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German national Jian G, who worked for AfD MEP Maximilian Krah, was arrested by Saxony State criminal police in Dresden and had his residences searched, the prosecutor’s office said early Tuesday. The aide was later suspended by the European Parliament, a spokesman for the body told CNN. Prosecutors said he passed on information about “negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament” to China in January. The far-right AfD party has nine seats in the European Parliament, and is competing alongside Germany’s traditional parties in the European elections in June. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said the homes and workplace of the trio were searched in Düsseldorf and Bad Homburg.

Persons: Jian G, Maximilian Krah, ”, Jens Schlueter, Jian, “, Krah, Nancy Faeser, Thomas R, – Herwig, Ina F, –, Wang Wenbin Organizations: CNN, Prosecutors, International Trade, Security, Defence, Foreign Trade, Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of State Security, ” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Crown Prosecution Service Locations: China, Europe, Saxony, Dresden, Germany, United States, Bad Homburg

☆ Formed in the Cold War, former members of Germany’s Red Army Faction are now fugitives
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —German authorities have been tracking down the former members of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a now-defunct Cold War-era militant group, who have been on the run for nearly 30 years. The RAF, he said, emerged in what was then West Berlin, at the “crossroads” of the Cold War. The first, and most prominent period from 1970-1977, saw the group murder public officials and US soldiers and take many hostages. In April 1975, six RAF members seized the West German Embassy in Stockholm in a hostage standoff with the goal of forcing the release of imprisoned RAF members. The Red Army Faction claimed responsibility for the assassination, but the perpetrators were never brought to justice.

Persons: Baader, –, Jürgen Ponto, Siegfried Buback, Daniela Klette, Burkhard Garweg, Ernst, Volker Staub, Klette, Claudia Ivone, Garweg, Staub, pouncing, ”, Ivone, Wolfgang Kraushaar, Kraushaar, Axel, Andreas Baader, Ukrike Meinhof, Meinhof, ” Kraushaar, Helmut Schmidt, Franz Josef Strauss, Axel Springer, Springer, Alfred Herrhausen, Willy Brandt Organizations: CNN, Red Army Faction, RAF, East, Stasi, Dresdner Bank, Germany’s Public, Office, Police, ARD, ” Reuters, Bild, Red Brigades, Nihon, Springer, Criminal Police, West German Embassy, West, Meinhof Group, Reuters, Democratic, Deutsche Bank Locations: Berlin, West Germany, Kreuzberg, Bonn, Weiterstadt, German, Italy, Japan, West Berlin, Vietnam, Lower Saxony, Stockholm, Bavarian, Cologne, GDR, Democratic Republic

☆ German basketball team mourns the death of 17-year-old Ukrainian player killed in alleged stabbing
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —German basketball team ART Giants Düsseldorf is mourning the death of 17-year-old Ukrainian player Volodymyr Yermakov, who left Ukraine in 2023 to escape the war with Russia, following an alleged stabbing on Saturday. “The two groups of people initially clashed verbally on a public bus on the way to Oberhausen city centre,” the police statement said. Two Ukrainian male youths, aged 17 and 18 years old, from Düsseldorf suffered life-threatening injuries. “To escape the war in his native country, he moved to Düsseldorf in July 2023, where he had found his new home. We wish him a speedy recovery!”The team said Yermakov was an “integral part” of its junior basketball league team and had been called up to the Ukrainian Under-18 national team, even occasionally playing with the club’s first team.

Persons: Volodymyr Yermakov, “, Brandt, Düsseldorf, Volodymyr, Yermakov’s, Artem Kozachenko, Yermakov Organizations: CNN, German, Giants, Saturday . Police, Platz, Police, ” ART Giants, ART Giants, Ukrainian Locations: Ukraine, Russia, German, Essen, Oberhausen, Ukrainian, Gelsenkirchen, Düsseldorf

☆ Woman Killed in Belgium 31 Years Ago Is Identified by Her Flower Tattoo
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Derrick Bryson Taylor | More About Derrick Bryson Taylor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A British woman who was killed in Belgium 31 years ago was identified this week thanks to an international campaign that began earlier this year to identify nearly two dozen women who were found dead across Europe, officials said. The case dates to June 1992, when the body of a woman, given the nickname “the woman with the flower tattoo” by investigators, was found pushed against a grate in a river in Belgium. She appeared to have been killed violently, according to details released this spring by the International Criminal Police Organization, also known as Interpol. The woman’s most identifiable feature was a flower tattoo with “R’Nick” written underneath. At the time, the authorities had hoped her tattoo would jog someone’s memory.

