Police say several people were injured as nationalists clashed with Muslims during Friday prayer at Sofia's main mosque.
Dozens of supporters of the far-right Ataka party staged the rally to protest what they call "the unbearable loudness" of the Muslim prayers that sound through loudspeakers in downtown Sofia.
Tensions escalated as protesters grabbed a prayer rug and set it on fire, leading to a fight between the two groups.
Four people were taken to the hospital with light injuries, the state news agency BTA reported. Ataka says one of its lawmakers was hit on the head by a stone.
Police say five officers were injured two protesters have been detained.
Google Hosted News
Sunday, 22 May 2011
ACTIVISTS CONDEMN ISLAMOPHOBIA (uk)
Muslims and anti-war campaigners have gathered to condemn what they see as a rising tide of Islamophobia in Britain and the rest of Europe. Supporters including Kenza Drider, who has deliberately defied the niqab ban in her native France, came to London Muslim Centre in east London for the event. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she wanted to "denounce the rise of Islamophobia in France". Ms Drider continued: "By putting this ban into place the government has encouraged racist people to physically threaten woman who wear the niqab." She says has been threatened with a knife for wearing garment, which covers a woman's face apart from her eyes. Chris Nineham, spokesman for event organisers the Enough Coalition Against Islamophobia, said a group of women campaigners from the UK plan to visit Paris in the next few months wearing the niqab as a gesture of solidarity.
The conference was attended by representatives from the Stop the War coalition, veteran left-wing politician Tony Benn and British campaigner Aisha Alvi. She was suspended from school for wearing a headscarf in 1989. Mr Nineham said: "This event is to discuss the seriously worrying developments in Europe and Britain whereby Muslim communities are being scapegoated and demonised. In France, Belgium and Switzerland laws are being passed to systematically discriminate against Muslims." He called for an overhaul of the British legal system, including anti-terror laws, as well as the way housing is allocated, to combat such discrimination in the UK.
Wales Online
The conference was attended by representatives from the Stop the War coalition, veteran left-wing politician Tony Benn and British campaigner Aisha Alvi. She was suspended from school for wearing a headscarf in 1989. Mr Nineham said: "This event is to discuss the seriously worrying developments in Europe and Britain whereby Muslim communities are being scapegoated and demonised. In France, Belgium and Switzerland laws are being passed to systematically discriminate against Muslims." He called for an overhaul of the British legal system, including anti-terror laws, as well as the way housing is allocated, to combat such discrimination in the UK.
Wales Online
Anti-Muslim French Presidential Candidate Surge After Sex Charges for Ex-IMF Boss
The rape charges against former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn are headline news across the world, but as Strauss-Kahn prepares for what could be a lengthy legal battle, France is preparing for a 2012 presidential election -- suddenly without the leading challenger to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Strauss-Kahn, a prominent member of the Socialist Party in France, was predicted to be his party’s candidate in 2012 and would have faced off against Sarkozy and his UMP party. Sarkozy, who has been floundering in polls, has been seen as a weak and ineffective president – a man who promised big change and has failed to deliver. But with Strauss-Kahn almost certainly out of the 2012 race, Sarkozy’s biggest challenge could come from Marine Le Pen, a candidate known for her nationalistic and anti-Muslim views.
Le Pen is the daughter of immigration foe and 2002 presidential runner-up Jean-Marie Le Pen. She has been gaining in the national polls and overall popularity. As voters in France prepare for a long year of presidential politics – could Le Pen’s candidacy also be a foreshadowing of what’s to come for the rest of Europe?
Jennifer Fredette of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy says Le Pen and her father’s views reflect a trend across the continent.
“It’s been going on for a while now. It’s all these critical little moments that get played up and people focus on them, like the burka ban, things that are visual and they spread,” Fredette told Fox News, referring to a controversial new French law that forbids women from going out in public with their faces covered. “You talk about it in France and then people in Germany say ‘oh we see that here. Is it the same here?’ There’s a trend of suspicion going on right now. Not just towards Islam and Muslims but immigration too.”
