In ‘many’ of Dutch prisons there will be only halal food on the menu. Justice has closed advantageous contracts with suppliers that only deliver halal food. BaconServing two menus would become too expensive, the newspaper De Telegraaf writes today. Prisoners can get ritually slaughtered cattle or sheep, or nothing. Pork is not on the menu, because it is unclean meat according to Muslims. Lawyer... 

This is the shocking picture of a young, white schoolboy being converted to Islam by a cleric linked to a radical Muslim hate preacher. The bewildered 11-year-old, who gives his name as Sean was filmed repeating Arabic chants and swearing allegiance to Allah. The boy is prompted throughout by controversial cleric Anjem Choudary, a follower of exiled hate-preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed. Controversial:... 

At least 85 Islamic sharia courts are operating in Britain, a study claimed yesterday. The astonishing figure is 17 times higher than previously accepted. The tribunals, working mainly from mosques, settle financial and family disputes according to religious principles. They lay down judgments which can be given full legal status if approved in national law courts. However, they operate behind doors... 

The Jews in Iraq seem to be getting desperate. A bomb ripped through a crowded market in Baghdad’s main Shiite district on Wednesday, killing at least 69 people and wounding more than 100 less than a week before a deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq’s urban areas. The explosion in Sadr City — the deadliest to strike the sprawling slum in more than two years — came just days after... 

A Turkish dad stabbed his own 15-year-old daughter to death in an honour killing which has shocked Germany. Mehmet Ö. (45) sneaked into Bürsa’s bedroom at 3.30am and repeatedly struck the helpless teen with a knife. Her grandparents called an ambulance but medics could not do anything for Buersa as she bled to death. The kebab shop owner fled the crime scene in the town of Schweinfurt but was... 

The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world’s most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos. Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this... 

A report by the Interior Ministry shows that Germany’s Muslim community is larger and more diverse than previously estimated. According to the latest figures, Germany’s Muslim community numbers close to 4 million people, or about 5 percent of the entire population. Past estimates put the number of Muslims in the country at 3.1 to 3.4 million. Additionally, the survey funded by the Interior... 

German Defense Minister Jung has insisted that Germany is not fighting a war in Afghanistan, rejecting calls for such an admission after three German soldiers died in the country this week. The parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Reinhold Robbe, on Wednesday called on the German government to recognize it was fighting a war in Afghanistan. “It is still being publicly denied that... 

Judges in the United States can now order a veiled woman witness to remove her face covering to testify in court, according to a new court ruling issued last week that has human rights groups worried about potential discrimination against veiled Muslim women. In a majority 5-2 vote, Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled that judges should “exercise reasonable control” over the appearances... 

Brussels, Asharq Al-Awsat- When I met Mahinur Ozdimer in one of the biggest shopping malls in Brussels just one day before the Belgium elections that took place on June 7, I noticed that she was the only female candidate wearing Hijab as the candidates handed out leaflets and met and spoke with voters. I asked Mahinur “Aren’t you worried about the reaction you’ll get from Belgian voters because... 

A devoutly Catholic nurse at the centre of a crucifix row has resigned after hospital officials banned her from wearing the religious symbol at work. Helen Slatter, 43, was ordered before a disciplinary hearing after refusing to remove the gold necklace. Gloucestershire Royal Hospital ruled the chain and crucifix -which is less than one inch tall – posed a health and safety risk to patients. Miss... 

Up to 100 Romanian Gypsies are to quit Northern Ireland after a series of racist attacks, it was revealed today. Twenty-five have already left and another 75 are planning to return home, Stormont minister Margaret Ritchie disclosed. Air fares are being paid out of an emergency fund. Just 17 who were caught up in the violence in Belfast last week, when families were offered temporary accommodation,... 

A former public schoolboy accused of making his own suicide vest using home-made explosives described in court how he became interested in explosives to make himself ‘cool’ and ‘popular’. Isa Ibrahim, formerly known as Andrew in his school days, also told the court he started using hard drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine while at school and played online computer games for... 

The Islamic burka is “not welcome” in France because it is not a symbol of religion but a sign of subservience for women, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday. “The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience,” he told lawmakers. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic.” A group of French lawmakers has been calling for... 

Muslims do not respect Western ideals of human rights and do not assimilate into Western nations. When they hear the word Islam, most Americans think of terrorism. However, terrorism is only one manifestation of the fundamentally alien nature of the religion practiced by 1.8 billion world-wide. Americans and other westerners believe that people have natural rights and that these are the foundation...