Three people were wounded in a knife attack at a busy shopping area in Reims on Thursday afternoon after a man began stabbing customers inside an auto parts store
Authorities say it appears to have been a random attack carried out by a suspect with a history of psychiatric treatment.
The incident occurred around 2 p.m. at the Leclerc Auto auto parts store in the Champfleury shopping area. As reported by L’Union news outlet, the attacker first confronted a couple inside the store before turning his knife on an employee who stepped in to stop the attack.
The woman and the employee sustained minor injuries, while the woman’s husband suffered a serious abdominal wound. All victims required immediate medical treatment, though the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
The attacker fled the scene but was arrested several hours later at his residence in Reims.
Authorities identified the suspect as a 42-year-old man already known to law enforcement for previous acts of violence. Officials also confirmed he is under guardianship and undergoing treatment for mental illness.
Authorities have not yet established whether the victims were known to the suspect or were chosen at random, and no further description of the attacker has been released.
The attack comes just one week after another knife incident in central Reims involving a 15-year-old boy who was reportedly assaulted by eight youths from a rival neighborhood. The teenager was allegedly lured away before being beaten and stabbed during the confrontation.
🇫🇷🔴6 off-duty French police officers were violently lynched in the French city of Reims, by about 10 individuals.
2 arrested suspects are from Mayotte (off the coast of Africa).
The suspects knew the officers, and one had just been released from prison 4 days ago.
For months in Germany, there has been a debate over the “cityscape” comment from Chancellor Friedrich Merz, referring to changing demographics and increased crime due to mass immigration. However, despite cries from the left that such claims are racist, the people actually having to run businesses in the city centers of Germany often find the problems are indeed real.
The operator of the Rewe-Richrath supermarket in Cologne’s city center, Lutz Richrath, says he is frustrated and says he may close the entire supermarket down. The supermarket has been in operation for 12 years, since 2014, but during that time, crime and violence have only increased.
In fact, Richrath directly refers to the “cityscape” in an interview with Lebensmittel Praxis, while saying that the “problems are really very clear —and they have only gotten worse.”
There is not only more shoplifting, but drug addicts openly consuming drugs even inside the store.
“And I have to close the customer restrooms because otherwise the addicts shoot up there,” he said.
Richrath said that without security, he can no longer run the store in the Opern-Passage shopping arcade.
Like other business owners, he cited drug use and violence, which he said is now spilling inside the actual supermarket. Richrath said he was considering not renewing the lease and instead opening a new location on the outskirts of the city.
Richrath, who co-owns three other stores in Cologne and 12 other in the region, also sits on the supervisory board of the Rewe Group and said he regularly receives guests from Germany and abroad in Cologne. Due to the conditions inside the city, he said he is ashamed, and it is not only drug problems.
He said the willingness for people to use violence has grown, and homelessness has exploded. In the city center, there are more and more vacant storefronts.
Even SPD mayor admits Cologne has major problems
Although just one supermarket, it serves as a sort of symbol of what many businesses are experiencing in major German cities.
Cologne itself has seen crime stagnate in some areas, such as in break-ins, over the last ten years, but other crime categories have seen notable increases, such as assaults. Since 2021, violent crime has risen significantly, recording approximately 6,200 incidents in 2024.
A survey from Numbeo shows that 72 percent of residents feel crime has increased in the last five years.
Notably, Mayor Henriette Reker, a politician from the far-left Social Democrats (SPD), made headlines in 2025 for acknowledging a visible decline in the city’s cleanliness and safety. She famously stated: “I see an increasing neglect of the city of Cologne.”
In particular, she was addressing growing drug consumption and disorder in public squares like Neumarkt and Ebertplatz. She acknowledged that the presence of the open drug scene, combined with increasing homelessness and litter, had reached a point that was no longer acceptable for residents and visitors.
In that case as well, pressure was coming from local business owners. In response, she has advocated for a “safety and cleanliness” plan, acknowledging that the area had become a “no-go area” for many citizens due to aggressive panhandling and open drug use.
Ukraine has attacked the energy infrastructure of the neighboring Russian Bryansk region with HIMARS rocket launchers and drones.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that air defense forces shot down 38 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Bryansk, Belgorod and Lipetsk regions, as well as over the Black Sea.
According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, Ukrainians fired several missiles at the regional center, Belgorod, at dawn on Friday, causing serious damage.
“I cannot say good evening, unfortunately, my dear friends. The enemy has shelled the civilian city of Belgorod. Everyone knows we have no military targets. There has been serious damage. I have been out to look around,” Gladkov said in a video message he posted to Telegram, cited by Reuters.
Last month, Ukrainian defense forces also carried out several successful strikes on the Kapustin Yar missile test site in Russia, one of Russia’s most important missile and weapons testing centers, militarnyi.com reported.
The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian drones attacked an electrical substation in the village of Dragunskoye, Belgorod region.
Rockets were later seen heading towards the Belgorod Thermal Power Plant, followed by widespread power, heating, and water outages reported from several parts of the region.
Elon Musk’s decision to block Starlink services in use by Russian forces has reportedly resulted in chaos on the front for the Russian military.
In addition, more aid is on the way. After meeting in Kyiv with Zelensky, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also announced at a joint press conference that if needed, Poland will hand Ukraine its MiG-29 fighter jets. Tusk additionally said that a $56 million aid package is on its way to the wartorn country.
Meanwhile, nothing much was achieved at the latest U.S. brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi, although 314 prisoners of war will be exchanged.
U.S President Donald Trump has endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for re-election ahead of Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary election, praising him as “a truly strong and powerful leader” and saying he has his “complete and total” backing.
In the message posted Thursday on Trump’s Truth Social account, Trump credited Orbán with improving bilateral ties and framed him as a law-and-order nationalist leader. “Relations between Hungary and the United States have reached new heights of cooperation and spectacular achievement under my administration, thanks largely to Prime Minister Orbán,” Trump wrote.
“I was proud to endorse Viktor for re-election in 2022, and am honored to do so again,” he added.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 12:51 PM EST 02.05.26
Highly Respected Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is a truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results. He fights tirelessly for, and loves, his Great Country and… pic.twitter.com/rnz1AIIuyW
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) February 5, 2026
Praise between the two leaders stretches back years. In March 2024, after meeting Orbán at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the U.S. president claimed that, unlike much of Europe, “Hungary is a safe country because of [Orbán’s] strong immigration policies.”
“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter, or a better leader than Viktor Orbán,” Trump added during a presidential campaign rally later that year.
Orbán has repeatedly returned the favor, portraying Trump as the indispensable champion of peace and sovereignty. At CPAC Hungary in 2024, Orbán rallied conservatives around Trump as he backed him to return to the White House.
Orbán has previously cast Hungary as an outpost surrounded by what he describes as a hostile liberal mainstream in Brussels and Western Europe. “Hungary is a conservative island in the liberal European ocean,” Orbán said.
🗳️ Keep your hands off our elections!
The report by @JudiciaryGOP exposes foreign actors attempting to influence Hungary’s vote, with money, services and political backing flowing in from abroad. Decisions about Hungary’s future belong to Hungarians alone. Foreign meddling will… pic.twitter.com/5cojib63Pw
With the election approaching, Orbán issued a stark warning to the European Commission not to interfere in what is expected to be his governing Fidesz party’s toughest vote yet. On Thursday, the Hungarian prime minister wrote on X, “Keep your hands off our elections! The report by the Republicans’ House Committee on the Judiciary exposes foreign actors attempting to influence Hungary’s vote, with money, services, and political backing flowing in from abroad. Decisions about Hungary’s future belong to Hungarians alone. Foreign meddling will not be tolerated.”
Orbán’s camp is drawing a line between open political endorsements and what it claims is covert institutional pressure by EU bodies and regulators. Republicans on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have amplified that argument in recent days, alleging the European Commission has leaned on major social media platforms to shape what voters see online in the run-up to elections.
🚨The EU Censorship Files, Part II
For more than a year, the Committee has been warning that European censorship laws threaten U.S. free speech online.
Now, we have proof: Big Tech is censoring Americans’ speech in the U.S., including true information, to comply with Europe’s… pic.twitter.com/Fg0gxzoTxD
In one post circulated alongside the committee’s work, the committee’s account wrote, “It turns out interfering with elections is standard fare for the European Commission. Ahead of at least EIGHT elections across six European countries since 2023, the Commission met with platforms to pressure them to censor political speech in the days before the vote.”
“Since the DSA came into force in 2023, the European Commission has pressured platforms to censor content ahead of national elections in Slovakia, the Netherlands, France, Moldova, Romania, and Ireland, in addition to the EU elections in June 2024,” a committee report published on Feb. 3 read.
“Nonpublic documents produced to the Committee pursuant to subpoena demonstrate how the European Commission regularly pressured platforms ahead of EU Member State national elections in order to disadvantage conservative or populist political parties,” it added.
EU officials rejected the broader accusation that Brussels interferes in member-state elections, describing such claims as unfounded, and insisting that it simply reminded platforms of the rules designed to reduce “disinformation” risks.
Belarus’ state-owned oil producer Belorusneft has begun the year by commissioning new wells across the Gomel region while setting ambitious production targets for 2026, as neighboring Russia simultaneously reports significant increases in its mineral reserves following extensive geological exploration.
According to Interfax, cited by Magyar Hírlap, three new wells were built at the Rechitskoye oil field, two at the Visanskoye field, and one each at the Yuzhno-Sosnovskoye, Zapadno-Gartsevskoye, and Ostashkovskoye fields.
All of the facilities are located in southeastern Belarus’ Gomel region, the country’s primary oil-producing area.
Belorusneft also reported progress in expanding drilling capacity. The company’s press service stated, “In January, the team of the rig assembly department handed over two assembled rigs to the specialists of the Svetlogorsk drilling operations department. In addition, four new sites were prepared for the construction of rigs.”
Earlier announcements indicated the company intends to drill around 100 new wells during the course of this year as part of efforts to sustain domestic output.
Belorusneft CEO Alexander Lyakhov previously announced that the company aims to produce 2.1 million tons of oil in 2026, up from 2.013 million tons produced in 2025, marking a modest but steady increase in domestic output.
Founded in 1966, Belorusneft operates as Belarus’ main oil producer, engaged in exploration, field development, drilling, and extraction of crude oil and associated gas, while also maintaining operations in foreign energy markets.
Meanwhile, Hungarian business daily Világgazdaság reported that Russia began the year with significantly larger mineral reserves compared to the previous year, driven by successful geological exploration efforts uncovering new oil, gas, and precious metal deposits.
According to the report, Russia’s liquid hydrocarbon reserves — essentially oil — grew by 640 million tons by the end of 2025, while natural gas reserves increased by approximately 670 billion cubic meters.
Precious metals discoveries also expanded last year, particularly in gold reserves. Reports indicate that an additional 600 tons of gold resources were identified across multiple regions.
The new deposits are concentrated in three main areas. Geological work identified 21.7 tons of gold and 17.6 tons of silver at the Fyodorovskoye-Kedrovskoye field in Khakassia, 14.7 tons of gold at the Dubach deposit in the Magadan region, and 10.8 tons of gold along with 12 tons of silver at the Kayurkovskoye deposit in the Kamchatka region.
The U.S. ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, announced on Thursday that Washington would immediately suspend contact with Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty following remarks in which the Polish parliamentary speaker sharply criticized President Donald Trump and rejected calls to support his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In a post on X, Ambassador Rose said the United States would have “no further dealings, contacts, or communications” with Czarzasty, calling the speaker’s comments “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against the U.S. president. Rose added that Czarzasty had made himself “a serious impediment to our excellent relations with Prime Minister Tusk and his government.”
“We will not permit anyone to harm U.S.-Polish relations, nor disrespect President Trump, who has done so much for Poland and the Polish people,” the ambassador wrote.
Effective immediately, we will have no further dealings, contacts, or communications with Marshal of the Sejm Czarzasty, whose outrageous and unprovoked insults directed against President Trump @POTUS has made himself a serious impediment to our excellent relations with Prime…
The diplomatic dispute followed a Feb. 2 press conference in the Sejm in which Czarzasty said he would not support Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, arguing that the American president’s policies undermine international stability.
The initiative to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump was put forward by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ochanna.
“The United States’ building of new platforms like the Peace Council is, in my opinion, illusory. We need to strengthen the European Union, the UN, the WHO, and ourselves,” Czarzasty said.
“Our security lies in this, and President Trump, in my opinion, is destabilizing the situation in these organizations by representing power politics and using force to pursue transactional policies. This violates the politics of principles and values, and often violates international law,” he added.
Czarzasty further cited disputes over trade policy and historical interpretations of the commitment of Allied troops in joint military missions and international territorial issues.
“Customs policy, a different interpretation of history, for example, regarding the participation of Polish soldiers in missions, the instrumental treatment of other territories, such as Greenland — all this means that I will not support President Trump’s Nobel Prize nomination, because he does not deserve it,” the speaker said.
Czarzasty, a leader of Poland’s left-wing political bloc and one of the highest-ranking officials in parliament, plays a key role in legislative proceedings but is not part of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s cabinet.
His remarks nonetheless triggered a direct response from the U.S. ambassador, highlighting sensitivities surrounding Polish-American relations, particularly given Poland’s reliance on the United States as a key NATO ally and security partner.
Czarzasty, nor the Polish government, has yet issued a response.
A trial for an 18-year-old Tunisian national, who was a minor at the time he allegedly committed attempted murder, sexual assault, and robbery against a 66-year-old woman, has been paused after the judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation.
The victim was attacked while jogging on April 15 on a cycle path in Tabina di Magreta.
The defendant’s legal representation requested a psychiatric evaluation for the Tunisian migrant, who was a homeless guest at a local community center known as Don Orione 80 in Magreta.
This request was granted by the judge to determine the minor’s capacity to understand the situation at the time of the incident, as well as his maturity and awareness of the incident, according to Italian newspaper Modena.
If he is evaluated as being psychologically impaired, he may face no jail time at all.
While the defendant initially remained silent during the hearing, he eventually chose to answer the judge. He declared he did not know what happened during the incident, though he did identify the clothing seized by the Italian police during the investigation as his own.
Defendant acted with clear intent
Marco Pellegrini, the lawyer representing the injured woman, stated that there is no doubt about the defendant’s responsibility. Notably, the defendant acted in a manner that indicated he was aware of his actions and attempted to conceal them from police.
“I believe that the prosecution’s case is very solid –so does the lawyer– and that the attempt to attribute the accusation to a mistaken identity borders on ridicule. As for the’ psychiatric nature assessment I think that, on the part of a juvenile court, it is a due act on which we express no reservations, but that at the time of the act, the accused was completely lucid, said Pellegrini.”
“The lucidity. It is demonstrated by his behavior following the attack: He tried to hide traces of the crime by washing his clothes, washing himself, and running away. So he wasn’t confused, he was perfectly aware of the possibility of risking being identified. This, for me, cannot be questioned in any way by expert opinion.”
Théo, a 20-year-old student living in Lyon’s 7th arrondissement, has been forced to abandon his student accommodation following a series of violent assaults by the same group of teenagers. The case underlines growing impunity for violent youth offenders, who cannot be tried as adults.
The most recent attack on Jan. 31, which took place in his building’s lobby, was so severe that authorities believe Théo is lucky to be alive. The incident was caught on surveillance camera.
His mother, Florence, spoke to French news outlet Le Figaro about the trauma and the impunity of the underage perpetrators.
🇫🇷🔴A youth gang severely beat French student, Théo, in Lyon’s 7th arrondissement. He has now been forced to flee his student housing, while his mother says the police are doing little to help despite 3 separate attacks.
“The police arrested them, but they were all released because they are minors. We ourselves, as we were leaving the police station, came face to face with my son’s attacker. He’s known for 25 different offenses, including torture,” she said.
She further questioned why her son’s life must be upended by the circumstances of others:
“I’m told that his attackers come from troubled families. That their parents are overwhelmed. But is it up to me to deal with the consequences of that? My son is going to have to change his way of life for children aged 14 to 16 that no one wants to take care of. That’s the reality.”
The Jan. 31 incident was the third time the group, aged 14 to 16, targeted Théo in less than six months. Security footage captured the student being thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked and punched in the head and body. He suffered a head injury and was prescribed 10 days of sick leave.
The harassment began in August when a boy attempted to steal Théo’s helmet. When Théo fought back, five other suspects emerged to beat him. Months later, while riding a scooter he purchased specifically to avoid walking alone, he encountered the same group. They threatened his life, saying, “Give me your phone or you’re dead,” according to Florence.
“That’s when we saw them pull up their hoods as they saw my son arrive. So they were waiting for him, and it was premeditated. The police told me, ‘If he hadn’t managed to get into the building, he would be dead.’ For now, the youths have been arrested for aggravated robbery, but for me, it’s attempted murder.”
Five suspects were eventually apprehended, all allegedly part of a gang terrorizing the Girondins neighborhood. According to Actu Lyon, the youth gang is thought to be involved in at least 13 different violent robberies. Despite their arrests, Florence claims the legal response has been insufficient because of their age.
“What are we waiting for to wake up? A silent march? I’d like us to wake up sooner! The first attack happened five months ago. What does that mean? That next July I’ll be at my son’s funeral saying, ‘I warned you!’?”
Théo has since moved back to his parents’ home and has been unable to return to school or his student job. While he recovers, his attackers continue to benefit from the theft.
“Meanwhile, these kids still have his phone. They used his card to eat at McDonald’s and Burger King right after the attack. They’re ordering Uber Eats with his meal vouchers,” Florence added.
Authorities in the 7th arrondissement acknowledged the group has been a known problem. Vincent Monot, the Green Party councilor in charge of public safety, previously stated: “These are minors, so there has been a legal response appropriate to their age. Unfortunately, for some, this doesn’t seem to be a deterrent.”
The Rhône prefecture confirmed that a specific meeting between the prefect and the police took place at the end of 2025 to address the rising unrest in the area.
A court in Germany has sentenced a 26-year-old Syrian man to 11 years in prison for stabbing a former friend around a dozen times in a frenzied attack inside a busy shopping mall, ruling that jealousy and a perceived loss of honor motivated the killing.
The Hamburg Regional Court found the defendant guilty of killing the 25-year-old victim at the Phoenix Center shopping mall in Hamburg-Harburg on June 26 last year. According to a court spokeswoman, cited by Tageblatt, the man confessed to the attack, in which the victim, who worked at a snack bar in the mall, was stabbed at least 11 times in front of numerous shoppers, including families with young children.
The court heard how the accused and the victim used to be good friends, but that relationship deteriorated over time due to the defendant’s increasingly erratic behavior, problems with aggression and substance abuse, and unfounded accusations that the victim had been sleeping with his wife and was the biological father of his children.
A day before the attack, the victim had successfully managed to obtain a restraining order against the Syrian national, but this didn’t deter the attacker, who visited the snack bar in the mall to confront him, equipped with a nine-centimeter blade.
The court heard how the victim was stabbed multiple times in the chest and abdomen before collapsing in front of several witnesses. He later died on his way to the hospital.
Upon his arrest, a psychological evaluation was undertaken, which concluded that the defendant suffered from mental illness, though the court rejected this as a full defense to admonish his criminal responsibility.
Judges did, however, take this into account upon sentencing. “Without the illness, the court would have convicted him of murder, and it would have resulted in a life sentence,” a court spokesperson said.
The court concluded that the defendant’s jealousy and anger escalated to the point that he decided to kill his former friend, even recording two videos announcing his intentions, although it remains unclear whether those recordings were ever made public.
During his sentencing, the Syrian apologized to his victim’s brother, and vowed to better himself in prison by improving his German and pursuing vocational training.
Polish General Roman Polko, the former commander of GROM, said he rejects the concept of a common European army during an interview on Radio Zet.
Polko emphasized in the interview that European countries should do nothing to counter NATO.
The presenter asked, among other things, whether European countries should create a common European army, preferably together with Ukraine, as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed.
“I understand President Zelensky, he would probably like to implement it this way, but I don’t see such an option. Europe needs to integrate strongly into the NATO alliance, which is simply a proven pact,” said the former military official. “But Europe has shirked such obligations, and now it no longer shirks them.”
In his opinion, Europe could integrate with Ukraine in the future, which currently has the strongest army in Europe, but not in such a way as to build an alternative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“I repeat, you cannot do anything against NATO. What is our strength and what Putin fears most is the cohesion and solidarity of the NATO alliance,” Polko said.
“We really need to strengthen this European leg of NATO, and we need to do everything to ensure that the transatlantic relations that exist, as well as relations with the American military, are as good as possible. This is the strongest army in the world. This is the basis of our security and deterrent potential,” Polko stated.
The same opinion was expressed by General Bogusław Samol, who a year ago stated how small the armed forces of European countries are compared to those of the United States.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that the Hungarian government will assist ethnic Hungarians being forced to the frontlines in Ukraine. Zelensky’s forced conscription has long been a subject of controversy since Russia invaded. Now, Orbán is announcing that there will be consequences for any Ukrainian participating in forced conscription, at least if they step foot on Hungarian terriotory.
In a video message shared on Facebook, Viktor Orbán said that the government meeting reviewed developments related to the war because “a few days ago, another Hungarian compatriot fell victim to the forced conscription of the Ukrainian authorities.”
According to Orbán, they have contacted the affected Transcarpathian family and will provide them with all assistance needed.
Dragged off to war, another Hungarian has died due to Ukraine’s forced conscription. This is unacceptable. We stand with the family, and we will not let this slide. All Ukrainian officials responsible for forced conscription will be expelled from Hungary without delay. Our people… pic.twitter.com/N2m1ZwxtTb
“But beyond that, the government decided at today’s meeting that we will immediately expel the persons participating in the forced conscription, Ukrainian persons, from the territory of Hungary,” said Orbán.
On X, along with a video message, the Hungarian prime minister posted: “Dragged off to war, another Hungarian has died due to Ukraine’s forced conscription. This is unacceptable. We stand with the family, and we will not let this slide. All Ukrainian officials responsible for forced conscription will be expelled from Hungary without delay. Our people cannot be used as cannon fodder.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have signed a “partnership agreement” in Rome, focused on strengthening security policy and Europe’s defense industry, taking stricter action against migration, curbing Brussels’ “overregulation,” and stimulating trade, according to a Telegraph piece cited by Mandiner.
The U.K. portal says Italy and Germany “have seized the steering wheel of Europe from Emmanuel Macron at a turning point in history,” predicting that French President Emanuel Macron will not be happy with this new friendship, as it appears to cast a shadow over France and more pointedly, the traditional Franco-German power axis.
At their meeting, Merz told press: “Italy and Germany are closer than ever.” And one EU diplomat was quoted as saying Berlin “needs partners it can work with,” and Rome seems more stable than Paris at the moment.
Italian officials have said the deal points to a “new center of gravity” within the EU, according to the Telegraph, which also reminds readers that a lot has changed in the past few years. While Meloni had been considered by many to be a Eurosceptic populist, she is now seen as a “pragmatist” and one of the most influential European leaders.
The paper concludes that the Merz-Meloni duo would push the continent’s political agenda “in a more conservative direction,” while Paris’s influence would further decline.
The U.K. portal then ponders a new reality, where France is the “new Italy,” over concerns including debt and political uncertainty. France, they say, is starting to look like a “problematic member state of the EU,” while Italy under Meloni is trying to govern itself into the opposite position.
One French source told the portal that Merz believed it would be difficult to explain to the German public why it would be a good idea to “share debt” with a partner who “hasn’t been able to balance its budget for fifty years.”
Meanwhile, Meloni has “put things in order” in her country.
The portal also believes a Merz-Meloni axis would not enforce French-style anti-Americanism and confrontational behavior towards Donald Trump.
The analysis highlights Merz’s NATO commitment and transatlantic reflexes, and characterizes Meloni as a “Trump whisperer,” including Elon Musk among his connections. Still, the authors warn that Paris can be “pushed aside,” but “it cannot be ignored.”
Macron’s term ends in 2027, but a piece in Le Monde last summer indicated the French president may be looking to run again in 2032, telling youth at a party rally, “I will need you in two years, in five years, in 10 years.” .
After Germany’s lower house of parliament passed the military service law on Friday, thousands of students have demonstrated in several cities against the new law, with some boycotting classes, Handelsblatt reported.
The new, “needs-based” military program is a voluntary recruitment program for both men and women. Young men must then complete a mandatory questionnaire, which is voluntary for women, and are later assessed for suitability for service. The goal is not to immediately call up, but to create a database based on which the Bundeswehr can call up interested candidates for further aptitude tests, writes Index.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that 40,000 young people have received mandatory military service questionnaires. The plan aims to increase the size of the German armed forces to around 255,000-270,000 by 2035. By the end of this year, the ministry aims to recruit around 20,000 new soldiers.
Pistorius also noted that Germany’s infrastructure would need to be expanded to accommodate the increased number of people in the barracks. Those that have been closed will need to be reopened, and new ones will need to be built.
“The current geopolitical situation is extremely tense and unpredictable, and Germany’s security environment is more complex than ever,” he said.
In Germany, CDU/CSU politicians are calling for even more decisive action, stating that if voluntary recruitment fails, compulsory military service could be on the agenda. The CDU women’s wing is even proposing that questionnaire registration be extended to women.
Sixteen-year-old Justin told Handelsblatt: “We don’t want conscription, that’s why we’re here today. There are people who have other aspirations and dream jobs. If they’re drafted, that dream will be ruined for them.”
One banner at a protest in Saxony read: “Too young for elections, but old enough for war,” and “For a future without compulsory service.”
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Merz is pushing for Germany to rebuild its economy, status, and defense — a message he took to the Gulf States.
“For our security and prosperity, we need new strategic partners. We are reducing dependencies, minimizing risks, and creating new opportunities. That is why I traveled to the Gulf today: to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates,” he posted on X.
“Make Germany an investment location again,” he wrote in another post, announcing a new commissioner for investments and an initiative via Germany Trade and Invest.
European countries sharply increased their purchases of Russian gas in January, with both pipeline deliveries and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports amid cold weather and declining storage reserves, despite Brussels approving a phase-out plan to be imposed on EU member states.
As reported by Magyar Hírlap, data from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) showed that Russia boosted gas exports to Europe through the TurkStream pipeline by 11 percent year on year in January, reaching 1.73 billion cubic meters. At the same time, European buyers maximized purchases of Russian LNG.
Available data indicated that Russia supplied between 2.1 and 2.3 billion cubic meters of LNG to European markets during the month, the highest level recorded so far. Pipeline deliveries through Balkan Stream, an extension of TurkStream supplying Southeast Europe, also operated at full capacity, averaging 56 million cubic meters per day in January — nearly 25 percent above planned levels.
Analysts attributed the surge in imports to colder winter temperatures across Europe, declining levels in underground gas storage facilities, and reduced LNG shipments from the United States, which has also faced colder weather conditions. Experts cited by Russian business broadsheet Izvestia expect gas prices to rise further in the second quarter of 2026 due to ongoing supply pressures.
As a result of the increased volumes, Russian LNG now accounts for approximately 19 percent of total European Union LNG imports. Despite rising demand, supply constraints mean Russia would be unable to significantly expand deliveries further even if additional purchases were sought, as export capacity toward Europe is already heavily utilized.
The development raises renewed questions over the European Commission’s strategy to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports. Brussels previously approved, by qualified majority voting, measures aimed at ending Russian gas imports despite opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, which argue the move threatens European energy security and is evidence of Brussels overstepping its boundaries as competence related to energy supply remains with member states, at least according to the European treaties.
Meanwhile, EU gas storage levels have fallen to multi-year lows, contributing to rising prices. Concerns over supply security have triggered the largest monthly increase in gas prices in two years on Europe’s benchmark Title Transfer Facility (TTF) exchange, according to reporting by the Financial Times.
The situation highlights the continued tension between the EU’s geopolitical and energy diversification goals and the practical realities of securing sufficient gas supplies during periods of high demand.
Last month, Budapest and Bratislava announced plans to launch a legal challenge against the Russian energy ban at the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Brussels of using a legal workaround to force through measures that should require unanimous approval.
“The REPowerEU plan is based on a legal trick, presenting a sanctions measure as a trade policy decision in order to avoid unanimity,” he said. “This goes completely against the EU’s own rules. The Treaties are clear: Decisions on the energy mix are a national competence.”
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar confirmed that his country will also join the legal challenge.
Every time an asylum seeker’s case is not processed on time in the Netherlands, that asylum seeker is getting paid late fees, with this sum reaching a record-breaking €79 million in 2025.
The latest figure shows a staggering increase from the €36.8 million paid in 2024. This information was revealed in the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) agency’s annual figures released this Tuesday.
The agency is now calling for the Dutch government to abolish the practice of paying out asylum seekers with these late fees.
While the €79 million may not seem like an enormous figure, it only adds to the total €400 billion spent on migrants between 1995 and 2021, according to a landmark study from the University of Amsterdam.
In fact, one of the main problems facing the agency is that there are simply so many asylum seekers. The core of the issue lies in “exorbitant fines” triggered by massive backlogs. While the IND is legally mandated to process applications within six months, the average waiting time has now ballooned to 67 weeks.
Despite a slight dip in new applications last year, the total backlog grew to 51,000 people by the start of 2026. This has led to a massive spike in litigation, with legal proceedings involving the IND rising from 89,320 in 2024 to 110,990 in 2025. These cases include both penalty claims and appeals against rejections.
Under current law, if a decision is not reached within eighteen months, an asylum seeker can petition the court for a penalty payment. These are typically set at €15,000 per person, though they can go higher.
Rhodia Maas, director general of the IND, argues that these financial punishments do nothing to solve the underlying problem.
“Applicants have the right to timely processing by the IND. But as strange as it may sound, penalty procedures don’t help. We want to decide more quickly, but we simply can’t,” Maas stated.
She emphasized that the legal process itself drains resources from the agency, making it even more difficult to process applications in a timely manner.
“Every penalty procedure costs us not only money but also a lot of capacity. I think we could put that to much better use. Penalty payments should therefore be abolished as soon as possible,” she said.
The appeal comes as the new government cabinet — comprised of D66, CDA, and VVD — begins its term. The Reformed Political Party (SGP) has already introduced an amendment to the Asylum Emergency Measures Act aimed at ending what they say is “the circus of penalty payments.” However, the bill has not been passed yet by the Senate.
The IND also points out that cases are getting more complex, influenced by shifting geopolitical realities in countries like Syria, new political directives from The Hague, and evolving court rulings.
The upcoming implementation of the European Migration Pact in June 2026 is expected to overhaul the system further. While designed to speed up decisions on paper, the transition itself poses a challenge.
A live hand grenade left in a stroller at a residential building in central Gothenburg could have caused mass casualties, a district court has concluded, yet the case has ended with only one person receiving a sentence because the suspected organizer was too young under Swedish law to face criminal punishment.
The incident traces back to August 2025, when a 15-year-old boy traveled from Vänersborg to Gothenburg after allegedly being recruited through encrypted messaging platforms by criminal contacts who offered him payment to carry out an attack.
As reported by Samnytt, his mission was to place a grenade at the entrance of an apartment building on Viktoriagatan in the Vasastan district. The device, investigators later confirmed, was fully operational. However, it failed to detonate.
Instead of leaving the scene, the teenager returned, retrieved the unexploded grenade, and attempted to escape. He entered another apartment building nearby and hid the armed grenade inside a baby stroller left in a stairwell.
Police later located the device and bomb disposal specialists safely neutralized it. According to the National Bomb Disposal Service, there was no technical malfunction explaining why the grenade had not exploded earlier.
Judges sentenced 15-year-old Alvin Ramelund to one year and six months in closed juvenile care, while the 14-year-old recruiter, identified as Sam Nur Ali, was free to go despite the court finding that his involvement amounted to conspiracy to murder.
The case has fueled renewed debate over the increasing use of minors by organized criminal groups in Sweden. Authorities have warned that younger teenagers are being recruited precisely because their criminal responsibility is severely limited.
Last month, the Swedish government announced plans to move ahead with temporarily lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 13 for the most serious crimes.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer revealed this would apply for a five-year period and represents a major shift from Sweden’s current system, under which the age of criminal responsibility is 15.
“The changes we are making now are both desirable and necessary,” Strömmer said at a press conference, as cited by Aftonbladet. He argued that the measure must be weighed against what he described as the reality of an increasing number of serious violent crimes committed by very young offenders. “It is about protecting society,” he said, adding that while he placed “great value” on the risks identified by consultation bodies, the government believed action was required.
In a post on Instagram, Strömmer’s Moderate party wrote, “52 children under the age of 15 were involved in legal trials for murder or attempted murder last year. A breathtaking and painful number. This is not how it should be in our society.
“One thing is certain. If we continue as we have done so far, things will go as they have so far. And there is no alternative. Therefore, society must find a better way to deal with the 13- and 14-year-olds who commit the most serious crimes, such as murder and attempted murder.”
The Socialist mayor of Cartes in northern Spain has reversed her opposition to hosting unaccompanied migrant minors after attempting to block their arrival, issuing a public apology following pressure from her party leadership.
Lorena Cueto, mayor of the Cantabrian town of around 6,000 residents, initially described the relocation of migrant minors to her municipality as “a punishment” and issued an emergency municipal order seeking to halt the reception of 18 foreign minors transferred under Spain’s national redistribution system.
