Articles by Unlisted Author

(AP) More than 1,600 migrants have either been rescued at sea or reached Spain’s Canary Islands in small boats over the weekend, emergency services for the archipelago said Sunday. The body of one person who had died during the perilous journey was […]

US ‘Muslim ban’ set to end ‘on day one’ of Biden presidency President-elect has pledged to immediately halt travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration on more than a dozen nations.

(Al-Jazeera) On the first day of his presidency, president-elect Joe Biden intends to rescind Donald Trump’s travel bans on travellers from 13 countries, most either majority-Muslim or African nations. Shortly after taking office in 2017, Trump issued an executive order that banned […]

French minister seeks to ease tensions over cartoons in Cairo visit

(AFP) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Egypt Sunday where he sought to ease tensions with the Arab world, after the furore surrounding the republication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Le Drian met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign […]

Attorney general takes charge of investigation into Swiss ties to Vienna attack

(Swiss Info) Next week the federal prosecutor’s office will assume responsibility for criminal proceedings of two men arrested in Switzerland over alleged ties to the Vienna terrorist attacker. The transfer of the case from Canton Zurich to the federal level was confirmed […]

Two more teens arrested in case of teacher threatened over Islamic terror cartoon

November 7, 2020 Unlisted Author

(NL Times) Police in Rotterdam arrested two more suspects on Saturday as part of the investigation into threats made against a schoolteacher at the Emmauscollege. The apprehended suspects include an 18-year-old man from The Hague and a 17-year-old boy from Amsterdam. They were suspected […]

Parliament votes to clarify Finland’s FGM laws Female genital mutilation is already prohibited in Finland, but a citizens’ initiative had called for a separate law.

(Yle) Finland’s Parliament has voted by a margin of 141 to 10 to make a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) more explicit in Finnish law. There were no abstentions from the vote but 48 MPs were absent. The vote calls on […]

Man in court accused of sharing of IS videos

(BBC) A man has appeared before the Old Bailey accused of sharing Islamic State group videos. German national Florian Flegel, 22, was arrested at Stansted Airport in Essex on 22 October when he was about to board a flight to Germany. He […]

France fines Islamic scholar for revealing rape accuser’s name

(AFP) A Paris court on Friday fined Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan for disclosing the name of one of several women who have accused him of rape, violating a French law that protects alleged victims from “retaliation and harassment.” Ramadan, who denies the […]

Child among migrants to cross the English Channel

(BBC) A child was among 96 migrants to have crossed the Channel in the last two days. It is thought to be the first crossings in small boats since a family died attempting the journey. The Home Office says 56 people made […]

Three teens charged in French teacher’s beheading

(AFP) Three teenagers were indicted Friday in the murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty, beheaded last month after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed to his students during a free speech lesson, a judicial source told AFP. Two 18-year-old men and […]

France church attacker transferred to Paris

(AFP) The Tunisian migrant who was shot and seriously wounded after killing three people in a knife attack on a French church last month was flown Friday from the southern city of Nice to Paris for treatment. Brahim Aouissaoui, 21, was flown […]

Suspect arrested in case around threatened Rotterdam teacher

(NL Times) The police arrested an 18-year-old woman from Rotterdam on Friday morning in the investigation into threats made against a local teacher over a cartoon he had in his classroom. The young woman is suspected of incitement, the police said. “The […]

Greek authorities intercept boat carrying migrants to Italy

(AP) Greece’s coast guard towed a boat carrying 65 asylum-seekers to a port on the country’s western coast after it was found to be in distress in the Ionian Sea, authorities said Thursday. The Migration and Asylum Ministry said that 35 of […]

Trudeau speaks with Macron amid furor over his response to attacks in France

(Canadian Press) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended free expression in a call with the president of France on Thursday, his office says. The conversation with France’s Emmanuel Macron came one week after three people were killed in a deadly knife assault in […]

Rotterdam teacher in hiding over Islamic terror cartoon: report

(NL Times) A teacher from the Emmauscollege in Rotterdam went into hiding because he was threatened over a cartoon that hung in his classroom, according to newspaper NRC. The cartoon was drawn by cartoonist Joep Bertram about the attack on satire magazine […]

