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BERLIN: Germany’s Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, said he would raise the matter of anti-drone defenses at a meeting of European interior ministers on Saturday, which had initially been billed as a migration summit.
Speaking in Saarbruecken, western Germany, the morning after drone sightings forced the closure of Munich airport for several hours, Dobrindt added that more research was needed on anti-drone defenses.
“At the meeting of European interior ministers this weekend in Munich, we will, in addition to the migration issues, also explicitly address the situation of drones and the threat posed by drones,” he said. Drone sightings at Germany’s Munich airport led to the cancelation and diversion of dozens of flights, leaving nearly 3,000 passengers stranded and leading politicians to promise harsh new measures allowing for drones to be shot down.
The Munich airport disruption was the latest in a series of similar incidents that have rattled European aviation, raising concerns about deniable hybrid attacks on Ukraine’s European allies, possibly directed by Russia. The Kremlin has indeed denied any involvement in the incidents.
The airport said several drone sightings late on Thursday evening had forced air traffic control to suspend operations, leading to the cancelation of 17 flights and disrupting travel for nearly 3,000 passengers, who were provided with camp beds, blankets, and food. Another 15 arriving flights were diverted around the region.
“Our police must get the power to shoot drones down,” said Markus Soeder, premier of Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital, on social media, promising state-level emergency legislation to enable this. “We need sovereignty over our airspace.”
As airport operations resumed on Friday, passengers checking in for a flight to Varna in Bulgaria found that the departure board showed only a few flights had been canceled. A flight from Bangkok was the first of the day to land at around 5:25 a.m. (0325 GMT).
Public broadcaster BR said local and national police were investigating the incident. State and federal police had no immediate comment.
The drones were sighted in the late evening above the airport, a police spokesperson told newspaper Bild. 
But because it was dark, the sizes and types of the drones could not be determined, he added. Police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The drone incidents follow airspace intrusions last week that temporarily shut airports in Denmark and Norway, which led EU leaders at a Copenhagen summit to back plans to bolster the bloc’s defences with anti-drone measures.
In Brussels, the Belgian Defense Ministry said it had opened an investigation into several drones flying over the military base at Elsenborn, located on the German border, overnight.
The airport disruption in Munich added to a tense week for the city after its popular Oktoberfest was closed temporarily due to a bomb threat and the separate discovery of explosives in a residential building in the city’s north.

LONDON: Muslim-led grassroots organizations are delivering life-saving interventions for young people while saving the UK taxpayer an estimated £30 million ($40.3 million) a year, .

The study by the Equi thinktank, “Tackling Youth Violence: The Impact of Muslim-Led Organisations,” comes during a 141 percent rise in knife-related teenage deaths and growing concern over youth violence across the country.

It is the first report of its kind to quantify the social and economic value of faith-led youth work, examining seven Muslim-run initiatives operating in the UK, from London to Edinburgh.

Together, they reach more than 45,000 young people each year and deliver a return on investment of 5.3 to 1, with cost savings linked to reduced criminal justice involvement, improved mental health outcomes, higher educational attainment and lower reoffending rates.

One case study highlights the story of Yusuf, a teenager excluded from school and caught in a cycle of violence.

He said a focus on faith helped him break free of his past. Now working as a youth mentor, he supports others facing similar challenges.

“We’re not just keeping kids off the streets, we’re helping them heal, grow and lead,” he said. “But we can’t do it alone. We need policymakers to see us, fund us and work with us.”

The report credits Muslim-led initiatives with providing holistic support, from mentoring and counselling to parental engagement, employment pathways and spiritual guidance.

Many operate out of mosques, community centers and youth hubs, places where statutory services often struggle to reach. They also collaborate with schools, police and social services to bridge gaps in provision.

But the study warns of untapped potential. With more than 1,000 mosques in the UK, many with underused facilities, there is scope to scale up youth provision.

It also highlighted challenges in channeling voluntary giving from Muslim communities into long-term youth work, and in overcoming data gaps that have left faith-based groups excluded from national evaluations.

Equi is urging British government departments, local authorities and funders to act, calling for faith-led groups to be recognized as strategic partners in public health and community safety.

Its recommendations include long-term, unrestricted funding, culturally competent commissioning, and the inclusion of faith-based providers in national violence prevention strategies.

“This is not just a moral imperative, it’s a fiscal one,” said Javed Khan, managing director of Equi.

“We have evidence that these programs work. The question now is whether policymakers are willing to invest in what’s already saving lives and money.”