The move sparked protests in the town and drew sharp criticism from both the regional government and figures within Cueto’s own Socialist party, who accused her of creating public alarm and obstructing a legally mandated relocation.
The conflict began when the Cantabrian regional government, led by the center-right People’s Party (PP), proceeded with plans to open a reception center in Cartes to relocate minors. Ironically, the move was only in compliance with the mandate issued by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government, the same Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) of which Cueto is affiliated.
According to Canarias7, two minors arrived at the center earlier this week, with further arrivals scheduled in subsequent days.
Cueto responded by signing a municipal order invoking alleged urban planning deficiencies at the facility and demanding an immediate halt to the arrivals. The order reportedly threatened to seal the building and cut water and electricity supplies if the minors were accommodated.
Cantabria’s Minister of Social Inclusion, Begoña Gómez del Río, rejected the mayor’s claims, stating the facility had passed inspections and possessed the necessary licenses to operate.
She accused the mayor of attempting to obstruct the process and inflaming tensions in the town.
“The mayor of Cartes has made maneuver after maneuver to obstruct the reception and protection of the minors (…) She has created public alarm and warned all the municipalities of Cantabria to be on alert,” Del Río said at an urgent press conference.
Regional authorities moved to challenge the mayor’s order in court.
Facing mounting criticism and pressure from higher up in her left-wing party, Cueto abruptly changed position the following day, posting an apology on social media.
She expressed regret “for everything that is happening” and pledged her town’s commitment to welcoming the minors “before, now, and in the future,” as cited by Democrata.
Cueto insisted her “top priority” was the protection and well-being of the children so they could “find in our town the life opportunities they deserve.”
Pedro Casares, general secretary of the PSOE in Cantabria, publicly acknowledged that the town council had “made a mistake” and had “acted hastily,” though he indicated the party was not considering expelling Cueto.
Earlier, Spain’s Minister for Children, Sira Rego, criticized the mayor’s stance, stating that describing the arrival of minors as a punishment or threatening service cuts was “absolutely intolerable.”
“Children’s rights are not something to be trifled with,” she said, urging the mayor to rectify the situation and comply with the law.
Local residents have continued holding demonstrations, arguing the town lacks sufficient infrastructure and services to host the minors. Security concerns have also been raised, with the town’s local police reportedly operating only until mid-afternoon, leaving evenings without local patrols.
One resident told El País, “We’re not saying they’re criminals, but this isn’t a suitable place to integrate them. They have psychological problems from so much suffering, and it’s not easy.”
Russia has begun transferring privately owned farmland in the occupied Luhansk region to Russian state hands, the Ukrainian National Resistance Center claims, according to an article by UNN, cited by Portfolio.
According to Ukrainians, the Russian authorities are now, within the framework of a complicated legal process, first officially classifying the Luhansk farmland as “abandoned” and then transferring it to the Russian state.
According to Ukraine, Russian occupiers are simply stealing the property of Ukrainian people who have fled the war.
According to Ukraine’s report, “They are working to permanently dispossess people fleeing war, and the forced displacement is essentially a form of land grabbing disguised as legal.”
Ukraine has long been one of Europe’s strongest agricultural economies, but much of the fighting is taking place on land where the country’s agricultural activities took place. Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast make up Donbas, a territory largely occupied now by Russia and which U.S. President Trump has asked Ukraine to give up.
Luhansk Oblast is considered particularly good farmland, but the region underwent significant industrialization during Soviet times, and since 2014, a lot of bombs, mines, ammunition and contamination have been deposited in the soil.
A Hungarian court has sentenced a German national to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of participating in violent attacks in Budapest in 2023 as part of the far-left extremist network known as the Hammer Gang.
On Wednesday, the Budapest City Court ruled that 25-year-old Maja T. took part in politically-motivated assaults carried out in the Hungarian capital between Feb. 9 and Feb. 11, 2023. The court convicted him of attempted life-threatening assault and membership in a criminal organization.
According to prosecutors, around 20 suspected left-wing extremists carried out attacks at multiple locations across Budapest, targeting individuals they believed were attending or connected to the so-called “Day of Honor,” an annual event commemorating German and Hungarian forces who attempted to break out of Budapest during World War II. The gang had been targeting those they believed to be “far-right,” but many of their victims were just members of the public going about their daily business.
❗️BREAKING: Accomplice of @SalisIlaria, the antifa terrorist Maja T., has been convicted at first instance and sentenced to 8 years in prison. The 24-year-old German citizen was convicted of the politically motivated, brutal assault on Hungarian citizens in Budapest in 2023. pic.twitter.com/zxyXsCIHJO
Authorities say victims were followed in groups through the streets before being attacked with batons, sticks, and pepper spray. Several victims were knocked to the ground and kicked or beaten, sustaining life-changing injuries and requiring substantial hospital treatment, according to Magyar Nemzet.
Nine people were reportedly injured, with one suffering a fractured skull. Prosecutors accused Maja T. of involvement in two of the assaults.
As reported by Bild, defense lawyers argued that evidence against the defendant was limited, pointing out that neither eyewitness testimony nor DNA evidence directly identified him. The prosecution instead relied largely on surveillance footage and circumstantial evidence placing him near attack sites.
Maja T. was arrested in Berlin in December 2023 and extradited to Hungary in June 2024. Following Wednesday’s verdict, any appeal would mean he remains in Hungarian custody while proceedings continue. If the ruling becomes final, German law allows prison sentences handed down abroad to be served in Germany, provided both countries agree.
Several other members of the notorious far-left gang have been convicted or are facing trial for their involvement in the attacks. Johann G., described by prosecutors as a key organizer of attacks in Budapest and Germany, was finally arrested in November 2024 after being tracked down evading capture in Jena, southwest of Leipzig.
In 2023, a Dresden court sentenced Lina Engel, identified as a central figure in the group, to more than five years in prison, while several associates received lesser sentences for participating in violent attacks.
The issue also sparked political controversy in Europe because Italian activist Ilaria Salis, who also faced charges related to the Budapest incidents, later gained immunity after being elected to the European Parliament.
Last year, the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee narrowly voted against lifting Salis’ immunity, a decision subsequently upheld by the full parliament, preventing Hungarian authorities from continuing prosecution while she serves as an MEP.
Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini criticized the outcome, saying that someone accused of violent assault had avoided trial due to political maneuvering within parliament.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also criticized the decision, arguing that political affiliation appeared to shield suspects from prosecution.
Supporters of Salis, however, maintain that Hungarian proceedings are politically motivated and that parliamentary immunity protects elected representatives from politically driven prosecutions.
The social budget for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is facing significant upward pressure, with total spending rising from €2.62 billion euros in 2020 to €3.62 billion in 2024, totaling 38 percent over four years .
The information comes in Senate response to a parliamentary inquiry from the AfD. Preliminary data for 2025 indicates that expenditures through November have already reached roughly €3.4 billion.
In addressing the surge, the Senate pointed toward “significantly rising housing and energy costs” as the primary drivers of the increase. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), which requested the data, instead lays the blame at the feet of mass immigration.
Thomas Reich, the social policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group, challenged the Senate’s explanation for the budget expansion. In a press release, Reich stated: “Hamburg is increasingly suffocating from excessively rising social spending. The Senate’s justification that higher housing and energy costs alone are responsible is fundamentally wrong.“
Reich argues that the primary catalysts for the “cost explosion” are “an uncontrolled migration policy and the consequences of a left-green energy policy, which increases both the number of benefit recipients and the cost of living.”
When the 2024 total of €3.62 billion is broken down, it consists of €2.22 billion funded by Hamburg and €1.17 billion provided by federal funds. The city’s independent contribution of €2.22 billion now represents about ten percent of its total budget.
Data from August 2025 highlights a sharp rise in costs for benefits provided to foreign nationals, with over €1.2 billion euros paid to non-German recipients in 2024. These payments are distributed across three primary systems, including the citizen’s allowance, basic security, and the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.
The figures further reveal that the number of German and foreign nationals receiving a citizen’s allowance in Hamburg is basically equal, despite foreigners representing only between 15 and 21 percent of the population.
In 2024, approximately 92,700 Germans were recipients, compared to roughly 93,800 foreigners, which shows that even more foreigners than Germans receive such benefits.
Additionally, there were over 20,500 foreign recipients of asylum seeker benefits.
However, the overall population of Hamburg features 40 percent with a foreign background, meaning that many German citizens have foreign origins.
The inquiry also shed light on substantial monthly payouts for large “need communities.” In 2024, 86 households with six or more children received citizen’s allowance payments exceeding €8,000 per month. Similar high-value payouts were noted within the asylum-seeker benefit system, particularly for families with many children.
Spain’s Civil Guard officers’ association has warned that the border fence surrounding the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta is in a state of serious deterioration, with several sections in disrepair, allowing migrants to cross the barrier in less than 30 seconds.
In a statement cited by Europa Sur, the Unified Association of the Civil Guard (AUGC) said recent storms in the Strait of Gibraltar, including Storm Kristin, caused parts of the double fence separating Ceuta from Morocco to collapse or loosen, leaving what it described as a border in a state of “collapse.”
Repair of the infrastructure has not been made a priority, and the damage has coincided with the mass amnesty offered by Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to illegal immigrants, which experts warned has created a mass pull factor that is placing even more pressure on authorities protecting Spanish territory.
Mientras la gran mayoría de los medios mira hacia otro lado, la situación en los alrededores de #Ceuta sigue escalando a pasos agigantados. Cientos de inmigrantes ilegales se agolpan en #Belyounech y zonas adyacentes, organizando asaltos diarios a las vallas fronterizas. Medios… https://t.co/p3OfXGeh2upic.twitter.com/dp46IaAe3p
The association renewed calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the entire border perimeter, arguing that authorities have relied too heavily on temporary repairs and improvised fixes instead of implementing a long-term solution.
From an operational perspective, the AUGC warned that the current configuration of the double fence is “clearly vulnerable,” noting that migrants can scale both fences in under 30 seconds, leaving security forces little time to react effectively.
Security features installed to slow crossings are also proving ineffective, according to officers. Anti-climb netting can be bypassed with improvised tools, while hooks and other devices are reportedly used at the top of the 10-meter-high barrier to speed up ascents.
Officers further warned that the metal support beams on the inner side of the structure now function as “real ladders,” making descent easier once migrants cross.
Another concern raised is the condition of the fence’s detection systems. According to the AUGC, the accumulation of temporary repairs and structural patches prevents the fencing from vibrating properly, reducing the effectiveness of sensors designed to detect climbing attempts and sometimes causing delayed or failed alerts.
Attention has also turned to Ceuta’s maritime border. The association is calling for urgent expansion and renovation of the Benzú and El Tarajal breakwaters to prevent migrants from attempting to swim around land barriers. Officers described the Benzú breakwater in particular as “falling apart,” warning that its condition poses risks both to migrants and to security personnel.
The warning follows an incident on February 1, when dozens of illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, including nationals from Guinea and Sudan, entered Ceuta irregularly after scaling the damaged fencing. Authorities said the group took advantage of bad weather and structural weaknesses to evade detection systems.
Spanish migration analyst Rubén Pulido warned on the La Noche de Cuesta radio program that further attempts to breach the fence could be imminent.
🔴 #ÚLTIMAHORA || Decenas de inmigrantes han ocasionado daños en las vallas fronterizas de #Ceuta. Se prevé un asalto masivo en las próximas 48-72 horas. En estos momentos la situación en nuestras fronteras es de máxima tensión. Los agentes están sin medios y se teme lo peor en… pic.twitter.com/CvLcy2qZIp
“Dozens of migrants have damaged the border fences in Ceuta. A mass assault is expected within the next 48-72 hours. The situation at our borders is currently extremely tense. Officers are under-resourced, and the worst is feared in the area,” he said.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government recently agreed with far-left allies to implement a large-scale regularization of migrants already in the country through a royal decree.
Under the measure, migrants able to prove their presence in Spain before Dec. 31, 2025, and at least five months’ continuous stay may qualify for provisional residence and work permits if they have no serious criminal record. Deportation proceedings are suspended once an application is filed, and successful applicants receive a one-year renewable residence permit. Podemos estimates that more than half a million people could benefit.
Critics argue the move risks encouraging further irregular migration by signaling leniency toward illegal entry.
Vox party leader Santiago Abascal sharply criticized the policy, saying, “The tyrant Sánchez hates the Spanish people. He wants to replace them. That’s why he intends to create a pull factor by decree, to accelerate the invasion. It must be stopped. Repatriations, deportations, and immigration.”
A female arts teacher at La Guicharde school in Sanary-sur-Mer, Var, was brutally stabbed multiple times Tuesday afternoon. A police source said that the victim was given a “life-threatening prognosis” following the attack within the school grounds.
The teacher sustained three stab wounds—two to the abdomen and one to the forearm. According to Toulon prosecutor Raphaël Balland, the assailant, a 14-year-old student, was “apprehended in the playground by staff from the establishment” and subsequently placed in police custody for attempted murder.
Preliminary investigations suggest the violence stemmed from a dispute about the teacher’s punishments in class, according to Europe 1 news outlet. The 14-year-old student had reportedly received several warnings from the teacher, which he allegedly refused to accept. Before the attack, he reportedly threatened the teacher, stating that he “wouldn’t stay there.”
Prosecutor Balland provided further context during an afternoon press briefing, noting that there is “no religious or political connotation at this stage” and that “we only know that there had been tensions with this professor recently.”
The Interdepartmental Directorate of the National Police of Var (DIPN) and the Departmental Public Security Service (SDSP) were deployed to the scene immediately following the incident.
Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray arrived at the school on Tuesday evening to support the staff. He praised the “extraordinary composure” of the educational teams and remarked:
“This is, of course, an isolated act in an establishment rather regarded as an exemplary establishment in terms of school climate,” said Geffray
Regarding the victim’s health, the minister confirmed she had undergone surgery at the Sainte-Anne military hospital in Toulon. “We have to be very careful, but she is in stable condition this evening,” he added.
In the wake of the attack, the minister shared the “deep emotion” felt by the region: “My thoughts go immediately to the victim, his family and the entire educational community.”
A Greek national has been arrested in connection with the brutal assault on a German train ticket controller near Homburg, who has since passed away due to his injuries.
The ticket controller, 36-year-old Serkan C., reportedly leaves a family behind. The suspect, a 26-year-old Greek national, reportedly grew angry when Serkan C. asked him for his ticket. Upon discovering he had no ticket, Serkan C. tried to remove him from the train. Then, the Greek suspect began to violently assault him.
The 36-year-old railway employee suffered severe injuries and has since died, according to Bild newspaper.
The Greek national has no fixed address in Germany, according to a police spokesperson. Besides his age, no other details have been issued, nor has his first name been provided. He is being charged with attempted manslaughter, but this charge may be upgraded.
So far, few details have been provided about the actual assault.
“We cannot comment on the weapon or any possible tools used,” a police source stated.
The train conductor was resuscitated at the scene and was still alive when he was taken to the hospital, but doctors were not able to save his life.
Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla commented on the employee’s death, stating: “This tragic death leaves me speechless and deeply saddened. My heartfelt condolences go out to Serkan C.’s family, his friends, and his colleagues. All of us at Deutsche Bahn condemn in the strongest possible terms this horrific act of violence and the completely senseless death of our colleague. We must all ask ourselves why such outbreaks of violence keep happening. We—politicians, society—must provide answers. Today is a dark day for all railway workers in the country. We at Deutsche Bahn are in mourning.”
The Railway and Transport Union (EVG) expressed its anger over the incident, especially in light of growing assaults on public transport workers over the last few years.
“Starting tomorrow, we will increase the pressure again,” EVG Chairman Martin Burkert stated. “This brutal attack must now initiate a change of thinking.”
Based on data received from the Federal Ministry of the Interior in response to an inquiry from the Left Party, for the first 10 months of 2025, on average, five employees of Deutsche Bahn are physically assaulted on duty every day. In addition, there are four cases of threats per day.
In total, 1,231 Deutsche Bahn employees were victims of physical assault, and 324 were victims of aggravated assault during this period.
In 2024, German train conductors in the state of Thuringia were given permission not to check the tickets of foreign passengers after an increase in threatening behavior from asylum seekers towards staff.
Data has shown that foreigners are vastly overrepresented in serious crimes at German train stations and on German trains. Foreigners only make up about 15 percent of the German population, but these same suspects account for a tremendous 59 percent of all sexual crimes at German train stations, according to federal police data obtained by the NIUS outlet.
In the western German town of Arnsberg, individuals painted over a rainbow-colored public staircase using Germany’s national colors, prompting outrage from local Green Party politicians and a police complaint from city authorities.
The incident took place at the Neheim bus station, where a staircase previously painted in rainbow colors by students of the Laurentianum Gymnasium as part of a diversity and tolerance project was repainted overnight in black, red, and gold.
Local Green Party council leader Verena Verspohl condemned the action, calling it a political statement directed against minorities. In a social media video, she said: “Spraying a rainbow staircase in black, red, and gold is not a political statement. That is an extreme right-wing statement. It can’t be misinterpreted. This means that it is against diversity, against queer people, against peace, freedom, and a colorful society, and in favor of nationalism.”
🇩🇪🌈 Someone painted over a rainbow staircase with the German national flag in the town of Arnsberg, and the local Green Party cried about it…
"This is an extreme right-wing statement. This means you are against diversity, peace, and freedom." pic.twitter.com/0IbfVOKd8C
Verspohl added that displaying national symbols in private spaces was acceptable, but objected to their use in public areas in this context. “Paint yourselves in national colors at home, hang the flag in your garden, do what you want. But this is the public space. That doesn’t work at all. Incidentally, it’s a pupil’s work, a pupil’s star work, which is being trampled on here.”
Arnsberg Mayor Ralf Paul Bittner of the Social Democratic Party confirmed the city had filed a police report, stating the repainting constituted damage to public property. He stressed the issue was not about the symbols themselves but unauthorized alteration.
“It is irrelevant what motifs are used to paint or spray walls, streets, or buildings,” Bittner said, adding that Germany’s national colors stand “for freedom, the rule of law, and human dignity,” but should not be used to pit values against each other.
Council workers quickly began restoring the staircase using high-pressure washers, WDR reported.
The staircase project itself had been politically approved before being created, with the Neheim district council backing the student initiative promoting openness and tolerance. However, the steps have repeatedly been targeted since their installation, including an earlier incident in which the colors were defaced with black paint shortly after completion.
Police have not yet identified those responsible for repainting the steps.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is facing mounting criticism after unveiling plans to tighten regulation of major social media platforms just days after his government pushed through a mass regularization program expected to benefit around half a million illegal immigrants.
The announcement, made on Tuesday at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, saw Sánchez present what he called a package of measures to combat online disinformation, hate speech, and algorithmic amplification of “illegal” content. However, opponents argue the timing is no coincidence, accusing the government of attempting to curb public debate just as backlash grows over its migration policies.
The irony is that the socialist Spanish prime minister was speaking from a region that has no free speech, and does not offer a single democratic institution.
Under the government’s migration decree, migrants able to prove they were in Spain before Dec. 31, 2025, and remained in the country for at least five months, may obtain provisional residence and work permits, provided they do not have serious criminal records. Deportation procedures are suspended as soon as applications are filed, and successful applicants receive renewable one-year residence permits.
The move is expected to be a major pull factor for those seeking to come to Europe, and has already led to border pressure in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on the African mainland.
The measure was pushed through by royal decree after similar proposals stalled in parliament for more than a year due to a lack of support, allowing the government to bypass a binding vote in Congress. Podemos, the far-left party that negotiated the agreement with Sánchez’s Socialists, estimates more than 500,000 people could benefit.
Spanish migration analyst Rubén Pulido called the decree “a direct attack on our security,” adding that hundreds of migrants have already gathered in recent days near border areas to attempt crossings, while authorities allegedly refuse to reinforce security forces so as not to admit the scale of the pull effect.
Mientras la gran mayoría de los medios mira hacia otro lado, la situación en los alrededores de #Ceuta sigue escalando a pasos agigantados. Cientos de inmigrantes ilegales se agolpan en #Belyounech y zonas adyacentes, organizando asaltos diarios a las vallas fronterizas. Medios… https://t.co/p3OfXGeh2upic.twitter.com/dp46IaAe3p
Against this backdrop, Sánchez announced new legislation aimed at regulating social media platforms. His proposals include banning social media access for those under 16, requiring age verification systems, introducing criminal liability for platform executives who fail to remove what he called “illegal” content, and criminalizing algorithm manipulation that amplifies unlawful material.
“We will have zero tolerance on these issues, and we will defend our digital sovereignty against any kind of foreign coercion,” Sánchez said, adding that his government would transform social media into “a healthy and democratic space, as it always should have been.”
🇪🇸‼️ "This is an injustice that is done to us on a daily basis. We don't have housing; the social housing that is built is built for them. Enough is enough!"
A resident of La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands doesn't hold back as she films dozens more illegal migrants arriving… pic.twitter.com/8i7xehbJOl
The government also plans cooperation with prosecutors to investigate potential legal violations involving platforms, including Grok, TikTok, and Instagram, alongside the creation of a system to track what Sánchez described as a “Hate and Polarization Footprint.”
Spain’s right-wing Vox party accuses Sánchez of attempting to suppress criticism of his migration policies. Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, party leader Santiago Abascal said his movement faces “a total media blackout” and warned the government now seeks to persecute what it labels hate speech online after regularizing undocumented migrants.
“They not only want to condemn our people to a migratory invasion, but also to silence and persecution,” Abascal said, adding that “freedom and truth always prevail in the end.”
He further argued that freedom of expression is being undermined in Europe, saying, “The West and Europe cannot be understood without freedom of expression,” and warning that when demonization of opponents is no longer sufficient, authorities resort to censorship.
The proposals have also sparked international reaction. Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, responded online, writing, “Sánchez is the true fascist totalitarian,” and later adding, “Dirty Sánchez is a tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain.”
The Spanish government denies it is attempting to silence political debate, insisting its reforms are aimed at enforcing existing laws and protecting minors online. However, with both migration and digital regulation set to dominate Spanish politics in the coming months, critics argue Sánchez’s government now finds itself accused not only of opening Spain’s borders, but also of trying to control the conversation that follows.
The view in Germany that the Trump administration is allied with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been causing some to call for a reevaluation of intelligence sharing between Berlin and Washington. However, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has confirmed that Germany will continue its strategic cooperation with United States intelligence agencies.
The CSU politician emphasized that this partnership remains essential “regardless of the current political situation.”
This does not mean that the German government is not making moves to drive a wedge between the Trump administration and the AfD. In an interview with the news outlet Augsburg Allgemeine, Dobrindt argued that Berlin must change Washington’s perspective on the opposition party.
“We need to make it much clearer in the United States of America that the AfD is also a highly unreliable party for the USA,” he stated.
The minister intends to highlight that the party’s allegiances conflict with American interests. He noted that the AfD is “not only pro-Russian,“ but “also has close ties to China – the USA’s declared main competitor in the struggle for global influence.“
According to Dobrindt, this specific realization has “obviously not yet fully taken hold in the United States.“
Notably, the issue of a ban of the AfD has long been discussed in Germany. The clearly anti-democratic action could lead to a major crisis between Berlin and Washington.
Addressing the possibility of initiating formal ban proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court, Dobrindt expressed personal conviction regarding the party’s nature while remaining cautious about the legal reality.
“Personally, I am convinced that the AfD is a right-wing extremist party – at least in its leadership structures,” Dobrint said. However, he said he is opposed to a ban. “All those who speak of a ban on political parties are themselves unable to provide sufficient reasons for doing so.“
However, that does not mean a ban is entirely off the table. Dobrint is currently waiting for the courts to settle a lawsuit regarding the BfV’s classification of the party as “certainly right-wing extremist.“ He clarified the government’s current stance: “We are awaiting the outcome of the court decision to consider further action.“
Germany cannot entirely cut intelligence sharing with the United States so easily. There are numerous privacy laws that make mass surveillance of Germans extremely difficult for the German intelligence services. That means that much of this work is quietly outsourced to foreign intelligence services, such as the United States and Israel.
However, the U.S. takes issue more with the fact that the powerful domestic spy agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), monitors the AfD for right-wing extremism, U.S. officials have historically viewed the surveillance of a political rival as a potential breach of democratic principles, making a formal ban a potential “test of nails” for transatlantic relations.
Beyond the AfD controversy, the Interior Minister announced plans to significantly “strengthen“ Germany’s security apparatus. He said he intends to transform the BfV into a “real secret service“ which will be “equipped with effective, operational capabilities.“
Parallel to these domestic reforms, Dobrindt confirmed that international cooperation with agencies in the United States and Israel is being further expanded to meet modern security threats.
Yet another incident on Germany’s public transport has left a 36-year-old Deutsche Bahn (DB) employee with life-threatening injuries.
The attack took place on Monday evening as a regional train was leaving Landstuhl station in Rhineland-Palatinate. After being unable to show his ticket, a 26-year-old man attacked the ticket inspector, who fell unconscious. Fortunately, passengers, including one Bundeswehr soldier, were able to resuscitate the victim and provide basic first aid until he was taken to the hospital; they also alerted police, according to Deutsche Welte.
Saarland State Police and the Federal Police arrested the suspect, with the investigation into his background and motive ongoing; the charge so far is attempted manslaughter.
CEO of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, posted a message on LinkedIn condemning the attack, offering condolences to the employee’s family, and also thanking those who intervened to help. She also confirmed that the victim was in critical condition.
“I am appalled and outraged by the terrible act of violence against our colleague. Serkan C. was just doing his job early Monday evening: He checked tickets as a customer service representative in local transport at DB Regio. He was brutally attacked by a passenger without a ticket on the journey between Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken. He is currently in hospital, the doctors are fighting for his life.
“I would like to thank the Bundeswehr soldier who provided first aid on the train, as well as the Federal Police and the doctors for their quick action and deployment,” her post reads.
Palla also highlighted that such attacks “have been increasing for years” and bemoaned how German society has become seemingly immune to such violence.
“Unfortunately, the attacks on our employees, as well as on members of the police, fire brigade and rescue services, have been increasing for years. The inhibition threshold for violence in our society is falling. Any form of violence in our society is completely unacceptable. We must and will do more together with employee representatives and partners to protect our colleagues. Acts like these must shake us all awake.”
The head of the Railway and Transport Union (EVG), Martin Burkert, told press, as cited by Sued Deutsche: “We are appalled and speechless. Above all, we are angry,” he said. “We will no longer accept that train conductors put themselves in mortal danger as soon as they start their shift.”
Based on data received from the Federal Ministry of the Interior in response to an inquiry from the Left Party, for the first 10 months of 2025, on average, five employees of Deutsche Bahn are physically assaulted on duty every day. In addition, there are four cases of threats per day.
In total, 1,231 Deutsche Bahn employees were victims of physical assault and 324 were victims of aggravated assault during this period.
His daughter was murdered by an illegal Palestinian migrant, stabbed 38 times, along with her boyfriend.
17-year-old Ann-Marie is gone, but her father won't let her memory die. He delivered a message to Olaf Scholz's face:
In 2024, German train conductors in the state of Thuringia were given permission not to check the tickets of foreign passengers after an increase in threatening behavior from asylum seekers towards staff.
Data has shown that foreigners are vastly overrepresented in serious crimes at German train stations and on German trains. Foreigners only make up about 15 percent of the German population, but these same suspects account for and tremendous 59 percent of all sexual crimes at German train stations, according to federal police data obtained by the NIUS outlet.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia deliberately timed its large-scale attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure to the coldest days of winter, violating a ceasefire brokered by Donald Trump to protect civilian energy facilities. The attacks also came on the eve of new trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi.
Posting a video message on X, the Ukrainian president said he is waiting for the U.S. to respond.
“We await the reaction of America to the Russian strikes. It was the U.S. proposal—to halt strikes on energy during diplomacy and severe winter weather. The President of the United States made the request personally. Russia responded with a record number of ballistic missiles. The overnight strikes left more than a thousand residential buildings in Kyiv without heating as temperatures plunged to minus twenty degrees Celsius,” Zelensky wrote.
We await the reaction of America to the Russian strikes. It was the U.S. proposal—to halt strikes on energy during diplomacy and severe winter weather. The President of the United States made the request personally. Russia responded with a record number of ballistic missiles. pic.twitter.com/3SUyXk6aAk
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 3, 2026
Zelensky said 71 missiles and 450 drones were fired overnight, primarily against energy infrastructure, as temperatures in Kyiv dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius. The attacks left more than a thousand residential buildings in the capital without heating on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian president said Moscow used the short ceasefire period to stockpile weapons and then launched mass strikes “waiting for the coldest days of winter.” He said Russia was either interpreting its commitments arbitrarily or was not interested in diplomacy in the first place.
Moscow has responded to Kyiv’s complaint, stating that they beleived the ceasefire to have ended on Sunday, according to Magyar Nemzet, while the Ukrainian side had expected it to be observed until Friday.
In his own video message recorded from Kyiv, NATO head Mark Rutte slammed Putin for striking civilian targets.
“During my visit to Kyiv today, I saw a civilian heating plant targeted by Russian missiles. No military value whatsoever – attacks meant only to make people suffer. But Ukraine stands strong. And NATO stands with you,” he wrote in his post.
During my visit to Kyiv today I saw a civilian heating plant targeted by Russian missiles.
No military value whatsoever – attacks meant only to make people suffer.
Rutte emphasized that Putin seeks only “to create chaos and fear for innocent civilians,” while the United States and Europe are working hard for a just and long-lasting peace.
Trump has had no comment on the matter, other than via the White House spokesperson, who has stated he was not surprised and had asked Moscow to stop the attacks, apparently to no avail.
Talks in Abu Shabi are set to begin today, but Ukraine’s leader says it is clear that “terrorizing people is more important for Russia now than diplomacy.”
Only pressure, via increased weapons supplies and offensive actions on the ground, will get Putin to the negotiating table to make real concessions towards peace, Zelensky stated in his video message.
The Hessian community of Kriftel is currently grappling with a climate of fear as massive threats from a 34-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, identified as Khaled K., have been mounting for months. His nighttime emails, sent from various Gmail accounts, number over 100 messages and contain violent fantasies, hatred toward Germany, Christianity, and women. In addition, he has also issued direct terror threats.
Since his messages are in broken German, it is difficult to translate them with complete accuracy. Many of them are extremely disturbing.
“I’ll f**k your child. German woman (sic) are sluts and Nazis, it’s a sultry country. I’ll f**k you in the district court… I’ll do it.“ Just hours later, he followed up with: “I’ll f**k you if they don’t hire me out then I’ll kill you.“
The threat scenario is based on more than 100 messages sent to the city administration over the last two years. While it was initially unclear who the specific targets were, Kriftel Mayor Christian Seitz confirmed that municipal employees are primarily affected.
According to police sources, the individual faces several criminal charges for insult and threats. Local authorities find themselves unable to respond to the various threats, according to a report from German outlet Nius.
In June 2025, Khaled K. wrote: “I know you want me to keep causing problems. I said last time. If I don’t get out of here, I’ll gladly break everything.”
By December, the messages turned more graphic: “I’ll f**k your child. German woman (sic) are sluts and Nazis, it’s a sultry country. I’ll f**k you in the district court and the month 12. I’ll do it, it has to because it’s sooooooooooo.“ Just hours later, he followed up with: “I’ll f**k you if they don’t hire me out then I’ll kill you.“
At the start of 2026, the rhetoric reached a peak following the scheduled, but ultimately canceled, visit of Syrian leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani to Berlin.
K. announced: “I promise you: If the terrorist Golani (sic) comes to Berlin, then I will kill everything I see before me, women, children, and everything.“
He later expanded his targets, stating: “All countries that support the terrorist government in Syria […] are a goal for us.“ He concluded with a direct threat to the German population. “Now it is time to die…The most important thing is that the lives of all Germans are destroyed.“
Khaled K. arrived in Germany during the 2016 refugee wave and is a recognized refugee. Sources say his psychological state fell apart significantly following relationship problems and a breakup. Though he briefly left Kriftel after giving up social housing, he returned and currently resides in a home for the homeless. He is also frequently accused of having alcohol problems.
In addition to his threatening emails, he has allegedly smashed glass bottles in the town hall parking lot and insulted residents and refugee aid workers. The West Hesse police confirmed that several cases for property damage are pending before the Frankfurt am Main public prosecutor’s office.
Many of his emails are full of misogyny and religious hatred.
In 2024, he wrote: “My penis, Kreftel Community, I’m Khaled K. I’m going to f**k you over religion. Because tomorrow is their day of hell. They’re basically garbage and hell.“
His insults toward women are constant, including phrases like “German women are sluts,” “Your ass is only for f**king slut,” and “You’re a slut because your ass wants to f**k.”
🇩🇪 Despite 18-year-old Mohammad I. being found guilty of torturing and assaulting a 13-year-old German boy, the convicted man will only receive probation for 2 years.
Judge Rüdiger Baumann of the Dresden District Court condemned the act as “sadistic and inhumane."
In late 2025, he called Christianity “the dirtiest and most disgusting religion pig. He further wrote: “I mean everything Christian pig and sultry and smut learn well who you read I f**k you (sic).“ On New Year’s Eve, he sent a message stating: “I f**k the back of the Virgin Mary. Then I f**k Jesus, the pig […] I will fuck everything that hurts inside and German woman is slut and Nazis (sic).”
