Various news stories I haven't been able to get to recently:
Sweden
* Islam was dropped from the curriculum in the Sundsvall high school. The school inspection service says that such a decision to exclude the religion should be carefully considered.
* Christmas morning Sweden Radio broadcast a rerun of a morning show where imam Abd al Haqq Kielan spoke about "Islam in Swedish". Many listeners complained by Sweden Radio says they don't understand the criticism, since there was no preaching on the program. The show's producer says that he did not take into account the importance of the day for the show's rerun. On the other hand, they will not put something similar on Easter, since it's a Christian holiday, and will be more careful on Easter not to broadcast anything that might annoy listeners. (h/t Muslimska friskolan)
Netherlands
* The Amsterdam council supported a motion allowing illegal aliens to lodge complaints by the police without fear of being deported.
* There was a lot of criticism in the Hague when members of the Salafist As-Soennah mosque helped police patrol the streets on the New Year's. The mosque participated in the municipal 'role models' project.
Belgium
* In Antwerp the court ruled a company is allowed to ban headscarves. In the case in question, security company G4S fired a Muslim woman who wore a headscarf, since their uniform policy forbids wearing any religious and political symbols. The court ruled that the woman was not fired for being Muslim, but because she did not follow company policy.
Norway
* 90% of Norwegians say the July 22 terror attack did not change their attitude towards immigrants. 6.9% say they now more positive and 1.7% say they're more negative towards immigrants.
* 2nd generation immigrant youth now graduate at about the same rate as Norwegians (66% vs. 70%). About 50% of first generation immigrants graduate.
* The Country Governor of Oslo says schools are allowed to ban students from wearing hats or caps in class, but they cannot ban the hijab since it's a religious practice,
* Halal Christmas meat has become more popular in Drammen this year. Keran Kacar, who runs a halal meat company, says he has sold three ton of such meat in November and December, a tripling since 2008. Kacar says he sells the meat also to restaurants and regular Norwegian families.
Denmark
* The number of non-Western immigrants who get early pension with disability increased nationally by 51% over the past five years.
* A new study on immigrants in the media shows that the media turn to immigrant sources for just 5% of its stories, focusing mainly on crime, social security and forced marriages, though immigrants make up 10% of the population.
* The average stay in asylum centers in Denmark is around 500 days. But there are 68 rejected asylum seekers have been waiting in such centers for more than 10 years, since it's impossible to deport them and they refuse to leave voluntarily.
