Brussels: PKK threatens attacks Somebody claiming to be a member of the Kurdish separatist movement PKK threatened bomb attacks in Belgium. In a fax sent yesterday to BNP Paribas, he threatened attacks on various branches on the bank, the most important police building in Brussels and buildings of Turkish institutions in the capital.
Prague: Al-Yaman releases new album The band Al-Yaman, meaning Yemen in Arabic, was the outcome of a meeting between two distant worlds: Czech musician and music producer Aleš Hyvnar and Ashwaq Abdulla Kulaib, a Yemeni woman who has lived in Prague since the fall of communism. This unlikely connection led to their first CD in 2004, and they have since performed at clubs and festivals in the Czech Republic and beyond.
Italy: Immigrants in nationwide strike Related story: France: ‘Day Without Immigrants’ Foreign-born workers took to the streets around Italy on Monday for the country’s first-ever immigrant strike in a move to highlight their contribution to Italian society.
Europe: 50-70% support burka ban In a couple of related stories: 1. The Swiss government confirmed it does not intend to impose a ban on burkas, as few women actually wear the burka, and it would be difficult to enforce ( EN ) 2. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders said a ban on headscarves for all public institutions in Almere and the Hague would be central to having the PVV join the municipal coalition. Wilders stressed this ban will not affect crosses or Jewish skull caps because those are 'symbols of religions which belong to our own culture, are not, like the headscarves, a symbol of an oppressive totalitarian ideology”.
Ireland: President praises Islamic students’ contribution ISLAMIC STUDENTS make a “very positive contribution” to Irish society and its economy, according to President McAleese.
French-Turks more integrated than German/Dutch Turks Turkish immigrants and their children in the Netherlands are less fluent in the language of the country in which they live then those in France. They also use it relatively less often
Russia: Kremlin supports plan to form higher coordinating Muslim council The Kremlin’s chief domestic policy advisor Alexey Grishin has put his support behind plans to set up a higher Muslim coordinating council in Russia. “This form will help deal with the Muslim community’s most important problems on the basis of consensus, make joint statements and pass mufti’s fatwas (edicts), and organize effective ties with the government,” Grishin told the 4th congress of Tatarstan Muslims in Kazan on Saturday
Yemen: Norwegian citizen arrested on terrorism charges Update: There’s apparently an EU-wide push against the PKK. Ten Turks and one Italian nationals were arrested in Italy, on charges of recruiting and training PKK terrorists. ( EN ) ———— In other terrorism news, a Somali arrested in the Netherlands is fighting extradition to the US (h/t R., more here, Netherlands: American Somali arrested on terrorism charges ).
Germany: Court suspends Kurdish TV ban A Kurdish satellite television channel won its court case Thursday against the German government, which had tried to close down the channel, Roj TV, after a request from the Turkish government. A tribunal in Leipzig effectively suspended the ban, asking the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to rule on the case instead.
Vienna: Experiences teaching a language-course Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi, a well-known German journalist, writes about her experiences following a year of teaching German to headscarf-wearing women in Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi recounts numerous anecdotes, some humorous, some wistful, as she and her Muslim students gradually get to know one another better thanks to a program called “Mama’s learning German.” Though originally intended to be a language course, Coudenhove-Kalergi finds herself explaining the Christian origins of Christmas and taking her students, baby strollers and all, on a field trip to the famous St