Government & Politics

Germany: Solingen knife attack trial set to begin The trial of a Syrian man accused of killing three people in a knife attack in the western city of Solingen last August has brought Germany's asylum policies and security loopholes into focus.

(Deutsche Welle) The man accused of a mass stabbing at a festival in the western German city of Solingen is due to face court in the North Rhine-Westphalia capital of Dusseldorf. Federal prosecutors have charged Syrian Issa Al H. with three counts […]

Government & Politics

JD Vance had a point on migration, Denmark’s prime minister warns EU leaders In a wide-ranging interview, Mette Frederiksen says she considers 'mass migration ... as a threat to the daily life in Europe.'

(Politico) There’s not much the socialist Danish prime minister agrees on with the Trump administration. For one, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish dependent territory. He’s also shown a particular desire to side with Russian President […]

Children & Teens

Germany: 2 injured in Munich car ramming die A mother and her two-year-old died due to their injuries. Prosecutors had said they believed the suspect had an 'Islamist motive.'

(Deutsche Welle) A 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter have died two days after they were injured in a car ramming in the southern German city of Munich, officials said on Saturday. Authorities earlier said that at least 39 people were injured in the Thursday attack, in which […]

Demonstrations

Munich car ramming attack by Afghan man heats migrant debate Police said the man from Afghanistan who allegedly drove his car into a crowd of people in Munich was motivated by Islamism.

(Deutsche Welle) On Thursday morning, a young man drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators in the center of Munich. The suspected perpetrator was named by police as 24-year-old Farhad N., an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. He was arrested at the scene and, […]

Children & Teens

Scholz hardens rhetoric on migrants after fatal knife attack The chancellor, lagging in the polls ahead of the Feb. 23 election, called for an investigation into why the Afghan suspect was even in Germany.

(Politico) Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s response to a fatal knife attack allegedly perpetrated by an Afghan man in southern Germany on Wednesday marks a clear shift in his rhetoric on migration ahead of a national election. The attack on a group of pre-school […]

Holidays

Pretrial detention for Magdeburg Christmas market suspect A court in Magdeburg has approved a pretrial detention warrant for the suspect in Friday's Christmas market attack. The 50-year-old faces five homicide charges, among other counts.

(Deutsche Welle) Magdeburg police said in the early hours of Sunday that the suspect in the Christmas market car attack in the city on Friday night had been issued a warrant for pretrial detention. Magdeburg’s district court approved an appeal from the […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians Reports that suspect was a refugee from Saudi Arabia who hated Muslims raise complicated questions during German election campaign.

(Politico) The German government is reeling from an attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that saw at least five people killed when a car apparently driven by an “Islamophobic” Saudi Arabian refugee plowed into Friday evening crowds. With […]

Government & Politics

Deadly Magdeburg Christmas market attack shakes Germany as election looms With voters going to the polls in February, the tragedy ramps up concerns about security.

(Politico) A driver plowed a car at high speed into crowds of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, adding further tension to an election campaign already riven by a bitter debate over migration. Right-wing parties seized […]

Government & Politics

Europe’s Syrians shaken by debate over repatriation to their war-ravaged homeland For many Syrian refugees in Europe, joy at the fall of Assad has been tempered by immediate calls for them to go home.

(Politico) When Osama Sabsabi learned that opposition forces had captured the city of Homs, where he grew up, he did something that would have been unthinkable just days earlier: He booked a ticket home. “We, the Syrian people, are experiencing an indescribable […]

Government & Politics

The EU wants to deport migrants. It needs the help of Syria’s Assad Syria is the elephant in the room as EU leaders talk migration.

(Politico) Some European Union countries, led by Italy, are pushing to normalize ties with Syria in order to facilitate deportations of migrants as mainstream leaders look to replicate anti-immigrant far-right parties’ surging popularity across the continent. “It is necessary to review the […]

Government & Politics

Migration smashes into German elections after deadly knife attack Far-right Alternative for Germany eyes boost at the ballot box following killings which Chancellor Olaf Scholz described as 'terrorism.'

(Politico) A knife attack allegedly perpetrated by a Syrian asylum seeker that authorities are investigating as a possible act of terrorism has renewed a heated debate over migration in Germany ahead of three state elections in which the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for […]