An 8-year-old Italian boy was savagely beaten with an iron bar and left severely disfigured after an attack from foreign youths during the victim’s own birthday party in a park in the Fidene suburb of Rome. Despite the severe attack, the three youths will not face any criminal charges.
The suspects are brothers from the Roma community, aged 7, 9 and 11, according to Italian media.
The Italian child was raced to the hospital after the attack on Sept. 12 and underwent emergency surgery, which means his life is no longer in danger. However, the young boy is reportedly disfigured from several facial fractures and will require multiple reconstructive surgeries to repair his shattered face.
“We heard a scream in the park. The party was almost over, and we were cleaning up. One of the children had been punched and hit with an iron rod in his face by three Roma kids,” said Luigi Pascucci, head of the Association of Magnolia Park.
The 8-year-old boy was celebrating his birthday with his friends in the park when the three siblings insulted and beat the victim, reports Italian news outlet Corriere Della Sera.
The parents of the victim were speaking with the parents of the Roma boys when the attack began. The suspects have been detained, but due to their extremely young age, they cannot be held criminally responsible.
“Nothing like this had ever happened,” said the Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality, Matteo Zocchi.
“I was the one who called the ambulance and the police,” adds Pascucci, in a long post on social media. “Given the severity of the wounds from the blows which, according to the doctors, were inflicted with inhuman violence, the little boy underwent surgery and will have to repeat many operations in the future to reconstruct his face.”
The child was discharged on Saturday morning.
Regarding the three Roma brothers, Pascucci adds that they “were recognized by the other children from the photos shown by the policemen.”
The iron bar used in the attack has also been recovered by police. Authorities are looking to see whether the parents can be charged, as they were present during the attack in the park.
At the very least, the children may be taken from the parents, with authorities starting family checks and involving social services.
However, none of that will ever repair the trauma suffered by the 8-year-old Italian boy, whose birthday party became the location of his life-changing injuries.
The residents of that area mainly reported thefts to us, but episodes of aggression like these had never occurred,” said the mayor of the III municipality, President Paolo Emilio Marchionne. “That is an area that has always been very popular where children’s parties are often organized: the association provides tables and chairs for events; there is also a vegetable garden. In short, it’s a place that is usually under control, and apart from a few small thefts, there have never been violent events.”
Meanwhile, another unbelievable explosion of violence from ethnic minorities, who have foreign status in Italy, has led to outrage from the right.
“It is unacceptable that a moment of joy like a birthday turns into an act of violence. We need zero tolerance towards such behavior and a concrete commitment to the supervision of our parks and to education in respect from a young age,” demands the group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the municipality, Manuel Bartolomeo.
France is seeing a wave of extremely violent attacks on French police officers, with two incidents showcasing the risks law enforcement faces.
According to L’Union news outlet, six off-duty police officers were violently attacked by around 10 individuals while they were meeting colleagues for dinner. The incident was caught on film and shows a number of individuals surrounding and beating the officers.
The beating took place on September 13-14 in Reims.
🇫🇷🔴6 off-duty French police officers were violently lynched in the French city of Reims, by about 10 individuals.
2 arrested suspects are from Mayotte (off the coast of Africa).
The suspects knew the officers, and one had just been released from prison 4 days ago.
Prosecutor François Schneider described the attack as a “lynching.” Two suspects, aged 26 and 27 and originally from Mayotte, an island off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, were arrested on Sept. 15 and will be charged.
Prosecutors allege that the perpetrators knew who they were attacking and were purposefully targeting police officers. The officers’ injuries range from 4 to 28 days of temporary incapacity for work, including a broken ankle, a fractured nose, and blows inflicted with a belt buckle.
The two suspects, already known to the courts, are repeat offenders for violence. One of them had just been released from prison four days earlier. The prosecutor’s office has requested their pretrial detention.
The UN1TÉ union described the area of Reims, known as Promenades, as a “lawless zone” and “cut-throat” at night. The police union is demanding more staff. The National Police Alliance calls for an “exemplary and swift” conviction.
Officer left disfigured
In a separate attack, a French anti-crime officer was left disfigured. During this incident, the lone officer was surrounded by a pack that relentlessly beat him. A number of suspects have since been arrested, all French citizens: Islam S., Sofiane B., Gebril S., Aissa S., and Khadija S.
The beating was so brutal that the country’s interior minister was forced to issue a statement.
🇫🇷🚨A French anti-crime officer was beaten savagely by a group of thugs in the French city of Tourcoing.
Spectators watched on and filmed the brutal assault.
He suffered severe injuries and remains hospitalized.
Two of the teenagers are in pre-trial detention, while three others are under judicial supervision. They have also been banned from public roads without proper legal authority between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has also contacted the officer, stating he offered “his full support.”
The beating took place on Sept. 11 in Tourcoing, according to CNEWS.
The officer, who serves as an anti-crime squad officer (BAC), suffered a broken nose during the beating. He had intervened on Thursday afternoon during a “scooter theft.”
According to police, the case “involved blackmail, harassment of a kid, a poor kid, who was subjected to terror by a small gang,” said outgoing Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin.
In other words, the officer was trying to help a youth being targeted by a gang.
Darmanin said that the officer suffered a broken “nasal septum for which he will probably have surgery.”
These are not isolated incidents, as violent acts against French police had already doubled over the last two decades, according to data from 2021.
In a recent interview, Polish-American model and TV personality Joanna Krupa stated her belief that Poland is obviously a much safer country than the United States.
Krupa, who is well-known in Poland for her work on “Top Model” and her animal welfare advocacy, has lived in the U.S. since the age of five.
However, she told Polish outlet Plotek.pl in a piece published today that crime is getting worse and worse in the United States.
“Unfortunately, it’s actually getting worse. I hope it gets better somehow, because in Poland, as a mother, I see the difference that it’s very safe here compared to the States. Obviously, nowhere is perfect, but I think Poland is a country where they really care about safety. And in the States, I think it’s common for someone to go to jail and then they release them.”
Krupa then pointed to the brutal murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by Black male career criminal DeCarlos Brown, who stabbed her to death on a train near Charlotte, North Carolina. The man had 14 criminal convictions but was released on no-cash bail.
Charlie Kirk's last video cannot be embedded, implying it has now been censored on the X platform.
While discussing murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, he notes that the racial double-standard involved. https://t.co/QEWte06voc
“Like recently with that girl [Iryna Zarutska] who was unfortunately killed on the train… For me, it’s shocking, for me, it’s something incredible that things like this are happening. I think it has to change,” she admitted in an interview with Plotek, adding that she feels safer in Poland.
For those are saying, "Let's not make it about race," the footage tells us another story.
Decarlos Brown Jr. is heard saying, “I got that White girl,” after the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte.pic.twitter.com/nf0HJCB5Yb
Zarutska’s death has sparked global news coverage, but her death is symptomatic of the incredible crime problem facing Americans, including Black-on-White crime. The issue has prompted commentary from European politicians, including MEP Tomasz Froelich, of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
“Black people make up 13% of the population in the USA but account for 56% of murderers. Their homicide rate is 6-8 times higher than that of Whites. For every three Black people killed by Whites, seven Whites are killed by Blacks—despite there being almost five times as many Whites as Blacks in the USA. Now, 23-year-old Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed to death by a repeatedly convicted Black man in Charlotte, North Carolina,” Froelich wrote on X.
🇺🇸🇺🇦 This is Iryna Zarutska, which shows her life before she was murdered, in a video made by her friends in her memory.
She had hopes, dreams and aspirations – all cut brutally short by a career criminal on a train in Charlotte, NC.
However, Krupa is not taking any chances with her own safety or the safety of her children.
To protect herself in the U.S., Krupa says she has “cameras, I have an alarm, everything to protect myself.” She added that she avoids wearing expensive jewelry when she goes out, explaining, “Now you never know who’s going to approach you if you’re wearing expensive clothes.”
During the interview, she was also asked what she misses from the United States when she comes to Poland. Apparently, there is not much she is missing.
“There really isn’t that much difference between Poland and the States, because in Poland we have everything. The only thing that’s worse for me is that when I leave the States, if I’m going to Poland for a long time, I miss my daughter because it’s very hard for me to leave without her. And when she’s here, I don’t really miss anything,” she said.
However, even in countries like neighboring Germany, Poles are getting tired of dealing with crime and growing chaos in the schools and cities, and are opting to return to Poland in large numbers.
The conversation between the two, caught on camera, came following the hours-long rape of a young Polish man by a migrant inside a Munich metro station, which became international news.
In relation to big cities, Berlin was rated as having 10 times more crime than Warsaw, and a travel advisory was even issued to Polish travelers about the crime issues facing Germany in 2023.
However, the crime rate in many U.S. cities is astronomically high, whereas in cities like Berlin, crime remains high in comparison to countries like Poland and Hungary, but still does not compare to the U.S. in most cases.
An African migrant, from Eritrea, committed an incredible number of crimes in a short period of time, perpetrating at least 46 crimes in just 13 months in Switzerland. The number and range of crimes is shocking, with the man routinely showing his penis to women on trains, committing thefts, and sexually assaulting at least one woman in Frauenfeld.
The man has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to be deported, with a ban on Swiss territory for 10 years. Whether they actually manage to deport him, or just shift him to another European country, remains to be seen. In 10 years, he may return to Switzerland.
He robbed from many different cities, committing thefts in St. Gallen, Thurgau and Zurich. In addition, he was known for his routine and bizarre acts of exhibition, exposing his penis to women on trains and even in a flower shop.
In one incident, he seriously sexually assaulted a woman in Frauenfeld, jumping on her at night, groping her, and sexually harassing her. It was only a matter of luck that the victim was able to wriggle free from the African and escape.
During his trial, the St. Galler Tagblatt reported that the defendant appeared to have no remorse or even any insight as to why he was in court. He dragged the court process on with interjections, although he spoke little German and had to have all his statements translated.
The man routinely asked for the court to repeat what had just been said, even though he appeared to be mentally absent from most of the proceedings.
Judge Daniel Geeler screamed during the proceedings, “You’d better listen!”
The man’s criminal convictions were 23 pages long, and the court case featured witness statements, videos, and even the occasional confession from the suspect regarding at least some of the crimes.
Although he was accused of 46 separate offenses, the court convicted him on only 31 counts, including sexual assault, theft, sexual harassment, and trespassing.
The African showed no remorse in court. He will also have to pay 50,000 Swiss Francs as restitution; however, it is unclear how he will ever obtain any such sum of money besides through taxpayer-funded welfare.
The Swiss judge, Geeler, seemed to be shocked by the man’s crime spree.
“The accused has an incredible 31 convictions, this court of law has never seen this before,” the judge said during the trial.
Now, Swiss media is using the case to showcase that “hardly any perpetrator in the region has accumulated such a criminal record in such a short period of time.”
Despite claims that “diversity is our strength,” cases like this are far from rare. One Lebanese migrant in Germany had over 100 active investigations for his various crimes, including stalking children on playgrounds in Zetel.
A Senegalese man and his “second” wife are on trial in Orléans for the murder of the “first” wife, a 31-year-old French woman, a case highlighting themes of polygamy, religious control, and domestic violence.
The victim, Clothilde Ba, died in August 2022 from blows to the face and head, dying a few hours later after the assault at Montargis urban hospital. She was pregnant, and her unborn baby girl also could not be saved. The two co-accused, Sileye Ba, 38, Clothilde’s ex-husband, and Dieynaba Kande, 34, his “second” wife, each face life imprisonment and are blaming each other for the fatal blows, according to French news outlet Le Parisien.
The tragic story began with a love affair. Clothilde, an atheist communications student, met Sileye, a cameraman, during an internship in Dakar in 2015. They secretly married, but when they returned to France, Clothilde’s father, Didier Ghiti, noticed a change in his daughter.
“When she returned from Senegal with the man who became her husband, we lived under the same roof, and I realized she was no longer the Clothilde I knew,” he said.
The Senegalese migrant, Sileye Ba, is a member of the Baye Fall movement, a branch of Islam that practices strict gender roles.
According to the young woman’s father, “Clothilde was searching for spirituality, and this man probably provided her with some answers. The influence began like that.”
As neither his daughter nor the new husband worked, Didier Ghiti supported them financially until he found the living situation “unbearable” and “ended up kicking them out.”
The couple, who by then had one child, found refuge in a shelter before securing an apartment in Montargis. In 2018, Sileye’s “second” wife, Dieynaba, joined them under the guise of being a cousin on an au pair contract. This created a “strange ménage à trois” that lasted for four years.
Neighbors observed Dieynaba monitoring Clothilde’s every move, who now appeared veiled and had cut off contact with her family and friends. Clothilde gave birth to a second and third child in 2019 and 2020.
The household’s financial stability relied on social assistance and the support of Clothilde’s mother, Sylvie Ghiti, who moved in with them after leaving her husband. Sylvie, who suffered from schizophrenia, converted to Islam and became increasingly devoted to Sileye, whom she called “baba” or “my guide.”
Her ex-husband, Didier, reported Sileye for abuse. Sylvie’s devotion soon turned to disillusionment as she “helplessly witnessed scenes of psychological and physical violence against her daughter.”
She documented this in messages on her phone. To maintain control, Sileye accused Clothilde of having affairs, using it as a justification to install surveillance cameras in the home.
The extreme coercive control led Sylvie to leave in late 2021. She lived in her car for months, cut off from her daughter and grandchildren. In May 2022, she committed suicide. A few days before her death, she wrote to her son-in-law, “Your God has destroyed me and you too.”
That same spring, social services received warnings about the living conditions and potential violence in the home. An assessment was launched, but Clothilde “kept smiling, found answers to everything, and avoided further appointments.”
She fabricated an assault to explain a black eye and never incriminated her husband or Dieynaba.
However, an autopsy revealed multiple injuries and bruises all over Clothilde’s body, including her genitals. As lawyer Pauline Rongier, representing several civil parties, stated, “This trial must also serve to retrace and understand the humiliations and mistreatment suffered by Clothilde.”
The court will now determine the responsibility of Sileye and Dieynaba for the fatal night of August 2-3, 2022.
A 50-year-old man is facing potential attempted murder charges for defending his own life after a home invasion in the French city of Saint-Dié.
During the incident, five individuals smashed a window of the man’s home and entered.
When an intruder lunged at the man, the homeowner said he awakened, and in a panic, grabbed a knife and stabbed one of them in the chest. “I was in a panic. I grabbed what I had at hand. It was a gesture of self-defense,” he said to French media outlet Voges Matin.
The five attackers have all been arrested and will stand trial in February 2026.
So far, not many details of the incident have been released, including the first names or nationalities of anyone involved.
The question is now being raised about how far homeowners can go in defending themselves, especially in situations where they are startled awake and are vastly outnumbered by suspects inside their home in the middle of the night.
The fact that the prosecutor is even considering charging the man shows just how drastically different self-defense rules are between Europe and the United States.
In a video interview with news portal La Bonne Droite, Cédric Gallineau recounts that the incident began when he awoke one night and heard muffled sounds in his garage. After telling his wife to call the police, Gallineau, who is a collector of medieval swords, marched to select the appropriate longsword from his collection.
He then charged into his garage, where he stores a luxury car, and proceeded to swing his sword at the group of burglars. The men appeared to be shocked to learn they had entered the home of a bearded swordsman.
“As they came out, I would tap them,” Cédric said, using sword-fighting skills he had picked up over time.
During the video interview, he almost seemed disappointed by his foes’ lack of ability to counter his longsword attacks.
“They were pushing each other, it was chaos,” Cédric said.
Cédric was never charged in the incident, but police also never identified the suspects, and it remains unclear if any of them suffered any serious injuries.
In yet another senseless act of violence, a Moroccan migrant has been arrested for severely beating an elderly German woman for no apparent reason in the German city of Dortmund. The 35-year-old man is accused of cowardly coming from behind and launching the attack against the 78-year-old woman, which left her with a traumatic brain injury.
The attack occurred on Saturday at 4:26 p.m. on Hagener Street near the Dortmund Zoo. Witnesses report the Moroccan man jumped on the woman’s back from behind and kicked her hard in the back. They say the man did this without warning, and there was no reason or previous communication between the two parties.
According to Bild newspaper, the woman fell to the ground, prompting witnesses to rush to her aid. The police and emergency services were immediately contacted, and an emergency doctor treated the woman on site.
The woman was transported to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
His daughter was murdered by an illegal Palestinian migrant, stabbed 38 times, along with her boyfriend.
17-year-old Ann-Marie is gone, but her father won't let her memory die. He delivered a message to Olaf Scholz's face:
A police manhunt led to the perpetrator being quickly arrested just a short distance from the scene.
The police said there was no motive for the attack.
There was another attack in the area shortly before the elderly woman was beaten, near Rombergpark. Police believe the Moroccan man may have also been responsible for that attack and are investigating whether there is a connection.
Moroccan men are considered to have the highest violent crime rates in Germany, according to police data. They have a rate of 3,388 suspects in the category of violent crime per 100,000. In contrast, for 100,000 German men, 272 were suspected of a violent offense.
This data was obtained from the Police Criminal Statistics (PKS) 2024, which shows data for the so-called “suspect exposure number” (TVBZ) with regard to the age, gender and origin of suspects. This data describes how many suspects there were per 100,000 inhabitants of a certain group per crime, such as assault, based on criteria such as gender and foreign status, for specific years.
🇩🇪 Germans will "perish" due to mass immigration, says German-Turkish TikToker "Based Girl 2.0."
"You wanted diversity, you have diversity."
"Call me whatever you want, I don't care. But this diversity will eventually drag you to the ground."
Elderly victims have also been a common target in Germany, including in murders, assaults, rapes, and robberies.
The issue is not only common in Germany, but also in other countries with large migrant populations, such as France, where the elderly have also been victimized in countless murders, assaults, rapes, and home invasions.
🇩🇪🔴 A young German teen ponders what Germany would be like if Merkel had not welcomed over 1 million migrants.
She was only 4 when the former chancellor made her decision, but life has dramatically changed.
Another outrageous honor-related killing attempt has emerged in Germany, this time in the Lower Saxony city of Cuxhaven. The case involved a Syrian father who commissioned his son to kill the father’s 19-year-old daughter — who was also the sister of the son.
“I locked all the doors. And I was afraid he’d come and do something to us,” said the 17-year-old son who was ordered to kill his sister, while speaking to police.
Bild newspaper reports that the 17-year-old son courageously defied his father after he ordered the boy to kill his sister because she had violated the family’s honor.
She had saved a boy’s phone number on her phone, which was supposed to merit a death sentence.
“He looked at me with a cold stare. No smile, nothing,” the brother said. “Then he said, ‘You have to kill her. Make it look like an accident, like a fight. No one must know that she insulted my honor.’”
The teenager went to the police with the information, saying it was clear he would never take his sister’s life.
“It deserves the highest recognition that a young person in such a difficult and stressful situation finds the courage to turn to the police and thus also to stand up against his own father,” says Stephan Hartmann, head of the 1st Specialized Department of the Cuxhaven Police Department.
The male suspect, 46-year-old Ali, fled to Germany with his wife and eight children in 2019 and lived on state benefits in a large apartment. However, the media reports indicate that the family lived under a very strict upbringing mandated by the father, who regularly beat his daughters and watched their every move. He forbade them from contacting other boys.
Now, the daughter has also spoken out to Bild, saying: “For five years, my father has been beating us daughters. We are not allowed to speak to boys or have contact with them.”
As a part of their strict regime, they are not allowed to even take photos of themselves or have any part of their body in a photo.
“Once I took one of an ice cream that also had my hand on it. I had to delete it immediately,” she told Bild.
The man is now facing attempted murder charges and remains in custody.
The man is known to the police for other offenses, including a previous assault, which resulted in him being banned from his own apartment for 14 days.
The father repeatedly told the daughters over the years that he wanted to “live in a country where people applaud him when he kills his daughter—not in a country where he goes to prison for it.”
This is far from the only honor killing in Germany, with numbers soaring since the border was opened in 2015. Since then, a number of high-profile cases have emerged, including within families where the siblings were accomplices to murders.
Last year, a Somali migrant stood trial in Germany accused of stabbing his sister to death with a kitchen knife on her 23rd birthday to restore her honor after disagreeing with her assimilation in Western society.
The prosecution also submitted evidence of two handwritten notes found during a search of the defendant’s home after the arrest in which he wrote, “My sister is trying to be a slut” and “I can live without a future but not without honor.”
In the first major state elections since the new government, North Rhine-Westphalia went to the polls, with the Christian Democrats (CDU) coming out on top while the Social Democrats (SPD) crashed in support. Meanwhile, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now the third-strongest party in the state, more than tripling its support from the last elections.
The state, which has 14 million eligible voters, served as a major litmus test for the new government. The CDU was the clear winner, earning 33 percent of the vote, compared to its 2020 total of 34.2 percent.
The AfD was seen as growing its support substantially, jumping to 14.5 percent of the vote, a clear jump from 5.1 percent in the last elections. However, the party actually received a higher share of the vote during the federal elections, meaning support for the party appears to be stagnating.
Nevertheless, the establishment views the AfD results as a worrying sign.
“This result should give us pause and cannot let us sleep peacefully,” said North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Hendrik Wüst, of the CDU, to the “Report from Berlin.”
The left-wing SPD was seen as one of the big losers, falling to 22 percent in what was once considered one of its heartlands. In 1994, the party received 42 percent of the vote.
The far-left Green Party also sunk dramatically, going from 20 percent to 13.4 percent.
The local elections could have implications for the federal coalition between the CDU and SPD. With the SPD losing votes, it could turn more sharply against the CDU, with the two parties already sharply clashing over judicial appointments.
The votes were for thousands of candidates, including those running for district councilor, mayor, districting administrators, and other positions.
However, a looming crisis has to do with the fact that a majority of municipalities are on the verge of bankruptcy. Only 16 out of 427 were able to put forward balanced budgets in 2024.
A number of run-off votes will also be taking place on Sept. 28. The CDU and SPD are combining forces to block AfD candidates. For the first time, the AfD will be in mayoral run-offs, including Norbert Emmerich in Gelsenkirchen, who scored 29.8 percent of the vote. However, he is far behind the SPD opponent, Andrea Henze, who received 37.1 percent of the votes.
In many of the other races, the AfD candidate appears to have little chance of victory.
NRW woes
Unemployment is growing in the German state, with 800,000 jobless reported in August. Bankruptcies are also growing, jumping to 3,190 in the first half of 2025, a 17.2 percent increase.
The AfD is still celebrating its results. Party co-leader Alice Weidel celebrated on X, writing it was a “great success.” However, the actual totals for the AfD turned out to be slightly less than exit polls initially predicted.
Ein riesiger Erfolg: Nach ersten Prognosen hat sich das Ergebnis der AfD in NRW verdreifacht. Herzlichen Dank an alle Wahlkämpfer und an unsere Wähler! pic.twitter.com/5eim5eDxfP
The AfD, however, continues to grow in strength in the east of the country. Furthermore, new polls show the party hitting close to 20 percent in Bavaria.
The party will still need to boost its support to close to 20 percent in North Rhine-Westphalia and other Western states if it ever hopes to secure the support of 30 percent of voters nationwide, one of its key goals. If it ever manages to secure such a voting share, it would make forming coalitions without the party at the federal level nearly impossible.
New data shows that 64 percent of violent robberies, physical and sexual violence on public transport in Paris are committed by foreigners, with 43 percent of this number being North African, who represent only 3.4 percent of the population.
The data, from the French agency INSEE, as reported by Fdesouche, also shows that in 2024, overall in France, foreigners committed 41 percent of violent robberies, physical and sexual violence on public transport. Nineteen percent of these crimes were committed by North Africans.
The foreign population in France is equivalent to 5.2 million people, or 7.7 percent of the total population. Of this number, 44.4 percent are from Africa.
These statistics do not break down information based on race or ethnicity, as France does not track such information. France also does not track the migration background of French citizens. Any foreigner who has since become a French citizen is tracked in the statistics as French.
🇫🇷🚨 Sexual violence against women on French public transport has increased 86% since 2016, according to new data released today from the National Observatory on Violence against Women (Miprof)
In addition, Remix News also reported this year that there has been an 86 percent increase in sexual offenses on French public transport over the last decade, according to the National Observatory on Violence against Women (MIPROF). Seven out of 10 Paris women say they have been victims of sexual violence on public transport.
In terms of sexual assault, women are the victims in 91 percent of all cases, according to the survey from the Ministerial Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI). Of those victims, 75 percent of them are under 30, and 36 percent of those are minors.
🇫🇷‼️ Sexual violence by migrants against women is out of control in France and the mainstream media doesn't want you to know about it.
Here are just some of the attacks across the country in the last few days:
In 2024, there were 3,374 victims of sexual violence on public transport, which is 6 percent more than in 2023, 9 percent more than in 2022, and 86 percent more than in 2016. An incredible 44 percent of the victims were in the Paris region, which is located in Île-de-France, as reported by Le Figaro.
The survey also shows that seven out of 10 women who live in the Île-de-France region have already been victims of sexual violence during their lifetime.
In addition, 56 percent of women said they were scared to ride public transport in the Ile-de-France (Paris) rail network, while 80 percent admitted to being on alert, according to the study.
As Remix News has reported numerous times in the past, women are routinely sexually harassed on European rail networks.
“The fact that a woman or girl changes her timetable or her journeys for fear of being attacked should make us question the freedom of access of all citizens to the public transport service,” said Maracineanu.
Foreign crime a major issue in France
France has long struggled with the overrepresentation of foreigners in its crime statistics.
In 2023, the French interior ministry announced that 48 percent of all crimes in Paris were committed by foreigners.
As Remix News reported in the past, a poll conducted for top French newspaper Le Figaro shows that nearly three out of four French people believe there are too many migrants in the country, with the poll results coming after the country accepted a record number of foreigners in 2022 under President Emmanuel Macron.
Another poll has recorded a record result for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), this time in the eastern German state of Thuringia, which shows the party receiving 37 percent of the vote.
The poll comes shortly after the AfD received a record result in another east German state, Saxony-Anhalt.
The poll, from Insa, shows AfD has improved its result by 4.2 points from its Sept. 1, 2024, results, when it finished in first place in Thuringia with a large lead.
The other poll in Saxony-Anhalt, conducted by Infratest dimap, recorded a shockingly high result of 39 percent for the AfD.
Both polls are rippling through the German establishment, which appears powerless to challenge the AfD through democratic means. In turn, calls for a ban are growing louder and more shrill as more and more Germans line up behind the policies presented by the AfD.
Currently, the state of Thuringia is led by Minister-President Mario Voigt, who came in second after the AfD in the 2024 elections. In fact, the CDU was 12 points behind, receiving 25 percent. However, a governing coalition arose of the CDU, BSW and SPD, which allowed them to secure a majority. The party is also dependent on the Left Party.
It appears that a large number of voters from the left-wing BSW have jumped to the AfD, with the party falling from 15.8 to 9 percent, and the SPD is at 7 percent. Together, this coalition would only have 41 percent, a drop from its 45.5 percent in the state election.
The AfD has seen a sharp surge in support in the west of Germany, but it still retains its highest share of support in the east of the country. This could one day translate into the AfD holding power in some of these states, but in nationwide elections, the eastern states have a far smaller share of the population compared to the west.
Far left extremists are claiming responsibility for a major attack on a power supply hub providing power to southeast Berlin, which led to a blackout that left 50,000 people without power, the biggest blackout in Berlin since the Cold War.
The damage has been so severe that authorities are reporting it may take until 2026 to fully make repairs, according to Tagesspiegel.
A letter of responsibility was published on Indymedia, a website where many leftist groups publish such letters following attacks.
Berlin’s interior senator, Iris Spranger (SPD), said the letter was authentic. In fact, the letter has many similarities to another letter published in February following a similar arson attack near the Tesla car factory in Grünheide near Berlin, which also led to a major loss of power in Berlin.
“We assume the group of perpetrators is from the left-wing extremist spectrum,” said the Interior Senator. “So that means: not from abroad, but from within the country.“
German media and authorities are indicating that the perpetrators conducted the attacks with a high degree of professionalism.
The attack was conducted in the Johannisthal district and involved an arson attack on two electricity pylons on Tuesday morning. It resulted in the longest power outage in 25 years, leaving up to 50,000 residents without power, with many thousands without power for over 60 hours.
The power outage has proven extremely difficult to repair.
Spranger implied that the attacks, which cut power to thousands of homes, led to deaths; however, it is unclear what she is referring to. She said the perpetrators accepted the deaths of people as “collateral damage”
“No one should accept the death of people. And we all have to face it together,” she said.
More than 30 victims of a Syrian youth gang, known as “505,” have been recorded n the cities of Graz and Vienna. The suspects range in age from 17 to 20, with police reporting they dealt a “severe blow” to the group with mass arrests.
“I’ve never experienced a dimension (of crime) of this magnitude before, and I’ve been in this business for 20 years,” said police spokesman Fritz Grundnig.
The organized gang is accused of a long series of extremely violent assaults between November 2024 and June 2025, mostly in Graz. Styrian police have released details to the national media about the group, including their involvement in the narcotics trade.
“A total of over 20 crimes have been reported, with over 30 victims injured and assaulted by this gang,” said Grundnig.
“The men are suspected of having intentionally committed grievous bodily harm, aggravated assault, robberies, dangerous threats, and coercion in Graz since the end of 2024, with varying degrees of involvement, and of having joined forces in a criminal organization,” an additional press release reads. The investigation revealed that the “505” group used blunt and stabbing weapons. Among the victims were minors, according to media outlet Die Presse.
Despite the gang being focused in Graz, a number of arrests were made in Vienna as well.
Many victims faced extreme violence.
“For example, in June, the group stabbed another man at Griesplatz. He suffered a stab wound in the thigh,” Grundnig reported.
The police spokesperson also said that the gang is involved in the narcotics trade.
“During the house searches, which were of course carried out as part of this operation, a considerable quantity of drugs was found,” he stated.
The gang apparently named itself after another Arab clan gang, which participated in brutal clashes between Chechens, Turks, and Syrians, who gathered under the name 505 or 505/515, in Vienna in 2024.
Those clashes saw gun battles, multiple stabbings, and routine violence.
Left-wing European lawmakers on Thursday refused to observe a moment of reflection for Charlie Kirk, the U.S. conservative activist shot dead during a college debate event in Utah on Wednesday, triggering a heated confrontation in the chamber in Strasbourg and leading to accusations of political bias.
Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers, of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, had emailed European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to propose a minute of silence for Kirk, describing the gesture as symbolic and aimed at defending “our right to freedom of speech.”
However, the request was rejected, with her spokesperson citing a bureaucratic rule that minutes of silence can only be declared at the opening of a plenary session, and as this session had started on Monday, he would have to wait until the next sitting in October.
BREAKING: Left-wing MEPs in the European Parliament refuse to observe a minute's silence for Charlie Kirk. pic.twitter.com/i1t0lBzFyn
Weimers was instead allowed to make a point of order before the voting session began. He opened by urging MEPs to “strongly condemn political violence and rhetoric that incites violence” and asked colleagues to “stand with me in a reflection of prayer in his honor.” When he tried to yield the remainder of his time for a silent tribute, the session’s chair, Katarina Barley of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), cut him off.
“We have discussed this, and you know the president said no to a minute of silence,” Barley said as conservative MEPs banged their desks and shouted in protest. Centrist and left-wing members applauded and whistled at Barley’s intervention.
Hungarian MEP András László accused Barley of deliberately breaking the tribute: “The socialist chair deliberately started talking immediately.”
Patriots and conservatives demanded a minute of silence in the European Parliament today for Charlie Kirk. As it was expected that the socialist chair wouldn't allow it, @weimers parliamentarian said he'll yield his time for silence. The socialist chair deliberately started… pic.twitter.com/kfyyDhytOX
Weimers later said in a social media video: “I wanted to honor the memory of conservative activist Charlie Kirk by yielding my time for a moment of reflection prayer. Unfortunately, the Social Democratic deputy speaker did not want to have that.”
He captioned the clip: “How does holding a minute of silence for George Floyd but denying one for Charlie Kirk make sense?”
How does holding a minute of silence for George Floyd but denying one for Charlie Kirk make sense? pic.twitter.com/0CMFaWw2fv
Polish MEP Dominik Tarczyński also lashed out, writing: “As conservatives, we requested a minute of silence in the European Parliament to honor Charlie Kirk. The left, calling themselves democrats, naturally refused. They are the same everywhere… Even in the face of death, they are incapable of showing human compassion. Therefore, I will organize an exhibition in the European Parliament commemorating Charlie Kirk. His legacy will bear fruit.”
Kirk was killed when a single shot was fired from a distance during a college debate event, striking him in the neck. He was rushed to hospital but did not survive.
German public servants such as police officers and firefighters are under constant threat in the capital of Berlin, but even seemingly benign positions, like a ticket inspector, can also suffer severe violence.
Two thugs, 24-year-old Mohammad A. and his wife Israa M. (22), a husband and wife duo, beat a 47-year-old ticket inspector until he went blind in one eye.
The incident occurred on Aug. 18, 2022, on the M29 bus at the Wittenbergplatz stop. The ticket inspector was checking tickets on the bus for the BVG, the Berlin transport authority.
When the man came to the two convicted individuals, Mohammad A. and Israa M., Mohammad did not have a valid ticket and the electronic chip card from Israa could not be properly read.
During the attack, the two convicted individuals called the victim a racial slur referring to Black people, screaming “n••••r,” according to the court testimony.
When they were ordered off the bus, Mohammad A. refused to provide his personal details.
The ticket inspector’s partner said that Mohammad A. “showed no cooperation and approached my colleague.” He wanted to take the electronic chip card back from his wife.
🇮🇹 This Italian conductor kicks him off the train.
Even when he starts kicking the doors, she doesn't back down.
When can applaud her bravery, but the reality is this situation has ended in bloodshed many times before.🇮🇹pic.twitter.com/gnX2nXJVmd
In court, Femi B. cried on the stand, saying his “old life had been taken from me.” He said he is also still in pain.
He said he has three children in Nigeria and depends on his wages to support them. He is now medically listed as 70 percent disabled and works as an office assistant.
🇩🇪🚨Germany's Green Party is calling for "women-only" train cars in Berlin due to soaring sexual assaults.
In February, Iranian migrant Moshen K. raped a 63-year-old woman on the U3 train line, sparking outrage.
This was not an isolated incident, as Remix News reported in a variety of crimes involving foreigners beating ticket inspectors.
In fact, German train conductors have been told not to check tickets to “keep the peace.”
