Deutschland (Germany)

[robert99]

German police arrest Muslim convert over bomb plot scare - France 24
German police on Wednesday arrested a 27-year-old convert to Islam on fears he was planning a bomb attack, but later said they found no evidence to back the suspicion.
Police had earlier announced the arrest of the unidentified man in the northeastern state of Brandenburg over fears that he had been planning an "explosive attack".
(Oops!)

 

[robert99]

German accused of joining 'Islamic State' | News | DW.COM | 18.08.2016
A 22-year-old German citizen is facing terrorism-related charges after prosecutors accused him of joining the self-styled Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria.

Identified only as Tarik S. because of German privacy rules, the man appeared in Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court where he stands accused of joining the jihadist group in 2013 after crossing into Syria from Turkey.

Prosecutor said he returned to Germany in March to be with his pregnant wife and was arrested on arrival at Frankfurt airport. He is one of several German nationals facing prosecution for allegedly joining the outlawed group.

 

[robert99]

Congrats to Germany! for getting 20 of these - (a "smart" bomb that wants to kill itself? I'd call that a suicidal bomb that needs counselling - see "Dark Star" movie for comparison)
United States’ first ‘smart’ nuclear bomb signals new arms race with China and Russia: analysts
The new US weapon, the B61-12, is America’s first guided, or “smart” nuclear bomb. It weighs 350kg and can penetrate fortified structures several metres underground.

Unlike banned weapons of mass destruction, the B61-12 is designed to be carried by high-speed stealth fighter jets to hit targets precisely with limited damage to structures and lives nearby.

The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration announced early this month that the B61-12 had completed a four-year development and testing phase and was in production engineering. Full-scale production was expected to get under way in 2020.

US President Barack Obama announced that 180 of the weapons would be deployed in five European countries, despite appeals last month from 10 senators urging restraint on nuclear weapons spending. The B61-12 weapon has been dubbed the most expensive US nuclear bomb, costing about US$11 billion for 400 bombs.

 

[Second Summer]

Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate! I could be wrong, but I think he won that partly for nuclear disarmament?

 

[Andy_T]

Congrats to Tyskland for getting 20 of these

Had to research that to understand that Tyskland is Norwegian for Germany

 

[robert99]

Had to research that to understand that Tyskland is Norwegian for Germany

Oops! Note to self - Engage brain before writing in English and not Swedish! edited now

 

[robert99]

Report: Turkey asks German intelligence for help in Gulen crackdown | News | DW.COM | 20.08.2016
The Turkish government has asked Germany's BND intelligence agency to help round up supporters of the Gulen movement, which Ankara blames for orchestrating last month's failed coup attempt, "Der Spiegel" reported on Saturday.

Citing classified documents, Spiegel said Turkey's MIT intelligence agency requested the BND search 40 people and extradite another three for links to the Gulen movement, which runs a global network of schools, charities and businesses.
...
According to Spiegel, MIT also asked its German counterpart to influence policymakers and lawmakers to take a tougher stand against the Gulen movement. Turkish diplomats have also reportedly approached 11 German states to request cooperation, but all rejected a demand for the local BND branches to monitor the movement.

 

[robert99]

Report: Turkey's MIT agency menacing 'German Turks' | News | DW.COM | 21.08.2016
Report: Turkey's MIT agency menacing 'German Turks'
Germans of Turkish origin are being "menaced" in Germany by informers and officers of Turkey's MIT spy agency, according to "Die Welt" newspaper. Bundestag members want a probe into whether German agencies are complicit.
Ankara had 6,000 informants of its Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT) national intelligence agency plus MIT officers in Germany who were putting pressure on "German Turks," the newspaper claimed.

Some three million of Germany's 81-million population are either German nationals of Turkish origin or Turks who reside long-term in the Federal Republic.
Berlin mayor accuses Turkey of waging war on Gulen supporters in Germany | News | DW.COM | 14.08.2016
Müller, who as governing mayor is premier of the state of Berlin, told the Sunday edition of German newspaper "Bild" that Turkish officials had approached him following the attempted coup last month.

