A 56-year-old man has died two weeks after being stabbed at the Perrache tram station in Lyon’s 2nd arrondissement, according to French media.
The attack occurred on Friday, Nov. 14, at around 9:30 p.m. According to police and local reporting from Actu Lyon, the victim collapsed onto the tram tracks after being stabbed at least once in front of multiple witnesses.
Emergency services treated the man at the scene before taking him to Édouard-Herriot Hospital, where he remained in critical condition. Authorities confirmed over the weekend that he died from his injuries.
Witnesses described the aftermath as deeply distressing. One person told local media, “We saw a body near the tram.” Another described the situation as “a nightmare scene,” recalling the confusion as passengers and bystanders tried to understand what had happened.
A suspect was apprehended shortly after the attack through witness accounts and CCTV footage. According to the Lyon prosecutor’s office, the man — identified as a 32-year-old homeless individual originally from Guadeloupe — was placed in police custody but later transferred to a psychiatric unit after his condition was deemed medically incompatible with detention.
Following the victim’s death, he was arrested again on Monday, and the investigation was reclassified as a homicide case.
Early information indicates that the victim was stabbed in the chest with a barbecue fork in a pedestrian tunnel used by tram lines.
The exact motive behind the attack remains unknown.
Remarkably, a very similar story just occurred in Paris as well, involving a violent migrant from Guadeloupe, who slashed two victims in their faces, carving the “Joker smile” into each victim.
Young Killian and his girlfriend have spoken to French media about the terrifying incident from earlier this month.
🇫🇷🔴 "We escaped death – both of us."
This young French couple is a symbol of the New Europe.
🔺“We now avoid going out much, in order to stay safe.” 🔺“We always have this fear: Could we run into someone like him again?” 🔺“Now, I can’t sleep without crying.”
Rome police have arrested three Moroccan men accused of dragging an 18-year-old girl out of her boyfriend’s car and gang raping her while restraining her partner and forcing him to watch.
Investigators say the woman was attacked on the evening of Oct. 25 after a migrant gang surrounded the parked car where she and her 24-year-old boyfriend had stopped late at night in Tor Tre Teste park in the Italian capital.
Police believe the group may have consisted of up to five individuals and are still searching for two suspects.
According to police, the Italian couple had parked their vehicle in a secluded area of the park when the attackers broke the car windows and forced both occupants outside. Corriere della Sera reported that the men restrained the young man while one of the attackers raped the woman. Mobile phones from the couple were then stolen before the men fled on foot.
Authorities say fingerprints recovered from the windows and the vehicle link the three arrested men to the scene.
After the attackers fled, the couple contacted emergency services and provided statements that allowed detectives to identify the suspects quickly.
Two suspects were detained on Oct. 28. A third man was arrested in Venice several days later. Police have kept information limited due to the ongoing investigation, and officers continue to assess whether additional individuals were involved.
The case has prompted political commentary criticizing the limited national attention the incident initially received. Il Prima Nazionale noted that this is not the first serious sexual assault reported in the Tor Tre Teste area. Last August, a Gambian man was arrested in connection with two separate rapes committed between Via Prenestina and the park, including that of a 60-year-old woman.
Nel parco Tor Tre Teste, lo scorso agosto, venne violentata una donna di 60 anni dallo stupratore seriale gambiano Sheikh Hydara, beneficiario di protezione internazionale. pic.twitter.com/obQqfP1Mwx
Despite the seriousness of those incidents, they also did not lead to a broader national debate.
“This silence, even more than the violence, is the political crux of the matter. It reveals how rigidly selective contemporary rhetoric on women’s rights is. It provokes outrage when the perpetrator is an Italian man, recognizable. It fades when the perpetrators are illegal immigrants already marginalized,” the site wrote.
Earlier this week, Remix News reported on data from Italy’s interior ministry for 2024, showing that foreign nationals committed 44 percent of all rapes that year, despite comprising just 9 percent of the country’s resident population.
The data is even more alarming when focusing on minor suspects. In 2023, government data showed that 56 percent of all arrests of minors for sexual violence were non-Italians.
Politico tries to present itself as “objective” and on a quest to fight “disinformation” and “fake news,” but the media giant’s latest actions reveal it appears to be willing to get dirty in support of the EU establishment’s preferred candidates. Yesterday, Politico’s “Poll of Polls” aggregator showed Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party pulling ahead of the opposition Tisza party for the first time in a year. Shockingly, Politico waited less than 24 hours to react to this “bad news” by changing the data in its own polling aggregator, which also happened to be very good for the opposition Tisza party.
Once the results were “corrected” on Politico’s polling aggregator — by removing two polling firm results and adding a new one — suddenly Fidesz dropped from a one-point lead to seven points behind Tisza in the polling average.
Before and after polling results for Hungary’s upcoming national elections in April, with Politico changing the results less than 24 hours after Fidesz’s party pulled ahead
This came after Hungarian media reported on Orbán being ahead of Magyar for the first time in a year, as Remix News published yesterday. However, screenshots had already been widely taken of the Politico polling results, showing the before and after.
Telex media outlet, by no means friendly to Orbán, reported on what Politico did next in response to Orbán gaining the polling lead.
“But what happened in the specific case? Although Politico’s graph does not indicate which research is from which company, if we compare them with the research published in the past period, it turns out that the position of Poll of Polls on Sunday was most influenced by the recent measurements of the Hungarian Social Researcher and the Center for Fundamental Rights. The former measured a Fidesz advantage of 10 percentage points, the latter 7 percentage points, and these two measurements were enough to drag the average so far that a Fidesz advantage of 1 percentage point emerged.
And here comes the twist. Around noon on Monday, Politico deleted the research of the Hungarian Social Researcher and the Center for Fundamental Rights from its summary, but added Publicus’ latest measurement, which shows a Tisza advantage of 9 percentage points. Accordingly, the overall Tisza advantage of 7 percentage points came out, so that the Tisza stands at 46 percent and Fidesz at 39 percent. (We asked Politico why the measurements of the Hungarian Social Researcher and the Center for Fundamental Rights were deleted; if they answer on the merits, we will report on it.)
By excluding the two researches from the total and by hiring Publicus, who made significant mistakes in the previous two elections, the difference between the support of the Tisza Party and Fidesz immediately jumped by 8 percentage points.”
Politco could not even wait a few days to change the data firm inputs. It immediately sprung into action, adding the Publicus poll and deleting two polls which showed Orbán in the lead.
Besides the ridiculous timing of Politico’s actions, Politico’s move is also highly dubious, considering that it removed polling firms that have a better track record than Publicus, which is known to have an extreme left-wing bias.
Notably, the firm Politico added, Publicus, is a polling institute that was remarkably wrong about the last Hungarian national election in 2022. It claimed the opposition was tied with Orbán’s Fidesz party, but this result was massively off the mark. In fact, Publicus had the worst polling result of any firm in the lead-up to the 2022 national election, amounting to an incredible 20-point failure.
As Telex writes, “With the last measurements before the 2022 election, however, Publicus made the biggest mistake, 20 percentage points in the difference between the support of Fidesz and the united opposition, slightly ahead of the 16 percentage point mistake of Republikon and Závecz (all three institutes measured the opposition above and Fidesz below).”
In addition, before the 2024 European Parliament election, Publicus overestimated the DK-MSZP-Párbeszéd list by 6.5 percent, as well as the Tisza list by 4.2 percent, even if it predicted other party results accurately.
In other words, Publicus has a very poor track record, and by some measures, the polling firm should be seen as a laughing stock with its 20-point miss. Notably, in the United States, the outrageously wrong Iowa poll from Selzer led her to quit polling completely, and that was only a 16-point miss versus the Publicus 20-point failure.
However, some could argue that the Publicus polling firm did exactly what it was supposed to do: deliver a manipulated poll that showed the opposition to Orbán with far more support than it actually had. A 20-point miss, after all, veers into the realm of a failure so great, it is difficult to explain such a miss purely by poor data science.
One of the polling firms removed by Politico, Hungarian Social Research voiced outrage over the move. An analyst from the firm, Krisztián Talabér, wrote on Facebook about Politico’s move. He noted that his firm actually had the most accurate result of the 2022 election, while Publicus had the worst result.
“So Politico removed the Hungarian Social Research Institute from its ‘Poll of Polls’ research summary, the institute that gave the most accurate election forecast in Hungary before the 2022 parliamentary election, and instead included the institute that claimed even on the eve of the election that the score was 47-47, while the opposition was more among the undecided. The domestic result was 52-36 in favor of the ruling parties. Most accurate out, most inaccurate in. Scandal,” he wrote.
Of course, the Hungarian government has jumped on this “alteration” of the polling firms included in the Politico “Poll of Polls” as well.
The political director for the Fidesz party, Balázs Orbán, took to X to write, “Less than 24 hours after I posted an analysis citing the @PoliticoEurope ‘Poll of Polls’ — which clearly showed Hungary’s patriotic government parties, Fidesz-KDNP, ahead of Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party — the pro-war Brussels elite’s in-house outlet suddenly rewrote its numbers & deleted that lead retroactively. Such blatant data tampering exposes exactly how far some are willing to go to distort Hungary’s political reality. By removing from their aggregate index every poll that didn’t align with their preferred narrative, they turned a ‘Poll of Polls’ into a one-sided construction.”
‼️ Less than 24 hours after I posted an analysis citing the @PoliticoEurope “Poll of Polls” — which clearly showed 🇭🇺 Hungary’s patriotic government parties, Fidesz–KDNP, ahead of Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party — the pro-war Brussels elite’s in-house outlet suddenly rewrote its… pic.twitter.com/U1oTu2xYsg
The timing from Politico is indeed remarkable and shows the lengths publications are willing to go to remove Orbán from power. Politico lives and dies on its access to the EU power structure, and that relationship may come at a cost. In short, this certainly looks like a “favor” that veers into outright manipulation. Of course, Politico is a media giant with more reach than any Hungarian publication, both in Hungarian and the English language. That means it can afford to take these measures, since it will receive very little heat from anyone that matters to its bottom line.
Case in point, Balázs Orbán’s post on X did not even obtain 40,000 impressions. His audience is also meaningless to Politico. They care about power first and foremost, and Orbán holds very little sway in the levers of power in Western Europe, especially in Brussels.
In fact, any move Politico makes against Orbán can only stand to be rewarded by powerful backers, with more insider access and connections to the power structure within the EU. At the same time, removing Orbán from power aligns with the fundamental ideological approach of Politico, along with many other powerful media outlets.
Expect more manipulation ahead from Brussels and its “independent” publications of choice.
A new poll indicates that Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally (RN), would secure a victory in the second round of the 2027 French presidential election in every matchup tested. Although elections are still 18 months away, it shows a considerable shift in French public support to right-wing, conservative positions.
The new Odoxa-Mascaret poll released Tuesday, conducted for French news outlet Public Sénat and other regional press outlets, suggests a clear path for Bardella should Marine Le Pen’s potential ineligibility be confirmed.
According to the new poll, even if Le Pen fails in her appeal attempts, Bardella, seen as her successor, would comfortably lead the first round in both main scenarios examined by the pollsters.
In a polling scenario with Édouard Philippe (Centrist candidate), Bardella would take 35 percent of the first-round vote, with former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe advancing to the runoff with 17 percent. In the second round, Bardella would defeat Philippe with 53 percent to 47 percent of the vote. This marks a reversal from the same Odoxa poll conducted in April, where Philippe led the RN leader 54 percent to 46 percent.
FrenchNational Rally party president Jordan Bardella answers reporters following a meeting, after France’s prime minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned plunging the country into a deep political crisis. Monday, Oct. 6, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In a matchup against Gabriel Attal, Bardella’s first-round support increases slightly to 36 percent. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who polls at 11 percent, would be overtaken by both Raphaël Glucksmann (14.5 percent)and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (12 percent).
The institute also tested other potential second-round matchups, taking into account the “margins of statistical error” from the first round. Bardella would defeat Raphaël Glucksmann with 58 percent to 42 percent of the vote.
Against the secretary general of Renaissance, Gabriel Attal, Bardella would win with “56 percent against 44 percent.”
Finally, against far-left La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Bardella would secure a decisive victory with “74 percent of the vote against 26 percent.”
Mélenchon, in particular, is known for actively supporting the Great Replacement.
🇫🇷🚨 French far left leader once again says the Great Replacement is real and good
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: "Yes, Mr. Zemmour, there is a Great Replacement. Yes, Mr. Bayrou, there is a Great Replacement."
Bardella himself has been attracting huge crowds across the country, with polling showing that more than half of France is willing to have him lead the country. During a recent stop in Brittany, he published a video of Bretons waiting for a chance to meet him, writing: "Brittany was a difficult land for the National Rally. But the Bretons have become aware of the accuracy of our diagnosis on agricultural abandonment, on security laxity, or even on mass immigration: we are here, now, in a land of strong progress for our ideas."
La Bretagne était une terre difficile pour le Rassemblement National.
Mais les Bretons ont pris conscience de la justesse de notre diagnostic sur l'abandon agricole, sur le laxisme sécuritaire ou encore sur l'immigration de masse : nous sommes ici, désormais, dans une terre de… pic.twitter.com/ikKV2C2Jfr
The survey did not include Marine Le Pen, whose candidacy is linked to her legal situation. Bardella, however, is favored by both the French public and National Rally (RN) supporters, amounting to a seven-point lead" over Le Pen, according to Odoxa.
Approval ratings saw a minor boost for the current administration: President Emmanuel Macron gained "one point in a month, reaching 21% approval, allowing him to climb out of his historic low in this poll." Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu gained "6 points, reaching 36% approval."
The survey was conducted Nov. 19 and 20 among a representative sample of 1,300 French people age 18 and older, including 1,206 registered voters (quota sampling method). The margin of error for the voting scenarios is between 1.5 and 3.5 points. For popularity ratings, the survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,000 French people age 18 and older (quota sampling method), with a margin of error between 2.5 and 3 points.
The European Union’s top court ruled on Tuesday that Poland is legally obliged to recognize a same-sex marriage concluded in another EU member state, declaring that Warsaw’s refusal to acknowledge the marriage of two Polish men married in Berlin is incompatible with EU law.
The two citizens, who married in Germany in 2018 and wished to return to Poland “as a married couple,” sought transcription of their German marriage certificate — the only procedure Polish law provides for recognizing foreign marriages. Their request was rejected because “Polish law does not allow marriage between persons of the same sex.”
The couple appealed, prompting Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court to refer questions to the European Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In a detailed judgment, the Luxembourg-based court reaffirmed that while marriage laws fall within national competence, EU free movement law imposes binding limits on how member states apply those rules. The court noted that as EU citizens, the spouses “enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the member states and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon returning to their member state of origin.”
The law effectively opens up the possibility of same-sex couples, in member states where same-sex marriage is not recognised, eloping and their country of origin being forced to acknowledge the marriage upon their return.
In its written judgment on Tuesday, the court emphasized that when citizens create a family life in another member state, “in particular by virtue of marriage, they must have the certainty to be able to pursue that family life upon returning to their member state of origin.”
Luxembourg found that refusing to recognize a same-sex marriage that was lawfully concluded in another member state “may cause serious inconvenience at administrative, professional, and private levels, forcing the spouses to live as unmarried persons in their member state of origin.” Such a refusal, the court held, is “contrary to EU law” because it infringes both the freedom to move and reside, and the fundamental right to respect for private and family life.
The court also rejected arguments that recognition would undermine national identity or public policy. According to the judgment, “the obligation to recognize does not undermine the national identity or pose a threat to the public policy of the spouses’ member state of origin. It does not require that member state to provide for marriage between persons of the same sex in its national law.” Instead, the obligation stems strictly from the rights associated with EU citizenship and free movement.
Member states, the court said, retain “a margin of discretion to choose the procedures for recognizing such a marriage,” and transcription is only one possible mechanism. However, those procedures “must not render such recognition impossible or excessively difficult or discriminate against same-sex couples on account of their sexual orientation.”
Because Poland offers only a single legal avenue for recognizing foreign marriages — transcription, which effectively creates an official Polish civil-status record by copying the details from a foreign marriage certificate word-for-word into Poland’s own registry — the court concluded that Warsaw must “apply that procedure equally to marriages concluded between persons of the same sex and to those concluded between persons of the opposite sex.”
Poland’s courts must now resolve the couple’s case in accordance with the Luxembourg ruling, and the decision is binding on all national courts hearing similar disputes.
Despite years of political promises to regain control over migration, nearly one million people whose asylum applications have been formally rejected continue to live in Germany.
The new figures, released by the federal government in response to an inquiry from the AfD and obtained by Bild, show that as of Oct. 31, 2025, a total of 934,553 foreign nationals were registered in the Central Register of Foreigners as having a rejected asylum claim. In the summer of 2023, that figure stood at 896,065.
The largest groups among rejected applicants are Afghans (153,550), Turks (93,762), and Kosovars (68,261). In addition, Germany hosts around 2.4 million foreigners with recognized protection status, including more than a million Ukrainians. Others include 43,203 individuals entitled to asylum under the Basic Law, 696,985 recognized refugees covered by the Geneva Convention, and 420,358 beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
“There have been many problems with the obligation to leave the country for years,” Professor Daniel Thym of the University of Konstanz told Bild. “Only a minority comply with the legal obligation to leave, are deported, or leave voluntarily with financial support.” He noted that many individuals receive permission to remain even when their livelihood is not secure, meaning social benefits often continue.
The legal obligation to leave takes effect once a negative asylum decision is final or when no suspensive effect applies. However, appeals and temporary suspensions often delay removals. At the end of 2024, 72,500 people who were legally required to leave had been living in Germany for over six years.
AfD lawmaker René Springer argued that the status quo signals a loss of state authority. “If rejected asylum applications have no consequences and protection instead becomes the rule, that is not humanism, but a loss of state control,” he said.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Germany carried out 19,538 deportations between January and October 2025, already surpassing the previous year’s total, but the figure remains a drop in the ocean.
The numbers have prompted harsh criticism. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel wrote on X: “One million rejected asylum seekers live in Germany, and they are not being deported: Is this the ominous ‘migration turnaround’ that Merz and the CDU promised during the election campaign?”
Conservative commentator Anabel Schunke added that the system no longer retains public legitimacy. “If it doesn’t matter whether someone is here legally or illegally, because it makes no difference anyway, then it’s no wonder that the current asylum system enjoys virtually no acceptance in society. This is absolutely insane.”
In alle Europese landen zullen politici asiel ‘op orde’ moeten krijgen. Dat kan alleen door internationale verdragen te wijzigen en ─ als dat onvoldoende is ─ op te zeggen. Regel dat, juist ter bescherming van onze rechtsstaat en democratie.https://t.co/wftWwGvgKJpic.twitter.com/ggpJT86JnS
Historian and author Dr. Rainer Zitelmann said the scale of unresolved cases is overwhelming German infrastructure, from the courts to local councils. “Nearly one million rejected asylum seekers live here, and incidentally, they are crippling the administrative courts, which now deal with related lawsuits in 50 percent of their cases. And the finances of the municipalities are imploding,” he said.
The political and social tensions surrounding migration have deepened as concerns over public safety rise. According to the latest ARD “Deutschlandtrend” poll, only half of respondents feel very or rather safe in Germany, a fall of five points since February. Some 48 percent view public spaces as rather or very unsafe. In 2017, 75 percent of Germans reported feeling safe.
Interior Ministry data released in October highlighted the scale of crime involving arrivals over the past decade. Between 2015 and 2024, Syrian suspects were linked to 135,668 criminal offenses — amounting to one every 39 minutes over ten years. Other major source countries also showed high totals, including 82,960 cases involving Afghan suspects, 69,946 involving Iraqis, 39,918 involving Moroccans, and 32,383 involving Algerians. Across the top ten countries of origin, more than 460,000 crimes were recorded in the decade.
Government data also showed that 63,977 women were victims of sexual violence in 2024, with foreigners accounting for 35 percent of perpetrators despite making up 15 percent of the population. Women were also the victims in more than 265,000 physical assaults and over 155,000 crimes against personal freedom.
Data from Italy’s Interior Ministry for 2024 shows that foreigners commit nearly half of all rapes, while only representing 9 percent of the country’s resident population.
Specifically, the graph shows they are arrested in 44 percent of cases.
Sexual Violence cases, Italy, 2024
The troubling data, which was cited by Italian journalist Francesca Totolo, also shows that when it comes to gang rapes, “50 percent of perpetrators were foreigners.”
The situation is reportedly “even more of an emergency” when analyzing data concerning minors. In 2023, 56 percent of the arrests and reports for the crime of sexual violence concerned minor foreigners.
A report titled “Young People and Gender-Based Violence” by the Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Public Security analyzed data from 2020 to 2023 for the 14-34 age group. It documented the following:
59 percent of known perpetrators of “sexual violence” were “foreigners.” This is highly disproportionate, as foreigners in that age group represented only 12 percent of all residents aged 14 to 34 in Italy.
In cases of “forced or forced marriage,” which rose from eight cases in 2020 to 28 in 2023, “One hundred percent of the perpetrators of this crime are foreigners.”
For “abuse against family members and partners” between 2020 and 2023, 36 percent of perpetrators aged 14 to 34 were foreigners.
Totolo then goes into a range of cases, from just the beginning of November to Nov. 19, to illustrate the crisis in the country. For all sources, please consult Totolo’s piece, where she links to the local news stories covering each incident. It is important to remember this is only a selection that Totolo compiled and is likely omitting many incidents.
In Parma in early November, writing that a girl was followed, harassed, and groped by a group of young foreigners in the city center. She escaped into an apartment building, saying later about the incident: “They told me to stop. And then they made advances, harsh words. They were a group, they smelled of alcohol and smoke. They were touching me. I was just inches away from them, and speeding up was no use. They followed me for meters, I had them glued to my neck. Yes, I was scared.”
In Borgo Panigale in early November, a 50-year-old woman was threatened, beaten, and choked by a young foreigner who held a knife to her throat while demanding money on a bike path. The victim stated: “I couldn’t breathe. I had to free myself with all my strength.”
Prato (Nov. 1): A 48-year-old Chinese man attacked his Chinese wife with a cleaver, nearly amputating her hand.
Bitonto (Nov. 1): A woman was followed and harassed by a foreigner, described as “mulatto, tall and thin,” who exposed himself to her. The victim lamented: “I love my Bitonto and I want to feel safe being able to return home without feeling violated by the sight of a horrid and vulgar spectacle.”
Padua (Nov. 2): A woman was surrounded by three young North Africans who attempted to steal her dog and spat on her. She said: “I no longer go out alone, and if there’s no one to accompany me, I put absorbent mats on the floor at home.”
Arcore (Nov. 2): Brazilian model Stephanie Amaral was attacked and beaten on a regional train by Balde Abdulaye, a 26-year-old Gambian illegal immigrant with a deportation order and a criminal record. After seeing his photo, another woman, 25-year-old Ilaria Fancellu, said she was subjected to persecution by the same man, stating: “In a year, I filed four or five complaints, not counting those of my family members, and I always found myself faced with him. I wonder if things can only be resolved when a case becomes media news.”
Milan (Nov. 2): A young woman was attacked by an African man she had reprimanded for urinating on a church wall.
🇮🇹✝️An Italian woman found a migrant outside her house urinating on a church in Milan.
She told him, "The church is not a bathroom!"
At that point, he pulled down his pants and began chasing her. He told her he also "pisses on the police."
San Fermo della Battaglia (Nov. 4): A 49-year-old Iraqi illegal immigrant groped two nurses’ private parts and harassed them with explicit gestures and words at the hospital. He locked one victim in an office before she escaped.
Terranuova Bracciolini (Nov. 4): A 42-year-old Tunisian man with a criminal record attacked, beat, and stabbed a female acquaintance in the face after breaking into her home. He then attempted to stab responding Carabinieri officers.
Cremona (Nov. 5): A foreigner beat and threatened his partner with a knife.
Lucca (Nov. 5): A female driver was threatened, attacked, and spat on by a gang of North African minors who tried to board her bus with alcohol bottles. One gang member yelled: “Bitch, if you were in Tunisia, I would have already slit your throat.”
Cremona (Nov. 5): A 28-year-old Salvadoran illegal immigrant was arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse against his partner and children, as well as sexual assault against the woman.
Perugia (Nov. 6): An African man harassed passengers on a bus with sexually oriented behavior, including touching his genitals and approaching young girls. After being confronted by university students, he displayed a knife and later stalked one of the harassed girls, who was forced to take refuge in the minimetrò as the man could not pass the turnstiles without a ticket.
Rome (Nov. 7): A 37-year-old woman was groped by a 42-year-old Albanian man while having breakfast at a café.
Florence (Between Nov. 7 and 8): A 35-year-old Panamanian tourist was raped by a 26-year-old Egyptian man and a 32-year-old Moroccan man, both with criminal records.
Cantù (Nov. 9): A 23-year-old sales assistant was attacked by a foreigner who attempted to undress and rape her as she arrived to open her store; colleagues intervened and saved her.
Bressanone (Nov 10): An illegal immigrant previously reported for attempting to solicit 10-year-old children was discovered during a check and ordered to be expelled to a repatriation center.
Turin (Nov. 12): A 23-year-old student was sexually assaulted and groped by a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man while walking downtown. He attempted to kiss her and pulled her hair.
On a Bus (Nov. 14): A 22-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker, who landed illegally in Lampedusa in 2024, harassed and groped a minor student.
Milan (Nov. 16): At the San Siro stadium during the Italy-Norway match, a 24-year-old Norwegian woman was harassed and groped in the restrooms by a 20-year-old Egyptian cleaner.
Lecce (Nov. 18): A 24-year-old Moroccan man was arrested, accused of stalking, solicitation, and aggravated sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl in Anzio over a month.
Rieti (Nov. 19): A 34-year-old Nigerian serial molester was arrested after allegedly harassing a woman and then a student.
The piece concludes by stating that Italy “is a country that is sacrificing thousands of women on the altar of open ports and a multicultural society.”
A 22-year-old Tunisian national living in Italy was arrested on Thursday after punching the father of a one-year-old girl and attempting to walk away with the stroller containing the baby.
The incident occurred in Piazzale Stazione in Padua. According to police reports and local media, the child’s father, a 21-year-old Romanian citizen, was with his daughter outside the train station when the attacker approached him without warning and struck him in the face.
The man immediately seized the stroller and tried to flee toward Viale della Pace. The child, who had been asleep, remained strapped into the seat.
The father followed the suspect at a distance and stayed in contact with the police, describing the attacker’s movements. When officers arrived, they found the 22-year-old standing beside the stroller and the child frightened but unharmed. He was detained and taken to police headquarters.
During transport, the suspect resisted arrest, kicking and punching an officer, who later required medical treatment. Police say the man continued his aggressive behavior inside the patrol vehicle, attempting to cling to the interior to prevent officers from removing him.
As reported by Padova Oggi, the Tunisian citizen, resident in the province of Padua and in Italy for about a year, was arrested for resisting and injuring public officials. He was also charged with assaulting the child’s father and attempting to kidnap the girl.
His arrest was validated in a summary hearing on Friday, and he was placed under a precautionary order requiring him to remain in his municipality of residence.
Citing the seriousness of the case, Padua’s Police Commissioner Marco Odorisio has ordered the initiation of procedures to revoke the man’s residence permit, according to the official police report. An instruction for a mandatory expulsion order from the municipality has also been issued.
The attempted kidnapping is the latest in a spate of similar incidents in recent months.
In a separate incident on Oct. 19 in Bologna, police arrested a 17-year-old Gambian minor after he allegedly attempted to remove a newborn baby from a stroller near the city’s train station. According to reports, the suspect reached into the stroller in the presence of both parents. They intervened immediately, and nearby witnesses helped prevent the abduction.
The baby was unharmed. Police located the suspect minutes later in a nearby park and arrested him after a brief chase. The minor, who lives in a community center for unaccompanied youths, was charged with attempted kidnapping and resisting a public official.
Also in October, Catalan police investigated an attempted kidnapping of an 11-year-old girl in the town of Torelló, north of Barcelona, after four North African men attempted to bundle her into a vehicle as she returned home from her local supermarket.
French authorities have dismantled a large methamphetamine laboratory operating in Le Val, a small village in the Var region and home to just 4,300 people.
The site was concealed inside ordinary garage boxes and was linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.
According to investigators cited by CNEWS, five chemists affiliated with the cartel arrived in Le Val a little over two years ago to establish the laboratory. They trained around 15 people on site before returning to Mexico.
When police raided the premises, the laboratory was running at full capacity. Fifteen individuals were arrested at the site.
The mayor, Jérémy Giuliano, told the French broadcaster that there had been no outward signs of activity: “I passed by every day. They are garage boxes like you can find in several villages,” he said, adding that the setup generated no nuisance and was intentionally designed to avoid attracting attention.
🇫🇷 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.
Police estimate that approximately 400 kilograms of methamphetamine were produced. The drugs were distributed locally and exported abroad, including to New Zealand. Investigators value the profits at more than €11 million.
Residents interviewed said the laboratory was eventually detected after information leaked and neighbors noticed repeated van movements in and out of the site.
French investigators and Europol documents indicate that the Le Val laboratory is not an isolated case. In a separate case from Marseille in May, French gendarmes and Belgian authorities, supported by Europol, dismantled a criminal network involved in the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs that had “strong ties to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.”
An action day that spanned both France and Belgium was initiated following the June 2024 seizure of 216 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, which led investigators to the unraveling of the criminal network.
The 2025 threat assessment by France’s Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast) concluded that foreign cartels are now active alongside French networks. Le Monde’s reporting on the document noted that after the interception of multiple drug “mules” in Los Angeles bound for French Polynesia, and the seizure of a container routed towards Papeete, the authorities documented the “implication in France of the Sinaloa cartel.”
It described France as both a major consumer market and a transit hub and lists Sinaloa among several international organizations operating on French-linked routes.
French anti-drug officials warn that such cases illustrate how Sinaloa’s presence in France is structured: not through a large visible armed presence, but via technical experts sent to set up laboratories, cooperation with local and European gangs for logistics and distribution, and use of French or French-linked financial channels for laundering and reinvestment.
Serious unrest has broken out again at a notorious asylum center in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where a group of unaccompanied minors was responsible for hundreds of reported incidents last year.
Police were called to the Soestdijk Palace estate in Baarn last weekend to break up fights, and two young residents were arrested. The Dutch central asylum agency (COA), however, maintains that additional security is unnecessary and says the shelter has been calmer since several disruptive residents were transferred last summer.
De Gooi-en Eemlander reported how, with only around 90 asylum seekers in Baarn last year, the center recorded 309 incidents in 2024. Roughly 100 cases involved physical or verbal violence. The location, which mainly houses unaccompanied minors, has been under scrutiny since revelations that a small group of teenage residents had turned the shelter into a “breeding ground” of intimidation, threats, coercion, and organized theft.
The situation escalated again in August, after an NRC report revealed that vulnerable minors were being beaten, threatened, and forced to shoplift for older boys who dominated the shelter. According to the Dutch newspaper, those who refused were assaulted in the woods behind Soestdijk Palace. Staff had known about the exploitation for more than a year, but neither the municipality nor the police had been told.
The municipality accused the COA of withholding essential information and described itself as having been “cheated” by the agency’s lack of reporting. Several council members even argued that the COA’s permit should be revoked. In September, Baarn issued a formal notice of default and warned that continued non-compliance could lead to closure of the site. A strongly worded letter has since been drafted and sent to both the COA and the ministry.
Alderman Steven de Vries says the COA has been more communicative since the scandal broke, and stresses that the shelter is not facing imminent shutdown. According to him, the agency can be held accountable for failing to meet its obligations, but “not for every incident.” He maintains that the COA is now following agreements more reliably.
Before last week’s incidents, the COA insisted that calm had largely returned since several “troublemakers” were removed from the center earlier this year. The organization confirmed that two disturbances took place last weekend but declined to comment on whether tensions between Syrian and Eritrean residents were involved. Police were called to both incidents, and two young men were briefly detained.
NRC’s earlier reporting described a 17-year-old Syrian who allegedly led the intimidation network, demanding stolen goods from other minors and ordering them to steal in nearby cities. He has since received a residence permit and moved to another location.
Counselors, however, say he continues to influence minors connected to Baarn. None of the victims filed reports with police, fearing retaliation.
Police have admitted they were unaware of the extent of the criminal exploitation until recently. “Unfortunately, the rumors didn’t reach us sooner,” a spokesperson said. Officers are now conducting further investigations with municipal and COA staff.
A Syrian migrant is on trial for a number of crimes, including separate rapes and a child pornography charge, in the German city of Dresden. The 22-year-old Omar Y. has been in custody for six months, with the public prosecutor charging him with two rapes, including one of his pregnant wife, who married him under “Islamic law.”
The rape trial is running in the Dresden Regional Court, with the first charge relating to the rape of a 17-year-old woman.
Prosecutor Bettina Ball stated that Omar Y. arranged to meet the victim at Dresden’s Albertplatz, but the teenager did not want to go inside a building with the man.
“Out of annoyance, he decided to meet her in a secluded place,” Ball said.
Omar Y. allegedly arranged to meet the woman on the banks of the Elbe River, near the Albert Bridge. He is accused of raping the young woman on a park bench.
He is also accused of raping his pregnant wife, whom he married on May 2, 2025, under “Islamic law.”
Omar Y. allegedly repeatedly abused and raped the woman, who was an acquaintance of the first 17-year-old victim. He is said to have raped her while she was sleeping and also in the shower.
The wife, who was pregnant, later wanted to remove items from their apartment, at which point, he violently beat her, according to Prosecutor Ball.
The man was later arrested and charged with child pornography that was found on his iPhone 5.
Bild, which covered the story, learned that the man was also accused of illegally filming sexual acts in a separate case. His phone was also reviewed for evidence in that case.
Moroccan migrant Redouan El H. is now on trial for attempted murder in Germany for severely beating a 47-year-old victim with a bicycle lock at the Hanover train station in May earlier this year.
The 34-year-old Moroccan migrant has a long criminal record for theft, coercion, assault, drug trafficking, and predatory extortion, totaling 19 entries on his record. He entered Germany in February 2015 and has gone on a 10-year crime spree in the country. He had his asylum application rejected when he first entered, but all attempts to deport him have failed.
With the aid of 11 false names and a lack of cooperation from Morocco, he was able to avoid deportation.
