The Israeli delegation — which included 33 players between the ages of 13 and 16, as well as nine adults — had been practicing and preparing for years ahead of the European Youth Ultimate Championship in Ghent, Belgium, according to Chen Bankirer, president of the Israeli Flying Disc Association.

But just as the team — which traveled thousands of miles to get to the tournament — was getting ready for Tuesday morning’s inaugural games, the tournament director told them that somebody had spray-painted “Boycott Israhell now!” near their field.

Continue reading HERE

Source:https://nypost.com/2024/08/11/world-news/israeli-ultimate-frisbee-team-banned-from-international-competition-after-antisemitic-graffiti-appears-near-playing-field/

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Police confirmed to Belgian broadcaster RTBF that shots were fired around 7:15 p.m. local time near Place Sainctelette, one of the city’s main intersections, killing two people.

No one was yet in custody, they said.

Local media reports indicated the victims were wearing jerseys of the Swedish national team, which played against the Belgian national team in Brussels Monday night in a UEFA European Championships qualifying match at King Baudouin Stadium.

Authorities are working under the assumption the slayings were a terrorist attack, the Brussels daily Le Soir reported.

An unverified social media video viewed by police and media shows a man claiming to be a jihadist and a member of Islamic State claiming responsibility for the attack, saying he killed three Swedes in an act of revenge for “the Muslims.”

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/10/16/belgium-Swedish-nationals-slain-Brussels-apparent-terrorism-attack/2581697485409/

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The post Heaviest rainfall in a century devastates parts of Western Europe first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The convoy was expected to arrive at the home of European Union institutions and NATO on Monday. Authorities in Paris had earlier banned the convoy.

Protesters set out from southern France on Wednesday in what they called a “freedom convoy” that will converge on Paris and Brussels to demand an end to COVID-19 restrictions, inspired by demonstrators who have gridlocked the Canadian capital Ottawa.

“The Federal Police will control motorized vehicles on the main roads to Brussels that come to demonstrate in Belgium. The Region and the City of Brussels will issue decrees banning demonstrations with trucks on their territory,” a statement from the Brussels region said, adding they had not received yet any request to protest.

In Canada, horn-blaring demonstrations demanding an end to Canadian COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers have gridlocked capital Ottawa for weeks and have now spilled over to key Canada-United States border crossings.

(Reporting by Marine Strauss; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-02-10/brussels-bans-freedom-convoy-protesting-covid-curbs-from-entry

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Germany’s national railway operator has estimated that last week’s flooding caused damage worth €1.3 billion (£1.1 billion) to its network, offering another glimpse of the extent of the devastation.

Authorities are still working to determine the overall cost of the floods that did their worst damage in western Germany and eastern Belgium.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week that the damage is “immense” and will take a long time to repair.

At least 177 people died in Germany in the flooding and a further 31 deaths were reported in Belgium, taking the overall death toll to 208.

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn said that more than 50 bridges, 180 level crossings, nearly 40 signal boxes, over 1,000 electric and signal masts, as well as energy and lighting systems and station elevators were damaged.

“Never before has our infrastructure been destroyed to this extent in one go,” said Volker Hentschel, a board member at the company’s DB Netz infrastructure division.

He said its initial estimate is that the flooding caused damage to the railway network and stations of around €1.3 billion.

The government, which owns Deutsche Bahn, has vowed to make a quick start on rebuilding efforts.

Mr. Hentschel said it will take “months, if not years” to restore everything, though the company is confident of repairing 80% of the damaged infrastructure by the end of this year.

Separately, Turkey also has seen flooding in recent days.

Work was continuing to find a missing person following floods in Artvin province in the country’s northeast that started on Wednesday, and one person was being treated for injuries. More than 450 people were evacuated.

At least six people were killed last week and two were missing after floods in neighboring Rize province.

Source: https://www.irishnews.com/news/worldnews/2021/07/23/news/german-railway-floods-caused-1-billion-damage-to-network-2397272/

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The post Germany hardest hit by worst flooding in Europe’s history first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Russia and China have vetoed at the UN Security Council a one-year extension to a deal allowing aid deliveries to north-western Syria via Turkey.

Up to now, food and other aid for millions of people have come through two crossing points to Aleppo province and to rebel-held Idlib.

A Belgian-German draft resolution was a last-ditch attempt to prolong the deal, which expires later on Friday.

Russia wants one crossing to be open, and a vote on this is now expected.