Organizations: International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol Locations: Belgium, Europe

☆ German interior minister supports deportation of Hamas supporters
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Germany's Interior Minister and Social Democratic Party (SPD) top candidate for the Hesse state election Nancy Faeser gestures as she attends a press conference at party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany, October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Germany's interior minister said on Friday Hamas supporters should be deported from the country where possible, and authorities would keep a close eye on potential threats following the Palestinian militant group's attack on Israel. "If we are able to deport Hamas supporters, we must do this," Nancy Faeser said following talks with officials at the Federal Criminal Police Office. At the same time members of Germany's large Palestinian community have said their voices are being silenced by demonstration bans. Faeser appealed to citizens to alert authorities of any "propaganda" supporting Hamas.

Persons: Nancy, Fabrizio Bensch, Nancy Faeser, Faeser, Rachel More, Matthias Williams, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: Social Democratic Party, REUTERS, Rights, Federal Criminal Police, Thomson Locations: Hesse, Berlin, Germany, Israel, Brussels, Munich

CNN —As Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) grows ever popular, the country’s once dominant Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party finds itself at a crossroads. The center-right CDU was in power for much of Germany’s post-war era and oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany. Max Schwarz/ReutersBerlin’s CDU mayor, Kai Wegner, took to X to write: “What cooperation is there to be had? Populist parties as ‘lightning rods’The CDU’s Michael Kretschmer, state premier of Saxony, believes a shift in policy is the best approach for democratic parties to stop the rise of the far-right. Opinion polls in his state, one of the five that make up Germany’s former east, put the AfD in the lead; Saxony has long been a stronghold for the far-right party.

Persons: Angela Merkel, Friedrich Merz, shockwaves, Merz, Merz backpedaled, ”, Robert Sesselmann, Max Schwarz, Kai Wegner, Jörg, “, ” “, Kühne, ” Tino Chrupalla, John MacDougall, Merkel, it’s, sadi, Michael Kretschmer, Kretschmer Organizations: CNN, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, East, Social, Green Party and Free Democrats, ZDF, Reuters Berlin’s CDU, INSA, New, SPD, Greens, ARD, Bundestag, Getty, Federal Criminal Police, UN, UNHCR, “, Citizens Locations: Germany, West Germany, Sonneberg, Thuringia, Germany’s, Saxony, Leipzig, West, East Germany, East Germans, West Germans, Saxony Anhalt, Ukraine, Poland, Syria

☆ German ATMs keep getting bombed as a crime wave exploits the country's preference for cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In the past few years, Germany has become a hotbed for ATM bombings, the Financial Times wrote. That's because Germans still favor cash over electronic payments, making ATMs ripe targets. Last year, about 30 million euros were stolen via ATM bombings, up 53% from a year earlier. That translated to 30 million euros that were stolen via ATM bombings last year, up 53% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, attempts to fortify ATMs against earlier types of detonations were thwarted when the criminals switched to different explosives, according to the FT.

Persons: That's Organizations: Financial Times, Service, Federal Criminal Police Office, FT Locations: Germany, Wall, Silicon, Netherlands

☆ Tourist dies after attack near Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, June 15 (Reuters) - One of two female tourists attacked by an American man near the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany has died, German police said on Thursday. "According to the current state of knowledge, an attempted sexual offence to the detriment of the 21-year-old must be assumed," said police in a statement in English. The 21-year-old was also pushed down the slope, where she came to rest after falling nearly 50 metres, they added. Neuschwanstein Castle, about 105 km (65 miles) south-west of Munich, is one of the most popular destinations in Europe. According the castle's website, about 1.4 million people visit the castle annually, and in the summer months the castle counts more than 6,000 visitors on average daily.

Persons: Miranda Murray, Madeline Chambers, Conor Humphries, Alex Richardson Organizations: Thomson Locations: BERLIN, American, Germany, Neuschwanstein, Munich, Europe

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - Estonian authorities are investigating the theft of cryptocurrency from users of the country's Atomic Wallet service, a police spokesperson said Wednesday. More than $100 million in digital assets were stolen from thousands of users of cryptocurrency service Atomic Wallet by a gang of allegedly North Korean hackers known as "Lazarus," cryptocurrency analytics firm Elliptic said Tuesday. A spokesperson for Estonia's National Criminal Police said in an email that authorities had been investigating the theft since last week but would not be drawn on the details. Kaarel Kallas said the investigation was still in its early stages "and at the moment we cannot comment on the origins of the attacks." The FBI, which has in the past investigated Lazarus-linked hacks, declined comment.

