(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 […]
(Brussels Times) The province of Flemish Brabant has been accused of discrimination for banning full-body swimsuits at the Halve Maan provincial domain in Diest, according to a ruling by the Flemish Human Rights Institute on Monday. In July 2023, a community centre […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(Brussels Times) Antwerp police are considering monitoring the Jewish neighbourhood in the city with smart cameras to detect violent anti-Semitic incidents in advance. The Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent criticised military offensive against the Gaza Strip, and later […]
(Belga) The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office has 13 open cases involving Belgian suspects accused of participating in the genocide of Yazidis. Attacks were carried out by the terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Iraq in 2014. This information was confirmed by […]
(Ynet) Against the background of the attack on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam after the game against Ajax on Thursday, pro-Palestinian Hamas supporters shared videos of an attack on an Ultra-Orthodox boy from two weeks ago. The video was shared on […]
(Jerusalem Post) Antwerp police arrested five people as part of proactive operations against a suspected “Jew hunt” following calls to action on social media, according to De Morgen. A police spokesperson told De Morgen that five people had been put under administrative […]
(VRT) The hearing yesterday to deliver the final judgment on the compensation of the victims of the 2016 terrorist attack in Belgium came to an end almost as soon as it had begun. The court chose not to read the 600-page report […]
(Belga) The Brussels Court of Assizes will rule on the damages awarded to the victims of the terrorist attacks of 22 March 2016 in Brussels and Zaventem on Thursday. The judgment marks the end of a long legal process. The sentencing part […]
(Brussels Times) Five imams have seen their work permits being withdrawn after it was uncovered that the Turkish government was funding them. They risk being evicted if they are not employed by the end of this year. The Flemish region’s Employment Minister […]
(Brussels Times) Today marks one year since the terror attacks which killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels. On 16 October 2023, Tunisian national Abdesalem Lassoued shot and killed two Swedish football fans who were in Brussels to attend a match at […]
(AFP) Weaving between market stalls in the working-class Brussels district of Molenbeek, Fouad Ahidar likes to remind voters he was a market vendor himself as a teenager — driving home his credentials as a people’s politician. Something of a rising star on […]
(Jerusalem Post) A conference funded by Al Jazeera and led by Hamas officials in Europe was canceled by its Brussels host venue’s website following a recent US Treasury designation. The European Palestinian Council for Political Relations (EUPAC), a Belgium-registered lobbying organization, organized […]
(Brussels Times) The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) did not make a decision on Thursday regarding the case of two Belgian women who believe that a police regulation prohibiting them from going swimming in a burkini constitutes religious discrimination. The ECHR’s […]
(Belga) The Bruges correctional court has sentenced a 26-year-old Chechen man from West Flanders to 15 years’ prison and a 10-year supervision order for attempted terrorist murder. Abubakar S and his wife, who has been jailed for eight years, planned to carry […]
(Euronews) The Belgian government on Monday came forcefully against Hungary’s intended plan to bus migrants to Brussels in retaliation for the €200 million fine imposed in June by the European Court of Justice, which Budapest refuses to pay. No transfer has yet […]
(AP) Hungary’s anti-immigrant government signaled Friday that it is serious about implementing a plan to provide asylum seekers free one-way travel to Brussels, a measure meant to pressure the European Union into relenting on heavy fines against the country for its restrictive […]
(AP) Hungary’s anti-immigration government is prepared to provide free one-way tickets to Brussels for migrants and asylum seekers attempting to enter the European Union, a minister said Thursday in response to hefty fines recently imposed on the country over its restrictive asylum […]
(Brussels Times) The Brussels prosecutor general’s office is challenging the naturalisation of Imam Mohammed Toujgani, according to a report on local online platform Bruzz, confirmed by interim Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole De Moor. The Moroccan imam moved to […]
(Brussels Times) One of the three Chechen suspects detained in late July as part of an investigation into terror has been conditionally released on Friday, confirmed his lawyer Boris Reynaerts. On 25 July, 14 searches were carried out by the Antwerp Federal […]
(Reuters) Three suspected members of Islamic State’s Afghan branch ISIS-Khorasan detained in raids in Belgium were charged on Friday with planning a terrorist attack, the state prosecutor’s office said. Four other people detained during house searches across the country on Thursday were […]
(AP) On the eve of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France’s interior minister thanked Belgium Thursday for a string of raids that led to the detention of seven people for questioning over suspected terrorist activities. The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said […]
(Brussels Times) Seven people suspected of being involved in the activities of a terrorist group have been arrested in several house searches across Belgium. First reports suggested the suspects were involved in preparing a terrorist attack. The Antwerp Federal Judicial Police carried […]
(Jerusalem Post) A leader in an NGO affiliated with a Palestinian terrorist group may have his refuge[e] status in Belgium revoked over his extremist activism, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network said in a statement on Tuesday. Samidoun Europe coordinator Mohammed Khatib […]
(BBC) Belgium will not host their Nations League match against Israel on 6 September over security concerns, the Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) has announced. The municipal government of Brussels said last month the “very high-risk” Nations League game would not be played […]
