Government & Politics

Asylum approvals almost always right, German review finds — report Nearly all decisions to grant migrants asylum in Germany were justified, officials found after reviewing some 62,000 claims, according to a newspaper report. Hundreds of officials work on reviewing old cases.

(Deutsche Welle) While reviewing successful asylum applications, German officials found that only a tiny minority of asylum-seekers provided false information or tried to trick the officials, according to official data cited by Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday. Germany’s migration agency, BAMF, looked into […]

Academics & Education

3 CSDM teachers have taken off religious symbols to work, school board says The board would not specify what kind of symbols the teachers wore

(CBC) The largest school board in Quebec says three teachers have been directly affected by Quebec’s secularism law, formerly known as Bill 21. On Tuesday afternoon, the Commission Scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) revealed the teachers took off their religious symbols in order to be able to […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Sameer Zuberi chosen as Liberal candidate for Pierrefonds-Dollard Over the weekend, the Conservative Party accused Zuberi of questioning Osama bin Laden's involvement in 9/11

(CBC) Sameer Zuberi, a Montreal activist who has been outspoken against Islamophobia in the province, has been nominated as the Liberal [candidate] for Pierrefonds-Dollard. Until July, Zuberi was the diversity and engagement officer for McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine, according to LinkedIn. […]

Clerics & Preachers

Hamza Yusuf issues apology for ‘hurting feelings’ with Syria comments It was announced in June that Yusuf would be joining US State Department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, which drew even more flak from US Muslims

(Middle East Eye) Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, one of America’s leading Muslim scholars, apologised for “any pain that I caused” over comments he made about Syrian refugees in a 2016 video that emerged on social media earlier this week. In a 10-minute-long statement released […]

Law Enforcement

Germany: Raids carried out against terror financing suspects Special police units carried out raids in northern Germany to investigate alleged financial supporters of terrorist groups in Syria. Prosecutors said hundreds of thousands of euros were allegedly sent to militants.

(Deutsche Welle) Police carried out raids in northern Germany to investigate alleged terrorist suspects in several cities on Wednesday morning, prosecutors said. A senior prosecutor for the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt, said the raids were to investigate the suspected formation of an organized […]

Law Enforcement

Widow of German IS rapper is arrested in Hamburg The German-Tunisian woman has been arrested just months after a cellphone provided fresh evidence about her time in Syria. She had married two IS fighters, one of whom was rapper-turned-extremist Denis Cuspert.

(Deutsche Welle) German authorities said on Monday that Omaima A., a German-Tunisian woman, was arrested in Hamburg last week for her ties to the “Islamic State” (IS). Omaima A. was once married to German rapper-turned-IS fighter Denis Cuspert, who is believed to have died […]

Government & Politics

Think tank group targets Muslim council candidates A former ACT MP says she was unaware of derogatory and xenophobic remarks towards Muslims on a Facebook group she set up.

(Radio NZ) The Facebook group for political think tank New Zealand Centre for Political Research has several threads taking aim at Muslim candidates standing in the local government elections. Former ACT MP Muriel Newman founded the think tank in 2005. Dr Newman […]

Government & Politics

Omar, Tlaib welcome decision ruling US terror watchlist unconstitutional A federal judge ruled that the inclusion in the list infringes upon the right to due process.

(Jerusalem Post) US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has expressed her appreciation after a US federal judge ruled that an FBI terror watchlist was unconstitutional. “I have heard of horrifying stories of Muslim Americans who were placed on the so-called ‘watch list,’ with no […]

Legal

German IS fighter faces torture and murder terrorism charges in Düsseldorf court A German IS fighter is facing charges of murder and torture at a German high court. This is the second time that he has faced terrorism-related charges.

(Deutsche Welle) A fighter from the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS) group stood trial in Düsseldorf on Wednesday facing serious charges of committing war crimes, in addition to murder. This is the second time that the 29-year-old has stood trial for terror-related offenses, […]

Burkini

Burkinis should be allowed in public pools, non-discrimination ombudsman says The ombudsman said banning the swimsuits is gender- and religion-based discrimination.

(Yle) Kirsi Pimiä, the non-discrimination ombudsman, has recommended that Finland’s public swimming pools should permit the use of burkinis, the body-covering bathing suits sometimes used by Muslim women. Pimiä said she became aware of cases of burkini-wearing women having been turned away […]

Crime

More Germans applying for alarm gun licenses More and more Germans are acquiring the permit they need to carry a gas pistol, a newspaper has reported. The number has more than doubled in the last five years.

(Deutsche Welle) Some 640,000 Germans now have an alarm gun license, some 30,000 more than at the end of last year, according to research by the Rheinische Post newspaper. The number has risen hugely since 2014, when some 260,000 people carried such a license. […]