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COLOGNE (GERMANY) (AFP) – A 16-year-old Syrian refugee went on trial in Germany Monday accused of planning a bomb attack on behalf of the Islamic State jihadist group. The youngster was arrested at an asylum shelter in the western city of Cologne in September, with the authorities describing him as a “serious threat”. Police at the time said the suspect’s mobile phone showed he had been in touch with an IS contact abroad and had expressed willingness to carry out an attack.

Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz could be facing a possible scandal as details have emerged regarding unusual contracts he made for friends when European Union President. The allegations of potential misconduct by the former European Union president revolve mostly around a man named Markus Engels, a long-time confidant of Schulz and his current campaign manager for the German federal elections later this year. According to reports, Schulz gave Engels a lavish contract in 2012 to represent Schulz interests in Berlin, though he was registered in Brussels — allowing him to avoid large amounts of tax, Der Spiegel reports.

European leaders have pushed back at Donald Trump’s ultimatum that they increase defence spending or risk America scaling back its commitment to Transatlantic protection. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said her country would not accelerate existing, long-term plans to ramp up the military budget by 2024 despite a demand by the US this week that countries increase spending by the end of the year. The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also said countries must not cave in to US demands. James Mattis, US defence secretary, earlier this week warned Nato that a new “political reality” after the election...

Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to EmailShare to More Donald Trump is not the only head of state trying to protect against the possibility that refugees may also be terrorists. He’s just the most open about it. In an outburst of brazen hypocrisy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel blasted President Trump’s temporary travel ban, saying it is “not justified to put people from a specific background or faith under general suspicion” to combat terrorism. Meanwhile, Merkel is doing back flips to rid her country of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from mostly Muslim countries who have flocked in through her...

Tolerating a "rape culture" to sustain a politically correct stance on mass migration ◾The actual number of migrant-related sex crimes in Germany is at least two or three times higher than the official number. Only 10% of the sex crimes committed in Germany appear in the official statistics. — André Schulz, head of the Criminal Police Association. ◾An even more toxic practice is for police deliberately to omit any references to migrants in crime reports. This lapse makes it impossible for German citizens to understand the true scale of the migrant crime problem. ◾City police asked German media to delete...

Merkel said Germany is committed to spending more, but will do so at its own pace. Berlin is set to increase expenditures by 8 percent this year and aims to reach the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of gross domestic product in about eight years. “We will do everything we can in order to fulfill this commitment,” Merkel said, adding that a strong Europe is also in America’s interest.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to the United States and others on Saturday to support and bolster multilateral organizations such as the European Union, the United Nations and NATO, an alliance to which U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pledged America’s commitment was “unwavering.” Merkel told Pence and other world leaders, diplomats and defense officials at the Munich Security Conference that “acting together strengthens everyone.” Her address came amid concern about the Trump administration’s approach to international affairs and fears that it may have little interest in working in multilateral forums. “Will we be able to continue working well together, or...

In a meeting with her Tunisian counterpart Tuesday in the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, German Chancellor Angel Merkel pushed for ways to encourage rejected Tunisian asylum seekers living in Germany to depart the country and return home. Germany plans to offer stronger support for measures facilitating voluntary return, such as educational incentives and financial support for entrepreneurs. In addition, Merkel emphasized that the German government would seek to deport individuals who refuse to return to Tunisia of their own violition. "We must make it clear: whoever does not choose to return of their own free will then have to be...

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned Thursday that continued Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank endangers the possibility of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and could lead to war in the Middle East, Reuters reported. “We are concerned that unlimited construction of settlements will … make a two-state solution impossible and could increase the risks of conflicts in the Middle East, including possible war,” Sigmar Gabriel said during a news conference at a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Bonn, Germany. Despite being one of Israel’s strongest allies, Germany has taken a more critical stance against...

A Maryland auction house is selling Adolf Hitler’s personal traveling telephone. Bill Panagopulos of Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City says occupying Russian officers gave the phone to Brig. Sir Ralph Rayner.... .....bidding will start at $100,000 this weekend.