On May 27, 2025, authorities tried to deport him once again, which was unsuccessful, because he needed to stand trial for new crimes. He currently faces charges for attempted murder and robbery.
Redouan El H. allegedly assaulted the 47-year-old man, an acquaintance of his, with a bicycle lock in a vicious attempted murder attack at a train station in Hanover. He also kicked the victim in the head, causing severe injuries.
The assault was caught on surveillance camera.
Two days later, he then robbed a man at the Steintor in Hanover of his cell phone.
Redouan now faces a long prison sentence if convicted, with a verdict due in December. A deportation is also unlikely after his potential sentence, as Morocco refuses to issue documents.
He reportedly entered Germany 10 years ago with no identification papers, claiming he was from Algeria in an effort to conceal his identity. In Germany, he has continuously changed his name and gone under a number of aliases.
Redouan El H. said that he was acting in self-defense and that the 47-year-old hit him first. However, the surveillance video shows the suspect viciously attacking the victim.
A witness said: “He hit blindly with anger. He stamped his foot on the man’s skull. He was breathing heavily, I saw a pool of blood on his head.”
A 29-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan is on trial at the Stuttgart Regional Court for attempted murder after a young woman was stabbed repeatedly and seemingly at random in Kirchheim unter Teck earlier this year.
Prosecutors allege the attacker ambushed his 27-year-old victim from behind on March 14, putting her in a chokehold before stabbing her six times in the arm, shoulder, and thigh.
According to the indictment, the woman had finished work and was walking toward the town center when she was attacked without warning on a narrow footpath between Senefelderstrasse and Henriettenstrasse. Bleeding heavily, she managed to cry for help as the assailant fled. Emergency responders were dispatched, and she was rushed to the hospital.
As reported by Esslinger Zeitung, the authorities were initially unable to identify the perpetrator. Police patrols and an extensive helicopter search produced no immediate leads. It was only weeks later that investigators arrested the suspect, who was already in custody for two burglaries at a local bank. The forensics taken at the time of his arrest matched those on the database acquired from the attack.
Authorities say the man had broken into the same savings bank branch twice, on Feb. 20 and again on April 14. He was released after the first burglary but detained following the second. His DNA was found both on the knife used in the stabbing and on the victim’s jacket.
Despite this, the defendant denies the charges. Through his lawyer, he told the court, “It wasn’t me,” claiming he cannot explain how his DNA was found on the weapon and suggesting other residents of his accommodation may have used the knife.
As Bild reported, during a psychiatric evaluation, the defendant expressed his frustration over his asylum situation. He had applied for asylum in France but was rejected on two occasions before submitting two further applications in Germany. He told the expert he wanted to return to Afghanistan but lacked a passport, and that acquaintances advised him to commit crimes so he could be deported. He allegedly admitted carrying out the bank burglaries for this purpose.
The victim is understood to be suffering both physically and psychologically months after the attack. “I can no longer leave the house alone, I have no stamina, and my mobility is limited,” she said, adding, “My life has been turned upside down.”
The trial, which began last week, continues on Monday, with a verdict expected early next month.
A 19-year-old Syrian man is on trial in Berlin, accused of slitting the throat of a Spanish tourist in what prosecutors say was an anti-Semitic attempted murder at the city’s Holocaust Memorial earlier this year.
Prosecutors allege that the defendant, Wassim Al M., was driven by jihadist ideology and a belief that he had a “religious mandate” to kill.
The defendant, who arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied minor and applied for asylum in 2023, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and attempted membership in a foreign terrorist organization.
According to prosecutors cited by Welt, the Syrian bought a curved 16-centimeter knife shortly before the attack and travelled from Leipzig to Berlin with the intention of killing a Jew. On Feb. 21, he allegedly approached 30-year-old Spanish tourist Iker B. M. from behind and slashed his throat at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The victim suffered a 14-centimeter wound to the neck, as well as deep cuts to his cheek and hand while trying to escape. Witnesses reported hearing the migrant teen shout “Allahu Akbar” as he pursued his victim through the memorial.
Chief Public Prosecutor Michael Neuhaus told the court that the defendant had embraced the “Salafist-jihadist ideology” of ISIS and wanted to contribute to what he believed was a global “holy war.” Neuhaus said Wassim Al M. blamed Jews for the world’s suffering and deliberately chose the Holocaust Memorial because he expected to encounter Jewish visitors there.
Prosecutors argue that the Gaza war acted as the trigger for the attack, motivating him to carry out what they described as a “message against the free society in which we live.”
The victim’s lawyer, Sebastian Sevenich, said his client survived only thanks to rapid intervention by passersby and emergency responders. The Spanish national continues to suffer from nerve damage and PTSD, leaving him unable to work. “He was very seriously injured, critically injured,” Sevenich said, describing “a brutal, massive attack” from which his client is still recovering.
Police officers who responded to the scene testified on the first day of the trial, recalling the collapsed victim and chaotic attempts to track the attacker. The suspect was arrested shortly after the attack with blood-smeared hands and clothes.
The defendant has chosen not to comment on the charges. Proceedings are being translated for him in Arabic, and he remains in pretrial detention at a Berlin juvenile facility.
The trial is ongoing with a verdict expected in January.
Hungarian officials are sharply criticizing what they describe as a dangerous escalation in European war rhetoric after France’s top general warned the public to prepare for the possibility of losing “its children” and enduring economic hardship in the event of a future conflict with Russia.
In a post on X, Balázs Orbán, a Hungarian MP and political director to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, accused Paris of normalizing the prospect of war. “When Emmanuel Macron’s top general says Europe must be ready to accept losing its children and suffer economically for war, something is deeply wrong. Hungary rejects this logic — we work for peace, not for sending our children into war,” he wrote.
His criticism followed remarks by Fabien Mandon, the Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces, who delivered a stark warning about Europe’s readiness. In a speech on Nov. 18, Mandon told an audience that Western European countries “must be ready for a possible clash with Russia within three to four years, and this cannot be kept secret from the public any longer.”
When 🇫🇷 @EmmanuelMacron's top general says Europe must be ready to accept losing its children and suffer economically for war, something is deeply wrong. 🇭🇺 #Hungary rejects this logic — we work for peace, not for sending our children into war. pic.twitter.com/C2Xs3aXBJ9
The general argued that deterring Moscow would require mobilizing national resources and societal resolve. “All knowledge, all economic and demographic power must be directed to deter the Moscow regime from trying any further,” he said.
Mandon stressed that young soldiers already serving, who are “between 18 and 27 years old,” rely on public backing. “They persevere in their mission if they feel that the country is with them,” he said. But he warned that France could be endangered if it hesitates in the face of potential suffering. “If our country backs down because it refuses to accept losing its children, or if it has to endure economic hardship because priorities are directed, for example, to defense production, then we are in danger.”
The comments sparked immediate backlash in Budapest, where officials argued that France’s top military leadership is preparing society for large-scale conflict instead of seeking de-escalation.
Budapest described the statements as evidence of “war psychosis” taking hold in Western Europe, reaffirming Hungary’s stance that peace negotiations should guide Europe’s approach.
Hungary has long been an advocate for a peace deal facilitated by U.S. President Donald Trump and has refused to provide ammunition to the frontline.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused the European Commission of “astonishing” irresponsibility after receiving a letter from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging member states to provide additional financial support to Ukraine.
Orbán said the request came “at a time when it has become clear that a war mafia is siphoning off European taxpayers’ money,” claiming Brussels was asking for more cash rather than demanding oversight or suspending payments. He was referring to the recently exposed corruption scandal enveloping the country.
A Dutch father from South Limburg, who had a minor daughter through surrogacy with his ex-husband, is currently trial. He now faces up to four-year prison sentence for allegedly abusing her in the bathtub on two occasions.
The 40-year-old admitted that “boundaries have been crossed,” but insisted that he “never did it with bad intentions.” According to him, the actions happened more by accident and the initiative came from the child herself.
In court, he stated: “The first time she touched my genitals with her mouth, I should have talked to her more so it wouldn’t happen again.”
The Tongeren prosecutor also claims the man took over 200 nude photos of the girl and her visiting friends, according to a report from Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
The man appeared before the Tongeren criminal court on Thursday morning, charged with voyeurism, the production and distribution of child pornography images, the rape of his daughter, and the assault on the moral integrity of the girl.
The man’s lawyer, Master Ysbert Drees, asks for the acquittal for all charges, outside of the photos taken. According to Drees, the other children were aware that photos were being made of them and even gave the man permission to take them. According to him, it was only recently that a law stipulates that victims need to give consent when taking voyeruistic photos, and that the law did not apply at the time of this event.
“Merely taking the photos is not punishable. The legislator has not provided that in the event of facts of voyeurism a minor cannot give consent. It also happened in a family context.” According to him, moreover, his client did not take the photos for sexual purposes nor in a sexual context.
As for the rape of the daughter in the bath, the man also pleads not guilty. “It was a penetration, but with the crime of rape you need a setup. That seems far from the case here. It happened accidentally.”
The alleged abuse came to light after the gay couple separated and the father began a new relationship with a woman. She eventually went to the police on August 16, 2023, after her daughter-in-law mentioned that she had performed sexual acts with her father in the past.
The girl testified that she took her father’s genitals in her mouth while they were taking a bath together. This allegedly occurred once when she was three years old and a second time when she was six years old.
When the man’s new partner decided to leave him following the abuse allegations, she discovered a collection of photo albums. The albums contained “nude photos of the girl and some friends who came to play and stay with the man.” Investigation showed the man had taken “more than 200 images of the children in the bath or while they went to the toilet.”
It was also noted that one of the children is said to have “slept in the man’s bed during a sleepover.”
The Tongeren prosecutor argued that “the facts have all been proven” and demanded a prison sentence of four years, partially suspended to allow the man to receive treatment. The prosecutor added: “I don’t think there is any insight into guilt.”
The victim’s other father, the man’s ex-husband, is asking for €5,000 in compensation. His lawyer, Tom Van Overbeke, read an emotional letter in court, stating: “My best friend gave us the most beautiful gift and you abused it in a disgusting way.”
The surrogate mother herself is also demanding €3,500, stating: “All this has left me with a huge wound that will never heal. I also felt extremely guilty because it felt like I was partly responsible for what was done to her because I gave birth to her. I am so angry and terribly sad.”
The daughter’s ad hoc guardian, Christophe Daerden, is asking for damages of €10,000 for the girl herself. Parents of other victims identified in the nude images and the ex-girlfriend who discovered the facts are asking for damages between €1,500 and €3,500.
Judgment in the case will be delivered on Dec. 11.
The Syrian migrant convicted for his involvement in the death of 20-year-old Philipos as he accompanied his sister to a graduation ball in the German town of Bad Oeynhausen last year, is demanding €25,000 in damages from police union vice-chairman and author Manuel Ostermann, accusing him of unlawful statements in his recent book entitled “Germany Is No Longer Safe.”
Philipos was badly beaten in June 2024, so much so that he fell into a coma and died two days later in the hospital. The 18-year-old suspect, Mwafak al-S., was arrested and ultimately convicted of attempted manslaughter. He was sentenced to nine years in juvenile detention.
His lawyer, Burkhard Benecken, is now contesting statements made in Ostermann’s book related to the attack, noting that the sentence is not yet legally binding because of an ongoing appeal to the Federal Court of Justice.
Benecken argues that Ostermann misrepresented the legal status of the case by writing that the migrant “beat Philipos Tsanis to death,” even though the sentencing court ultimately convicted al-S. of attempted manslaughter due to unresolved questions over which of two skull fractures caused the fatal injury.
Benecken also challenges references to alleged prior violent offenses and what he describes as unsubstantiated implications that the attack may have been religiously motivated. In court, evidence pointed instead to a dispute over drugs shortly before the violence broke out.
Ostermann, who is First Deputy Federal Chairman of the German Federal Police Union, rejects the accusations and calls the legal threat an attempt to score publicity. He maintains that his book reflects broader concerns about violent crime and argues that the Syrian offender had already been known to police for previous offenses. While this is true — the migrant teen had been convicted of grand theft and grand robbery and had been sentenced to community service — Ostermann said he had also committed aggravated assault and attempted rape, offenses for which he had not been convicted of in a court of law.
Ostermann also notes that Philipos’ mother has publicly expressed support for him.
The regional court in Essen will now determine whether Ostermann’s statements crossed the line between political commentary and legally actionable claims, and whether the author must pay damages and issue corrections.
The police union chief and author spoke to Welt about the proceedings, calling them “absurd” and “ridiculous.” “To me, it simply reeks of an attempt to gain media attention and possibly a bit of money. I can’t explain it any other way,” he told the outlet.
Benecken, however, accused the author of committing an “incomprehensible blunder” and suggested he had a responsibility to report the facts as a police officer who “should stand for the rule of law, such as the presumption of innocence and fair reporting.”
Germany’s cities are on the verge of a massive financial crisis, with the mayor of Essen warning that the data shows that almost every single city in the country is nearly bankrupt.
Currently, the total deficit for all German cities in 2025 is €30 billion, which jumped from last year’s deficit of €24 billion.
Essen’s Mayor Thomas Kufen (CDU), who is also a member of the CDU federal executive board, is sounding the alarm: “Almost every German city is now on the verge of bankruptcy.”
In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, only 10 out of 396 cities and municipalities can present a balanced budget, and these alarming figures from Germany’s largest federal state can be applied to the “entire country,” he said.
Mayor Kufen stressed that the crisis is universal, affecting municipalities regardless of their location: “What’s new is that all cities have their backs against the wall,” he told Bild newspaper.
He warned that “budget freezes would now have to be imposed everywhere,” including in many cities previously considered wealthy.
Kufen emphasized the need for a national discussion on affordability: “We have to talk about what we can do so that our welfare state itself does not become a social case. This means: What do we want to afford and what else can we afford?”
However, he noted that cities cannot make these crucial decisions themselves; only the federal government can
Kufen illustrated the crisis with figures from his own city, Essen, which has a population of nearly 600,000. The city had planned a balanced budget for 2025. “But instead of a slight increase of €1.7 million, we currently have a deficit of €123 million,” he calculated.
Once again, refugee accommodation and integration are near the top of the list for reasons why the city is seeing a budget shortfall. Far from being a solution to Germany’s budget and pension crisis, they have become a massive financial burden for the country, costing at least €50 billion a year in social integration, housing, and benefits.
WATCH: 🇩🇪🇪🇺 Mass immigration is fueling the West's housing crisis.
Here's how it's happening in Germany.
In a powerful speech in the German Bundestag, @AfD politician Carolin Bachmann slams the ruling government for allowing 2 million migrants into the country while families… pic.twitter.com/DMEqiV316S
Kufen points to education and social spending as burdens on his city as well, and in many ways, foreigners here also account for huge costs.
For example, official statistics from Essen indicate there are approximately 22,730 primary school students enrolled in Essen, and out of these, about 5,565 are classified as “Not German,” making up roughly 24.5 percent of primary school students in the city. If this definition is expanded to those with an “immigration background,” then the figure increases to 35 percent.
As with states and cities across the country, the non-German student population has, in general, been a massive budget burden, as these students need extra integration courses and more money per student to compensate for educational deficits.
In regard to Essen, there are also increased personnel costs due to a public sector tariff increase.
As a consequence, Kufen had to impose “restrictive household management” in Essen. This means the city is essentially only paying what is legally required, such as social assistance and wages. For all other expenses over €5,000, “you need an extra permit from the treasurer.”
Summarizing the situation, Kufen said, “There’s not much left.”
Addressing the federal government’s gigantic debt package intended to help cities, Kufen explained that Essen will receive €335 million over the next 12 years, equating to “just 28 million per year.”
He argued this is insufficient because the funding is primarily intended to finance construction projects. In Essen, that would “with luck be enough for two and a half schools,” Kufen said, noting that “costs have exploded, especially when it comes to construction.”
Kufen made it clear he doesn’t want to sound “ungrateful.”
“We’re happy to take the money. But if someone thinks that Berlin or Düsseldorf will solve all my problems, all I can say is: It will help alleviate them, but we still have a lot to struggle with.”
The mayor stressed that what cities truly need is “not just the money for investments, but simply less bureaucracy, easier awards, fewer requirements so that I can end up doing more with the little money.”
He also warned that if the state cannot function, then democracy is under threat, saying: “Because that’s where citizens find out whether the state works. Whether I can get a daycare place or whether the street lamps come on at night. If you can no longer do all of this, the people who pay taxes get the impression that politicians are not dealing with it properly. And that’s dangerous.”
It is not just the government either, with data showing that residents in Essen are taking on more and more personal debt due to rising rents, electricity, and even food prices, which have risen further in recent months.
The number of people who have taken on so much debt that they cannot pay it back has risen for the first time in six years as well, reaching 5.7 million people who are defined as “over-indebted.” The report also warns that this trend is expected to worsen due to rising unemployment.
Europe has once again been pushed to the margins of a major international peace effort after reports that background negotiations are underway between Washington and Moscow on ending the war in Ukraine, Zoltán Kiszelly, director of political analysis at Hungary’s Századvég think tank, has claimed.
Speaking to Magyar Nemzet, Kiszelly said Brussels has only itself to blame, arguing that the EU’s “pro-war policy” has left the bloc watching from the sidelines while others shape the outcome.
The latest concern in European capitals followed a sudden breakdown in planned talks between Ukraine’s president and Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy. Witkoff reportedly cancelled his meeting after President Zelensky rejected American ideas and instead pushed a proposal he had developed with several European partners, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Meanwhile, media outlets, including NBC, report that Trump has already approved a 28-point draft peace plan drawn up by Witkoff, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner. Sources told U.S. networks that the plan includes multiple concessions: Ukraine would have to surrender the Donetsk region as a precondition for peace; Kyiv would legally retain ownership of the territory but allow Russia de facto control in exchange for an undisclosed rental fee. Additional provisions reportedly include halving the size of Ukraine’s armed forces and banning long-range missiles.
While this deal takes shape between Washington and Moscow, Europe is “once again a bystander in the geopolitical game taking place on its own continent,” Kiszelly said. He argued the EU has “failed twice,” first by encouraging the United States to stay the course militarily, and second by allowing what he describes as Brussels’ “arrogance” to push European diplomacy out of the room, despite attempts by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to encourage Brussels to change tack.
“Trump looks after America’s interests, Moscow represents Russian interests, and Ukrainians are happy if someone helps them,” he said, while Brussels has excluded itself by pursuing “ideological and desire-driven policies” rather than pragmatism. Despite setbacks, he said ceasefire discussions are still advancing and claimed Trump has “put the parties on a roller-coaster ride, but the negotiations did not break down.”
The Hungarian perspective is shaped by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s long-standing insistence that Europe must restore direct contact with Moscow to avoid precisely this situation. Kiszelly said the current moment “proves Orbán right,” arguing that without a revived Russian-European dialogue, the EU has no meaningful role.
Trump’s draft plan has already sparked outrage across Europe. Member state government officials speaking to Axios, the Financial Times, and the Telegraph said the widespread territorial concessions demanded of Kyiv are unacceptable.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas insisted any agreement must involve both European countries and Ukraine itself. Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said it would be unacceptable to impose restrictions on a victim’s right to self-defense. France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Ukrainians want peace, “but peace cannot be a capitulation,” and Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, echoed that view, stating that no peace plan is legitimate without both Ukraine and the European Union fully included.
Rubio has not denied the reported details of the plan’s content. He wrote on X that Washington would continue to develop “serious and realistic ideas” and that a durable peace would require “difficult but necessary concessions” from both sides.
A 90-year-old man in a Borås nursing home has been charged with inciting hatred after allegedly telling staff that all Muslims should leave Sweden, comments witnesses say he made after drinking a couple of shots of schnapps with his lunch.
The incident took place in August in the home’s cafeteria, where the man routinely has two shots of schnapps during meals to help with pain relief. According to witness accounts provided to police as cited by Samnytt, he grew irritated with the staff — many of whom are Muslim — and muttered that he was “fucking tired of this place” and that “these Muslims shouldn’t be allowed to stay.”
He then allegedly directed the remarks at a Syrian staff member wearing a headscarf, telling her that all Muslims must leave the country and that she “shouldn’t stay here.”
According to Sveriges Radio, staff reported that the atmosphere in the lunchroom became tense after the remarks and that they ultimately contacted the authorities. The case is now proceeding to court.
Three colleagues, two of them also Muslim, told investigators they heard the comments clearly. The woman targeted told police she became distressed, cried, developed a headache, and had to go home because she was unable to continue working. She later said the incident felt deeply violating and has since expressed her intention to seek compensation.
During questioning, the 90-year-old said staff later told him he had been loud and behaved inappropriately, for which he apologized, but he insisted he has no memory of making any remarks about anyone’s religion.
“I’m just blank about this incident,” he told police, saying he could neither admit nor deny the accusation, according to Swedish media reports.
Police investigated the case as a suspected crime against democracy, reviewing his internet and social media activity for any relevant material, but found nothing. The man has no criminal history.
Prosecutors argue that around 30 people were present in the dining room when the comments were made, meaning the statements were spread broadly enough to meet the legal threshold for incitement.
They are also seeking a conviction for molestation as an alternative charge.
A suspect is on the run after stabbing a 14-year-old girl in her thigh in downtown Rosenheim in Bavaria, according to police.
The man, approximately 30 years old and speaking German with an Eastern European accent, possibly Russian, asked the young girl for money and cigarettes in the downtown area early yesterday evening. She refused him and began to walk away, only for the man to pursue her from behind.
The man quickly caught up with her, pushed her to the ground, and held his knee to her throat.
The teen began resisting him, at which point he plunged a 10-centimeter kitchen knife into the girl’s thigh. He then fled the scene, according to a report from PNP.de.
When police arrived, the knife was still embedded in her thigh. She was transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are currently hunting for the suspect on suspicion of dangerous bodily harm. He is described as having thin, shoulder-length black hair, a pink T-shirt, a black leather jacket, and sweatpants.
The young woman said his breath smelled strongly of alcohol.
Just one post on social media network X, involving the word “parasite,” has led to a major police operation against a German citizen, who is known only by the first initial of his last name, M.
Berlin police searched the man’s home, seized his phone, fingerprinted him, and used identification measures usually reserved for serious crimes. At one point, an officer reportedly to him: Think about what you post in the future, you must understand that you are now under observation.”
The case involving M. is being presented as the latest example of Germany’s descent into a police state, where a single post seemingly covered by freedom of expression can result in the most intrusive and oppressive police actions.
The man’s lawyer, who is involved with a range of freedom of speech cases, says the police actions feature a “new quality.”
M., a 45-year-old self-described “libertarian” healthcare worker from the Göppingen area, told Welt newspaper that state security officers arrived at his home around 6 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2025. They presented a search warrant, dated Nov. 11, 2025, authorizing a search to find evidence such as cell phones or computers based on an investigation into incitement to hatred.
M. wants to remain anonymous “for fear of social disadvantages.”
The reason for the search, as M. describes it, was a post on the X platform from Sept. 29, 2025:
“No, every person who is financed by the state pays no net taxes, they live on taxes. Every civil servant, every politician, every employee in a state-owned company, everyone who is subsidized and financed by the state. Not a single parasite pays any net taxes.”
Upon request, the Ulm police headquarters “confirmed the operation ‘in the Göppingen area on suspicion of sedition,'” but declined to confirm the exact wording of M.’s statement “due to the ongoing investigation.”
The Ulm public prosecutor’s office also refused to comment on the content, stating that “information about the content or even the wording of the statement will not be provided in an ongoing investigation,” according to press spokesman Philip Haslach. The involvement of state reporting offices like “Hesse against agitation” or “So Done” was not confirmed.
M. noted that he has experienced anxiety since the operation, waking up with panic about another police visit.
The German man, whose post reportedly only reached hundreds of people and featured nearly no engagement, was faced with a terrifying situation at 6 a.m. on Nov. 13.
M. described the officers showing up at his door and giving him a choice: “Hand over his cell phone PIN and cell phone – or they would turn the apartment upside down.”
He complied, stating: “I saw no other option than to give the police the PIN. Otherwise, they would have taken everything with them, computer, tablet, even an old cell phone. Then I wouldn’t have been able to communicate at all.”
He disputes the police’s statement that he went to the station voluntarily, quoting the officers as saying: “You’re coming to the station now.” During the trip, one officer reportedly told M. he was “now under surveillance” and that the problem with his statement was the word “parasite,” arguing: “In doing so, you are attacking people personally.”
Notably, M. did not specifically target any individual with his speech.
At the Göppingen police station, M. was subjected to identification measures: “Fingerprints and criminal photos. To do this, I had to expose my upper body so that a scar from an appendectomy could also be photographed.”
M. also remembers: “I was also asked for a blood sample to secure DNA. I refused that too.” The blood sample was not taken.
M. refused to testify during the subsequent interrogation and claims he “didn’t get a search or interrogation record from the police.” He was then driven back home.
M.’s lawyer, Marcus Pretzell, is alarmed by the case, which he says is the first time he has “experienced identification measures in these cases” among his approximately 100 clients for opinion crimes.
Pretzell states he has not yet received file access, but calls the police actions “nonsensical and clearly illegal,” arguing that “The search measures for opinion crimes are almost never proportionate. This is especially true in this case. The investigation itself is obviously illegal because the statement is covered by freedom of expression.”
Pretzell also suggests the search warrant may not “meet the formal requirements for a search warrant” because the specific accusation, the post on X, is allegedly missing from the document M. received.
The extreme methods used against M. raise the question of why many of these cases are being handled in the most draconian manner possible, involving early morning police raids, seizure of electronic devices, and the collection of biometric data. Often, such methods are utilized for the most serious crimes, such as murder, assault, rape, or organized crime or terror.
M. vehemently rejects any association with National Socialism, where the word “parasite” was historically used to denigrate Jews. He states: “I despise violence. I despise extremism. I despise Nazism, socialism and communism.” He notes that his use of the word refers to the vocabulary of politicians like Argentine President Javier Milei, who repeatedly described Argentina’s political elite as “parasites.”
As Welt newspaper notes, the word has also been used in German politics: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), for example, said in early 2024: “The AfD is a parasitic party.” And in 2005, then-Federal Labor Minister Wolfgang Clement (SPD) used the word to describe unemployed people working illegally.
The case has also garnered international attention, with political commentators like Paul Joseph Watson covering the house search.
The user is also an active poster on X and has been commenting on his case as well as retweeting the extensive coverage his case has received in Germany.
“With most posts, I also took great care to consider exactly what I write. With a few, I was also angry and emotionally charged at times, and that surely seeped into the posts as well. In my opinion, that’s human and happens to almost everyone,” he writes.
Bei den meisten Post, habe ich mir auch sehr genau überlegt was ich schreibe. Bei wenigen war ich auch mal wütend und emotional aufgeladen und das ist sicher auch in den Post mit rein geflossen. Das ist meiner Meinung nach menschlich und geht nahezu jedem so.
German authorities using house searches as a weapon against dissent
The police raid on M. comes shortly after Berlin police raided journalist and commentator Norbert Bolz last month over a sarcastic tweet ridiculing the title of a newspaper article, with prosecutors alleging he used a banned Nazi slogan.
Bolz described the incident as a “joke” that had been grossly misunderstood.
Bolz told Bild after the house search that “the sad, despotic reality that I have only ever described in recent years has caught up with me. Scary.“
Bolz has been regularly interviewed and quoted as an expert by Bild.
BREAKING: A German man, Paul S., was hit with a €5,000 fine for calling a judge "obviously mentally disturbed."
The judge issued no jail time to a 30-year-old Syrian migrant who raped a 15-year-old German girl while she was walking home in Osnabrück. The migrant, who was drunk… pic.twitter.com/82ADHKL4Ox
The Berlin public prosecutor’s office launched an investigation, accusing Bolz of using symbols of unconstitutional organizations. The charge stems from a post in January in which he wrote, “Good translation of woke: Germany awaken!” The tweet was a play on words referencing an article published in the left-wing newspaper Taz, originally titled “AfD ban and Höcke petition: Germany awakens.” The headline was later changed.
Prosecutors argue that “Germany Awake” was a slogan used by the Nazi Party, making its use a potential criminal offense. However, the search warrant reportedly attached little weight to the context.
Last year, a German man who described a judge as “obviously mentally disturbed” — after the judge issued a light sentence to a Syrian who raped a 15-year-old girl — was slapped with a €5,000 fine for “insulting” the judge. This fine was almost double the fine given to the Syrian rapist for the sexual assault.
These instances have been ongoing for years, with Remix News reporting back in March 2022 how over 100 people had seen their homes raided across Germany for “insulting” politicians, as police had been instructed to conduct a nationwide crackdown on what they called “hate mail” targeting those in public office.
In an interview with Nius, defense lawyer Udo Vetter criticized the German system, revealing that Germany faces over 140,000 open arrest warrants for insults against politicians.
“Crime is getting out of hand and everything is going down the drain, and we have to spend so many, countless hours of work with such things — wasting our time,” he added.
Germany’s industrial workforce has shrunk significantly over the past year, with the automotive sector facing the most severe losses, according to new data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday.
At the end of the third quarter of 2025, the automotive industry employed more than 48,700 fewer people than a year earlier, a decline of 6.3 percent — the steepest drop among all major industrial sectors with more than 200,000 employees.
With 721,400 people employed, the sector’s headcount has fallen to its lowest level since the second quarter of 2011, when it stood at 718,000. Despite the contraction, the automotive industry remains Germany’s second-largest industrial employer, behind mechanical engineering, which counted roughly 934,200 employees at the end of the third quarter.
Across the manufacturing sector as a whole, around 5.43 million people were employed — a year-over-year decrease of 120,300, or 2.2 percent.
Suppliers have suffered the deepest cuts within the automotive sector. Vehicle and engine manufacturers employed 446,800 people, down 3.8 percent from the previous year. Employment in the body and trailer manufacturing segment fell by 4 percent to 39,200. The sharpest contraction occurred among producers of parts and accessories for motor vehicles, where employment declined by 11.1 percent to just under 235,400.
Job cuts have also spread across most other major industrial sectors. Metal production and processing recorded a 5.4 percent decline, leaving 215,400 employees at the end of the third quarter. Employment in the manufacture of data processing, electronic, and optical equipment fell 3 percent to 310,300. The plastics industry saw a 2.6 percent contraction to 321,400, while manufacturers of metal products recorded a 2.5 percent drop to 491,500.
Mechanical engineering experienced a decline in line with the industry average, with employment falling 2.2 percent to around 934,200. Some sectors saw milder cuts: The chemical industry contracted by 1.2 percent to 323,600 employees, and employment in the manufacture of electrical equipment dipped 0.4 percent to 387,500.
The food industry stands out as the only major industrial sector to register job growth. Employment rose by 8,800, or 1.8 percent, reaching 510,500 workers at the end of the third quarter.
Destatis notes that while the automotive sector remains a cornerstone of German industry, the scale of recent job losses marks its weakest employment level in 14 years.
In recent years, the overall picture for the German economy has been one of stagnation. Over the past eight quarters, four have seen contractions, including zero growth in Q3 and -0.2 percent in Q2 of 2025.
Although the country is not technically in recession currently — this requires two consecutive quarters of growth contraction — business leaders have sounded the alarm and called for radical measures from the CDU-led coalition government to arrest the crisis.
In August, 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 German economy is deeper into the crisis than many people want to see,” CEO Helena Melnikov wrote.
“As before, it cannot go on. It is crucial that productivity and economic performance grow faster than social spending,” she warned.
According to her, “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.”
Germany faces a looming energy crisis as the surge in demand from massive new data centers, driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, is quickly outstripping the capacity of its existing electricity grid. This is the urgent warning from seasoned energy manager Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of Hitachi Energy, in a recent interview conducted with Welt newspaper.
Schierenbeck, who has held leadership roles at Siemens, ThyssenKrupp Elevator, and Uniper, stresses that Germany’s current energy plans are insufficient to cope with the unprecedented energy appetite of modern data centers.
“We must not overlook the coming boom in data centers,” Schierenbeck warns. “Just two or three additional data centers can massively increase energy demand – and Germany is not yet prepared for this.”
The scale of new data centers is fundamentally changing energy planning for the German state, which has moved away from reliable nuclear power and fossil fuels. Schierenbeck points out that standard data centers used to require 10 to 20 megawatts (MW). Today, facilities are being planned for 200, 500 MW, or even more than one gigawatt (GW)—”i.e., the size of a large coal-fired power plant.”
This rising consumption threatens to widen Germany’s existing energy deficit. After the nuclear phase-out and the scaling back of coal, Germany has transitioned from being a net exporter to a net importer of electrical energy.
“Germany is in a power gap – and it is threatening to grow,” Schierenbeck says.
Schierenbeck emphasizes that a reliable electricity grid, when using renewables like wind and solar, can only achieve a “maximum of 70 to 80 percent stability.” Beyond that, a secondary, stable energy source is required. While France uses nuclear power and Norway uses hydropower, he suggests the German approach of planning gas power plants for peak loads and during so-called dark lulls “is entirely sensible.”
However, even with the right energy mix, the network itself is becoming a severe bottleneck. The penalty for slow grid expansion is steep: “If our electricity network is not powerful enough, no industry will settle there.”
Data centers are already reaching their limits because “there are hardly any locations with an available network connection,” a critical point for planning, he stated.
Adding to the capacity issue are bureaucratic hurdles, particularly concerning grid connection approvals. Schierenbeck criticizes the current “first-come, first-served principle” for connection applications, which he calls the “greyhound principle.”
“Due to the greyhound principle in permits, many connection points are actually blocked – for example by battery storage projects that are three times oversubscribed. This often doesn’t make technical sense, but whoever comes first will be served first,” he explains, adding, “To be clear, there is no prioritization today. Today we are working through.”
Schierenbeck proposes that the regulatory process must evolve to consider the broader public benefit. He advocates for prioritization based on investment criteria, suggesting it should matter “how much is invested in the location for the grid connection, how many jobs are created and how grid-friendly the project is.”
Beyond grid capacity and regulation, the energy transition faces a tangible manufacturing challenge: a global shortage of transformers. Without a reservation, the waiting time for a transformer in Germany can be up to four years.
“The shortage is a fact. It will continue for several more years. Transformers have become the bottleneck of the energy transition,” he states.
The issue stems from a lack of investment security, as “For a long time, demand was difficult to predict; many customers were unwilling to reserve capacity or enter into framework agreements.” Now, with customers planning and reserving long-term, companies like Hitachi Energy are gaining the security to invest in new manufacturing capacity, such as at their Bad Honnef plant.
