Lewthwaite 'training Islamic State suicide bombers' |

White Widow Samantha Lewthwaite 'training Islamic State suicide bombers' | UK | News | Daily Express: "The 30-year-old widow of Jermaine Lindsay - who killed 26 people when he blew himself up in the July 7 terrorist attacks in London in 2005 - is also thought to be helping the militants with their propaganda campaign."

British 'Islamic State Recruiter' Arrested

British 'Islamic State Recruiter' Arrested - Yahoo News UK:

"Samiun Rahman, who is from London, arrived in the country in February to find fighters for both IS and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, according to Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division (DCID)."

'Schoolgirl jihadis'

Schoolgirl jihadis: the female Islamists leaving home to join Isis fighters | World news | The Guardian "Hundreds of young women and girls are leaving their homes in western countries to join Islamic fighters in the Middle East, causing increasing concern among counter-terrorism investigators.


"Girls as young as 14 or 15 are travelling mainly to Syria to marry jihadis, bear their children and join communities of fighters, with a small number taking up arms. Many are recruited via social media."

KFC hand-wipes halal mix-up

KFC leaves Muslims baffled after branch drops alcohol hand-wipes in halal mix-up - Telegraph "Muslim leaders have voiced bewilderment after a branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken refused to give customers hand-wipes containing alcohol for fear that doing so would cause offence."

Islamic State and Rotherham abuse 'fuelling far right'

BBC News - Islamic State and Rotherham abuse 'fuelling far right': "Islamic State extremism and the Rotherham abuse scandal are fuelling a far-right backlash in the UK, one of the Home Office's most senior advisers on right-wing extremism has said."

Somalis in Leicester

Somalis in Leicester | Open Society Foundations (OSF):  "Somalis in Leicester explores the views and experiences of Somali communities living in Leicester, focusing on five areas of local policy—employment, education, health, political participation, and policing—as well as broader themes of belonging and identity."

New and noted: Writing the City in British Asian Diasporas

Writing the City in British Asian Diasporas (Hardback), Edited by Sean McLoughlin, William Gould, Ananya Jahanara Kabir, Emma Tomalin - Routledge, 2014



Looks interesting (rather expensive in Hardback)

Muslim students will be offered Sharia-friendly student loans

Muslim students will be offered Sharia-friendly student loans by government | Mail Online:

"Muslim students are to be offered Sharia-compliant interest free loans by the government in an attempt to get more Islamic pupils to go to university."

New and noted: Loyal Enemies: British Converts to Islam, 1850-1950

"Loyal Enemies uncovers the history of the earliest British converts to Islam who lived their lives freely as Muslims on British soil, from the 1850s to the 1950s. Drawing on original archival research, it reveals that people from across the range of social classes defied convention by choosing Islam in this period." Haven't seen this yet.

Jamie Gilham, Loyal Enemies: British Converts to Islam, 1850-1950 (Hurst & Co):

Note on Islamic State coverage

Coverage in relation to IS/ISIS issues can be found on the Virtually Islamic blog

Cemetery controversy

Daily Mail, Plans for Britain's largest Muslim cemetery with space for 11,000 graves on green belt land sparks fury

' The nun who took down an Isis flag – and stands up for east London's Muslims'

The Spectator, The nun who took down an Isis flag – and stands up for east London's Muslims "Sister Christine has worked on the Will Crooks Estate in Poplar, east London, for over 40 years. She accidentally got into the news in early August when she removed the black flag of radical Islam which was flying over the entry to the estate, and the press were fascinated that a small, lone woman aged 77, would take such a risk. But if they believed Sister Christine to be a crusader against Islamism, then they got it all wrong. Sister Christine is a committed Christian of course, but if she is fighting on behalf of anyone, it is the disenfranchised, ghetto-ised Muslim youth she finds herself living alongside."

Sandhurst and the Sheikhs

Sandhurst and the Sheikhs - BBC Radio 4 

"How does training at Sandhurst Academy bolster militarised monarchies of the Arab world?"