Sri Lanka announced plans to ban the wearing of burkas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrassas, citing national security. The country’s minister of public security Sarath Weerasekara said he signed a paper on Friday seeking the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to ban burkas — outer garments […]
Continue Reading
A man who planned to wreak terror during the pandemic was no clownish buffoon but a “very dangerous individual”, according to a senior counter-terrorism police officer. Commander Richard Smith rejected Sahayb Abu’s wannabe rapper persona, as the 27-year-old was found guilty of preparing a terror act. During the trial, jobless convicted burglar Sahayb Abu described […]
Continue Reading
Vaccine disinformation is being “forensically targeted” at specific groups, MPs have heard. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said that information is “very, very cleverly, hyper super-forensically targeted at different communities”. Mr Zahawi told the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee that disinformation about vaccines and fertility were “proving to be sadly quite potent”. The Medicines […]
Continue Reading
The Jewish community is struggling to get kosher meat in time for the Passover festival due to the Northern Ireland Protocol, the DUP has said. The post-Brexit trade arrangements have also disrupted supplies of specialist cricket soil known as loam from Great Britain. Extra paperwork has caused a series of bureaucratic obstacles since the end […]
Continue Reading
Swiss voters have narrowly approved a proposal to ban face coverings, both niqabs and burkas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters. The measure will outlaw covering one’s face in public places such as restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking in the […]
Continue Reading
Pope Francis has called on Iraq’s Christians to forgive the injustices committed against them by Islamic extremists. The call came as he visited the wrecked shells of churches and met ecstatic crowds in the community’s historic heartland, which was nearly erased by the so-called Islamic State group’s horrific reign. At each stop in northern Iraq […]
Continue Reading
Pope Francis has urged Iraqis to treat their Christian brothers as a precious resource to protect, not an “obstacle” to eliminate, as he opened the first papal visit to Iraq with a plea for tolerance and fraternity among Christians and Muslims. Francis brushed aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to resume his globe-trotting papacy […]
Continue Reading
One in five people behind bars for terror offences in Britain last year were right-wing extremists – the highest proportion since records began. A total of 42 out of 209 prisoners in 2020 (20%) were classed as holding “extreme right-wing” views, up from 18% the previous year (41 out of 231), Home Office figures show. […]
Continue Reading
Three women who worked for a local radio and TV station in eastern Afghanistan have been shot dead in separate attacks, the news editor of the station said. Shokrullah Pasoon, of Enikass Radio and TV in Jalalabad, said one of the women, Mursal Wahidi, was walking home when gunmen opened fire, according to witnesses. The […]
Continue Reading
An aspiring rapper accused of plotting a terror attack has told jurors he made pro-Islamic State comments online for a “thrill” in lockdown. Sahayb Abu, 27, allegedly bought an 18in sword, knife, body armour, balaclavas and a hat in preparation for a strike last summer. He also discussed guns with an undercover police officer he […]
Continue Reading