Perhaps the greatest concern is that this long history of threats will materialize into a real attack, just like the December 2024 attack in Magdeburg, where a Saudi doctor killed six people after previously announcing acts of violence and hatred for Germans.
Police officials expressed concern that Khaled K. must be stopped before his “confused plans” can be implemented.
However, it is not easy to simply deport the man or place him in prison. The Main-Taunus District Immigration Office has initiated revocation proceedings with the BAMF regarding K.’s protected status. Mayor Christian Seitz confirmed that threatening emails occur “unfortunately repeatedly“ and were the subject of a community meeting. The Hessian Ministry of the Interior referred inquiries back to local police, who have conducted “threat interviews” but claim their hands are tied because the man has not yet committed a “serious crime.”
Remarkably, police advised concerned residents to simply change sides of the street if they encounter Khaled K. in the village. Until the administrative proceedings conclude, the man remains in the town, with a potential disaster on the horizon if the man decides to take action.
An Afghan rapist who spent 70 percent of his time in Austria behind bars has been deported after serving his latest prison sentence, authorities confirmed, with the 30-year-old arriving in Kabul in the early hours following his departure.
As reported by Heute, the man had lived in Austria for almost 10 years, seven of which were spent in prison following multiple convictions, including rape, attempted rape, and grievous bodily harm. Immediately after his release, he left the country under a system allowing voluntary, supervised departure.
According to the Interior Ministry, the arrangement allows deportees to leave independently once conditions are met, often after half of a sentence has been served, reducing costs associated with continued detention or forced deportation.
Authorities say the man was convicted in four separate cases of sexual and bodily assault, as well as making criminal threats. His rap sheet had a total of 12 entries, and he is now permanently banned from Austria.
Government figures cited by Heute show roughly 3,300 criminal offenders were removed from Austria last year, and Vienna has been attempting to increase deportations to countries such as Afghanistan and Syria after years of legal hurdles.
However, deportations remain complex. Last summer, the European Court of Human Rights issued interim measures halting removals to Syria, and in August ruled that a country can only be classified as safe for deportations if it provides effective protection for all population groups, based on transparent and publicly accessible information.
Austria resumed deportations to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan last year, triggering sharp criticism from human rights organizations. In October, Vienna deported another Afghan national convicted of rape and grievous bodily harm, marking the first such removal since the Taliban regained power in 2021.
Amnesty International condemned that deportation as a “clear betrayal of human rights,” accusing Austrian authorities of undermining international obligations. Aimée Stuflesser, the organization’s asylum spokesperson, said, “Politics that deport responsibility is giving itself up! Anyone who extradites people to a state that commits crimes against its population is breaking the law. This betrayal of human rights must be stopped immediately!”
The Interior Ministry rejected the criticism, insisting deportations of convicted criminals would continue regardless of conditions in their countries of origin. Karner said Austria would “not offer safe haven to violent offenders.”
Chancellor Christian Stocker also defended the policy, writing that “those who do not abide by our rules must leave,” describing it as a “clear message from Austria: zero tolerance for those who have forfeited their right to stay through criminal acts.”
The Freedom Party (FPÖ), currently Austria’s largest parliamentary party, heavily criticized Amnesty International’s opposition, calling it “an unbelievable and perverse act of perpetrator worship.”
“If an NGO has a problem with a convicted rapist having to leave our country, then this organization clearly also has a problem with our constitutional state and our laws,” said FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz. “This is a mockery of the victims and a slap in the face of our society. Anyone who murders, rapes, or robs here has forfeited their right of hospitality.”
A police raid on X’s offices was conducted today, Tuesday, in the French offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X, as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime section of the Paris prosecutor’s office. The investigations are being carried out in the presence of Europol.
At the same time, summons for “voluntary interviews” were sent for April 20, 2026, in Paris to Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino, in their capacity as the de facto and legal managers of platform X at the time of the events.
Prosecutors stated this was a “preliminary investigation” into a range of offenses, including “spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes.” The investigation, which the Paris prosecutors’ office opened last year, was looking into alleged “complicity” in spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, and “manipulation” of an automated processing system as part of an organized group, in addition to other charges.
JUST IN: X's office in France was just raided.
"A search is being carried out today at the French premises of the platform X, as part of the investigation opened in Jan 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris public prosecutor's office."@elonmusk is a target across the EU. pic.twitter.com/NKUCt7lV7A
X employees are also summoned between April 20 and 24, 2026, to be heard as witnesses. The move comes at a time when Europe is cracking down on free speech, with X being the biggest target of the Brussels establishment.
The EU has already hit X with a €120 million fine for what Brussels says were violations of its sweeping Digital Service Act (DSA), which critics say is designed to cut off free speech and prevent the spread of information that could threaten those holding power in the EU and various member states.
According to the prosecution, this investigation is described as “constructive,” with the aim of ultimately guaranteeing the compliance of platform X with French laws, as long as it operates on the national territory.
European Union police agency Europol spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth also said it ’’is supporting the French authorities in this.” However, there were no further details on what this support consists of.
Zalando, a major employer in the German city of Erfurt is closing its local site, raising the question of who is responsible when corporations make such decisions despite receiving millions in taxpayer money over the years. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now speaking of a system that privatizes profits, hires primarily foreigners, and then places the social burden on the German taxpayer.
The Zalando logistics center has approximately 2,700 employees and an additional 300 external workers, but they now face likely layoffs as the site is being closed down. Zalando, a major online clothing retailer, is the largest private employer in the city, and the state of Thuringia has supported the logistics site with millions for years.
AfD member of the Bundestag Robert Teske sees the announced closure as a strategy seen with many corporations, according to Austrian outlet Freilich Magazine.
“We see a large corporation that generates billions in revenue and yet has been funded with a seven-figure sum of taxpayers’ money to create jobs,“ the MP said in a social media post.
He stated that despite receiving funding from the local state government, Zalando moved to hire workers from abroad. With the coming layoffs, these workers may now fall into the social safety net provided by Germany.
According to the works council, people from 62 nations are employed at the Erfurt center. Notably, Thuringia is one of the states that is most ethnically homogenous and has a very low rate of immigration compared to the rest of Germany. However, only 38 percent of the workforce are even German citizens.
Many employees come from Poland and Romania, where they can earn in euros and then send money back home that can go further in terms of purchasing power than in Germany. In addition, there are many people from Afghanistan and Syria.
Teske sees the approach as a system that repeats itself over and over again. He calls it a “well-known model“ of corporations to “abuse foreigners as wage-crushing workers and then send them to the welfare state.“
He said this is not a “social market economy,“ but pure “profit maximization“ at the expense of Germany.
Indeed, when companies open sites in Europe, they usually demand a pool of cheap labor, with foreigners often recruited from abroad. These workers are also seen as far less likely to organize and are used to working for lower wages and worse conditions. Additionally, even with these lower wages, they often have an incentive to work in euros, as this money can be transferred home via remittances.
Previous studies have also shown that foreigners drive down wages for Germans. When remittances are factored in, it makes it even harder for a German family to survive on the same salary compared to a foreign worker.
Logistic hubs like Zalando’s are seen across Europe and employ tens of thousands of foreigners; however, these sites are rapidly being automated. In the future, warehouses and logistics hubs may have little to no humans working in them, raising questions about what happens to these people after automation slowly replaces them.
The long-standing debate over a unified European military has met a sharp new critic from within the EU’s top ranks. EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has issued a stern warning against the establishment of independent EU armed forces, citing significant risks to regional security policy.
Speaking at a security conference in Norway, Kallas argued that a separate military structure would create chaotic overlaps with existing alliances.
“And if you have, like the European army, and then you have the NATO (one), then, you know, the ball just falls between the chairs. And this is extremely, extremely dangerous,” she said.
“Those who say we need a European army may not have really thought this through in practical terms,” Kallas stated. “If you’re already part of NATO, you can’t create a separate army.”
While the Estonian politician voices deep skepticism, the sentiment across the continent remains divided, with leaders in Poland and the Baltics offering vastly different visions for Europe’s defense future.
Her primary concern lies in the logistical nightmare of a dual hierarchy, while emphasizing that the most critical element in any military crisis is a clear chain of command.
Currently, NATO operations are overseen by U.S. military leadership, specifically Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich. This sentiment was echoed by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who noted that while NATO’s decision-making is complex, it is a proven system. He dismissed the push for an EU army, stating it is “not a path we should take.”
These voices from the top are in sharp contrast to many other establishment EU policymakers and politicians, who have long called for a unified EU army. Critics of the proposal have also cited a loss of sovereignty for EU nation states, especially on issues where there remain sharp divisions. Notably, the EU could end up dragging other nations into war against their will.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently reminded MEPs in Brussels that European defense remains inextricably linked to American support. He suggested that Europe would need to more than double its current spending to even consider independence.
“If anyone here believes that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the USA, then keep dreaming. That is not possible,” Rutte warned.
Despite these warnings, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is pitching a middle-ground solution: a “European Legion.” Rather than a full-scale merger of national forces—which he dismissed as “pointless and unrealistic,” Sikorski envisions a brigade-sized unit of volunteers funded by the EU budget.
“It would not be a force that could deter Putin, but there are lower-level threats, such as in North Africa or the Balkans, where we should have the opportunity to act together,” Sikorski explained.
This view is in sharp contrast to the previous Polish government, which was extremely opposed to an EU army. The previous conservative government viewed such an army as a potential threat, also in part due to the leading role Germany would likely play in any such force.
Contrasting Kallas’s caution, EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius is pushing for a more robust 100,000-strong force. He argues that the current fragmented approach to European defense is inefficient compared to a federalized model.
“Would the United States be militarily stronger if it had 50 armies at the state level instead of a single federal army?” Kubilius asked, advocating for a total redesign of the continent’s defense architecture in the face of Russian aggression.
The Dutch government has refused to investigate or seek clarification from the United Kingdom after Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek had her permission to travel to Britain revoked, confirming it has not even asked London for an explanation over the decision.
The position was set out in formal parliamentary responses from Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp’s ministry, delivered on Jan. 30 by Minister Van Weel, after questions were submitted by Lidewij de Vos, a Member of Parliament for the right-wing Forum for Democracy (FvD).
De Vos questioned the government over last month’s revocation of Vlaardingerbroek’s UK Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), which now prevents her from entering Britain without a visa. British authorities informed the commentator that her authorization had been canceled because her presence in the UK was deemed “not conducive to the public good,” and that the decision could not be appealed.
Asked whether the Dutch government had sought clarification from the British government or ambassador, the minister responded simply, “No.”
Holy sh*t.
I’ve been banned from traveling to the UK. They revoked my ETA.
"Your presence in the UK is not considered to be conductive to the public good."
When pressed on whether the government would now demand an explanation, the minister replied that the Netherlands would not intervene in such cases, stating, “The Dutch government is not a party in this matter and does not engage with the United Kingdom regarding individual cases.”
“It is not for the Dutch government to judge or interfere in how legal remedies are structured under United Kingdom national legislation,” the minister added.
The responses mark the first official Dutch government reaction to the controversy, which has drawn attention internationally.
Vlaardingerbroek said she received notice of the ban shortly after posting criticism of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on social media. Reacting at the time on X, she wrote, “I’ve been banned from traveling to the UK. No reason given. No right to appeal. Zero due process. Just an email saying the UK government deems me ‘not conducive to the public good’ — exactly three days after I criticized Keir Starmer.
“I guess my point that the UK is no longer a free country has been indisputably proven,” she added.
The right-wing commentator later accused her own government of failing to defend one of its citizens, posting, “While Orbán, Salvini, and even the U.S. State Department spoke out about my UK travel ban, the Dutch government just came forward saying it sees no problem with the UK banning one of its citizens and is not going to take action. Always a pleasure to be able to count on one’s own government.”
The British government has not publicly commented on the individual case. However, officials have said ETA cancellations do not automatically amount to a permanent ban and that border decisions remain sovereign matters.
In its parliamentary reply, the Dutch government also stated that it could not establish from media reporting that Vlaardingerbroek’s opinions were the reason for the cancellation, adding that revoking an ETA is not legally the same as denying entry. It does, however, mean that the subject cannot enter the country without a visa and thus must formally apply for entry. Travel between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands is usually visa-free for nationals of the two countries.
“It just confirms everything that everyone has been saying, two-tier Keir, two-tier justice.”
Eva Vlaardingerbroek claims Keir Starmer is a hypocrite on The Liz Truss Show:
“The fact that all the immigrants are allowed in without any questions asked, without papers, and they… pic.twitter.com/AIAVBkAksj
During a recent conversation with former British prime minister Liz Truss, Vlaardingerbroek criticized what she described as double standards in British justice and immigration policy, saying, “It just confirms everything that everyone has been saying, two-tier Keir, two-tier justice.”
She added, “The fact that all the immigrants are allowed in without any questions asked, without papers, and they are given the free hotels, they are given everything for free.”
Truss also commented publicly on the case, writing on X, “People who tell the truth about what’s happening in Britain are banned from the country. People who come to the country to commit crime are allowed to stay.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán similarly expressed support, saying Vlaardingerbroek was “always welcome in Hungary.”
In its parliamentary responses, the Dutch government also declined to amend travel advice for the United Kingdom, stating it had received no signals of changing safety risks for Dutch travelers.
A Sudanese national, who was on France’s national security list, has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a man to death during a dispute over what investigators say was the possession of a packet of biscuits.
The killing took place during the night of Jan. 28 to 29 outside the Adoma asylum center on Rue de la Grosse Borne in Vernon. As reported by France Bleu, emergency services were alerted at approximately 1:30 a.m. after a caller reported a man lying wounded in front of the residence. Police arriving at the scene found the victim already dead on the access ramp to the building.
At a press conference on Monday, public prosecutor Rémi Coutin explained how investigators traced bloodstains from the body to a room inside the residence that appeared to have been occupied informally. Two sleeping bags were discovered there, believed to belong to the victim and another individual. The victim, a 40-year-old Tunisian national, was later identified through medical documents found among his belongings.
A witness told authorities he had seen a man close to the victim shortly before the emergency call, holding what appeared to be a large knife.
A forensic examination later “revealed several stab wounds, including two wounds to the chest and one to the right upper limb.” Coutin said. Authorities are working on the likely cause of death being an external hemorrhage, which led to cardiac arrest.
Police have so far been unable to recover the murder weapon.
Using mobile phone geolocation data, the suspect was tracked to Paris, and a 47-year-old Sudanese man was arrested. He is believed to have been living in France legally, but was on a national security watchlist due to early signs of radicalization.
A second man, a 52-year-old Moroccan national, was arrested later the same day in Vernon. Investigators say he drove the suspect to the Mantes-la-Jolie train station after the incident. During questioning, he reportedly said he was unaware a killing had taken place and believed only that a fight had occurred.
Both men were presented before an investigating judge in Évreux, with prosecutors opening a judicial inquiry on suspicion of murder, a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Both suspects have been placed in pretrial detention.
After Spain was hit with its own train disasters, several freight train wagons have derailed in Poland.
A Szczecin-Chełm freight train derailed at approximately 1:00 a.m. on the night from Monday to Tuesday, Feb, 3, near Jaroszowa Wola (Piaseczno County) in Masovia, near Warsaw.
Eight carriages came off the tracks, two of them falling down an embankment. There are no reports of casualties, according to Do Rzeczy, unlike the recent train crashes in Spain.
Łukasz Darmofalski from the Piaseczno fire department told TVN24 that work is currently underway to prepare to tow away the part of the train that did not derail and the second train that stopped on the opposite track.
The causes of the incident are not yet known and are being determined by a special commission.
Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration Wiesław Szczepański stated in an interview with RMF FM that the probable cause was a traction network failure caused by low temperatures.
The derailment occurred on a route used only by freight trains, meaning passenger traffic should not be impacted.
Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in Nuremberg reports that in 2024, 10,358 people opted to return to their country of origin with the help of the German authorities, while for 2025, this figure was significantly higher, 16,576.
“Sixty percent more voluntary returns than in the previous year: this is an important element of change in migration policy,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
“The reason for this increase is primarily the end of the civil war in Syria at the end of 2024. This allowed the suspended return program to that country to resume. More than half of the over 6,000 people returning, i.e., 3,678, are Syrian refugees. 2025 also saw an increase of over 1,000 people in voluntary returns to Turkey,” Deutsche Welle points out, which was cited by Do Rzezcy.
At the end of last year, approximately 83.5 million people lived in Germany, a decrease of approximately 100,000. The arrival of immigrants cannot reverse this trend.
According to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, this was the first decline in the population since 2020. Between 2011 and 2024, with the exception of the pandemic year 2020, the population grew, with the reason being mass immigration.
Now the trend has reversed, with net immigration cited as the cause of the decline. In 2025, 220,000-260,000 more people will have arrived in Germany than emigrated. This means that net migration was significantly lower (by approximately 40 percent) than the previous year, when 430,000 more people arrived in Germany than emigrated.
Dan Jorgensen, the European Commission’s energy commissioner, called last week’s European Union regulation banning Russian gas imports 100 percent legal on Monday, adding that the legislation prevents Russia from using energy as a “weapon” against EU member states.
“We said we will no longer indirectly finance (Vladimir) Putin’s war in Ukraine by buying gas from him,” the EU commissioner said at a press conference in Lisbon with Portuguese Energy Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho, as quoted by Hirado.
Jorgensen also emphasized that Hungary has the right to challenge the law in court, adding that Brussels is ready to “actively assist” those countries that are most sensitively affected by the regulation. He also stressed that it is extremely important that the energy systems of EU member states are interconnected.
The Council of the European Union last week adopted a regulation that will gradually ban imports of Russian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the EU. The regulation will ban imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG into the EU. The ban will apply six weeks after the law enters into force, but existing contracts will be subject to a transitional period. The full ban will apply from early 2027 for LNG imports and from autumn 2027 for pipeline gas.
Jorgensen hailed the new law on social media as “a crucial step towards Europe’s independence.”
“Once and for all, we are putting an end to our dangerous dependency on Putin’s gas,” he posted.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó took to X to explain why it is suing Brussels over its REPowerEU regulation.
“Our case is based on three key arguments. First, energy imports can only be banned through sanctions, which require unanimity. This regulation was adopted under the guise of a trade policy measure. Second, the EU Treaties clearly state that each member state decides its choice of energy sources and suppliers. Third, the principle of energy solidarity requires the security of energy supply for all member states.
“This decision clearly violates that principle, certainly in the case of Hungary. Only more expensive and less reliable alternatives are available. Without Russian oil and gas, our energy security cannot be guaranteed, nor can low energy costs be maintained for Hungarian families,” he wrote.
Back in December 2025, Jorgensen had called out all EU countries for failing to stop the flow of oil, gas, and even nuclear fuel from Russia, committing to a new strategy to end Europe’s reliance on Putin for good.
In Poland, around 3,500 households were left without electricity during the recent freeze, Piotr Blaszczyk, a spokesman for the government’s Security Center (RCB), said on Monday.
The last few days have been the coldest so far this winter, with temperatures reaching minus 28 degrees Celsius in several places by Monday morning, reports Hirado. Temperatures during the day ranged between minus 19 and minus 13 degrees.
The RCB spokesman also confirmed that three people had died from exposure in the past 24 hours, and 40 since the beginning of November. City governments have provided shelters and free buses, and police are checking abandoned buildings, stairwells, and other places to help people in need who are sheltering there.
Due to the severe frost, the Polish Meteorological Institute (IMGW) issued warnings for Tuesday and Wednesday on Monday afternoon. More than 300 schools in Poland have suspended classes or switched to distance learning.
The city governments of Gdansk and Sopot announced on Monday afternoon that they had set up a crisis team after a failure at the local thermal power plant, which they said could result in “heating disruptions and supply interruptions” in seven districts of Gdansk and the entire city of Sopot.
The failed unit of the thermal power plant should be back up and running on Wednesday.
The sexual assault of two female Japanese tourists in Paris has intensified criticism over public safety in the French capital, after police confirmed one of the suspects was already subject to removal from France at the time of the attack.
The two 22-year-old tourists filed complaints after being assaulted in the Pigalle district during the early hours of Sunday morning. Investigators say the women were first approached near their hotel by two men who allegedly made sexual propositions and continued to follow them when they tried to leave.
The two suspects are 31-year-old Moustafa N., an Egyptian with an order to leave French territory (QQTF), and Moroccan national 31-year-old Mohamed D.
The victims recounted that the two men had harassed them at a bus stop near their hotel, offered them sexual relations in a sauna or in their room, then forcibly kissed them before groping their breasts, buttocks and face. Both Japanese victims have filed complaints.
🇫🇷🇯🇵A French visitor to Tokyo is amazed how orderly and pleasant the metro system is compared to Paris.
Japanese people respectfully line up to board the trains, they respect silence, and people follow the rules.
Police officers noticed the two suspects around 4:30 a.m., harassing and attempting to embrace two young women of “Asian type.” The officers intervened and arrested the two suspects, described as men of North African appearance.
It was later confirmed that the tourists, who have both filed complaints, were Japanese, reports Valeurs Actuelles.
One of the suspects was found in possession of a bag containing cannabis resin. Moustafa N. was also found to be an Egyptian national under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF).
🇫🇷 "What do you want, you dirty whore?!"
Famed Korean streamer "Jinnytty" was brutally attacked by a man reportedly of North African origin on the streets of Toulouse.
The Korean streamer has 1.1 million Twitch followers, and is one of the biggest streamers in South Korea.… pic.twitter.com/QwJLThgjYS
The second suspect told police that his name was Mohamed D., that he was 31 years old, and that he was born in Morocco; this identity, however, is uncertain and is being verified. His immigration status is currently unknown.
An investigation is ongoing.
The incident adds to an ongoing debate in France over women’s safety in public spaces. Concerns have intensified following several high-profile cases over the past year.
Women commuting on Paris’s RER C suburban rail line have reported heightened fear following an attempted rape in Choisy-le-Roi involving an Egyptian illegal migrant last autumn. Several commuters told Le Figaro they now avoid traveling alone, remove headphones to stay alert, or carry defensive items such as pepper spray. One commuter, Alicia, said, “Every woman has a story to tell about the RER.”
🇫🇷‼️ A Brazilian tourist was subjected to a vicious sexual assault on a French train on Wednesday morning, and only escaped being raped thanks to the intervention of a brave woman who filmed the assailant to scare him off.
Footage of the aftermath went viral last year involving Brazilian tourist Jhordana, who said she narrowly escaped rape on a commuter train after a fellow passenger intervened. Recalling the attack, she said, “He walked towards me without speaking. I was panicking, I stood up. Then he pushed me, still without a word. I tried to escape, but he pulled down my pants. It’s clear he was trying to rape me.” She added, “He choked me to silence me. That’s when I felt like I had no more strength. I saw myself dying.”
Another case that drew national attention involved Central African Republic migrant Jordy Goukara, who confessed in court last September to raping two women at knifepoint in separate attacks 45 minutes apart in Paris. According to court testimony, Goukara told judges he suffered from “uncontrollable sexual urges.” One victim, Claire Geronimi, later went public about the assault and founded an association supporting women in similar situations, though she said her decision to speak out led to public backlash.
Separately, Tunisian national Nidhal O. was sentenced in September to 11 years in prison and permanently banned from France after being convicted of six sexual assaults and one attempted rape, most of them committed in the Paris metro system.
Data from the National Observatory on Violence against Women shows sexual violence on public transport has risen sharply over the past decade. In 2024, 3,374 people were victims of sexual violence on public transport nationwide, an increase of 6 percent compared with the previous year. Women account for 91 percent of victims, with nearly half of incidents occurring in the Paris region.
A majority of women in the region now report feeling unsafe while using public transport, with surveys showing 56 percent say they are afraid to use rail networks and 80 percent say they remain constantly on alert while traveling.
Last week, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to abolish the legal concept of “devoir conjugal” (marital duty) in the Civil Code.
Traditionally, marital duty implied that spouses had a legal obligation to engage in sexual relations — a notion rooted in old interpretations of marriage law, even though the Civil Code never explicitly spelled it out.
The new text has now clarified that the shared life of spouses (“community of life”) does not create any obligation to have sexual relations. Notably, this is intended to help prevent sexual violence in marriage, as well as a lack of sex from being used as grounds for a fault-based divorce, closing a loophole that courts sometimes exploited, writes Le Monde.
Lawmakers say the reform strengthens the legal protection of consent within marriage and aligns the law with modern views that consent must be freely given and can’t be presumed because people are married.
“By allowing such a duty to remain in our legal system, we have collectively endorsed a system of domination, a system of predation by the husband over his wife,” said Marie-Charlotte Garin (Rhône, Les Ecologistes), who co-wrote the bill with Paul Christophe (Nord, Horizons).
The bill also reflects concerns raised by a European Court of Human Rights ruling that fault-based divorces tied to sexual refusal violated personal rights. In a case from last January, the court had sanctioned France for its use of “marital duty,” ruling that refusing to have sexual relations with one’s husband does not constitute a “serious or repeated breach of the duties and obligations of marriage.”
The civil code establishes four duties arising from marriage: fidelity, mutual support, assistance, and shared life, Le Monde points out.
Having now been passed in the lower house of the French Parliament, the bill will go to the Senate
A Somali-Swede convicted of killing one person and nearly killing several others in gang-linked shootings in Stockholm in 2023 avoided prison after not being held on remand during his appeal process and is now one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, but Sweden’s public broadcaster withheld his identity and blurred his photograph in its coverage.
Abdifatah Yahye Omar, 25, was convicted last year by the Svea Court of Appeal and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, four counts of attempted murder, and arson following two violent attacks in the Stockholm area. However, he was not held in custody while the appeal process was ongoing and failed to appear to begin serving his life sentence, allowing him to disappear.
He is now the subject of an international manhunt and has been placed at the top of Europol’s most-wanted list, with authorities warning the public not to approach him.
The crimes occurred in September 2023 amid a violent gang conflict connected to the Foxtrot criminal network, though none of the victims themselves had links to organized crime.
In the first attack, a man in his 60s was shot multiple times at his home in Åkersberga, north of Stockholm. Armed attackers used an assault rifle and a pistol before setting the property on fire as they fled. The victim survived despite suffering serious injuries.
The following day, gunmen opened fire again in Jordbro, south of Stockholm, targeting a group of people. One man in his 20s was fatally shot after being hit in the head, while several others narrowly escaped injury.
Police later tracked suspects to a vehicle that crashed into a residential building, leading to arrests and the discovery of the weapons.
Omar was initially acquitted in district court, but prosecutors appealed, and the Svea Court of Appeal overturned the verdict in June 2025, convicting him along with three other men. The appeals court concluded he had taken part in both shootings.
Despite receiving a life sentence, Omar was not in custody during the appeal proceedings and subsequently failed to report to prison, becoming an international fugitive.
Europol now lists him among Europe’s most dangerous wanted criminals. Its website warns: “All wanted persons on this website should be considered dangerous. Do not approach them,” urging members of the public to provide information to police instead.
According to Europol, Omar holds both Somali and Swedish nationality and speaks Swedish, Somali, and English.
Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT reported on the Europol alert without naming Omar and blurred his face in its coverage, despite his conviction and active international manhunt status.
It referred to him simply as a “convicted shooter” and a “25-year-old man.”
In France, Mohamed D., a nurse with Algerian training who has been working in France for 20 years, was sentenced by the court in Aix-en-Provence to four years in prison for sexually assaulting residents of nursing homes, including a 92-year-old woman.
In early July 2023, while working at a facility in Lambesc, a 72-year-old resident reported that “a monster tried to rape her.” She described a nurse matching Mohamed D.’s description kneading her breast for several minutes while telling her she was beautiful. The resident was certain the act was intentional, and medical staff found her testimony “entirely consistent.”
Mohamed D. offered a “bizarre version of events,” according to French newspaper La Provence. He claimed he felt dizzy after picking up medication and accidentally touched her. The facility immediately ordered him to leave and contacted authorities.
Following his arrest, investigations revealed a long history of offenses. During his trial in Aix-en-Provence this January, it emerged that he had prior convictions from 2021 in Rodez and Montpellier. Witnesses described him as someone who frequently made sexually suggestive remarks to colleagues, often staying at facilities for only a few days due to his behavior.
His history of harassment and assault included an incident in Orange, where he sent suggestive texts to an activities coordinator stating: “You really turned me on today, you’re so beautiful.”
In Bédarrides in June 2022, he sexually assaulted a 92-year-old resident who was crying; he reportedly grabbed her waist, pressed her against his erect penis, and tried to kiss her. Later, in Grans in June 2023, he sexually assaulted a fellow caregiver while they were assisting a resident.
Remarkably, these actions occurred despite an initial conviction that prohibited him from practicing as a nurse.
“I didn’t know,” Mohamed claimed during the hearing in response to the allegations. While he had previously denied all charges, he partially admitted to some during the trial, stating, “I behaved inappropriately, it’s regrettable. I’ve realized I have a pain inside me that I couldn’t control, I apologize,” though he characterized his urges as mere “language slips.”
The prosecution and plaintiffs highlighted the “multiplicity of the acts” and noted that he specifically “targets vulnerable people.” The Lambesc resident’s lawyer noted that while the assault lasted minutes, “for her, it lasts an eternity.”
The prosecution sought a seven-year sentence, citing “acts of undeniable gravity.” While the defense argued against “prison frenzy” and “social exclusion,” the court reached a firm verdict. Mohamed D. was sentenced to four years in prison with an immediate warrant for his arrest.
Beyond the prison term, the court imposed a permanent ban on him working as a healthcare professional or in any activity involving minors or people with disabilities. This was accompanied by eight years of post-release supervision, registration as a sex offender, and an order to pay €3,000 in damages to the victim at the Lambesc nursing home.
Former Italian prime minister and former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has urged European Union member states to move toward a more federal structure, warning that Europe risks economic and geopolitical decline unless national governments surrender more powers to Brussels.
Speaking while receiving an honorary doctorate at KU Leuven in Belgium on Monday, Draghi argued that Europe faces a future in which it risks becoming “subordinated, divided, and deindustrialised at once” as global power shifts further toward the United States and China.
Draghi said the collapse of the current economic world order leaves Europe exposed unless it acts collectively, declaring that “the collapse of this order is not itself the threat… the threat is what may replace it.”
He argued Europe must choose between remaining dependent on global powers or transforming into a political force capable of defending its own interests. “Of all those who today find themselves squeezed between the United States and China, only Europeans have the option of becoming a true power themselves,” Draghi said.
The tone is reminiscent of previous Eurocrats who have used geopolitics and economic crises to call for “more Europe.”
“We must decide: do we simply remain a large market, subject to the priorities of others? Or do we take the necessary steps to become a power?” Draghi asked.
He argued that Europe commands influence only when powers are centralized at the EU level, pointing to areas such as trade policy, competition law, the single market, and monetary policy. “Where Europe has federated on trade, on competition, on the single market, on monetary policy, we are respected as a power and negotiate as one,” he said. It should be noted that many Europeans considered these areas to be highly bureaucratic, and vie to push through a “one-size-fits-all policy” on nations.
He claimed that fragmentation in defense, foreign policy, and industrial strategy leaves Europe vulnerable. “Where we have not… we are treated as a loose assembly of middle-sized states to be divided and dealt with accordingly,” he said.
He added that economic strength alone cannot protect Europe if it remains militarily dependent on the United States. “A Europe unified on trade but fragmented on defense will find its commercial power leveraged against its security dependence, as is happening now,” Draghi warned.
The former ECB president also criticized both Washington and Beijing, saying Europe now faces pressure from both sides. He described a United States that “emphasizes the costs it has borne while ignoring the benefits it has reaped,” while warning that China “controls critical nodes in global supply chains and is willing to exploit that leverage.”
Draghi also suggested Washington now openly benefits from European political fragmentation, saying the U.S. imposes tariffs on Europe, threatens European interests, and “makes it clear, for the first time, that they consider European political fragmentation to serve their own interests.”
His remarks are likely to intensify criticism from Eurosceptic politicians and commentators who argue Europe’s economic stagnation and political tensions stem not from insufficient integration but from excessive centralization and regulation by Brussels. They contend that further transfers of power away from national governments would deepen voter alienation and further weaken democratic accountability across the bloc.
An immigrant of Moroccan nationality caused chaos at Valencia Airport in Spain after being involved in a serious incident on a commercial plane destined for Amsterdam. The action forced the flight to be delayed for more than two hours and led to extreme tension between passengers and airport staff.
The event took place on Saturday afternoon, when the aircraft—an Airbus A320 belonging to the Vueling company—was already prepared to begin its takeoff maneuver. It was then that the individual irregularly entered the area of the plane and managed to climb to the top of the fuselage carrying an object an unknown nature at the time, according to Las Provincias.
The situation immediately activated security protocols. Three officers of Spain’s Civil Guard moved to the scene and began a negotiation with the man, who remained in an elevated position and refused to descend.
JUST IN: A 24-year-old Moroccan climbed onto the roof of an Airbus A320 at Valencia's Manises Airport and began screaming and ranting.
His stunt delayed the Amsterdam-bound plane for nearly 3 hours.
During that time, the flight was completely paralyzed while the possible risk was assessed.
After several minutes of conversation, the agents managed to get him to leave the aircraft using the same ladder through which he had entered. Once on the ground, he was identified and subjected to an exhaustive search to rule out the presence of explosives or other dangerous devices. The search turned up negative.
