BERLIN: German police said Tuesday that they had arrested the suspected head of a Syrian smuggling gang that allegedly helped more than 1,000 people illegally enter Germany via Poland.
The 32-year-old suspect was detained at his home in the northeastern town of Aerzen, federal police said in a statement.
Police said the man made a living from his activities in the gang, which he is alleged to have led since 2021.
Depending on the route, the organization is said to have charged between 2,500 to 13,000 euros ($2,850 to $14,800) per person to smuggle them into Germany.
The gang transported over 1,000 people, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, into Germany and other European countries in around 100 different operations, police said.
The smuggled people were thought to have entered the European Union “on foot across the Belarusian border” before crossing from Poland into Germany, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
Police searched three properties in connection with the arrest, one belonging to the suspect in Aerzen and two apartments in nearby Rinteln and Hameln linked to two Syrian men in their twenties believed to have “acted as accomplices.”
Officers seized passports, residence permits and other documents during the raids.
Germany has sought to crack down on illegal entries into the country in the wake of a series of attacks by asylum seekers that sparked a bitter public debate over immigration.
The government took the decision to impose controls at all its borders last September, and has signalled it will keep them in place until the EU’s immigration system is overhauled again.
Immigration was a dominant theme during Germany’s recent national elections and is seen as a key factor behind the far-right Alternative for Germany’s historic score of over 20 percent.
Incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is set to take office next week, has vowed a tough line on immigration to respond to voter concerns.
German police arrest suspected leader of Syrian smuggling gang
https://arab.news/ysckw
German police arrest suspected leader of Syrian smuggling gang
- The 32-year-old suspect was detained at his home in the northeastern town of Aerzen
- Police said the man made a living from his activities in the gang
Dutch election set for October 29 after government falls
- Far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled out of the ruling coalition, bringing down the government
- The vote in the EU’s fifth-largest economy and major global exporter will be closely watched in Europe
“We have officially set the election date: the... elections will take place on Wednesday 29 October 2025,” Interior Minister Judith Uitermark wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“In the coming period, I will work with the municipalities and other stakeholders to prepare so that this important day in our democracy goes smoothly,” added the minister.
The vote in the European Union’s fifth-largest economy and major global exporter will be closely watched in Europe, where far-right parties have made significant electoral gains.
Polls suggest Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) is running neck-and-neck with the Left/Green group of former European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans.
The liberal VVD party stands just behind in the polls, suggesting the election will be closely fought.
The election was prompted by the dramatic withdrawal of Wilders and the PVV from a shaky ruling coalition in a row over immigration policy.
Wilders grumbled that the Netherlands was not fast enough to implement the “strictest-ever” immigration policy agreed by the four-way coalition – and pulled out.
He had stunned the political establishment in the Netherlands by winning November 2023 elections by a significant margin – clinching 37 seats out of the 150 in parliament.
The fractured nature of Dutch politics means no one party is ever strong enough to win 76 seats and govern with an absolute majority.
Wilders persuaded the VVD, the BBB farmers party, and the anti-corruption NSC party to govern with him – but the price was to give up his ambition to become prime minister.
The PVV has apparently lost some support since that election, with recent surveys suggesting they would win around 28 to 30 seats.
But the issue after the coming election will be: who will enter into a coalition with Wilders and the PVV?
There was widespread fury with the far-right leader for bringing down the government over what many saw as an artificial crisis.
Far-right parties have been on the rise across Europe. In May, the far-right Chega (“Enough“) party took second place in Portugal’s elections.
In Germany, the anti-immigration far-right AfD doubled its score in legislative elections in February, reaching 20.8 percent.
And in Britain, polls show the anti-immigration, hard-right Reform UK party of Nigel Farage is making significant gains following a breakthrough in local elections.
Red Cross confirms office closures in Niger and the departure of its foreign staff
- The ICRC said it had been in dialogue with Niger’s authorities since February to understand the reasons for their decision and provide any necessary clarification but that these efforts were unsuccessful
DAKAR: The International Committee of the Red Cross announced the closure of its offices in Niger and the departure of its foreign staff, four months after the ruling junta ordered the organization to leave the country.
The ICRC confirmed the closure and departure in a statement on Thursday.
“We reiterate our willingness to maintain constructive dialogue with the authorities of Niger with a view to resuming our strictly humanitarian protection and assistance activities,” Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s regional director for Africa, said in the statement.
In February, Niger’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had ordered the ICRC to close its offices and leave the country. No official reason was given for the military junta’s decision to shut down the organization’s operations in the country at the time.
The ICRC said it had been in dialogue with Niger’s authorities since February to understand the reasons for their decision and provide any necessary clarification but that these efforts were unsuccessful.
On May 31, Niger’s junta leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, justified the ICRC expulsion on Nigerien state television, accusing the organization of having met with “terrorist leaders” and funding armed groups.
The ICRC refuted the accusations in its statement on Thursday, saying that dialogue with all sides in the conflict is necessary to carry out its humanitarian mandate and that it “never provides financial, logistical, or any other form of support” to armed groups.
The humanitarian organization had been active in the West African country since 1990, mainly helping people displaced by violence by Islamic extremists, food insecurity and natural disasters. According to the organization, it provided humanitarian aid to more than 2 million people in Niger.
