World leaders urge truce in Ukraine for plane probe
US calls for a full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation into downed Malaysian airliner. World leaders have urged Moscow, pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine to support a ceasefire in order to ensure international investigators have access to the crash site of a Malaysian airliner downed over Ukrainian territory. A Friday statement from the White House said the U.S. National Transportation Safety […]
Muslims tell of far-right group’s invasion of UK mosque
A Muslim worshipper has told Anadolu Agency of the disturbing moments when members of a far-right group stormed a mosque in south London. Worshipper Mohammed Luthful Wahid told AA on Wednesday that he found himself confronted by five members of the Britain First group after they entered the Crayford Mosque and demanded the removal of what they called “sexist” signs – […]
Cameron: British fighters in Iraq pose threat to UK
Prime Minister tells Parliament that militant Britons are a threat to the UK. LONDON The militants currently advancing on Baghdad are planning terrorist attacks in the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament on Wednesday. He said: “I would also disagree with those people who think that this is nothing to do with us and if they want […]
No proof of Islamist plot at UK schools: leaked report
Investigations into 21 schools in Birmingham do not provide evidence of an Islamist plot, according to the leaked ‘Trojan Horse’ report. LONDON There is no evidence of an alleged Islamist plot to take over schools in Birmingham, the U.K.’s second-largest city, according to reports to be published by the country’s main educational authority Monday. The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services […]
UK ‘anti-terror’ law indiscriminate, says rights groups
Only about one percent of 46,000 people were stopped under Schedule 7 powers were arrested, according to UK government statistics LONDON Government figures reveal that only about one percent of people questioned under powers that allow police to stop individuals at ports were detained in 2013. More than 46,000 people were stopped at Britain’s ports under […]
Indian Kashmir: A mother’s fight for missing son
‘My son was picked up by security forces in 1990, I have not seen him since,’ said Parveena Ahanger, the head of ‘the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons’ in Indian-held Kashmir. LONDON It’s been 24 years since she last saw her son. An arduous 24 years during which Parveena has struggled to find out […]
UK counter-terrorism report criticized
Counter-terrorism report by MPs from UK’s main parties criticized for policy recommendations LONDON A counter-terrorism report produced on Friday by MPs from the U.K.’s three main political parties has been criticized for its recommendations on how to deal with U.K. nationals returning from Syria. The proposals are similar to the de-radicalization programme Channel, which tries to “identify […]
Kashmiris want to vote on future, not Indian parliament
Kashmiris mostly chose to boycott India election, but say they will vote in a referendum SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir Showkat Ahmad Bhat, a middle-aged grocery store owner in Indian-held Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar, has never cast a vote in the 46 years of his life. On April 30, when polls were held in Srinagar, Bhat sat with his two […]
An ideological war against UK Muslims in schools?
The UK government investigation into Muslim majority schools set off by an anonymous letter. A so-called ‘Islamist’ school plot, government leaks, off-the-record briefings, a media scramble and a government-ordered investigation of 25 schools has gripped the U.K.’s second city Birmingham in the last month.
UK mosque row increases community suspicion of police
Police donations to UK mosque raises suspicion about intentions. LONDON Birmingham is the United Kingdom’s second city and home to a sizeable Muslim community — one that has, at times, had a tense relationship with the city’s police. In recent years, Birmingham has seen some high-profile terrorism cases: a plot to behead a British soldier; a […]