30 Jul, 2016

Thailand’s biggest mall hosts its first World Halal Fest

Imtiaz Muqbil

Bangkok – Both the causes of promoting Thailand as a Muslim-friendly destination and socio-cultural-economic integration within ASEAN took another giant leap forward with the organisation of the kingdom’s first World Halal Fest (WHF), an extravaganza of Thai-Muslim business, arts, music and culture, at the CentralWorld Shopping Complex, Thailand’s biggest mall. Former ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin […]

30 Jul, 2016

Singaporean Museum hosts World’s First Exhibition on History of Christian Art In Asia

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Singapore – The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) presents Christianity in Asia: Sacred Art and Visual Splendour, the world’s first exhibition on the history and spread of Christian art in Asia. This is also the ACM’s inaugural special exhibition after an extensive revamp last year. Asia has played a significant role in the spread of Christianity […]

26 Jul, 2016

“Terror”: This hypocritical catch-all term has finally caught us out – Robert Fisk, The Independent

The frightful and bloody hours of Friday night and Saturday morning in Munich and Kabul – despite the 3,000 miles that separate the two cities – provided a highly instructive lesson in the semantics of horror and hypocrisy. I despair of that generic old hate-word, “terror”. It long ago became the punctuation mark and signature […]

25 Jul, 2016

UNWTO peace tourism conference helps Sri Lanka strengthen swords-to-ploughshares strategy

Imtiaz Muqbil

Passikudah, Sri Lanka – Seven years after the guns fell silent in Sri Lanka, the former battlefields of the country’s North and East Coasts hosted the first UN World Tourism Organisation conference on how tourism can play a role in building local, regional, social, cultural and communal peace. It was the perfect theme in the […]

25 Jul, 2016

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca a Jewel of Islamic art

Compiled by Imtiaz Muqbil & Sana Shamsi

A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 25 July 2016 (20 Shawwal 1437). Pls click on any of the headlines below to go to the story. ============ A WORD FROM MY SPONSORS: TOURISM MALAYSIA TOURISM MALAYSIA & MALAYSIA AIRLINES RESUME COLLABORATION Tourism […]

24 Jul, 2016

India-born Muslim heads security at a US Hindu temple – Times of India

WASHINGTON, PTI | Jul 24, 2016: A Mumbai-born Muslim police officer is the security incharge of the largest Hindu temple in the Indianapolis city of US, setting an example of inter- faith cooperation and social harmony at a time when religious intolerance rhetoric is on the rise due to the election cycle. An eight-degree black-belt […]

24 Jul, 2016

UNESCO: How Satellite Imagery Can Help Monitor Threatened Cultural Heritage

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Singapore, Asia-Europe Museum Network media release, 9 July 2016 – A report published by UNESCO and UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research) in late June illustrates how satelllite imagery analysis can help to assess potential damage to cultural heritage sites today. The report, which includes examples from Iraq, Nepal, Syria and Yemen, covers […]

24 Jul, 2016

Gaza’s rich history is potential tourism draw – The Electronic Intifada

On a sandy Rafah hilltop in mid-April, a few workers were digging carefully into the dry land. The excavators, their tools basic, were from Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The site they were digging — at 40 acres, Tel Rafah is among the largest of Gaza’s 30-odd archaeological sites — is believed to contain […]

24 Jul, 2016

Study Shows Positive, Long-Term Effects of Science Museums

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Singapore, 15 June 2016 (Asia-Europe Museum Network media release) – Science museums and fairs have clear positive effects in the long term, both for its visitors and for the cities hosting them. This is the main conclusion drawn from a study undertaken in six Spanish cities, where nine scientific culture initiatives (science museums, planetariums, science […]

21 Jul, 2016

Muslim Passenger Removed from American Airlines Flight

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(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/20/16) – (CAIR media release) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a major Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to investigate a possible bias motive for the removal of a Muslim passenger from an American Airlines flight in December of 2015. [NOTE: CAIR filed […]

20 Jul, 2016

How the Spineless Travel & Tourism Industry Rewards Failure

Imtiaz Muqbil

The annual Global Travel Price Outlook just released by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is positioned as a comprehensive look at travel pricing and the macro-economic influencers that drive it. In addition to forecasting weaker-than-expected performance for all major global economies well into 2017, the report cites a range […]