(BBC) The Royal Belgian Football Association “deplores” the city of Brussels’ decision not to stage Belgium’s Nations League game with Israel on 6 September. The RBFA says it had “accepted” the game “would in all likelihood be played without an audience” at […]
(Brussels Times) While the various political parties remain very discreet about their negotiations to form the Brussels-Capital Region government, the French-speaking liberals MR and regionalist DéFi vetoed the presence of the Team Fouad Ahidar party in a future government. MR party leader […]
(Brussels Signal) A criminal court in Belgium has convicted a 21-year-old Islamist of plotting to assassinate Bart De Wever, president of the N-VA party and mayor of Antwerp. Identified by the court under the alias of “Elias EA,” the man was found […]
(Brussels Times) The Antwerp Criminal Court is due to issue its verdict on Wednesday in the trial of an alleged terrorist group accused of plotting to murder the city’s mayor, Bart De Wever, who also chairs the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA). The suspects […]
(Brussels Times) The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that it upholds the ban on hijabs in Flemish Community secondary schools. It rejected the applicants’ complaint that the ban is incompatible with freedom of religion. The case was brought by […]
(Iran International) Belgian MP and human rights advocate Darya Safai has raised alarms regarding the surge of Islamist extremism across Europe. Safai, who has Iranian roots, took to her X profile to post a video of a recent Islamist demonstration in the […]
(Belga) Belgium’s federal prosecutor on Wednesday demanded 15 years in prison for Elias E.A., 21, for leading a terrorist group that planned to assassinate the mayor of Antwerp. His five accomplices face prison sentences of between five and 12 years. The suspects, […]
(European Conservative) A magistrate who committed a “gross and unacceptable error” that allowed Islamist Abdesalem Lassoued to commit October’s terror attack in Brussels will not face disciplinary action. An internal investigation exonerated both the magistrate and his secretary, leading to a war […]
(Times of Israel) Belgium’s government on Monday said it wanted to revoke the refugee status of the head of a network supporting Palestinian prisoners, whom it accused of being an “extremist hate preacher.” Mohammed Khatib is the coordinator in Europe for Samidoun, […]
(Times of Israel) A stash of weapons was found hidden under a pine tree in southern Bulgaria last week. The arms were linked to four suspected Hamas members arrested in Germany and the Netherlands in December on suspicion of preparing an attack […]
(Brussels Times) A 25-year-old man from Menen (West Flanders) has been referred to the correctional court on charges of terrorism. The man, of Chechen origin, reportedly planned, together with his partner, an attack in Antwerp’s Jewish district. Three other suspects will have […]
(VRT) In Ghent, 22 people were detained on Wednesday night after a Kurdish business in the city was vandalised. Half of those held are minors and police found a number of weapons. The incident follows clashes in recent days between people from […]
(AFP) Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for calm on Wednesday after escalating tensions between Turkish and Kurdish groups in the country just days before local elections in Turkey. “We are asking everyone to calm down, stop the provocations and continue […]
(AFP) Belgium’s anti-terrorist agency on Tuesday said 650 people considered to have jihadist and other extremist ties are under surveillance in the country. The data was published as Belgian officials stress they are doing everything to prevent attacks after at least 139 […]
(Politico) Protesters clashed with Brussels police on Monday during a pro-Kurdish demonstration in front of the European Parliament. Over 200 people gathered in Place du Luxembourg at midday in response to riots that erupted Sunday in Heusden-Zolder and Houthalen-Helchteren in eastern Belgium. […]
(Belga) Six people were injured in clashes between people of Kurdish and Turkish origin in Limburg on Sunday. Police will increase surveillance at the site of the riots and at nearby schools and mosques in the coming weeks. Five people were lightly […]
(Brussels Times) Today (22 March) marks eight years since the Brussels terror attacks which claimed the lives of 32 people and injured hundreds more. The famous Manneken-Pis statue has been dressed for the occasion in a nod to victims and their families. […]
(AFP) Police in France have detained three teenagers who were allegedly in contact with four people arrested in Belgium over the weekend on suspicions they were planning a jihadist attack, a source close to the case said Tuesday. The three minors, aged […]
(Belga) The four people detained in an anti-terrorist operation in Belgium on Sunday were planning to attack the Botanique concert hall in Brussels, the federal prosecutor’s office said on Monday. Three underage suspects and one adult were detained on Sunday during an […]
(AFP) Belgian police on Sunday arrested four youths over messages they exchanged allegedly plotting a jihadist attack deemed “imminent enough to intervene,” a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office told AFP. The four — three minors in their “late teens” and an […]
(Brussels Times) The threat level in Belgium remains high, with Brussels in particular a potential target — as October’s terror attack proved. Belgium’s threat assessment body (OCAD) has observed a significant rise in threats in 2023. The second-highest threat level remains in […]
(Brussels Times) The Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang party replaced the Antwerp place name signs with Arabic ones on Thursday night, as a protest against “the Islamisation of the city.” However, Arabic speakers have pointed out that they completely misspelt the new name. […]
(Brussels Times) The Brussels Parliament has decided to tighten its visitor regulations following a video of an imam reciting a prayer in the parliamentary hemicycle that circulated online last Friday. The incident occurred on 12 January and has been condemned by politicians […]
(Brussels Times) In the investigation into the terrorist attack in which two Swedish nationals were killed in Brussels in October 2023, the Italian anti-terrorist police carried out searches targeting 18 people on Tuesday. The operation concerned “18 people of North African origin” […]
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