Moscow argues that aid for Syria should be channeled through its ally there, the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

But analysts say the government in Damascus has a record of restricting the flow of aid to areas in the hands of its opponents.

Last month, the head of the World Food Programme warned that Syria faced the risk of mass starvation or another mass exodus unless more aid money was made available.

David Beasley told the BBC a million Syrians faced severe food insecurity and some were already dying.

The war-torn country’s currency has collapsed and food prices have soared.

In desperation, many Syrians might have no choice but to try to flee to Europe as they did in 2015, Mr. Beasley said.

More than 380,000 people have been killed and 13.2 million others – half the pre-war population – have been displaced inside and outside Syria since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.

Some 6.6 million refugees are scattered throughout the world, the vast majority of them in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, where the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on economies.

• Assad under pressure as economic crisis batters Syria
• Carpets, olives, and handcrafts: The Idlib I loved and lost

The UN and its partners have appealed for $3.8bn (£3.08bn) for humanitarian work inside Syria and another $6.04bn to help countries in the region hosting Syrian refugees. The appeals are currently 30% and 19% funded respectively.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has warned that the Covid-19 crisis has had an immediate and devastating impact on the livelihoods of millions of Syrian refugees and their host countries, where there have been sharp economic downturns and poverty has spiraled.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53370890

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Minister of Asylum and Migration Maggie De Block announced on Saturday two new measures aimed to prevent Belgium from welcoming asylum seekers who have bypassed EU asylum rules.

The goal, according to the minister, is to guarantee a welcome of “true newcomers” during the winter months.

These measures are aimed at two specific profiles of asylum seekers. The first are those who have already obtained protection in another EU Member State, but continue their journey to ask for asylum and hospitality in Belgium too, “for reasons that are unrelated to asylum,” explained the Government Minister for current affairs. She calls this practice, “asylum shopping.”

The second are those who refuse to return to the EU Member State where they were first registered. Yet it is that state which is required by the so-called EU ‘Dublin regulations’ to process their application.

In these kinds of asylum cases, Belgium has six months to send the applicant back to that first country, before otherwise becoming obliged to handle the case.

“This is why some asylum seekers remain in hiding for six months, with family or friends or people they know, for example, without leaving any trace or address at the Foreign Office. Others change their address almost daily to make it almost impossible to follow up. They reappear six months later to request asylum and welcome,” De Block explained.

The Belgian Immigration Office can, however, extend the deadline to leave the country to 18 months if there is a serious suspicion of concealment.

These two profiles will no longer benefit from refuge in Belgium. They will continue to receive support if they want to return to the country where they have a status (asylum being granted or processed).

However, as Fedasil assesses the refusal on an individual basis, it will take into account “the vulnerability” of some persons, due to sickness, for instance, according to Minister De Block.

An information campaign aimed specifically at these target groups will also be launched to deter abuse in asylum procedures.

The Fedasil welcome network has been overloaded for some time, not only because of the influx of asylum seekers — in Belgium and in other European countries — but also due to the length of the application examination procedures.

It is also increasingly difficult for Fedasil to find welcome premises because of residents’ protesting against shelters, as in Bilzen (where a premise was even burned), or Zoutleeuw or Koksijde.

The Brussels Times

Source: https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/belgium-all-news/87275/asylum-shoppers-no-longer-welcome-in-belgium/

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The dossiers of asylum seekers staying at a reception centre in another resort, Bredene, are taking too long to be processed and accommodation for more asylum seekers needs to be found.

In 2016 Koksijde housed some 300 asylum seekers in empty buildings at the air force base.  Today accommodation for 400 people is being sought. The local mayor understands that extra accommodation is needed, but points to security issues.  The mayor says it’s above all extra work for the police and they are already overworked.

Mayor Marc Vanden Bussche (Flemish liberal): “We’ve noticed a big increase in the number of migrants heading for the UK.  35 people were hauled off the tram recently.  We’re so close to France.”

“Brexit too will mean extra work.  Koksijde is on the smugglers’ route between Zeebrugge and Calais.  Moreover, the air force base is being converted.  The municipality has plans for the building earmarked for the asylum seekers.”

The mayor also points to the problems that surfaced in 2016: “Despite screening the asylum seekers included people traffickers and wanted persons.  We will discuss the issue in the New Year, but at present, the answer is 100% ‘No’.  I regret the fact that the asylum seeker distribution plan was never implemented.”

Source: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/12/26/asylum-crisis-_the-answer-is-100-no/

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