Furthermore, he suggests that production speed is hindered because “Today, almost every transformer is unique.” To speed things up, Schierenbeck suggests a move “away from one-off manufacturing and towards more standardized solutions.”
Other bottlenecks include materials, like electrical sheet, of which Europe produces only about 35 percent of its own requirements, and the scarcity of specialist companies needed to build the massive, high-capacity transformer plants.
Comparing Germany to the U.S., where Hitachi Energy operates a large market, Schierenbeck notes that the U.S. benefits from faster decisions and implementation:
“Data centers are built quickly and network connections are allocated quickly.”
He concludes that catching up with countries like China in manufacturing capacity will be a monumental task, likely taking “not just years, probably decades.”
Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged citizens to avoid all travel to the Czech Republic amid the country’s worst hepatitis A epidemic in nearly half a century. The warning follows a surge in infections that has already reached more than four times last year’s total.
According to the Czech State Institute of Public Health, 2,597 cases have been recorded since January, compared with just 636 in all of 2024. By Wednesday, iDNES reported that the number had climbed to 2,640, confirming that this year’s epidemic is the largest in 46 years.
The virus is spreading across all age groups, though people aged 30 to 45 and children aged five to nine are most commonly affected. Prague remains the epicenter, with 1,108 confirmed cases, followed by the Central Bohemia region with 418. Hospitals have admitted most of those infected, but at least 322 patients could not be hospitalized due to a shortage of beds.
Since the start of the year, 29 people have died, mostly men with pre-existing health problems such as chronic liver disease, alcoholism, or drug addiction. Doctors say infections in the capital have now moved well beyond traditional risk groups and are circulating widely in the general population.
As reported by the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Poland’s foreign ministry has warned travelers to exercise strict hygiene, avoid food from unknown sources, drink only bottled water, and ideally postpone any travel to the Czech Republic until conditions improve. Officials say the scale of the outbreak and the pressure on Czech hospitals justify the unusually strong advice.
The outbreak has triggered a national scramble for vaccines. Many clinics report that they have completely run out of standard hepatitis A vaccines, with only limited supplies of combined hepatitis A and B vaccines remaining. These combined doses are more expensive and take longer to provide effective protection.
Some patients, including those preparing for medical procedures, say they have been told they may have to wait until early next year. Several general practices and hospitals confirm vaccine shortages, noting they are reserving remaining doses for those directed to be vaccinated by health authorities.
The Ministry of Health says it has secured emergency shipments from abroad, with more than 30,000 doses arriving this week and a further 65,000 expected in the coming weeks.
Demand for antibody testing has also risen sharply. SYNLAB laboratories told iDNES it had tested more than 24,500 blood samples this year, a 37 percent increase on last year and 63 percent more than in 2023. Around one-third of those tested show long-term immunity, mostly older adults, while children under 10 have the lowest rates of protective antibodies.
The epidemic, which first appeared in the Ostrava region last April, has since spread nationwide. Schools and workplaces have imposed quarantines, and some hospitals have temporarily reduced canteen services as catering staff have been placed under isolation.
Polish media have revealed the names of two Ukrainians who allegedly committed acts of explosive sabotage on Polish railways on behalf of Russia.
“The terrorists acting on behalf of Russia, who committed an act of sabotage on the railway and fled to Belarus, are Yevhenii Ivanov and Oleksandr Kononov. Both are of Ukrainian nationality. Yevhenii Ivanov is 41 years old and Oleksandr Kononov is 39,” Onet portal unofficially reported on Thursday.
The website reports that the two were the “masterminds” of a sabotage operation on the Polish railway and were in Poland for only a few hours.
“Ivanov, according to Ukrainian media, was allegedly involved in an attempt to blow up the Atlon Avia plant in Lviv in 2024. He previously lived in Russia and was involved in smuggling people across borders. He comes from the Kharkiv Oblast,” the report reads.
The prosecutor’s office on the saboteurs: They fled to Belarus
“On Monday, we initiated an investigation and received evidence indicating that the perpetrators are two Ukrainian citizens: Oleksandr K. and Yevhenii I., who are currently residing in Belarus. The prosecutor’s office has decided to charge them with carrying out acts of sabotage of a terrorist nature at the request of the Russian Federation,” announced Przemysław Nowak, spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office, on Wednesday.
The men face life imprisonment. Prosecutor Nowak said the Ukrainian suspects had not been detained and it had not been possible to conduct legal proceedings against them.
“The investigation has only been going on for two days, but it is treated as an absolute priority. We are working on it in cooperation with the Internal Security Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police,” he noted.
It is known that other people have been detained in the case, but no charges have been filed.
“We are cooperating with the Ukrainian side and have a lot of information about the suspects. I can only say that they have no criminal records in Poland. There is no request for pre-trial detention yet, so we are unable to issue an arrest warrant,” said the PK spokesman.
Both incidents, near Garwolin and Puławy, were recorded and transmitted by electronic devices found on site.
All over Europe, farm shops often feature an “honor system” where customers can enjoy self-service. The system mostly works, but in recent years, certain individuals have been taking advantage of the system more and more.
In one case in Kinttelfeld, a farmer’s shop was robbed for the third time, with the operator now publishing photos of the suspects. The robbery has prompted German commentator and journalist Anabel Schunke to lament that the high-trust societies seen throughout Europe are now turning into multicultural low-trust societies.
The family farm, run by Garbiele Eberhardt and her husband Benedikt, wanted to offer the self-service option to its “loyal customers,” but it has been targeted by a number of robberies in the last weeks.
Described as a “small, lovingly run farm shop” by the Austrian newspaper Heute, the shop sells homemade products twice a week, but because customers want to shop outside those hours, the Eberhardt family offered a freely accessible refrigerator with access to their products.
“This works well, but unfortunately, there have been several recent thefts,” an annoyed Eberhardt told Kleine Zeitung.
In the videos, the clearly foreign suspects, who are not speaking German, can be seen laughing as they rob the small farm store.
Remarkably, the thefts are a family affair, with the family publishing videos of the theft on their Facebook page. It shows a young man with two children showing up and emptying out the fridge in seconds while the children hold a bag to fill with loot. The fact that the farm shop was clearly labeled with signs that showed there were CCTV cameras did not appear to deter the thieves.
“It’s now the third time in a short space of time that they’ve completely cleared out the fridge for us,” said the farmers. After the first thefts, they even put up photos of the suspects next to their products, which means they saw that they were being filmed, but still kept robbing the hard-working farmers.
Gabriele Eberhardt wrote on Facebook: “How outrageous you have to be to go on thieving sprees like this with children.”
The police have been informed of the crime and are currently searching for the suspects. However, Garbiele wants to continue the self-service corner: “We won’t let something like that get us down.”
“The robberies have also sparked condemnation on X. German commentator and journalist Anabel Schunke wrote about the thefts, stating:
Small farm shops that also offer goods outside of their actual opening hours in a freely accessible refrigerator for their customers, who then leave money there, function exclusively in so-called high-trust societies.
High-trust societies are characterized, as the name already indicates, by a high degree of mutual trust. This is especially the case in ethnically homogeneous societies whose people share common values, views, and beliefs.
Multicultural societies are all low trust societies, especially since we are experiencing immigration predominantly from cultures that are diametrically opposed to ours, from people who mostly possess low education and high moral flexibility. A look at the children here reveals everything I need to know. That’s just the price for multikulti, here as in Austria and everywhere.”
Kleine Bauernläden, die auch außerhalb der eigentlichen Öffnungszeiten Waren in einem frei zugänglichen Kühlschrank für ihre Kundschaft anbieten, die dann Geld da lassen, funktionieren ausschließlich in sogenannten High Trust Societies.
Farmers are not only having to deal with small-scale robberies such as this one. Crimes against farmers in Germany have been on the rise, with half of farmers saying that they have to deal with the issue of theft, including farm equipment, livestock feed, and even animals such as sheep.
As a result, more and more farmers are turning to surveillance methods, including placing GPS chips in machinery or installing more surveillance cameras. There are no exact figures that Remix News was able to discover about the proportion of foreign suspects involved in crimes against farmers, although foreigners, especially those from Africa and the Middle East, are vastly overrepresented in serious crimes in Germany and Austria
However, many of the suspects are believed to be organized gangs from Eastern Europe, especially regarding some of the more high-profile thefts in the east of Germany.
A documentary from NDR highlights the many issues facing farmers when it comes to theft, and also the issue that in Germany, the perpetrators’ faces are not permitted to be published, even if a farmer captures them on surveillance camera.
A 45-year-old Ivorian migrant who enforced an extreme, isolating form of Islam on four women and nearly 30 children in France has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping his partners and violently abusing the children in his control.
Held in pretrial detention since 2022, the man was convicted of 21 charges, including spousal rape, violence against minors, and acts of torture or barbarity. Jurors at the Assize Court in Gers found that he created a climate of “widespread violence” inside a secluded house where the women and children lived in near-total isolation under his authority. Some 28 of the 29 children were identified as victims.
Throughout the trial, the defendant remained silent and even ordered his court-appointed lawyer not to defend him, Le Progres reported. He denied all wrongdoing and disputed being the father of almost all the children, though investigators said the children themselves consistently described him as their father or as a father figure. No DNA testing was carried out because he refused, and no civil party to the proceedings formally requested it.
Prosecutors described a household ruled by coercion under the threat of violence. The man was said to have stripped the home of furniture, sealed windows “to prevent the devil from entering,” and imposed a rigid religious routine.
Court documents cited by AFP detailed beatings with hands, feet, and objects such as a metal pipe seized from the home. Two very young children were subjected to treatment classified as torture: They were allegedly lifted by their ears until they bled and forcibly submerged in water to silence them.
The abuse spanned more than a decade. According to La Dépêche du Midi, the indictment outlined several periods: the torture of two minors from 2020 to 2021, rapes of partners from 2008 to 2022, and violence against children in 2020-2021. The women and children lived in complete isolation for years, allowed outside only for school runs to Nogaro each morning in two minivans.
The situation came to light in early 2022 when one of the women managed to flee and alert the authorities. The man was arrested in April that year, and 27 minor children were placed into care before later being reunited with their mothers.
Three former partners, who had also been accused of violence against minors or failing to report crimes, were acquitted. Around 30 witnesses, including psychologists and social workers, testified in a seven-day hearing described by prosecutors as one of the most intense cases the court has faced in years.
The defendant, born in the Ivory Coast and living in France since the age of 16, maintained his silence throughout. His 30-year sentence, with a two-thirds security period, is among the heaviest available short of life imprisonment.
The French government is facing accusations of orchestrating a stealth tax grab after deciding to quietly revise the data used to calculate property taxes for tens of millions of homes.
According to an exclusive in Le Parisien, the Ministry of Economy plans to update amenity records for 32 million dwellings, a move that will automatically raise tax bills for a large share of homeowners.
The revision centers on so-called “comfort elements” — features such as running water, electricity, toilets, sinks, showers, bathtubs, and heating or air conditioning. Each of these adds a fixed number of square feet to a home’s taxable surface area for the purposes of determining the amount paid in property tax.
The rules date back more than five decades, but the underlying records have barely been updated since they were first created.
Internal documents from the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) show that in 7.4 million homes across France, at least one of these amenities is missing from the official data. The tax authority now assumes that such omissions simply reflect outdated paperwork, not the actual condition of the property. Missing items will therefore be added automatically, without owners being asked to verify or amend the information themselves. The result will be an increase in property tax for millions of homes, based purely on assumptions without any formal assessment.
Only households experiencing the most significant adjustments will receive a notification of the changes, and revised tax notices will commence in August.
The vast majority of houses won’t be reassessed. While 60 percent of homes in the Haute-Corse region are earmarked for inspection, a minority in each other major French regions will be checked to ensure the tax increase is justified. In Paris, just one quarter of homes will be inspected, while the share drops to around 10 percent in more rural regions like Indre-et-Loire and Isère.
According to the French newspaper, the DGFiP expects an average increase in property tax of €63 for 7.4 million homes, raking in over €460 million.
“This is simply a matter of generalizing a rule that should have already been generalized before,” a government spokesperson, as cited by Money Vox, insisted, but the decision has been heavily criticized by political leaders.
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, claimed that property owners had “become the cash cows” of the government, which, according to him, had “tried to surreptitiously impose this measure behind the backs of the National Assembly.” He further called on the government to reverse its decision and stop “stabbing French property owners in the back.”
On the political left, Mathilde Panot, leader of the La France Insoumise deputies, said, “We are totally opposed to this new scheme which aims once again to take money from the pockets of French men and women and to refuse to make the richest in this country contribute.”
Even among the centrists, the plan was criticized. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who served under President Macron, said that he would never have allowed such a move had he still been in office, and suggested that the policies affecting real estate and housing in recent years have, “objectively, been a failure.”
The plan has also drawn strong criticism from unions. “The government is speculating on convenience features without any proof,” Frédéric Scalbert, general secretary of the CGT public finance union told the newspaper. He warned that many older or rural homes still lack full heating or bathroom facilities, meaning low-income households could be hit hardest by a reclassification that assumes amenities they do not actually have.
Property-owner organizations also object to the lack of verification. “I don’t see how the tax authority can move ahead like this. It will trigger countless disputes,” said Sylvain Grataloup, president of the National Union of Property Owners (UNPI).
Property-tax bills have already grown at twice the pace of inflation over the past decade, averaging €1,072 for houses and €851 for apartments last year.
With European cities, suburbs, and even rural settings increasingly home to asylum centers, which are often fiercely rejected by residents, there appears to be little that can be done to stop this sea change. However, one wealthy neighborhood in Berlin, known for its left-wing politics, has found a potential solution.
Yesterday, Pankow won an injunction against building an asylum center for 420 migrants, with the court citing the “environmental impact,” which would disrupt a colony of bats at the site, along with other bird species.
Never underestimate wealthy, Green-voting White people dead set against diversity in their own neighborhood. Lawfare suddenly becomes a weapon in their favor, especially when it has a nice, environmentally friendly veneer that can appeal to left-wing locals and a judiciary worried about looking racist.
The planned refugee shelter was supposed to be built in a green courtyard in Berlin-Pankow near Kavalierstrasse and Ossietzkystrasse. Protests against the refugee center and the various legal battles challenging its construction have long been the subject of newspaper and television reports.
Now, the asylum home has been temporarily blocked once again by an administrative court over species concerns for bats and birds. The court ruled that an exemption issued by the district in the case, which would have allowed the construction, was unlawful, since it was “not sufficiently specific” regarding the species that would be affected by the project.
Not only were many local residents against the project, but nature conservation groups also came out against the project.
Despite the ruling, the Berlin Senate and the housing association are still planning to move forward with construction, according to Stern. An appeal can now be sent to the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.
This NIMBYism seen in Pankow is on full display across the Western world, with often wealthy left-wing White people screeching whenever the diversity gets too close to their own neighborhoods. Then, suddenly bat populations, precious insects, and tree species must be protected, not to mention the “unique character” of the neighborhood or some historical building, or some zoning code.
Yet, the residents of these neighborhoods overwhelmingly vote for the left, in many, many cases.
In a separate Remix News article report published today about migrant violence targeting youths growing up in Pankow and neighboring Penzalaer Berg, Remix News notes that Pankow features a high proportion of White left-wing, pro-migration voters. In the 2025 Bundestag elections, the left parties (SPD, Greens, and the Left Party) all took home close to 54 percent of Pankow’s vote.
So, a tip for those communities dealing with the construction of new asylum centers in Europe: Create bat-friendly habitats, invite in rare insects, plant endangered tree species, and so on. It might just be the key to landing a court victory to “protect the environment.”
Obviously, the premise of this article is tongue-in-cheek, but in theory, neighborhoods cannot simply say they do not want an asylum home. They must come up with novel solutions, and in many cases, courts and governments do not care in the end. They need to put the millions of foreigners who have come to Europe somewhere, and your neighborhood seems like it could use some diversity anyway.
In the case of Pankow, it probably helped that they have a lot of wealthy lawyers concerned about conserving their property values. Notice that tiny rural villages outside of Berlin, often lacking the resources, lawyers, and activists in a locale like Pankow, are not nearly as successful at fighting the construction of asylum accommodations. Still, bats also like rural settings, so bats might be a legal long shot worth a try.
There are, of course, also real benefits that come with more bats, more species diversity, and a nicer green space. Berlin, in particular, still features plenty of green spaces and parks, but in many instances, the immigration-fueled building boom has already eroded much of the “open” character of the city. This unfortunate development is already far further along in many other cities across the Western world, including Paris, London and New York.
Germany’s interior ministry has confirmed that just 62 Afghans have accepted a government offer of several thousand euros to voluntarily withdraw from resettlement programs and waive a government pledge to fund their relocation to Europe.
In total, 90 percent of those approached have not taken up the offer.
According to ministry spokesperson Elena Singer, cited by Welt, about 1,900 Afghans in Pakistan have been promised asylum by Germany. Of these, 650 people were offered financial incentives. “So far, 10 percent of those contacted, which corresponds to 62 people, have declared their willingness to accept the offer,” Singer said. The large majority declined, and officials remain in contact with others still deciding, although the official deadline to accept the offer expired on Tuesday.
The payments were aimed at Afghans whose legal position the government considers weakest and whose admission approvals could still be revoked after lengthy reviews. As the interior ministry previously told the media, those eligible for the scheme were those who “cannot expect to be accepted in Germany.” The offer consisted of several thousand euros, medical support, psychological care, plus logistical support in exchange for dropping out of the schemes.
The CDU-led coalition government in Berlin halted the resettlement program for particularly vulnerable Afghans in May, although the German courts have continued to rule that the government is obliged to honor commitments made to Afghan nationals by the previous administration.
Eva Beyer, spokeswoman for the aid group Kabul Airlift, previously told Focus that only “a maximum of five families” had agreed to drop out of the program in exchange for taxpayer cash. She said those who did accept did so only after securing visas for other countries.
More than 2,000 Afghan nationals remain stranded in Afghanistan and Pakistan awaiting relocation under various protection schemes launched after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Although the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition suspended admissions in May, some flights have continued due to binding court rulings.
In a landmark case earlier this year, the Berlin Administrative Court ruled that an admission granted to an Afghan woman and her 13 family members was legally binding and could not be revoked, ordering the foreign ministry to act immediately. The government later withdrew its appeal, finalizing the judgment.
Officials say the suspension was triggered by “security and procedural concerns,” following reports that only one in eight Afghans admitted under special programs had undergone full security vetting before arrival, and that more than 31,000 Afghans entered Germany without complete background checks.
The federal police union DPolG previously called for a full halt to flights, citing identity-verification failures and terrorism concerns. “The current procedure, in which travel documents are issued despite identities not being fully verified, is highly risky and irresponsible,” its chairman, Heiko Teggatz, said in March.
Hungary’s National Assembly has adopted a multi-point package of tax-cutting measures for businesses, passing the proposal with 167 votes in favor and none against or abstaining.
The plan, developed jointly by the government and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, aims to ease the burden on sole traders and small, medium, and large enterprises through changes to VAT rules, expense allowances, social security contributions, and reporting thresholds.
As reported by Magyar Nemzet, the package introduces a tiered rise in the individual VAT exemption threshold, which will increase to HUF 24 million (€62,480) by 2028. The threshold will first rise to HUF 20 million on Jan. 1, 2026, then to HUF 22 million in 2027, and finally to HUF 24 million in 2028. Flat-rate entrepreneurs — essentially self-employed individuals who choose a simplified tax system where their taxable income is calculated using a fixed, automatic expense deduction instead of documenting their real costs — will also benefit from an increasing general expense deduction, rising to 45 percent in 2026 and 50 percent in 2027.
The government says the plan will reduce the minimum social contribution base for full-time sole traders by abolishing the 112.5 percent multiplier currently used to calculate the social contribution tax base. Officials say this will reduce the tax burden for around 140,000 entrepreneurs. The small business tax scheme will be widened to allow an additional 4,000 to 5,000 entrepreneurs to enter the more favorable regime. Retail tax brackets will be shifted upward, which officials say will improve conditions for around 350,000 businesses.
The proposal will also see excise fuel tax increases postponed for six months, with the possibility of further delay. The corporation tax threshold will rise sharply from HUF 5 million (c. €13,000) to HUF 20 million (€52,000), and the simplified reporting limit for micro-enterprises will increase from HUF 150 million (c. €390,000) to HUF 180 million (€470,000).
“While Brussels pushes a war economy, Hungary keeps its focus where it belongs: on national interests, not on funding a conflict that isn’t ours,” Orbán said. “Today, we announced an 11-point action plan to strengthen Hungarian entrepreneurs. Our commitment is to peace, stability, and an economy that benefits our people.”
Business groups broadly praised the package, particularly the rising VAT-exemption threshold and the administrative reductions affecting around 80,000 sole traders.
The move is no doubt also aimed at winning over businesses ahead of April’s election, widely considered to be Orbán’s toughest electoral test during his time in office. Budget deficit reduction targets have taken a back seat — being raised to 5 percent for this year — as announcements of tax cuts and higher government spending have been timed to coincide with the upcoming vote.
A brutal attack against three young victims on a Berlin playground sparked headlines this week due to the brutality of the assault. Now, local residents are saying the perpetrators are a youth gang, either of Arab or Afghan origin, which has been causing trouble in the area of wealthy, left-wing Pankow for months. As Remix News outlines in the second half of this report, the targeting of youths in Pankow by foreigners has been a long-running issue for the last few years.
Residents described the group already causing trouble over the summer, with a group of six to eight young people of Arab or Afghan origin roaming in Paule Park and causing trouble with loud shouting and aggressive behavior.
Now, the situation reportedly escalated, with residents saying the gang is responsible for the attack.
On Saturday, at around 8:00 p.m., the “youth gang” targeted three children on a Berlin playground, leaving two 13-year-old victims with severe fractures across their bodies.
The five youths targeted the group of victims without warning. The 13-year-olds were beaten several times, while the 11-year-old, who managed to escape, ran and got help. When two adults tried to intervene, the attackers escaped and allegedly kidnapped one of the 13-year-old boys.
The first 13-year-old was transported to the hospital with a broken nose. The other 13-year-old, who had been dragged from the scene, was found by police at Schönholz S-Bahn station with severe injuries and was also transported to the hospital. This victim had severe fractures to his face and a broken hand.
The perpetrators stole a cell phone and a debit card.
While residents are saying the suspects were Arab or Afghan, police said they have not identified the suspects, and they all remain on the run. Police have also not released any description of the suspects.
Pankow, a wealthy leftist enclave
Pankow is notably one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Berlin, and as typical of such locales, it features a high proportion of White left-wing, pro-migration voters. In the 2025 Bundestag elections, the left parties (SPD, Greens, and the Left Party) all took home close to 54 percent of Pankow’s vote.
Pankow also recently made headlines in Berlin for its opposition to an asylum home, which saw strong protests from local residents.
Just yesterday, authorities halted the plans to build the asylum home, which was justified to protect a bat population that would have been “disturbed” by the construction. Critics called it another example of the wealthy pushing “diversity for thee, not for me.”
The wealthy neighborhoods of Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow belong to the same district, which is also called Pankow. They have seen German youths terrorized in robberies and violence, often by suspects with a foreign migration background.
“What happened to her is now everyday life in Prenzlauer Berg. Young people rob young people. Sometimes without weapons, sometimes with them — every weekend, more often than anywhere else in the capital,” reads a report from Tagesspiegel, published last year.
“In no other district of Berlin have the authorities registered as many cases of so-called ‘youth group violence’ in the past three years as in Prenzlauer Berg, with 183 cases such as robbery, threats and bodily harm having been recorded here since 2020. Other corners of Berlin, like Hohenschönhausen or Neukölln, follow far behind,” the article states.
The report further states that many of these robberies involve “stripping” the victims of all their clothes, which can have lasting and “enormous” psychological consequences for the victims, according to police chief Anja Rode.
The report notes that many of the perpetrators are not from the neighborhood, but instead from the multicultural Wedding neighborhood, known for its high proportion of Arab and Muslim residents.
Tagesspiegel notes that even though many of the perpetrators have a migration background, there is reluctance to talk about it in the highly left-wing neighborhood.
“The cliché of the young person with a migrant background who comes from Wedding to Prenzlauer Berg to target ‘rich kids’ is something of a taboo topic for some, especially in Prenzlauer Berg, where the Greens regularly just miss an absolute majority in individual polling stations,” reads the report.
However, a mother, Anke Weber, wants to openly talk about the issue to Tagesspiegel.
The teacher and mother of two had her 16-year-old daughter robbed by three male teenagers last year, close to the Eberswalder Street metro station.
“They held a machete to her neck,” said Weber.
The 16-year-old was traveling in a group of four, and all of them had money, headphones and other belongings taken. At least one robber was identified, but it remains unclear if he suffered any legal consequences.
The mother also describes other youths battling with each other, sometimes with knives, in her neighborhoods, including in other robberies that she witnessed. She called the police but lamented that the problem is not going away.
“My impression is that the perpetrators come from neighboring districts, especially from Wedding. The majority of them are boys with a migrant background,” the teacher said. She said the young robbers “systematically run through and rip off people.”
Remarkably, the teacher is concerned that her son might have growing “prejudices” because foreigners are systematically robbing and threatening young people while they are trying to enjoy public spaces.
Tagesspiegel writes, “Especially with her son, she notices how prejudices are slowly growing.”
“I’m working against it, but he’s had repeated bad experiences,” she said.
In an illustration of a nationwide phenomenon — or perhaps a European-wide phenomenon — it is of paramount importance that victims of migrant crime do not become prejudiced, with leftist women “working against it” everywhere, regardless of the consequences.
An 18-year-old man with both Swedish and Syrian citizenship has admitted in a Stockholm court to planning a terrorist attack on the city’s major summer cultural festival in the name of the Islamic State, according to statements made in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the teen repeatedly pledged allegiance to ISIS, acquired instructions on building explosives, and began assembling bombs intended for use during the Stockholm Culture Festival held across central locations in August.
His lawyer, Johan Åkermark, told AFP that his client pleaded guilty to “preparing a terrorist crime” and “preparing serious crimes (using) flammable and explosive materials,” and also admitted to “training for terrorism,” which concerns the receipt of bomb-making instructions.
The defendant “is also accused, along with a 17-year-old teenager, of attempted murder in Germany in August 2024, an accusation he denies,” Åkermark told AFP. That allegation, prosecutors say, relates to an incident in Eppstein, though information on the incident remains limited.
Swedish prosecutors, cited by Kristianstads Bladet, told the court that preparations for the planned attack took place between August 2024 and February 2025. Investigators placed the suspect under surveillance in the second half of 2024, a move that prosecutor Henrik Olin has previously said “helped prevent a serious terrorist attack in Sweden.” Authorities allege the defendant intended to use weapons or explosives and had purchased a body-worn camera to film the assault. He also recorded what prosecutors described as a “martyr video” intended for later release.
In court, prosecutor Carl Mellberg said the planned act aimed “to instill serious fear in the name of the Islamic State among a population or part of the population in Sweden that does not share the IS ideology.”
According to the Swedish newspaper, much of the prosecution’s evidence comes from an undercover police officer who communicated extensively with the defendant about his plans. Earlier in the trial, the young man admitted to participating in a terrorist organization, in line with the indictment’s claim that he had sworn allegiance to ISIS.
After the guilty pleas were entered on Tuesday, the court moved the hearing behind closed doors. TT news agency reported that Åkermark declined to comment further following the decision.
The 18-year-old has been held in custody since his arrest on Feb. 11. A preliminary psychiatric assessment has suggested he may suffer from a serious mental disorder.
In another horrifying case involving a foreigner allegedly raping an elderly victim, a 24-year-old Algerian man is on trial for breaking into a disabled elderly woman’s apartment in Stendal and brutally raping her — all while filming.
The case, dating back to February 2025, involves the Algerian man breaking into the 66-year-old woman’s apartment, where he then threatened her with a knife. He then began raping the woman while filming much of the rape on his smartphone. The rape reportedly lasted for hours, and because the woman has a mobility impairment, there was little she could do.
Remarkably, the trial for the man in Stendal Regional Court on Wednesday last week was postponed because the judge arrived at the trial drunk. He was given a breathalyzer, which revealed his blood alcohol content was 2.7 per mille. He has now been fined, and the trial has been rescheduled with a different judge, according to German news outlet MDR.
Remix News has long covered the trend of foreigners committing egregious rapes of elderly victims in Europe. In one of the most shocking cases, just last month, a son watched an Afghan caregiver rape his 82-year-old Austrian mother during a livestream in the woman’s Vienna apartment.
Somali-born Baasim Yusuf was sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this year for brutal sexual assaults on elderly women in his care, but due to holding Swedish citizenship since 2018, he cannot be deported despite the severity of his crimes.
Exploding violence in Germany has long been tied to mass immigration, as the statistics clearly show, and German train stations are becoming another perfect illustration of this worrying trend.
The number of violent crimes at Berlin central station in 2024 has tripled compared to 2019, which was the last year before the coronavirus crisis. In Cologne, violent crime has grown 70 percent in the same timeframe, according to Welt newspaper.
Those are just two cities, but the same trend is seen everywhere.
“Look at a main train station, in Duisburg, in Hamburg, in Frankfurt. Neglect, drug dealers, young men, mostly with a migrant background, mostly from Eastern Europe or Arab-Muslim cultural areas. This also has to do with irregular migration, as it looks in our inner cities, in the marketplaces“, said Jens Spahn, the CDU parliamentary group leader, in a BILD interview. Remarkably, his own party is massively responsible for Germany’s incredible demographic transformation and crime crisis.
As the left promotes public transport as a big part of the solution to climate change, the reality is that taking public transport is becoming more and more dangerous.
According to police data, the total number of violent crimes at train stations rose from 25,640 in 2023 to 27,160 last year. Meanwhile, women are more and more at risk. Sexual crimes increased from 1,898 to 2,262 within a year, while property damage jumped from 30,961 to 32,671.
According to a statement, Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Martin Hess warned: “Train stations, once places of mobility and peaceful encounters, are increasingly becoming no-go areas.“
“In many areas of crime, foreigners are disproportionately represented among the suspects,” he added.
Saxony, which has far fewer foreigners, sees huge crime increase
Even in German states with far fewer migrants, foreigners are contributing to a massive rise in crime and sexual assaults. In Saxony, for instance, crime has jumped massively in just one year at German train stations.
“The sharp rise in crime (total offenses: 11,065 in the first half of 2025) at Saxon train stations is alarming. Whether property crimes, vandalism, or violent offenses: virtually all forms of crime show massive increases. Violent offenses at Saxon train stations rose by a good 42 percent, sexual offenses by over 15 percent, and weapons offenses by almost 87 percent. At some individual Saxon train stations, there were enormous increases in crime. For example, the number of offenses at Dresden Central Station rose by 24.6 percent, at Leipzig Central Station by 57.2 percent, and at Bischofswerda Station by 100 percent,” he said.
Rentzsch points out an especially shocking statistic in one German city: “The Chemnitz Central Station is the unfortunate leader, with an increase of 212.5 percent.”
As with every single German state, migration is the biggest driver of this crime surge.
“The uncontrolled mass immigration, largely driven by the CDU/CSU and SPD, is clearly having an effect: almost Foreign nationals account for 50 percent of all crimes committed at Saxon train stations, and there is a significantly above-average proportion of foreign suspects in violent, property, sexual, and drug-related offenses,” he said.
Notably, in Saxony, only 8 percent of the population is made up of foreigners, yet they are responsible for 50 percent of all crimes in train stations. Another 5 percent or so of the population are German citizens with a migration background.
Government avoids talk of mass deportation, focuses on mass surveillance
Due to the drastic increase in acts of violence around the train stations, Federal Interior Minister Dobrindt (CSU) says he wants to take action, even as the police union speaks of “intolerable“ conditions.
Knives also play an increasingly large role in train stations. During just one year, the number of weapons offenses rose from 589 to 808, and property damage from 16,786 to 17,595. As Welt notes, “Foreign nationals are overrepresented across all crime groups.”
Meanwhile, German police unions are calling train stations across the country “crime hotspots.”
The fact that public space is closing to Germans is becoming more and more apparent, as young men from foreign lands, along with Germans with a migration background, increasingly dominate these vital areas. As with the case of swimming pools and Christmas markets, the solution is more surveillance that increasingly relies on artificial intelligence and a large police state presence.
As Welt notes, “Cameras are now running in many train stations, which are also intended to detect abnormalities at an early stage with AI support and can help emergency services assess the situation. According to Dobrindt, 200 cameras are now in use in Munich alone, which ‘contributes to de-escalation.’ The interior minister announced an expansion of video surveillance – technology has tripled the number of suspects identified in recent years.”
Remarkably, even as these technologies increase more suspects, crime keeps rising. In part, suspects are likely given light or no criminal sentence at all, and many of those who are caught are never deported.
The government admits itself it is not partaking in a mass deportation drive, but instead more “control” and “surveillance” to police the imported population.
“Control, surveillance, motivated emergency services. This is our model against crime and our model for an increasing sense of security in Germany,“ said Dobrindt to describe his campaign.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico used a party event in Nitra on Monday evening to call for reform of Slovakia’s political system, arguing that the current party landscape undermines stable governance.
Speaking at a gathering titled “November 17 – Day of Respect for Other Opinions,” he said the country could not be effectively governed with dozens of parties competing in elections and governments formed through “broad coalitions” that ultimately see policies outlined in manifestos significantly watered down.
“Thirty-one parties cannot run, and we cannot form a government based on broad coalitions that are unable to function. This form of democracy is harmful to the Slovak Republic,” Fico told the audience at the Agrokomplex. Democracy, he said, should be “a democratic competition between the best for the best ideas,” but in Slovakia it had become “a sea for a ship of fools,” TASR reported.
Nov. 17 is marked in Slovakia as the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, a national day commemorating the fall of communist rule and the restoration of democratic freedoms. Against that backdrop, Fico warned that the country had strayed from the principles secured after 1989, urging Slovaks not to forget life before the transition. He claimed that “people worked, created values, and then someone privatized and stole them.” He insisted that his Smer-SD party had “never adopted a law against democracy or restricting human rights” while in power. “We have not abused power, we have not used the police, we have not interfered in the affairs of other countries,” he added.