During the intervention, the officers confirmed that the individual “he had an altered mental state.” According to witnesses, “he uttered insults and offensive comments directed at different groups.”
A number of individuals recorded the incident from their phones, with the footage spreading on social media.
The detainee was later treated at the airport itself by health personnel specialized in mental health, after personnel from the “Psychiatry Unit of the General Hospital of Valencia” traveled to the scene, according to medical sources.
Despite what happened, the authorities confirmed that at no time was there a real danger to passengers nor was air safety compromised. There were also no effects on the rest of the traffic at the airport, according to airport operator Aena sources.
Finally, the travelers were able to resume their itinerary and the flight took off approximately two and a half hours late. The aircraft landed in the Dutch capital at 11:15 p.m., with no further incidents recorded during the journey.
A South Sudanese man who fatally pulled an 18-year-old woman onto subway tracks in Hamburg last week had arrived in Germany last year through a United Nations refugee resettlement program, according to German media reports citing immigration records.
The incident occurred Thursday evening at Wandsbek-Markt subway station, when the 25-year-old suspect, identified as Ariop Moses A., grabbed the young woman on the platform and jumped with her in front of an approaching train. Both were struck and died at the scene.
In the aftermath, scrutiny has focused on the suspect’s background and his path into Germany. According to Bild, which says it obtained access to the man’s refugee file and spoke with officials familiar with the case, Ariop Moses A. entered Germany in 2024 through a UN refugee resettlement scheme rather than the standard asylum procedure.
The German tabloid added that the suspect came from the Melut Basin region near the border between Sudan and South Sudan, a longstanding conflict zone.
The file reportedly states that members of Ariop Moses A.’s family were killed during conflict in the region and that he fled as a child to a refugee camp in Kenya, where he remained for approximately 10 years. He was later selected for relocation under a UN Refugee Agency resettlement program intended for people considered unsafe both in their home country and in their country of refuge.
It is unclear why he was considered at-risk in Kenya.
Horrific news coming out of Hamburg, Germany.
A woman was minding her own business waiting for a subway train last night when she was grabbed by a strange man, who threw them both under an arriving train.
Both died instantly. They did not know one another.
The UN agency proposes candidates to participating states, after which national authorities conduct interviews and security checks before issuing visas and organizing travel. German media reported that Germany admitted around 6,000 refugees through resettlement programs in 2024.
Hamburg police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack, including the suspect’s mental condition and possible motives.
The fatal incident adds to a series of violent attacks at railway and subway stations across Germany by migrants in recent years. In August last year, a 31-year-old Iraqi man pushed a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl into the path of a freight train traveling at around 100 kilometers per hour at Friedland station while she was speaking by phone with her grandfather in Ukraine. She died instantly. Earlier this month, the man was ordered into compulsory psychiatric treatment rather than receiving a prison sentence.
In January 2023, a 27-year-old Syrian national was arrested after throwing a 16-year-old schoolgirl onto the tracks at Altena station in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to police, “Suddenly, a young man ran after her, grabbed her from behind, and threw her over the edge of the platform onto platform 1 in front of the stunned fellow passengers,” adding, “Then he jumped after himself and held the young girl firmly on the tracks.” The suspect later climbed back onto the platform and boarded his train.
More recently, in November 2025, Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani, head of the German-Arab school in Berlin and a critic of radical Islam, said a man attempted to push him toward the tracks at a Neukölln subway station. “The man then hit me on the head with his hand. It was over in a few seconds,” Al-Mashhadani told Focus, saying he managed to resist as a train approached.
In another incident in March 2023, two foreign nationals were arrested at Pforzheim’s central train station after pushing a 49-year-old man onto the tracks when he refused to give them a cigarette. Local media reported the victim was assaulted again as he tried to climb back onto the platform. The suspects, a 33-year-old Algerian and a 31-year-old Tunisian, were later charged with dangerous bodily harm.
Muslims only contribute 0.1 percent to scientific progress, but make up 25-26 percent of the world’s population, stated Ferghane Azihari, columnist for Figaro Magazine and author of the new book “Islam against Modernity.” Citing data from Saudi Arabia’s own Islamic Development Bank, Azihari pointed to what he called severe deficits in Islamic societies during his appearance on Points de Vue with the host Vincent Roux.
“When you look at the Muslim world as a whole, it still falls far short of the standards we are entitled to expect from modern societies,” said Azihari. “You know, you’re talking about Saudi Arabia. The Islamic Development Bank, which is based in Saudi Arabia and which, I believe, is hardly suspected of being Islamophobic, lamented a few years ago that the Muslim world was responsible for only 0.1% of original scientific discoveries, even though the Muslim world accounts for a quarter of the world’s population. So the Muslim world’s contribution to human progress is not at all commensurate with its demographic weight.”
"The Muslim world is responsible for only 0.1% of original scientific discoveries, even though it represents a quarter of the world's population."
Ferghane Azihar, author of "Islam Against Modernity," cites Islamic Development Bank data.
Azihari also noted that when experts talk about progress and inventions from the Muslim world, they are forced to go back hundreds of years to Medieval times.
“I’m not saying that Muslim societies have never been hotbeds of creativity and ingenuity. There are two things I’d like to point out. The first thing is that every time we want to attribute prestigious achievements to Islam, we keep going back to the Middle Ages, a fairly late period. What happened in the meantime? Secondly, Islam has taken over the Middle East, ‘one of the oldest crossroads of civilized peoples in the world,’ to quote the historian Fernand Braudel. Given the incredible intangible heritage that Muslims have inherited, giving birth to Averroës was the least we could do, and it has to be said that today this ancient crossroads of civilized peoples and men, as Braudel called it, is in a lamentable state, and I believe that it is the causes of this catastrophe that we must try to understand.
“It took Muslims three centuries after Gutenberg to adopt the printing press”
When he is accused of perhaps being a victim of “colonial thinking,” during the interview, he said that he did not think this was the case, and that “Muslims were the first to deplore the decadence of their own society, except that they were unfortunately incapable of drawing the right conclusions from it.”
He notes that he himself was born in the Muslim world and that his parents come from Comoros, a hardline Muslim country.
“I simply think that I have drawn the right conclusions from the inability of these societies to offer their inhabitants a decent life, which is why there are now far more Muslims migrating to Europe than there are Europeans migrating to Muslim societies,” he stated.
Notably, he says that there are clear signs that Muslims’ predicament cannot be attributed to colonialism and that Muslim society, even before it was colonized in some parts, already had virtually no human rights.
“So there was Western colonization, you’re perfectly right, but to attribute the misery of today’s Muslim world to colonization would be to pretend that these societies were human rights El Dorados before the arrival of the Europeans. I don’t think we can blame Westerners for the fact that it took Muslims three centuries after Gutenberg to adopt the printing press,” he said.
Azihari’s findings about the lack of Muslim innovation, scientific achievement, and progress may be controversial, but they are generally supported by research. The Islamic world, mostly the Middle East and North Africa, contributes only 1.5 percent of global patents as well, with some research putting this as high as 2.2 percent. However, if those patents are examined, it can also be found that a significant number of them are actually from Western companies and individuals. For example, in Saudi Arabia, the top patent filer by far is the state oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco. However, the top engineers and technical talent in the company are often employees from countries like the United States and Great Britain.
Slavery and Islam
This point further segways to the topic of slavery, which Azihari stated was only ended due to European intervention and philosophy.
“Before Western colonization, most Muslim societies were totally authoritarian, stratified societies, which were, moreover, slave-owning societies that practised slavery in proportions sometimes higher than those we find in the United States. The Sokoto Caliphate in what is now Nigeria was one of the largest slave-owning societies of its time. What we need to remember is that these societies were incapable of abolishing slavery on their own initiative. There has never been, in Islamic lands, the equivalent of the Valladolid controversy which, in the 16th century, involved Spanish theologians challenging the very principle of slavery; there has never been the equivalent of a Condorcet; there has never been the equivalent of a Victor Schoelcher or a Lincoln, and so we cannot accuse Europeans of being responsible for evils which long predate their irruption into the Muslim world.”
Wealthy Muslim countries
The host further agues that there are certain economic powerhouses in the Middle East, and that they should not be discounted, stating: “You talk about a pitiful state, but this is the Arabian Peninsula, this is Saudi Arabia, this is the Emirates, this is Qatar, this is Dubai, this is Abu Dhabi, these are places that have become economic powerhouses and the place to be.”
Azihari does not even mention that much of the wealth of these areas is still almost entirely driven by energy, namely oil and gas, but does respond that much of the wealth is generated by autocratic means.
“So it’s true that there are rich places in the Muslim world, but in the same way that I think it would be wrong to use Kim Jong-un’s wealth as an excuse to say that North Korea is a prosperous country, I don’t think that exceptions invalidate an overall picture that is, after all, quite appalling, and I would add that Muslims did not wait for my book to take stock of the situation and make this rather deplorable observation, since they were the first to deplore the decadence and decline of their own society, long before Western colonial expansion,” he stated.
Practical implications for Europe
Islam may not be the only role at work, however, in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has the highest rates of inbreeding in the world, leading to a wide range of genetic diseases. Inbreeding has been common throughout the Middle East for many centuries, which can lead to societal-wide issues. Most of the world outside of parts of Asia (Japan, China, and South Korea), Europe, and the United States produces very little in terms of patents and scientific innovation. This is especially relevant when assessing whether the EU should pursue its current program of encouraging mass immigration from these regions. For example, the EU’s new Erasmus program could see millions of students from Africa and the Middle East arrive in Europe, with the argument that these students will boost Europe’s future innovation success.
The hope is that these students somehow create industries and technology that Europe has produced for decades; however, all data shows that these hopes are likely unjustified. Within Europe itself, the Arab and African populations have either been relegated to welfare or to low-income jobs, many of which still require welfare to survive. Germany’s Turkish population, for instance, has been in the country for decades and is still far behind in terms of academic achievement and innovation. In fact, by some metrics, it is still among the worst integrated for groups in the nation.
Much of the data about migrants opening new businesses in Europe is also fudged. For instance, every time a foreigner opens a döner store, a corner deli, a bar, a shisha shop, or a shop selling produce, these are all, of course, businesses. However, the reality is the hey are not high-value manufacturing and technologically innovative ventures that are going to fuel a country’s economic future. Arguably, countries like the United States, where Jason Huang and many other Asian entrepreneurs have launched world-changing businesses, are few and far between in Europe. Even in the United States, mass migration is costing state budgets tens of billions a year through healthcare, housing, and social benefits.
The same situation is playing out in Europe, costing nations tens of billions every year, and despite claims of economic renaissance, many migrants are a net drain on the fiscal health of nations, no matter what age they are, including prime working years.
More than 108 police officers were injured in Turin during clashes on city streets during a protest involving 15,000 people against the closure of a far-left social center. After a video showed officers being severely beaten, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X that Italy was dealing with “enemies of the state.”
“We are not dealing with demonstrators, but with individuals who act as enemies of the state. Law enforcement forces are paying for this reality, who have to face a real street battle, as well as some journalists doing their job,” she wrote. “Now let me be clear. These are not protesters. These are organized criminals. When you hit someone with a hammer, you do so knowing that the consequences can be very, very serious. This is not a protest, these are not clashes. This is attempted murder.”
Questa mattina sono stata all’ospedale Le Molinette di Torino per portare, a nome dell’Italia, la solidarietà a due degli agenti rimasti feriti negli scontri di ieri e, attraverso loro, a tutti i militari e gli appartenenti alle Forze dell’ordine coinvolti.
The protests were sparked by the seizure and closure of the anarchist, anti-capitalist social center Askatasuna by law enforcement in December last year.
🇮🇹🔥"They act as enemies of the state."
After 108 Italian officers were injured in Turin during mass riots by far-left extremists, PM Giorgia Meloni has condemned the rioters as "enemies of the state."
Following a 15,000-strong demonstration in defense of the Askatasuna center, which has operated for 30 years, a group of aggressive demonstrators broke away in the capital of Piedmont, Italy. They threw bottles, flares, stones, smoke candles, and metal pipes at officers before attempting to break through the police cordon. A street battle took place, as reported by Italian media, alongside published recordings.
As the head of government assessed, the event was “blind and deliberate violence.” She stressed that defending the law “is not a provocation, but an obligation.” This was her reference to the closure of the Askatasuna center due to ongoing investigations into protests and attacks on institutions, including one targeting the editorial office of the daily La Stampa last year.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated that “what happened in Turin confirms who the perpetrators of violence are and who poses a genuine threat to civic coexistence and to our democracy; they are antagonists – guests of illegally occupied social centers that also have political support.”
The Italian government is convening today to discuss public order and to evaluate new provisions for security, wrote Meloni on X.
“We will do what is necessary to restore the rules in this Nation,” she wrote.
Several migrants have been jailed for a brutal iron bar attack in Germany that left two brothers fighting for their lives, but the victims say the sentences were far too lenient.
The Regensburg Regional Court on Friday sentenced five men to prison terms ranging from five to seven years over the November 2023 assault in Hemau, near Regensburg. Prosecutors had argued the attack amounted to attempted murder, but judges instead convicted the main perpetrators of aggravated assault, concluding they had stopped short of intending to kill.
In total, 11 men stood trial. Focus reported that the men were primarily from Bulgaria, and most were part of an extended family network. Five were convicted of aggravated assault, with two receiving lighter sentences under juvenile law because they were minors at the time of the crime. Three others received lesser penalties for failing to render assistance to the victims, while two defendants were acquitted. Another participant had previously been sentenced in a separate proceeding.
Prosecutors had demanded sentences of up to 11 years. Because time spent in pre-trial detention and extradition custody is credited, some defendants may serve significantly less additional time in prison, and compensation may even be due in cases where custody exceeded final sentences.
The attack stemmed from a dispute connected to the workplace of one of the defendants and later escalated at a Jet gas station in Hemau. There, members of the group attacked Alexander R. with iron bars, repeatedly striking his head. When his younger brother Johann rushed to help, he too was violently assaulted.
Both men suffered life-threatening injuries. Johann R. sustained a skull base fracture and brain hemorrhage and continues to struggle with speech problems, extreme light sensitivity, persistent headaches, fatigue, and numbness affecting one side of his body. Alexander R. also suffered severe head wounds, fractured ribs, and a bruised lung, and continues to suffer from chronic pain and psychological trauma. Both required hospitalization and remain under medical and psychological care to this day.
Following the verdict, the victims expressed shock and anger. Johann R. said, “When the defendants heard the verdict, they laughed mockingly. Their relatives also openly showed their joy and even threatened us.”
“I don’t want to offend anyone at all, but I think our justice system in Germany is too weak. People who come to us from other countries can commit the most serious crimes and receive ridiculously lenient sentences. But if you live in Germany and are German, then you get life imprisonment for a violent crime like this.”
“I can well understand why the defendants in our trial are laughing at this verdict and the whole system,” Johann added.
Johann isn’t the first person to speak out about leniency in Germany’s criminal justice system when it comes to migrants. Earlier this month, Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel slammed the system after the Iraqi killer, who pushed a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl in front of an oncoming freight train, avoided jail.
“The public prosecutor’s office certifies him as ‘guilty but insane.’ No deterrent judgment, no imprisonment followed by deportation — instead, the taxpayer has to foot the bill for the perpetrator’s accommodation in a psychiatric hospital. This is a scandal!” she wrote on X.
In December last year, a 29-year-old Afghan migrant was sentenced to six years in prison for stabbing a 27-year-old teacher at random on the street. However, despite stabbing his victim four times in the back and twice in the thigh, the fact that the Afghan stopped stabbing her once she screamed was enough to convince the court in Stuttgart to drop the attempted murder charge, affording him a far more lenient sentence.
In October, the Afghan asylum seeker who fatally stabbed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man who tried to intervene during a daycare outing in Aschaffenburg was declared not criminally responsible for his actions and was confined to a psychiatric hospital.
Such leniency isn’t just afforded to migrants in Germany. Last week, a Dutchwoman who survived a violent attempted rape in Amsterdam in May 2024 left a courtroom in tears and anger after judges refused to convict her attacker of attempted murder or manslaughter, despite evidence that she was strangled for several minutes and repeatedly threatened with death.
“This country is sick. Seriously sick,” remarked Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV), in response.
Ukrainain forces stopped the Russian offensive on the Pokrovsky front in a day, while the advancing units suffered heavy losses. Footage from the assault shows that first-person-view drones (FPV) wreaking havoc against troops, there is still no answer to this technological development.
On the Pokrovsk front, Ukrainian forces repelled four Russian platoons in a single day, during an attack, according to a Jan. 31 statement from the Spartan National Guard brigade.
Ukrainian units repelled the attack with a coordinated action, which brought the offensive to a complete halt. According to the report, almost four platoons of Russian troops were destroyed in one day.
Pro-Ukrainian accounts have been releasing the type of footage seen throughout the war from both sides with FPV drones shown hunting down soldiers. The footage reveals that both sides lack effective means to counter these drones, which are systematically hunting down soldiers. Despite the threat of these drones, Russian forces continue sending troops on offensives, sometimes using fog as cover, but to little practical effect.
According to various reports, cited by Hungarian news outlet Magyar Nemzet, fierce fighting continues in the area.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces say 80 enemy assault soldiers were killed, two were wounded, and two more were captured. Ten ATVs, four motorcycles, and six enemy vehicles were also destroyed.
Just two months ago, this strategic logistics hub was reported to have been lost to Russian troops.
Now, the Ukrainian units participating in the fighting emphasized that concerted action and clear coordination allowed them to not only stop the attack but also inflict significant losses on the enemy.
Earlier, the 7th Army Corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that Russian forces had launched a mechanized attack on the village of Grisino in the Pokrovsky direction. The Ukrainian army repelled the attack, causing losses to the enemy, but the fighting was not over yet.
Incredible luck of the Russian Armed Forces soldiers on the Pokrovsky direction
A Ukrainian FPV drone pursued a car and managed to fly into the trunk while it was moving, and it could not be hit with small arms.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as of 10 p.m. on Jan. 31, a total of 303 combat engagements were registered on various sections of the front during the day. The most intense fighting took place in the Pokrovs’kyi, Hulyajpil, and Kostyantynivka directions.
From the Russian front, the defense ministry has stated that almost 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers were killed or seriously wounded in recent fighting. Other losses included several drone, ammunition and material-technical depots, one tank, 28 other armored combat vehicles, two guided aerial bombs, two HIMARS missiles, and 360 aircraft-type drones among the military targets and military equipment destroyed or hit.
Rogion Miroshnyk, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador, announced on his Telegram channel that 56 civilians were killed and 311 – including 11 children – were injured in Ukrainian attacks in December.
The diplomat said that over the past month, Ukrainian armed forces have fired at least 14,900 rounds of ammunition at Russian civilian targets. The majority of artillery and drone strikes have hit Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Kherson regions.
A Chinese immigrant, living in Italy illegally, stole a handgun from a security guard and later opened fire on police during a confrontation in Milan on Thursday afternoon, authorities revealed over the weekend.
The incident began around 2:30 p.m., when the suspect, identified by Italian media as a Chinese national in his mid-to-late twenties, allegedly attacked a security guard who was walking to work, striking the roughly 50-year-old man on the head with a stick before taking his Walther P99 pistol and fleeing.
Police tracked the suspect toward the Rogoredo area in Milan’s southeastern suburbs. Around 3:15 p.m., a firearms squad intercepted him near Piazza Mistral. According to Il Giornale, the suspect fired several shots, some of which struck a police vehicle. Officers returned fire, seriously wounding him. No officers were injured in the exchange.
The suspect was taken to Milan’s Niguarda Hospital in critical condition, suffering gunshot injuries to his head and arm. Authorities are investigating both the shootout and the earlier assault on the security guard.
The confrontation occurred close to the location where Abhderraim Mansouri, a 28-year-old Moroccan national, was fatally shot by police earlier in the week in a separate incident.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini publicly expressed support for the officers involved. “I’m with the policeman,” he wrote on X.
The suspect’s family had posted appeals on social media from China days before the incident, saying he had gone missing in Milan and was suffering from severe psychological distress.
“Please help us bring him home,” his wife wrote, adding that he had left without money or a phone and had not been heard from since.
“He had left to give us a better life. Before leaving, he smiled and promised the children he would return for the Chinese New Year with gifts,” she added.
Irene Montero, a politician from the far-left, pro-immigration Podemos party, is arguing that after granting amnesty to 500,000 illegal immigrants, the Sanchez government should now make them Spanish citizens and amend the law to allow them to participate in elections. She specifically calls to replace the “fascists and racists with immigrants.” Now, she has faced backlash from a wide range of critics, including Elon Musk and a range of European politicians.
“I hope for replacement theory, I hope we can sweep this country of fascists and racists with immigrants. Whatever their skin color, whether Chinese, Black, or Brown,” Montero said, as quoted by the daily El Mundo. In her speech, she strongly criticized right-wing parties, including Vox and its leader Santiago Abascal, describing their rhetoric as “racist” and “anti-migration.”
🇪🇸 The leader of the Spanish far-left basically turns conspiracy theory into fact.
"I hope for replacement theory, I hope we can sweep this country of fascists and racists with immigrants. Whatever their skin color, whether Chinese, Black, or Brown." pic.twitter.com/HzLvc9TJOP
Montero spoke on Saturday at a rally in Zaragoza, organised ahead of the regional elections in Aragon on Feb. 8.
The decision by Spain’s socialist government to legalize the stay of 500,000 illegal immigrants in the country has brought a fury of backlash.
Not only are many Spaniards furious at her remarks, but her remark also garnered international attention, including from Elon Musk, who said: “She is advocating genocide. Utterly contemptible.”
Polish politicians also provided their view on her remarks.
“This is exactly the goal of the left and the liberals ruling the EU. This is why they pushed through the migration pact. As many new citizens as possible, imported from outside Europe – this is their hope for additional votes in the elections and maintaining power,” commented PiS MP Paweł Jabłoński, according to Polish newspaper Do Rzezcy.
“Podemos is your ally in Europe, the Razem party, Adrian Zandberg? Do you also support the implementation of the ‘great replacement theory’?” asked MP Kacper Płażyński, also from PiS.
“Immediately exclude Spain from the Schengen Area!” called Piotr Czak Żukowski of the National Movement. “Granting citizenship to hordes of illegal immigrants from Africa is a threat to all of Europe,” emphasized the Confederation activist.
Police in Hamburg, Germany, are investigating a suspected homicide after a man and a young woman were killed by an incoming subway train at the port city’s Wandsbek-Markt station, with eyewitnesses saying a “colored” man deliberately pulled the woman onto the tracks.
It was later confirmed that the killer was a 25-year-old man from South Sudan.
According to Hamburg police, initial findings indicate that the individuals did not know each other and had been standing independently on the platform when, as the train approached, the man grabbed the woman and forced them both onto the tracks, dying instantly.
The incident occurred at around 10 p.m. The fire department recovered the bodies and handed the scene over to police shortly before 11 p.m., the Hamburger Abendblatt reported. The victims have not yet been identified, and police said the motive remains unclear. The regional newspaper later reported the victim was just 18 years of age.
According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrator was a Black man. The victim he threw under the subway train was a young woman. pic.twitter.com/oeRfBLC6J6
One eyewitness, asked by Focus magazine about the ages of those involved, said, “Unfortunately, I can not judge that with the colored one. The woman was very young.” Police said witnesses received psychological support at the scene and that investigators are reviewing footage from the station’s security cameras.
The fatal incident adds to a series of violent attacks at railway and subway stations in Germany in recent years. In August last year, a 31-year-old Iraqi man pushed a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl into the path of a freight train traveling at 100 kilometers per hour at Friedland station while she was waiting on the platform and speaking by phone with her grandfather in Ukraine. She died instantly. Earlier this month, the man was sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment, avoiding a prison sentence.
In January 2023, a 27-year-old Syrian national was arrested after reportedly throwing a 16-year-old schoolgirl onto the tracks at Altena station in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to a police report, “Suddenly a young man ran after her, grabbed her from behind, and threw her over the edge of the platform onto platform 1 in front of the stunned fellow passengers,” adding, “Then he jumped after himself and held the young girl firmly on the tracks.” The suspect later climbed back onto the platform and boarded his train.
More recently, in November 2025, Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani, head of the German-Arab school in Berlin and a prominent critic of radical Islam, said a man attempted to push him toward the tracks at a Neukölln subway station. “The man then hit me on the head with his hand. It was over in a few seconds,” Al-Mashhadani told Focus, saying he managed to fight back as the train approached. Berlin police said state security investigators took over the case, secured video footage, and questioned witnesses.
In another incident in March 2023, two foreign nationals were arrested at Pforzheim’s central train station after allegedly pushing a 49-year-old man onto the tracks when he refused to give them a cigarette. Local media reported that the victim was assaulted again as he tried to climb back onto the platform. The suspects, a 33-year-old Algerian and a 31-year-old Tunisian, were charged with dangerous bodily harm.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki is prioritizing nuclear power in the Polish energy mix, avoiding the transitional inclusion of gas, with the government focused on building the first nuclear power plant in Lubiatów-Kopalin.
Before his trip to Davos, Nawrocki had met with entrepreneurs to discuss Poland’s accession to the G20. In his speech, he presented his vision for Poland’s future energy mix. At the beginning of the year, the Sejm (lower house of parliament) almost unanimously passed a law to support the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Lubiatów-Kopalin, Pomerania, with over PLN 60 billion (€14 billion).
Negotiations on the contract for the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant (EPC) are expected to be completed by mid-year. Preliminary work on the plant’s construction site and the preparation of associated infrastructure are also scheduled for this year. Furthermore, in the first quarter, PEJ will soon submit an application to the National Atomic Energy Agency for a permit to build a nuclear power facility, Deputy Minister of Energy Wojciech Wrochna told Business Insider.
Experts confirm the long-term energy efficiency of nuclear power compared to other sources, such as renewables or coal.
Marcin Izdebski, an expert at the Center for Development Strategies, told the portal: “Renewable energy installations operate for 15-25 years. Nuclear power has a much longer lifespan, lasting 60-80 years. Furthermore, nuclear power doesn’t require balancing like renewable energy, which increases its economic efficiency. It’s most justified to build nuclear power plants where coal-fired units currently operate. Otherwise, these locations face economic collapse.”
“The government has a very rational and pragmatic approach to energy. We are by no means ideological about any source—neither coal, renewable energy, nor nuclear power. We are pursuing a policy aimed at achieving three goals: energy security, reducing CO2 emissions, and economic competitiveness. We view Poland’s future energy mix solely through the prism of these three issues,” Wrochna explained.
Construction of the first reactor of the Lubiatowo-Kopalino nuclear power plant is set to begin in 2028, while the plant is scheduled to become operational in 2036.
One source close to President Nawrocki also told Business Insider that he hopes to avoid natural gas altogether. “The president’s goal is for us not to make a hasty transition by replacing coal with gas, but to immediately switch from coal to nuclear power. For the head of state, stability is paramount, as it is not just an economic issue but also a component of national security.”
Wojciech Dąbrowski, former president of the Polish Energy Group under PiS, pointed to the risks of gas reliance. “Some point to gas, but it’s a fuel highly susceptible to various geopolitical turmoils. This must not be forgotten, as we don’t have sufficient gas resources of our own and must import about 80 percent of it. Therefore, gas can only be a useful supplement.”
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kai Kallas, said during the annual conference of the European Defence Agency in Brussels that “it is unacceptable that a veto by one country can block the policy of other European Union member states.”
The Estonian native presented the narrative, constantly repeated by supporters of EU centralization, that unanimity in decisions prevents the European Union authorities from reacting quickly enough in a situation where the current geopolitical crises require urgent responses.
Kallas has recommended exploring the possibilities provided for in the EU Treaties, namely, constructive abstention, the gradual extension of qualified majority voting in foreign and security policy, and the use of the mutual defence clause, to speed up the decision-making process in political and military policy.
Such a move has long been opposed by numerous member states, including Poland. The previous Polish government, for instance, cited Germany’s policy of building Nord Stream 2 with Russia, despite ample warnings from Poland about the threat Russia posed. Along with this issue, and many others, states argue that the veto helps maintain national sovereignty in the EU for member states.
Kallas, however, said that Europe is no longer Washington’s primary geopolitical objective, and this shift has been underway for some time.
“This shift in strategic focus has shaken the foundations of the transatlantic relationship. The United States remains a partner and ally of Europe, but it is necessary to adapt to new realities, and Europe must act urgently,” she said.
“No great power in history has ever managed to survive while remaining intact,” she added, emphasizing that strengthening defense is a priority. Kallas noted that European defense capabilities are fragmented, with member states overly focused on national interests, which slows down and weakens joint action.
Therefore, in her opinion, “We need to change our culture and act like Europeans, not like nations,” Kallas said.
Germany has also continuously demanded that the EU abandon the unanimity principle and works toward greater integration.
German politician Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s Party (EPP), currently the largest group in the European Parliament, wants member states to switch to qualified majority voting in matters of foreign and security policy, instead of unanimous voting.
The issue for him and other Brussels leaders has been that some heads of government, including Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Robert Fico in Slovakia, continuously block certain measures, especially those seeking to achieve “European integration.” Now, it appears they are willing to throw the founding treaties out to deal with the pro-peace political leaders, who are opposed to further weapons to Ukraine.
According to Do Rzeczy, Weber also wants the positions of president of the European Commission and president of the European Council to be combined, arguing that such a change would not require changes to the EU treaties and could be achieved after the next European Parliament elections in 2029.
The politician says Brussels is currently “blocked” in the international arena and that this “must end.” The merger of these positions would be the key to making this possible.
The current president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, heads the executive branch of the European Union, which has competencies in trade, agriculture, the single market, and other areas of domestic policy.
Foreign affairs, meanwhile, are handled by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas from Estonia, and the president of the European Council, António Costa from Portugal, both of whom report directly to EU countries.
Weber says this separation of roles creates a “fragmented division of power” that is “not up to the task” in times of geopolitical uncertainty, especially with the Trump administration “upending the international order.”
Asked by Politico if he would run for the position of future “president of Europe,” Weber did not rule out such a scenario, emphasizing that “the future of these issues lies in the hands of the party structures and in the hands of the citizens of Europe.”
Weber has been the leader of the EPP in the EU parliament since 2014. In 2019, he ran for president of the European Commission, but the candidate ultimately went to von der Leyen, then German defense minister.
Professor Adam Glapiński, president of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), recently announced that the Polish central bank has decided to continue increasing its gold reserves to 700 tons, with its gold holdings already outstripping both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The announcement comes as the price of gold has once again broken an all-time record, surpassing $5,000 per ounce for the first time in history on Jan. 26. This means that, thanks to the NBP’s systematic actions, Poland has a substantial financial cushion of its own.
However, Polish newspaper wPolityce appeared to take issue with a report from German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ), which wrote that Poland is increasing its gold reserves despite gold offering no interest rate to earn on.
The paper notes that Professor Glapiński has long held the position that gold is “an anchor of state security, a pillar of confidence in our currency and economy, and a guarantee of state and economic independence.”
“The price of gold continues to rise. Earlier this week, it surpassed $5,000 per ounce. However, this hasn’t caused the world’s largest gold buyer, the National Bank of Poland, to retreat from the market rally or slow down,” writes FAZ.
The article, however, does briefly mention that Germany has the second-largest holdings of gold in the world, at 3,350 tons. In fact, that is 6.5 times the size of Poland’s own gold reserves.
“Since Adam Glapiński took over as central bank president 10 years ago, reserves of the precious metal have more than fivefold. In central bank publications, the 75-year-old economist poses in front of shelves full of gold bars and describes himself as the golden president,” reads the article.
Poland has long accused Germany of attempting to treat it as a vassal state, with Poland’s growing economy and independence seemingly a thorn in its side, given Germany’s traditional role as the European superpower.
Tensions between the two countries have long been brewing, especially over border controls and migrants, with Poland accusing Germany of dumping unwanted migrants over the border onto Polish territory.
Germany has been facing its own series of economic crises, with unemployment at 6.3 percent by the end of 2025, up from 6.0% in 2024. With the job market grim, Poles, who had sought higher wages and a better life in Germany for decades, are no longer finding its powerful neighbor so enticing. This past summer, data showed that more Poles are moving back to their homeland from Germany than vice versa.
A woman who survived a violent attempted rape in Amsterdam in May 2024 left the courtroom in tears and anger on Tuesday after judges refused to convict her attacker of attempted murder or manslaughter, despite evidence that she was strangled for several minutes and repeatedly threatened with death.
AT5 reported how the Amsterdam court sentenced Mohammed H. to three and a half years in prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment for attempted sexual assault. The Public Prosecution Service had sought a five-year prison sentence plus mandatory psychiatric treatment, arguing that the facts supported convictions for both attempted rape and attempted murder.
As the verdict was read out, the victim became visibly distressed and left the courtroom, shouting at the sentencing judge. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this anymore! What you are saying isn’t true! I was strangled, very long and very hard,” she said. The presiding judge replied, “We concur with that assessment.” The woman responded, “I don’t hear you concur,” to which the judge answered, “Hmm.”
Gut wrenching: Dutch 20 y/o victim of attempted rape and murder storms out of courtroom in tears as her attacker, Somali migrant Mohamed H. (26), gets a mere 3.5 years in prison.
