(Reuters) Austria’s potential forced deportation of Syrian refugees back to their changed homeland can only occur when it is safe, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told Reuters, adding that it was impossible to predict timings. Schallenberg was clarifying his government’s position after conservative […]
(AP) Some European Union countries on Thursday doubled down on their decision to rapidly halt asylum procedures for Syrian migrants in Europe, but said that it was too early to consider sending any of the hundreds of thousands of people who have […]
(Politico) When Osama Sabsabi learned that opposition forces had captured the city of Homs, where he grew up, he did something that would have been unthinkable just days earlier: He booked a ticket home. “We, the Syrian people, are experiencing an indescribable […]
(Brussels Times) There are around ten Belgian citizens in the Islamist group that ousted Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria last week, according to Belgium’s interim Foreign Minister Bernard Quintin (MR). In a shock chain of events, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir […]
(Swiss Info) Does it harm Switzerland’s good offices if it bans Palestinian militant group Hamas? Parliament has been debating this for years. Now the arguments in favour of a ban have won. Until now, Switzerland has deliberately exercised restraint in banning terrorist […]
(Swiss Info) Hamas will become a banned group in Switzerland for five years. After the Senate, the House of Representatives accepted a government proposal drawn up after the attack by the Islamist group on October 7, 2023. The House of Representatives accepted […]
(Sky News) An MP has spoken against calls to ban first cousin marriage in the UK, suggesting instead that advanced genetic screening is made available to prospective married couples. Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed said while “freedom of women must be protected at […]
(AP) Nearly a decade after he arrived in Germany from Syria and took a selfie with then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, Anas Modamani has finished his university studies and has a German passport. He’s less positive about some German politicians’ reactions to the fall […]
(European Conservative) Thousands of Syrians living in Germany took to the streets on Sunday to celebrate the ousting of the tyrannical (now former) President Bashar Al-Assad. Similar scenes played out in Sweden and in the UK, where refugees in London vowed to […]
(AFP) Britain, Germany, France, Italy and several other European countries said Monday they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, a day after the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad. While Berlin and other governments said they were watching the fast-moving developments […]
(CBC) Quebec Premier François Legault said Friday afternoon that he wants to ban praying in public and that he was considering using the notwithstanding clause to do so. The premier was giving an overview of the past year in Quebec City before […]
(Brussels Times) Belgium did not overstep the line when it stripped two convicted terrorists of their Belgian nationality in 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Thursday. The convicted terrorists were Malika El Aroud — also known to the […]
(Canadian Press) Security agencies from Canada and other members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance are calling for a “whole-of-society response” to deal with the radicalization of young people lured into violent extremism. A new report from the alliance, which also includes […]
(Morocco World News) Al Kindi, the only Muslim private high school in France, is facing the threat of contract termination by the Rhone prefecture. The threat could potentially end the school’s official association with the state. According to the website Lyon Capitale, […]
(Globe and Mail) A Jordanian terror suspect was deported two weeks ago by the U.S. after crossing illegally from Canada where he was on the run from Canadian border officers. Mohammad Hasan Abdellatif Albana had slipped across the border to Canada from […]
(Jewish News) Labour has been urged to investigate the conduct of the MP Kim Johnson after she promoted the activities of Islamist advocacy group CAGE on social media. Last weekend the firebrand MP also sparked further communal anger when she told a […]
(Brussels Times) Belgium’s terror alert level remains at 3 (out of 4), according to the Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (OCAM) on Tuesday. There are no specific threats to the Christmas markets, which are gradually opening as the festive season approaches. “The […]
(AFP) France’s hardline interior minister on Friday said Britain could no longer “sub-contract” Channel border security out to Paris, with no end in sight to the flows of migrants heading across the waterway. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is set to meet with […]
(European Conservative) An invitation by a mosque in Germany for girls as young as thirteen to take part in a “preparatory marriage course” has sparked a huge backlash, with centre-right and right-wing parties demanding an explanation. The invitation was sent out by […]
(Deutsche Welle) German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday called for “great vigilance” at Germany’s popular Christmas markets. However, she stressed that there was no “concrete” evidence of a threat. What did Faeser say about the threat to Christmas markets? Faeser said […]
(Swiss Info) The Swiss government has rejected demands from two parliamentary security policy commissions to ban Hezbollah. The group does not meet the same conditions as Hamas, the Federal Council says. Hezbollah should be put on the same footing as Hamas, according […]
(Yle) Finland will take in 500 quota refugees next year as part of the UNHCR’s resettlement programme, the Interior Ministry confirmed in a press statement released on Thursday. The statement also revealed the allocation of the quota, meaning which refugee groups will […]
(Yle) The Finnish Parliament has voted in favour of a government proposal to draft a specific law banning the practice and preparation of female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM refers to the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for […]
(Mediaite) A Republican running for a congressional seat that will soon be vacant appeared to threaten Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib by telling them they should consider quitting Congress, adding, “#BombsAway.” Florida state Sen. Randy Fine is running in Florida’s Sixth […]
(NL Times) Activist Mohammed Khatib of the pro-Palestinian organization Samidoun will speak via a video link at a protest in Wageningen on Friday. The Netherlands denied Khatib access to the country last month when he was invited by Radboud University employees to […]
