reality
Reuters International SEP 8, 2016 – British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson gives his remarks during a stake-out at United Nations headquarters in New York U.S., July 22, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (reuters_tickers) BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that statements by Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson demonstrate London’s […]
Haj Metro a boon for pilgrim transport
MAKKAH: The Mashaer Railway at the holy sites (Haj Metro) is a quantum leap in the history of transporting Haj pilgrims and one of the largest projects achieved by the […]
Pushing Palestinians to civil war?
Sep 06,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – RAMZY BAROUD Division within Palestinian society has reached unprecedented levels, becoming a major hurdle to a unified strategy to end Israel’s violent occupation or to rally Palestinians behind a single objective. Newly appointed Israeli ultra-nationalist Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman understands this too well. His […]
Palestinian economy could double without Israeli occupation — UN
Rising infant mortality rate in Gaza ‘shocking indicator of grim situation’ By AFP – Sep 06,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Palestinian boy sits in the living room of his family house following Israeli artillery shelling in town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday (AP photo) GENEVA […]
Jordan: Church leaders seek active role as ‘agents of mercy’
Heads of 22 regional churches meet in Jordan for first time By Laila Azzeh – Sep 06,2016 -JORDAN TIMES Church leaders open the general assembly meeting of the Middle East Council of Churches in Amman on Tuesday (Photo by Abdullah Ayoub) AMMAN — Ongoing atrocities in the region […]
It’s sad but true that in colonial times, our government was better at responding to human rights abuses abroad than it is now
Those we trust to represent us will not take up the battle against injustice these days because they are now too involved in the infliction of this injustice, albeit by proxy Robert Fisk @indyvoices Friday 5 August 2016 Yemen children waving national flags at rally in support of the Houthi rebels on […]
Alan Kurdi symbolised an army of dead children. We ignore them at our peril
One year on, has the world learned the lesson of the three-year-old boy washed up on a Turkish beach? Robert Fisk @indyvoices Thursday 1 September 2016 The body of Aylan Kurdi has gone beyond the ‘iconic’. Being small and dressed like a little European boy, and being white rather than brown-skinned, […]