(AFP) One of France’s most wanted jihadists, considered a potential source of valuable information by Western intelligence agencies, is set to return to prison Thursday following seven years on the run. Peter Cherif, 36, was close to the brothers who massacred staff […]
(AFP) An alleged French jihadist accused of returning from Syria and shooting dead four people in an attack on the Jewish Museum of Belgium in central Brussels appeared in court Thursday. Mehdi Nemmouche, allegedly the first foreign fighter to return to stage […]
(AFP) Denmark’s ruling coalition has approved a controversial plan to put some 125 “unwanted” migrants on Lindholm, an uninhabited island, sparking outrage at home and abroad. Those selected will live in buildings once used by scientists for research on infectious diseases in […]
(AFP) Undocumented migrants living in makeshift camps in northern France have been subjected to an “unprecedented” violation of their basic rights over the past three years, the country’s human rights ombudsman said in a report Wednesday. Jacques Toubon said that migrants camped […]
(AFP) Berlin crime gangs of Arab origin have long earned infamy with violence and brazen robberies but now, police warn, they have targeted a new generation of refugees for recruitment. Known in the media as Berlin’s “clans,” whose founders themselves fled war […]
(AFP) A French anti-terrorist court on Monday charged a man arrested for allegedly supplying a revolver used in a mass shooting at a Christmas market in Strasbourg last week, a judicial source said. The 37-year-old, who was not immediately identified, was ordered […]
(AFP) Four family members of the gunman who went on a deadly shooting spree at a popular Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg were released from custody on Saturday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. Three more people close to the […]
(AFP) Several thousand people marched in Rome Saturday in protest at Italy’s tough new anti-migrant law which makes it easier to expel new arrivals. The protesters waved flags and donned yellow vests emblazoned with the slogan “Get up! Stand up! for your […]
(AFP) Thousands of protesters in Vienna braved snow and icy temperatures Saturday to protest Austria’s ruling coalition between the conservatives and the far-right a year after they came to power. Some 17,000 people took to the streets of the capital despite the […]
(AFP) A group of Amazon workers in Minnesota who are Somali refugees resettled in the Midwestern US state demanded better working conditions Friday during a protest outside one of the retailer’s warehouses. Dozens braved frigid temperatures to demonstrate outside of the Amazon […]
(AFP) The gunman who killed three people at a Christmas market in Strasbourg was shot dead by French police on Thursday as the Islamic State jihadist group claimed him as one of its “soldiers.” More than 700 French security forces had been […]
(AFP) A radio message comes in from a Spanish maritime rescue boat to the service’s command centre in the southern town of Tarifa: “34 migrants rescued.” The onset of autumn, with the cold, storms and fog, has not stopped migrants from crossing […]
(AFP) The 29-year-old man sought by police over a shooting in Strasbourg lived in a small apartment in a ramshackle housing bloc and has convictions in France and several European countries after a life of crime, officials say. The man, Cherif Chekatt, […]
(AFP) Hundreds of French anti-terror police are hunting for a fugitive gunman who attacked Christmas shoppers at a market in the eastern city of Strasbourg while shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest), officials said Wednesday. The attack in the heart of the […]
(AFP) French lawmakers on Monday approved the creation of a national prosector’s office to combat terror, a key justice reform to boost the country’s response to the threat of attacks. Under the legislation, passed at the first reading on a show of […]
(AFP) Belgium’s domestic intelligence agency warned Friday that the country faces a persistent terror threat, in part because of the radicalisation of prisoners. The State Security Service said Belgium faces a “considerable problem” of extremism in jails and that convicted terrorists continue […]
(AFP) Italy on Wednesday adopted far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s tough anti-migrant and security decree, despite fierce criticism from the left. The bill, which makes it easier to expel migrants and limits residency permits, was passed in the lower house of parliament […]
(AFP) Alper Yilmaz has no doubt where his home is. “My homeland is Austria, Vienna,” he says. But with a far-right party sharing power and anti-immigration sentiment generally on the rise in Austria, Yilmaz — along with potentially thousands of other Austrians […]
(AFP) French authorities warned Thursday of a spike in migrants attempting the dangerous crossing of the English Channel by boat to reach Britain, which could reflect fears the border will be shut after Brexit. Maritime police rescued 18 people in two separate […]
(AFP) Candidates hoping to succeed Angela Merkel as leader of her CDU party have sparked outrage in Germany with controversial proposals on migration as they scramble to distance themselves from her liberal refugee policy. Merkel’s fateful decision in 2015 to keep Germany’s […]
(AFP) Switzerland’s government on Wednesday backtracked from its pledge to support a United Nations migration pact after lawmakers insisted they have the final say on the matter. The United States, several European countries along with Israel and Australia have already said they […]
(AFP) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday made his first official visit to Morocco, where he pushed for greater cooperation between the two countries on tackling migration. Spain has this year become the main entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, […]
(AFP) Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar held in France since February on charges of raping two women, was released on bail Friday after he persuaded judges he was not a flight threat. The 56-year-old Swiss academic, who took leave of his […]
(AFP) Germany is examining if Syrians convicted of crimes in Europe’s biggest economy or who are deemed dangerous can be sent back to their conflict-torn country, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Friday. “That is being looked at closely in our ministry,” Seehofer […]
(AFP) Tariq Ramadan, a leading Islamic scholar held in France since February on charges he raped two women, on Thursday won conditional release after testifying in an appeals court. A Paris court ruled in favour of Ramadan after the 56-year-old Swiss academic […]
