(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 […]
(AFP) The Italian government on Monday adopted a heavily-criticised security decree which will make it easier to expel migrants and strip them of Italian citizenship. The new bill is “a step forward to make Italy safer,” far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said […]
(AFP) A second Swiss canton will introduce a regional “burqa ban,” after voters in St. Gallen on Sunday emphatically backed prohibiting all face-covering garments in public spaces. At the same time, voters across Switzerland resoundingly rejected initiatives aimed at boosting local farming […]
(AFP) A French rapper known for his provocative pro-Muslim lyrics said Friday that he would cancel two upcoming concerts at the Bataclan, where 90 people were shot dead when jihadist gunmen stormed the venue during the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris. […]
(AFP) A second Swiss canton will vote Sunday on whether to introduce a regional “burqa ban,” a controversial law that would prohibit all face-covering garments in public spaces. The ballot in northeastern St. Gallen is to be held as voters across the […]
(AFP) Germany wants a stronger EU border agency to handle migration to Europe, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Thursday while judging “unsatisfactory” the squalid living conditions for thousands of migrants in Greece. Maas said he was favourable “to proposals on strengthening Frontex” […]
(AFP) French far-right leader Marine Le Pen expressed outrage Thursday after being ordered to undergo psychiatric tests for tweeting pictures of atrocities committed by the Islamic State group. Le Pen shared the gruesome images in December 2015, a few weeks after IS […]
(AFP) EU leaders vowed Thursday to intensify talks with Egypt and other North African countries on how to curb flows of illegal migrants to Europe and to fight those who traffic them. European Council President Donald Tusk said the leaders meeting in […]
(AFP) The EU must convince Italy, Spain and Greece to back a plan to bolster the bloc’s external borders, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Wednesday as bloc leaders met in Salzburg to discuss the controversial issue of migration. EU Commission chief Jean-Claude […]
(AFP) Prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan faced one of his rape accusers for more than eight hours in a French court Tuesday as he seeks bail after seven months in custody on charges he furiously denies. Ramadan, a frequent TV commentator, was […]
(AFP) Prosecutors in Geneva have opened a rape and sexual misconduct investigation against Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who has been detained in France since February on separate rape charges, Swiss media reported Sunday. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper quoted Geneva’s prosecutor’s office […]
(AFP) Austria’s far-right Interior Minister Herbert Kickl used a meeting of his EU counterparts in Vienna Friday to suggest processing migrants on board rescue ships in the Mediterranean, rather than on land. During a press conference with his far-right Italian counterpart Matteo […]
(AFP) The European Union on Wednesday proposed steps to force social networks and websites to remove terrorist propaganda within an hour of receiving the order from authorities, or companies like Facebook and Twitter could face massive fines. The legislation proposed by European […]
(AFP) The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said Wednesday that “Europe belongs to the Europeans” and that refugees should return to their native countries to rebuild them. Speaking at a conference in Sweden’s third-largest city of Malmo, home to a large […]
(AFP) Hungary and Austria on Tuesday rejected criticism from the UN’s new human rights chief over their migration policies, accusing her of spreading “half-truths” and “baseless suspicions.” In her maiden speech as UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet on Monday […]
(AFP) “I’m not afraid, but I am worried,” Hassan Abdullahi said while distributing voting papers at a polling station in a disadvantaged Stockholm suburb, as the far-right was set to win record support in Swedish elections Sunday. With roots in the neo-Nazi […]
(AFP) Sweden’s “naive” approach to integrating asylum seekers has opened the door to the far-right, an outspoken lawmaker told AFP ahead of elections expected to see the country’s once-marginal anti-immigration party make gains. Amineh Kakabaveh is an Iranian Kurdish ex-peshmerga fighter who […]
(AFP) The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) on Friday said their leader Jimmie Akesson has received a letter with a death threat as the party is on course to win record support in Sunday’s legislative election. “We hope that this threat is not […]
(AFP) Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday launched a blistering attack on prosecutors in Sicily after they confirmed a probe into his refusal to allow more than 100 rescued migrants off a coastguard ship last month. Prosecutors in Palermo on […]
(AFP) Police moved in to clear 500 migrants from a camp near the French port city of Dunkirk, along the English Channel where many gather hoping to stow away on trucks or ferries heading to Britain, officials said Thursday. Around 200 officers […]
(AFP) Madrid estimates that 10,000 minor migrants are on Spanish soil alone without their parents and has unblocked 40 million euros ($46.5 million) for regions willing to welcome them, the health ministry said Wednesday. The new Socialist government, in power for three […]