In 2023, Germany’s rail system saw an explosion in violence, with 75 violent and sexual crimes every single day. There were 25,640 violent crimes recorded in 2023, a 42 percent increase from 2019. There were 1,898 sexual crimes, a 60 percent increase, and 555 knife crimes.
Many German women are now terrified to wait at bus stops at night.
Foreigners commit 59% of all sexual crimes at German trains and train stations, according to police data.
The left-liberal government wants people to take more public transport to fight climate change. pic.twitter.com/hIa8RSjow7
Charlie Kirk was not just a young conservative leader who influenced American conservative youth, but he also had a broad impact on conservatives in Europe and beyond. Hungarian conservative influencer Matthew Kulifai writes about Kirk’s role in his own life. Here is his text reprinted:
Unimaginable evil.
Charlie Kirk was a role model for me. As an evangelical Christian, he was able to confess and defend his faith in Jesus Christ so naturally, bravely, and professionally, which was enviable. In addition, his public influence was enormous: He opened the eyes of hundreds of thousands, millions of young Americans to proudly and courageously represent the values they believe in instead of the crazy woke and cancel culture spreading on campuses.
At a very young age, he knew what his mission was with Turning Point USA, and he carried it through. He regularly consulted with the most powerful people in the country, became a close ally of Trump – according to some analysts, he partly owes his victory to him – because with his extraordinary rhetoric and high intelligence, he won over the young voters. He put an amazing amount of work into the campaign. And it paid off.
He was only 31 years old, just a year younger than me. He was the proud father of two children and the loving husband of Erika. He and his wife counseled young believers and married couples on how to live a moral life, overcome sin, and resist temptation.
He was also a role model because he proudly and openly represented the values of the Judeo-Christian revelation, standing up for Israel, even though so many influencers on the American right were now taking a radically anti-Zionist turn. He didn’t. He knew what returning to the Biblical lands meant for Christians, what the prophecies were that needed to be fulfilled.
The genre he carried on to this day was also very inspiring: on university campuses, he openly invited anyone who had a question or an opinion to debate. Leftists and rightists, atheists or Christians, liberals or conservatives. He always tried to behave in a civilized and correct manner with everyone, to protect his debate partners from the whining and vehement reactions of the majority. He was respectful towards his political opponents, but firm and forceful when it came to important matters.
The footage of his brutal murder was truly shocking. A still unknown assailant shot him in the neck from a distance of 180 meters at a Utah event. He was taken to the hospital, despite the incredible loss of blood – but they could not save him.
This was a deeply vicious murder, more than a personal tragedy. He was loved and prayed for by millions, on both sides. (There were, of course, some unscrupulous people who justified the murder (MSNBC host) or even celebrated it (Islamists)
It feels like the United States has reached some kind of turning point, and the world a little bit along with it. The last time I felt this way was maybe October 7th or September 11th. I can’t explain why. It’s like there’s a change of era again.
I am horrified by what happened.
My deepest sympathies to his family, may the Lord give them comfort.
And for this world rushing towards destruction, mercy, while it is still possible.”
We already know what they are capable of when they are in power, but Charlie Kirk’s death shows us what they are capable of when they are out of power. After Trump won, it was no longer about free and peaceful debate and winning at the ballot box, it became about taking back power through the barrel of a gun.
When they are in power, they launch mass surveillance against the right, dox them, censor them, smear them in the most powerful news outlets, cancel them, and get them fired from their jobs. They launch law enforcement investigations and relentlessly try to imprison them, whether it’s Trump, Salvini, Le Pen, or the tens of thousands of people simply voicing their opinion on social media who now face house raids and prosecution across the West.
They call the outright “Nazis,” they launched rabid doxxing NGOs like Hope Not Hate after them and their families, and then claim the right is a “threat to democracy.”
In countries like the U.K., where the right is not even close to power, they direct intelligence agency resources and well-funded and shadowy NGOs to hunt down any voice — anonymous or public — that challenges their power.
In the United States, Trump already survived multiple assassination attempts, all while the international left cheered on each one of them, lamenting that the “fascist” survived.
However, they do not just want Trump dead and in prison, they also want you in prison. This has been the takeaway from many in conservative, right-wing, and libertarian movements for a long time now, the death of Kirk only brings it home in a deeply painful manner. Videos of Kirk’s children, who now will grow up without a father, show us what is at stake.
When the left say they want Trump to get assassinated, they mean you. They mean Charlie Kirk, in front of a bunch of university students. They mean anyone who disagrees with them. They mean you.
The ghouls doing the Mexican hat dance on the corpse of Kirk make it all difficult to stomach. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of videos trending across BlueSky, Reddit, and TikTok, all celebrating the death of Kirk in the most twisted and heinous ways. On top of that, there are endless text posts celebrating his death on these various platforms.
It’s a very good day for many of these people.
Kirk himself warned about this.
The fact that leftists are celebrating an assassination so brazenly, inside a university, widely perceived as a safe space for free expression and open debate, is shocking on an entirely new level. We do not know the motives of the killer yet, but we do know there is a very big party for huge swathes of the left.
A new standard has been set.
Vile TikTok videos flood in celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk, a young father, who was known for his willingness to engage and debate the left in good faith.
This isn't just an "America problem."
Slovak PM Robert Fico nearly died last year after being shot multiple times. https://t.co/NqzwMN6tEs
Across X, users are pointing out how Kirk was someone who believed in open debate, including the vice president of the United States.
This is such a good point. If you actually watch Charlie’s events—as opposed to the fake summaries—they are one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right. He would answer any question and talk to everyone. https://t.co/ZSOFUYZ6aN
Kirk’s death shows the risks that many on the right face, the ones who put their face out to the world and think they can face down these individuals in a civilized manner. For the few on the right who still believed that, Kirk’s death is going to put things in perspective.
One of Kirk’s last posts had to do with a topic Remix News has written extensively about, which is the deterioration in security across the Western world. He specifically addresses the racial double-standards involved in the brutal murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by a Black career criminal in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Charlie Kirk's last video cannot be embedded, implying it has now been censored on the X platform.
While discussing murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, he notes that the racial double-standard involved. https://t.co/QEWte06voc
Across many parts of Europe and North America, going outside is now an exercise in fear for many, especially for women and even the elderly. This is only one of many issues that Kirk addressed on a regular basis, but clearly, it was important to him.
Kirk often addressed some of the core issues behind the increase in insecurity, which are open borders, lax immigration, and a belief that criminals should not be held accountable for their crimes. Hatred of White people has now also become a factor.
This may all sound very reasonable to many, but to the left, these topics are not open to discussion.
They want these topics and the people who discuss them to be censored and they want anyone discussing these topics in prison or sent into financial ruin. In many cases, they will cheer on your death if you openly discuss a topic they deem not open for debate.
At even the highest level of politics, even within the parties themselves, they are also not even willing to have a debate on these issues. In the elections in Cologne, Germany, for instance, all parties have agreed to talk about migration in only positive terms, even if migration is clearly not always a benefit but a complicated issue fraught with pros and cons. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the only party that has not signed on to this vow.
This type of shutdown in discourse from the left is worrying, but there will be no more dissent anymore. The time for open debate is over for them.
Now, it is time to censor, dox, imprison, and even kill if necessary.
Anything to stay in power.
I personally have admired many on the right for putting their names to their faces over the years, despite the severe risks involved.
As the editor of Remix News, I have chosen to remain anonymous, as many others have as well. Many have been doxxed, and while some, like Raw Egg Nationalist (Charles Cornish-Dale), embraced it and have even put their faces out publicly on a regular basis, for others, it has been ruinous.
“Well, it’s a growing trend because people like me are facing violence, assault, the left. Yes, the campus Antifa. I’ve been stormed out of restaurants. I’ve been assaulted publicly. Multiple death threats. There’s more people that agree with me than some people would actually believe and they come out of the woodwork when I do stuff like this. We record all of it so that we put on the internet, so people can see these ideas collide. When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity.”
It will almost always be true that those people like Kirk, who head out into the public and “put themselves out there,” will be the most effective voices in terms of influencing and changing people’s minds. However, not everyone is willing to be “assaulted publicly,” face down “multiple death threats,” and be “stormed out of restaurants.” I certainly am not.
There are too many unhinged people like this out there for me.
🚨BREAKING: Deranged liberal claims Charlie Kirk’s last words would have been “hella racist,” she goes on to say, “Yes Nazi’s have children—Nazi’s also get shot in the neck.” pic.twitter.com/IPWwgBhw5W
I do not want my property burned. I do not want my family harassed. And I do not want to be targeted in a potentially even more violent manner than all of the above.
For the many people on the right putting their names and faces out there, it is more dangerous than ever to do so, and they should always put their safety first and foremost. They have my deepest respect, and I can only hope they all stay safe. The days of “open debate” are now over. Do not naively think speaking at a university or a conference is a safe space. They are out for blood and will not spend a single moment thinking about you, your family, or any children you may leave behind.
Kirk’s death shows us what these people are capable of, and just how much they can celebrate the death of anyone they view as “right wing” or “conservative” with unbridled and effusive joy.
An 18-year-old Turkish former student stabbed a teacher and a student at the Campus Vert d’Azur high school in Antibes, southern France, on Wednesday afternoon, despite having been on a national security watchlist and previously hospitalized for psychiatric and extremist threats.
The attacker, named as Ekin A., entered the school at around 1:30 p.m. armed with a kitchen knife and lunged at a 52-year-old English teacher, stabbing her three times. He then stabbed a 16-year-old student. As panic spread through the building, the 18-year-old moved deeper inside before being confronted by the school principal, who managed to calm him until police arrived and arrested him.
Both victims were treated by paramedics and taken to the hospital. Neither is in a life-threatening condition, though one was more seriously injured.
Police found a backpack containing a second knife during a search of the school grounds. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has been notified of the case. Authorities confirmed that the teenager had been classed as an “S” individual — a category used to mark people considered a potential threat to national security — and was already known to police for “apology for terrorism.”
Le Figaro reported how in 2024, Ekin A. had been reported to the Grasse prosecutor by the Alpes-Maritimes departmental council after telling his psychiatrist he intended to carry out a mass killing. Prosecutor Damien Savarzeix said that police investigations confirmed he was “obsessed with mass killings and hardly tried to hide it.” He idolized far-right Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered 77 people in the 2011 Norway attacks in Oslo and Utøya, and had studied the Columbine High School massacre in the United States in 1999.
When police raided his home in April 2024, they found several bladed weapons, a bulletproof tactical vest, notebooks laying out his criminal plan, and swastikas and cabalistic symbols on his bedroom walls. They also found extensive data and internet searches about mass killings. He had been in contact with a 17-year-old girl in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin who appeared to share his fantasies; she was later arrested and placed in psychiatric care.
Ekin A. was charged with “participation in a criminal association with a view to preparing a crime” and “public apology for a crime or offense,” then transferred to compulsory psychiatric care on the orders of the prefect, who deemed him too dangerous for prison. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office was alerted at the time.
Despite this, he was later released and returned to live with his family. Local police said they were stunned to learn he had been freed, saying they knew “how dangerous and determined he was.”
🚨 🇫🇷 ALERTE INFO : Ce mercredi 10 septembre, une attaque au couteau a fait au moins deux blessés au lycée horticole d'Antibes. Des élèves témoignent. (NiceMatin) pic.twitter.com/3yJSJ4JtDO
On Wednesday, he walked unchallenged into his former school. Students said the gate was open and there were no security checks or alarms. One student who sheltered during the attack said in a video: “A man broke into the school with a knife… There was zero information from anyone. The gate is always open and anyone can enter. Frankly, that’s what shocked me. We heard the commotion from downstairs. There were no alerts, no messages. We only found out someone had been injured when teachers started messaging each other.”
Une attaque au couteau est survenue ce jour au Campus Vert d’Azur à #Antibes . Je condamne avec fermeté cette agression brutale qui malheureusement n’épargne aucun territoire de notre pays. Trois personnes ont été blessées, dont une plus gravement, mais aucune n’est en urgence…
Jean Leonetti, the mayor of Antibes, praised the quick thinking of staff who helped prevent a larger massacre. “I strongly condemn this brutal attack, which unfortunately spares no part of our country,” he wrote. “The perpetrator was able to be restrained thanks to the remarkable composure of the head of the establishment and the teams present.”
À Antibes, une enseignante et un élève ont été blessés, attaqués au couteau par un individu de nationalité étrangère, fiché S, et défavorablement connu des services de police pour "apologie du terrorisme". Que faisait-il encore en France ?
National Rally’s de facto leader Marine Le Pen criticized the fact that the suspect had remained in France, writing: “In Antibes, a teacher and a student were injured, attacked with a knife by a foreign national, on the S list, and unfavorably known to the police for ‘apology for terrorism.’ What was he still doing in France?”
The suspect is now in custody, facing charges of attempted murder and armed intrusion on school grounds.
A decision by the Flanders Festival Ghent in Belgium to cancel a scheduled concert by the Munich Philharmonic has triggered outrage across Germany, after the festival said it would not allow the performance to go ahead because the orchestra’s conductor, Lahav Shani, is Israeli.
The festival claimed it could not be sure of his stance toward what it described as the “genocidal regime” in his home country.
Shani, who is from Tel Aviv, is also the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The Munich Philharmonic was due to perform in Ghent next Thursday as part of the festival’s programme. On its website, the festival wrote, “In light of his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, we are unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.
“In line with the call from the Minister of Culture, the city council of Ghent, and the cultural sector in Ghent, we have chosen to refrain from collaboration with partners who have not distanced themselves unequivocally from that regime.”
The organizers said they had acted “on the basis of our deepest conviction that music should be a source of connection and reconciliation” and argued that, given the “inhumanity of the current situation” and “emotional reactions in our own society,” the concert could not proceed.
They added that the rest of the festival, which runs from Sept. 12 to Oct.2, would go ahead as planned.
The decision drew sharp condemnation in Germany. Federal Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called the cancellation “gross anti-Semitism” and “a disgrace for Europe,” saying the festival had crossed “an imaginary red line.”
Bavarian Culture Minister Markus Blume called it a “shameful scandal,” adding: “I am shocked that a music festival is using the power of music, which brings people together, to divide and polarize.”
Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, also criticized the move in a statement. “The Munich Philharmonic, as cultural ambassadors of the City of Munich, stand for openness, diversity, and dialogue — whether at home in Munich or on tour to concert halls across Europe and around the world. I find the decision of the festival’s organizers utterly incomprehensible,” it read.
A 21-year-old man with a mobility disability was left for dead after being savagely beaten by a group of young men of North African origin outside a nightclub in Sanremo, Italy, over the weekend.
The victim, from Alba in Piedmont, had been waiting for a bus with two friends when the group of four attackers surrounded them on Via Gioberti near the Sanremo seafront in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The two friends managed to flee, but the 21-year-old was knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked as he lay helpless. Witnesses said his face was left completely bruised. At one point, one of the assailants reportedly shouted in French, “Okay, he’s dead!” and took a photo of the motionless victim as a trophy before fleeing.
Sanremo, tre ragazzi tra i 18 e i 21 anni sono stati arrestati per aver picchiato un coetaneo disabile, che si trovava nella località ligure in vacanza dal Piemonte. La violenta aggressione, dopo una serata in un locale, ripresa anche in un video @TgrRaiLiguriapic.twitter.com/eNR5D05OLn
A local resident captured the beating on his mobile phone, and the footage helped police identify three of the alleged perpetrators, aged between 18 and 21 and residing in Monaco. They were arrested on Wednesday, while a fourth attacker is still being sought.
As reported by Il Giornale, the suspects claimed the attack was a “settling of scores” over a punch one of them allegedly received as they left the club, but investigators remain unconvinced by this version of events.
The three young men are being held in the Valle Armea prison and are facing charges of grievous bodily harm.
The victim is recovering in the hospital with a fractured jaw and severe facial trauma, and doctors have given him a 45-day prognosis for recovery.
His condition is serious but not life-threatening.
A 21-year-old Arab living in the Netherlands is facing four years in prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment after being accused of raping or assaulting at least nine young women in Amsterdam.
The Public Prosecution Service set out its sentencing request on Thursday during a three-day trial that heard testimony from multiple victims. Prosecutors argue he poses an ongoing danger to society.
Hicham A., who allegedly targeted teenage girls and young women between 2021 and 2024, is accused of five rapes and five sexual assaults. Two of the victims were minors.
As reported by De Telegraaf, the defendant approached girls in public spaces such as train stations, shops, and buses, and hassled them for dates. Once he had gained their trust, he lured them to restaurants or cinemas and then forced them into restrooms, where he blocked the exits and attacked them. One victim was raped at Amsterdam’s Muiderpoort station, another twice at Pathé de Munt cinema.
The women described being unable to resist either physically or mentally. Several said their attacker also blackmailed them afterwards, threatening to expose them to their families and communities if they didn’t pay him to keep quiet. “You’re not a virgin anymore,” he texted one girl. In another message, he wrote: “I’m going to go fuck another headscarf.” Many of the victims were Muslim and felt particularly vulnerable to his threats of exposure.
After local broadcaster AT5 first reported on the case, more victims came forward. The defendant admitted in court to conning women out of money but denied committing rape or sexual assault. “I was a jerk,” he told the judges, but insisted that all sexual intercourse had been consensual.
Psychological experts found the defendant suffers from ADHD, cognitive impairments, and a threatened personality development with antisocial and narcissistic traits. They warned that the likelihood of reoffending is “above average” if he is not treated. Prosecutors accepted their recommendation of compulsory psychiatric treatment, arguing it was essential “for the safety of others.” They also demanded a five-year ban on contact with all victims.
The court will issue its ruling at the end of the month.
The case has already spilled into national politics. Geert Wilders, who is campaigning to return his Party for Freedom (PVV) to dominance in the Dutch parliament after the Oct. 29 election, drew attention to the case on social media. He shared a video clip of Green-Left/Labour leader Frans Timmermans praising diversity, contrasting it with the allegations against Hicham A.
“We draw so much strength and so much wealth from the diversity of our society,” Timmermans said in the undated television interview.
Wilders recently renewed his call for the chemical castration of migrant sex offenders. Last week, he demanded the punishment for a Somali man accused of attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl and confirmed that the measure is written into the PVV’s 2025 manifesto.
The party’s program promises life sentences without parole, tougher penalties for violent and sexual crimes, chemical castration of serious child abusers, the abolition of psychiatric detention (TBS), bans on groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Extinction Rebellion, and stricter prison regimes with mandatory work and no early release.
As recent as 2019, The Economist’s Safe City Index placed Amsterdam at the top in Europe and fourth worldwide, behind only Tokyo, Singapore, and Osaka. However, a panel discussion hosted by local broadcaster AT5 this week revealed that seven in ten panel members now avoid certain parts of the city because they feel unsafe.
That figure rose to 85 percent among women, while half of the women surveyed reported experiencing some form of harassment, with some subjected to intimidation, being followed, or assault.
As recent as 2019, The Economist’s Safe City Index placed Amsterdam at the top in Europe and fourth worldwide, behind only Tokyo, Singapore, and Osaka, but a new debate hosted by local broadcaster AT5 has revealed that seven in ten panel members avoid certain parts of the city because they now feel unsafe.
That figure rises to 85 percent among women, while half of the women surveyed reported experiencing some form of harassment, with some subjected to intimidation, being followed, or assault.
The issue has gained urgency after several high-profile crimes, including the murders of two 17-year-olds, Rivaldo, shot dead on a soccer field, and Lisa, who was brutally murdered by a 22-year-old asylum seeker as she cycled home. Multiple sexual assaults have also rocked the city in recent weeks, and police were on high alert after recording three explosions in five days last week.
Silent marches, commemorations, and protests have filled city streets, turning safety, especially for women at night, into one of Amsterdam’s most pressing concerns.
Many panel members said they avoid parks such as Vondelpark, Sarphatipark, and Oosterpark after dark. “You have less of an overview and there are fewer people around,” explained Eva, one of the participants. “If something were to happen, you’d have less chance of getting to a safe place or being able to talk to someone. Then I do think something could happen.”
Others identified shopping streets, bicycle tunnels, and train station areas as unsafe. “There are places in Amsterdam I’d rather not go to after dark. The atmosphere on Leidsestraat and Kalverstraat can be quite grim after the shops close,” said one panellist. Another added: “I find bicycle tunnels difficult and I avoid them as much as possible after dark. I’d rather take a detour.”
The perception of danger is often linked to poorly lit areas and the presence of loitering groups. A woman described her unease near the Rozenburghlaan and Weesperzijde bike path: “There are so many places where someone can hide. It doesn’t feel safe there.”
One in two participants reported direct negative experiences on the street. The most common incidents involved catcalling and verbal harassment, but some women said they had been threatened, followed, or physically attacked. One participant recalled: “While grocery shopping, I was approached by a man asking for money. I told him I didn’t have any, but he didn’t believe me and started following me. Panicked, I went into a bar a street over because he was still following me. He stood in front of the entrance for a while.”
Others described more violent encounters. “A group tried to rob me on the street, and blows were exchanged,” said one panellist. Another woman, also named Eva, recounted being groped by a stranger after a night out: “One of them stepped out of the group, grabbed me from the front, and started rubbing against me. When the group continued laughing, he stopped too. You don’t really know what’s happening. You also start to doubt whether this really happened, or if you made it up. Afterwards, I didn’t have that feeling anymore, but because it’s so often downplayed and dismissed, you start to doubt it anyway.”
Despite these experiences, 91 percent of the women who reported incidents never went to the police. One panellist said she regretted not filing a report: “Every situation has to be reported, so that a file can be built. Then you can see how often it’s happened and that you’re taken seriously.”
More than half of the participants said they feel the police are not doing enough to ensure safety. “The police have become invisible since the neighborhood police officer disappeared. You feel like you’re being left to fend for yourself,” said one panel member.
Some also called for stronger awareness campaigns about harassment. “It needs to be discussed from a young age by parents, teachers, and everyone you come into contact with as a child,” said one participant. “The solution won’t come quickly; it will take many years.” Others went further, suggesting pepper spray should be legalized. “Yes, others can also buy pepper spray, but it has to be a way for women to defend themselves,” one added.
The feeling of insecurity comes amid a backdrop of the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for Oct. 29. Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) is currently expected to become the largest party in the Dutch parliament, but could be sidelined by other parties refusing to work with him.
Wilders has placed immigration, asylum, and law and order at the heart of his party’s manifesto.
The PVV’s broader justice agenda proposes life sentences without parole, tougher penalties for violent and sexual crimes, and the chemical castration of serious child abusers. The program also calls for abolishing psychiatric detention (TBS), banning organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Extinction Rebellion, and imposing stricter prison regimes, including mandatory work and the end of early release.
Poland sent military equipment to the border with Belarus on Wednesday morning, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. However, Polish outlets are contending the news is false and amounts to a propaganda effort.
“Morning recordings show active movement of Polish troops, including columns heading towards the border with Belarus,” the news website reads.
Belarusian television also broadcast a video allegedly showing Polish Army equipment moving on public roads.
Polish news outlet Do Rzeczy labeled the reports “false information” and noted the news item is one of the most popular news stories on the Interfax website.
Drones shot down over Poland
The Russian reports on Polish troops movements come after the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command announced Wednesday morning that Polish airspace had been repeatedly violated by drones during the massive Russian attack on Ukraine.
The Polish military statement describes it an “unprecedented violation of Polish airspace by drone-type objects.”
“This is an act of aggression that has created a real threat to the security of our citizens,” Poland’s armed forces stated.
Belarus: Poland has been informed
Belarusian Chief of Staff Pavel Murawiejko stated that Poland and Lithuania had been informed of the incoming drones. He did not specify which country they originated from.
Muraveyko said that Belarusian air defense shot down some of the drones that were thrown off course due to electronic interference during the exchange of strikes between Russia and Ukraine.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters there was no confirmation that Russian drones had deliberately entered Polish territory.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced in the Sejm that 19 violations of Polish airspace occurred last night, and that a large portion of the drones originated from Belarus. He added that Poland will request the initiation of NATO’s Article 4.
It states that “the parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of either party is threatened.”
Earlier, President Karol Nawrocki announced the possibility of invoking Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty after a meeting at the National Security Bureau (BBN). According to Tusk, he and the president are determined to act “as one” on this matter.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Interior and Administration, seven drones and one missile have been found on Polish territory so far.
Zapad maneuvers start on Friday
The so-called active phase of the Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2025 exercises will take place from Sept. 12 to Sept. 16. According to Lithuanian intelligence, 30,000 soldiers from both countries will participate.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday that due to military exercises between Belarus and Russia, Poland will close its border with Belarus on Thursday at midnight.
The head of government stated that the target of Belarusian-Russian operations is, among other things, the Suwałki Gap.
“This has various consequences, including maneuvers by our side, the Polish military, and allied forces,” the prime minister pointed out.
In Germany, authorities are facing pressure over a case that was not made public until three weeks after the initial incident. It involves a 15-year-old Syrian who is under investigation for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl in the changing room of a public swimming pool in the city of Braunschweig.
The incident happened at the Wasserwelt (Water World) swimming pool and came to light thanks to the reporting of the Braunschweiger Zeitung, which received a tip from a reader. Police argue that due to the age of those involved, they were reluctant to go public with the details of the case.
When the paper reached out to police, they referred reporters to the public prosecutor’s office, which handled press inquiries. Now, a spokesperson for the office, Christian Wolters, has confirmed there is an ongoing investigation into the alleged rape.
The incident occurred on Aug. 10, at 5:00 p.m., with the victim severely sexually assaulted. Although the 15-year-old Syrian suspect is a minor, reporting indicates that he can already be held criminally responsible for the crime.
“The further background, in particular the exact course of events, is the subject of the ongoing investigation. In particular, trace [DNA] comparisons are still pending.Even though the crime was three weeks ago, the investigation is still in the relatively early stages,“ explained the spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office.
The main charge is rape, with the specific charge relating to a “particularly degrading, sexual intercourse or sexual intercourse-like act“ on the victim, which assumes the child’s body was penetrated by the suspect.
Reporting indicates the crime is believed to have begun in the pool.
🇩🇪🌊GERMANY
"Women, girls, and families have begun retreating from public pools."
"Those who can afford it are shifting their swimming fun to private settings and installing mini-pools in their gardens (sales figures are skyrocketing)," writes German feminist publication… pic.twitter.com/6hnoxfG4gJ
Wolters says no action has been taken against the teen so far, including detention. He said that prosecutors are still trying to clarify what actually happened; however, he acknowledged that the young person and the victim have not been questioned, despite the incident happening three weeks ago. He said these interviews must happen first.
Now, Tobias Groß, the managing director of Stadtbad Braunschweig Sport und Freizeit GmbH, which runs Wasserwelt, is speaking out.
He said on the day of the incident, employees immediately alerted police, who arrived “very quickly.”
However, the swimming operator still does not know the identity of the alleged perpetrator.
“Of course we will issue an indefinite ban on entering the premises as soon as we have the relevant data,” said Groß
He said that he is not aware of any comparable sexual assault allegations at the establishment during his time there.
Braunschweig has seen a sharp increase in sexual abuse cases involving young people in recent years; however, police do not go public with every case.
“We did not go public with the incident because of the age of everyone involved in the criminal proceedings. This was done in consultation with the clerk,” says police spokesman Lars Dehnert.
A Syrian Islamist who carried out a knife attack at a city festival in Solingen last summer, killing three people and wounding eight others, has been sentenced to life in prison followed by preventive detention.
The Regional Court of Düsseldorf on Tuesday convicted 27-year-old Issa al Hasan of murder, attempted murder, dangerous and aggravated bodily harm, and membership in a foreign terrorist organization.
The Court also made a finding of “besondere Schwere der Schuld” (“particularly serious guilt”), meaning the crime has been judged as so serious that the perpetrator should not be eligible for parole after the usual minimum period of a life sentence.
In addition, he must pay €360,000 in damages to victims and their families.
Al Hasan, who arrived in Germany in 2022 and claimed asylum, confessed during the trial that he wanted to kill as many people as possible in what he called an act of holy war. Before the attack, he filmed a video pledging allegiance to the Islamic State while brandishing a knife and declaring in Arabic, “By Allah, I’ll cut you up.”
On Aug. 23 last year, he bought a carving knife and went to the “Festival of Diversity” in Solingen, where he stabbed his victims from behind, targeting the neck.
The attack left three people aged 56, 57, and 58 dead, and most of the other 10 victims seriously injured. Witnesses heard him shout “Allahu Akbar” during the rampage.
A man whose wife, Ines, was among those killed, described her dying moments in court. “Suddenly, I saw my wife no longer dancing. She was sitting on the floor, unable to speak, and pointing at her neck. Then she pulled off her collar, and blood spurted from a wound, throbbing; her carotid artery was torn open.” Emergency services were unable to save her life.
At the start of the trial, al Hasan told the Court, “I have committed a grave crime, killed three people, and others barely survived. I will accept the verdict. I killed innocents, not infidels. Jews, Christians, and Muslims are not enemies. I expect a life sentence.”
Deportation proceedings had been initiated against al Hasan in June 2023 after his asylum claim was rejected for the final time, but he had fled his asylum accommodation in Paderborn. Bild reported that no further attempts to locate the man had been made before the rampage.
A psychiatric report confirmed that while al Hasan’s IQ was very low at just 71, he showed no signs of mental illness and was fully responsible for his actions. As such, he will serve his sentence in prison and not a psychiatric unit.
Amid a government crisis, mass protests are rocking France, with 80,000 police deployed to handle the “Block Everything” protests. So far this morning, the unrest is shaping up to be another blow to the French government, with buses being set on fire, major roads blocked, and protesters filmed battling with police in major cities.
After French President Emmanuel Macron appointed yet another prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, protests erupted across France overnight under the motto “Bloquons tout” (“Block everything”).
Among the footage coming out from France is a bus that was completely burned out on a major highway outside the city of Rennes. There are up to 50 different blockade actions reported across Paris, according to the French interior ministry.
🇫🇷🚨 JUST IN: Absolute chaos in France as far-left protesters hit locations across the country.
They have now set fire to a bus on the Rennes road ring.
80,000 police deployed in response to "Block Everything" protests.
At least 75 arrests have been reported in Paris during the morning hours, but this number is expected to balloon throughout the day.
Le Parisien reports that 1,000 demonstrators were seen in the early morning hours in Paris, but media reports indicate protests in Rennes, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseille.
🇫🇷🔥BREAKING: Paris turns into a battlefield as violent individuals attack riot police protecting the Ministry of the Interior, next to the Hélène-Boucher high school.
Students are blockading the high school during a "Block Everything" day of action. pic.twitter.com/RtF7U0Lu9v
Authorities have already seen acts of sabotage, and in major streets in Paris, protesters have set up barricades, with tensions growing between protesters and motorists.
Battles were recorded outside the Hélène-Boucher high school, where riot police attempted to impede students from blocking the school.
🇫🇷 BREAKING: Amid unrest, protesters have blocked key streets in Paris.
Tensions are now rising between protesters and motorists.
In other areas of Paris, crowds are battling with police on "Block Everything" day. pic.twitter.com/Vehqk9ge7j
Among the protesters are left-wing groups, a number of key unions, and groups associated with the Yellow Vests, indicating a broad swath of society is backing the move.
The protests are in response to the austerity budget proposal put forward by former Prime Minister François Bayrou, who lost a vote of confidence after his proposal, which subsequently brought down the center-right minority government. Macron himself is thought to be in a precarious position, and many analysts expect him to lose power in the coming months.
🇫🇷 Police hunt protesters after violent clashes outside the Hélène-Boucher high school in Paris.
Mass protests have broken out in France on the "Block Everything" day of action.
Lecornu is not likely to face an easier situation than his predecessor and is expected to attempt to push through austerity to combat France’s exploding debt levels. His chances of success remain slim, which could spark a major crisis not just for France but for the entire eurozone.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has responded to the protests by announcing the mobilization of 80,000 officers. They have already arrested many protesters seeking to shut down highways outside major French cities.
🇫🇷 JUST IN: Paris has announced at least 51 arrests this morning, Sept. 10.
At Porte de Montreuil, a group tried to shut down the entire ring road. Police deployed tear gas.
However, railway unions announced strike actions, and French airports are expected to be shut down for the day, as unions seek to apply pressure to the French government. Universities, high schools, and companies are all expected to see strike actions and potential unrest.
The Austrian government will move ahead this week with plans to ban headscarves for girls under 14 in schools, a measure officials frame as promoting equality.
In an interview with Bild cited by Welt, Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) said, “I want girls, regardless of their religion, to have the same opportunities in our free and Western society. And that’s why I see the headscarf for girls under 14 as a sign of oppression.”
The proposed law sets out a staged response to violations: first, a conversation with the girl concerned, then with her parents, followed by possible involvement of youth welfare authorities. Repeated breaches could result in administrative penalties. Plakolm stressed that the measure would apply only in schools and educational institutions, not in public spaces.
“Public space is rightly a very well-protected area, and that’s something that probably wouldn’t stand up in a constitutional court,” she said.
The minister also linked the proposal to broader changes in Austria’s migration and integration policy. She said the government plans a “three-year integration phase” for asylum seekers and migrants, during which they will receive only an integration allowance rather than full social benefits.
“There will be no social assistance during this integration phase, but only an integration allowance, and the amount will depend on how willing people are to fulfill their integration obligations,” Plakolm explained.
The move follows an announcement made by Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) in June for newly arriving children and teenagers to undergo a one-semester integration course prior to starting school.
Under the new system, children will first attend a semester-long orientation class where they will acquire basic German language skills to facilitate communication, fundamental school skills, such as writing, using scissors, and following classroom etiquette, and social values, including respect, equality, and tolerance.
The opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) insisted the move manages the symptoms and fails to address the root cause of mass immigration.
A previous headscarf ban in elementary schools, introduced in 2019 by a coalition of conservatives and the Freedom Party, was struck down by Austria’s Constitutional Court. Plakolm argued that the new version comes with accompanying measures aimed at helping young women live self-determined lives. She emphasized that “the new law is not a measure against Islam.”
Austria’s Muslim community has previously clashed with Plakolm over her rhetoric. In July, the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGÖ) said it was “deeply disturbed” after she described the headscarf as a “symbol of oppression” that must not be permitted in schools. The group warned at the time that her remarks threatened religious freedom and stigmatized Muslim girls.
The move comes amid mounting tensions in Austria’s schools. In October last year, a survey by the Vienna teachers’ union found rising difficulties linked to mass immigration, with many children facing language barriers and some schools reporting extreme incidents.