(AFP) Italian far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday met dozens of African migrants, recently evacuated from Libya by the UN, and sought to reassure them that Italy is “a welcoming, generous and supportive country.” Salvini, who has been at the forefront […]
(AFP) Italian police on Tuesday bulldozed a symbolic makeshift camp in Rome which has housed tens of thousands of migrants during their journeys to northern Italy and the rest of Europe. “Stateless, lawless no-man’s lands will no longer be tolerated,” Interior Minister […]
(AFP) Several thousand protesters rallied in Rome on Saturday to protest against what they criticised as unfair anti-migrant policies promoted by far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Waving banners with slogans “Black lives matter” and “Welcome for all; Open the borders,” leftists joined […]
(AFP) The Italian Senate on Wednesday cleared the way for far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s tough anti-migrant and security decree to become law following a confidence vote. The populist government of Salvini’s League and Luigi Di Maio’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) […]
(AFP) US voters are poised to elect two Muslim women to Congress in the midterm election next week, marking a historic first even as anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric has been on the rise. Ilhan Omar, a Somali refugee, is all but certain […]
(AFP) Omar Qudrat denies any contradiction in his being both a Muslim and a Republican in the era of President Donald Trump. In fact, he is so convinced that his party is still one of diversity, despite the president’s rhetoric, that he […]
(AFP) Austria said Wednesday it will not sign a United Nations migration pact that is set to be adopted in December, in order to “defend its national sovereignty.” The United States and Hungary have already rejected the Global Compact for Migration, which […]
(AFP) In the ethnically mixed Paris suburb of Kremlin-Bicetre, a group of children sit quietly at their desks while outside their classmates frolic in the autumn sunshine. “Ayna yaskunu Adel? (where does Adel live)” teacher Hanan asks the children, pointing to a […]
(AFP) France is seeking to repatriate some of the 150 children of French jihadists identified as being in Syria, as Western nations grapple with how to handle citizens who left to join extremists. A French official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said […]
(AFP) The UN Human Rights Committee on Tuesday criticised France’s so-called burqa ban, saying the law “violated” the rights of two women who were fined for wearing full-face veils in public. The committee called for the women to be compensated and for […]
(AFP) French police cleared 1,800 migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk on Tuesday, hoping to deter people-traffickers seeking to smuggle them across the Channel to Britain. Hundreds of police flooded the Grande-Synthe camp at dawn to expel the migrants, most of […]
(AFP) Spain sent 55 migrants back to Morocco on Monday a day after they forced their way into the Spanish territory of Melilla during an assault on the border in which two migrants died and 19 were injured. A total of 208 […]
(AFP) Leading Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, charged with raping two women in France, claimed Monday that he had consensual sex with both of them after previously denying any physical contact. Ramadan, a well-known TV commentator, has strongly denied accusations that he raped […]
(AFP) The artisan shops in Riace’s historic centre are shuttered and its alleyways quiet as locals wait to see what will happen to Italy’s world-renowned model of migrant integration. The mayor of the hilltop hamlet in Calabria was hounded out of town […]
(AFP) Anger in Italy grew Sunday over an interior ministry order to transfer all migrants out of a town at the centre of a national debate on the integration of asylum-seekers. The ministry has said all migrants must leave the Calabrian town […]
(AFP) Italy’s interior ministry ordered Saturday that all migrants be transferred out of a tiny southern town that had welcomed them but which triggered a national debate on integration after its mayor was arrested. Domenico Lucano, the left-leaning mayor of Riace, made […]
(AFP) Norwegian police have formally accused several foreign nationals over a 1993 attack on the Norwegian publisher of “The Satanic Verses,” thus preventing the statute of limitations from closing the case. The National Criminal Investigation Service said Tuesday “foreign nationals who are […]
(AFP) French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe urged far-right Italian leader Matteo Salvini on Monday to drop his “posturing” on immigration and help find a European response to the issue. Salvini, Italy’s powerful interior minister and deputy premier, has singled out French President […]
(AFP) Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini threatened Sunday to shut the country’s airports after media reported that Germany planned to send charter flights of rejected asylum-seekers to Italy. “If someone in Berlin or Brussels thinks of dropping dozens of migrants via […]
(AFP) A gangster who made a Hollywood-style helicopter prison break was nabbed in northern France, charged and returned to jail Wednesday, a judicial source said, after three months on the run, at times wearing a burqa as a disguise. Notorious French robber […]
(AFP) With its pristine waters, snow-covered mountains and breathtaking Alpine views, the Austrian lakeside town of Zell am See is one of the top European destinations for visitors from the Gulf region. And it aims to remain so, even though Austria introduced […]
(AFP) About 200 police raided the headquarters in northern France of a Shiite Islamic association and the homes of its leaders who are suspected of supporting “terrorist organisations,” security sources said. The operation against the Zahra Centre France in Grande Synthe, a […]
(AFP) Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets of Cologne Saturday as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened one of Europe’s largest mosques at the end of his visit to Germany, with police out in force to manage rival rallies. The inauguration capped […]
(AFP) Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday called for all Tunisians who are in his country illegally to be repatriated and for illicit migration to be “blocked,” during a visit to Tunis. The hardline Italian minister spoke following a meeting with […]
(AFP) When the quiet French town of Forges-les-Bains was chosen to host a centre for young male asylum seekers in 2016, there was uproar. The disused hospital earmarked for the project was firebombed, some 250 residents staged a protest and NGO workers […]
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