Latest news with #HerbertReul
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Yahoo
Germany updates: Domestic violence at all-time high — report
Nearly 257,000 people were registered as victims of domestic violence last year, a new record, a report by the weekly Welt am Sonntag has said. This means that a person suffered mistreatment at the hands of a partner, ex-partner or family member every two minutes or so on average, according to figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office cited by the paper. Meanwhile, the section of railroad between the western cities of Düsseldorf and Duisburg has reopened after repairs to damage caused by suspected sabotage on Thursday. Below, you can read about some of the stories making the headlines in Germany on August 2, 2025: Train services resume on key route after arson attacks Train services resumed early on Saturday on the railway line between Düsseldorf and Duisburg in western Germany after successful repairs to cable damage caused by arson attacks. A railway spokesman said test runs had been conducted before the resumption of services to ensure that all was functioning correctly. The suspected arson attacks caused damage to cables vital for operating switches and signals. Police believe left-wing extremists were behind the disturbance and are treating the incident as sabotage. A leftist group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in a letter that is being examined by police. Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the attacks occurred, told a press conference that the extremist group had "carried out several acts of sabotage in the Düsseldorf area in recent years." The route between Düsseldorf and Duisburg is one of Germany's busiest railway connections, with more than 620 passenger trains using the line every day. Consumer group sues budget airlines over hand luggage fees A German consumer group has launched legal action against several budget airlines, saying that their charges for hand luggage violate existing law. Ramona Pop, the chairwoman of the vzbv consumer umbrella body, told the daily Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that many carriers were "charging inadmissible fees and thus misleading consumers about flight prices." She said that while current rules obliged airlines to carry reasonably sized hand luggage free of charge, many budget airlines allowed only a small personal item in the base fare, demanding a paid upgrade for larger items. She said the vzbv had issued formal warnings to several carriers, with lawsuits filed against Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizzair and Vueling Airlines. The vzbv's legal action is part of a broader Europe-wide campaign, she said. The group is basing its legal actions on a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2014 that hand luggage is a fundamental necessity of air travel rather than an optional extra provided by an airline. Domestic violence cases reach new record — report Cases of violence within private households have reached a record level, according to a report by the weekly Welt am Sonntag that cites statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Altogether 256,942 people were registered as victims of domestic violence in 2024, a 3.7% increase over the previous year, the paper said. Women suffer the most from domestic violence, making up 73% of registered cases, according to the report. Violence from partners or ex-partners accounted for 171,069 victims, a 1.9% increase over 2024. There was also a 7.3% increase in violence between family members, with 94,873 cases, according to the BKA. Over the past five years, domestic violence has surged by almost 14%, the BKA says. Welcome to our coverage Guten Tag from the team in DW's newroom on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn! Today, we will be looking at the latest statistics showing another worrying rise in the number of cases of domestic violence in the country. Germany's railroad system is also in focus following what seems to have been a case of major sabotage on a key section. If you are interested in the major talking points in Europe's largest economy, we hope we have the right stories for you here in our blog on Saturday, August 2!