Greek police arrest man as IS suspect on Tajikistan warrant

(AP) Greek police said Thursday they have arrested a 27-year-old man on an international arrest warrant issued by Tajikistan on suspicion of him being a member of the Islamic State group. Police said the man was arrested on Wednesday in the southern […]

Poll reveals record Muslim vote in US election

(Arab News) More than one million American Muslims participated in the 2020 US election, with nearly 70 percent voting for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, an exit poll has showed. The poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said US Muslim […]

Winterthur terror suspects were already under investigation

(Swiss Info) Two men being held in connection with a recent terror attack in Vienna were already under criminal investigation in Switzerland, it has emerged. The duo, aged 18 and 24, were arrested in the Swiss city of Winterthur on Tuesday — […]

Manchester Arena inquiry: Risk assessment was ‘box ticking’

(BBC) Risk assessments carried out by the Manchester Arena operators were “flawed” and “pretty much box ticking,” an inquiry has heard. Miriam Stone, SMG’s head of events, told the inquiry into the attack there was no specific assessment done for the Ariana […]

Hashem Abedi: Manchester Arena attacker sentence increase bid fails

(BBC) A bid to increase the prison sentence of the Manchester Arena bomber’s brother has been rejected. Hashem Abedi, 23, was jailed in August for his part in the 2017 terror attack which killed 22 people. An application to further extend his […]

People smugglers who steered two boats of migrants jailed

(BBC) Two men have been jailed for smuggling themselves and 23 other people across the Channel on two small boats. Iraqi national Assad Abdul Latif Sayed Abdulghany, 30, and Iranian national Ali Azarkish, 23, were both sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment on […]

Man arrested for planning attack on Pride Amsterdam

(NL Times) The police arrested a man in August on suspicion of preparing to commit a terrorist attack in the Netherlands, NU.nl reported based on charges filed by the Public Prosecution Service (OM). One of [the] suspect’s potential targets was Pride Amsterdam, […]

Zurich police investigate possible Swiss links to Vienna attacks

(Swiss Info) The Zurich cantonal police have arrested two men over suspected ties to the deadly attacks in Vienna that took place on Monday evening. The arrests came after both federal and cantonal authorities announced they were investigating possible Swiss ties to […]

Manchester Arena inquiry: Boss denies security ‘penny pinching’

(BBC) The operators of Manchester Arena where 22 were killed in a terror attack have denied accusations of “penny pinching” and putting people’s lives at risk. And on the night SMG put the arena’s terrorism risk level at low despite the national […]

Libyan man sues MailOnline over Manchester Arena bombing story

November 2, 2020 Unlisted Author

(BBC) A Libyan man arrested after the Manchester Arena terror attack is suing MailOnline‘s publisher for £230,000 for publishing his details. Alaedeen Sicri, 26, was arrested in West Sussex and released without charge over the May 2017 bombing of an Ariana Grande […]

Junction City High School principal suspended following hijab incident

November 2, 2020 Unlisted Author

(WIBW) Junction City High School’s principal is suspended following an incident involving a student with a hijab. USD 475′s Board of Education met in executive session during their meeting Monday night. They remained behind closed doors for more than a half hour. […]

Manchester Arena inquiry: Abedi missed by security as he ‘blended in’

November 2, 2020 Unlisted Author

(BBC) Salman Abedi “blended in too well” to be picked up by security on the night he detonated a suicide bomb at the Manchester Arena, an inquiry has heard. James Allen, arena manager for SMG, said he was not aware that teenagers […]

Members of Syrian Community Centre of Windsor protest, condemn France over Muhammad cartoons The group of about 30 held up signs condemning French President Emmanuel Macron

(CBC) Members of the Syrian Community Centre of Windsor gathered outside city hall on Friday to protest France’s reaction to Muhammad cartoons. The group of about 30 held up signs condemning French President Emmanuel Macron for recent “anti-Muslim comments” and his staunch […]

