(Politico) French Prime Minister François Bayrou convened key Cabinet members on Tuesday after divisions among ministers over banning athletes from wearing hijabs during sporting events spilled into public view. “There’s only one line within the government … no visible religious symbols should […]
(AFP) France’s right-dominated Senate has backed a bill to ban religious symbols including the Muslim headscarf in all sport competitions, professional and amateur, sparking accusations of discrimination from the left and rights advocates. The bill still needs a majority of votes from […]
(AP) Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject a bill this week that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions. The bill is backed by right-wing senators and will be debated from Tuesday in the upper house of the French parliament. […]
(Jewish News) The yellow and green flag of Iranian proxy terror group Hezbollah was openly waved on the streets of Dublin on Saturday. Crowds took to the streets days after a new government coalition administration was made official. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign […]
(Breitbart) Italian police are investigating a series of suspected “Islamic ritual” sexual assaults against several young women during New Year’s Eve in Milan by around 40 men. The Ansa public news agency reports that prosecutors in Milan have opened an investigation into […]
(Deutsche Welle) It has been several weeks now, but Wasel Yousaf has photos on his phone to help him relive the memory of meeting his idol. “He made a joke about how tightly I was shaking his hand,” Yousaf said, looking at […]
(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 […]
(CTV) Jack Letts has spent seven-and-a-half years in a legal black hole. Detained without charge in a secret prison in northeast Syria, he is accused of being a member of ISIS, but has never been tried or convicted. His parents, John Letts […]
(European Conservative) The notorious Swedish-Danish politician Rasmus Paludan, who last week was sentenced to four months in prison for two cases of “incitement against ethnic groups,” told the media he intends to appeal — and the prosecutor in the case hasn’t ruled […]
(Middle East Eye) A coalition of leading civil society organisations has urged the UK Labour government to overhaul counter-extremism policies including the controversial Prevent programme, Middle East Eye can exclusively report. In a letter sent to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the organisations also […]
(NY Post) Maybe it was lost in translation. A longtime French teacher claims the Upper East Side’s elite, all-girls Spence School fired her for giving a straightforward answer about France’s controversial hijab law — which triggered the principal’s daughter so much she […]
(BBC) Shamima Begum will not be allowed to challenge the removal of her British citizenship at the Supreme Court, judges have ruled. The 24-year-old hoped to overturn the government’s decision to revoke her citizenship on national security grounds after she travelled to […]
(Reuters) Days before the Paris Olympics began, French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla was stuck in a row with her government over the right to wear a hijab at the opening ceremony. But after a last-gasp compromise was found — in the shape of […]
(Jewish News) The NHS has overturned the suspension of a Harrow GP who headed the UK branch of recently banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, leaving him free to resume his practice as a GP. Dr Wahid Shaida, who also uses the name […]
(Arab News) Amnesty International has accused France of breaking international human rights law by enforcing a ban on women competing at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris wearing headscarves. In a report on the ban published on Tuesday, Amnesty also accused the […]
(Yle) Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects a Finnish woman of aggravated human trafficking of her own children after she brought them to the ISIS “caliphate” in the region of Syria and northern Iraq in 2014. Detective Inspector Jan Aarnisalo, who […]
(AFP) France on Wednesday expelled an Iranian suspected of influence peddling on behalf of the Islamic republic and having links to the Revolutionary Guards ideological army, his lawyer and Iranian officials said. The deportation of Bashir Biazar, reportedly a former senior figure […]
(Reuters) Human rights advocates on Friday condemned former President Donald Trump’s references to Palestinians, and immigrants allegedly taking black American jobs, during Thursday’s debate with President Joe Biden, calling the remarks racist or insulting. Biden and Trump had a brief exchange on […]
(DPA) A controversial debate in Germany over whether to resume deportations of convicted criminals to Syria and Afghanistan was the main topic of discussions as interior ministers from the country’s 16 states convened just outside of Berlin on Wednesday evening. The state […]
(AP) Iran and Sweden carried out a prisoner swap Saturday that saw Tehran release a European Union diplomat and another man in exchange for an Iranian convicted in Stockholm of committing war crimes over his part in 1988 mass executions in the […]
(Reuters) Only the whine of mosquitoes mars the tranquility of this idyllic spot amid the rolling forests and blue lakes of eastern Finland, on the European Union’s longest border with Russia. But Finnish authorities fear the peace and quiet of places like […]
(AFP) French Muslim basketball player Diaba Konate Tuesday said she had hoped to represent her country at the Paris Olympics but did not stand a chance because she wears a headscarf. “Despite my desire and skills, I’m … not actually allowed to […]
(Deutsche Welle) Colleagues, family and politicians converged on the city square in Mannheim on Friday to remember the young policeman who sustained deadly injuries one week ago. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid flowers. A 25-year-old man originally from Afghanistan, who is married […]
(Reuters) Last year, Sihame Denguir enrolled her teenage son and daughter in France’s largest Muslim private school, in the northern city of Lille some 200 kilometres (125 miles) from their middle-class suburban Parisian home. The move meant financial sacrifices. Denguir, 41, now […]
(Jerusalem Post) Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib spoke on Saturday at a Detroit pro-Palestinian conference that advocated on behalf of terrorism, honored terrorists, and featured a member of a terrorist organization as a panelist. Tlaib made a surprise appearance at the People’s Conference […]
