U.N. leader to visit Fukushima nuclear zone
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon sets out Saturday on a trip to Japan, where he will become one of the most senior foreign leaders to enter the Fukushima nuclear disaster zone. Read more
Chinese Muslims banned from fasting in Ramadan
Source: OnIslam & News Agencies Amid fresh arrests, restrictions on fasting and prayers at mosques, Uighur Muslims are suffering under the latest episode of Chinese government crackdown on their ethnic minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. “If any religious figure discusses Ramadan during the course of religious activities, or […]
Feminism is back and we want to finish the revolution, say activists
Kat Banyard, founder of UK Feminista and author of The Equality Illusion. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian When Kat Banyard held her first feminist event in 2004, she spent months struggling to attract 90 people. For this year’s event, which will take place in Birmingham next weekend, 200 had […]
Swiss visit raises issue of aid to East Africa
by Frédéric Burnand in Geneva, swissinfo.ch This week’s visit by Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey to famine-hit East Africa sends a strong signal to other countries and the public, in a senior expert’s view. Interviewed by swissinfo.ch, François Nordmann, a policy advisor and retired Swiss diplomat, dismisses critics who accuse Calmy-Rey […]
Grand Mosque imam calls on Muslims to fortify faith
By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWs MAKKAH: Sheikh Saleh Al-Talib, imam and khatib at the Grand Mosque, called on Muslims to fortify their faith in Almighty Allah as a means to wipe clean their hearts of hatred and hostility. “Whoever tastes the sweetness of faith will never experience the […]
Mockery of justice
Arab News. To award a murderer compensation is to put criminals’ rights before victims’ rights Shariah law, as we know, is a constant target for abuse in so many non-Muslim countries, particularly in the West. The public there are fed a constant drip of anti-Shariah diatribe, from both politicians and […]
Aqaba taking Jordan along for the ride
Marsa Zayed envisions a marina development with room for 300 yachts and a cruise ship terminal all surrounded by a mixture of hotel, resort and luxury apartment complexes. The entire project is slated for completion in several years time, when Jordan first signed the development deal with Al Mabaar, a […]
European asylum seekers in the Ottoman Empire
Christmas celebration in present day Istanbul During those troubled decades, the empire also became a haven for the religiously oppressed. In the mid seventeenth century, for example, a cluster of Hugenots, forced into exile from France, resided in Istanbul, and several Anglican clergymen who had fled commonwealth England, Quakers, Anabaptists, […]
Renaissance travelers on tolerance in the Ottoman Empire
Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew leads a group of believers, nuns, and priests into the St. George patriarchal cathedral for the Epiphany day mass in Istanbul January 6, 2007. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas Islam … tolerated Christians and Jews as constituting religious communities “of the Book”: the Qur’an did not allow forced […]
‘Star Trek’ theme park being developed in Jordan
by Christian Blauvelt, EW.com Set phasers for fun! That’s because Star Trek’s getting the theme park treatment in Aqaba, Jordan. Set to begin construction in March 2012, the Red Sea Astrarium, a $1.5 billion development comprised of four hotels and 17 amusement-park-style attractions, will feature a Star Trek-themed entertainment center, […]
The Flag of Bilal (7): Dollar crash will lead to social chaos and the cancellation of the US Constitution
May God bless Ron Paul for his bold warnings and suggestions. In the end I think it will be only Ahmadiyyat that can prevent the erosion of the noble US Constitution, or restore it after is has been abolished by the ignorance of the American people. Ahmadis all over the […]
After the Massacre in Norway – Critics of Islam Face a Dilemma
Source: Qantara The massacre in Norway reveals just how wrong critics of Islam have been: it wasn’t a Muslim who went to war against the West – it was one of their own, someone who shared many of their views. That has made it clear: the true enemies of the […]
The Birth of the ‘Fifth Estate’ – William Dutton on 20 Years of the World Wide Web
Source: Spiegel International In a SPIEGEL interview, William Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute discusses how fundamentally the World Wide Web has changed our lives since its creation 20 years ago, offering his views on how it helps communities organize and its emergence as a ‘Fifth Estate,’ helping hold both […]
Risk of Suicide Greater for Turkish-German Women
Source: Spiegel International The number of attempted suicides is five times as high among young Turkish-German women than their ethnic German counterparts. In a state of limbo between two cultures, they often succumb to despair. Sema, a 27-year-old woman who tried to commit suicide twice, is a case in point. […]
Flowing water may exist on Mars
Source: Physicsworld Liquid water might exist on Mars today, according to a group of scientists in the US. Images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) reveal that dark, narrow, finger-like structures follow slopes in certain regions of the southern hemisphere of the planet during its summer months. The researchers believe […]
Extraterrestrial life could be extremely rare
Source: Physicsworld Just because life emerged early on Earth does not mean that this is likely to occur on other Earth-like planets, says a pair of US astrophysicists. The researchers’ new mathematical model says that life could just as easily be rare – putting a damper on the excitement surrounding […]
Trojan collision may have shaped the Moon
Source: Physicsworld Differences between the near and far sides of the Moon could be the result of a collision between the Moon and a “Trojan” companion that occurred billions of years ago. That is the conclusion of geophysicists in the US and Switzerland who have done computer simulations on how […]
Morden man fears for brother named on Ahmadiyya Muslim murder list in Pakistan
Source: This is local London The brother of a Pakistani man whose name was published on a religious murder list by Muslim fanatics has said he is distraught with worry. Chaudhary Nawaz, from Hillcross Avenue in Morden, said his brother Dr Muhammad Nawaz, a technology college academic in Pakistan, had […]
With Arab Spring in full bloom, Jordan’s jihadists look to turn new leaf
By Taylor Luck, Jordan Times AMMAN – Holding sit-ins, raising banners and marching arm-in-arm with pro-reform protesters – aside from the long beards and black flags, Jordan’s salafists barely resemble the jihadists of old. From Maan to Amman, followers of the jihadist movement are taking a more peaceful approach to […]
Saudi women turn to social media for the right to drive
Source: BBC News The video shows a young woman getting into her car for a spin around town with a friend. Giggling away, they sound excited yet nervous. And all the while, they comment on the reactions of passers-by. So far, the story sounds uneventful. After all, millions of women […]