20 Jul, 2016

Futurist professor flags dangers of Project for the New American Century

Imtiaz Muqbil

Professor Emeritus Jim Dator of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, has joined me in flagging the global dangers posed by the Project for The New American Century. Last week, Prof Dator sent me the draft of a speech entitled “Mortgage Banking for the New American Empire, and other […]

20 Jul, 2016

First Russian-made business jet delivered to Royal Thai Air Force

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Bangkok, July 15, 2016, (Russian embassy media release) – Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC) held a roll-out ceremony of two Sukhoi Business Jet (SBJ) aircraft built for Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). The aircraft will be providing VIP transportation services for Thai top officials and government leaders as well as to the High Command of Thailand. […]

20 Jul, 2016

Indian Culture ministry readies “grading system” for artists, writers – Hindustan Times

The government has decided to introduce a rating system for artists and writers on the basis of which they will get to represent India, the Indian Express has reported. The culture ministry, under a pilot project, has already graded 185 artists into three categories — O (outstanding), P (promising), W (waiting), a report said Monday. […]

20 Jul, 2016

American Nuremberg: The U.S. Officials Who Should Stand Trial for Post-9/11 War Crimes

No subject is more hotly debated than the extreme measures that the U.S. government has taken after 9/11 in the name of national security. Torture, extraordinary rendition, drone assassinations, secret detention centers (or “black sites”), massive surveillance of citizens. But while the press occasionally exposes the dark side of the war on terror and congressional […]

20 Jul, 2016

The PM and the politics of questioning – The Hindu

Recently, there were two interesting developments. First, as the second anniversary celebrations of the BJP-led NDA government began, a BJP spokesperson tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “most hardworking PM ever in Indian history”. The reason was that Mr. Modi delivered a speech every 45.6 hours in two years. And second, this summer, […]

18 Jul, 2016

World Tourism Conference 2016 to be held in Penang

Compiled by Imtiaz Muqbil & Sana Shamsi

A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 18 July 2016 (13 Shawwal 1437). Pls click on any of the headlines below to go to the story. ============ A WORD FROM MY SPONSORS: TOURISM MALAYSIA TOURISM MALAYSIA & MALAYSIA AIRLINES RESUME COLLABORATION Tourism […]

16 Jul, 2016

What an official 9/ 11 photographer filmed and why he says it cost him his freedom

HOURS after planes flew into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, Kurt Sonnenfeld was given unrestricted access to ground zero. Sonnenfeld was working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an organisation tied to the US Department of Homeland Security and charged with co-ordinating first response to disasters. Armed with camera gear, […]

16 Jul, 2016

How Buddhist tax accountants and whistle blowers can change the world

By Max Lawson I can only guess at the panic in the boardrooms of the investment banks and particularly at the big four accounting firms – Deloittes, PwC, KPMG and Ernst & Young, who between them have almost complete oversight over the business of aggressive tax planning by the major corporations. But no amount of […]

16 Jul, 2016

Violence stalks journalists across India as perpetrators roam free – Hindustan Times

Journalists across the country are increasingly facing threats and intimidation. As per available data, shared in the Lok Sabha by Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, Minister of State (Home Affairs), in March, a total of 114 cases were registered under attack on media person (grievously hurt) during 2014. Some 32 persons were arrested. However, the cases hardly […]

11 Jul, 2016

Cuba’s small Muslim community marks end of Ramadan

Compiled by Imtiaz Muqbil & Sana Shamsi

A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 11 July 2016 (06 Shawwal 1437). Pls click on any of the headlines below to go to the story. ============ A WORD FROM MY SPONSORS: TOURISM MALAYSIA 1MALAYSIA MEGA SALE CARNIVAL  UNTIL 1 AUGUST 2016 […]

8 Jul, 2016

Bravo Britain: How the Chilcot Report will benefit global travel & tourism

The Chilcot report investigating the British government’s decision-making under former Prime Minister Tony Blair over the 2003 attack on Iraq will, over time, have a hugely positive impact on global travel & tourism. It has made a quantum-leap contribution to the global principles of good governance, transparency, accountability and the pursuit of truth. If the […]