(AFP) Jimmie Akesson, the head of the far-right Sweden Democrats, is a charismatic speaker who has succeeded in attracting mainstream voters with his efforts to cleanse the party of its neo-Nazi roots. With his Sweden Democrats tipped to get around 20 percent […]
(AFP) Emmanuel Macron will host German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille on Friday, a French official said, seeking support as he takes on nationalist EU leaders over immigration and institutional reforms. The meeting will focus on “European […]
(AFP) Thousands of opponents and supporters of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policy marched Saturday through the eastern city of Chemnitz after a wave of racist violence that followed a knife killing. The rallies, which drew 8,000 people according to police, ended […]
(AFP) The first feature film to touch on the Paris jihadist attacks premiered Friday at the Venice film festival just months after another was pulled over protests by survivors. “Amanda” tells the story of a young man who is left to look […]
(AFP) Controversial anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders late Thursday said he was cancelling plans to stage a Prophet Mohammad cartoon competition, a scheme that had angered many Muslims particularly in Pakistan. The Dutch politician’s announcement came after he said he had received several […]
(AFP) French President Emmanuel Macron upped his war of words with the nationalist leaders of Italy and Hungary on Wednesday, saying they were right to see him as their “main opponent” on migration. His comment came after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban […]
(AFP) The Dutch police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of planning an attack against far-right politician Geert Wilders after he said he intended to hold a Prophet Mohammad cartoon competition. Police said in a statement they arrested the still unidentified suspect […]
(AFP) Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italy’s hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini launched Tuesday an anti-migration manifesto aiming at next year’s European parliament elections, and countering their opposing camp led by the French president. “There are currently two camps in […]
(AFP) Barring a major upset, Sweden’s far-right is on course for a record result in September 9 legislative elections, capitalising on the mood of voters who feel they are being left behind in favour of hundreds of thousands of newly-arrived asylum seekers. […]
(AFP) Italy’s deputy prime minister has threatened to pull the country’s EU funding if the bloc does not come to the aid of 150 people stranded aboard an Italian coastguard ship. The migrants have been blocked at the Sicilian port of Catania […]
(AFP) Chants of “Allahu akbar” rang out Saturday at a solemn Catholic state funeral in the Italian city of Genoa for the victims of a bridge collapse, who included two Albanian Muslims. They were among at least 38 people to have died […]
(AFP) Austria has rejected the asylum application of an Afghan claiming to be gay because he did not “act” or “dress” like a homosexual, according to a media report. An official in Lower Austria state found no grounds for fear of persecution […]
(AFP) An appeals court in Paris has upheld a decision by judges to keep Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan in jail while he is being investigated on rape charges brought by two women, a legal source told AFP on Thursday. Lawyers for Ramadan […]
(AFP) German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Sunday said he hoped for a breakthrough this week in talks with Italy and Greece on taking back asylum-seekers already registered in those countries, as Berlin toughens its migration policies. Seehofer, whose push for tighter […]
(AFP) A 28-year-old woman wearing a niqab on Friday became the first person in Denmark to be fined for violating a new controversial law banning full-face Islamic veils in public places, media reported. Police were called to a shopping centre in Horsholm, […]
(AFP) France’s parliament Wednesday signed into law a controversial asylum and immigration bill — despite opposition on the left which decried an effort to limit arrivals while the far right saw the measure as not going far enough. The bill is designed […]
(AFP) Denmark’s ban on the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces came into force on Wednesday, with anyone wearing a garment that hides the face in public risking a fine. Human rights campaigners have slammed the ban as a violation of women’s […]
(AFP) Since being plucked from a packed inflatable boat by Spanish rescuers in the Mediterranean on Friday, Glenn Alban has slept outdoors on a bed of flattened cardboard boxes in the port of Algeciras in southern Spain. Stunned at the authorities’ lack […]
(AFP) Danish prosecutors on Tuesday charged an imam with calling for the killing of Jews in the first case of its kind in the Nordic nation and which sparked political outrage. Imam Mundhir Abdallah, who preaches in the Copenhagen neighbourhood of Norrebro […]
(AFP) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said he had backed Mesut Ozil’s decision to quit the German national team on racism grounds in a telephone call with the Turkish-origin football star, wading into a controversy that caused uproar in Germany. Ozil […]
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