Academics & Education

‘Terre des Femmes’ pushes headscarf ban for girls The women's rights organization 'Terre des Femmes' has launched a petition calling for a headscarf ban for minors in schools and daycare centers in Germany. But the initiative has courted controversy.

(Deutsche Welle) A girl below the age of 18 wearing a headscarf? The human rights organization “Terre des Femmes” believes it is morally wrong and is demanding that the German government ban headscarves for girls in schools and daycare centres. On Thursday, […]

Academics & Education

PQ in favour of accommodating Muslim students: Jean-François Lisée The Commission scolaire de Montréal wants to move a test so that its Muslim students won't have to take an exam during a high holiday.

(Montreal Gazette) Jean-François Lisée says he would be in favour of a plan to postpone a province-wide elementary school exam next year because it interferes with a Muslim holiday. The PQ leader weighed in Wednesday on a recent spat between a Montreal […]

Crime

Attacks on Muslims drop in Germany in first half of 2018 The number of attacks on Muslims and mosques has fallen significantly in Germany, new figures show. But lawmakers warn the country is still failing to include its Muslim community in society.

(Deutsche Welle) In the first six months of 2018, there were 320 offenses committed against Muslims, mosques and other institutions associated with Islam in Germany, according to information from the Interior Ministry. That’s significantly lower than the nearly 500 cases reported during […]

Clerics & Preachers

Evil black blood claim denied in NSW trial: ‘How could I force him?’ A spiritual healer accused of detaining a man to draw out 'evil' black blood with suction cups has responded to the allegations in police interviews played in court.

(AAP) A spiritual healer denied telling a Sydney man he was drawing out black blood which was “the evil” when he placed suction cups on him and read out the Koran. Riza Morinaj also told police the man did not tell him […]

News: Europe

Deep sadness and growing distrust: Inside the neighbourhood that’s produced a tenth of the UK’s convicted Islamist terrorists HuffPost UK spoke to people in Sparkbrook, home of Westminster crash suspect Salih Khater.

(HuffPost) “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it,” reads a sign welcoming visitors to the Birmingham neighbourhood of Sparkbrook. It’s a quote from the legendary boxer [Muhammad] Ali, whose legacy has a […]

Arts & Entertainment

Comedian Eshaan Akbar on trying to highlight the humour in Islam 'There’s no representation on TV of Muslims having a laugh. There isn’t anything out there that allows white British people to see Muslims just being normal,' he says

(National-UAE) Most comedians have to put up with a fair degree of heckling in their careers, but British comedian Eshaan Akbar has received violent threats for his new stand-up routine at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In Prophet Like It’s Hot, the 34-year-old […]

Crime

Citizens’ initiative to ban FGM set for parliamentary consideration A citizens' initiative demanding a law to ban female genital mutilation in Finland has gained 50,000 signatures, meaning Parliament must now consider the motion.

(Yle) A citizens’ initiative demanding that lawmakers draw up a specific law to outlaw FGM in Finland has attracted over 50,000 signatures. This means it has met the threshold enacted in a 2012 Finnish law, and the Finnish Parliament must now put […]

Crime

Yazidi woman encounters ‘Islamic State’ captor in Germany The past she was attempting to flee came back to haunt a young Yazidi woman in a small town in Germany. Her former IS tormentor confronted her on the street and 'told me he knew everything about me.'

(Deutsche Welle) A 19-year-old Yazidi woman has fled Germany with her family after encountering the “Islamic State” (IS) fighter who had enslaved her in Mosul on the streets of Schwäbisch Gmünd, a town in Baden-Württemberg. Ashwaq Haji Hamid arrived in the southwestern state with her […]

Clothing

Germany tolerant of LGBT neighbors, but not Muslim ones While homophobia has seen a drastic decrease in Germany over the years, Islamophobia has remained stubbornly stagnant. A new Playboy poll has found that most Germans are opposed to mosques, hijab, and refugee homes.

(Deutsche Welle) A new poll published on Thursday by Playboy Germany shows that while national hostility to minority sexualities may have taken a nosedive over the years, hostility to Islam remains depressingly stagnant. According to the survey, which polled over 1,000 men […]