Persons: Lazarus, Kaarel Kallas, Raphael Satter, Mark Potter Organizations: National Criminal Police, FBI, Thomson Locations: Tallinn

☆ A third of young men in Germany think violence against women is ‘acceptable,’ study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A third of young men in Germany find it acceptable to use violence against women, according to a new survey which has caused outrage among gender equality campaigners. The survey was commissioned by children’s charity Plan International Germany. A group of 1,000 men and 1,000 women aged 18-35 from across Germany were asked to give their views on masculinity for the study, which was carried out online. The survey also found that expectations within a relationship differed greatly between men and women. A German group called the Federal Organization for Equality wrote on Twitter that the findings were “shocking.”“According to a survey by Plan International Germany, every third young man finds violence against women ‘acceptable’.

Persons: –, ” Karsten Kassner Organizations: CNN, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Federal Organization, Equality, Twitter, Plan International Germany, Federal, Federal Criminal Police Locations: Germany, femicide, Europe

☆ Nord Stream sabotage probe turns to clues inside Poland- WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 10 (Reuters) - German investigators are examining evidence suggesting a sabotage team used Poland as an operating base to damage the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. German investigators have fully reconstructed the two-week voyage of the "Andromeda", a 50-foot (15-metre) white pleasure yacht suspected of being involved in the sabotage of the pipelines that supply Russian gas to Europe, the newspaper said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday told German media that Ukraine did not attack Nord Stream pipelines. German media in March identified the possible involvement of a yacht from a Poland-based company owned by Ukrainian citizens in the attack. The Journal cited people familiar with the Andromeda’s voyage as indicating the sabotage crew had finished half their job, laying deep-sea explosives on Nord Stream 1, before they set their Bavaria 50 Cruiser on a course away from their target, toward Poland.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Shivani Tanna, William Mallard Organizations: Wall Street, Germany's Federal Criminal Police, Poland's, Washington Post, Wednesday, Wall Street Journal, Bavaria, Thomson Locations: Poland, Baltic, Europe, Germany, Germany's, Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark, Ukrainian, Bengaluru

☆ Nord Stream sabotage probe turns to clues inside Poland, Wall Street Journal reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 10 (Reuters) - German investigators are examining evidence suggesting a sabotage team used Poland as an operating base to damage the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The investigators have reconstructed the two-week voyage of the "Andromeda", a 50-foot (15-metre) yacht suspected of being involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, the newspaper said. The Journal cited people familiar with the voyage as indicating the sabotage crew had placed deep-sea explosives on Nord Stream 1, before they set the vessel on a course towards Poland. The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines hastened the region's switch to other energy suppliers. Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, each consisting of two pipes, were built by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom to pump 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year to Germany.

Persons: Stanislaw Zaryn, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Shivani Tanna, Karol Badohal, William Mallard, Helen Popper Our Organizations: Wall Street, Germany's Federal Criminal Police, Polish, Special Services, Twitter, Nord, Gazprom, Washington Post, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Poland, Baltic, Germany, Germany's, Russian, Warsaw, Kiev, Ukraine, Nord, Sweden, Denmark, Ukrainian, Bengaluru

CNN —Dutch police arrested over 1,500 people after Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked a motorway in The Hague on Saturday. Hundreds of police were deployed to “maintain public order” during the climate protest, Dutch police said in a press release Saturday. Oscar Brak/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesActivists are arrested after blocking the A12 motorway in The Hague. Michel Porro/Getty ImagesVideos of the protest posted in social media showed protesters dressed in swimsuits and raincoats, prepared for the water cannons. Forty people were arrested for other criminal offenses including obstructing, blocking, vandalism, and insulting, according to the press release.

NTB/via REUTERSOSLO, April 25 (Reuters) - A former commander in Russia's Wagner mercenary group seeking asylum in Norway pleaded guilty on Tuesday to being involved in a fight outside an Oslo bar and carrying an air gun in public and said he felt "very ashamed." Medvedev pleaded guilty to fighting outside the Oslo bar on Feb. 22 and preventing a police officer from doing his or her duty. He also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in public on a separate occasion on March 14. He also said he had bought an air gun from a shop in Oslo for self-defence, because he feared somebody might attack him. Medvedev told Reuters in February he had fought in Ukraine, including in the region around Bakhmut, at the centre of months of fierce battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces that have all but destroyed the city.

[1/3] Andrei Medvedev, a former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group poses for a picture during an interview in Oslo, Norway February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Janis LaizansOSLO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Norwegian police said on Friday they intend to continue to interrogate former Wagner mercenary group commander Andrei Medvedev, who fled from Russia to Norway last month after fighting in the war in Ukraine. "Medvedev gives the impression that he wants to continue to say more" about his time with Wagner, police said. Wagner forces have been locked in a bloody battle of attrition against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Wagner has said Medvedev had worked in a "Norwegian unit" of Wagner and had "mistreated prisoners".