After a multi-month, politically charged investigation, German intelligence agencies could find no good evidence of Moscow-directed cyber-attacks or a disinformation campaign aimed at subverting the democratic process in Germany. Undaunted, Chancellor Angela Merkel has commissioned a new investigation.Last year, Berlin’s two main intelligence agencies, the BND and BfV (counterparts of the CIA and FBI) launched a joint investigation to substantiate allegations that Russia was meddling in German political affairs and attempting to shape the outcome of Germany’s elections next September.Like the vast majority of Americans malnourished on “mainstream media,” most Germans have been led to believe that, by hacking and “propaganda,” the...

A 27-year-old Nigerian migrant has been arrested in Switzerland after murdering a 22-year-old asylum home worker in Germany and then fleeing the country.

The election of Donald Trump to President of the US has awoken fears that the US will no longer be the guardian of European security. If Washington steps back, can Berlin fill the void? After less than a month of life with the Trump administration, it is still far from clear how Washington now sees NATO and the defence of Europe. On Tuesday US Defence Secretary James Mattis described NATO as "the most successful military alliance in history" on his way to a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels. But his boss in the White House has repeatedly called the...

A hotel in Cologne, the scene of disgusting migrant gang attacks on females on that infamous New Year’s Eve, is under threats for allowing the eurosceptic Alternative for Germany party to hold their conference at the venue. The Maritim Hotel is under pressure and threat for hosting Germany’s third most popular party. Protests are planned and members of staff at the hotel have allegedly received death threats, including a warning that “the whole building will burn”. This all represents, as we’ve already seen in the UK and the US, a dangerous, violent far-left who aren’t about opposing politics in the...

Residents in a German town just outside of Munich have built a wall taller than the Berlin Wall to separate themselves from a refugee housing center that is scheduled to start welcoming migrants in April, Telesur reported Monday. The 300-foot, 13-goot tall stone wall in Neuperlach is located roughly a 20-minute car ride south of Munich’s city center. It was created to curb the amount of “noise” expected to come from the nearby housing center that will host unaccompanied minor refugees. Neighbors cited the young migrants’ soccer games among other outdoor activities on the complex’ outdoor courts as potential disturbances...

Following comments from the White House that — contrary to America’s long-standing policy — a two-state solution may not be necessary for peace in the Middle East, Germany has insisted that the approach cannot be abandoned. German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said a two-state solution was the foundation of Germany’s Middle East policy. The head of a German parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Norbert Röttgen, was quoted by “Die Welt” newspaper as saying “the two-state solution is the only way Israel can remain a democratic and a Jewish state at the same time.” Niels Annen, foreign policy spokesperson for the...

Pentagon chief Mattis tells NATO allies to increase defense spending by year’s end or US will ‘moderate its commitment’

Prosecutors in Frankfurt are investigating two people for making up a crime, after they claimed in a national newspaper that dozens of Arab men rioted and sexually assaulted women at New Year. The claims first appeared in Bild newspaper on February 6th, which described the men as a “rioting sex mob,” speculating that they had come from a refugee home in central Hesse. In an article since taken down from its website, the tabloid interviewed a well-known chef who runs a restaurant on Fressgass street, as well as a 27-year-old woman. […] But police confirmed on Tuesday to the Frankfurter...

Up until recently it seemed a very safe bet that Angela Merkel would win another term as Chancellor in September’s election. But more and more polling suggests otherwise. The most recent poll by YouGov published on Monday showed that 64 percent of Germans are in favor of having a new Chancellor after the election. A significant 42 percent said that, after 12 years with Merkel in office, it is “definitely” time someone else took on the most important job in German politics. Meanwhile, 22 percent said it was “probably” time for a fresh face. …

BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. Army has begun unloading dozens of Chinook, Apache and Black Hawk helicopters at a port in northern Germany so the aircraft can be moved to a base in Bavaria. German news agency dpa reported Sunday that 94 helicopters and several trucks from the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade in Fort Drum, New York were sent to the port of Bremerhaven.