According to the Kronen Zeitung, these included assaults on teachers, requests from parents that staff wear burqas, and even mock executions staged by pupils. One middle school headmistress described the problems but requested anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.
Former Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus, of the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), is speaking out against the massive free trade agreement Mercosur deal set to pass with the European Union, warning that it will turn out to be “Nord Stream 2 for food.”
In an interview with Polish news outlet DoRzeczy.pl, Telus compared the trade deal to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which his government had warned Germany not to build years before construction began.
“I’ve often said that the Mercosur agreement is like Nord Stream 2, only for food. We said that Europe’s dependence on Russian gas is harmful, but no one listened at the time. Later, we were finally proven right. Today we are saying loudly that the agreement with Mercosur will be harmful and Europe will probably wake up to this issue one day, but then it will be too late,” the former minister said.
Robert Telus, former agricultural minister of Poland. (Source: PAP)
Telus said the trade agreement, which will open up Europe’s market to billions worth of South American agricultural products, is “very harmful to Polish and European farmers.”
Telus cited German media, which he says have described the deal as “cows for cars.” He explained, “This shows that the agreement will result in food products from Mercosur countries flowing to Europe, and therefore to Poland, and in return, German cars flowing to Mercosur countries.” He added that the agreement’s benefits to Germany go beyond just the automotive sector. “It’s also about the chemical industry, and this will be very harmful to all consumers.”
He elaborated on the dangers posed by the agreement to European consumers.
“Currently, over 3,600 types of pesticides are used in Mercosur countries. This will harm European and Polish consumers.”
Telus pointed out what he sees as a hypocritical aspect of the deal:
“Speaking of the German chemical industry, most of these 3,600 pesticides are withdrawn from European countries, yet they are still being produced. This means that the companies producing these pesticides will benefit by selling them to Mercosur countries.”
As noted in Remix News yesterday, European media outlets are warning that pesticides sold by companies like BASF are illegal in Europe, but are sold off to countries like Brazil. Given lax oversight in South American countries, Europeans will now be exposed to these same pesticides.
According to Telus, the Mercosur agreement specifically threatens Polish agriculture.
“The agreement disrupts European agriculture, and especially Polish agriculture, because it primarily concerns three products: poultry—Poland is the largest poultry producer—beef, and sugar. There are other products, but these three are particularly important.”
He directly accused European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk of prioritizing German interests over Polish ones. In fact, he said he believes Tusk already made a deal with major powers in Europe, including German ones, to accept the deal in advance of his winning the prime minister position.
“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is German, wants to sign this agreement and will sign it. Unfortunately, this harms Poland and benefits Germany. I am convinced that Donald Tusk agreed long ago to implement the agreement with Mercosur,” said Telus.
When asked about Prime Minister Tusk’s claim that Poland is against the deal, Telus dismissed it as “rhetoric purely for show.”
He cited the failure to build a “blocking minority” during Poland’s recent presidency of the Council of the European Union.
“The argument for this is that Poland held the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, during which nothing was done. I emphasize – nothing, and I say this with full responsibility – to build a blocking minority. Initially, the French, Italians, and Poland were against it, meaning we already had 30 percent of the EU population. All it took was one more small country, and we would have had a blocked agreement,” he stated.
Telus praised President Karol Nawrocki for his opposition to the agreement, including a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
However, he does not have high hopes the deal can be stopped.
“It’s quite late now. Of course, I’m very pleased that President Karol Nawrocki has become involved in this matter. He also spoke about it during the election campaign, because he knows full well that the agreement with Mercosur is not in Poland’s interest… Unfortunately, Donald Tusk is pursuing German policy in Poland. As I said, I’m convinced that he agreed to implement the Mercosur agreement in his conversation with Ursula von der Leyen.”
Trust in the European Commission and its president, Ursula von der Leyen, has significantly faltered, according to a new survey from the European Public Opinion Barometer conducted by Cluster17.
The survey, which ran this month, September 2025, found 75 percent of respondents say von der Leyen has poorly defended Europe’s interests in negotiations. Another 72 percent do not trust her on economic matters.
A whopping 60 percent want her to resign.
The only problem? She was never elected by the European people to begin with, merely installed into power.
This figure is exceptionally high in France, at 70 percent, and lowest in Poland, at 48 percent. According to the survey, 61 percent of Europeans blame the European Commission for the unfavorable trade agreement signed with the United States.
The survey also showed that 41 percent of respondents believe that a political leader such as Michel Barnier would represent the EU more effectively in negotiations with Donald Trump, while 25 percent would stick to a technocratic approach (such as Maroš Šefčovič). The share of undecided people is 34 percent, with this figure being particularly high in Poland.
Europeans appear to be humiliated by the trade agreement signed with the U.S., which will hit Europe with 15 percent tariffs while the U.S. does not pay any.
The representative survey of more than 5,300 people in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Poland examined the perception of the agreement, the performance of the EU leadership, and Europeans’ strategic expectations towards Donald Trump and the United States.
According to the research, 71 percent of respondents have heard of the customs agreement, with awareness particularly high in France, Italy and Spain, while it is lower in Poland.
Over half (52 percent) of Europeans found the deal humiliating, with this feeling most intense in France (65 percent).
Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed believe that the United States benefits from the agreement, while only 2 percent think that the EU has gained from it.
European companies are considered the biggest losers (42 percent), and 68 percent also have a negative view of the American arms purchase obligation.
The lopsided deal has a lot for Europeans to be unhappy about, and the Trump team is almost certainly taking a victory lap.
The economic and energy conditions imposed by the United States – $600 billion in European investment and $750 billion in energy imports by 2028 – are opposed by 76 percent of respondents, especially in France (81 percent) and Germany (81 percent).
The exception is Poland, where opinions are divided (51 percent opposed). According to the survey, 70 percent of Europeans would be ready to boycott American products, compared to 83 percent in France.
Europeans are also not fans of Donald Trump, with 83 percent seeing him as authoritarian, 44 percent as an enemy, and only 10 percent seeing him as a friend.
However, when it comes to a strategy of dealing with Trump, 50 percent want compromise, 39 percent want resistance, and 11 percent are unsure.
A long-time friend of André, a Belgian pensioner who died last week following a heated exchange with a group of youths squatting in his French holiday home, has called for action from educators and politicians to arrest the decline into delinquency increasingly prevalent among French youths.
On Sept. 3 in the quiet holiday retreat of Cogolin, in the Var region of southern France, the 77-year-old found several minors using his swimming pool without permission. Upon asking them to leave the property, André was met with a tirade of abuse.
The youths threatened to gang rape his wife and slit her throat, and then kill him.
André reportedly collapsed during the verbal assault and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. Witnesses told police that no blows were exchanged.
“They killed him with words, and if nothing is done, in a year they will kill with a knife,” Philippe, a close friend of the victim, told local media, as cited by France Bleu. Philippe, who was present at the time of the tragedy, said the group of children threatened to rape his wife, slit her throat, and cut open his stomach. “It was not possible that we would hear such things,” he recalled. “He [André] froze, it was too much for him to hear that from children when they were simply asked to leave the premises.”
Authorities have opened an investigation to establish the exact circumstances, and an autopsy is scheduled to clarify whether the pensioner suffered a fatal heart attack triggered by the confrontation.
For Philippe and his wife Véronique, who had holidayed alongside André for many years, the death has had a profound impact. “André loved children,” Philippe said. He described the four minors as “lost, capable of the most horrible things, the harshest words, the most unimaginable behavior in children aged 12 to 14.”
The incident has caused anguish within the community of retirees and holidaymakers who see Cogolin as a peaceful refuge. “People come here to escape the sad things we see on TV,” Philippe explained. “It was our little corner of paradise.”
Philippe has called for a wake-up call in memory of his friend, urging parents, educators, and politicians to confront what he sees as a dangerous path for the country’s youth. “The situation must be known so that those responsible — parents, family, educators, politicians — realize that they have an important role to play in saving these kids. Because in two years, it will be over. Today, they kill with words. Tomorrow they will kill with a knife in their pocket.”
A 29-year-old Senegalese migrant has confessed to the killing of a 65-year-old man in France with whom he had been in a relationship.
The elderly victim was found at his home in Tours on Sunday morning with his skull crushed. An autopsy report also showed multiple blows to his back, chest, and neck, likely caused by a blunt object.
As reported by Ouest France, the Senegalese migrant had been living with the victim for several months.
The man was brought before the Tours prosecutor’s office on Monday and placed under formal investigation for murder by spouse.
Prosecutor Catherine Sorita-Minard said the suspect admitted responsibility and showed signs of cocaine use at the time of the incident. He was not previously known to the courts.
The motive remains unclear, though the suspect reportedly cited “an argument over videos of a sexual nature.” Witness interviews and psychiatric evaluations are ongoing as investigators work to reconstruct the events leading to the killing.
He is being held in pre-trial detention, but experts are expected to be called to determine his psychological state and whether or not he can be held criminally responsible for murder.
Safe spaces for children are increasingly under threat in Germany, including on playgrounds.
A “stateless man” threatened two 11-year-old boys on a playground in Dortmund with a knife and then robbed them on Friday last week.
The knife-point robbery occurred despite a “knife-carrying ban” in the area. Critics of such policies indicate that there is little preventing criminals from wielding knives in areas where there is a knife ban.
BREAKING: This is German girl Lena (14) along with her mother (32).
Lena was brutally beaten by a gang of migrant girls.
When Lisa Steude came into the school office, her daughter Lena was cryingin a chair.
The 47-year-old suspect allegedly approached the boys at 7:50 p.m. on Saturday near Zimmer Street and Prior Street and, under the threat of a knife, grabbed money from one boy’s bag, according to Express news outlet.
The boys ran to report the incident at a local police station.
Based on witness testimony, the police were able to quickly identify the perpetrator. However, police say the man violently resisted arrest.
“Because he continued to exhibit threatening movements toward the officers and had used a knife during the attack, the police ordered him to get down at gunpoint,” Dortmund police stated.
The officers recovered the knife from the man. They also report that he is known to the police for other crimes but was never deported.
The suspect has reportedly been transferred to a psychiatric hospital.
In normally “safe spaces” for children, such as schools or playgrounds, the threats are growing in Germany. In 2023, 38-year-old Berhan S. randomly targeted two girls playing in their schoolyard, aged 7 and 8, in Berlin and proceeded to brutally stab them. The two students, who attended the Protestant School in the multicultural neighborhood of Neukölln, were nearly killed as 30 classmates looked on in horror.
In 2023, a 25-year-old unemployed man with a migration background stabbed a 7-year-old girl five times in the head in Esslingen, Germany. The man said he targeted the child because he thought an adult would be more able to resist his attacks. Another random attack.
On June 10, a little girl had just taken off her backpack and was planning to take a seat for breakfast at the Katharinen School in Esslingen when the man stabbed her with full force five times in the back of the head. The kitchen knife the man used featured a blade 20 centimeters long and penetrated all the way through the girl’s skull.
In France, a Syrian migrant made national headlines for a brutal stabbing attack on a playground in Annecy.
A major investigation by broadcasters NTV, RTL, and Stern magazine has uncovered a booming trade in forged language and integration certificates on TikTok, with fake documents being used to gain German residence permits and citizenship.
Under German law, foreigners seeking permanent residence or naturalization must prove their integration by passing language and integration tests, but journalists found a thriving black market on TikTok where supposed “language schools” openly advertise for sale certificates from providers like Telc or adult education centers.
“A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, no school, no exam,” one vendor promises in Arabic, Turkish, and Albanian clips on the social media platform. Prices for a B1 certificate or “Living in Germany” test range from €750 to €2,700, with discounts for families. Other forged papers, such as driver’s licenses and security-industry qualifications, are also available. Posts regularly attract hundreds of thousands of views, some over a million, with comments like “Brother needs B1, what does it cost?”
Investigative journalists contacted more than 40 dealers, arranging meetings in major German cities, and received the goods within a matter of days. They reported that the certificates looked authentic, often featuring QR codes linking to fake verification websites, and officials admitted to the broadcasters that such forgeries can be nearly impossible to spot.
Security agencies acknowledge cases of naturalizations already completed using fake documents, but insiders believe the real number is far higher. An employee at an immigration office in North Rhine-Westphalia told investigators, “We are currently experiencing a loss of control of unprecedented proportions. We are completely overwhelmed. Proper document verification is no longer taking place in many places.”
He added that political pressure to “meet quotas” on naturalizations means checks are often waived. Once a fake certificate is accepted, it is rarely questioned again: “Once in, it usually means: in forever.”
Official figures show 1,009 German naturalizations revoked in the past five years, but it is unknown how many were linked to fraud. It is believed, however, that this is merely the tip of the iceberg regarding fraudulent applications. Police in Hamburg and Frankfurt admit to dozens of ongoing investigations, while insiders in multiple states suggest more than 1,000 suspected cases are under review.
In southern Germany, one official uncovered 340 fake certificates in a single week by tracing falsified QR codes. He now doubts “whether there are even any honest applicants left.”
Remix News reported in June how a record number of foreigners were naturalized in Germany last year, with Syrians and Turks gaining citizenship at the highest rate.
The data from just 13 German states showed that 249,901 people were given German citizenship. Syrians were in first place. For example, in the most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, 24,349 Syrians received German citizenship.
While in July, we reported how immigration officials in Berlin were being rewarded with perks like remote working for processing as many naturalization applications as possible, as the city’s State Office for Immigration (LEA) committed to an ambitious target of 40,000 new Germans this year.
“We need to produce high naturalization numbers,” one employee told Bild. The office had already reached 20,600 naturalizations by the end of June, putting it on track to meet its record target by the end of the year.
What will Germany look like in 2050? The outspoken deputy head of the German police union (DPolG), Manuel Ostermann, published an excerpt from his book on X about what he sees as the perils of mass immigration. His post described Arab clans dominating big cities in 2050, Sharia law, child marriage, grooming gangs, and a host of other ills. Now, the European Union has censored his post from being seen across the entire continent in a major escalation against a public official, one who is considered one of the leading voices of tens of thousands of German police officers, and a voice frequently appearing in major German news outlets, including Welt and Bild.
However, Ostermann’s prediction is a perfectly valid exercise of speech in any free and democratic society. Even if his predictions are wrong, or even if some do not turn out to be true, Germany and other EU nations still guarantee a constitutional right to such speech.
Furthermore, there is much evidence to support his conclusions, at least in part.
“By the way, this text comes from my book ‘Germany is no longer safe.’ I’m pleased that it’s being debated, because that’s how reality, unfortunately, can look quite rapidly in Germany,” he wrote in a post that is still visible.
Dieser Text stammt im Übrigen aus meinem Buch „Deutschland ist nicht mehr sicher“. Freut mich, dass darüber debattiert wird, denn so kann die Realität leider ziemlich zügig aussehen in Deutschland.
Will the EU also ban his book? If they are willing to censor sections of a book, they are also willing to censor entire books. It is certainly a dark turn of events that Europe is actively censoring a police official and union deputy leader amid an ongoing public debate about immigration and its effect on European nations.
Ostermann’s post was not created in a vacuum. He has a bird’s eye view in his role as a police officer of the chaos wrought by Germany’s open borders ideology. While his warning is stark, it is fair to make predictions based on current events and data.
Let’s address some of the facts.
Arab clans dominate the big cities
“Imagine Germany in 2050. Arab clans dominate the big cities. Gangs fight each other in the fight for sovereignty in organized crime. People who don’t belong to the “right side” are murdered on the street. Even the police hardly dare to go to certain areas known as no-go areas anymore. Drug deaths hit an all-time high,” wrote Ostermann.
What exactly is the issue with the censors here?
Clan crime is a major problem within German cities, and it is almost entirely derived from Muslim countries, including Lebanon, Turkey, and even Syria. There are similar problems in neighboring countries, including Moroccans and Chechens operating in France and the Netherlands, and warring over the country’s drug trade.
Germany’s only public media networks routinely run articles and documentaries on the country’s growing clans and their power. In fact, a recent slickly produced ZDF documentary details how these clans have infiltrated the government and police forces to the point that fellow police officers cannot even trust each other.
“Kriminelle Clans in Deutschland” shows that criminal networks not only exercise control in some areas of large cities, but have also established their influence nationwide, right up to state institutions. Accumulating huge wealth illegally, they have built a tight network that includes law enforcement professionals.
“It is a murderous and extremely criminal milieu that goes on there. And now on so many levels that we no longer know whether we can really stop it at all. Were raids betrayed, investigations manipulated and employees bought off by the authorities? There is even despair in certain police stations,” states the narrator.
As Germany’s foreign population grows, so does clan crime, or at least the potential for such crime.
Just this year, 100 Lebanese clan members battled on the streets. Here is what Remix News wrote: “There was a bloodbath on the streets of Germany after two extended Lebanese family groups fought in a battle that reportedly involved 100 people in the city of Heiligenhaus. The two groups battled using machetes, knives, and other weapons, leading to a mass police operation that resulted in at least five serious injuries, including one that is life-threatening. Police made several arrests.”
Incredible violence, attacks on police, and corruption at the highest levels are already the case to a large degree in a number of European cities. In Marseilles, killings have hit a record high and foreign gangs dominate the city’s drug trade.
🇫🇷 Marseilles. France
The French port city is now a major narcotics hub for Europe.
Last year, a 15-year-old was stabbed 50 times and burned alive in the drug violence as murders hit record highs.
Regarding the potential for drug overdose deaths, the situation could go many different ways, but drug overdose deaths in the EU are hovering near a peak. With the flood of synthetic opioids coming into Europe, the situation could worsen.
Is there any guarantee that Germany can escape such developments? Certainly not. Osterman presents a valid prediction based on trend lines, and certainly, there are no grounds to censor his prediction.
Sharia law and women’s rights
“In some districts, only Sharia law is recognized as valid law.“
Already, Austrian courts are recognizing Sharia law as valid so long as it does not contradict fundamental rights and higher state laws. However, this may be only a stepping-stone ruling.
In the same study, 67.9 percent of young Muslims said that the rules of the Quran were more important than the laws in Germany. This was also all reported by the state-run news network WDR.
This also means there are hundreds of thousands of Muslims who do not hold these beliefs, but the sheer numbers are also extremely worrying.
Nearly every single Muslim country on Earth is either ruled by classic Sharia law or has many elements of Sharia law incorporated into its legal system. Not every country is ruled by a strict standard, but many feature extremely harsh versions of such laws, including laws that openly target homosexuals and women.
Within Germany itself, the situation is potentially explosive, with an alarming number of Muslims feeling alienated living in a Western democratic society. Many of them harbor ideas that can be considered more radical, including a willingness to turn to violence.
A study by the University of Münstershowed that “for around 20 percent of the approximately 1,900 (Muslim) respondents, a perceived insult would not be compensated for. Those affected then blame their emotional misery on an abstract perpetrator, namely German society in general. Around 11 percent of this group are also prepared to defend Muslim interests with violence.”
That 11 percent is no small number, and could represent hundreds of thousands of people. Often, it is radicals in a society who push social reform in their direction.
One quote from Ostermann’s excerpts stood out: “Women are only allowed to go out on the streets unless fully veiled and accompanied by a male relative.”
Again, Ostermann is not making an idle claim here. In many Middle Eastern and African countries, this is a serious issue for women. In fact, Human Rights Watch released an entire report on the issue, writing:
“Women across the Middle East and North Africa region face varying restrictions preventing them from moving freely in their own country and from traveling abroad without the permission of their male guardians—typically their fathers or brothers, and when married, their husbands.”
As Human Rights Watch notes, there is a tremendous number of countries where women need outright permission from their husbands to leave their homes.
“In positive news, some countries such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia have removed language around women’s obedience to their husbands which led to restrictions on their movements. However, 15 countries in the region still apply personal status or family laws that require women to either “obey” their husbands or live with them, and/or deem women disobedient if they leave the marital home or work or travel without their husbands’ permission. Courts can order them to return to their marital home; if they do not, they can lose their right to spousal maintenance from their husbands.”
In 25 years, Germany’s baby boomer population will have mostly passed away, which will represent a massive demographic shift in the country. The country will, according to all demographic trends, become more Muslim. Pew Research predicts up to 17.1 milllion Muslims in Germany in 2050. If more and more Muslims hold positions of power, as they do in the U.K., they may have more and more opportunities to shape Germany in ways that align with their cultural norms. Certainly, they may enforce these rules in their own neighborhoods and districts, with authorities mostly turning a blind eye to such practices.
Another prediction from Ostermann: “The streetscape in these cities is dominated by Arab shops and traders.”
Ostermann’s claim here is more or less already the reality in many neighborhoods in Germany’s big cities. German stores, pubs, and even butchers have been greatly pushed out, often because there is simply no market for them. However, there are other forces at work that lead to these developments, not only immigration.
Arabic dominates
“You only hear Arabic. Germans have moved to other parts of the city and no longer dare to go back. In schools, lessons can only take place bilingually,” Ostermann also writes.
Again, what is the issue with this prediction? Already, there are numerous schools where 98 percent of the student body has a migration background and where the majority of students entering the school do not even speak a word of German. This is simply a fact.
This trend is already in its early stages. There have been massive demographic shifts in a number of major European cities. Vienna is already farther along. There, Muslims make up 41 percent of the elementary school student body, outnumbering Christians for the first time.
Language problems are rife, and in many areas, Arabic languages dominate. In fact, in Vienna, 70 percent of students do not speak German in their everyday life.
🇦🇹🚨Mass immigration DESTROYING Austria's education system
🔺Around 70% of school-age children in Vienna do not speak German in their everyday life. 39%, or nearly 80,000 children, do not have Austrian citizenship,
In 25 years, if these trends continue, it is hard to see how this situation will not dramatically worsen, just as Ostermann predicts: “The law of the strongest prevails in the playground.”
Remix News has discussed this issue many times. Berlin schools have seen violence skyrocket. Students are stabbed or threatened with knives at an alarmingly high rate. Ethnic Germans are picked on, marginalized, and assaulted.
🇩🇪❓"Why don’t you have any German friends?"
🔺"Because they don’t belong to us. I can’t stand the Germans too much."
Thousands of German students now face discrimination and sometimes outright assault from foreigners in their school systems.
🇩🇪🔴 A young German girl spoke of the nightmare she experiences from her Muslim classmates.
"Sometimes they say to me that I’m German. And yeah, then they laugh at me, curse at me and tease me. Others are always Muslim, and they ask me why I am not a Muslim. I said I am a… pic.twitter.com/gggVOm9IPs
🇩🇪‼️ A 14-year-old schoolgirl was brutally beaten up by a Libyan and Syrian gang of girls, who were known for sharing Islamic State (IS) videos in a chat.
When the victim tried to help her sister, she was pulled to the ground, brutally kicked and taken to hospital.
These are not isolated incidents, and even left-wing voters will acknowledge that there are tremendous problems for German children in heavily migrant schools. Green and affluent left-wing voters increasingly isolate their children in private schools, in gifted programs, or in wealthy enclave neighborhoods to protect their children from these issues. All the while, these same parents hold true to their ideology, despite the reality on the ground for thousands of other students.
“Girls and women only dare to be around people with pepper spray in their pockets. Gang rapists and so-called grooming gangs wreak havoc with impunity.”
Women have turned to self-defense tools, but those are largely limited in Germany.
🇳🇱🇩🇪 Women in the Netherlands and Germany are now trying to defend themselves with "Smurf spray" after an asylum seeker raped and murdered 17-year-old Lisa.
"Since Lisa’s death, many of (self-defense) products have been sold out, including the Smurf spray."
Foreigners and men with a migration background already account for up to three-quarters of all gang rapes in Germany. However, in the U.K., where grooming gangs were targeting thousands of women, nearly all suspects were from Pakistan and other Muslim countries. To say that such a development in Germany is impossible is simply not realistic.
“Muslim girls, who are still pre-adolescent, like to be married to older men. Genital mutilation is practiced quite naturally in certain circles.”
Again, Ostermann is not far off. Regarding child marriage, this is already a growing problem in Germany, which the government readily admits.
Already in 2019, the authorities registered 819 marriages with a minor. Although Germany has a law to protect minors from forced marriages, it does not apply in practice, and the number of child marriages in Germany was described as rapidly rising, with 98 percent of those affected having a migration background.
Child marriages are not only the practice of people from Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan but also from Turkey and even Bulgaria, according to German news outlet Focus.
“In fact, there are many more,” said Monika Michell from the Terre des Femmes organization in 2019.
India leads the world in child marriages, with over 15 million recorded. However, other countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria feature millions of child brides.
How prevalent this practice will be in Germany depends entirely on what share of the population features foreigners from countries where this is already commonly practiced. As Germans head towards minority status, foreigners may become more open about such practices as they gain political power and shape cultural norms.
That leads us to the next issue, genital mutilation.
Germany once again admits itself that it has a serious problem with this practice, entirely due to foreign populations arriving in the country. Already five years ago, the federal government reported that Germany had 68,000 victims of female genital mutilation.
The number of girls and women who are victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Germany has increased by 44 percent since 2017 to 68,000, announced German Minister for Family Affairs Franziska Giffey
According to the minister, mainly migration is to blame for the massive increase as many migrants coming to Germany commonly practice FGM in their own home countries. The practice, which is a human rights violation, involves the ritual cutting off some or all of the external female genitalia.
Giffey confirmed that the increase in cases compared to 2017 is so significant because of the rising numbers of immigrants from Eritrea, Somalia, Indonesia, Egypt, and Nigeria arriving in Germany,
Censorship is not the answer to these issues
All of Ostermann’s fears and predictions are grounded in reality, even if some do not come to pass. The EU’s act of censorship is a gross violation of his fundamental rights.
Will they all turn out to be true? Much could happen in the future, but the answer is not to censor leading voices, even if they are delivering a message that is highly uncomfortable for the ruling elite.
Prime Minister François Bayrou has been forced out of office after losing a confidence vote in the French National Assembly, leaving President Emmanuel Macron clinging on with no clear majority and mounting pressure to call fresh elections.
Bayrou, 74, lasted just nine months in the post, becoming Macron’s fourth prime minister in two years. His minority government collapsed after deputies rejected his €44 billion austerity package aimed at curbing France’s mounting public debt. A total of 364 MPs voted no confidence, while just 194 backed him.
Addressing parliament in a tense final speech, he warned that “our vital prognosis is at stake” and that France faced a “tide of debt” threatening to overwhelm its public finances. He rejected making concessions, declaring he would not end up like his predecessor Michel Barnier, who tried to compromise with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and was brought down anyway.
Opposition leaders seized on the government’s downfall to demand political change, including new parliamentary elections and the resignation of President Macron. National Rally’s de facto leader Marine Le Pen called the end of Bayrou’s premiership “the end of the agony of a phantom government” and insisted that Macron must dissolve parliament. “Everything suggests, legally, politically, and even morally, that dissolution is therefore not an option, but an obligation,” she told the chamber. “Let the country choose.”
Monsieur Macron doit se résoudre à sortir de son rôle de chef de la majorité pour enfin assumer, si toutefois il en est capable, son rôle de président de la République.
En ces circonstances, le Président n’a qu’une possibilité : convoquer de nouvelles élections. pic.twitter.com/i1ssNvQ5e0
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of far-left La France Insoumise, went further, calling for Macron himself to resign. “The country needs a moment of refoundation. Only a new presidential election can make that possible,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron a perdu les élections. Il dissout l’Assemblée nationale et ne respecte pas le résultat des urnes.
Le pays a besoin d’un moment refondateur. Seule une nouvelle présidentielle le permet.
Socialist leader Boris Vallaud accused Bayrou of staging his own downfall, saying, “This is not an act of courage but a cop-out, a farce. We thought you were preparing this budget, but you were preparing your exit.”
Despite the collapse, Macron is resisting calls for elections. The Élysée said on Monday evening that the president “takes note” of Bayrou’s fall and will name a successor “in the coming days,” but he will not dissolve the Assembly. Instead, Macron’s allies, led by Renaissance group president Gabriel Attal, are proposing a “general interest agreement” among “republican forces” to avoid further paralysis. Attal, another prime minister to fall in this parliament, told Le Parisien on Monday evening that he hoped Macron would seek to appoint a mediator to facilitate an agreement between the main parties ahead of another prime minister to drink from the now-poisoned chalice.
The parliamentary arithmetic remains impossible. National Rally and its allies hold 138 seats, Ensemble 91, La France Insoumise 71, the Socialists 66, the Republicans 49, and the Greens 38. Smaller centrist and regional parties account for the rest. No single bloc comes close to a majority, making the formation of any stable government highly uncertain.
Amid the political instability, France’s economic troubles continue. The country’s debt reached €3.3 trillion, or 114 percent of GDP, in early 2025, the third-highest in the eurozone. Last year’s budget deficit was 5.8 percent of GDP, with this year forecast at 5.4 percent.
Bayrou had warned that France was “on life support” and could not sustain its current model of pensions and social spending. But with fierce opposition to cuts, little appetite for tax rises, and a president reluctant to go back to the people, the economic decline and political stalemate seem likely to continue.
The city of Rome has launched a call for proposals to find families willing to host migrants with valid residence permits in their homes for the next three years.
The tender, valued at €399,000 and open until Sept. 22, seeks an operator to manage the program on behalf of the municipality.
The initiative, announced by the city council, is aimed at “single migrants or single-parent families” who would be welcomed into private homes. The chosen operator will be responsible for raising awareness, recruiting, and supporting host families, mentors, or social workers, as well as identifying suitable beneficiaries.
The program’s objectives go beyond temporary accommodation. Over its 36-month duration, it is designed to foster integration, promote independence through employment opportunities, and ultimately guide participants toward securing their own housing. Officials say the service is intended to provide “a welcoming environment geared toward inclusion and autonomy,” helping young adults in particular to gain independence.
But a key detail in the tender notes that families who host migrants will not receive financial compensation. The city’s Department of Social Policies clarified that “social inclusion expenditures refer exclusively to interventions and measures aimed at service beneficiaries,” meaning migrants themselves. “It follows that reimbursements to families cannot be attributed to this item or to any other type of expenditure and are therefore not eligible,” the department stated.
In practical terms, families who open their doors will have to cover all costs themselves, including food and energy.
While the city insists the program is about solidarity and innovative social inclusion, observers warn that the lack of material support may make it difficult to attract enough host families willing to take part.
A new report indicates that 55 percent of Berlin police recruits who began training in spring 2025 require extra German language lessons.
The new report from German news outlet Nius indicates that out of 240 police recruits, 132 required extra German-language training, as confirmed by the Berlin police department.
The police also provided a number of reasons for the language struggles of police recruits, including “declining written language skills.” However, the police point to a broader decline across society, including in schools. The police note a “shortage of skilled workers,” and increasing “heterogeneity in classes.”
Notably, Berlin has a very high proportion of recruits from migrant communities, up to 42 percent.
Police say that the first semester of training is the most difficult when it comes to language skills.
“About half of the new recruits require regular language support at the start of their training,” the police statement reads.
However, over time, the amount of assistance drops as recruits progress. It is unclear by how much this share drops over time, as the police did not release any precise statistics in this regard.
Not all recruits move on to be police officers, and the overall number of recruits does not necessarily translate into the final total of police officers.
As Nius notes, potential police officers are supposed to have proof they can speak German at a C2 level by the end of their training, which is checked through an exam. According to the Police Act, applicants can take the exam twice before they are dismissed from service.
The issue goes beyond police officers
The reality is that learning a new language is incredibly hard, and a certain percentage of the millions of migrants coming to Germany will learn only basic German. A certain percentage will become extremely fluent. However, to work in certain fields, such as a police officer, nurse, doctor, or teacher, the standards are expected to be extremely high in theory, but in practice, that is often not the case.
As Remix News previously reported, nearly half of foreign doctors fail their language exam. In Saxony, one of the hardest-hit states, nearly half of all examinees failed the language test in 2023. Among them were 112 out of 200 Syrian doctors and 15 out of 26 Ukrainian candidates. Similar trends were observed nationwide.
Brandenburg also experienced a failure rate of 50 percent, while Bremen, Bavaria, and Berlin had failure rates of 49 percent, 44 percent, and 38 percent, respectively. In Hamburg, failure rates ranged between 40 percent and 45 percent.
In fields where communication is of paramount importance, it appears German authorities are increasingly looking the other way on this key issue.
However, beyond migration, there are also issues affecting all children, including smartphones, digital distractions, and the rise of AI, which is leading children to rely on digital tools to complete assignments.
Two illegal migrants have been given prison sentences between 15 and 17 years after raping a young French woman, who was 18 years old at the time of the incident, in the French city of Aix-en-Provence,
The woman was followed by the two men, 29-year-old Algerian Mohamed Annabi and 20-year-old Tunisian Amen-Allah Handiri, and dragged into a dead-end street near a SNCF train station in December 2021. She was then brutally attacked, with each man taking turns on the girl.
“It’s a brutal rape par excellence,” Maud Bertrand, the victim’s lawyer, told Le Figaro.
🇫🇷‼️ A convicted rapist from Guadeloupe has been handed a 20-year prison sentence for the attempted rape of a 102-year-old resident of a nursing home in the French city of Rouen.
After initially denying any involvement, he later told the court, "I confused the lady with my… pic.twitter.com/tcwmoxMN9X
The two men were sentenced on Friday evening to 17 and 15 years in prison. Annabi’s sentence will include a permanent ban from France and automatic registration into a sex offenders’ list.
Handini was only 17 at the time, but he will was tried as an adult.
On Dec. 8, 2021, the victim left the Shakespeare Club at 3:00 a.m. and was walking to her boyfriend’s home on the other side of the city.
The two men who approached her spoke to her in Arabic, with the young woman trying to call her boyfriend to scare them away.
Police used video surveillance to track the men, who were arrested the next day at a residence they were squatting.
They had been in France less than a year and were working in the construction industry without any official documents. Both were known to be abusing alcohol and drugs.
The victim was a sociology student at the time, but after the rape, she dropped out of school due to the trauma of the attack.
Her lawyer, Maud Betrand, said the woman continues to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder.
“She is afraid to go out and feels like she is being followed ,” explained her lawyer.
A senior police officer from Bonn has blown the whistle on what he describes as a glaring gap between the reality of crime on German streets and what appears in official statistics.
His testimony was published in a commentary by political editor Till-Reimer Stoldt in Die Welt. The officer, given the pseudonym “Bernd,” has worked on the police force for 30 years.
In a lengthy conversation with Stoldt, he said crime had become “much more migrant-oriented” since 2015, but this was barely visible in either police reports or the media. “They mostly only talk about ‘men,’” he explained, adding that the omission “really worries” him and his colleagues.
