Latest news with #HerbertReul
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
German teen under investigation for links to Islamic State
Public prosecutors in the western German city of Cologne are investigating a 14-year-old on suspicion of terrorism, dpa learned from security services on Friday. The boy is alleged to have spread Islamic State propaganda and expressed his intention to carry out an attack on a Christmas market in Cologne this coming December. According to the reports, the authorities initially investigated the boy for spreading propaganda for the extremist militia organization. He is said to have shared two videos and a post with references to Islamic State on his TikTok profile. The authorities said he also distributed an image displaying an oath of allegiance to the head of Islamic State. During the investigation, the state criminal police came across further social media profiles belonging to the suspect, which also featured Islamist content. They later learned that the teenager was planning attacks and had considered leaving the country. The police have taken the boy into custody. "A young man not only glorified and spread IS propaganda on his social media channels, but also shared fantasies of attacks. It is outrageous that 14-year-olds are already like this," said interior minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul. "Social media is an accelerant for extremist," he added. "We also need to keep a closer eye on these channels. That also means holding platform providers more to account. I am glad that our security authorities intervened at an early stage," Reul said.
The National
3 days ago
- The National
DHL centre targeted in Germany as workers treated for toxic substance
German authorities issued an alert on Friday after at least 13 people were injured after a suspicious package was found at a DHL distribution centre near Nuremberg. Eight workers required medical attention, according to police spokeswoman Janine Mendel, who warned the number could rise. Several employees complained of health problems. The injured were receiving dermatological treatment for toxic contamination causing skin irritation, according to Ms Mendel. The initially unknown substance leaked out of a package early on Friday and by 9am several distribution centre employees complained of a rash and itching. Police, fire department, and hazardous materials specialists responded and the building was evacuated. A decontamination shower – a device that can be used to wash away harmful substances – was set up. Disposable plotters Parcels exploded at two DHL depots last July leading to investigations that eventually led to the arrest of alleged low-level operatives hired by Moscow. Last month, German prosecutors said they had arrested three Ukrainians accused of plotting sabotage attacks on goods shipments for Russia, as an undercover battle of wits plays out between Moscow and Berlin. 'The first impression is of low-level agents – people who ... are recruited for not much money and who then do the job for the Russian state,' said Herbert Reul, interior minister of Germany's North-Rhine Westphalia region. "The individuals had agreed, no later than the end of March 2025, to carry out arson and bomb attacks on freight transport in Germany – acting on behalf of Russian state authorities." The suspects, detained in Germany and Switzerland, told individuals "believed to be acting on behalf of Russian state authorities" that they were ready "to commit arson and explosive attacks on goods transport in Germany", federal prosecutors said. The accused allegedly aimed to send packages from Germany containing explosive devices to recipients in Ukraine, which would go off as they were being transported, they said. Germany has been on high alert for sabotage plots directed from Moscow since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to a rapid deterioration in ties. European intelligence services believed that Russia was behind a plot to plant explosive devices on cargo planes. In other cases of alleged Russian interference, a former German intelligence officer stands accused of handing sensitive information to Moscow, while Berlin has blamed Moscow for being behind a cyberattack on members of the centre-left SPD party. Russia has denied being behind such actions. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Russia of targeting Germany and other European countries, with acts ranging from cyberattacks, espionage and sabotage to disinformation, poison attacks and murders. Such acts were "overwhelmingly the work of the Russian government and its helpers," he said, accusing Moscow of "attempts at division and destabilisation". In the latest case on Wednesday, one of the suspects, partially identified as Vladyslav T, posted two test packages in Cologne at the end of March, which contained GPS trackers, prosecutors said. The order to send them was given by Yevhen B, who provided the contents from the packages via the third suspect, Daniil B. Europe wide Police in the UK have arrested four men in relation to an alleged Russian-directed plot against property linked to the country's prime minister. Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial in 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 Mr 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. The fourth man, aged 48, was arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, and was released on police bail.
