Tuesday, April 21

Tag: Germany

Arrests in Germany after €90 million drug haul seized in British port
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Arrests in Germany after €90 million drug haul seized in British port

A press spokesman for Hamburg customs presents a small part of a seized cocaine find at a media event in the port in 2022.Credit: Marcus Brandt/dpa German police have detained six men suspected of drug smuggling, after 3,600 kilograms of cocaine were seized in Britain last week, a spokeswoman for police in the northern port of Hamburg said on Thursday. The drugs, estimated to have a street worth of €90 million ($103.3 million) were discovered in the port of Southampton last Thursday hidden among bananas in a refrigerated container, she said. The container, which remained on the vessel, was then shipped to Hamburg, where the suspects loaded it onto a lorry and transported it to a warehouse in the town of Winsen, south-east of Hamburg. Hamburg police special forces detained five ...
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Germany bans far-right group linked to Reich Citizens movement
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Germany bans far-right group linked to Reich Citizens movement

Participants in a gathering of so-called Reich Citizens waving flags.Credit: Philipp Dulian/dpa German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has banned the far-right group "Kingdom of Germany," a prominent faction of the country's Reich Citizens movement, with four of its alleged ringleaders detained during raids across several German states. The organization, which reportedly has around 6,000 followers, has been accused of establishing a "counter-state" and building "criminal economic structures." Four German men, aged between 37 and 59, were taken into custody, including the group's founder, Peter Fitzek, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office said. Later on Tuesday, an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe ruled that one of the four suspec...
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Germany calls for UN peacekeeping missions to be ‘adquately equipped’
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Germany calls for UN peacekeeping missions to be ‘adquately equipped’

Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, speaks at the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 in Berlin, where delegates from over 130 countries discuss the future of blue helmet missions.Credit: Hannes P Albert/dpa German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday called for more support for United Nations Blue Helmets, international peacekeeping forces monitoring peace processes in conflict areas around the world. Pistorius was speaking at the opening of a two-day international conference in Berlin aimed at discussing the future of UN peacekeeping, with representatives from over 130 states expected to attend. "We are very convinced that UN peacekeeping missions are among the most legitimate, effective and cost-effective means of international crisis management," said th...
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Poor flight connections lambasted as foreign travel to Germany dips
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Poor flight connections lambasted as foreign travel to Germany dips

The number of flight passengers arriving in Germany from abroad to visit the country has dropped sharply compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new survey published by the ADV airport association on Tuesday. The share of foreign visitors arriving at German airports declined to 21% last year, compared to 32% recorded back in 2017, the survey of over 125,000 travellers found. The trend reflects a lack of adequate flight connections to Germany which industry blames on high taxes and government fees, the ADV said. The association called for Germany's air traffic tax to be scrapped, citing Sweden as an example. "Germany, once an attractive travel destination, has been on a downward spiral since the pandemic," managing director Ralph Beisel said. "The new German gove...
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Seven arrested in Germany, Belgium over suspected people’s smuggling
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Seven arrested in Germany, Belgium over suspected people’s smuggling

German and Belgian officers have detained seven people suspected of membership in a gang that smuggled almost 300 migrants to Germany, German police said on Tuesday. Six people were arrested in Belgium on outstanding arrest warrants, while one person was detained in Germany. According to prosecutors in Bavaria, German authorities simultaneously raided multiple flats in the Ansbach district and the eastern city of Leipzig. Investigators believe the gang has brought close to 300 migrants to Germany by car, mostly via Austria and Poland. Prosecutors did not reveal further details of the case, citing the ongoing investigation. Most of the suspected gang members are based in Belgium, according to initial findings. The group came to the attention of the authorities during ...
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German police deploy in force after three bodies found near Bonn
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German police deploy in force after three bodies found near Bonn

Three bodies have been found in the German village of Weitefeld some 60 kilometres east of Bonn, with a crime suspected as the cause, police told dpa on Sunday. By Kristin Kruthaup, dpa Three bodies have been found in the German village of Weitefeld some 60 kilometres east of Bonn, with a crime suspected as the cause, police told dpa on Sunday. Police urged motorists not to pick up any hitchhikers in the region as they conducted a search for possible perpetrators. A large number of officers were called to the scene. A dpa correspondent reported that special tactical police units with firearms and protective gear had been deployed to cordon off the area, and all cars travelling into and out of the area were being checked. A helicopter was also being sent. Police said there wa...
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Late German president Horst Köhler remembered at state memorial
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Late German president Horst Köhler remembered at state memorial

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier lauded his predecessor Horst Köhler as a dedicated public servant at a state memorial in the Berlin Cathedral on Tuesday. Köhler died on February 1 at the age of 81. He was chosen in 2004 to become the country's ninth president, succeeding Johannes Rau. Before that he was managing director of the International Monetary Fund in Washington. Steinmeier praised Köhler as an "energetic and tireless servant of our community until the last days of his life." "We Germans mourn the loss of Horst Köhler. We are grateful that he was among us and worked for us. We miss him," Steinmeier added. Germany's top leaders were on hand for the state ceremony and a preceding church service, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the presidents of the Bundestag,...
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Germany’s Scholz praises hostages release, demands two-state solution
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Germany’s Scholz praises hostages release, demands two-state solution

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Potsdam direct candidate for the German Bundestag election, speaks at the election arena of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) on the topics of good work, a strong economy, and social security in Potsdam's Schinkelhalle.Credit: Christoph Soeder/dpa German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday praised the release of three more Israeli hostages, while again demanding a two-state solution for Israel and a future state of Palestine.  "It is good that more hostages have now been released, including one with a connection to a German citizen," said Scholz in the eastern German city of Potsdam.  One of the three men released by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal is the husband of a Germa...
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Experienced German tactician is the new Technical Advisor of the Black Stars  
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Experienced German tactician is the new Technical Advisor of the Black Stars  

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has announced major changes in the technical direction of the Black Stars, as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March.  Leading the pack of new technical team members is experienced German tactician Winfred Anton Shaefer, with over 40 years of experience and an AFCON trophy with Cameroon in 2002.  He would act as the Technical Advisor to Coach Otto Addo to build a winsome team.   In addition, he would also play the role of Director of Football for the Football Association.  Coach Schafer assumes the role having excelled in a managerial career spanning a little over 40 years working with a number of national teams (Cameroon, Thailand and Jamaica) as well as European clubs including Borussia Monche...
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German, French foreign ministers meet with Syria’s HTS
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German, French foreign ministers meet with Syria’s HTS

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (l) meets with the new Syrian ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa (M), on the right her French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot.Credit: Jörg Blank/dpa Syria's new de facto ruler and leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) received an EU delegation led by German Foreign Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday. Ahmed al-Sharaa hosted the ministers in the former palace of toppled long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus. Al-Sharaa's HTS led a coalition of armed groups who drove al-Assad from power around four weeks ago. Al-Sharaa received Baerbock and Barrot at the entrance to the palace. The hard-line Islamist did not greet Baerbock with a handshake, a ge...
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