International
Nine people every day were targeted in 2023 by far-right attacks in Germany
An average of nine people each day were subjected in 2023 to extreme right-wing, racist or anti-Semitic violence in 11 of the 16 federal states of Germany, according to the annual report presented on Tuesday by the association of counseling centers for victims of this type of aggression, which spoke of an “alarming balance.”
Thus, 3,384 people were directly affected by the 2,589 far-right, racist or anti-Semitic aggressions (an average of seven per day) in East Germany (Mecklenburg-Antepomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia) and Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
The increase of more than 20% of aggressions compared to last year constitutes “a very serious development, which illustrates how much the threat situation has become acute, especially for vulnerable groups.”
This was expressed at a press conference by Judith Porath, of the board of directors of the Association of Counseling Centers for Victims of Far-right, Racist and Anti-Semitic Violence (VBRG) and director of the Association Perspective of the Victims of Brandenburg.
The total number of assaults also includes two crimes of homicide and 18 attempted murder.
“The normalization of anti-Semitism, racism and conspiracy narratives is also reflected in the increase in more than a third of the threats and coercions recorded, up to 1,022 cases,” he said.
He drew attention to the “alarming number of 585 children and adolescents assaulted” and stressed that in this group, very in need of protection due to their age, violence and experiences related to marginalization can have very serious consequences for their further development.
He also referred to the worrying typology of crimes: thus, with 1,402 cases, the crimes of physical assault predominate, which increased by 12.4%, compared to 1,247 in 2022, and accounted for more than half of all the attacks recorded.
Racist-motivated attacks grew by 33% and were the most common reason for crimes, with 1,446 cases recorded compared to 1,088 in 2022.
The report also highlights the worrying increase of a third of anti-Semitic attacks, from 201 in 2022 to 318 in 2023.
Physical assaults for anti-Semitic reasons more than tripled, from 21 in 2022 to 71 in 2023, and threats and coercions for this reason almost doubled, from 121 to 211.
The number of far-right attacks against political adversaries remained at a consistently high level, with 315 cases in 2023 compared to 387 a year ago.
“The alarming dimension of far-right, racist and anti-Semitic violence shows how threatened democracy is,” said the director of the memorial centers of the former Nazi concentration camps of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora, Jens-Christian Wagner.
He referred to “years of far-right agitation and historical revisionism” practiced by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
International
El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded guilty on Monday to drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court, months after his brother Ovidio reached a similar plea agreement, according to local media reports.
The defendant appeared before a federal court in Chicago early Monday afternoon and changed his previous plea in the case, the Chicago Tribune reported. U.S. authorities accuse him of forming, together with his three brothers, the cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos.”
The group is believed to have continued the operations of El Chapo, who has been serving a life sentence in the United States since 2019.
Guzmán López, 39, was arrested after landing in Texas in a small aircraft alongside cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
International
Venezuela authorizes return flights as U.S. continues deportations amid rising tensions
The arrival of U.S. aircraft carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued regularly despite rising tensions between Washington and Caracas over President Donald Trump’s military deployment in the Caribbean.
Trump maintains that the deployment is part of an anti-narcotics operation, while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insists the true objective is to remove him from power and seize the nation’s oil resources.
Venezuela’s aviation authority has “received a request from the United States government to resume repatriation flights for Venezuelan migrants from that country to Venezuela,” the Ministry of Transportation said in a statement .
“Under the instructions of President Nicolás Maduro, authorization has been granted for these aircraft to enter our airspace,” it added.
Caracas will permit two Eastern Airlines flights to land on Wednesday and Friday.
Migration remains one of the Trump administration’s flagship issues. On Monday, the U.S. president held a meeting with his National Security Council to discuss the situation in Venezuela, a day after confirming he had spoken with Maduro by phone, without offering further details.
According to the Venezuelan government, roughly 75 deportation flights have been carried out this year, returning at least 13,956 Venezuelans from the United States.
International
20,000 rounds stolen from german army after driver leaves cargo unattended
The German army confirmed the theft of a shipment of ammunition that occurred a week ago while it was being transported by a civilian delivery driver, a military spokesperson told AFP, confirming earlier media reports.
According to Der Spiegel and the regional broadcaster MDR, around 20,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from an unguarded parking lot near Magdeburg, in eastern Germany, while the driver was asleep in a nearby hotel. No information has been released regarding the identity of the suspects, and the military declined to specify the exact type or amount of ammunition taken.
Authorities have also not indicated how the perpetrators knew the cargo would be left unattended.
“The theft was discovered upon delivery at the barracks,” the German army spokesperson said.
A police spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that an investigation has been opened but refused to provide further details “for tactical reasons.”
Sources close to the German military, cited by Der Spiegel, believe it is unlikely the theft was a coincidence. They suspect the thieves waited for the driver to stop for the night before striking.
Der Spiegel also reported that the Defense Ministry normally requires two drivers for this type of transport to ensure the cargo is constantly monitored. However, in this case only one driver was assigned, meaning the civilian transport company failed to comply with the security protocols.
El Chapo’s son Joaquín Guzmán López pleads guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges
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