Veronika Remišová of the opposition For the People party sharply rejected his remarks, accusing Fico of misusing an anniversary devoted to democracy and freedom. “While all of Slovakia celebrated democracy and freedom yesterday, Robert Fico decided to commemorate the legacy of November ’89 in a way that only he knows how — by spreading conspiracy delusions and contemplating how to solidify his own power, while openly calling for a limit on the number of political parties,” she said, as cited by Pravda. Remišová urged the prime minister to stop undermining democratic norms. “If you are disturbed by the competition of many political parties and if you consider totalitarian regimes to be a model of perfect governance of the country, leave public life as soon as possible,” she said.
Deputy National Council chairman Tibor Gašpar echoed Fico’s message, arguing that opposition parties and activists do not respect democracy. He said many of the hopes of the Velvet Revolution had not been met and that societal tensions had worsened. Gašpar pointed to the shooting of the prime minister in May of last year as “the culmination of the hatred that prevails in society,” saying it targeted “first of all the person Robert Fico for having a different opinion, for having dared to say what values he professes.”
He called on the opposition to accept the results of the 2023 election. “I ask myself, what are you protesting against? In 2023, there were free elections, which resulted in a government headed by Robert Fico. Respect these results,” he said.
Even President Peter Pellegrini intervened, warning that Fico’s hardened political style was heightening tensions. “I do not think that the tough style of politics that he has been demonstrating in recent months is the right policy and the right type of politics that Slovakia needs,” he said. “On the contrary, it seems to me that the tension in society is becoming even more pronounced, and the prime minister must also realize that he is not just the prime minister of his party’s voters. He is the prime minister of the Slovak Republic.”
The severed hands found on the A45 motorway in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on Monday have been identified as belonging to a 32-year-old Eritrean woman registered at an asylum seeker accommodation center in Bonn, according to Hagen police.
The discovery triggered an extensive search for the woman and raised unanswered questions about how her remains ended up on a motorway far from where she was living.
The case began shortly after 3 a.m. on Monday when a female driver reported seeing unfamiliar objects on the roadway between the Olpe-Süd interchange and the Freudenberg exit. Highway patrol officers who responded found two severed human hands lying on the road. The motorway was closed while officers searched the surrounding area, but they found no crash site, no vehicle, and no additional body parts.
As WDR reported, fingerprint analysis allowed investigators to identify the hands as belonging to a 32-year-old woman of Eritrean nationality who is registered at a Bonn asylum seeker center with her three-month-old child. She had not been reported missing prior to the discovery. Police searched her accommodation but found no evidence of violence or any indication of what may have happened to her.
In a written statement, Hagen police said: “The Hagen police’s homicide unit has determined that the remains belong to a 32-year-old woman of Eritrean nationality. The woman, along with her three-month-old child, is registered as living in an asylum seeker accommodation center in Bonn. The infant is currently in official custody.
“Extensive searches for the 32-year-old woman have so far been unsuccessful, and the circumstances surrounding the crime remain unclear.”
No further details surrounding the woman, such as how long she had resided in Germany or whether she had any acquaintances of interest within the shelter or beyond, have been disclosed.
Forensic specialists are examining how the hands were severed, while investigators work to determine where the incident occurred and whether the remains may have been transported by vehicle. The location of the discovery has not yet produced any additional clues, and detectives say they currently have no confirmed crime scene.
Berlin experienced “Wild West scenes” over the weekend as multiple shootings occurred across the capital in quick succession, leaving several people seriously injured. The motives behind the attacks remain unclear, and in most instances, the perpetrators are still at large, but they underline growing insecurity in Berlin and Germany as a whole.
The wave of shootings comes after Berlin already experienced a record number of shootings in 2023 and again in 2024. This year, 2025, is also on track to be even more violent in terms of gun crimes.
Berlin is also the most violent state in all of Germany when it comes to gun crime. The BKA situation report on gun crime in 2024 revealed that nowhere else in Germany are more shots fired than in Berlin. With a frequency of 9.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the capital is well ahead of Saarland (8.8) and Hamburg (8.3).
The rash of gun violence began on Friday evening in Lichtenberg, where shots were fired outside a snack bar on Franz-Jacob-Straße. Two men, aged 29 and 28, were struck. The public prosecutor’s office confirmed that the older man “remains in critical condition in the hospital.”
The following night, on Saturday evening, a 34-year-old man was shot in Kreuzberg’s Böcklerpark. An unknown assailant approached him, “fired several shots, and fled.” The victim was hospitalized, and the 6th Homicide Division assumed control of the investigation.
Finally, on Sunday night, unknown assailants opened fire on an apartment building in Tegel. Although residents alerted the police, the perpetrators “escaped in a car.” In that case, no one was injured, though it is currently unclear whether this incident is related to a similar shooting that took place in Spandau a week prior.
These weekend incidents form part of a worrying pattern of shootings in recent weeks across the city, including attacks in Staaken, Mariendorf, Zehlendorf, and another incident in Kreuzberg. In most cases, no arrests have been made.
Investigators suspect that the violence is fueled by feuds between different, sometimes organized, “migrant gangs.” The underlying conflicts are often believed to revolve around “drug trafficking, turf wars, and scores to settle.”
In response, the police plan to intensify their efforts. Police Chief Barbara Slowik and Senator for the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD) have “announced a more decisive approach.” Up to 100 special forces officers are slated for deployment to confiscate weapons, dismantle criminal networks, and quickly detect armed confrontations.
Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani, the head of the German-Arab school in Berlin and a prominent critic of radical Islam, says he is “still shocked” after a man attempted to push him in front of an oncoming subway train late on Friday morning.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Al-Mashhadani had left Neukölln town hall and descended into the station when he felt himself shoved towards the platform edge. “The man then hit me on the head with his hand. It was over in a few seconds.” He said he managed to fight back as the train approached.
According to his account, the subway driver, once the train had fully stopped, shut the doors behind him, giving Al-Mashhadani a clear view of the assailant. He described the man as appearing to be of “southern European descent,” wearing glasses and a red-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh. Al-Mashhadani said the attacker then mimed a knife across his throat with two fingers and pointed two fingers at his own eyes. “That’s how it was, it didn’t work this time, but we’re keeping an eye on you,” Al-Mashhadani recalled in a comment to Focus magazine.
A police spokesperson told the German news outlet that state security investigators are reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses. “The State Security Service has taken over the investigation. Video footage from the platform has been secured,” they told the Berliner Zeitung.
Al-Mashhadani is a public critic of Islamist mosque associations in Neukölln and plays a leading role in the German-Arab Council, a coalition of 36 liberal and secular organizations that cooperates with Jews and Israelis in Berlin. He has been supportive of the district’s integration commissioner, Güner Balci, after she warned of an “infiltration” of parts of the Berlin Social Democratic Party (SPD) by Islamist actors.
“Güner Balci is right, the power of mosque associations and Koranic schools has grown ever larger, they bring the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremists into the country, and especially to the children,” he told Focus.
Al-Mashhadani believes he was deliberately targeted, saying: “The Islamists want to take revenge on me and kill me.” He said he suspects those responsible are former activists linked to the now-banned Hamas support group Samidoun, as well as left-wing radicals in Neukölln.
Al-Mashhadani is the dean of the German-Arabic language school “Ibn Khaldun” on Karl-Marx-Straße in Neukölln. The school is currently under police protection after becoming a target for radical anti-Israel activists.
The governing mayor, Kai Wegener, issued a statement denouncing the incident. “Berlin belongs to those who build bridges – not to those who spread hatred. My solidarity goes to Prof. Dr. Al-Mashhadani. Berlin stands firmly by his side,” he said.
A detailed study by the prestigious polling service Ifop shows that hardline views are growing amongst Muslims in France, including an emphasis on the laws of Islam being placed over those of the state, particularly among young Muslims. At the same time, Christianity is collapsing in France.
Among Muslims in general, 44 percent polled say they “respect the rules of Islam” as being more important “than respect for French laws.” For those aged 15-24, 57 percent believe the rules of Islam are more important than “respect for French laws.”
These numbers are truly astounding, and show that despite claims from the left, there are millions of Muslims in France who do not respect the laws of the country and have a more hardline vision of Islam.
When it comes to Sharia law, fewer Muslims are supportive of this concept, but the overall numbers are still concerning.
Slightly less than one in six Muslims (15%) interviewed in France are convinced that “Sharia law must be applied in its entirety, regardless of the country in which one lives.” Considering there are approximately 6 million Muslims in France, that amounts to 1 million people.
Once again, 15-24 year olds are more radical than average, with 21 percent agreeing that Sharia law should be applied in France.
At the same time, Catholics are disappearing from the country. The poll shows the proportion of respondents who identify as Catholic has collapsed from 83 percent in 1985 to 43 percent today. They are falling into the category of those “without religion,” which increased from 13 percent in 1985 to 37 percent in 2025.
Compared to the entire French population, the proportion of respondents who declared themselves Muslim increased sevenfold between 1985 and 2025, from 1 percent to 7 percent, confirming that “Islam remains in the minority in our country.”
As Le Point writes while reporting on the polling results, the data “provides an inventory of the relationship French residents have with religion and Muslims. The findings confirm trends from previous surveys: The Muslim community is living its beliefs with increasing intensity, particularly among young people. In the event of a conflict between faith and law, young Muslims would mainly prioritize Islam over the laws of the Republic and over science.”
France, which styles itself as a secular country, also features a growing religious fundamentalist group. The 15-24 age group for Muslims is particularly concerning, with 81 percent placing the Quran above science in explaining the origins of the world, according to Ifop. Overall, 65 percent of Muslims hold this view compared to only 19 percent for followers of other religions, who believe their religions better explain the origins of the world than science.
In many ways, the polling shows that Muslims in France are even becoming more conservative, despite claims that integration would only improve with time.
The study resonates as an observation of “painful integration failure.” Muslims whose fathers were born in France are much more often Islamist sympathizers on at least part of the program (51 percent) than those whose father was born in the Maghreb (32 percent). Similarly, French people by birth adhere to the Brotherhood twice as much as French people by acquisition, amounting to 35 percent compared to 18 percent.
Some 38 percent of French Muslims approve of all or part of Islamist positions, doubling the figure of 19 percent in 1998, underlines Ifop.
Correspondingly, the share of Muslims who want Islam to modernize has fallen from 48 percent in 1998 to 21 percent today. When Ifop requested respondents to choose between the Civil Code and Sharia law on “an important subject in your family, such as ritual slaughter, marriage or inheritance,” 49 percent of Muslims chose to respect French laws, down from 62 percent in 1995. The consumption of alcohol among Muslim men has also fallen sharply, from 46 percent in 1989 to only 26 percent today.
Today, 33 percent of Muslims residing in France — French citizens or foreign nationals — feel sympathy for one of the Islamist movements, a figure that rises to 42 percent among young people. Within this population, 3 percent have sympathy for the most radical and bloody ideology, jihadism.
There are two ways of looking at this result, with Le Point noting that optimists will say this only represents 0.21 percent of the French population, while pessimists will say this represents a recruiting pool of 142,000 supporters in France.
Notably, given the potential security concerns around jihadism, it is also possible this result is underreported, due to the “shy polling” effect, where polling respondents are afraid to voice support or opposition to different polling questions out of fear.
When it comes to groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, 23 percent of French Muslims voice sympathy for the group.
The Ifop study for the journal Screen Saver was carried out by telephone from Aug. 8 to Sept. 2, 2025, using a sample of 1,005 people of the Muslim religion, drawn from a nationally representative sample of 14,244 people aged 15 and over residing in mainland France.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused the European Commission of “astonishing” irresponsibility after receiving a letter from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging member states to provide additional financial support to Ukraine.
In a post on X, Orbán said the request came “at a time when it has become clear that a war mafia is siphoning off European taxpayers’ money,” claiming Brussels was asking for more cash rather than demanding oversight or suspending payments.
“This whole matter is a bit like trying to help an alcoholic by sending them another crate of vodka. Hungary has not lost its common sense,” he wrote.
I received a letter today from President @vonderleyen. She writes that Ukraine’s financing gap is significant and asks member states to send more money. It's astonishing. At a time when it has become clear that a war mafia is siphoning off European taxpayers’ money, instead of…
In a separate video posted on Facebook, he added: “I’m trying to suppress my first reflexes to write a polite letter, because it’s quite shocking when it turns out that a war mafia in Ukraine is putting European people’s money away, God knows exactly where, and instead of ordering an audit or perhaps suspending further payments, the president of the Commission is suggesting that we send even more money.”
His remarks came shortly after the European Commission released details of proposed amendments to the EU’s 2026 budget, which include substantial new allocations for Kyiv. The Commission said €3.9 billion in grants and €7.2 billion in loans would be made available under the Ukraine Facility, alongside €2 billion for defense-related programs. Of that defense package, €1 billion is earmarked for capability development under the European Defence Fund, €621.3 million for the new European Defence Industry Programme — including its Ukraine Support Instrument — and €261.3 million for Military Mobility.
According to Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, which cited the Commission president’s letter, Brussels expects Ukraine to require at least €71 billion more even if the war ends by late 2026. The letter warns that Ukraine could run out of funds by the end of the first quarter of 2026 and reiterates that the EU is still exploring ways to use frozen Russian assets to support Kyiv. Belgium, which holds the largest share of those assets, continues to raise legal objections, and Moscow has repeatedly threatened retaliation that could inflict significant economic damage on EU member states.
Orbán’s intervention follows a corruption scandal in Ukraine that has dominated global headlines. Last week, Welt reported that a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky, Timur Mindich — often referred to as Zelensky’s “cash wallet” — had fled Ukraine shortly before a police raid. During searches conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), investigators reportedly found bundles of U.S. dollars still sealed with bank tags and a gold-plated toilet. The scandal has led to the suspension of Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, and NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have carried out raids at 70 locations linked to Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company.
Welt described the affair as “the biggest corruption scandal in Ukraine since the start of the war,” reporting allegations of improper procurement, embezzlement, parallel management structures in state-owned companies, and undeclared accounting. The total suspected financial damage is estimated at around $100 million. The paper noted that corruption of this scale during wartime, when hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed or wounded, and millions more forced to flee, their homes destroyed, has provoked particular outrage within the country.
The revelations have fuelled skepticism among governments opposed to unconditional funding increases for Kyiv, with Orbán insisting the EU must demand audits and accountability before offering more money. His comments also come as several pro-Ukraine member states continue to push for opening EU accession negotiations with Kyiv, arguing that Ukraine meets the formal criteria to begin the process despite the ongoing conflict.
Labour is preparing to move to the right on asylum policy as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood sets out what she calls the biggest reforms to Britain’s asylum system since the Second World War.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, Mahmood proposed switching the U.K. to a Denmark-style system of temporary status, with all refugee protection subject to regular review and revoked once a person’s home country is deemed safe.
The current five-year route to indefinite leave to remain, introduced by Labour in 2005, would be replaced with a 20-year qualification period — the longest anywhere in Europe. Those who arrive through legal routes could shorten that period by entering specific work or study programs. “The more you contribute, you can bring forward that period,” Mahmood told the House.
Ministers will also seek legislation to tighten the interpretation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) — the right to a family life — in asylum appeals. However, while parliament can influence how domestic judges apply Article 8, final appeals to the Strasbourg court would still override U.K. rulings, limiting the practical impact of any change. Social conservatives, such as former Conservative home secretary Suella Braverman and ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick, have consistently said that only by leaving the ECHR can Britain limit the disproportionate effect human rights laws have on asylum policy.
The Labour government will also end the statutory duty to provide accommodation and weekly support for asylum seekers, meaning housing and allowances will no longer be guaranteed. Those with permission to work could be denied access to benefits. Failed asylum seekers will be restricted to one appeal against removal, replacing the current ability to mount multiple challenges on different grounds. Officials would also gain powers to confiscate valuables from migrants to offset state-funded accommodation costs, in a measure resembling Denmark’s so-called “jewellery law.”
In an op-ed published in The Guardian ahead of her speech, Mahmood wrote, “The pressure placed on local communities has been profound. The burden borne by taxpayers has been unfair. More than 100,000 people now live in asylum accommodation, funded by the taxpayer. Unless we act, we risk losing popular consent for having an asylum system at all. In a country that is seeing division stirred up on our streets, we will not bring unity unless we restore order to our borders.”
To reduce small-boat crossings, Labour plans to open new capped legal routes for people “genuinely fleeing war or persecution,” and local communities will be permitted to sponsor arrivals under a model similar to the Ukraine scheme. Ministers say the aim is to cut demand for journeys controlled by smuggling gangs, but concern will mount over the omission to provide a figure for the cap. Former Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf went as far as claiming the refusal to quantify the cap effectively means there isn’t one, writing on X, “This whole announcement was about flooding the zone and trojan-horsing in a new asylum program with *no cap*!”
🚨This whole announcement was about flooding the zone and trojan-horsing in a new asylum program with *no cap*! pic.twitter.com/gP6ztbER8S
The shift has drawn notable reactions on the political right. Independent MP Rupert Lowe said, “This will be unpopular to some, but I want Mahmood to succeed. I don’t give a toss about who kicks out the illegals, I just want them gone. And for now, there is one group of people who can deliver that: the Labour Government.” He added that if robust reforms lead to “far more illegals getting sent home, then I will support it,” arguing that the debate has shifted and that “progress is being made here.” He urged supporters to “keep the pressure on, to make them go far faster and far further.”
This will be unpopular to some, but I want Mahmood to succeed. I don't give a toss about who kicks out the illegals, I just want them gone.
And for now, there is one group of people who can deliver that.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote, “The Home Secretary sounds like a Reform supporter. It’s a shame that the Human Rights Act, the ECHR, and her own backbenchers mean that this will never happen.”
The last comment could be significant. Government proposals would still need to be passed in the Commons, and the majority of the Labour parliamentary party are typically pro-refugee and pro-immigration.
In response to Mahmood’s statement to the House, for instance, Labour MP Nadia Whittome gave a flavor of how the plans were going down on the government’s own backbenches.
“How can we be adopting such obviously cruel policies? Is the government proud to have sunk to such depths that it’s now being praised by [nationalist activist] Tommy Robinson?” she asked.
It remains to be seen whether enough lawmakers in the party can foresee the threat that Reform poses at the next election and vote accordingly in what would be significant reforms to nullify the populist party, at least on this issue.
Does anyone buy what Shabana Mahmood is selling today?
The Conservative Party took aim at Mahmood’s integrity ahead of her speech, reminding her of the fact that while she talks tough on asylum now, as a backbench MP (a lawmaker not in the government), she called for a general amnesty on all illegal migrants currently living in Britain.
“I do support a general amnesty for all people who are already in the country so that they can regularize their status and start playing a full part in British society,” she said previously.
The Ertzaintza, the autonomous police force of Spain’s Basque Country, has published its first report ever on the origin of detainees, with the data showing that 64 percent are foreigners, despite foreigners only making up approximately 14.1 percent of the population.
The statistics, which cover January 2025 to September 2025, are in many ways groundbreaking for Spain. It is the first time that the geographical origin of those arrested and under investigation is included in police data.
There were 80,111 crimes between January and September 2024, with 64.21 percent of those arrested being foreign nationals and 35 percent identified as Spanish.
For serious crimes like intentional homicide or murder, foreigners committed 53.8 percent of all such crimes. A total of 13 people were arrested and three were investigated. Six of those arrested were Spanish (either Basque or from other regions of Spain), and seven were foreigners. Two were from Maghreb and five from Latin America.
For sexual assault, foreigners were responsible for 68 percent of all cases.
For robbery with force, foreigners were responsible for 68.6 percent of cases.
For robbery with violence or intimated, they committed 81.9 percent of all cases.
Foreigners committed 71.1 percent of fraud, 64.3 percent of all motor vehicle thefts, while for “other property offenses,” they were responsible for 77.5 percent of all cases.
For driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, foreigners were responsible for 84.9 percent of cases.
A graph shows a breakdown of these crimes and many more, which was posted on X.
Me tomé la libertad de añadir una fila al inicio de la gráfica con el porcentaje de población autoctona y extranjera. El porcentaje más aproximado de extranjeros en Vascongadas en 14.9%. Yo he redondeado al 15%. pic.twitter.com/1ZiSWDZS2I
In the Basque region of Spain, the foreign-born population has doubled in the last decade, jumping to 316,942 people, representing 14 percent of the total population. Ten years ago, this number was only 137,397.
Reporting on foreign origin
The Ertzaintza (Basque Police) implemented a significant change in its crime reporting policy in mid-October, now including the geographical area of origin of individuals arrested and investigated. This decision, which was followed by the publication of the first detailed statistical report this Wednesday, has been a direct response to political pressure.
The Security Department’s decision to disclose the origins of those arrested followed demands from the PP and Vox parties, according to El Confidential.
Amaia Martínez, the sole Vox member of parliament in the Basque Country, has made this issue a central focus.
Last October, Santiago Abascal, the leader of Vox, boasted on social media of having successfully pressured the Ertzaintza to change its communication policy. He argued: “Thanks to Vox, we know the origin of criminals, something that governments and many media outlets have been hiding for years. The reality is that the most serious crimes have multiplied due to the open borders of the PSOE, PP, and their permanent separatist partners.”
Shift in Basque Nationalist Rhetoric
In recent months, the governing PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) has also taken a tougher stance on crime, even though the party was often known for its left-wing positions in the past.
The mayor of San Sebastián, Jon Insausti, argued that repeat offenders “should face prison or deportation.”
His counterpart in Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, has previously linked the use of bladed weapons to “cultures where the value of life is different.”
Similarly, Zupiria has connected the use of knives or razors in certain crimes to “foreigners without roots in the community.”
Faced with this change in police policy and rhetoric, the coalition EH Bildu has become the primary critic. The coalition harshly criticized the Department of Security, accusing the minister of capitulating to Vox. Parliamentarian Eraitz Saez de Egilaz declared last October: “The fascist far right is influencing him.”
President Petr Pavel said he would not appoint ANO leader Andrej Babiš as prime minister unless Babiš publicly explains how he plans to resolve his conflict of interest linked to ownership of the Agrofert holding.
Speaking on Národní třída to Radiožurnál, Pavel said that if Babiš failed to present a satisfactory solution, appointing him would “create an illegal situation,” something he could not take part in. In that case, Pavel said it would be appropriate for ANO, as the winner of the election, to put forward another candidate for prime minister.
As reported by Echo24, Babiš said on Thursday that he would announce his solution immediately before the president appoints him, and that he would disclose it publicly if Pavel wished. ANO deputy chair Alena Schillerová said on Sunday that Babiš would take irreversible steps to address the conflict but would not sell Agrofert.
Agrofert is a huge Czech conglomerate involved in agriculture, chemicals, food production, and media. Czech and EU conflict-of-interest rules say a prime minister cannot control companies that receive state or EU subsidies because he would be in a position to influence decisions that financially benefit his own business.
Pavel said he would prefer clarity in advance. “I would like to believe what Alena Schillerová and Andrej Babiš say, but I also think we should be wiser by now and not buy a pig in a poke,” he said. He argued that transparency is necessary, noting that conflict-of-interest issues surrounded Babiš during his previous premiership between 2017 and 2021. Back then, Babiš put Agrofert into trust funds before taking office, but courts and EU audits later concluded he still effectively controlled it.
“Based on the Constitutional Court’s ruling, I am obliged to ask Andrej Babiš how he will resolve this conflict of interest so that we do not have to deal with legal disputes for the next four years,” he said.
Pavel said that Babiš outlined several possible solutions at their meeting on Oct. 5, including selling Agrofert, transferring ownership to a family member, or placing it in a fund. “I told him these options would eliminate the conflict of interest. Andrej Babiš now interprets this as agreement, but he did not tell me which option he would choose. Therefore, I cannot say whether I am satisfied with it or not,” Pavel said.
He added that Babiš should state publicly which option he intends to pursue, as there is no reason for secrecy. Pavel emphasised that he does not require Babiš to resolve the conflict before the appointment, only to disclose the chosen method so the public can assess it. “If Andrej Babiš were unable to satisfactorily resolve his conflict of interest, then by appointing him, I would be participating in the creation of an illegal situation. The public does not expect that from me, and the constitution certainly does not expect it,” Pavel said.
When asked whether this meant he would not appoint Babiš without a public statement, Pavel replied: “Yes, that’s right.” According to the president’s office, failure to eliminate the conflict could expose the Czech Republic to reduced or suspended EU subsidies, as well as prevent Agrofert companies from receiving state contracts or subsidy support.
A 24-year-old Syrian man living in Germany, previously sentenced to five and a half years in juvenile detention for marrying, raping, and violently abusing a 12-year-old girl, has returned to the Essen Regional Court to face new allegations involving a second child marriage.
Prosecutors say the earlier case, for which he was convicted last summer, was not the first such marriage he entered into.
According to the new indictment, as reported by WAZ, the defendant married a 13-year-old girl in December 2019 in a religious ceremony held in an apartment on Frohnhauser Straße. The child’s parents are alleged to have received €2,000 as payment. The prosecution states that after the celebration, a wedding night was expected to take place and that both families waited outside the bedroom door. The girl is described as having been terrified. She allegedly tried to resist the defendant, who then beat her.
Investigators believe that a family meeting was convened shortly afterward, during which the girl was confronted, and that it was decided that the wedding ritual would be repeated the following night, as the girl had resisted its consummation. The prosecution alleges that the first rape occurred then.
Prosecutors say he sent a photograph to a family WhatsApp group after the second wedding night, allegedly showing a bloodstain on a carpet as proof that she had been “deflowered.”
Attempts at further sexual contact were reportedly unsuccessful, and the girl was returned to her parents.
The indictment states that the defendant remarked, “If we can’t sleep with her – what are we supposed to do with her?” or words to similar effect. The defendant later married the 12-year-old girl, the case for which he has already been convicted.
At the opening of the new trial, the defendant did not comment on the charges. Also on trial are his older brother and the brother’s wife, who are accused of financing and facilitating the two marriages.
Further hearings are scheduled to take place in January.
The Left Party’s (Die Linke) newly-chosen lead candidate for next year’s state election has called to extend voting rights to all migrants living in the capital, including those who do not hold German citizenship.
Elif Eralp’s remarks were delivered during a party strategy meeting on Saturday, where 163 delegates met ahead of the September 2026 Berlin House of Representatives election.
The 44-year-old told delegates, “Let’s make history,” after being elected as the party’s top candidate. Every Berliner aged 16 and older is eligible to vote in the 2026 election under the current legal framework, but German constitutional law restricts voting in federal and state elections to citizens. Her proposal would therefore require fundamental legal change.
The Left Party had already promoted Eralp as its preferred figurehead in October, describing her as “courageous, determined, and an advocate for all those who keep things running here.” One of her main policies has been expanding rights for migrants. She said that people with a migration background constitute almost half of Berlin’s population and are “not just part of the cityscape.” Referring to both economic migrants and asylum seekers, she said these groups “contribute to shaping this city and this country every day.”
Eralp argued that this contribution should entitle non-citizens to a right to vote. She stated: “Of course, they should also have the right to vote, regardless of whether they hold a German passport,” calling this a “democratic given.” She also criticised the CDU, accusing the party of pandering to the AfD and creating divisions in the capital.
An Insa poll published at the end of October placed the Left Party at 17 percent in Berlin, behind the CDU, and ahead of the SPD and the Greens, which currently occupy third and fifth place respectively. On those numbers, the Left Party could form a coalition with the SPD and the Greens after the 2026 election. As the largest party of the three, Eralp could feasibly become the next Berlin mayor.
Eralp has served as deputy chair of the Berlin Left Party since May 2025. She has been a member of the Berlin House of Representatives since 2021, where she acts as deputy parliamentary group chair and spokesperson for migration and anti-discrimination.
She also linked her campaign to developments abroad, referring to the recent election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York. “Millions of people cast their votes for a good life for all and for a city that everyone can afford,” she said. “If a leftist can win in New York, then they can just as easily win in Berlin.” She said Mamdani represents a policy that rejects the idea that a city should work only for wealthy residents, adding: “Whether in New York or Berlin, in Marzahn or Manhattan – we all want a good life.”
Berliners are scheduled to vote on Sept. 20, 2026.
Faysal, a night watchman in Toulouse, displayed “incredible courage” in early November when he confronted a group of men targeting a 17-year-old migrant girl, losing a finger and facing a serious blow to his skull in a machete attack. Outraged, he intends to file a complaint against the departmental council, believing it is not allocating sufficient resources to the facilities designed to protect at-risk minors.
On the night of November 3-4, two unassuming apartments in a renovated neighborhood of Toulouse, used as an annex to the emergency shelter for at-risk minors (CDEF), became a scene of bloodshed. Around 2:15 a.m., three men armed with “machetes and a butcher’s knife” burst into the hallway of the upstairs apartment. These assailants, who remain at large, were most likely looking for one of the residents, a 17-year-old girl, possibly linked to a child prostitution ring.
Upon encountering Faysal, the attackers plunged a machete into his skull, effectively scalping him.
Faysal’s account to Le Parisien is harrowing: “I managed to knock one of the guys’ machetes off his shoulder, but then the other one came into the hallway with the girl and put the machete to her throat. I saw the fear on her face.”
Faysal recognized the teenager, who had a history of running away. He realized that “the attackers came straight to her room; they seemed to know where to go.”
Faysal managed to use one attacker to throw the other off balance, luring them onto the terrace. A second blow from a blade, which he described as “60 cm long,” landed on his hand as he instinctively defended himself.
One of his fingers fell to the ground, another was severed, and a third was injured, reports Le Parisien.
Alerted by his cries and the screams of the girls, “The neighbors stuck their heads out of the windows.” The three men then fled. Faysal picked up his severed finger, applied an improvised pressure point, and called for help. Authorities activated the “severely traumatized victim protocol” for him, according to Toulouse Public Prosecutor David Charmatz, who noted that the investigation, entrusted to the organized crime division, has not yet clarified the motive.
Faysal, the only night watchman present that evening, stated: “It was barbaric; they came to kill.”
Virginie Joseph, director of the CDEF, sees the attack as the work of “criminal organizations, organized crime networks, that exploit vulnerable young people and target the professionals who work with them.”
The case may have very well had to do with the young woman owing money to the suspects, or perhaps her refusal to work for a prostitution ring.
Lucile Rozanes, director of the Action Teams Against Prostitution (EACP), expressed fury over the escalating situation: “It is estimated that there are at least 20,000 minors being sexually exploited, and at least half of them are under the care of child protection services, and whose advertisements are posted and amplified daily on well-known websites.” She added: “The phenomenon is exploding, and nothing is being done; there is no real political will to stop it.”
Faysal, who has worked for child welfare services since 2012, was aware that the cash possessed by some young people “don’t come from their families.”
“We don’t have the right to prevent minors from leaving; that would be kidnapping. When they run away, we don’t know what they do. People come to get them, and sometimes they come back the next day,” he said.
He emphasized that the apartments, located on the site of a dilapidated villa slated for demolition, “are not suitable for these young people,” due to their proximity to the street, drug dealing spots, and bad influences.
Ten days after the horrific night, Faysal, suffering from pain and anger, has “no longer felt anything” on half of his skull, which was “scalped” by the blade and required 10 stitches. He has decided to file a complaint against the Haute-Garonne department, his employer.
His lawyer, Pierre Dubuisson, stated indignantly: “My client suffered an attack that could have cost him his life, and he is completely abandoned by an institution that, moreover, has failed to grasp the seriousness of the phenomenon: this proliferation of violent acts targeting minors and those supposed to protect them.”
The departmental council, when contacted, acknowledged working collectively since 2021 “to prevent” and identify prostitution situations. The Toulouse shelter “makes no secret of its powerlessness in the face of ‘an organized crime phenomenon that far exceeds the facility’s capacity to act,'” and has hired “additional security guards through a private security company” and ensured regular police patrols.
Since the attack, the two apartments in the cream-colored building have been emptied, and the residents transferred to other shelters.
While there are concerns over the security of migrant minors and vulnerable people, France is already spending billions on housing migrants, and in some cases, millions for just a small number of migrant minors. Insecurity is growing across the country, not just for those who are vulnerable.
A family of four from Germany was on vacation in Turkey when the mother and two young children died suddenly from alleged food poisoning, with the news sparking national coverage in both Turkey and Germany. However, other potential theories behind their deaths are still being explored. Turkish authorities arrested eight suspects in the case.
The mother and two children died after consuming mussels, minced meat, baked goods, and potatoes from a variety of street vendors, with the father currently in a hospital’s intensive care unit.
The family, which has a Turkish migration background according to news reports, lives in Hamburg. They were on vacation in Istanbul when they ate food from a variety of locations, including sweets, mussels, and a dish made from calf intestines, known as kokoreo, according to state broadcaster TRT.
However, since then, an Italian and a Moroccan have also fallen ill, who were reportedly staying in the same hotel in Istanbul’s old town as the family from Germany. They only complained of nausea and vomiting, but were not seriously ill. The entire hotel was evacuated by police.
“During the investigations, investigators discovered that a room on the ground floor of the hotel had been disinfected with chemicals, and the other two newly arrested people carried out this disinfection. In Turkey, chemicals are often used to control vermin. Forensics also took samples of the drinking water to detect possible contamination,” reports German news outlet Merkur.
According to the German news outlet Merkur, “the late mother’s father also spoke out: He could never have imagined that the encounter with his daughter on Tuesday would be the last, he told the Anadolu news agency. The young family traveled to Turkey every summer and dreamed of settling there.”
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced the arrest of four individuals on X after the shocking news was published in Turkish media. Since then, four other individuals have also been arrested, including a baker located near the woman’s hotel. An individual in charge of the hotel, as well as two people who were on the cleaning staff, were also arrested, according to media reports.
The two young victims were only six and three, adding to the gravity of the tragedy. The family initially went to the hospital and were treated for suspected food poisoning and then released. However, the entire family was later taken back to the hospital after being released, where both children and the mother died.
A 9-year-old boy died from having his throat slit by his Ukrainian mother in Italy, raising renewed questions about how multiple warnings from those closest to the family failed to prevent the tragedy.
The boy’s mother, 55-year-old Olena Stasiuk, killed her son on Wednesday evening in Muggia, Trieste. She had previously assaulted the child, an episode documented by authorities but ultimately not acted upon with sufficient urgency.
According to reporting from Corriere della Sera, Giovanni had previously suffered severe bruising after his mother strangled him, prompting the boy’s father to warn officials that she posed an ongoing and imminent threat.
