Saudi Arabia’s African roots traced to annual Hajj pilgrimage and British colonization
RUBA OBAID | Published — Thursday 1 March 2018 In this file photo, African pilgrims are seen in Mina, in the holy city of Makkah. Through the centuries, many […]
Russia’s Putin unveils ‘invincible’ nuclear weapons
Source: BBC News Russia has developed a new array of nuclear weapons that are invincible, according to President Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin made the claims as he laid out his […]
Poland’s Jewish community had rebounded, but now there’s ‘a growing feeling of unease’
Source: The Washington Post By James McAuley WARSAW — On any given Friday night, the only synagogue in this city to survive the Holocaust draws enough worshipers for a minyan, the obligatory […]
Rohingya refugees test Bangladeshi welcome as prices rise and repatriation stalls
Source: Reuters By Clare Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh (Reuters) – The first Rohingya refugees who arrived on Jorina Katun’s farmland in Bangladesh last year were worn out and traumatized after fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar. They wept and begged to stay, and Katun, moved by their plight, […]
Indonesian Christians Flogged in Rare Shariah Punishment for Non-Muslims
Source: Wall Street Journal By Ben Otto and Anita Rachman Updated Feb. 28, 2018 12:51 p.m. ET JAKARTA—Two Indonesian Christians were publicly whipped for gambling, a rare case of non-Muslims being punished […]
India temple stirs controversy for ‘piercing’ children’s bodies
Source: BBC News A Hindu temple ritual in which boys aged between five and 12 years are pierced with metal hooks is stirring controversy in India after a senior police […]
Rwanda closes ‘700 unsafe, noisy churches’
Source: BBC News About 700 churches have been closed down in Rwanda for failing to comply with building regulations and for noise pollution. Most of them are small Pentecostal churches. […]
Vatican investigator in Chile hears more sex abuse complaints
Source: Reuters BY Antonio De la Jara SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who is in Chile investigating accusations that a bishop had covered up the sexual abuse of minors, […]
Swiss government: Pope Francis to visit Geneva this summer
Source: Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss government spokesman says Pope Francis will visit Geneva in June. Federal Council spokesman Andre Simonazzi says details of the June 21 visit […]
Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre reopens after spat
Source: Associated Press By NEBI QENA JERUSALEM (AP) — The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem reopened early on Wednesday after Israeli officials suspended a plan to impose taxes […]
Afghan leader’s offer to Taliban is a last-ditch gamble for peace
Source: The Guardian BY Simon Tisdall A bold plan to draw the Taliban into a binding peace process looks like a last, desperate gamble by Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s embattled president, to […]
Afghanistan’s Ghani offers talks with Taliban ‘without preconditions’
Source: Reuters BY Hamid Shalizi, James Mackenzie KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political group on Wednesday as part of a proposed […]
Afghan peace talks a difficult proposition
Rahimullah Yusufzai | Published — Thursday 1 March 2018 Though the Afghan government has offered unconditional peace talks to the Afghan Taliban in the past, President Ashraf Ghani was more specific with this week’s announcement as he mentioned a number of steps Kabul would take once prospective negotiations begin and […]
Prince William to visit Palestinian Territories, Israel this summer
AFP | Published — Thursday 1 March 2018 LONDON: Prince William will be the first senior British royal to make an official visit to the Palestinian Territories and Israel, […]
New York to pay Muslim women forced to remove hijabs
New York: The city of New York has agreed to pay $180,000 (Dh661,000) to three Muslim women forced by police to remove their headscarves to have mug shots taken, officials said Wednesday. Each of the women is to receive $60,000 after the settlements were finalized in a Brooklyn federal court […]
Erdogan has released the genealogy of thousands of Turks – but what is his motive?
In 2003, the Armenian newspaper Agos, whose editor Hrant Dink was assassinated outside his office in 2007, reported that the Turkish government was secretly coding minorities in registers Robert Fisk […]
Rouhani says Iran ‘ready’ to talk to Arab neighbours
By AFP – Feb 28,2018 – JORDAN TIMES Tehran, Iran — President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said Iran is ready to discuss regional security issues with its Gulf Arab neighbours […]
Faithful return to Jerusalem holy site as Christian protest ends
By AFP – Feb 28,2018 – JORDAN TIMES A general view of the Edicule of the Tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old […]
Trump and Netanyahu — ‘birds of a feather’ getting together
Feb 28,2018 -JORDAN TIMES – Michael Jansen Donald Trump’s December 6th decision to shift the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and his announcement last week that the ambassador […]
Hundreds gather at church for blessing ceremony featuring AR-15s
NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa. — Hundreds of crown-wearing worshipers clutching AR-15 rifles drank holy wine and exchanged or renewed wedding vows in a commitment ceremony at a Pennsylvania church on Wednesday, prompting […]