The far-left extremist portal “Indymedia,” associated with Antifa, was used to target three politicians of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Hamburg, including the publishing of their home addresses and calls to take action against the “fascists.” The information was published both on the platform but also on stickers, which were put up all over the neighborhoods where the three politicians live.
As a result, a state investigation has been launched.
Two AfD city council members were targeted, as well as a district council member, with the stickers distributed in the neighborhoods of all three individuals. The stickers featured the address and photos of all three politicians, along with a message that read: “Attention, AfD fascists in your neighborhood.”
The same information was published on the Indymedia website, which is well-known for publishing manifestos and calls to action for Antifa terror groups. Recently, a left-wing group took responsibility on the platform for a series of attacks on Berlin’s electrical grid, which resulted in the longest-running blackout in Berlin’s history since the end of the Cold War.
Indymedia also published the message that the “three AfD politicians in Hamburg have been outed.” The message read that the AfD politicians had been “visited” in their neighborhoods. The post also included a message: “We greet all Antifa members in hiding and in prison! Lots of strength and love to the antifascist Maja! We stand together! Free ALL Antifas! Fight Fascism!”
Dirk Nockemann, the Hamburg AfD parliamentary group leader, condemned the action as “attempts at intimidation” and said they should be “condemned in the strongest possible terms.” Nockemann also called on left-wing parties in the Hamburg Parliament to condemn the terrorizing of political opponents.
“Antifa means terror. It is a left-wing terrorist and anti-democratic group that, like no other, stands for public denunciation and violence against dissidents,” wrote Nockermann. He criticized political leaders who have often associated themselves with Antifa. The previous interior minister, Nancy Faeser, even wrote for Antifa Magazine shortly before she was installed in her position.
AfD politicians have long been targeted in attacks, including arson attacks and assaults. Bernd Baumann, parliamentary director of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, spoke to WELT TV about his own experiences after being named by Antifa via “Indymedia.” Baumann described the constant threat, saying, “I’m constantly being attacked on my house. My wife is really scared.” To feel safe, he said he installed “steel doors and got a dog so his wife could sleep again.”
Baumann also recounted an incident where his tenant’s car was burned in front of his house. He detailed the immediate online claim of responsibility: “And the next morning, Antifa wrote on Indymedia that we had once again burned an expensive limousine in front of Bernd Baumann’s house.” The resulting damages and fear meant he “could no longer rent the house.”
Notably, the West has been plagued with a wave of extremist left-wing violence as of late, with numerous assassination attempts against Donald Trump, along with the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, which was allegedly committed by Antifa and trans activist Tyler Robinson. As a result, Antifa has been declared to be a domestic terror threat in the United States by Donald Trump.
Other European leaders have called for similar action against Antifa. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was nearly killed last year in an assassination attempt, is one of the European leaders attempting to highlight the risks coming from left-wing terrorists.
A 26-year-old Syrian man has been sentenced to one year in prison and a 10-year expulsion order after sexually assaulting a 67-year-old woman under his care in Vänersborg, Sweden. The victim died under unclear circumstances just weeks after the attack.
The assault occurred on the morning of April 3 last year, when the woman’s son received a phone call from his mother. All he could hear at first were screams. She then managed to tell him that a man from the home care service had sexually assaulted her.
As reported by Samnytt, the victim later identified the perpetrator as Mahamad Almousa, a 26-year-old Syrian national who had previously worked in the NU healthcare system and was then employed in home care in Vänersborg.
The woman told investigators that Almousa groped her breasts under her clothing, climbed on top of her in bed, and “squirmed and moaned” while she felt he had an erection. Although she told him to stop, she was too weak to push him away.
Almousa was arrested but denied wrongdoing, claiming he had only massaged the woman at her request and that she had taken his hand and placed it on her chest, later pulling him onto the bed. He even alleged that the elderly woman had assaulted him.
The Vänersborg District Court dismissed his account, citing the woman’s frail health and limited physical strength as clearly contradicting his version of events. “In view of this and the other circumstances, Mahamad Almousa’s version of the incident can be disregarded,” the court concluded.
Almousa was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to one year in prison and 10 years of exile from Sweden after serving his custodial sentence. He was also ordered to pay 152,000 kronor (€13,800) in damages. The compensation will go to the woman’s estate and her son, as she died on April 20, just over two weeks after the attack. Police had managed to interview her three times before her death.
The cause of death remains unclear, but Almousa was in custody at the time.
Almousa is still visible on the NU healthcare website from his time as an intern at a Swedish hospital six years ago. It includes a quote attributed to him that reads, “In the future, I want to become a nurse, but I haven’t decided in which field yet. Everything is interesting. Everyone is very kind and I have enjoyed myself very much here. I can definitely imagine coming back and working here.”
The case has become part of a broader European trend of sexual abuse against elderly women by migrant care workers, with several disturbing incidents reported in recent months.
In Austria, an 82-year-old woman with dementia was allegedly raped by her Afghan caregiver on Sept. 18. The woman’s son witnessed the attack in real time via cameras he had installed in her apartment out of concern for her safety. The suspect, 26-year-old Sarafaz Z., confessed while in custody, and the investigation is ongoing.
In Sweden, prosecutors are preparing charges against a 33-year-old Iraqi man accused of multiple sexual assaults and rapes of elderly women in Umeå. Detained in April, he is believed to have assaulted three women between February and March this year. “There are different plaintiffs for whom he has been remanded in custody for crimes against,” prosecutor Petra Hedberg said, adding that charges for serious sexual assault, serious rape, and sexual harassment are expected.
Another case in Sweden saw 28-year-old Somali national Baasim Yusuf sentenced to eight years in prison in January for a series of aggravated rapes and sexual assaults against women aged 77 to 88 in Uppsala, two of whom suffered from dementia or Alzheimer’s. Yusuf filmed some of his assaults, but he cannot be deported because he has Swedish citizenship.
And in France, 39-year-old Laury Jean-Baptiste was sentenced to 20 years in prison in September 2024 for attempting to rape a 102-year-old nursing home resident in Rouen. The victim managed to fight him off but died less than a month later.
An African refugee from the country of Mali is in police custody, accused of raping and brutally beating a 44-year-old Italian woman in the city of Sondrio. During the incredibly brutal rape, the man bit off the woman’s entire ear, according to police.
The woman remains in critical condition, with the suspect arrested just hours after the assault soaked in the woman’s blood.
The incident occurred yesterday, Oct. 6 into Oct. 7, while the woman was walking home. She was attacked by the man near a car park near the local train station. The man grabbed her, dragged her away, and then beat her with extreme force near via Morbegno and via Tronale. During the subsequent rape, the suspect is accused of biting the victim’s ear off.
A passerby noticed the woman laying in an unconscious state, covered in blood. Her face was severely battered and swollen, her entire body was covered in blood and deep lacerations, and her ear had been bitten off, according to local newspaper Sondrio Today.
The witness who helped the woman called the police at 11:30 p.m.
The woman’s body also had clear signs of sexual violence.
JUST IN: A 20-year-old Moroccan man has been arrested for sexual assault, robbery, and physical assault against an Italian cyclist on the bike path along the Panaro River in Italy's Modena.
Police say he dragged the woman to a secluded area, tied her hands and neck with a rope,… pic.twitter.com/FCEUGE9KV4
The woman was immediately transported to a hospital in Sondrio, where she was sedated and intubated.
On Tuesday, she woke up, but her condition did not allow her to be interrogated by investigators.
A large police manhunt was launched and the 24-year-old suspect was found just a few hours later not far from the site of the attack. The man was drenched in blood and reportedly intoxicated with alcohol and drugs. He also had the woman’s belonging, her identification card, and her bank card in his backpack.
He has been charged with rape, sexual assault, robbery, and bodily harm. The man was assigned a translator.
“What happened is from extreme gravity and brutality,” stated Attorney General Piero Basilone
The suspect was born in 2001, has the initials of KM, and is original from the African country of Mali. He currently resides as a refugee in the Valle di Colorina refugee reception center, which is run by an NGO that welcomes refugees.
The Italian public has been shocked by yet another rape case involving a foreigner. The local parties Brothers of Italy and the League, along with others, condemned the attack.
The mayor of Sondrio, Marco Scaramellini, also spoke about the incident in the context of mass immigration and public safety, including how local migrant reception centers are managed.
In 2024, it was reported that 11,141 Italian women had been raped by foreigners since 2018, underlining the massive increase in sexual violence seen across not only Italy, but also other Western countries, since a surge in foreigners.
The Bundestag has voted to abolish Germany’s controversial “turbo-naturalization” program, but the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has denounced the move as a cosmetic change that leaves the liberal citizenship reforms introduced by the previous left-wing government largely intact.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel warned that the reform is being falsely presented as a hardening of policy when the most significant parts of last year’s liberalization remain untouched.
“Merz’s new migration lie: The naturalization boost remains in effect and is running faster than ever. German passports are granted after just five years and immediately at birth, with dual citizenship the norm. Only the three-year option is eliminated. A migration turnaround? Only with the AfD!” Weidel said following the vote.
Neue Migrations-Lüge von Merz: Der Einbürgerungsturbo gilt weiter und läuft schneller denn je. Deutscher Pass schon nach 5 Jahren & sofort bei Geburt, Doppelpass als Regelfall. Lediglich die 3-Jahres-Option entfällt. Migrationswende? Nur mit der AfD!https://t.co/9EiuhdY38bpic.twitter.com/fpMFeQ0yjw
The new law, proposed by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU and passed on Thursday with 450 votes in favor, abolishes the accelerated path to citizenship introduced by the previous “traffic light” coalition, which allowed highly integrated foreigners to apply for German passports after just three years. From now on, naturalization will only be possible after a minimum of five years of residence.
Support for the bill came from the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition factions as well as the AfD, while 134 MPs from the Greens and the Left voted against, and two abstained. Dobrindt said the reform redefines citizenship as a reward for successful integration rather than an incentive for migration. “The German passport will be available as recognition for successful integration and not as an incentive for illegal migration,” he told parliament. “Naturalization is an important factor for cohesion in our country, but it should come at the end of an integration process, not at the beginning.”
The three-year provision was part of a wider overhaul of citizenship law passed last year by the SPD-Green-FDP government. While that element is now gone, most of the rest remains unchanged. The general residency requirement for naturalization has been cut from eight years to five and will stay at that level, while dual citizenship — long opposed by the CDU/CSU — is now broadly accepted.
SPD deputy parliamentary group leader Sonja Eichwede emphasized that the dual citizenship change “resolves a long-standing conflict” and said the loss of the three-year provision was not significant because “it was hardly used.”
As Tagesschau reported in July, just 573 people – barely over one percent of all new citizens – had qualified for citizenship in the city state of Berlin after three years, while in Bavaria the figure was just 78, or 0.14 percent. In Baden-Württemberg, there were only 16 such cases, and in most other states, fewer than ten, reinforcing Weidel’s claim that the reform will do next to nothing to stop naturalizations.
The Greens criticized the reform’s reversal, arguing it risks deterring much-needed foreign workers. MP Filiz Polat warned that scrapping accelerated naturalization “harms integration and harms the economy,” without explaining how.
The move comes as Germany experiences record-high naturalization numbers. According to data from 13 federal states published in June, 249,901 people acquired German citizenship in 2024 — more than the population of Chemnitz — with Syrians and Turks topping the list. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, 24,349 Syrians became German citizens.
Some regions are actively pushing to increase those figures. In Berlin, immigration officials are reportedly offered incentives such as remote work for processing as many naturalizations as possible, as the State Office for Immigration targets 40,000 new citizens in 2025. Internal documents obtained by Bild show staff are expected to complete eight naturalizations per week, with one employee describing “mounting pressure” to deliver: “We need to produce high naturalization numbers.”
The story of the Social Democrat (SPD) mayor from Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, has taken yet another incredible turn. New information now reveals that her 17-year-old adopted daughter reportedly tortured Stalzer for hours, nearly killing her own mother. Despite these details, the daughter still has not been arrested.
Stalzer has spoken to the police about what transpired during her ordeal, and now, the details have been leaked to Bild newspaper.
On Oct. 7, at 12:05 p.m., Stalzer’s daughter called emergency services saying her mother had been attacked by several men, was severely injured and was barely conscious.
A witness off the street found the politician bleeding in her armchair in the living room. Later, the adopted daughter told police that was also how she found her mother.
However, despite claims of “several men” torturing the mother, it turns out this was reportedly an orchestrated lie to cover up the horror that had occurred inside the house. Police have since learned that the mother was subjected to grueling torture for hours in the basement of the house.
The suspect attacked Stalzer with deodorant spray and a lighter, trying to set her hair and clothes on fire. The adopted daughter said she wanted revenge; however, it is still remains unclear what she wanted to take revenge for.
The adopted daughter also had two kitchen knives, which she used to stab and slice the politician’s body. Stazler faced critical injuries, including 13 stab wounds.
One of the bloody knives was also found in the 15-year-old adopted son’s backpack, along with bloody clothing from the daughter. The other knife was also found in his room.
Police investigators also found that large traces of blood were scrubbed from the scene, which were later revealed by the police forensics team.
UPDATE: The German mayor of Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, is now conscious and can speak, according to reports.
German media outlets, including Focus, are reporting that her adopted 17-year-old daughter is said to be a focus of the investigation.
Stalzer nearly lost her life and was transported to a hospital in Bochum via rescue helicopter.
Bild wrote that police sources believe the mother was sitting in her armchair for a long time, bleeding out, while the two alleged suspects cleaned the house of crime scene evidence.
Numerous German media outlets, including Spiegel, also reported that police were called to the house not so long before this latest attack during the summer. In that case, the daughter was accused of domestic violence and threatening the mother with a knife.
The case is not only unbelievable due to the details, but also due to the prosecutor’s response to the entire affair.
Instead of an attempted murder charge or charges for evidence tampering or even torture, which is also illegal in Germany, there is no arrest warrant being issued at all.
The prosecutor alleges that because the daughter called the police, it is clear that she did not want to commit murder. Instead, they are only investigating the case as “bodily harm.”
As Remix News detailed yesterday, this claim raises several doubts, including the fact that the daughter attempted to mislead police about who was responsible for the crime, as well as the fact that the two allegedly scrubbed the crime scene of blood traces. Those are clearly not the actions of actors who were attempting to save their mother’s life, but instead the actions of two suspects attempting to mislead investigators.
As Remix News reported yesterday, the public prosecutor in the case offered numerous excuses as to why the two teens are not being charged despite the severity of the crime.
Across X, commentators, influencers, and users are speculating about the case, pointing out the extreme double standard in modern Germany. Austrian right-wing political activist Martin Sellner wrote that Germans are being imprisoned for memes, while the daughter in this case will never appear before a court for her alleged heinous crimes. He wrote that it is clearly a case of “two-tier” justice.
Socialist major was tortured for hours with Knife and Fire by her African adoptive daughter. She barely survived.
Her only available pic is old. The devilish girl is now 17 – she did not have to go Prison.
The daughter and the son were transferred to the Youth Welfare Office instead of prison. When asked why the two suspects were not being transferred to the father, the prosecutor remarkably said that the father has also been the victim of violence by the daughter in the past. In other words, this is a pattern.
Is there a cover-up going on? Is the prosecutor trying to make the entire case go away? It remains unclear and speculation is running rife, but the details of the case are extraordinary, and the public prosecutor’s reaction to one of the most gruesome cases of attempted murder and torture in Germany is also perplexing.
Three men were arrested Thursday in Antwerp on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack against Belgian politicians, with multiple media outlets reporting that Prime Minister Bart De Wever was the intended target.
The federal prosecutor’s office announced the arrests, which were part of an investigation into “attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.”
“Some elements indicate that the intention was to carry out a jihadist-inspired terrorist attack against political leaders,” federal prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a press conference in Brussels. “There are also indications that the suspects’ goal was to manufacture a drone to which an explosive charge would be attached.”
The suspects, born in 2001, 2002, and 2007, were detained following four searches carried out by the Federal Judicial Police in Antwerp. Two of them are being questioned by investigators and are expected to appear before an investigating judge on Friday, while the third was released.
During a search of one suspect’s home, police discovered an improvised explosive device that was not yet operational and a bag of metal balls. At another location, officers found a 3D printer believed to have been used to produce components for an attack. Prosecutors said the evidence pointed to a plan to deploy an explosive-laden drone against political targets.
In a statement, the police confirmed that several searches had been conducted by Antwerp Federal Judicial Police, including counter-terror and explosive detection dogs.
HLN reported that a family with four children lives in one of the properties, with the father indicating that his 17-year-old son is implicated and that a suspicious package was found in his home.
The Belgian justice system has not officially confirmed the identity of the intended target, but several Flemish media outlets, including RTL, named De Wever. His entourage later confirmed to AFP that the prime minister had indeed been the focus of the alleged plot. Belgian Defense Minister Théo Francken expressed “full support” for De Wever and his family on social media, while police reportedly searched a house just a few hundred meters from his Antwerp residence.
“Prime Minister, Bart, all our support for you and your family. Thanks to the security services. Never surrender,” Francken wrote.
Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden said the swift police operation may have prevented a major attack. “Today, an attack may have been thwarted. Thanks to the rapid and effective intervention of the federal prosecutor’s office and various federal police departments,” she said. “The threats may have been aimed at people holding public office. This affects the very foundations of our democracy. There is no place for intimidation and violence in our society.”
Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot called the revelations “deeply shocking,” saying it “highlights that we are facing a very real terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant.”
Authorities highlighted the growing threat to public officials in Belgium. In 2024, 101 people — including politicians, magistrates, police officers, and prison staff — were placed under protective custody after receiving threats linked to their duties. “They are increasingly being targeted,” Verlinden said, adding that security services “are keeping a close watch.”
Belgian authorities have released no further information as to the identity of the suspects, citing the ongoing investigation.
French analyst Marc Vanguard highlights a new explosion of migration in France in 2024 using data from the INSEE to showcase that country’s migration crisis shows no signs of slowing down. There are now a record 6 million foreigners living in the country, as demographic change accelerates.
“INSEE has just published the latest estimates of the foreign population in France. You’re not ready. Sit down before reading what follows. There are 6 million foreigners in France, an absolute RECORD,” writes Vanguard in an X thread.
👉 Autre record, en 2024, la hausse est de 406 000 étrangers en une année. Ça n'avait JAMAIS eu lieu.
👉Pour vous donner un ordre d'idée, c'est l'équivalent de la hausse cumulée de la population étrangère sur les années 2012, 2013 et 2014 ⬇️
‘We also saw a record increase of 280,000 foreigners in France in 2024, and we managed to reach 409,000 this year,” he added.
According to Vanguard, the country has gained 1.7 million inhabitants since 2017, including 1.3 million of foreign origin. In total, there are at least 6 million foreigners in the country, with a steep acceleration year after year.
👉 L'année dernière, on avait aussi connu une hausse record, de 280 000 étrangers en France.
🥇 Oui, vous avez bien lu, 280 000 était déjà un record et on a réussi à faire 400 000 cette année.
280 000, c'était déjà DEUX FOIS l'augmentation annuelle sous François Hollande ⬇️
The INSEE data he cites shows a rapid restructuring of the foreign population, 46 percent of whom are African compared to 35 percent European. Between 2019 and 2024, “Africans account for 59% of this increase, Europeans only 22%,” he writes.
For Vanguard, these figures reflect a profound migratory imbalance: “280,000 was already twice the annual increase under François Hollande.” In conclusion, he warns of a structural trend: a France that is growing more through immigration than through national birth rates.
Les données INSEE permettent de voir l'évolution du nombre d'étrangers par nationalité de 2019 à 2024.
👉 Les Africains contribuent à 59% de cette hausse, les Européens seulement 22% ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iUo1OV2Z2k
It is also worth noting that 115,000 foreigners were naturalized in France last year. Once these foreigners become French citizens, their foreign background is no longer tracked in the data.
In the past, higher numbers have been cited by other French figures, just never from INSEE. In fact, as Remix News reported in 2023, the mayor of the French city of Cannes, David Lisnard, said that France accepted 600,000 migrants the previous year during an appearance on Europe 1.
Part of the problem is that France has no official registry, which means organizations like INSEE are using projections and estimates based on research samples. As a result, researchers are trying to tease out the real numbers, in some cases even resorting to tracking the first names of children born in the country to ascertain demographic trends.
In fact, 74 percent of the French believe there are too many migrants in France, and 72 percent want a referendum on immigration, according to polling.
France also remains unable to deport many migrants, even those with criminal records, which in some cases has had tragic consequences, including the rape and murder last year of 12-year-old Lola by an Algerian migrant long scheduled for deportation. Data shows that only 0.2 percent of Algerians scheduled for deportation were actually deported in 2021.
Macron is now clinging to power despite horrendous polling and a general loss of power after a series of his prime ministers have been either kicked out of power or resigned.
“In our country, one person in four has a foreign grandparent. 40% of the population speaks at least two languages. We are destined to be a Creole nation, and so much the better! May the young generation be the great replacement for the old generation,” said Mélenchon.
He also went on to make a number of further statements, saying the new immigrants need “to heal France from the wounds of racism.”
Furthermore, he made inflammatory statements, calling for “torch-bearers” to bring about change, which has revolutionary undertones.
🇫🇷🚨 French far-left leader calls for the Great Replacement
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “France is destined to be a Creole (mixed Black and French) nation and so much the better! Let the young generation do the replacement of the old… Each generation is a new people!" pic.twitter.com/uLgOMlMXs5
It is not just mass immigration, but millions of French citizens have a foreign background, and despite sometimes generations in the country, there are still stark integration challenges.
In 2024, 30 percent of births in France were to mothers with a non-EU background, with those from North Africa and the Middle East featuring nearly twice the birthrate of the French.
🇫🇷🔴Massive demographic changes happening in France.
70% of compound names in the top 10 for boys are of Arab-Muslim origin, according to L'Officiel des prénoms 2026. This category has seen huge growth for Arab-Muslims in recent years.
Bus services across the western suburbs of Paris were severely disrupted on Thursday after drivers from the Keolis Argenteuil Boucles de Seine network went on strike to protest a violent assault on one of their colleagues in Le Vésinet.
The 49-year-old driver was attacked late Wednesday afternoon by two passengers and left bleeding inside his vehicle before being taken to the hospital, according to Le Parisien.
The incident occurred around 5 p.m. between the Vésinet–Le Pecq and Houilles–Carrières RER A stations. According to investigators, the confrontation began when the driver refused to make an unscheduled stop. The two passengers then attacked him before fleeing on foot through a nearby park. They were later arrested by police and taken into custody. Both suspects, aged 19 and 20, are residents of Val-d’Oise and were previously unknown to the authorities.
Further descriptions were not made public by the police.
Emergency services treated the driver, who sustained two deep head wounds. Keolis confirmed that he was released from the hospital the same evening and has since returned home. Following the assault, the driver exercised his legal right to withdraw from service — a decision quickly joined by other colleagues in solidarity.
On Thursday morning, multiple lines across the network were operating in “severely degraded mode” with some services completely suspended.
Keolis has filed a complaint and condemned the assault, reaffirming its “zero-tolerance policy for any aggression.” The company stated that “the safety of all passengers and staff, everywhere and at all times, is an absolute priority.” A reinforced security presence was deployed Wednesday night, and, from Oct. 13, transport police officers will patrol service routes throughout the night.
The incident comes amid rising concern over violence on public transport in France. Recent INSEE data indicate that foreigners committed 64 percent of violent robberies and assaults on Paris public transport in 2024, with North Africans accounting for 43 percent despite representing just 3.4 percent of the population. Nationwide, foreigners were implicated in 41 percent of such crimes.
Sexual violence has also sharply increased. According to the Ministry’s Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI), 3,374 people were victims of sexual violence on public transport in 2024 — an 86 percent rise since 2016. Forty-four percent of these cases occurred in Île-de-France, and seven in ten women in the region report having experienced sexual harassment or assault.
Similar problems are being reported elsewhere in Europe. In Berlin, police recorded over 20,000 crimes on public transport between January and September 2024, a 36 percent increase on the previous year.
In Belgium, a 76-year-old man was killed in June in a knife attack aboard a De Lijn bus in Antwerp, leading to strikes by drivers demanding stronger protection.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Poland will not accept any attempt by EU institutions to impose migrant relocations within its borders.
In a letter sent to Brussels, Nawrocki stated that such actions would be unacceptable and urged the Commission to focus on securing the European Union’s external frontiers and combating illegal immigration.
“I would like to kindly inform you that Poland will not agree to any actions by European institutions that would be aimed at relocating illegal migrants in Poland, and I hope that you will take this fact into account in your actions,” the president wrote, honoring his electoral pledge to firmly reject the bloc’s Migration and Asylum Pact.
Nawrocki reminded von der Leyen that Poland’s eastern frontier has for years faced “constant migratory pressure, controlled by the Moscow regime with the help of the Belarusian state and intelligence services.” He noted that Warsaw has devoted “significant resources” to protecting the EU’s border and to supporting Ukrainian refugees displaced by Russia’s war.
“In 2025, there are still nearly a million Ukrainian refugees in Poland,” Nawrocki wrote. “After Feb. 24, 2022, the Polish state acted responsibly and accepted Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war. We offered not only our own homes but also the state’s support that was needed at that time. Poland acted in solidarity, even though it was not bound by the obligation to show solidarity.”
Nawrocki said the bloc’s focus should not be on redistributing migrants within Europe but on stopping illegal crossings in the first place. “I agree that illegal migration is a problem that Europe must address, but the solution is not to forcibly return migrants to Central and Eastern European countries,” he wrote. “Our common task should be, above all, to seal borders and combat smugglers.”
The Polish leader also noted that opposition to migrant relocation is shared across the political spectrum in Poland, including, at least in principle, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s left-wing coalition government.
“If it occurs to anyone in Europe to consider that Poland should take on other burdens, then regardless of who says it, I will say that Poland will not implement it. End of story,” Tusk said earlier this year, albeit ahead of the presidential election.
“The overwhelming majority of Poles, regardless of political affiliation, oppose the forced relocation of migrants to Poland,” Nawrocki wrote, adding that his election campaign had centered on ensuring “that Poles feel safe in their own country” and preserving national sovereignty.
“One element of this security is undoubtedly the absence of the risk of illegal migration, which has been flooding Western Europe since German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s memorable decision in 2015,” he continued.
Nawrocki reaffirmed that he “will not consent to the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum in Poland” but said Warsaw remains ready to cooperate in other areas. “At the same time, I remain ready to cooperate on border protection, joint operational activities, information exchange, and technical support for Member States most exposed to migratory pressures,” he concluded.
In February, the Polish legal foundation Ordo Iuris told Remix News that the European Union’s migration pact could see up to 100,000 migrants relocated to Poland every year.
“All will depend, of course, on the number of migrants arriving by the Southern routes, so it is a very rough estimate. But we stand by it,” said the institute’s Olivier Bault.
“In most cases, Poland will be unable to deport them, even if their asylum applications are denied,” Bault added.
When asked specifically about Poland and any possible exemption previously, EU commission spokesman Markus Lammert told press that “EU law is binding on the member states and the migration pact, as a result of its entry into force, is binding law.”
Following a brutal knife attack against the mayor of the small German town of Herdecke, the case has swerved into very strange territory. Despite Iris Stalzer telling police her daughter was the one who stabbed her multiple times, police say there is no arrest warrant for the daughter. The strange statements coming from prosecutors are leaving many German media outlets wondering what exactly is going on.
According to an update from Focus magazine, Senior Public Prosecutor Bernd Halldorn held a press conference after the incident, where he said: “There are currently no plans to bring the accused before us to obtain an arrest warrant.”
Furthermore, Focus writes that “both adopted children will probably be released today and handed over to the Youth Welfare Office.”
Now, the crime is being classified as “dangerous bodily harm” rather than attempted homicide. The 57-year-old Stalzer was stabbed 13 times, yet despite the severe and brutal stabbing attack, both teenagers were reportedly released yesterday from police custody.
Halldorn also said during the press conference that “after the traces at the crime scene, we assume that the daughter is responsible for the injuries.”
UPDATE: The German mayor of Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, is now conscious and can speak, according to reports.
German media outlets, including Focus, are reporting that her adopted 17-year-old daughter is said to be a focus of the investigation.
The case follows after police took the adopted 15-year-old son and the adopted 17-year-old daughter into custody for questioning. Stalzer, who belongs to the far-left Social Democrats (SPD), initially refused to say who stabbed her when questioned by police. However, after she was questioned by police a second time, she allegedly firmly stated her daughter was responsible.
No longer attempted murder?
Despite a victim statement, forensic evidence, and the prosecutor himself saying the daughter is believed to be the stabbing perpetrator, there seems to be efforts to make the whole incident fade away as quietly as possible. There will be no trial for the daughter— not even an arrest.
Halldron said that from a purely legal perspective, they are only investigating “dangerous bodily harm”, no longer attempted murder.
A journalist asked Halldorn why they are not treating the case as attempted murder, and he said that the daughter had no intention to kill Stalzer and that she called an emergency number after the act.
Notably, there have been many murder cases in which the perpetrator called emergency services after the murder, often in an attempt to throw off investigators as to who actually committed the murder. In fact, Dutch newspaper de Telegraf states that the daughter said during the phone call that a group of men had stabbed her mother, which would be a clear act of deception on her part if true.
Police forensic units also determined that numerous bloodstains had been removed from the house using cleaning materials. If it were proven that the two teenagers had attempted to remove these bloodstains, normally they would be charged for attempting to tamper with evidence. However, once again, there does not appear to be any charges being issued in this direction.
When the crime scene scrubbing is factored in, it makes the prosecutor’s claims that the daughter was trying to call emergency services to help her mom even more questionable.
Halldorn also confirmed that “we didn’t see any traces (of the crime) outside the house.” The crime scene showed that the initial stabbing attack occurred in the basement.
“The traces further suggest that Ms. Stalzer then dragged herself to the ground floor.”
Police also reportedly found bloodstained clothing, which belonged to the daughter, in the son’s backpack. Furthermore, Dutch news outlet De Telegraf reports that the son also had one of the knives in his backpack, while Bild reported a second knife used in the crime was also found in his bedroom.
Son not even questioned
Adding to the strange elements of the case, Halldorn stated: “I believe that the boy has not yet been formally questioned.”
He “believes”?
Is he not the senior public prosecutor in this case? Should he not “know” whether the boy has been questioned? Furthermore, his excuse as to why the 15-year-old was not questioned appears to be a case of circular logic. He said that the 15-year-old did not have legal representation. And the reason for that? The parents had not authorized it.
Well, one parent was in the hospital, allegedly fighting for her life, and the father had returned from a trip on the same night as the incident, so was he even asked for authorization? This appears to be an open question.
Halldorn was also asked if the son supported the stabbing act in any manner. The prosecutor simply responds that it is a “good question. We are still establishing the facts.”
Perhaps managing to question him about the stabbing attack would be a good start?
Despite numerous mainstream media outlets reporting that there was a previous attack on the Stalzer by the daughter last summer, also involving a knife, Halldorn refuses to answer a question about this. He simply said: “All that matters to us is facts, not guesses.”
A neighbor also heard a shouting argument between the son and the mother shortly before she was attacked, yet another reason why the son should have already been questioned.
Presumably, there is a police report about this previous incident, and presumably, Halldorn, as the senior public prosecutor, would have access to this information. If this incident never occurred, as Spiegel reported, Halldorn should clear this up. He certainly does not need to “guess” about anything here, as he should have access to these “facts.” Instead, he seems to be creating more questions than answers.
Stalzer is now in “stable” condition, but she appeared to suffer horrendous wounds. In addition to the stab wounds, which punctured her lung, media reports also indicate that she suffered blunt force trauma to her skull.
There are also unsubstantiated claims circulating that the daughter of Stalzer was featured in an advertisement for her tax and law firm eight years ago, which is still up on Youtube. In the video, Stalzer is also featured.
The Directorate of State Security and Intelligence (DSN), Austria’s primary domestic intelligence body, has been struck by a scandal after an employee was accused of having passed secret information to a proscribed Islamist terror group, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The organization is officially designated as anti-constitutional in Austria, and one that the DSN itself is tasked with identifying, monitoring, and countering.
The man, who was temporarily assigned to the agency, reportedly maintained contact with members of the Muslim Brotherhood while working in a department responsible for counter-espionage and extremist threat assessment, Exxpress reported.
After weeks of surveillance, investigators confronted him following a meeting with Brotherhood representatives. He was immediately suspended and now faces prosecution for intelligence activities detrimental to the Republic of Austria.
DSN officials sought to reassure the public, claiming that “internal control mechanisms are functioning and were effective in this case,” but the department has come under fire as critics argue that the agency’s ability to uncover a mole only after confidential material had already been leaked demonstrates the exact opposite of control.
In a press release on Wednesday, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) accused Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, of the governing ÖVP, of gross negligence. “The fact that a radical Islamist is able to divert secret information from the heart of our intelligence service is the culmination of a chain of catastrophic failures under Interior Minister Gerhard Karner,” said FPÖ security spokesman Gernot Darmann, who called for the minister’s resignation.
He described the situation as “the height of cynicism and incompetence,” adding that “the ÖVP, which constantly attempts to defame the FPÖ as a ‘security risk,’ is revealing itself to be the greatest threat to the security of our homeland.”
Darmann argued that the incident casts a new light on the upcoming resignation of DSN Director Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, questioning whether his departure “for personal reasons” was in fact an effort to escape responsibility. “Did he know about this and other ticking time bombs in his own house?” Darmann asked.
The FPÖ also rejected the DSN’s attempt to label the affair an “isolated incident,” arguing that it “destroys trust in state institutions.” Darmann said, “There can be no talk of functioning control mechanisms when an extremist can obviously divert sensitive data unnoticed over an extended period.”
He further accused Karner of targeting “law-abiding citizens instead of Islamists,” citing the minister’s proposals for digital surveillance tools and stricter gun laws while claiming Islamist networks “can apparently do as they please within the state security services.”
A 27-year-old Tunisian migrant living illegally in France was indicted in Paris on Tuesday for attempted rape while intoxicated and has since been remanded in custody.
He is accused of attempting to sexually assault a 67-year-old woman in the street near Gare du Nord in the 10th arrondissement in the early hours of Oct. 5. The woman was saved at the last moment thanks to the intervention of a couple who interrupted the attack and chased down the suspect.
As reported by Le Parisien, at around 2 a.m., the woman was returning to her accommodation after attending a wedding. After arriving at Gare du Nord by public transport, she became disoriented in an unfamiliar neighborhood and asked strangers for directions.
