(AFP) In less than a month, Sweden-based Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika has twice stoked international outrage by desecrating the Koran at Stockholm protests. Despite his previous low profile, his past has been far from a quiet affair. In late June, the 37-year-old […]
(AFP) Swedish police said Wednesday they had granted a permit for a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, with media reporting the organisers planned to burn the Muslim holy book. The protest, scheduled for Thursday, comes just weeks after a man […]
(Kathimerini) Greek officials said Friday that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis never discussed issues that concern Greek citizens or the country’s sovereign rights with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The officials were responding to claims by Erdogan that the “problems of Western Thrace” […]
(Kathimerini) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that the “problems of Western Thrace” was the “main issue” he raised with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday. “We want to […]
(AP) The U.N. human rights chief used a special debate on Tuesday about burnings of the Quran in Sweden and other European countries to tread a fine line between freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs, while broadening his call for […]
(Sky News) Rishi Sunak has insisted his plan to stop small boat crossings in the Channel is “working” — despite more than 1,000 people making the journey over the weekend. The prime minister said he has always acknowledged that crossings “will increase […]
(Reuters) Greece should not be burdened with the task of managing migration for the European Union, or be accused of not saving people at sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday, a month after a deadly shipwreck. The Greek coast guard […]
(Local) A majority of Swedes believe it should be illegal to burn the Quran or the holy books of other religions, like the Bible or Torah, in public, according to a new survey. Over half of Swedes, 53 percent, agreed that burning […]
(AP) A Turkish man was found guilty Thursday of attempted aggravated extortion, weapons possession and attempted terrorist financing, saying he was acting on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The Stockholm District Court sentenced Yahya Güngör to a total of 4.5 […]
(Reuters) The Swedish government is examining whether it could change the law to stop people setting the Koran on fire in public, as recent burnings of the Muslim holy book have damaged Sweden’s security, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Aftonbladet paper on […]
(AP) A Quran burning and a string of requests to approve protests involving the destruction of more holy books have left Sweden torn between its commitment to free speech and its respect for religious minorities. The clash of fundamental principles has complicated […]
(AP) The European Union should put a priority on stopping illegal migration instead of trying to persuade the 27 member nations to share responsibility for people who arrive without authorization, the prime ministers of Italy and Poland said Wednesday. Italy’s right-wing leader, […]
(AP) Turkey’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Swedish authorities’ failure to prevent Quran-burning protests in their country is raising security concerns and questions about Sweden’s credentials for possible NATO membership. But Hakan Fidan said Turkey would still approve Sweden’s membership in the […]
(AFP) A Dutch man will appear in court on insult charges after tearing up a Koran outside parliament and likening Islam’s holy book to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” prosecutors said Tuesday. Edwin Wagensveld, 54, who heads the Netherlands’s chapter of the German anti-Islam […]
(AFP) Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday distanced himself from this week’s protest at which a Koran was burned outside a Stockholm mosque, which sparked outrage in parts of the Muslim world. “It is difficult to say what the consequences will […]
(AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday condemned a Quran-burning protest in Sweden, signaling that this would pose another obstacle to the country’s bid for NATO membership. Speaking to members of his Justice and Development Party, Erdogan equated “those who permitted […]
(AFP) The man who burned pages of the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque, sparking protests and a wave of condemnations, told Swedish media Thursday that he intended to burn another Koran within 10 days. After being granted a permit to protest by […]
(AFP) A man set fire to pages of the Koran outside Stockholm’s main mosque Wednesday, drawing a swift condemnation from Turkey which is holding up Sweden’s bid to join NATO days ahead of a summit. Swedish police had granted a permit for […]
(Al-Arabiya) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Sweden had to stop protests by supporters of the Ankara-criminalized Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Stockholm if it wanted Turkey to approve its NATO membership. “Turkey maintains its constructive […]
(National-UAE) The lawyer of one of the 10 defendants in the trial of an ISIS-claimed double suicide bombing in Brussels in 2016 has made the case that his client is complicit in war crimes. Nicolas Cohen, representing Bilal El [Makhoukhi], argued that […]
(AFP) A Turkish citizen appeared in a Swedish court on Tuesday accused of “attempted terrorist financing” of the pro-Kurdish PKK, a first in the Scandinavian country seeking Ankara’s approval to join NATO. Turkey has accused Sweden of being a haven for “terrorists,” […]
(AP) Albanian authorities on Tuesday raided a camp for members of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq to seize 150 computer devices allegedly linked to prohibited political activities, and several people were injured. Albanian Interior Minister Bledi Cuci and the head of […]
(AFP) A Swedish appeals court on Monday said police had no legal grounds to block two gatherings where protesters had planned to burn the Koran earlier this year. The burning of Islam’s holy book outside Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm in January sparked […]
(Local) A prosecutor in Sweden has charged a Turkish citizen for attempting to raise money for the Kurdish PKK terror group in a landmark case which could help Sweden win Turkish approval for its Nato membership. Hans Ihrman, deputy chief prosecutor for […]
(AP) Greek officials have launched a series of high-level contacts with the newly elected government in Turkey in an effort to counter a surge in attempted crossings by migrants over a river that divides the two countries. Defense Minister Alkiviades Stephanis spoke […]