“Don’t leave her alone with my son, she’s dangerous,” he reportedly said of his estranged former partner. That warning went unheeded, despite Stasiuk’s longstanding psychiatric difficulties and previous treatment at a mental health clinic in Trieste.
Stasiuk had arrived in Italy well before the war in Ukraine and was described by specialists as a psychiatric patient. After the couple’s separation, the court entrusted Giovanni to his father, allowing the mother only supervised visits in the presence of social workers. However, those safeguards were recently relaxed: The court authorised the 55-year-old to spend several hours alone with the boy. During the same period, Stasiuk continued to threaten her ex-husband, telling him, “If I die, Giovanni will come with me.”
Il Giornale reported how, on Wednesday night, Paolo contacted emergency services when he was unable to reach Stasiuk, who was due to return Giovanni to him at 9 p.m. When police officers and firefighters forced entry to the apartment on Piazza Marconi, they found the child on the bathroom floor with a clean wound to the neck, likely caused by a kitchen knife. Stasiuk was present, reportedly in a state of shock, “dazed, with cuts on her arm.”
The news was communicated to the father, who had already arrived at the scene. Hours later, he called Don Andrea Destradi, parish priest of the Muggia Cathedral, telling him through tears, “She killed him brutally… I’m shocked, I can’t believe it. What do I do now? How can I live without my son?”
Giovanni was a fourth-grade pupil at a Slovenian school in Trieste. “He was a blond boy, passionate about soccer, and everyone loved him,” Father Destradi said. He added that he had repeatedly urged Stasiuk to seek treatment, but “she was convinced she didn’t need it.”
It remains unclear why her specialist treatment was no longer ongoing or why social services determined she was now fit to enjoy unsupervised contact with her son.
The mayor of Muggia stated that she had been followed by municipal social services, though primarily to verify compliance with the court’s orders following the divorce rather than to conduct adequate welfare checks.
Giovanni’s youth soccer team, Muggia 1967, suspended all activities yesterday on Thursday as a mark of respect and remembrance.
Foreign nationals now account for nearly half of all inmates in Italy’s juvenile detention centers and one third of the country’s total prison population, according to Ministry of Justice data compiled in the latest Antigone report.
As of the end of March 2025, 49.9 percent of juveniles held in Italian youth facilities were foreigners. Among adults, foreigners made up 32 percent of the total prison population as of Oct. 31, 2025 — more than triple their share of the resident population.
The data was reviewed by Italian journalist Francesca Totolo, who said the findings were “essential for predicting future security issues in Italy and for demonstrating the urgency of remigration.”
⚠️ Quasi il 50% dei detenuti nelle carceri minorili italiane è straniero
Questi dati sono fondamentali per prevedere le future problematicità sulla sicurezza in Italia e per dimostrare l’urgenza della Remigrazione. https://t.co/6MIo7wGlvX
The Antigone report, an organization that analyzes the state of Italy’s penal system, noted that 5.3 million foreign nationals currently reside in the country — equal to around 9 percent of the population. Yet within the prison system, this cohort is vastly disproportionately represented, particularly when it comes to criminal youths.
The figures highlight a marked demographic imbalance that has reshaped Italy’s overcrowded prison system. A total of 40 prisons across the country now house a majority of foreign inmates, including institutions in Sondrio, Trieste, Bolzano, Milan’s San Vittore, Padua, Florence’s Sollicciano, Verona, Modena, Cuneo, and Ravenna. In several facilities, foreign nationals constitute over 70 percent of all detainees.
The disparity is also visible in the types of offenses committed. As of the end of 2024, foreigners accounted for 32 percent of inmates convicted of crimes against the person — such as assault and robbery — and 29 percent of those convicted of crimes against property. In gender-based violence, the imbalance was even sharper. Foreign nationals made up 41 percent of detainees for sexual violence, 29 percent for assault, 27 percent for domestic violence, and 83 percent for trafficking and exploitation offenses.
Foreigners are heavily represented among those serving short and medium-term sentences: 45.5 percent of all sentences under one year, 42.6 percent between one and two years, 40.7 percent between two and three, and 37 percent between three and five. Their share decreases substantially as sentences lengthen, falling to 20.8 percent for sentences of 10 to 20 years, 12.2 percent for sentences over 20 years, and 7.6 percent of all life sentences. This suggests one of two things: either greater judicial leniency or a concentration of foreign offenders in a lower-level epidemic of socially disruptive crimes such as burglary, pickpocketing, robbery, and minor assaults.
Italy’s shifting demographic profile provides further context. Between 2011 and 2023, the number of foreign residents grew primarily among Asian and Middle Eastern communities, increasing by 23 percent, followed by Africans. Central and Eastern European residents declined by 6.5 percent over the same period. Romanians remain Italy’s largest foreign community, followed by Albanians, Moroccans, Chinese, and Ukrainians, with significant numbers also arriving from Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan, and Senegal.
Moroccan and Tunisian inmates have increased in recent times. Moroccans accounted for 21.5 percent of foreign inmates in 2024, up from 20.9 percent the previous year. Tunisians rose from 10.3 percent to 10.8 percent.
Age profiles highlight another divide. The foreign prison population is markedly younger than the Italian one. While Italians are concentrated in older brackets — nearly a quarter are aged 50 to 59 — foreign inmates are most often between 30 and 34, followed closely by those aged 35 to 39 and 25 to 29.
In July, the Italian government was weighing the early release of more than 10,000 prisoners as a response to severe overcrowding, with Justice Minister Carlo Nordio launching a task force to address a long-standing failure to apply existing legal provisions that allow certain prisoners to serve the remainder of their sentences outside prison.
These provisions apply to inmates with less than 24 months left to serve, convicted of non-violent offenses, and who have maintained good behavior while incarcerated.
“There are 10,105 inmates who, by law, could be serving their remaining sentence outside prison,” Nordio said in a statement.
Based on this report, such an early-release policy would disproportionately favor the foreign prison population, who are typically serving lighter sentences on average.
A 75-year-old Turkish national convicted of switching off her hospital roommate’s oxygen machine has lost her appeal against deportation.
The Higher Administrative Court in Mannheim confirmed the earlier ruling of the Administrative Court of Karlsruhe, finding that the woman’s removal from Germany is lawful. The decision is final, although she may still lodge a constitutional complaint.
As NTV reported, the case dates back to November 2022, when the woman was sharing a room with a 79-year-old patient in a Mannheim hospital whose oxygen machine repeatedly triggered an alarm. Inconvenienced by the noise, the Turkish woman switched off the machine. According to the court, nurses reprimanded the woman, explained to her that the machine was vital, and warned that the patient could die without it.
Nevertheless, she switched the device off a second time because she wanted to sleep.
The 79-year-old suffered severe respiratory distress and died a few days later of multiple organ failure. Medical experts were unable to determine whether the disabling of the oxygen machine directly caused her death, and thus, a homicide charge was never brought.
In 2023, the Mannheim Regional Court sentenced the woman to three years in prison for attempted manslaughter combined with aggravated assault. Judges cited “considerable criminal intent,” a lack of awareness of wrongdoing, and an absence of empathy. In August 2024, authorities ordered her deportation, prompting her legal challenge.
The court ruled on Tuesday that the woman posed a “serious danger to public safety and order” and that there were “no serious doubts about the correctness of the contested judgment,” as cited by SWR. Although she had held a permanent residence permit and lived in Germany for 46 years, the court found that the public interest in removal outweighed her personal ties. The judges noted that she came to Mannheim in 1979 to join her husband, who had worked on a visa before the family received permanent residency in 2005.
The court also concluded that returning to Turkey was reasonable given her circumstances. Three of her children live there, she owns an apartment, and she can maintain contact with relatives in Germany through video calls.
The decision means the woman must leave Germany once her prison sentence concludes.
Remix News has seen more and more of posts and news items censored in recent weeks, likely due to the EU Digital Service Act (DSA), which was already predicted to lead to a wave of censorship across Europe. Today, Remix News had yet another post censored, this time involving French youth, Killian, who had his face slashed open into a “Joker’s smile” by a homeless migrant from Guadeloupe. The suspect told police he was The Joker. Remix News’ post on this attack was censored almost immediately.
The remarkable aspect of this censorship is that it involves a young couple subjected to a horrifying experience, including a young man who suffered a life-changing injury, who are being silenced simply because European censors do not like this story.
The young woman spoke with French journalist Tony Pittaro and detailed the case. Remix News is providing a link to the interview on Rumble since the post on X has been censored.
Authorities do not like this story because it serves as yet another bone-chilling example of their failed immigration policies, their failed security polices, and the nightmare vulnerable people now face in the heart of major European cities.
These stories are becoming too common and too horrifying for the general public, and they are boosting the fortunes of right-wing parties across Europe who want to implement tough-on-crime and strict immigration policies. The left-liberal establishment cannot do anything to stop this terror, nor do they especially desire to, so their last option is now mass censorship using artificial intelligence and draconian laws.
Young couple’s night out turns into nightmare
A young French couple was out in the center of Paris on Nov. 9 for a night out when their lives changed forever.
“For my birthday, Killian was taking me to Paris for the weekend, because we’re from Brittany, and he was taking me for a great surprise,” said Killian’s girlfriend. However, a homeless migrant, Haku H., had other plans for them. Once he confronted the couple, the situation rapidly escalated.
Suddenly, Haku H. slashed Killian’s face, carving a “smile” into the victim’s cheeks, which can be seen in this article’s headline photo. The gruesome injury required 23 stitches.
“He was the Batman’s Joker, and he wanted to reproduce the Joker’s smile on all the victims he came across,” said Killian’s girlfriend.
Killian also spoke to CNews about the incident, saying, “I never thought something like this could happen. When you see it on social networks and even on the news, you think it’s just other people, but in fact, it happens to everyone.”
🇫🇷🔴A homeless migrant did the unthinkable to this French youth's face in Paris.
"I never thought something like this could happen. When you see it on social networks and even on the news, you think it’s just other people, but in fact, it happens to everyone."
So far, this post has not been censored, but it avoided using potential keywords, such as “Joker’s smile,” and may eventually face restrictions as well.
The horror did not end there. The migrant man then allegedly fled the scene, and while he was fleeing, targeted a British tourist. He slashed the tourist in the face, resulting in the victim receiving 50 stitches. There is less information about this victim, and so far, media reports have focused on the French victim.
Then, when police tried to catch the Caribbean migrant, he tried to stab them with a knife. Eventually, they deployed a taser to subdue Haku H., who has a violent criminal history, including domestic violence, violence against persons entrusted with public authority, and other cases. Once interviewed by police, he expressed his desire to carve the “Joker’s smile” into the faces of his victims.
So far, a psychological screening indicated the man had no remorse and no mental illness, which means, at least so far, he may actually stand trial for his horrifying actions.
Haku H. has been charged with attempted murder.
Censorship
How are posts being censored on X? This post involving Killian is just one example of more and more Remix News posts being censored. How does Remix News know the post is being censored? About five minutes after the post was created, we tested the “embed” function. This is used to insert the post into a website article or link it into another app. When this does not work, it is clear that censors have targeted the post.
When you try to share the link, it does not load properly. Instead, it looks like this — a simple generic placeholder image.
Furthermore, when attempting to obtain the embed code for the article, it will not be possible on X. You will be presented with the message of “not found.”
As soon as these restrictions appear on a post, it means it is not going anywhere. French journalists referencing this story also have the same restrictions on their posts, such as Valeurs Actuelles journalist Amaury Bucco, who posted this video and has seen the same censorship on his post. These posts require age verification and appear to have a “throttle” that restricts reach.
There is nothing “hateful” about Bucco’s post. He simply shares the interview and describes the event.
What is interesting is how fast posts are now being censored. Presumably, there is an NGO, organization, or some network using AI to track all posts across X, or at least from certain accounts. As soon as a story appears that censors do not like, they can implement certain keywords to track posts that refer to the story, such as in this case, “Joker’s smile,” and “Paris.” The AI software can flag the post and censor it, as needed.
While X may have censored this story, the EU Digital Service Act may be the true driving force behind this censorship. However, the opaque process that this involves leaves many questions. Notably, claims that the DSA would target “hate speech” were clearly a cover for subduing stories authorities did not like, especially when it comes to Europe’s spiraling migration crisis.
Remix News tends to cover exactly these crimes because they have become so commonplace and represent such a glaring security issue that it is increasingly threatening people’s well-being and standard of living across Europe.
Young people and tourists should be able to go into Paris without worrying about a homeless foreign migrant with multiple violent crimes on his record running around stabbing them in the face, attempting to carve the Joker’s smile on them.
Just yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of the Bataclan attacks, which killed 130 people and wounded hundreds. The attack was a direct result of France’s open borders policy. The Islamists who attacked their victims, many of whom were the type of left-wing White liberals who back open borders, did not just kill, but also violently tortured and mutilated their victims.
“The father of one victim had told him that his son had been disemboweled and castrated, with his testicles found in his mouth,” details from the case reveal.
“They had cut off his testicles,” the investigation’s chair, conservative lawmaker Georges Fenech, said.
“The bodies have not been shown to the families because they are people who are decapitated, people who are bloated and people who have been disemboweled,” a police witness told officials.
According to media reports, when Fenech asked the panel whether mutilations were videotaped by the terrorists, the witness answered, “It seems to me.”
“There are people decapitated, swollen and disemboweled. There are signs of sexual acts committed against women and knife cuts to genitals. If I am not mistaken, some of the eyes of certain people have been removed,” the witness explained.
In many ways, the Bataclan attack and this random mutilation attack in Paris have much in common, even if the motivation of the attackers is different.
🇫🇷🔴 The French government has learned nothing from the Bataclan terror attack that killed 130 people 10 years ago today.
"10 years have gone by, 10 years during which successive governments have continued to allow uncontrolled immigration on a massive scale. 10 years marked by… pic.twitter.com/1YXXmZOs6m
Since the heinous Bataclan attack ten years ago, the left at the highest levels of power has only doubled down on their policies of open borders, utilizing censorship and lawfare to attack anyone who dares to protest. At the same time, at the “street level,” radical Antifa groups have used smear campaigns, doxxing attacks, and violent assaults to ensure nobody challenges these policies.
X was promised as a space for free speech and the free flow of disinformation. The “Joker’s smile” attack is not an extraordinary anomaly. Horrendous attacks are being perpetrated against Europeans across Europe by its growing foreign population.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said himself that in Paris, one out of every two crimes committed is committed by migrants. In fact, including those with a migration background, it is likely closer to two out of three. In Germany, nearly half a million Germans have been victims of foreigners committing crimes between 2015 and 2024, resulting in an attack nearly once every six minutes.
🇩🇪🔴Nearly half a million Germans have been victims of foreigners committing crimes between 2015 and 2024.
"Parallel to the number of refugees, the number of German victims is also rising. Between 2015 and 2024, around 426,000 Germans were victims of such offenses," said Lena… pic.twitter.com/PKPWOKd12n
Former president Andrzej Duda has released a wide-ranging memoir that offers new details on his decade in office, including a striking claim that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told him he learned about the Volhynia massacres only after assuming the presidency.
The 630-page book, “It’s Me,” spans 28 chapters and contains accounts of political disputes, foreign-policy negotiations, and personal experiences from his time in office.
He writes that he pressed the Ukrainian leader on the lack of marked mass graves and unresolved exhumation issues, telling him, “This is unacceptable to us. The sites of the mass graves remain unmarked to this day.” Zelensky, according to Duda, responded, “Believe it or not, I didn’t know about Volhynia for most of my life. In fact, I only heard about these crimes as president. It’s just that here in the east, they weren’t talked about at all; they weren’t taught in Soviet schools. A significant portion of Ukrainians have no idea what it’s all about.”
As reviewed by wPolityce, Duda also writes extensively about his relationship with the late president Lech Kaczyński, whom he describes as a political mentor. He says he viewed his own presidency as a continuation of Kaczyński’s vision and recalls their final conversations as decisive in his choice to run for office.
“We spent many evening hours in his office, while he explained various matters to me. He made a huge impression as a politician and visionary. When he died, I understood that my political master had passed away. I felt obliged to continue his ideas,” Duda wrote.
The memoir also outlines long-standing tensions with the Law and Justice (PiS) leadership. Duda writes that difficulties began immediately after his election and continued throughout his term, including disputes over staffing decisions and his veto of judicial reforms. He says that despite a decade marked by disagreements, he regarded PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński as a decisive political figure.
Duda devotes significant space to the role of the First Lady, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, describing her work over 10 years as unpaid, wide-ranging, and frequently overlooked. He writes that she carried out social and charitable activities while facing repeated criticism, particularly due to her refusal to give media interviews.
Foreign policy makes up a major section of the book. The former president describes extensive contacts with the United States during his term, including regular meetings with President Trump. He writes about negotiations over the U.S. missile-defense base in Redzikowo and says he repeatedly raised concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to Duda, Merkel responded that she had no influence over the project.
The book highlights several strategic initiatives pursued during his presidency, including the Three Seas Initiative, the Baltic Pipe, and domestic energy and infrastructure projects. Duda writes that the Three Seas Initiative grew from an early concept focused on energy independence into a broader regional framework supported by the United States.
Duda writes that although his presidency has ended, he intends to remain active in public life.
Germany is facing a continued rise in corporate bankruptcies, with new figures showing that business failures increased again in October. According to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office, insolvency proceedings rose by 6.5 percent compared with the same month last year.
Final figures for August show a steeper increase. Local courts reported 1,979 corporate insolvencies, around 12 percent more than a year earlier. Creditors’ claims amounted to approximately €5.4 billion, more than double the amount recorded last August. The highest insolvency rates were found in transportation and warehousing, followed by construction and hospitality. Consumer bankruptcies also climbed by just over eight percent to 6,132 cases.
As reported by Welt, credit agencies expect the total number of bankruptcies this year to exceed 2024, when 21,812 companies filed for insolvency, the highest figure since 2015. Businesses cite high energy costs, bureaucracy, and weak consumer spending as contributing factors. Protective measures that delayed bankruptcies during the Covid-19 pandemic have also expired.
Credit insurer Allianz Trade forecasts around 24,500 corporate insolvencies in 2025, a rise of 1 percent, and says the situation may not begin to improve until 2027. The company expects insolvencies to fall to about 23,500 cases at that point. In a recent analysis, Allianz Trade also warned that the consequences of ongoing trade disputes could further test business resilience.
The Federal Association of German Industry (BDI), in a declaration published in April and signed by more than 100 associations, said the economic situation in Europe’s largest economy had “deteriorated dramatically” and described the crisis as largely “homemade” compared with other countries.
BDI general manager Tanja Gönner said, “every scope must be used to relieve companies in order for the tax burden to quickly become internationally competitive.”
Further pressure is also being seen in major company failures. Allianz Trade reported that Germany recorded 87 large insolvencies in 2024, an increase of 36 percent over the previous year. The combined turnover of these companies reached €17.4 billion. For 2025, the insurer expects around 24,400 insolvencies overall, followed by about 25,050 in 2026.
In an interview with Tagesschau in April, publicly appointed auctioneer Jürgen Philippi said the situation was now more severe than during the 2008 financial crisis. “More and more industries are affected,” he said, adding that he had turned away clients due to workload.
Philippi also noted a decline in buyers willing to take over distressed companies, citing complaints from managers about bureaucracy and tax burdens.
Italian prosecutors have launched an investigation into allegations that Italians traveled to Sarajevo on weekend “sniper safaris” to shoot at residents of the city during the 1992-1995 siege by the Bosnian Serb army, in which more than 11,000 people died.
The alleged “safaris” took place while Bosnian Serb forces were besieging the city, which became the longest siege in modern European history, Al Jazeera reports.
The Milan investigation, led by prosecutor Alessandro Gobbis, was launched after journalist and novelist Ezio Gavazzeni, working with lawyers Nicola Brigida and former judge Guido Salvini, filed a legal complaint for “murders aggravated by cruelty and vile motives” regarding the alleged Italian groups who traveled to Sarajevo.
Italian media reports say investigators are hoping to track down the people who took part in the alleged “safaris,” in addition to the five men already identified in Gacazzeni’s trial.
FILE – In this Tuesday, June 6, 1995 file photo, Sarajevo residents take cover behind a French armored personnel carrier as a Bosnian Serb sniper fires upon them on a main street in the center of Sarajevo. (AP Photo/David Brauchli, File)
Gavazzeni, who has handed over all his evidence to prosecutors, told Italian news outlet La Repubblica on Tuesday that his lawsuit “exposes a part of society that is sweeping the truth under the carpet.”
“Because we are talking about reputable, wealthy people, entrepreneurs, who paid to kill defenseless civilians during the siege of Sarajevo,” he added.
However, members of the British forces who served in Sarajevo in the 1990s have told the BBC that they never heard of any so-called “sniper tourism” during the Bosnian conflict.
They indicated that any attempts to bring in people from third countries who had paid to shoot at civilians in Sarajevo would have been “logistically difficult to accomplish”, due to the proliferation of checkpoints.
British forces served both inside Sarajevo and in the areas surrounding the city, where Serb forces were stationed and they saw nothing at the time to suggest that “sniper tourism” was taking place.
One soldier described the allegations that foreigners had paid to shoot at civilians as an “urban myth”.
What is known so far
Between 1992 and 1996, Italian citizens and others, mainly gun enthusiasts, gathered on Fridays in Trieste, in northwestern Italy, in the area bordering the former Yugoslavia, for a weekend of “hunting.” It remains unclear who organized the alleged groups’ trips.
The participants were allegedly flown by the Yugoslav/Serbian airline Aviogenex to the hills surrounding Sarajevo, where Bosnian Serb militias were paid to shoot at citizens by President Radovan Karadžić – who was later convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia in 2016 and sentenced to life in prison after an appeal in 2019.
A Bosnian man carries black market eggs valued at over $1.50 for each egg while running through sniper zone, Sunday, April 11, 1993. (AP Photo/Michael Stravato)
According to La Repubblica, these “tourists” paid up to $116,000 to join the Sarajevo gangs to commit the murders.
Gavazzeni claims that participants were given a price list of what types of murders the foreigners they wanted to target would pay for. Children would cost the most, followed by men, women and the elderly, who could be killed for free.
“A participant left Trieste to hunt for people. Then he returned and continued his normal life, in a manner that was respectable in the eyes of everyone,” Gavazzeni said.
Gavazzeni’s 17-page submission includes the testimony of Edin Subasic, a Bosnian military intelligence officer, who claims that he and some of his colleagues informed the Italian military intelligence agency, Sismi, about reports of Italians flying from Trieste to Sarajevo in early 1994. In his testimony, he claimed that the Italian intelligence service told him a few months later that it had stopped the flights.
According to the Sismi report, the departure points in Trieste were discovered and the routes were interrupted.
Another witness cited in the petition gave Gavazzeni the details of three men currently under investigation, from Turin, Milan and Trieste. According to the Sismi report cited in the lawsuit, the Milanese man who took part in the 1993 shootings was the owner of a private plastic surgery clinic.
Benjamina Karic, the former mayor of Sarajevo, also filed a case file with the Milan prosecutor’s office about these “rich foreigners who carried out inhumane activities,” the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Serbia has denied any involvement in the killings, but investigators believe Serbian intelligence services were aware of them.
Dag Dumrukcic, Bosnia’s consul in Milan, told La Repubblica on Tuesday that his government was “fully cooperating with the investigation.”
“We look forward to uncovering the truth in this cruel case and putting the past behind us. I have information that I will pass on to investigators,” said Dumruckic.
It is suspected that citizens of several countries participated in the attacks. In 2022, Bosnian filmmaker Miran Zupanic’s documentary Sarajevo Safari examined wealthy foreigners who participated in these trips, including some from the United States and Russia.
A notable example was Russian nationalist writer and politician Eduard Limonov, who was filmed in Pawel Pawlikowski’s 1992 documentary about the Bosnian War firing a machine gun towards the city of Sarajevo while personally escorted by Karadžić.
Moreover, in 2007, former U.S. Marine John Jordan testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that “tourist shooters” had arrived in Sarajevo.
An abusive father from Bangladesh has been convicted for abusing his then 14-year-old daughter in the city of Cesena because she refused to wear the Islamic veil. The victim, now 17, said her 50-year-old father subjected her to routine beatings with a cane, insults, and social restrictions over her defiance.
Judge Ramona Bizzarri ordered the father to be given nine months of probation, perform community service, and pay €2,000 to his daughter. If the man does not reoffend in the nine-month period, he will not be sentenced to prison time.
The trial determined that the man viewed the Western world as a “dark” place with “incomprehensible customs,” according to a report from Italian newspaper il Resto del Carlino.
The daughter was born in Italy and failed to wear her Islamic veil as much as her father desired. The man routinely beat his daughter with a cane, a belt, and scolded her “for not wearing a headscarf.”
He also said she was a poor cook in the household, offended her with vulgar remarks, and prevented her from socializing with classmates.
During a beating on Dec. 19, 2022, the father assaulted the daughter so violently that she ended up in the hospital.
During the incident, he saw her leaving the house without her veil. He then yanked her by her hair, punched her on her back, and then stabbed her hand with a fork. She also suffered abrasions, swelling, and a jaw injury during the attack. Police noted she also had scratches and cuts on her face and hands.
Police responded by arresting the father and charging him with a number of crimes, including abuse and mistreatment of a minor.
A Vienna-born teen of Serbian descent is at the center of a politically charged immigration case after investigators linked him and his older brother to 2,200 criminal offenses committed across the Austrian capital and have made plans to deport him.
According to Statement Österreich, the younger brother alone, who is currently 14, is alleged to have carried out 1,500 burglaries, mostly car break-ins, before he was old enough to be held criminally responsible. Austrian authorities are now reviewing whether he can be deported to Serbia — a step that would be without precedent for a minor born in the country.
According to police, the boy holds dual Austrian and Serbian citizenship and lives with his mother in Vienna. His father has already been deported. After turning 14, he stole a Toyota, crashed it, and was imprisoned for the first time. He was released at the end of July under strict conditions, including mandatory schooling, probation meetings, and attendance at a crisis center. Officials say he has repeatedly ignored all three requirements.
The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) is now assessing a deportation order, with a decision expected later this year. Even the teenager’s grandparents in Serbia — who would be legally eligible to assume custody — have told authorities they are unwilling to take him, describing him as unmanageable.
The case comes amid what Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) calls an “explosion” in youth crime, in particular by what he called “problem children” between 10 and 14 years of age. Offenses committed by children in this age bracket have doubled in five years, reaching more than 12,000 cases last year. Police say Syrian juveniles are particularly prominent among offenders, and the number of young perpetrators who have reached legal age has risen nearly tenfold since 2020, reaching around 1,000.
The 14-year-old at the center of the current review is considered the most prolific juvenile offender in Austria’s recent history. His 1,500 recorded crimes place him firmly in the category that investigators have warned is spiraling out of control. Karner revealed that police forces are struggling to contain highly mobile and often uncooperative suspects.
The prospect of deporting a minor born on Austrian soil, unsurprisingly, has complications. The Federal Administrative Court applies strict standards in such cases, and successful integration — or the lack of it — is only one of several factors considered. Child-welfare authorities currently hold custody of the boy after relatives declined responsibility.
If the BFA approves the order, the teenager could be removed to Serbia before the end of the year.
Left-wing radicals carried out an Antifa terror attack on the home of Nicola Beer, vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and her husband, Jürgen Illing, the honorary consul of Hungary, for being “too close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.”
The assault involved spray-painting the house in the Preungesheim district of Frankfurt, as well as an attack on Illing’s BMW SUV. The suspects slashed his car tires, smashed the vehicle’s windshield, and sprayed a fire extinguisher inside.
“In a letter of confession, self-proclaimed anti-fascists accuse the Vice President of the European Investment Bank of being too close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán,” reports German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ).
The attack, on the night of Nov. 9, involved Antifa activists targeting the family’s residential area near the A661 motorway. While the occupants were asleep, the front of Beer and Illing’s house was “spray-painted… with purple paint.” Beer, an FDP politician, has held the EIB position since Jan. 1, 2024.
The attackers then focused on the BMW SUV owned by Illing, who is 67 and is known for fighting against anti-Semites as a lawyer. The vehicle sustained extensive damage.
The attack was explicitly tied to the arrest of 23-year-old Maja T.,who is currently in custody in Hungary for involvement in the infamous “Hammer Gang.” Hungarian authorities indicate Maja T. is a left-wing extremist facing charges of beating individuals, some of whom were mistakenly believed to be far-right members, and delivering extreme and life-changing injuries.
In a statement claiming responsibility, published on the Indymedia website, the Frankfurt attackers issued a demand: “Solidarity with Maja in Hungarian prison – Freedom for all antifascists.”
The statement indicated that the primary target was Jürgen Illing, asserting that he, “together with his wife Nicola Beer, the former FDP general secretary and vice president of the European Investment Bank, represents that unholy and deceitful mixture of capital and fascism that has become unbearable for us.”
The attackers further accused the couple of being “Orbán apologists” and “part of a right-wing elite.”
Illing and Beer declined to comment to Bild to avoid hindering the investigation.
Klemens Hahn, spokesman for the Frankfurt police headquarters, confirmed to Bild: “The State Security Police are investigating in this context on suspicion of property damage.”
The attack follows shortly after Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Bernd Baumann was attacked in Hamburg by Antifa, including having his vehicle and his wife’s vehicle set on fire, with the fire spreading to three other vehicles from his neighbors.
Baumann posted about the attack on social media, stating: “Dear friends, another Antifa attack on me, 4 cars burned in front of the house. The police woke me up at around 5 a.m., another cowardly terrorist attack, my and my wife’s car completely burned out. This time, Antifa attacked in such a way that the meters-high flames spread to three other cars. They belonged to my neighbors, all total losses, all completely burned out. So many families damaged without a second thought.”
🇩🇪🔴AfD politician speaks out after Antifa burned his car to a husk outside his home in the German city of Hamburg.
"Dear friends, another Antifa attack on me, 4 cars burned in front of the house. The police wake me up at around 5 a.m., another cowardly terrorist attack, my and… pic.twitter.com/Vw2qrCuLIt
Crime in German shopping centers has risen sharply over the past year, with 75 percent of identified offenders having a migration background, according to a new internal report by the German Council of Shopping Places (GCSP).
The association, which represents around 90 percent of Germany’s shopping centers and large retail properties, warns that the situation has become significantly more acute over the past year and is continuing to deteriorate in 2025.
Across 1,105 surveyed retail properties, security staff documented 18,276 incidents in 2024, a 32 percent increase compared to 2023. Among the 13,339 categorized cases, violence and weapons were particularly notable: knives or tools were used or carried in 2,905 incidents, drug use jumped by 45 percent to 1,389 cases, and 235 people, including security personnel, employees, and visitors, were injured. Bomb threats rose to 46 and ATM explosions to 11, each up by roughly 50 percent.
There were also 945 cases of vandalism, 611 cases involving youth gangs and anti-social behavior; 458 incidents of threats against visitors; and 105 recorded cases of sexual harassment or rape. A further 4,937 disturbances, including intoxicated individuals, alarms, or violations of house rules, were logged but not categorized.
“It’s the groups that we see committing these types of offenses,” GCSP Secretary General Ingmar Behrens told WeltTV. “People who have time during the day, who are not in regular employment, who may have a tolerated-stay status, or are simply not working, and who come from a social environment that holds different values — values that are not shared by the people who shop or run businesses in the center.
“And within that environment, violence applies. The rule is: ‘I can get what I want by using a knife.’ And these rules clash with ours — the rules we have agreed on as a society,” he added.
Security costs for shopping centers rose by about 21 percent to €41 million. Stab-proof vests, once rarely used, are becoming increasingly common for guards. “If a tenant does less business and then has to pay higher service charges because security needs have increased, you eventually reach the point where they say, ‘I can’t operate my business in the city anymore. I’ll move online,'” Behrens warned.
According to the GCSP, the rise in aggression, the number of repeat offenders, and the high proportion of suspects with a migration background are cause for concern. More than 3,400 bans from premises were issued, yet repeat offending remains “consistently high” at 35 percent. The report also notes a rise in “professionally organized drug trafficking.”
Behrens emphasized that the overall statistical risk for visitors remains low given the millions who pass through shopping centers daily, but stressed that individual incidents erode public confidence. “Every single incident unsettles people,” he said, as cited by Welt. He added that many customers and employees are developing a lingering sense of fear.
Shopping center operators also warn of inconsistent prosecution, claiming that police often decline to pursue cases such as shoplifting or that complaints are not filed at all. Their concerns echo a recent report from the German Retail Federation (HDE), which estimated nationwide retail losses from theft at nearly €3 billion in 2024.
The HDE is urging lawmakers to restrict prosecutors’ ability to drop cases for efficiency reasons and to introduce tougher penalties for serious or organized theft. “It must be clear that shoplifting is not a trivial matter, but a crime often carried out with considerable criminal intent,” said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth.
A 17-year-old migrant from the African country of Guinea along with a 13-year-old accomplice, both of which have extensive criminal records, are accused of assaulting, raping, and extorting a 16-year-old girl in Paris.
The victim was found by a passerby crying near the Cité des Sciences in Paris on September 30, 2025,. The Paris prosecutor’s office reported that she alleged being raped in the facility’s underground parking area by two teenage boys, ages 13 and 17. The two boys had stolen her phone and subjected her to a horrifying ordeal just moments before she was found.
Based on details reported by French newspaper Valeurs Actuelles, the girl had skipped school that Tuesday to visit the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in La Villette by herself in the late afternoon, following Snapchat exchanges with one of the teens. She only vaguely knew the teen when she decided to meet him.
Due to their ages and legal restrictions, their real first names can’t be disclosed, but the younger one is referred to as Youcef (a pseudonym), while the older is called Moussa in the report from Valeurs Actuelles.
By around 5 p.m., the girl arrived at the Cité des Sciences to meet Youcef and Moussa for what she thought would be a short, casual conversation before a friend joined her. However, the situation quickly spiraled out of control.
The minors claimed she had damaged a bracelet and grabbed her phone, insisting she owend them €10 euros, which she did not have. Moussa then demanded she come with them and retrieve the money.
Moussa kept demand the money, and reportedly said: “I didn’t drive two hours for nothing… I added you [as a friend] on Snapchat and since you accepted, we’re a couple.”
The girl repeatedly tried a number of strategies to get back her phone threats of getting her cousin involved, trying jokes, appeals to empathy, and showing her fear.
However, the two teens were not deterred and they kept guiding her to a secluded spot in an underground parking lot “to work things out.”