(AFP) France’s justice minister said on Monday that he was “resolutely opposed” to a bill aimed at removing “apology for terrorism” from the criminal code, a move that has attracted condemnation across the political spectrum. The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) proposal aims […]
(Al-Jazeera) United States President-elect Donald Trump is encouraging a Florida legislator who celebrated the killing of an American citizen by the Israeli military to run for Congress. Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that if State Senator Randy Fine […]
(National-UAE) President-elect Donald Trump has picked Sebastian Gorka, a staunch defender of his so-called Muslim ban who has said there is [no] such thing as Palestine, to be his counter-terrorism chief at the National Security Council. Mr Trump called Mr Gorka “a […]
(BBC) A father whose daughter was killed in the Manchester Arena attack has described the decision to block legal action against MI5 as “pathetic.” Andrew Roussos’s daughter Saffie-Rose, eight, was the youngest of the 22 people killed in the bombing in 2017. […]
(Yle) Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) has requested that the Interior Ministry review its plans on how Finland’s refugee quota will be allocated next year. Finnish media reported last month that the Finns Party has proposed reducing the number of quota […]
(Free Beacon) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has abandoned hopes of confirming Third Circuit Appeals Court nominee Adeel Mangi, whom some Senate Democrats opposed over links to anti-police groups uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon. Schumer struck a deal Thursday with Republicans […]
(Sky News) Hundreds of people affected by the Manchester Arena bombing cannot continue legal action against MI5, judges have ruled. More than 300 people, including survivors and those bereaved by the 2017 attack at an Ariana Grande concert, brought a case to […]
(Global News) Another senior member of the Iranian regime has been found living in Canada, bringing the number to 16, according to immigration officials. The Canada Border Services Agency also said it had sent one more of the alleged officials to the […]
(AP) The U.S. House passed legislation Thursday that would give the Treasury Department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it claims support terrorism, alarming civil liberties groups about how a second Trump presidency could invoke it to punish political […]
(Jerusalem Post) The Dutch House of Representatives voted in favor of a motion calling to close mosques that preach the destruction of Israel, the House revealed on Tuesday. The plenary comes amid significant debate among Dutch officials and lawmakers following the violent […]
(Politico) A pro-Palestinian advocate is running for vice chair of the Democratic National [Committee] — a bid that comes on the heels of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the critical swing state of Michigan. Trump carried Dearborn, a majority-Arab American city outside […]
(NL Times) NSC parliamentarians Rosanne Hertzberger and Femke Zeedijk have resigned from the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. Interim party leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven announced their resignation after the coalition party’s weekly meeting, saying they cited unrest in […]
(Jerusalem Post) Amsterdam Mayor Femka Halsema said she regretted calling the riots in Amsterdam a “pogrom” because this was being used to discriminate against the Moroccan-Muslim population of the city, Dutch media reported on Monday. The riots that erupted following an Ajax-Maccabi […]
(AP) Just a week after winning several of the nation’s largest Arab-majority cities, President-elect Donald Trump has filled top administration posts with staunch Israel supporters, including an ambassador to Israel who has claimed “there is no such thing as Palestinians.” Meanwhile, the […]
(CNN) For Democratic pro-Palestinian activists, Donald Trump’s reelection delivered a bitter vindication. Led by the Uncommitted National Movement, they spent months pushing and pleading with the Biden administration to scale back its support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Their warning had been […]
(Politico) The Dutch government survived crisis talks Friday night triggered by football violence and the resignation of a minister over alleged racist remarks by other Cabinet members. Though speculation swirled that the entire government would collapse, only Nora Achahbar — a state […]
(NL Times) State Secretary Nora Achahbar will tender her resignation to Prime Minister Dick Schoof later on Friday due to dissatisfaction over how the Cabinet handled the riots in Amsterdam following last week’s Europa League match between Ajax and Israeli club Maccabi […]
(Dutch News) Council street wardens, or BOAs, should have “a neutral image” and will not be allowed to wear any religious symbols from next year, justice minister David van Weel has said in a briefing to MPs. The measure will “strengthen public […]
(LBC) Sadiq Khan has vowed to give Donald Trump “the benefit of the doubt,” despite previous criticisms stretching back to the president-elect’s first term in the White House. The London mayor told LBC’s James O’Brien that he wanted to “put out the […]
(Deutsche Welle) A trial opens in Jena in the eastern German state of Thuringia on Friday against two men with Afghan citizenship accused of plotting a terrorist attack near the Swedish parliament in Stockholm. What are the pair accused of? One of the […]
(Yle) Finland’s interior minister, Mari Rantanen (Finns), has confirmed to Yle that she supports a proposal put forward by 14 of her party colleagues earlier this week calling for a ban on face coverings in public places. The proposal would effectively mean […]
(National-UAE) During his campaign, Donald Trump reached out to Arab Americans with promises that he would bring about peace in the Middle East — but to the chagrin of many in the community, recent nominations to top foreign policy posts have included […]
(Dutch News) The Dutch right-wing government’s move to investigate if people convicted of anti-Semitism can be regarded as terrorists and stripped of their Dutch nationality will discriminate against dual passport holders and increase polarisation, critics have said. The far-right PVV, the pro-countryside […]
(Montreal Gazette) Following up on complaints sparked by allegations of incidents at the Bedford elementary school, Quebec’s Education Ministry is sending inspectors into 17 schools to verify them for possible violations of laicity rules. The schools to be inspected are in the […]
(NL Times) The Dutch government is committed to fighting anti-Semitic violence with far-reaching measures, Prime Minister Dick Schoof said in a parliamentary debate on violence in Amsterdam last week. The prime minister mainly promised to investigate various measures put forward by parliamentarians, […]
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