France Charges Two with Suspected Jihadist Links[AnNahar] Two men allegedly linked to French extremist Rachid Kassim have been charged with "associating with terrorists", Paris prosecutors said Wednesday.
The men, aged 30 and 39, were arrested last Friday in the eastern towns of Dole and Roanne -- the hometown of Kassim, seen as one of the most dangerous French-speaking propagandists for the Islamic State group. They allegedly associated with Kassim before he left for Iraq or Syria in May 2015.
Kassim, 29, is suspected of using the encrypted Telegram app to direct attacks on France from IS-controlled territory in Iraq or Syria.
A source close to the probe said the 30-year-old who was charged is suspected of having been in touch with Kassim recently via Telegram. Investigators are trying to determine whether the older suspect "played a role in the radicalization of Kassim," the source said.
Germany Arrests Syrian Refugee, 16, over IS Links
[AnNahar] A 16-year-old Syrian refugee has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of having ties to the Islamic State jihadist group, officials said Wednesday, describing him as a "serious threat."
The youngster, thought to have been radicalized only recently, was detained in a special forces operation late Tuesday at a shelter for asylum seekers in the western city of Cologne, police and local prosecutors said in a statement.
Information gathered from the teenager's mobile phone indicate he was in touch with a person abroad who had ties to IS and "wanted to recruit the young Syrian for Islamist activities", the statement said.
Germany's state security authorities believe the youngster posed a "serious threat" and have assigned a 35-strong team of investigators to the case.
French mayor: Australian burkini wearer was ‘indecent’
[IsraelTimes] The right-wing mayor of a French Riviera beach town where bathers asked a burkini-wearing Australian to leave defends their complaints — calling her behavior “indecent.”
Sydney native Zeynab Alshelh “could have asked herself whether the people in the area weren’t still reeling from the jihadist attack that killed 86 people” in nearby Nice in July, Lionnel Luca says.
“She could not just innocently come to our beaches with religious garb that is the sign of the fundamentalism that killed us,” he says, calling the 23-year-old’s actions “pretty indecent.”
Alshelh told Australian television the bathers threatened to call the police unless she left the beach at Villeneuve-Loubet, even though a ban on the controversial full-bodied swimsuit had recently been overturned.
Work starts on wall near Calais’ ‘Jungle’ migrant camp
[IsraelTimes] Building work begins on a wall to protect the port in the northern French city of Calais from repeated attempts by migrants to stow away on trucks heading for Britain.
The wall, a kilometer (half a mile) long and four-meters (13 feet) high, will pass within a few hundred meters of the sprawling migrant camp known as the “Jungle”, which charities say now houses more than 10,000 people.
Spanish Muslim student wins fight to study with veil
[AlAhram] A Spanish Muslim student whose ban from a training institute for wearing the headscarf caused controversy said Tuesday she had finally been allowed to study with the hijab after regional authorities weighed in. While the issue has been a subject of debate in Spain, there is currently no law banning any kind of veil in public places -- not even the face-covering burka or niqab like in neighbouring France.
The exclusion of Takwa Rejeb from class generated unease in a country where Muslims represent around four percent of the 46.5-million-strong population.
"I am more than happy because the only thing I wanted was to exercise my right to study," said Rejeb, 23, born in the eastern city of Valencia from Tunisian parents.
"I am not a circus freak, I'm a person like any other, a student," she told AFP.
The anti-discrimination SOS Racisme association brought Rejeb's case to light after she was refused access to lessons at the Benlliure professional training institute in Valencia on September 8. According to lawyer Francisco Solans, the association's regional president, the institute had asked her to apply internal rules that ban any student from coming in "with their head covered", be it a cap, hat or headscarf. Management at the institute refused to comment Tuesday.
Faced with the controversy sparked by her case, the regional government of Valencia forced the institute to allow Rejeb in. In a statement, it said education authorities had "guaranteed the right to education of students and she will be able to go to all lessons with the hijab."
Fire at Greek Migrant Camp, Thousands Flee
[AnNahar] Thousands of migrants on Monday fled one of Greece's main camps on the island of Lesbos after apparently setting fire to the facility, police said.
"Between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants have fled the camp of Moria" because of the fire, a police source told AFP.
He said there was "no doubt" that the fire had been set on purpose by those inside.
"The situation is difficult because of the wind," which was fanning the flames, the officer added.
Brawls are common in the overcrowded island camps, with many desperate to avoid being returned to Turkey or their home countries after spending a small fortune and risking their lives trying to escape poverty and persecution.
Earlier on Monday, tension rose in Moria owing to a rumor that migrants were about to be deported en masse to Turkey, state agency ANA reported. But a strong police presence at the camp had initially calmed tempers, the officer said.
Another two fires broke out in the olive groves near the camp of Moria but were brought under control before the third fire erupted at the camp.
Number of Migrants Crossing Med to Europe in 2016 Passes 300,000
[AnNahar] More than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year -- far fewer than the 520,000 who arrived during the first nine months of 2015, the UN said Tuesday.
"The number of refugees and migrants reaching European shores this year passed the 300,000 mark today," William Spindler, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, told reporters.