Crime

Germany debates tougher deportation rules A deadly knife attack on a German regional train has triggered a debate on deportation laws and their application. The suspect, a Palestinian, was living in Germany despite his criminal record.

(Deutsche Welle) Two weeks ago, a knife attack shook Germany when a man traveling on a regional train headed for Hamburg randomly stabbed passengers, killing two of them. The alleged perpetrator, 33-year-old Ibrahim A.*, was known to the police, as he had multiple prior convictions […]

Law Enforcement

Germany: 2 killed, several injured in train knife attack Two people have been killed and seven wounded in a knife attack on a train in Germany. The attack took place in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein that borders Denmark. A young man is in police custody.

(Deutsche Welle) A man with a knife killed two people and wounded seven more on a regional train running from Kiel to Hamburg on Wednesday. A suspect was arrested at a small train station in the town of Brokstedt soon after the […]

Academics & Education

Immigrant children must only speak German at schools, conservative lawmaker says Mario Czaja faces criticism over his controversial statements, immigrant organizations say speaking mother tongue is a fundamental human right

(Anadolu) A conservative lawmaker sparked criticism by suggesting that immigrant children must only speak German in schoolrooms, corridors and in the playground. Mario Czaja, secretary general of the Christian Democratic Union, claimed that many immigrants are poorly integrated into society due to […]

Law Enforcement

Is Islamist terror a threat to Germany? The arrest of two terror suspects once again raises questions about the scope of the terrorist threat to Germany. It also brings back memories of the 2016 Christmas market attack.

(Deutsche Welle) The most recent arrest of two terror suspects in Germany has raised the specter of Islamist terror in Germany — despite intensified efforts to prevent such an attack in recent years. Two men had intended to kill “an unspecified number of people” […]

Legal

German court opens trial of suspected ‘Islamic State’ member A 37-year-old German woman is accused of crimes against humanity for her time with the so-called 'Islamic State.' Nadine K. is accused of 'enslaving' a Yazidi woman in Syria and Iraq.

(Deutsche Welle) A court in the western German city of Koblenz on Wednesday began the proceedings against a German national accused of assisting the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. What do we know so far about the […]

Government & Politics

Germany: No toxins found in anti-terror garage searches German police have searched two garages in connection with a suspected planned bioweapon attack. A top official has meanwhile criticized Germany's reticence in using the internet for intelligence gathering.

(Deutsche Welle) Police searches of two garages used by a terrorist suspect in the western German town of Castrop-Rauxel on Monday failed to uncover any hazardous substances, according to authorities. “We have found nothing in the end that can be used as […]

Health & Medicine

Germany: Bavaria train attacker handed 14-year jail sentence The 28-year-old pulled a knife on four passengers on a high-speed train in the southern state of Bavaria last November. The trial focused on whether his attack was motivated by Islamic extremism or schizophrenia.

(Deutsche Welle) The man who carried out a knife attack on a German high-speed train was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday. A court in Munich found that Abdalrahman A. was culpable despite claims he was mentally ill at the time. […]

Interfaith

Iran’s IRGC responsible for antisemitic attacks in Germany — report German security sources believe that the IRGC is contracting people in Germany to carry out attacks on synagogues.

(Jerusalem Post) German state security sources on Wednesday accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of contracting state-sponsored terrorism against German synagogues in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and spying on the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. According to […]

Government & Politics

Muslims in Germany’s Cologne welcome Friday call to prayer over loudspeaker First call to prayer over loudspeaker in Cologne expected to be held on Oct. 14, says Muslim leader

(Anadolu) Muslims in Germany’s city of Cologne welcomed the permission granted to them for two years to announce the call to prayer every Friday on loudspeaker. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Abdurrahman Atasoy, the acting president of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs […]

Government & Politics

Does Germany’s special network to prevent Islamist extremists’ attacks work? Political and religious extremism has long been seen as a threat to democracy in Germany. The Counter Terrorism Center is where agencies and police network to prevent Islamist extremist attacks. Is it effective?

(Deutsche Welle) December 19, 2016, was a particularly dark day for Germany’s Joint Counter Terrorism Center. That was the day when the terrorist Anis Amri steered a stolen truck into a crowd of people at the Christmas market on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz. Twelve […]

Health & Medicine

Germany: Würzburg attacker still highly dangerous, says doctor A psychiatrist has told a German court that the man accused of carrying out multiple fatal stabbings in June 2021 suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Three people were killed and nine others were injured in the attack.

(Deutsche Welle) A German court on Friday heard that the man who allegedly killed three people and injured nine others in the southern central city of Würzburg last summer is mentally ill and still very dangerous if he does not undergo successful treatment. Somali national Jibril A., […]

LGBT

Berlin mosque sparks outrage for raising rainbow flag in support of LGBTQ+ The self-proclaimed liberal mosque prides itself on being a breeding ground for liberal practices that are forbidden in other mosques across the world.

(Morocco World News) The Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Berlin is embroiled in a major controversy over an unprecedented decision to raise the rainbow flag on July 1 ahead of Friday prayer to show support to the LGBTQ+ community. Attendees of the flag-raising […]