This item continues at Fox News
Strauss-Kahn, a prominent member of the Socialist Party in France, was predicted to be his party’s candidate in 2012 and would have faced off against Sarkozy and his UMP party. Sarkozy, who has been floundering in polls, has been seen as a weak and ineffective president – a man who promised big change and has failed to deliver. But with Strauss-Kahn almost certainly out of the 2012 race, Sarkozy’s biggest challenge could come from Marine Le Pen, a candidate known for her nationalistic and anti-Muslim views.
Le Pen is the daughter of immigration foe and 2002 presidential runner-up Jean-Marie Le Pen. She has been gaining in the national polls and overall popularity. As voters in France prepare for a long year of presidential politics – could Le Pen’s candidacy also be a foreshadowing of what’s to come for the rest of Europe?
Jennifer Fredette of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy says Le Pen and her father’s views reflect a trend across the continent.
“It’s been going on for a while now. It’s all these critical little moments that get played up and people focus on them, like the burka ban, things that are visual and they spread,” Fredette told Fox News, referring to a controversial new French law that forbids women from going out in public with their faces covered. “You talk about it in France and then people in Germany say ‘oh we see that here. Is it the same here?’ There’s a trend of suspicion going on right now. Not just towards Islam and Muslims but immigration too.”
This item continues at Fox News
Austria far-right tops opinion polls
The FPOe would secure 29 percent of the votes if there were a general election on Sunday, overtaking for the first time the Social Democrats with 28 pecent and the conservative People's Party or OeVP with 23 percent, according to a poll by the OGM institute on behalf of the daily Kurier.
The environmentalist Green party and another far-right party, the BZOe, would each win 13 percent of the votes.
The current coalition government under Social Democrat Chancellor Werner Faymann, which took power in December 2008, is made up of the Social Democrats and OeVP parties in a power-sharing deal.
The head of the OGM institute, Wolfgang Bachmayer, attributed the FPOe's current strength, not only to a wider disillusionment with politics, but with the current coalition government in particular.
Furthermore, “the showings have undoubtedly been influenced by the current debate over the statements by Erste Bank chief executive Andreas Treichl, the euro crisis and the Greek debt crisis,” Bachmayer told the newspaper.
Erste Bank chief Treichl triggered a storm of controversy this week by saying politicians were “too stupid” to understand the economy.
And FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache has been campaigning for months to kick Greece out of the eurozone.
Quizzed as to whom they would vote for if they could elect the chancellor directly, 24 percent of the poll's 805 respondents said they would choose the current chancellor Faymann, 18 percent the current deputy chancellor Michael Spindelegger and 16 percent would vote for Strache.
The FPOe came second in local municipal elections in Vienna last October, winning 26 percent of the votes. The ruling Social Democrats finally opted for a coalition with the environmentalist Greens.
A poll at the beginning of May suggested that 43 percent of the population wanted the FPOe to participate in the next national government following the next general elections in 2013.
The far-right has already been in government in Austria: the FPOe under its charismatic leader, the late Joerg Haider, was the junior coalition partner with the conservative OeVP between 2000 and 2006 under then chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel.
Tehran Times
Cultural fete planned after racism shock (UK)
Racist revelations in Sherwood have prompted concerned residents to plan an event promoting more integration.
Exposure by the Courier of anti-Muslim remarks on the Facebook pages of local English Defence League activist Adrian Ratcliffe and English Democrat candidate JoJo Stanley have led to calls for a festival of cultural diversity.
Ideas centred on a fete are being backed by social housing chiefs Town and Country, which said many residents had found content on the website both "racist and upsetting".
A spokesman said: "Residents felt that it was not a true reflection of life on the estate, which in their experience was a diverse and welcoming place to live.
"They wanted to counter any negative impression and felt the best way to do this would be to focus on the many positive things which make it such a friendly and inclusive place to live."
Plans to celebrate different races and cultures on the estate include proposals for a music and dance stage, along with marquees containing various attractions and diversity themes.
Inspiration has been gained from a recent Spirit of Kindness project in which more than 20 events celebrated all the good things that Sherwood residents did for each other.
It is hoped the initiative will help soothe tensions arising in the community following the exposure of Ratcliffe last month.
The 61-year-old, who lived in Greggswood Road and was a preacher at St Philip's Church in Sherwood, had denied he was racist but claimed he would do "whatever necessary" to fight "militant" Islam in the UK.