Two convicted in terrorist plot against Rotterdam police station

(NL Times) Two men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack against a police station in Rotterdam were convicted and sentenced to prison on Thursday. Ahmed B. was handed a prison term of eight years, and his alleged accomplice, Mouad M., was ordered […]

Youths kick furniture at Austrian church, no one hurt

(AP) A group of 30 to 50 youths gathered in a Vienna church earlier this week, kicking furniture but then dispersing after police were called, authorities said Saturday. The incident drew condemnation from leading politicians at a time when nearby France has […]

Macron says he understands Muslims’ shock over prophet cartoons In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, French President Emmanuel Macron says he understands the ‘sentiments’ being expressed by the Muslim world over cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.

(Al-Jazeera) French President Emmanuel Macron says he understands the feelings of Muslims who are shocked by the displaying of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad but added that the “radical Islam” he is trying to fight is a threat to all people, especially Muslims. […]

Free speech has limits, Canada’s Trudeau says

(AFP) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended free speech on Friday, but added that it was “not without limits” and should not “arbitrarily and needlessly hurt” certain communities. “We will always defend freedom of expression,” Trudeau said in response to a question […]

People smugglers who steered two boats of migrants jailed

(BBC) Two Iranian men have been jailed for smuggling themselves and 29 people across the Channel on two overcrowded rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB). Ghodratallah Donyamali Zadeh, 26, and Ahmed Nayat Quadir, 20, were both sentenced to 24 months imprisonment on Thursday. They […]

Lamorgese rejects quit calls over Nice killer Opposition demand resignation after Tunisian landed at Lampedusa

(ANSA) Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese on Friday rejected opposition calls for her to resign because the Tunisian man who killed three people in Nice Thursday landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa last month. Lamorgese said it was time to “stop the […]

Macron vows defiance after ‘Islamist’ knife attack in church kills three

(AFP) French president Emmanuel Macron vowed his country would stand firm against religious extremists after a knife-wielding man killed three people at a church, in the country’s second attack blamed on Islamist terrorism this month. France will not “give up on our […]

Belgium’s threat level remains unchanged after knife attack in Nice

October 29, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Brussels Times) The terrorist threat level in Belgium remains unchanged after the knife attack in the French city of Nice on Thursday, according to the Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis (L’Organe de coordination pour l’analyse de la menace — OCAM) and the […]

Cardinal Sarah says West must wake up to threat of Islamism after three killed at French Catholic church

October 29, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Catholic News Agency) Vatican Cardinal Robert Sarah said Thursday that the West must wake up to the threat of Islamism after three people were killed at a French church by an attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar.” The Guinean cardinal wrote on Twitter Oct. […]

France church attacker arrived in Europe from Tunisia days ago

October 29, 2020 Unlisted Author

(BBC) A Tunisian man who killed three people in a church in France only recently arrived in Europe, officials say. The suspect, 21, had an Italian Red Cross document, issued after he arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa by migrant boat […]

Manchester Arena inquiry: Staff ‘identify suspicious behaviour not ethnicity’

October 28, 2020 Unlisted Author

(BBC) Behaviour is the major factor when identifying a terror suspect, rather than ethnicity, a security expert told the Manchester Arena inquiry. Tony Holyland from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) said Salman Abedi’s actions on the night he bombed the venue should […]

Denmark to criminalise foreign funding for mosques in effort to ‘counter extremism’

(Middle East Monitor) Denmark is set to present a new bill that would criminalise funding for mosques sent by foreign countries and entities, in new efforts to counter religious extremism. The bill was announced in a Facebook post by Danish Integration Minister […]

Dutch PM says Erdogan complaint against MP ‘unacceptable’

(AFP) Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday weighed in [on] a growing spat between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a Dutch anti-Islam MP, whom the Turkish leader has accused of defamation over a cartoon drawing. Erdogan filed a complaint this week […]

Islamic Council leaders sentenced for jihadist propaganda

(Swiss Info) A Swiss court has handed down fines and suspended prison sentences to two board members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) for jihadist propaganda following a retrial. The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona gave Islamic council president Nicolas […]

Terror threat remains high in Switzerland, warns Federal Intelligence Service