The Balkan countries are eager to explore potentials in Halal tourism following a partnership between Halal Quality Certification Agency of Bosnia and Crescentrating to promote Halal-friendly travel services and facilities in the region.

The Dutch parliament is preparing to pass a law that would end unstunned religious slaughters, effectively banning kosher and halal slaughter in the Netherlands.

Russia will take its first foray into Islamic finance when it issues a sukuk on June 20 to attract foreign investment into the region.

The 2nd Moscow Halal Expo provided an ideal platform not just for Muslims in Russia to penetrate the lucrative global Halal market, it also sends out a clear signal to global Halal players that this is indeed a thriving market worth exploring.

Italy's first-ever Halal supplier has opened for business in Italy's northern city of Bologna, selling spirituality-infused Halal meals to restaurants, canteens and caterers in Italy and abroad.

With a predominantly Muslim population of 75 million and a steady strengthening of the economy, Turkey makes a bid to garner the burgeoning global Halal market worth US$1.2 - 2 trillion per annum.

New EU proposals have steered away from labelling meat from ritually slaughtered animals as Halal or Shechita to avoid causing religious offence, instead opting for the label of "meat from slaughter without stunning".

Marianne Thieme and her Animal Rights Party, which is now working with Geert Wilders and the PPV to push for a law that bans Halal and kosher meat in the Netherlands, is expected to be hauled to courts for spreading misleading information.

The Moscow Halal Expo has quickly become the venue to meet, present businesses for investments, engage in training seminars and roundtable discussions and exchange ideas within areas of Halal manufacturing, standards and certification.

The Netherlands is set to introduce a new bill that, if passed, would make all unstunned slaughtered meat illegal, effectively banning Halal and Kosher meat in the country.

Food and Farming minister Jim Paice says he would like to introduce the controversial meat labelling system in the UK but was met with opposition from Halal and Kosher groups, calling it discrimination of the most direct kind.

Demand for Halal products in France is increasing by as much as 15 per cent annually, fueled by a growing Muslim population now numbering over seven million. Capitalising well on that fact is the Paris Halal Expo, now into its 8th edition.

A newly formed group in Malmö, the Swedish Fatwa Council, sets out to provide answers for the questions of the faithful Muslim who want to live in accordance with Islam in Sweden, beginning with the basic issues of Halal and haram.

The Dutch Parliament has begun legislation proceedings that will ultimately ban unstunned Halal and Kosher slaughter on the grounds that it causes undue suffering to animals and constitutes abuse of them.