#THENETHERLANDS: Anti-Islam Politician Suspended From Twitter "In Error"

[world politics news]

Twitter says it suspended Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders "in error" after reports that he had violated the platform's rules on hate speech.

The social network admitted it had "temporarily restricted" the outspoken anti Islam politician's access to his account on Monday.

The move came after the Freedom Party (PVV) chairman had published a tweet addressed to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denouncing the "violence of the intolerant ideology called Islam".

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FRANCE: Military Upset With Second Letter From Soldiers Warning Of Civil War

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The French army's chief of staff has called on a group of soldiers who signed an open letter warning about the risk of "civil war" in France to quit the armed forces.

The letter by the soldiers had warned of unrest in the country because of what they called "concessions" to Islamism by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The document, posted on the website of the right-wing Valeurs Actuelles magazine late Sunday, echoes a letter published by the same publication last month but appears to have been written by an unknown number of younger troops still in active service.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: Labour Party Leader Pulls Out Of Ramadan Event Sponsored By Group Boycotting Israel

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Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the UK Labour Party, has pulled out of a Ramadan event after the controversial anti-Israel views of the CEO of the sponsoring organization emerged in the media.

The Jewish Chronicle reported that Starmer was set to attend a virtual Iftar event marking the meal breaking the Ramadan fast, held by a group called the Ramadan Tent Project.

The Labour Party in the UK has struggled in the past with members who have expressed anti Israeli views, some of which have seemed to border on anti-semitism.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FRANCE: Outrage Over President's Comments About Islam Grows

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The backlash over French President Emmanuel Macron’s critique of Islam has intensified after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned his counterpart’s mental health, while Muslims in several countries are demanding a boycott of France.

The French debate on Islam was deepened after the beheading of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad – previously published by a satirical magazine – in a class on freedom of expression. Muslims believe that any depiction of the Prophet is blasphemous.

Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis” worldwide and vowed to present a bill in December to strengthen a law that officially separated church and state in France.

Despite outrage in the Muslim world, Macron has found much support in Europe for his stance in favor of freedom of speech.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#THEGAMBIA: Female Genital Mutilation Banned

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The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh has banned female genital mutilation saying it is not required in Islam.

The announcement at a rally was reportedly met with a huge applause.

Three-quarters of women in the mostly Muslim country have had the procedure, according to Unicef.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#INDIA: Cabinet Approves Restrictions On Muslim Immigration

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Thehe Union Cabinet has signed off on a legislation that stands to give citizenship to certain religious minorities who fled from neighboring countries before 2015, but does not include Muslims.

The 1955 citizenship act's naturalisation clause currently allows resident immigrants to get citizenship if they have lived in the country for more than 11 years - along with other terms and conditions.

The bill, if passed, would change a key part in the category for illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan - Muslim-majority states that were once part of the undivided India.

The residency requirement would also be reduced from 11 years to 6 years, for Hindusddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Jains and Parsis fleeing persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but not for Muslims.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#HUNGARY: PM Orban Will "Use Force" To Protect Borders If Turkey Unleashes New Wave Of Migrants On Europe

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned he will 'use force' to fend off migrants if Turkey delivered on its threat to "open the gates" and allow 3.6 million refugees to flood into Europe if EU leaders continue to oppose Turkey's military action in northern Syria.

Orban built a steel fence on Hungary's border with Serbia to seal off the Balkans route of migration, where hundreds of thousands of people marched through from the Middle East to Western Europe at the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015.

'If Turkey sets off further hundreds of thousands (on top of those it has already), then we will need to use force to protect the Hungarian border and the Serbian-Hungarian frontier and I do not wish for anyone that we should need to resort to that,' Orban said Wednesday night. 

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#THENETHERLANDS: Controversial Ban On Burkas And Face Veils In Gov't Buildings Comes Into Effect

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A ban on wearing face-covering garments such as a burka or niqab face veil in government buildings, schools and on public transport came into effect in the Netherlands this month. The ban has been 13 years in the making and dates back to the time Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom propped up a minority government formed by Mark Rutte’s People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democrats.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#MOROCCO: House Of Councillors Approves Sharia-Compliant Insurance

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Morocco’s House of Councillors voted in favor of advancing legislation regulating Sharia-compliant insurance. The law is the latest step in the development of Islamic finance in Morocco. The legislation still needs to pass the 395-member House of Representatives.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#TUNISIA: PM Bans Niqab In Gov't Offices After Bombing

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Tunisia has banned the wearing of the niqab in state-run buildings, citing security reasons following the terror attacks last month.

The Muslin-majority country's Prime Minister Youssef Chahed signed a government circular "banning access to public administrations and institutions to anyone with their face covered... for security reasons."

The ban on the face-veil comes following the double suicide bombing that shook Tunis on June 27. The attacks left two people dead and several others injured. Witnesses at the time claimed that one of the bombers was donning niqab, however, Tunisia's Ministry of the Interior has denied this.

The ban has been criticized as restricting freeom, but concerns that the nation's booming tourist trade would br affected by the violence has trumped those concerns.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#EGYPT: TV Host Gets 1-Year Prison Sentence For Interviewing Homosexual Man

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An Egyptian court has sentenced TV host Mohamed El-Gheity to one year in prison, one year probation, and EGP 3000 fine in a lawsuit that charged him with promoting debauchery and homosexuality through an interview with a homosexual man on his TV talk show on the privately owned LTC Channel in September 2017.