According to the Welt piece, Bernd described cases of sexual assault at concerts and in swimming pools, and brutal incidents of street violence, where “the perpetrators were always foreigners.” Yet their nationality, he said, was almost never made public. “Something isn’t right. And many of my colleagues share this feeling,” he told Stoldt.
The article draws attention to official crime figures that seem at odds with frontline perceptions. Police crime statistics (PKS) for 2024 showed 35.4 percent of all suspects nationwide (excluding immigration offenses) were foreigners, who also made up nearly 40 percent of violent crime suspects. That is despite foreign-born individuals comprising 16 percent of the population. But Bernd argued that these numbers still understate the issue, because suspects with dual nationality are almost always recorded only as “German.”
He explained how police are required to fill out two nationality fields when processing suspects. Yet only the first nationality appears in state and federal statistics.
“In some cases, these were guys who spoke Arabic to each other the whole time. The only thing they said in German was ‘shitty German’ – to me. Initially, I noted the non-German nationality in the first field,” Bernd recalled, “but these files were immediately returned – along with a note from my superior telling me to enter ‘German’ as the first nationality so that it would appear in the statistics. I was speechless… I’m supposed to register them as Germans? That makes me feel like a liar!”
The interior ministry has confirmed that in 2024, one in six suspects with a German passport also held a second passport. Given that dual nationals account for less than 10 percent of the population, this suggests a disproportionate representation in crime.
The commentary also highlights the effect on morale within the police force. “Younger colleagues in particular are sometimes afraid to talk about foreign perpetrators,” Bernd said. Offenders, he added, exploit this hesitation by playing the “racism card” when confronted. He described one altercation with a young man who spat on the ground and hissed “racist” after being reprimanded.
In response to such concerns, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has announced that, from now on, all nationalities of suspects will be counted and published in the state’s statistics. “The proportion of non-German suspects will therefore increase there. That makes sense,” Stoldt wrote. “If a group of perpetrators appears disproportionately often, there is a problem. But you can only solve what is identified as a problem.”
The Greens and SPD have accused Reul of “stirring up resentment” and racism with the policy change, but Stoldt insists that this underestimates the public. “The people are not that slow-witted,” he wrote. “Most foreigners are, of course, not criminals. Of 14.1 million, around 913,000 were suspected of crimes in 2024. Why should the public be too slow to recognize that the overwhelming majority of foreigners are not criminals — even if they disproportionately often commit crimes?”
The commentary concludes by urging trust in both the public and the police. Police chaplains, Stoldt noted, have confirmed that officers are trained to distinguish between a criminal minority and the law-abiding majority. “Perhaps the SPD and the Greens now just need to learn to trust the police and the citizens a little more,” he wrote.
The case of a Ukrainian refugee has sparked headlines across the globe, with the young woman, Iryna Zarutska, stabbed to death in cold blood on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. The footage of the incident is explosively disturbing, showing the hooded figure of Decarlos Brown Jr. rising up behind the woman, who appears completely unaware of her fate, before he stabs her to death.
Now, an Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician, Tomasz Froelich, who represents the popular party in the European Parliament as an MEP, is saying something that many wish U.S. politicians, especially Republicans, were also willing to say.
“Black people make up 13% of the population in the USA but account for 56% of murderers. Their homicide rate is 6-8 times higher than that of Whites. For every three Black people killed by Whites, seven Whites are killed by Blacks—despite there being almost five times as many Whites as Blacks in the USA. Now, 23-year-old Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed to death by a repeatedly convicted Black man in Charlotte, North Carolina,” Froelich wrote on X.
Schwarze machen in den USA 13 % der Bevölkerung aus, aber 56 % der Mörder. Ihre Mordtäterrate ist um 6-8 mal höher als bei Weißen. Auf drei Schwarze, die von Weißen ermordet werden, kommen sieben Weiße, die von Schwarzen ermordet werden – und das, obwohl es in den USA fast fünf… pic.twitter.com/oA5oprpO6x
The AfD MEP continued, writing: “It is not expected that Whites will loot stores or plunge entire cities into civil war-like chaos. It is also unlikely that professional football players will kneel before every game in honor of Iryna. Why? Quite simply: She was White. And racism against Whites doesn’t exist, as ‘anti-racist’ ideologues have taught us. How much longer should Whites, conditioned by instilled feelings of guilt, endure their own degradation? Enough is enough! Iryna Zarutska is certainly no less valuable than a George Floyd. WHITE LIVES MATTER!”
Notably, Republicans across the United States are terrified of even mentioning White people as a group, let alone saying “White lives matter.”
President Donald Trump notoriously never mentions White people directly in any of his speeches, certainly never as a group or community that has interests or desires or ambitions, despite the population still constituting a majority in the country. Instead, Trump endlessly panders to Hispanics as well as Black people, representing 11 to 12 percent of the U.S. population. Despite constant claims of Trump being a racist, his love affair with Blacks includes promises for billions of dollars in giveaways and benefits. His “Black Platinum” plan was rife with all sorts of these giveaways, all while Black people vote for Donald Trump at the lowest rate of any racial group.
Meanwhile, White people are his core voters, as poll after poll has shown, but Trump has never shown any outward sign that this group even exists. He, for example, persistently talks of “Black communities,” but never “White communities.”
Many Republicans in his party are even more scared to touch this topic. It is unclear if there is even a single Republican in Congress who explicitly refers to a “White community” in the United States, let alone expresses any belief that White people as a group have interests or feature “lives that matter.”
This double standard is wearing thin on Americans of European descent, especially as hundreds of thousands have been murdered, over the last decades at the hands of the Black community — often with little media fanfare.
Even Google AI itself is willing to provide a clear answer in regard to this trend. Referring to Black-on-White homicides, Gemini writes: “Rough estimate from 1960 to 2024 suggesting roughly 260,000 to 340,000 such homicides based on extrapolations and available data. While consistent yearly figures are unavailable prior to the 1980s, analyses of detailed data show Black-on-white homicides outnumbered white-on-Black homicides during this period.”
This does not include assaults, robberies, and thefts. In many ways, the White community has paid reparations many times over.
It is notable that a Ukrainian refugee, who is not even an American citizen, sparked yet another debate on Black-on-White murder in the United States, but even while the Republican base, along with many independents, is not shying away from the issue, the Republican leadership continues to treat it like a third rail.
AfD politicians, in contrast, tend to recognize that White people, and especially ethnic Germans, exist and may also have their own interests and concerns — and this group may even want representation at the political level. There is also a recognition that there have been explicit ethnic and racial lobbying groups such as Hispanics, Arabs, Africans, and other groups for many decades — both in Germany and other Western countries.
In fact, Froelich was not done defending his point, decrying on X the double standard applied to Whites, especially in debates about racism.
Wenn Schwarze Weiße ermorden, hat dies häufig nichts mit Rassismus zu tun. Umgekehrt genauso. Nur: Bei weißen Mördern unterstellt das linksliberale Establishment automatisch rassistische Motive, bei schwarzen Mördern nicht. Mehr noch: Laut antirassistischer Ideologie könne sich… pic.twitter.com/590L1a8SKw
When it comes to White murderers, the left-liberal establishment automatically assumes racist motives, but not when it comes to Black murderers. Moreover: According to anti-racist ideology, racism can be directed at anyone—except Whites.
The truth is: This supposed “anti-racism” is not, as one might mistakenly assume, in opposition to racism, but is its own ideology with its own demands, an ideology that implies that we Whites are all somehow racist and that structural racism exists everywhere.
This structural racism, which allegedly disadvantages Black people—for example, in terms of income—is said to stem from the fact that the systems they live in were created by Whites. The latter are therefore also privileged (“White privilege”).
This way of thinking is, of course, overly simplistic and is contradicted by empirical evidence, as, for example, other “People of Color,” such as Asians, earn significantly higher incomes than Whites in the USA. And Black people, too, often achieve above-average results in some structures created by Whites, such as those in the sports or music industries.
The anti-White anti-racism agenda has a pleasant-sounding label—who wouldn’t want to be “anti-racist” these days? This pulls many people into a societal conflict in which the left-liberal establishment pits minorities against the majority society. This sometimes leads to absurd situations, such as when White BLM activists accuse African Americans of anti-Black racism simply because they consider it unhelpful when, for instance, cars are randomly set on fire and shops are looted in the wake of “anti-racist” protests against “White privileges.”
Black people, who are supposedly oppressed by Whites, are now being encouraged to turn the tables and create new conditions. Many of them jump on this bandwagon, as they see it as a path to political power.
He further writes that in many cases, these tactics are used to eventually assert dominance, and the ruling class recognizes this. In turn, he said that “constant recognition from the ruling class becomes necessary,’ including through kneeling, as seen during BLM protests.
“Leftist guilt-mongers play along with this game. Why? Because for a long time, those who marched in Black Lives Matter demonstrations as Whites and declared George Floyd a saint could gain moral distinction and political ground, while at the same time cowardly ducking and keeping silent when a young White woman like Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed by a Black habitual criminal, just to avoid accusations of racism. Pure ethnomasochism! I would be ashamed if I were like that,” he wrote.
Notably, despite the incredible details of the case surrounding Zarutska’s death, including the fact that her killer had 14 previous convictions, many media outlets have chosen to remain silent on the story, as it does not fit their chosen narrative.
X user End Wokeness has been pointing out this double standard, along with thousands of other X users, which also prompted a comment from Elon Musk.
The American and European left realize what a threat these never-ending crime stories against White people represent to their power, as voters turn away from their “weak-on-crime” policies.
However, American Republican politicians continue to complain only about out-of-control crime while missing other nuances of this overall story. They have little to say about the disproportionate levels of violence directed towards White people from the Black community, and to a lesser extent, also from the Hispanic community.
With some urging from European politicians like Froelich, maybe at least some American politicians will gather enough courage to address one of the biggest elephants in the room of American politics.
A 59-year-old woman was chased through the streets of Magdeburg on Sunday afternoon by a Syrian knifeman, who stabbed her to death as she fled into an office building.
As reported by Bild, the incident occurred in broad daylight on Lübecker Straße, one of the busiest streets in a city that suffered the heinous Christmas market terror attack last year.
Shortly after midday, the victim sought refuge inside an office building that also housed a gym after being followed by her attacker. Cornered in a stairwell, the victim was stabbed multiple times, according to police.
“Despite immediate rescue measures, the victim died at the scene,” said police spokesman Stefan Brodtrück. Emergency doctors and paramedics also treated the suspect, who was found with serious self-inflicted injuries when officers arrived. He was taken under police guard to the Municipal Hospital in Magdeburg, and remains in a critical condition.
Both the victim and the suspect are Syrian nationals living in the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt, authorities confirmed.
Police cordoned off the intersection of Lübecker Straße and Fabrikenstraße as crime scene specialists from the State Criminal Police Office worked at the site. A helicopter and dog handlers were also deployed. Investigators from the homicide division are leading the inquiry.
“The background to the crime is still unclear,” a police spokesman said, noting that investigators had not yet ascertained whether the victim and suspect knew each other, and if so, what any motive for the attack may have been.
The Magdeburg public prosecutor’s office is treating the case as manslaughter. It is unclear why a homicide charge is not being sought.
Preliminary autopsy results are expected on Monday, after which prosecutors will decide whether to apply for an arrest warrant and whether the suspect should be held in remand prison or in a psychiatric hospital.
If the Mercosur agreement goes into effect, food containing massive amounts of pesticides banned in Europe will flow into Europe. A documentary on the subject produced by a French-German team has been deleted from its website, but clips from the documentary are now circulating on the web, and they show the massive threat facing Europeans.
The Polish news portal wPolityce.pl drew attention to a documentary “Pesticides: the European Hypocrisy,” by the French-German television network Arte, which is no longer available online, but fragments from the documentary are starting to appear on the X platform.
A demonstrator wears a beekeeping protective gear during a farmers’ protest to denounce a EU-Mercosur trade agreement outside the Agriculture ministry in Madrid, Spain, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)
The documentary, produced three years ago, reports how pesticides produced in Europe are used in countries like Brazil. Even though these pesticides are banned for use in Europe, the EU still allows massive chemical companies like Bayer and BASF to export these chemicals abroad to countries where they are not banned.
“Why does the EU allow these (lucrative) pesticide exports to emerging countries?” the filmmakers ask. It remains unclear why Arte has deleted the documentary from its website.
The documentary reveals that in 2018, European companies sold over 80,000 tons of pesticides banned in Europe. Ninety percent of the products originate from European factories in the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, and Spain. It notes that banned chemicals such as atrazine and metolachlor are used.
Polish farmers protest outside the European Union Commission representation office, against the planned trade deal between the EU and South American nations within Mercosur and Green Deal policy, on the official opening day of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union, in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
The film, which at the time of publication has a copy available on DailyMotion, is one of a number of news reports raising the alarm to no effect in recent years, including from Matador, which is a program from the German public broadcaster ARD. A link in auto-translated English is also available here.
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement is dangerously close to passing, and there appears to be little in the way anymore to stop its march through Brussels. It has been in the works for 25 years, but due to the fact that it is expected to devastate EU farmers, many countries, such as Italy and France, have been fiercely opposed over the years.
France and Italy appear to have now buckled after intense lobbying from business interests, who stand to make billions
Mercosur is a major health threat
The deal could serve as a major blow to food quality, resulting in cheap meat and produce imports from South America, where standards are notably lax when it comes to pesticide and GMO use. Over the coming years, these products would find their way more and more often onto European shelves.
While the EU insists on the issue of climate protection and the Green Deal, this free trade deal will also turbocharge destructive agricultural practices in South America, where enforcement of environmental protection remains weak. Tens of millions of acres of rainforest have been destroyed to make way for cattle grazing and monocrop cultivation of soybeans and other cash crops, but with the lucrative EU market opened up, it could create a frenzy to destroy even more rainforest and convert it to agricultural use.
Opponents of the agreement point out that under the agreement, Germany will send its industrial products to South America, and in return, food from South American countries will flow to Europe. Unfortunately, this food will often be of poor quality, containing chemicals long banned in Europe.
The risks are enormous. Brazil alone allows the use of as many as 3,669 pesticides. With European markets open, Brazil will be able to send more and more of its food overseas. Europe’s emphasis on “eating local” to reduce carbon emissions associated with transportation will become a joke, as food from halfway around the world will often be cheaper than locally produced goods. European chemical companies will reap massive profits.
“Mato Grosso. This Brazilian state is the kingdom of the agricultural industry. Cotton, rice, sugarcane, corn, massive production of transgenic soybeans, and record pesticide use. Mato Grosso wins every global competition in the field of agrotoxicity. That’s the term used by those who condemn the chemical empire. Brazil allows the use of 3,669 pesticides. It’s a veritable Eldorado for corporations, primarily European ones. Products banned on the Old Continent are sold here,” said the narrator in the film.
“The poisoned kingdom is primarily a market of international corporations, including three European giants: the Swiss company Syngenta , and the German companies BASF and Bayer, which absorbed Monsanto in 2018,” the film states.
Two Hungarian tourists endured a violent sexual assault in the Sicilian town of Paternò after accepting a ride from strangers, police said.
The two women, who had spent the day at the beach, were attacked by three men of Moroccan origin aged 21, 22, and 24, all of whom were in Italy illegally. The suspects have been arrested and remanded in custody.
According to investigators, cited by Il Giornale, the ordeal began when the two women accepted a lift from two of the men, who then drove them out of town in a van. The suspects began groping them and, in an isolated location, a third man joined them. Police said the women were forced to take cocaine and subjected to repeated sexual acts despite resisting.
The victims managed to raise the alarm after one persuaded her attacker to allow her to call her mother, insisting that if she did not hear from her, her mother would contact the police. Instead, she phoned her sister, explained they were in danger, and provided the van’s license plate number.
Her sister used the Find My Friends app to track their location and alerted the police. Officers intercepted the van in Paternò and found the two women crying on a bench nearby. The three illegal migrants were arrested.
The women were taken to hospital for medical checks and later gave statements to police. The Catania prosecutor ordered the three men held in Piazza Lanza prison pending judicial review, and a judge has since confirmed their arrest.
Regional MP Vincenzo Figuccia of the Lega party said of the attack: “Two young Hungarian girls, deceived, drugged, and abused by three men of Moroccan origin. My deepest sympathy and solidarity goes out to the two victims.” Cited by Giornale di Sicilia, he demanded “severe penalties” for the perpetrators, renewing calls for introducing chemical castration for rapists, along with greater local patrols and a regional commission against violence toward women.
Figuccia also linked the case to wider concerns over mass immigration. “As Sicilians, we say enough is enough with a land reduced to a European hotspot, incapable of guaranteeing protection to those who live here or come for vacation or work. Security is not a slogan: it’s a right,” he said.
In Vienna, Austria, on May 4 at 4:00 a.m., a 27-year-old Afghan brutally raped a 17-year-old girl who was on her way home from a party. The man has now been sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
Austrian news reports describe the 27-year-old Afghan as a “well-integrated and law-abiding resident of Austria,” who arrived in 2015. The man worked in the hospitality industry, and had no criminal record.
On the night of the attack, which occurred in Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, the Afghan saw the victim and during the course of a conversation, asked her if she wanted to have sex with him. She replied that she did not. He then placed the woman in a chokehold and dragged her behind a parked car. He repeatedly threatened to kill her if she resisted or called for help.
The Afghan then filmed himself raping her as he covered her mouth, according to Kurier newspaper.
The man was later arrested thanks to surveillance cameras in the area.
The man spoke German without an interpreter in court, saying he did not remember the details of the rape because he was high on cocaine, which he said “makes him aggressive.”
The man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, but the prosecution is appealing the case because they believe the sentence is too lenient. The victim was also awarded €5,000 by the judge.
Angela Rayner has resigned as the U.K.’s deputy prime minister and housing minister after an ethics watchdog found she breached the ministerial code by failing to pay the correct rate of tax on her seaside flat.
The scandal, first exposed by a Telegraph investigation, revealed Rayner had underpaid around £40,000 in tax when purchasing her property in Hove, known in the U.K. as Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).
She initially pointed to legal advice she received at the time of the purchase, but later referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards and HMRC. Her lawyers later claimed they had been made “scapegoats,” saying they had never provided tax advice, were not tax specialists, and had advised her to seek an expert opinion.
Sir Laurie Magnus, the prime minister’s ethics adviser, concluded Rayner had fallen short of the standards expected of her office. “It is highly unfortunate that Ms Rayner failed to pay the correct rate of SDLT on this purchase, particularly given her status and responsibilities as the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and as Deputy Prime Minister,” he wrote.
“She believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the caution contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought,” Sir Laurie added.
He described it as “deeply regrettable that the specific tax advice was not sought,” saying that while Rayner had acted with “integrity and a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service,” the failure to settle her liability correctly, and the fact it only came to light under intense public scrutiny, meant she could not be considered to have upheld the “highest possible standards” required under the ministerial code.
“Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached,” he concluded in his advice to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Rayner announced her resignation in a letter to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Friday, citing the toll on her family and acknowledging she had not met the standards expected of ministers. She said she had taken “full responsibility.”
In an interview with Sky News earlier this week, Rayner explained that she had sold her interest in her family home to a trust established for her disabled son.
Her family had received a financial award after suing the National Health Service following her son’s premature birth in 2008.
She used the proceeds from this sale to purchase another property in Hove, claiming to believe she had discharged her ownership of the family home and therefore needed to only pay the standard SDLT rather than the higher surcharge for those with more than one property.
In her resignation letter, Rayner pointed to the toll the scrutiny had taken on her family. “I must also consider the significant toll that the ongoing pressure of the media is taking on my family,” she wrote. “My priority has, and always will be, protecting my children, and the strain I am putting them under through staying in post has become unbearable.”
Leader of the opposition Conservatives, Kemi Badenoch accuses the prime minister of not having the stomach to fire his number two when the story first broke.
“Angela Rayner is finally gone, but it’s only because of Keir Starmer’s weakness that she wasn’t sacked three days ago. Britain deserves better,” she wrote on X.
“It was inevitable. You can’t be housing secretary and avoid £40,000 worth of stamp duty,” said Nigel Farage in a video ahead of his Reform party’s annual conference. He said that Rayner’s resignation as deputy leader of Labour triggers an internal election for the position, and expects the “hard-left” to be rubbing its hands at the prospect of once again gaining influence.
France is known for its damaging riots, and increasingly those riots are costing the country billions. In many cases, these riots are fueled by migrants and those with a migration background, who torch cars, destroy businesses, and sometimes even burn monuments and buildings to the ground.
Once again, the solution is to charge citizens for the giant mess created by those on the left and “center” who promoted mass immigration for France. According to French newspaper Les Echos, the government wants to create a state-backed reinsurance fund to cover riot-related damage, with the fund to be worth approximately €775 million per year.
There are many estimates as to how much these riots cost, with many of them covered extensively by Remix News, but various estimates have put them over a billion a year.
The government is taking its inspiration from natural disaster funds, which help cover events like fires and floods. However, unlike many natural disasters, the riots are arguably preventable, especially as they appear to be fueled by France’s exploding migrant population.
What does that mean for French people? It means a 5 percent mandatory insurance surcharge that all French must pay for “property damage” contracts. Insurers would have to pay €300 million into the fund.
🇫🇷 More violence in Paris yesterday following PSG's victory.
However, how would a riot be determined in order to know whether such an event applies for insurance fund payouts? Currently, there are two possibilities: one is that the state declares a “riot” on a case-by-case basis, or alternatively, uses one simple legal definition of a riot, but that option may be more likely to be challenged in the courts.
Lawyer Romain Dupeyré said: “This option has the advantage of providing, on a case-by-case basis, a definitive definition of what constitutes a riot. But since the decision is made by the state, it could be subject to political or budgetary considerations.”
Riots connected to mass immigration
Remix News already covered in many cases the link between the most damaging riots and mass immigration.
In 2023, a video garnered over 1.5 million views on Twitter alone involving the then leader of the Les Republicans senate group, Bruno Retailleau (now the interior minister). He said that it is clear that immigrants, including second- and third-generation people with an immigration background, were responsible for the rioting that caused widespread destruction across the country.
“I heard that (French Interior Minister) Gerard Darmanin, yesterday at the National Assembly, said there is no link between these events and immigration. Of course there is… I’ve asked many mayors. They all tell you that it’s precisely in the neighborhoods where there are migratory ghettos. Certainly, they are French, but they are French in their official identity, and, unfortunately, for the second, third generation (of immigrants), there’s a kind of regression back towards their ethnic origins,” said Retailleau in an interview with FranceInfo.
Retailleau has been widely criticized for his failure to stem the crime and migration crisis while serving as the current interior minister, but his words in 2023 reflected the position and belief of many French people.
“We know the causes. And I want to reiterate them. Unfortunately, I’m afraid the government is tempted by the politics of failure. Once more, the French, the silent majority do not understand that there is a cold anger that is rising in the country. Because it is a double punishment for the French, because they paid into the neighborhoods, and now they have to rebuild because the savages burned them down,” he said.
Retailleau was referring to a week-long riot that produced 3,000 arrests, hundreds of wounded police officers, thousands of arson attacks, and historic landmarks, including the famed Alcazar Library, nearly burned to the ground. In one case, a flaming vehicle was even sent into a mayor’s home, nearly killing his family.
However, since then, there have been mass riots many times over in France, with many producing huge amounts of damage.
He said it was “forbidden to talk about” that the attacks and mass riots in Paris were done by migrants, Arabs, and people of color, and according to him, there is no denying it based on the video footage flowing out of Paris.
Zsolt Bayer, writing for Magyar Nemzet newspaper, one of the most widely read newspapers in Hungary, wrote that chaos in France left 264 cars burned, 692 cases of arson, one police officer in a coma, and two people dead, one due to stab wounds and the other due to a car accident. In addition, mass looting ensued, and 192 people were injured, along with 21 police officers and seven firefighters.
However, paying more for riots is just a drop in the bucket towards the overall cost of migration. One academic researcher puts the cost at €25 billion per year, due to housing, social welfare, and integration costs.
German police have reportedly shot a student from Kosovo after the migrant stabbed his female teacher in Essen. It is yet another knife attack targeting a teacher by a migrant, which has been an ongoing problem over the last years in Germany.
The 18-year-old student from Kosovo reportedly attacked a teacher at the educational park in the Nordviertel district of Essen, which is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The vocational school is located between Blücher Straße, Unsuhr Straße, and Altenessener Straße.
The woman suffered a serious stab wound in his stomach. He is being treated at a university hospital and is scheduled to undergo emergency surgery. According to Bild newspaper, it is unclear if the victim’s life is in danger.
Individuals in the nearby area saw a perpetrator matching the description provided by the police. When police cornered the suspect, he reportedly charged them with a knife. The police opened fire on the suspect, hitting him. It is unclear if the suspect is facing life-threatening injuries.
The police arrived at the scene at 9:30 a.m. and have sealed off the entire building.
“We have a large number of officers on site,” said a police spokesperson.
In addition to the teacher, a number of other people on scene are being treated by medical services. Ten students are reportedly suffering from shock after witnessing the stabbing of the teacher or providing aid to the victim.
Dozens of students remain in classrooms, after many of them barricaded their doors, which is standard procedure during a school shooting.
Another knife attack targeting a teacher has rocked Germany, this time in Essen, which has triggered a major police operation
A student attacked a teacher at the educational park in the Nordviertel district of Essen, which is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The vocational school is located between Blücher Straße, Unsuhr Straße, and Altenessener Straße.
The victim suffered a serious stab wound in his stomach. He is being treated at a university hospital and is scheduled to undergo emergency surgery. According to Bild newspaper, it is unclear if the victim’s life is in danger.
Switzerland is confronting a surge in domestic violence after 15 femicides were recorded in the first half of 2025. In a commentary for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Swiss-Tunisian scholar and political Islam activist Saïda Keller-Messahli said that offenders disproportionately often come from Muslim countries and that the role of Islam in shaping attitudes toward women must be openly acknowledged.
“Reports of men killing their wives, ex-partners, or daughters because they don’t behave as they wish are increasing,” she noted.
She cited research by forensic scientist Frank Urbaniok showing that Afghans are reported for serious violent crimes five times more often than Swiss citizens, Moroccans eight times more often, and Tunisians nine times more often.
“The disproportionate crime rate has a lot to do with cultural influences. It is about how violence is dealt with, the image of women, or the role of the rule of law in these countries,” Urbaniok told the same newspaper in April.
“I have been dealing with criminals for 33 years and have seen thousands of cases at close range. That’s why I know how strong and relevant these imprints can be. Sometimes, they persist for generations,” he added.
Keller-Messahli argued that this pattern extends to domestic violence cases and is rooted in Islamic teachings and socialization.
“Socialization plays a crucial role in determining an individual’s relationship with society,” she wrote, adding that in the Islamic context, this is strongly influenced by religious norms drawn from the Quran. She said Islamic laws regulate most areas of life in Muslim countries, often in ways that conflict with human rights and actively promote discrimination. She cited forced conversions for marriage, religiously sanctioned child marriages, and restrictions on adopted children as examples.
Keller-Messahli argued that Islamic teaching places men above women. Quoting Islamic scripture, she wrote, “Just as men have rights over women, so women also have clear rights over men. The rights of men over women are a step higher.” Boys, she said, grow up with privileges that instill in them a sense of entitlement, power, and an acceptance of violence as part of masculinity. According to her, this dynamic helps explain why domestic violence is widespread in Muslim societies.
She cited Arab Barometer data showing Egypt, Lebanon, and Morocco among the countries with the highest levels of domestic violence, noting that “many children have also experienced violence.”
Keller-Messahli warned that questioning Quranic passages that legitimize violence is taboo in many Muslim communities, with creative interpretation of scripture often branded as heresy. As a result, discrimination and patriarchal control become normalized and passed down through generations.
“Only those who manage to critically examine their socialization and gender-based privileges and openly distance themselves from unjust rules and structures can contribute to improvement,” she wrote. But for Muslims who take this step, she added, the social cost is often high.
She concluded that Western societies harm rather than help when they refuse to confront the cultural and Islamic factors behind domestic violence. “We in Western societies do no one a favor if we downplay or even deny the religious and cultural factors of domestic violence, as still happens far too often, especially in feminist circles,” she said.
Former MMA champion Conor McGregor has urged his online supporters to pressure local councillors into nominating him as a candidate for the Irish presidency.
In a video filmed outside Government Buildings in Dublin, McGregor attacked the government over homelessness, migration, and security. “We have seen the homelessness of Irish children rise to levels unprecedented, proving this government’s refusal to abide by and respect our proclamation where all children of Irish are to be cherished. Instead, our children abandoned,” he said.
He also claimed tourism had declined and “danger on our streets has risen” as a result of mass immigration.
Citizens of Ireland, the time for real change is now!
As President, I will not sign any bill in law until it goes back to the people first!
If you want to see my name on the ballot for the Presidency, I urge you to contact your local county councillors today and ask them to… pic.twitter.com/LGDCSGN9vr
Describing himself as a “master of martial combat” and a “solution-driven man,” McGregor called on his followers to contact councillors. “If you want to see my name on the ballot for the presidency, I urge you to contact your local county councillors today and ask them to nominate me,” he said.
“Our councillors are the backbone of our communities. They work harder and deliver more for the people than those in the Oireachtas, who continue to fail this country time and again.”
He told supporters he wanted to be “a president face to face with government officials with only one priority — to ensure that the country our founding fathers gave their lives for is strictly adhered to on behalf of its citizens.”
He tied his message to Ireland’s republican tradition, invoking the 1916 Proclamation. “Ireland, under my tenure, the will of the people will be heard. Ireland under my tenure, we will return important articles of our constitution prior, and thus again aligning with Padraig Pearse’s proclamation,” he said, referring to the revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising.
To run, a candidate must secure the backing of either four of the State’s 31 local authorities or 20 members of the Irish bicameral parliament.
McGregor’s plea suggests he is not confident about securing the latter, and is thus seeking the people to lobby their local councillors to get him on the ballot.
The Irish presidential election is scheduled to be held on Oct. 24.
“There is still a big part of the 100,000 Jews in Hungary that we have not yet reached!” Rabbi Baruch Oberlander tells me, following my compliment on the work he and others in the community have done to raise awareness about Judaism among both Jews and non-Jews alike.
During this summer’s Sziget Festival, a music festival named after its location on Óbudai-sziget (“Old Buda Island”), Oberlander and a team of other rabbis sat in a tent, inviting attendees to come ask them anything. He has been doing this for nearly three decades. This year, in the midst of the conflict in Gaza, he was ready for the worst.
“I was really expecting something different. I thought, this year, we may have some problems. But there ended up being very few antagonistic remarks.”
Oberlander had previously told Zsido.com the same: “We expected a big ‘free Palestine’ tsunami this year, but there was almost nothing. Those who stopped to talk either didn’t bring up the topic, or you could talk to them very calmly. I don’t know what the reason was: People either left their views at home, or the majority of young people actually think sensibly. But as usual, there is a vocal minority, and you think because of them, all young people are like that.”
At his very first “Sziget” back in 1998, Rabbi Oberlander said the environment was very receptive.
“Of course, this is not a natural place for me to be, as an Orthodox, Chabad Lubavitch Hassidic rabbi,” he tells me, laughing. “But it is natural to be where I can find the people, especially young people who have questions.”
“Years ago, sometimes, we would be there until 1 or 2 in the morning. Sometimes, people would try to provoke me. One young man was insistent that 6 million Jews (ed. Note: a number well documented over the years using numerous sources) could not have possibly been killed in the Holocaust.
“I just kept asking him a very personal question, ‘Tell me, what happened to my great-grandmother who was deported from Újpest, with many of her children and grandchildren? What happened to her and to the rest of her family?’
“He had no answer. There is no purpose in these situations to discuss the 6 million number; that’s why I turned the conversation into something very personal.”
Another attendee left their conversation somewhat convinced, but not quite. “You’re a real good guy, really. I just hate all the other Jews,” he told Rabbi Oberlander, who laughs and throws up his arms as he relays this to me.
But more often than not, the interactions were positive and constructive. “I wanted to prove you’re an idiot, but you proved me an idiot,” one Hungarian told him.
Nowadays, what had been a purely Hungarian festival years ago is now international, with fewer and fewer Hungarians present, which he attributes to the festival’s increasingly high prices.
Oberlander and other Chabad rabbis, including from the Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities (EMIH), still show up to every festival. This year, other Jewish organizations planned to boycott the event after Sziget’s organizer refused to ban a rock band (Kneecap) that has been openly pro-Hamas during its concerts. However, Chabad insisted on going, as EMIH’s Rabbi Köves said: “Darkness can only be fought with light.” The Hungarian government ultimately banned Kneecap from entering the country.
Against this backdrop, it was a pleasant surprise when one rabbi was greeted by a ticket-checker who showed off her Star of David pendant.
The next few days were spent doing their outreach, i.e., working to communicate with others. Rabbi Oberlander described this work of Chabad perfectly in the Zsido.com interview. Referring to the two kinds of fruit yielded by their presence on Sziget Island, he said there are “Jews who, as a result of the island meetings, become closer to their roots, and non-Jews who, as a result of meeting Jews, become more open and resistant to anti-Semitic doctrines.”
This year, the harvest was plentiful.
Oberlander was approached by one woman who had started attending synagogue after a conversation she had had with him at Sziget 21 years ago at the age of 16.
A young French man brought four others along to their tent to say Kaddish (a prayer said in a quorum of 10 for those who have passed away) for his father.
Another girl who was not Jewish had concerns about how her relationship with her Jewish boyfriend would work out long-term. She has no intention of converting, while her boyfriend fully expects his future kids to have their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Oberlander explained the issues and resentment that may arise down the road. “It was a nice conversation. She was very thankful,” he says.
Three other girls sat down for a chat, with one complaining to the rabbi that her mother had always forced her to go to Sunday Mass. This had made her drift away from the Church, but as she grows older, she is looking to go back. However, she is conflicted, still harboring resentment against her mom having imposed it on her.
“‘Did your mom insist that you wash your hands before eating? I asked her,” Oberlander tells me. “She replied, of course she did so, because that was understandable and the right way. ‘So why was it wrong to be forced to go to church, why resent one and not the other?’ I asked her.”
This seemed to help her get over her childhood grudge and move on with her journey back to a more spiritual life, which she clearly wanted, he says.
Another attendee expressed concerns over the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and confronted Oberlander on this subject. “I simply told him that after we lost 6 million, and nobody cared, I don’t expect anybody to care for us today. But what is surprising is how the world refuses to care about how Hamas terrorists treat Palestinians, how they use them as human shields, and allow them to be killed. This will never make sense to me that nobody seems to care about this.” The young man accepted this as a fair point and thanked Oberlander for his time.