Euronews
5 days ago
- General
- Euronews
Around 20,000 evacuated in Cologne after unexploded WWII bombs found
More than 20,000 people were evacuated from their homes in the German city of Cologne on Wednesday as experts try to defuse three unexploded US bombs from World War II. Authorities on Wednesday morning started evacuating about 20,500 residents, as well as workers and hotel guests, from a central area within a 1,000-metre radius of the bombs, which were discovered on Monday during preparatory work for road construction. They were found in the Deutz district, across the Rhine River from Cologne's historic centre. Disposing of such bombs sometimes entails large-scale precautionary evacuations such as the one on Wednesday, although the city described this as "the largest operation since the end of World War II". Those evacuated were directed to shelter points in exhibition halls and college buildings, while office workers in the affected area were advised to leave their offices before 8 am or to avoid the area altogether. The city said residents who refused to leave their homes could face hefty fines. "If you refuse, we will escort you from your home — if necessary by force — along with the police," the authorities said. Cologne's central station is shut during the defusal work while shipping on the Rhine is also suspended. The city's famous UNESCO-listed cathedral and its Philharmonic Hall are among the sites temporarily closed to the public until the end of the day, when the bomb defusal is expected to be completed. The city said it planned to deploy bomb disposal technicians to defuse the bombs on site before transporting them to secure ammunition containers for dismantling and disposal. Experts believe that approximately 1.3 million tonnes of explosives were dropped on German cities during World War II. The number of bombs that failed to detonate remains uncertain, with estimates ranging from 5% to 20%. Similar discoveries have triggered other evacuations over the years. In 2024, 1,606 bombs were discovered and rendered harmless in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. "Every bomb that we find and neutralise is a service to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren," North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul said in April at a conference presenting the state's latest annual statistics on unexploded devices. During the second round of direct talks in Istanbul on Monday, Ukraine handed over to Russia a list of its forcefully deported children. Kyiv wants Moscow to return them to Ukraine, reiterating its commitment to bring the forcefully deported children back as one of the key aspects of a possible ceasefire and a peace deal in the long term. The head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umerov said, 'If Russia is genuinely committed to a peace process, the return of at least half the children on this list is positive'. The Russian delegation chief Vladimir Medinsky showed the list, which contains the names of 339 abducted Ukrainian children. The Kremlin representative accused Ukraine of "staging a show on the topic of lost children aimed at kind-hearted Europeans." In his words, Kyiv is trying to "squeeze out a tear by raising this issue." According to Medinsky, each name on the list will be 'worked out'. 'Whether there are children with similar surnames and first names somewhere in our institutions, further applications from parents or legal relatives should be attached to this,' he added. "It's not that they are in our facilities. It means that (the whereabouts) of these children is unknown. Maybe (they are) in Ukraine, maybe somewhere else, maybe in Norway,' Medinsky said. Euronews sources familiar with this aspect of the negotiations say Moscow knows exactly where every child on that list is. Kyiv and Moscow have never raised the issue of Ukrainian children forcefully deported by Russia in a direct format. Ukraine has been able to verify Russia's deportation of over 19,500 children to date. These are the children for whom detailed information has been collected — their place of residence in Ukraine and their territorial location in Russia are known. Only 1,350 have been returned, and each return is mediated by a third-party state, notably by Qatar, South Africa and the Vatican. The Russian delegation was therefore surprised, as it didn't expect to get the list of names from Kyiv during the direct talks in Istanbul on Monday. Euronews sources familiar with the matter said Moscow said it was ready to return 10 children, but that Kyiv has a "different position and expectations" when it comes to "demonstrating good faith in proceeding with the peace process". When asked why Kyiv didn't present a more extensive list, given that 339 names are less than 2% of the total number of forcefully taken children, Euronews sources explained it was a decision based on previous experience. 