Last May, a 20 y/o Dutch girl was attacked in Amsterdam’s Westerpark by Mohamed H. who choked her… pic.twitter.com/r1yHGOwDcv
The attack took place during the night of May 10, 2024, as the woman was walking home from a café. She noticed a man following her before he grabbed her by the neck and dragged her into Amsterdam’s Westerpark, where he assaulted her and attempted to rape her. During the attack, he repeatedly threatened to kill her, telling her, “You’re going to die tonight. This is your last night!”
According to the case file, the woman was held in a powerful chokehold and beaten for around four minutes. Two nearby residents heard her screaming, and one immediately called 911, later telling police it sounded as if the woman was fighting for her life. After the call, the witness heard nothing for several minutes.
Prosecutors argued that the combination of prolonged strangulation, violence, and explicit death threats demonstrated intent to kill. “It’s only thanks to the complainant’s incredible fighting spirit, the adrenaline she experienced, and the police’s intervention that she’s still alive,” the Public Prosecution Service said when requesting a five-year sentence.
The court, however, disagreed. In its ruling, it stated, “Based on the file, the court cannot establish that he deliberately and knowingly tried to kill the woman.” Although Mohammed H. repeatedly said he would kill her, the judges said these threats could also fit a scenario in which he was trying to force sexual acts and frighten the victim. The court further ruled that it could not establish that there was a significant chance the woman would die.
The victim’s lawyer said the ruling was devastating for his client. “It’s incredibly important to her that she felt the strangulation and that the words were spoken that he would kill her,” he explained. “She felt the chokehold, and to then be told that attempted manslaughter cannot be proven is especially disappointing.” He added that she does not feel recognized as a victim by the verdict.
Both the suspect and the Public Prosecution Service have two weeks to appeal the ruling. As the victim is not a party to the criminal case, she has no right of appeal herself.
Dit land is ziek. Doodziek.
Toen de rechtbank het vonnis oplas, verliet de vrouw vanmiddag geëmotioneerd de zaal. "Ik ben gewurgd, heel lang en heel hard", (door Mohammed H.) riep ze naar de rechter. https://t.co/JNq86FMmYY
The verdict prompted strong reactions from Dutch political figures and activists. Conservative commentator Eva Vlaardingbroek wrote on X, “This keeps on happening over and over again, everywhere in Europe. Our legal systems protect the perpetrators, not the victims. These judges should face justice for their continuous betrayal of European girls getting assaulted, raped, and murdered by migrants.”
Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom, added: “This country is sick. Seriously sick.”
As reported by Het Parool, the migrant fled Somalia and arrived in the Netherlands at the age of nine. He had an extensive criminal record at the time of the offense, including previous convictions for street robbery and car theft.
He has no fixed abode, was a known drug user, and was diagnosed with a personality disorder with antisocial traits.
Slovakia is obliged to stop taking over Russian gas by Nov. 1, 2027, at the latest, and according to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the EU decision to ban all gas from member states amounts to “energy suicide.” As a result, Bratislava will file a lawsuit at the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) against the newly adopted regulations.
On Monday, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament formally adopted the new legislation on the gradual phase-out of Russian gas and oil imports. The move is part of the REPowerEU plan, which aims to become independent from Russian energy carriers.
Fico immediately criticized the move, calling it “energy suicide,” and said that “when the military conflict ends, everyone will be breaking their legs, rushing to go to Russia to do business.”
Fico announced that Slovakia will file a lawsuit against the adopted regulation at the Court of Justice of the European Union based in Luxembourg, writes Hlavnespravy.sk.
According to Fico, the country will argue that the regulation violates the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. He added that the Slovak Ministry of Justice, together with the portfolio responsible for foreign and European affairs, had prepared a “very professional document” and that they would be asking for the regulation to be declared contrary to the basic principles of the EU.
Fico also announced that Hungary, which voted against the legislation together with Slovakia, is also filing a lawsuit. It is not possible to file a joint action, but the argument is coordinated with the Hungarian side.
Fico says the war in Ukraine will be over by Nov. 1, 2027, “and everyone comes to their sense.” He believed that detaching from Russian energy in this way was suicide, and that not only he, but also German economists, politicians, and other EU politicians see it that way. According to his claim, the decision was made on a meaningless, ideological basis, due to hatred towards the Russian Federation.
Fico has long called for a ceasefire in the war, leading some to criticize his position in the conflict. However, his point about Russian energy has been echoed across the political spectrum in Europe, especially during a time when European nations feel threatened by the U.S.’s increasingly dominant position in supplying Europe’s energy needs. If the U.S. were to decide to curtail liquified natural gas (LNG) deliveries, for instance, it could be disastrous for Europe.
Fico also criticized the fact that the decree was adopted by a qualified majority. According to him, the European Commission has circumvented the principle of unanimity, which should be applied in the event of sanctions. The Slovak prime minister assessed this as a violation of the basic principles of the EU treaties. Increasingly, decisions on immigration, foreign policy, and a range of other issues are being taken by “qualified majority,” but since the EU cannot reach this, it is now violating the founding treaties to pass through its agenda.
He also warned that Slovakia could find itself in a situation where the energy carrier concerned would not be sufficient due to the regulation. As he puts it, “one dependency will be replaced by another”, and Europe will have to obtain even higher quantities of liquefied gas from the United States.
According to Fico, Slovakia has already suffered significant damage when the transit of Russian gas on the territory of the country stopped. According to him, this was caused by the decision of the Ukrainian president and meant a loss of up to €500 million per year due to the lack of transit fees.
As reported in Hungarian outlet Hirado.hu, the situation of European gas supply continues to deteriorate after the Arctic cold in the United States significantly reduced LNG production. Due to the extreme frosts, American gas production decreased by about 11 percent, and prices more than doubled, while domestic consumption increased sharply. There is fear that exports, including shipments to Europe, may also decline.
The European market is particularly vulnerable, as the filling of gas reservoirs has already fallen below 45 percent and is in danger of falling below 25 percent.
In Germany, reservoirs are already under 41 percent filled and incoming LNG is used immediately, which means that strategic reserves are barely formed. All of this means price increases are coming at a time when the EU is urging complete separation from Russian natural gas.
The development of the situation depends crucially on how long the extreme cold lasts in the United States and when LNG plants can return to normal operation.
German taxpayer-funded NGO “Black Sheep,” Schwarze Schafe in German, is currently offering a six-month intensive seminar designed specifically for White individuals to examine their “alleged privileges,” which is modeled after the concept of “Critical Whiteness.” The organization, which identifies as a “post-migrant education initiative,” receives significant taxpayer funding from Germans and operates a reporting center for anti-Muslim racism.
As first reported by journalist Annabel Schunke in the Weltwoche, the seminar—dubbed the “Ally Lab”—runs from March to September with a participation fee of €2,290 euros.
The course is held both online and on-site in Hanover. According to the group’s Instagram, the program was developed following “numerous inquiries from people without their own experiences of racism.” Prospective students must go through a selective process, submitting both a “letter of motivation and a resume.”
The curriculum is built around the concept of “Critical Whiteness,” a framework suggesting that white people in majority-white societies enjoy unearned advantages because they are viewed as the societal norm.
The seminar aims to instill a “racially critical practice” in both private and professional spheres. It seeks to reflect how “power and social norms shape our actions and thinking.” Graduates of the “Ally Lab” are intended to be equipped to “subsequently conduct such courses themselves.”
🇩🇪🔴“Black bodies in German nature simply hits differently. You have to experience it.”
A hiking group only for Black people is being praised by public media in Germany.
Such a group could actually be illegal in Germany under the “General Equal Treatment Act,” which prohibits… pic.twitter.com/H57YptWiWT
“Black Sheep” extends its ideological training to various sectors of society, including early childhood education and law enforcement. On their website, the NGO argues that “even the smallest people experience a world in which differences are evaluated.” Their training for daycare professionals focuses on how “criticism of racism and empowerment can be anchored in early education” in a way that is “child-friendly, practical and heartfelt.”
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency has recommended their formats for school classes, which are described as “empowering” and “fun.” Additionally, the NGO provides training for the “police, administration and other authorities.”
The organization’s projects are heavily intertwined with government support, which focuses on a variety of topics, including anti-Muslim racism. The reporting center “Report! Lower Saxony,” which is involved in censorship in Germany, is a joint venture between the NGO “Claim” and “Black Sheep,” which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and the German Islam Conference.
According to Schunke, the counseling center Amina, which also belongs to Black Sheep, is supported by the city of Hanover.
Another of the NGO’s projects, the exhibition “Afrotopia NDS. Black Lifeworlds Lower Saxony,“ is funded by the Ministry for Family Affairs through the program “Living Democracy.“ According to its own statements, the exhibition aims to make the reality of life for black people in Lower Saxony visible.
The initiative also offers long-term consulting for companies to help them “discuss experiences with racism and other inequalities, change perspectives and develop possible courses of action.”
Critical Race Theory growing in popularity in Germany
Critical Race Theory, which “Critical Whiteness” is a part of and was first popularized in the United States, comes in various permutations but is overall defined as an anti-White hate theory, which posits that White societies are inherently racist and systematically oppress minorities.
In the U.S., books like “Not My Idea” have been promoted in classrooms, which explains to readers that “whiteness” is what drives White people to make “deals with the devil” for “stolen land, stolen riches and special favors.”
The book also claims White people get to “mess endlessly with the lives of your friends, neighbors, loved ones, and all fellow humans of color for the purpose of profit.”
In Cupertino, California, third graders were required to rank themselves on a scale of “power and privilege” based on their race, and schools in Buffalo, New York, taught students that “all white people” perpetuate “systemic racism.” The program also required kindergarteners to view a video of dead Black children with the warning that “racist police and state-sanctioned violence” were responsible.
The education state department in Arizona also distributed “equity toolkits” to schools, claiming that infants as young as 3 months old begin to show signs of racism and “remain strongly biased in favor of whiteness” by the time they turn 5 years of age.
This racist theory and those like it caught on with Germans in recent years and have progressively spread through the school system, including in Berlin.
Foreign nationals were responsible for nearly two-thirds of sexual offense arrests and more than 70 percent of homicide and robbery arrests in the Spanish region of Navarre over the past year, according to an internal report prepared by the Information Division of the Navarre Regional Police and accessed by El Español.
The 23-page document included data of all arrests for 2024 and up to Nov. 25 last year, including detailed charts and crime-by-crime breakdowns classifying detainees by nationality and country of birth, a level of detail not included in the annual public crime reports.
According to the report’s headline findings, foreigners accounted for 62.96 percent of arrests for sexual offenses, 73.3 percent of arrests for homicide and attempted homicide, and 71.77 percent of arrests for robbery-related crimes. By contrast, Spanish nationals represented between a quarter and just over a third of detainees in those categories.
According to El Español, the authors noted a downward trend in the number of Spaniards being arrested for such crimes, from 37.36 percent in 2024 to 33.73 percent in 2025, while the number of foreigners arrested has risen.
Morocco and Algeria are the countries of origin most frequently represented among foreign suspects. In robbery cases involving violence, more than half of the foreign suspects were Moroccan nationals, followed by Algerians. The report states that arrests of Moroccan nationals rose by 17.2 percent year on year, while arrests of Algerian nationals increased by 13.8 percent, from 80 in 2024 to 91 in 2025.
Morocco also topped the list as the country of origin with the most foreign suspects arrested for sexual offenses.
For those suspected of theft, 83.7 percent of detainees were foreign nationals.
This is despite the fact that Navarre, with a population of around 683,000, has a foreign population of around 13.2 percent.
The report’s publication led to criticism from María Chivite, the regional government’s president and a member of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s left-wing PSOE. She claimed that including the nationalities of offenders “does not contribute to prevention” and risks “very dangerous singling out.”
Navarre isn’t the only region to see a disproportionate number of foreign nationals involved in crime. In November last year, the Ertzaintza, the autonomous police force of Spain’s Basque Country, published its first-ever report on the origin of detainees, with the data showing that 64 percent are foreigners, despite foreigners only making up approximately 14.1 percent of the population.
For sexual assault, foreigners were responsible for 68 percent of all cases, and for robbery with force, it was 68.6 percent of cases.
🇪🇸❕ "His own people hate him, so he decides they must be replaced. They give them some benefits to keep them happy, and then they are ready to vote for the left."@VOX_es leader @Santi_ABASCAL perfectly sums up the playbook of the left following Spain's socialist prime minister… pic.twitter.com/PLwNiJ0UzM
Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s right-wing Vox party, said it was his party that had pressured the authorities to change the way it reports crime stats, saying previously, “Thanks to Vox, we know the origin of criminals, something that governments and many media outlets have been hiding for years. The reality is that the most serious crimes have multiplied due to the open borders of the PSOE, PP, and their permanent separatist partners.”
Despite the rise in migrant crime, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced this week an amnesty for an estimated half a million illegal immigrants currently residing in Spain, pushing through the move using a royal decree that bypasses any parliamentary oversight.
A 21-year-old leader of a juvenile gang in Italy is a notable example of how crime reporting in Italy and all of Europe is gravely distorted, while hiding the true scale of crime coming from citizens of foreign origin.
The 21-year-old suspect, who has Italian citizenship but a Tunisian background, has returned to court in the Italian city of Ancona for allegedly slashing the tires of seven vehicles at random. He was previously convicted of robbery just one year ago, was reportedly identified by the distinct white Nike logo on his sweatpants.
In this case and many others, the fact that the suspect is an Italian citizen means that all his crimes are lumped into the “Italian” category, despite his Tunisian origin. This reality helps obfuscate how integration is progressing over the course of generations, and which is why Denmark records and publishes this data.
In this case, the suspect has been a serial offender in the city, according to Italian newspaper Ancona Today. Just a year ago, he received a sentence of three years and eight months for his involvement as the leader of a minor gang. His previous convictions included two robberies, two attempted thefts, assault, and unlawful possession of a knife.
The current charges stem from an incident on Dec. 28, 2023. The suspect is accused of damaging seven vehicles parked on a public street for no apparent reason. The cars affected included a Toyota Yaris Cross, a Citroen Jumper, a Honda HRV, a Lancia Y, a Dacia Logan, and a Suzuki and Citroen Picasso belonging to the same individual. While other vehicles were also targeted, those owners chose not to file complaints.
The investigation utilized security camera footage to identify the perpetrator. The footage allegedly shows the man wearing tracksuit bottoms featuring a white Nike swoosh on one leg.
During a recent hearing at the Ancona courthouse, several vehicle owners provided testimony. One owner withdrew their complaint due to minimal damage, while a formal complaint from another victim was added to the case files.
A plastic pig displayed in the window of a newly opened delicatessen on the Piazza dei Signori in the Italian city of Padua has triggered a local controversy after a senior representative of the city’s Muslim community called for its removal, arguing that it is offensive and inappropriate.
The pig, placed in the window of the deli Mortadella… e Non Solo, is used to advertise the shop’s sandwiches and cured meats, which are primarily made from pork. According to Il Giornale, Salim El Mauoed, the regional vice president of Padua’s Muslim community, urged both the shop’s owners and local authorities to intervene, describing the display as “in bad taste” and offensive to Muslims who pass through the area.
There is no legal basis requiring the business to remove the display. The pig imagery is a central part of the shop’s branding and appears not only in the window but also in its logo, promotional materials, and merchandise shared publicly on social media.
El Mauoed’s request has drawn criticism from some politicians and residents, who argue that it amounts to interference with lawful commercial activity and undermines the principle of civil coexistence.
They contend that living together in a pluralistic society necessarily involves accepting visible expressions of different cultures, religions, and dietary traditions, particularly when those expressions are neither targeted nor discriminatory.
Il Giornale reports that some members of the local Muslim community believe symbols seen as contrary to Islamic religious precepts should be avoided in shared urban spaces. Others, however, have warned that removing a legal and commonplace commercial symbol risks establishing a precedent in which religious objections could reshape long-established customs and everyday practices.
The newspaper also notes that the deli employs Muslim staff, some of whom have publicly defended the display, saying the plastic pig simply reflects the nature of the business and is not intended to offend anyone.
Frankfurt am Main has long championed its reputation as a “melting pot of cultures,” priding itself on being Germany’s most international and diverse hub, but the reality is that crime has soared and the city is more unlivable than ever.
As Bild newspaper reports, “No German city is more diverse, more international, or more colorful. But here, too, something has slipped in the last ten years – the cityscape has changed noticeably.”
Frankfurt’s main train station neighborhood is now notorious
One of the first sights newcomers see is the 53-hectare area surrounding the main train station, known as the Bahnhofsviertel, which has transitioned from an upscale commercial district to a focal point for social friction.
Jens Spahn noted in a Bild interview: “Look at a main train station, in Duisburg, in Hamburg, in Frankfurt. Neglect, drug dealers, young men, mostly with a migration background, mostly from Eastern Europe or Arab-Muslim cultural areas. This also has to do with irregular migration, as it looks in our city centers, in the marketplaces,” he said.
Local business owners have felt this shift firsthand. Bernhard Hahn, who moved his historic music store “Cream Music” in 2017 after over a century in the district, previously stated: “The most accomplished figures are coming to Taunusstrasse, seriously addicted people, drug tourists. The dealers are waiting for them. Our customers have to run slalom to come to us,” he said.
Today, authorities estimate that roughly 5,000 addicts are supplied by 300 dealers in the area, leading to 36 major police raids since 2024.
Four months ago, public broadcaster BR launched a documentary about the chaos in this district detailing how police are dealing with violent offenders often willing to use a knife or weapon, including on the officers themselves.
Famed Youtuber Kurt Caz also descended on the area, revealing just how brutal, violent, and dirty it has become, with his video earning nearly 8 million views. In other words, the problems of Frankfurt have gone mainstream to the point that they are attracting a global audience.
Changing demographics
Frankfurt’s population has surged to over 776,000. While foreigners made up 27.3 percent of the population in 2015, that figure rose to nearly 32 percent by late 2024. When including those with a migration background, the proportion reaches 58 percent.
Religious demographics have also drastically shifted, with Muslim residents now totaling 137,000 people while Christian residents are 218,000, down from 300,000 in 2010.
The city’s culture is also rapidly changing, with Ramadan street decorations now in place while traditional Easter customs have largely faded from public areas.
Crime has soared
Since 2015, crime has soared in Frankfurt, with foreigners responsible for the vast majority of serious crimes, amounting to 57.4 percent. It must also be noted that all Germans with a migration background are also not counted in these statistics, underlining that the problem is likely far worse when second-generation migrants are taken into consideration.
Since 2015, the number of brutality cases has gone from 9,115 to 14,258 in 2024. At the same time, rapes have nearly quadrupled, going from 436 to 1,623.
In addition, 51.5 percent of all bodily harm cases, 61.5 percent of human trafficking cases, and 83.3 percent of all forced prostitution.
When it comes to murder, foreigners are also killing at extremely high rates relative to Germans. Foreigners are responsible for 60 percent of murder cases, 54 percent of manslaughter cases, and 100 percent of serious sexual assaults.
On the major shopping streets, including the famous Zeil, migrant youth gangs are making it more difficult for retailers to operate than ever.
Joachim Stoll of the Hessen-Süd Trade Association said that space is less and less in demand, with the famous Zeil now dotted with more and more vacancies.
In the evening, migrant youth gangs, known as “Talahons,” descend to these public areas, such as the Zeil, where they wear designer clothing and act “gangster” for TikTok videos.
A police investigator who spoke to build said it is “a completely new phenomenon that didn’t exist ten years ago. There were always teenagers, but this is different.“
Public spaces face increasing issues with littering and public urination. In response, Lord Mayor Mike Josef has significantly increased fines, including a €1,000 penalty for illegally dumping bulk waste.
The presence of police is now a common sight in these hot spots, leading to an atmosphere where residents often feel unsafe or even unwilling to venture out into shopping districts. The Frankfurt Christmas market is another once safe space that now requires millions of euros worth of bollards and security barriers.
“Frankfurt should become cleaner and more livable. Anyone who violates the rules will face noticeable consequences in the future,” claimed Mayor Josef.
However, for the people living in Frankfurt, there is little evidence of consequences.
Jewish life threatened
Jewish residents have also noted that there is an increasingly intense environment in the city. Since Oct. 7, 2023, there have been increasing anti-Israel demonstrations and anti-Semitic incidents.
“I pay close attention to what I wear – my clothes make it clear that I belong to the Jewish faith. There is an Islamist-motivated anti-Semitism that worries me. Because of this threat, I don’t always feel safe,” said Rabbi Zalmann Gurevitch.
Soaring rents
Frankfurt’s influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants has sent rent costs soaring to record levels while pushing many people to the periphery of the city. Although mass immigration is one factor of many, it is a primary driver of housing and rental price increases across Germany. After all, the population of Germany would have long since fallen to more sustainable levels if newcomers were not consistently arriving.
In fact, the rental situation is so bad in Frankfurt that documentaries from German public broadcasters declaring “Rental Madness” are appearing on Youtube.
Segregation is high
Frankfurt is often ranked inconsistently, with some surveys noting it is a great city to live in, while others, such as this one, report it is ranked as the second-worst city for expats to live in. However, like many cities across the West, there are tremendous differences between neighborhoods and living areas.
This has to do with segregation, with wealthier White Germans and other well-off foreigners, many from other EU countries, congregating in the suburbs and certain upscale neighborhoods. In fact, in one study from the journal Frontiers of Sociology, Frankfurt was determined to be the most segregated city in Germany, with foreigners tending to congregate in certain low-income neighborhoods.
If segregation is a sign of a failure of multiculturalism, then by this metric, Frankfurt is the greatest failure.
However, this is nothing new to the West. Often, the most multicultural and liberal cities, many of which pride themselves on being anti-racist, feature the highest levels of segregation. New York City, for instance, has the highest segregation in the educational system of any city in America, a fact that would surprise many who believe New York City is a “melting pot.”
If Frankfurt is the most diverse and international city in Germany, it does not bode well for the future of the country. Unless severe immigration policies restricting immigration come into play, this could be the norm in every corner of Germany within the next 10 to 20 years. In other major cities like Hamburg and Berlin, this reality is already mostly in place.
A proposed European Union ban on Russian oil and gas faces broad public opposition across the bloc and mounting legal resistance from member states, according to new survey data.
Research published by Hungary’s Századvég Foundation indicates that a relative majority of EU citizens oppose a full embargo on Russian energy imports. Across the European Union, 45 percent of respondents said they were against a complete ban, while support failed to reach a majority in most member states. In two-thirds of EU countries surveyed, at least a relative majority rejected the proposal. Only Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia recorded absolute majority support.
Opposition was strongest in Central and Southern Europe. In Slovenia, 68 percent of respondents opposed the embargo, followed by Greece at 65 percent. In Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Hungary, 62 percent of respondents rejected the measure, according to the survey.
Despite this, the European Commission has moved ahead with a regulation under its REPowerEU framework that would prohibit new contracts for Russian fossil fuels and impose a complete phase-out by 2027. The regulation was advanced using qualified majority voting, overcoming government opposition from Hungary and Slovakia.
📊 @Szazadveg: Europeans oppose Brussels’ Russian energy ban, survey finds
⚡ A proposed European Union ban on Russian oil and gas runs counter not only to EU law and member state sovereignty, but also to public opinion across the bloc, according to fresh research by Hungary’s… pic.twitter.com/9os7x7hMCD
Critics argue that the Commission’s approach raises serious legal and constitutional questions. While the policy would have the effect of a sanction, opponents say it has been presented as a trade measure, allowing it to bypass the requirement for unanimous approval by all member states.
Energy policy and decisions on national energy mixes fall under member state competence under EU treaties, a point repeatedly emphasized by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who announced on Monday that Budapest would seek to have the regulation annulled.
“Hungary will take legal action before the Court of Justice of the European Union as soon as the decision on REPowerEU is officially published. We will use every legal means to have it annulled,” he said.
“The REPowerEU plan is based on a legal trick, presenting a sanctions measure as a trade policy decision in order to avoid unanimity,” Szijjártó added. “This goes completely against the EU’s own rules. The Treaties are clear: decisions on the energy mix are a national competence.”
The Hungarian government has also warned of significant economic consequences if Russian supplies are cut off. Analysts cited by officials estimate that household utility costs could rise to three-and-a-half times current levels, while fuel prices could exceed 1,000 forints (€2.62) per liter.
Slovakia has announced it will join Hungary’s legal challenge. Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said Bratislava could not accept solutions that fail to reflect the “real possibilities and specificities” of individual member states, according to comments cited by TASR.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico went further in his criticism, describing the Commission’s plan as “energy suicide” and predicting that “when the military conflict ends, everyone will be breaking their legs, rushing to go to Russia to do business.”
A 15-year-old French girl was found bloody and dazed wandering the streets by police, only for them to discover she had just escaped from a basement where she had been severely tortured, including being slashed, burned, and assaulted, by four minors. The four suspects have been arrested, including three girls. Another adult individual was also taken into custody, according to the Lyon public prosecutor, who issued a press release on Wednesday.
According to a source close to the investigation, “their violence and cruelty were totally incomprehensible.”
The victim, who lives in a shelter in Annecy, was contacted by her ex-boyfriend, who, “under the pretext of getting back together,” met her in Oullins-Pierre-Bénite. He then reportedly took her to an apartment where three other girls were waiting, including the ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.
The victim was led into a basement inside the apartment building, where one of the suspects stabbed her in her right thigh. Then, the suspects proceeded to slash the victim’s back and trace “X” shapes on her, as well as smiley faces and the number 69. The Liberation news outlet also reported that the victim received severe burns during the incident. The youths then sprayed her with a fire extinguisher and robbed the young girl’s phone.
According to police sources, the torture and assault lasted for hours and was filmed by one of the suspects.
Police quickly arrested “four minors,” including two 14-year-old girls, as well as a 17-year-old boy and another girl of an unspecified age. In addition, a 19-year-old adult was taken into custody, but it is unclear what role the adult played.
Two of the girls were arrested in the apartment where the victim was first left and placed into custody. They have been charged with kidnapping, extortion, robbery, torture, “intentional violence” and an “act of barbarity against a minor,” said Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran.
The police reportedly recovered video of the torture from one of the suspects’ phones.
There is no information currently available about the nationality of the suspects, but none of them reportedly had a criminal history and the incident did not happen in a “troubled” neighborhood.
An off-duty police officer was assaulted in broad daylight on Tuesday in the Clichy-Batignolles–Martin Luther King park in Paris’s 17th arrondissement after being followed and attacked by a man later identified as being on France’s national security watchlist, according to police union representatives and media reports.
As reported by CNews, the officer was targeted after the suspect noticed a French flag attached to his backpack, a symbol commonly worn by law enforcement or military personnel.
Fabien Bogais, national union delegate for Alliance 75, said the confrontation appeared to have begun when the attacker spotted the flag, sparking a tirade of anti-French abuse before the assault. “The altercation reportedly started when he saw a French flag on his backpack. The investigation will have to confirm this,” Bogais said.
The suspect is alleged to have insulted the officer by calling him a “dirty Frenchman” and telling him, “France belongs to us,” before punching him several times. The officer suffered injuries to his mouth and face, as well as wounds to his torso.
Police responding to the scene identified several individuals, mostly minors, who had gathered around the victim and the attacker, who was attempting to restrain him. The injured officer was treated for facial injuries and other bodily harm.
Investigators identified the suspect as Nordine B., a 38-year-old man born in Paris who is listed on the S-list, a security designation used by French intelligence services to flag individuals considered potential national security threats.
Union officials described the assault as part of a broader pattern of hostility toward law enforcement. Bogais said sustained criticism of the police was having real-world consequences, arguing that “the police bashing by a certain segment of the population, and especially by a certain segment of the political population, is paying off.”
CNews reported that, between Jan. 1 and July 31, 2024, nearly 2,650 police officers and at least 2,300 gendarmes were injured in attacks while on duty.
In September last year, six off-duty police officers were violently attacked by around 10 individuals while they were meeting colleagues for dinner in the French city of Rennes. The incident was caught on film and showed a number of individuals surrounding and beating the officers.
Prosecutor François Schneider described the attack as a “lynching,” and two suspects, originally from the island of Mayotte, were arrested and charged. Injuries to the officers included a broken ankle, a fractured nose, and several lacerations from being struck with a belt buckle.
Earlier this month, the Alliance Police Nationale union launched what it described as an unprecedented appeal to citizens to mobilize against what it considers an out-of-control level of insecurity across France due to rising migrant crime, with coordinated marches planned in 24 major cities on Saturday, Jan. 31.
In a national statement, the union warned that “France is sinking into insecurity,” arguing that crime is “organizing, structuring itself and becoming radicalized,” while “the State is retreating.”
Alliance said police officers were continuing to protect the public “at the risk of their lives,” but without sufficient staff, adequate resources, or “real legal protection.”
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is conducting a large-scale international investigation into violations of European Union sanctions against Russia.
The case, as reported by “Rzeczpospolita” via Do Rzeczy, concerns the illegal export of luxury cars from EU countries to Russia, despite a ban in effect since 2022. The ban, introduced by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, covers exports of cars to Russia worth more than $50,000. According to OLAF, this investigation is one of the largest sanctions circumvention proceedings in the EU.
The investigation was initiated following reports from Polish customs authorities, who discovered suspicious exports of used vehicles from several member states. The vehicles were formally declared as destined for destinations including Turkey, but evidence gathered indicated their actual destination was Russia.
OLAF found that EU exporters and importers from third countries, including Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova, were involved in the scheme. These countries allegedly acted as intermediaries to conceal the true destination of the exports.
A total of 766 luxury cars were identified that never reached their intended recipients. Each vehicle was tracked as part of the investigation, allowing the logistics chain to be reconstructed and their presence in Russia confirmed. As a result of these findings, criminal proceedings were initiated in three EU Member States, including Poland.
Earlier, Polish police in Lublin detained 20 people suspected of participating in an organized crime group involved in luxury car sales and tax fraud. According to investigators, the group used fictitious business entities to create multi-stage transaction chains, allowing them to both circumvent sanctions and obtain improper VAT refunds. Losses from this activity were estimated at approximately $10 million.
OLAF announced that the investigation covers activities conducted between 2021 and 2025 in Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Germany. The case is ongoing, and the office announced further actions to determine the full scale of the operation and any potential further violations of EU sanctions.
Portugal’s nationalist presidential candidate André Ventura has said he would veto any attempt by the Portuguese parliament to follow neighboring Spain in regularizing large numbers of illegal immigrants, as immigration became a key issue in the final days of the presidential campaign.
Speaking during the final televized debate ahead of the Feb. 8 run-off election, Ventura attacked the Spanish socialist government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over its decision to legalize an estimated 500,000 migrants. He said there simply “cannot be a mass entry of people in such a way,” warning that Portugal must not replicate what he described as Spain’s approach.
Ventura’s socialist opponent, António José Seguro, declined to rule out a similar policy in Portugal. He argued that immigration needed to be managed pragmatically, stressing the importance of state oversight. He said it was necessary to “control and regulate the entry of immigrants” and to ensure organization “at the level of reception and integration.” Seguro added that economic realities could not be ignored, asking, “If there is a need and an emergency in the sense that our economy requires more labor and that labor does not exist in the country, what is the solution? Does the country shut down?” He also pointed to the fiscal role of migrants, claiming that “immigrants in Portugal make an indispensable contribution, for example, to Social Security.”
As reported by Entrerios, Ventura said the remarks showed Seguro “clearly shows how unprepared he is for the job.” The Chega leader accused his rival of not even understanding the constitutional role of the presidency, adding that Seguro did not know “what he is supposed to do if that happened. Whether to enact it or not, whether to veto it, whether to re-analyze it, whether to send it back to parliament again.”
The debate in Portugal has coincided with an increasingly heated political debate in Spain following Sánchez’s announcement. The move has prompted a fierce backlash from Spanish nationalists, particularly the right-wing Vox party, which has accused the prime minister of seeking to engineer demographic change, or population replacement, for political gain. Vox leader Santiago Abascal told supporters that Sánchez was “hated by the Spanish” and claimed, “His own people hate him, so he decides they must be replaced. They give them some benefits to keep them happy, and then they are ready to vote for the left.”
🇪🇸🔴 Spain's Vox Party leader says he will back national strike actions after Spain's Socialist government moves to legalize 500,000 migrants.
"After 46 deaths, immediately after 46 deadly victims of this government’s corruption, Sánchez announces the regularization process for… pic.twitter.com/E3VtHMC6Ia
Abascal said Vox would support national strike action in response to the regularization plan. He linked the decision to broader allegations of corruption against the socialist government, which he blamed for failures in Spain’s rail network following a number of high-profile fatal crashes in the last month.
“After 46 deaths, immediately after 46 deadly victims of this government’s corruption, Sánchez announces the regularization process for half a million illegal immigrants,” Abascal said. “Corruption kills, as we have seen. Sánchez’s Mafia is directly implicated in the horror and chaos of the rail network. And invasion also kills.”
“This half a million regularizations will lead to millions more, which will further aggravate the collapse of health, housing, and security. We Spaniards have to react,” he added.
Ventura has long been an outspoken critic of the current Spanish government. At a Patriots for Europe rally held in September last year, the Portuguese presidential candidate called for Sánchez to be “sent to jail” for betraying his homeland on the economy, migration, and for facilitating ongoing alleged corruption.
