London Olympics: Can Kenyans continue to dominate the marathon? Mountainous Iten
Global Post: It’s the start of a usual day in a very unusual place. The sky is dark, cold and damp, the mist thick in the mountain air. Lines of […]
Does God Exist? William Lane Craig vs Klemens Kappel
Prof. William Lane Craig makes good arguments for existence of God in this debate as he usually does. But, as is his style, he also makes some frivolous and weak […]
Athlete safety, religious freedom at centre of London 2012 hijab debate
In London, international judo officials spent the weekend negotiating with the delegation from Saudi Arabia, which demands that Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani be allowed to wear a hijab or a head scarf during competitions. Her father told a British newspaper that his daughter, one of only two female Saudi […]
More Signs of Aid to Spain From Euro Partners
LONDON — At the start of another critical week for the euro, the head of the finance ministers that use the currency, Jean-Claude Juncker, reinforced expectations Monday of an initiative to lower Spain’s borrowing costs, which had hit alarming heights. The comments came as the U.S. Treasury secretary, Timothy F. […]
Why Circumcision Is Not a Crime
Credit: Spiegel Germany BY now, it’s an embarrassment to almost everyone in Germany that, in the grounds for one of its decisions, a regional court in Cologne almost off-handedly declared circumcision — a religious tradition dating back thousands of years — to be illegal. But the incident confirms a tendency […]
‘British-born jihadists fighting Assad in Syria’ – captured photographer
Russian TV: Radical Islamists with “British accents” are among the coalition forces looking to topple Bashar Assad, says Jeroen Oerlemans, a photographer who was held hostage in Syria for a […]
Dr. Abdus Salam; An Inspiration to the World of Science (Ahmadiyya Islam) video
Credit. Wasim Sroya
Fans have scrapped for months to get a ticket with no success, why then Olympics’ empty seats?
Locog’s ‘fans in front’ policy has failed to fill venues in the first days of the Games – but it’s a perennial problem for organisers. Aside from the stunning venues, […]
Serbian president Nikolic warns of Kosovo genocide
Tomislav Nikolic says Serbs in Kosovo face threat of genocide and refuses to rule out partition along ethnic lines. The Serbian president has claimed Serbs in Kosovo are living under […]
No country is an island when it comes to migration
By Peter Sutherland, Cecilia Malmstrom The Daily Star Lebanon Europe faces an immigration predicament. Mainstream politicians, held hostage by xenophobic parties, adopt anti-immigrant rhetoric to win over fearful publics, while the foreign-born are increasingly marginalized in schools, cities and at the workplace. Yet, despite high unemployment across much of the […]
Bern to help Beirut take in Syrian refugees
Switzerland has pledged to assist Lebanon in housing refugees who have fled from neighbouring crisis-torn Syria. Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees […]
Tolerance and Taboos – Why Circumcision Is Not a Crime
Source: Spiegel International A commentary by Matthias Matussek “It is this fundamental respect for foreign customs that we are increasingly losing.” A German court’s outlawing of the circumcision of boys — […]
Muslims are an integral part of Europe – The presence of Muslims in Europe should be celebrated, not feared
In a fantastic article written in 1996, Roger Ballard explains how a geographical entity known as Europe was mapped out, not based on sharing a common language or ethnicity, but […]
The forgotten Spirit of Ramadan and Eidul Fitr
Credit: UKTL;com By Zubair Khan In spite of best efforts the Muslims residing in various countries of the world remain divided to start the month of Ramadan as well to celebrate the Eidul Fitr. True it is, each country has its own horizon, as well due to time difference, the […]
Tighter rules slow down bids for citizenship
by Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch and agencies The number of requests for Swiss citizenship has dropped for the third consecutive year, which the Federal Migration Office says is the result of […]
This is it: London 2012 gets under way
Guadian: 3m ago Taxi Taxi drivers in London have brought forward their protest over their exclusion from Olympic lanes after police imposed restrictions. It will now take place at 2pm instead of […]
Traditional burial practices lose ground (or: darling, you are and will be my diamond for ever)
by Ariane Gigon in Zurich, swissinfo.ch For many deceased, the cemetery is no longer their “final resting place”. Scattering ashes out in the open, burying the urn in a forest […]
Religion shaping the Olympics: From Ancient Greece To London
Source: Huff Post By Chris Lisee (RNS) A 600-foot footrace was the only athletic event at the first Olympics, a festival held in 776 B.C. and dedicated to Zeus, the […]
London, the city of tolerance for worshipping, fasting Muslims
By Marwan Boltrosh Source: Kuwait News Agency LONDON, July 22 (KUNA) — Ramadan atmosphere for Arab and Muslims living throughout Europe is different, compared with the annual spiritual experience at home, with many sensing distress for performing annual religious services far from their loved ones. However, the city of London […]
Swiss legal experts divided over circumcision
by Sophie Douez, swissinfo.ch Moves by two Swiss hospitals to suspend the practice of circumcising boys in the wake of an adverse court ruling about the procedure in Germany have sparked heated debate amongst legal experts in Switzerland. The children’s hospitals of Zurich and St Gallen announced they had suspended […]