Rabbi Oberlander talks with attendees at the Sziget Festival (Photo: EMIH)
Just this month, Kálmán Szalai, host of the program “50 Minutes,” visited Israel to personally investigate reports circulating in international media and on social platforms claiming that Israel is starving the population of Gaza.
At the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Szalai witnessed hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies waiting to be collected. Representatives of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) emphasized that Israel does not block the aid convoys, but noted that on several occasions, the United Nations and other aid organizations failed to show up to collect the shipments.
The IDF also stressed to Szalai that their ability to prevent the Hamas terrorist organization from seizing the aid is limited, as the responsibility for distribution lies with the humanitarian agencies. For this reason, Israel has expressed strong support for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which delivers assistance directly to the civilian population in Gaza.
On the topic of Gaza, Rabbi Oberlander also emphasizes the power of social media, as well as what many have claimed to be doctored and outright fake photos and videos spread by Hamas. But more than this, Oberlander maintains that they put their own people in harm’s way and keep them there, on purpose.
Rabbi Oberlander and fellow rabbis at the Sziget Festival (Photos: EMIH, Zsido.com)
“Still, most people did not even bring this whole subject up,” Oberlander says, still somewhat surprised. “We thought people might be screaming and demonstrating. But even those who breached the topic with us were not full of hate in any way.”
“I suspect maybe, and it would not be the first time, a very loud minority is behind this pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli campaign. They end up representing ‘everybody’ because they are so loud.”
But this is not the case, at least not at Sziget. “All in all, the security guy with us was bored, nothing happened,” he says happily.
Still, in the eyes of many, Hamas has already won. They got what they wanted: the demonization and global hatred of Israel, making it even harder for the country to defend its territory, its people, and its right to exist. Even questioning if Hamas is doing this or that against civilians, or keeping aid from them, can bring defensive ire. And even if this is from a small group of people, it is loud enough to spur many to avoid confrontation.
As Kevin Myers wrote in his Brussels Signal piece, “The terrible truth is that Hamas has already won its Gaza war. Israel, the victim of the massive October 7th pogrom, has, by a brilliantly Satanic sleight-of-hand, been turned into the oppressor.”
Essentially, as Myers explains, the plan of the now-martyred Yahya Sinwar was to instigate Israel, force it to defend itself at all costs, and demonize it around the world.
And attempting to discuss the real issue, “Do Palestinians even want Israel to exist?” is no longer polite conversation for what seems to be many. Or, again, is it just this very vocal, visible few?
This brings us to the real issue for us all: Do we care about freedom? This has been another major win for Hamas and Palestinian sympathizers. They have essentially shut down any conversation about the values they aspire to by using the “freedom of speech” argument. And yet, these same people have made it clear they do not want Israel to have the freedom to exist.
But, forget Israel. What of America? Do they want the America we grew up in to exist? This is a heated topic, one my own alma mater is now paying dearly for.
This past July, Columbia agreed to pay the U.S. government over $200 million to restore its right to federal funding. The university has agreed to create a safer environment for Jewish students who had faced an onslaught of verbal and physical abuse from pro-Palestinian (and often pro-Hamas) protesters. The Columbia campus was occupied for more than 100 days back in 2024, leading to an obstruction of student life and classes, as well as clashes with police.
At one point, some students took over Hamilton Hall. Columbia has reported that it expelled these students, suspended them, or temporarily revoked their degrees.
There were many who believed these students were simply expressing their freedom of speech. But when your free speech seeks to shut down and shut out an entire community, not to mention shut down classrooms or seize buildings, we have a problem.
And then there is the issue of what these students were protesting for. Some were openly supporting a terrorist organization known to seek the destruction of Israel (“From the river to the sea”) not to mention their hatred of “Western imperialists,” while others seemed to be happy to support the “freedom” of a group of people who, as a populace, do not live in a democratic society and follow the laws of Islam. Palestine’s Basic Law purportedly calls for respect for other religions, and yet, Islam is the official state religion, and Hamas is known for seeking to impose its laws.
Perhaps your average Palestinian would prefer a “free” society, but they only seem to relish in the battle cries against their oppressor Israel, as well as its backer, the USA.
Myers also notes in his piece that approval among Palestinians of armed attacks on Israeli civilians now stands at 59 percent, up from 48 percent in 2023.
Meanwhile, even longstanding Christian communities there face discrimination and tensions, not to mention the third-world living conditions brought about by a country constantly run by militants.
So, would Palestinians ever choose a free and democratic society?
“My father, having had to flee to the U.S., adored, cherished democracy. After all, you should be able to say everything. When there isn’t freedom of speech, the first one who won’t have freedom of speech will be us! Freedom of speech and religion — this is a solid rule,” Oberlander tells me.
“After 9/11, my father was shaking,” he continues. “‘After surviving the Holocaust, we thought we would be safe here in the USA,’ he said to me. It was so sad. But the idea of freedom is key for all religions,” Oberlander insists.
As to the no-go zones in other European cities, areas riddled with crime and tolerance only for those who are Muslim, these should not exist, he says, emphasizing that the prevailing laws of the land must prevail and be enforced on all.
Bringing up the recent case in Austria, whereby a regional civil court upheld a contract between two men who had agreed to arbitrate any dispute according to Sharia law, Oberlander seemed neutral on the matter. Private parties should be allowed to arbitrate as they see fit, as long as this does not contravene the laws of the land. The practice of private arbitration is rife (and controversial) in the corporate world and is used amongst Orthodox Jews as well.
Upon first reading of this case, I myself was first shocked and then confused. If the two men had agreed on this privately, and both are presumably Muslim, why should the state intervene simply because one side is now upset over his obligation? Those concerned point out that once the state publicly upholds Sharia law over a business contract, what’s next? One could say, OK, but certainly lines can be drawn. Nobody will allow a woman to be forced to stay in an abusive marriage or a girl to be mutilated, right? Nobody is going to allow Islamic precepts to creep into state law, right?
🇧🇪🔴 Belgium: A politician in Molenbeek, Saliha Raiss, is under fire after telling residents to leave if they do not like the veil in her neighborhood, which is 44% Muslim.
One young Belgian woman responds: "Sad to say, but today Belgium is reaping what it sows, wanting to live… pic.twitter.com/mEuq4JnCHP
Unfortunately, Muslims, especially the more religiously fervent ones, may not see it that way. Muslims comprised some 6 percent of Europe’s population — as of 2020. Estimates call for this figure to rise to over 11 percent by 2050.
As a comparison, Jews make up some .1 percent of Europe’s population, also as of 2020. As of 2022, Orthodox Jews made up 8 percent of Europe’s total Jewish population.
Jews have also lived across Europe since the Common Era. They have been a part of communities and a shaper of customs in almost every country. And despite almost being annihilated, they are still here and thriving as part of the European community. They have never sought to change the state laws of the countries they reside in, and those who are strictly religious maintain very private lives.
Muslims, on the other hand, have become known for wanting to impose their ways on others and dominate. This appears to be a recent phenomenon in Europe, and I feel for those Muslims who have been living quiet and free lives here in Europe for decades, and for those who came in the recent migration wave seeking a Western life. But sadly, the headlines write themselves, and when a Muslim cleric in Sweden says they will be the majority, or a group of Muslim boys harass a Christian girl for wearing a spaghetti-strapped shirt and calling out “Haram!’, you get the concerns.
🇫🇷 A French woman is allegedly told her outfit is "haram," which means "forbidden" in Islam.
The girl, wearing a cross necklace, responds: "It’s a good thing I’m a Christian."
The incident happened at Music Festival 2025 in Paris, which saw widespread violence and 371 arrests.… pic.twitter.com/f8s2H25WiG
Europeans got a nasty wakeup call in 2015 with the Charlie Hebdo killings. Five years later, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by Muslim students offended by his class featuring some of the Hebdo cartoons. Tragically, a student had lied about a depiction of Mohammed she said Paty had shown his students. Nevertheless, Muslims find any depiction of the prophet blasphemous, apparently on penalty of death.
Paty taught a class on freedom of expression.
Ten people in total faced charges for their involvement with the killing, besides the 18-year-old perpetrator. These included an Imam, two students at the middle school, and even one student’s parent.
Remix News recently ran harrowing comments from the deputy head of the German police union, Manuel Ostermann, who predicts Arab clans will dominate by the mid-century. He says multiple cities will have Muslim mayors, sharia law will be followed strictly in some districts, and the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, will be home to representatives from an Islamic right-wing radical party. That is the future he sees if Germany does not change course, he warns.
Scaremongering? Muslims are loud and growing and backed by every liberal-card carrying Westerner flogging themselves for any civilizational pride they may be guilty of harboring.
And those of Jewish heritage or representing the Jewish faith? They’re just happy to be alive and trying to stay that way. And Chabad’s purpose is to remind them that living with religious beliefs is meant to be joyful. This message can be tough for some, even 80 years after their latest mass suppression, because no, that wasn’t the first.
I was surprised at the number Rabbi Oberlander gave for the number of Jews in Hungary he still sought to reach, as most sources cite some 50,000 living here. The truth is, many still today will not tick that box. Having grown up as a bi-coastal American, this makes me grimace. Then again, neither I nor my parents nor grandparents experienced the Hungary of WWII, nor the years preceding it.
Between December 1944 and January 1945, 20,000 Jews were murdered by gunshot and tossed into the Danube. Forced to remove their shoes before facing the firing squad, a memorial today of 60 pairs of bronze shoes stands as a testament to the terror.
There are no laces, as the victims had to remove these so that their executioners could tie their hands together. Some were tied in groups of two or three, with one being shot, dragging the others with them into the ice-cold water of the Danube.
Shoes on the Danube Bank Memorial, Budapest, Hungary.
Budapest was liberated just a month later in February 1945. In total, over 550,000 Jews had died — from being forced into labor, sent to death camps, or shot on the ground in Budapest.
Shockingly, some 100,000 Jews remained in the city, although many of these would take the first opportunity to flee not just Hungary but Europe, with a vast majority ending up in the United States, a land where they could be free to live as Jews. The WJC puts the number of surviving Jews from “larger Hungary” at 255,000, still a fraction of the 825,000 known to have been living in the spring of 1944. Overall, Hungarian Jews were somewhat luckier than those living in other areas, but they survived with the knowledge that they had been hunted.
Rabbi Baruch Oberlander’s parents both survived the Holocaust. His father was in Budapest, with “false” papers, as he calls them. His mother was deported to Austria with her family. They both fled in 1947. That did not mean they stopped being Hungarian. The Hungarian language, their Hungarian Jewish traditions, and their way of life — all of that stayed with them in their new home in Brooklyn, New York.
For his part, Oberlander would come to adopt new traditions, too. Not just as an American, or a New Yorker, but as a Jew. Drawn to Chabad out of a desire to help others, he was ordained a rabbi at the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitcher in 1988, after attending yeshivas in the U.S. and Israel. A year later, he was called upon to return to his Hungarian roots, arriving in 1989, just before the fall of communism, with his newlywed wife Batsheva (also of Hungarian heritage). In 1991, he became rabbi of the Orthodox Vasvári Pál Street synagogue.
During an interview on Neshama TV’s “50 Minutes,” Oberlander pointed out that Chabad’s own Hassidic traditions and interpretations differ from the Hungarian Ashkenazi customs of Orthodox Jews. And yet, a balance was found, especially since Hungary itself had a very big Hassidic heritage up until the Holocaust, whereby the community has always respected each other’s ways. Just like in America, a sort of melting pot ensued.
“We have preserved many local Ashkenazi customs to this day, for example, we recite Akdamut (a piyyut or liturgical poem) on Shavuot (when Moses received the 10 Commandments) because it is a beautiful text,” he said during the interview, as cited by Neokohn.
Today, under the leadership of Rabbi Oberlander, Hungary is now a major center of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. Whereas in his early years, he spent much time travelling the countryside of Hungary, as well as the pre-Trianon territories where so many Hungarians still lived, those areas all have their own Chabad rabbis today. The growth has been tremendous — and rewarding.
Rabbi Baruch Oberlander has dedicated his life to providing proper translations of the books of Judaism to Hungarians and answering their questions about their faith.
One young boy he knew and briefly taught in the village of Vynohradiv, western Ukraine (formerly Nagyszőlős, in the Kingdom of Hungary), is now a rabbi in Israel. Another girl ended up marrying a religious Hungarian boy in Brooklyn.
Oberlander has stayed busy over his decades here. One of his first projects was publishing a new siddur, or prayer book, as the ones used by the community were old, worn, and with archaic translations in Hungarian.
There have now been three printings of his new siddur, a total of 15,000 copies used by all the congregations in Hungary, he says. He also started Zsido.com, the largest Jewish website in Hungary. During Covid, having a digital format was especially important for the community. It was at that time that the rabbi started sending out a daily message via WhatsApp, Sunday through Friday. He still does so today.
Oberlander also obtained his PhD in history from the University of Debrecen on the making of a forgery, focused on volumes of the Jerusalem Talmud that had been at the center of a controversy for some time more than a century ago; they are now more or less accepted as fake.
He taught Jewish Law at Budapest’s ELTE for 20 years and also teaches Jewish medical ethics at Semmelweis (SOTE), in both English and Hungarian. He tells me this field is critical, as doctors and the medical practice, as well as patients, are facing so many new questions given the rapid advancement of medical treatments and the fact that we are living so much longer.
As our conversation turns back to the war in Gaza, Oberlander acknowledges the bad press and unfortunate casualties. “People question Israel, and are not aware how Israel is so so careful, and when you are dealing with terrorists, they will stop at nothing; they just sacrifice their own people to shield themselves, and you are left with the question of your survival.”
“Israel is a high-tech country, a place of business and innovation. People there are not interested in war, but they also do not want to be killed,” Oberlander tells me.
“No right-wing leader wants to be in war for long; it is bad for business, bad for the economy,” he continues. “After PM Rabin was assassinated in ‘95, Hirado, Hungarian TV’s main news program, interviewed me and asked, ‘Why is it that religious people are not pro-peace, and only the left wing? Why are the religious pro-war?’ And I told them, ‘Nobody in Israel is pro-war, but the debate is, will an agreement with the PLO bring actual peace, or will it bring war?’ This was the real question,” he underlines.
“We pray three times a day, and in that prayer, we pray for peace,” he adds.
On the topic of Judaism, I ask for two lessons from Judaism that he would like to share.
1. Judaism does not teach us not to live a normal life, to not enjoy life. It teaches us how, with the help of our religious beliefs, we should enjoy life, how to live a good life, live a life full of love, how to find purpose in life.
2. The concept of Teshuva, basically repentance or self-improvement. God is always ready and waiting for you. He will delete all so that you can move forward in life with a clean slate, but you must recognize your wrongs, decide to change, and ask for forgiveness.
The autumn days between Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur are fast approaching. These are spent “doing Teshuvah”, followed by the one-day fast, after which the spiritual renewal is complete, i.e., the clean slate.
The Jewish philosopher Maimonides believed that even a lifelong sinner could repent on his deathbed and be forgiven by God. Judaism is certainly not alone in this thinking, and the theme of God believing in man’s ability to strive for goodness, even if he has lived a flawed life, is also present in secular literature, quite famously so in Goethe’s Faust.
These are the aspects of Judaism that Rabbi Oberlander, Chabad, and EMIH seek to communicate to and share with people around them. There is no obligation to adhere, agree, or accept. But the door is always open.
Sólet Festival, Budapest, Hungary (Photos: Zsido.com)
Chabad, along with EMIH, continues to work hard “normalizing” Jewish life, with numerous programs throughout the year. I say “normalizing” because the first time I asked someone where I could get good bagels in Budapest, like at a kosher deli maybe, they looked at me like I was an alien. (As it happens, a fantastic bagel place, with authentic New York bagels, complete with numerous optional toppings, opened in 2022, right next to Margaret Bridge and aptly named Brooklyn Bagel. It even has Oberlander’s Hechsher, the kosher certification granted by him as the head of the Orthodox Rabbinate in Hungary.)
Autumn is a particularly active time for the Jewish community, with an entire calendar of concerts and events. The popular Sólet Festival is part of the annual “Synagogue Week” that local Budapestians and visitors flock to to savor multiple versions of the savory stew.
“Everyone’s welcome,” Oberlander says. Whether you are Jewish or not, his message of making sure to find joy in life is relevant to all, especially nowadays.
Sólet Festival, Budapest, Hungary (Photos: Zsido.com)
A young German woman was riding her horse one summer evening when a Romanian construction worker, Nicolae C., dragged her off her horse and tried to rape her. He was only in the country for five days when the attack began.
The 18-year-old Romanian man was only 18 at the time of the attack in the town of Bad Soden-Salmünster, which dates back to May 28, 2023. He is now standing trial for the attempted rape two years later.
During the beginning of the trial, he confessed to the crime, saying: “I wanted to rape her,” as reported by Gelnhäuser Neue Zeitung in the Hanau regional court. He apologized to the victim.
On the day of the incident, he had already undressed and “exposed” himself when he saw the woman walking by at 8:00 p.m.
The man pulled her off the horse and ripped off her riding breeches. He then forcefully grabbed her intimate areas. The female rider defended herself violently and whipped the man with her riding whip. He finally let her go and hid inside a bush.
The police arrived at the scene and arrested him after they found the man hiding inside foliage.
Nicolae C. has been charged with sexual assault and bodily harm. The trial is held behind closed doors to protect the victim’s identity.
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, leader of the country’s largest party, has called for the chemical castration of a Somali migrant accused of kidnapping and attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl.
As reported by De Telegraaf, a court in Den Bosch heard on Wednesday that 37-year-old Salah H., a Somali national and father of six, is facing three years in prison for attempted rape, indecent assault, and unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Prosecutors said the minor was abducted in Oss on March 14, 2025, and forced to take drugs before being assaulted.
According to her lawyer, Priya Soekhai, the migrant planned to rape the teenager after she was taken by car to his home, where she was groped and kissed. She managed to escape into the toilet, phoned the police, and gave precise details of the house, car, and suspect. Police later arrived to find her distressed but safe, arresting a man matching her description.
In a victim statement read in court, the girl said, “I feel his hands still on my body. Every time I drive past the place, I feel sick. I am afraid I will meet him again.” Her lawyer said she continues to struggle with severe trauma, avoids meeting new people, and is fearful of leaving the house alone.
The suspect denies the charges, with his lawyer Arjan Syrier telling the court that he was only trying to help the girl after she claimed to feel unwell in the street, suggesting that DNA evidence could have resulted from a handshake.
The court will deliver its verdict on Sept. 17.
Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders wrote on X, “Somali man suspected of kidnapping and abusing a 14-year-old girl. This scum should also be chemically castrated as punishment. That’s what the PVV’s 2025 manifesto says!”
Somaliër verdacht van ontvoering en misbruik 14-jarig meisje. Dit tuig zou als straf ook chemisch moeten worden gecastreerd. Dat staat dan ook in het PVV-programma 2025!#PVV#StemPVVhttps://t.co/OY13OptlDI
The call for chemical castration echoes the PVV’s broader justice agenda, set out in its 2025 manifesto, which proposes life sentences without parole, tougher penalties for violent and sexual crimes, and the chemical castration of serious child abusers. The program also calls for abolishing psychiatric detention (TBS), banning organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Extinction Rebellion, and imposing stricter prison regimes, including mandatory work and the end of early release.
The case comes just weeks before the Dutch general election on Oct. 29, with the latest Ipsos I&O poll putting Geert Wilders’ PVV in the lead on 31 seats, six ahead of the joint GroenLinks–PvdA list. The VVD trails further behind on 15, with NSC collapsing to a single seat.
With 76 seats needed for a majority, however, the PVV will once again be reliant on forming alliances with other parties, a feat that proved too much in this parliament and led to the early collapse of the center-right coalition government over asylum reforms.
While many on the German left send their children to private schools or simply live in upscale neighborhoods, the overall German school system is growing increasingly chaotic and unmanagble due to mass immigration.
Teachers have been reporting across the country about the “absolute hell” they have to go through in many of these heavily migrant schools. Now, another teacher has added her voice to the growing chorus. The anonymous woman, Nadine M., currently teaches at the “collective learning” school in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the student body has a 98 percent migration population.
She describes to Welt newspaper how lessons are nearly impossible, where many students do not speak a word of German, and where teachers are insulted and even spat on.
Nadine M. has been in the school for 15 years, and during that time, she has seen the school descend into chaos.
She told Welt that many students enter the school with no knowledge of German. Furthermore, the students have no desire to integrate, and the parents, in many cases, are openly hostile to the teachers and even the entire education system.
The school features “inclusive learning,” which means older children are often paired with younger children in the same class, which can, in theory, allow older students to help mentor younger students. Nadine M. entered the school with high hopes, with Welt writing: “We are publishing this text because a dedicated teacher authentically describes how all good intentions and all beautiful concepts are in danger of failing because the reality of school has changed dramatically in recent years.”
She told the paper: “I consciously chose all of this because I had a certain idealism. I didn’t just want to teach, but to give every child the feeling that it’s important, that they have abilities, that it’s worth always giving their best. I wanted the children to learn with all their senses and that each one would receive as much learning stimulation as possible. Everyone should be able to learn at their own pace, but above all with and from each other.”
She describes some of the common problems seen in the German education system, including overflowing classes and rundown classrooms. She says she started with 18 students, which was manageable, but this has ballooned to 26 to 30 children.
“Have you ever made lanterns with 30 children, where more than half of them can’t even cut anything properly with scissors? Or don’t even understand the simplest instructions, even though you’ve explained it, made it, and shown it step by step with pictures? Learning obstacles that once affected a few children now affect a large portion of the class,” she stated.
In a school with nearly 100 percent foreigners, these issues are compounded immensely.
“Many children enter class without any knowledge of German, without basic skills, and without social skills. The smallest learning steps must always be repeated and vividly illustrated so that even a minimum amount of knowledge is retained,” she warns.
What may be even more worrying for Germany’s future is that standards are continuously being lowered to respond to the poor academic ability of foreign children.
“It is especially worrying that fewer and fewer children are achieving the required competencies at the end of primary school. Requirements are continually being lowered because they no longer seem realistic for many,” she reported.
It is so bad that she says students can no longer formulate sentences, and even beyond that, she says they “do not have the imagination or creativity to do so.”
She is not receiving any help from many parents either.
“Furthermore, parental support is often lacking. Homework isn’t done, reading isn’t practiced, and necessary materials are often unavailable,” she stated.
She notes that much of the costs for basic materials come out of her own pocket, such as glue sticks, pencils, erasers, and scissors. However, it goes even further, with teachers having to bring their own toilet paper to school, repair shelves, and refurbish classrooms, all with their own money.
“It’s perfectly normal that you have to bring toilet paper because the state budget needs to save money. How sad!” she stated.
Throughout the piece, the entire “call for help” from this teacher comes across like a report from a Third World country. It may be hard for many to fathom, especially on the affluent left, that such a school is actually in Germany.
“I often wonder if our politicians would enjoy going into such offices every day. But our children are expected to do it,” she noted.
She also reports on just how deplorable the support from the students’ parents truly is, to the point that they openly undermine her.
“If I teach my child that the rules in school aren’t important anyway, what kind of adults are we raising who are no longer subject to any rules? A boy constantly comes to class with his smartwatch, even though we have a rule that watches must stay in their school bags during class. This apparently doesn’t apply to him. He likes to call his dad when he’s not being watched, for example, to pick him up from a sports festival so he doesn’t have to walk back to school with his class. Or families simply stay longer in their home countries after the holidays. Any fines imposed are paid by the state itself anyway,” she wrote.
“Teachers’ ability to assess their child’s abilities is increasingly being questioned. I was once severely cursed and insulted by a father during such a conversation. This attitude often transfers to the children. Some react disrespectfully toward teachers, even cursing or spitting on them,” she added.
She even takes a shot at Angela Merkel and her famous phrase, “We can do it,” which preceded Merkel’s decision to open the door to millions of illegal migrants.
“Regarding ‘We can do it,’ I would like to say that integration always requires two sides. One side that supports people, and one side that wants integration. I’ve met many great people as a teacher. Many parents who manage to get their children integrated without losing their own culture. But there must be a place for everything—including our St. Martin, St. Nicholas, and Christmas. It must be possible for children on school trips to sleep in rooms in a Christian home where Christian crosses may hang, without feeling persecuted or threatened,” she notes.
🇩🇪🔴 A young German teen ponders what Germany would be like if Merkel had not welcomed over 1 million migrants.
She was only 4 when the former chancellor made her decision, but life has dramatically changed.
“Time and again, children come to school without knowing a single word of German. And these are no longer exceptions or isolated cases; it’s almost the rule,” she laments.
After seven Alternative for Germany (AfD) politicians died in the run-up to the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) elections, the web was abuzz with theories about potential assassinations. However, so far, the evidence points to these politicians dying from ordinary circumstances despite some more fantastical theories floating around.
Still, the “fears” being expressed are going to be an increasing symptom of a polarized and sometimes violent political climate. While the deaths of the AfD politicians should be examined, so far, police investigations have not uncovered any wrongdoing.
Notably, Welt and other German news outlets first reported that the first four deaths were “sudden and unexpected,” a point that Remix News also reported on. That point has since been clarified, with many of the individuals indeed suffering from pre-existing conditions.
Most outlets and influencers just reported the facts — that AfD politicians were dying at a seemingly higher rate than normal — and the facts did appear concerning at first glance and certainly newsworthy. However, some on social media, including some influencers, took this information and made blanket claims that AfD politicians are being killed. In short, this kind of “jumping the gun” is problematic, and while mistakes do happen, they also can harm credibility.
Nevertheless, all the evidence so far points to the deaths of seven Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates being entirely natural, with one suicide included.
In total, there are 20,000 candidates running in regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, and new information clarifies that a total of 16 candidates have died in the last two months, with seven AfD politicians among them. It must also be remembered that the pool of politicians in Germany is overwhelmingly from an older population, with the baby boomers playing an outsized role.
It may be a slight anomaly that so many AfD politicians have died, but it appears it is not “statistically impossible,” as some commentators initially reported.
The latest death of an AfD politician was an 80-year-old man. Again, all evidence points to a natural death. As Remix News reported, the other six appear to have died from a variety of complications, including a heart attack and another from ongoing kidney disease. Many of them were older individuals with preexisting conditions.
🇩🇪🔴BREAKING: 6 Alternative for Germany (AfD) politicians have now died in the run-up to state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In addition to the previous 4 cases, René Herford and Patrick Tietze have also died.
Notably, the local North Rhine-Westphalia AfD association is not alleging any foul play, and they presumably have the best overview of the health of their candidates.
All alternatives highly implausible
One must also consider the implications of an alternative theory. Who would be targeting local AfD politicians with death? To kill these low-level players with some kind of poison or covert mechanism, it would require near state-level resources. It would also require a number of individuals to identify where the politicians live, deliver this covert killing method without being caught, and then meticulous work to ensure that these assassinations could not be traced to the source. Sounds like an extremely high-risk, low-reward endeavor.
Does anyone really think that anyone in the German government is going to partake in this kind of operation? It would arguably be the biggest scandal in the federal republic’s history.
Furthermore, the state has plenty of resources to target the AfD without resorting to targeted and illegal assassinations, which would result in prison time and even serve as a huge boon for the AfD if the information ever came out.
Germany is continuously moving towards a ban of the AfD, has restricted AfD members from holding civil service positions, and is conducting mass surveillance of members and politicians. On top of all that, there is a willing media cheering along every repression of the party. There is not exactly a lack of options at the state’s disposal without taking out local councilors.
The other possibility would be a foreign government, but which foreign government is going to bother killing politicians for a regional state election? Again, it simply is not all that plausible.
Finally, a group of left-wing activists hellbent on killing Nazis? Again, another highly unlikely scenario. In all previous cases that we know of, attacks on AfD politicians have been physical and have not involved a sophisticated poisoning operation. These attacks typically involve arson against AfD politicians’ property and their vehicles, or simple assaults against politicians. It would take a Dexter-level genius, who apparently wanted to spend his or her time killing local AfD politicians of an advanced age, with most having pre-existing conditions.
That is not to say that AfD politicians and other politicians across Europe could not be targeted with poison or some other covert mechanism. These are real concerns of security agencies across the world, and everyone from across the political spectrum could be a potential victim. There is a reason security details clean away DNA from world leaders when visiting foreign countries. Furthermore, low-level politicians have less security, making them easier targets, but high-profile politicians are always more valuable and desired targets.
Some of these scenarios could become more realistic in the future, such as if the AfD were to come to power in Germany, and of course, covert killings using a target’s DNA could be a real development down the road. However, most of the assassination attempts that are publicly known all involve the typical instrument: a gun. As Remix News reported, right-wing politicians have been targeted with assassination attempts over the last two years, including Trump, Fico, and even Orbán to a lesser extent.
The far right is not innocent either, and there have been attacks, and even one assassination, of a local CDU politician.
In short, the political environment is quite polarized.
Expect paranoia, fear, and loathing to be the rule going forward in Germany, especially with the AfD’s popularity reaching a new high point, after a number of polls showed it is the most popular party in the country.
The Iraqi suspect accused of fatally pushing 16-year-old Ukrainian refugee Liana K. in front of a freight train in Friedland, Germany, had previously applied for asylum in Lithuania, citing fears of execution in Iraq for allegedly being gay, before later being convicted of sexually assaulting a female.
Muhammed A., 31, first entered the European Union illegally through Lithuania on Aug. 25, 2021. He claimed to be homosexual and insisted he would face the death penalty in Iraq — a common method used by migrants from Middle Eastern countries to stay in Europe and thwart any deportation proceedings, irrespective of whether an asylum request is granted or not. His asylum request was rejected twice.
The Federal Office for Migration in Germany submitted a Dublin application to send him back to Lithuania in October 2022, but multiple legal challenges delayed his return. He alleged he had been raped at an asylum center in Kybartai, Lithuania, and warned of “significant risk of retraumatization” if deported. No evidence of this event, including any formal accusations at the time or charges, has been reported.
In November 2024, Muhammed A. was convicted of an exhibitionistic act after approaching a woman, putting his arm around her, unzipping his pants, and exposing himself. This incident contradicts the homosexuality claims. He was fined 40 daily rates of €15 each. Because the fine fell below 90 daily rates, it did not trigger a criminal record that might have further influenced his immigration status.
Authorities say he repeatedly stalled deportation proceedings. By March of this year, an enforceable deportation order to Lithuania was in place. While serving a 20-day substitute prison sentence in Hannover for failing to pay a fine, immigration authorities applied for deportation detention. However, Hannover District Court rejected it, ruling the risk of absconding was not sufficiently justified.
On Aug. 11, police say he pushed Liana K. with full force against a passing freight train while she was on the phone with her grandfather. Investigators found his DNA on her shoulder. He has since been placed in a psychiatric hospital, claiming to have schizophrenia, sparking concerns that his lawyers may claim he cannot be deemed criminally responsible for his actions.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the case a tragedy that exposes “the dysfunctionality of this system.” He told Welt newspaper: “I don’t understand it either. And I’m angry, too. These are precisely the points that unfortunately demonstrate the dysfunctionality of this system in such an incredibly tragic way.”
Blaming mass immigration for overwhelming German authorities, Dobrindt said: “A country that is overwhelmed by an excessive number of refugees will simply no longer be able to demonstrate systems that function.” He has called for reducing immigration numbers, while stopping short of endorsing the Alternative for Germany’s demands for remigration or a moratorium.
“We have to establish functionality. And the excessive demands must be overcome. But unfortunately, that is still not the case at the moment,” he said.
The owner of an ice cream parlor in Hof, Bavaria, has spoken to Bild after he, his young daughter, and an employee were injured in a violent attack by three Syrian brothers who refused to pay a €15 bill.
Ahmad Farra, 42, runs the Eiscafé Levante with his family and has done so for five years. On Monday evening, chaos broke out at the establishment after the brothers, aged between 15 and 25, returned demanding free ice cream.
A week earlier, their card payment had failed, and they had promised to come back and pay the outstanding amount. “We agreed that they would come back and pay later,” Ahmad’s son Radwan, 17, told Bild.
Instead, they arrived “really aggressive” and, according to Radwan, “wanted to put on a show.” On the terrace, they confronted Ahmad and his 10-year-old daughter, Hanan. When asked if they had come to settle the debt, one of the men replied: “No, and we won’t pay either,” before demanding more free ice cream.
🇩🇪‼️ Syrian migrants at an ice cream parlor in Germany refused to pay their €15 bill and turned violent.
The incident happened on Monday in Hof. Three brothers, aged 15, 19, and 25, had been asked to settle their bill by the owner, and when they refused, he said he was calling… pic.twitter.com/R0Nsxjg2dF
Ahmad, who is also from Syria and previously owned three parlors in his home country before arriving in Germany, then threatened to call the police, resulting in him being struck with a metal flagpole by the eldest brother, while the others overturned chairs and tables. Ahmad, Hanan, and a 24-year-old employee were injured.
“I tried to keep them away from my dad,” Hanan said. She was left with scratches and bruises. “I find it simply unmanly to attack a child,” Radwan added.
The brothers fled but were quickly tracked down. Witnesses said one of them may have had a knife. Police officers with weapons drawn forced two of them to the ground, while the 25-year-old resisted arrest, and was only subdued after pepper spray was used.
Three officers also suffered minor injuries.
Investigators are pursuing charges including grievous bodily harm, resistance to arrest, and assault on law enforcement officers.
Despite this, prosecutors ordered the release of the brothers, citing the men’s permanent residence in Helmbrechts and the absence of grounds such as risk of flight, obstruction of justice, or destruction of evidence. “As much as some might have wanted to take the men into custody, without a legal ground for detention, that is not possible,” Chief Inspector Patric Scheibel told Frankenpost.
Ahmad, however, suggested this was the wrong decision and insisted the trio still pose a threat to the community. “They’re dangerous,” he said.
If parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, Law and Justice (PiS) would win. However, the latest poll brings bad news not only for the Civic Coalition (KO), which would lose power, but also for the Confederation, which has seen a sharp decline in support.
The latest IBRiS survey for Wirtualna Polska shows that PiS currently enjoys the greatest support among Poles.
Twenty-nine percent of respondents declared their intention to vote for Jarosław Kaczyński’s party. This represents a 1.6-percentage point increase compared to the previous survey conducted by this agency.
The Civic Coalition came in second with 27.1 percent. Support for the party dropped by 1-percentage point.
