The head of MI5 has said Britain is now facing the worst terror threat he has ever seen in his 34-year career. Andrew Parker, director general of the security service, gave a rare public speech, calling the threat “multi-dimensional, evolving rapidly and operating at a scale and pace we’ve not seen before”. Source Evening standard
According to a newly adopted law, a foreign country’s national anthem cannot be sung or played in Slovakia unless an official delegation of that state is present. Therefore, singing the Hungarian anthem is now punishable by law. This is significant given that the country harbors half a million Hungarians; in fact, this number is so large that it amounts to eight to nine percent of Slovakia’s total population. Source Hungary Today
Germany’s Central Register of Foreigners registered 1.8 million people seeking protection in 2018. Most of those who had protection status came from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of people registered as seeking protection in Germany increased 6% to 1.8 million people in 2018, the Federal Statistical Office said Thursday. The Central Register of Foreigners recorded an additional 101,600 people seeking protection for humanitarian reasons. The increase was similar to the 5% rise in the previous year. Source Deutsche Welle
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has released details of its recent capturing of a foreign tanker smuggling one million liters of Iranian fuel near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. A local IRGC naval command post published the details in a statement, which was carried by Tasnim News Agency on Thursday. Source PressTV