6 Jul, 2016

UN officials call for global consensus, preventive approach to combat terrorism, violent extremism

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United Nations, (UN News Centre) 30 June 2016 – The unprecedented levels of terrorism and violent extremism on a global scale requires balanced implementation of commitments made through collective action, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today emphasized, calling on the international community to act with unity and resolve to address “this major scourge of our time.” “We […]

6 Jul, 2016

Sole Bangladeshi Nobel laureate links terrorism to ongoing Middle East conflicts

Imtiaz Muqbil

Bangkok – Bangladesh’s only Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has issued a statement linking the 1 July terrorist attack in Dhaka to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, asserting that the world “must wake up to the fact that violence in one place breeds violence even in remotest places of the world.” The statement should be […]

6 Jul, 2016

Four UK Muslims detained for days in Israel for trying to visit Al-Aqsa mosque

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Jerusalem, (IINA), Sunday 03 Jul 2016 – Four British Muslims including a 10-year-old boy who planned to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque were detained and deported from Israel, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported. The Muslims who were held for several days in an Israeli detention centre were earlier this week removed from a Monarch Airlines flight back […]

5 Jul, 2016

On World Day, UN hails cooperatives as drivers of sustainable future

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United Nations, (UN News Centre) 2 July 2016 – Cooperatives are an old idea but more relevant than ever as they can be the drivers of a sustainable future, senior United Nations officials said on the International Day of Cooperatives today, urging Governments to create an enabling environment for these groups to thrive and grow. […]

5 Jul, 2016

UN rights expert deplores conviction of tax whistleblowers in LuxLeaks trial

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United Nations, (UN News Centre) 30 June 2016 – A United Nations independent human rights expert today deplored the conviction of two whistleblowers who revealed how tax avoidance and tax evasion occurred in Luxembourg banks in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal. “Whistleblowers are heroes of our time and serve society and human rights,” said Alfred de […]

5 Jul, 2016

London mayor appoints Indore-born Rajesh Agrawal as deputy – Hindustan Times

London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday appointed Indore-born Rajesh Agrawal as his deputy mayor for business to boost the city’s interests following the European Union referendum. Khan tasked Agrawal, who arrived in Britain in 2001 and grew a two-person enterprise into a multi-million pound business, with championing London’s interests and protecting jobs and growth while […]

4 Jul, 2016

PayScale Releases New Report “Underemployed: The War on the American Worker”

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SEATTLE, Washington, (PRWEB), 29 June 2016 – PayScale, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand compensation data and software, today announced its new report “Underemployed: The War on the American Worker.” The study included data from 962,956 workers collected between 3/21/2014 and 3/21/2016. “There are many economic indicators followed by business and policy leaders to gauge […]

4 Jul, 2016

OECD releases guidance to strengthen transparency in int’l tax reporting

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PARIS, OECD Press Release, 29 June 2016 – Today the OECD has taken a new step in its continuing efforts to boost transparency in international tax matters with the release of Guidance on the Implementation of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting. The OECD/G20 BEPS Project set out 15 key actions to reform the international tax framework and ensure that profits are […]

4 Jul, 2016

Dominican Republic, Nauru join the most powerful instrument against offshore tax evasion and avoidance

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PARIS, OECD Press Release, 28 June 2016 – Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Mrs Rosa Hernández de Grullón, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to France and Mr John Petersen, Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Nauru, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of Deputy Secretary General […]

4 Jul, 2016

The Real “Disruption” is Still to Come: Book Forecasts Fall of the American Empire

Imtiaz Muqbil

In January 2006, one of Asia’s most prominent social activists published a stark warning that a system which allows less than 60 million Americans to vote for a person who gains power to determine, with zero accountability, the fate of the rest of the world, is deeply flawed, deserves to collapse and eventually will. The […]

4 Jul, 2016

South African journalist Aaisha Patel’s Ramadan Diaries

Compiled by Imtiaz Muqbil & Sana Shamsi

A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 04 July 2016 (29 Ramadan 1437). Pls click on any of the headlines below to go to the story. ============ A WORD FROM MY SPONSORS: TOURISM MALAYSIA LAUNCH OF 1MALAYSIA MEGA SALE CARNIVAL 2016 & […]