The Confederation party finished last on the podium. However, this group has no reason to celebrate, having lost 4.1-percentage points compared to the previous survey. If the parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, the party would receive 13.2 percent of the vote.
Only the Left Party would still have representation in the Sejm, with 7.4 percent of the votes.
The remaining parties did not cross the electoral threshold. Their results are as follows:
Polish People’s Party – 3.9 percent
Poland 2050 – 3.4 percent
Razem Party – 3.2 percent
Confederation of the Polish Crown of Grzegorz Braun – 3.1 percent
9.7 percent of respondents did not know who they would vote for in the parliamentary elections.
PiS and Confederation hold a majority in the Sejm
However, even with Confederation’s drop in support, PiS would still need the party to take power.
If the poll results actually translated into election results, the distribution of seats would look like this:
Law and Justice – 193
Civic Coalition – 165
Confederation – 73
Left – 29.
“In such a parliamentary configuration, PiS and Confederation would have a total of 266 seats, which would give them a majority. KO and the Left would have 194 seats (not enough for a parliamentary majority),” the polling results read.
Tunis has described the killing of a 35-year-old Tunisian knifeman by French police in Marseille as an “unjustified murder” and summoned the French embassy’s interim chargé d’affaires to make a formal protest.
Abdelkader Dhibi was shot dead by officers on Tuesday after attacking five people with a knife and an iron bar in the city’s Belsunce district. In a statement on Wednesday, Tunisia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “considers this incident an unjustified murder” and called for France to conduct a rapid investigation to establish responsibility.
Tunisian officials said they would “take all measures to preserve the rights of the deceased, his family, and their justice,” while also working to repatriate Dhibi’s body.
Speaking of his family, Marseille’s public prosecutor revealed on Wednesday that Dhibi had a long history of violence, addiction, and psychiatric troubles. As reported by Le Parisien, prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said Dhibi had been addicted to cocaine and alcohol, suffered from psychiatric disorders, and had been convicted in May for stabbing his nephew but remained free pending an appeal.
Accounts from his ex-wife, published by Le Figaro, painted an even grimmer picture. Sophie, 51, described Dhibi as “kind and pleasant” when they first met in 2019, but said he soon became paranoid, violent, and consumed by drug addiction. She detailed episodes of physical abuse, harassment, and threats. “I was so scared of him that I didn’t file a complaint. I thought, ‘It’s going to be worse, he’s going to kill me,’” she recalled.
She said his behavior worsened with cocaine use, paranoia, and psychiatric breakdowns. In 2023, she took him to the hospital during a crisis when he claimed to hear voices, but he left without following medical treatment. That same year, he stabbed his nephew multiple times because he suspected him of being homosexual. Sophie divorced him in 2024.
His marriage to Sophie had allowed him to remain in the country despite arriving illegally in 2018 via Italy. While initially held in multiple detention centers, he was released during the pandemic in 2020.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed that Dhibi held a French residence permit, valid until 2032, and was known to police for prior offenses, including anti-Semitic remarks made near a mosque in Sète. He was flagged for psychiatric monitoring, but had not been considered a radical Islamist threat and was not listed on any terrorism watch files.
While Tunisia insists on an investigation into what it calls an unjustified killing, French authorities emphasize that police responded to an immediate threat from a violent, unstable individual.
Hans-Jürgen Papier, Germany’s former chief justice and one of the country’s most senior legal scholars, has warned that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is undermining national sovereignty by creating what he called a “de facto right to immigration through the back door.”
The 82-year-old Ludwig Maximilian University professor, who led Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court at the start of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship, told The Times newspaper that a growing body of asylum case law from national courts and the ECHR in Strasbourg had created an “ever deeper reaching and ever more closely meshed agglomeration” of rulings. These, he said, were now “settling like mildew over the states’ political power to take action.”
In his view, the result has been a dramatic broadening of the right to asylum, far beyond what was originally intended under the Geneva Convention. “The citizens expect those with political responsibility to revise the asylum policies to suit the changed circumstances. But that is in danger of failing because of the ossification of a body of law that is getting increasingly rarefied and ultimately looks irreversible to many politicians,” he said.
Papier criticized the way European courts have interpreted Articles 3 and 8 of the ECHR — the rights against inhuman treatment and to family life — to block deportations, including cases where asylum seekers could face homelessness or irregular work in other EU states. “That simply goes too far,” he argued. “Here, human dignity is being treated like small change and thereby robbed of its special dignified status.”
The former judge warned that the overzealous application of human rights laws by the ECHR was “generally destroying the European citizen’s trust in the capacity of their democratic institutions to act, and so at the end of the day endangering the existence of Western democracies.”
He called for reforms to the ECHR itself, though he admitted this was unlikely given the need for consensus among all 46 Council of Europe states. Instead, he suggested that the EU or national parliaments draft a “precisely formulated law of migration” that would reduce judges’ scope for interpretation and return asylum rights to the original Geneva standards.
Among his proposals are electronic asylum visas for those with a realistic chance of success, strict annual ceilings on “subsidiary protection” — a weaker asylum status covering people at risk of violence or hardship — and potential third-country solutions for processing applications abroad.
Papier has long been a critic of what he sees as Europe’s open-border approach. In an op-ed for the Bild newspaper in November 2023, he warned that “essentially nothing has changed” since the 2015 migration crisis. He accused Germany of allowing migrants to bypass the Dublin Regulation, which requires asylum seekers to lodge claims in the first EU country they enter, and insisted that Berlin should move “as quickly as possible” to introduce clear and enforceable rules.
“It is not about affecting the right to asylum for people who are actually being persecuted,” he wrote, “it is about protecting this right from being abused for reasons that are clearly unrelated to asylum.”
Two 14-year-old boys with a migration background were arrested for a grenade attack on a family villa while the family and children were inside in Eskilstuna in April, but they were then immediately released due to their age. They have been convicted for the grenade attack but will not be punished.
“I am not aware of what social services have done or are doing with them,” said prosecutor Anton Larsson Forsberg to Swedish news outlet Samnytt.
Nevertheless, the grenade attack could have led to fatalities, and at the very least, the two youths destroyed a part of the house and left the family in terror.
On the evening of April 22, a Swedish mother was home with her small children and had just finished putting the youngest child to sleep.
The hand grenade had detonated on the woman’s porch, sending steel shrapnel in all directions, which tore through her house. Nobody was injured in the attack.
Police arrived on scene and almost immediately apprehended the two youths.
“They were found quite quickly via a taxi booking and some other information. So they could be picked up and interrogated by the police,” said prosecutor Anton Larsson Forsberg to Samnytt.
However, the suspects were only 14, which meant they were not allowed to be detained by police.
“If they were 15, I could have arrested them and maybe remanded them into custody. But now it didn’t work, so they were handed over to social authorities immediately after the deed,” he said.
Prosecutors and police had plenty of evidence to work with, as the two teens filmed their own grenade attack, which was recovered from their phones.
“They have used an app called Signal to write with their clients. The police have somehow managed to access what has been written to the boys, but not what the boys may have answered,” said the police.
“Then we can see, among other things, that they write that ‘No one should be hurt, it’s just to scare them.’”
One boy admitted to being at the scene. On Sept. 1, both boys were found guilty of public destruction, but will face no punishment due to their age.
One boy is from Tanzania and is not a Swedish citizen. He arrived in the country with his mother in 2023.
The family targeted in the attack is not known to have any connection to criminal activity, and nobody from the family has any criminal record. However, the family’s father has a brother, who police believe the criminals were attempting to target.
“This is what we can say: There is a restaurant called Efendys. It is a chain in Central Sweden, and they have a restaurant in Eskilstuna,” said Forsberg. “This man in the family, his brother owns that restaurant. And there were some attacks on it at the beginning of the year.”
The restaurant had been hit with Molotov cocktails and a Thermos bomb, and police believe there is a connection with the attack on the family villa.
In 2024, hand grenade attacks more than doubled in Sweden. As Remix News reported, “Sweden is witnessing an alarming rise in the use of hand grenades by criminal gangs, with the number of explosions more than doubling in 2024 compared to last year. By mid-October, there had been 22 recorded grenade attacks, up from nine in 2023, according to figures from the Police National Bomb Data Centre.”
In 2023, Ardavan Khoshnood, a guest lecturer at Malmö University and senior fellow at Lund University, warned that Sweden had become the bombing capital of Europe and was second only to Mexico as the top country in the world not currently at war to experience the most bombings on its territory.
An illegal immigrant of sub-Saharan origin has been arrested in La Laguna, Tenerife, after allegedly attempting to rape a young woman and injuring both her and a taxi driver who came to her aid.
The incident took place on Monday afternoon in Plaza del Cristo, according to reports from El Burgado.
The victim was returning from a funeral home after attending a wake for a deceased relative when the attacker lunged at her. She suffered multiple bruises during the struggle.
A nearby taxi driver witnessed the assault, abandoned his vehicle, and rushed to help. The suspect then turned on him, leaving him with injuries that required hospital treatment.
Emergency services responded swiftly, with National Police officers arriving at the scene and subduing the attacker. He was taken to a local police station for questioning and remains in custody. Authorities have not disclosed his exact nationality, but confirmed he was of sub-Saharan origin.
The woman later filed a formal complaint at the police station, and the taxi driver is expected to do so after he is discharged from the hospital.
The suspect is expected to appear before a court once police complete their initial investigations.
Santiago Abascal, leader of the right-wing Vox party, took to social media to lament the rise in migrant crime enveloping Spain.
Hoy otra vez.
Todos los días nuestras mujeres, madres e hijas son atacadas.
Todos los días el gobierno del PSOE y el PP callados. El feminismo desaparece cuando el violador no es español. pic.twitter.com/pf28LHPFr0
“Today again. Every day, our women, mothers, and daughters are attacked. Every day, the government of the PSOE and the PP remain silent. Feminism disappears when the rapist is not Spanish,” he wrote on X.
Abascal linked his remarks to the above case and a separate rape that occurred in Bilbao this week, where a 24-year-old woman was assaulted by a 19-year-old man of North African origin.
According to El Correo, the victim was hospitalized for bleeding and pain in her genital area.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki ordered the European Union flag removed from his office, and now, other officials have followed his example, Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported.
The source cited by Gazeta Wyborcza stated that removing the EU flag from the office was one of the first decisions after Nawrocki moved into the Presidential Palace.
“No order was issued in this regard, but everyone considered it a signal to take down the flags wherever they were,” the source said.
According to the same report, Paweł Szefernaker, head of the President’s Office, also removed the EU flag from his office.
However, Gazeta Wyborcza may be making the issue bigger than it actually is, as the EU flag is still present outside the building, where it is supposed to be most visible.
The head of state’s spokesman, Rafał Leśkiewicz, told Gazeta Wyborcza that the EU flag “is present” in the Presidential Chancellery. He emphasized that three flags were present during Karol Nawrocki’s statements last week: the Polish flag, NATO, and the EU flag.
“The spokesman did not provide any response regarding the removal of the EU flag from the head of state’s office. Photographs from Andrzej Duda’s presidency show that the EU flag was there, standing next to the white-and-red one,” according to Gazeta Wyborcza.
The paper is not known to be friendly to Nawrocki. In a commentary published on the newspaper’s front page on Wednesday, Wojciech Maziarski writes that “the president is having EU flags displayed during some of his speeches, just for show, to mislead public opinion and lull the vigilance of those citizens who are terrified by the prospect of Poland’s strategic isolation.”
“Let’s not underestimate this gesture. It’s not a curiosity about the interior design of government offices, but a political declaration indicating the goals of the man who, by the will of a tiny majority of voters, became the leader of our country. The declaration is all the more important because it was not made public,” the columnist writes.
Notably, the columnist wrote that the democratic winner of the election only won by the “will of a tiny majority of voters.”
A German woman from Bavaria is recovering in intensive care after being stabbed multiple times late Monday evening in Sottomarina di Chioggia, near Venice.
The 30-year-old victim was attacked on Viale Vittor Pisani shortly after 11 p.m. while walking her dog in the Italian town, where she was on vacation with her family.
Witnesses said the attacker, who was wearing a helmet, approached her and then repeatedly stabbed her in the head, neck, shoulders, and hands.
Despite suffering more than ten wounds, the injuries were described as shallow, as the victim managed to resist and move during the attack. She was hospitalized in Chioggia, where doctors said she remained conscious, stable, and out of immediate danger, but remained in intensive care as a precaution.
Local residents who heard the victim’s screams found her lying in a pool of blood. “We saw there was a commotion, and a man with a knife was running away. We couldn’t tell if he spoke Italian. He drove away on his motorcycle,” a witness told Corriere della Sera. Another resident, Stefano, said, “The woman was injured, bleeding from her head, hands, and neck. She wasn’t crying, she just kept repeating, ‘Where’s my dog?’”
The victim’s dog, Luky, bolted during the assault and has not yet been found.
“She realized he was following her, and then she was attacked,” the victim’s partner told media, cited by Il Gazzettino. He had remained at their accommodation with the children while the woman had walked the dog.
Police arrested a suspect on Tuesday evening described only as a 25-year-old “Chioggia resident.” He was taken into custody. Authorities said the motive remains unclear, noting the victim was neither robbed nor sexually assaulted.
Mayor Mauro Armelao condemned the stabbing as “a very serious incident” that damaged the city’s reputation, announcing that the municipality would initiate a civil suit against the perpetrator. “Ours is a hospitable and welcoming city, which does not tolerate such episodes of brutal violence. This is not Chioggia.”
“We have no recollection of anything like this happening here,” one resident told the Italian news outlet.
The victim’s parents are expected to arrive in Chioggia on Wednesday to be with their daughter.
“The city remains mobilized and united in the hope of finding him as soon as possible,” Armelao said of the victim’s missing dog.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the government was negligent in how they dealt with an accused Iraqi murder suspect who police believe pushed 16-year-old Liana into a passing train, killing her.
Now, Dobrint, of the Christian Socialist Union (CSU) blames government authorities.
“I don’t understand it either. And I’m angry, too.” Dobrint told Welt newspaper. “These are precisely the points that unfortunately demonstrate the dysfunctionality of this system in such an incredibly tragic way.”
Dobrint even laid the blame on mass immigration.
This was Liana.
She was 16.
She was on her way home from her dental assistant apprenticeship when she was pushed in front of a freight train in Friedland, Germany, on Aug. 11, and killed.
An Iraqi migrant claiming to have schizophrenia has been arrested. His DNA was recovered… pic.twitter.com/NaHeQmU4QL
“We have to establish functionality. And the excessive demands must be overcome. But unfortunately, that is still not the case at the moment,” he said.
The suspect, 31-year-old Muhammad A., has had a deportation order since 2022, but immigration authorities, the state interior ministry, and district courts blocked the decisions of each other. That led to the man staying in the country despite his criminal record. The immigration authorities and the Hanover District Court blame each other.
The man was supposed to have been deported to Lithuania; however, he successfully filed lawsuits time and time again, thwarting all attempts to remove him from the country. In addition, it is questionable why Lithuania should have to accept the man with a lengthy criminal record.
Now, a young woman is gone, and her family is shattered.
On Aug. 11, Muhammad A. is accused of pushing the girl in front of a train going 100 kilometers per hour at the Friedland station in Lower Saxony. The girl was on her phone with her grandpa, who heard her screaming before the train struck her.
Initially, police took no action for two weeks, ruling the case an “accident.” However, as more details came to light, including the Iraqi man’s DNA found on the sleeve of the dead girl’s clothing, police then moved to make an arrest.
The man has been arrested but is now in a psychiatric hospital, as is often the case in countless other murder cases in Germany. He may never see a prison cell, even if convicted.
A violent attack by three Syrian brothers in Hof over an unpaid €15 ice cream bill has left six people injured, including a 10-year-old girl, but the suspects have already been released from custody.
The men, aged 15, 19, and 25, all residing in the Helmbrechts district, had eaten ice cream at the Levante shop the previous week without paying. When they returned on Monday and again refused to settle the debt, the confrontation escalated.
TVO reported how the eldest brother struck the 42-year-old shop owner with a metal flagpole, while a 24-year-old employee and the owner’s daughter were also hurt in the scuffle. The 19-year-old migrant smashed furniture while the youngest brother tried to drag a table inside as the men rioted.
The brothers fled but were intercepted at Sonnenplatz. Witnesses told police one of the men might be armed with a knife, prompting officers to draw their service weapons. When the eldest brother resisted arrest and attacked an officer, pepper spray was used, and three officers were injured in the struggle. A passerby reportedly helped slow the man’s escape before police finally subdued him.
Remix News has posted footage of the arrest.
🇩🇪‼️ Syrian migrants at an ice cream parlor in Germany refused to pay their €15 bill and turned violent.
The incident happened on Monday in Hof. Three brothers, aged 15, 19, and 25, had been asked to settle their bill by the owner, and when they refused, he said he was calling… pic.twitter.com/R0Nsxjg2dF
During the search, officers found a Tilidine tablet on the 19-year-old, leading to an additional investigation under the Narcotics Act. All three are known to police, with the eldest already convicted of property and assault offenses.
Despite the violence, the public prosecutor’s office determined there was no legal basis for pretrial detention. Prosecutors cited the men’s permanent residence in Helmbrechts and the absence of grounds such as risk of flight, obstruction of justice, or destruction of evidence. “As much as some might have wanted to take the men into custody, without a legal ground for detention, that is not possible,” Chief Inspector Patric Scheibel told Frankenpost.
The Levante ice cream parlor has since issued a statement thanking police and guests who assisted during the ordeal. “Although we offered to pay for the ice cream later, this time they provocatively told us that they wouldn’t pay. When we then said we would have to call the police, the situation escalated,” the statement read.
“A very special thank you also goes to our guests who were present on the terrace, supported us in this difficult situation, and helped us identify the perpetrators more quickly through their photos,” it added.
The brothers now face charges including grievous bodily harm, assault, resisting law enforcement, and violations of the Narcotics Act, but are free to roam while they await trial.
A 26-year-old Tunisian illegal migrant has been arrested for leaving a young woman naked and nearly dead in an apartment in Angoulême on Aug. 29. He has now been imprisoned.
The suspect has been charged with attempted rape and attempted murder for his actions, said Stéphanie Aouine, Angoulême’s public prosecutor, in an interview with Le Figaro.
On Aug. 29, around noon, the 23-year-old woman screamed from her apartment window in Angoulême that she needed help. Officers on patrol managed to spot her.
The young woman was found naked, severely injured, and in a state of shock. She was unable to speak. Police immediately transported her to the hospital.
She suffered several fractured cervical vertebrae. In addition, due to the suspect strangling her, she also suffered myocarditis, which is a form of damage to the heart.
Across her body, she also suffered from a range of bruises, including to her knees, shoulders, and neck.
On the same evening of the attempted murder, the owner of a local bakery called the police and told them that one of his employees had confessed to entering a woman’s home. The man, the Tunisian suspect, told the owner that he believed he had killed the woman.
The suspect was located quickly by police and placed under arrest.
Once in custody, he admitted to strangling the victim “because she refused to have sex with him,” according to the report from Le Figaro.
Another police source told JDD that he “tried to rape a woman and left her for dead.”
It is unclear whether the victim and the suspect knew each other.
Le Figaro stated that the man has no criminal record.
Remix News has covered similar cases many times in the past, including the stories linked in this piece. It has gotten to the point that French women have formed Collectif Némésis, a group representing women’s rights in the face of sexual harassment, assault, and rape.
The group writes: “We have all made the same observation: The people who attack us daily are mostly non-natives. We created Nemesis because mainstream feminist organizations are very reluctant to talk about cases like the Cologne sexual assaults (caused by people of Middle Eastern or North African origin) or large-scale rape and pimping of female British minors in Rotherham, Telford, Rochdale, Derby, Oxford, etc. (organized exclusively by members of the Indo-Pakistani community). But also because street harassment is mainly the work of men from a different culture, and feminist associations try to hide this fact by masking our very concrete problems with abstract concepts such as ‘patriarchy.’”
Spanish police have launched a murder investigation after survivors reported that dozens of migrants were killed during a deadly Atlantic crossing from Africa, with the alleged perpetrators now housed in reception centers in the Canary Islands.
According to witness testimony, between 20 and 30 young sub-Saharan men aboard a migrant boat carrying 320 people from the West African coast conspired to kill fellow passengers during the 15-day voyage.
Seventy-two migrants were accused of witchcraft, murdered in cold blood, and their bodies thrown overboard before the vessel arrived in the Canary Islands on Aug. 25, according to an OKdiario report.
A total of 248 migrants survived the journey and are now residing on the Spanish archipelago.
Judicial sources said the killings began after disputes over food and water supplies. When theft accusations failed to justify attacks, the suspects turned to witchcraft allegations as grounds to kill. Survivors told police that groups of young men carried out the murders in an attempt to assert control and preserve resources.
The National Police are now working to identify all of the suspects, who are believed to be spread across shelters on the islands.
Several witnesses have already confirmed the massacre, and arrests are expected soon.
Authorities have not yet determined whether women or children were among the victims. If convicted, those responsible could face life sentences, subject to review under Spanish law.
In May, crime statistics published by Spain’s Ministry of the Interior and cited by La Rázon revealed that homicides on the Canary Islands had soared by 400 percent this year compared to 2024. Violent crime also surged across the islands, with attempted murders and sexual assaults both rising significantly in the first quarter of 2025.
In a scathing interview with El Mundo in January, the president of the archipelago, Fernando Clavijo, accused Spain’s major political parties — the left-wing Socialists (PSOE) and center-right People’s Party (PP) — of leaving his territory in a “state of abandonment” and urged them to form a “great migratory coalition” to address the ongoing migration crisis affecting the islands.
Although some cities struggle with smog, Poland is one of the cleanest countries in the EU, according to a Eurostat study. Only 7.1 percent of the population complains about pollution, dirt, or environmental problems.
The findings are notable considering Poland is the EU country most reliant on coal for energy production, a fossil fuel typically associated with pollution and smog. Germany follows in second place in terms of consuming coal. In 2024, both countries accounted for two-thirds of total coal consumption for the entire EU.
While Poland and Germany consume the most coal of all EU countries, coal consumption has also dipped dramatically in both countries over the last few years.
Eurostat surveyed how many EU residents complain that pollution or environmental problems affect their households. The EU average is 12.2 percent, while in Poland, the figure is a mere 7.1 percent.
There are countries that performed much better in the survey than Poland, however, including Croatia (4.2 percent), Sweden (5 percent) and Slovakia (5.8 percent).
12.2% of the EU population reported that pollution, grime or environmental issues affected their household in 2023. ☁🏡
Compared to Poland, many countries are faring much worse, including Malta (almost 35 percent), Greece (over 20 percent) and Germany (almost 17 percent).
The study’s authors emphasize the overall decline in EU residents who complain that environmental problems affect their farms. In the 2019 survey, this figure was over 15 percent.
The study also shows that households’ exposure to pollution depends on where they live. Residents of rural areas complained the least (6.8 percent of responses), while those living in large cities complained the most (17.2 percent of responses).
Andrej Babiš, leader of the opposition ANO movement and frontrunner in the Czech Republic’s October parliamentary elections, was physically attacked on Monday during a pre-election rally in Dobrá in the Frýdek-Místek region.
According to witnesses, a man aged around 50 to 60 struck Babiš repeatedly on the head and back with a crutch before being restrained by security and detained by police.
Echo24 reported that Babiš was taken to Frýdek-Místek hospital for examination. His spokesman, Martin Vodička, confirmed that he was hit from behind with a metal object. Late in the evening, Babiš addressed supporters on social media: “I thank everyone for their support, I hope I will be fine. Doctors have recommended that I take it easy, so unfortunately, I will have to cancel at least tomorrow’s program in the Olomouc region.”
Police said they are investigating the case as disorderly conduct, though more serious charges are possible. One woman was also treated for injuries at the scene.
The incident was condemned across the political spectrum. Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at his own rally, “I condemn today’s attack on Andrej Babiš. Violence has no place in politics! Let’s put violence and aggression away. This is a dangerous society that acts this way.”
Interior Minister Vít Rakušan echoed that sentiment, stating that violence “in any form is unacceptable and will not solve anything.”
Members of the ANO opposition, however, blamed the governing parties for creating a climate of hostility. Deputy Speaker Karel Havlíček called it “a consequence of inciting hatred and fear,” while ANO parliamentary group leader Alena Schillerová pointed to coalition billboards and messaging, saying it was “a direct consequence” of divisive campaigning.
“The ANO movement will continue to campaign positively, without labeling or intimidation, and we call on everyone to do the same,” she added.
Ten útok je jedním z důsledků nenávistné kampaně, kterou vede koalice Spolu a Piráti a v posledních dnech opět STAN. Teď to skončilo úderem do hlavy, příště to může být horší. Kampaň založili na vyvolávání strachu a nenávisti. Varovali jsme, že to může skončit podobně a stalo se.
Babiš, who previously served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, remains the dominant force in Czech politics. According to Politico’s Poll of Polls, ANO is currently projected at 32 percent, well ahead of the governing SPOLU coalition of ODS, TOP 09, and KDU-ČSL at 21 percent. The right-wing populist SPD and its smaller nationalist allies hold 12 percent, followed by the centrist-liberal STAN on 11 percent and the Pirates at 9 percent.
With just over a month to go before the October 3–4 election, Babiš has built his campaign around prioritizing domestic needs over international commitments. He has vowed to block Czech participation in the EU-led purchase of ammunition for Ukraine and rejected NATO’s proposed increase in defense spending, insisting that funds should instead go toward pensions, healthcare, housing, and cost-of-living support.
Four Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates died “suddenly and unexpectedly” in Germany’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, right before state elections. Anger and theories are running rife on social media about the sudden deaths of the AfD candidates.
“According to WDR, four AfD candidates who were not excluded have died immediately before the NRW municipal election: Blomberg, Rheinberg, Schwerte, Bad Lippspringe. Statistically almost impossible,” wrote Stefan Homburg in a post that received 1 million views.
Laut @WDR sind vier @AfD-Kandidaten, die nicht ausgeschlossen wurden, unmittelbar vor der NRW-Kommunalwahl verstorben: Blomberg, Rheinberg, Schwerte, Bad Lippspringe. Statistisch fast unmöglich. https://t.co/zpGdUGAbo9
In another post from Peter Borbe, he writes: “4 AfD candidates died within 2 weeks during the NRW local elections: Wolfgang Seitz (Rheinberg), Ralph Lange (Blomberg), Stefan Berendes (Bad Lippspringe), Wolfgang Klinger (Schwerte), all 4 died suddenly and unexpectedly. An astonishing accumulation of deaths, isn’t it?”
4 tote AfD-Kandidaten innerhalb von 2 Wochen bei den NRW-Kommunalwahlen: Wolfgang Seitz (Rheinberg), Ralph Lange (Blomberg), Stefan Berendes (Bad Lippspringe), Wolfgang Klinger /Schwerte), alle 4 starben plötzlich und unerwartet. Eine erstaunliche Häufung von Todesfällen, oder? pic.twitter.com/RoqbLf8tJ3
Despite concerns expressed on social media, not much is known about the circumstances of the deaths of the four candidates other than they died “unexpectedly,” which means none of them died from a long battle with cancer, for example.
As of yet, nobody has provided any evidence that the AfD candidates died from anything other than natural causes. In addition, there does not appear to have been any police investigations launched into the deaths of any four of the individuals.
However, in Germany’s polarized political environment, there is no surprise that AfD supporters are worried about the safety of their candidates.
Local elections are set for Sept. 14, but the Welt newspaper reports that the latest death was from Ralph Lange, the AfD’s direct candidate for the Blomberg council, who “died unexpectedly,” according to WDR and the Lippische Landeszeitung, among other media outlets. A number of reports claim he was either 66 or 67 years old.
Other candidates were Wolfgang Seitz from Rheinberg, reportedly 59 years old, along with Wolfgang Klinger of Schwerte, reportedly 71 or 72 years old. Finally, Stefan Berendes of Bad Lippsringe passed away, at 59 years old.
🇩🇪🚨 AfD supporters in Germany should be attacked and people should "vomit in their faces."
"Break down their doors and gates, slap them in the face. Vomit in their faces. I don’t give a sh*t," said public figure Peter Fischer to RTL.
Authorities are under pressure to print new ballots, and with elections quickly approaching, there are serious time constraints. In some of the affected districts, new ballots have already been sent out.
Some voters had already sent in mail-in ballots. These ballots will no longer be valid and they must vote again.
Welt writes, citing WDR, that “an AfD candidate (Wolfgang Klinger) in Schwerte (North Rhine-Westphalia, Arnsberg administrative district) and the 59-year-old AfD candidate Wolfgang Seitz in Rheinberg (North Rhine-Westphalia, Wesel district) also died ‘suddenly and unexpectedly’ almost two weeks ago.”
BREAKING: 🇩🇪AfD politician Heinrich Koch STABBED in Mannheim. Here is the alleged video, showing Koch confronting an Antifa member tearing down AfD posters in the city.
The Antifa thug swings a knife multiple times, leaving multiple stab wounds on the 59-year-old Koch's body.… pic.twitter.com/xtozfJoT57
More crime statistics are showcasing just how prevalent foreigners are in crimes against sexual determination in German swimming pools, this time from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s largest state by population.
The data from 2024 shows that 65 percent of all sexual offenses were committed by foreigners, while German citizens committed 35 percent of such crimes. However, the migration background of those German citizens has not been disclosed.
The data from the Police Crime Statistics (PKS) was released after a parliamentary request from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
The data shows there were 119 offenses against sexual self-determination in outdoor and indoor pools in 2024. Of the suspects known to police, 42 were German citizens, while the other 76 were foreign suspects, including two of unknown nationality.
The data shows that of the foreign suspects, 22 were Afghans, 12 were Syrians, eight were Turks, six were Bulgarians, and six were Iraqis. Other nationalities included Albanians, Algerians, and Ukrainians, although this represented a smaller pool of suspects.
However, due to very recent changes in the way nationality is reported in North Rhine-Westphalia, it has also been revealed that of the German suspects, nine have another passport. That represents 21.4 percent of all German suspects having another foreign passport.
However, the data dive into swimming pool sexual crime does not end there.
The names of the German suspects were also released. Of the names released, some appear to be German, including names like Alexander and Daniel; however, the names Amir, Mahdi, and Mohamad (in several spellings), along with Seyed, also appear. These are all names that indicate a migration background of the suspects.
The offenses included are sexual coercion, rape, and abuse under Section 174 to 184j of the criminal code.
🇩🇪 "I was at the outdoor pool in Zeitz (Germany) yesterday. What can I say?"
"The obvious migrant guests there, who are perhaps from Syria, Afghanistan or whatever, were always romping around in the children’s pools. The men were lying around in the children’s pools, sitting on… pic.twitter.com/Muih5UqhQv
There appears to be some discrepancy in the data, with the report claiming in another section that there were actually 153 offenses, and that in 125 cases, the suspect did not know the victim. In other words, in nearly all cases, the suspect attacked a stranger.
Markus Wagner, the domestic policy spokesperson for the AfD parliamentary group in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament, requested the data. He told the Nius outlet, which published the data: “The CDU wanted to avoid unpleasant images at the border, and now we have them in our swimming pools. More than two-thirds of the suspects in sexual offenses there have a migration background.” This fact can neither be glossed over nor ignored. We must do what the CDU at the state and federal levels is too cowardly to do: secure borders, stop the influx, and enforce repatriation wherever legally.”
Notably, foreigners only make up approximately 14 percent of North Rhine-Westphalia’s population.
Similar situation in other German states
The data comes after other states reported on sexual assaults in German swimming pools.
Crime soared 65 percent in Lower Saxony’s swimming pools, and foreigners account for a huge share of these crimes, according to German government data released in response to a parliamentary inquiry from the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The data shows that crime at swimming pools in the German state went from 780 cases in 2023 to 1,286 in 2024.
For sexual crimes, foreigners make up 41.67 percent of perpetrators in 2024, with 13 Syrian suspects and seven Afghan suspects among the foreigners arrested. In total, there were 116 sexual crime cases in 2024 in Lower Saxony swimming pools.
An 18-year-old woman in Italy was beaten and raped after being dragged into woodland near San Zenone al Lambro train station, prompting Lombardy regional officials to call for railway underpasses to be closed during evening hours.
The assault took place shortly after midnight on Sunday. According to investigators, the teenager was at the station underpass on Via del Bissone when a man, described as North African, approached her. He then suddenly forced her into some bushes bordering the station, where he beat and raped her before fleeing.
The victim managed to call emergency services. She was taken first to Policlinico Hospital and then to Milan’s Mangiagalli Clinic, a specialist center for sexual violence cases.
Il Giornale reported how police are analyzing surveillance footage from the station and surrounding areas, while the Lodi prosecutor’s office has opened a case and is coordinating with police investigators. DNA samples have also been collected to help identify the attacker.
Romano La Russa, Lombardy’s regional security councillor from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI), has called for the closure of underpasses at train stations during the night to prevent further attacks. “RFI [the owner of Italy’s railway network] must, together with the municipalities, initiate a census of the most dangerous railway underpasses and plan their closure. The incident in San Zenone al Lambro is extremely serious; immediate action is needed.”
Franco Lucente, regional councillor for transport, expressed solidarity with the victim alongside La Russa: “Our deepest sympathies go to the young woman, the victim of such heinous violence. Law enforcement is working to identify the perpetrators of this unspeakable crime, and we hope they will soon be brought to justice.”
Lucente added that Lombardy has long invested in safety on public transport and highlighted Trenord’s new fleet of trains equipped with cameras, as well as expanded video surveillance in stations. “The goal is to ensure that there are no ‘no man’s lands’ where crimes go unpunished. This requires collaboration with local governments and police forces to ensure comprehensive surveillance of sensitive areas.”
This, however, has not stopped a surge in attacks in recent times.
In July, an American tourist was stabbed in the chest while traveling on a regional train from Melegnano to Milan, in the latest of over 260 violent incidents reported on Italy’s rail network so far this year.
The 27-year-old victim was attacked near San Giuliano Milanese train station by a group of three or four young men described as of North African origin, who reportedly attempted to steal his gold necklace before fleeing the scene.
In July, a 20-year-old woman was raped by a man of North African origin while commuting alone by train from Trecate to Novara, just west of Milan.
“I was alone; there was no one on board except me,” the woman told the police. “When my attacker approached me, I looked around. I immediately understood his intentions, but I didn’t have time to escape. I tried to call for help, but no one heard me and was able to intervene. I was alone. I was scared.”