[1/3] Andrei Medvedev, a former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group poses for a picture during an interview in Oslo, Norway February 1, 2023. Andrei Medvedev, who fled by crossing the Russian-Norwegian border on Jan. 13, says he witnessed the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners taken to Ukraine to fight for Wagner. Medvedev said he wanted to speak out about his experiences in the war so "the perpetrators are punished" for their crimes in Ukraine. A special report published by Reuters last week found a graveyard in southern Russia buried with men who were convicts who had been recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine. Kripos, Norway's national criminal police service, which has responsibility for investigating war crimes, has begun questioning Medvedev about his experiences in Ukraine.

☆ Ex-Wagner commander witnessed comrades shot for fleeing, says his Norwegian lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Ilze Filks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group who fled to Norway has spoken about how he witnessed some of his comrades being shot as they were trying to flee from the frontline in Ukraine, his Norwegian lawyer told Reuters. His lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told Reuters that Medvedev had seen some "incredibly horrible" situations while he was fighting with Wagner last autumn. He had witnessed "the shooting of his comrades while he was watching because they tried to flee," Risnes said in an interview, citing Medvedev. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed, millions uprooted and cities reduced to rubble since Russian forces invaded Ukraine 11 months ago. Other groups like the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Clooney Foundation were also interested in talking to Medvedev, his lawyer said.

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The FBI revealed on Thursday it had secretly hacked and disrupted a prolific ransomware gang called Hive, a maneuver that allowed the bureau to thwart the group from collecting more than $130 million in ransomware demands from more than 300 victims. They were then able to alert victims in advance so they could take steps to protect their systems before Hive demanded the payments. In that case, the Justice Department seized some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom after the company had already paid the hackers. The Justice Department said that over the years, Hive has targeted more than 1,500 victims in 80 different countries, and has collected more than $100 million in ransomware payments. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the FBI's operation helped a wide range of victims, including a Texas school district.

☆ Fugitive $100 million New Jersey deli defendant Peter Coker Jr. arrested in Thailand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Peter Coker Jr., who last was known to be living in Hong Kong, is one of three people charged in the case involving the deli owner, Hometown International , and a related shell company, E-Waste . The Bangkok Post reported that the 54-year-old Coker Jr. was arrested on Jan. 11 in a hotel room in the Thalang district of Phuket province, Thailand. The newspaper said Coker Jr. was arrested pursuant to so-called red and black notices issued by the International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol. Local Thai police, working with the FBI, arrested Coker, after tracking him to the hotel, The Post reported. Coker Jr. had served as chairman of Hometown International, whose sole asset for years was the Your Hometown Deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey.

☆ $1 million worth of Celtic gold coins was stolen from a German museum during a mysterious power outage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Over $1 million worth of ancient gold has been stolen in Germany, Bavarian State Police said. The 483 coins were stolen when unknown thieves broke into the Celtic Roman Museum in Manching. On Thursday night, 483 coins were stolen when unknown thieves broke into the Celtic Roman Museum in Manching. The coins, dating back to 100 BCE, were unearthed in 1999 in Manching, Germany, and are considered the largest discovery of Celtic gold coins found in the 20th century. Picture taken on November 23, 2022 shows a broken window at the Celtic and Roman museum in Manching, southern Germany, from where a hoard of Celtic coins was stolen.

☆ Italian mafia kingpin captured in Argentina - police
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Police escort Carmine Alfonso Maiorano after he was detained in Guernica, Argentina, in this undated handout image provided by Argentina's Federal Police October 31, 2022. Carmine Alfonso Maiorano, a 68-year-old leader of the Italian 'Ndrangheta mafia, was captured last Wednesday in the town of Guernica in the province of Buenos Aires, the statement said. The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, considers 'Ndrangheta "one of the most extensive and powerful criminal organizations in the world." The 'Ndrangheta mafia established itself in Argentina several years ago, the police statement said, operating in tandem with Albanian counterparts in Europe. The detainee was placed at the disposal of Argentina's Federal Criminal and Correctional Court.

☆ German police investigating Russian billionaire Usmanov search yacht
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov walks out of a voting booth at a polling station during the presidential election in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovBERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - German police investigating money laundering accusations against Russian billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov have searched a motor yacht in northern Germany, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Prosecutors did not identify the yacht or its owner but described him as a 69-year-old Russian businessman and said he was the target of the same investigation as last week, when police raided a lakeside villa registered to Usmanov. Usmanov's representatives were not immediately available to comment on Tuesday's yacht raid. The federal criminal police office has said it is worth half a billion euros.

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