— Israel News (@IsraelNewsNow) November 26, 2015
Greece/Macedonia border
IDOMENI, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of migrants stranded at Greece's northern border clashed with police Thursday while trying to force their way into Macedonia.
The migrants from Iran, Morocco, Pakistan and several other countries confronted Macedonian riot police who were seen hitting protesters with batons.
Macedonia toughened rules for crossings earlier this month, in the wake of the deadly Paris attacks, restricting access to citizens from countries typically granted asylum in Europe, including Syria and Afghanistan.
At least 10 people stranded at the border are on hunger strike and have sewn their mouths shut in protest. One of the hunger strikers fainted during the protest and was carried by to a medical tent set up by a charity organization.
An Iranian migrant who asked to be identified only by her first name, Sonya, said she was afraid to return to Iran after speaking out against authorities there.
"They are not letting us into Macedonia. I have tried to cross at several points, but the police were always there to stop us," she said.
"I've been here for seven days and I'm going to keep trying to get across."
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IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) - Hundreds of Moroccans, Algerians and Pakistanis tried to storm the border between Greece and Macedonia on Thursday, tearing down part of the barbed wire fence at the crossing and demanding to be allowed to carry on into northern Europe.
They were among about 1,500 migrants who have been stranded near Greece's northern border town of Idomeni after Europe decided to filter migrants, allowing only those fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq to cross into the Balkans.
Some threw stones at police while others fell to their knees shouting, "We want to go to Germany!"
A few ran across into Macedonia but were quickly detained by police. Police in riot gear guarded a gap where migrants had torn down about 30-40 meters of fence, and a Reuters photographer saw riot police armed with assault rifles.
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Idomeni (Greece) (AFP) - Over 200 migrants on Thursday tried to break through barbed wire fences to cross from Greece into Macedonia, which imposed new border restrictions last week, throwing stones at police, AFP reporters said.
At least five of the migrants managed to get across in the assault as the crowd shouted "Open the border" to the Macedonia police ranged in front of them.
All five were returned to the Greek side by Macedonian police.
"We can't wait any longer, last night we slept under the rain," Heritier Shabani, a 31-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of Congo who was among the more than 200 trying to get through, told AFP.
"I want to go where I will be welcome," he said, adding that he left his homeland some two months ago, and landed on the Greek island of Samos around ten days ago.
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The Netherlands
A Dutch advisory court says that the government can demand of migrants who have had their asylum applications rejected that they cooperate with efforts to repatriate them in return for basic accommodation in the Netherlands.
The Council of State said in a ruling Thursday that the justice ministry is entitled to demand the cooperation in return for providing rejected asylum-seekers with "bed, bath and bread" accommodation while they wait to be sent back to their home country.
While the number of migrants affected by the ruling is now relatively low, it is expected to soar in coming months amid the European migrant crisis that has seen thousands of people apply for asylum in the Netherlands.
Dutch welcome: Pig heads left at migrants' camp entrance in Netherlands
Pig heads have been left on the entrance to a migrant camp in the Netherlands, in an effort by some to give the Muslim refugees a hellish nightmare welcome to one of Europe's most tolerant nations.
Unidentified perpetrators left some 14 pig heads at the entrance of a refugee center in Eschmarkerveld, near the city of Enschede, on early Wednesday morning. Nine pigs' heads were found on the fence, the rest laid out on the ground. Plastic bags full of blood in which the heads have been transported were also found at the site.
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Czech Republic
— Israel News (@IsraelNewsNow) November 26, 2015
Czech President Milos Zeman, known for his critical views of Islam, says Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is endangering the country by not fully recognizing the danger asylum-seekers are posing.
In an interview published in Thursday's edition of the Mlada Fronta daily, Zeman say that unlike the prime minister he considers the migrant wave "an organized invasion."
Sobotka previously dismissed Zeman's suggestion that migration is linked to terrorism. He said it is the terrorists from the Islamic State group who have to be combated, not the refugees.
Sobotka and other members of his government on Thursday also renewed their criticism of Zeman for addressing a rally of his supporters organized by a major anti-Muslim group on Nov. 17, the 26th anniversary of the anti-communist Velvet Revolution.
In the interview, Zeman said he would do it again.
Norway
Norwegian police and border officials have started checking identification papers of passengers arriving and leaving, in a move to stem the flow of asylum-seekers.
The measures adopted Thursday are planned to last 10 days. They include checks on ferries arriving from Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Police have advised all travelers to carry proof of their identity, including if they are moving around in border regions.
Norway announced the tighter controls after neighboring Sweden proposed tough measures to deal with a huge influx of migrants, expected to reach 200,000 by year's end — the highest proportionate rate in Europe. Norwegian expects 33,000 refugees this year, a threefold increase on 2014.
Finland, which has seen a tenfold increase in asylum-seekers this year to an expected 35,000, adopted ID checks and tighter border controls in September.
Germany
A senior German police official says some of the migrants reaching Europe are Islamic State radicals planning terrorist attacks, but the refugee influx is not systemically used by extremists to bring members into the EU.
The Austria Press Agency cited German federal police chief Hans-Georg Maasen as saying that some who blend in with the migrants fought with IS and are planning a "combat mission" once they arrive in Europe. He said Thursday that his office knows of 7,900 Islamic radicals in Germany who advocate violence to advance their goals, with some trying to win migrants to their cause.
He said German authorities receive one or two "fairly concrete tips" a week of planned terrorist activity. And he described IS extremists as "combat-hardened professionals" more dangerous than those from al-Qaida.
Belgium: Willful blindness or criminal negligence with deadly consequences?
#2015Paristerrorattacks #Paris #CharlieHebdo 4 Paris suspects were on Belgian list of radicals to…https://t.co/1STsTTj72q #BrusselsLockdown
— Israel News (@IsraelNewsNow) November 26, 2015
Four of the main suspects in the Paris attacks were on a list of radicalized people compiled by Belgium’s intelligence services as early as June this year, officials said on Thursday.
The list of 85 individuals included alleged Paris ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, brothers Brahim and Salah Abdeslam and newly named suspect Mohamed Abrini, they said.
The list was sent by the intelligence agencies to the local authorities in Molenbeek, a rundown Brussels district dubbed a haven for extremists, they said.
“I confirm that they featured on a list sent in June 2015 by the Threat Analysis Coordination Agency to the mayor of Molenbeek and the local police chief,” a local government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The list was first drafted after a raid on an Islamist hideout in the eastern town of Verviers in January in which two suspects were killed and a major terror plot involving Abaaoud was foiled.
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