In November last year, trade unions threatened to strike over the escalating violence facing their workers on Italian public transport. The move followed the stabbing of a train conductor by two young men of North African origin on a regional train in Genoa Rivarolo.
The mother of 16-year-old Liana K., who was killed after being pushed under a train in Friedland last month, has accused the German authorities of grave failures and warned that the suspect must not escape justice.
In an interview with Junge Freiheit, she said her family had been supported by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the local CDU mayor, while officials allowed a rejected asylum seeker to remain in the country and are, in part, responsible for her death.
Police suspect a 31-year-old Iraqi man of pushing Ukrainian-born Liana to her death. His asylum application had been rejected in December 2022 under the Dublin Regulation, with Lithuania deemed his point of entry into Europe and therefore responsible for processing any asylum application.
In February 2025, the Göttingen Administrative Court dismissed his appeal and issued an enforceable deportation order. Despite this, removal never happened.
In July 2025, immigration authorities even applied for deportation detention, but the Hanover District Court rejected the request, ruling the application flawed. Weeks later, Liana was dead.
The suspect has claimed he is schizophrenic and is currently being held in a psychiatric unit. There are concerns among Liana’s family that, as has been the case with several asylum seekers who have committed criminal acts in Europe, he could avoid prison time due to his mental illness and be declared not criminally responsible for his actions.
Her mother rejected the idea that the suspect could be declared unfit to stand trial because of schizophrenia. “I’m sure he’ll escape punishment. After a ‘recovery’ in a psychiatric hospital, he can continue living without remorse and commit new crimes — knowing that next time he’ll just have to pretend to be mentally ill again.”
She recalled how police at first described the incident as an accident or suicide, a version she never believed. “Liana lived for the future. She had big goals and plans for her life,” she said. Her daughter had begun training as a dental assistant, played piano, and helped raise her younger brothers after the family fled Mariupol in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
She also pointed to the lack of CCTV at Friedland station, calling for cameras to be installed to help deter and solve future crimes.
Seeking answers, she turned to politicians. “I didn’t care which party listened to my concerns — what mattered was that I wasn’t left out in the cold. The AfD opened the door to me, listened to me, took my concerns seriously, and continues to support us to this day,” she said, also thanking the CDU and Geisleden’s mayor, Markus Janitzk,i for organizing a fundraising appeal to pay for Liana’s funeral.
“The police may have caught the suspect, but the perpetrator should not be committed to a psychiatric hospital or simply sent back to his home country. I want him to be remanded in custody and serve his sentence. I want justice,” she added.
A 19-year-old Lebanese man has been sentenced to four years and ten months in youth custody for the aggravated rape of two teenagers in a high-rise stairwell in Hamburg’s Wilhelmsburg district.
The Hamburg Regional Court found him guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl on consecutive days in January, as well as of threats and dangerous bodily harm.
According to the indictment, the man arranged meetings with his two victims over Snapchat. On Jan. 17, he lured the 18-year-old to the ninth floor of a stairwell, pushed her against a wall, and threatened to kill her if she resisted. She was forced to perform sexual acts before escaping to a lower floor, where she fell from a balcony in panic and suffered severe injuries, requiring weeks in intensive care.
The next day, he met a 14-year-old girl at the same building. He threatened her with an unloaded gas pistol, demanded her phone, and forced sexual acts, beating and strangling her before she managed to flee and alert police.
The trial was held behind closed doors due to the age of one of the victims.
The presiding judge said the evidence was clear and described the man’s attitude as deeply disturbing. As reported by Welt, messages from prison showed that the defendant “didn’t care at all” about his victims, while the court’s psychological report concluded that he was incapable of developing compassion or empathy.
“It is unbelievable in terms of cynicism that you committed such a crime again just 12 hours after the first,” the judge told him.
The court praised the defendant for his confession, which spared the victims a prolonged confrontation in court. Even so, both girls cried heavily during questioning and are expected to suffer long-lasting psychological trauma.
The court heard that the defendant had grown up in difficult circumstances, sharing a two-room flat with six family members. While this, the judge noted, explained some of his immaturity, it could not excuse the crimes.
A 29-year-old Ukrainian man has been deported from Poland and banned from entering the Schengen Area for 10 years after posting online threats of arson in response to the withdrawal of refugee benefits.
The Border Guard confirmed on Sunday that officers had “forcibly escorted and extradited to Ukraine a 29-year-old man detained by Warsaw police after he threatened to set himself on fire in videos posted online.”
The agency added: “The foreigner was banned from entering Poland and the Schengen Area for 10 years.” Footage of the deportation was published online by both the Border Guard and Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński.
Kierwiński wrote on X: “There is also the end of the story: A Ukrainian citizen who threatened to set fires in videos posted on the internet was arrested by the officers. The Border Guard forcibly brought and deported him to Ukraine.”
🇵🇱🇺🇦 In a video posted on social media, a Ukrainian national in Poland threatened to burn down houses after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the extension of benefits for unemployed Ukrainian refugees.
He was arrested and has now been deported back to Ukraine with a 10-year ban… pic.twitter.com/eMLHpGvuRb
The man was first detained on Friday in Warsaw’s Praga Południe district after officers from the Criminal Terror and Homicide Department tracked him down. He had posted videos on TikTok threatening to burn houses if the “800 plus” program was not reinstated. The account where the video appeared has since been deleted.
Prosecutors said the 29-year-old was to face charges under Article 255 of the Penal Code, relating to public incitement to commit a crime. Kierwiński confirmed before the weekend that police were working with the Border Guard to prepare a deportation request, which has now been executed.
The controversy comes after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed legislation introduced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s liberal coalition government that would have prolonged financial assistance to unemployed Ukrainian refugees, including the “800 plus” child benefit.
On Monday, the 86th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II was commemorated at Westerplatte in Gdańsk, with Polish President Karol Nawrocki using the occasion to say his country would demand reparations from Germany.
Also present at the Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, and Speaker of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia.
“In order to build a partnership with our western neighbor based on truth and good relations, we must finally resolve the issue of reparations from Germany, which, as president of Poland, I unequivocally demand for the common good, for our future,” Nawrocki said.
As is tradition, the morning ceremony was preceded by the sound of air raid sirens just before 4:45 a.m., as that was the time of the German attack on the Polish Military Transit Depot, located on the Gdańsk Peninsula, on September 1, 1939. Soldiers of the Polish Army and invited guests sang the national anthem, and the white-and-red flag was raised.
Then the Candle of Peace was lit, the soldiers read the Remembrance Roll Call, and the heroism of the defenders of the homeland was honored with a cannon salute.
During his speech, Nawrocki noted that the war in 1939 was caused by “bad words spoken by Germans towards other nations and towards the Polish nation.”
“The Germans’ words were regularly spoken, recorded in the pages of successive books and philosophical treatises in the second half of the 19th century. First, these great theorists created a world without God, a world in which God was to die. And since there is no God, man must become God. To decide about life, about death. To decide who may live and who may not, ” said the president.
“It was at the end of the 19th century that a whole body of meanings and theoretical mechanisms for building German National Socialism emerged. That’s what the Germans’ bad words sounded like at the end of the 19th century,” he said, adding that at that time “anti-Polish, anti-Slavic, anti-Semitic theories, chauvinism, contempt, Nazism was born.”
“The Lebensraum theory and all the others that we know only from the practice of the 20th century were born,” he stated.
He added that “in German dictionaries, the word ‘Pole’ became synonymous with someone inferior. Poland was someone inferior, something inferior, something to be despised. Poles did not deserve to be treated like civilized peoples.”
He continued by saying that at the end of the 19th century, Polish patriotism was considered a threat to the German state, and religiosity was considered to be directed against the interests of the German state.
“On August 22, 1939, Adolf Hitler thundered to Wehrmacht officers: ‘Be ruthless, be brutal. The destruction of Poland is your first task.’ Then came September 1, 1939, and the attack by sea, land, and air on the Polish enclave, the German-dominated Free City of Gdańsk,” the president said.
He added that Poland faces great challenges.
“In the face of resurgent neo-imperialism and the post-Soviet Russian Federation, we face the challenges of building the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance. We are pursuing these tasks together with our trading partner and our neighbor – Germany, the perpetrators of World War II, who, hand in hand with the Soviets and Stalin, led to the outbreak of that war and who attacked Westerplatte,” he said.
According to the president, building good relations with Germany is now dependent on Poland obtaining war reparations.
“In order to build a partnership with our western neighbor based on the foundations of truth and good relations, we must finally settle the issue of reparations from the German state, which, as the President of Poland, I unequivocally demand for the common good, for our future,” said Nawrocki..
He also appealed for the government’s support in demanding reparations from Germany.
“I believe that the prime minister and the Polish government will strengthen the president’s voice on the international stage and we will build our truly secure future together with our western neighbors,” said the president.
A major change is coming to crime reporting in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, with the interior minister ordering those who commit crimes with multiple nationalities be accurately included in the crime statistics.
Across Germany, dual citizens are only reported as Germans, and their other nationality is not disclosed. However, this widely distorts the crime reporting statistics.
Now, Interior Minister Herbert Reul, of the Christian Democrats (CDU), is the first interior minister to reverse course and include these nationalities in the statistics.
“If we don’t capture all nationalities, we’re in the dark. If you want to see reality, you have to measure it,” said Reul.
“This is the only way we can call a spade a spade and enable our police to identify dangers at an early stage and combat crimes effectively. Security only comes with clarity. When we record multiple nationalities, we create transparency – thus strengthening our police force in the fight against crime,” he added.
The inclusion of foreign nationals, who also happen to have a German passport, is set to provide a more realistic and detailed picture of who is committing crimes.
In 2023, 35.6 percent of all suspects were non-Germans, with this share of the population standing at 16.1 percent.
However, one in six suspects with German citizenship was also recorded with another citizenship, totaling 49,825 crimes.
The new data shows the common dual nationalities are German-Turkish (10,307), German/Polish (6,652), German/Russian (3,484), German/Moroccan (3,125), and German/Syrian (2,185).
The ministry justifies the decision by indicating that multiple nationalities present a risk of absconding from police. In addition, some suspects with multiple identities have presented issues for police in their data collection and identification.
However, the data may also give a clearer picture of how certain groups are integrating. Clearly, the data shows certain foreign nationals are vastly overrepresented in the crime statistics.
The Greens protest
The pro-migration Green Party has protested the decision. Domestic policy spokeswoman Julia Höller said, “Interior Minister Herbert Reul’s decree does not provide any insight into the work of the police and pays into the account of the ethnically minded AfD. The passport says absolutely nothing about why someone is committing a crime or whether they have contacts abroad. This type of portrayal is populism and has a dangerous side effect: people with a double pass are downgraded to second-class Germans.“
Police unionist Rainer Wendt, the federal chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG), backed Reul’s move.
He told Bild newspaper: “In a democratic constitutional state, it is an important achievement that government work is as transparent as possible. This also applies to law enforcement authorities. If we don’t want there to be false interpretations, we always need a clear picture of what’s going on in crime.”
Could more states follow suit?
One of the big fears of the Greens and other left-wing parties is that this decision could spread to other German states. In turn, it could help further reveal the extent of foreign criminals in the crime statistics.
It is important to note that Reul’s new law will not change how crime statistics are reported federally. Due to federal rules, North Rhine-Westphalia will only transmit the data on one nationality for dual citizen suspects, the German one, when a crime is committed by a dual German citizen.
Therefore, North Rhine-Westphalia can only release its own data with both nationalities, but it will not influence the federal data.
If all German states were to begin reporting on the crimes of dual citizens, it could potentially reveal hundreds of thousands of crimes committed by dual citizens across the country, and would dramatically change how the national statistics are viewed. Foreigners already account for nearly six in ten violent and serious crimes in Germany, which means the number is actually far higher if dual citizens were included.
However, one aspect of crimes currently not recorded anywhere is the migration background of suspects. There are many German citizens with a foreign migration background through their parents and grandparents, but which have no dual citizenship.
When police crime data is revealed using first names, it is quickly revealed that many German offenders have foreign names, as gang rape data from North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, show.
🇩🇪🚨 Last year, police in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia arrested 155 suspects in connection with 209 cases of gang r*pe.
A total of 84 suspects were foreign nationals and 71 were German citizens.
A 16-year-old girl who fled Ukraine for Germany was speaking on the phone to her grandfather when she was fatally pushed in front of a freight train in Friedland earlier this month, according to reports.
Police say DNA evidence links a 31-year-old Iraqi migrant, Muhammad A., whose asylum application had already been rejected, to the attack.
As reported by Bild, the victim, identified as Liana K., was walking home from her dental assistant apprenticeship when she dialed her grandfather. According to Geisleden Mayor Markus Janitzki, who has supported the family since they fled Mariupol in 2022, “Her grandfather had to listen to everything. He heard screams, then just the sound of a train.”
Investigators believe the suspect shoved her from the platform with full force. Goettinger Tageblatt reported that DNA traces belonging to the suspect were found on her right shoulder, consistent with a forceful push. It also noted that while there was no CCTV footage at Friedland station, prosecutors confirmed the girl was on the phone when she was struck, and her grandfather heard the incident.
The 31-year-old man was initially questioned at the scene, where police had been called because of reports of a disturbance. Officers described him as “neither agitated nor threatening” and released him after he claimed to have found the victim’s body.
A breath test showed he was intoxicated at the time. He was not arrested until Aug. 29, more than two weeks later, when the incident was finally reported in the national media.
Liana’s family had rebuilt their lives in the German state of Thuringia after escaping the Russian invasion. Both parents found jobs, and Liana had graduated school, started her training, and cared for her younger brothers, aged 5 and 11. “She was loving, ambitious, hardworking, and learned German quickly. She was a role model for her brothers,” Mayor Janitzki said.
The suspect’s asylum claim had been rejected in December 2022 under the Dublin Regulation, with Lithuania deemed responsible for his case. A twisted irony is that, given his country of arrival into Europe, he likely entered via Russia or Belarus.
His appeal was dismissed in February 2025, but deportation procedures stalled. Authorities had even sought detention in July 2025, but the Hanover District Court rejected the application, calling it flawed.
Lower Saxony Interior Minister Daniela Behrens expressed her frustration, saying, “It is incomprehensible to citizens that people can stay in Germany for years even though a completely different EU country is responsible for them.”
The accused has a history of mental illness and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He is currently being held in a secure psychiatric facility while prosecutors examine whether he is criminally responsible.
Meanwhile, a fundraising campaign has been launched in Liana’s home community of Geisleden to support her parents and brothers with funeral costs. She is expected to be buried in mid-September.
The British government has won its legal fight against a local council that sought to shut down a migrant hotel in Essex.
The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that a temporary injunction obtained by Epping Forest District Council against the continued use of the Bell Hotel to house asylum seekers should be overturned.
During the hearing, Home Office lawyers argued that the human rights of asylum seekers outweighed the council’s decision to close the hotel. The council had insisted that Somani Hotels, which owns the Bell Hotel, was in breach of planning law by changing its use to accommodate migrants. But the judges found that the lower court, which granted the injunction, had made errors that “undermine his decision.”
The ruling lifts the interim injunction and scraps a Sept. 12 deadline for asylum seekers to be relocated. A final appeal hearing will take place later this year.
The hotel has been at the center of controversy in recent months after anti-immigration protests erupted in the town, following the arrest of one of its occupants on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
The Court of Appeal’s decision has sparked anger among opposition lawmakers, who accused Labour of prioritizing the rights of illegal immigrants over the safety of local communities.
Robert Jenrick, the Conservatives’ shadow justice secretary, posted: “Starmer’s government has shown itself to be on the side of illegal migrants who have broken into our country.”
Rupert Lowe, an MP and leader of Restore Britain, wrote: “A Government against its own people. No more appeals, court cases, or debates. We must deport the illegal migrants. Not some of them. Not most of them. All of them.” He later called for the Home Office to be abolished.
Abolish the Home Office and start again.
A new department, staffed with British patriots who believe in secure borders and mass deportations.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, said the ruling was a setback but vowed to keep fighting: “Local communities should not pay the price for Labour’s total failure on illegal immigration. This ruling is a setback, but it is not the end. I say to Conservative councils seeking similar injunctions against asylum hotels – keep going! Every case has different circumstances, and I know good Conservative councils will keep fighting for residents, so we will keep working with them every step of the way.”
Ben Habib, leader of Advance UK, echoed the anger: “He says he wants to shut illegal migrant hotels, but Keir Starmer fights tooth and nail to keep them open. Against the wishes of local residents and the local authority, the Epping hotel will now stay open. So much for democracy and the security of British citizens.”
No surprise Lord Justice Bean, a Labour Party member for 28 years, has in his Appeal Court judgment, stopped the 128 migrants being kicked out of the Bell Hotel in Epping. The law and Labour are in lockstep. A migrant has more rights than a British citizen. A serious moment.
Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun, went further, alleging judicial bias: “No surprise Lord Justice Bean, a Labour Party member for 28 years, has in his Appeal Court judgment, stopped the 128 migrants being kicked out of the Bell Hotel in Epping. The law and Labour are in lockstep. A migrant has more rights than a British citizen. A serious moment.”
A full trial to determine the future of the hotel will take place in October.
New figures released by Germany’s federal government have reshaped the rankings of citizen’s allowance recipients in the country, placing Mohammed and its many spelling variants at the top of the list.
A recent government response to an Alternative for Germany (AfD) inquiry originally suggested that Michael, Andreas, Thomas, and Daniel were the most frequent first names among those receiving the allowance, known locally as Bürgergeld. However, the government’s list had separated different spellings of the same name, resulting in distortions.
AfD lawmaker René Springer requested additional data that consolidated all variations of the same name. The government’s updated response, obtained by Bild, shows that Mohammed — counted across 19 different spellings and variants such as Mohamed, Muhammad, and Mahamadou — now ranks first with 39,280 entries.
By comparison, Michael (including Michel, Mischa, and Maik) comes second with 24,660 entries, followed by Ahmad (20,660), Andreas (18,420), and Thomas (17,920). Names with fewer spelling variations, such as Andreas and Thomas, lost ground, while Ahmad, which has multiple common versions including Achmet and Amed, rose to third place.
The federal government stressed that first names cannot be used to directly determine nationality, though they undeniably serve as an indicator of native Germans and those of a migration background.
Three Islamic names, Mohammed, Ahmad, and Ali, were included in the top 10 first names of recipients.
At the end of 2024, a total of 5.42 million people in Germany received a citizen’s allowance, including 2.82 million Germans (52 percent) and 2.6 million foreigners (48 percent).
Critics argue that these numbers understate the role of foreign-born individuals, since many migrants are now naturalized German citizens and therefore counted as “German” in the statistics. Bild also reported that nearly half of Germany’s €17.68 billion housing support budget for 2024 went to foreigners.
The debate comes as the Federal Employment Agency continues to advertise welfare benefits to migrants, with parts of its website dedicated to “people from abroad,” promising financial support to cover living expenses.
Germany’s governing CDU/CSU bloc is finally calling for stricter limits on migrant reliance on welfare. Deputy parliamentary leader Mathias Middelberg argued earlier this week that job centers need to do more to integrate Afghans and Syrians into work. “Just 100,000 more people in work instead of relying on the citizen’s allowance could, depending on wage levels, relieve the federal budget in the low single-digit billion range every year,” Middelberg said.
Government figures show that 52.8 percent of Syrians and 46.7 percent of Afghans in Germany receive a citizen’s allowance, while fewer than 40 percent in both groups are in jobs subject to social security contributions.
“We cannot accept that hundreds of thousands of young asylum seekers here in Germany are unemployed for decades,” Middelberg added.
Earlier this month, two Social Democratic Party district administrators in Thuringia also broke with their party’s national leadership by demanding that non-EU migrants, including asylum seekers and recognized refugees, should receive social benefits only as interest-free loans, repayable once they find employment.
In Cologne’s upcoming local election campaign, all major parties except the Alternative for Germany (AfD) have pledged to speak only positively about immigration and avoid linking it to social problems.
The CDU, SPD, Greens, FDP, Left Party, Volt, and Die Partei signed a “fairness agreement” initiated by the “Cologne Round Table for Integration” association.
The pact commits the signatories not to blame migrants or refugees for unemployment, crime, or security concerns. It also promises an active fight against racism and antisemitism, with compliance monitored by Protestant and Catholic church representatives. Citizens are encouraged to report possible breaches of the agreement by party campaigners or candidates.
The agreement explicitly excluded the AfD from the process, with those involved insisting the right-wing party does not share their values and should not be welcomed to sign, not that there was any suggestion that the party would do so.
The deal has sparked sharp criticism from both academics and political rivals. Political scientist Werner Patzelt toldBild that the decision was “tactically stupid,” arguing that leaving migration concerns unaddressed hands the AfD an open goal. “Our parties are so stupid that they don’t see the tactical disadvantage and are so weak-minded that they don’t see that they themselves are damaging our democracy by not wanting to talk about important issues,” he said.
The AfD condemned the agreement as an attempt to silence debate. The party’s Cologne district spokesperson, Christer Cremer, told RTL, as cited by T-Online: “I view this fairness agreement somewhat critically, because I believe it is intended to suppress debate. Especially during the election campaign, it must be possible to address all issues, including issues of migration, but also many other things.”
Taking to X, the local AfD party wrote, “The AfD is not going along with this. We won’t allow the left to forbid us from saying what we say. We address problems and propose solutions.”
The CDU has already been accused of violating the agreement with the distribution of a flyer opposing a planned initial reception center for 500 refugees in Cologne’s Agnesviertel district. While church ombudsmen monitoring the pact stopped short of calling the flyer discriminatory, they warned its wording was misleading. Claus-Ulrich Prölß of the Cologne Refugee Council went further, calling it a “gross violation of the fairness agreement.”
CDU leader in Cologne, Serap Güler, rejected the accusations as “absurd,” adding that the CDU had no intention of stirring hostility toward refugees, but insisted: “At this point, we simply believe a facility of this size is wrong.”
A Focus Online analysis of reader comments found most focused on criticizing the party’s strategy to avoid talking about the issues linked to mass immigration, while others highlighted the security concerns related to the topic, and the third most popular response expressed concern over hindrances to free speech and democratic debate.
The local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Cologne, are scheduled for September 14.
A court in Sweden has sentenced four migrant males for a brutal humiliation robbery in Karlshamn in which a 15-year-old boy was forced to strip naked and dance inside the city mall before being robbed of his belongings.
The attack, which occurred in May 2023, was filmed by the men and later circulated by them to humiliate the victim further.
In the footage, as cited by the Samnytt news site, the boy was surrounded, beaten, and coerced into removing his clothes. He was then ordered to bend down and kiss the shoes of one of the men while they made sexual remarks about his mother.
The court identified 24-year-old Ahmad Dawood, originally from Iraq, as the ringleader. His defense team presented a diagnosis of mild to moderate intellectual disability in an attempt at mitigation, but Blekinge District Court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, convicting him of assault, unlawful coercion, and robbery.
Two others, 20-year-old Syrian Mohamed Harba and 18-year-old Omar Merzi, whose father is Lebanese, were convicted on the same charges. Harba received a suspended sentence with 180 hours of community service, while Merzi was sentenced to youth service and additionally convicted of unlawful threats. A fourth boy under 18, also of Iraqi origin, was given youth service.
All four hold Swedish citizenship and can therefore not be deported.
“It was scary and uncomfortable,” the teenager told investigators.
The men were caught after the sister of one of the perpetrators saw the video and recognized her sibling. When she confronted him, it led to a violent clash in Karlshamn’s main square, which required police assistance to break up.
The light sentences have fueled criticism over leniency in handling humiliation robberies, a crime that is on the rise across Sweden.
Following a spate of humiliation offenses in the city of Umeå this year, local police chief Anna Oscarsson Larsson spoke out about the issue.
“When we talk about degrading violence, it is linked to other types of crime. It can be everything from unlawful coercion, assault, robbery, harassment, and offensive photography. So, degrading violence in particular is not searchable in the police system,” she said, adding that at least 10 cases of such a nature have been recorded in the Swedish city so far this year.
One such incident occurred earlier this month, involving a 16-year-old Somali boy who stopped an 8-year-old boy while he was out cycling and forced him to strip naked. When questioned, the migrant boy claimed he acted because “he looked like a racist, I think he will vote for the Sweden Democrats when he gets older.”
“Most often, when we have come across this material, we have found it on mobile phones connected to other cases. People like to record this, to spread it, so they can show what they have done. It’s terrible,” added Larsson.
Former Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski has accused Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński of leaving him exposed to violence by revoking his state protection for political reasons. Speaking after a brutal assault in the city of Siedlce, Niedzielski said the government’s decision was a “purely political move” that left him vulnerable.
“Yes, it was Minister Kierwiński’s decision,” Niedzielski told Polsat News, as cited by wPolityce.pl. “I left office in August 2023, and at that time, it turned out that I still needed this protection. Minister Wąsik’s decision ensured that I retained my protection practically until the end of the Law and Justice party’s rule. Then, one of the first decisions of the new government was, among other things, to revoke my protection, and of course, this was a purely political move.”
He argued that this failure of protection directly contributed to the incident. “Believe me, there are two main reasons why yesterday’s incident occurred. On the one hand, of course, the escalation of hate against me, but on the other, the simple lack of any care or protection from the state,” he said.
He added that he had made no attempt since to reapply for protection from the police, because he knew what the answer would be: “I knew the political attitude was such that I simply had no chance.”
Niedzielski had served under the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, which has since been replaced by an administration led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s left-wing Civic Platform.
Police in eastern Poland have arrested two men accused of assaulting Niedzielski in Siedlce on Wednesday afternoon. The attack took place outside a restaurant after the men approached the former minister and began criticizing him over restrictions and decisions introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic. They then punched him in the face and kicked him as he fell to the ground.
Following the attack, Niedzielski wrote on social media: “Several hours ago, I was the victim of a brutal attack. I was beaten by two men shouting, ‘Death to traitors of the homeland.’ I was hit in the face and then kicked while lying on the ground. The whole incident lasted several seconds before the attackers ran away.”
Police later confirmed the suspects had turned themselves in. “The perpetrators of the attack on the former minister of health are already in the hands of Siedlce police officers,” the force said in a statement on X.
Niedzielski, who served as health minister during the pandemic, said threats had been a constant feature of his time in office and were well documented by police and prosecutors. “The issue of threats to me was very well known, both at the police and prosecutor’s levels,” he said, adding that many cases had been dismissed despite the growing risks.
Asked whether Minister Kierwiński should resign, Niedzielski avoided making a direct call. “I try to stay away from politics. Rather, I urge politicians to reflect collectively, because dividing ourselves into tribes and building ever-increasing antagonism leads to precisely this kind of behavior. Our passivity in this regard, for all of us, will ultimately condemn us to nothing but an escalation of violence.”
The deputy head of the German police union, Manuel Ostermann, published this text on X, which Remix News is publishing in English:
Imagine Germany in 2050. Arab clans dominate the big cities. Gangs fight each other in the fight for sovereignty in organized crime. People who don’t belong to the “right side” are murdered on the street. Even the police hardly dare to go to certain areas known as no-go areas anymore. Drug deaths hit an all-time high. In some districts, only Sharia law is recognized as valid law. Women are only allowed to go out on the streets unless fully veiled and accompanied by a male relative. The streetscape in these cities is dominated by Arab shops and traders.
Man stelle sich Deutschland im Jahr 2050 vor. Arabische Clans beherrschen die Großstädte. Banden bekriegen sich beim Kampf um die Hoheit in der organisierten Kriminalität. Auf offener Straße werden Menschen ermordet, die nicht zur »richtigen Seite« gehören. Selbst die Polizei…
You only hear Arabic. Germans have moved to other parts of the city and no longer dare to go back. In schools, lessons can only take place bilingually. The law of the strongest prevails in the playground. Girls and women only dare to be around people with pepper spray in their pockets. Gang rapists and so-called grooming gangs wreak havoc with impunity. Muslim girls, who are still pre-adolescent, like to be married to older men. Genital mutilation is practiced quite naturally in certain circles. German folk festivals only take place sporadically.
Many cities now have Islamist mayors. There is an Islamic right-wing radical party in the Bundestag that is its strongest force. Hundreds of male migrants still cross borders every day. Christmas lights have been abolished. Islamic festivals such as Sugar Festival have been declared a national holiday. Crosses have invariably disappeared from public life. Most churches are closed. The imams can be heard calling to prayer several times a day. The social system has almost collapsed. The pensions can no longer be paid out.
🇩🇪‼️ "Germany is no longer a safe country… The migration crisis is first and foremost a crime crisis."
German police union (DPoIG) chairman Manuel Ostermann makes a major statement following the Solingen terror attack by a Syrian Islamist. pic.twitter.com/ZolmrLnMHa
I hear you shouting again: Now he’s exaggerating again! Such dystopian nonsense! And again I would answer you: No, I’m not exaggerating at all.
Just take a look at the U.K. There, you are already a few steps further and closer to the description above. Why should things be any different here in Germany? Not only will our society continue to Islamize –and at a rapid pace – it will undoubtedly become radicalized in every respect. Acts of violence will continue to increase. If … yes, if we don’t get a 180-degree turnaround in domestic politics right away.
🇩🇪❓"Why don’t you have any German friends?"
🔺"Because they don’t belong to us. I can’t stand the Germans too much."
Thousands of German students now face discrimination and sometimes outright assault from foreigners in their school systems.
We don’t have a second chance, just this one way to stop the development that has been mapped out. Not tomorrow. Not at some point. Now. Germany is no longer safe. This is not a wanton toad. This is not a “populist” battle cry. This is not pessimism. This is reality.
🇩🇪🔴 A young German girl spoke of the nightmare she experiences from her Muslim classmates.
"Sometimes they say to me that I’m German. And yeah, then they laugh at me, curse at me and tease me. Others are always Muslim, and they ask me why I am not a Muslim. I said I am a… pic.twitter.com/gggVOm9IPs
A migrant from Mali has been arrested in Italy for allegedly slaughtering a dog named Merlin in front of a pharmacy and then carrying the dog’s body home in Naro, allegedly to eat, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa. The week before, police say he also tortured another dog by pouring boiling oil over the animal; however, the courts released the man, only for him to almost immediately reoffend.
The case is being widely shared on Italian social media, with Italians in shock over the torture directed at the dogs. In addition, animal rights groups and the Italian parliament have commented on the case.
Citizens reportedly witnessed the gruesome attack on Merlin in front of the pharmacy, and alerted the police. The man, a 27-year-old from Mali, carried Merlin’s corpse back to his home.
“He wanted to eat it,” writes Italian newspaper La Stampa. The incident has also been covered by a range of Italian newspapers, including Corriere Della Sera.
Media outlet Today.it has identified the dog as Merlin, which was well taken care of by residents of Nora.
In addition, Michela Vittoria Brambilla, president of Italian League for the Defense of Animals and the Environment (LEIDAA) and a member of parliament serving in the Parliamentary Intergroup for Animal Rights and Environmental Protection, also commented on the case:
“What happened in Naro, in the province of Agrigento, where a foreigner with an expired deportation order slaughtered a stray dog in the center of the town, in front of the citizens, is an unacceptable, repugnant act of violence. Italy is not a no man’s land and never will be. The Brambilla law has been in force since July 1, all that remains is to apply it. Anyone who has no right to stay and is responsible for similar crimes must be stopped and punished. I thank the police, who intervened promptly, but anger remains at the fact that an individual with a history of assaulting public officials could move freely,” she wrote.
Animal rights activists have also commented on the case, including Enrico Rizzi, who noted that this migrant had already been arrested for pouring boiling oil on a dog just the week before.
“Seven days ago, this non-EU man had already burned a poor stray dog with boiling oil and even attacked the Italian police who intervened,” said Rizzi, an animal rights activist. “The man had been arrested and immediately released by the judiciary. Back on the street, he took another stray and slaughtered it. He must be sent home.”
The Hope shelter in Agrigento shared a photo of Merlin as well, writing on Facebook: “He had been living free and looked after with love from the neighborhood for years. As citizens and as animal lovers, we will not remain silent: We will formalize a regular complaint to the competent authorities, asking for justice for Merlin and safety for all.”
The man is also known to have “wreaked havoc” in the town in recent weeks, including defacing the street Via Rosa, raising the question of why he was not brought to justice long ago.
Meanwhile, Brambilla wants the full force of the law to be used against the suspect.
“Killing an animal with torture not only offends our civilization and our conscience, but it carries a sentence of up to four years in prison and a fine of 60,000 euros. This is the law of a country that protects the weakest, starting with animals,” stated Brambilla.
The mayor of Naro, Milco Dalacchi, wants the man deported after being brought to justice.
“As an Administration, we reiterate that we have put everything within our means in place and assure citizens that we will continue to monitor the matter with the utmost attention so that all necessary measures are undertaken, including the deportation procedure against the individual in question. We trust in justice and the actions of law enforcement, renewing our ongoing commitment to the safety and decorum of our community,” he said.
The mayor also addressed the fate of Merlin, writing:
“Unfortunately, it was a small innocent soul who paid the price for this whole affair: a docile dog that was stationed in via Dante and who fell victim to the incident,” wrote the mayor.
The Mali migrant is currently facing numerous charges related to the numerous crimes he has committed.
The case appears to mirror claims made in the United States that Haitian migrants were eating dogs and other wildlife during the last presidential election.
However, this is not the only time a migrant has been accused of eating dogs in Italy.
Francesa Totolo, an Italian journalist, wrote on X:
Do you remember when, in August 2020, David Puente desperately tried to debunk what was documented by the undersigned, namely that the migrant had killed and eaten Mrs. Rosy’s dogs in Lampedusa? In front of a pharmacy in Naro, in the province of Agrigento, a non-EU citizen slit a dog’s throat and tried to eat it. Let’s also not forget the African who, in Campiglia Marittima, had killed a cat and then roasted it on an improvised barbecue.”
Regarding the last claim regarding a barbecue, she shared a photo of the incident on her X profile.
Vi ricordate quando, nell’agosto del 2020, @DavidPuente cercò disperatamente di smentire quanto documentato dalla sottoscritta, ovvero che i #migranti avevano ucciso e mangiato i cani della signora Rosy a Lampedusa?
The grace period provided to the German government that took office in the spring is now over. Germany’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) sent a serious warning to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, arguing that “things cannot go on like this.”
The change of government in Berlin did not lead to an improvement in economic sentiment, even after a hundred days. Now, industry is growing desperate to change the path of the federal government, according to Berliner Zeitung.