The accused obliged, but as they walked down Rue d’Alsace, his demeanor suddenly changed. According to a source close to the case cited by Le Parisien, “the young man pulled her by the hair, struck her in the face, and threw her to the ground. He tried to tear off her clothes and took down his pants.”
The woman screamed for help, alerting a couple passing by who rushed to intervene, causing the attacker to flee while hastily pulling up his pants and stealing the victim’s watch. The pair, joined by a man on a scooter, chased him down.
The female passerby was the first to catch up with the perpetrator, at which point “he turned and touched her chest,” said the same source. The man was eventually detained by the group, who called the authorities.
“He was somewhat roughed up and likely took some blows before being restrained,” the source added.
Police quickly arrived and arrested the man, who was taken into custody. During questioning, the suspect, who is in France illegally, claimed he had been drunk and remembered nothing of the night’s events. Witnesses, however, insist he was preparing to commit a rape.
The victim’s stolen watch was recovered, and she was granted five days of total incapacity for work.
Sexual assaults by young foreigners against elderly women are growing increasingly more common across Western Europe.
This week alone, court proceedings began in Austria of a 26-year-old Afghan national accused of raping an 82-year-old Viennese woman who suffered from dementia. The migrant rapist had been the pensioner’s care assistant at her home, and the son of the victim had to watch the rape in real-time on his cellphone after installing cameras inside her apartment.
“My client’s psyche was completely destroyed by the atrocity committed against her. She has lost the will to live,” the victim’s lawyer said in a poignant address to the court.
Similarly, this week in France, a Guinean migrant living in the country illegally was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the rape of an 83-year-old woman during a daytime burglary at her home in La Penne-sur-Huveaune last year.
The attack took place on Feb. 17, 2024, at about 2 p.m., when the victim, identified in court as Odette, heard a noise in her house and went to investigate. According to testimony read in court, she came face to face with a man described as “African-looking,” wearing a black hat and a “very flashy” orange jacket. The intruder allegedly demanded money; when she said she had none, he reportedly replied, “You know what’s going to happen.” Prosecutors say he then raped her, leaving with a small amount of valuables.
And in Belgium last month, a Belgian pensioner collapsed and died during a heated exchange with a group of youths squatting in his French holiday home, after the youth gang had threatened to gang rape his wife, slit her throat, and then kill him.
“They killed him with words, and if nothing is done, in a year they will kill with a knife,” Philippe, a close friend of the victim, told local media.
An organized scam involving the false recognition of paternity is reportedly costing the German state millions of euros and allegedly driving migrant women into prostitution, primarily involving networks from West Africa. The city of Dortmund has emerged as a major flashpoint for this abuse of the system, with one case involving seven men and 122 children, all whom are not their own.
According to an exclusive report by the Welt, authorities have uncovered a widespread fraud involving the seven men. The scheme is used to illegally obtain residence permits and social benefits for the mothers.
Mr. Cash Money “bragged about banknotes and luxury cars on social media” after he had recognized paternity for 24 children of African women. However, this was not an isolated incident. The responsible Arnsberg district government confirmed to Welt that “there are currently seven fathers known in Dortmund with around 122 paternity recognitions.” They noted that some cases were “still under investigation.”
Dortmund, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, is considered particularly susceptible to this issue. The authorities speak of more than half a dozen similar “family businesses” operating in the city.
The roots of Germany’s problem date back to the 1997 child custody law reform, which was intended to simplify paternity recognition to help children without a known father. The unintended consequence is that the law now “opens doors to abuse,” especially for foreign nationals looking to exploit Germany’s generous welfare system.
As Remix News reported, Mr. Cash Money was earning at least €22,000 a month through his fake claims.
How does the scam work? There are millions — if not billions — of people who want to gain access to Germany and its social benefit system. For those foreigners who obtain citizenship, they can leverage that citizenship to make money by claiming fake paternity of children abroad. Germany already sends hundreds of millions in benefits abroad every year to real children, but increasingly, many of these children are fake.
At the time, Axel Boshame, an immigration official from the Arnsberg district government, said that “the suspected cases of children of mothers from West African countries and countries in the Western Balkans are increasing in (the German state of) North Rhine-Westphalia.”
He specifically points to Jonathan A., aka Mr. Cash Money, saying he assumes “systematic abuse of paternity recognition.”
“Sham paternity is about allowing people who actually have no prospects of staying in Germany to stay in Germany. These people are willing to pay money for this, usually to the person who takes on the fictitious paternity.”
The same issue is playing out in Dortmund. If a German man recognizes paternity, the pregnant migrant woman receives long-term residence rights, and the child becomes a German citizen, thus benefiting the mother. The “father,” who authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia report “collects up to 8,000 euros per case,” does not pay child maintenance. Instead, the state, through the youth welfare offices, “takes over the advance” payments.
Welt reports a distinct “modus operandi” has been established:
First, the migrants spend time in Italy, France or Spain and then enter Germany after pregnancy and then recognition of paternity, either prenatally or after a negative outcome of the asylum procedure or even in the asylum procedure itself.
However, the issue goes beyond mere paternity fraud, but is also morphing into large foreign networks that also focus on prostitution.
The Arnsberg district government highlighted the “Nigeria-Ghana issue,” noting that so-called “brotherhoods”(brotherhoods) in these countries recruit young women with the promise of a “lucrative job in Europe.” The grim reality is that they are “then forced into prostitution in Libya, France, Italy or Spain to pay off the travel money.” Upon becoming pregnant, they enter Germany, and a contact person handles the fraudulent paternity recognition.
The annual maintenance costs for the 122 children and mothers in Dortmund are estimated by the district government to be in a “mid-seven-figure euro range.”
In essence, it is just more German taxpayer money flowing into fraudulent operations that exploit women and children.
While reliable nationwide numbers are difficult to ascertain, the financial impact is significant. In 2017, the Ministry of the Interior estimated the cases of abuse nationwide at a “middle four-digit number.” In 2024, RBB reported that with 5,000 suspected cases, “the burden on taxpayers is 150,783,000 euros annually.” However, a BMI survey from 2018 to 2021 identified only 290 confirmed cases from 1,769 suspicious events.
Law professor Harald Dörig, an advisor to the Bundestag, is skeptical of the official figures. He criticized: “It doesn’t surprise me that the BMI survey only showed a small number of cases. Rather, it makes it clear that the majority of cases of abuse remain hidden from the authorities.”
A new law is being sought to address the loopholes. A draft from the former ‘traffic light government’ failed in the Bundestag in April 2024, but a new one is expected soon. Dörig remains critical of certain proposed solutions, such as a rule that a six-month “joint budget” excludes abuse. He states that “As the head of a large immigration authority reported to me, those affected are already claiming this in the form when they submit their application.”
German immigration authorities and law enforcement are struggling to combat a growing fraud scheme that allows foreigners to obtain German passports and residency permits with fake language and integration certificates. Furthermore, authorities say that they are being pressured to fast-track naturalizations, all while potentially thousands of foreigners are being awarded citizenship with fake credentials.
An investigation by journalists at RTL and “Stern” reveals a sophisticated black market, primarily on TikTok, where these fraudulent documents are sold for as much as €2,700.
The operation functions as a complete “worry-free package” for people seeking to live in Germany. TikTok videos, often set to music, advertise fake language certificates (A1 to C2) and proof of passing the “Living in Germany” test. The accounts, posing as language schools, show stacks of forged documents to prove their legitimacy.
These forged certificates may not only be a ticket to obtaining a German passport, with applicants required to have a B1 certificate, but may also help foreigners fulfill langauge requirements in a professional capacity, including for medical and government positions.
The posts on TikTok are generating huge interests, and as ntv reports, are viewed hundreds of thousands of times and generate massive interest, with comments in Arabic, Turkish, and Albanian asking about prices. The most sought-after document is the B1 language certificate, which can cost anywhere from €750 to €2,700. This is the specific certificate necessary to obtain citizenship.
In addition to language certificates, the fraudsters also offer fake German driver’s licenses and other professional certifications — all out in the open.
Journalists who went undercover to purchase the certificates found the process to be highly professional and fast. After a brief exchange on TikTok, communication moves to WhatsApp to finalize the details. They met with dealers in three major cities and received what appeared to be authentic documents within a week of placing an order. These certificates even included scannable QR codes that led to a fake, but convincing, website of the certificate provider.
Speaking to reporters, an anonymous immigration official said the system is completely overwhelmed and not equipped to handle this level of fraud. The forged certificates are often “hardly recognizable as a fake at first glance.”
“We are currently experiencing a loss of control of unimaginable proportions,” said an employee at an immigration authority in North Rhine-Westphalia, who wished to remain anonymous. “We are completely overwhelmed in terms of capacity, and many employees are not even trained or educated.”
He claimed that due to a lack of training and capacity, proper document verification rarely happens. “There has only been pressure from above to meet a quota, to naturalize as many people as possible,” the official stated.
The problem extends beyond naturalization, as these same certificates are required for people with “tolerated status” to obtain a residency permit. According to officials, this means a far greater number of people are affected by the fraud scheme. The official added that once a fake certificate is accepted by one authority, it’s unlikely to be scrutinized again. The phrase “once in, usually means in forever” sums up the risk of the flawed system.
This vulnerability has turned the system into a gateway for fraudsters, with law enforcement and interior ministries largely powerless to stop them. When asked for data on the issue, German authorities admitted they do not track these cases.
While some cities report a few dozen investigations, an anonymous police officer revealed that some ongoing investigations involve more than 1,000 suspected cases.
One determined immigration official, however, took matters into his own hands and discovered 340 fake certificates by manually checking a single QR code, leading him to wonder if there were “any honest applicants left.”
The official, when he went to the fake website, was able to find the 340 cases by changing the number on the URL slightly each time through “trial and error,” which revealed the 340 individuals had been given one fake certificate.
The investigation found that the motivation behind the fraud is often pragmatic. Some migrants prioritize work and don’t learn German until they need the certification. Others want to save time and get their residency permits faster. In some cases, people are illiterate and feel that buying a certificate is the only way for them to obtain the document they need.
“Some people simply cannot read or write,” said a police officer who wished to remain anonymous. “They may believe that buying a certificate is the only way for them to obtain the document. “
The full extent of this issue is difficult to quantify because authorities are not tracking it. While Germany revoked 1,009 naturalizations in the past five years, officials say they do not record the reason, making it impossible to know how many were due to fraudulent certificates.
A Tunisian national. 26-year-old Nidhal O., was sentenced to 11 years in prison and a permanent ban from the country by the Paris Criminal Court on Friday, September 26.
He was found guilty of six sexual assaults and one attempted rape, committed primarily in the Paris metro system. The prosecution had originally requested a 14-year sentence and a permanent ban from French territory.
Video of at least three of the sexual assaults were recorded and released to the public.
🇫🇷🔴 "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 spree of attacks began on the night of December 5, 2023. Alicia, 18, was returning home on the metro when, during a connection at Miromesnil around 11 p.m., when Nidhal O. suddenly approached her, according to French newspaper Le Figaro.
“He grabbed my arm and pulled me against the wall,” she described during her hearing. He then placed his hand on her chest. Alicia, stunned, was on the phone with her sister, who heard the whole scene: “Let go of me,” “what are you doing,” “get out of here.”
🇫🇷🔴 On a Paris metro: "You French are poor sons of b**ches. It's Africa that’s rich. You motherf**ker."
"I f**k your mothers, in the name of Allah, in the name of Allah, I f**k their mother, in the name of Allah, you will see!" pic.twitter.com/pAWhgKH5lh
These “screams” would cause Nidhal O. to run away.
She was the first in a string of victims over the following three nights. Later that same evening, at Temple station, a 31-year-old woman felt “hands placed on her,” this time on her buttocks. The attacker, identified on video surveillance, ran away and was lost in the crowd.
The predatory pattern remained consistent: spot a victim, approach, quickly attack, and then flee.
On the morning of December 6, Christine, 50, noticed Nidhal O.’s insistent gaze on the train. She got off at the at her stop, but as she climbed the stairs, he pursued her:
“He pushed me against the wall and touching my genitals over my clothes,”she later said during her hearing. Her screams forced the man to flee. She later confided that she has been unable to take the metro without extreme vigilance ever since.
The violence escalated shortly after when he attacked a 51-year-old woman, made her fall, and “tried to remove her pants while pressing his hand over her mouth to silence her screams.” The woman scratched his face, and the arrival of a passenger led him to flee once again. Two other women, including a 17-year-old at the Palais-Royal stop, suffered similar brutality within a matter of hours.
Finally, on the night of Dec. 8, Nidhal O. followed Chloé, 27, to her apartment building. He rushed in behind her, closed the front door, and attempted to force her onto the bed:”You’re going to be here for me, I’m going to have a relationship with you,” he told her. However, the woman’s screams were heard throughout the building.
A neighbor rushed in and said in court: “I heard screams, it was unbearable. I saw a shirtless man, I understood that I had to intervene.” Three men detained the Tunisian until police rushed in and arrested the suspect.
Nidhal O. had already been deported from Spain and Belgium before ending up in France. He was a known threat for past offenses across Europe and is described as “unstable and unpredictable.”
Addicted to cannabis, he is reported to have great difficulty managing his emotions and impulses. His behavior continued in detention, where he had a string of disciplinary incidents.
“Mr. O. is receiving special attention and increased security,” the prison report states.
Regarding his actions, he said that “there is a devil in my head and it is he who spoke and guided my hands.” However, court psychiatrists said he had no psychiatric condition that would preclude him from standing trial.
Pork dishes such as schnitzel, ham noodles, and roast pork have become rare or entirely absent from a growing number of school canteens across Vienna, the Farmers’ Association said, reporting that some institutions now offer pupils only a vegetarian option alongside meat-based menus that exclude pork entirely.
The association, cited by Heute, said it had been contacted by a Viennese mother whose daughter “only has the choice between vegetarian or ‘pork-free’ food at school.”
“A small number of schools no longer offer pork at all,” the association said, and in some cases pupils reportedly refuse dishes that do not contain pork out of uncertainty as to whether pork may nevertheless be present. The Farmers’ Association described the development as “worrying” and said it reflected a broader decline of pork in everyday school life.
“No one has to eat pork, but it must be offered. Pork is part of our culinary culture,” Corinna Weisl, director of the Farmers’ Association, said. Farmers’ Association President Georg Strasser urged that choices be preserved, adding, “Diversity on the plate means freedom of choice for everyone. Everyone can decide for themselves, but the offer must remain.”
The association’s revelations come amid rapid demographic change in Vienna’s schools. Data obtained earlier this year from the office of Bettina Emmerling, the city councilor responsible for education, shows that Muslim students now account for 41.2 percent of all pupils in the capital. Last year, the proportion of Muslim students was 39.4 percent.
The demographic shift has prompted broader debate about integration and pressure on school services. The Freedom Party of Austria has warned of cultural replacement.
In July last year, Remix News reported the concerns of an anonymous German-language teacher working in a city-funded program for migrant children, who described lessons that often “descend into disorder,” saying there is “Arabic roaring, soccer in the classroom, and zero respect.”
“I fight for two hours against a total refusal to learn,” the teacher told Exxpress. She said many enrolled pupils do not attend regularly and complained of students playing with phones, demanding to pray during lessons, or walking out of class because she is a woman.
The teacher also described incidents of intimidation and disruption. For example, she told of a colleague who tried to follow a child who left the classroom, only to find herself locked inside by other students. “Every time I turn on the electronic blackboard, one of the children immediately switches it off again,” she further recounted, adding that harassment is continuous. “One colleague is constantly mocked by a group of boys. Some leave in tears.”
She said some pupils told her they prefer to spend the summer abroad — “I don’t want to learn anything in the summer — I’m in Turkey for two months!” — and that when students are asked what they like about Austria, some reply, “Nothing at all.”
Union representatives and school staff say the strain on the system has led to a wave of departures, with up to 20 teachers leaving in a single day last summer. Thomas Krebs, a teachers’ union member, told reporters that teachers blame the state government for failing to set sufficient German language requirements for school entry and for not acting effectively against violence, extremism, and misogyny.
A Guinean migrant living illegally in France has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the rape of an 83-year-old woman during a daytime burglary at her home in La Penne-sur-Huveaune last year.
The attack took place on Feb. 17, 2024, at about 2 p.m., when the victim, identified in court as Odette, heard a noise in her house and went to investigate. According to testimony read in court, she came face to face with a man described as “African-looking,” wearing a black hat and a “very flashy” orange jacket. The intruder allegedly demanded money; when she said she had none, he reportedly replied, “You know what’s going to happen.” Prosecutors say he then raped her, leaving with a small amount of valuables.
As reported by La Provence, neighbors later found Odette disoriented in the street, and she was taken to the Conception Hospital in Marseille. Medical staff recorded traumatic injuries consistent with the alleged assault, and forensic testing recovered semen traces on the victim’s clothing that matched the suspect’s DNA.
An owl key ring belonging to the victim was reportedly recovered where the suspect had been staying.
The man convicted by the Bouches-du-Rhône Departmental Criminal Court was identified in court documents as Mamadi Cissé, said to be about 35 years old and originally from Guinea. He was arrested the day after the assault and identified by the victim in a photographic lineup.
In court, Cissé admitted the theft of items from the house but denied the sexual offense, answering through an interpreter with “No, I didn’t do anything,” “I don’t remember,” and “I don’t know,” and later telling the court, “I didn’t rape her.”
The trial heard that Cissé had a complex personal history. He was said to have arrived in France after a migration route that included Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Italy, and to have been living homeless in a tent on the Prado in Marseille.
Court papers state he had an outstanding obligation to leave French territory — an OQTF — that had been served about a month before the attack. He was also known to police for recent thefts.
Psychiatric reports introduced at the hearing described serious mental-health concerns. An expert had previously judged Cissé incompatible with police custody, and he was placed in a psychiatric hospital, where examiners noted delusions and schizophrenic disorders.
Cissé’s defense lawyers told the court that he had attempted suicide, and questioned the circumstances of his discharge from hospital two days before the assault.
The victim’s lawyer, acting for Odette and the seven relatives who joined the case as civil parties, told the court the assault had stolen more than possessions and had left the victim with “the shame of having been sullied, trampling forever on the memory of her lifelong love.” Odette, attended in court by her three daughters and several grandchildren, told the presiding judge, “I’m 85 years old and it was excruciating.”
Nice-Matin reported how the victim believed the attack had “stained the memory of her husband,” who had died two months earlier.
The court convicted Cissé of rape and related offenses and imposed a 12-year prison sentence. The victim has asked judges to return a personal Claude François blanket that has been held under seal since the events.
A 52-year-old man was seriously injured after being attacked with an axe, knives, and a baseball bat near a mosque in France on Monday night, in what investigators believe was a dispute between worshippers over seating arrangements during prayers.
The assault took place around 9:10 p.m. about 600 meters from the Bellevue mosque in Nantes, according to the city’s public prosecutor, Antoine Leroy.
The victim was struck multiple times in the back of the head by two men armed with knives and a hatchet, while a third attacker hit him on the arm with a baseball bat.
The man, who suffered serious injuries, was taken to Nantes University Hospital. He has since been declared stable and was able to give his version of events to investigators, Leroy said.
One suspect has been taken into custody, while the others remain at large.
According to Le Parisien, witnesses to the attack are being interviewed by officers who have opened an investigation for “attempted intentional homicide with a bladed weapon.”
According to initial findings and statements made by the victim, the attack stemmed from a conflict “concerning the places occupied within the mosque during prayers by each of the protagonists, all being worshippers of the same mosque,” the prosecutor explained.
The newly elected Social Democrat (SPD) mayor of the German city of Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, was stabbed multiple times yesterday inside her home. The woman’s two adopted children, a 15-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter, were taken into custody after the incident. Photos of the son being led away in handcuffs were also published in a variety of German media outlets.
Stalzer’s life remains in danger, but according to Focus, she was briefly awake and was able to answer police questions. However, although she signaled she knew who her attacker was, she refused to provide any further details to police.
An investigation remains underway, and so far, it does not appear anyone has been charged in the attack. However, the two adopted children appear to be the focus of the investigation and were actively questioned following the stabbing attack. According to Focus, the 15-year-old son is the focus of the investigation now, with the youth featuring a history of “mental health” problems.
UPDATE: The German mayor of Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, is now conscious and can speak, according to reports.
German media outlets, including Focus, are reporting that her adopted 17-year-old daughter is said to be a focus of the investigation.
Stalzer’s life is still in danger, a spokeswoman for the Hagen police said Wednesday morning.
Crime scene investigators were active inside the home and on the street yesterday, securing evidence. Both children were also checked for forensic evidence. Investigators believe the crime has a family background and is not politically motivated. According to a report from Spiegel, police were called to the residence just a month earlier, after the 17-year-old daughter threatened the mother, also allegedly with a knife.
Security sources told Welt that neighbors reported hearing a loud argument between the 15-year-old son and his mother before the stabbing. The father was not home at the time, only returning home later that evening after a trip abroad.
Police press officer Tino Schaefer answers questions from journalists in Herdecke, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, after the newly elected mayor of Herdecke, Iris Stalzer, was found critically injured in her apartment. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
There has been much back and forth among media outlets over whether the son or the daughter might be responsible for the crime, but so far, police have left open whether either of them are suspects. There were also reports that the son told police his mother was attacked by a “group of men” on the street, but all reports confirm she was found bloody inside her home.
Stalzer suffered multiple stab wounds to her upper body and received first aid at the scene. She was later transported to the hospital by helicopter.
The newspaper Westfalenpost learned from security sources that Stalzer was awake during a brief moment of police questioning. She told police she knew who committed the crime but declined to further comment.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also wrote about the attack on X, stating, “We have received news of a despicable act in Herdecke. It must now be solved quickly. We fear for the life of the mayor-elect, Iris Stalzer, and hope for a full recovery.”
A narrow European Parliament vote to uphold the immunity of Ilaria Salis, an Italian far-left MEP accused in Hungary of violent Antifa assaults, has triggered a fierce political storm in Rome. League leader Matteo Salvini accused members of Italy’s center-right of betrayal after Salis was spared prosecution by a single vote in Tuesday’s secret ballot in Strasbourg.
“She is accused of aggravated assault with potentially lethal force and other criminal conduct in collusion with others, within a criminal organization,” Salvini said on X. “But with the trick of a secret ballot, requested by left-wing groups, even someone who calls himself ‘center-right’ voted to save Ms. Salis from trial. Shame!”
Accusata di lesioni aggravate potenzialmente letali e altre condotte criminose in concorso con altri, all'interno di un'organizzazione criminale.
Ma col trucchetto del voto segreto, richiesto dai gruppi di sinistra, anche qualcuno che si dice di “centrodestra” ha votato per… pic.twitter.com/a0ZHu0c4CZ
The League leader’s outburst was aimed at coalition partners Forza Italia, whose members sit with the European People’s Party (EPP), which had officially supported lifting Salis’s immunity. The measure failed by one vote — 306 to 305, with 17 abstentions — after several EPP lawmakers reportedly broke ranks.
Forza Italia’s leader, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, swiftly hit back. “Talk is meaningless; what counts are the facts, the results,” he said. “Forza Italia is the second-largest force in the center-right. We don’t accept slander or insults. When these little things are used to gain a few more votes, it means they’re lost.”
League MEP Silvia Sardone accused the EPP of “saving Ilaria Salis,” arguing that the missing votes could only have come from the party. “We know full well that the EPP and Forza Italia govern with the left here in Brussels,” she said.
Forza Italia deputy secretary Stefano Benigni called her remarks “nonsense,” pointing out that his party’s delegation voted unanimously. “First, she says the vote was secret, then she accuses Forza Italia and the EPP of betrayal as if she had a magic wand. Who are you, Maga Magò?” Benigni said, adding that 15 right-wing MEPs — including one from the League — were absent, which “proved decisive.”
The Hungarian government had asked the parliament to lift Salis’s immunity so she could stand trial for allegedly attacking people during a far-left “Hammer Gang” assault in Budapest in 2023. The victims, some wrongly identified as neo-Nazis, suffered serious and life-changing injuries.
Hungarian prosecutors accuse Salis of aggravated assault and participation in a criminal organization, charges that could carry an 11-year custodial sentence. She was under house arrest in Budapest before being elected as an MEP for the Green–Left Alliance (AVS) and receiving immunity from prosecution as an elected EU lawmaker.
The Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee recommended maintaining her immunity last month, citing evidence that the case was politically motivated. EPP rapporteur Adrián Vázquez Lázara opposed that conclusion, arguing that “immunity does not serve to protect politicians from justice.”
The final result was the tightest immunity vote in recent EU history. Parliamentary sources cited by Corriere della Sera said late lobbying by socialist and liberal MEPs convinced a handful of conservatives to switch sides.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán condemned the outcome, writing on X: “Brussels protects its own. Péter Magyar keeps his immunity, Ilaria Salis keeps hers. A politician facing criminal charges for insider trading and theft, along with a member of a terrorist group — both protected by Brussels.”
Magyar, the leader of Hungary’s opposition Tisza party, had been wanted by Hungarian authorities to face trial for allegedly making sexual advances toward minors andtaking a mobile phone from a nightclub and throwing it into the Danube in one instance, while he also faces criminal and civil charges related to defamation for calling a former Fidesz politician a criminal.
Salis celebrated what she called “a great democratic victory” and “a victory for antifascism.” Posting a photo of herself in the Strasbourg chamber with her fist raised, she wrote: “We are all anti-fascists!”
An 82-year-old Viennese woman suffering from dementia was allegedly raped by her own care nurse, an Afghan national, and has since lost her will to live after the traumatizing experience, according to lawyer representing the woman in court. The son in the case had to endure watching his mother raped in realtime on his cellphone after he placed cameras in her apartment.
On Sept. 18, Claudia G., whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was sexually abused by her own nurse inside her apartment. Her son watched his mother raped in real-time on his phone after he installed cameras inside her apartment over concern of his mother and the nurse.
The 26-year-old migrant, Sarafaz Z., was arrested the same day. In custody, he confessed to the rape, but the investigation is still open.
Her lawyer, Manfred Arbacher-Stöger, told the Kronen newspaper, “My client’s psyche was completely destroyed by the atrocity committed against her. She has therefore suffered lasting psychological damage.”
The lawyer said she “lost the will to live.”
The family also told the paper that she now consistently talks about committing suicide since she was raped. They say caring for her is now increasingly difficult as she sinks into severe anxiety, depression, and withdrawal.
The organization that sent the Afghan caregiver to the woman’s house was made aware of the incident by the son, but the son says they have offered no support. Instead, they confronted him with harsh demands.
“I was told quite harshly that my mother’s continued care would only be possible if I deactivated the cameras on her premises. And I was told that her tormentor actually had the right to sue me because I filmed him without permission,” he said.
The family views the organization’s reaction as a major “slap in the face.”
They say the organization is more concerned with protecting the Afghan migrant than implementing stricter controls on their employees.
As a result, the family has gone to the Austrian press with their story, and with video evidence of rape and a confession from the suspect, they appear ready to battle for the rights of their mother.
The family says they no longer have faith in state-run care facilities but instead want to turn to a private organization.
Similar cases have plagued Europe for years, with elderly patients routinely sexually assaulted and raped by foreigners in countries like France and Germany.
Also, this year, Somali-born Baasim Yusuf was jailed for raping multiple elderly Swedish women but cannot be deported since he already received Swedish citizenship.
Greece is set to implement sweeping cuts to asylum-related spending and phase out rent subsidies for refugees, redirecting funds toward work programs and Greek-language training.
The Ministry of Migration and Asylum confirmed that total funding for asylum benefits will drop by almost 30 percent, from €400 million to €288 million per year.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said the reforms mark a fundamental shift in policy. “Those granted asylum in the future will no longer live on permanent subsidies, but will be integrated into society through work,” he said, adding that support payments will cover “only the absolute necessities.”
The changes, he stressed, are designed to make Greece less attractive for irregular migration while strengthening its labor market and complying with European Union standards.
According to Proto Thema, the government’s new plan involves three stages. The first, already underway, aims to save more than €288 million over two years in food and accommodation expenses across reception facilities. The second step is the immediate abolition of the HELIOS program, which provided rent allowances to recognized refugees. Funds from that scheme will now be redirected toward job training and Greek-language education. The third measure introduces a 50-percent cut in direct financial aid, reducing monthly support — currently about €75 — to what the ministry calls “bare essentials.”
Plevris signed a new agreement assigning the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (the “Superfund”) responsibility for all tenders related to food supply, security, cleaning, and maintenance at reception centers. The contract, signed with Deputy CEO Panagiotis Stampoulidis, is meant to improve transparency and efficiency in how migration funds are spent. “The funding we committed to was 30 percent less than in previous tenders, and our goal is to achieve even greater savings through competitive procedures and changes to the benefits model,” Plevris said.
He emphasized that Greece “will no longer finance rental housing” for asylum recipients, and that apartments leased under the HELIOS program in central Athens will be returned to local residents. “All funds will now be redirected toward equipping recipients with the skills needed to enter the workforce,” he said. “Anyone granted asylum in this country will no longer live off benefits at the expense of European and Greek taxpayers. They will be given the opportunity to work – and housing currently tied up in central Athens will be freed.”
Deputy Minister Sevi Voloudaki described the overhaul as “a new, clear migration policy era,” adding, “The mindset of passive residence and endless benefits is ending once and for all. From now on, support will be tied to employment, education, and genuine integration.
“Those in the country illegally will be returned or detained, in accordance with the law and our European commitments. Those who have been granted asylum will live from their own labor, not from state handouts.”
“For the approximately 20,000 refugees who receive asylum each year, mandatory work integration is a new reality,” Plevris said. “Instead of giving benefits, we will go in a fast direction to develop the skills they can based on the needs, and once they complete this program — five to six months — if they want to stay in Greece, they will have to work. There is no longer a benefit, where ‘I pay your rent and you sit and do nothing.’”
Public consultation on the new bill will begin within the month, with implementation expected to start next year.
The Ministry of Migration also highlighted early signs of success in reducing irregular entries following the announcement of harsher incoming policies. Official data show that arrivals dropped sharply from nearly 6,000 in August 2024 to fewer than 2,900 this August. September arrivals likewise fell from almost 7,000 last year to just over 4,000. The ministry says the figures demonstrate that “closing the windows of illegal entry can be combined with the creation of stable and institutionalized channels of legal immigration.”
“This is a necessary temporary response, based precisely on the same legal reasoning that the Greek government successfully invoked when dealing with the migration invasion of March 2020,” he told lawmakers at the time. “Those migrants who enter the country illegally will be arrested and detained.”
This threat was put into practice later that month when 247 migrants were intercepted at sea, handed over to police, and transferred directly to detention facilities.
In August, Athens announced further measures to combat illegal immigration, stating migrants whose asylum applications had been rejected would be required to wear electronic ankle bracelets so their movements can be tracked in the weeks before deportation. This would be a catch-all interim policy for those who had already arrived in Greece before the mandatory detention upon arrival had been implemented.
Negotiations on the formation of a new Czech government have entered a decisive phase after election winner Andrej Babiš confirmed that his ANO movement is in talks with Tomio Okamura’s hard-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Petr Macinka’s anti-establishment Motorists, and that said talks have progressed to divying up ministries.
Together, the three parties would command a majority of 108 votes in the 200-member Chamber of Deputies.
“Yes, we have 108 with the SPD and Motorists, so we are negotiating a joint government,” Babiš said in a video posted to social media on Tuesday. He explained that the SPD’s participation would take the form of “experts, people from the industry who know what’s going on,” while the Motorists plan to nominate politicians who ran for office.
“We discuss the program every day. And when we negotiate everything, then I will go to the president,” he said.
As reported by Echo24, Motorists chairman Petr Macinka confirmed that his movement was seeking “a stable agreement that would be valid for the entire four years of the mandate.” He described the negotiations as “substantive” and said his party “sees a chance to conclude them.” He declined to comment on possible cabinet appointments, saying it would be “unserious” to speculate before the deal was complete.
Macinka also downplayed earlier remarks by Motorists honorary president Filip Turek, who suggested he could become foreign minister. “We have 13 experts here in every field. They are de facto leaders, and any of them could be a minister. But at this point, it would be premature to appoint anyone,” he said.
Turek told reporters that his inclusion in the government was “likely,” but said he would not serve if the SPD controlled the interior or defense ministries. “I would not sit in such a government,” he said. “The SPD should not have defense or interior ministries, given its positions on the EU and NATO.” He added that he would accept the participation of SPD “experts” and found the names discussed “acceptable.”
Speculation has also linked former Supreme State Prosecutor Renata Vesecká to the post of justice minister under the Motorists’ quota, though she declined to confirm it, saying only that her focus would be “the area of law and security.”
President Petr Pavel has described such a three-party government as “a realistically possible option.”
Babiš later confirmed that negotiations had shifted to dividing ministries among the partners. “There is now a debate about the number of ministries. The SPD is part of the government in the form of experts in some ministries, and the Motorists are represented there by politicians. I think that is a good strategy,” he said outside ANO headquarters in Prague’s Chodov district.
Asked about Turek’s possible appointment as foreign minister, Babiš replied only, “I will not comment on that.” He also indicated that SPD leader Tomio Okamura could play a role in the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies, saying, “Hopefully it will work out, we’ll see.”
Babiš attacked the outgoing government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, accusing it of halting infrastructure projects and underfunding public services. “We can finally start informing people where Fiala’s government has led our country,” he said. “Transport projects have been stopped, and there is no money for healthcare.”
The ANO leader accused Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura of misrepresenting budget data. “Construction has stopped. This is unreal. Stanjura cheated, leaving empty coffers. He lied about having some income of 10 billion from the EU. There is a regular lack of 50 to 60 billion in total, so Stanjura normally cheats brutally in the deficit,” he said.
Babiš warned that the next government would inherit what he called a “completely drained country.” Without corrective action, he said, the deficit for 2026 would likely rise beyond what had been planned. “If a solution is not found, next year’s budget will have to have a higher deficit than the planned 286 billion crowns. There is a shortfall of up to 60 billion,” he said, implying the government would not implement austerity measures to address the issue.
Spain’s public healthcare system is treating a growing number of undocumented migrants and displaced foreigners, despite Spaniards enduring increasingly longer waiting times for appointments and operations.