The girl said that once at the parking spot, the 17-yea-old stated: “Either we have sex, or I won’t give you your phone.”
The girl began crying and warned she would yell. He responded by striking her face, then declaring: “I’m going to take out my phone, I’m going to film you, and you’re going to say you consented.”
The victim informed police investigators later that Moussa was aware she was no longer a virgin and thus assumed she would sleep with anyone. In a final bid for escape, the girl mentioned she was menstruating, expecting it to deter him.
He demanded verification, and upon seeing it, grew frustrated. “You’re being a pain in the ass,” he said, “it doesn’t matter, we’ll do it anally.”
He proceeded to force her onto her knees for oral sex, followed by anal penetration that caused her severe pain, while recording her the whole time which police say was his attempt to show “consent.”
He kept warning her that he would also share the footage if she did not stop resisting. After Moussa was finished, Youcef then assaulted her but halted when she expressed pain. The two perpetrators then allowed her to dress and walk back to the train station.
When she requested her phone again, Moussa reportedly replied: “If you do anything or go to the police or anything, we’ll do worse to you. My father is a policeman; I’m not going to prison, and if I get out, I’ll ambush you.”
The pair then fled, laughing boisterously, still withholding her phone.
On her way home, the victim approached a stranger to contact the police. Yet, believing Moussa’s claim about his father’s police role, she wavered on pressing charges. However, once informed of the incident, police moved forward with an investigation and the suspected attackers were arrested in early October by the Juvenile Protection Unit (BPM).
Moussa, the 17-year-old lead perpetrator from Guinea, had a prior record including armed violence, burglary, death threats, drug violations, assaults, and extortion.
His 13-year-old accomplice from the multicultural Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis also has a history of crimes like weapon possession, aggravated theft, vehicle break-ins, extortion, and drug-related crimes.
When reached by Valeurs Actuelles, the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed the duo faces charges of gang rape and gang robbery—specifically for the phone theft and the sexual assault. Investigators have compiled substantial evidence pointing to their involvement, which has permitted them to detain the two suspects.
“One, aged 17, has been placed in pretrial detention, the other, aged 13, has been placed in a closed educational center,” the prosecutor’s office stated. The suspects are presumed innocent at this point.
A 31-year-old Syrian man was forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility on Wednesday after suddenly attacking four people, including three women and a passerby, in northern Dresden.
Police insist the incident was not religiously or politically motivated, despite witnesses reporting shouts of “Allahu Akbar” during the arrest.
The series of assaults began shortly after 10 a.m. at the Alttrachau tram stop on Leipziger Straße, where the man allegedly punched and kicked a 29-year-old woman who was standing with her toddler. A 67-year-old motorist who stopped to intervene was also attacked.
Minutes later, he approached another vehicle on the same street and struck a 64-year-old woman through the open passenger window. A 37-year-old passerby rushed to her aid and was also beaten before managing to restrain the attacker until officers arrived.
Dresden: Hier wird der Terror-Syrer verhaftet!
Erste Bilder nach dem islamistischen Angriff auf der Leipziger Straße!
Unter dem Ruf „Allahu Akbar“ hat ein Syrer am Mittwochvormittag wahllos Passanten in Dresden angegriffen – darunter eine Frau, ein Kleinkind und zwei Senioren.… pic.twitter.com/0c7QbN4GOS
Police arrested the man at the scene. Witnesses said he shouted religious phrases, but investigators stressed that the outbursts appeared to be a symptom of mental instability.
“The political statements have nothing to do with the man’s obvious mental health issues,” police spokesman Marko Laske said, as cited by TAG24. Officers confirmed he was not under the influence of drugs.
All four victims required medical treatment; the 64-year-old woman was taken to hospital, while the others were treated at the scene. The suspect was subsequently sectioned and transferred to a specialist clinic, according to the police report.
The man, a Syrian national, is now under investigation for assault. Authorities say his motive remains unclear and the inquiry is ongoing.
Claims on social media suggested the man was in possession of a knife. Remix News has been unable to corroborate this.
In fact, NIUS admits it first reported that the Syrian used a knife, but later issued a correction which read, “In our push notification, we reported that a knife was used as a weapon. In reality, however, the perpetrator attacked his victims without any other weapon.”
The European Commission has announced that several EU countries will be eligible to reduce their financial or relocation contributions under the bloc’s new Migration and Asylum Pact, but Hungary — one of the EU’s key border states — was not mentioned.
In its first Annual Migration Management Cycle report published on Tuesday, the Commission said Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Croatia, Austria, and Poland could apply for full or partial deductions from their required solidarity contributions in 2026, citing “cumulative migratory pressures over the last five years.” These deductions would apply to the Solidarity Pool, the EU’s new mechanism obliging member states to either relocate asylum seekers from countries under migratory pressure or pay financial compensation.
Greece, Cyprus, Spain, and Italy were formally identified as being under “migratory pressure” due to high numbers of irregular arrivals, while Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and several others were listed as “at risk.”
Those member states will have priority access to the EU’s Migration Support Toolbox and may receive further assistance, including from a €250 million fund for drone and anti-drone equipment to counter hybrid border threats.
One nation that was not mentioned at all in the report was Hungary, despite its position on the EU’s external border with Serbia and its heavy investment in national border security, often cited by Budapest as a vital contribution to Europe’s collective safety.
Budapest maintains that Hungary continues to face growing migratory pressure, having detained 11,400 illegal migrants who have crossed the border so far this year despite the ramped-up security measures, compared to 9,300 last year.
Last month, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister György Bakondi told M1 that “there are no illegal migrants in Hungary because the government made the right decision in 2015 to close the border.”
He criticized the European Commission for failing to recognize the efforts taken by Hungary, at considerable expense, to protect the external border of the European Union, noting that it is only because Hungary has taken the measures it has — despite the Commission’s insistence that it conform — that the country is not overwhelmed by migration like the other member states cited in the European Commission’s report.
“The Hungarian government’s position is the right one — it serves the interests of both Hungarians and Europeans,” Bakondi concluded.
The Commission noted that recorded illegal crossings fell by 35 percent between July 2024 and June 2025, compared to the previous year, but warned that Europe still faces “continued pressure from irregular arrivals, unauthorized movements within the EU, the hosting of refugees from Ukraine, and the weaponization of migration by Russia and Belarus.”
The Commission wants to make the Migration Pact operational by June 2026, but it will require the Council to approve the proposed Solidarity Pool. Once adopted, each member state will be legally bound to contribute either by taking in a mandated number of migrants or by making equivalent financial or operational contributions.
Brussels has issued the order. They are activating the Migration Pact. I want to make it clear once and for all: as long as Hungary has a patriotic government, we will not implement the Migration Pact. Ceterum censeo: we will not accept migrants and we will not spend a single…
Hungary, however, has repeatedly rejected the scheme. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, responding to the announcement on Wednesday, wrote on X: “Brussels has issued the order. They are activating the Migration Pact. I want to make it clear once and for all: as long as Hungary has a patriotic government, we will not implement the Migration Pact. Ceterum censeo: we will not accept migrants and we will not spend a single dime on them!”
Orbán’s remarks followed his recent visit to Washington, where he met U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump later told reporters that Brussels should give Orbán more respect, “because he was right on the immigration issue.”
The European Commission’s proposal now moves to the Council for adoption. Once agreed, the size and composition of the Solidarity Pool will be made public, and member states’ contributions will become binding ahead of the Pact’s entry into force in 2026.
More than half of asylum seekers who claimed to be minors under Greece’s new verification system have been found to be adults, the country’s migration minister said on Tuesday, marking the first results of a stricter framework introduced this summer.
Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris announced that, out of 104 cases reviewed since the new procedures began in late August, 59 individuals were determined to be over 18. “The repercussions for those who filed a false statement are self-evident,” Plevris said.
The new system, jointly implemented by the migration and health ministries, requires age verification to be completed “once and on the same day” through three methods: a medical evaluation of physical development, a psychosocial assessment by a specialist, and an X-ray of the applicant’s left wrist to determine skeletal maturity. In cases where results differ, the X-ray prevails.
The testing is carried out only with the written consent of the applicant or their legal representative. However, refusal to participate is treated as evidence of adulthood, though it does not prevent the asylum claim from being reviewed. Officials say the changes are intended to reduce abuse of the system by adult migrants who claim to be minors in order to access preferential treatment and legal protections.
The new procedures form part of a wider tightening of Greece’s migration policy, launched earlier this year as the government seeks to curb illegal sea crossings and streamline asylum processing.
In July, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a temporary suspension of asylum applications for migrants arriving by boat from North Africa, citing national security concerns and increased arrivals on Crete and the nearby island of Gavdos. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that it is proceeding with the suspension of asylum application examinations for three months for those arriving in Greece from North Africa by sea,” Mitsotakis told parliament. He added that those entering the country illegally “will be arrested and detained.”
Then, in October, the government announced cuts of nearly 30 percent to asylum-related spending, reducing annual funding from €400 million to €288 million. Rent subsidies for refugees will be phased out, direct cash payments halved, and funding redirected toward job training and Greek-language instruction.
“Those granted asylum in the future will no longer live on permanent subsidies, but will be integrated into society through work,” Plevris said, describing the reforms as both a deterrent to illegal migration and a shift toward self-sufficiency.
The conflict between Law and Justice (PiS) and the Confederation party is heating up in Poland, with leaders and top politicians trading brutal insults.
As with many other European countries, Poland features newer right-wing parties that are emerging and growing in popularity, which are eating into the establishment conservative parties.
In Poland, the Confederation co-leader, Sławomir Mentzen appeared as a guest on Polsat News, where he said those that make alliances with the establishment PiS end up dead, in exile, or suffering a nervous breakdown.
One of the hosts of the program, Marcin Fijołek, said to Mentzen that “PiS politicians can’t forgive you for suggesting that Jarosław Kaczyński is responsible for Ziobro’s situation, and Gowin before him, or what happened to Andrzej Lepper. Will you apologize?”
“Let them wait. I never said that Jarosław Kaczyński contributed to Andrzej Lepper’s suicide. I only said how his coalition partners met their end. That’s a fact that can’t be denied. Lepper committed suicide under mysterious circumstances, Jarosław Gowin suffered a nervous breakdown, and Zbigniew Ziobro is battling a serious illness,” the Confederation co-chair replied.
“They haven’t had much luck in life. And I don’t intend to end up that way,” Mentzen added.
However, Mentzen also addressed Kaczyński’s attack that appeared to allude to Mentzen’s Asperger’s syndrome.
Marcin Fijołek quoted the Law and Justice party chairman’s words from a press conference. “If someone suffers from some sort of deficiency, they should first get themselves in good health and only then enter politics. And if that’s impossible, so be it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t become a basketball player either, and I dreamed of it,” said the PiS leader when asked about a potential coalition with Confederation.
Mentzen admitted that he took this as a hint at Asperger’s syndrome, which the Confederation politician struggles with.
“Jarosław Kaczyński is not only a liar, but also a boor. He’s exploiting my condition to attack me,” he said.
There is also a third right-wing party in Poland, which the right may need to take power. Recent polls conducted by various research organizations indicate that a coalition of Law and Justice and the Confederation party would have a good chance of securing a parliamentary majority after the next elections. However, some studies indicate that a majority would also require cooperation with the Confederation of the Polish Crown, Grzegorz Braun’s party.
MEP Anna Bryłka, of the Confederation Party, was a guest on a Polsat News program, and said that PIS is attacking Confederation in the same manner it did right before national elections in 2023, which saw PiS booted from power.
“We did not start this war,” said Bryłka.
“This domination of the right wing and the domination of this right side of the political scene is the reason for such mass participation of PiS politicians, and PiS is certainly very afraid of the Confederation, but it is also afraid of Mr. Grzegorz Braun’s party, and it also seems to me that the strategy that has been implemented for many years by Chairman Kaczyński – nothing to the right of PiS can be created, it no longer works,” said the MEP.
“The entire structure on the Polish political scene looks completely different. Not only is Confederation to the right of PiS, but Mr. Grzegorz Braun’s party is also to the right of Confederation, and PiS is simply losing its monopoly on the right wing of the political scene,” she added.
Anna Bryłka also pointed to the cooling of contacts between the two parties.
“We didn’t start this war with PiS; PiS started this war with the Confederation, that’s the first thing. Secondly, PiS is making the same mistake it made in 2023. In fact, in the final weeks of the 2023 election campaign, a massive attack on the Confederation began, and we achieved a result below our expectations,” the MEP pointed out.
Following the international news that a close associate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fled the country shortly before a police raid, the news is only getting worse. Timur Mindich, known as Zelensky’s “cash wallet,” who has a long history with Zelensky, has left behind bundles of money and even a gold toilet, which were discovered during the course of raids by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
“The biggest corruption scandal in Ukraine since the start of the war is erupting,” writes Welt newspaper, arguably the most influential newspaper in Germany.
The case goes so far up into Zelensky’s regime clique, that even the justice minister, Herman Halushchenko, has been suspended.
“The Justice Minister is under forced suspension. At the center of the controversy is a close confidant of President Zelenskyy. His flight raises serious questions about possible accomplices at the very top of the state apparatus,” continues Welt.
Welt goes on to note that golden toilets have a long history in Ukraine, dating back to former President Viktor Yanukovych, who was discovered to have a gold toilet when he fled the country in 2014 to Russia.
“Timur Mindich also has one. Or rather, had one. Because Mindich, a long-time business partner of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is on the run,” writes Welt.
BREAKING: ONE MORE DARK DAY FOR ZELENSKY
Look at the pic. This is Ukraine’s Minister of Energy, Svitlana Hrynchuk on a photo, who appears in recordings by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in a major corruption case in the energy sector. She received… https://t.co/xSlmUrDrkypic.twitter.com/5bHKF3spUh
In addition, NABU also “published a photo of bundles of unopened dollar bills, still bearing the seals and barcodes of the American banks of origin. It should therefore not be difficult to trace the origin of the money and its path out of state control,” writes Welt.
There is speculation that Mindich fled to Israel, due to his close connections in the country, including hosting his marriage and recently visiting for his birthday.
Notably, when Yanukovych fled Ukraine, the country was not involved in a war in which hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians had been dead and wounded. Mindich and those committing corruption within the Zelensky government are arguably a far more mendacious group of individuals to be partaking in such alleged corruption during a war that has decimated Ukraine.
As Remix News reported yesterday, the case involves at least $100 million in bribery kickbacks, and has shaken Ukrainian society. The Remix News article details Zelensky’s deep business involvement with Mindlich, including Mindlich even buying Zelensky a bullet-proof car in 2017.
🇺🇦 Zelensky’s “wallet” Mindich, fled Ukraine just hours before a raid by NABU and SAP.
New details now reveal that Mindich was at the center of a massive corruption network inside Energoatom. Contractors were forced to pay 10–15% kickbacks on every deal, under threat of payment… https://t.co/0OrprC0ZWZpic.twitter.com/aGCiOjDrhU
The news comes at a time when pro-war EU hawks are calling for Ukraine to be admitted to the EU, arguing it meets the criteria to begin the admission process despite being entangled in a war and abandoning democratic principles.
Welt further details how deep the case goes into, writing that “the list of allegations being investigated is extensive: improper procurement procedures, embezzled funds, parallel management structures in state-owned and semi-state-owned companies, and undeclared accounting. The damage is estimated at around $100 million. The list of potential suspects is also long, including several top managers, active politicians, a minister, and former politicians, in one case with long-standing ties to Moscow.”
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the State Prosecutor’s Office for Corruption (Sapo) conducted mass raids targeting 70 locations in regard to the state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom, “as well as at the private residences of Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko (who served as Energy Minister until July 2025), the apartment of Timur Mindich, and other individuals,” writes Welt
Berlin police are investigating the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in a high-rise building on Neue Grottkauer Straße in the Berlin district of Hellersdorf.
The teenager was found in the hallway of the building at around 8 a.m. on Saturday by a neighbor who had just returned from shopping. Emergency services were called after the girl, bruised and unable to speak, collapsed nearby.
“She looked terrible. I hope she gets proper therapy and can somehow get her life back on track,” the neighbor later told NIUS, which spoke to residents and building staff. Paramedics who arrived at the scene determined that her injuries were consistent with sexual assault and immediately alerted the police.
Investigators from the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) secured evidence in an apartment on the third floor of the building. Police spokesman Martin Stralau confirmed to both BILD and Berliner Zeitung that authorities are investigating on suspicion of a sexual offense. “An arrest has been made in this case, but the man has since been released,” Stralau said, adding that no further details would be provided “out of respect for the victim.”
According to BILD, the 17-year-old was allegedly raped by two, possibly three, men who were in the apartment at the time. Neighbors described the apartment as suspicious and frequently occupied by new individuals, with many individuals often frequenting the property. Several residents said that the actual tenant had not been seen for months, with the apartment door often propped open and the mailbox overflowing.
A building manager told NIUS that the municipal housing company Stadt und Land had been unable to reach the tenant, identified as Amra R., who is believed to have sublet the flat before disappearing. “The apartment was vacated in September but left unlocked,” the manager said, adding that “dark-skinned men were later seen coming and going from the third-floor unit.”
Another resident told reporters that groups of men frequently entered the building at night. “The front door would be forced open, and men with hoods would scurry up to the third floor and disappear into that apartment,” said one elderly woman living on the ground floor.
Police have not disclosed the relationship, if any, between the victim and the suspected perpetrators, nor whether the girl entered the apartment voluntarily or was coerced.
A Tunisian man was briefly detained but later released. It is unclear if he still remains a suspect in the case.
In February, figures extracted from the state government following a parliamentary inquiry by independent MP Antonin Brousek found nearly half of all rapes and gang rapes committed in Berlin last year were carried out by non-Germans.
According to state government data, 7,475 sexual offenses were recorded in 2024, including rape and sexual harassment. Of the 754 identified rape suspects, 373 did not have German citizenship. Similarly, in cases of sexual harassment, 701 suspects were identified, of whom 353 were non-Germans.
These figures are always skewed, however, as foreign-born nationals who have since been naturalized are categorized as German.
Following the horrific assault and attempted rape suffered by Brazilian tourist Jhordana on Oct. 15 on a Paris RER C train, discussions about possible solutions to the increasing number of sexual assaults and harassment in France are growing. While many on the left are proposing women-only train cars, many women are pointing out that the true threat is “massive, uncontrolled immigration.”
On X, French MEP Marion Maréchal wrote: “83% of victims of sexual violence in Île-de-France transport are French, while 61% of those accused of these acts are foreign. The problem is not men, the problem is mass immigration.”
83% des victimes de violences sexuelles dans les transports d’Île-de-France sont françaises, tandis que 61% des mis en cause pour ces faits sont étrangers.
Le problème, ce ne sont pas les hommes ; le problème, c’est l’immigration de masse. pic.twitter.com/fNmKvoh4f6
In addition, Astrid Mae, a spokeswoman for the French feminist group Collectif Némésis, said the left’s suggestion that women-only train cars should be implemented is nothing more than a “band-aid” for a social wound.
“There is a problem of massive, uncontrolled immigration. We know that today, 62 percent of sexual assaults on public transport in the Ile-de-France region are committed by foreigners,” she said.
🇫🇷"There is a problem of massive, uncontrolled immigration. We know that today, 62% of sexual assaults on public transport in the Ile-de-France region are committed by foreigners."
The video of the Brazilian woman struggling to avoid being raped is difficult viewing, but it has thrust the role of foreigners in sexual harassment and rape into the spotlight once again.
Mae said the solution to the crisis is not segregation.
“Are we going to put a policeman behind every woman on public transport? And it’s not just public transport. It’s in the street, all the time. Unfortunately, it’s global. Are we going to create women-only parks? We’re talking about segregation. Rights are withdrawn. What’s the next step? We’re going to veil all women to prevent them from being attacked? You can really find it gets absurd,” she said.
🇫🇷🚨 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)
A petition launched on Change.org on Oct. 24 calls on Île-de-France Mobilités and SNCF to “take concrete action” against the scourge of insecurity faced by women. Tens of thousands of people have signed it.
🇫🇷🔴 "it seems he is looking for prey."
Serial groper, Tunisian migrant Nidhal O., sexually assaulted 3 different women in the Paris Metro — all on camera.
He was arrested in December 2023 and was finally sentenced to 11 years in prison on Sept. 26.
The petition’s author, Marie K., a resident of Val-d’Oise who regularly takes the RER D, said such initiatives have worked in other countries such as Mexico, Japan, India, and Dubai, where “these measures have become the norm.”
The petition also demands “strengthened surveillance and security measures” in these women-only areas and to “conduct an independent evaluation of the project by involving female passengers.”
“Safety is not a privilege, it is a fundamental right,” she wrote in her petition. “Île-de-France can become the first region in France to set an example by making public transportation a truly safe space for women. Women should not feel fear on every journey. They have the right to travel in peace and safety.”
🇫🇷‼️ A young French woman recounts her recent experience on the metro in Paris:
"I was called a whore on the metro for wearing shorts. I don't think I have to tell you the kind of people they were. What's your problem? When are you going to leave us alone?" pic.twitter.com/EAXzpqVztb
She seems to blame the issue more on men than foreigners, writing: “As long as the system doesn’t protect us, I consider this idea a temporary and necessary measure, at least to reduce the risks. And to be honest, I don’t believe in the idea of re-educating aggressive men. It’s a nice theory, but it doesn’t work in reality.”
Clearly, women do not feel safe in France. According to a study by the National Observatory of Violence Against Women published in March, it showed that 56 percent of the women did not feel safe on the Paris region’s rail network, while 80 percent stated they were on “high alert.”
As Remix News previously reported, women are increasingly changing their clothes before they enter the French public transportation system in order to avoid being targeted with sexual harassment.
🇫🇷🔴 Many young women in France have a "subway shirt" for avoiding harassment on the train system.
It has become a "reflex" to put on more clothing before getting on public transport, even in summer.
A 50-year-old woman has given a harrowing account of the torture she endured after being kidnapped and held for a week inside a drug den in Alicante’s Juan XXIII neighborhood. The interview, broadcast on Cuatro’s “En boca de todos,” came days after the National Police confirmed the arrest of an Algerian national accused of leading the attack.
In her testimony, the victim — identified only as Eva — described being tied up, beaten, burned, and raped repeatedly over seven days. Speaking from her hospital bed, she said she was awaiting surgery in the burns unit for injuries to her chest and abdomen. “Half of my body is burned,” she said, explaining that her attackers used a blowtorch to torture her. “They cut my hair with a knife, and that’s when the torture began with the blowtorch. The next day, the rapes began.”
Eva said she was taken to the apartment by a woman she knew, who told her that some “friends from San Juan” wanted to meet her. “When I got there, I went to the bathroom. I took a few puffs from a joint, and when I came out, she was gone,” Eva recalled. “Then he came in and punched me so hard he destroyed my eye. He hit me again in the ear, then tied me up with zip ties. I was on the floor when the torture began.”
“Who were these bastards?” asked the interviewer, to which Eva replied, “Three Arab Algerians.”
She said she was kept locked in a small room “lined with cardboard” to muffle her screams, where she was burned and assaulted daily. “I wanted to die from the first moment,” she said through tears. “I couldn’t understand why a person could do that without even knowing you, just by your face.”
By the seventh day, Eva said she was convulsing and feverish from her injuries. “They said they were going to put me in a car and dump me in an empty field so I’d die there,” she said. She only survived after another woman — the same acquaintance who had brought her to the apartment — briefly returned. “I told her, ‘Help me, call the police, get out of here, look what they’ve done to me. What they’ve done to me, they’ll do to you too.'”
The woman fled and contacted police the next day. When officers arrived, they found Eva lying semi-conscious on the floor, suffering from burns on her torso and legs. “When the police came in, they were like angels,” she said. “Most of them knew me, but they hadn’t recognized me because they’d cut off my hair.”
According to the National Police, the ordeal began on Nov. 1. The main suspect, an Algerian man, has been charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and torture. Two other men — one Algerian and one Spanish citizen — were present during the assault and are accused of unlawful detention for preventing Eva from escaping. Both claimed they acted under duress.
Police said the main suspect had been arrested the previous night on an unrelated charge, which helped investigators locate him quickly once Eva’s statement was taken. He has since been remanded in pre-trial detention.
Authorities say the investigation remains open to establish the full circumstances of the crime and the degree of involvement of the other two suspects.
According to the German police, it is absolutely clear: the Nord Stream 2 bombing was carried out by an elite Ukrainian military unit under the direct supervision of the then Ukrainian commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhnyi. The investigation was not only complicated by the Ukrainians, but the Poles may also have contributed to the escape of one of the suspects.
For three years, a German investigative team gathered every weekday morning at the German federal police headquarters in Potsdam, Berlin, to find out who was behind the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. They quickly realized that the Ukrainians were behind the attack and continued the investigation despite pressure that finding the perpetrators could jeopardize support for Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Poland has already refused to extradite one suspect to face trial in Germany. Instead, he is being hailed as a hero for blowing up the pipeline.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the investigation ridiculous. The problem is not that the pipeline was blown up, he said. The “problem is that it was built.”
The September 2022 explosions released a massive amount of methane into the Baltic Sea, the largest human-caused release of the greenhouse gas ever recorded. Some American and German officials have accused Russia of carrying out the explosions. The Kremlin has claimed that the United States and the United Kingdom were behind the attack.
German police, prosecutors and others familiar with the complexities of the case, however, claimed to have a clear picture of how an elite Ukrainian military unit carried out the attacks under the direct supervision of the then Ukrainian commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhnyi.
The investigation
By tracking boat rental companies, telephone numbers and license plates, the Potsdam team laid the groundwork for German authorities to issue arrest warrants for three Ukrainian special forces soldiers and four veteran deep-sea divers, sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
The crucial piece of evidence was a grainy black-and-white photo taken by a German speed camera. The image showed the face of a Ukrainian deep-sea diver, whom police identified using commercially available facial recognition software. Within minutes, they found social media profiles and professional websites that contained links to other suspects in the case.
The Ukrainian diver, who was tracked down by the team in Poland, was later taken to Ukraine in a black BMW with diplomatic license plates, driven by the Ukrainian military attaché in Warsaw.
The Ukrainian government declined to comment on the matter. A senior Ukrainian official said privately that Kyiv acted after being warned by the Polish government.
The commander of the operation was found in Italy, where he was on vacation.
Serhii K. may soon be extradited to the Germans by Italian authorities, but according to the Wall Street Journal, bringing him to trial could worsen Ukrainian-German relations.
However, despite the diplomatic consequences, the Germans want to bring Serhii K. to justice, who is currently on hunger strike in an Italian prison, claiming that he is not being provided with food suitable for his vegan lifestyle. Once he is in condition to be transported, the Germans have already prepared a plane to fly him to Hamburg.
A 25-year-old Algerian migrant, who was supposed to be in a semi-open detention unit, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at Maule station in Yvelines, France.
The assault took place on Nov. 2 while the teenager was waiting for a train home. The man, who was under an obligation to return to his facility in Villejuif that afternoon, instead remained in Maule, claiming later in court that he was “sick” and had stayed with his girlfriend.
According to the case presented at the Versailles Criminal Court as cited by Actu, the man approached the victim shortly after 6 p.m., asking for help buying a travel pass. As she assisted him, he became aggressive, asking if he could kiss her. When she refused, he grabbed her and kissed her by force. The court heard how the girl moved away to a bench, but he followed her, caressing her body and moving toward her genitals.
The assault continued briefly on the train before she managed to distance herself.
The accused, who required an interpreter in court, denied wrongdoing. He claimed he already knew the girl and that their contact had been consensual.
“I had met her before in Mantes-la-Jolie and she told me she was 19. I’m not the kind of person who attacks women,” he told the judges.
The victim contested this entirely. She told the court she had never seen him before and had not been to Mantes-la-Jolie in a long time.
“When he kissed me, I felt panic and confusion,” she said. “I didn’t understand what was happening. I just wanted it to stop.”
Her father testified that she had self-harmed after the assault, saying she wanted to erase the places on her body where she had been touched.
The man, who arrived in France in 2018, has six prior convictions, including for indecent exposure to a minor. The court heard that he consumes cannabis daily and regularly drinks alcohol, despite serving time in an open detention facility.
The prosecutor described his explanations as inconsistent and implausible, saying the victim’s account was fully supported by the evidence.
The prosecution requested a 30-month prison term and a permanent expulsion order from French territory. The judges ultimately imposed a harsher penalty: three years for the sexual assault and an additional six months for violating the conditions of his semi-open detention.
After completing his three and a half year sentence, he will be expelled from France.
In yet another sign of the rampant corruption in Ukraine, Ukrainian security forces raided the apartment of Timur Mindich, a businessman associated with President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, the oligarch had already left the country just hours before, likely after being tipped off by an insider.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) says that $100 million is believed to have been siphoned off due to a “money laundering operation,” and other associates were involved. The 15-month investigation featured 1,000 hours of wiretapping and resulted in 70 raids, according to NABU.
There are numerous reports speculating that Mindich, who has close connections to Israel and just celebrated his birthday there, fled to Israel, but so far, most media reports do not disclose his destination country.
In a statement, NABU indicated that several individuals had formed a criminal gang and built “a large-scale corruption scheme to influence strategic enterprises in the public sector, in particular Energoatom.”
The scheme involved forcing Energoatom’s counterparties to pay kickbacks of approximately 10 to 15 percent of contract values in order to avoid having payments for services or goods blocked, or possibly losing their status as suppliers, the bureau reported.
NABU indicated that the raids and arrests were a part of an operation code-named “Midas,” with the initial investigations already launched in 2024.
“Particular attention was paid to cryptocurrencies. Most operations, including cash withdrawals, took place outside Ukraine. For example, during foreign delegations of representatives of state bodies and the management of state-owned energy sector enterprises,” NABU notes.
Mindich, 46, is from the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine. He is a film producer and former business partner of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
He reportedly has links to Israel. Mindich celebrated his birthday in Israel in September, returned to Ukraine in mid-October and then went to Israel again, according to Ukrainska Pravda’s sources.
Mindich is also a long-time friend of Zelensky, with whom he co-owned production company Kvartal 95 until Zelensky transferred his stake to partners after being elected president in 2019.
Mindich also co-owns Green Family Ltd, a Cypriot firm that co-founded film production companies in Russia, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Kolomoisky told Ukrainska Pravda in 2022 that Mindich had introduced him to Zelensky before he became president.
In 2019, Zelensky drove an armored car provided by Mindich, RFE/RL reported.
Notably, Zelensky ran into serious hot water with the entire European Union when he attempted to eliminate NABU’s independence, which sparked outrage in Brussels. At the time, it sparked the first large-scale protests in the city since the war broke out. Zelensky was forced to backtrack, but the investigation into his associate may have played a vital role in Zelensky’s efforts to neuter NABU.
As part of the investigation, NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) released excerpts from audio recordings featuring conversations between individuals using the pseudonyms “Rakieta,” “Tenor,” and “Karlson.” They discussed investments in the energy sector, the distribution of bribes, and potential personnel changes within the Ministry of Energy and Enerhoatom itself.
According to reports from the website “Ukrainska Pravda,” the suspects include Mindich as well as Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, whose home was also searched. He previously served as energy minister.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the matter in his evening address, emphasizing the need to hold those responsible accountable.
“All effective measures against corruption are crucial. The certainty of punishment is essential. Enerhoatom currently provides the largest share of energy production in Ukraine. Cleanliness at this company is a priority,” Zelenskyy said.
Already, three in four Ukrainians believe Zelensky is at fault for corruption in the country. This latest case is sure to ramp up pressure on his regime, which refuses to hold elections.
According to a survey conducted by the Foundation for Democratic Initiatives and the Kyiv International Sociological Institute, with the support of the Prague Center for Civil Society, 77.6 percent of Ukrainian respondents blame the Ukrainian leader for endemic corruption.
Notably, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is coming under fire from the EU for refusing to move forward with Ukraine’s EU membership, despite the fact that it is rife with corruption, is currently engaged in a war with Russia, and has abandoned democracy long ago, including canceling opposition parties, refusing to hold elections, and shutting down numerous media outlets.
Russia gleeful after mass raids
Russia recognizes how embarrassing the raids on Zelensky’s associate are and how potentially dangerous they are for his continued rule.
Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, stated that “Mindich is one of Zelensky’s main wallets, but not the only one. Now there is a surge of panic and fear in Zelensky’s entourage. And troubled times are coming for Zelensky himself.”
He described “panic” inside Zelensky’s regime, and he said that his entourage is now accusing NABU of working with Russia.
“It will look doubly ridiculous. NABU is a purely American tool for controlling funds and combating Zelensky’s exorbitant thievish appetites,” Rogov said.
The German government has sent letters offering Afghan nationals taxpayer-funded cash incentives to withdraw from resettlement programs and either return to Afghanistan or move to a third country, as reported by the German Press Agency (dpa).
The letters, distributed via the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), offer several thousand euros in compensation and logistical support, such as transport, medical assistance, and three months of psychosocial care to Afghan nationals awaiting resettlement flights in their home country and neighboring Pakistan.
The federal interior ministry, cited by Welt, said the voluntary offer is meant to “give those who cannot expect to be accepted in Germany a future.”
Recipients were told that all local admission procedures must be completed by the end of 2025 and warned that “there is no guarantee all steps can be completed on time.” The deadline to accept the offer is Nov. 17, after which re-entry into the relocation process will not be possible.
Over 2,000 Afghan nationals are currently awaiting transfer to Germany under various protection and resettlement schemes. The current CDU/CSU-SPD coalition government suspended the previous administration’s admission programs for Afghans in May, but flights have continued to arrive since the Berlin Administrative Court ruled that the government must honor its previous commitments to admit an Afghan woman and her 13 family members in a landmark case.
The court found that previously issued admission approvals were legally binding and could not be revoked, ordering the Foreign Ministry to act immediately. While the government had the opportunity to appeal the decision, it withdrew its application in August, finalizing the ruling.
The interior ministry defended the financial incentive proposal, saying it targets those whose resettlement approvals were never finalized.
The various Afghan resettlement schemes were launched in 2021 after the Taliban retook control of the country. Applicants were required to travel to Pakistan for visa processing and security screening before entering Germany.
The government argues that the suspension of admissions is necessary due to “security and procedural concerns” fuelled by newspaper reports earlier this year that only one in eight Afghans admitted under special protection programs had undergone full security vetting before arrival. The report claimed that more than 31,000 Afghans and family members entered Germany without complete background checks.