Hungary and Ukraine have summoned each other’s ambassadors amid a sharp escalation in diplomatic tensions, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accusing Kyiv of attempting to interfere in Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary elections and Ukraine rejecting the claims as cynical and dishonest.
In a series of social media posts on Wednesday, Orbán alleged that Hungary had been subjected to “daily threats from Ukraine,” naming President Volodymyr Zelensky, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Ukrainian security services. “This will continue until the elections,” Orbán wrote, claiming that Kyiv wanted “a pro-Ukrainian government in Hungary” and was targeting members of his government, including Szijjártó and himself.
“We did not seek conflict, yet Hungary has been the target for days,” Orbán said, as cited by Magyar Hírlap. He added that Hungary would not be distracted from defending what he described as national interests, stating: “We will not send money to Ukraine, because it is in a better place with Hungarian families than in the bathroom of a Ukrainian oligarch.” He also reiterated his opposition to banning Russian oil and gas imports and to Ukraine joining the European Union, arguing that accession would “also import war.”
“As long as Hungary has a national government, these issues will not be decided in Kyiv or Brussels,” Orbán wrote.
Szijjártó said that Ukraine had summoned Hungary’s ambassador in Kyiv earlier on Wednesday, adding that Budapest was “not surprised, neither by the fact, nor by what they said.” According to the foreign minister, Ukrainian officials again objected to Hungary’s national petition, which allows citizens to express views on what the government describes as Brussels’ and Kyiv’s plans to use Hungarian taxpayer money to fund and arm Ukraine.
The foreign minister said Ukraine offered no explanation for what he called President Zelensky’s “vulgar insults” of Orbán or for Sybiha’s claim that the Hungarian prime minister is acting like “one of Hitler’s henchmen.”
Szijjártó warned that Kyiv appeared set to escalate what he described as interference in Hungary’s April election in support of opposition leader Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party. “We understand that Ukraine wants the Tisza Party to win, but only the Hungarian people can decide Hungary’s future, and whether we choose peace or war,” he said.
❗️@FM_Szijjarto: Today the Ukrainians summoned our ambassador in Kyiv. We weren’t surprised, neither by the fact, nor by what they said.” FM Szijjártó said Ukraine once again objected to Hungary’s national petition, which lets citizens express their views on Brussels and Kyiv’s… pic.twitter.com/G03dHCLOO6
Hungary has also summoned Ukraine’s ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Budapest. “We will not tolerate any interference in Hungary’s elections, including Ukraine’s attempts to influence the outcome and to intervene in the electoral process in favor of the Tisza Party,” he said.
He accused President Zelensky and the Ukrainian government of conducting an “open, shameless and aggressive interference campaign” in recent weeks, adding: “That decision is made in Hungary, not in Brussels and certainly not in Kyiv. We will defend our sovereignty by every possible means.”
The Ukrainian leadership crossed a line.
We did not seek conflict, yet for days now Hungary has been in the crosshairs. Still, neither threats from the president, nor from the foreign minister, nor from extremist military groups will deter us from standing up for the interests… pic.twitter.com/dSRFERc93N
Szijjártó’s remarks echoed earlier comments by Orbán on Jan. 24, when the prime minister said Ukraine had “gone on the offensive” and was “issuing threats and openly interfering in the Hungarian elections.”
Ukraine has not responded directly to Szijjártó’s latest claims, but Sybiha addressed earlier accusations over the weekend, telling Hungarian officials “not to be afraid of Ukraine,” but of the Hungarian people. In a lengthy post on X, Sybiha accused Orbán of cynicism and historical manipulation, writing: “When Viktor Orbán says that he will not allow Ukraine to join the EU for the next 100 years, he is not really talking to the Ukrainian state. First and foremost, he is telling this to ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.”
When Viktor Orbán says that he will not allow Ukraine to join the EU for the next 100 years, he is not really talking to the Ukrainian state. First and foremost, he is telling this to ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
Sybiha went on to accuse Orbán of using ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine as “hostages to his geopolitical adventures,” and claimed that blocking Ukraine’s EU accession amounted to “yet another crime against the Hungarian people and Hungary itself.”
Hungary has long been opposed to further rearmament for Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia, accusing Brussels of carelessly spending European taxpayers’ cash in a desperate and unrealistic attempt to help Ukraine defeat Russia, allowing for the continuation of a war that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Hungary heads to the polls on April 12 in a hotly contested election in what many in Budapest say will be the toughest test yet for Orbán and his governing Fidesz party.
The Gołębiewski Hotel on the Baltic Sea in Pobierowo, including a water park and a large conference complex, is set to open later this year, after repeated delays. The building boasts 13 floors and 1,200 rooms, the largest facility of its kind on the Baltic Sea.
The investment is not going down well with its German neighbors. “The largest hotel on the Baltic Sea is being built in the Polish resort town of Pobierowo. After a long wait, its opening is planned for this year. Some are delighted, while others are apprehensive about the impending opening,” reports Ostsee Zeitung, as cited by Do Rzeczy.
“A comparison with large hotels in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern clearly highlights the difference: Morada Resort Kühlungsborn has 413 rooms, Hotel Neptun in Warnemünde has 338 rooms, and the Baltic in Zinnowitz has 333 rooms,” the newspaper reports.
If it opens before the summer season, it will pose a significant challenge for hoteliers on the German side of the Baltic Sea. “Some praise the hotel as an extremely attractive offer for dream vacations, others fear a formidable rival: German tourism experts fear competition,” Ostsee Zeitung continues.
“They fear that customers, purchasing power, and employees will rapidly shift from the German side to the Polish side,” the paper notes.
German tourists have also criticized the Polish hotel, calling it a “monstrous concrete block, “simply awful,” and “unparalleled in its ugliness and lack of imagination.”
Another told the paper: “I love going to Poland, but not to such a monstrosity.”
This isn’t the first time Germany has criticized the development of the Polish coast. In August 2025, the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw dismissed a complaint against the environmental decision for the container terminal in Świnoujście filed by environmental organizations from Poland and Germany. The complaints were filed by the German organization Bürgerinitiative Lebensraum Vorpommern from Uznam Island and the Polish association Zielone Wyspy Świnoujście.
The construction of a deepwater container terminal in Świnoujście is one of the largest projects in the Polish maritime economy. The investor is the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority, and the project is coordinated by the Ministry of Infrastructure. The terminal, in the form of a so-called external port, is scheduled for completion by 2029.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently assured that the project will be implemented regardless of the obstacles. “No one will block this terminal,” he asserted.
Knife-wielding suspects “only have White skin,” claims Jette Nietzard, the former leader of the German Green Party youth wing, in a monologue-style video.
In the video, Nietzard, a controversial Green Party member, is well known for triggering anger even in his own party, says knife controls in Berlin metro stations are targeting foreigners, which she says are the wrong people. Instead, she said that White people should be targeted because Nazi publications are telling readers to carry knives in self-defense.
🇩🇪🟢Knife-wielding suspects “only have White skin,” claims the former leader of the German Green Party youth wing, Jette Nietzard.
Nietzard says knife controls in Berlin metro stations are targeting foreigners, who she says are the wrong people. Instead, she said that white… pic.twitter.com/DGUQCe57jf
In many German states, over 50 percent of knife crime suspects are foreigners. For instance, North Rhine-Westphalia found that 51 percent of knife crime suspects were foreign offenders. Of the German citizen suspects, 33 percent had a first name that suggested a migration background.
NEW: 🇩🇪🔪 Knife crime in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia soared last year by 28 percent, and non-Germans were responsible for more than half the offenses.
Syrians, Turks, and Iraqis were the worst foreign offenders.
Every day in the German media, foreigners are committing stabbing and violence against victims, a fact represented in the statistics again and again and again and again. Following one wave last year, criminal attorney Udo Vetter stated: “We have imported knife violence. In other cultures, the knife is a kind of status symbol. This is changing the social climate here in the country. Knives have become an everyday companion for many people. And the barrier to using them is low.”
“Because if some people deliberately pack a knife as a murder weapon, more and more people will also resort to knives, supposedly to defend themselves,” stated Vetter. “Young people in particular have knives in their pockets just like their cell phones.”
If we narrow the statistics down merely to public transportation, since that is what Nietzard is talking about, it becomes clear that the vast majority of stabbings and cases of violence are coming from the foreign population, which is vastly overrepresented in such statistics relative to its size. Foreigners are responsible for 62 percent of all crimes in the German state on public transport, despite being only 16 percent of the population
Notably, German police union deputy head, Manuel Ostermann, stated: “Germany is no longer a safe country… The migration crisis is first and foremost a crime crisis.” No matter what Nietzard says, Ostermann is closer to the ground of what police officers and the victims of crime are experiencing every day in Germany.
It is not just the police saying this, though; it is the actual victims.
Michael Kyrath lost his 17-year-old daughter Ann-Marie due to a Palestinian migrant with a long history of stabbings. The migrant stabbed her and her boyfriend Danny to death at random on a train in 2023.
His daughter was murdered by an illegal Palestinian migrant, stabbed 38 times, along with her boyfriend.
17-year-old Ann-Marie is gone, but her father won't let her memory die. He delivered a message to Olaf Scholz's face:
Since then, Kyrath has become an activist and is in contact with hundreds of families who have suffered the same fate as him. He does not speak of “Nazis” targeting his daughter or any of these other families, either.
“People always talk about these as regrettable isolated incidents. But we’re in contact with more than 1,000 families who have lost loved ones to violent crimes in recent years. It’s always the same perpetrator profile. It’s almost always the same weapon. It’s nearly always the same sequence of events. It’s always the same motives. And it’s always the same platitudes from the same politicians, who, after such an act, tearfully cry into the cameras. Then nothing happens,” he told FAZ newspaper in a new interview. “There are people running around in this country whose origins we don’t even know. We don’t know if they’re willing to accept our way of life.”
Nietzard cites no facts, no statistics, and offers vague anecdotes that she has convinced herself of based on a narrative that falls to pieces once it is challenged.
Notably, the knife controls conducted on Berlin metros may be in response to rising knife crime brought on by mass immigration, but police are not actually allowed to profile based on race or ethnicity. However, Nietzard is demanding that officers actually start to conduct police controls based on race, and in her eyes, these officers should target White men.
🇩🇪🔴A Bulgarian man was arrested after pushing a German woman down a flight of stairs inside a Berlin train station.
The 26-year-old victim suffered a fractured arm and other injuries.
The man was convicted and sentenced to nearly 3 years in prison for the assault. pic.twitter.com/duj7Q1lUlt
This disconnect from statistical reality and facts is shared by millions of German men and women, along with millions of others in Europe. For them, reality is whatever narrative they are fed by the media, along with the pseudo-religious narrative they have adopted.
Regarding her specific allegations against a Nazi carrying knives, it is also unclear what court case she is referring to, but it very well could be the recent one involving Leander S., who belongs to the far-right Third Way group.
During a recent trial, Leander S. claimed that he always carries a knife with him for protection, and it turned out to have maybe saved his life. Two far-left Antifa activists have now been sentenced to prison in Berlin court after ambushing Leander S. at his own home with a hammer. Kolja B. and Konrad E. were given one year and six months’ imprisonment, suspended for four years, for grievous bodily harm against the far-right activist.
The court found he acted in self-defense when he seriously wounded both Antifa activists by stabbing them both. Leander S. also suffered wounds during the encounter. Essentially, the court ruled that Leander S. was the victim in the case and there was no question about his right to carry a knife for self-defense purposes.
In a piece entitled “Christians in the West Bank: Our Lives Are Dictated by Checkpoints,” newsportal Więź interviews Father Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Taybeh, a West Bank village that has come under continuous attacks from Israeli settlers, which has been well covered by Vatican News. Below, are excerpts from the interview highlighting the situation on the ground and calling on the Polish Church for support.
“We need your support, specifically the support of the Polish people. We know that Poles can do something for us. We maintain excellent relations with the Polish Mission in Ramallah. The head of the Polish mission was here recently, on December 4th. He delivered a decisive speech regarding the situation and stands by our side. Moreover, he also visited us during the harvest.
We continue to work together to urge the Israeli side to end these attacks—not just because we are Christians, but because we are Palestinians. We have our dignity and demand respect for it. We need a just life. This is not a request for special privileges. This is something that international law and the global community should guarantee to all people everywhere.”
What stages of repression do the settlers use?
The priest says “the first stage is to drive out the Bedouins and occupy more land. The second is to graze livestock on our land to destroy local agriculture; this also includes uprooting the young olive trees we planted last season. The third stage is to set fire to open fields so they can claim the land is ’empty’ and belongs to no one.”
Meanwhile, these lands have official documentation. Taybeh possesses a vast territory of over 6,000 acres. All these plots have been legally registered as property of Taybeh residents for many years. These are not new claims.
“The fourth stage involves burning vehicles, pelting houses with stones, and writing extremist, hate-filled slogans calling for revenge against the residents. The fifth stage—which we in Taybeh haven’t yet had to face on a full scale, although others have—is killing people. This is their ultimate goal. We have felt the brunt of all these actions, and so far, perhaps we have simply been lucky,” said Father Bashar Fawadleh.
Did these actions prompt some of the community to emigrate from Taybeh?
Due to the prevailing conditions and the complete lack of safety and security, many people have left. Over the past two years, more than 15 families have emigrated from Taybeh. They have moved to the U.S., Guatemala, and Europe—especially Spain, which has opened its doors to political and religious refugees. Because of these circumstances, we are bleeding out through emigration. Taybeh’s population is already small; we are 100 percent Christian, but we number only about 1,200.
Suheil Nazzal, a parishioner at the local Catholic Church, looks at a hill covered with olive trees belonging to his family in the West Bank village of Taybeh, Sept. 28, 2025, which, according to him, they cannot access due to the presence of Israeli settlers. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
“This means we risk depopulating this land of Christianity. When we talk about 15 families, we mean between 70 and 100 people. This means our population has dropped to approximately 1,100 inhabitants. This is precisely the ‘bleeding out’ caused by insecurity,” said the father.
Cardinal Pizzaballa intervened in Taybeh last summer?
When asked if Cardinal Pizzaballa intervened on behalf of these Christians, Bashar Fawadleh said: “Of course. He was here with the patriarch of the Orthodox Church. In fact, on July 14th, over 20 heads of various churches visited us. Furthermore, over 20 diplomatic missions came to Taybeh to express solidarity with our people.”
He continued by saying that “solidarity alone is not enough. That’s why I regularly meet with representatives of diplomatic missions. We believe in a kind of ‘trinity’ of the Church’s mission in Taybeh. Its first pillar is job creation. The second is housing construction. And the third is diplomacy – fighting for justice for our people and exerting pressure on the Israeli side.”
He said that he needs support, “specifically the support of the Polish people.”
“We know that Poles can do something for us. We maintain excellent relations with the Polish Mission in Ramallah. The head of the Polish mission was here recently, on December 4th. He delivered a decisive speech regarding the situation and stands by our side. Moreover, he also visited us during the harvest,” said Fawadleh.”We continue to work together to urge the Israeli side to end these attacks—not just because we are Christians, but because we are Palestinians. We have our dignity and demand respect for it. We need a just life. This is not a request for special privileges. This is something that international law and the global community should guarantee to all people everywhere.”
What is the Israeli response? Are they taking any official responsibility, admitting that the military failed to provide security, or are they simply ignoring the situation completely?
As you can guess, they ignore our appeals.
Who exactly are the people attacking Taybeh?
These are settlers operating under the umbrella of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir – two extremist ministers in the Israeli government. They are fanatical, far-right settlers. Taybeh is surrounded by four illegal settlements, but this is the first time in history that we’ve faced something like this. These attacks aren’t coming from long-time settlement residents who have lived on our land for years. This is a new phenomenon.
These settlers represent the state of Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, particularly in Area C. The idea is that they want to seize more land in this area to realize Smotrich and Ben-Gvir’s dream: “The Kingdom of Israel.” This vision extends from East Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim to Jenin in the north, across the entire Jordan Valley. Because Taibeh’s land extends into the Jordan Valley itself, we are directly in their path.
Their goal is to sow fear and terror in the hearts of people, so they consider leaving, so that the land becomes desolate and settlers can take it over. They want to seize our property and build more and more settlements.
Since a ceasefire has been declared in Gaza, is there any channel of communication with the Israeli side? We both know that although the ceasefire applies to Gaza, the situation in the West Bank is anything but calm. Over a thousand Palestinians have been killed by Israelis, settlers, and the army; one in five victims was a child. Furthermore, between 30,000 and 40,000 people have been forcibly displaced by the IDF military operation.
It’s all true. Our lives in the Holy Land are dictated by checkpoints and military barriers that are constantly closed. We face this every day. We don’t have the right to free movement or travel, or even simply to go to Ramallah and back. Before October 7, 2023, the journey between Ramallah and Taybeh took 10 or 12 minutes. Now it takes an hour and a half, two, or even three hours.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul reads a statement to the media during a tour in the archeological site of the Church of St. George, the site of a recent Israeli settlers attacks, during his visit to the West Bank town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Everything depends on checkpoints and traffic flow, as there’s currently only one road connecting the central and northern West Bank, and that route passes through Taybeh and surrounding villages. We are under constant attack from every angle: from the military occupation and from extremist settlers who throw stones at Palestinian cars.
Unfortunately, as Cardinal Pizzaballa said, the ceasefire is fragile. It does not affect decisions made on the ground or the lives of individuals in Gaza. Enough is enough. Enough of the war. Stop all this violence and return to the path of building peace and justice. People must live in peace and with dignity.
So where does the Father find hope?
If we look back to the 1970s and 1980s in Poland, the Church always gave people hope. I’m here to instill that hope, bring joy, and share happiness. I’m here to speak about freedom—the liberation and salvation described in the Bible. This is our mission.
The Church is not only active in times of peace; it accompanies people at all times, even in times of war. When conflict breaks out, the Church endures, present in every dimension and through every mission—medical, educational, social, and spiritual. It is close to everyone in everything.
And wherever the Church is present, God himself is present. God is born again. He instills hope in our hearts and leads us straight to life. We are still waiting for our “third day”—for the empty tomb and new life for our people.
A 33-year-old Afghan migrant has been placed in pretrial detention in Montpellier after being arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting several fires in the city center, directly behind the Opéra Comédie.
According to investigators, the incidents occurred in the early hours of Sunday. At around 5:40 a.m., officers monitoring the Montpellier urban surveillance system observed an individual igniting a garbage container on Rue de la Maréchaussée, directly behind the opera house. After setting the fire, the suspect walked away from the scene and fled on foot.
Midi Libre reported how police patrols were alerted by radio and quickly located a man matching the description a short distance away on Rue des Étuves. He was arrested without incident and later identified as a 33-year-old Afghan national who told officers he was homeless.
The investigation found that three garbage containers were set on fire on Rue de la Maréchaussée before the suspect moved to nearby Rue Richelieu, where three scooters were deliberately torched. Four additional scooters parked close by were damaged as the flames spread.
The fire also blackened the rendering of nearby residential buildings, with authorities saying the blaze came close to spreading further.
The suspect was brought before the Montpellier public prosecutor on Monday and has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
He will remain in pre-trial detention pending an expedited hearing.
Arson attacks by migrants have become somewhat commonplace across France in recent years. In July last year, a 51-year-old Moroccan migrant was convicted for an arson attack that destroyed four acres of forest in Saint-Gilles. Despite the severe arson attack and a lengthy criminal record, he was only given a suspended sentence and will serve no jail time unless he reoffends.
One high-profile case involved a Sudanese migrant who nearly killed dozens of people in a series of arson attacks across the French city of Pau in 2022. In total, he burned down 16 apartments, multiple cars, and part of a church, while one student caught up in one of the blazes was forced to jump from her apartment window, resulting in her breaking both of her ankles and needing semi-permanent use of a cane.
Despite being convicted of the mass arson, he was not ordered to be deported, as he claimed his life would be under threat if he returned to Sudan.
As the French presidential election approaches, current Minister of Justice Gerald Darmanin is proposing a suspension of immigration for two to three years. Widely seen as a politician close to the establishment and French President Emmanuel Macron, his proposal is being viewed with skepticism but also as a sign of where the wind is blowing across Europe on the issue of migration.
Let’s imagine a suspension of immigration for 2-3 years,” he said, which would involve “legal immigration, therefore family reunification, and work immigration.” The minister adds that this measure would not apply to everyone, and “we can find some exceptions, notably for doctors, for researchers, for some students.”
Following this immigratioon suspension, France would establish an immigration quota policy, the volume of which would be defined in a French referendum.
The move has already been met with a certain level of cynicism given the context of upcoming elections. Poland’s Confederation party leader, Krzysztof Bosak, analyzed the proposal on X.
We Francji polityk głębokiego mainstreamu, minister sprawiedliwości Gérald Darmanin, proponuje zatrzymanie legalnej imigracji na 2–3 lata, a następnie ustalania w referendum jej skali. Taka propozycja pokazuje dwie kwestie.
Po pierwsze, skala problemu migracyjnego stała się tak…
“In France, a politician from the deep mainstream, Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin, proposes halting legal immigration for 2–3 years, and then determining its scale through a referendum.
Such a proposal highlights two issues. First, the scale of the migration problem has become so obvious that even establishment politicians are no longer able to ignore it, especially under the constant pressure from political forces opposing mass immigration. As we can see, this pressure makes sense and is shifting the public discourse closer to the positions of national and sovereigntist circles. The fact that such ideas are being voiced by a member of the current government shows the extent of the shift in the previous narrative.
Second, this kind of proposal from a French minister is certainly a shock to the Brussels establishment and the Eurocratic consensus, which for years has remained far removed from any restrictions on immigration.
These are solutions that no one expected from mainstream politicians loyal to the dominant line in the EU. In the end, it’s worth keeping some distance. Most likely, this is a tactical proposal, calculated to build his position ahead of the 2027 presidential election, rather than a genuine intention to implement it. But it is also worth noting because in Poland, apart from Confederation, politicians from other parties cannot even imagine articulating such solutions in public debate, let alone attempting to put them into practice.”
French news outlet Europe1 also ran a column looking at Darmanin’s proposal also pointing out that this remains a mere proposal, one that is being made in mind with looming elections ahead.
“Even if he insists on a central bloc primary, Gérald Darmanin proposes stopping immigration for two or three years. How to interpret this exit of the former Minister of the Interior? The 2027 presidential election, Gerald Darmanin is thinking about it,” writes the paper.
The outlet adds that “If he is not officially a candidate, if he does not yet have a program, he has many proposals. A debate which consists of saying, for example, let’s imagine a suspension of immigration for two or three years. One could imagine that. It’s one more point for Gérald Darmanin who seeks to differentiate himself from Édouard Philippe and of Gabriel Attal, 15 months before the next presidential election.”
Last year, demographic researcher and data analyst Marc Vanguard reported that “the foreign population in France is growing FOUR times faster than the population of French nationality.”
The rapid demographic change has led academics, researchers, literary figures, and politicians to dub this trend the Great Replacement.
In 2022, famed French author Michel Houellebecq came out and said the Great Replacement is a “fact” during a wide-ranging discussion with influential French philosopher Michel Onfray.
“The Great Replacement, I was shocked it’s called a theory. It’s not a theory, it’s a fact,” said Houellebecq. “When it comes to immigration, nobody controls anything; that’s the whole problem. Europe will be swept away by this cataclysm.”
AUMOVIO is preparing to slash up to 4,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring of its global research and development operations, with several hundred positions expected to be cut in Germany.
The company said the measures are intended to reduce costs and bring its R&D spending below 10 percent of revenue by 2027, down from 11.9 percent in the third quarter of 2025.
The job cuts are expected to be largely completed by the end of 2026 and will primarily affect AUMOVIO sites in India, Singapore, Romania, Serbia, Germany, and Mexico. In Germany, the company said the reduction would extend into the high triple digits, adding further pressure to an already weakening automotive labor market in the country’s flagship sector.
AUMOVIO said the cuts would result from a consolidation of development activities, a narrower technology focus, and increased standardization and automation across its business areas. These changes, the company acknowledged, will lead to a “reduced need for positions” in its development divisions.
In a press release published on Tuesday, the company said it has entered talks with employee representatives and plans to introduce a voluntary severance program at German sites starting in March, adding that the restructuring would be implemented “as socially responsible as possible.”
“In a challenging environment, we are now taking additional measures to consistently enhance our efficiency,” said chief executive Philipp von Hirschheydt, justifying the move.
The announcement comes amid growing concern over Germany’s automotive industry and labor market. Earlier this month, Mercedes confirmed it will relocate production of its A-Class from Rastatt, Germany, to Kecskemét, Hungary. Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, confirmed the move and attributed it to what he described as a stable, investment-friendly economic policy. “An economic policy based on sound common sense and a stable government that continually attracts new investment projects from global companies in America, Asia, and even Germany,” he said.
The right-wing Alternative for Germany party blamed the move on Germany’s “green climate and energy policies,” and argued for ending the energy transition, lifting the combustion engine ban, abolishing fleet emission limits, and rolling back reporting requirements.
Andrea Nahles, head of Germany’s Federal Employment Agency, said last month that the labor market has been “stagnant for months,” with “no momentum” returning. In an interview with Web.de, Nahles said the number of vacancies has fallen for seven consecutive quarters and that the likelihood of unemployed people finding work has dropped to a record low. “We have an indicator that shows how likely unemployed people are to find a job again. The value is usually around seven, but now at 5.7 – the lowest it has ever been,” she said.
Nahles added that entry-level workers are facing particularly poor prospects, saying, “We have had fewer young people placed in training than we have in 25 years.”
Peter Leibinger, president of the Federation of German Industries, said, also in December, that Germany’s business location is in its “historically deepest crisis” since the founding of the Federal Republic and is in “free fall.” He added that the federal government was “not reacting decisively enough.”
Germany is facing a potential crisis this winter with gas levels at storage facilities lower than during the 2022 crisis and temperatures that brought the coldest Christmas in 15 years.
Not only has gas consumption been higher this winter, one industry association says that facilities were not adequately filled before the heating season, now standing at 42 percent.
Germany started the heating season with a storage level of only 75 percent, warns the association of storage operators, Ines. By comparison, on Nov. 1, 2024, gas storage facilities were 98 percent full.
“Storage facilities are currently emptier than in the crisis year of 2022,” Timm Kehler, CEO of the German Gas and Hydrogen Industry Association, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, as cited by Bild. Fill levels at this time for the years 2017 to 2021 were 20 points higher, the portal adds.
Germany would seem to be risking security of supply, i.e., shortages, before winter’s end. However, experts say this will not take place due to former Economics Minister Robert Habeck (56, Green Party) introducing liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, through which natural gas is imported as a buffer for gas storage facilities.
Germany’s old supplier of natural gas, Russia, is no longer a viable source due to the war in Ukraine, even if parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the BSW indicate that Germany must continue sourcing cheap energy from Russia in the future.
The German Chemical Industry Association reports that companies are still preparing for any shortage risks: “Emergency plans are in place to minimize production losses and economic consequences in the event of a crisis.”
Kehler also reiterated that Germany “will emerge from the cold season with very empty storage facilities.”
Claims that Germany will run out of gas have been circulating as well on social media.
“If the gas really runs out, the citizens in Germany and probably also in Austria might finally notice what time it has struck. The consequences of shutting down industry due to a gas shortage would be devastating. But apparently Germans only learn through extreme pain,” wrote German lawyer Markus Haintz.
Sollte das Gas wirklich ausgehen, würden die Bürger in Deutschland und wohl auch Österreich vielleicht bemerken, was die Stunde geschlagen hat.
Die Folgen einer Abschaltung der Industrie wegen #Gasmangel wären verheerend. Aber offenbar lernen Deutsche nur durch extremen Schmerz. https://t.co/DxfjSL6Hgj
He cited a prognosis that shows gas levels could be as low as 20 percent in the next 25 days. However, whether that really happens depends much on the weather. As for Germany running out of gas, that remains an unlikely scenario, but there is no doubt that Germany will end the winter season with severely low gas storage levels.
Furthermore, Europe’s continued reliance on U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) is growing to be a strategic risk.
“There is a risk that the US could exploit Europe’s dependence on US LNG as leverage in the conflict over Greenland,” Sebastian Gulbis, managing director of the consulting firm Enervis, said in an interview with Tagesspiegel Background.
While Germany receives the majority of its gas from Norway, it obtains more than 90 percent of its direct LNG from the U.S., and addition amounts of American LNG through other countries like the Netherlands and France. As Remix News has reported in the past, energy experts note that in any real conflict, the U.S. could weaponize this vital energy source against Europe, effectively bringing Europe to a halt both industrially and potentially even on a societal level.
The EU as a whole sources 57 percent of its LNG from the U.S. in 2025, underlining potential risks moving forward. Brussels and national governments continue to invest in renewable energy but natural gas still plays a pivotal role to keep Europe running.
Brussels, the heart of the European Union, came under fire for banning the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) in April 2024, and now the first-instance ruling of a Belgian court argues that the act constituted unlawful censorship and that authorities have an “active obligation” to enure “fundamental rights.”
The ruling stated that the decision by authorities in the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode municipality — one of 19 in the Brussels Capital Region — to ban the NatCon conference, was not legal. The ban, the ruling further clarifies, violated freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly.
Budapest’s Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) posted in response to the ruling: “The judgment rejects censorship, dismisses the logic of a heckler’s veto, and sets a clear precedent. In a democracy governed by the rule of law. Ideas cannot be silenced!”
The ruling is particularly significant because it is the third such decision to reach the same conclusion. The Belgian Council of State (Conseil d’État) had previously ruled the ban unlawful twice in 2024, both in an urgent procedure and after a substantive examination. With this decision, both the French- and Dutch-speaking judiciary have taken a unified position, which is extremely rare in Belgium’s divided constitutional system.
The 26-page judgment rejected all procedural objections, which the municipality, according to the court, had raised in part to delay the decision on the merits.
“Authorities must not only refrain from indirectly restricting fundamental rights, but also have an active obligation to ensure them, regardless of the views expressed at a given event,” the court stated, as cited by Mandiner.
According to the decision, the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode failed to comply with this obligation. Instead of assessing the necessary policing measures, it imposed a general and unjustified ban without demonstrating that it would have been objectively impossible to maintain public order.
The court classified the ban as a civil law violation and placed responsibility for the ban directly on of the mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Emir Kir.
The municipality was ordered to pay symbolic damages of one euro and legal costs.
In 2025, France is seeing a significant shift in its non-EU immigration landscape, with first-time residence permits projected to reach 384,000 — an 11.2 percent increase from the previous year. This growth is uniquely defined by a massive 65 percent surge in permits granted on humanitarian grounds, primarily to refugees and those seeking subsidiary protection.
The legal foreign population in France is expected to hit approximately 4.5 million by the end of 2025, a 3.2 percent annual increase. However, previous reports have put the total population of foreigners at much higher levels, already reaching 6 million in 2024. While humanitarian reasons are the primary driver for new arrivals, the “stock” of residents remains heavily influenced by family ties and labor needs.
The purpose of residency varies drastically depending on the country of origin, reflecting France’s diverse historical and geopolitical ties. As French news outlet Fdesouche notes, “Nationals of the three Maghreb countries are more often issued with residence permits granted for family reunification reasons.” These countries consist of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. However, these groups are also now being granted work permits, with the government arguing they can be used to fill labor shortages.
For China and the United States, most of the permits being issued are for studying and academic research.
Meanwhile, Afghans receive residence permits almost entirely based on humanitarian reasons. To a lesser extent, Ukrainians and Ivorians also receive such first-time permits.
Renewals are approaching a milestone of 1 million per year (955,000 projected for 2025). This trend confirms that a vast majority of non-EU immigrants who arrive in France are transitioning into long-term legal residents, despite stricter new integration requirements — such as the mandatory civic exam and A2-level French proficiency introduced in the 2024-2026 reforms. Notably, A2 is considered a rudimentary level of language understanding.
🇫🇷🔴 Paris is paying €1.2 billion per year on migrant accommodations, according to French politician @eciotti.
"An average of 50,000 hotel rooms are paid for by the (Paris) regional prefecture, mainly for foreigners seeking asylum. 1.2 billion euros a year." pic.twitter.com/fo5N7BLZvW
Last year, demographic researcher and data analyst Marc Vanguard reported that “the foreign population in France is growing FOUR times faster than the population of French nationality.”
The rapid demographic change has led academics, researchers, literary figures, and politicians to dub this trend the Great Replacement.
In 2022, famed French author Michel Houellebecq came out and said the Great Replacement is a “fact” during a wide-ranging discussion with influential French philosopher Michel Onfray.
“The Great Replacement, I was shocked it’s called a theory. It’s not a theory, it’s a fact,” said Houellebecq. “When it comes to immigration, nobody controls anything; that’s the whole problem. Europe will be swept away by this cataclysm.”
“It’s objectively what the figures say,” added Onfray, who said he thinks that the decline of the West is primarily a demographic decline.
The fact that France’s greatest living writer, as he is often described by the mainstream press, has said the Great Replacement is a fact will only add to the growing body of intellectuals, academics, and politicians who have increasingly been willing to describe the Great Replacement in public forums over the years.
The European Union has moved to open wider legal pathways for Indian workers and businesses after concluding its partnership deal with New Delhi on Tuesday, as Brussels and India finalized a long-awaited free trade agreement and a comprehensive framework on mobility.