(Jerusalem Post) This weekend, a publicly funded venue in Detroit, Michigan, will host “The People’s Conference for Palestine,” a conference that defies so-called American imperialism. The event, featuring Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)-affiliated figures, is organized by groups with […]
(CTV) A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago. In an email, Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who represented children who […]
(Canadian Press) Five Canadian children are languishing in a squalid detention camp in northeastern Syria after Ottawa denied their mothers permission to come to Canada, says a lawyer fighting in court on behalf of the families. The development is the latest setback […]
(Reuters) A Cypriot law enforcement vessel was off the coast of Lebanon on Wednesday amid reports that Cyprus is stepping up efforts to prevent Syrian refugees reaching the island on small boats. An advocacy group reported that up to five boatloads of […]
(BBC) More than 5,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel this year, with nearly 800 making the journey over the Easter bank holiday weekend. A total of 791 migrants made the journey on 30 and 31 March, according to the Home Office. […]
(CBC) In a rare move, lawyers representing four Canadian men held in prisons in northeastern Syria have asked Canada’s top court to reconsider its decision not to hear their claim that Canada has a duty to bring them home. The detained Canadian men include Jack […]
(Middle East Eye) Over 400 British imams and religious scholars have signed a letter rejecting a new UK government definition of extremism that targeted several British Muslim organisations. Last week, Communities Secretary Michael Gove announced a contentious new definition of extremism, though the […]
(Reuters) An Italian appeals court refused on Wednesday to send a suspected Palestinian militant to Israel, saying he risked “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” if he was extradited. The man, named by the court as Anan Kamal Afif Yaeesh, 36, was one […]
(Anadolu) Amnesty International expressed “deep concern” Monday over the possible extradition to Israel of a Palestinian man who is a legal resident of Italy. Anan Ya’eesh, originally from Tulkarem in the West Bank, was arrested in January for allegedly being part of […]
(AP) European Union countries on Wednesday overcame a major obstacle in their yearslong quest to overhaul the bloc’s asylum rules amid warnings that time is running out to clinch agreement on the entire scheme before next year’s EU elections. EU envoys clinched […]
(Jewish News) A human rights organisation alleged to have close links with Iran is at the centre of renewed controversy over its staging of an event featuring the disgraced sociology professor David Miller and a writer criticised over antisemitism claims. The Islamic […]
(Hill) Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) harshly denounced a House resolution supporting Israel in a floor speech on Tuesday, the day before Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address a joint meeting of Congress. “Israel is an apartheid state. To assert otherwise, Mr. Speaker, […]
(Politico) Cash is king in the EU’s plan to stop migrants from coming to Europe. On Sunday, the EU finalized a deal with Tunisia — a common departure point for people seeking asylum in Europe — that essentially offers the country millions in exchange […]
(AFP) France’s highest court ruled Friday that the country can try foreign suspects under the universal jurisdiction principle, greenlighting inquiries into two Syrians accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ruling was welcomed by rights groups who said it would also […]
(Reuters) Lithuania’s parliament passed legislation on Tuesday allowing border guards to turn back migrants who cross its frontier illegally, brushing away concerns from human rights organizations. Lithuania, Poland and Latvia have reported a sharp increase since 2021 in migrants from countries such […]
(AFP) A Paris court on Friday sentenced a Lebanese-Canadian sociology professor to life in prison in absentia for the 1980 bombing of a synagogue in the French capital that left four people dead. The court followed the prosecutors’ request for the maximum […]
(Sky News) A giant vessel docked off the Dorset coast will be used to hold hundreds of asylum seekers, the Home Office has confirmed, despite legal threats from local Tories. The barge, called the Bibby Stockholm, will be berthed in Portland Port […]
(AFP) The trial of a 69-year-old Lebanese-Canadian charged over a fatal 1980 bomb attack outside a Paris synagogue opened on Monday after more than four decades of legal wrangling. Canada-based Hassan Diab, who denies any involvement in the attack which killed four […]
(Middle East Eye) The UK is facing a “slide into dangerous authoritarianism” if the government proceeds with the recommendations of a contentious review of Prevent, critics of the counter-terrorism strategy have warned. In a joint letter issued on Tuesday, a coalition of […]
(Reuters) The Danish Refugee Appeals Board on Friday deemed it safe for Syrian refugees to return to Latakia province in the western part of the country, raising concerns at the UN Refugee Agency. When the Danish Immigration Service decides to take away […]
(BBC) Shamima Begum has lost her challenge over the decision to deprive her of British citizenship despite a “credible” case she was trafficked. Mr Justice Jay told the semi-secret court dealing with her case that her appeal had been fully dismissed. The […]
(Arab News) A controversial review into the UK’s counterterrorism strategy has been slammed due to its author only witnessing half a dozen meetings of its deradicalization program, the Observer reported on Sunday. William Shawcross, who was appointed to review the British government’s […]
(AFP) The number of migrants arriving illegally in Spain dropped by more than a quarter in 2022 over the previous year, mainly due to a fall in sea crossings, the interior ministry said Tuesday. A total of 31,219 people entered Spain without […]
(Sky News) A record 45,728 people crossed the English Channel to the UK on small boats in 2022, up more than 60% on the previous year as migrants continue to risk their lives making the dangerous journey. The perils of the deep […]
(AP) Spanish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into the deaths of more than 20 migrants last June at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave city of Melilla, saying in a statement Friday they found no evidence of criminal misconduct by […]
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