DW
02-08-2025
- Politics
- DW
Germany updates: Domestic violence at all-time high — report – DW – 08/02/2025
Over 250,000 people suffered domestic violence in Germany last year, according to a media report citing official figures. Trains are once again running on a major railroad route after suspected sabotage. DW has more. Nearly 257,000 people were registered as victims of domestic violence last year, a new record, a report by the weekly has said. This means that a person suffered mistreatment at the hands of a partner, ex-partner or family member every two minutes or so on average, according to figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office cited by the paper. Meanwhile, the section of railroad between the western cities of Düsseldorf and Duisburg has reopened after repairs to damage caused by suspected sabotage on Thursday. Train services resumed early on Saturday on the railway line between Düsseldorf and Duisburg in western Germany after successful repairs to cable damage caused by arson attacks. A railway spokesman said test runs had been conducted before the resumption of services to ensure that all was functioning correctly. The suspected arson attacks caused damage to cables vital for operating switches and signals. Police believe left-wing extremists were behind the disturbance and are treating the incident as sabotage. A leftist group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in a letter that is being examined by police. Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the attacks occurred, told a press conference that the extremist group had "carried out several acts of sabotage in the Dusseldorf area in recent years." The route between Düsseldorf and Duisburg is one of Germany's busiest railway connections, with more than 620 passenger trains using the line every day. A German consumer group has launched legal action against several budget airlines, saying that their charges for hand luggage violate existing law. Ramona Pop, the chairwoman of the vzbv consumer umbrella body, told the daily that many carriers were "charging inadmissible fees and thus misleading consumers about flight prices." She said that while current rules obliged airlines to carry reasonably sized hand luggage free of charge, many budget airlines allowed only a small personal item in the base fare, demanding a paid upgrade for larger items. She said the vzbv had issued formal warnings to several carriers, with lawsuits filed against Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizzair and Vueling Airlines. The vzbv's legal action is part of a broader Europe-wide campaign, she said. The group is basing its legal actions on a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2014 that hand luggage is a fundamental necessity of air travel rather than an optional extra provided by an airline. Cases of violence within private households have reached a record level, according to a report by the weekly that cites statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Altogether 256,942 people were registered as victims of domestic violence in 2024, a 3.7% increase over the previous year, the paper said. Women suffer the most from domestic violence, making up 73% of registered cases, according to the report. Violence from partners or ex-partners accounted for 171,069 victims, a 1.9% increase over 2024. There was also a 7.3% increase in violence between family members, with 94,873 cases, according to the BKA. Over the past five years, domestic violence has surged by almost 14%, the BKA says from the team in DW's newroom on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn! Today, we will be looking at the latest statistics showing another worrying rise in the number of cases of domestic violence in the country. Germany's railroad system is also in focus following what seems to have been a case of major sabotage on a key section. If you are interested in the major talking points in Europe's largest economy, we hope we have the right stories for you here in our blog on Saturday, August 2!
DW
09-07-2025
- DW
Germany: Police detain man in anti-terror raids – DW – 07/09/2025
Police carried out raids across North Rhine-Westphalia state in connection with a suspected Islamist terror plot. A man has been detained on suspicion of fraud with the intention of financing an Islamist terror attack. Police in Germany detained a man and searched a number of properties on Wednesday, across the western state of North Rhine-Wesphalia in connection with plans to carry out an Islamist terror attack. Police said they swooped on six properties in the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Soest with the raids being conducted as part of a "comprehensive investigation into suspected organized commercial fraud." According to a joint statement from the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office and Essen police, the investigation had turned up evidence that money gained through commercial fraud was intended to go toward financing an Islamist terrorist attack. Wednesday's raids aimed to hinder any further planning of the suspected attack and its execution, as well as clarifying the circumstances surrounding it, the statement said. The detainee, a 27-year-old man with Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship, was due to come before an investigating judge on Wednesday, officials said. The DPA news agency cited a senior prosecutor as saying it was believed the suspect resold expensive electronic devices that he had ordered but not paid for to generate funds. North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's most-populous state, with a population of some 18 million people. North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister, Herbert Reul, said the raids prevented potential terrorist activity. "There are people out there who want to disregard and destroy our values and our way of life," Reul said. "Anyone who pursues terror plans here must expect the SEK [special forces] to be at their door in the morning," he said.
Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Times
Raid on Germany's ‘digital arsonists' feeds row over free speech
The police officers struck at 6am, raiding at least 65 addresses and running a total of more than 180 operations against 140 suspects across Germany. The target was not a drug-smuggling ring or a terror network. It was ugly language on social media. The individual cases investigated on the country's 12th national 'day of action against hate-posts' do not make for edifying reading. One man in the northern city of Bremen was accused of publishing a YouTube video with the title 'Are you a Jew? If yes, call Auschwitz.' Another called for the 'eradication' of the Alawites, a Muslim minority predominantly centred in Syria, while a 72-year-old living in the countryside around Passau, in the far south of the country, tweeted that a politician was a 'Nazi pig' and ought to be executed. Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that 'digital arsonists' needed to be reminded that they could not expect to hide behind their smartphones or laptops with impunity. 'Many people have forgotten the difference between hate and opinions,' Reul said. 'But it's so simple: if you don't do it in the real world, you shouldn't do it digitally.' In practice, though, things are not always quite that simple. 'Hate speech' is an extremely broad umbrella concept in the German criminal system, covering everything from personal slander and the mockery of public officials to Volksverhetzung, an attempt to mobilise the masses against whole sections of the population. The rate of prosecutions has gone through the roof. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which co-ordinated the 'day of action' on Wednesday, the number of cases has quadrupled over the past three years, from 2,411 in 2021 to 10,732 last year. • Berlin's Allied Museum becomes a relic of friendlier times About two thirds of them are assigned to the 'far-right' end of the political spectrum; the rest to the radical left, 'foreign' or 'religious' ideology, or miscellaneous slurs. The BKA put the increase down to more extensive online searches by police. Yet it has left many feeling uncomfortable. One recent poll found that 43 per cent felt unable to express their opinions freely. In a separate study, 44 per cent said it was generally better to be cautious about stating your political views, compared with only 16 per cent who had said the same in 1990. The instances of hate speech cited by the BKA in Wednesday's raids were unambiguous. 'Heil Hitler!! Again,' one of the suspects had purportedly written. 'We are Germans and a successful nation. Male foreigners out.' Other cases have been less clear-cut, including a man who was reported to police for calling the business minister a 'dunderhead' and a hard-right journalist who was given a suspended prison sentence for posting an obviously satirical image of the interior minister posing with a sign that read: 'I hate free speech.' Wolfgang Kubicki, a veteran former MP and deputy speaker and the present deputy leader of the centre-right Free Democratic Party, said Reul's words were a 'declaration of political bankruptcy'. He added: 'To stage prosecutions for offensive statements as a 'day of action' is not going to shore up trust in the institutions of the state — least of all in connection with insults against politicians. [Reul] should seriously ask himself whether he is truly still defending the values of our constitution — or rather endangering them.'
Russia Today
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
German police launch nationwide crackdown on online ‘hate speech'
Germany's law enforcement authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown on alleged internet 'hate speech', the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) have announced. Two thirds of the cases being investigated are linked to 'right-wing' ideologies, the BKA said, with the media reporting they often involve 'insults against politicians.' Some 'isolated cases' have been tied to 'religious… left-wing and foreign' ideologies, according to police. More than 140 criminal investigations have been opened across all German states. The list of the most common crimes included incitement of hatred, use of prohibited symbols, and approval of crimes and insults, the police said. According to Germany's ARD broadcaster, the criminal cases often involve 'insults against politicians.' The police operation included over 65 searches and 'numerous' questionings, the BKA stated. Law enforcement has not reported that any suspects were detained as part of the investigations. The BKA also called on the people to 'support' the police and contribute to combating online hate by reporting 'hate postings' to either law enforcement or their network providers. Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, lauded the crackdown, which was launched on the 12th Action Day against 'criminal hate postings.' Commenting to dpa news agency, he asserted, 'Digital arsonists must not be able to hide behind their cell phones or computers.' The move took place just a day after Germany's highest administrative court lifted a ban that the federal government imposed on Compact magazine last year. The federal interior ministry had branded the publication a 'right-wing extremist' media outlet involved in 'anti-constitutional' activities due to its publications on Germany's migration policies. The court ruled that the publications could be interpreted as 'exaggerated, but ultimately permissible, criticism of migration policy' and declared the ban unlawful. The interior ministry acknowledged the decision but maintained that bans against media outlets do not 'constitute impermissible prior censorship' and can be applied in the future.