The federal police union (DPolG) urged a total suspension of flights, citing identity-verification failures and terrorism concerns. “The current procedure, in which travel documents are issued despite identities not being fully verified, is highly risky and irresponsible,” said DPolG chief Heiko Teggatz in March.
In Bavaria, native German speakers are now in the minority in almost one in five regular school classes, according to figures released by the Bavarian Ministry of Education in response to a parliamentary inquiry from AfD lawmaker Markus Walbrunn.
The ministry said 10,555 regular classes last school year mostly comprised students whose mother tongue is not German, and 257 regular classes had no native German speakers at all.
The data covers the 2024/25 academic year. It said students without a migration background were a minority in 11,110 regular classes, equal to 18.5 percent of all classes. In 320 regular classes, every student had a migration background.
Walbrunn, as cited by Nius, called the data a “wake-up call for Bavaria,” arguing that pupils who do not speak German at home “will not only find it harder to follow the lessons themselves, but ultimately also jeopardize the educational success of their classmates due to the additional attention they require from teachers.”
He accused the state government led by CSU Minister-PresidentMarkus Söder of boasting “with empty promises of integration,” adding, “our children are becoming a minority in their own classrooms.”
In total, 13,290 classes have a majority of children with a migration background, 11,110 of them regular classes. Some 12,639 classes consist mostly of students with a non-German mother tongue, including 10,555 regular classes. In 1,064 classes — 920 of them regular — German native speakers account for exactly half. At the school level, six general education schools reported that all students have a migration background, and two schools reported no students with German as a mother tongue.
A majority of students have a migration background at 852 schools statewide, 810 of them regular schools; 807 schools are predominantly attended by students whose mother tongue is not German, including 772 regular schools.
The Bavarian Ministry of Education said “cultural diversity in the school context” is “everyday life, a challenge, and an opportunity for learners and teachers.” It said Bavaria focuses on “diverse educational opportunities tailored to children’s abilities and talents, thus promoting integration rather than segregation,” and noted that schools with a high share of children with insufficient German are “supported with various funding programs and resources.”
The debate is not confined to Bavaria. Federal Education Minister Karin Prien signaled openness this summer to exploring limits on the concentration of students with a migration background in individual classes, saying, “I think it always makes sense to look at the experiences of other countries to see whether it ends up being 30 percent or 40 percent.”
Bavaria’s overall migrant share, around 27 percent, is lower than in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, and Bremen, where shares range roughly from the low thirties to above 40 percent.
AfD co-chair Alice Weidel, reacting to a separate report on school disorder, said last week, “Our children are paying the price for the establishment’s complete failure of migration policy!”
Hilferuf einer Ludwigshafener Realschule mit über 90% Migrationsanteil: Täglich Gewalt, Drohungen, permanente Polizeieinsätze. Lehrer, die um ihr Leben fürchten. Unsere Kinder zahlen den Preis für das migrationspolitische Totalversagen der Etablierten! ! https://t.co/B1uyp7tJtl
Concerns about classroom safety and language proficiency have been amplified by recent high-profile incidents reported elsewhere in Germany. In Ludwigshafen, teachers at the Karolina-Burger-Realschule Plus wrote a 10-page letter to authorities describing violence, threats, and severe disciplinary problems. “Ms. XY, aren’t you afraid that someone will stab you from behind when you stand with your back to the class?” one passage read, while another student allegedly shouted, “I’ll shoot you all.”
Police recorded 121 incidents at the school between 2022 and 2024, 118 of which resulted in criminal complaints, according to local reporting.
In May, a 16-year-old student threatened a teacher with a knife, for which he will face detention proceedings for attempted manslaughter next month, according to Welt.
The school in question, which has reported on average one case a week for the past three years of sexualized insults against female teachers, has a migration background of over 90 percent.
Other cases have sparked broader debate about integration, language, and school climate. In Berlin, a primary school teacher said he endured months of abuse, including “Gay is disgusting,” and reported that some Muslim students told him he was a “disgrace to the family” who would “end up in hell,” with one student declaring, “Islam is in charge here.”
In another Berlin case, the parents of a 10-year-old girl named Emilia said their daughter suffered repeated assaults and threats on school grounds and has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. “Someone gets beaten up every break,” Emilia told Bild.
The family said that during a mediation attempt with another student’s parents, “(the boy’s) sister, who attends the neighboring high school, had to translate because the parents hardly speak any German.”
School leaders warn that some children arrive without the German required for learning the curriculum, undermining the idea that language can simply be “absorbed” in the playground.
“No child here is swimming in German waters, they remain in their Arab, Turkish, Afghan pools,” one principal was quoted as saying, adding that some students develop a basic slang of “50–100 words” that is insufficient for academic work.
Spanish police have arrested a 27-year-old Algerian woman in Alicante for allegedly pouring an irritant liquid into the eyes of her 2-year-old son over a period of several months, leaving him partially blind and requiring months of hospital care.
The case came to light after staff at the Doctor Balmis General Hospital grew suspicious of the child’s recurring eye inflammation, which failed to respond to treatment.
As reported by Europa Press, doctors noted that the boy became visibly distressed whenever his mother was present, but calmed down when she was absent. When his mother was removed from contact with him under a court order, his condition rapidly improved.
The child had been hospitalized since August and was discharged only recently, now living with a foster family under protective custody.
Medical specialists concluded that the injuries were not caused by illness but by “human action,” prompting hospital administrators to alert the authorities, who later opened the investigation that led to the woman’s arrest.
The suspect also has a 7-year-old daughter born in Algeria, who is now totally blind, with authorities investigating whether the mother was also responsible for the rapid deterioration in her daughter’s vision.
The woman is suspected of suffering from a psychiatric condition known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which involves a caregiver deliberately causing symptoms in someone under their care to gain attention or sympathy.
According to the police investigation, the woman arrived in Alicante in February 2020 with her daughter, who was already experiencing severe vision loss before later being declared blind. Two Algerian medical reports confirmed that her condition was irreversible, and the child received further treatment in Spain.
While in Alicante, the woman had another child with a 44-year-old Algerian man who has lived in Spain for more than two decades. In 2023, she contacted police, saying she wished to surrender her two children because she was unable to care for them after separating from her partner. Both parents were briefly detained for suspected child abandonment, and the siblings were placed in temporary state care before the mother was later reunited with them. It is unclear why the mother was granted custody of the children.
In January of this year, the boy was again admitted to the hospital with severe keratoconjunctivitis. Medical staff later determined that his recurring injuries were caused by exposure to an irritant substance rather than infection.
A judicial restraining order against the mother was issued, and investigators say the child’s eyesight began to recover once contact with his mother ceased.
The National Police said the investigation remains ongoing to determine the full scope of the mother’s actions and her psychological condition.
An Algerian national has been placed in pre-trial detention in Alicante after police rescued a woman who had been kidnapped, tortured, and raped for several days inside a drug den in the city’s Juan XXIII neighborhood.
The 50-year-old victim was found on Friday morning, semi-conscious and suffering from burns on her torso and legs, according to the National Police.
As reported by El Debate, the investigation began after a young woman went to the property the previous evening to buy drugs and encountered the captive victim, who discreetly pleaded for help. The witness waited until the following day to alert authorities, who then mounted an operation that led to the woman’s rescue and the arrest of those involved.
Police said the ordeal began on Nov. 1, when the victim went to the apartment accompanied by an acquaintance who works as a prostitute. When she tried to leave, the main suspect allegedly attacked her, beating her, tying her up with cable ties, and cutting her hair. For the next week, she was kept locked in a room lined with cardboard, where she was repeatedly raped and tortured with a small blowtorch.
Two other men — one Algerian and one Spanish — were also present in the apartment. Although they did not take part in the assaults, investigators say they prevented the woman from escaping or calling for help. Both claimed they acted under duress from the main assailant and have been arrested on charges of unlawful detention.
Police sources confirmed that the primary suspect had already been arrested the night before on an unrelated matter, which enabled officers to locate him quickly once the victim’s statement was taken. He was brought before a judge and subsequently remanded to prison.
The National Police said the investigation remains open to determine the full circumstances of the kidnapping and the degree of involvement of the two other suspects.
France’s anti-terror prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into a suspected terrorist plot connected to Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving member of the jihadist terror cell responsible for the November 2015 attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis.
The probe comes less than a week before France marks the tenth anniversary of the attacks, in which 130 people were murdered at the Bataclan concert hall, cafés, and the Stade de France.
According to the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT), cited by France24, three people are now in custody, including Abdeslam’s partner.
Abdeslam, who is serving a life sentence without parole at Vendin-le-Vieil prison in Pas-de-Calais, had been briefly taken into custody earlier this week in an investigation that began in January 2025 over the illegal possession of a USB key in prison. That case has since been expanded to include suspicions of “terrorist conspiracy with a view to preparing a crime against persons,” the PNAT announced on Saturday.
After being detained on Tuesday, Abdeslam was released on Friday, though the investigation continues. The prosecutor’s office confirmed that a second person — identified by Le Parisien as Maëva B., a 27-year-old woman who maintained a long correspondence with Abdeslam before being allowed to visit him — was also detained on Tuesday. Her custody has been extended beyond the initial 96 hours under exceptional measures invoked only when there is “a serious risk of an imminent terrorist attack.”
The PNAT said Maëva B. is being held on suspicion of receiving stolen goods and criminal terrorist conspiracy. Two other individuals were arrested on Friday as part of the same investigation, also on suspicion of terrorist conspiracy. Their custody is ongoing.
Le Parisien reported on Monday that the two other suspects are Maëva B.’s new 20-year-old male partner and a teenage girl.
“These two individuals are described as particularly radicalized. One reportedly wishes to join a jihadist organization, while the other is allegedly trying to incite Maëva B. to commit an attack on French soil, a plan whose precise details were still being determined by the investigation,” it wrote.
According to a prison union source cited by AFP, “USB key connections were found” on Abdeslam’s prison computer, which he was authorized to use for coursework but under “very limited conditions.” The USB key itself, reportedly used to transfer jihadist propaganda, has not been recovered.
Abdeslam’s detention status as a “particularly dangerous prisoner” means he is subject to regular cell transfers and systematic searches of his belongings. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday that he had ordered “systematic searches for the most dangerous prisoners” shortly after taking office at the Ministry of Justice in December 2024. “That means there have been undeniable malfunctions,” Darmanin said.
Viennese teachers are reporting growing challenges with students from immigrant backgrounds who are increasingly unwilling to learn German or adapt to local values, according to teachers’ union representative Thomas Krebs of the Christian Trade Unionists Group (FCG).
Speaking to Heute, Krebs said many of those arriving from conflict or crisis regions now bring radical beliefs that pose problems in Austrian classrooms.
“In the past, people fled from extremism. Now, many people come to us radicalized by extremism and spread these ideas here as well,” said Krebs. He cited incidents of female teachers being disrespected or assaulted by male students and parents, saying such behavior reflects imported attitudes that reject gender equality. “This disrespect ranges from refusing to shake hands to insults and physical assaults,” he added.
Krebs said the problem also affects staff relations, with reports of some male teachers refusing to shake hands with female colleagues for similar reasons. He warned that children from Western or secular families are sometimes treated as inferior by classmates, while those from conservative backgrounds who wish to integrate face pressure to conform. “Students from Western cultural backgrounds are not seen as equals,” Krebs said, adding that liberal democratic values are often dismissed in favor of religious rules.
According to the union, teachers frequently encounter resistance to Austria’s educational standards. “Our educational principles are often rejected. For example, religious content is prioritized over the content of the curriculum prescribed by Austrian law,” Krebs stated.
The FCG union is calling for new measures to address what it describes as a widening integration gap. It wants not only mandatory German-language instruction but also compulsory integration programs held outside of school, with attendance monitored by authorities.
“Effective teaching is only possible if there is also a willingness to integrate,” Krebs said. “The values of our democratic society must be conveyed in such a way that fundamental rights and culture are understood as an enrichment and not opposed.”
Recent data and testimony have reinforced concerns about language barriers and integration in Vienna’s schools. Of the roughly 16,700 first-graders enrolled in the city, more than 44 percent — about 7,400 children — do not have sufficient German skills to follow lessons. In the 2018/2019 school year, the proportion was 30 percent. Officials note that around 60 percent of these students were actually born in Austria, suggesting that many are growing up in what commentator Andreas Mölzer described as “closed parallel societies that simply refuse integration.”
“This means they grow up in families and closed parallel societies that simply refuse integration. Integration into our social system and our cultural fabric depends primarily on language acquisition,” Mölzer wrote in the Austrian daily Krone, warning that many such children risk “entering life without a qualification and with limited career prospects.”
Freedom Party (FPÖ) education spokesman Hermann Brückl called the situation “a full-blown educational emergency,” claiming that “German is becoming a foreign language in our own classrooms.” He pointed to data showing that 41.2 percent of students in Vienna’s compulsory schools now identify as Muslim, surpassing Christian students, who make up 34.5 percent. The figures were confirmed by the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF).
Brückl’s party argued that political leaders have failed to address “parallel societies” in schools. “Instead of demanding achievement and integration, parallel societies are being cultivated directly in our schools,” Brückl said, adding that the number of pupils in German-language support courses has grown by a third since 2019, and those in special education classes have doubled.
Last October, former principal and author Christian Klar warned of what he called a “rapid Islamization” of Austrian schools. In an interview last year, he said schools in Vienna’s northern districts now have up to 90 percent of students from migrant backgrounds, leading to “increasing pressure on non-Muslim students” and rising anti-Semitic incidents. Klar argues that Austrian schools must “take a massive stand” against fundamentalist attitudes and ensure that classrooms remain neutral spaces free of religious coercion.
Teachers’ unions report that Vienna’s schools are struggling to cope. Krebs previously said staff resignations are increasing, citing “violence, extremism, and misogyny” as the main reasons. Evelyn Kometter, chair of Austria’s national parents’ association, described classrooms where “only three out of 22 students can speak German,” forcing teachers to repeat instructions multiple times. “By then, two-thirds of the lesson is already over,” she said.
Krebs warned that expanding capacity alone will not solve the problem. “They can think of nothing better to do than to plow up the last green spaces and sports facilities for schools with excavators and construction equipment and to pave them over with containers and huge extensions without any real plan,” he said.
A majority of Germans oppose key government climate protection proposals such as banning combustion engines, restricting meat consumption, or imposing flat-rate taxes on air travel, according to a YouGov poll conducted shortly before the 30th UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.
The survey suggests that citizens are more likely to back environmental measures that either benefit them directly or avoid placing major financial burdens on households.
As reported by Stern, 69 percent of respondents said they opposed a ban on diesel and petrol vehicles, while 68 percent were against limiting weekly purchases of meat and dairy products, while 56 percent rejected the idea of higher air travel costs through a flat-rate ticket tax.
Conversely, strong majorities supported subsidies for energy-efficient housing (69 percent), measures to strengthen domestic production (71 percent), bans on single-use plastics (69 percent), and higher taxes on high-emission companies (66 percent).
The German government has pledged to reach climate neutrality by 2045 — sooner than many industrialized nations—but its progress in reducing emissions has slowed, particularly in the transport and housing sectors. According to the survey, while most Germans agree that climate change is a serious issue and largely caused by human activity, the willingness to change personal behavior remains limited.
Only around a quarter of those surveyed said they would voluntarily reduce air travel or meat consumption, or switch to an electric car. Even fewer expressed willingness to stop eating animal products altogether or to buy only second-hand clothing. Measures that are convenient or low-cost — such as avoiding single-use plastics or adding greenery to balconies — were far more popular.
Despite a reluctance to alter lifestyles, 46 percent of Germans believe the worst effects of climate change can still be prevented if drastic changes are implemented, while 16 percent think the status quo is sufficient, and 15 percent believe it is already too late to avert the crisis.
Concern about global warming has nonetheless declined: 63 percent say they are worried about the issue, the lowest figure for two years, as global conflicts, inflation, and energy prices take center stage.
In an unusually forceful speech, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of the far-left Social Democrats (SPD), suggested banning the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. His speech immediately provoked sharp condemnation from the AfD party and even led the prominent Welt newspaper to argue the speech would only bolster support for the AfD.
The AfD immediately took issue with President Steinmeier’s comments concerning the banning of a political party. Bernd Baumann, the AfD parliamentary group’s chief whip, reacted strongly to the president’s remarks, writing:
“Never has a Federal President abused his office so much. He calls for ban proceedings against the AfD, and he wants to prevent any cooperation in any parliament. He places the AfD at the same level as Nazi murderers. Because of such demonization, the Antifa burned the fifth car in front of my house – in just one year, with a call for murder against me.”
Nie mißbrauchte ein Bundespräsident sein Amt so massiv: Ruft zu Verbotsverfahren gegen die AfD auf. Will in Parlamenten jede Zusammenarbeit verhindern. Stellt AfD in eine Reihe mit Nazimördern. Wegen solcher Verteufelung verbrannte die Antifa das fünfte Auto vor meinem Haus – in… pic.twitter.com/IvM4NGZFHk
Notably, Baumann was targeted just last week in an arson attack outside his house, which led to five cars being burned, including both his and his wife’s cars. He has been the repeated victim of Antifa violence over the last year.
Baumann’s criticism stemmed from a speech given by Steinmeier to commemorate Nov. 9, focusing significantly on the 1938 pogrom against Jews.
Baumann claimed that by stating “We must act,” Steinmeier was directly advocating for a ban on the AfD. Furthermore, Baumann accused the president of trying to preclude any parliamentary collaboration with the AfD—a party which, based on current polls, is the strongest political force in the country.
Steinmeier did not mention the AfD in his speech, but political analysts across the spectrum of opinion wrote that the speech was clearly aimed at the AfD. Steinmeier said: “There must be no political cooperation with extremists. Not in government, not in parliament. If this excludes a portion of the democratically elected parliament from shaping policy, then that exclusion is self-imposed.”
Baumann also told Handelsblatt newspaper that Steinmeier had used the Nov. 9 anniversary to place the AfD “in the same category as the Nazi murderers.”
However, it is not only the AfD condemning Steinmeier, who did not directly reference the AfD but obviously alluded to the party in his speech.
As the top story on the influential Welt newspaper website, Fatina Keilani also slammed Steinmeier, casting his calls for a ban as anti-democratic.
“The Federal President wants to defend democracy – and declares war on the AfD without naming it. In doing so, he fails to recognize that a good democrat should defend dissenting opinions, not fight them.
“Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has never given a speech that was truly memorable. On Sunday, however, he delivered a speech that was so disturbingly misguided in places that it sent chills down one’s spine.
“For Steinmeier, there are right and wrong opinions, there are the good guys and the bad guys. When he says ‘militant democracy,’ it sounds like a democracy of thought control. He even invokes the framers of the Basic Law – yet, in their spirit, he should be advocating for precisely the opposite. Freedom is defended even at the extremes! This includes the Left Party and the AfD, as long as they aren’t banned.
“Ah yes, party bans. He claims this is a last resort, but if it has to be done, it has to be done, Steinmeier says.
‘We mustn’t slide first into a new fascination with authoritarianism and then into a new lack of freedom,’ only to then advocate for precisely that.”
During his address, Steinmeier advocated for a significantly “tougher legal and political fight against right-wing extremism.”
He specifically called on center-right parties to maintain a “firewall” to block cooperation with extremist forces. However, he also included a qualification, recognizing that center-left factions have a duty “not to complicate every debate with accusations of right-wing extremism and racism.”
On the issue of party proscription, Steinmeier argued that banning a political party was “no more undemocratic than excluding enemies of the constitution from running for district administrator or mayor.” He emphasized a clear legal principle: Anyone who pursues an alternative, non-liberal political system and actively pursues “aggressive hostility towards the constitution must always reckon with the possibility of being banned.”
While Steinmeier did not explicitly name the AfD — which German domestic intelligence classifies as a suspected right-wing extremist organization — he made clear that any final decision regarding a party ban rests solely with the Constitutional Court.
A month after the brutal beating of fairground operator Stefano Cena, Italian police have arrested three young people, two foreigners and one Italian citizen, but investigations continue. The brutal assault at “The Wine and Grape Festival” in Capena, just outside Rome, was caught on video and spread on social media.
The arrests are seen as a turning point in the investigation into the murder of 64-year-old Cena, known as “Luigi,” a carnival operator who died on Oct. 14 after being brutally beaten on Oct. 5. As reported by Italian newspaper RomaToday, the assault was not a simple street fight, as first reported, but rather a punitive attack, which was planned in advance.
🇮🇹🔴 Italian police have arrested 2 foreigners and 1 Italian citizen for beating elderly fairground operator Stefano Cena to death.
Cena was trying to defend his wife and son from attacks when he was murdered.
As reported by Il Messaggero, two 19-year-old foreigners and a 24-year-old Italian have been arrested. The three worked for Cena’s brother, also a fairground operator, with investigators exploring a potential family feud.
Investigators say Cena was involved in an argument with one of the perpetrators earlier in the night before the situation again escalated later in the evening. Video of the incident shows Cena trying to defend himself when at least five people attack him. Cena initially managed to get away.
However, Cena then noticed that the youths were targeting his wife and son, at which point, he approached the five men. He was thrown to the ground and suffered repeated critical blows.
During this act of defense, he suffered a “new and violent attack, falling to the ground and being hit repeatedly and brutally in vital parts.”
The police, alerted by citizens, only managed to stop the attackers when they had begun beating the victim’s son, who had also come to the aid of his parents.
Following investigations by the Italian police, coordinated by the Tivoli prosecutor’s office, the three suspects have been charged with voluntary homicide. The three are thought to have carried out the attack, but there are other perpetrators thought to be involved, with police continuing to search for suspects.
The investigation successfully “made it possible to reconstruct the exact dynamics of the aggression.” Decisive evidence came from video surveillance systems, telephone analyses, and on-site testimonies, which allowed authorities to identify and arrest the alleged perpetrators.
Six people were killed late on Thursday evening when a car transporting illegal migrants crashed into Lake Vaya near Burgas, Bulgaria, during a police chase.
The vehicle, registered in Romania and driven by a Romanian national, was carrying 10 people at the time of the crash, including the driver.
Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, director of the Bulgarian Border Police, confirmed the fatalities in an interview with broadcaster bTV. “Around 9:20 p.m., a patrol noticed the extremely aggressive and fast driving of the vehicle and tried to stop it. It did not obey,” Zlatanov said. He added that the entire incident unfolded within approximately 34 minutes.
BREAKING:
6 illegal migrants have been killed and 3 wounded after Bulgarian police placed spike strips in front of the car they were travelling in, causing it to flip into a lake.
The police chase took place near the coastal city of Burgas. A total of ten people were in the car… pic.twitter.com/5WaKSehhHu
According to Zlatanov, police had activated a coordinated response protocol designed to minimize risks after previous fatal incidents involving officers in the Burgas region. “We have a procedure in place, especially after the deaths of our colleagues in Burgas three years ago. We have trained both in simulation and in practice,” he said. “In case of disobedience, all patrols — border police, gendarmerie, and regional directorates of the Ministry of Interior — switch to one frequency so that everyone is aware of the situation and can take appropriate containment measures.”
He stressed that the top priority during such operations is public safety. “The main goal they must achieve is to preserve the lives and health of all citizens, all people, and cars that are around and on the road,” Zlatanov said.
The chase continued as the driver ignored repeated police signals to stop, changing direction twice before heading back toward Burgas, where police had set up a double checkpoint. Officers deployed a spiked barrier, but the suspect attempted to avoid it by driving closely behind another car, even making contact with it. “He drove closely behind it, even hitting it from behind once or twice. He wanted to drive closely next to him so that we wouldn’t use the spikes,” Zlatanov explained.
The vehicle subsequently lost control and plunged into Lake Vaya. Six migrants were killed in the crash, while the remaining three passengers and the driver survived and received medical treatment. The surviving migrants told police they were from Afghanistan.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, including how the Romanian driver came to be transporting the group and whether a wider smuggling network was involved.
After Italian police conducted a manhunt all night in Milan, they have made an arrest in the hit-and-run killing of 87-year-old Italian man Franco Bertolotti. Police report they have taken a 29-year-old Egyptian man into custody.
Yesterday, Bertolotti was crossing an intersection at Via Fratelli Bronzetti and Via Melloni when he was struck by a large white van, with the driver dragging his victim 10 meters. The suspect initially got out to check on the victim, then got into his vehicle and sped away.
When police and emergency responders arrived on scene, the victim was already in critical condition and suffered from multiple injuries, according to Italian news outlet Imolaoggi.it.
The elderly man died in Policlinico Hospital despite medical staff working hard to keep him alive.
Milan police say they were able to trace the man through his cell phone. They saw that someone at that intersection turned off their phone immediately after the hit-and-run, which the Italian police believed was an attempt by the perpetrator to avoid detection. The police launched a manhunt for that specific phone number and arrested the Egyptian suspect in Segrate, just outside Milan.
The Egyptian man is now being charged with vehicular homicide and failure to render aid.
No matter how much the left blusters, obfuscates, and censors, there is no denying the ongoing education disaster spreading across Western Europe due to mass immigration. As the latest figures from Vienna show, there is little hope of real improvement in the future. They have no real answer other than to hypocritically shelter their own children from the catastrophe they helped create.
The latest data shows that of the 16,700 first-graders in Austria’s largest city, Vienna, more than 44 percent do not have sufficient German language skills to follow lessons. That totals 7,400 students. The figure is incredible.
The data is also far worse than just six years ago. Then, in the 2018/19 school year, 30 percent of students fell into this category, who were classified as “special needs students” due to this serious language deficiency.
🇦🇹 Great Replacement in Austria's school system
More than 3 quarters of students in Vienna’s middle schools do not speak German at home, according to new statistics.
According to Statistics Austria's STATcube, only 8,479 of Vienna’s 26,816 middle school students use German as… pic.twitter.com/4Vf20aaLLt
The idea that these troubled students are all simply newcomers who will eventually integrate into Austrian society is met with a sobering reality.
Although the increase is in part due to the massive increase in foreigners coming to Austria in recent years due to family reunification, an incredible 60 percent of these “special needs” students who are not proficient in German were actually born in Austria.
Commentary writer for Austrian newspaper Krone, Andreas Mölzer, points out what this means in terms of future integration.
“This means they grow up in families and closed parallel societies that simply refuse integration. Integration into our social system and our cultural fabric depends primarily on language acquisition,” he writes.
Furthermore, he points out the obvious outcome of this development for the future.
“And all those children with a migration background who only learn German with difficulty and often only at a rudimentary level in school are at risk of entering life without a qualification and with limited career prospects,” writes Mölzer.
Beyond the struggles of these students, they make up such an incredibly large share of students in Vienna that they are sure to drag down the rest of the students in their classes. The obvious outcome is that more and more White Austrians are sending their children to private schools and even protesting against schools with a high proportion of foreigners — all while continuing to vote left. Many of these native-born ethnic Austrians either already live in wealthier neighborhoods, vote left, and live in districts where the migration percentage of children in the local schools is extremely low, or they send their children to private schools — while creating ample excuses as to why they are taking that route.
Meanwhile, poorer ethnic Austrians are stuck with the problems in the increasingly foreign neighborhoods that make up Vienna. For the wealthier, left-wing Austrians, these people not only do not overly matter, but if they complain, they are smeared as racist and bigoted.
Mölzer is open about this trend.
“Moreover, (students who cannot comprehend German) logically hinder the learning process and instruction for native-born children. No wonder, then, that in Vienna, if you can afford it, you can only send your children to private schools,” he wrote.
The education situation in Austria, overall, is extremely poor. In 2025, there are 46,385 students nationwide who are unable to follow lessons, which was a slight reduction from the previous school year, which had 48,450 students who could not follow lessons because they lacked sufficient German. However, the overall trend line has been disastrous over the last 10 years, dating back to when Austria truly opened itself up to mass immigration.
It is not just language issues. As Remix News has long documented, teachers are dropping out of the Austrian school system in droves due to violence, disrespect, and even serious cases of rape. In one case, seven foreign students were found guilty this year of gang raping, blackmailing, and setting their teacher’s apartment on fire.
🇦🇹🔴7 migrant youths are on trial for gang rape, blackmail, and arson against a teacher in a case that has shocked Austria.
Three of the youths are also accused of robbing the Austrian teacher and burning her apartment down in Vienna.
Recently, NEOS Education Minister Wiederkehr touted “achievements” in integration in the Austrian school system, prompting Austrian Freedom Party’s (FPÖ) education spokesperson, MP Hermann Brückl, to sharply criticized the situation.
“When one in four students now speaks a language other than German at home, and the number of students with special educational needs due to insufficient German skills is exploding, then we are no longer talking about a challenge, but a full-blown educational emergency. German is becoming a foreign language in our own classrooms because the established political parties are prioritizing their multicultural fantasies over the well-being of Austrian children. The future of our youth is being recklessly squandered here!” said Brückl.
He pointed to the situation in Vienna as “particularly dramatic.”
“Muslims already constitute the largest religious group in public compulsory schools, and in some districts over 70 percent of students do not speak German as their primary language. Instead of demanding achievement and integration, parallel societies are being cultivated directly in our schools. The result is a third more students in German language support courses and a doubling of the number of students in special education classes since 2019. The system is not on the verge of collapse, it has already collapsed,” the FPÖ MP stated.
Brückl’s data about the religious composition of Vienna’s schoolchildren is accurate. Of those enrolled at elementary, middle, and special schools for the 2024/25 academic year, 41.2% of the 112,600 students were of the Islamic faith, according to new figures from the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF). The data highlights the massive demographics changes Vienna is experiencing.
Brückl’s party, the FPÖ, is currently the most popular party in the country. A poll from Nov. 4 showed that 37 percent of Austrians are ready to vote the FPÖ into power, nearly double the second-place ÖVP.
🇦🇹 Austria | Legislative Election polling averages — November 5, 2025
Mothers of three in Hungary began receiving higher take-home pay this week after the government’s latest tax relief measure came into effect.
Under the new policy, personal income tax is no longer deducted from their salaries, allowing eligible women to retain their full gross income with expected average monthly gains of 109,000 Hungarian forints (€283), according to calculations by the Oeconomus Economic Research Institute.
The initiative, announced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán earlier this year, is part of what he described as “Europe’s largest tax reduction program.” As of Oct. 1, 2025, all mothers raising three children are exempt from paying personal income tax on income earned from work. The government estimates the measure will affect between 200,000 and 250,000 mothers, amounting to roughly 200 billion forints (€519 million) in annual tax savings across the country.
As reported by Magyar Nemzet, the impact is already visible for many families. Anna, a 43-year-old local government employee and mother of three from a town near Budapest, said her October salary increased by 117,000 forints (€303.50). “We plan to put the money aside and increase our savings,” she told the newspaper.
Krisztina, 55, who works as a manager at a multinational company, reported that her net pay rose by a little over 200,000 forints (€519). Her family, which includes two high school students and one university student, intends to save the extra income toward replacing their car and strengthening household savings.
The National Tax and Customs Administration clarified that the exemption applies to any woman who currently receives a family allowance for at least three children, or who did so for at least 12 years. The benefit applies regardless of the children’s ages or whether the mother is receiving other forms of family support.
Eligible income includes wages from employment, self-employment, and primary agricultural production, but excludes capital income such as dividends, rent, or exchange rate gains. The government has emphasized that the exemption is designed to reward working mothers, reflecting what officials describe as a “value-based” message of appreciation for those raising multiple children.
The measure builds on previous phases of Hungary’s family-friendly tax policy. Since 2020, mothers of four or more children have already been exempt from income tax, while people under 25 and mothers under 30 also enjoy full exemptions. From 2026, the benefit will gradually expand to mothers with two children, starting with those under 40, before extending to older age groups through 2029.
Officials expect the tax cuts to boost household spending and support economic growth, while reinforcing the government’s long-standing demographic strategy to strengthen traditional family structures.
A 47-year-old Kosovo Albanian man who worked in home care in the Swedish town of Ronneby has been charged with raping a female care recipient, according to the indictment filed this week.
The alleged assault took place in October 2023, when the caregiver is accused of inserting his fingers into the woman’s vagina without consent. The incident was reported to the police at the time.
Despite the seriousness of the charge, the man remains free more than two years later. Prosecutor Malin Rydell Almroth confirmed to the Samnytt news outlet that the man has not been detained, even though Swedish law generally presumes pre-trial detention for rape and other serious crimes carrying a minimum sentence of one and a half years in prison.
“It is generally a bit different whether a person is detained or not. This is not a recent act, but this investigation has been going on for some time,” Almroth said. “The strongest reason for having a person in custody is that there is a danger of collusion — that the suspect could influence the investigation by contacting the victim, witnesses, or by distorting evidence.”
She added that in cases where the victim and suspect do not have a close personal relationship, the perceived risk of interference can be lower. “Depending on the relationship between the victim and the suspect, it is not always the case that deprivation of liberty is necessary,” she said.
In 2015, Sweden let in 160,000 asylum seekers into their country and quickly became the bombing capital of Europe. As a result…
– 73% of all murders in the country… done by migrants – 70% of all robberies in the country… done by migrants – 85% of all the shootings in… pic.twitter.com/I7IbOE13GT
Asked whether the crime constitutes rape of a normal degree, Almroth confirmed: “Yes.” Sweden has a broader definition of rape than other Western countries, which includes, for instance, penetration with the fingers, albeit as a lesser aggravated category.
The accused, an Albanian man from Prizren who later became a Swedish citizen, requires an interpreter to communicate in Albanian during proceedings. Court documents reveal that he has a long criminal history, with 11 prior convictions, including for assault and driving without a license.
Roughly 10 years ago, he was convicted of assault, but this record did not prevent his employment in home care. He was again convicted earlier this year of several counts of assault, a case now under appeal.
Prosecutor Almroth noted that she was not responsible for the initial decision not to detain the suspect. “It is the prosecutor who had the case from the beginning who decided not to use any coercive measures in this case,” she said.
The case is the latest in a growing series of reported assaults and abuses committed by migrant workers in Sweden’s care sector.
Last month, a 20-year-old Iraqi-born caregiver, Azhi Mahmodi, was charged with filming and mocking elderly dementia patients while working at a municipal care home in Ängelholm. Police discovered the footage — which Mahmodi shared on Snapchat — after a drug-related search in Helsingborg uncovered his phone. Mahmodi, who also faced weapons and narcotics charges, admitted to filming and sharing the clips, telling police: “There is no good excuse for it. There isn’t. I am ashamed. So extremely. It is literally shameless what I have done.”