Nasir Jamil, president of the West Kent Muslim Association, said it welcomed efforts to improve cultural relations.
He said: "We always campaign for community cohesion. We have difficulty with negative propaganda all over the world and need these type of events."
Anyone wishing to contribute ideas or help out is invited to talks at the Robin Hood pub on Thursday, May 26 from 6pm. For more information call Brendan McGowan on 01892 523464.
This is Kent
Exposure by the Courier of anti-Muslim remarks on the Facebook pages of local English Defence League activist Adrian Ratcliffe and English Democrat candidate JoJo Stanley have led to calls for a festival of cultural diversity.
Ideas centred on a fete are being backed by social housing chiefs Town and Country, which said many residents had found content on the website both "racist and upsetting".
A spokesman said: "Residents felt that it was not a true reflection of life on the estate, which in their experience was a diverse and welcoming place to live.
"They wanted to counter any negative impression and felt the best way to do this would be to focus on the many positive things which make it such a friendly and inclusive place to live."
Plans to celebrate different races and cultures on the estate include proposals for a music and dance stage, along with marquees containing various attractions and diversity themes.
Inspiration has been gained from a recent Spirit of Kindness project in which more than 20 events celebrated all the good things that Sherwood residents did for each other.
It is hoped the initiative will help soothe tensions arising in the community following the exposure of Ratcliffe last month.
The 61-year-old, who lived in Greggswood Road and was a preacher at St Philip's Church in Sherwood, had denied he was racist but claimed he would do "whatever necessary" to fight "militant" Islam in the UK.
Nasir Jamil, president of the West Kent Muslim Association, said it welcomed efforts to improve cultural relations.
He said: "We always campaign for community cohesion. We have difficulty with negative propaganda all over the world and need these type of events."
Anyone wishing to contribute ideas or help out is invited to talks at the Robin Hood pub on Thursday, May 26 from 6pm. For more information call Brendan McGowan on 01892 523464.
This is Kent
English Defence League march to Islamic centre site (UK)
More than a hundred English Defence League protesters have marched through a Flintshire town to the site of a proposed new Islamic cultural centre.
The site at the Shotton Lane Social Club was burnt down in a suspicious fire in February.
Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society was planning to turn the property into a multi-cultural centre.
Police said their strategy ensured the protest passed off without incident.
Early reports had suggested between 200 and 300 people were taking part but police said it was just over 100.
The march ended with speeches outside the Shotton Lane Social Club before the protesters dispersed.
North Wales Police said they mounted an operation to combat any problems between rival factions working in partnership with Flintshire Council, British Transport Police and the local business community
Continue reading the main story
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public”
End Quote Ian Shannon Deputy Chief Constable
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Shannon said: "I am pleased with the success of the police operation today.
"Our aim was always to allow the protest to pass peacefully whilst taking into account the rights of the people of Shotton to go about their normal business.
"I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding for any disruption that was caused.
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public and maintain order, which I am pleased to say we achieved today."
Around 100 people had to leave their homes as firefighters fought the blaze on 4 February.
At the time police said they were keeping an open mind and would not been drawn on possible motives.
BBC News
The site at the Shotton Lane Social Club was burnt down in a suspicious fire in February.
Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society was planning to turn the property into a multi-cultural centre.
Police said their strategy ensured the protest passed off without incident.
Early reports had suggested between 200 and 300 people were taking part but police said it was just over 100.
The march ended with speeches outside the Shotton Lane Social Club before the protesters dispersed.
North Wales Police said they mounted an operation to combat any problems between rival factions working in partnership with Flintshire Council, British Transport Police and the local business community
Continue reading the main story
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public”
End Quote Ian Shannon Deputy Chief Constable
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Shannon said: "I am pleased with the success of the police operation today.
"Our aim was always to allow the protest to pass peacefully whilst taking into account the rights of the people of Shotton to go about their normal business.
"I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding for any disruption that was caused.
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public and maintain order, which I am pleased to say we achieved today."
Around 100 people had to leave their homes as firefighters fought the blaze on 4 February.
At the time police said they were keeping an open mind and would not been drawn on possible motives.
BBC News
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