The paper cites three recent headlines to illustrate how bad Germany’s situation is: “Germany is threatened by the third year of recession in a row,” “50,000 jobs were lost in the automotive industry in one year,” and “Steel production fell by 12 percent.”
As Remix News reported a week ago, the country has also hit bleak milestones, with both unemployment and bankruptcies hitting 10-year highs.
In its letter, the DIHK made clear demands to the federal government. DIHK CEO Helena Melnikov called on the Merz government to implement sweeping reforms in autumn 2025.
“The German economy is deeper into the crisis than many people want to see,” Melnikov wrote. As a first positive step, Melnikov mentioned investment packages and incentives for infrastructure and security.
However, this is not enough. Since the fiasco over the electricity tax, the confidence of many companies has been declining again. A clear direction is now needed: The tax burden must be reduced, the economic acceleration package must be implemented, and public administration must be modernized.
“As before, it cannot go on,” the head of the DIHK warned. After nearly four months in office, the grace period for the new government expired.
“It is crucial that productivity and economic performance grow faster than social spending,” warns Melnikov.
According to him, “this cannot be achieved through tax increases, but only through structural reforms. In a situation where billions in loans are already being taken out, the tax increase is a completely wrong signal,” said the CEO of DIHK.
He continued by stating that “even mere debate causes a significant loss of confidence in the economy,” he highlighted, giving the reforms of Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark as examples.
“Courage is needed now for such profound changes,” stated the head of the DIHK.
The background to his warning is the ever-increasing structural crisis and growing frustration among companies. After two years of shrinking gross domestic product, Germany is still threatened with recession in 2025, a development that economic experts say will lead to a permanent loss of confidence and an increasing shift of production abroad.
According to a study by the consulting firm EY, the turnover of the industry in the second quarter amounted to slightly more than €533 billion. This represents a decrease of 2.1 percent compared to the previous year. This is the eighth consecutive quarter that a decline has been recorded. In addition, the development of exports was negative in seven of the last eight quarters.
The collapse in German industry has been ongoing for years now.
Since 2019, which predates the coronavirus crisis, 245,500 jobs have been lost in German industry, according to a new report from the Reuters news agency.
Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, also the leader of the smaller coalition party, the Social Democrats (SPD), sees tax increases as an opportunity to fill the huge deficits in the 2027 budget. However, this approach is understandably not to the liking of industrial players.
According to Germany’s business community, energy prices should be reduced, money should be provided for the construction of new gas power plants, the building energy law should be relaxed, and overall, more market and less state is needed.
“Companies are only willing to invest if the framework conditions are right for this, so this fall should be about reforms,” emphasized Melnikov.
The seriousness of the situation was acknowledged by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself when he convened a crisis meeting of the leading politicians of the CDU.
This is not a temporary weakening, but a structural crisis in the economy. Our country is no longer able to keep up with global development, its competitiveness has decreased significantly,” the chancellor said in his speech on Saturday.
“Germany has lost its character as a large and strong economy that drives Europe forward. Currently, it is rather holding it back, due to what are deep, structural problems,” Bence Bauer, director of the MCC Hungarian–German Institute, previously told the Hungarian Nation.
The victim of a violent robbery near Milan’s Duomo has spoken publicly about his ordeal, warning others to avoid the city center at night.
Alessandro Briguglio, 25, was ambushed on July 5 while walking with a friend in Piazza Missori and left with severe head injuries after two men attacked him for his €4,000 Tudor watch.
“Just a word of advice: In Milan, don’t turn towards the Duomo because it’s not safe. I had my head smashed in for a watch,” Briguglio said in a video posted to social media. He was treated at Policlinico Hospital, where doctors said another blow “could certainly have penetrated deeper and reached the brain.” Briguglio spent two days in intensive care and a further week in the hospital.
According to Corriere della Sera, authorities have since arrested Claudio Selimovic, 27, and his cousin Conan, 26, known as “Maradona,” on charges of aggravated robbery and attempted murder. Selimovic is a Bosnian surname that derives from Islam.
Prosecutors say the two cornered Briguglio and his friend near Via Zebedia, shouting “On the corner! The watch!” before launching a frenzied attack. Briguglio was beaten with a hammer, punched, and kicked until he collapsed against a wall. His friend managed to escape and raise the alarm, while bystanders recorded the attackers’ getaway car.
The Carabinieri Investigative Unit identified the suspects after cross-referencing CCTV, phone data, witness statements, and wiretaps. Searches of their homes uncovered stolen electronics, a replica pistol, and €13,000 in cash. Investigators also linked them to two other thefts in July, including suitcase robberies in Assago and Bicocca Village.
Judge Patrizia Nobile, in ordering pre-trial detention, cited their “unscrupulous, violent, and unrestrained personalities.” Wiretaps further revealed the extent of their criminal activity, with Selimovic boasting to his wife on July 26: “Today, I made a lot of money with Maradona, I made more than €20,000. He’s more hot-headed than me. He’s younger, and he doesn’t have a family.”
The case has intensified concerns about public safety in Milan’s historic center, where violent robberies have been on the rise.
Last month, an American tourist was stabbed in the chest while traveling on a regional train from Melegnano to Milan. The 27-year-old victim was attacked near San Giuliano Milanese train station by a gang of young men described as of North African origin, who attempted to steal his gold necklace before fleeing the scene.
In November last year, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi revealed that 65 percent of crimes in Milan are committed by the 20 percent foreign population, leading left-wing mayor Beppe Sala to admit, “I won’t claim Milan is a safe city, but it is making an effort to address challenges faced by all international cities.”
An Eritrean asylum seeker has been arrested after beating two women with a metal pole in Horb am Neckar, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
The 27-year-old migrant is said to have severely injured one of the woman and is now facing charges in the Rottweil District Court. The man was previously already wanted by police for an arrest warrant.
Early Monday morning, at the market square in the city, the man became involved in an argument with a 41-year-old woman and her 31-year-old friend. He then took a metal pole that was being used as a barrier and began beating the women.
French politics was thrown into fresh controversy after Jean-Luc Mélenchon launched a blistering attack on the country’s prefects during a rally at his party’s “summer school” in southeastern France.
The far-left leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) accused senior state officials of “intimidation” against his movement’s MPs and warned them they could face prison if his party came to power.
“The prefect’s duty is to serve and obey the law, and the law is that he is the one who keeps quiet,” Mélenchon told supporters, remarks that were met with loud applause from attendees. Referring to a recent case involving Val-d’Oise prefect Philippe Court, who filed a complaint against LFI deputy Aurélien Taché after he alleged that “police are killing everywhere,” Mélenchon blasted the action as an “unacceptable attempt at intimidation.”
“All those who have stooped to these attempts at intimidation will not benefit from a statute of limitations from a rebellious government,” he warned, as cited by Le Journal du Dimanche. The LFI leader then accused another prefect, a senior aide to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, of targeting MP Rima Hassan online. “No prefect has the power to question the nationality of an elected representative of the people. Vichy is over. You have lost. We will put you in prison before you put us there,” Mélenchon said.
The veteran politician also called for an end to prosecutions against LFI figures accused of condoning terrorism, insisting that elected officials should not be dragged before police for their positions on the Gaza conflict. Since Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, LFI has made pro-Palestinian messaging a central theme, resulting in multiple legal summonses for its deputies. Most recently, MEP Emma Fourreau was questioned by police after she praised the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a militant convicted of the murders of American and Israeli diplomats in 1982.
“What kind of country are we where an elected representative of the people, with a political position that is not secret, because it is assumed in the Assembly, in the European Parliament, in the street, must respond for hours to a police officer who asks him what his analysis of the conflict is, how he characterizes Hamas… Is that France?” Mélenchon asked, again avoiding any direct description of Hamas as a terrorist group, for which it has been designated across the European Union.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally parliamentary group, denounced the speech on social media. “After the calls for insurrection, the support for rioters, squatters, Islamists, foreign delinquents, and illegal immigrants, after the transformation of the National Assembly into a ZAD (a protest camp), the far left crosses a new and most alarming threshold by threatening state representatives and attacking one of the pillars of the Republic,” she wrote on X.
Après les appels à l’insurrection, le soutien aux casseurs, aux squatteurs, aux islamistes, aux délinquants étrangers et aux clandestins, après la transformation de l’Assemblée nationale en ZAD, l’extrême gauche franchit un nouveau palier des plus inquiétants en menaçant les… https://t.co/1eBzasjfgw
Le Pen blamed the Macron government for enabling LFI, arguing that “the responsibility of the Macron camp in these unacceptable excesses is overwhelming due to its shameful alliances in the 2024 legislative elections with LFI.”
The latest eruption comes just as Prime Minister François Bayrou prepares to call a confidence vote next month in a bid to secure legitimacy for his austerity agenda. With the government weakened and all major opposition groups vowing to vote against it, early parliamentary elections are likely, and both the left and right are already gearing up for another brutal election campaign.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for George Soros and his son to be charged under U.S. anti-corruption laws, accusing them of supporting violent protests and causing widespread harm to the United States.
In a statement posted on his Truth Social account on Wednesday, Trump claimed the U.S.-Hungarian billionaire philanthropist and his “wonderful Radical Left son,” Alex, should face charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), “because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States.”
“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to breathe and be free,” Trump wrote.
“Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our country,” the U.S. president claimed, and warned that his office was watching Soros and his left-wing network carefully.
Elon Musk quickly backed Trump’s remarks, posting: “It’s high time action was taken against Soros directly.” The X owner and Tesla CEO has frequently criticized Soros, accusing him of funding left-wing activism that, in his view, undermines stability in Western societies.
Soros, through his Open Society Foundations, has long directed billions into left-wing causes, from immigration advocacy and criminal justice reform in the United States to NGOs across Europe. Critics say this amounts to social engineering and interference in sovereign politics.
In Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been among Budapest-born Soros’s most vocal opponents. Earlier this year, Orbán vowed to begin the expulsion of Soros-backed organizations from Hungary, calling the financier and his Democratic allies in the U.S. “a bunch of idiots” who seek to impose their ideology on other nations
“The Soros network’s presence in Europe is contrary to the interests of the people. If there is corruption, this is it,” Orbán said in a January radio interview.
Orbán, who welcomed Trump’s return to the White House, argued that Brussels itself had fallen under Soros’s influence, warning the EU must “sober up and adapt.”
A 21-year-old American paramedic and model, who was attacked by a Syrian knifeman in Dresden after intervening when a woman was harassed on a tram, has questioned Germany’s commitment to mass immigration and suggested Berlin could learn from U.S. President Trump’s deportation plans.
John Rudat was riding the subway toward Pennrich in the German city late on Aug. 24 when he witnessed a young woman being harassed by two foreign men. The U.S. exchange student stepped in to defend the woman and was attacked by one of the men with a knife.
A 21-year-old Syrian migrant named Majd A. was arrested the following day. He was already known to the authorities for robbery and assault. He is under investigation for grievous bodily harm.
“I immediately saw that one of them was on drugs. He had this completely insane look on his face,” Rudat told the German newspaper Bild. When the man grabbed the woman and shook her, Rudat intervened. At first, it appeared to be a scuffle, but then the situation escalated. “Suddenly, I heard the click of a knife – and before I knew it, he cut my nose. This guy didn’t want to fight. He wanted to kill me,” Rudat said.
Covered in blood, Rudat was helped by his host father, brother, and passersby who alerted police. Surveillance footage confirmed his account, showing the attackers fleeing the tram with the young woman.
The case quickly drew international attention. The U.S. Embassy in Berlin urged German authorities “to bring the perpetrators to justice promptly and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law.”
Speaking to GB News on Tuesday, Rudat criticized Germany’s handling of violent crime and its migration policy.
'My main priority was the safety of the woman.'
American model John Rudat speaks out after being attacked by a migrant while defending a woman on a tram in Dresden.
“People nowadays tell me that they are afraid to use the tram, and understandably so – look at my face. I completely understand where they’re coming from,” he said, adding that many Germans had contacted him to describe their fears about rising violence linked to immigration.
“The German people would really appreciate being able to feel safe on their own transportation systems, and I hope that Germany and the government of Germany, and the people of Germany push for exactly that. More policy for more safety.”
Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan, Rudat said he had sympathy for people in Germany who might want similar measures. “I think that the German people would really appreciate some policies like that. I think the German people would really appreciate being able to feel safe on their own transportation systems.”
Reflecting on the attack, Rudat said he never expected to face such violence on public transport in Europe. “It was definitely a big surprise. I never expected that any time I got on the tram, I would have to get into a knife altercation with somebody. I know that people don’t do that here – or at least Europeans don’t. But since then, I’ve had to experience firsthand that this problem is only getting worse.”
A 30-year-old French-Arab man from Marseille, Yamine H., is on trial for at least 10 extremely brutal home-invasion robberies, including one where he beat a 90-year-old woman and locked her in a closet.
The man is believed to have preyed on elderly people, a common them Remix News has reported on in relation to France’s foreign population.
The man was active for several months in Var and Bouches-du-Rhône, according to prosecutors.
The man is described as “dangerous” by prosecutors
French newspaper Le Figaro reports that the man was arrested on Aug. 19 just a few hours after committing a robbery against a woman aged 90. According to a police source, the woman born in 1935 was violently attacked, locked in a closet and had her jewelry stolen. Inside the closet, she was given two bottles of water before the suspect simply left her there with no presumable way of getting out.
However, the elderly woman managed to escape by breaking the lock on the door, and then called the police They used video surveillance to trace the crime back to Yamine H., who refused to talk to police. However, house searches conducted in his home led to the police recovering loot from a variety of robberies, including jewelry and a safe.
Prosecutors say the man is a serial burglar connected to at least 10 different home invasions that have been ongoing in southeast France in recent months.
In another harrowing video, an 89-year-old French woman was robbed and beaten on camera for a mere €10. Remix News has covered many more incidents of French elderly women being raped and robbed by migrants in the country over the years, which are contained in our archives.
Germany’s ruling CDU/CSU bloc is demanding stricter limits on welfare, with party leaders pointing to high rates of reliance on the citizen’s allowance among Afghans and Syrians.
Deputy parliamentary group leader Mathias Middelberg said job centers must do more to place these groups into work, stressing there is “still considerable potential for catching up in terms of taking up employment.”
“Just 100,000 more people in work instead of relying on the citizen’s allowance could, depending on wage levels, relieve the federal budget in the low single-digit billion range every year,” the lawmaker told Bild.
According to government figures cited by Middelberg, 52.8 percent of Syrians and 46.7 percent of Afghans in Germany rely on the citizen’s allowance, while only 36.7 percent of Syrians and 37 percent of Afghans hold jobs subject to social security contributions.
“We cannot accept that hundreds of thousands of young asylum seekers here in Germany are unemployed for decades,” he said.
The call comes amid soaring welfare costs, with annual spending on the citizen’s allowance at around €52 billion. Statistics from the Federal Employment Agency (BA) last year showed that of the more than 4 million people who can work but receive social benefits, more than 2.5 million have a migration background, constituting 63.5 percent.
At the start of 2024, of the 2.6 million non-Germans registered for benefits, 706,000 were from Ukraine, 512,000 from Syria, and 201,000 from Afghanistan.
CSU leader Markus Söder and CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said that those unwilling to work should no longer receive support.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz reinforced the message over the weekend, warning that Germany’s welfare model is no longer sustainable. “The welfare state as we have it today is no longer financially viable with what we are achieving economically,” he said.
Rising unemployment, bankruptcies, and inflation risks are also evidence of the mounting strain.
Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel slammed the Grand Coalition government for continuing to oversee Germany’s economic decline on Tuesday, pointing to figures cited by Welt, which revealed 114,000 industrial jobs had been lost within the last year.
“The politically motivated deindustrialization continues unabated, even more than six months after the new elections. No economic turnaround without the AfD!” she wrote.
In the German capital of Berlin, a massive knife battle broke out on the Karl Liebknecht Bridge at the Humboldt Forum over the weekend, resulting in six men being injured.
Currently, a 24-year-old is in critical condition. A 14-year-old girl was arrested but later released. All of those involved are from Afghanistan.
At around 9:45 p.m., witnesses began reporting a major battle taking place between two groups of men in the area near the bridge and the cathedral at the Humboldt Forum, according to RBB.
Police officers arriving at the location were greeted with a shocking scene, including four men, aged 20, 20, 23, and 24, lying injured with stab wounds on the bridge. Some of them were bleeding heavily.
Then, officers found two more injured people, aged 24 and 26, at the Town Hall Bridge, which is in the immediate vicinity.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene where paramedics were racing to stabilize the victims.
A 24-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries to his back, according to police spokesman Martin Halweg.
He was transported to a nearby hospital and underwent emergency surgery.
The other victims suffered a range of stab and cut wounds across their bodies, including hands, legs, chest, and pelvis.
A large number of police arrived on scene and sealed off the bridge area.
A 14-year-old girl was arrested, along with two men, both 19, and all Afghan. However, these three were released shortly afterward and are considered witnesses. The 14-year-old was transferred to child emergency services.
So far, police have not provided any motive or background for the knife battle.
“We have imported knife violence. In other cultures, the knife is a kind of status symbol. This is changing the social climate here in the country,” stated criminal attorney Udo Vetter. He further notes that “knives have become an everyday companion for many people. And the barrier to using them is low.”
Notably, he warns that due to the rise of knives and knife crimes, it is creating a problem that is expected to only grow exponentially, with more and more people arming themselves with knives out of fear.
“Because if some people deliberately pack a knife as a murder weapon, more and more people will also resort to knives, supposedly to defend themselves,” stated Vetter.“Young people in particular have knives in their pockets just like their cell phones.”
🇩🇪 For every well-integrated Middle Eastern migrant, you have so many of these guys causing terror across Europe.
Knife crime has skyrocketed in Germany, with nearly 30,000 knife-related crimes taking place last year.
However, this problem has been warned about nearly every week, including by the German police themselves.
Manuel Ostermann, deputy head of the Federal Police Union, stated that “the knife as a means of committing a crime always immediately poses a concrete threat to life and limb. Politicians must now take all possible measures to curb this phenomenon.” Ostermann is the same police union head who said that Germany’s crime problem is actually an immigration problem during a viral speech last year.
The head of the German Police Union, Rainer Wendt, also spoke out about the knife crime problem, saying: “The threshold for violence is getting lower and lower. And the fuse is getting shorter. Knives are being drawn even for trivial reasons and seemingly harmless disputes.”
As Remix News previously reported, violent crime reached a record high in Germany last year, with foreigners responsible for nearly half of all crimes. There were 29,014 cases in total involving a crime where a knife was used, of which 15,741 were knife attacks. Serious and dangerous bodily harm with a knife increased by 10.8 percent in 2024 compared to 2023.
Just last week, an American was brutally stabbed in his face for trying to protect a woman in Dresden from being sexually harassed on a tram by two Syrians, with the incident even leading to criticism from American diplomats.
The leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, Anton Baron MdL, has accused Christian Socialist Union (CDU) parliamentary group leader Manuel Hagel of hypocrisy regarding knife crimes in Germany.
“Although the proportion of people without German passports is significantly lower in the population, there is a significantly higher crime rate here,” he told SWR. He said he considered the increased number of knife attacks by foreigners “alarming.”
“Such ‘unpleasant truths’ must be spoken. It couldn’t be more hypocritical: The CDU, above all, has caused this situation since 2015. Has the party distanced itself from it to this day? On the contrary: Hegel has rejected all our draft laws and motions to limit migration and defamed us as more right-wing than right-wing. Hagel can point his bigoted finger at others as much as he wants: His party, under Interior Minister Strobl, believes it can tackle the rampant problem of migrant knife-wielding men with pseudo-solutions like gun-free zones. But this problem no longer needs to be ‘debated in our country’ – it must finally be solved. But apart from the AfD, no one wants or can do that.”
As schools prepare to reopen across Europe, new figures from a major French teachers’ union reveal that nearly three-quarters of French teachers surveyed say they no longer feel recognized or respected by the state, and most would not recommend their career to others.
“Schools are running out of steam,” declared Se-Unsa general secretary Elisabeth Allain-Moreno as she presented the results of the union’s latest annual barometer, which surveyed around 40,000 teachers, education advisors, school psychologists, and assistants.
The findings revealed that over half of respondents are considering leaving the profession, and nearly 77 percent say they would never recommend it. While 91 percent of respondents say they still love their work, nearly 36 percent are considering a career change within the public sector, and 26 percent are looking to leave it altogether.
As 20minutes reported, low pay is the most frequently cited problem, with 87 percent describing their salaries as inadequate. A category A teacher in France earns, on average, €1,000 less per month than other category A civil servants. Teachers with more than 15 years’ experience continue to earn around 16 percent less than their OECD peers, while France also remains among the countries with the largest class sizes.
Support staff for students with disabilities face even harsher conditions. Known as Aesh, they are often employed at just 60 percent of full-time hours and earn around €950 net per month, below the poverty line. “The state is the primary provider of precariousness,” said Gilles Langlois, national secretary of Se-Unsa, who demanded civil servant status for these workers.
The survey also highlights dissatisfaction over poor working conditions, the impact of continuous reforms, heavy workloads, and a lack of professional training. The overwhelming sentiment, however, is that of neglect. More than 70 percent of teachers said they feel a lack of recognition and respect from the state.
This discontent is not confined to France. In Vienna, teachers have warned of worsening classroom conditions, citing language barriers, violence, and cultural conflicts linked to mass immigration. Local unions report incidents ranging from assaults on teachers to demands that staff wear religious clothing, as well as cases of mock executions staged by pupils.
In Berlin, teachers at the Friedrich Bergius School late last year described “untenable” conditions in a seven-page letter to the district council, warning of violence, aggression, and students lacking even the most basic academic skills. With more than 80 percent of pupils speaking a language other than German at home, teachers say they are overwhelmed and unsupported.
There have been several high-profile attacks against teachers in France in recent years, including the beheading of Samuel Paty by a Chechen Muslim refugee in 2020, and the fatal stabbing of a 31-year-old teaching assistant in June.
Similarly, in the Netherlands, a 53-year-old teacher from Dordrecht was seriously injured in a stabbing last month during a school musical for eighth graders.
Ukrainian experts are now openly acknowledging the deliberate nature of the attacks on the Friendship oil pipeline, which supplies Hungary with oil, and are saying that Hungary cannot cause serious damage to Ukraine’s energy market. Yet, a single decision in Budapest could put Kyiv in serious difficulties this winter.
Regarding the attacks on the Friendship oil pipeline, the Ukrainian side has already openly admitted that they were deliberately carried out against Hungary and Slovakia, and they are urging Ukrainians not to worry because the Hungarians cannot interfere. Even if Hungary wanted to cut electricity exports to Ukraine, the Ukrainian side said EU mechanisms would prevent this, which is what energy expert Olena Lapenko wrote on the Yevropeyska Pravda news portal.
Ukrainian attacks on the Hungarian energy system
In recent years, the oil pipeline supplying Hungary has been attacked several times, mostly by Ukraine. Géza Sebestyén also wrote that Hungary has few options to hinder electricity transfer to Ukraine.
“If Budapest actually carries out its threats, it will be a serious challenge, but not a catastrophe. Thus, the ‘Druzhba’ case proves once again that excessive energy dependence is becoming a factor. Ukraine has long understood this, as have most EU member states. However, the shutdown of Russian oil pipelines offers Brussels an opportunity to put more pressure on Budapest and Bratislava to accelerate diversification and permanently abandon Russian resources.”
On the other hand, a recent study suggests that even a single Hungarian decision would indeed cause serious difficulties for Ukraine. The shutdown of Hungarian electricity supplies would be a problem, especially in winter, although Ukrainian experts say there is no chance of a complete collapse.
In the case of oil, the loss of supplies via the Friendship oil pipeline could also be compensated, but this would lead to higher fuel prices.
In connection with the Ukrainian threats, it is also worth mentioning that Slovnaft is the contracted partner for the transport of diesel oil to Ukraine. The diesel oil comes to Hungary from Bratislava and goes to Ukraine via a product pipeline from the Tisza Refinery.
In terms of electricity exported to Ukraine, it is carried out through four pipelines in an amount of approximately 680 megawatts, which represents approximately 40 percent of Ukraine’s electricity imports. The weight of this becomes increasingly significant in the winter period.
Hungary may decide to limit daily exports, but as an option, a coordinated separation could also be implemented.
Ukraine has not purchased Russian natural gas directly since November 2015, and natural gas is imported to the Ukrainian market from Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Over the past three years, the amount of natural gas transported from Hungary to Ukraine has increased several times.
If Hungary were to close the taps, Ukraine would be forced to buy the missing volume from other suppliers at a higher price, which would be another nail in the coffin of the Ukrainian economy.
However, Ukrainians appear confident that they can weather such a crisis.
Lopenko also said that the fact that cross-border capacities have been built in the field of electricity trade also provides some protection for Ukraine, pointing to capacities built in Slovakia, Poland, and even Romania.
She says the missing Hungarian deliveries can also be replaced, at least on paper.
French bond yields rose sharply on Monday as news of the political crisis unfolded, according to Hungarian outlet Portfolio.
The current French coalition government is expected to fall after opposition parties turned away from a confidence vote called by the prime minister in September, and its high deficit and debt have triggered a major bond sell-off. Investors are already pricing in country risk that is higher than Portugal and Greece, but only 10 basis points lower than Italy, making fiscal consolidation increasingly inevitable.
The markets in France also moved on the news of the government crisis that unfolded on Monday. We have previously reported on the stock market drop, but the bond market was not left out, which also plummeted due to the events.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou announced on Monday that he will seek a vote of confidence from parliament on Sept. 8 after his minority government seeks to achieve savings of nearly €44 billion in the 2026 budget. However, the government’s future is in serious jeopardy as the largest opposition parties — including the National Rally, the Greens, La France Insoumise, and the Socialists — have publicly announced that they will vote against the prime minister.
Bayrou warned that France was “in danger” as the country teetered on the brink of excessive debt. The government presented its 2026 budget on July 15, which aims to reduce public debt, which now stands at 113 percent of GDP — one of the highest in the European Union. France also has a significant budget deficit of 5.8 percent, also among the highest in the EU.
The French government bond market moved sharply on the news of the confidence vote and the opposition parties’ announcement. The benchmark 10-year bond yield rose 8 basis points on Monday and is currently at its highest level since mid-March (after another 3 basis point increase, it is now at 3.52 percent). The last time it did so was in November 2011.
At the same time, the premium of French bond yields over German ones rose to 77 basis points, also a nearly six-month high.
All this clearly reflects the sudden increase in French country risk.
According to Andrea Tueni, head trader at Saxo Banque France, “The markets are clearly reacting to the political crisis, which is also accompanied by serious economic uncertainty.”
The French government crisis has also shaken the currency markets. The dollar weakened after Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech last week, suggesting a rate cut, but on Monday it strengthened by nearly 1 percent against the euro. Yesterday’s and today’s exchange rate data are more indicative of a market correction and another attack on the Fed’s independence.
Thomas Zlowodzki, a strategic analyst at Oddo BHF, said the French prime minister’s request for a vote of confidence was a particularly risky move, as the September vote could easily bury the minority coalition government. Bond investors share the concerns, as after Monday-Tuesday’s sell-off (which pushed prices down and yields up), French yields have already surpassed those of historically risky countries such as Portugal or Greece.
“The next step is to surpass Italian yields, but that would be a very serious milestone,” Tueni stated. This would require another 10 basis points increase.
According to Nour Al Ali, a strategic analyst at Bloomberg, the current political crisis is eroding the traditionally dominant status of French government bonds, and the austerity measures that are dividing parliament are currently holding both bond and stock markets in a bind.
French stock prices began to fall on news of the unfolding political crisis, and the stock index of the largest companies fell by about 2.2 percent in the first two days of the week.
According to Vincent Juvyns, chief investment strategist at ING Bank in Brussels, a very interesting situation has arisen in Europe at the moment, as there is now only one country, Germany, that is clearly able and willing to spend more than before. Meanwhile, for the others, budget consolidation is becoming increasingly urgent.
Quiet and prosperous Switzerland also now has its migrant riots to contend with. In the Swiss city of Lausanne, riots have now broken out for a second night after a 17-year-old Congolese youth died during a police chase. During the first night of unrest, a right-wing politician was targeted by a large group of youths, who nearly lynched him.
At 10:00 p.m. last night., approximately 150 to 200 people set up roadblocks and began burning containers and garbage cans. They also severely damaged a bus.
Officers were hit with Molotov cocktails, paving stones, and construction fences, along with other objects, according to police.
Police hit the rioters with tear gas and rubber bullets to control the unrest. No injuries were reported.
🇨🇭On August 24, 2025, at around 4:00 a.m. in the Prelaz area of Lausanne, Switzerland, Marvin, a suspected migrant, was driving a stolen electric scooter and died when he crashed into a wall while being pursued by police. Riots subsequently broke out in the Prelaz area. pic.twitter.com/WO28jYr02V
The unrest followed similar attacks the night before, which saw a smaller crowd of about 100 youths, who partook in the rioting.
During that night, a Swiss People’s Party (SVP) politician, Thibault Schaller, was targeted in a lynching attack, which was caught on video.
He wrote on X that he approached the unrest because he was curious what was going on. Upon getting closer, some individuals, whom he said he believed to be Antifa, recognized and confronted him.
“They ordered me to leave. I refused and asked what was happening. One pushed me, I pushed him back then stepped back. Someone shouted something, and 10, 15 people came running at me from everywhere. I ran away, took hits. They blocked my path, I fell, protected myself. I got up, ran, got surrounded again against a wall, then took blows. Then, I managed to get away by running. I’m fine, but we really need to take back this city,” Schaller wrote.
In the video, Schaller is seen being chased by a large group of individuals, who kick him on the ground. Schaller continuously gets up and is able to elude the group and eventually get away.
One of the individuals called him “a fascist” during the attack.
🇨🇭During riots in Switzerland, a mob recognized a local SVP politician, @Thibauuuuuult in Lausanne, and nearly lynched him.
Riots broke out after an African teen slammed a stolen a scooter into a wall during a police chase and died.pic.twitter.com/fK5IGqcojY
The riots began after the death of 17-year-old Marvin M., a Swiss citizen with Congolese roots. Police say they pursued him while he drove a stolen scooter on Sunday night. He died when he crashed his scooter into a garage door.
Marvin M.’s mother claimed her son is “not a scooter thief,” and “not a bandit,” in an interview with 24Heures.
She said he was a passionate rapper, with his group stating it does not condone the violence taking place in the city after his death.
Schaller wrote on X that the police were not to blame for the teenager’s death and that “this tragedy could have been avoided. He just had to listen to the police.”
The city was “held hostage by a handful of thugs,” he further wrote.
The young murdered police officer, Simon B., left two young children and a wife behind in a case that has once again shocked Germany. Now, more details are emerging about the suspect, an 18-year-old German-Turk named Ahmet G., whose family has been in Germany for approximately 30 years.
Ahmet G. is accused of conducting a robbery, armed with a kitchen knife, at a gas station in Völklingen last week on Thursday. During an ensuing police pursuit, police say he struggled with 34-year-old Simon B., managed to grab Simon B.’s service weapon, and fired six shots into his body, killing the officer.
The autopsy of the officer reveals he suffered injuries to his head and torso and died from massive blood loss. The public prosecutor stated that the German-Turkish man continued shooting the officer even after he lay on the ground.
🇩🇪🔴 JUST IN: First video recorded of a German police officer shot to death in Völklingen, Saarland,
"People, you won’t believe this, we’re in Völklingen and people are being shot."
Following a gas station robbery, the perpetrator grabbed the officer's gun and shot him. pic.twitter.com/URNqRwrOpT
Another officer was apparently shot and only survived thanks to his protective vest.
German outlet Nius reports that Ahmat G.’s family is known for speaking very little German and had gambling debts due to the father’s gambling addiction.
Ahmat G. graduated from secondary school in 2023, but an acquaintance claimed he suffered from depression and was receiving treatment.
Bild also reported that his family lived in Germany for 30 years, and even until this day, the father barely speaks German. The family survives from odd jobs, and the father is addicted to gambling to the point that he has gambled away the family’s money.
JUST IN: The 18-year-old who killed a German police officer has been identified as a German with Turkish citizenship.
After robbing a gas station in Völklingen, he grabbed an officer's pistol during a struggle and killed him.
There are also reportedly frequent arguments at the family home.
“I saw Ahmet only a few days before the crime. He seemed depressed. Apparently, there was another row at home because his father had gambled away the money again,” said a friend of the family.
Some social media users, such as popular German commentator Tim Kellner, are already pointing to the media building up a sob story around the perpetrator.
“The 17-year-old Turk Ahmet G. murders police officer and family man Simon B. And immediately the victim-perpetrator reversal begins. ‘Depression,’ ‘family problems,’ gambling-addicted father (in Germany for 30 years, speaks hardly any German) The murderer probably just wanted to get money for the family… Enough!” he wrote on X.
Der 17-jährige Türke Ahmet G. richtet Polizist und Familienvater Simon B. hin. Und sofort beginnt die Opfer-Täter-Umkehr: "Depressionen", "Familienprobleme", spielsüchtiger Vater (seit 30 Jahren in Deutschland, spricht kaum Deutsch) Der Mörder wollte wahrscheinlich nur Geld für… pic.twitter.com/7n2y7XVSHi
There is speculation that Ahmat G. committed the gas station robbery, which only netted him a few hundred euros, before he was arrested.
Notably, for those without any money in Germany, even those who have lost money gambling, there is still free food and free social assistance. Nobody starves on the street. There are also numerous charities, and Muslims can even benefit from Christian charities.
Ahmat G. is also hospitalized
It still remains unclear how the suspect obtained the officer’s pistol during the struggle.
New information also revealed that Ahmat G. remains hospitalized and suffered life-threatening injuries during the shootout.
He has been charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Notably, poor integration from the Turkish community is commonplace in Germany, despite this community having spent decades in the country in many cases. Despite numerous individual success stories, Remix News detailed in a long-form piece the various ways the Turkish community has failed to integrate as a whole.
In response to the murder of the police officer, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has stated that “this tragedy shows once again” that “our police face life-threatening danger every day, the state fails to guarantee law and order,” and that “dual citizenship and failed policies have created enormous security risks.”
Notably, due to the suspect having dual citizenship, the murders will be counted as having been conducted by a German, as that is how the law operates in the country.
Yet another poll has found the AfD to be the top party in Germany, with an RTL/ntv poll putting the party at 26 percent.
In response to the AfD’s soaring popularity, many of the top left-wing parties, and even members of the “moderate” Christian Democrats (CDU), are calling for a party ban against the AfD.