Figures released by Madrid’s Ministry of Health show that the Spanish capital alone has registered a 44 percent jump in patients without residency papers in the last year, while the Canary Islands have agreed to take in sick and wounded minors from Gaza at the request of the central government, despite its own residents having to wait an average of 122 days for surgery appointments.
According to data published by El Confidencial, the Madrid Health Service (Sermas) provided medical care to 190,000 people in an irregular situation over the past year, compared with 134,000 the year before. The figure represents an increase of 60,000 patients in 12 months, as the region’s total population grew by about half a million.
Regional Health Minister Fátima Matute told reporters that the municipality had issued 140,000 new health cards and delivered 360,000 services to displaced persons. “No one has been denied care or been asked for a credit card,” Matute insisted, noting that Madrid’s hospitals and clinics handled 51 million consultations in a year, seven percent more than in 2024.
Matute complained that the regional system was receiving little help from the central government, accusing Spain’s Ministry of Health of cutting its funding by around €1.5 billion and warned that further reductions were expected as funds were redirected to the Ministry of Defense and NATO commitments.
“They have already cut €40 million from the Carlos III Health Institute,” she said. “I can think of several ministries I would eliminate to provide resources for defense rather than taking them away from health.”
Meanwhile, the Canary Islands government — led in tandem by the Canary Coalition (CC) and the People’s Party (PP) — has announced it will immediately provide medical care to sick and injured children from Gaza, after receiving a request from Madrid. Spokesman Alfonso Cabello said the regional authorities were among the first to volunteer assistance. The transfer will be organized on a Defense Ministry aircraft, with the Ministry of Inclusion responsible for accommodation and social support once the children arrive.
The number of minors and the date of arrival remain unconfirmed, but Cabello said the offer “has already been made immediately by order of the president of the Canary Islands.”
La Gaceta reports the decision to transfer more foreigners to the islands has been met with considerable public criticism amid widespread frustration with the state of the islands’ health services.
The move is despite waiting lists barely decreasing on the Spanish archipelago last year, and the local authorities having, for some time, pleaded with the mainland government for additional support and resources to combat its own illegal immigration crisis.
In a scathing interview with El Mundo back in January, President of the Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo accused Spain’s major political parties — the left-wing Socialists (PSOE) and center-right People’s Party (PP) — of leaving his territory in a “state of abandonment” and urged them to act to address the ongoing migration crisis affecting the islands.
His remarks came after a record number of illegal arrivals onto the islands was recorded last year, totalling over 46,800 and saturating local services.
A young woman from Bilbao says she has been abandoned by Spain’s institutions and re-victimized online after the Malian migrant she accused of raping her last year fled the country. She has accused the anti-immigration Vox party of politicizing her ordeal to stir up racial hatred.
The assault, according to her account to El Correo, took place on Sept. 8, 2024. The woman, identified as Izaro, said she met the Malian national for drinks and later accepted his help when she felt unwell. She said he led her to “a place away from public view, without cameras,” and raped her. “It was a black spot in the city center. I’m sure he planned it,” she said.
Friends who came to help her stopped a police patrol, and the suspect was detained shortly afterward. Local police issued a press statement describing the arrest, and Bilbao’s city government also released a message expressing solidarity with the victim and offering municipal support.
“I was not protected at any point when I presented my case to the media,” she said, as cited by El Mundo. “I found out because my mother heard about it on the news. The city council has never contacted me either. They don’t follow through on anything they say. They do it all for show.”
A first judge decided the case should proceed, but imposed no restrictions on the accused. A second judge required him to report to court every two weeks, but again did not confiscate his passport. “He hadn’t been in attendance the last time he was scheduled to be in the courtroom,” she said, later finding out her alleged attacker had fled to his homeland. “I was in shock,” she said.
After she shared this publicly, the Basque branch of Vox wrote on X: “This is how these scoundrels operate. They commit their crimes, spend barely a few hours in the police station, and when danger looms, they disappear. We urgently need to close borders, even more so to eradicate this irrational do-gooderism. A firm hand, or the system will never work.”
Rather than solely directing her criticism toward the left-wing parties facilitating the arrival of such men, or the leniency of the judiciary in enabling his escape, Izaro took aim at the Vox party advocating for greater border security and more effective law and justice.
“My case is a summary of how to do things wrong when a woman reports a rape: your case of sexual assault is publicized, although without giving any information about me, but without even telling me whether I approve of it or not; the rapist’s passport is not taken away when it is known that, whenever he wants, he can go back to his country of origin; and, finally, a political party uses your story to spread racist junk propaganda,” she told the Spanish news outlet.
Izaro, who revealed she has been diagnosed with PTSD following the attack, said she decided to speak publicly because she does not want her story used for political ends. “Vox is going too far with me,” she said. “They’ve issued a statement saying that we need to close the borders. I’m not against foreigners; I’m against people who commit crimes, wherever they’re from. I don’t want anyone to link me to Vox or for that party to use me in their racist rhetoric.”
The figures, however, show an undeniable link between foreigners and rape, which soared to a record high in Spain last year with 5,206 incidents, or 14 reported rapes per day.
“You meet someone, you like them, they take you out because you trust them… But they end up raping you, and since then, everyone who’s supposed to understand, care for, and protect you has been taking steps in the opposite direction, Izaro said.
“The last thing I needed was Vox. Seeing myself involved in that dirty game has made me feel re-victimized.”
Seven teenagers are standing trial in Vienna, Austria, accused of raping, blackmailing, and terrorizing a 29-year-old teacher over several months. The defendants, aged between 14 and 17, are also charged with burglary and arson after allegedly breaking into the woman’s apartment and setting it ablaze.
The case began after the teacher entered into a relationship with a 16-year-old former student in April 2024. The boy, no longer in her class, had contacted her through Instagram, and they met several times. Prosecutors ruled out any abuse of authority, noting that the student was “sexually self-determined” and that the encounters were consensual.
However, the relationship led to a sustained campaign of intimidation and abuse. In May 2024, the teenager invited friends to a party at his home, including a 15-year-old Iraqi and a 17-year-old Romanian. After discovering the affair, the two allegedly threatened to expose the teacher and release compromising photos taken in her apartment.
According to prosecutors cited by Kurier, the 15-year-old Iraqi was the main instigator and used threats to control the woman. “He threatened to publish photos taken during a meeting in her apartment,” the prosecution said. The teacher was reportedly terrified of him and went on sick leave at the start of the 2024 school year due to psychological distress.
In November 2024, the teenagers allegedly sexually assaulted the teacher on her balcony and filmed the act. The group then used the recordings to blackmail the woman for months. They demanded money for drugs, alcohol, and the use of her apartment for parties, while continuing to abuse her. Her lawyer noted that a psychiatric report found she suffered from chronic depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the assaults.
The three main defendants — a 15-year-old Iraqi, a 17-year-old Romanian, and a 15-year-old Afghan — are charged with rape, sexual abuse of a defenseless person, and aggravated extortion. All three are in pre-trial detention. Four other boys, including the teacher’s former lover, face lesser charges such as theft and complicity.
Prosecutors believe some of the defendants were involved with the so-called “Liesinger Gang,” a youth group in Vienna’s Liesing district said to have up to 80 members. One of the accused denied it was a criminal organization, saying they simply met to socialize.
The abuse culminated in a break-in and arson attack in January 2025. Prosecutors say the 15-year-old Iraqi, the 15-year-old Afghan, and a 14-year-old accomplice used a hammer to break through a window in the victim’s apartment, stole jewelry, watches, and other valuables, and then set the premises on fire.
During the investigation into the fire, police uncovered evidence of the sexual assaults and ongoing blackmail, leading to the arrests of all seven suspects. The teacher’s former student later admitted to stealing €800 from her but denied taking part in the later crimes, claiming he had “only told two friends” about the relationship.
As Remix News reported back in August, police found DNA evidence of two of the youth gang members on cigarette butts at the crime scene.
One 15-year-old youth admitted to taking taxi rides to the tune of €545, which the teacher paid for. They all say the woman consensually had sex with them.
The trial is taking place at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court and is expected to last four days.
Ukraine is interested in influencing Hungarian national elections in April, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in a new video posted to his Facebook page.
He points to work done by Ukrainians in creating an app for the rival Tisza Party, which is the main opposition facing Orbán during April national elections.
“It is clear what Ukraine’s interest is in the Hungarian parliamentary election, and it is clear who and through what they want to act in line with this interest,” said Szijjártó.
He added that “if anyone had any doubts about whether the Ukrainians would interfere in next year’s Hungarian parliamentary election, they could be sure that the Ukrainians are strongly interested in influencing the outcome of the Hungarian parliamentary election.”
The foreign minister is referencing a data leak that showed that individuals connected to Ukraine were behind the creation of an app for the Tisza party. The leak affected approximately 18,000 users of the party’s mobile app. Among the data leaked was that of one of its admins, a Ukrainian developer, Myroslav Tokar, who works for app development company PettersonApps.
This has aroused concerns that Péter Magyar, the leader of Tisza, used a Ukrainian company to develop the app, thus presumably transferring the data of Hungarian citizens to Ukraine.
The CEO of PettersonApps is Oleh Ostroverkh, a supporter of Zelensky and a member of the supervisory board of the NGO Defense Robotics UA, writes Mandiner. This NGO has close ties with the Ukrainian army’s “Da Vinci Wolves” battalion, particularly in the development, deployment, and tactical testing of ground-based drones.
Orbán’s government has pounced on the data leak, pointing to foreign influence in the hotly contested election.
“This is not surprising, as the Ukrainians and everyone else know that if a national government remains in office, then the Hungarian government’s decisions will exclusively follow the Hungarian national interest, and then Ukraine will not become a member of the European Union,” said Hungary’s foreign minister.
It is clear that there are numerous foreign interests involved in the upcoming Hungarian national elections, with Ukraine in particular likely to pull out all the stops to remove Orbán from power. Szijjártó himself makes it clear that his party will reject Ukraine’s EU and NATO membership bid if his party remains in power.
“We will not allow Brussels to unleash the Ukrainian mafia, the shoddy Ukrainian agricultural products and the war itself on the European Union. If a Brussels puppet government is established in Hungary, then obviously all obstacles to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will be removed. It is clear what Ukraine’s interests are in the Hungarian parliamentary elections, and it is clear how they are pursuing these interests,” he concluded.
Germany’s pension system should gradually raise the retirement age to 73 by 2060, according to a report by the Economics Ministry’s new scientific advisory board.
The panel of economists warns that without significant reform, the system will become unsustainable as productivity stagnates and the population continues to age.
The report, presented on Monday and cited by Bild, concludes that demographic realities and low economic growth leave no alternative but to extend working lives. It was prepared by economists Justus Haucap of the University of Düsseldorf, Stefan Kolev of the Ludwig Erhard Forum, Volker Wieland of the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability in Frankfurt, and Veronica Grimm of Nuremberg University of Technology. All four are known for advocating free-market solutions and limited government intervention.
“The time for reforms is becoming increasingly urgent,” the authors wrote. “Economic output has been stagnating for years, while comparable economies are growing significantly more dynamically.” The report attributes this to weak productivity growth and demographic decline, arguing that Germany must adjust its retirement policies to reflect rising life expectancy.
“We will have to work more if we want to maintain the scope of social security without leaving even greater burdens for future generations,” the economists warned. “The retirement age must be linked to life expectancy.”
The advisory board cites Denmark as a model for its proposal. Since 2006, Denmark has tied its pension age directly to average life expectancy. The statutory retirement age there has gradually increased from 65 in 2006 to 67 today, and it is set to rise to 70 by 2040 under a reform approved by parliament in May 2025. The legislation applies to all Danish citizens born after Dec. 31, 1970, and ensures automatic adjustments every five years based on demographic forecasts.
Despite having a more favorable demographic profile than Germany, Denmark’s approach means that future generations are expected to retire later as they live longer. If current trends continue, Danes born after 1997 could face a retirement age of 73 by 2060, with average life expectancy projected to reach nearly 90.
Germany’s current plan is far less flexible. The statutory retirement age is set to rise to 67 by 2031, but any further increases would require explicit political approval. Unlike Denmark, Germany has no automatic mechanism linking pensions to life expectancy, meaning each adjustment must pass through the political process — a debate that regularly provokes strong opposition from trade unions and social groups.
Another important factor in the pension system, however, is government expenditure. A prominent issue for Europe’s largest economy currently is the fact that fewer people are paying into the coffers through income tax; meanwhile, its welfare budget has ballooned to unprecedented levels, and mass immigration is playing a critical role in this imbalance.
In November last year, Federal Employment Agency (BA) statistics showed that of the 4 million people who can work but receive social benefits in Germany, more than 2.5 million have a migration background, constituting 63.5 percent of all recipients.
Similarly, in June, Bild reported how nearly half of Germany’s €17.68 billion in housing support for 2024 was paid out to foreigners, citing government data. The money, distributed under the citizen’s benefit system, was used to cover rent, heating, operating costs, and deposits for low-income residents. Of the total, €8.15 billion went to people without German citizenship, even though they make up just around 15 percent of the population.
BA data published in April showed how the citizen’s benefit reached a record total high of €46.7 billion in 2024, a massive 10 percent increase versus 2023.
Germany’s ruling CDU/CSU bloc is now seeking to limit welfare entitlement for foreign nationals, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan and Syria, who typically remain on handouts for longer than other migrants.
“We cannot accept that hundreds of thousands of young asylum seekers here in Germany are unemployed for decades,” said CDU deputy parliamentary group leader Mathias Middelberg in August.
A rising welfare budget is just one of the factors in the spiraling crisis, however. Typical of much of Western Europe, Germans are having fewer babies, leading to an ageing workforce. Without addressing this fundamental issue, politicians may feel that raising the retirement age is inevitable, no matter how unpalatable for the electorate.
After Germany dropped its long-standing opposition to EU chat control, leading encrypted messenger Signal issued a dire warning about privacy in Europe, with the post going viral.
However, now European parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) have joined in the criticism, with the party warning just before the EU Council vote that so-called “chat control” could end privacy entirely in Europe.
The protest from the AfD comes after Signal threatened to pull out entirely from Europe if the EU implements its surveillance plans. If Signal went through with such a move, it would be a major black eye for the EU, putting it on par with surveillance states like China.
Ruben Rupp, the digital policy spokesperson for the AfD parliamentary group, warned against “total surveillance under the guise of child protection.”
“What is being sold here is, in reality, a frontal attack on the fundamental rights of all citizens. Such a measure places the entire population under general suspicion,” Rupp said. He added that millions of innocent users would be spied on, and instead, the focus should be on harsher punishments for those who hurt or abuse children, not mass surveillance.
AfD politician Rupp wants Berlin to turn against the new spying powers that would be granted to the EU.
He said that “Germany can no longer duck away, but must vote against this surveillance madness together with freedom-oriented states like Poland and Austria. Freedom and privacy are not negotiable goods.”
The upcoming vote, scheduled for Oct. 14, would see the EU Council vote on the “Regulation on the Prevention and Combating of Child Sexual Abuse,” also known as the CSAM regulation for short.
One of the major countries long opposed to such a measure has been Germany. What the law would actually do would allow automated searches of all private messages across the entire EU, including messages, photos, and videos, in order for the EU to look for child abuse or child pornography materials. Most importantly, these messages would be accessible to the EU even if they were encrypted.
On the surface, the EU says this is necessary to view all data flow in the European Union, including all end-to-end encrypted communications. However, data protection advocates indicate that the move would lead to digital mass surveillance on par with China.
“Under the guise of protecting children, the latest Chat Control proposals would require mass scanning of every message, photo, and video on a person’s device, assessing these via a government-mandated database or AI model to determine whether they are permissible content or not,” writes Signal in a call to action.
Signal wrote a press release opposing the EU chat control plan, which gained 4 million views on X alone.
“We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe,” wrote the messaging app non-profit, which is used by hundreds of millions of people.
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. https://t.co/015qmQnIS2
Signal further warned in its press release that the EU’s proposal “is a horrifying idea for many reasons. First, the technical consensus is clear. Scanning every message–whether you do it before, or after these messages are encrypted–negates the very premise of end-to-end encryption. Instead of having to break the gold-standard Signal encryption protocol to access someone’s Signal messages, hackers and hostile nation states only need to piggyback on the access granted to the scanning system. This threat is so severe that even intelligence agencies agree it would be catastrophic for national security.”
There are further fears that the program could be rolled out to protect children, but over time, it could be expanded to censor political speech and arrest or punish political opponents of the ruling liberal establishment in Europe. Notably, users have been prosecuted for sharing memes, political content, and “off-color” jokes, oftentimes in private groups, such as the case of Dries Van Langenhove in Belgium.
Czech President Petr Pavel has acknowledged that there is “an interest in a coalition government of three parties” following the first round of post-election consultations with leaders of the political movements that entered the Chamber of Deputies.
Speaking after two days of meetings at Prague Castle, Pavel said discussions have so far been “open, factual, and fair,” and that further talks will depend on program and personnel agreements between the parties, iDNES reported.
“It is clear that there is an interest in the coalition government of three parties,” said Pavel, who on Monday received right-wing SPD leader Tomio Okamura and anti-establishment Motorists chairman Petr Macinka, both of whom are in active talks with Andrej Babiš, the chairman of the victorious ANO movement.
According to the president, the process of forming a government will proceed in parallel with the establishment of the new Chamber of Deputies. “The distribution of forces in the Chamber — how the individual political parties will be represented in its bodies — will naturally also influence the composition of the government,” he said, adding that there was no attempt to rush the process.
Okamura confirmed that the SPD is seeking direct participation in the new government, with ambitions for “at least one, ideally two or three ministerial positions.” He said that talks with ANO are ongoing, with the next round of meetings expected this week.
“Specific ministries are still a matter of negotiation, it depends on the winner of the elections and what constellation he will choose,” Okamura said, emphasizing that his party’s main goal is to “implement a program so that people have more money.”
Echo24 reported the SPD’s negotiating team, led by deputy chairman Radim Fiala, is coordinating daily with ANO officials, while the newly elected SPD parliamentary group — 15 deputies, including representatives of allied parties such as Trikolóra and PRO — will meet for the first time on Tuesday.
Babiš, who won the election with a strong mandate but fell short of an overall majority, has said his preference remains a single-party minority government supported by ad-hoc agreements with other factions. However, several senior ANO officials have signaled that forming a coalition may be unavoidable.
ANO vice-chairman Robert Králíček told Echo Prime Time that while a “single-color government” remains the goal, political realities require flexibility. “Negotiations are at the beginning — it is premature to talk about any specific outlines now,” he said. “Andrej Babiš has a clear mandate from the movement’s presidency to negotiate a single-party government, which is our priority, but politics is the art of the possible.”
Králíček added that ANO is more politically aligned with the Motorists party than with the SPD, citing previous cooperation in the European Parliament and shared economic objectives. However, he warned that the SPD’s proposal for a referendum on leaving NATO and the EU remains a “red line” for ANO. “Each party wants to push through its program, but there are limits we will not cross,” he said.
Motorists leader Petr Macinka has already signaled his readiness to join a governing coalition, calling for a balanced budget within four years — an idea Babiš has called “nonsense” — while agreeing on tax and investment reforms to boost state revenues.
President Pavel said his role at this stage is to ensure a constructive and transparent process, not to set deadlines. “If there is a consensus on programmatic intersections and personnel, I am ready to give the election winner the mandate to form the government,” he said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has again denounced the European Union’s handling of the war in Ukraine, declaring that Slovakia’s goal is not Russia’s defeat but peace between “Slavs killing each other.”
Speaking during a televised discussion marking the 81st anniversary of the Battle of the Dukla Pass, Fico said that “the war could have ended three months after it started,” accusing Western powers of prolonging the conflict to fight Russia indirectly.
“War is no solution. If the EU had spent as much energy on peace as it does on supporting the war in Ukraine, the war could have ended long ago. I will never be a wartime prime minister,” Fico said, insisting that if Slovaks wanted such a leader, “they should elect someone else.”
The prime minister added that he would “never allow Slovakia to be dragged into any war adventure,” citing “no moral, historical, or legal reasons” for the country to become involved in the conflict.
“It is not our war,” he said. “It is a regional conflict with historical roots. Why should Slovakia talk about war now?”
Fico also dismissed recent EU discussions on creating an anti-drone defense wall along the bloc’s eastern flank. “Let the experts talk about it. What can a prime minister who has never fired a gun say about drone protection? That is an expert question,” he remarked.
He also confirmed that a new round of talks between the Slovak and Ukrainian governments would take place in Michalovce on Oct. 17.
Marking the wartime commemoration, Fico warned against what he described as historical amnesia, saying that Europe was “forbidding” celebrations of the end of World War II and dismantling Red Army monuments. “We have to talk about what the hell is happening today,” he said, condemning leaders who “speak so lightly about war” and “talk about defeating Russia” without recalling “the terrible suffering” of past generations.
Fico’s comments are in sharp contrast to those made last week by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who told the Warsaw Security Forum that the Ukraine war is “our war.” Tusk described it as “central to Europe’s security and values,” warning that “if we lose this war, the consequences will affect not only our generation but also the next generations in Poland, all of Europe, in the United States, everywhere in the world.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán swiftly rebuked Tusk, posting on X: “Dear Donald Tusk, you may think that you are at war with Russia, but Hungary is not. Neither is the European Union. You are playing a dangerous game with the lives and security of millions of Europeans.”
The divide highlights the deep fracture running through Central Europe’s response to the conflict. Orbán and Fico, both critical of EU sanctions and weapons deliveries, have positioned themselves as advocates for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations with Moscow.
They have also acquired a new ally over the weekend in Prague after Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement won national elections, leaving Tusk isolated within the Visegrád Group.
Babiš has pledged to withdraw from a Czech-led initiative to procure artillery shells for Ukraine and declared that Kyiv is “not ready” for EU membership. “We have to end the war first,” Babiš told a Ukrainian journalist. “Of course, we can cooperate with Ukraine. But you are not ready for the EU.”
France was plunged into deeper political chaos on Monday after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned just 27 days into office, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history.
His government collapsed only hours after officially taking office following cabinet appointments, leaving President Emmanuel Macron scrambling to restore stability amid mounting calls for snap elections.
Lecornu’s sudden departure marks the fifth change of prime minister under Macron in barely two years. His resignation followed fierce backlash over his newly announced cabinet, which angered both left and right-wing factions for being, in their view, either too conservative or insufficiently so.
In a brief statement, Lecornu said he could not continue under the current political conditions. “Being prime minister is a difficult task. You cannot be prime minister when the conditions are not right,” he said. Citing his failed efforts to govern without relying on Article 49.3 — an emergency constitutional clause allowing laws to pass without a parliamentary vote — he added, “Certain political parties have pretended not to see the change, the rupture represented by not using Article 49.3.”
Just 14 hours elapsed between Lecornu announcing on social media the appointment of his new government and his resignation speech.
Following Lecornu’s resignation, National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella demanded new elections. “There can be no restored stability without a return to the polls and without the dissolution of the National Assembly. The National Rally will be ready to assume its responsibilities and govern if the French people grant it a majority,” Bardella declared.
Marine Le Pen went further, saying “there is no solution, there will not be one tomorrow,” and urged Macron to dissolve parliament, adding that the president’s own resignation would be “wise.”
Il n'y a pas de solution, il n'y en aura pas demain : j'appelle le président de la République à dissoudre l'Assemblée nationale. pic.twitter.com/z9TfxNK8ke
On the far left, France Unbowed (LFI) leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called Lecornu’s departure “the final proof of Macron’s failure” and demanded that the National Assembly approve a motion to oust the president. “Following the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu, we call for immediate consideration of the motion tabled by 104 MPs for the dismissal of Emmanuel Macron,” he said. LFI MP Louis Boyard echoed that “the time has come for the Sixth Republic,” ominously warning that “Macron must resign or the people will force him out.”
Après la démission de Sébastien Lecornu, nous demandons l’examen immédiat de la motion déposée par 104 députés pour la destitution d’Emmanuel Macron.
Éric Ciotti, head of the Union of the Right and Centre (LRLC), said Macron “must learn the lessons of this chaos. When there is a crisis, the only solution is elections.” He added that “the best would naturally be a presidential election,” something Macron has — understandably, given the current polling — resisted.
The latest crisis leaves Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance in disarray, with polls showing it trailing badly. According to current data, the National Rally leads with 32 percent support, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front on 25 percent, Macron’s Ensemble on 15 percent, and the Republicans on 12 percent.
The political paralysis has had a profound knock-on effect on the French economy. Public debt has soared to 113.9 percent of GDP, and its public deficit is nearly twice the EU’s 3-percent limit.
A 28-year-old Algerian man was arrested on Thursday, Oct. 2, on a European arrest warrant, for the brutal murder of Iraqi Christian activist Ashur Sarnaya, who was living in France after fleeing from Iraq due to the threats from ISIS.
The 28-year-old Algerian suspect is expected to be returned to France within a few weeks, according to Paris Match, which broke the news of the arrest, which took place in Bari, Puglia, in southern Italy.
At the moment, it is unclear what role the Algerian may have played in the murder of Ashur, but he was near the scene of the crime.
🇫🇷 A French woman is allegedly told her outfit is "haram," which means "forbidden" in Islam.
The girl, wearing a cross necklace, responds: "It’s a good thing I’m a Christian."
The incident happened at Music Festival 2025 in Paris, which saw widespread violence and 371 arrests.… pic.twitter.com/f8s2H25WiG
Originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, Ashur was confined to a wheelchair and was murdered in front of the entrance to his building.
He had been dealing with years of death threats from Islamic extremists, including after he moved to France.
Emergency services discovered Sarnaya in cardiorespiratory arrest and were unable to keep him alive.
“According to his shocked neighbors, Ashur Sarnaya had been living with his sister for at least 10 years in the building in front of which he was killed,” wrote Paris Match.
Sarnaya and his sister fled Iraq in 2014 after the Islamic State group threatened Sarnaya over his Christianity. He and his sister ended up in Lyon, France.
“On his online accounts, the victim spoke Arabic and posted videos often devoted to the Christian religion. In one of these videos, he claimed that his content was regularly blocked and his accounts suspended due to, according to him, reports from Muslim internet users,” the paper further wrote.
The Œuvre d’Orient, a Catholic association that helps Christians in the Middle East, issued a statement condemning “in the strongest terms the murder of an Iraqi Christian in a vulnerable situation” and hoped for “the conclusions of the investigation as quickly as possible.”
The murder has had far-reaching repercussions in France, with Christians increasingly fearful of expressing their beliefs.
French TikTok influencer “Margow_en_Christ,” with 225,000 followers, specifically cited the recent murder of Sarnaya as a reason why she would stop talking about her own Christianity. Margow said she has received constant death threats for her content.
🇫🇷✝️ After Iraqi Christian murdered in France, a French TikTok influencer says she is being forced to stop her Christian content out of fear for her family.
"Margow_en_Christ," with 225,000 followers, specifically cites the recent murder of Ashur Sarnaya, a Christian killed with… pic.twitter.com/HMQ1XAV4GF
Even if a motive has not yet been established in the murder of Sarnaya, Christians still fear the case was tied to Sarnaya’s open Christianity and statements opposed to Islam.
The attack has already been labeled a hate crime by authorities, with such hate crimes against Christians commonplace in France. The Centre de Réflexion sur la Sécurité Intérieure (CRSI) reported that the first half of 2025 saw a 13 percent increase in anti-Christian acts compared to the same period in 2024.
The president of the Assyrian-Chaldean Association of Lyon also released a statement, saying Sarnaya was a “very kind, discreet, deeply religious person who liked to talk about the Christian faith.” Sarnaya’s distant cousin had this to say about his relative’s death in a Facebook post: “He spent his last moments doing exactly what he loved: spreading the gospel. (…) In my opinion, he is a martyr, and his faith will always be an inspiration.”
As for “Margow_en_Christ,” she said: “I am a Christian and I always will be…but I’ve been making videos about Christianity for five years, and in five years, I’ve received a lot of unpleasant messages, including death threats.”
“I think you saw the person with a disability who was killed in Lyon because he claimed his faith live on TikTok”, she says, referring to Sarnaya. “I can’t afford to put my family in danger.”
France has the largest Muslim population in the EU. The country has faced a massive problem with radical Islam, with security services and the government constantly working on policy and law enforcement methods to fight these threats, including the serious threat of terrorism in France.
Spain’s nationalist Vox party has pledged to reverse what it calls the “Islamization” of the country after new government data revealed that the number of mosques has almost doubled in just over a decade.
According to figures published by the Observatory of Religious Pluralism, an agency under the Ministry of the Presidency, Spain now has 1,945 Muslim places of worship — a rise of 95 percent since 2011.
These are spread across 1,045 municipalities, which The Objective writes is an indication that mosques are no longer confined to major cities but have also become established in small towns and rural areas as Islam becomes more prominent in Spanish society.
Nearly 60 percent of all mosques are located in four autonomous communities: Catalonia, Andalusia, the Valencian Community, and Madrid. Catalonia tops the list with 371 mosques, followed by Andalusia with 322, Valencia with 243, and Madrid with 143. In Andalusia, the distribution is more even, with Almería leading at 81 Muslim places of worship. At the opposite end of the scale, Cantabria has only six mosques, the fewest of any region.
Some, of course, are architectural landmarks that remain from historic caliphates and Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula. Most, however, are not and cater to the increasing Muslim demographic residing in the country.
The report notes that the increase is not solely due to new immigration but also to the consolidation of long-established Muslim communities, many of whose members are now Spanish citizens. The Observatory attributes this to both demographic change and the expansion of organizational and cultural structures within these communities.
Vox’s secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, accused both mainstream parties and regional separatists of fostering policies that he claims have “led to the Islamization of Spain.” In a post on social media, Garriga wrote: “The suicidal migration policy of the two-party system and separatism has led to the Islamization of Spain and turned Catalonia into a Mecca for European jihadism. We will reverse it to guarantee our security and ensure the historical continuity of our nation.”
La política migratoria suicida del bipartidismo y del separatismo ha provocado la islamización de España y ha convertido a Cataluña en la meca del yihadismo europeo.
Lo revertiremos para garantizar nuestra seguridad y asegurar la continuidad histórica de nuestra nación. https://t.co/DIwyQDc4WO
Garriga’s statement reflects a broader Vox narrative that links rising immigration to insecurity and cultural decline. The party has repeatedly called for tighter border controls, the closure of “radical mosques,” and the prioritization of Spanish cultural identity.
The figures come at a time when Spain continues to see unprecedented numbers of illegal migrants arriving from across the Mediterranean, many of whom arrive on the Canary Islands archipelago to then be transferred to the Spanish mainland.
🇪🇸 A Moroccan migrant in Spain has been arrested for smashing up a church with a hammer before setting the place on fire.
The 21-year-old suspected arsonist broke a stained-glass window with a hammer at the Church of Santiago Apóstol in El Pozuelo, Albuñol, on Sunday afternoon,… pic.twitter.com/suOIZKku3T
Meanwhile, churches continue to be targeted, not just in Spain but across wider Western Europe. In August, a 21-year-old Moroccan national was arrested after he broke into and set fire to the historic Church of Santiago Apóstol in El Pozuelo, Granada.
That same month, a church in Mainz, Germany, was vandalized, and French clergymen have reported an uptick in attacks and thefts in their places of worship.
In May, a group of young men stormed the Montfavet church in Avignon, shouting, “Allahu Akbar” and threatening to burn the church down — an act of intimidation that forced police to guard the building during Sunday morning Mass.
“They didn’t insult me directly, but they shouted things like, ‘Jesus, we’re f***ing you,’” Fr. Laurent Milan told local media. “They were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and told us several times, ‘We’re going to come back and burn your church.’”
It is unclear how Vox would seek to reverse the trend. Other nationalist parties, including Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands, have campaigned on mosque bans previously, but have ultimately ended up dropping proposals deemed unpalatable by prospective coalition partners.
In 2023, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson called for Swedish authorities to be handed the power to requisition and demolish mosques that are proven to be used to promote messages incompatible with Western values, and said Sweden should impose a ban on the construction of new mosques.
“It is not a right to come to our country and build monuments to a foreign and imperialist ideology,” Åkesson told his party’s members.
“In the long term, we need to start confiscating and demolishing mosque buildings where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic, or anti-Semitic propaganda or general misinformation about Swedish society is spread.
“Minarets, domes, crescents, or other attributes that serve as Islamic monuments in the cityscape should be completely removed,” he added.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has expressed condolences to Sweden following the mass shooting in Gävle on Saturday night, in which a 14-year-old boy opened fire outside a restaurant, injuring six people.
Orbán wrote on social media that he was “praying for all Swedes seeking safety in their own communities” following the latest attack in the Scandinavian country plagued by gang violence.
The shooting occurred around 2 a.m. in Gävle’s Söder district. Police found six people wounded, all young adults, several aged 18. Four victims remain in the hospital, though none are in life-threatening condition. According to police, the suspect — described by Swedish media as a 14-year-old from the Gävleborg area — was apprehended shortly after the attack and has alleged ties to a criminal gang.
My deepest condolences to @SwedishPM, Ulf Kristersson, and the people of Sweden, following the heinous shooting in Gävle. We pray for the victims, their families, their parents, and for all Swedes seeking safety in their own communities. 🙏
Because the suspect is under 15, he cannot be held criminally responsible under current Swedish law; the case has been referred to social services. The government has announced plans to temporarily lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13, but the reform has not yet taken effect.
Karin Wessén, head of investigations in Gävleborg, said the police had made “several interesting seizures” and now had “a good picture of the course of events,” including from digital evidence. Aftonbladet reported that the case is being investigated as six counts of attempted murder and aggravated weapons offences.
The attack came less than a month after two 14-year-old boys with a migration background were arrested for a grenade attack on a family villa while family members, including children, were inside in Eskilstuna back in April. Again, due to their age, they cannot be found criminally responsible, something gangs take advantage of by using minors to perpetrate their crimes.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement that the shooting “shakes all of us” and emphasized the importance of continuing the government’s “comprehensive reorientation of policy” aimed at restoring security. “The police are doing everything they can to find out what happened, prosecute those responsible, and create safety and calm,” he wrote.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer described the incident as marked by “extreme ruthlessness” and called it another dark example of Sweden’s spiralling gang violence. “If it is true that the person holding the weapon is under 15 years old, it is yet another grim example of how far the violence has penetrated down the age groups,” he said, stressing that his ministry was in continuous contact with police.
In Gävle, police increased their visible presence in public places over the weekend. “These types of events create insecurity,” Wessén said. “That’s why we will continue to be visible and accessible to the public.”
