Germany: 63% don’t think immigration making country dumber Via The Local : Nearly two-thirds of Germans disagree with controversial central banker Thilo Sarrazin’s claim that rampant immigration is making Germany “dumber,” a poll released Friday has found. A poll published by the news magazine Focus reported that 63 percent of respondents disagreed and 31 percent agreed with the proposition – a key claim in Sarrazin’s anti-immigration arguments that have sparked furious debate this week.

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Paris mosque: Burger chain not fully halal Via AP : Note to big companies hoping to tap into France’s lucrative but long-neglected Muslim consumer market: Pitfalls may await, and not only in the form of complaints from the far-right. As of this week, 2 2 outlets of popular French fast food chain Quick are serving burgers it says respect Islamic dietary law

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Spain: Muslims upset at Mecca disco Via Al-Arabiya (h/t Bivouac-ID ): The inauguration of a discotheque called Mecca in Spain infuriated Muslims in the country and raised questions about the position of Muslim workers offered jobs in the controversial place. After 10 years of renovations, an old discotheque in the city of Aguilas in the southwestern province of Murcia opened its doors on June 18 under the name La Meca amid protests from Muslim individuals and organizations, the Arab Spanish newspaper Andalus Press reported Wednesday

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Germany: Public split on fate of race row banker Via Reuters : German public opinion is deeply split over the fate of a central banker whose disparaging comments about Muslim immigrants have triggered a heated debate on race and integration, surveys showed on Wednesday. Over the past week and a half, Thilo Sarrazin has dominated headlines with criticism of Germany’s large Muslim community, and contentious remarks asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup. (…) A survey by pollster Emnid for N24 television showed 51 percent of respondents saw no need for the Bundesbank to fire board member Sarrazin, with 32 percent taking the opposite view.

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Denmark: Ramadan celebration in Parliament The Danish People’s Party and Christian Democrats are trying to stop a controversial end-of-Ramadan meal to be held in Parliament. In a joint complaint to the Parliament chairman, Thor Pedersen (V), the two parties say that the parliament building shouldn’t be used for such thins, and that the event conflicts with the constitution, which says that Denmark has freedom of religion, not equality of religions

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Austria: Prosecution investigating FPÖ muezzin-shooting game Via Austrian Times : The Styrian Greens have reported the Freedom Party (FPÖ) for agitation over a computer game in which the player must shoot at mosques and kill muezzins [ed: with little stop signs]. The FPÖ’s Styrian branch is identified as creator of the online game called “Moschee ba ba” (Bye, bye mosque).

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Russia: First logistics hub for halal products Via BBC : Tatarstan has discovered a new money-making opportunity: providing services to its Muslim community. The majority of its inhabitants are Muslims

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Denmark: ROJ TV charged with terrorism Manouchehr Zonoozi (former ROJ TV director) and Metin Yüce (ROJ NV director/Belgium) with the troops Via Politiken : Justice Minister Lars Barfoed (Cons) has decided to call for the indictment of the Denmark-based Roj-TV station for supporting terrorism, according to Prosecutor-General Jørgen Steen Sørensen in a news release. Roj-TV and Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S METV are to be charged under Paragraph 114 of the Anti-terrorism Act which makes it an offence to further the activities of a person, group of people or association which either does or plans to commit acts of terrorism

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Vienna: FPÖ boss wants minarets referendum (Vienna Mosque, Wikipedia ) Via Austrian Times : Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Strache has announced a referendum over minarets if he wins the upcoming Vienna election. The right-winger announced today (Tues) he will hold a referendum to let residents decide whether they want a law preventing the construction of minarets in the capital

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Amsterdam: Two men questioned in US terror probe ( video of the arrest ) Via AP : Dutch investigators on Tuesday questioned two men arrested at Amsterdam’s airport after U.S. authorities found suspicious items in their checked luggage, including a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle and a knife and box cutter.

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