Speaking at the EU–India Business Forum in New Delhi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement marked “a momentous day for the EU-India relationship,” describing India and the EU as “trusted and reliable strategic partners” in an increasingly uncertain global environment.
🇪🇺🇮🇳JUST IN: Europeans can expect significantly higher immigraiton levels from India, following the EU's new trade deal.
The EU's "agreement on mobility," with India will involve "the movement of students, researchers, seasonal and highly skilled workers" to Europe.
“Together, Europe and India are creating the world’s largest trading zones,” von der Leyen said, announcing the conclusion of negotiations on the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. She said the deal would provide “clear rules, stable market access, and long-term confidence to invest,” uniting two major economies representing around two billion people and roughly a quarter of global GDP.
Beyond trade, the agreement explicitly advances labor mobility. In their joint statement, the EU and India confirmed the conclusion of a Comprehensive Framework of Cooperation on Mobility, aimed at facilitating the movement of workers, particularly in high-skill and shortage sectors. The framework includes legal pathways for Indian professionals, students, researchers, and seasonal workers. Von der Leyen caveated loosening the restrictions on Indian migrants by pledging both sides’ commitment to “safe, regular, and orderly migration,” without elaborating on how this looks in practice.
As part of the initiative, the EU has launched the first pilot European Legal Gateway Office, described as a one-stop hub to support the movement of workers, starting with the information and communications technology sector. Brussels and New Delhi also agreed to deepen cooperation on skills development, recognition of qualifications, and education through a new Education and Skills Dialogue to be launched in 2026.
Von der Leyen said trade alone was not enough. “Trade connects economies, but investment anchors them,” she told business leaders, arguing that deeper investment would lock in long-term partnerships and resilience.
The agreements were formalized during a state visit by European Council President Antonio Costa and von der Leyen, who were guests of honour at India’s Republic Day celebrations
While the EU emphasized that cooperation on migration would remain within national competences of member states, the language of the deal signals a clear political push in Brussels to attract skilled Indian labor as Europe faces demographic decline.
Major European nations had already seen record increases in Indian immigration before this deal was signed. In the United Kingdom, for example, which recently concluded its own agreement with New Delhi, historical ties had already seen a large Indian community established in the country. A report from 2022 revealed that more real estate in London is owned by Indian proprietors than by the native English population.
Following the conclusion of the UK-India free trade agreement last year, the left-wing Labour government was accused of giving tax breaks to companies that prioritize importing Indian workers over employing Brits.
The deal extended an exemption on National Insurance contributions (NICs) from one to three years for Indian migrants, meaning foreign workers could be more attractive to employ over the native population.
Similarly, in Germany, official statistics published last year showed the number of Indians living in Berlin went from 3,579 in 2014 to 41,472 in 2024. That represents a 1,059 percent increase in 10 years, and accounts for the largest immigrant influx to the city during that time in terms of growth.
Outside of Berlin, Indians also make up a huge number of newcomers, totaling 274,910 nationals as of November 2024, according to the Central Register of Foreign Nationals. India is ranked fifth overall in terms of countries where more people immigrated than emigrated, ranking behind Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkey.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán backed Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel, who is demanding compensation from Ukraine for the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and tens of billions of euros in German financial support.
Orbán responded to the German politician’s statement with a short but clear sentence on X, writing, “Alice Weidel is right!”
The Hungarian prime minister also posted Weidel’s speech, where she stated: “If this party comes to power, we will demand compensation for the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, as well as the return of about 70 billion euros in financial and military support provided to Kyiv.”
Germany has provided tens of billions to Ukraine, all during a time when the country is facing surging company bankruptcies, budget cuts, and even cities all on the verge of bankruptcy. The enormous sums of money sent to Ukraine, especially in the light of massive corruption scandals facing the country, have led the AfD to be highly critical of Germany’s continued support. Now, the AfD considers recouping this money as essential.
“We will seek compensation. The Ukrainians and Zelensky have been paid by us to blow up our own pipeline. The country that has done this to us cannot be our friend, and this must be publicly acknowledged,” stated Weidel, emphasizing that Ukraine cannot be considered a friendly state.
As Weidel said, the recovery of tens of billions of euros in support and the restoration of Nord Stream are inevitable.
Weidel previously accused European leaders of double standards and believed that while Moscow faces serious accusations, similar criticism is not leveled against the United States. In her opinion, Donald Trump’s policy resembles Vladimir Putin’s actions on several points, notably in relation to Greenland.
Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities have appealed to Interpol to issue an international warrant against Ukrainian-Israeli Timur Mindich and his business partner Alexander Zuckerman, both considered fugitives from justice and both reported to hold Israeli citizenship.
The corruption scandal centers on bundles of money, a toilet made of gold, and threads leading to the Ukrainian president.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have officially submitted to Interpol the documents aimed at launching the international arrest of both Mindich and Zuckerman. The announcement was made by Oleksandr Klimenko, head of SAPO, wrote Ukrainian outlet Strana Today.
Mindich is currently in Israel, which he reportedly fled to an hour before anti-corruption officers raided his apartment, leading to suspicion someone in the government tipped him off that the raid was coming.
He is being tried in absentia for corruption crimes in the energy sector. The entrepreneur, who has a long history with Zelensky and played a key role in his rise to power, previously claimed that he was scapegoated in the scandal, while Zuckerman also denies the allegations.
“The case is particularly sensitive, as Mindich had close ties with President Volodymyr Zelensky for many years,” writes Starna Today.
During the house search, Ukrainian investigators seized bundles of cash from the fugitive businessman and also found a golden toilet in his home. Zelensky is reported to have celebrated his birthday in this apartment during the coronavirus pandemic.
"A golden toilet is in one of the bathrooms of the apartment of Zelensky's business partner Timur Mindich, where, according to media reports, NABU wiretapped the president himself. This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who showed a photo, as he claims, from this apartment.… pic.twitter.com/LYtCFKlTcW
The investigation focuses on abuses surrounding state and semi-state energy companies. According to the authorities, inadequate procurement procedures, embezzled money, parallel management structures and “shadow” accounting were behind it.
The damage caused is estimated at about $100 million and led to 70 properties being searched and numerous arrests made. Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has conducted searches at the home of the driver of Andriy Yermak, the notorious figure in the Ukrainian corruption scandal known as “Ali Baba.” Another friend of Zelensky’s, former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, was remanded into custody. Justice Minister German Galushchenko was also suspended after his house was searched. He had been serving as energy minister at the time of the events.
According to NABU, the group’s goal was to gain illegal benefits from Energoatom’s contractual partners and control personnel decisions, procurement and financial flows through informal contacts.
According to Die Welt newspaper, several top leaders, active and former politicians are involved in the case, as well as actors who can be linked to Moscow.
Mindich’s escape triggered separate speculations. According to the German newspaper, he was seen in Kyiv a day before the house search, which may indicate that he was warned in time. Since it would have been difficult to get out of the country by car, it was also suggested that he left Ukraine by helicopter, which “in wartime conditions would only have been possible with official permission.”
Sweden’s government will move ahead with a proposal to temporarily lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 for the most serious crimes, Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer announced on Monday, despite strong opposition from several organizations during the consultation period.
The proposal, backed by the Tidö parties, would apply for a five-year period and represents a major shift from Sweden’s current system, under which the age of criminal responsibility is 15. A total of 126 authorities and organizations were consulted during the legislative process, with most expressing criticism or outright opposition.
Nevertheless, the government has chosen to proceed. “The changes we are making now are both desirable and necessary,” Strömmer said at a press conference, as cited by Aftonbladet. He argued that the measure must be weighed against what he described as the reality of an increasing number of serious violent crimes committed by very young offenders. “It is about protecting society,” he said, adding that while he placed “great value” on the risks identified by consultation bodies, the government believed action was required.
In a post on Instagram, Strömmer’s Moderate party wrote, “52 children under the age of 15 were involved in legal trials for murder or attempted murder last year. A breathtaking and painful number. This is not how it should be in our society.
“One thing is certain. If we continue as we have done so far, things will go as they have so far. And there is no alternative. Therefore, society must find a better way to deal with the 13- and 14-year-olds who commit the most serious crimes, such as murder and attempted murder.”
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service has opposed the proposal in principle, as have many public prosecutors. In its consultation response last November, the authority warned that imprisoning children as young as 13 could have severe negative consequences.
Alongside the proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility, the Tidö parties also want to abolish the so-called youth discount in sentencing. Under this change, everyone over the age of 18 would be sentenced as an adult. “If you are an adult and commit a crime, you should also be punished as an adult,” Christian Democrats MP Camilla Brodin said at the press conference.
The proposals come amid heightened political pressure over youth violence in Sweden. In recent years, authorities have reported that organized criminal networks increasingly recruit minors to carry out serious violent crimes, exploiting the fact that they cannot be imprisoned under current law.
In January this year, an Afghan migrant previously convicted of the aggravated rape of a 13-year-old girl at knifepoint in Malmö in 2024 was arrested again on suspicion of committing a similar crime. Despite being convicted of aggravated rape, offensive photography, child pornography, and assault, he avoided prison because he was registered as being 15 at the time of the offense and was sentenced instead to ten months of youth care. He is now being tried once again for the latest offenses as a 17-year-old.
In another case from October 2025, a 13-year-old boy was arrested in Norrköping carrying a bag containing a loaded pistol, a magazine, and 15 cartridges after traveling from Katrineholm. Prosecutors said he was on a planned assassination mission to Stockholm. The boy told police at the scene, “I am here to murder,” and later said he had been threatened. Because of his age, he cannot be held criminally responsible.
Similarly, in September 2025, two 14-year-old boys were arrested for a grenade attack on a family home in Eskilstuna while the family and children were inside. Although they were convicted of the attack, they were released without punishment due to their age.
The debate over youth violence ties in with political arguments over immigration and integration. Last month, former prime minister Carl Bildt drew criticism after telling Göteborgs-Posten that Sweden had handled mass immigration “relatively well” and describing gang crime as a “marginal phenomenon.”
In the interview, Bildt said, “I still think that we have handled it relatively well in Sweden. Something that we didn’t really foresee is this marginal phenomenon that is gang crime. A dominant marginal phenomenon, though.” He added that Sweden would “sooner or later” overcome the problem, despite giving no suggestions as to how this would actually be achieved.
The new Czech nationalist governing coalition will not increase defense spending in the state budget, according to Tomio Okamura, speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the minority-governing SPD.
Speaking to reporters after Monday’s coalition council meeting, Okamura said that spending equivalent to around 2 percent of gross domestic product was enough, despite calls from the United States for European member states to spend more to defend themselves.
“The 2 percent of GDP plus or minus is sufficient,” Okamura said, dismissing earlier plans by the previous government to raise defense outlays further. The former center-right cabinet led by Petr Fiala of the Civic Democratic Party had pledged to gradually increase defense spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030.
The government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was set to approve the draft state budget for this year at its Monday cabinet meeting. Czechia has been operating under a provisional budget since the start of the year. Okamura said the budget would be presented by Finance Minister Alena Schillerová of ANO and stressed that the coalition’s priorities lay elsewhere.
“We prioritized money for Czech citizens, money for Czech citizens, not for armaments,” Okamura said. “We really will not increase money for armaments, or if you like, for defense.”
NATO currently expects its members to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense. Last year, the Czech Republic spent 171.1 billion crowns (€7.1 billion) on defense, equivalent to 2.02 percent of GDP, meeting both domestic legal requirements and the alliance’s existing target. However, NATO members agreed last June to raise overall defense-related spending, with a goal of 3.5 percent of GDP on core defense by 2035 and an additional 1.5 percent of GDP on related non-military investments.
ANO has repeatedly said it does not question meeting the existing NATO benchmark, but Andrej Babiš has previously described the alliance’s newer spending goals as unrealistic.
President Petr Pavel warned over the weekend that abandoning NATO commitments would carry consequences. Speaking on Nova television, he said that Czechia must meet its defense spending obligations if it expects security guarantees from the alliance. If the country chooses not to do so, politicians must clearly explain to citizens how they would otherwise ensure national security, Pavel said.
Foreigners are sending home billions of euros to their home countries, with the global remittance industry mostly seeing money flow from Western countries to second- and third-world countries on a global scale. In total, EU countries saw €52.4 billion sent abroad in 2024, according to the latest data from Eurostat.
These tens of billions being sent abroad may be benefiting foreign countries, but they are serving as a financial drag on European nations, many of which are already struggling with stagnating economic growth.
Before the advent of mass immigration, most European citizens had little or no connection with any non-EU countries. Wire transfers and remittances were much rarer, which meant that money stayed inside the country and circulated at home.
However, following the advent of mass migration to European nations, remittances have soared to record highs year after year.
In 2024, flows from EU resident households to non-EU resident households jumped to €52.1 billion, an increase of 6 percent compared to 2023, which saw €49.2 billion sent abroad. Far more is also sent out than is sent to EU resident households, totaling €14.8 billion.
There has been tremendous growth in remittances abroad, jumping 51 percent in just five years, dating back to 2019. Inflows have only grown 26 percent in the last five years, which means the difference between inflows and outflows has been growing every year, which now stands at €37.3 billion in 2024.
Germany is the biggest source of remittances headed outside of the EU, but many other countries are also sending billions. Italy, for instance, sent €8.29 billion overseas, with leading recipient countries including Bangladesh (€1.4 billion), followed by Pakistan (€600 million) and Morocco (€575 million).
These outflows across Europe and the broader West represent a major drag on economies. These wages could be used as disposable income within the host nation, i.e., money spent on domestic goods and services, but they are instead flowing overseas.
Spain’s struggling socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has agreed with the far left to push through a mass amnesty for around 500,000 illegal immigrants by royal decree, bypassing parliament and avoiding any binding vote in Congress.
The extraordinary regularization, negotiated between Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE) and the far-left Podemos, is due to be approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. By using a royal decree, the government can impose the measure directly, despite the fact that an almost identical proposal has been stalled in parliament for more than a year due to a lack of majority support.
Under the agreement, illegal migrants who can prove they were in Spain before Dec. 31, 2025, and have remained in the country for at least five months will be eligible for provisional residence and work permits, provided they have no serious criminal record. The moment an application is filed, any deportation or return proceedings will be suspended. If approved, applicants will receive a one-year residence permit, eligible for renewal. Podemos estimates that more than half a million people will benefit.
Podemos figures have openly celebrated the move. As cited by El País, Irene Montero, former equality minister and now an MEP, described the amnesty as an “urgent measure of social justice” and said her party would ensure the process is “swift.” She claimed the regularization was necessary to protect migrants from what she described as “racist violence” and framed the policy as the granting of rights to people allegedly denied them through “institutional racism.”
The government argues that the decree merely provides legal certainty for an “existing social reality.” Critics, however, have labeled the move undemocratic and catastrophic for the message it sends to illegal immigrants who are still arriving in large numbers.
The amnesty mirrors a Popular Legislative Initiative backed by more than 700,000 signatures, but that proposal has been blocked in Congress for over a year because it lacks sufficient support. Rather than negotiate or abandon it, the executive has opted to force it through without parliamentary oversight.
The decision comes as illegal immigration in Spain has exploded. According to estimates from the Funcas think tank, cited by La Gaceta, the number of undocumented immigrants has risen from about 107,000 in 2017 to nearly 840,000 in 2025, an increase of almost 685 percent. Funcas estimates that illegal migrants now account for 17.2 percent of the non-EU foreign population in Spain. The think tank warns that mass regularizations do not reduce illegal immigration if current entry and legalization practices continue.
¡500.000 ilegales!
El tirano Sánchez odia al pueblo español. Quiere sustituirlo. Por eso pretende promover el efecto llamada por decreto, para acelerar la invasión.
Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s right-wing Vox party, wrote on X, “500,000 illegals! The tyrant Sánchez hates the Spanish people. He wants to replace them. That’s why he intends to create a pull factor by decree, to accelerate the invasion. It must be stopped. Repatriations, deportations, and immigration.”
Vox MEP Hermann Tertsch, who is also vice-president of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, accused the government of attempting to import voters, saying, “These criminals want to bring all of Africa to see if they can at least buy the votes of those who don’t know Spanish.”
🔴 Esta maniobra de Sánchez es un atentado directo contra nuestra seguridad y detona un nuevo efecto llamada masivo. Regularizar a medio millón de inmigrantes ilegales es premiar la ilegalidad, un indulto a quienes violan nuestras normas de extranjería y un insulto a los que las… https://t.co/c8Ge7d92W6pic.twitter.com/VZ1EyVzcK7
Migration analyst Rubén Pulido also condemned the move, calling it “a direct attack on our security” that would trigger a new pull factor. “Regularizing half a million illegal immigrants is rewarding illegality, a pardon for those who violate our immigration laws, and an insult to those who respect them,” he said.
Facilitating illegal immigration into the European Union via Spain has become big business, with record numbers arriving on the Canary Islands in recent years, and critics of Sánchez’s move argue this will only entice more to embark on the journey.
Several fraud networks have been uncovered in recent months, linked to fake residence permits and sham marriages to help regularize illegal migrants, including one in October last year, where 12 people were arrested for manufacturing fake family links to legitimize the stay of illegals.
Spain’s immigration crisis is also one of security and public safety, with foreigners disproportionately suspected of criminal offenses. In November last year, the Ertzaintza, the autonomous police force of Spain’s Basque Country, revealed that 64 percent of those arrested for crimes in the region were foreigners, including 68 percent of sexual assault and robbery suspects. This is despite migrants making up 14 percent of the Basque population.
In December, a CEU-CEFAS Demographic Observatory report, titled “Demography of Crime in Spain,” found that foreigners, who make up 31 percent of Spain’s prison population, commit per capita 500 percent more rapes and 414 percent more murders than Spanish citizens. The highest rates are seen among Arabs and Latinos, with many of them hailing from countries in South America known for their extremely high crime rates.
According to the German federal government, several dozen “mercenaries” from Germany are currently in Ukraine, and most are fighting on the Russian side. Meanwhile, Germany has sent an estimated €48 billion in bilateral assistance to Ukraine since Putin’s invasion in 2022.
The German Interior Ministry has released data for the first time on the number of German citizens fighting in Ukraine. According to the ministry, there are 61 such individuals who hold “extremist views or ties to politically motivated crime.”
Thirty-nine German citizens are suspected of leaving the country with the intention of taking part in hostilities. Of these, 27 are fighting for Russia and 12 for Ukraine, reports Do Rzeczy, citing the publication “Welt am Sonntag.”
For the vast majority of these individuals, German authorities have specific information that they have participated in military operations and include both right-wing and left-wing extremists.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said that, in principle, participation in combat operations in Ukraine is not punishable, provided that “individuals do not act as mercenaries, but as members of the regular armed forces or equivalent volunteer corps and militia.”
However, this does not prevent investigations into potential war crimes. It is unclear whether appropriate proceedings were initiated against the departing fighters, as the German Attorney General declined to comment on the matter, reports Deutsche Welle.
CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter criticized the law enforcement agencies’ reticence.
“Individuals or extremists who voluntarily join the Russian armed forces or terrorist groups to participate in the invasion of Ukraine should be prosecuted upon their return to Germany,” he said.
In his opinion, it can be assumed that these people “systematically participated in war crimes and human rights violations.” In a recent post, Kiesewetter pushed the cause for Ukrainian victory, stating that if Putin wins, “genocide and terror will spread.”
The German government regularly provides Ukraine with military aid packages, including tanks, air defense systems and ammunition.
TikTok is removing posts by Grzegorz Braun, leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown, and has also temporarily restricted the recommendation of his content in the “For You” channel. This move comes after China sold the platform for the founder and CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellision.
This may significantly reduce the MEP’s reach among young users, notes “Rzeczpospolita”, which described the scale of the phenomenon, as noted by Do Rzeczy. Notably, Braun has been accused of anti-Semitism on numerous occasions, including for comments he made about the Holocaust.
One of the deleted videos was a video titled “National Day of the Firefighter Who Saved Poland,” depicting the notorious incident of Dec. 12, 2023, when Braun extinguished the candles on a Jewish Hanukkah menorah in the Sejm (lower house of parliament) with a fire extinguisher.
The video was published on the anniversary of the event, with a humorous tone and cheerful background music.
Late last year, TikTok deleted six videos from Braun’s account, showing, among other things, his most notorious actions and statements. These included videos referencing the extinguishing of the Hanukkah fire, but also videos in which the politician questioned the existence of the gas chambers at Auschwitz, as well as videos of other controversial speeches.
A video promoting the “Stop the Immigrant Invasion” march of the Confederation of the Polish Crown has also been removed from the platform. According to “Rzeczpospolita,” the video depicted Black men as aggressive. The footage was reported after interventions by the “Never Again” Association, which collaborates with social media platforms to report content that may violate their terms and conditions.
TikTok confirms removals and restrictions. “A number of videos posted by MEP Braun violated our community guidelines regarding hate speech and have been removed. Therefore, we have also temporarily restricted the recommendation of his content in the “For You” channel,” Piotr Żaczko, TikTok’s spokesperson for Central and Eastern Europe, told “Rzeczpospolita.”
He added that the platform “does not allow hate speech” and that in the case of serious violations, the account may even be banned.
Braun has 242,000 followers on TikTok. TikTok is currently one of the most important channels for reaching the youngest voters. Braun has not commented on the situation.
Notably, Braun’s party is performing better than many analysts believed was possible, reaching as high as the third most popular party in the country and receiving over 11 percent of the vote. In polling averages, the party receives approximately 8 percent of the vote, and is in fourth place.
After a prior conviction by a religious tribunal, a state court has now ruled against a Berlin rabbi who sexually abused women under the pretext of providing spiritual guidance. During the trial, a witness provided shocking testimony, alleging he prescribed an “infusion“ with his semen to supposedly “cure” her.
The proceedings at the Tiergarten District Court concluded late last week against 49-year-old Rabbi Reuven Y. for sexual assault and sexual harassment. The court sentenced him to a 10-month suspended prison sentence. This follows a labor court ruling that confirmed his termination by the Jewish community was legal based on these allegations.
The joint plaintiff, whose testimony formed the backbone of the Public Prosecutor’s case, detailed an attack that occurred inside a synagogue. According to her account, the rabbi ordered her to close her eyes and then kissed her against her will.
“32 women who had reported sexual assaults”
Throughout the trial, numerous other witnesses came forward with similar stories. They described how the rabbi approached them under the guise of resolving psychological or religious blockages, using “pseudo-religious statements” to manipulate their trust.
One witness testified that she had discovered “32 women who had reported sexual assaults,” noting that for a long time, many victims lived in isolation, believing “they were the only ones affected.”
According to Bild newspaper, witnesses stated that the rabbi systematically targeted women who were Russian-speaking, lived alone in Germany, and had “little information about Judaism.” For many, these encounters were their first interaction with the Jewish faith, leading them to believe the rabbi’s actions were “religiously based.”
Suggestive remarks targeting a.12-year-old
The testimony revealed disturbing methods of manipulation. One victim reported that the rabbi told her he had to give her an “infusion“ with his semen in her mouth to “cure“ her.
Another witness testified that he made “suggestive remarks” about her daughter, who was only 12 at the time, following sexual acts.
The secular court ruling follows a summer 2023 decision by a “Beit Din“ (a Jewish religious court) in Berlin. The religious court ruled that his actions were fundamentally “incompatible with Jewish law, Halacha,” and barred him from performing any religious duties.
The Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany issued a statement emphasizing that the community “should not remain silent” when sexual assault or abuse of office is committed “under the guise of religious authority.”
On Jan. 25, 2023, the life of Michael Kyrath was irrevocably shattered. A police officer arrived at his practice to deliver the unthinkable news: his 17-year-old daughter, Ann-Marie, had been stabbed to death on a regional train near Brokstedt. She was killed alongside her 19-year-old boyfriend, Danny, by a stateless Palestinian man who had been released from custody just days prior, despite a history of violent crime.
Since that day, Kyrath has emerged as a hauntingly articulate voice in the German political landscape — not as a partisan ideologue, but as a father demanding accountability for a system he believes is failing its citizens, including on immigration.
“People always talk about these as regrettable isolated incidents. But we’re in contact with more than 1,000 families who have lost loved ones to violent crimes in recent years. It’s always the same perpetrator profile. It’s almost always the same weapon. It’s nearly always the same sequence of events. It’s always the same motives. And it’s always the same platitudes from the same politicians, who, after such an act, tearfully cry into the cameras. Then nothing happens,” he told FAZ newspaper in a new interview.
His daughter was murdered by an illegal Palestinian migrant, stabbed 38 times, along with her boyfriend.
17-year-old Ann-Marie is gone, but her father won't let her memory die. He delivered a message to Olaf Scholz's face:
At the same time, he has become a voice for thousands of victims, making regular appearances on German television and speaking with media outlets. He says he is in contact with over 1,000 families, and he says it is always the same perpetrators and always the same weapon, and then over the same empty promises from politicians again and again.
A systemic failure
Kyrath’s criticism of German migration policy is rooted in the specific failures that led to his daughter’s death. The perpetrator, Ibrahim A., had a criminal record dating back to 2016, including multiple knife attacks. Due to bureaucratic lapses, these crimes were never properly reported to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
“In 2014, he came to Germany via Turkey. His asylum application was rejected, but he received subsidiary protection. He used drugs and became involved in crime. In 2016, he injured a man with a sharp object in Bad Münstereifel. The Bonn public prosecutor’s office subsequently failed to report the crime to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). In 2022, Ibrahim A. stabbed a man in Hamburg, and two days later, he struck another victim on the back of the head with the handle of a knife.
He was remanded in custody, compared himself to the Breitscheidplatz attacker, and again, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) was kept in the dark. On January 19, 2023, he was released from custody, despite exhibiting extreme psychological disturbances. A few days later, he stabbed people indiscriminately on the train near Brokstedt. In 2024, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the court determined that the crime was particularly heinous.”
However, Kyrath rejects the government’s tendency to categorize such violence as statistical anomalies or so-called “isolated cases.” Through his advocacy, he has connected with over 1,000 families who have suffered similar fates.
NEW: 🇩🇪🔪 Knife crime in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia soared last year by 28 percent, and non-Germans were responsible for more than half the offenses.
Syrians, Turks, and Iraqis were the worst foreign offenders.
He is especially critical of politicians who keep “repeating their mantras” after another murder.
“Then nothing happens. Two, three, four weeks later, with the next incident, the politicians are back again, reciting the same mantra. Anyone out there who works knows the burden of proof placed on us,” said Kyrath.
Kyrath’s frustration extends to the very philosophy of German integration. He argues that the current approach—housing migrants in container villages with allowances but little oversight or cultural education—is a moral failure for both the newcomers and the host society.
🇩🇪🔴 A young German teen ponders what Germany would be like if Merkel had not welcomed over 1 million migrants.
She was only 4 when the former chancellor made her decision, but life has dramatically changed.
“There are people running around in this country whose origins we don’t even know. We don’t know if they’re willing to accept our way of life. And then we cram them into some container villages, hand them a monthly allowance, and think that’s integration,” Kyrath says. “This has nothing to do with Christianity or integration, but solely satisfies the moral self-esteem of a spoiled, ideologically driven, and out-of-touch caste.”
He uses a simple domestic analogy to explain the strain on German infrastructure: “I can perhaps accommodate one or two in my house. If suddenly 30 people are standing in my living room, I have a serious problem.”
The changing “cityscape”
Kyrath also addresses the shifting reality of German public life, noting that the freedom he enjoyed as a youth in the 1980s has vanished behind security checkpoints and concrete bollards at Christmas markets. He defends politicians like Chancellor Friedrich Merz who have pointed out these changes, despite the backlash such comments often receive.
Regarding the political climate, Kyrath is particularly critical of the “firewall” (Brandmauer) strategy used by mainstream parties to exclude right-wing voices from discourse, namely the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
🇩🇪🚨 "I can no longer go out alone. I need a bodyguard."
A German woman is sexually harassed in Bad Dürrenberg.
"This happens to me so often. I have contact with people like that every day when I go out."
“I think there’s a lot of cosmetic work being done, but many problems aren’t being properly addressed. A clean break is needed when it comes to migration. But nobody’s taking the initiative. I’m a democrat through and through. I talk to all parties, without exception. That’s why I believe a firewall is something for stupid people who can’t defend themselves with arguments. We are a democracy, and arguments are what count here. But in recent years, we’ve forgotten how to have a good, hearty debate. All that’s left is stigmatization, polemics, and taking everything personally,” he said.
Kyrath also said that the population would be attracted to more and more parties that are deemed “radical” because establishment politicians appear unable to address the core issues. Those who do bring them up are politically and socially ostracized.
BREAKING: This is German girl Lena (14) along with her mother (32).
Lena was brutally beaten by a gang of migrant girls.
When Lisa Steude came into the school office, her daughter Lena was cryingin a chair.
“Fundamentally, we’ve noticed in recent years that things haven’t improved for us citizens, regardless of who’s in power. Everything is getting more expensive, and the formerly pacifist parties are driving us toward war. And anyone who dares to speak out is immediately stigmatized and shouted down, thus eliminating any democratic discourse that might be desperately needed.”
No organization or NGO for murder victims
Beyond political critique, Kyrath is focused on building a support network for victims. He highlights the “bubble” of trauma that follows a murder, where families are buried under legal paperwork and funeral costs—often exceeding €25,000—without state assistance.
“When your child is murdered, you’re in a bubble for the first four weeks. You have absolutely no idea what’s happening,” he says. He wants to create a system where victims are shielded from the press and guided through the financial and emotional wreckage of the first year.
🇩🇪 Germans will "perish" due to mass immigration, says German-Turkish TikToker "Based Girl 2.0."
"You wanted diversity, you have diversity."
"Call me whatever you want, I don't care. But this diversity will eventually drag you to the ground."
For Michael Kyrath, the goal is simple but profound: to ensure that the “morning silence” experienced by families like his is not ignored by the people who have the power to prevent it.
For the Kyrath family, the tragedy resulted in a house that is simultaneously too quiet and unexpectedly full. Ann-Marie was their only child, and Kyrath describes the “morning silence” as the hardest part of his day. However, every Wednesday, their home fills with Ann-Marie’s friends, whom they now call their “stepchildren.”
“Some are still in school, some are in vocational training… We play games, watch movies, go mini-golfing, or visit Ann-Marie’s grave,” Kyrath explains. “Julian, who was Ann-Marie’s best friend, once said, ‘There are many things you unfortunately won’t experience with Ann-Marie anymore, but we’ll make sure you get to experience them with us.’ I thought that was wonderful; it really touched me.”
Hungary and Slovakia will launch a legal challenge at the Court of Justice of the European Union against the REPowerEU plan as soon as the decision is formally published.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Brussels on Monday of using a legal workaround to force through measures that should require unanimous approval.
“Hungary will take legal action before the Court of Justice of the European Union as soon as the decision on REPowerEU is officially published. We will use every legal means to have it annulled,” Szijjártó said in a statement on social media.
He argued that the European Union was disguising what he described as a sanctions measure as a trade policy decision in order to bypass the unanimity requirement among member states.
“The REPowerEU plan is based on a legal trick, presenting a sanctions measure as a trade policy decision in order to avoid unanimity,” he said. “This goes completely against the EU’s own rules. The Treaties are clear: decisions on the energy mix are a national competence.”
🇭🇺 FM Szijjártó: Hungary will initiate proceedings at the European Court to annul the REPowerEU regulation, adopted through legal fraud, which aims to eliminate Russian energy imports.
🛢️ Speaking from Thessaloniki, Minister Szijjártó said banning Russian oil and gas purchases… pic.twitter.com/T6aaMNgkpU
Szijjártó said Hungary opposed any move that would prevent it from importing Russian oil and gas, warning of a higher burden for Hungarian households, a move that could impact Hungary’s crucial parliamentary elections on April 12.
“Banning Hungary from buying oil and gas from Russia goes against our national interest and would significantly increase energy costs for Hungarian families,” he said.
The sentiment from Budapest was echoed in Bratislava, where Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar confirmed that his country will also join the legal challenge.
As cited by TASR, Blanar explained that Bratislava cannot accept solutions that fail to reflect the “real possibilities and specificities” of individual member states.
REPowerEU is the European Union’s flagship energy strategy launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the stated aim of ending the bloc’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels while accelerating the transition to cleaner energy.
Under REPowerEU, member states are expected to reduce imports of Russian oil, gas, and coal, diversify their energy supplies by sourcing fuel from alternative countries, and significantly expand renewable energy capacity. The plan also calls for faster permitting for wind and solar projects, increased energy efficiency measures, joint gas purchasing at the European level, and investments in energy infrastructure such as LNG terminals, pipelines, electricity grids, and interconnections.
European member states are required to ban new Russian energy contracts by late 2025 and completely stop Russian imports by 2027.
To finance these goals, the EU has tied REPowerEU to its post-pandemic recovery funds, allowing member states to amend their national recovery and resilience plans to include new energy-related investments and reforms. In practice, this has meant that governments seeking access to EU funding are required to outline concrete steps to cut reliance on Russian energy, boost renewables, and reform energy markets. One of the problems for Hungary is that the European Commission continues to withhold critical national recovery funds in what Budapest claims is a political ploy to undermine the dissenting nationalist government.
Hungary is a landlocked country that relies heavily on Russian oil and gas and has long opposed EU energy sanctions, arguing that these demands infringe on national sovereignty over energy policy.