Orbán’s public sympathy for the Swedish victims follows months of friction between Budapest and Stockholm, which only recently concluded its NATO accession process after Hungary delayed ratification for over a year.
The two EU member states locked horns over remarks made by Swedish lawmakers about democracy in Hungary, while officials in Budapest hit back over the damning consequences of liberal policies and mass immigration across the Scandinavian country.
Remix News reported last October that, according to Swedish government data, three out of four murders are committed by migrants, and the rate of gun murders per capita in Stockholm is 30 times that of London.
In 2018 alone, 162 bomb blasts rocked the country — almost one every two days. In Sweden, the number of fatal shootings has increased significantly since 2017, resulting in a record-high number of shooting murders.
In January of this year, there was more than one explosion recorded per day across the country as bomb and grenade attacks became commonplace.
“Sweden is facing an epidemic of shootings and bombings unmatched in the Western world. It is reasonable to address the reality that criminals are getting younger,” Strömmer said at the time.
After four long years in the political wilderness, Andrej Babiš returns to presumably lead the Czech Republic after his blowout victory. In neighboring Hungary, Viktor Orbán was jubilant, celebrating the victory of his ally, while in Slovakia, Robert Fico also toasted to Babis’ huge win.
Orbán and Fico are grizzled veterans of the political wars within their own countries, and now Babis is being welcomed back into the fold. One cannot help but think back to the famous “Hangover” scene. Orbán, long in the driver’s seat in Hungary, with a tired Fico smiling warily from the backseat, still recovering from an assassination attempt that nearly killed him last year, and Babis fist-pumping from the passenger seat. At least that is one way to imagine Babis’ comeback victory.
Hungarian media is also doing the victory rounds, with Magyar Nemzet writing that Babis’ “return will further strengthen the influence of patriotic leaders in the European Union.” The paper further wrote that “his result could create another opportunity to increase the influence of the V4 and Patriots in Europe.”
Notably, Babis’ ANO party is already a member of Orbán’s group in the European Parliament, the Patriots of Europe.
“The Patriots will have two prime ministers, and we will continue to fight against the crazy green strategy of the European Commission. Hopefully, we will win the next elections and destroy this coalition that Weber represents and that is destroying Europe. Look at the energy prices, look at the EU migration pact, and so on. Whatever happens in Germany and other countries, we were strong and we are strong,” Babis told Magyar Nemzet right before the national election.
Orbán will also have a leader who backs his position of rejecting Ukraine in NATO and the EU, which is a huge boost to the Hungarian position. Orbán was mostly alone on this front until now.
Speaking to a Ukrainian journalist about EU membership, Babis said: “You are not ready for the EU. First, we need to end the war. Of course, we can cooperate with Ukraine. But you are not ready for the EU. The Western Balkan states have been waiting for 20 to 25 years and are ready to join, but Ukraine is not ready for this.”
Babis has also said that although Czechia provides financial assistance, his country will now give priority to the citizens of the Czech Republic if they have to decide on resources.
“We will not ban Czech companies from exporting weapons to Ukraine — there is no problem with that, but when people can’t afford cancer treatment and teachers and single mothers can’t even pay their bills, we give this money to Czech citizens instead,” he said.
Babis himself noted that his goal is to weaken the coalition that he believes is taking Europe in an unfavorable direction.
Babis’ victory may be so huge that it could change the internal dynamics of the European Union, and greatly boost the perspective of the Hungarian government, all of which the Budapest media is openly stating.
“A new government could confront the EU migration pact, and we predict that before the Dutch elections at the end of the month, the Freedom Party, which also strengthens the Patriots for Europe group, will have a towering lead, led by our good friend Geert Wilders,” writes Hungarian media commentator László.Szőcs.
“From our perspective, this is especially important because, together with Fidesz President Viktor Orbán and Austrian Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl, Babis was a co-founder of Patriots for Europe, a right-wing alliance organized in Central Europe that can now boast it is the third-largest faction in the European Parliament. The others joined later. All three are well-known speakers at CPAC, the global rallying cry of the right; Babis has also been invited to Budapest in 2026,” he further writes.
However, there are still aspects about Babis’ victory that should give conservatives pause before they drink the whole bottle of champagne and wake up with a terrible hangover.
For one, Babis will rule a minority government, scoring 80 seats out of the 200-seat lower house in Prague. That means coalition negotiations and external support are required to rule. This could make Babis’ rule unstable from the very beginning, with parties like the SPD likely trying to push him even farther to the right than he might be comfortable with.
There is also the matter of Czech President Petr Pavel, who has already signaled he may not even seat Babis as prime minister due to Babis’ “business dealings,” which he finds questionable. That outcome, however, is unlikely.
For now, it seems a lot like the “boys are back,” and all those annoying details can wait for a bit. There was once a time when the Visegrád Four (V4) was a real force in Europe, with four conservative leaders remarkably unified on core issues affecting the nations of Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. It is quite remarkable that much of the old crew, Fico and Babis, are now back in power with Orbán, who never left power. The only odd man out now? Poland’s Donald Tusk, who remains obstinately opposed to Orbán, in particular, with the two battling each other on X on a regular basis.
Of course, Orbán is arguably in a fight for his political life in Hungary, with the Tisza party the greatest threat he has faced in the last decade. Hungarian national elections in April will determine much about Europe’s future direction.
Andrej Babiš’s ANO party has won the Czech parliamentary election held on Oct. 3–4, securing 34.5 percent of the vote and 80 of the 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Despite the commanding victory, it leaves Babiš short of the 101 seats required for a majority and facing difficult coalition talks with smaller, more radical parties.
The center-right SPOLU coalition, led by outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala, suffered heavy losses, taking just 23.4 percent and 52 seats. The centrist Mayors and Independents (STAN) followed with 11.2 percent and 22 seats, while the Czech Pirate Party rebounded strongly with 9 percent and 18 seats. Tomio Okamura’s nationalist Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) secured 7.8 percent and 15 seats, and the anti-establishment Motorists party secured 6.8 percent and 13 seats.
No other party crossed the five-percent threshold. The left-wing Stačilo! alliance narrowly failed to enter parliament with roughly 4.3 percent of the vote, marking another setback for the Czech left.
Turnout stood at nearly 69 percent, one of the highest in recent years.
Babiš, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, declared victory on Saturday night, telling supporters that “voters have made it clear that they want change.” He vowed to “form a strong, stable government that will put Czech citizens first” and said his priority would be tackling inflation and cutting energy prices.
Outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala conceded defeat and congratulated Babiš, acknowledging that “the governing coalition no longer has the mandate to continue.” He said SPOLU would now serve as a constructive opposition and “defend the Czech Republic’s European and democratic orientation.”
With 80 seats, ANO cannot govern alone. Babiš has ruled out cooperation with SPOLU, STAN, or the Pirates, and instead plans to form either a minority government tolerated by smaller right-wing parties or a formal coalition with SPD and the Motorists. Together, those three groups would control 108 seats.
Such a coalition would, however, face resistance from President Petr Pavel, who has signaled that he would refuse to appoint ministers hostile to the European Union or NATO. SPD leader Tomio Okamura said he would only back Babiš if his party received ministerial positions and if the government pledged to oppose further migration quotas and European climate regulations. Motorists leader Petr Macinka likewise demanded “real influence, not just symbolic gestures.”
However, ANO deputy leader Karel Havlicek told Czech Television on Sunday, “We will not compromise on our promises and program. It is true that the key to starting the economy is our Economic Strategy. We are a solid part of NATO and the EU, and it will remain that way. The Alliance is the basis of security, but the Union must undergo fundamental reform.”
The most likely outcome is a minority ANO government relying on support from the fringes in key votes. “Babiš will try to govern alone but with external backing from SPD and the Motorists,” political scientist Lukáš Jelínek told Czech Television. “The president may tolerate that arrangement, but it will be a fragile one.”
No major resignations have been announced so far, though leaders of the defeated Stačilo! alliance said they would “review the campaign and leadership structure” after falling short of parliament.
The election signals another nationalist shift in Central Europe, aligning Prague more closely with Hungary and Slovakia in opposing EU migration and environmental policies, while maintaining formal support for NATO.
It will also inevitably have ramifications for Ukraine, with Babiš far more in the camp of Viktor Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on further financing and arming Kyiv.
Truth has prevailed! @AndrejBabis has won the Czech parliamentary elections with a convincing lead. A big step for the Czech Republic, good news for Europe. Congratulations, Andrej! pic.twitter.com/jyqU5EVqc6
Orbán took to social media to congratulate his political ally, writing, “Truth has prevailed! Andrej Babiš has won the Czech parliamentary elections with a convincing lead. A big step for the Czech Republic, good news for Europe.”
Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, an ally of Babis’ ANO in the Patriots for Europe parliamentary party, also wrote, “The Patriots are advancing all across Europe! Our friend Andrej Babiš, an ally of the League in the EU, wins the elections in the Czech Republic, crushes the left (at historic lows!), and is preparing to lead a government that will focus on fighting illegal immigration, saying no to war, and stopping Brussels’ crazy policies.”
The Spanish National Police has announced the arrest of 12 people in Vic for orchestrating fraudulent partnerships between Spaniards and illegal immigrants, part of a growing Europe-wide problem involving forged documents, sham marriages, and black markets for residency permits.
According to police, the network operating from the Catalonian town specialized in manufacturing fake family links to secure residence permits reserved for relatives of EU citizens.
As reported by 20 Minutos, the investigation began in November 2024, when authorities noticed a cluster of suspicious applications. In each case, the foreign applicant was living illegally in Spain and claimed to be in a stable partnership with a Spanish citizen. All applicants listed the same address on Rambla del Passeig, which investigators discovered was in fact a café.
The fraud unraveled when police found that the couples had not registered with the official Registry of Stable Partnerships and instead submitted forged documents to immigration officials. Among the arrested is the alleged mastermind who arranged the sham marriages, provided the fake paperwork, and advised clients on how to present their applications.
At least five foreigners managed to obtain legal residency before the scheme was uncovered, halting their deportations and granting them full EU benefits. In total, 14 applications were examined, with authorities seizing forged registration forms, partnership certificates, and payroll slips.
The case follows a separate investigation in northern Spain back in February, where police dismantled a ring arranging marriages of convenience between Spanish women and foreign men seeking legal residency. A lawyer from Miranda de Ebro, a male recruiter, and a female intermediary were arrested after police uncovered 13 planned sham marriages. Migrants allegedly paid up to €10,000 each to be paired with a Spanish partner, while women were offered between €3,000 and €4,000 to go through with the marriage.
Spanish authorities noted that such networks are lucrative for those involved. In 2020, another criminal group was disbanded for arranging over 50 sham marriages for Indian and Pakistani migrants, charging €20,000 each. That network had members operating across Barcelona, Valencia, and Sitges.
The Spanish operations are far from isolated. Earlier this year in France, prosecutors charged a civil servant from the foreigners’ admission service in Nancy with corruption and fraud for helping irregular migrants stay in the country. The official allegedly accepted bribes of €25,000 per case, altering documents to approve residence applications. Investigators traced at least 15 fraudulent files to her office, sparking a judicial probe into her network of accomplices and beneficiaries.
Similarly, last month in Germany, an investigation by German broadcasters NTV and RTL, along with Stern magazine, revealed a booming black market on TikTok for forged integration and language certificates — a prerequisite for permanent residency or citizenship in Germany.
Under German law, foreign nationals must demonstrate language proficiency and integration by passing tests administered by accredited providers such as Telc or adult education centers. Yet on TikTok, vendors openly advertise fake certificates with messages like “A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, no school, no exam.” Videos in Arabic, Turkish, and Albanian promise fast-track paperwork, with prices ranging from €750 for basic certificates to €2,700 for higher-level documentation. Family “discounts” were even offered for multiple applicants.
Investigators also found forged driver’s licenses and industry qualification certificates circulating on the platform. Posts routinely attracted hundreds of thousands of views, with users openly commenting with requests for prices and availability.
A Moroccan “minor” who claimed to be 17 years old when arrested for the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Madrid has been revealed to be 23, shifting his case from juvenile to adult court and exposing his long record of violent crime.
The attack occurred on Aug. 29 near the Hortaleza juvenile center, where the man was living under the guise of being an unaccompanied minor. According to police and medical reports, the victim was beaten, stripped, and raped.
Officers responding to the scene found the suspect, identified as Mohamed Rifai, hiding in the bushes nearby. As reported by OKdiario, he resisted arrest, punching and kicking the officers, threatening to kill them, and later lashing out violently in custody.
Once detained, Rifai vandalized his holding cell, threatened police and forensic staff, and refused to cooperate. His outbursts escalated to the point where authorities were forced to sedate him.
Though he presented himself as 17, forensic examinations of his teeth, wrist, and collarbones concluded he is at least 19, with a most probable age of 23.2. As a result, his case was formally transferred from the juvenile court to a regular one. The ruling stated that on the date of the attack, he was “in any case, over 18 years of age.”
This reclassification carries significant legal consequences. If convicted of rape as an adult, Rifai could face up to 15 years in prison. Had he been tried as a juvenile, the maximum penalty would have been eight years in a detention center.
Que esta gentuza esté en España es responsabilidad de todos los partidos, desde PP/PSOE hasta Bildu. Todos menos VOX.
Son culpables de abrirles las puertas, de hacer que algunos se enriquezcan trayéndolos, que otros se enriquezcan atendiéndolos, y de que los españoles, y en este… https://t.co/ge1bIGPJmV
It was later revealed that the suspect had already amassed 14 convictions in Spain, ranging from shoplifting to violent robbery and assaulting a police officer, before the alleged rape.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal criticized the legacy political parties in Spain for continuing the mass immigration policy that is threatening public safety. In a post on social media, he wrote, “The fact that these people are in Spain is the responsibility of all parties. All except VOX. They are guilty of opening their doors to them, of making some people rich by bringing them, of making others rich by serving them, and of making Spaniards, and in this case a poor Spanish girl, suffer the consequences every day.”
The revelation regarding Rifai’s age comes the same week that Spain’s socialist government began the gradual transfer of more than 600 Moroccan nationals claiming to be minors from the North African enclave of Ceuta to the Spanish mainland.
The decision has reignited debate in Madrid over how to manage unaccompanied minors entering the country, as new figures revealed just 41 of the nearly 30,000 minor arrivals since 2018 have been repatriated.
A Sudanese refugee who was prevented from molesting women in France is accused of returning an hour later armed with a knife and carrying out a deadly rampage that left three young men dead and several others injured.
The trial of 35-year-old Al Khawad Al Zine Sulaymane opens this Friday before the Maine-et-Loire Assize Court, where he faces life imprisonment.
The violence unfolded in the early hours of July 2022 on the Cœur de Maine esplanade in Angers. According to Le Parisien, witnesses say Sulaymane, who had been drinking heavily, first drew attention for his aggressive behavior toward women — tearing off one girl’s shirt and insulting another.
When rugby players Atama and Manuolito stepped in to defend the women, he was knocked down in a brief scuffle and led away. Witnesses later recalled hearing him threaten to return.
About an hour later, he did, with a knife hidden under his shirt. Three young men were fatally stabbed: 16-year-old Ismaël, who had tried to shield a girl; 18-year-old Manuolito, stabbed in the throat; and 20-year-old Atama, struck in the heart. Several others were seriously injured during the rampage.
Survivors described the attacker as calm and determined. One victim, who escaped with injuries to his hand and thigh, told investigators: “He knew how to handle a knife. He didn’t hesitate; he really wanted to kill us.”
Prosecutors say the sequence of events demonstrates clear homicidal intent, though the defendant insists he remembers nothing of the night because of alcohol. Questioned by the judge, he admitted it was possible he committed the killings, saying: “With alcohol, anything is possible — you can kill people, commit suicide, or have an accident.”
The accused arrived in France back in 2016 and was granted refugee status and later a residence permit. He has since had his asylum revoked. His personal history, recounted to investigators, includes alleged childhood abuse in Sudan, imprisonment and torture, and traumatic experiences during migration through Egypt and Libya.
Psychiatric experts diagnosed him with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and said alcohol exacerbated his condition, but stopped short of declaring him legally insane and therefore not criminally responsible for the alleged crimes.
In addition to three counts of aggravated murder, he is charged with three counts of attempted murder and two sexual assaults, one on a 15-year-old girl.
Jurors will be asked to decide whether his claimed amnesia and psychiatric disorders mitigate his responsibility.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and opposition leader Andrej Babiš of the ANO movement confronted each other for the last time before the upcoming elections in a heated debate on TV Nova on Wednesday evening.
The discussion ranged from the economy to highway construction, taxes, energy, and housing, with both men repeatedly accusing one another of lies.
Despite their clashes, they shared two rare points of agreement: Neither would allow the introduction of EU-mandated household emission allowances, and both identified Russia’s aggression as the greatest security threat to the Czech Republic.
As reported by Echo24, Fiala defended his government’s handling of recent crises, saying the economy was growing faster than the eurozone. Babiš countered that the government had failed to manage energy prices, the EU migration pact, and public finances.
On debt and spending, Babiš accused Fiala of letting state debt balloon by 1.2 trillion crowns (€49 billion). Fiala responded by highlighting contributions from Ukrainian workers and successful integration policies.
Highway construction became another flashpoint. Fiala boasted of 200 kilometers built under his government compared to just 100 under former prime minister Babiš, but Babiš dismissed the claim as false, insisting that his administration had left behind 300 kilometers ready for construction or already underway.
Fiala admitted reluctantly raising taxes but promised no further changes, and pledged to oppose the EU’s ETS 2 emission allowances for households. “I would prefer to cancel it, my government will not implement it,” he said, calling the measure unwise. Babiš dismissed his words as “PR,” insisting he had the backing of 19 EU states to push for caps and had not done so.
Energy security also divided the leaders: Babiš vowed never to let the country become an importer of electricity, while Fiala shot back that Babiš misunderstood how energy trading worked.
On housing, Fiala cited reforms to the Building Act and state land transfers, including 120,000 square meters in Prague’s Letňany, while Babiš argued that his rival’s government had “destroyed” housing availability and promised a stronger focus on rental properties.
The only real consensus came on national security. Both men named Russia’s aggression as the greatest threat, though Babiš added illegal migration and blackouts. He then pivoted to his campaign line: “The biggest threat to the Czech Republic is the government of Petr Fiala.”
The exchanges also turned personal. Fiala criticized Babiš for refusing to look him in the eye when accusing him of lying, while Babiš claimed he was simply talking to the moderator.
In closing, the candidates were asked what they valued in each other. After hesitation, Babiš acknowledged Fiala’s speaking skills and background as a teacher. Fiala, in turn, praised Babiš’ “perseverance” and willingness to keep fighting politically.
Czechs head to the polls this weekend for parliamentary elections that are likely to result in Babiš’ ANO movement being returned as the largest party. Whether the former prime minister can garner enough support to rule outright, or whether he will need the support of other minor parties in a coalition, remains to be seen.
Police in Frankfurt arrested a 22-year-old man earlier this month after he approached and harassed several women in broad daylight, demanded sex, and resisted officers during his arrest. Despite the violent incident, the man was released shortly afterward, with authorities citing psychological distress.
According to the official police report, the incident occurred on the morning of Sept. 10 in the Ostend and Nordend districts. Around 9:00 a.m., the suspect confronted multiple women, demanding sexual acts and, in some cases, following them.
Remix News has followed the case with interest after publishing a translated video of one particular altercation, which garnered more than 6 million views.
🇩🇪 "If I don't have sex, as a man, I feel unwell."
Shocking footage of a migrant in Germany harassing a woman walking through Eschenheimer Anlage in Frankfurt.
He refuses to take 'No' for an answer when he demands sex, and a passerby steps in and calls the police. pic.twitter.com/wilfwVNKHX
The footage shows the man, who bore a noticeable dark prayer mark, or “zabiba,” on his forehead, harassing a woman near Eschenheimer Anlage. In the video, he repeatedly tells her, “I have needs” and insists he is fighting for his survival. When a passerby intervenes, the man retorts: “Yes, you want to sleep with her too, but I’m here first.”
He later told the woman, “If I don’t have sex, as a man, I feel unwell.”
Police officers arrived at the scene shortly after and attempted to arrest him. During the struggle, the man tried to punch one officer in the face, according to the police report. He was eventually subdued and taken into custody.
The case drew further attention after Aktuell Informiert reported that both the Frankfurt police and the district court concluded the man was in a state of “exceptional psychological distress.” As a result, neither pretrial detention nor psychiatric commitment was ordered. Instead, the man was released after being processed at the station.
Police confirmed that the suspect “must answer for his actions,” but it remains unclear whether charges will proceed. The police report did not categorically state whether or not the suspect had been charged.
When asked about the man’s nationality or whether he has since left Germany, Frankfurt police declined to comment, saying that such details are not included in press releases.
Spanish police have arrested a young Moroccan national in connection with the killing of Antonio Campos Reyes, a 54-year-old historian and civil servant from Berja whose body was discovered bound and showing signs of violence in the trunk of his car earlier this week.
According to OKdiario, Campos’ family last saw him on Sept. 27, at around 9:00 p.m., when he left home in Berja to travel to Granada for the Virgin of Angustias festivities. When he failed to arrive, relatives grew increasingly concerned and formally reported him missing to authorities on Sunday afternoon.
Local residents joined in the search efforts, but investigators ultimately located his white Volkswagen Passat in the San Agustín neighborhood of El Ejido, parked near a fruit and vegetable company. Breaking into the trunk, Civil Guard officers found Campos’ lifeless body. Knife wounds, bruises, and signs of struggle suggest that he had been tortured before being killed.
Diario de Almería reported that the violent nature of the crime, combined with Campos’ prominence as both a local official and a historian, caused “enormous social alarm” across the Poniente region. The victim was widely known in Berja not only for his public role but also for his contributions to the study and preservation of local history.
On Thursday afternoon, Almería Today confirmed that the Civil Guard had arrested a 23-year-old Moroccan man suspected of involvement in the killing. The detainee remains in custody, while investigators have not ruled out further arrests.
Diario de Almería added that the case is currently under a judicial gag order to protect the confidentiality of the proceedings. Authorities emphasized that this measure is essential to ensure the success of the ongoing investigation, which may reveal whether additional individuals were involved in the murder.
Vigils and tributes have already been held in Berja in Campos’ honor, with residents expressing grief and disbelief at the loss of a figure described as both dedicated to his town and passionate about its history.
No motive, nor previous connection between the victim and suspect has been revealed.
Welt newspaper ran a commentary that relentlessly mocks the establishment parties and their efforts to outdo each with fearmongering claims against the AfD. The paper focuses on a recent CDU politician and his warning that the AfD would deliver a “completely different country.”
The problem for the CDU and other establishment parties? Germans also want a different country.
Andreas Rosenfelder, the chief commentator for Welt, points to Reiner Haseloff, the CDU Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, who spoke with Stern Magazine.
“We have to make it clear to people what is at stake,“ said Haseloff: “The AfD wants a completely different country.“
Rosenfelder responds with biting text, writing: “Yes, exactly, we too – that’s what many of the (AfD) party’s sympathizers will think with regard to mass layoffs, deindustrialization, migration problems and over-indebtedness.”
“For months, bourgeois politicians have been outdoing each other with apocalyptic threatening backdrops, which would happen after an AfD election victory. They want to deter potential AfD voters — and don’t realize that they are having the opposite effect,”
The Welt columnist writes that this is the central paradox currently gripping German political discourse. Instead of stemming the tide of support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the increasingly dramatic warnings from established parties appear to be serving as the party’s most potent election advertising.
He writes the piece at a time when the AfD continues to soar in the polls, and is now firmly polling as the most popular party in the country. In turn, rival parties like the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) continue to issue dire warning after dire warning against the AfD.
Rosenfelder continues to go on the offensive against the CDU’s Haseloff, who stated in the Stern interview that “There is no need for a revolution for a system change,” said Hasselhof.
“A system can be brought down at the ballot box,” he added, while referring to the AfD’s 39 percent support in his state.
Rosenfelder notes for Welt that this claim about the AfD bringing a “system change” is actually exactly what more and more Germans want. In this manner, Haselhoff is actually feeding into the AfD’s narrative that they are the real opposition and that the system does require a complete revolution at the ballot box.
“What is supposed to be a warning is actually the best election advertising for the AfD,” Rosenfelder writes. He continues by stating that the idea that a single cross on a ballot paper can cause the “system to falter or even fall” is seemingly irresistible to a growing cohort of citizens feeling alienated by politics.
Crucially, this “criticism of the system” should not automatically be equated with a rejection of democracy. The source text argues: “Contrary to what the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and left-wing sociologists claim, the trend towards ‘criticism of the system’ cannot simply be equated with a move away from democracy and the rule of law.” Instead, many citizens feel that the state itself, and its representatives, are the ones moving away from basic democratic and constitutional principles.
The text is essentially lambasting the powerful domestic spy agency, the Office of the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), along with various establishment politicians, NGOs, and their media arms, who are seeking to ban the AfD. Rosenfelder is, in fact, alluding that these forces, which claim to “defend democracy,” are actually revealing themselves to be actively pursuing anti-democratic actions.
“This alienation began with the Coronavirus policy. Today it is extended by the feeling that a dysfunctional state apparatus no longer fulfills the promise of a life of security, freedom and prosperity – and does not look for the problem within itself, but vice versa in the milieu of those citizens who are disappointed and frustrated by it,” writes Rosenfelder
The Welt columnist notes that the chaos the parties warn about if the AfD comes to power is actually already here.
“For months, politicians from bourgeois parties have been talking to voters’ consciences with apocalyptic sermons. But the belief that these voters would introspect and then vote for the Union or SPD again out of civic responsibility is naive. When the established parties are so afraid that they outdo each other with the most shrill alarmism, a right-wing mood arises in the milieu of the dissatisfied: The voter is not an underage child and does not want to be treated as if the ballot paper were a dangerous toy,” the Welt commentator continues.
However, Rosenfelder also discusses a promise delivered by many parties, including the AfD, which in the end, has proven elusive in all democracies in the West — namely, the idea that dramatic change is even possible.
“But the main problem with the argument that our system can simply be voted out is completely different: It’s not true,” writes Rosenfelder.
“Even the absolute majority that the AfD may dream of in the state of Saxony-Anhalt with 2 million inhabitants would not shake democracy in the Federal Republic. We live in a highly complex system with political, legal and fiscal control mechanisms. A simple implementation of political ideas is difficult or impossible — the black-red coalition is also experiencing this painfully. When government politicians act as if the AfD could turn the entire country to the right overnight, they are simply confirming the opposition party’s wishful fantasies,” he writes.
“Instead of responding to the AfD’s survey successes with warnings, those responsible should rather see these surveys themselves as warnings,” he concludes.
A sticker featuring a target over a photo of Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-leader, Alice Weidel, is allegedly being distributed by the Left Party Youth in Hannover, Germany. The sticker, which also features the text, “Aim Here,” has sparked an investigation by the German police.
“This sticker is being distributed by the youth organization of the Left in Hannover. This is not just a call to violence, this is an incitement to attack in the spirit of the left-terrorist Antifa. The radical Left should finally have the plug pulled. Criminal complaint is being filed!” wrote Thorsten Weiß, the deputy chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in Berlin.
Diesen Aufkleber verteilt die Jugendorganisation der Linken in Hannover. Das ist nicht nur ein Gewaltaufruf, das ist eine Anschlagsaufforderung im Geist der linksterroristischen Antifa. Der radikalen Linken gehört endlich der Stecker gezogen. Strafanzeige geht raus! pic.twitter.com/4TO9RT4I8E
The police were responding to a post pointing to the dangerous image.
“Mrs. Dr.@Alice_Weidel in the crosshairs of the youth organization of the party DIE LINKE. The question is, what are the State Security and the @BfV_Bund doing? Isn’t that an incitement to a crime (murder)?” wrote X user J. Eckleben.
Notably, this is not the first post from the Left Youth in Hanover that has been condemned as of late. The group wrote a message after the assassination of Charlie Kirk that celebrated Kirk’s death in graphic terms.
“Bloody and right-wing politics lead to bloody bullets,” the group wrote in an image, adding: “With a targeted shot to Kirk’s neck, the end of his right-wing inhumane and exploitative policies was sealed.”
This is a machine translation, the original image is attached.
It further reads: “There is international mourning – but this is a fatal mistake.”
Notably, the first post on this topic from Remix News was censored on X, potentially at the request of German or European authorities.
The Left Party Youth message of hate against Kirk was widely condemned across the political spectrum, including from conservative youth from the Christian Democrat Union (CDU), known as Young Union (JU).
“Immediate monitoring of the Hanover Left Youth the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, due to extremist activities that glorify violence and undermine the rule of law. Immediate funding freeze for the Left Youth Hanover, so that state funds do not benefit organizations that publicly glorify violence and act against democracy,” wrote the JU.
Apparently, the criticism did not phase the Left Party Youth in Hanover, with the group issuing an arguably even more explicit image of Weidel.
The federal Left Party has not yet commented on the image.
The Italian government is preparing to relaunch nuclear power after more than three decades of absence, in what ministers have called a “historic turning point” for the country’s energy policy.
On Thursday, the Council of Ministers is set to approve an enabling bill that paves the way for a National Program for the Development of Sustainable Nuclear Energy, with a final ruling expected in Parliament in the coming months.
Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto, who is spearheading the initiative, said the aim was to guarantee national energy security while meeting climate commitments. “I respect all ideological positions, but I hope the debate focuses on the content, the science, and the national interest,” he said.
“We need to explain what new nuclear energy is, which is not the atomic bomb, and what needs to be done to provide the country with security and a regulatory framework for future generations, given the expected explosion in energy demand.”
As reported by Il Giornale, the bill sets out a legislative framework for the construction of new-generation reactors, the management of nuclear waste, training of technical staff, and reorganization of oversight responsibilities. It introduces faster approval procedures, declaring nuclear projects of public utility and national interest, thereby limiting the possibility of local resistance or bureaucratic delays.
The new law also allows for public-private partnerships, replacing earlier rules that placed the financial burden exclusively on private operators.
Waste management, long cited as a barrier to nuclear development in Italy, is also addressed in detail, with provisions for both temporary storage and permanent disposal. Safety and radiation protection will be required to meet international standards.
The government has stressed that this program represents a break from past nuclear projects, which were abandoned after two national referendums in 1987 and 2011. Instead, Rome is focusing on advanced technologies such as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), microreactors, and fourth-generation fission. Investments in nuclear fusion are also included, signaling a long-term commitment to innovation.
According to government projections, nuclear energy could provide between 11 and 22 percent of Italy’s electricity supply by 2050, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting decarbonisation costs by as much as €17 billion by mid-century.
Pichetto has previously stated that he is convinced Italy will have nuclear power back on the grid by 2030.
The initiative aligns Italy with several other European countries that have maintained or expanded nuclear energy programs, including France, Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, and Sweden.
Demonstrations were held outside the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig on Wednesday as a trial began of a Bavarian woman who is suing Germany’s public broadcaster for bias and refusing to pay the compulsory broadcasting fee.
The plaintiff claims that ARD and ZDF provide one-sided political reporting, and thus, the annual license fee is not justified.
The high-profile case has drawn protests and public attention, with protesters calling for the abolition of the “propaganda tax.”
As reported by Die Welt, the Bavarian woman accused public broadcasting of failing to meet its legal mandate for diversity and balance and instead acts as “an agent of the dominant state power in shaping public opinion.”
She also criticized the independence of supervisory bodies, describing the complaint system available to viewers as ineffective and biased in favor of the broadcasters.
Lower courts had already dismissed her lawsuit, but Germany’s highest administrative court allowed the case to proceed because of its “fundamental importance.” Chairing Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Ingo Kraft stressed that only systemic shortcomings across the entire programming spectrum, not individual broadcasts, could constitute a breach of mandate.
Bayerischer Rundfunk, the defendant, rejected the accusations. Its representatives insisted that program complaints are taken seriously and that regular internal review ensures broadcasters fulfill their role. “No one wants to indoctrinate anyone,” the broadcaster’s lawyer said.
The courtroom in Leipzig was packed with about 250 observers, while another 100 protesters demonstrated outside carrying banners such as “Abolish the propaganda tax” and “No more lies and deceit.” The plaintiff herself was not present, but her case was presented by lawyers alongside Jimmy Gerum, founder of the “Bürgerinitiative Leuchtturm ARD” initiative.
„Wir sind am wunden Punkt unserer unaufrichtigen Demokratie angelangt.”
Jimmy Gerum, Initiator der Bürgerinitiative Leuchtturm ARD, spricht nach der Revisionsverhandlung gegen den ÖRR vor dem Bundesverwaltungsgericht in Leipzig von den langfristigen Zielen und davon, dass wir… pic.twitter.com/8d7TBqd6So
Speaking about the initiative, Gerum said in a recent interview, “Things have gotten really heated. And in that sense, we’ve already achieved our main goal, which is to touch on a sore spot in our currently dishonest democracy. I’m grateful that the grassroots fully stand for core values such as limiting power and direct democracy. These are crucial elements for moving democracy forward.”
A 19-year-old Czech tourist was reportedly been raped at Dresden’s main train station by two 15-year-old Syrians, who threatened the man with a knife on Sunday morning before robbing sexually assaulting him.
News of the case was quite controversial at the time, with the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government in Poland saying it was a perfect example of how Germany’s open borders policies had led to an unsafe environment for citizens. At the time, Remix News produced a video detailing the statements from then Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
However, not much has changed, with Syrians this time targeting a young Czech man.
The Syrian youths allegedly attacked their victim at around 4.15 a.m. as the 19-year-old was on his way home from a night out at Wiener Platz.
German police say the Czech tourist began talking to Hasan H. and Hani A.
Suddenly, however, the situation quickly turned into a horror scenario. Hani A. pulled out a knife, and then the Syrians demanded money, only for the situation to turn into outright rape.
“The accused are said to have stolen 300 euros from the man while holding a knife and raped him,” police told Bild newspaper.
After the rape, the victim immediately contacted police. The two 15-year-old Syrians did not get far, who tracked the suspects down almost immediately.
“The two were in close proximity to the crime scene,” and were arrested after an investigating judge in Pirna issued an arrest warrant.
The Czech man lives in Dresden and received outpatient medical care, but it remains unclear how serious his injuries were.
🇩🇪🔴Serial Iraqi groper keeps molesting women in the German city of Dresden.