(AFP) Hundreds of people protested in Stockholm on Sunday against new anti-terror legislation that was passed to address Turkey’s opposition to Sweden joining NATO. The demonstration was organised by groups close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), outlawed by Turkey, which this […]
(AP) Belarus is introducing a visa-free travel arrangement with dozens of countries for a month, raising fears that neighboring Poland and Lithuania might see a sudden increase in unauthorized migration. The authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, signed a decree allowing citizens […]
(AFP) A Stockholm demonstration against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden’s planned NATO membership has been given the go-ahead for this weekend despite Ankara’s objections, Swedish police told AFP on Friday. “We are going to ensure that all those present on […]
(Local) Turkish officials are demanding that Sweden’s new terror law be applied to an anti-Nato demonstration this coming weekend. What does the law cover, and can it be used to stop a protest? Turkey wants Sweden to stop the demonstration on June […]
(Breitbart) German politicians have been left fearing the consequences of diversity after migrant parades [celebrating] the re-election of Turkey’s Islamist president took place in the country. Numerous elected officials within Germany have expressed concern at the parades, which celebrated the victory of […]
(Courthouse News) A former professional European soccer player convicted in Belgium 20 years ago of planning a suicide bombing attack on Americans in Europe appeared in U.S. federal court on Monday to begin his jury trial. Opening arguments began with the prosecution […]
(AFP) Sweden’s parliament on Wednesday passed new legislation to ban activities linked to extremist groups, as it beefs up its terror laws, a key demand from Turkey to approve Stockholm’s NATO membership bid. With 268 votes in favour, the law — which […]
(Local) The parliamentary Justice Committee has recommended that parliament approves a law which would make it illegal to take part in terror organisations, according to a press statement. If the law is approved, it would be illegal to “promote, strengthen or support” […]
(AFP) Swedish police said Thursday they had appealed a court ruling which overturned a police decision to block two gatherings where protesters had planned to burn the Koran. “The Police Authority believes that the principles of the issue are important and it […]
(AFP) The main suspect in the trial of nine alleged jihadists accused of taking part in the March 2016 bombings in Brussels denied on Wednesday having any knowledge of the plot. Salah Abdeslam, a 33-year-old Frenchman already jailed over his role in […]
(Local) Swedish police were wrong to reject the burning of the Quran outside the embassies of Turkey and Iraq on two occasions earlier this year, an administrative court has ruled. The decision not to grant a permit to the planned rallies in […]
(Reuters) Sweden’s police security service said on Tuesday it had detained five men on suspicion of conspiracy to commit terrorist crimes, after “international calls for attacks” that followed a Koran-burning protest in Stockholm. The burning of a copy of the Koran in […]
(Anadolu) Türkiye on Saturday strongly condemned a “vile attack” on the Muslim holy book, the Quran, and a Turkish flag in Denmark. Denouncing the late Friday incident as a “hate crime,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said: “Giving permission to this heinous act, […]
(France 24) The timing couldn’t have been worse. Turkey had already threatened to derail Sweden’s NATO aspirations when a far-right extremist set fire to a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. On Friday, Ankara issued its verdict on Sweden and Finland’s […]
(BBC) A Danish far-right politician has been barred from the UK after threatening to burn a copy of the Quran in Wakefield. Security minister Tom Tugendhat said Rasmus Paludan, founder of the anti-Islam party Stram Kurs, had been added to the UK’s […]
(AFP) A teenage girl who lost both her legs in a 2016 Brussels suicide bombing, and fought back to become a Paralympian, was the first victim to testify on Monday at the trial of those accused of plotting or aiding the attacks. […]
(Euractiv) An application to burn a Quran outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm has been processed and refused by the police on Thursday as tensions with Turkey over Sweden’s NATO applications are still high. Stockholm police have, for the second time in […]
(AP) More than 8,400 Europe-bound migrants perished at sea while attempting to cross the Mediterranean over the past four years, a charity said Tuesday. Save the Children said in a report that about a half million people crossed or attempted to cross […]
(Breitbart) The head of a mosque in the Swedish city of Gothenburg has called for a law to ban the destruction of holy books and texts in the aftermath of the burnings of the Islamic Qur’an. Faraj Semmo, CEO of the Gothenburg […]
(Breitbart) Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt has criticised Swedish police in Stockholm for allowing Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan to carry out the burning of the Qur’an. Bildt, who served as Swedish prime minister from 1991 to 1994 and later as […]
(AP) The Swedish domestic security agency warned Wednesday that the threat of attacks in the Scandinavian country has increased in the weeks since a far-right activist burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. The agency noted that international reactions to […]
(AFP) Swedish police on Wednesday denied permission for a protest involving the burning of a Koran, following a January demonstration that angered Turkey, putting Sweden’s pending NATO application on hold. Protests are rarely banned by Swedish police as they are considered as […]
(Reuters) The U.S. embassy in Sweden has warned Americans in the country of possible retaliatory attacks in response to an incident where a far-right politician burned the Koran. “U.S. citizens are advised to use caution when going to public venues frequented by […]
(AP) The Swedish government again sought Friday to discredit claims that Swedish social service agencies kidnap Muslim children, saying Sweden was again seeing a “systematized” and “extensive” disinformation campaign. “This campaign has now gained momentum again,” said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. “This […]
(AFP) Sweden’s government on Thursday proposed new legislation to ban activities linked to extremist groups, in a move to toughen anti-terror laws, a key demand from Turkey to approve Stockholm’s NATO bid. The proposed legislation widens the scope of activities that can […]
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