Niger’s military rulers took power in a coup two years ago, the latest of several military takeovers in Africa’s Sahel, the vast, arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert that has become a hotspot for extremist violence by militant groups.
Since the coup, Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, such as France and the United States, turning instead to Russia for security.
Last November, the country’s military junta banned the French aid group Acted from working in the country amid tensions with France.
France cools expectations of swift Palestinian state recognition
- France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a UN conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians
PARIS: France on Friday dampened expectations Paris could rapidly recognize a Palestinian state, with the French foreign minister saying while it was “determined” to make such a move, recognition had to be more than “symbolic.”
France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a UN conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
There had been expectations that France could recognize a Palestinian state during that conference, with President Emmanuel Macron also growing increasingly frustrated with Israel’s blocking of aid to the Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
“France could have taken a symbolic decision. But this is not the choice we made because we have a particular responsibility” as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, while saying Paris was still “determined” the make the move.
He said France would not recognize a Palestinian state alone, in a possible reference to the eagerness of Paris to see any French recognition matched by Gulf Arab allies — notably regional kingpin Saudi Arabia — recognizing Israel.
Several EU countries including Ireland, Spain and Sweden recognize a Palestinian state. But Germany, while backing a two-state solution, has said recognition now would send the “wrong signal.”
France is reportedly working closely on the issue with the United Kingdom, which also so far has not recognized a Palestinian state, at a time when French-British diplomatic ties are becoming increasingly tight after Brexit.
Macron on Thursday said that he expected the conference in New York would take steps “toward recognizing Palestine,” without being more specific.
He has said he hopes French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage other governments to do the same and that countries who do not recognize Israel should do so.
Barrot meanwhile also stressed the “absolute necessity” to address the issue of the disarmament of Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable.
Relations between Israel and France have deteriorated over the last weeks, with Israel’s foreign ministry accusing Macron of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state” after he called on European countries to harden their stance if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.
Modi inaugurates ambitious rail project connecting Kashmir to Indian plains
- 272-kilometer line begins in garrison city of Udhampur in Jammu, runs through Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar
- The line travels through 36 tunnels and over 943 bridges, Indian government has pegged the total project cost at around $5 billion
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated one of the most ambitious railway projects ever built in India, which will connect the Kashmir Valley to the vast Indian plains by train for the first time.
Dubbed by government-operated Indian Railways as one of the most challenging tracks in the world, the 272-kilometer (169-mile) line begins in the garrison city of Udhampur in Jammu region and runs through Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar. The line ends in Baramulla, a town near the highly militarized Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.
The line travels through 36 tunnels and over 943 bridges. The Indian government pegged the total project cost at around $5 billion.
One of the project’s highlights is a 1,315-meter-long (4,314-foot) steel and concrete bridge above the Chenab River connecting two mountains with an arch 359 meters (1,177 feet) above the water. Indian Railways compared the height to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which stands 330 meters (1,082 feet), and said the bridge is built to last 120 years and endure extreme weather, including wind speeds up to 260 kph (161 mph).
Modi visited the Chenab bridge with tight security, waving an Indian tri-color flag before boarding a test train that passed through picturesque mountains and tunnels to reach an inauguration ceremony for another high-elevation bridge named Anji.
The prime minister also helped launch a pair of new trains called “Vande Bharat” that will halve the travel time between Srinagar and the town of Katra in Jammu to about three hours from the usual six to seven hours by road.
Modi traveled to Indian-administered Kashmir on Friday for the first time since a military conflict between India and Pakistan brought the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of their third war over the region last month, when the countries fired missiles and drones at each other.
The conflict began with a gun massacre in late April that left 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, dead in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for supporting the attackers, a charge Islamabad denied.
Addressing a public rally in Katra, Modi lashed out at Pakistan and alleged Islamabad was behind the massacre. He said the attack was primarily aimed at Kashmir’s flourishing tourism industry and meant to fuel communal violence.
“I promise you, I won’t let developmental activities stop in Kashmir,” Modi said, adding that local industries and businesses will get a boost from the new rail connectivity.
The railway project is considered crucial to boosting tourism and bringing development to a region that has been marred by militancy and protests over the years.
The line is expected to ease the movement of Indian troops and the public to the disputed region, which is currently connected by flights and mountain roads that are prone to landslides.
India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a charge Islamabad denies.
Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Three men to go on trial next year over fires linked to UK PM Starmer
- Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life
- Ukrainian Petro Pochynok and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc are accused of conspiracy to commit arson
LONDON: Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial next April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday.
Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to the British leader. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, who was born in Ukraine, are accused of conspiracy to commit arson.
Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared by video-link at London’s Old Bailey court on Friday where Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb set the trial for April 27 next year. Pochynok was not present for the hearing.
In earlier hearings, prosecutors said the motive for the arsons was unclear.
The men will enter formal pleas at a hearing in October, but the lawyers for Carpiuc and Pochynok said their clients denied involvement.
Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation but none of the men have been charged with offenses under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act, which was brought in to target hostile state activity.
Police said the first fire involved a Toyota RAV4 car that Starmer used to own and sold to a neighbor. Days later, there was a blaze at a property where Starmer previously resided and the following day there was an attack on a house in north London that he still owns.
Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents “an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for.”
Earlier this week a fourth man, aged 48, who had been arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, was released on police bail.