A court trial for a 23-year-old Iraqi migrant has begun before the Dresden Regional Court, in Germany.
Prosecutors say the man has no ability to limit his sexual impulses after a series of groping… pic.twitter.com/e9b0CefSP3
In fact, Dresden, which has historically featured a much lower rate of immigration, is now seeing a crime surge, as the city also becomes burdened due to mass immigration.
🇩🇪 2 young Germans were brutally attacked with bottles by 2 Tunisians in Dresden.
The victims are seriously injured.
Young people are bearing the brunt of mass immigration on the streets, in the clubs, and in the parks.
On Sept. 1, a group of ten men, made up mostly of Syrians and Tunisians, became engaged in a major knife battle in downtown Dresden. A Tunisian, 24-year-old Muhamed K., and a Syrian, 16-year-old Youssef O., were arrested at the scene with stab wounds, with both found to have knives in their possession. The two groups were reportedly battling over control of the narcotics trade.
On Aug. 28, around 7.30 p.m., a 31-year-old Libyan and a 41-year-old Tunisian got on the E63 bus together before they became engaged in an argument. The Libyan severely injured the Tunisian with a broken bottle, and the 31-year-old was arrested.
The Czech victim was also not the only headline-grabbing sexual victim in Dresden as of late.
Currently, a serial 23-year-old Iraqi groper is standing trial in Dresden Regional Court for molesting women in Dresden.
Prosecutors say the man has no ability to limit his sexual impulses after a series of groping incidents targeting women and children.
In March 2025, according to the prosecutors’ indictment, he sexually harassed several women and even a child. Among the incidents, he grabbed a 22-year-old’s buttocks in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), and in Blasewitz, he harassed a 17-year-old. Both victims were fortunately able to defend themselves from the stranger’s sexual assaults.
A youth gang in Vienna that was recently acquitted of charges relating to the alleged abuse of a 12-year-old girl is now facing new and serious accusations involving another child victim.
According to the Vienna public prosecutor’s office, seven of the young men aged between 16 and 21 are under investigation for allegedly raping and humiliating a girl of the same age group.
Prosecutor Judith Ziska confirmed the developments, telling the Bild newspaper, “I can confirm that there is another investigation involving some of the same accused.”
The new case centers on an alleged incident in Antonsplatz, where the youths are accused of luring a 12-year-old girl into a stairwell by promising her a “surprise” before forcing her to perform oral sex. Prosecutors say the group also subjected her to bullying and degrading treatment, including kicking, insulting, and spitting water on her. They reportedly photographed her afterwards and circulated the images, joking to others that the liquid was semen. According to Austrian broadcaster OE24, the girl came forward after learning of the other victims’ cases.
The allegations follow a controversial acquittal last week, when several of the teenagers were cleared by the Vienna Regional Court of sexually abusing another 12-year-old girl in 2023. That girl told investigators she had been pressured into sex in parks, stairwells, hotel rooms, and apartments across the city’s Favoriten district after first meeting one defendant on Snapchat. She said she complied out of fear of the gang’s numerical dominance and intimidation, having also been shown violent videos.
In one incident, prosecutors claimed an 18-year-old defendant booked a hotel room where as many as twelve teenagers, aged 13 to 16, allegedly abused her. The assaults reportedly ended only after the girl’s mother forbade her from leaving the family apartment.
Despite the graphic allegations, the defendants were acquitted after the court raised doubts about the girl’s testimony. Judges cited inconsistencies, including her initial failure to report coercion, her having presented ID and claiming to be older, and her appearance, which led the court to conclude it was unclear whether the defendants knew she was underage. The charge of aggravated sexual abuse of minors was ultimately dropped.
At the time of the alleged offenses, most of the defendants were between 14 and 20 years old, meaning nine were considered juveniles and therefore faced lesser charges under Austrian law. Three others were under the age of criminal responsibility and could not be prosecuted at all.
The majority of the accused are not Austrian citizens, with backgrounds from Macedonia, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Italy. One is an Austrian with a migration background.
Prosecutors have appealed the acquittal to the Supreme Court. A forensic expert from the State Criminal Police Office has reportedly identified a modus operandi among the gang, revealing through phone data that they repeatedly rented rooms and arranged situations in which minors were forced into sex acts.
Kronen Zeitung reported politicians’ responses to the verdict earlier this week, citing Justice Minister Anna Sporrer as expressing sympathy for the young girl and her family and stating she understands “the great consternation and public interest in this case.”
“Strengthening sexual self-determination and the effective protection of women and girls against violence are my top priorities,” she added.
Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner was more forthright. She said she “no longer understands the world,” describing the acquittals as “wrong as a mother and politician.”
The Austrian government is now seeking to amend the law on consent, with Sporrer announcing her intention for an “Only yes means yes” clause, meaning only explicit consent can justify sexual intercourse.
An asylum seeker in the U.K. accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in Oxford boasted afterwards that he had “never f***ed a pussy like that”, a jury was told.
Amin Abedi Mofrad, 35, of Mill Lane, Reading, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with rape and assault by penetration following an alleged attack on Valentine’s Day last year. He denies both charges.
On Tuesday, prosecutors told jurors that the complainant and a friend had been to a nightclub in Oxford before buying alcohol and heading towards Westgate shopping center, where they were accosted by Mofrad and another man sitting on a public bench.
The court heard Mofrad kissed the complainant, bit her ear, and groped her before forcing her to the ground.
“She tried to stop him,” Mr Upward said. “She says he forced her to the ground and said, ‘I want you to be our sex doll.’ He forced her to her knees and forced his penis into her mouth. This was for his own criminal gratification.”
As The Sun reported, the man is then accused of leading the girl down a side street where he raped her.
The jury heard that the girl and her friend managed to escape but were pursued.
She did not report the incident immediately, but later came forward in April after contacting a victim support service.
In a police interview shown to jurors, the complainant described how Mofrad bit her earlobe, touched her breasts and bottom, and whispered disturbing remarks in broken English, including, “When you die, I’m going to buy the body,” and, “I want you to be my sex doll.”
She told police he covered her head with his coat, pushed her down, and said he wanted to take her home. “I think he found it a bit of a joke,” she added.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that, after the incident, Mofrad sent a text message to a friend named Ali, in which he wrote: “I have never f***** a p**** like that.”
Hours later, another message was sent to acquaintances that read, “I have just f****d two different p*****s tonight.”
A Bangladeshi couple living in Rimini has been placed under house arrest after allegedly forcing their daughter into marriage in Bangladesh and subjecting her to threats, abuse, and drugs intended to induce pregnancy.
The young woman, now 20, has been taken into protective custody at an undisclosed location.
The family had lived in Italy since 2011, when the mother and daughter joined the father, who had worked as a cook in Rimini since 2008.
Prosecutors say the girl’s parents tricked her into returning to Bangladesh at the end of 2024 with the false pretense of visiting a sick relative. Once there, her parents are accused of confiscating her documents and forcing her into marriage with a wealthy man more than 20 years older than her.
The wedding was held on Dec. 17, 2024. Before and after the ceremony, the girl was allegedly threatened and abused to ensure her compliance. She was also reportedly given medications to promote pregnancy and sedatives to reduce her resistance to sexual intercourse with her husband.
Despite this coercion, the young woman secretly began taking contraceptives. As her situation grew unbearable, she reached out for help through social media, contacting the Rimini health center via Instagram. This led to contact with the authorities in Italy.
She eventually persuaded her mother to accompany her back to Italy, claiming she would feel “more at peace” and ready to have children if she returned.
When the two women landed at Bologna’s Marconi Airport, police officers were waiting to arrest the mother. Corriere di Bologna reports that both parents were arrested following an investigation by the Rimini Prosecutor’s Office.
In July, German authorities were told to expect a spike in forced marriages as schools broke for summer, a time when attempts to return daughters to countries of origin to wed them to favored associates are common.
Speaking on the issue at the time, Seyran Ateş, a prominent author and women’s rights advocate, warns that the problem is becoming greater due to mass immigration and the entrenchment of parallel communities within German society.
“In Germany, we speak of a parallel society of the Muslim community,” Ateş said. Forced marriage, she emphasized, is a mechanism used by “archaic patriarchal societies” to impose religious norms, including the control of female sexuality.
Three people have been arrested in Germany after a German-Turk allegedly shot dead a compatriot at a bar in Neumünster on Tuesday.
Armed police were dispatched to the bar at the corner of Kieler Straße and Johannisstraße at around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening amid reports that a 24-year-old man had been killed.
It is believed an altercation occurred between two men, both German citizens of Turkish origin, before one pulled a gun and shot the other.
Police spokeswoman Stephanie Lage told Bild that a man was seriously injured and had to be resuscitated at the scene, but later died from his wounds.
Panic erupted as a group inside the bar attempted to overpower the gunman, forcing their way outside while screaming, with at least two additional shots believed to have been fired during the chaos.
🇩🇪 A German-Turk shot another dead during an altercation at a bar in Neumünster last night.
Armed police were dispatched to the bar on Kieler Straße where one man was found dead.
A group of men managed to restrain the shooter, a 26-year-old German citizen with a Turkish… pic.twitter.com/9n4PXPYXs0
Videos circulating online show the crowd struggling and shouting as they exited the establishment. Armed police officers, carrying submachine guns, quickly secured the area and blocked off public access to the scene.
The suspected 26-year-old shooter surrendered without resistance when confronted by police outside the bar. His firearm was seized.
Later that evening, police and the Kiel public prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrests of two further suspects, aged 29 and 34, both German nationals. “All three are currently in police custody,” authorities said in a joint statement.
Turks have long been the largest diaspora residing in Germany, and were second only to Syrians in the number of Turkish-born migrants naturalized last year.
Internal feuds among Turkish gangs are common. Just last week in Gelsenkirchen, one man was killed and two others were left in a critical condition after two Turkish families battled on the streets.
Approximately 30 people clashed in the Bismarck district of the heavily migrant city.
According to police, this was no ordinary brawl. The members of the two families were armed with baseball bats, tasers, knives, and other dangerous weapons during the clash.
In August, an 18-year-old Turk was arrested for the murder of a police officer who was responding to an armed robbery at a gas station in Völklingen. During a pursuit, the 34-year-old officer struggled with the suspect, who grabbed his service weapon and shot him six times.
An Afghan man has finally been arrested for raping an 80-year-old woman so violently that she died due to the rape, with the incident happening three months ago, on the night of July 5-6, in the French city of Niort.
Police have been investigating the incident and finally made an arrest on Sept. 27, with the Poitiers prosecutor’s office confirming the suspect was born in Afghanistan and arrived in France in 2005.
He has been placed in pre-trial detention, as reported by French newspaper La Nouvelle République and later confirmed by prosecutor Rachel Bray.
According to French newspaper France Bleu, “on the streets of Niort, some residents speak of an ‘abandoned’ neighborhood, where fear is taking hold. The contrast between the victim’s advanced age and the brutality of the attack is particularly shocking. Voices are being raised to denounce a growing sense of insecurity, with many feeling ‘left to their own devices’ and regretting that ‘the state has failed to protect the most vulnerable.’”
Notably, the city, with close to 60,000 residents, is known for its beautiful architecture and proximity to the Deux-Sèvres Marais Poitevin Regional Nature Park.
More recently, the year 2023 was marked by an overall increase in delinquency, rising 4.8 percent compared to 2022. Despite a 22.54 percent drop in drug trafficking, categories such as home burglaries and sexual violence saw their figures increase by 15.77 percent and 6.14 percent, respectively.
A man in Switzerland has been sentenced to 10 days in prison after refusing to pay a fine for a social media post in which he claimed there are only two genders.
Emanuel Brünisholz, a 57-year-old wind instrument repairman from Burgdorf in the canton of Bern, was convicted under the country’s anti-discrimination laws for a Facebook comment made in December 2022.
The case began when Brünisholz responded to a post by Swiss National Council member Andreas Glarner, a parliamentarian for the right-leaning Swiss People’s Party. In his comment, Brünisholz wrote: “If you dig up LGBTQI people after 200 years, you’ll only find men and women based on their skeletons. Everything else is a mental illness promoted through the curriculum.”
The remark was quickly reported to the authorities by activists as discrimination and inciting hatred. Local police then launched an investigation into whether or not the post violated Article 261bis of the Swiss Criminal Code, a provision originally introduced in 1995 to outlaw racist incitement and broadened in 2020 to include sexual orientation and sexual identity.
Brünisholz was summoned for questioning by the Bern Cantonal Police in August 2023, where he openly admitted writing the post. “Yes, that is so. That’s what I wrote,” he told officers, insisting it was neither sexist nor racist and laughing off the accusation. He argued that he had simply pointed out a fact about human biology, saying later in court that he believed most of the public would agree with him.
The authorities, however, took a different view, and he was charged, prosecuted, and ultimately convicted.
As reported by Czech outlet Inside Paradeplatz, prosecutors argued that the comment “publicly denigrated the group of LGBT(Q)I people on the basis of their sexual orientation in a manner that violates human dignity” and that Brünisholz had acted with “at least eventual intent.”
Brünisholz was ultimately handed 50 daily fines of 50 Swiss francs each, suspended for two years, plus an additional fine of 500 francs.
He appealed the ruling, but the Emmental-Oberaargau Regional Court upheld the conviction in December 2023, adding several hundred francs in additional court fees. At that point, his lawyer advised him that a further appeal would have no realistic chance of success in Switzerland’s legal system.
Refusing to pay the 500-franc fine, Brünisholz instead received a summons order to serve 10 days in Burgdorf regional prison starting Dec. 2, 2025. The notice makes clear that the substitute custodial sentence is being enforced in place of the unpaid fine.
For Brünisholz, the issue has become a matter of principle. He continues to insist that he is being criminalized for expressing an opinion about biology, not for inciting hatred. “I stand by what I wrote,” he told police during his interrogation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has clashed with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk after the Polish leader described the Russo-Ukrainian war as “our war” during a major security summit in Warsaw.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday, Tusk framed the conflict as central to Europe’s security and values. “This is our war,” he declared. “Not only because of solidarity with those who are under attack, but because of our fundamental interests.” He warned that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was part of a broader project to “enslave nations” and undermine democracy, human rights, and freedom.
“If we lose this war, then the consequences will affect not only our generation but also the next generations in Poland, all of Europe, in the United States, everywhere in the world. Let us have no illusions about this,” the Polish prime minister cautioned.
Orbán, who has maintained closer ties to Moscow than most EU and NATO leaders, took to social media to reject Tusk’s assessment, reminding him that the European Union is not a declared participant in the conflict.
“Dear Donald Tusk, you may think that you are at war with Russia, but Hungary is not. Neither is the European Union,” he wrote on X. “You are playing a dangerous game with the lives and security of millions of Europeans. This is very bad!”
The exchange highlights the sharp divisions within Central Europe over the war in Ukraine. Both countries border Ukraine, yet each government has taken a different approach to the conflict. Poland has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies, providing extensive military and humanitarian aid and urging the West to stay the course. Hungary, by contrast, has cultivated friendly relations with the Kremlin, resisted sanctions, and repeatedly clashed with EU partners over aid packages for Ukraine.
How will peace be achieved? Through negotiation, not endless war! Europe must have a voice in coming to an agreement. Let there be no doubt: this war is already decided and cannot be won on the battlefield. 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/kZ7tOl0MLm
Budapest’s long-held priority has been an immediate ceasefire in the region and a commitment to peace negotiations.
It has resisted calls for Ukraine to join the European Union and NATO, prompting semi-frequent spats with Kyiv, exacerbated by Ukraine’s decision to cut off energy supplies from Russia and claims of brutal treatment towards ethnic Hungarians being conscripted.
Tensions between Warsaw and Budapest have flared before. Last year, Orbán accused Poland of “hypocrisy” for criticizing Hungary’s ties to Russia while still buying Russian oil. In response, Polish deputy foreign minister Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski suggested that Hungary would be better off leaving NATO and the EU to join an alliance with “Putin and authoritarian states.” Poland has reportedly since cut its Russian oil imports to zero and urged other EU members to do the same by the end of 2026.
Hungary’s position in favor of peace gradually became mainstream following U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
A strange and worrying case has come to light in Germany, with a mother on X posting graphic photos of her teen daughter, Ronja, who is shown bloodied and beaten. The mother alleges that her daughter was beaten by a “girl with a migrant background.”
So far, there are no news reports on this case, but her original post has been censored by X, likely at the request of a German or EU authority. Currently, her post cannot be embedded into this article, but a link will be provided here, and a screenshot translated into English will be posted below.
The post contains four photos of the mother’s daughter, along with the following text:
Once again, a so-called “isolated case.”
And this time it’s my child.
Yesterday evening, my 14-year-old daughter was brutally attacked in a small town near Cologne by a girl with a migrant background. She was knocked to the ground, kicked in the face and in the soft parts.
Fortunately, her friends reacted immediately, calling the police and an ambulance. Since then, my daughter has been in the children’s hospital. Physically, she is stable – no permanent damage. But what this does to a girl of that age mentally is hardly imaginable. And yet, it will once again just be an “isolated case.”
The mother of Ronja, Christiane Richter, has also since posted that she is now the subject of an investigation and that her phone was seized after she went to the police to file a complaint on behalf of her daughter.
“Yes, it is indeed true: Today at 10:43 p.m., my cell phone was seized. And this, after my child was threatened over the phone! I recorded the call – and even told the caller multiple times that I was recording. For me, that was evidence to protect my child. But when I went to the police with this recording, I was not helped – instead, my cell phone was confiscated on the spot,” she wrote on X.
Ja, es ist tatsächlich wahr: Heute um 22:43 Uhr wurde mein Handy beschlagnahmt. Und das, nachdem mein Kind telefonisch bedroht wurde! Ich habe den Anruf aufgezeichnet – und dem Anrufer sogar mehrfach gesagt, dass ich gerade aufzeichne. Für mich war das ein Beweis, um mein Kind… https://t.co/VqaaPf4hlc
Due to the fact that the original photo appears to have been censored, it has not been widely shared, earning approximately only 4,500 views. However, this second post, relating to her phone being seized, has trended, earning close to 200,000 views. That post also does not appear to have any censorship applied to it, as it can also be freely embedded into articles.
The mother says she is being accused of a crime for recording the threats made against her daughter over the phone. She is seeking a lawyer and a new phone. Reportedly, one user has already provided her with one.
ich hab mit dem Aufzeichnen der Drohungen an mein Kind ne Straftat begangen
The mother’s account has been active since 2014 and clearly shows that she is an AfD supporter. So far, this story has not been verified by an independent news outlet.
Following a trend toward stricter regulations on digital platforms, Greece is set to become the first European Union member state to ban social media access for minors under the age of 16 starting in late October.
The move comes as political pressure mounts elsewhere, including in Germany, where the CDU/CSU party alliance is considering raising the social media age limit to 16.
The German proposals would prevent those under the designated age limit from accessing platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Researchers are already drawing serious parallels, with some “comparing TikTok to heroin.”
Other countries, such as Australia, have instituted similar bans, but through the use of identity checks that many organizations have called an invasion of privacy.
In Greece, the measure will be enforced through a mobile application called “Kids Wallet”. This technology will automatically block the use of popular platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X on devices registered to underage users.
The Greek option appears to alleviate some of these privacy concerns, as it only affects devices registered to underage users. Therefore, adult users will not have to prove they are not teens each time they sign into a social media site through an identification check.
The primary goal is to limit addictive scrolling and reduce the potential exposure to dangerous online content.
The restrictions go further than just social media. Access to websites promoting gambling, tobacco, alcohol, or pornographic content will be blocked for users under 18, and the ban also extends to dating platforms such as Tinder.
The technology behind this initiative was developed under the guidance of the European Commission, which is working to create a uniform regulatory framework for all Member States. Unlike Australia, the Greek solution does not rely solely on age verification by the platforms themselves; instead, the enforcement is done “directly on the device, through the ‘Kids Wallet’ application.”
If the EU can enact measures to curb social media use among teens without violating privacy concerns for adult users, it will be a major win for the European project. Social media use has been widely identified as being destructive for developing teenagers, and may play a role in growing mental illness. In addition, young people are being exposed to extreme content on the broader internet, including hardcore pornography.
However, Brussels has other privacy-violating projects in the works, including a measure to scan all messages on encrypted messaging platforms, such as Signal and Telegram. The privacy-violating technology is opposed by member states such as Czechia and Austria, however, countries like Hungary have so far signaled they will back the move.
The EU says the technology will be used to target users committing illegal activity, such as those trafficking in child pornography and narcotics. However, privacy organizations fear the technology will be expanded to monitor users, including for political content or content deemed to violate “hate speech” laws.
In a video message, Stefan Kerth, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) district administrator of Vorpommern-Rügen, is calling for an end to the infamous firewall with the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The move comes after the AfD has continuously shown it is the strongest party in the country, now at 27 percent.
“The firewall is nonsense; it has strengthened the AfD,” Kerth said in a video message, as reported by the newspaper Ostsee-Zeitung.
The firewall refers to the CDU’s policy of refusing to form any political alliance with the AfD; however, the issue is fraught within the party. Almost all top CDU politicians openly reject an alliance with the AfD, with many of them referring to the party as “right-wing extremist.” However, there are many at the local level ceiling for an end to the firewall, especially CDU officials in the east of the country, where the AfD is highly popular.
In fact, Kerth’s district is located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the AfD is currently polling at a record 38 percent. His CDU party, in contrast, is performing abysmally there at only 13 percent.
🇩🇪Germany's anti-immigration AfD explodes in popularity in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, reaching 38%.
That is an 8 point jump.
AfD is now 2x as popular as the 2nd-place party, SPD.
Kerth says that instead of a firewall, the CDU and CSU should set conditions for cooperation with the AfD.
“The CDU wants more, but the firewall makes any change of course impossible,” Kerth said.
Kerth appears to be playing a strategic game, and argues that the CDU can perhaps push the AfD towards a more “moderate” stance.
“Why doesn’t the CDU at least formulate conditions—people, activities, and program points that the AfD would have to drop in exchange for cooperation?” he asks.
Notably, Kerth points out the conundrum for the CDU, which is continuously forced to make alliances with left-wing parties, such as its current federal coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), which is leading to a fall in popularity for the CDU.
AfD party co-leader, Alice Weidel, just yesterday posted yet another poll showing the AfD is the strongest force in the country, at 27 percent. The same poll showed that the AfD’s lead over the CDU is growing, with the CDU dropping to 24 percent.
“AfD remains the strongest force with 27%, now leading CDU and CSU by 3 percentage points – and Merz’s popularity is at its lowest point. Real change is only possible with us!” she wrote.
AfD weiterhin stärkste Kraft mit 27 %, mit inzwischen 3 Prozentpunkten Abstand zu CDU und CSU – und Merz' Beliebtheit auf dem Tiefpunkt. Echte Veränderung gibt es nur mit uns! pic.twitter.com/VvNPasM7ZX
Kerth said his party must open itself to coalitions and political cooperation beyond the left-wing parties before it is too late.
“Better now, while it can still set the tone,” he said, recognizing the ongoing damage to the CDU.
Kerth has a past with the SPD, but switched to the CDU in 2023 due to his stance on migration. He has said that a change on migration is not possible without a coalition with the AfD, adding that there has been a “loss of control” since 2015, with the left-wing parties trivializing the resulting chaos since that period.
Kerth also said the presence of the AfD in government would be normal, as most other countries often feature such a party in government.
“Right around us, strongly nationalist, right-wing parties are occasionally in government. And the end of the world doesn’t happen! And Germany, of all places, which is sensitive to history, is supposed to rush straight back into the Third Reich without a firewall? I don’t believe that anymore,” he said.
It should be noted that Kerth is not a high-ranking politician in the CDU, and his view is most likely to be rejected at the federal level, at least for now. However, he joins a chorus of CDU voices in the east of the country calling for an end to the firewall.
Most analysts expect that if the firewall is broken, it will first be broken in the east of the country before it is ever possible to do so at the federal level.
A Syrian teenager living in Austria was free to walk from the courtroom on Tuesday, despite being convicted of shoving an e-scooter ride onto the train tracks in Korneuburg, Lower Austria, earlier this year.
The 15-year-old suspect was found guilty of robbery, assault, and theft, pertaining to an incident on April 27, when the boy suddenly pushed another teen onto the tracks. The victim, fortunately, escaped with cuts and bruises in what could have been a far more severe incident.
The accused had claimed in court that he had been insulted by the victim, reportedly being called a “junkie and a bum” prior to the attack. However, surveillance footage shown at the trial appeared to debunk claims of provocation.
In mitigation, the Syrian attempted to explain his behavior by blaming his health, telling Vienna’s regional court, “My blood sugar was high. That always makes me aggressive.”
Presumably, his blood sugar was also high ahead of another attack earlier this year, in which he attacked a caregiver at his shared accommodation and robbed another teenager of his cell phone, shoes, and T-shirt. In another incident cited by Heute, the Syrian youth threatened another resident, telling him, “Give me those things, or you’ll bleed right here.”
Despite the multitude of offenses and the potential severity of the train tracks incident, the boy was handed a suspended custodial sentence of 20 months, along with one month of unconditional imprisonment. As that time had already been served in pre-trial detention, he walked free from the court hearing.
When asked by the presiding judge how he would handle his sugar rushes in the future, the teen replied, “Go to the hospital, or something.”
German federal authorities have arrested a Syrian man in Berlin suspected of carrying out brutal acts of torture and murder during the country’s civil war in 2011.
Several officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office detained Anwar S. in the Berlin district of Neukölln on Tuesday morning. According to the Federal Prosecutor General, he is accused of murder, torture, deprivation of liberty, and crimes against humanity as part of a pro-Assad militia that suppressed protests in Aleppo at the start of the Syrian conflict.
A video obtained by the newspaper Die Welt, reportedly recorded in 2011, shows armed regime supporters attacking anti-government demonstrators outside a mosque in Aleppo with batons. Shouts of “Do you want freedom?” can be heard as the mob clubs civilians to the ground. German investigators say the footage corresponds to testimony that Anwar S., as a militia leader, repeatedly inflicted severe violence on opposition members.
Prosecutors allege that on at least eight occasions, Anwar S. ordered or carried out beatings with batons, electric shockers, and metal bars to disperse protests. Some of the detainees were then handed over to Syria’s intelligence service, where they were tortured in custody. In one incident in Aleppo’s Saif Al Dawla district, a demonstrator allegedly died shortly after being severely beaten in the suspect’s presence.
The arrest took place near a shisha café in Neukölln, according to Welt. Anwar S. is expected to appear before an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday, who will decide on the execution of an arrest warrant.
It is unclear how the suspect arrived in Germany, and whether or not he claimed and was granted asylum.
Germany has taken in close to one million Syrians since 2015, making them the largest immigrant group in the country over the past decade. The Assad regime was overthrown last year, and Syria is now ruled by Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander.
German Federal Police will enforce a month-long weapons ban at 15 train stations across Berlin from Oct. 1, a measure that allows officers greater powers to stop and search passengers.
The move is aimed at combating what authorities describe as a growing problem of violent crime on the German capital’s public transport.
In a statement, the Federal Police said, “The number and intensity of violent crimes on railway premises continue to increase. Knives and other dangerous objects are frequently used.” The ban extends beyond knives to include tear gas, blunt instruments, and other potentially dangerous items.
The prohibition will be in effect daily between 2 p.m. and 4 a.m. until Oct. 27. The last time such a measure was imposed, from late May through July, police conducted nearly 10,000 checks and confiscated more than 700 weapons and other prohibited objects.
🇩🇪🗡️ Machetes are on sale from a Berlin discount store despite a huge surge in knife attacks across Germany.
"79 knife crimes per day in 2024 and at the discount store you can buy a machete with a barb for €9.90," wrote the German police union deputy chairman @M_Ostermann.
The affected train stations include major hubs such as Berlin Central Station, Zoologischer Garten, Alexanderplatz, Ostkreuz, and Lichtenberg, as well as suburban locations like Spandau, Neukölln, and Südkreuz.
The move comes amid heightened concern about knife crime in the capital. Since mid-July, Berlin has already banned knives on all buses, trains, and at stations, with fines of up to €10,000 for violations.
According to police data cited by Berliner Zeitung, 324 knife attacks have taken place in the city over the past three years.
Public concern intensified in April after a Syrian migrant fatally stabbed a passenger on the U12 subway line. The 43-year-old attacker was shot by police and later died in hospital. In the aftermath, Interior Senator Iris Spranger of the Social Democratic Party proposed expanding weapon ban zones across the city’s transport network.
“Regardless of yesterday’s homicide, we are examining the establishment of further knife and weapon ban zones in Berlin,” Spranger told Tagesspiegel at the time, arguing that the zones act both as deterrents and as a symbolic message that violence will not be tolerated.
However, the measures have drawn criticism from police representatives. Benjamin Jendro, spokesperson for the Berlin Police Union, dismissed the expansion of prohibition zones back in April as “too short-sighted.” He said recent fatal stabbings demonstrate that what he called “placebo” bans do little to stop determined attackers.
“The police, however, will not be able to control this permanently and comprehensively in the future,” Jendro warned, noting that knives are already banned under Berlin’s public transport rules, which have not prevented violent incidents or deterred the significant numbers still intent on carrying weapons.
The rise in knife crime across Germany is undeniably linked with its policy of mass immigration. A total of 730 cases of violent knife crimes were recorded across the country in the first half of 2025, a 17 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
This data, provided by the German government in response to a parliamentary query from Alternative for Germany (AfD) domestic affairs spokesman Martin Hess, showed a disproportionate overrepresentation of foreign suspects.
Out of the recorded offenses, 278 involved German suspects and 270 involved non-Germans, despite foreigners comprising just under 15 percent of Germany’s population. This figure is already distorted due to the fact that naturalized foreign-born individuals are categorized as “German” in federal crime statistics.
Among the foreign perpetrators, Syrians formed the largest group with 29 cases, followed by Afghans with 23 and Poles with 20. Algerian and Afghan suspects were among the most likely to use a knife rather than merely carry one, with 83 percent of cases involving actual use.
🇩🇪🎄 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
Free speech activists have scored a major victory in Poland after the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that key provisions of the so-called “hate speech act,” which sought to expand the scope of hate crimes in the Penal Code, are unconstitutional.
The Tribunal found that the proposed amendments constituted “an improper interference with the constitutionally protected freedom of expression.”
The decision was a victory for the arguments put forth by then President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, who submitted the bill for preventive review in April.
“The Constitutional Tribunal granted the President of the Republic of Poland’s motion and sided with freedom of speech. The ruling was unanimously issued by the full bench,” emphasized Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the Presidential Chancellery.
The amendment, passed on March 6 of this year, aimed to expand the catalogue of hate crimes to include four new grounds: age, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Its purpose was to ensure that hate crimes based on these characteristics would be prosecuted ex officio (by public authorities) without requiring a private indictment.
However, the Tribunal found the amended provisions unconstitutional and deemed them “inextricably linked to the entire act.”
In the justification of the judgment, Judge Justyn Piskorski, who served as the rapporteur, highlighted that the new discriminatory grounds were “imprecisely defined” and susceptible to “overly broad” and “mechanistic” criminalization of speech. He stated that the Constitutional Tribunal believed the new wording of these grounds made “the line between legal criticism, jokes, polemics, and crimes elusive.”
The Tribunal stressed that while offensive statements are inadmissible, restricting freedom of expression with insufficiently defined prohibited acts violates constitutional rights:
“In this case, the Tribunal found that while the inadmissibility of offensive statements in the public space towards any groups or public entities is unquestionable, restricting the freedom of expression by establishing types of prohibited acts with insufficiently defined characteristics violates the constitutional freedom of speech,” wrote the court.
The court expressed concern that the new law moved criminal law away from its intended role. In the Constitutional Tribunal’s view, criminal law is no longer “the last resort used solely to combat the most serious forms of hatred or violence, but can instead be a tool for censoring speech that was not intended to be discriminatory.”
Judge Piskorski emphasized that the amendments constituted “an inappropriate interference with the constitutionally protected freedom of expression,” warning that their application may be “unpredictable” and susceptible to “arbitrary decisions by law enforcement agencies and courts.”
He outlined the potential chilling effect on public debate:
“There is a risk of classifying critical comments, polemics or research concerning sexual identity, cultural norms, social movements or relevant legislation as a crime,” wrote the judge, further clarifying the proper function of criminal law in a democracy by writing: “Criminal law should not be used to restrict pluralism of opinion by excluding controversial statements, which are the essence of democratic discourse. Criminal law should not be used to protect against every form of criticism or social discomfort, but only in cases of actual violation of personal rights and rights.”
The ruling was issued by a full bench of the Tribunal and was unanimous. Following the verdict, Minister Bogucki confirmed that the President is now “obliged” to refuse to sign the amending act.
Bogucki had previously argued that the March amendment constitutes an “impact on freedom of speech” due in part to the “lack of specificity” of the grounds. Questioning the application of the age requirement, he asked: “Does this provision also prevent you from expressing your opinion, excuse the word ‘you brat’? Would this be a phrase that falls under the Penal Code, or not?”
He concluded that this lack of clarity would lead to excessive restrictions on public discourse: “This lack of clarity causes the language of public debate to become restricted and bound, and leads to such a far-reaching, one might say, political correctness that we will not be able to express our views, even if they are not negatively marked.”
Bogucki also asserted that the new grounds were already “adequately protected, for example, by civil law and criminal law,” suggesting that resorting to further “repressive action by the state could actually lead to the closure of public discussion within the specified grounds.”
A shocking femicide case has rocked France, with even the country’s justice minister admitting 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.”
Amazingly, despite all this, the man was registered as a “political refugee” in France.
Mecellem, who worked as a social worker in an association that helped refugees, did not notice the warnings associated with the man, who would go on to allegedly murder her.
Angélique had said, “I didn’t like him when I saw him.” She described him as a “big macho guy” who had “the mentality of his country.”
However, despite serious incidents, Inès Mecellem stayed with the Afghan man for two years.
“I think she was in denial, she thought she was going to make him change,” said the mother
Inès Mecellem, who was murdered on Sept. 8, was brutally stabbed inside her apartment in Buxerolles, a suburb of Poitiers, allegedly by Habib. They had just permanently separated. Le Monde details how a neighbor heard her screams and found her still conscious laying in a pool of blood.
“There was so much of it, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t dare touch her wounds,” said the neighbor.
However, Inès Mecellem was later pronounced dead at the scene despite valiant efforts to save her life.
