Europe

    A mother has told of her despair at watching her daughter turn into an Islamic extremist, saying she even chained her to the radiator in their home to stop her fleeing to join Isis in Syria. Shakhla Bochkaryova, 41, from a small town near Surgut in Russia, told The Siberian Times how she had come to accept that she gave birth to a “monster” after her 20-year-old daughter, Fatima Dzhafarova, became radicalised and ran away. An intelligent girl who always took pride in her appearance, Fatima had just started studying at university when her Ms Bochkaryova – who comes from a Muslim family – noticed her changing. Three months into her studies, she stopped speaking to her mother, started covering her head and looked unwell and, in December 2013, Fatima told her mother that she w...

    Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi declared a nationwide state of emergency and a curfew in the capital after a bomb attack on a presidential guard bus killed at least 12 people. A security source at the site said "most of the agents who were on the bus are dead" after the attack in Tunis, which has become a target of jihadist violence since the 2011 revolution. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which a ministry official said also wounded 20 people when it went off on Mohamed V Avenue, just as this year's 26th Carthage Film Festival was in full swing. Essebsi, who cancelled a trip to Switzerland for Wednesday, declared a state of emergency throughout the country and a curfew in the capital. "As a result of this painful event, this great traged...

    One of the pilots of the Russian jet that was shot down by Turkey survived and is thought to be on his way back to his base, a diplomat has said. Russia's ambassador to France said the pilot - one of two in the jet brought down on Tuesday near the border with Syria - was picked up by the Syrian army. Alexandre Orlov told Europe 1 radio: "One on board was wounded when he parachuted down and killed in a savage way on the ground by the jihadists in the area and the other managed to escape and, according to the latest information, has been picked up by the Syrian army and should be taken to the Russian airforce base." A Turkish official claimed the two pilots are still alive and the country is working to secure their release from Syrian rebels. According to a US official, the ...

    A device resembling an explosive belt has been found in the town of Montrouge south of Paris and is currently being analysed by police. The item was found in a pile of litter on a residential street near students’ accommodation on Monday afternoon, and police experts are working to establish its composition and whether it is made up of explosives. A source close to the investigation told Reuters: “It looks like a belt of explosives.” The immediate area where the belt was found was closed off while police checked the material and established what it was. There was no police confirmation yet as to whether it was an explosives belt. Security services in France and Belgium are trying to hunt down suspects and potential accomplices following a series of coordinated terrorist at...

    Armed police guard a street in Brussels There are many reasons why Belgium has become a hotbed of radical Islamism. Some of the answers may lie in the implanting of Saudi Salafist preachers in the country from the 1960s. Keen to secure oil contracts, Belgium’s King Baudouin made an offer to Saudi King Faisal, who had visited Brussels in 1967: Belgium would set up a mosque in the capital, and hire Gulf-trained clerics. At the time, Belgium was encouraging Moroccan and Turkish workers to come into the country as cheap labour. The deal between the two Kings would make the mosque their main place of worship. Brussels already had the perfect place. An oriental pavilion designed by Belgian architect Ernest Van Humbeek had been built in the capital’s Cinquantenaire park in 1879, ...

    A Russian jet has been shot down after allegedly violating Turkish airspace near the Syrian border. The pilot was warned 10 times before being shot down by two Turkish F16 jets, according to the country's military. An official said two planes approached the Turkish border and were warned before one of them was shot down, adding their information shows Turkish airspace was repeatedly violated. A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident", but said it was too early to draw conclusions. The Russian defence ministry said in a statement the Sukhoi Su-24 jet did not violate Turkish airspace and added it was downed by artillery fire. Russia Su-24 jet shot down by Turkey F-16 fighters near Syria border The ministry also said that according to preliminary data the pilo...

    People in Brussels are being urged to avoid busy areas such as concerts and transport hubs after the city's terror alert was raised to the highest possible level. The Belgian capital's metro transport service will be closed until Sunday afternoon over the "serious and imminent threat". Belgium's Prime Minister said the terror alert was as a result of "quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris". Heavily armed soldiers and police are patrolling the city amid fears at least one suspect in the Paris attacks could be in Belgium. Belgium's crisis centre website said it had asked local authorities to cancel large events, urge people to avoid crowds and postpone soccer matches. Belgian PM Charles Michel said the government would revie...

    Hasna Ait Boulahcen, the woman labelled "Europe's first woman suicide bomber" did not blow herself up during a police raid on an apartment building in Saint-Denis, new reports have claimed. Despite French prosecutors initially saying she had detonated an explosives vest and died during the assault on Wednesday, a police source reportedly told Agence France-Presse news agency the suicide bomber who blew themselves up was a man, not a woman. Boulahcen is reported to have shouted: “Help me, help me, I am on fire,” prior to the explosion. Her body parts were later found strewn across the road. It was through intercepting Aitboulahcen's phone calls that security agencies were able to track her cousin Abdelhamid Abaaoud and six other terror suspects to their hiding place. After ...

    Migrants at a government hostel in south London have said some are posing as Syrians to improve their chances of getting asylum. Another temporary resident admitted to us he changed his story to help his cause as he travelled through Europe. After trekking across Europe, Muhammed Manlaal flew to London from Germany. As a Syrian from war-torn Aleppo he was guaranteed asylum in Germany. But he wanted to come to the UK because he speaks English to study here. He showed us with pride his application to stay in Britain. But the trainee architect says his nationality makes him the envy of some of his fellow hostel residents. He said: "Lots of people want to be Syrian. Some people say they are Syrian. They take the place for Syrians which is not good." Muhammed told us there are ...

    Voices have been heard inside the wreckage of the Russian passenger plane which crashed over central Sinai with 224 people on board, according to Egyptian search and rescue officials. An officer at the scene, who requested anonymity, told news agency Reuters: "...We hope to find survivors especially after hearing pained voices of people inside." He said that the plane had split in two and that rescuers had found at least five dead children at the scene, other bodies were discovered still strapped into their seats. The Airbus A321, operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia, was travelling from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to the Russian city of St Petersburg when it disappeared from radar screens 23 minutes into the flight. Egyptian security sources say there i...