Security assurances

IS bride Shamima Begum should not be allowed to return to the UK to fight a decision to strip her of British citizenship, the Supreme Court has ruled. The unanimous decision - with all five justices in agreement - comes six years after the then 15-year-old left with friends to join the Islamic State group. Now aged 21, Begum was one of three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green in east London who travelled to Syria. Her British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds shortly after she was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019. She had already lost two children and the third died shortly after being born. Advertisement Begum challenged the Home Office's decision to remove her British citizenship and wanted to be allowed to return to the UK to pursue that appeal. Initially, the Court of Appeal said she should be allowed to return to fight the case. More from Islamic State Sahayb Abu: 'Jihadi … [Read more...] about Shamima Begum: IS bride should not be allowed to return to the UK to fight citizenship decision, court rules

JIHADI bride Shamima Begum has lost her legal battle to return to the UK to appeal over the removal of her British citizenship. The Supreme Court today uninamously ruled in favour of the Government and said Begum cannot come back to the UK for a court case to reclaim her British passport for the safety of the public. Delivering the ruling, Lord Reed savaged a previous judgement by the Court of Appeal and said it had 'made its own assessment of the requirements of [national] security' without any 'relative evidence'. He said: "The right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public. "If a vital public interest makes it impossible for a case to be fairly heard then the courts cannot ordinarily hear it." Lord Reed said her legal bid to reclaim her British citizenship should be postponed until she is no longer considered a threat to national security. He said: "The appropriate response to the problem in the present case is … [Read more...] about Shamima Begum CAN’T return to UK to reclaim British passport as Government wins Supreme Court bid against jihadi bride

Germany is committed to the peace process in Afghanistan , Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said Friday during a surprise visit to troops in Mazar-i-Sharif, where the majority of German troops are deployed. Kramp-Karrenbauer arrived at the Bundeswehr camp in the north of the country in the early hours of the morning in order to "get an overview of the current situation of the Bundeswehr contingent and the situation in Afghanistan in a direct exchange with the men and women of the Bundeswehr." Watch video 00:58 Kramp-Karrenbauer: 'Threat level will rise' in Afghanistan "We are ready to continue supporting the peace process," the defense minister said. On Wednesday, the Cabinet in Berlin approved a 10-month extension until next January of Germany's military mission there, a move that still has to be approved by parliament. During her visit, Kramp-Karrenbauer said the country "urgently needs a settlement between the opposing groups of … [Read more...] about Germany committed to Afghan peace process, minister says

At least two people were killed as supporters of the losing candidate in Niger's presidential elections led violent protests in the capital Niamey, Interior Minister Alkache Alhada said on Thursday. The opposition runner Mahamane Ousmane has deemed the elections fraudulent after the electoral commission announced the ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum's win. "The toll is two dead," Alhada told reporters, adding that police arrested 468 protesters since Tuesday. Alhada accused the opposition figure Hama Amadou of inciting the violence. "(He) is being sought and as usual he is on the run, but we will find him," Alhada added. Houses set on fire Ousmane's supporters have marched since Tuesday, throwing rocks at police, who fired tear gas to disperse them. Some protesters set buildings on fire. Radio France International (RFI) said that its correspondent Moussa Kaka's house was among those set on fire. RFI said that Kaka's family was safe and described the attack as … [Read more...] about Niger: 2 killed in protests against election results

Hundreds of girls have been kidnapped in Nigeria after armed gunmen stormed a secondary school. The children were abducted from the Government Girls' Secondary School in the town of Jangebe, in the north-western state of Zamfara, this morning. At least 300 youngsters are now believed to be missing from the boarding school, reports say. A member of staff said that some pupils managed to hide from the 'bandits' as hundreds of gunmen 'invaded' the town in the early hours of this morning. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, they said: "The gunmen in their hundreds invaded the town around 2am on Friday, shot sporadically in the air to scare the residents before coming into the school. "After taking away most of the students, we rounded up those that escaped or hid from the bandits and conducted a census where we counted 54 students and we are still searching to see if we can get more." Locals reportedly tried to resist the 'invasion' however they were outnumbered and … [Read more...] about Hundreds of girls kidnapped in Nigeria after armed gunmen storm secondary school