Inès Mecellem’s death becomes a national story
The case has sparked yet another nationwide discussion about unchecked mass immigration and femicide in France. The murder is being showcased as yet another example of France’s failed law enforcement policies.
Appearing on France Inter after the murder, Angelique said that her daughter, Inès Mecellem, was the victim of violence and threats and had filed several complaints against Habib.
In fact, just two days before the murder, her daughter had activated her serious danger telephone (TGD), a device that allows the police to be quickly alerted. The daughter knew she was being “hunted.”
🇫🇷 "This is the life I live every day."
A terrified French woman is sexually harassed by two different men, one after another.
One even makes handgun motions while running up behind her.
"I can’t even begin to explain the hatred and fear — and yet, I stood my ground." pic.twitter.com/t6AMY5kr1k
Habib was arrested but then immediately released. Angelique cannot believe he was immediately released, saying it was “incomprehensible.”
“I’m disgusted because they had him in their hands and half an hour later, he was on the loose. Today he remains free on the run,” she said on France Inter.
The case has reached the highest levels of government.
Minister of Justice Gerald Darmanin has said that he is calling for law enforcement to bring the suspect to justice and acknowledged the state’s “failure.”
“Victims must be at the heart of the justice system’s concerns. Every time one of them seeks protection from law enforcement and the justice system, and we have failed to protect her, it is a profound and terrible failure. All light must be shed on this horrific case, which is why I have requested the opening of an operational inspection at the General Inspectorate of Justice. Furthermore, I will meet with the president of the National Federation of Femicide Victims, as we meet with all victims who approach me,” wrote Darmanin on X.
Les victimes doivent être au centre des préoccupations de la justice. À chaque fois que l’une d’entre elles demande protection aux forces de l’ordre et à la justice, et que nous n’avons pas réussi à la protéger, c’est un profond et terrible échec. Toute la lumière doit être faite… https://t.co/sGMFVKpftU
On Saturday last week, a thousand people participated in a march in memory of Inès Mecellem, with a symbolic passage in front of the Poitiers police station. It is here that the 25-year-old victim had filed five complaints in total against her ex-partner in just six weeks. Despite that, no action was taken that could have prevented her murder.
She told the police in these complaints that she had been strangled and raped during their relationship, with severe insults and threats coming after they broke up.
Sylvaine Grévin, president of the National Federation of Victims of Femicides and guest of RTL Sunday morning, said such failures to protect women are widespread.
“I appeal to Mr. Darmanin, who is still in office as Keeper of the Seals, to effectively establish all responsibilities. Whether they are police officers or whether they are the work of magistrates. I am even asking for a general inspection of justice,” she said.
Angélique has also filed a complaint for “failure to assist a person in danger” against the Poitiers police. A source close to the prosecution says the complaint has been referred to the General Inspectorate of the National Police.
Mehdi Mecellem, the victim’s brother, is now calling the police and justice system accomplices to murder.
“For me, there are two murderers today,” he told the AFP. “The one who is on the run but also the police and judicial system, with all its failures. Her death could have been completely avoided.”
In France, 96 women were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse in 2023, according to the latest report from the Ministry of the Interior. This figure represents a 19 percent decrease compared to the previous year, 2022. The study further specifies that women are the overwhelming majority of victims in marital crimes, accounting for 81 percent of all cases.
🇫🇷 A 30-year-old Moroccan migrant with a deportation order climbed the facade of a building to rape a young French girl.
He undressed on the balcony before entering the girl's room.
A district league football match in Dortmund ended in violence on Sunday when players and supporters of SG Phönix Eving allegedly attacked the referee after a red card decision.
The match against DJK SF Nette II, played in Dortmund’s District League B1, was nearing its end when tensions boiled over. Bild reported how, in stoppage time, the referee showed Phönix player Emre S. a red card with Nette leading 7-4.
Several Phönix players are alleged to have run at the referee, demanding the decision be overturned, prompting him to abandon the game and retreat to the dressing room.
As the referee later made his way to his car, he was chased by a group of Phönix players and supporters. In the parking lot, player Recep S. allegedly punched him in the face, while around 30 men surrounded the referee’s vehicle, preventing him from leaving. Police eventually arrived, arresting Emre S. in the locker room. Emergency services treated the referee for injuries at the scene.
Bild reported that Recep S. is already known to the police for previous assault offenses, while Junge Freiheit noted that the Dortmund-based team “are almost exclusively migrants.”
SG Phönix Eving issued a statement on Facebook late on Monday evening condemning the violence but strongly criticized the press coverage, especially from Bild. “Although we do not include some of the referee decisions in the game, this, of course, in no way justifies such an outcome,” the club said.
The club claimed that the player named in the Bild report had already been substituted before the red card and denied that he was known to police. “All the coverage and commentary borders on murder,” the statement read, calling reactions on social media “slanderous and racist.”
Phönix said it was cooperating with authorities and had begun internal steps to clarify who was responsible. “We will do everything we can to investigate the perpetrator and cooperate with an accurate explanation,” the board wrote.
The referee, who was left shaken but not seriously injured, is expected to file a formal complaint.
Police confirmed they are pursuing an assault investigation.
Spain’s socialist government has begun the gradual transfer of more than 600 Moroccan minors from the North African enclave of Ceuta to different regions on the mainland.
The decision has reignited debate in Madrid over how to manage unaccompanied minors entering the country, as new figures revealed just 41 of the nearly 30,000 minor arrivals since 2018 have been repatriated.
The first transfer took place on Sunday morning, when a 17-year-old Moroccan was moved by ferry to Córdoba, accompanied by an educator. The operation was carried out after the Prosecutor’s Office and the Department of Juvenile Affairs authorized the move, ensuring that the required legal guarantees were respected.
According to Spanish media, further relocations will continue in the coming weeks. The government stressed that the process will be individual and gradual, with strict adherence to deadlines established in the emergency decree: 15 days to resolve cases of minors who arrived during the declared emergency and up to four months for those who had already been living in state reception centers.
The situation in Ceuta has been a long-standing challenge for Spanish authorities, with migrants often targeting the enclave due to its location on the African mainland as an alternative to taking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.
The enclave currently houses more than 600 Moroccan minors, many of whom arrived during past migration surges. Local officials have repeatedly warned that services are stretched to the limit. In response, other regions such as Aragon and Andalusia have pledged to host hundreds of minors, providing spaces in specialized centers.
Madrid has framed the transfers as part of a broader policy of national solidarity, ensuring that no single territory bears the full burden of hosting.
As reported by La Gaceta, since 2018, 27,891 unaccompanied foreign minors have entered the country. In a written response to parliamentary questions from the VOX party, the government confirmed that from 2018 to the present, “the total number of unaccompanied foreign minors who have been repatriated amounts to 41.”
Officials explained that these low numbers reflect the complexity of the repatriation process, which is carried out in line with the “principles of the best interests of the child and family reunification.” In practice, this means that returns are not only to the country of origin but sometimes to third countries where relatives can be found.
The government emphasized that diplomatic efforts are ongoing with Morocco and other countries to locate family members or establish child-protection arrangements, but that such procedures are often lengthy and uncertain.
VOX seized on the figures to renew its demand for much stricter measures. The party led by Santiago Abascal is the only one in parliament calling openly for the closure of centers for unaccompanied minors and the immediate return of children to their families.
“We demand that all public administrations shut down all those mafias disguised as NGOs that are profiting from human trafficking,” the party said in a statement, accusing both the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) and the conservative Popular Party (PP) of endangering Spaniards through their tolerance of mass immigration.
In just three weeks, more than 40,000 young Ukrainian men aged 18 to 22 have crossed into Poland after the government in Kyiv lifted travel restrictions for this age group at the end of August. The sudden surge was reported by Ukrainska Pravda and confirmed by the Polish Border Guard.
Between Aug. 28 and Sept. 19, Polish officials recorded nearly 53,000 border checks involving men in this age group, including almost 40,000 entering Poland and more than 13,000 leaving the country. Authorities note that these are checks, not individuals, but the figures suggest a large outflow of Ukraine’s youngest eligible men.
Many observers believe most will not return, fearing conscription and deployment to the front.
The new rule reverses the general travel ban imposed at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which barred men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country to ensure sufficient mobilization. The government justified the change by citing a need to reduce corruption linked to illegal border crossings and to provide legal avenues for young men to study or work abroad. President Volodymyr Zelensky recommended the reform in August, framing it as a way to strengthen ties between Ukrainians abroad and their homeland.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko defended the policy, saying, “We want to maintain as many ties as possible as Ukrainians to our homeland.” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko added that the aim was to allow opportunities for education, internships, and legal employment abroad, so young people could eventually “use the experience they have gained for the development of Ukraine.”
Yet the decision runs counter to repeated appeals from military commanders, who have argued for lowering the mobilization age, currently set at 25, to replenish exhausted forces and counter rising desertion rates. The Ukrainian army continues to struggle with manpower shortages as it faces sustained pressure on multiple fronts.
Polish officials had warned that the new law could trigger a fresh wave of migrants, adding to the millions of Ukrainians already living in Poland since the start of the war. Early reports from Ukraine itself suggest that many young men seized the chance to leave. Within a week of the policy’s introduction, mass resignations were reported at major companies. The Silpo supermarket chain, for instance, lost around 3,000 employees — the same number of young men it employed between 18 and 22.
The trend is being felt beyond Poland. Czech MP Robert Králíček of the ANO movement said arrivals of young Ukrainian men to the Czech Republic had doubled in recent weeks.
“When Volodymyr Zelensky allowed men between the ages of 18 and 22 to leave at the end of August, the number of incoming Ukrainian young men in this age range increased by 105 percent since the beginning of September. Previously, 1,615 of them were arriving per week; today, it is over 3,000,” he said on Czech Television, as cited by Echo24.
A damning new report lays the immigration crisis bare in Germany’s school system, outlining how students with an immigration background have lower vocational school qualifications, fewer career options, and constitute the vast majority of school dropouts.
The “Maltese Migration Report 2025” outlines the ongoing migration crisis in German schools, which Remix News has reported on a regular basis.
Among the findings is that 75 percent of all school dropouts in Germany in 2023 have a migration background.
The promise that newcomers — and their children — would be a boon for the German economy has been debunked in many areas, but the new report underlines that the situation is not likely to improve in the near future due to a faltering education system.
🇩🇪🚨 Mass migration spells disaster for the German education system
440 out of 490 students need German-language support in just one elementary school from 1-4 grade.
170 children fall into the category of "almost no knowledge of German."
In addition to the significant number of dropouts from Germany’s migrant community, there is also a clear difference in vocational training. Half of those without vocational training are from immigrant families. Those with an immigrant background perform worse on standardized testing than native Germans.
“Compared to their peers without an immigration background, children with an immigration background perform worse in mathematics and science. This cannot be allowed to happen,” Feld told Bild newspaper. “If we fail to successfully address this area of social and educational policy, we will simply be ignoring enormous potential for our country.”
“Those who remain in Germany without a school or vocational qualification are more likely than average to have an immigration background. This cannot be ignored” said Sebastian Schilgen, managing director of the Malteser Werke.
The report identifies the man issues are clear language deficits and failures regarding early education.
Approximately 13 percent of children in daycares do not speak German with their families. In addition, children with a migration background between three and six are much less likely to attend daycare facilities, amounting to 77 percent. Meanwhile, 99 percent of children without a migration background attend daycare.
🇩🇪🚨German classroom nightmare
Teachers mocked, lessons disrupted, and even physical assaults.
"I am no longer in control of the situation. I feel like a failure. The children here are just 12 years old."
As Remix News has previously reported, it is not just an issue with language, but also an issue of attitude of students with a migration background. Teachers report insults, disrespect, bullying, and assaults, with those schools with the highest migrant populations generally featuring the most chaos.
🇩🇪🔴 A young German girl spoke of the nightmare she experiences from her Muslim classmates.
"Sometimes they say to me that I’m German. And yeah, then they laugh at me, curse at me and tease me. Others are always Muslim, and they ask me why I am not a Muslim. I said I am a… pic.twitter.com/gggVOm9IPs
Germany’s airline industry is reeling, with the Lufthansa Group announcing on Monday that it would cut 4,000 jobs, a decision that industry leaders attribute to years of decline driven by “extremely high taxes and fees that do not exist abroad.” However, Germany’s connectivity crisis is also growing.
The job cuts come as the federal government prepares to negotiate relief measures for the aviation sector as part of the budget debate this week.
The withdrawal of services is already evident. “Germany has lost massive amounts of connectivity,” Bischof said. “If you exclude the feeder flights to the hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, we are a fifth of the level in domestic German air traffic prior to Covid… 84 percent are gone – that has consequences for the entire economy!”
Jens Bischof, Eurowings CEO and President of the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL), warned in an interview with Welt newspaper that the lack of political relief threatens to sever the last existing flight connections for key German regions.
Bischof emphasized that the German aviation industry is struggling due to government costs that have nearly doubled since 2019.
“It’s good that the Chancellor (Friedrich Merz) is making the issue a top priority,” Bischof said, “Because we haven’t felt any relief yet. On the contrary. Taxes and fees have almost doubled since 2019 and, at €35 for an intra-German or European flight route, are higher than anywhere else in Europe.”
The outspoken Ryanair CEO, CEO Michael O’Leary, does not mince words either, saying last year that “Germany is run by idiots.” He added at the time that, “I don’t think the next government of Germany will be any better.”
As for Lufthansa’s leader, Bischof, his criticism may be a bit more muted, but he is still laying it on thick. He pointed out the severe disparity with neighboring countries: “This is seven times more than in Spain, for example. With an average ticket price of €66 to €110, you can calculate how much we will earn after deducting our costs – namely nothing. Airlines are currently making money primarily outside of Germany. Aviation is booming there.”
The high costs have already led to a drastic reduction in domestic German flights, which have halved since 2019. Bischof warned that without a policy change, the decline will continue.
“If nothing changes on the political side – yes,” he stated. Bischof identified several regional airports where services are at risk: “In Bremen, Dresden, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, Stuttgart – flights are on the brink everywhere.”
He underscored the economic danger this poses to local businesses: “These are strongholds of medium-sized businesses, mechanical engineering and the tech industry. These companies need direct, fast connections to the world, which have so far been ensured via feeder flights to the international hubs of Frankfurt and Munich. All of these regions are threatened with decoupling from global air traffic.”
Beyond business connectivity, the cost burden is impacting families and tourism. Bischof argued the industry has moved past a “tipping point,” stating: “The high ticket prices, which largely consist of taxes and fees, are already making families increasingly unable to afford a plane trip during the summer holidays. This is a question of social participation. After all, vacationing with the family is also a social democratic achievement.”
The economic repercussions are also visible in the tourism and trade fair sectors. “The impact on incoming tourism is already significant,” Bischof noted, adding that trade fairs are now “being moved to locations in other countries that can be more easily reached. When connections disappear, entire value chains collapse. This is a fatal development for an economic nation.”
Bischof made clear that the industry is not seeking a government bailout. “That is precisely the absurdity of this debate. We don’t want any support from the state,” he asserted. “We just don’t want to be burdened further and further by the state. Government costs now add up to €4.4 billion per year, half of which alone represents a special tax, which exists in only nine out of 31 European countries. We have the highest aviation tax in all of Europe.”
He argued that reducing the tax burden would be revenue-positive for the federal government in the long run. “We need the burden to be reduced by €2 billion so that air traffic in Germany can grow again. The resulting increases in value added are twice or three times as high.”
In a stark warning about the human cost, Bischof concluded: “The cancellation of flight connections and aircraft relocated abroad due to high location costs, which cost Germany €4 billion in added value and around 10,000 jobs. This also means: The federal government could completely abolish the aviation tax – and would ultimately emerge with a plus.”
For the first time in Germany, a federal state has formally recognized Islamic holidays, granting Muslims the legal right to official leave from school and work.
Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, has signed a groundbreaking agreement with the Northern German Association of Islamic Cultural Centers (VIKZ), which not only enshrines the right to take time off on the first day of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, but also lays the foundation for broader recognition of Islam in public life.
The treaty was signed by the Ministry of Education and Culture and regulates several key points: Muslims must be granted leave on the two major holidays; VIKZ is given explicit rights to run educational and cultural institutions and to train imams; and, in the long term, there are plans to introduce Islamic religious education as a standard subject in schools, on equal footing with Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish religious studies.
Education Minister Dorit Stenke (CDU) described the step as “an important sign of recognition and equal treatment of religious communities.” She stressed that the treaty was not simply symbolic, but an affirmation that “people of the Muslim faith are part of our society.” For the government in Kiel, the agreement also provides a legal basis for practices that have, in part, existed informally, while giving Muslim communities greater planning security.
Initial confusion about whether or not the agreement was leading to new public holidays exclusively for Muslims was addressed by NDR in an additional comment under its Facebook story.
“It’s not the case that people of the Muslim faith receive additional days off. Children can request an exemption from school for religious holidays, and adults can apply for leave. However, there is no automatic entitlement,” it wrote.
The move, however, does signify further Islamic encroachment into Western society, with Muslim children effectively being entitled to extra days off from school, and businesses needing to manage workflow on what are typically business days in Germany and the West.
VIKZ, one of the largest Islamic umbrella organizations in Germany, hailed the treaty as a breakthrough. Its vice president, Muhlis Şahin, said, “The treaty makes it clear: Islam is part of our social life. It has taken deep root here and continues to flourish.” He emphasized that the recognition of Islamic holidays and institutions is about more than rituals: It is about participation, integration, and respect.
The agreement goes beyond holidays. It highlights youth work, early childhood education, and social integration as priorities. According to the official statement, this includes language support and educational opportunities aimed at strengthening equal chances for Muslim children and young people. Both the state government and VIKZ noted that the agreement is designed to promote constructive coexistence.
So far, Germany’s approach to Islamic holidays has been uneven. Hamburg and some other states have allowed Muslim pupils to take excused absences for major holidays, but Schleswig-Holstein is the first to grant formal recognition under the Sunday and Public Holiday Act, which also applies to Christian and Jewish observances.
A 13-year-old boy was critically injured after being stabbed in the heart at a school in Kiel in January, and two young men, aged 18 and 19, are now standing trial on charges of attempted manslaughter.
As reported by Hamburger Morgenpost, the Kiel public prosecutor’s office alleges that on the evening of Jan. 19, 2025, the two accused, together with other individuals who are being prosecuted separately, lured the boy out of his shared accommodation in the Hassee district under false pretenses. According to investigators, the group then attacked him in the schoolyard of the Christian School Kiel.
Prosecutors believe that several youths repeatedly punched and kicked the victim, who was eventually left unconscious. One of the assailants allegedly stabbed him with a knife, injuring his pericardium and nearly killing him. Emergency responders managed to resuscitate the boy at the scene before he underwent hours of surgery in hospital. Doctors reportedly later described his survival as a miracle.
Seven suspects between the ages of 14 and 22 were initially arrested on the night of the attack, but five were released shortly afterward. The two men now facing trial have remained in custody since their arrest. It is still unclear who wielded the knife, with the suspects blaming each other while the victim, still traumatized, has been unable to give testimony.
Investigators linked the attack to an earlier dispute between the boy and one of the suspects. The boy’s mother reportedly received threatening phone calls in the days before the assault, one of which directly warned of violence.
As the trial opened, the family released a deeply emotional letter from the victim, published by local AfD politician Hubert Pinto de Kraus and later circulated by activist Martin Sellner. In the letter, written in the first person, the boy describes repeated bullying, humiliation, and violence in the months leading up to the attack.
“Since last year, I had been repeatedly humiliated and beaten by a well-known group of offenders. My mother filed complaints, but nothing happened,” it read.
He recounts how he was ambushed, beaten, and ultimately stabbed, writing: “On January 19, 2025, I died (ed. clinically, as his heart stopped) in Kiel – at 13 years old, from a stab to the heart. My mother and I were ignored, and the perpetrators were given legal counsel. This is my story.”
“Dear readers, My name is Finn Lucas, and on January 19, 2025, I died in Kiel – at 13 years old, from a stab to the heart. My mother and I were ignored, the perpetrators were given legal counsel.
Describing the attack, the boy wrote, “”The blows were deliberate and brutal. Eventually, I lost consciousness. As I slowly came to and tried to get up, I was struck by a hard kick in the face. I lost my weak footing and collapsed unconscious again. I never felt the fatal stab to my heart.”
He went on to describe the trauma he now lives with, both physical and psychological, as well as his family’s struggle to find help and support: “To this day, no one from the city of Kiel has reached out to us, offered help, or support. The perpetrators immediately received legal representation, and five of the seven were released from pre-trial detention after just three days. I myself live in fear and do not know how my life can go on.”
The letter, ending with the question, “Why are perpetrators protected, but not the victims?”
One man is dead and two are in critical condition after two Turkish families battled on the streets of the troubled German city of Gelsenkirchen.
The clash began as a loud argument and then quickly escalated into a mass brawl involving knives and other weapons, resulting in the death of one 56-year-old man.
Shortly after 8:00 p.m., approximately 30 people clashed in the Bismarck district of the heavily migrant city.
According to police, this was no ordinary brawl. The members of the two families were armed with baseball bats, tasers, knives, and other dangerous weapons during the clash.
🇩🇪🔥Blood flows in Germany
1 dead and 5 seriously injured after two Turkish families battled in the streets of the city of Gelsenkirchen.
The deceased victim is a 56-year-old man who was stabbed in the heart.
In total, five people recorded serious injuries, including a woman. Four of them sustained life-threatening injuries due to stab wounds.
The 56-year-old deceased victim was stabbed in the heart, resulting in him later dying in the hospital.
The scene became a sea of blue police lights, crime scene tape, and ambulances racing to nearby hospitals. Two individuals remain in critical condition and are fighting for their lives.
Police conducted a major operation in the area, with backup units arriving from around the Ruhr region, considered one of the troubled “rust belt” areas of Germany. In addition, a police helicopter was deployed.
Police had trouble locking down the crime scene as relatives and friends of the victims streamed into the area. Although Bild reports that rival Turkish families were involved in the incident, the paper indicated that initial reports that the incident was related to warring “clans” have not yet been confirmed by police.
The Ruhr area is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which has been troubled by extreme clan violence in recent years. These feuds often feature dozens of perpetrators battling in the streets, as well as kidnappings, bomb attacks, and murders.
BREAKING: 🇩🇪🩸Bloodbath in Germany after mass brawl involving 100 Lebanese from two rival clan families in the city of Heiligenhaus.
Helicopters and special forces were deployed after two clans battled with machetes and knives, among other weapons, according to police.
Six arrests have been made at the scene, including three male suspects aged 16, 29, and 52, as well as three female suspects, 25, 28, and 50.
Homicide squad officers are currently investigating and are looking for witnesses to come forward.
AfD loses Gelsenkirchen race last night
The city recently made national news due to a runoff election yesterday, Sept. 28, featuring an Alternative for Germany mayoral candidate, Norbert Emmerich, pitted against a Social Democrat (SPD) candidate. The SPD easily won with 66.9 percent of the vote, with Andrea Henze becoming the city’s new mayor. After her victory, she described the city as “unbelievably beautiful.”
The city is known for its blighted districts, growing urban decay, and growing insecurity. However, 25 percent of the population is now made up of foreigners, and many of the city’s remaining population have a foreign background. As a result, even though the AfD performed well in the first round, it had trouble securing a majority of votes.
This situation may accelerate across the country. Germany is becoming less secure, but more diverse, which means that many are turning to the AfD with their votes, but at the same time, those with a foreign background are far less likely to vote for the party.
In a Focus interview from two days ago, the city is described as a “hotspot for social fraud and clan crime.” The paper interviewed Police Chief Tim Frommeyer, who explained how the security situation is deteriorating.
“Gelsenkirchen has always been and continues to be a multicultural city. Nevertheless, especially in the Ruhr area, including here in Gelsenkirchen, many decisions made with good intentions have developed into real problems,” he said.
“The people of this city notice that, despite the city’s great commitment, the cityscape has changed to the detriment of the past decade. Garbage, junk properties and numerous administrative offenses are obvious,” he added.
He pointed to the high rates of crimes committed by people with foreign status.
“Depending on the field of crime, (the rate of foreigner crime) is between 34 and 58 percent. The proportion is particularly high in the case of offenses against life, namely 57.1 percent, and in the area of theft, property and forgery offenses, here the figure is 57.8 percent,” he stated.
Moreover, the growth of clan crime is alarming, as has been seen across Germany.
“In these cases, we perceive increasingly better organized structures, these are networks that have grown over a long period of time and are partly controlled by clans and extended families,” the police chief stated. “Of course, here in Gelsenkirchen we still have a problem with Turkish-Lebanese clans and the associated crimes and crime phenomena. This is about, for example, drugs, money laundering or, as you say, bodily harm crimes. We are also increasingly noticing rivalry with Syrian clans.”
However, as multiculturalism increases, so does the variety of groups competing with each other.
“As has already been said, we are not only dealing with Turkish-Lebanese clans nationwide, including in Gelsenkirchen. Syrian, but also Romanian and Bulgarian clans are now positioning themselves more and more strongly in the scene,” said Frommeyer.
The harrowing trial of Jordy Goukara, a Central African national with three deportation orders and 12 convictions, has come to an end. Goukara received 18 years in prison for raping Claire Géronimi and a young woman named Mathilde at knife point, but his statements during the trial are unlikely to ever be forgotten.
During the trial, the 27-year-old Goukara stated he “felt pleasure” during the rapes, which occurred in autumn of 2023, and explained that is why he keeps committing rapes and may even commit the act again, according to reporting from French media outlet Frontieres.
Describing the rape of his first victim, Mathilde, Goukara said: “I grabbed her by the arm, I told her: I want to f**k. I had to be a bit firmer and I told her: Open your mouth!” Goukara then added: “I started to take out my penis to put it in her mouth.”
The president of the Court reminded him of the fear felt by Mathilde. The accused replied: “I sensed in her a mixture of fear and excitement.”
Both women were present during the trial and routinely leaned on each other for support.
Goukara explained that after failing to ejaculate during the rape of Mathilde, as he was interrupted by someone in the building, he was still determined to rape someone else.
The African illegal migrant then went through his thought process, saying in court: “That day I was like on a mission, I’m a soldier, I told myself that I hadn’t succeeded in my mission.”
A few minutes later, he raped Claire Géronimi and threatened to kill her. Both rapes happened only 45 minutes apart, with the two locations also only 45 minutes apart.
Géronimi, who has gone public with the details of the incident, has appeared on a wide variety of national news outlets. She also has founded an association to support women who have gone through the same experience, saying that already 100 victims have come forward in just one year.
🇫🇷🔴"I had the choice between dying or being raped."
French activist @ClaireGeronimii is finally facing her rapist in court.
The African serial offender, Jordy Goukara, has been convicted 12 times and has 3 deportation orders. He confessed to the rapes on his first day of… pic.twitter.com/zgRHYXQXTU
When asked by his lawyer about his relationship with France, he replied: “I am aware that France gives me more than I give to France.”
Finally, Goukara removed his shirt to show off his muscles in front of the victims’ lawyer and slapped his biceps to try to impress him.
In addition to Goukara’s 18-year prison sentence, he also received a ban from French territory. During the trial, he claimed he was a “victim.” He also made other claims, saying he was successful with women and “did not need to rape,” despite confessing to two rapes multiple times.
He claimed to have “dated 20 to 30 prostitutes” when he was only a minor, having arrived in France at the age of 16 and having a documented history of sexual violence and other crimes, according to Acut-Juridique.
“I have been successful since I was young. I am sure of my charisma, of my aura,” he said.
Right before the trial, Géronimi described her experience during the rape, saying: “I had the choice between dying or being raped.”
During the rape of Géronimi, he said: “Shut up, otherwise I will kill you.
Remix News has a more detailed report of what the young woman experienced, including a transcription of her statements to the press.
Torelló, a town in the Osona region of Catalonia, is facing growing insecurity after a leaked recording revealed local police officers acknowledging they are unable to control violent migrant groups gathering in certain areas, and have been laughed at and forced to retreat from dispatch calls.
The audio, verified by authorities and reported by ElCaso.cat, captures an officer telling a resident that police cannot act against around 25 rioters in Sant Josep Street because only two officers were on duty.
“They are laughing at us,” the officer said in the call. “They are throwing us out. If we don’t want to get hurt, we too [must leave],” he added, describing how officers had to withdraw after being met with hostility.
Residents say the area around the old Vitri lot has become a hotspot for antisocial behavior, fights, and intimidation.
The call has been widely circulated by neighbors, who see it as a symbol of law enforcement’s loss of control. Many have organized a rally outside the town hall for Monday evening to demand action from local authorities.
Security Councillor Elisabet Viñas, from the Republican Left, confirmed the recording’s authenticity and acknowledged the seriousness of the situation. In a private message to residents, she wrote: “The Local Police are going there, they are there and have arrested them many times. The laws are not strong enough, nor justice fast enough to get rid of these filthy people.”
She added that the problem stemmed largely from young men, “mostly foreigners from the Maghreb,” who had occupied several nearby apartments and were allegedly involved in burglaries and shop break-ins.
Municipal sources admitted the issue extended beyond Torelló. “We need stronger laws, faster justice, and more police on the streets,” one official said, noting that insecurity was a growing concern across the country. The town council has announced the creation of five new positions in the Local Police to strengthen its force.
Catalonia has become the epicenter of violent crime in Spain, with foreigners vastly overrepresented in serious offenses, according to interior ministry crime stats published in January.
The stats portal for 2023 showed that all 10 Spanish cities with the highest rates of violent robberies and intimidation are located in Catalonia, with Barcelona leading the list.
Remix News previously reported in November last year on statistics highlighting the extent of foreign overrepresentation in Catalan prisons. At the time, 50.48 percent of the inmate population comprised non-Spaniards.
At a time of domestic economic hardship, Germany provided a record €11.8 billion in international climate financing to other countries in 2024, according to figures released on Monday by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUKN).
The sum includes €6.1 billion directly from the federal budget, supplemented by loans and more than €1 billion mobilized from private investors.
Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), said that Germany’s commitment comes even in a time of financial strain. “Germany stands by the side of the Global South, even in difficult times. Climate change affects everyone. It respects no borders. Therefore, we must invest together in climate protection worldwide, using both public and private funds,” she stated in the government’s press release.
Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) added that falling renewable energy costs allowed Berlin to redirect more public resources toward climate adaptation. “Electricity from wind and solar is becoming increasingly cheaper and requires correspondingly less public financing. This gives us the opportunity to focus scarce public resources even more strongly on climate adaptation in the future,” he said, stressing that trust in countries keeping their promises is essential for the upcoming World Climate Conference in Brazil.
The figures show Germany exceeded its pledge to contribute at least €6 billion annually in budgetary resources for international climate aid, part of the global commitment under the 2015 Paris Agreement for industrialized nations to provide $100 billion annually to support developing and emerging economies until 2025. With €11.8 billion contributed, Germany accounted for about 11.8 percent of the global total in 2024.
According to BMZ, Germany’s climate finance supported renewable energy expansion, sustainable agriculture, and climate partnerships with countries such as Mozambique and Bangladesh.
However, it also financed projects in India, South Africa, Indonesia, and Mexico, including renewable energy, water management, and the funding of local public transport.
Alabali Radovan framed the record commitment as a signal ahead of the climate summit in Belem. “Because climate protection means future security, economic stability, and peace. The more we do together today, the better we can protect future generations,” she said.
Dr Rainer Kraft, an MP for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), remarked on the contribution, “The AfD could think of many things they could do with over €11 billion in Germany. Simply not collecting the money and leaving it to the citizens would also be an option.”
German economic woes were reported last month amid the first 100 days of the Friedrich Merz chancellorship, with Welt reporting on Federal Statistical Office data showing a wave of bankruptcies, rising unemployment, and public fears of renewed inflation across the country.
The number of unemployed stands at 3 million people, with welfare beneficiaries reaching an all-time high.
EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, who served as the former prime minister of Estonia, is calling on Trump to use his influence to apply pressure to Hungary and Slovakia to end the import of Russian energy.
Politico wrote that “while underscoring that Europe had already reduced its use of Russian energy, Kallas argued that Washington had a role to play in convincing Hungary and Slovakia — the two biggest importers of Russian energy in the bloc — to sever their dependence. She stressed that the U.S. has ‘leverage’ over those countries, pointing to a phone call between Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a positive step.”
Notably, Orbán was a strong backer of Trump during his reelection campaign — the only leader in Europe to thoroughly back Trump. Trump, who notoriously values loyalty, may be willing to give Orbán a pass on the issue, but certainly, other factors could sway Trump’s stance in the future.
Kallas also said that Donald Trump had promised to end the war in Ukraine, so he cannot shift the burden of the war onto Europe.
“He was the one who promised to stop the killing,” Kallas said. “So it can’t be on us.”
She made the comments following Trump’s Truth Social post last week, in which he said Ukraine should reclaim all its lost territory from Russia, writing that it “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
However, there are some in Europe who are questioning this newfound position from Trump.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that the U.S. is actually washing its hands of the conflict in Ukraine and increasingly shifting the burden to EU countries.
Prezydent Trump stwierdził, że Ukraina może, ze wsparciem Unii Europejskiej, odzyskać całe swoje terytorium. Za tym zaskakującym optymizmem kryje się zapowiedź mniejszego zaangażowania USA i przerzucenie odpowiedzialności za zakończenie wojny na Europę. Lepsza prawda niż iluzje.
“President Trump stated that Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, could reclaim its entire territory. Behind this surprising optimism lies a promise of reduced U.S. involvement and a shift of responsibility for ending the war to Europe. Better truth than illusions,” wrote Tusk.
However, what Tusk may mean is that the EU may now have to increasingly pay for U.S. involvement in Ukraine, instead of the U.S. simply shipping weapons to Ukraine at its own cost. In other words, Trump wants the EU to buy U.S. weapons and then transfer them to Ukraine.
Slovakia’s parliament has approved a constitutional amendment defining gender strictly as male and female, a move that has sparked both celebration among conservatives and fierce criticism from liberal and pro-European parties.
The measure, which required 90 votes to pass, was adopted on Friday after two deputies from the opposition Movement Slovakia broke ranks and supported the government’s proposal. Marek Krajčí and Rastislav Krátký, who had publicly pledged not to vote with Prime Minister Robert Fico’s ruling Smer party, switched positions at the last minute. They later said they wanted to help their allies in the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), which strongly backed the change.
