Restrictions on face and full-body veils are back in the spotlight in parts of Europe after some French cities banned the burkini swimsuit, saying the garment, which leaves only the face, hands and feet exposed, defies laws on secularism. A spate of attacks against civilians claimed by militant Continue Reading
Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015
BY PHILLIP CONNOR A record 1.3 million migrants applied for asylum in the 28 member states of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland in 2015 – nearly double the previous high water mark of roughly 700,000 that was set in 1992 after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Continue Reading
Why Are So Many Muslim Refugees in Europe Suddenly Finding Jesus?
By Nadette de Visser Whether out of conviction or convenience, thousands of migrants in Europe are converting to Christianity. AMSTERDAM — Hundreds of Pakistanis and Afghans have been lining up at a local swimming pool in Hamburg, Germany, to be baptized as Christians. In the Netherlands and Continue Reading
Journey to Jihad
By Ben Taub In 2009, a fourteen-year-old Belgian named Jejoen Bontinck slipped a sparkly white glove onto his left hand, squeezed into a sequinned black cardigan, and appeared on the reality-television contest “Move Like Michael Jackson.” He had travelled to Ghent from his home, in Antwerp, with Continue Reading