The lawsuit accused El-Gheity of violating "fundamental religious and legal constants" by hosting a homosexual man on screen and discussing issues that were "inappropriate for public broadcast." The suit accused El-Gheity of insinuating during the interview that there were financial gains and advantages to attain as a result of practicing homosexuality.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: Former UKIP Party Leader Resigns Membership; Says Party "Obsessed" With Islam; Extremist Activism

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Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party, has resigned his membership in the organization, saying he no longer "recognizes" the party, which seems overly obsessed with Islam and values extremist activism over winning elections.

Farage cited the move by the party's current leader, Gerard Batten, to make Tommy Robinson an adviser as a prime reason. Farage has used this national show on the LBC network to criticize Robinson, who has been prosecuted for crimes, and for his verbal attacks on Muslims. Robinson, however, has gained a huge following among UKIP members and many Conservatives for his "non-PC" language and actions.

Batten survived a vote of no confidence among his party's executives this past Monday, after he appointed Robinson as an adviser. But the party's ruling body refused to endorse Robinson's appointment and he was barred from party membership.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#FRANCE: UN Human Rights Panel Says 2010 Law Banning Full-Face Veils "Violated Human Rights"

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The UN Human Rights Committee criticized France's so-called burqa ban, saying the law violated the rights of two women who were fined for wearing full-face veils in public. The committee said the women should be compensated and their fines refunded for violating a 2010 law forbidding people from publicly wearing clothing that conceals their face. The committee, made up of independent experts, urging nations to stick to their human rights commitments, but it does not have enforcement powers. The  ruling is said to be reigniting the debate over religious clothing bans and balancing the need for security in European nations where they've been implemented. It also is raising issues of national sovereignty in Europe.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#THENETHERLANDS: Anti-Muslim MP Geert Wilders' Proposal To Ban Islam In Holland Fails To Gain Support

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A proposal from the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party to ban Islam in Holland failed to gain any support in parliament recently. Geert Wilders, an outspoken campaigner against Islam in Europe, spoke passionately on the proposal, which would have banned all forms of Islamic expressions in the Netherlands, including mosques, Islamic clothing, and public prayer. He said Prime Minister Mark Rutte had "lost his mind" by allowing 400,000 "non-western immigrants into the Netherlands." Others noted that the proposal violated religious freedom. The debate included a vulgar exchange, in which Wilders and a Turkish-born member of Parliament reportedly told each other to "F--- off." Wilders told the MP, "your country is Turkey."

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#INDIA: Cabinet Passes Ordinance Banning Practice Of Muslim "Instant Divorce" After Law Stalls In Parliament

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The government has passed an ordinance making "instant divorce" among Muslim couples a criminal offence, punishable by a jail term of up to three years and a fine. Instant "triple talaq," the Islamic practice that allows men to divorce their wives immediately by uttering the word “talaq" ("divorce") three times, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last August. A law seeking to ban the practice failed to make it through parliament, even after watering it down significantly, prompting the cabinet to pass the ordinance. The practice has been largely practiced in India, by Sunni Muslims.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#QATAR: Rouge Sheikh Tears Into Rulers For Preventing Qataris From Attending Islamic Pilgrimage

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In a tweet, Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, called preventing Qataris  from performing the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in neighboring Saudi Arabia an "injustice," and that the nation's rulers "held accountable for their crimes." The sheikh has urged his nation to "purge" terrorists and sever tries with Iran, ties that led to a diplomatic break with Saudi Arabia last year. The sheikh's assets were frozen by the government last year after he held a gathering of those who wish to overthrow the government, which he says has lost the right to rule.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#UK: Labour Party Leader Corbin Calls For "Islamophobia" Investigation Of The Conservative Party

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Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for an inquiry into allegations of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party. The Tories have been under pressure since the Muslim Council of Britain called for an investigation, highlighting a range of claims including candidates and other representatives allegedly having far-right connections or sending offensive tweets.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#AUSTRIA: Gov't Will Dissolve Seven "Political" Mosques And Deport 60 Imams And Their Families

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Austria's chancellors says the country could expel up to 60 Turkish-funded imams and their families and would shut down seven mosques as part of a crackdown on 'political Islam' that was described as 'just the beginning', triggering fury in Ankara. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the government is shutting a hardline Turkish nationalist mosque in Vienna and dissolving a group called the Arab Religious Community that runs six mosques. .

[FULL STORY HERE]

#NORWAY: Progress Party To Consider Nationwide Ban Of The Muslim Call To Prayer

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Norway’s Progress Party, part of the ruling two-party coalition, is set to vote on banning the Muslim call to prayer in Norway when it meets for its national convention this weekend. The proposal is aimed to counter plans by some mosques in Norway to begin issuing the Islamic call to worship, as has been allowed at two mosques in neighboring Sweden.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: Lawmakers Outlaw Full-Face Veils Worn By Muslim Women; Deny It's A "Burqua Ban"

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Denmark's parliament has voted to ban the niqab and burqa, becoming the fifth European country to pass such a law. Lawmakers voted 75-30 in favor of the legislation which had been put forward by the governing center-right coalition. Politicians insist the law does not target any religion, but it has become known colloquially as the 'burqa ban'.

[FULL STORY HERE]