The amendment, which takes effect on Nov. 1, enshrines “two genders – man and woman” in the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. It also bans surrogacy, reinforces parental rights in schools, and defines marriage and parenthood in strictly biological terms.
The text states that the new rules are intended to protect “traditional values” and Slovakia’s “sovereignty in cultural and ethical matters.”
It also ensures that EU law cannot override issues related to such matters, as lawmakers effectively ignored warnings from Brussels not to follow through with the amendment.
European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath penned a letter to Bratislava earlier this summer stating that the proposed amendments “raise concerns in connection with the principles of the primacy of European law.”
“The primacy of EU law is not open for debate,” he warned.
Robert Fico hailed the result, thanking “influential people” who helped secure support, though he declined to name them. He said his party had made clear that Friday’s vote would be the last chance to anchor such provisions in the constitution.
The Christian Democrats welcomed the outcome. Party leader Milan Majerský said the amendment safeguarded human dignity and praised the deputies who ensured its adoption. “The constitution protects women in connection with surrogacy, but also children and families,” he said.
But liberal and centrist parties condemned the result. Michal Šimečka, leader of Progressive Slovakia, called the amendment “shameful” and said it would harm the country’s citizens while raising questions about Slovakia’s place in the European Union. He accused the Movement Slovakia of betraying its voters by siding with Fico. “After this, there can be no thought of cooperation with them,” he said.
Branislav Gröhling, leader of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), also criticized the two deputies who switched sides. “One night was enough for the anti-corruption movement to change its mind and support Robert Fico,” he said. SaS lawmaker Mária Kolíková warned that the change could put Slovakia’s EU funding and membership in the Council of Europe at risk.
The right-wing Republic movement and the nationalist Slovak National Party welcomed the vote, calling it a historic moment that confirmed Slovakia’s commitment to traditional values.
A mother, father, and two adult children from a Palestinian family in Örebro are facing trial for unlawful deprivation of liberty after allegedly kidnapping their 20-year-old daughter and keeping her monitored because she wanted to integrate into Western society.
On April 30, police in Hallsberg were alerted after witnesses saw two men forcefully drag a young woman into a car. Swedish outlet Samnytt reported how one witness followed the vehicle and helped police track it down within ten minutes. Officers stopped the car and found five family members inside, including the frightened young woman who showed signs of struggle.
The father, 58, was driving with the 54-year-old mother in the front seat. In the back sat three of their children, including the 20-year-old victim. Though she initially downplayed the incident, saying it had been “a little argument,” investigators soon discovered she had been living in sheltered housing to escape years of strict control.
According to social services documents, the young woman grew up under constant surveillance, forced to wear a headscarf, and never allowed out alone or to choose her friends. She dreamed of becoming a social worker and living independently, something her family opposed.
In 2023, she was taken against her will to Gaza, but managed to return via Egypt when war broke out. Back in Sweden, she fled between women’s shelters, but her family tracked her down repeatedly, even hacking her SIM card, email, and social media accounts.
Phone messages and chats obtained by investigators reveal the family’s hostility toward her independence. In one exchange, the father wrote in Arabic: “She must have her head cut off!” He later told police this was not meant literally, claiming it reflected a cultural way of speaking. In other messages, the older brother complained about her embracing Swedish identity, writing that “She loves Sweden and being Swedish.” The older sister suggested smuggling her abroad.
Prosecutors have now charged the father, mother, and brother with unlawful detention over the April abduction, while the sister is charged with aiding and abetting. The father also faces a separate charge for attempted unlawful detention linked to last year’s failed kidnapping, and the brother has admitted to hacking her online accounts.
The family, who came to Sweden from Gaza in the 2000s, are now Swedish citizens, and thus, none can be deported even if found guilty.
Honor-related crimes have become commonplace in Sweden in recent years.
The verdict leaves no one convicted of the killing itself, despite significant circumstantial evidence and allegations of an honor-related motive. All three defendants, however, were convicted of lesser charges related to the killing.
Ten migrant defendants aged between 16 and 21 appeared before the Vienna Regional Court on Thursday to face charges of sexual offenses against a 12-year-old girl.
The trial, which continued Friday, comes a year and a half after the case first shocked Austria when reports emerged of a youth gang allegedly abusing the child.
The accused, who were between 14 and 20 years old at the time of the alleged crimes in 2023, pleaded not guilty. They stand charged with sexual coercion and violation of sexual self-determination. One is also accused of distributing sexually related images of minors. According to prosecutors, the assaults took place over several months in parks, stairwells, hotel rooms, and private apartments in the city’s Favoriten district.
The prosecutor argued that the girl, who first met one defendant through Snapchat, was pressured into sex after refusing. She said the victim “felt harassed” and complied because of intimidation, the group’s numerical dominance, and exposure to videos of violence.
In one incident in April 2023, the youth gang had an 18-year-old book a hotel room where a total of twelve teenagers, aged between 13 and 16 at the time, allegedly abused the girl.
Heute reported how the Court heard the defendants had goaded the victim into sexual acts, telling her, “Come on, do it,” and later telling police officers, “She wanted it that way.”
The alleged abuse only ended when her mother forbade her from leaving the apartment.
However, prosecutors also confirmed that the original allegation of aggravated sexual abuse of minors was dropped. Investigators concluded there was not enough evidence to prove that the defendants knew the girl was only 12. The court noted that the girl appeared older than her age, raising questions about intent.
The majority of the defendants are non-Austrian, originating from Macedonia, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Italy. One is an Austrian citizen with a migration background.
Their ages at the time of the offenses have proven to be problematic. Nine of the ten defendants were juveniles at the time and are therefore facing a lesser charge of violation of sexual self-determination. Three individuals allegedly involved in the offenses were under the age of criminal responsibility at the time and therefore cannot be prosecuted.
Defense lawyer Mirsad Musliu told the Court the facts were “morally reprehensible,” but that “we’re in the wrong place,” claiming the case is not relevant from a criminal perspective because no threats were made or force used against the girl. “These young people are being pilloried. This is unbelievable,” he added.
This case is not the first connected to the victim. Previous trials led to mixed outcomes: A jury ruled consensual sex with a 16-year-old defendant was not criminal, while a 17-year-old was acquitted of other charges of a sexual nature.
The girl’s ex-boyfriend, now 18, was convicted in March and given a suspended 15-month sentence for sexual abuse of a minor and coercion.
Several of the current defendants already have criminal records, mostly for aggravated robbery, burglary, and resisting arrest.
The presiding judge urged them to take the proceedings seriously after the accused stood grinning in Court, while three defendants turned up late.
Most are out of work, with one telling the judge, “I don’t do anything now,” when asked for his employment status.
In France, the Essonne Assize Court sentenced Mamadou C., a 34-year-old man, to 16 years in prison for the rape and assault of a Chinese woman, who was working as a prostitute, in Paris in 2021. He had been previously convicted in 2014 for similar offenses against four other women. The prosecution described him as a “predator.”
In August 2021, Mamadou C. was living a “very isolated” life, according to French newspaper Le Parisien. The man’s family had remained in Mali. Homeless and without family or friends, he worked as a dishwasher and frequented prostitutes monthly. On Aug. 9, he met Y., a 44-year-old Chinese prostitute, near the Château-Rouge metro station in Paris, where they agreed to a sexual encounter for €20.
According to Y.’s testimony, the first sexual act was protected with a condom. “It was after he ejaculated that he wanted a second act without a condom,” she stated.
When she refused, Mamadou C. became violent, demanding, “Give me your pussy! Give me your pussy!” He then inserted his fingers into her vagina, beat her, bit her arm, and hit her with a glass. Y. recounted, “I told him to stop, but he kept saying, ‘I’m a good boy.’”
She screamed during the encounter, alerting neighbors who called the police, leading to his arrest.
This violent behavior was not an isolated incident. Mamadou C. had a history of similar attacks. In his previous trial, he was convicted of raping four Chinese prostitutes, all of whom he attacked after they refused a second unprotected sexual encounter.
The violence included punches and, in some cases, blows with a frying pan. The prosecution noted that the “evidence suggests predation, with a particular target: prostitutes of Chinese origin.”
Mamadou C. has consistently denied the rapes. In reference to Y.’s accusations, he said, “If I touched her, it wasn’t intentional. Why is she accusing me? I don’t know, maybe for financial reasons. She got €20,000 (in the first instance), she’s happy.”
A psychological expert who evaluated him identified “an addiction to sexuality, with Mamadou C. hypothetically able to find affection and a sense of existence in sexual intercourse.”
The expert noted that his life revolved around sex, as evidenced by photos of his erect penis next to piles of money that he sent to “women he found online.” Despite these behavioral patterns, no psychiatric disorders were noted.
When asked about the common nationality of his victims, Mamadou C. responded, “I don’t know, I don’t understand. The others (foreign prostitutes) never complained.”
His lawyers, Mr. Berrebi-Amsellem and Mr. Romain Ruiz, argued that their client was “declared guilty because he has already been convicted.” The court did not agree with this position.
Y., who did not attend the second trial “to avoid reliving the trauma,” is now rebuilding her life away from Paris. Given his history, the public prosecutor questioned, “What will happen when he gets out?” After serving his sentence, Mamadou C. will be subject to five years of socio-judicial monitoring and compulsory treatment. This is the same condition that was ordered in 2014, “with the consequences we all know.”
Three men have been sentenced for their role in a high-profile robbery that set off a drug war in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the summer of 2024, which involved hostage taking, explosive attacks, and even torture.
The case involved 700 kilograms of marijuana and dated back to June 2024, with half of the stash being stolen during an armed robbery near Cologne. This sparked off a sprawling war between criminal gangs, with two hostages being taken. Cologne also suffered from bombing attacks.
Three of the major perpetrators, all who are dual German citizens, were sentenced.
The 22-year-old Aymen G., who has German and Algerian citizenship, was found to have given the robbers decisive tips and was handed seven years in prison.
The 22-year-old Saddam B., who also has Iraqi citizenship, received six years in prison. He had a shorter sentence due to the torture he experienced at the hands of a Dutch gang member, which had been ordered by the gang’s boss. They were seeking information about the stolen drugs, according to Bild.
The 22-year-old Ayman S., who also has Tunisian citizenship, was charged with aiding and abetting drug trafficking. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and was under probation at the time of the incident.
The big issue with crime statistics
The fact that all three men have German citizenship means that in the federal crime statistics, they will be counted as German, with no mention of their other citizenship.
However, North Rhine-Westphalia will not be able to send this data on to the federal level, as that is still against the federal reporting rules. This means on a nationwide scale, the public is still having this data hidden from view.
Interior Minister Herbert Reul, of the Christian Democrats (CDU), announced the reasoning behind this change in policy.
“If we don’t capture all nationalities, we’re in the dark. If you want to see reality, you have to measure it,” said Reul.
“This is the only way we can call a spade a spade and enable our police to identify dangers at an early stage and combat crimes effectively. Security only comes with clarity. When we record multiple nationalities, we create transparency – thus strengthening our police force in the fight against crime,” he added.
If all German states were to begin reporting on the crimes of dual citizens, it could potentially reveal hundreds of thousands of crimes committed by dual citizens across the country, and would dramatically change how the national statistics are viewed. Foreigners already account for nearly six in ten violent and serious crimes in Germany, which means the number is actually far higher if dual citizens were included.
As Remix News recently reported, Berlin’s clan crime statistics have been released, and they highlight how crime reporting is vastly distorted in Germany, which fails to account for the migration background of suspects. Instead, more and more serious crime is attributed to Germans, which fails to provide a comprehensive picture of crime trends in the country.
The data shows that there were 616 clan crime suspects. Of these suspects, 324 have German citizenship. Another 108 are “stateless,” 94 are Lebanese, 28 are Turkish, 15 are Syrian, and 47 have multiple nationalities. That totals 292 foreign suspects.
This means that in Berlin, more than half of the clan criminal suspects are listed as Germans in the crime data, totalling 52.6 percent.
Austria’s Federal Constitutional Service has ruled that a planned “integration phase” linked to social assistance payments cannot be limited to asylum seekers and people with subsidiary protection status, but must also apply to Austrians.
The interpretation has divided the ruling coalition, with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) embracing the view while the center-right People’s Party (ÖVP) and liberal NEOS sharply rejected it.
As reported by Exxpress, the proposal, originally intended only for newcomers, would require all employable people to complete up to three years of German-language and values courses before receiving full social assistance. Until then, they would receive only a reduced “integration allowance.”
The Ministry of Social Affairs, led by SPÖ minister Korinna Schumann, had already reached the same conclusion two weeks ago, citing equality principles. “For reasons of equal treatment, the integration phase could not apply only to immigrants,” her office said.
The Constitutional Service’s written opinion reinforced that stance, warning that tying integration obligations solely to immigration status could breach constitutional protections. “The blanket link to protection status should not constitute an objective distinguishing feature that can justify the granting of a lower security deposit,” the statement said.
ÖVP Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm ridiculed the idea of subjecting Austrians to German and values courses. She said, “There will certainly be no integration phase for Austrians. That is and remains absurd. The mere idea that Austrian citizens should attend German and values courses is self-defeating.” Plakolm argued that upcoming EU regulations will allow targeted integration requirements for migrants starting in 2026, making the SPÖ’s interpretation unnecessary.
The NEOS found itself aligned with the ÖVP, with parliamentary group leader Yannick Shetty also denouncing the proposal earlier this month.
The Constitutional Service stressed that any integration phase must be proportionate and not automatically run for the full three years. Criteria should be realistic, it said, noting that many jobs do not demand advanced German or formal training. The statement cited a 2019 ruling in which Austria’s Constitutional Court struck down parts of a previous social welfare reform, warning against repeating past mistakes.
Beyond integration, the Service also approved plans to offset family allowances against social assistance, provided dependents are adequately protected to avoid double benefits.
The reforms will be discussed with Austria’s federal states for the first time on Thursday. Because implementation falls to the individual states, political resistance there could determine the fate of the scheme.
The government aims to roll out the new social assistance framework in January 2027.
Bosch, the world’s largest automotive parts supplier, is planning further significant staff reductions and expanding its efficiency program due to difficult market conditions.
Bosch is preparing to cut another “five-figure number” of jobs, but it is unclear which countries will be hit the hardest in terms of Bosch’s global network of producers. Swiss news outlet Bluewin.ch noted these jobs losses would head into the “tens of thousands.” This announcement comes after the company already cut 10,000 jobs. Earlier this year, Poland also saw dozens of jobs lost at a Bosch brake factory.
Bosch Labor Director Stefan Grosch told Stuttgarter Zeitung in a recent interview that the business is aiming to reduce the mobility division’s costs by €2.5 billion per year. He noted that the cost gap will be closed by 2030 only if the right measures are implemented.
The CEO of Bosch, Stefan Hartung, said earlier this month that Bosch will continue to fight for every cent with competitors — with competition fierce due to limited demand. At the same time, Bosch is staring down the issue of rising trade barriers.
The CEO predicted further structural adjustments ahead.
According to Handelsblatt, Bosch’s revenues will increase by around 2 percent in 2025 compared to last year’s level of €90.5 billion.
Bosch, which employed around 418,000 people worldwide last year, has announced a press conference for later Thursday. The company declined to comment on the layoffs reported in the press.
Automakers and their suppliers have been hit especially hard. Among a variety of factors, there is also faltering demand in the Chinese market, which has long bought German vehicles. The Chinese are increasingly turning to their own domestic suppliers, such as BYD.
A Muslim man and his partner have been jailed in France after violently attacking a father and daughter at a train station in Meulan-en-Yvelines, hurling insults at them, beating them, and threatening to kill them because of how they were dressed.
The 25-year-old attacker, Mohamed, was sentenced to eight years in prison, while his 24-year-old partner Cassandra was given five years.
The incident occurred on July 27, 2025, at Thun-le-Paradis station as Laurent, 58, waited with his 28-year-old daughter Eve for a train to a K-Pop concert. According to 78Actu, the perpetrators clocked the couple and berated the daughter for wearing a short skirt. They shouted “Dirty whore” from across the tracks before crossing the platform and launching the violent assault.
Witnesses said Mohamed beat the father and daughter for nearly five minutes, using his fists and even an aerosol can as a weapon, while Cassandra joined the attack against Eve. The court heard that Mohamed then forced the pair to withdraw €140, threatening Eve, “If I don’t kill you, I’ll kill your father.”
The following day, Mohamed is reported to have tracked Laurent in the street.
Both suspects were arrested soon after and brought before the Versailles court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 1. Prosecutors denounced what they called “extremely brutal and gratuitous violence.”
CNews reported how, at trial this week, Mohamed and Cassandra claimed that they had been provoked with racist insults, including “bicot” (a slur against people of North African origin) and “pou voilée” (“veiled louse”), a version of events firmly rejected by the victims and the Court.
Cassandra also denied attacking Eve, saying she had tried to take her to the hospital, a claim the judges dismissed.
In victim impact statements, Eve revealed how she had experienced extreme weight loss following the ordeal, and noted that she struggles with anxiety. Her father admitted that he now rarely leaves the house after the attack.
The first day of Jordy Goukara’s trial began yesterday in Paris, with the Central African migrant already confessing to the brutal rape of two women, Mathilde and Claire Geronimi, at knife point. The high-profile case is being widely reported across France and has become a political flashpoint over the issue of mass immigraiton and crime. The two rapes, which happened 45 minutes apart in Nov. 11, 2023, occured right in the middle of the afternoon in an upscale part of Paris.
Geronimi herself has gone public with her horrifying rape, appearing on national news outlets and founding an association for women who have suffered the same experience.
The case is shocking in nearly every day. The African, Goukara, already had 12 criminal convictions, including for sexual assaults, and had three deportation orders, none of which were executed.
The defendant, Goukara, has already confessed to the crime in the first day of court, saying that he has “uncontrollable sexual urges” and could not help himself from raping the women. He also stated that he masturbates 10 times a day.
Both victims stood side by side in the court, touching hands and shoulders at difficult moments.
It was the first time they faced the man since 2023, when they were savagely assaulted in the hallways of their buildings in the upscale neighborhoods of the 17th and 8th arrondissements of Paris.
The 27-year-old African, armed with a knife, forced them to perform fellatio on him and threatened to kill them if they screamed or struggled. He also penetrated his second victim, Geronimi. The two rapes happened right after another, between 3:52 p.m. and 5:05 p.m., with Geronimi raped just a 15-minute walk from the first rape.
“So here are these two women, gathered in the criminal court until Friday. Mathilde (her name has never been revealed), the first victim, was raped for eight minutes. She was 19 at the time. She is a very beautiful, slender young woman with a porcelain complexion. She looks like a little dancer from a music box. To her right stands Claire Geronimi, raped for 20 long minutes. She was 26 years old. Because she denounced the situation of Jordy Goukara, an irregular Central African who was subject to three OQTFs (obligations to leave French territory) in 2020, 2021, and 2023, and his criminal past,” writes legal media outlet Actu Juridique.
Geronimi was ostracized by feminists, according to the victim’s own statements. Worse! By speaking out in so-called “conservative” media and joining Éric Ciotti’s UDR, she alienated a section of public opinion, which led to the left making her “invisible.
As Le Parisien notes in a profile of the young woman, her face was “playing in a loop on television sets, but especially on channels with lines from the most conservative editorial offices, notably from the Bolloré group,” as the debate on an Immigration bill was raging in parliament.
However, she says that the left and right have exploited her story at times.
“The problem is that both the left and the right used my story to hit each other, and I was in between,” she told the media. However, since then, she has teamed up with the right, specifically because she said that was the only political option to fix the issue.
“But very quickly, I understood that social commitment was not enough. There also needed to be political commitment. This is why I joined Éric Ciotti’s UDR. With MP Christelle D’Intorni, we are bringing a bill so that the State can be condemned when a victim is attacked by an individual under OQTF,” she explains. She is currently the vice-president of Éric Ciotti’s UDR movement, which is allied with Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally.
In the two years since the attack, Geronimi has become a prominent voice denouncing the dysfunctions related to deportation orders (OQTFs). Her current speech is extremely critical of the state, referencing not only her own case but also other high-profile incidents. “What I suffered was a double punishment. Attacked the first time by a criminal, and a second time by a State which failed in its duty. This person should not have been in this territory. And I am not an isolated case: The stories of Philippine and Lola showed the same bankruptcy,” she stated in an interview with French news outlet JDD this week.
As the trial begins, her words have become more intimate, as she shared on X: “Two years have passed and I have come a long way — and despite this I can’t help but ask: why me? Why did I survive?”
“Throughout the entire duration of the trial, I will not speak to the media. I appeal to your respect for my loved ones and those of Mathilde: We need this time for rebuilding, so that our story can finally be heard and recognized by the justice system,” she wrote in another post.
Ça y est, le moment est arrivé. Aujourd’hui s’ouvre le procès de mon agresseur. J’y entrerai la tête haute.
Je veux une nouvelle fois exprimer toute ma gratitude envers ceux qui me soutiennent, ainsi que Mathilde. Je suis profondément touchée de voir que tant de personnes seront…
Geronimi has been making the rounds in French media. Speaking to Le Figaro, she addressed what her thoughts had been right before meeting her attacker for the first time during the trial.
“The state of mind, I would say that I am very stressed, very stressed about seeing my attacker again. And at the same time, I actually tell myself that it’s the culmination of something. A victim cannot rebuild their life until there has been justice. Two years is quite fast. On average, it’s between two and five years since the beginning. It’s the fact that there are also other victims who have not been able to be heard.
That’s really what gives me this strength. It was quite an intense moment, but at the same time I was also eager to be able to show him that he had lost and that I was the one who had won the most in this story because he was the one behind bars and that he didn’t destroy me. My attack took place on November 11th, 2023 in the heart of the Eighth Arrondissement in the middle of the afternoon when I had gone shopping and was returning home. I didn’t look when I entered my code for my front door, and a man pushed open this door, which is one of the large Parisian carriage doors, followed me into my entrance hall and tackled me to the ground.
He also threatened to kill me with a weapon. It was a blade. At first, I tried to struggle, but unfortunately, I had the choice between dying or being raped. At first, I thought he was just going to steal my bag and leave. But in the end, I quickly realized that he had told me that he was going to rape me and then kill me.
Matildhe too was threatened with the weapon, this famous knife. And fortunately, some neighbors also arrived and made him flee, except that in fact, the attacker was still “hungry,” as he said himself, and so he attacked another victim. So that was me. There you have it. Investigations have shown that the suspect had a serious criminal record. He is also alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted two young girls during his childhood. What does that make you think? He has already been in prison for theft.”
She continued that just three months before the attack, Goukara was in prison, and then let out to attack again.
The young victim said that there are many concrete examples of other women going through the same thing, with Geronimi directly referencing the case of Philippine Le Noir de Carlan, who was murdered almost exactly a year ago by a Moroccan migrant convicted of sexual offenses.
🇫🇷🔴 The Moroccan who killed 19-year-old French woman Philippine Le Noir de Carlan:
“I can give you lots of concrete examples of victims that we support with the association that I created, the Éclats de Femme Association. It’s always the same pattern,” said Geronimi. “They are always repeat offenders and at the same time. In fact, it starts all over again. We can also take the example of the Philippines. These are problems from a legal perspective that are unfortunately not insignificant. My attacker is a man who is now 27 years old. He arrived in France when he was 16 and was in a foster family where there had already been complaints of sexual assault on a minor within his foster family. This was not taken into account. Even though the social worker had clearly stated it, they say that there is a real failure on the part of the justice system.”
She also pointed to the man’s many deportation orders, saying, “Beyond that, my attacker, who was subject to three deportation orders, will he be sent back to his country or not after the sentence he served in France? Unfortunately, reoffending is also very likely. I expect the justice system to be exemplary in terms of the sentence my attacker may receive.”
Beyond the actual attack, she also noted how difficult her life has become on a personal and professional level since the attack.
“So of course it takes time. I was working. I was doing financial consulting. I was living in my ideal world, living in a very nice neighborhood. I was graduating from a top business school. You quickly realize that spending all day on Excel spreadsheets is not the same thing at all and is pointless. So that’s why I started this association and I threw myself 100% into the association that I created, the Éclats de Femme association , because I had received many testimonies from other victims, including other victims who had been assaulted in the street, stories that were somewhat similar — similar to mine.
After a victim is attacked, there is both self-loathing and self-hatred. Each victim, let’s say, reacts differently. They may sink into a deep depression or they may not cope with it for 20 years or it may resurface later. So I think I immediately took this personal fight as a more social fight, let’s say. Having testified and so on, and having heard many testimonies from other victims a bit like me. I also stopped working because inevitably, following an assault, there is a potential risk that you could suffer from burnout. There is also a potential risk that you could no longer be with your partner.
Today, it is still very, very complicated to be able to trust someone, a man, simply to have intimacy.”
She says her foundation, which has only been in existence for a year, has already helped 100 women. She laments how little support there is for victims, which she hopes to remedy through her work.
“With the association, we have established the average cost of a victim. It’s more than €35,000 between filing the complaint and the trial. In addition to legal and psychological costs. These are things that, I don’t think, should be paid by a victim.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has told voters that they don’t have to like him or his government in order to vote for him and keep Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement from retaking charge.
“You don’t have to love Spolu,” he said, referencing the current coalition parties of ODS, KDU-ČSL, and TOP 09. “You don’t have to like me personally, but the reality is that if the votes are diluted, Andrej Babiš will form the government,” he warned.
In an interview with Deník.cz, cited by Echo24, the ODS leader rejected the idea that current government parties could support a minority government led by Andrej Babiš’s ANO movement after next week’s parliamentary elections in order to stop Babiš from extending a coalition invite to right-wing groups.
Fiala accused Babiš of being driven by personal ambition rather than national interest. “Andrej Babiš is not at all concerned with the good life of people in the Czech Republic, but rather with his personal, power-hungry, and economic interests,” he said. He also dismissed speculation that he might resign in the event of a poor result for Spolu, insisting: “I am only thinking about how to win the elections.”
Fiala commenced “Project Fear” with less than two weeks to go until polling day, warning of the stakes if ANO secures a majority with its potential allies. “The moment they have a majority in the House, it’s lost, it’s gone, and we’ll quickly wonder how the country starts to change in a matter of hours or days,” he said.
The Prime Minister also framed Babiš’s foreign alliances as dangerous, pointing to his ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ). “You cannot support someone who associates with someone like Viktor Orbán or the FPÖ at the European level; that is not a policy in the interest of the Czech Republic,” Fiala claimed.
He added that Babiš “does not come from any value system, cannot withstand pressure, and Orbán would treat him like a puppet.”
Elections are due to be held on Oct. 3 and 4, and Babiš’s ANO has maintained a healthy polling lead for months and is widely expected to be returned to parliament as the largest single party. It will, however, likely fall short of the required mandate to govern alone.
Possible coalition partners could include anti-establishment parties on either the left or the right, including the anti-immigration Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the protest left-wing group Stačilo! (Enough!)
With 200 seats in the Czech parliament’s lower house, a total of 101 seats is required for a majority. Latest polling shows ANO attaining 68, Spolu at 41, SPD and its allies on 24, STAN with 24, the Pirates on 19, Stačilo! at 15, and Motorists with 5.
Babiš has built his campaign around prioritizing domestic needs over international commitments. He has vowed to block Czech participation in the EU-led purchase of ammunition for Ukraine and rejected NATO’s proposed increase in defense spending, insisting that funds should instead go toward pensions, healthcare, housing, and cost-of-living support.
Following a phone call between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and U.S. President Donald Trump, the Hungarian government discussed some of the topics covered, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and Hungarian energy policy.
“The relationship is ongoing: Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump discussed the state of the war, the processes of the world economy, and the issue of Central European energy supply on the phone,” wrote Hungarian commentator Daniel Deak on Instagram.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated in New York that the Hungarian government is also in constant contact with the American leadership.
“We are also in constant contact with the American government. The prime minister also spoke with President Donald Trump recently, and several matters were discussed, the state of the war, the possibility of peace, the processes of the world economy, the situation arising from customs duties, and of course the issue of Central European energy supply. This happened a few hours ago,” Szijjártó said.
When asked, Hungarian Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said that Trump clearly understood the Hungarian viewpoint on energy. Gulyás said the EU has been trying to force a divestment from Russian energy sources for years, and this same position has also been reflected in American rhetoric in recent weeks, he added.
“A government calculation was made in 2022 about the separation from Russian energy sources, and it was already obvious then that the cost reduction could not be maintained without Russian energy sources,” said Gulyás.
He also said that this government has done everything to ensure that the country can obtain energy from as many sources as possible. The main question is how much could be obtained now, both in quantity and price. However, he warned that it is certain that this would definitely be more expensive than today’s price from Russia.
Regarding the massive EU free trade deal with South America, known as the Mercosur agreement, the Hungarian government does not yet have a position. In response to another question, Gulyás said that there are currently two positions in the cabinet regarding the Mercosur agreement. The EU is currently trying to push through the deal, which will harm European farmers and flood Europe with cheap and unregulated farm goods from South America. It is also expected to drive down the price of produce and meat for Europeans, at least in the short term. So far, Hungary remains on the fence over the deal.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, responded to Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social, which claimed that Ukraine could regain all of its territory with appropriate support, and perhaps even enter Russian territory.
“We will continue our special military operation to secure our interests and achieve the goals that (…) the president of our country has set from the beginning,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Then he added: “We will do this for the present and future of our country. Therefore, we have no alternative.”
He assessed that Russian forces were moving forward across the entire front, and the dynamics of the war were obvious. He also emphasized that the stability of the Russian economy was assured, which Trump said in his post was collapsing due to Ukrainian strikes on refineries.
Peskov added that the recent rapprochement between Moscow and Washington was yielding “close to zero results.”
Peskov was responding to yesterday’s statement from Trump, who expressed his belief that Ukraine, with the support of the EU, is able to fight and regain its territory in its original form, i.e., within the state borders recognized by the international community.
“After learning about the military and economic situation of Ukraine and Russia and fully understanding it and seeing the economic problems it is causing in Russia, I think that Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is able to fight and CONQUER all of Ukraine in its original form,” wrote Trump on Truth Social.
Notably, it appears Trump is now fully backing Ukraine’s military, a significant departure from his previous stance of quickly ending the war with a long-term ceasefire. He also previously had stated on numerous occasions that Ukraine would have to give up territory for peace.
An explosion occurred in the center of the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on Tuesday, and one person was detained, police said, adding that an object that appeared to be a hand grenade was defused at the scene. The gang war that is also raging in Sweden appears to have reached Norway.
“There were no reports of injuries after the incident that occurred in the evening near Oslo Met, a higher education institution in the Norwegian capital,” the police said.
Speaking to the media at the scene, Brian Skotnes, the head of operations for the Oslo police, confirmed the explosion, adding that an unexploded object, which appeared to be a hand grenade, was also found and detonated.
🚨 BREAKING
A powerful explosion occurred in Oslo's Pilestredet, triggering a swift response from emergency services.
No further details were released about the circumstances of the incident or the identity of the arrested man.
According to the state-run radio and television company NRK, the suspect is a minor.
Brian Skotnes said they are looking for additional suspects.
BREAKING Norway: Suspected failed terror attack near the synagogue in Oslo. A loud explosion was reported, and grenades along with other explosives were observed. pic.twitter.com/tXN3byaFHK
Photos taken by witnesses and published in the press showed a grenade lying on a pedestrian crossing, a structure likely destroyed in a controlled manner by the police.
Authorities set up a security cordon around the scene and asked residents to stay home while they inspect for any remaining explosive devices.
Norway has a low crime rate, but in recent months the gang war raging in neighboring Sweden has reached the country.
The Netherlands is the second most densely populated country in Europe, and with surging mass immigration, has been experiencing a raging housing crisis for years.
However, despite this crisis, refugees can gain access to social housing in a mere 14 weeks, while the average Dutch citizen must wait up until 12 years. Now, efforts are being made to right this injustice for Dutch citizens with a new bill, but Council of State, the country’s highest legal advisory body, is criticizing any attempt to block housing access to refugees. The authority claims refugees should receive equal treatment, as required by the Dutch constitution.
Of course, the fact that there is no equal treatment currently, and that refugees are gaining access to social housing years before Dutch on waiting lists, does not appear to factor into the Council of State’s concerns, according to Dutch news outlet NOS.nl.
The minister behind the proposal, Mona Keijzer of the BBB party, says she is not backing down. Keijzer’s plan aims to create more affordable housing by ensuring that refugees, or “status holders,” no longer receive priority for housing solely because of their status
The Council of State argues that the proposal leads to unequal treatment, which is “contrary to the Constitution.” The Council has advised the cabinet not to submit the bill to the House of Representatives.
However, Minister Keijzer is not swayed by the advice.
“That’s kind of how the discussion is conducted in the Netherlands. And that’s a shame,” she said. Regarding the “unconstitutional” judgment, she stated, “The Constitution is not mathematics, it also states that I must take care of public housing for Dutch people.”
Arguments for and Against Priority Status
According to the Council of State, status holders have “an unfavorable starting position on the housing market” because they can only register for a home after arriving in the Netherlands, placing them at the bottom of waiting lists. The Council writes that while the government has proposed other measures to help status holders, it is “unrealistic” to expect them to have a timely effect, so “Permit holders therefore remain behind.”
Keijzer counters that the opposite is true, arguing that Dutch citizens are the ones currently at a disadvantage.
She noted that status holders are entitled to social housing after just 14 weeks, while the waiting lists for other home seekers can be more than 12 years.”
Treating equal cases cannot result in Dutch home seekers being treated unequally,” she said.
“Dutch people in their twenties and thirties live with their parents in the attic or share an apartment with two or three people,” she said on EO radio in August.
She believes that status holders should be expected to find housing in the same ways as other citizens, such as living with family or getting help from their employer.
“We also ask that of Dutch home seekers,” she said. The reception organization COA reports that on average, 6 to 10 percent of released social housing units go to status holders.
Keijzer said she would study the Council of State’s advice but maintained her position, saying, “But I am convinced that the ban on priority for status holders should be introduced.”
Keijzer’s proposal is different from another plan from the far-right PVV party, led by Geert Wilders, which seeks to completely prevent asylum seekers with residency from getting emergency housing declarations, even in cases of homelessness or domestic violence.
While that PVV plan has been adopted by the House of Representatives, Keijzer has stated that she intends to delete it because she believes it is discriminatory and “legally untenable.”
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
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations, some of which escalated into serious riots, took place in several Italian cities on Monday.