In an extraordinary case that could decide the future of press rights in Europe, Berlin-based German-Turkish journalist Hüseyin Doğru is currently under European Union sanctions for his reporting, which left him completely unable to access his bank account for months. Under orders from the EU, his assets were frozen, and these sanctions were dispensed with no trial or appeal. Currently, Doğru says he is not even allowed to leave Germany.
As Berliner Zeitung reports, Doğru completely exhausted all financial means, telling the paper that his bank has completely blocked access to his previously approved minimum subsistence allowance of €506. He stated that he can no longer support his family or even buy food for his two newborn children.
“Not only I, but also my wife and my three children are effectively being sanctioned,” Doğru, a left-wing journalist, said in the interview.
“The sanctions themselves stipulate that I am entitled to access to essential funds. The fact that my bank is nevertheless blocking these funds violates applicable law in my view,” he told the Berlin newspaper.
Since then, he has won some reprieve and regained access to his account on Jan. 22 through the actions of his lawyer, but a legal battle over the sanctions is continuing.
UPDATE: Comdirect finally (and unwillingly) restored my account access—only after public and media pressure. Thank you ALL for supporting me. Next goal: lift the sanctions, not just against me, but against all punished for expressing their opinions. https://t.co/P6rdkNhCC8
There are now fears that the extraordinary case may be a sign of where the future is headed, where an authoritarian EU can censor and financially ruin dissidents and journalists with no oversight or judicial review. Notably, similar sanctions could also be deployed against others, such as Roger Köppel, the Swiss editor-in-chief of the weeklyDie Weltwoche.
Doğru has been on an EU sanctions list since May 2025, with Brussels arguing that his pro-Palestinian journalistic work incites “ethnic, political, and religious discord” and therefore, he allegedly supports “destabilizing activities by Russia.” Notably, he filmed a number of the occupations of Berlin universities by pro-Palestinian activists.
The basis for the sanctions was his alleged connections to Russia, but the Berliner Zeitung indicates that so far, no proof has been presented to confirm this accusation, and more importantly, there was no trial or evidence provided to support this accusation.
“Brussels justifies the measures by saying that he is using his pro-Palestinian journalistic work to stir up ‘ethnic, political and religious discord’ and thus allegedly ‘destabilizing activities that support Russia.’ The EU has not yet publicly provided any concrete evidence of a connection to Moscow,” wrote the paper.
Germany couldn’t do it, but the EU could
In a recent interview on Youtube, which included the Greek progressive Yanis Varoufakis, Doğru provided further details about his case, including why these sanctions came from the EU and not Germany.
“And this now all applied to me the first time in the form of a sanction, but the German government did not do it directly with me. They, as Yanis said, pass it over to the European Union because in Germany, they could not do that in a legal way, because the backlash is still there in this bourgeois democracy. The little backlash, if it comes to their own citizens, which I am, even though they don’t maybe accept me as such. But if a journalist is in court here, he has a lot of rights.
But if you go through the European Union, the European Commission, there is no judge, there is no hearing, there is no evidence. It’s an extrajudicial act of… and the EU says sanctions are not punishment, they are punitive to change your behavior for the benefit of the European Union, which is not a punishment. So, it’s an extrajudicial execution of a journalist.
But now coming back to the beginning, why is that happening? They’re all laid that out and they’re testing it with me for the first time. And what makes the whole situation unique is that the first time, if they can get away with it, this is going to soon happen to you guys as well, or even those who attacked us.”
The sanctions had a devastating effect on Doğru and illustrate how they could be used to silence nearly any journalist, whether on the left or the right.
“I’m not allowed to pay my lawyer. I’m not allowed to buy water. I’m not allowed to provide my child with food. I’m not allowed to work. I’m not allowed to buy medicine. Every single monetary transaction with me is forbidden. Technically, you’re not even allowed to give me a basket of food because I could turn that technically into money. And this is forbidden.
And if I violate or you do, I don’t know about you, but if I were to violate one of these things, I could face like five years of prison time by avoiding sanctions technically, but they went further. I’m sanctioned, I’m on that list, but they also technically sanctioned my wife and our unborn twins because they froze older accounts. She is not allowed to receive her salary right now.
So in this moment, we technically have no money that we can access to go and buy something. There is also the problem because a lot of activists, journalists, colleagues, politicians and family members even said, ‘Should we send you money?’ We said, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t do that because you would be maybe categorized as avoiding sanctions.’ And this is the problem here. Sanction, as the European Union describes on their website, is a tool that is aligned with humanitarian law, which is not deemed to punish, but rather to change your behavior.”
Notably, this is tool is being used on a journalist in Europe during a time when EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is claiming that Europe is a place where freedom of speech is valued, a point that Doğru is more than willing to point out.
The German-Turkish journalist stated during the interview that he does not understand what “behavior” is supposed to be changed by the sanctions, saying:
“To change behavior, what kind of behavior do they want to change? My behavior to use my rights as a citizen of Europe or of the world to express my opinion on certain events. Also, the right to survive because all my existential grounds are taken away from me. To be a bit more specific, maybe that sounds a bit crude, but just to make the point that I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me, someone in a prison currently technically has more rights than I have, because they can, in custody, buy something which I can’t even.”
The Russian accusations
For those on the right who dismiss this case because of Doğru’s pro-Palestinian coverage or maybe even dislike him because he’s a Muslim, it is clear that this is only a test case. Many of his views or the views of Varoufakis, such as their claims about European colonialism, can be contested, but that is besides the point. Conservatives, libertarians, and the right will all be targeted in the future, not only with this type of method, but other similar methods that are already being deployed.
Doğru indicates that the argument, as far as he can see, is not that he has any direct connection to Russia, but that the EU can interpret his reporting as beneficial to Russia, and therefore, it can legally use these extrajudicial sanctions. Notably, Doğru said he was openly criticizing Russia and its war in Ukraine long before these sanctions hit him.
“And I think this is unique as Yanis said at the beginning with my case, because for the first time ever, Europe sanctioned a journalist in the context of the Russian sanction packages and laws and regulations, who was criticizing Russian policies publicly, which I did, who was criticizing the war in Ukraine,” he said.
He added that he was targeted for “covering protests across Europe, which meant for the European Union that covering that, covering protests, covering violent protests, means for the European Union that only Russia can benefit from that because I’m creating social discord. I’m focusing on that, apparently, and Russia can benefit from that. Therefore, that makes me a Russian news outlet or pro-Russian journalist, which is, I can’t see you’re rolling your eyes. It’s exactly what happened to me as well.”
It is important to note that a report from German newspaper Tagesspiegel indicated that Doğru previously worked for Russian-linked news source Redfish Media. After the war in Ukraine broke out, Redfish closed down, and Doğru began a new outlet called Red, which included a number of former Redfish employees. Doğru indicated that the Red outlet, founded in Istanbul, was independent and received support from private individuals and organizations, without providing further details.
Even if this outlet, however, is connected to Russia in some manner, and so far no evidence has been presented in that direction, the EU’s ability to implement such powerful sanctions against an individual without due process should raise concerns for journalists everywhere.
Concerns expressed from many corners
It is not just the far left complaining about these sanctions against Doğru, but a broad political spectrum is taking issue with how they have been implemented. Here is what Berliner Zeitung wrote:
The Doğru case has been causing a stir for months. Critics see the sanctioning of a German journalist as a dangerous precedent for press freedom in the European Union. The criticism is particularly harsh in a legal opinion prepared by former European Court of Justice judge Ninon Colneric and international law professor Alina Miron. The opinion was presented to the European Parliament in the fall and addresses the new EU sanctions regime against so-called disinformation.
The authors conclude that the sanctions constitute a profound infringement of fundamental rights. The measures act like a “civil death” (“mort civile”): assets are frozen, access to banking services is effectively blocked, and the economic capacity of those affected is almost completely eliminated. This not only affects the sanctioned individuals themselves but also has a direct impact on their professional and private lives.
The report states that it is particularly problematic that sanctions are imposed without prior judicial review. Denying the right to a hearing before being placed on a sanctions list is disproportionate and violates European fundamental rights. The damage to freedom of expression and of the press is completely out of proportion to the stated goal of combating disinformation.
In short, the EU took a sledgehammer to this case, and with the other issues such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and efforts to fight so-called “disinformation,” it is clear that these tools and terms can be weaponied within the EU establishment against any reporting they do not agree with or find to be a threat.
The history of these sanctions
While the main points of this text has been addressed, some readers may be interested in how these sanctions were implemented and their background.
Doğru addresses the history of these sanctions in his interview with Varoufakis.
“How did we come to this point? It’s going to be a little bit technical, like using technical words, but I think for the audience it is very, very important because that did not just happen from nowhere. It technically started with the annexation of Crimea by Russia. So that’s when the European Union created the European External Action Service (EEAS), which was tasked to combat disinformation and Russian influence in Europe.
After around 2018, that body was extended with more rights, which created a kind of like an action plan against this information. And then we first heard like these words, and I think everyone knows that now. It’s like undermining European democracy, the European values, the European project and about strategic threats, and at some point about disinformation.”
He goes on to address terms like “disinformation” and “hybrid threat,” saying these terms were first coined around 2020. He said that disinformation, in particular, does not have to be a lie, but simply information that is categorized as a threat by the EU.
“That means technically information is now categorized by the EU as a threat, as long as it does not serve their benefit. In that case, as long as a journalist does not report on behalf of or for the benefit of the European Union. This might be a protest, that might be, if I criticize in the context of the Ukraine war, Russia and Europe, for example. So it’s kind of militarizing and criminalizing information, and by fighting disinformation and shutting down information, the EU started to use this (term),” he said.
He then delves further into the history of these sanctions and how the Digital Service Act (DSA) raised the stakes because it allows the EU to punish and sanction individuals, including journalists.
So what happened after that is also like the EAS created or introduced the FIMA, I think it is called, the foreign information manipulation and interference. This was very, very unique and very, very important because that gives the EEAS the right to punish, sanction everyone who is also, how should I work that now, involved in, this is very important: non-illegal suspicious behavior. So they say you have maybe a suspicious behavior and it is no illegal but we judge that as a threat to us, and we can’t punish you. That’s what the FIMA says. So this is very important. The only evidence is look at EEAS, look at FIMA. That’s the template for that…And that brings us to the last point, the Digital Service Act.
The Digital Service act says that in a state of emergency, whatever that is, they don’t announce that or explain that, that they technically can sanction, punish or whatever punishment they have in their mind, journalists and information.
Varoufakis closes by addressing how dangerous this threat now is for European citizens and journalists.
“And we need to emphasize this. I’m glad we have Hüseyin (Doğru) here because this innovation by the German government on the one hand and of course the European Commission on the other is a vile and dangerous precedent, as Hüseyin said. Today, they choose to use anti-Russian or Russian related decrees in order to stop a journalist, a German citizen, from writing about Palestine.
Tomorrow, they can do exactly the same thing regarding any issue, any topic that they do not want people to talk about. It could be anything from the investigation of an accident, a railway accident, an airplane crash. Once we have allowed them to use extrajudicial cancellation methods of European citizens, then that is the thin edge of the wedge. And we go back to really before Magna Carta, before Magna Carta. We’re not talking about democracy now in big domains. We’re going, no, we are digging ourselves into a hole, a wormhole that brings us out like a time machine before the time of Magna Carta.”
Berlin’s police force is facing mounting difficulties in recruiting new officers, with poor German language skills among applicants emerging as a major concern, according to the city’s police leadership.
Police President Barbara Slowik Meisel told the Interior Committee of Berlin’s House of Representatives that a large number of candidates are failing the entrance examinations, primarily because they do not meet basic language requirements.
“We have a very serious problem with German language skills, regardless of nationality,” she said, as cited by Welt, adding that many applicants struggle to pass computer-based tests because of inadequate command of German.
“I don’t want to criticize schools, but there is a problem with the educational levels young people are leaving school with,” Meisel told lawmakers. She said around 80 percent of failed computer tests could be traced back to language deficiencies.
Meisel stressed that the police could not respond by lowering standards. “Otherwise, we’ll simply see higher dropout rates,” she said, noting that while attrition among Berlin police trainees has so far been lower than in some other forces and professions, that balance could not be maintained if entry requirements were watered down.
In an effort to address the problem, the Berlin police have introduced their own German-language tutoring courses for applicants and hope the additional support will improve pass rates.
The recruitment challenge is also reflected in staffing figures. Of the 1,224 training positions available each year, only 936 were filled last year, according to Berlin’s Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger of the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD).
The concerns come amid a broader debate about declining educational performance in Germany. A study presented by Humboldt University in Berlin last year found that students are increasingly failing to meet minimum standards in core subjects such as mathematics and the sciences. The “IQB Education Trend” reported that fewer students reached required benchmarks than in earlier assessments in 2012 and 2018, with failure rates rising across multiple subjects.
A review published in August 2023 by the New Social Free Market Initiative found that the proportion of children who do not speak German at home had risen sharply over the past decade, contributing to widening gaps in educational achievement and placing additional strain on schools already facing staff shortages.
After French authorities arrested a Tunisian migrant for the brutal rape of a 90-year-old woman in the Madeleine district this past Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, information has now been revealed that the man had an open deportation order.
“The individual who committed the abominable rape of a 90-year-old woman on Boulevard de la Madeleine in Nice was under an OQTF (deportation order)! Once again, someone who had no business being in France commits an abomination. When are we going to put an end to this criminal policy!?” wrote Eric Ciotti, President of the UPA party and a representative in Nice.
L’individu qui a commis le viol abominable d’une femme de 90 ans au boulevard de la Madeleine à Nice était sous OQTF !
Une nouvelle fois, quelqu’un qui n’avait rien à faire en France commet une abomination. Quand allons-nous mettre fin à cette politique criminelle !? pic.twitter.com/rfVF38U5e3
According to reliable police sources, a 90-year-old woman was reportedly raped after an intruder gained access to her home. A suspect was apprehended shortly after the incident.
According to a communique issued about the incident, “The victim stated that around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m., an individual forced his way into her apartment and violently penetrated her multiple times. She was hospitalized with injuries to her hands, arms, and legs, resulting in a five-day period of total incapacity for work.”
According to French news outlet Nice Matin, when the stranger knocked on the victim’s door, “she thought it was a visit from a nurse” and opened it without hesitation.
Once inside, the man immediately turned violent. The suspect allegedly forced the woman to perform “one blowjob” and subjected her to “various physical abuses.”
The victim’s daughter alerted the national police just after 6 a.m., triggering an immediate manhunt. Officers successfully located a suspect, who was “arrested in a squat” nearby.
The elderly victim was treated by emergency responders and “driven to Pasteur 2 hospital” for medical care. She is reportedly suffering from severe physical wounds and psychological damage.
The Criminal Brigade of the Nice Local Judicial Police Service (SLPJ) is currently interrogating the individual under a flagrante delicto investigation for the rape of a vulnerable person.
The individual also apparently was intoxicated during the incident, with the communiqué further reading: “At the time of his arrest, the suspect had a blood alcohol level of 0.86 mg/l and tested positive for cannabis and cocaine. While he admitted to entering the victim’s apartment, he denied the rape. Born in Tunisia in 1997, the suspect had been issued a deportation order and placed under house arrest by the Saône-et-Loire prefecture on January 11, 2026. Unknown to the police and with no prior criminal record, he will be brought before a judge tomorrow morning as part of a preliminary investigation for rape of a vulnerable person.”
Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has launched a blunt attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, telling him to “sign the peace agreement as soon as possible” and accusing him of squandering Western support, during a weekend event organized by Salvini’s right-wing Lega party.
Speaking at the party’s ‘Ideas in Movement’ gathering in Rivisondoli, in the Abruzzo region, Salvini said Zelensky had no grounds to complain after years of Western backing. “We heard Zelensky who, after all the money, after all the effort, after all the help, even has the nerve to complain,” Salvini said. “My friend, you are losing the war, you are losing men, you are losing credibility and dignity. Sign the peace agreement as soon as possible. Sign the peace agreement as soon as possible. You have to choose between a defeat and a rout.”
Abbiamo sentito Zelensky che, dopo tutti i soldi, gli sforzi, gli aiuti che ha avuto, ha pure il coraggio di lamentarsi. Amico mio, stai perdendo la guerra, stai perdendo uomini, credibilità e dignità: firma l'accordo di PACE il prima possibile. Devi scegliere fra una sconfitta e… pic.twitter.com/WfVMti04hl
Salvini is the latest Italian politician to criticize Zelensky’s recent tone toward European allies, following the Ukrainian leader’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. In that address, Zelensky warned that Europe risked irrelevance if it failed to act decisively on foreign policy. “If Europe is not seen as a global force, if its actions do not scare bad actors, then Europe will always be catching up with new dangers and attacks,” he said.
Zelensky singled out Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a vocal critic of military support for Ukraine. “Every Viktor who lives on European money while selling out European interests deserves a tassel on his hat,” he said. “And even if he feels comfortable in Moscow, we should not let European capitals become little Moscows.”
The remarks drew pushback from Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, who defended Europe’s role in supporting Kyiv. “It seems to me that he is not generous towards Europe,” Tajani said. “It seems to me that Europe has guaranteed Ukraine’s independence, doing everything to support this country from a political, financial, and military point of view.”
Orbán also responded directly, rejecting Zelensky’s criticism and reiterating Hungary’s opposition to continued military aid. “I think we will never understand each other. I am a free man who serves the Hungarians,” Orbán wrote on social media. Addressing Zelensky, he added, “You are a man in a difficult situation who has been unable or unwilling to end a war for four years, despite the fact that the president of the United States is providing all the help he can.”
Orbán said Hungary would not continue to support Ukraine’s war effort militarily, while insisting that humanitarian assistance would remain in place. “Therefore, despite your flattery, we cannot continue to support your war effort,” he wrote.
“Of course, the Ukrainian people, despite your selective insults, can count on us to continue supplying your country with electricity and fuel, as well as helping refugees from Ukraine. Life will take care of the rest, and everyone will get what they deserve.”
A cybersecurity firm has reportedly determined that hackers linked to the Russian government were behind a failed attack in December that attempted to cripple parts of Poland’s energy grid.
Sandworm operates as an APT (advanced persistent threat) unit of the GRU, a unit of Russian military intelligence, and has previously disrupted power supplies, writes Portfolio.
Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka told reporters last week that during the cyberattack on Dec. 29 and 30, hackers targeted two thermal and power plants. They have also attempted to disrupt communications between renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines, and power distribution systems.
The minister called the incident the most powerful attack on Poland’s energy infrastructure in recent years. The Polish government blamed Moscow for the attempt.
According to local media, the attack jeopardized the heating and power supply of up to half a million homes across the country as winter temperatures set in.
On Jan. 23, Motyka reposted an announcement from his party, the Polish People’s Party (PSL): “Poland’s infrastructure is prepared for acts of sabotage, and the services continuously monitor facilities to deter saboteurs. An example of professionalism was the operation at Okęcie Airport, where a person was apprehended with a device for jamming radio waves. Not all service operations make it to the media, but we are doing everything to reduce the risk of sabotage to zero. Passenger safety is the priority.”
Cybersecurity firm ESET said Friday it had obtained a copy of the devastating malware, dubbed DynoWiper. The so-called “wiper” malware is designed to irreversibly destroy data stored on computers and render affected systems inoperable.
ESET attributed the malware to Sandworm with medium certainty, indicating that this new software shows significant overlap with previous tools used by the group, which operates as a unit of the GRU, a unit of Russian military intelligence. Sandworm has previously targeted Ukraine’s energy sector using similar methods.
“The attackers deployed a wiper, which we analyzed and named DynoWiper. We’re not aware that any successful disruption occurred as a result of this attack,” explained ESET principal threat intelligence researcher, Robert Lipovsky, to InfoSecurity Magazine.
The attack on Poland came almost exactly a decade after Sandworm first attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in 2015. That attack knocked out power to more than 230,000 homes around Kyiv, and a year later, another similar attack hit the Ukrainian energy system.
After the current, unsuccessful hacker attack, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the country’s cyber defenses worked properly and that critical infrastructure was not at risk for a single moment.
“The long-term goal of such attacks is to weaken the economy and demoralize the population,” InfoSecurity writes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday progress had been made at the UAE talks, with further meetings to take place as early as this week.
Posting on X, Zelensky thanked countries across Europe for their continued support. “Our call is simple: this unity must be 100 percent effective. Not halfway. Not for a few months a year. Not until the next elections in one European country or another. But fully effective. Not what is convenient. Not what feels acceptable. But as much as is required to work – so that there is no threat to Europe or to any of our nations,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, according to Portfolio, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday called the European Union’s political leadership incompetent in efforts to diplomatically resolve the conflict in Ukraine and ruled out talks with Kaia Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Russian attacks continue, with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko telling press yesterday that 1,300 buildings in the capital were left without heating as a result of Russian strikes.
An important conversation with the Presidents of Lithuania and Poland. It is very important right now to unite our efforts and cooperate as closely as possible. We discussed energy support for Ukraine, strengthening our air defense, including the production of interceptors, and… pic.twitter.com/kkawlfn8eT
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2026
Europe continues to prep defenses against Russian attacks as well. Over in Finland, the Finnish Border Guard, together with other Baltic Sea states and the European Commission, will establish a maritime observation center to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland, the Finnish Border Guard said on Monday.
Competent authorities must have the capacity and authority to intervene in situations occurring in the coastal zone and the exclusive economic zone,” the agency announced in a statement.
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, sabotage actions against undersea cables have increased in the wider Baltic Sea region, with suspicions that they are mostly carried out on the orders of Moscow.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Moscow launched an attack against Ukraine with a total of 138 drones by dawn on Monday, of which air defenses neutralized 110.
Denis Pushilin, the pro-Russian head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), says that Russian forces have largely surrounded Konstantinovka in Donetsk Oblast.
On yet another front, Zelensky met with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for the first time during his visit to Vilnius, where he commemorated the victims of the January Uprising of 1863-1864 when Poles attempted to gain their independence from Russian rule, which lasted some 100 years, until WWI. The Kingdom of Poland at that time spread across present-day Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania. The ceremony in Vilnius was also attended by Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
“We honored the memory of those who were killed during the January Uprising of 1863-1864 – an uprising of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian peoples against the Russian Empire and oppression,” he posted.
Vilnius. Rasos Cemetery.
We honored the memory of those who were killed during the January Uprising of 1863-1864 – an uprising of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian peoples against the Russian Empire and oppression.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2026
“Generations before us fought so that we could exist. Our people are fighting so that our children and our grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren, can exist – and live in peace. So that what matters is not one person sitting on a throne in Russia, but every one of our nations and every human life. This is the European rule: people matter. Nations matter. Cultures matter. Russia does not matter – because anyone who stands against peoples has always lost historically,” Zelensky wrote.
According to independent analysts, Tsikhanouskaya may have won the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, which was allegedly rigged by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, who then crushed the nationwide protests that followed with Russian help. Tsikhanouskaya has since lived in exile in Lithuania.
And the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria has decried continued humanitarian support for Ukraine. Michael Schnedlitz, Secretary General of the FPÖ, called for an immediate halt to aid to Ukraine on Sunday, fiercely criticizing the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s previous announcement that humanitarian aid would be increased by an additional €3 million.
“Not a single euro can continue to flow,” emphasized the FPÖ Secretary General, who also demanded the resignation of Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, a politician from the New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS).
German authorities plan to deploy police officers to guard the Karolina-Burger high school in Ludwigshafen following a series of violent incidents that have included knife attacks, beatings, threats of mass shootings, and repeated emergency call-outs, prompting officials to describe the campus as one of Germany’s most troubled schools.
As reported by Bild, the decision comes after 118 criminal complaints and around 100 fire department call-outs linked to the school. Two state ministers announced that a regular police presence would begin at the Ludwigshafen campus and could later be expanded to other schools in high-crime areas.
The move follows a letter written by teachers at the school, which detailed what staff described as an escalating breakdown in safety. The document catalogued death threats from students, such as “I’ll shoot you all,” physical assaults, including a “student hitting another student with an emergency hammer,” routine insults directed at teachers, and extensive vandalism, ranging from damaged walls to feces and urine found across the school premises.
The most serious incident occurred in May, when a 16-year-old student attacked a teacher in the staff room with a knife. Prosecutors later said the girl acted “with the intention of killing her.”
Eight months after that attack, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education and Ministry of the Interior presented what they called a prevention package focused on police visibility, additional educational staff, and psychological support. Interior Minister Michael Ebling said, “Violence has no place in our society – and certainly not in our schools.” Education Minister Sven Teuber added, “Every child has the right to learn well and safely.”
Under the plan, police visits to the school are intended to be “unprovoked, regular, time-limited, with fixed times and clearly designated contact persons.” Authorities also plan meetings with potential perpetrators of violence, some of which would take place at police stations to deter escalation. A confidential support center is to be set up for teachers who experience threats or violence. Officials said details such as officer equipment were still being finalized.
The school’s staff council, which represents a campus of around 800 students, had previously called for smaller classes, more teachers and social workers, and additional security measures, including cameras in hallways and schoolyards and metal detectors at entrances to prevent weapons from being brought into the building.
The school has previously drawn the attention of the police. In 2018, a special police unit was deployed after a student was reportedly seen with a weapon, although no weapon was found at the time.
Teachers have since complained that little changed, even after the knife attack in May, until the latest intervention by state authorities.
Insecurity across German schools has risen in tandem with the country’s policy of mass immigration.
In July 2025, new data showed that 40 percent of all suspects identified in school violence in 2024 were not German citizens, with Syrians at the top of the charts.
In total, there were 4,254 foreign suspects and 7,309 suspects with German citizenship, the German government announced at the time in response to a parliamentary inquiry from Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Martin Hess.
Of the 11,558 suspects in total, 1,236 had Syrian passports, representing one in ten violent incidents, according to the data.
Earlier this month, the Cottbus public prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into 18 specific cases of serious violence in the migrant-dominated Regine Hildebrandt Primary School in the south of Cottbus, leading the AfD to speak out against migrant violence in schools.
Testimony from a fifth-grade victim at a school in Berlin last October revealed how she had been assaulted multiple times by foreign boys, causing her to suffer from psychological disorders, including PTSD. In four different incidents last year, the victim suffered from death threats, bruises on her body, abrasions, and even a headbutting attack.
Disintegration and attempts to curtail the violence and disorder are affecting educational standards. Last month, over 1,000 teachers in the German state of Hesse penned a letter to the state’s Ministry of Culture, warning that many elementary school children are not even able to undertake simple tasks like tying their shoes or using toilet paper when visiting the restroom.
French investigators say the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting of a young woman in western Nice last week is the Portuguese-born stepfather of the victim’s partner, the families of whom originate from Cape Verde.
According to Nice-Matin and BFMTV, the suspect, identified as 45-year-old Octaviano M. V., was arrested less than 72 hours after the killing of Lizabete, who was shot multiple times on Wednesday evening while driving at the junction of Boulevard Napoléon III and Avenue Henri Matisse in the southern French city. She was killed in front of her 7-month-old daughter, who was in the car at the time and escaped unharmed.
The gunman fled the scene on a scooter and was the subject of an intensive manhunt. Police located him after a tip-off received by the Cannes police station led investigators to an apartment he had recently rented nearby.
He was arrested early Saturday afternoon during a special forces operation.
As cited by Nice-Matin, public prosecutor Damien Martinelli said the suspect, who was already subject to two arrest warrants, could not be placed in standard police custody but was ultimately summoned before an investigating judge on Sunday morning, where he refused to answer questions. “The individual arrested yesterday in Grasse has remained silent,” Martinelli said.
NEW: 🇫🇷🚨 A young woman was shot dead in her car this evening in Nice while travelling with her young child.
The attack occurred around 6 p.m. while the vehicle was on Avenue Matisse.
This footage shows multiple bullet entries into the driver's side of the vehicle.
The suspect was formally indicted and transferred to prison later on Sunday, where he was placed in pretrial detention. Prosecutors said the motives for the killing remain unclear.
BFMTV reported that investigators are now prioritizing the theory of a family feud, with the arrest confirming that line of inquiry. The suspect had already been taken into custody the previous week in a separate case involving aggravated assault against his partner, the mother of Lizabete’s partner. He was brought before a judge and later released under judicial supervision, with a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the woman. Authorities have not confirmed whether the two cases are directly linked.
Two other people were arrested and taken into custody on Saturday on suspicion of having helped the main suspect during his escape, including by sheltering him. According to the Nice prosecutor, their custody was lifted later the same day.
The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, when a man riding a scooter pulled alongside the victim’s car and opened fire with a handgun. Martinelli said the woman was already in cardiac arrest when emergency services arrived. “Their efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful,” he told French media.
Witnesses described scenes of panic following the attack. One resident told Le Parisien, “It was exactly 6 p.m. when we heard gunshots. We went straight outside, called the fire department, and tried to provide first aid for 20 minutes, then we waited for the police to arrive.”
Several witnesses said the victim appeared to have shielded her baby during the shooting. “From what I understand, the woman dove on top of her baby, who was in the passenger seat, to protect him; that’s why she seems to have been shot in the torso,” one witness said. “We immediately got the baby out of the car.”
The scooter believed to have been used in the attack was later found abandoned without license plates near the Nice-Ville train station.
Algeria has now criminalized the period of French colonization, from 1830 to 1962. Yesterday, Jan. 22, the upper house of the Algerian parliament, the Council of the Nation (Senate), passed the law. However, 13 articles that were approved by the lower house regarding apologies and reparations demanded must be rewritten.
Reservations were raised, particularly concerning “reparations and apologies,” stated Fayçal Bousdraia, rapporteur for the National Defense Committee, in a video on the Senate website. These clauses are “not in line with the national direction” set by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, which calls above all for “an explicit recognition of colonial crimes,” he said, as cited by TV5.
“I do not renounce the memory. We are not tempted by money, nor euros or dollars (…) We demand recognition (by France) of the crimes committed in the country. I am not asking for financial compensation,” Tebboune had previously stated in December 2024, in a speech to parliament.
The text of the new law lists the “crimes of French colonization” deemed imprescriptible: “nuclear tests,” “extrajudicial executions,” “the practice of physical and psychological torture” on a large scale, and “the systematic plundering of resources.”
It further stipulates that “full and fair compensation for all material and moral damages caused by French colonization is an inalienable right for the Algerian state and people.”
Tensions between France and Algeria have been boiling over for months, fueled by a dispute over Macron’s backing of Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara, the imprisonment of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, special benefits received by Algerians in France, and France’s attempted expulsion of Algerian influencers for inciting violence against those opposed to the Algerian regime, as well as for hateful comments against France.
In Algeria, the Senate cannot amend a text adopted by the lower house. A joint committee will thus have to meet to propose a new text and resolve the issues between the two bodies, according to the president of the upper house of Parliament, Azouz Nasri.
After the law was passed in the lower house this past December, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced “amanifestly hostile initiative, both to the desire to resume Franco-Algerian dialogue, and to calm work on memorial issues.”
What the law means in practice remains unclear.
“We continue to work towards resuming a demanding dialogue with Algeria, which can address the priority interests of France and the French people, particularly with regard to security and migration issues,” the ministry added in December, as cited by Le Monde.
A harrowing trial in the Italian city of Treviso is unfolding. The case involves a 41-year-old Moroccan national who is accused of brutally assaulting and raping a 49-year-old disabled woman in January 2025.
During the hearing on Jan. 22, 2026, the victim provided shocking testimony detailing a night of torture and sexual violence that left her unconscious and severely injured.
The victim confirmed the extent of the torture, saying in court: “I was beaten, tortured with a box cutter, and then he also raped me with a bottle.”
The relationship between the victim and the accused man, who has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, began years ago. Despite the man having a prior conviction for mistreating both the woman and their young son, the victim allowed him to return to her home after his release, according to Italian news outlet Treviso Today.
She reportedly hoped he would help her manage her disability, believing his promise: “I’ve changed, you’ll see that things will work between us now.”
However, the situation deteriorated rapidly by September 2024. The defendant allegedly became increasingly aggressive, punching the woman in the head and threatening her with a kitchen knife while declaring, “We’re both going to die here tonight.”
The violence reached its peak on January 5, 2025. Driven by alcohol and cocaine, the man is accused of brutally beating his partner before dragging her into the bathroom. The court heard testimony that he “slammed her against the bidet until she lost consciousness.”
After that, police found the woman had been sliced open with a box cutter, and investigators found the bottle that prosecutors say the man raped her with.
When emergency services arrived the following morning after the woman managed to call 118 saying, “Come, he massacred me,” they discovered a scene of “authentic horror.”
Blood was found throughout the apartment—on the floors, furniture, and the terrace. The defendant was found lying on a bed surrounded by drug paraphernalia, including tinfoil and a crack pipe.
The defendant, currently held in Santa Bona prison, continues to deny the charges. He claimed that a significant wound on the victim’s neck was simply an accident she suffered while walking to the bathroom.
However, biological evidence appears to contradict his story. While some DNA evidence from a vaginal swab was excluded from the trial file due to procedural issues, other “biological evidence frames him.” Investigators found the defendant’s blood on the handle of the box cutter used in the attack, while the victim’s blood was found on the blade.
Facing charges of mistreatment, aggravated personal injury, and sexual violence, the 41-year-old remains in custody. The victim, fearful of her alleged attacker, was permitted to testify behind a protective screen.
A verdict will be reached and a sentence issued on Feb. 19.