'There is a risk that Moscow would try to buy time claiming it takes longer to check the names, while trying to change the identities of Ukrainian children further, making it impossible to track,' the source said. Russia is deliberately erasing the identity of the illegally deported children, according to Ukraine's deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa. The names and IDs are being changed, especially when it comes to younger kids, who have been forced into adoption in Russia. The US-based Institute for the Study of War think tank (ISW) stated that stealing the children was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's priorities, referring to the revelations of Ukrainian human rights activists. The ISW uncovered Kremlin documents dated 18 February 2022, which laid out plans to remove Ukrainian children from orphanages in occupied Luhansk and Donetsk regions and bring them to Russia under the guise of 'humanitarian evacuations'. Euronews sources familiar with this aspect of negotiations said that Kyiv's list also contains the names of the children who have not yet been moved to Russia and remain on the temporarily occupied territories. 'These are not only children who have been physically moved to the territory of Russia, but also those who are now trapped under Russian occupation and control while remaining on Ukrainian territories, temporarily occupied by Russia,' they said. When Ukraine and Russia met in Istanbul for the first time on 16 May, they agreed on the prisoners of war exchange, which took place within 10 days after the talks. Another POW swap was agreed upon at the second round of talks on Monday, when Ukraine passed on the list of the deported children to Russia. Kyiv now hopes Moscow will return the abducted kids as soon as possible, without further delays. Without much progress on the military side of the negotiations, this is an opportunity for Moscow to demonstrate its "goodwill" on the humanitarian aspect. "If they want to show it, they will find the way to demonstrate their good faith without further delays and prove it quickly," Euronews sources said, reiterating that Moscow knows where these children are. Russia also can do it with the mediation of Qatar, South Africa or the Vatican, the countries which have assisted Kyiv in the past with the return of the Ukrainian children. In its "peace memorandum" proposal, Moscow has not toned down any of its maximalist demands regarding battlefield and territorial concessions, and still demands that Ukraine cede its territories, including those it has never controlled. With pressure from the US and new, tougher sanctions looming, Moscow must decide whether to proceed on the humanitarian track with Kyiv, given that this is the only aspect of the direct talks that has yielded tangible results since the negotiations resumed. The next, third round of negotiations is expected to take place at the end of June.
Saudi Gazette
20-05-2025
- Saudi Gazette
German police arrest suspect in Bielefeld stabbing attack that injured five people
BERLIN — A suspect who allegedly attacked and injured five people outside a bar in the western German city of Bielefeld has been arrested after an almost two-day search, German media reported. "The detailed work paid off and we were able to arrest the surprised perpetrator," the state interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, told dpa news agency after a man was arrested late on Monday evening in the town of Heiligenhaus near Düsseldorf. According to police, the suspect is a 35-year-old Syrian living in Germany. Early on Sunday, five men between 22 and 27 — football fans celebrating their team, Arminia Bielefeld, securing the league title in the German third division — were attacked by a suspect wielding a sharp object outside a bar in downtown Bielefeld. Four of the men were seriously injured. According to witnesses, the perpetrator attacked his victims indiscriminately with what they called a bladed object. Footage from the crime scene showed forensics securing a weapon — a walking cane with a retractable blade. Other guests at the bar overpowered the man and inflicted facial injuries in the process. He managed to break free and fled on foot, leaving a rucksack behind at the crime scene. Investigators from the "Kurfürst" homicide squad, led by First Chief Inspector Markus Mertens, recovered the rucksack. According to police, it contained further knives. Reul said that "after the shocking crime in Bielefeld" investigators had "picked up and pursued every last lead on the perpetrator" with all the resources available. "Now we need answers as to what motive led the perpetrator to commit the crime," the minister added. — Euronews
20-05-2025
German police arrest a suspect in the attack that injured 5 people outside a bar
BERLIN -- A suspect who allegedly attacked and injured five people outside a bar in the western German city of Bielefeld was arrested after a search of almost two days, German news agency dpa reported Tuesday. 'The detailed work paid off and we were able to arrest the surprised perpetrator,' the state interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, told dpa after an arrest of a man late Monday evening in the western town of Heiligenhaus near Düsseldorf. According to police, the suspect is a 35-year-old Syrian living in Germany. Early Sunday, five men between 22 and 27 were attacked by a suspect wielding a sharp object outside a bar in downtown Bielefeld — four of them seriously. Reul said that 'after the shocking crime in Bielefeld' investigators had 'picked up and pursued every last lead on the perpetrator' with all the resources available. 'Now we need answers as to what motive led the perpetrator to commit the crime,' the minister added.