According to organizers, approximately 50,000 people demonstrated in Milan, where “masked demonstrators threw bottles and stones at police officers, smashed the windows of the Milan train station, and set off smoke bombs.”
The violence resulted in 60 police officers being injured, with 23 requiring hospitalization. Police temporarily closed the station before restoring order after about two hours.
Conservative Italian newspapers, such as Il Giornale, have come out harshly against the protests.
“They called it a ‘strike in solidarity with Palestine,’ but it was a day of premeditated guerrilla warfare. From Milan to Rome, from Bologna to Naples, thousands of common criminals, organized by the far left and painted as pacifists, devastated streets, attacked police officers, blocked trains, highways, and ring roads. If these are the spokespeople in Europe for a ‘free Palestine,’ best wishes and good luck to the Palestinians,” read an editorial from the paper.
🇮🇹🔥Protests turn violent in Italy as trade unions, students, and left-wing groups "block everything" across the country.
They are demanding Italy's government recognize Palestine as a state, following in the footsteps of the UK, Australia, France, and other nations. pic.twitter.com/k93373tk3K
However, the protests had massive backing from trade unionists, the political left, and a number of far-left groups.
The far-left trade union federation USB organized the demonstrations in 81 Italian cities, calling it a “general strike” with the slogan “Let’s block everything.”
The USB stated, “The strike is taking place in response to the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army’s blockade of humanitarian aid, and the threats against the international ‘Global Sumud Flotilla’ mission.” Organizers also criticized “the inaction of the Italian government and the European Union, which refuse to impose sanctions against the State of Israel and continue to maintain economic and institutional relations despite the gravity of the situation.”
The protests caused significant disruption, with train and road traffic halted, and schools and universities closed. In Florence and Genoa, demonstrators blocked major transportation hubs. In Milan, rioters burned or symbolically smeared US flags with red paint.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted with outrage to the protests. So far, her government has refused to recognize Palestine, along with a number of European holdouts, such as Hungary and Germany.
Indegne le immagini che arrivano da Milano: sedicenti “pro-pal”, sedicenti “antifa”, sedicenti “pacifisti” che devastano la stazione e generano scontri con le Forze dell’Ordine.
Violenze e distruzioni che nulla hanno a che vedere con la solidarietà e che non cambieranno di una… pic.twitter.com/dpurnN5CBM
She wrote on X that “self-proclaimed ‘Antifa’ and self-proclaimed ‘pacifists’ are vandalizing the train station and causing clashes with the police. Violence and destruction have nothing to do with solidarity and will not change the lives of the people in Gaza in the slightest, but will have concrete consequences for the Italian citizens, who will ultimately suffer and pay for the damage caused by these thugs.”
The Italian prime minister emphasized her hope for “clear words of condemnation from the strike organizers and all political forces.”
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi described the events on X as “unacceptable scenes that had no connection whatsoever with the issues of peace and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
He stated that rioters exploited the issue to attack law enforcement and expressed gratitude to the security forces “for their once again great professionalism and composure.”
Today, several Western nations, including Great Britain, France, and Canada are expected to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state for the first time at the UN General Assembly.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made opposition to immigration a key plank in his political career. Now, he is sounding the alarm that if the opposition wins upcoming national elections, namely the Tisza Party, Hungary will quickly become a nation of immigrants just like neighboring Germany.
In turn, all the problems that have beset Germany, including an education crisis, soaring crime, clan gangs, a poor track record of integration, and soaring deficit costs, will also take root in Hungary.
“We can see what migration has brought about in the West. Public security has collapsed in many large cities, migrant gangs are terrorizing people, crime has skyrocketed and bombings are frequent. In contrast, Hungary is an island of peace and security,,” Orbán said in the Hungarian Parliament before the agenda on Monday.
In his speech at the first session of the autumn session, Orbán noted that Hungary had failed to find partners to block the EU migration pact in Brussels, and that efforts to withdraw have so far been unsuccessful — again due to a lack of allies.
🇩🇪🇭🇺 Angela Merkel is headed to Hungary in October to promote her new book, "Freedom."
She has chosen the George Soros’ Central European University for the Hungarian launch of the book.
Hungary's @PM_ViktorOrban seems wryly surprised about her planned visit.
“Therefore, the European Commission continues to want to force its migration pact on Hungary,” he warned.
He highlighted that the migration pact is supported by the left-wing parliamentary opposition parties and the Tisza Party, but the Hungarian government opposes it, does not accept it, and will not implement it.
He also noted that “Brussels has imposed financial sanctions on Hungary for not allowing migrants in.”
The prime minister stated that the number of illegal migrants in Hungary is zero and will remain that way as long as his Fidesz Party is in power.
Opposition would go along with Brussels
Hungary’s opposition, the Tisza Party and the DK, announced that they would comply with Brussels’ demand to implement migrant quotas. Under the new EU law, migrants should be distributed across the EU, and any country that refuses must pay up to €22,000 in solidarity fees. Hungary has been opposed to such a move dating back to the 2016 migrant crisis.
Remarkably, despite claims that migrants are the “future” of the EU, who would help save Europe’s pension system and provide workers to an aging workforce, the reality has been completely different. Now, countries like Germany and France are looking to offload their migrants into countries like Hungary, all under the guise of calling it “solidarity.”
🇭🇺🔴Viktor Orbán points to Germany and France and their growing crisis with violence and in education due to mass immigration.
"You go to a schoolyard in Vienna or Munich or Paris and look at the students there, how they are grouped together, what they do, how they relate to… pic.twitter.com/NW0nt0jOVn
According to the Hungarian government, the opposition’s agreement to the EU migrant pact would be a suicidal policy and these migrants should not be allowed in.
“There is no room for experiments on the issue of migration, because in this matter, mistakes simply cannot be made,” said Orbán.
Orbán also mentioned that where migrants have been allowed in, public safety has drastically deteriorated, public spaces are dangerous, some city districts are uninhabitable, and local residents are moving away.
“I will say it openly, I do not see a compromise between the opposition and the government on this issue as possible. As long as there is a national, not a Brussels-based, government in Hungary, the southern fence will remain, there will be no migration pact, so there will be no migrant ghettos, and there will be no migrant crime,” he said.
A court trial for a 23-year-old Iraqi migrant has begun before the Dresden Regional Court, who prosecutors believe has no ability to limit his sexual impulses after a series of groping incidents targeting women and children.
The man is expected to be permanently placed in a secure psychiatric facility after the series of attacks, if prosecutors have their way.
In March 2025, according to prosecutors’ indictment, he sexually harassed several women and even a child.
Among the incidents, he grabbed a 22-year-old’s buttocks in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), and in Blasewitz, he harassed a 17-year-old. Both victims were fortunately able to defend themselves from the stranger’s sexual assaults.
However, he then targeted a younger and smaller victim, attacking a 10-year-old near a school.
Police were able to arrest the Iraqi man, but in each case, he was quickly released.
The accused first applied for asylum in Sweden but likes to repeatedly travel to Germany. In February 2024, he returned to the Swedish city of Trelleborg with a ferry using the Dublin procedure. However, he popped up again in Saxony-Anhalt shortly after he was sent back to Sweden.
Now, the court is examining whether the Iraqi man has schizophrenia and whether he can be put inside a psychiatric hospital, permanently.
Apparently, police sources say there is an agreement to deport the man, but it is unclear where that could be to. As already noted, he keeps reappearing after being sent to Sweden, which means any deportation to that country would not only be ineffective, but would also burden Sweden with the repeat offender.
“Iraq is best. He’ll probably keep coming back from Sweden,” said an insider. The trial will continue behind closed doors.
It is worth noting that foreigners only make up approximately 14 percent of the German population.
Even when broken down by age, young foreigners are vastly overrepresented in sexual crimes and violent offenses compared to German youths of the same age, according to data released this year.
Germany’s left have long claimed that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a threat to democracy, and due to this claim, they argue the party should be banned entirely. Although banning parties is typically reserved for authoritarian regimes, this outcome remains a very real possibility in Germany, and a local election in the city of Ludwigshafen just showed what such an outcome could look like in practice.
Incredibly, the main candidate for the AfD, Joachim Paul, was banned from running in the mayoral election. The method used to ban him could become widespread and now represent — despite what the left claims — the true threat to democracy in Germany.
Using an expert opinion from the powerful domestic spy agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), commissioned by Social Democrat (SPD)-led Interior Minister of Rhineland-Palantinate, Paul was banned through the courts. It was a backdoor method that three separate courts upheld after numerous appeals by the AfD”s lawyers.
“Election night without the blue bar. And without an alternative! Remarkable: low voter turnout and a relatively high number of invalid votes. I thank everyone who has supported me in the last 6 weeks! Many heartfelt thanks!” wrote Paul on his X page.
#Ludwigshafen: Wahlabend ohne blauen Balken. Und ohne Alternative! Bemerkenswert: niedrige Wahlbeteiligung und relativ hohe Zahl ungültiger Stimmen. Ich danke allen, die mich in den letzten 6 Wochen unterstützt haben! Vielen lieben Dank! 🙏🤝 pic.twitter.com/mxmLGeBA13
Notably, Paul was leading in the polls before he was removed entirely from the ballot. Nobody replaced him on the ballot either, meaning the AfD was not represented by anyone in the election.
Now, the turnout in the mayoral election has reached an all-time low of just 29.3 percent. In 2017’s mayoral election in Ludwigshafen, the then-SPD candidate Jutta Steinruck won with 60.2 percent participation.
That means voter turnout was cut in half from that election.
That is not all. For those who did vote, many of them appear to have submitted “spoiled” ballots. A record-high number of ballots were ruled invalid, at 9.2 percent. Eight years ago, that number was just 2.6 percent.
In the final totals for this most recent election, in which Paul was banned, Klaus Blettner (CDU) and Jens Peter Gotter (SPD) have advanced to the runoff vote. Blettner received 41.2 percent of the vote and Goter 35.5 percent. Another SPD candidate, Martin Wegner, received 15.7 percent, and Volt candidate Michaela Schneider-Wettstein received 7.6 percent.
However, to claim that whoever wins the second round of voting now has a “mandate” from the people in a fair democratic election is questionable, if not outright laughable.
Still, the liberal media and establishment politicians will either be silent about what happened in Ludwigshafen or openly cheer it on, despite 70 percent of voters choosing simply not to vote, and many who did protested with invalid votes.
This entire operation, a true victory for “democracy,” was orchestrated by AfD rival parties from start to finish. Outgoing Mayor Steinruck, while serving as chairwoman of the electoral committee, initiated the expulsion. All parties in the city are represented on the electoral committee — except the AfD.
The only party to reject the move in the committee was the Free Democrats (FDP). All others backed the unprecedented move. It was in their electoral interest, after all. Eliminating the democratic competition through bureaucratic backroom deals is now de facto a reality in Germany.
Paul says he is not giving up and told the media that he has initiated further legal action, the very same day voters headed to the polls.
“We are determined to contest the election. Whether after the first round or after the runoff is up to my lawyers,” Paul told the German Press Agency.
Other courts have already rejected Paul’s attempts to gain a spot on the ballot before the election, with all of these courts telling him he must pursue legal actions after the vote was already concluded.
Party co-leader Alice Weidel has criticized the mayoral race as well.
“Only 29.3% of the Ludwigshafen residents participated in the mayoral election, from which AfD candidate Joachim Paul was excluded. A democracy thrives on the freedom of choice — but that wasn’t even granted to the citizens,” wrote Weidel.
Nur 29,3% der Ludwigshafener nahmen an der Wahl des Oberbürgermeisters teil, von der AfD-Kandidat Joachim Paul ausgeschlossen wurde. Eine Demokratie lebt von der Freiheit der Wahl – doch die hat man den Bürgern gar nicht erst gelassen. pic.twitter.com/aauwsnAs1a
However, her and her party’s protests are certain to have little influence on how this new weapon is used. In fact, the only remedy may be through the courts, the same ones that have many judges actively hostile to the AfD.
In contrast, the outgoing mayor, Steinruck, says banning a candidate through a bureaucratic process, one that has never been used before, is simply the “rule of law.”
“There are rules. We, as the electoral committee, have obviously adhered to these rules. There are now three court rulings that confirm this.” She said the fact that people are “questioning” the rule of law makes her “sad.”
“We all have to continue working on this in the future,” Steinruck added.
AfD remains at record high
This move comes at a time when debate over a ban on the entire AfD continues to rage. The AfD currently stands at between 26 percent and 27 percent in national polls, and could even reach 30 percent within the next year.
Of course, the party may also fall from this polling high. However, the federal government remains deeply unpopular, and the core issues of a faltering economy, sky-high immigration, exploding crime, troubled schools, soaring debt levels, and a disastrous energy policy are not going away.
The ground is ripe for the AfD to remain a competitive party.
Pressure for an outright ban will grow more intense as the party grows more popular, but if that is not achieved, more and more AfD candidates may simply be eliminated from participating in elections altogether via the method used to eliminate Paul.
A misinformation influence campaign has been launched, in the German language, about Hungary leaving the European Union and joining BRICS. Despite the information campaign being based on entirely false information, it rapidly spread on social media, including a translated version in Czechia.
Who is behind these campaigns? It could be opposition activists in Hungary, but given that some of these campaigns are in foreign languages, such as German, it could also be state intelligence agencies, foreign NGOs, and other shadowy actors looking to discredit Hungary. With national elections fast approaching this year in Hungary, expect these campaigns to grow in frequency.
This time, Czech news outlet Novinky, usually no friend to Orbán’s government, reported that the post circulating about Hungary leaving the EU is false for many reasons.
“After all, until the end of last year, it was Hungary that held the presidency of the European Union. In November, there was even an informal meeting of the European Council in Budapest, where the Budapest Declaration on strengthening the Union’s global competitiveness was adopted,” the paper wrote.
Furthermore, Hungarian Foreign Minister Petr Szijjártó said that BRICS “is an attractive organization for many countries“ and his nation is willing to work with it, but membership is not even a question at this point.
The BRICS is a group originally composed of the states of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and in 2011, South Africa joined them. Since then, 11 members, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran, have joined.
As for Hungary leaving the EU, there have been whisper campaigns about this for some time, especially from an opposition that is well aware that Hungarians are firmly in the camp of staying in the EU.
“Similar reports about Hungary leaving the European Union appeared already in 2023. At that time, Orbán was supposed to announce the country’s departure from the European 27 in his New Year’s speech. In the end, the panic was moderated by fact-checking projects and the Hungarian embassy in Prague. Although Orbán has been criticizing the European Union for a long time, he is not considering leaving. Conversely. According to him, it would rather harm Hungary,” wrote Novinky.
“In Orbán’s last speech, although he criticized the EU on September 7, he certainly did not call for its abandonment. He confirmed this in one of the last interviews. He repeated the same thing during a meeting with Donald Trump,” the media outlet continues.
In fact, Orbán has repeatedly claimed throughout the years that there is no chance his country is leaving the EU. Instead, he has the specific goal of turning the EU into a force that respects national sovereignty and is, overall, a more conservative organization — certainly a tall order for a Brussels currently dominated by the left. To this end, Orbán was instrumental in forming the Patriots of Europe group in the European Parliament.
“Don’t raise your hopes too high, Hungary will not leave the EU,” Orbán hit back at Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier this year.
Dear Donald, Don’t raise your hopes too high. Hungary will not leave the EU. We will transform it with the @PatriotsEU, to restore it to what it once was when Poland and Hungary joined.
Back then, Brussels bureaucrats served the people instead of themselves. Back then,… https://t.co/AmbCyl6Q9d
It found that 85 percent of Hungarian exports go to EU markets, a huge factor in why Hungary has no plans to leave. Hungary is highly integrated in the German supply chain, along with other countries. It is also landlocked, making leaving all the more difficult.
Hungarians, in turn, fully back staying in the EU, with surveys showing that up to 85 percent of Hungarians want to remain in the bloc.
A year after the tragic murder of their 19-year-old daughter, Philippine’s parents spoke with Le Figaro to honor her memory but also describe their ongoing hellish struggle to life without their daughter, with the mother saying she is now “half-dead.” Philippine, described by her parents as “full of life, radiant, intelligent, and loving,” was a top student who was killed in the Bois de Boulogne on September 20, 2024, by a criminal rapist and illegal Moroccan migrant with a deportation order.
The Moroccan migrant, who was subject to a French deportation order for a previous rape that he was convicted of, remains in jail in connection with her death.
The parents say they want to remain non-confrontational.
“That is not our mindset. What we want is to pay tribute to Philippine,” Loïc, the father, said.
However, Le Figaro reported that the parents still harbor a deep and quiet anger.
FRANCE: The far left is attacking any memorial to 19-year-old Philippine, who was raped and murdered by an illegal migrant.
"No sooner had we finished (putting up posters to pay tribute to Philippine) when far-left militants were laughing and ripping them off." pic.twitter.com/GahOcOV4eD
“The more we learn, the more we see dysfunctions. And when we talk about it face-to-face, it’s never anyone’s fault. Those who failed in their duty didn’t have a single word for Philippine; no one sent a wreath to her grave. It shows how little they feel guilty or responsible,” Blandine, the mother, said,
The parents do not name any names of the politicians or authorities they believe failed to protect their daughter.
“But we have enough grief not to beat our heads against a wall. Maybe I will be angrier when I have less pain.” However, they both agreed that the Moroccan should have never been able to harm their daughter.
“This individual should never have been in her path, so it’s even more revolting,” the parents told Le Figaro.
That fateful day
On that fateful day, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, Philippine left Paris-Dauphine University around 2 p.m. to walk to her student room. In the Bois de Boulogne, she crossed paths with Taha Oualidat, a 22-year-old Moroccan man with a prior conviction for rape. An autopsy later confirmed that the Moroccan strangled Philippine to death.
For the past year, her parents, Loïc and Blandine, have kept a fluorescent light on in her room in the family home in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, as if to maintain her presence. Philippine grew up in this peaceful neighborhood and was known as the sibling who excelled at everything.
France lost Philippine Le Noir de Carlan after failing to deport Taha Oualidat, who already raped another student in 2019.
He served 5 years in prison, but instead of being deported as ordered, he remained in France to murder Philippine. pic.twitter.com/gpVzmX7N0N
“Philippine is perfect; she knows how to do everything and does everything well,” shared one of her older sisters. Her parents, who still live in the same house, can hear children playing in the nearby “Philippine Square” from their home.
Though they are private people, her parents felt it was important to share her story.
“It’s important for us to talk about Philippine; she was wonderful,” Blandine began.
Loïc added, “We received hundreds of letters. The church square was full during the funeral. It was completely overwhelming. This article is also to thank all those people who were so moved and shocked by what happened.”
🇫🇷 JUST IN: An Algerian migrant was arrested after stabbing to death Kylian B., a 17-year-old French boxing champion, outside a nightclub.
Just last week, 19-year-old Philippine was raped and murdered by an illegal Moroccan migrant who already raped another woman 5 years ago. pic.twitter.com/3U401FrLUU
After high school, Philippine had many prestigious university options, but she chose Paris-Dauphine to study Economics and Financial Engineering. She was not only brilliant but also incredibly hardworking. Her mother explained, “When she did presentations with friends, she would redo everything before handing in the document. She would stay up all night, but she wanted it to be perfect. She always wanted to give the best of herself.”
Her father noted, “She was very demanding of herself and therefore very demanding of others.”
The family noted how often Philippine came home to visit and stay with them, despite studying in Paris In fact, Philippine had already envisioned having a large family. Her mother recalled with tenderness, “I have a photo of Philippine with a baby. She had a gift for communicating with toddlers and captivating their attention.”
Le Figaro paints a picture of a family that will remain forever haunted by what they lost. The paper describes photos of Philippine and her smile, which fill the family living room.
Philippine’s parents reminisce about family vacations, Philippine making cakes for her sisters, and days spent splashing in lakes with her siblings — all the memories that fill a young life.
She was also known for her sharp wit and honesty. As her mother described, “People generally took it well because she did it with a lot of love. She loved people.”
Loyal to her friends from middle school, whom she called “the seven little dwarfs,” Philippine was a central figure in their group. “They would meet up regularly; I don’t know what they talked about,” her mother chuckled. She was also an avid scout, with friends remembering her kindness, joy, and “always well-placed” jokes.
For an association, she spent two years preparing a camp to help children in Romania.
At her funeral, her friends wrote, “We will continue to grow, to laugh, to cry, to eat cookies, to party, and to go on adventures with you. We are going to live for you, dream for you, accomplish great things for you. We will miss your smile and your laughter forever. You are now the star who will guide each of us in our lives.”
Le Figaro reports that Philippine was a deeply altruistic person. When she became old enough, she donated her blood and even her hair to charities that make wigs for cancer patients.
“That made a big impression on me, and I often think about it,” Blandine shared. “Her hair was very important to her… She grew her hair out, and one day she gave it away.”
🇫🇷‼️ 15-year-old Matisse was stabbed to death by an Afghan migrant teen in France last April.
He was stabbed a total of 12 times in the chest and died at the scene. As Matisse lay dying on the ground, his killer's mother bent over him and slapped him in the face.
Blandine and Loïc are still trying to rebuild their lives. Both have returned to work part-time.
Blandine finds comfort in her faith but struggles to move on.
“I am Catholic; I am convinced that Philippine is with the Father,” she said. “I buried my daughter, but I need her to give me a sign. And maybe then I can let her go. I haven’t moved an inch in a year; I’m half-dead. Almost every day, I have little things to tell her, and there’s only silence.”
The parents said that even Philippine’s pet rabbit, Puka, which she got at 13, couldn’t survive her absence.
“Philippine passed away on Friday, Sept. 20. The rabbit was starting to get very old, so we took him into our room. And he died on Friday, Dec. 20. He couldn’t stand not seeing Philippine anymore; he couldn’t survive,” Blandine recounted.
The Moroccan with a long criminal record
After serving a seven-year sentence for a previous rape, Taha Oualidat was placed in an administrative detention center. He was subject to a French deportation order but couldn’t be sent back to Morocco without that government’s approval.
A judge, while recognizing his danger, released him under house arrest in a hotel.
Oualidat never went to the hotel, and he disappeared before running into Philippine. It was Philippine’s family who found her body during a search the next day. Oualidat was later charged with murder, rape, theft, and fraud.
🇫🇷🚨 France in shock after another young European victim murdered
A "North African type" is suspected in killing 11-year-old Louise. Her body was found on Friday night going into Saturday (Feb. 8) in the Templar forest in Épinay-sur-Orge.
Blandine also spoke about the dangerousness of the Bois de Boulogne.
She said, “The Bois de Boulogne has a bad reputation; we know that, but Philippine was there at 2 in the afternoon, in a place where people were passing by. It wasn’t Philippine who wasn’t in the right place at the right time. It was the other person, the suspect, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. People have to understand that their little girls can be all sweet, dressed in pants and a T-shirt, and there are still people who mean harm.”
“The repeal of the Marleix law disgusted and devastated me. How can men and women take the risk that our young people will be murdered?” she said, outraged. The French interior minister is currently working to ensure the law is enacted, according to a statement on his website.
« Tu étais fiancée, pleine de projets et de rêves. Tu étais rayonnante. Tu aurais pu être ma petite sœur et je continuerai à prier pour toi »
Philippine’s family are not the only ones mourning. Many across France commemorated her death, with feminist activist organization Collectif Némésis holding a ceremony for the young woman on Sept. 20.
“You were engaged, full of plans and dreams. You were radiant. You could have been my little sister, and I will continue to pray for you,” one of their speakers said during the ceremony.
The group erected a memorial stone at the exact spot where the young woman was murdered.
One of many youths victimized by Open Borders
Thousands of European youths have had their lives sacrificed on the altar of open borders and the belief that all cultures and people are exactly the same.
The left ignores these murders and the families that must suffer.
The father, Ludovic, was trying to raise awareness about the French government and its lack of response to the brutal crime, as well as to the fact that the man who allegedly tortured his daughter into a coma had a long criminal record but remained free to attack again.
“(The government) not communicating about this attack gives credit to all these sexual predators and other parasites of society who plague the streets. A wake-up call to the government about the fact that we leave this kind of individual, with a heavy criminal past, in complete freedom, would be welcome. ‘Trust in justice,’ we were told… We only want that,” he said.
As Remix News previously reported, the 18-year-old suspect has a long and violent criminal record consisting of 17 offenses involving physical assault, theft, and the incestuous sexual assault of his younger sister.
“I dream of a France where a young woman is not in danger of ending up in a coma after being robbed, raped and horribly tortured by Oumar, a repeat offender, in her own home,” wrote former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour at the time.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is jumping ahead in yet another eastern German state after posting record polling results in two other states. On top of that, the party has hit 27 percent nationally in a new YouGov poll, marking a record result and putting the party in first place in yet another national poll.
However, one German minister of the ruling government predicts the AfD will crash to a mere 9 percent nationally in time for the next national election in 2029.
The latest state poll from Insa shows the AfD has surged ahead of the left-wing Social Democrats (SPD) by 10 points in the state of Brandenburg. Now, 34 percent of voters said they would vote for the AfD party, while the SPD has dropped to 24 percent. The new poll shows the AfD improving by 4.8 percentage points from its results approximately a year ago. Meanwhile, the CDU is lingering at only 13 percent.
BRANDENBURG | Sonntagsfrage Landtagswahl INSA/MAZ, MOZ, LR
Currently, Brandenburg is led by SPD state premier, Dietmar Woidke.
More importantly, YouGov now puts the AfD party at 27 percent nationally, one point ahead of the Christian Democrats (CDU). The AfD is closing in on the key number of 30 percent, but the question is whether it will ever reach it.
🇩🇪🔴The anti-immigration AfD party jumps to a record 27% and remains the most popular party in Germany.
The latest results from Brandenburg also come after the AfD has posted record results in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, as Remix News previously reported.
Notably, it is the eastern German states where the AfD has come under the most pressure from the powerful domestic spy agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). For example, the BfV’s branch in Brandenburg designated the AfD as “certainly right-wing extremist” in early August.
“The AfD will be at 9% by 2029”
However, the AfD’s polling surge has its doubters.
Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer, of the CDU, said the AfD’s supporters are only driven by resentment.
“The firewall is an ethical category. We, the political center, have a foundation of values that we can fall back on. The AfD doesn’t,” he told Politico.
According to a United Surveys poll for Wirtualna Polska, as many as 57.5 percent of respondents say President Karol Nawrocki is doing a good job. He enjoys significantly greater support among men.
Respondents were asked how they assessed Karol Nawrocki as president of the Republic of Poland. The majority of respondents, 57.5 percent, view the current president positively, with 25 percent expressing a strong positive opinion and 32.5 percent expressing a rather positive opinion.
However, 32.9 percent expressed the opposite opinion. Of this group, 12.6 percent expressed a strongly negative opinion of Nawrocki’s presidency, while 20.3 percent expressed a rather negative opinion.
The new president is viewed most critically by rural residents, with 38 percent of respondents rating him negatively.
He is also viewed negatively by 36 percent of residents of large cities with populations over 250,000. Meanwhile, he scores highest among residents of small towns of up to 50,000 (60 percent positive). The portal noted that rural areas have previously been considered home to the core Law and Justice (PiS) party electorate.
Support in specific age groups
The survey shows that Nawrocki enjoys good ratings among those aged 18-29, with 73 percent of respondents viewing him positively and 27 percent negatively.
Among those aged 30-39, 67 percent view him positively and 22 percent negatively. The new president has fewer supporters among those aged 40-49, with 59 percent viewing him positively and 33 percent negatively.
Among those aged 50-59, 53 percent view him positively and 28 percent negatively, and among those aged 60-69, 57 percent view him positively and 35 percent negatively. Among older people aged 70 and over, 42 percent view Nawrocki positively and 52 percent negatively.
Political scientist Prof. Antoni Dudek assessed for WP that the high support for Nawrocki in the youngest age group is understandable, stating, “A candidate from the lower classes who has achieved a stunning career may appeal to many, especially young people. They are impressed, and they are waiting for him to disrupt the system – the Civic Platform-Law and Justice party duopoly.”
When it comes to preference among the sexes, men (69 percent) definitely see Karola Nawrocki as a better choice for the new president than women (44 percent).
The survey was conducted by United Surveys by IBRiS for Wirtualna Polska using the CATI/CAWI method on September 13-15, 2025, on a sample of 1,000 people.
An Afghan man desperate to return home to his country says he got naked and flashed three female French police officers, a move he said was done to help push authorities into sending him back home. French authorities, however, say that it is not possible to send the Afghan repeat offender home.
In court, when asked about his actions, the 33-year-old unemployed migrant said, in his native language, “I got naked so the police officers would understand my situation. If they don’t send me back to Afghanistan, I’ll start getting naked every time. But everything’s fine for me, even if it’s complicated to complete administrative procedures, not speaking French,” he said, according to a report from French news outlet Le Télégramme.
He was taken into custody on Sept. 1 for sexual assault. During a police questioning, he caused a commotion by completely undressing in front of three female officers and refusing to put his clothes back on. He is being tried in court for indecent exposure.
The man has multiple arrests for various offenses, including a previous sexual assault against a nurse in a hospital in Angoulême, France. He was already under judicial supervision at the time he flashed the three female officers.
The judge also asked him why he only undressed in front of female officers, but the man remained silent in response to this question.
One of the main issues with the man being sent home is that he, like many illegal migrants, has no passport. Many toss their passport before entering Europe in order to complicate efforts for authorities to deport them back home, however, in chaotic countries like Afghanistan, many citizens fail to obtain a passport in the first place.
“How can we send you back to your country since you don’t have a passport? Your country will not accept you.” the judge asked the man.
The Afghan has a troubled history, with his medical report indicating he has “personality disorders, a suicide attempt, and fluctuating responses.”
However, the man was not exactly poor before he left Afghanistan. In fact, his medical report indicated that he claimed to have paid smugglers €27,000 to leave his country. He says he now wants to return to Afghanistan to his wife and five children.
His lawyer argued, “There has been no recent psychiatric assessment to determine his condition at the time of these events. It is not certain that he understands the sentence that will be handed down. It is an act of protest, without any sexual provocation. He has a residence permit in France, but he must renounce it to be able to return to his country.” The lawyer added, “But in the meantime, he needs care.”
The lawyer for the police officers recounted, “This is the first time in 12 years of service that these three women have experienced such a situation. This man behaved in such a way, even though he was about to be released, and he fully understood what the interpreter was translating for him.”
The prosecutor requested eight months in prison for the Afghan man, stating, “He has no fixed address, and his previous judicial supervision had no effect on him. His psychiatric assessment is recent, dating from March 2025: It is significant in highlighting an impairment of judgment. But he knows what he’s doing when he gets naked. He refused to get dressed, even going so far as to remove the blanket the officers had handed him to hide his genitals. He behaved dangerously, with a desire to commit this offense.” The prosecutor also noted that the officers filed a complaint because of his “disturbing attitude,” which was similar to his behavior with the nurse he assaulted.
The court ultimately sentenced the man to six months in prison and ordered him to pay €200 in damages to each of the three police officers.
The commander of the Warsaw Capital Police, Dariusz Walichnowski, is about to lose his position, according to unofficial information provided by RMF FM radio, and later by Gazeta Wyborcza.
However, many believe the move is political, with Polish newspaper wPolityce stating, “According to the media, the politicians of the Civic Coalition ruling in Warsaw did not have relations with Walichnowski. He was reluctant to refer to the ideas of showing up with them and did not quickly enough remove officers who worked during the rule of the United Right from their positions.”
Superintendent Dariusz Walichnowski took over the Capital Police Headquarters after Paweł Dzierżak in April last year. Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who was running for president of Poland, managed to convince Walichnowski to take part in handing over 27 police cars to the capital’s police in January 2025 — during the ongoing campaign.
The support of the Civic Coalition candidate in the race for the presidential seat caused a storm. Trzaskowski was accused of using the police for political purposes, and PiS MP Waldemar Buda announced that he would send a notification to the National Electoral Commission in connection with the violation of electoral law.
Wielichowski was supposed to “feel bad” after that conference.
“He did not want to appear with politicians because he preferred not to be associated with any party. (…) He was forced to leave because he did not allow the politicization of the police,” said an anonymous KSP police source to wPolityce.
“Politicians of the ruling party wanted police officers to take photos with them and take part in a political nativity scene. Commander Walichnowski avoided it very much and did not want politics to be done by policemen. He is not afraid to refuse politicians,” another police source told the paper.
Cheap and dangerous food from South America directly supports Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Instead of keeping money and food security in Europe, the money will flow to Brazil and then on to Russia, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warns.
On Sept. 3, the European Commission adopted the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. Before it can enter into force, the agreement must still be approved by the European Parliament and member states in a vote at the EU Council.
“The EU-Mercosur agreement is a deadly threat to Polish agriculture. Cheap food from South America is also a support for Putin. Instead of staying in Europe, money will flow to Brazil… and further to Russia. What is the government doing?” wrote Morawiecki on X.
Umowa UE🇪🇺–Mercosur🇧🇷 to śmiertelne zagrożenie dla polskiego rolnictwa. Tania żywność z Ameryki Płd. to też wsparcie dla Putina. Zamiast zostać w Europie, pieniądze popłyną do Brazylii… i dalej do Rosji. Co robi rząd? pic.twitter.com/5ni8IiwtY7
The agreement is strongly supported by German politician and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The Mercosur agreement is beneficial for German Big Business, especially chemical producers who sell South American pesticides banned in Europe. For tens of millions of German citizens, however, the deal is anything but favorable.
It is also particularly unfavorable for Poland, which has its own healthy agricultural sector. Farmers and many experts predict that Polish agriculture will decline in some areas.
Morawiecki: ‘This issue has a deeper meaning’
Morawiecki warns of the consequences of the agreement in his X post.
His video notes that the current government said it would fight against the agreement, and it quoted Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski’s words from his campaign:
“I say a firm ‘no’ to the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur,” he said at the time.
Morawiecki’s video warns that “when it comes to fighting for the real interests of Polish farmers, they ignore our breadwinners. If we are flooded with food from South America, our farmers will lose their last semblance of competitiveness in a market that is already severely compromised by extensive European bureaucracy, but there’s another layer to this issue. Brazil, which accounts for three-quarters of the entire Mercosur organization, is one of the few countries in the world that not only hasn’t suspended but has drastically increased the value of its trade with Russia after 2022.”
“We cannot allow Polish agriculture and the security of all of Europe to be sacrificed on the altar of German and French interests. Stop talking about how great you are and show some agency for once,” Morawiecki’s video concludes.