Also in October, a 26-year-old Syrian national, Mahamad Almousa, was sentenced to one year in prison and issued a 10-year expulsion order for sexually assaulting a 67-year-old woman under his care in Vänersborg. The victim, who called her son during the attack, died weeks later under unclear circumstances. The Vänersborg District Court dismissed Almousa’s claim that the act was consensual, calling his account “completely inconsistent” with the victim’s condition.
And in January, a Somali national, 28-year-old Baasim Yusuf, was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Uppsala District Court for a series of aggravated rapes and sexual assaults against women aged 77 to 88, as well as for filming his victims. Yusuf, who obtained Swedish citizenship in 2018, also cannot be deported despite the gravity of his crimes.
Austrian authorities, investigating suspected Hamas connections since early October, say they have dismantled a terror plot after uncovering a weapons storage depot in Vienna. In response to the weapons cache being discovered, the anti-immigration Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) stated it was once again an example of multiculturalism failing in the country.
In Vienna, the State Security and Intelligence Directorate (DSN) announced that officers secured a suitcase containing five handguns and 10 associated magazines from a rented storage room. Investigators suspect that a group brought these weapons to Austria to keep them ready for “possible terrorist attacks in Europe.”
The investigation was triggered by a foiled Hamas attack in Germany at the beginning of October. German authorities arrested several people, including three suspected Hamas members, as part of a Berlin terror cell.
As part of the international investigation, a 39-year-old British citizen was suspected of being closely related to the weapons storage depot and the group, allegedly operating across Europe. The British man was arrested in London on Nov. 3, 2025.
Politicians react
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said: “The current case shows once again: The State Security Intelligence Directorate is excellently networked internationally and takes consistent action against all forms of extremism. The mission is clear: zero tolerance towards terrorists.”
State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried added: “The DSN’s committed actions and careful investigative work have made a decisive contribution to this successful discovery of weapons – a strong sign of their professionalism and their commitment to the security of our fellow human beings.”
According to Austrian newspaper Krone, the anti-immigration Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) strongly criticized what they termed the “red-pink welcoming culture,” which they claimed “has finally made Vienna a security risk for all of Europe.”
FPÖ Vienna boss Dominik Nepp stated: “While the SPÖ and its pink (left-wing supporters) get lost in multicultural dreams, there are pistols, magazines and assault rifles being stored in the middle of our city for possible attacks.”
The SPÖ is the Social Democratic Party of Austria, seen as one of the main parties promoting open borders in the country.
He concluded with a sharp critique of Austria’s integration policies, which have been pursued by the establishment parties:
“The integration of the past few years, much praised by the SPÖ, NEOS and the Greens, has obviously failed dramatically. The reality is parallel societies where political Islam can spread freely,” stated Nepp.
Tied to German terror case
According to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office — the highest German prosecution authority — the suspected foreign operators of the Islamist Palestinian terrorist organization, Abed Al G., Wael FM, and Ahamad I., allegedly procured “an assault rifle, pistols and ammunition from Germany, among other things.”
The authority stated: “The weapons were intended to be used by Hamas for assassination attempts on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany.”
It is unclear how the German case is linked to the Austrian case, but more details may emerge over the coming months as the German trial, and presumably the trial targeting this new Austrian suspect, move forward.
The Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested nine years of imprisonment for three Egyptian men accused of participating in the gang rape of a 13-year-old girl in the public restrooms of Villa Bellini in Catania back in January last year.
Prosecutor Anna Trinchillo also requested a sentence of five years and four months for a fourth accomplice who cooperated with investigators in identifying the rest of the group.
The prosecutor’s sentencing requests were presented before the Second Criminal Section of the Catania Court on Tuesday.
The rape took place on the evening of Jan. 30, 2024, in the Bellini Gardens during the festivities for Saint Agatha, Catania’s patron saint. According to the indictment, the victim, aged 13 at the time, was walking with her 17-year-old boyfriend when they were stopped and surrounded by a group of seven young men. The boyfriend was restrained and beaten to prevent him from intervening, while two of the group — one adult and one minor, both of Egyptian origin — raped the girl inside a public restroom.
A total of seven Egyptian nationals were arrested following the horrific assault, as previously reported by Remix News at the time.
As reported by La Sicilia, both rapists have already been convicted in separate proceedings, but the remaining members of the gang are now being tried. In July 2025, the Catania Court of Appeal confirmed a 12-year and 8-month prison sentence for one of the adult attackers, rejecting the defense’s request for acquittal. The Court upheld the lower court’s ruling in full and confirmed compensation to the victims: the young girl and her then-boyfriend. Another member of the group, a minor convicted in an earlier trial, has since been transferred from prison to a community center to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
The four men currently on trial are accused not only of participating in the assault but also of private violence against the boyfriend, who was restrained and attacked. One of them, who later cooperated with investigators, provided information that helped identify the other gang members and has received a reduced sentencing request from the prosecution.
Earlier this year, the court heard detailed scientific testimony from forensic experts who described how DNA traces were collected from the scene and the victim’s clothing, linking the evidence directly to the already convicted attackers.
Investigators concluded that the assault was premeditated to some degree, as the group had followed the young couple through the park before surrounding them near the restroom area.
The parents of the victim have joined the proceedings as civil plaintiffs, alongside their lawyer, as has the girl’s former boyfriend. The courtroom has remained closed to the public throughout, due to the victim’s age.
On Dec. 2, statements from the victim’s family and the ex-boyfriend’s legal representatives are expected to be heard in court before final arguments are presented in February next year.
Prosecutor Trinchillo reportedly told the court that the evidence leaves “no room for doubt” about the defendants’ participation and that the attack represented “a coordinated and sustained act of violence against a defenseless minor.”
A French woman with a migration background is accused of participating in a barbaric killing of her Swiss landlord in the French village of Fédry, including torturing and burning him.
The 75-year-old victim, who lived in France, was found by a local fisherman near a riverbank with his body cut in half and with multiple defensive wounds on his hands. The body, overall, had signs of severe mutilation.
The 39-year-old French woman was preparing to return to her original country of origin in the Ivory Coast, according to police.
The autopsy found the man had died from hemorrhaging caused by stab wounds to the chest. In total, the woman reportedly stabbed her victim 28 times.
Investigators believe he was first killed inside his apartment. A triangular knife tip was found in the victim’s body, and when the suspect’s car was searched, they found a knife with a broken tip. Investigators say the missing knife tip found inside the victim’s body exactly matches the broken knife blade, according to French newspaper Le Parisien.
After the murder, she set the apartment on fire. Police have arrested the woman.
The woman was also found to be in possession of a pump-action shotgun that could fire rubber bullets and €6,000, which investigators believe she was going to use to fly back to the Ivory Coast.
The woman was living in a rental unit in the village, which has fewer than 100 inhabitants, and which was located near the Saône River.
According to Swiss newspaper Blick, the landlord believed his tenant was “disturbed,” and he had reportedly evicted her after he became fed up with her behavior.
The mayor said he is in shock.
“We will contact his family tomorrow, probably, to offer our support and deepest condolences,” said Mayor Yvan Pahud on Wednesday. “What happened to him is despicable. You only see this kind of thing in the worst crime novels.”
The 75-year-old man was a well-known figure in the community. A member of the Liberal Party (PLR), he had served for many years on the municipal council and had even chaired it, reports 24heures.ch.
He was also very active in the community organizations in the area and chaired a number of organizing committees, as well as managing an agency distributing high-tech products from the medical and industrial sectors.
A young woman was brutally assaulted by a stranger on a regional train between Carnate-Usmate and Arcore in Lombardy on Monday evening and called for her attacker’s deportation in a television interview.
The victim, identified as Stephanie, described the ordeal as “endless minutes of physical and verbal aggression,” saying she was only able to escape thanks to the use of pepper spray.
“He attacked me out of nowhere, saying he would kill me,” she said. “The only thing that saved my life was my pepper spray, because people just watched without trying to help me.”
According to her account on the Mediaset program Mattino Cinque, as cited by Virgilio, the assault began when the man, a complete stranger of African origin, started staring at her and threw a bottle of water before launching into insults. “He told me to be quiet, but I wasn’t speaking. I replied, ‘I don’t have to be quiet, you have to be quiet,’ and I got up to leave,” she said. “He got angry, came at me, grabbed me by the neck. I already had the pepper spray in my hand and sprayed it. He got even angrier and came to punch me. I fell, and he started kicking me while I was on the ground. I thought it was the end of me.”
The victim recorded the incident after she had initially pepper-sprayed the man, which Remix News has translated and published.
🇮🇹❕ "Why? Tell me why!"
A young woman confronts an African migrant who randomly attacked her on a train in Italy, prompting her to use pepper spray against him in self-defense.
“Why? Tell me why!” she asks the man in the footage. Her attacker complains that the pepper spray is strong, and she notes that she can feel it too, but that it is necessary for women like her to carry it in order to protect herself from men like him.
He can then be seen lunging at her again as she screams.
Stephanie said that despite being surrounded by passengers, no one intervened. “No one did anything. They just watched,” she said. “Every day, being a woman alone in a country that’s becoming more and more dangerous, it becomes almost impossible to survive.”
FS Security and Trenord Security staff eventually recognized the suspect and handed him over to the railway police, who briefly detained him. However, he was later released, prompting widespread outrage after another woman came forward to say she had repeatedly reported the same man for stalking and threats.
“I’ve known him by sight for years because we live in the same village,” said Ilaria, another alleged victim. “For a year, I’ve been subjected to stalking and death threats. Even though I report him, he keeps showing up at my house. He even threatened my grandmother with a tool. It seems absurd to me that he’s still free.”
Regional League leader Alessandro Corbetta expressed solidarity with Stephanie and demanded stronger measures to protect commuters. “This episode demonstrates how urgent it is to increase the presence of FS operators and Trenord Security on trains and in Lombardy stations,” he said. Corbetta also called for the suspect to be expelled from Italy.
The incident comes amid a growing wave of violent attacks on Italy’s public transport network, many involving foreign nationals.
In July, a 27-year-old American tourist was stabbed in the chest and neck on a regional train from Melegnano to Milan by a group of men described as of North African origin. The attackers reportedly tried to snatch his gold chain before fleeing. The victim survived after being treated at Melegnano Hospital. Authorities confirmed the assault was one of more than 260 violent incidents recorded on Italy’s railways in 2025 — an average of more than one per day. Of the 113 cases where arrests were made, 122 suspects were foreign nationals, compared to 32 Italians.
In March, a violent altercation broke out on a Cremona public bus when two foreign teenage girls attacked an Italian passenger for eating a sandwich during Ramadan. The 52-year-old bus driver who intervened was also beaten, suffering facial injuries and broken glasses. Police arrived after the attackers fled, and local unions later demanded better protection for public transport workers.
In August, police in Novara investigated the rape of a 20-year-old woman commuting alone on a Trenord train from Trecate to Novara. The suspect, described as a North African man around 25 years old, allegedly assaulted her just minutes before arrival at Novara station. “I tried to call for help, but no one heard me,” the victim told investigators. She went directly to the railway police to file a report.
And in November last year, a 44-year-old train conductor was stabbed twice on a regional service between Genoa Brignole and Busalla by two men of North African origin after confronting them for not having tickets. The attack sparked a nationwide strike by railway unions, who condemned the “violent and repeated assaults” faced by staff. “The gravity and intolerability of these episodes urgently require firm and decisive intervention,” unions said in a joint statement.
With hundreds of violent incidents reported each year, calls are mounting for stronger security measures and stricter enforcement on Italy’s public transport network. “Boarding a train today could mean risking your life,” warned Corbetta. “This is no longer unsafe — it’s an emergency.”
One of the individuals arrested for involvement in the spectacular theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris is Abdoulaye N., a 39-year-old resident of the multicultural Aubervilliers suburbs. Online, he is known as “Doudou Cross Bitume” and considered a “motocross legend” and a former YouTube and TikTok star.
In what is already being deemed the heist of the century, which could very well have already led to the destruction of France’s cultural history, the man was spotted in one of his videos wearing a t-shirt that read: “I’ll f**k France until she loves me.”
The line actually is a verse from a popular rap song from a popular rapper from years ago, Mac Tyer, an African migrant from Cameroon, whose real name is Socrates Petnga.
🇫🇷🔴Abdoulaye N. has been identified as one of the suspects arrested for involvement in the daring theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris.
Online, he is known as "Doudou Cross Bitume" and considered a "motocross legend" and a former YouTube and TikTok star.… pic.twitter.com/YACypuWrAC
Abdoulaye N. is one of four men being charged with robbing the Louvre of crown jewels valued at approximately €88 million.
He was born in 1986, and remarkably, his immigrant family featured a father from Mali who had 23 children with a number of different women.
Abdoulaye N. is himself a constant recidivist, with 15 convictions on his criminal record.
At the age of 16, he was already arrested for transporting drugs. On May 31, 2014, he became engaged in more serious crimes when he, along with two accomplices, armed themselves with fake rifles. They broke into a jewelry store in Barbès, a well-known Paris district dominated by Arabs, and stole jewelry in a daring raid.
He was caught and sentenced to three years in prison, where he served time with an associate who is one of the other suspects arrested in connection with the Louvre thefts.
Abdoulaye N. is said to have several children, is known to not pay his bills, and has substantial levels of debt. He worked as a delivery driver, a security guard, and packed toys. Recently, he has been working as an illegal Uber driver.
Neighbors say he was “helpful” and “a nice boy.”
As for videos of Abdoulaye N, there are many online featuring him performing illegal stunts, along with bodybuilding videos.
The Verona Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested the dismissal of the case against an Italian State Police officer who fatally shot 27-year-old Malian national Moussa Diarra outside Verona Porta Nuova train station in October last year.
After a year-long investigation, prosecutors concluded that the officer, identified as Assistant Chief Coordinator A.F., acted in legitimate self-defense when Diarra attacked him with a knife.
According to Chief Prosecutor Raffaele Tito, the investigation found “beyond doubt” that the officer’s use of force was proportionate to the threat. “The defense was without a doubt proportionate to the offense, both because of the current nature of the danger and the unjust nature of the offense,” Tito said. “The possibility of homicide is excluded, even on an objective level, given the justification for self-defense in this specific case.”
The prosecutor’s office stated that Diarra, who was armed with a large kitchen knife, lunged at the officer from close range. “It has clearly emerged that Diarra, who was holding a kitchen knife with an 11-centimeter serrated blade in his right hand, approached A.F. with unjustified aggression, always keeping a very close distance and not fleeing, and attacked the officer while brandishing the knife,” Tito wrote.
As reported by Il Gazzettino, investigators concluded that the officer did not provoke or intentionally place himself in danger. “The police officer was attacked with a knife, which is no less lethal than a gun,” the prosecutor said, emphasizing that the officer’s response was necessary to protect his own life.
The shooting occurred on the morning of Oct. 20, 2024, when Diarra reportedly confronted railway police outside the station. Witnesses said he appeared agitated and ignored repeated warnings to drop the weapon before charging at one of the officers. A single shot was fired, fatally wounding him.
Prosecutors have now signed a formal motion to close the case, which will be reviewed by a judge in Verona. “Our sense of grief for the tragic death of a 27-year-old remains unchanged,” Tito added, as cited by Il Messaggero. “The reason why he ultimately behaved so aggressively that day has not yet been fully clarified.”
Lawyers representing Diarra’s family expressed their dismay at the decision and announced plans to appeal.
Migrant rights groups framed the murder as a racial attack, insisting the Malian refugee, whose brother said had faced time in Libyan detention centers before arriving in Europe, had been confused and deserved medical attention over a gunshot.
“Moussa Diarra was a racist murder, and although the policeman’s shot was the fatal one, it was neither the first nor the last in the crossfire that is institutional racism in this country,” wrote Osservatorio Repressione in October last year.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini bluntly disagreed at the time, writing on social media, “With all due respect, we will not miss him. Thank you to the police for doing their duty.”
The Christmas market in Overath, North Rhine-Westphalia, has been cancelled this year following an ongoing dispute between the city and organizers over who should bear the growing costs of counter-terrorism security.
The decision, announced by the city marketing association OVplus and first reported by Cologne Express, ends a long-running tradition of the festive market held around St. Walburga Church on the first weekend of Advent.
Association chairman Andreas Koschmann said talks with Overath’s local council had dragged on for months without success. “We have been in discussions with the Overath administration regarding who will cover the costs of the necessary counter-terrorism measures for about a year and a half now,” he stated, adding, “Unfortunately, without success.”
The city, according to OVplus, refused to take responsibility for the costs, despite a Berlin court ruling declaring that protection against terrorism is a sovereign duty of the state. Koschmann said the association agrees with that legal view, arguing that organizers cannot be expected to shoulder costs for public safety measures.
🇩🇪🎄 German police are now confiscating pocket knives from elderly women at Christmas markets.
Exploding knife crime in Germany, which the police openly says is tied to mass immigration, has led to a security state at German Christmas markets. pic.twitter.com/nRTQRIOr2d
In a press release, the city administration insisted that there was “no concrete threat” to the event, and, as such, extra funding for security was unnecessary. They also state the site is protected by a wall, and direct vehicle access is impossible.
“In principle, the responsibility for the safe conduct of an event lies with the organizer, especially if they bear the financial risk and are in charge of the organizational management,” the council added, as cited by Rundschau Online.
For Koschmann, the claims coming from the city are unbelievable.
“Even after a year and a half of discussions, nothing seems to have gotten through,” he said, while shaking his head, according to a report from Focus Magazine. The professional event organizer told Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger that a vehicle is not the only way to attack a Christmas market.
“You don’t need a vehicle to cause trouble at a Christmas market,” he said. “Without a binding commitment of support, we as the organizers can no longer bear the personal and economic risk.”
Koschmann said there is a threat of terrorism that exists throughout Germany and the appropriate safeguards must be in place. Notably, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) was also asked about security at Christmas markets and said that “no compromises should be made” when it comes to security.
Previously, the organizing group was able to balance losses from smaller festivals with revenue from the annual “Overath Spring” event. But this year, OVplus already spent €17,000 on counter-terrorism precautions for that festival, leaving nothing to fund the Christmas market.
The organizers have also ruled out charging an entrance fee and the cancellation now also casts doubt on future events.
“This decision hurts,” Koschmann admitted. “For many years, we have organized the Overath Christmas market with the utmost personal commitment and a great deal of passion.” He warned that unless an agreement is reached with the city, no further festivities can take place.
The dispute comes against the backdrop of renewed fears of Islamist terrorism targeting public events in Germany. In December 2024, six people were killed and nearly 300 injured when a Saudi national, identified as 50-year-old Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, drove his car into crowds at the Magdeburg Christmas market. The attack, carried out just days before Christmas, was one of the deadliest in Germany since the 2016 Berlin Christmas market massacre.
Al-Abdulmohsen, who had lived in Germany for several years, was reported to have acted alone, though prosecutors later found Islamist propaganda on his devices. The attack was condemned nationwide and prompted a review of safety measures at public gatherings.
🇩🇪‼️ German Islamist propaganda sites are sharing content threatening to attack carnival-goers across Germany and the Netherlands in the coming weeks.
In July 2025, public broadcaster MDR revealed that a friend of the attacker, 24-year-old Saudi national Ahmad A., had expressed open approval of the killings in an interview, saying he “wished more people had died.” Ahmad A., who also worked in clinical psychology and had known the attacker personally, told reporters that Al-Abdulmohsen felt persecuted by society and authorities. After the interview aired, police launched an investigation, and the man reportedly went into hiding.
The Magdeburg atrocity followed a series of thwarted or deadly Islamist plots across Germany, including a foiled attack on a Schleswig-Holstein Christmas market in November 2024, a planned bombing by Tajik extremists in Cologne and Vienna, and the Solingen Diversity Festival stabbings carried out by a Syrian Islamist in August 2024.
Police and counter-terrorism units have since intensified security around Christmas markets and carnivals, but officials warn that full protection “is not possible.”
Poland has become a major player in European defense and, in particular, an essential partner for protecting NATO’s eastern flank, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said on Wednesday following talks with Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Bratislava.
For Nawrocki, who took office in August, the trip marked his first official visit to Slovakia. Speaking at a joint press conference, Pellegrini called Poland “an important and strategic partner for Slovakia in this region,” adding that Warsaw “represents one of the strongest armies in the European Union” and “can be a guarantor of the security of the Slovak Republic within NATO.” Nawrocki said Poland “feels a responsibility for the entire region.”
Both leaders highlighted opportunities to expand cooperation in the defense and energy sectors. Pellegrini said Poland already uses Slovak facilities for ammunition production and suggested Bratislava could join Poland’s recent purchase program for South Korean tanks. Warsaw signed an agreement in August for the supply of 180 K-2GF tanks and their Polish variant, the K2PL, to be produced in Gliwice along with support vehicles.
Energy cooperation was also on the agenda. Pellegrini raised the possibility of using the Polish-Slovak gas pipeline to secure alternative natural gas supplies for Slovakia, which faces mounting pressure to end imports of Russian gas and oil. He warned, however, that a complete cutoff “is technically complicated and unlikely to be feasible in the near future.” Nawrocki noted that Poland has already eliminated Russian gas imports and aims to become a regional hub for the distribution of American liquefied natural gas.
Despite differing positions on Ukraine, both presidents sought to emphasize shared regional interests. Poland remains one of Kyiv’s strongest advocates despite somewhat waning support, while Slovakia’s current government has taken a more reserved stance. Nawrocki, a close ally of Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, noted that Poland “must look after its own interests even during the war in Ukraine,” referencing his earlier veto of a bill on aid to Ukrainian refugees — a move that strained ties with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-EU government.
The Polish president also commended Slovakia for its approach to illegal migration, voicing opposition to mandatory EU relocation quotas. “We disagree with the European Union deciding on migration issues instead of the member states themselves,” Nawrocki said.
Migration policy is expected to feature prominently at the upcoming Visegrád Four summit in Hungary, where leaders from Slovakia, Poland, Czechia, and Hungary will meet to discuss the region’s shared priorities.
The number of wounded and killed Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian battlefield probably exceeded 1.1 million, according to a new situational assessment presented by British military intelligence on Tuesday.
According to an intelligence estimate published by the British Ministry of Defence, approximately 1.14 million soldiers of the Russian regular forces have been killed or wounded in Ukraine since the start of the war. The service puts the number of Russian soldiers wounded or killed so far this year at around 353,000.
A British military intelligence report, based on internal information from the Ukrainian General Staff, said that “in October, an average of 1,008 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded per day, after a daily average of 950 in September.”
At the same time, the British service points out that although October was the second month in a row when daily Russian losses increased. The average daily losses of the Russian forces in the three months from August to October were the lowest since last April.
At the same time, according to British military intelligence, during intensive military efforts to encircle Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub in Ukraine, the Russian armed forces are suffering heavy losses.
Pokrovsk will probably remain the primary direction of the axis of Russian operations; this is evidenced by the fact that the Russian forces launch the largest proportion of their daily offensive operations here compared to the other front sections, according to British military intelligence’s assessment of the situation on Tuesday.
While Britain is a close ally of Ukraine, and may have an incentive to inflate Russian military losses, there is no doubt that the number of dead and wounded on the Russian side reaches into the hundreds of thousands after years of war.
Ukraine has also suffered catastrophic losses during the war. A study from July estimated that Ukraine had suffered 400,000 casualties, with between 60,000 and 100,000 deaths. It is difficult to confirm how accurate this information is.
An alleged data leak from Ukraine led Russia to claim that 1.7 million Ukrainian soldiers were dead or wounded in the conflict, but numerous Western outlets stated this amounted to a blatant “propaganda” attempt.
There are big expectations for an upcoming Trump-Orbán meeting tomorrow in Washington, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expected to walk away with some major economic and trade investments and agreements.
With upcoming national elections in April, Orbán is looking to cement his relationship with Trump and walk away with agreements that can translate into real economic benefits for Hungarians.
Orbán notes that under the previous Biden administration, “there were sanctions, political sanctions, that Biden introduced against Hungary. These have been eliminated in the past six months.”
“Politically based sanctions have disappeared, American support for NGOs attacking Hungary has ceased, and we can travel to the United States visa-free again,” the prime minister stated.
“The next step is to establish strategic-economic cooperation with the Trump administration. In order to achieve this second goal, we have put together a large American-Hungarian economic cooperation package,” said Orbán. “Our goal is to develop a strategic partnership that includes energy relations, investments, defense cooperation, and negotiations on the post-Russian-Ukrainian world.”
Orban turns to the US
There is little surprise that Orbán is turning to a friendly Trump administration at a time when the EU is applying extreme pressure to Budapest, including withholding at least €10 billion in frozen EU funds. Brussels is looking to unseat Orbán from power in the upcoming national elections in Hungary in April, and is hoping to turn the screws on Hungarians on the economic front.
Orbán may score some valuable economic deals on his trip to Washington, but the question is whether these deals can provide the immediate economic stimulus that can benefit the bottom line of Hungarians before the upcoming national election.
This will be the sixth personal meeting between the two. Orbán met with Trump at the White House during his first administration and another four times when he was no longer POTUS, including just after the election in 2024.
Among the topics being discussed will be the double-taxation agreement between Hungary and the U.S., which could be reinstated.
“In addition to energy and defense industry issues, (they) may also discuss the restoration of the US-Hungarian double taxation avoidance agreement,” reads Hirado.
In addition, energy, military spending, and technology investments will also be discussed between the two leaders.
A Syrian refugee has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for murdering his wife in front of their four children in the Dutch village of Mierlo.
On Wednesday, the court in ’s-Hertogenbosch found 51-year-old Mohamed B. guilty of stabbing his 35-year-old wife, Ayat, 11 times during a violent argument on March 16 last year. The victim had reportedly wanted a divorce.
The court heard how the victim fled into the street but collapsed and died in the arms of her 12-year-old son. The sentencing judge called the stabbing “a true massacre,” noting that the children tried in vain to protect their mother and were injured in the process. They added that the scene that followed was “unimaginably horrific,” as officers arrived to find the children distraught, bleeding, and covered in their mother’s blood.
The defendant claimed he acted in self-defense, saying his wife had attacked him first, initially by throwing a can at his head before grabbing a knife. However, the court rejected that account, concluding that the children’s “detailed and consistent” testimony proved that it was their father who picked up the knife and attacked.
According to the Dutch Press Agency (ANP), Ayat suffered 11 stab wounds and 18 cuts, including to the head, neck, and back.
The testimony of the children, aged six, seven, nine, and 12, was pivotal in their father’s conviction.
Last month, De Telegraaf reported how prosecutors had requested a 15-year prison term for manslaughter, but the court imposed a sentence three years longer, citing the brutality of the killing and the trauma inflicted on the children. “The defendant left the children beyond help,” the ruling stated.
The Syrian national was found shortly after the attack in an alley behind the family home with a packed suitcase and his phone in hand. He told the court he remembered little after the argument began, insisting, “I was terrified of her. I swear to God Almighty, I didn’t want to kill her. I wanted to leave her.”
Prosecutors accused him of “theatrical behavior” and said he killed Ayat because she wanted a divorce and independence. “Ayat was stabbed to death because she wanted control over her own life,” the prosecutor said, describing the murder as “domestic violence out of a compulsion to control.”
Mohamed arrived in the Netherlands from Syria back in 2021. His wife and children joined him in November 2023.
A 35-year-old man was arrested in Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron on Wednesday morning after he ran over several people with his vehicle, injuring 10 victims, including four left in critical condition. Depsite the man screaming, “Allahu Akbar,” according to news reports, and trying to set his car filled with gas canisters on fire, French police are reportedly currently not treating the case as a potential act of terrorism.
According to French police, several accidents were reported at around 8:45 a.m., but it quickly became clear that all of them were linked to the same perpetrator.
The man was driving a Honda Civic and was alone in the vehicle, Le Figaro reported.
🚨 ALERTE INFO – Un individu a foncé en voiture sur plusieurs piétons et cyclistes à travers l'île d’#Oléron en Charente-Maritime en criant "Allah Akbar".
10 personnes sont blessées, dont quatre en état d'urgence absolue.
Ten people were injured in the rampage, four of whom are in critical condition.
Nearly 50 firefighters were at the scene treating the victims, La Rochelle prosecutors said. Arnaud Laraize, La Rochelle prosecutor, said the driver’s actions were deliberate.
Gas cylinders were found in the trunk of the man’s car. According to the prosecutor, the suspect attempted to set his vehicle on fire before police intervened. Authorities are still investigating what role these gas cylinders may have played in the attack.
“The man shouted, ‘Allahu Akbar’ when he was arrested. His motivation is not yet known and will be clarified by the investigation,” said the prosecutor.
Alors qu'un automobiliste a foncé sur des passants ce matin, sur l'île d'Oléron, le maire de Saint-Pierre d'Oléron est sous le choc et livre son témoignage dans #MorandiniLivepic.twitter.com/sazUtfKFkX
Currently, the case is not being investigated as a terrorism case, only as an attempted murder, according to the Poitiers investigation team and the Rochefort and La Rochelle police units. The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has not yet taken over the case, but this may change in the future.
The 35-year-old man lived in a fishing village on the island. The authorities already knew the man, who had previously been convicted several times for public order offenses and alcohol and drug use.
In the French city of Nice, on Nov. 4, in broad daylight, a 47-year-old Chechen national allegedly approached his ex-partner, the 39-year-old Larissa, and stabbed her numerous times in front of a number of apartment complexes.
Police say he surprised the woman from behind near her apartment on Avenue de la Méditerranée, stabbing her multiple times. When the 17-year-old daughter tried to save her mother, the man began stabbing her as well, leaving the young woman currently fighting for her life in hospital.
Police found the victim “very seriously injured after receiving several blows with a bladed weapon” and carried out first aid, said the Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli, according to a press release.
During the brutal stabbing attack, the youngest sibling, a two-year-old girl, was in her mother’s arms and witnessed her mother being stabbed to death. The suspect was arrested shortly after the murder.
Remarkably, the man was already on trial three times for domestic violence, which all ended in acquittal, according to Nice Martin news outlet.
The area where the stabbing took place is Moulins, which features an extremely high proportion of immigrants, including a large Chechen community. Police have designated the zone a “sensitive area,” and the Chechen community is reportedly in “shock” about the killing.
The family of the victim, Larissa, also asked: “He stood trial three times! Where was the protection?”
Larissa’s friend told the press, however, that the insular Chechen community and the perpetrator’s family are also to blame.
“She was harassed by her husband’s family, and she felt enormous pressure from the community. She was afraid of revenge if she spoke out,” the friend told the press.
Imam Magamadov tried to mediate the marital conflict for three years, admitted that “he was aggressive, he wouldn’t listen.”
French social services are now responsible for the seven children, born between 2007 and 2023.
Mayor Christian Estrosi immediately reacted, posting to X about a “femicide” as well as a “terrible act which must be punished with extreme severity.”
Je veux dire ma peine, mon émotion et ma colère suite à un feminicide dans le quartier des Moulins à #Nice06. La victime a été tuée par son ex compagnon qui a été interpellé par la police. La fille de la victime est également sérieusement blessée. Notre conseiller municipal Karim…
Conservative politician Eric Ciotti wrote: “A true tragedy in Nice’s Moulins district: a mother is said to have been killed by her ex-partner with a bladed weapon, and her daughter seriously injured. I hope that all light will be shed quickly on this absolute tragedy and send all my thoughts to the victims.”
Une véritable tragédie dans le quartier des moulins à Nice : une mère aurait été tuée par son ex concubin à l’arme blanche, et sa fille gravement blessée.
Je souhaite que toute la lumière soit faite rapidement sur ce drame absolu et tourne toutes mes pensées vers les victimes.
The case has much in common with another recent case from France, involving a shocking femicide case that rocked France to the point that the country’s justice minister admitted total failure of law enforcement to protect Inès Mecellem from murder. Mecellem was stabbed to death by an Afghan refugee, Habib, who was her former partner. Now, the 36-year-old Habib remains on the run after the brutal killing.
Remarkably, he was subject to six criminal complaints, which were filed by Mecellem all within six weeks of her death, yet police never took any serious action against the man, even releasing him from custody shortly before Mecellem’s murder.
The mother of the victim, Angélique, has been appearing across the national media, and has described the man who reportedly killed her daughter as “dangerous” and an “extremist” who “did not want to integrate.”
In fact, Habib openly praised the Taliban.
“He said the Taliban were heroes,” said the mother to Le Figaro newspaper. She added that he “intended to return to Afghanistan.”
The case also has many similarities with another case from Germany from just a few months ago. There, Iraqi migrant Ayad A. is accused of murdering his 37-year-old mother of seven, Laila A., whose children are aged six to 16, on May 12, which also happened to be the same date as their 16th wedding anniversary.
The event, which occurred in the middle of a residential area in Varel, Lower Saxony, is being prosecuted as malicious murder. The last words a witness heard Laila’s eldest daughter say were: “Daddy’s just left.” Seconds later, Laila was dead.
“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.
A Hungarian official is trumpeting a new report from Reuters detailing the unbelievable hypocrisy coming from the European Union due to soaring purchases of Russian oil and gas, which is funneling billions of euros to Moscow.
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office Balázs Hidvéghi drew attention to shocking data on his social media page. According to the Hungarian official, EU countries have significantly increased Russian energy imports.
“Hypocrisy is the rule. The five EU member states that loudly support the Ukrainian war have drastically increased the import of Russian natural gas,” wrote Hidvéghi, pointing to the investigative report from Reuters.
The Reuters report has made a mockery of EU criticisms of Hungary, highlighting that countries like France, the Netherlands, and Romania are all drastically increasing their purchases of Russian energy.
According to the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, France increased its natural gas-based Russian energy imports by forty percent in 2025, the Netherlands by 72 percent, Romania by 57 percent, Croatia by 55 percent, and Portugal by 167 percent.
He notes that the pro-Brussels governments are not criticized in any way for these purchases, but Hungary and Slovakia are consistently attacked for doing the same.
The Reuters article also highlights that, due to energy purchases from Russia, which have been ongoing for years, nearly €31 billion more money has gone from Europe to Moscow than to Kyiv since the beginning of the war.
“This is a textbook example of Brussels’ duplicity! While we are being disciplined and banned from buying Russian gas, they themselves continue to buy it quietly. Principles in words, business in deeds,” added Balázs Hidvéghi.