"I was approached and asked by a Turkish government official, whether we would be prepared to critically confront the Gulen movement in Berlin and, if necessary, to support measures against it," Müller told the newspaper.

 

[robert99]

Germany warns Turkey from attacking Kurds in Syria - Iraqi News
German Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned the Turkish government from attacking the Kurds in Syria. The warning came after the attack launched by the Turkish troops on the Kurdish areas, north of Syria.

German Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that his country has warned Turkey from threatening the Kurdish issue, and pointed out that Turkey has to join the war against ISIS not to fight Kurds.

Steinmeier also condemned the attacks launched by the Kurdistan Workers Party on Turkey, and added that the Kurdish forces are also fighting ISIS.

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/29082016
Turkish FM: Germany can visit Incirlik if backtrack on Armenian genocide vote
Turkey will grant permission to German lawmakers to visit its Incirlik airbase, where German planes partaking in the international coalition’s campaign against Islamic State (ISIS) are stationed, if the German government distances itself from its parliament’s resolution recognizing the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide.

“It depends on the steps taken by Germany. If they take the necessary steps, we will enable this visit,” said Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, in a press conference in Ankara on Monday.

“But unfortunately, I have to say that those that mingle and manipulate our history in an unfair manner cannot be allowed on this visit,” he said. Foreign ministry officials confirmed to Reuters that “necessary steps” meant a clear indication from the German government that it did not support the parliament’s resolution on the genocide.

Germany is now readying to withdraw its planes from the airbase. “We would like to continue the mission from Turkey, but there are alternatives to the base in Incirlik,” the German Defense Ministry told Der Spiegel magazine last week.

Germany has six Panavia Tornado reconnaissance jets, an aerial refueling tanker, and 250 soldiers deployed to Incirlik.

 

[robert99]

This an odd one - Millatu Ibrahim
Millatu Ibrahim - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/w...lamist-group-millatu-ibrahim-banned.html?_r=1
Razzia gegen Salafisten – Friedrich verbietet Netzwerk: Radikale Muslime - WELT
PressTV-Daesh 'sympathizer' killed in Copenhagen
Millatu Ibrahim was founded in the fall of 2011
the group has around 50 members
May 29, 2012, Germany's Interior Minister declares a ban on the group
June 14, 2012 German authorities carried out a nationwide crackdown on Thursday on an ultraconservative Islamic organization, raiding homes, meeting halls and mosques. Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said he had banned the Salafist organization Millatu Ibrahim, which he said had been calling on Muslims to fight against Germany’s “constitutional order.” The raids, conducted by 850 police officers in seven German states, focused on two other groups to determine whether evidence exists to ban them as well.
(So within 6 months the group gets the attention of Germany's Interior Minister ... mmm. 2011 ... mmm)
EDIT - Ahhh ... the guy Mohamed Mahmoud - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
comes out of jail for being in Al-Qaeda and moves to Germany from Austria. Not surprising the Interior Minister knows. Then he gets kicked out of Germany, ends up in Syria with IS. So what's with the drug dealer in Denmark?)
Sep 2, 2016 According to local media reports, Hodzic had had links to an extremist group named as Millatu Ibrahim.

 

[robert99]

Germany election: AfD tests Merkel in eastern region - BBC News
Merkel defends record on regional election eve | News | DW.COM | 03.09.2016
Looks like Frau Merkel will be getting some bad news later today.

 

[robert99]

Merkel's CDU trounced in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | News | DW.COM | 04.09.2016
Germany's anti-migrant AfD has trumped Chancellor Merkel's CDU in her home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Exit polls put the AfD on 21 percent, her CDU on 19. Premier Sellering's SPD is back with 30.5 percent.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Merkel's home region suffered a stinging backlash Sunday as the upstart opposition right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party entered its 9th regional assembly since 2013.

But, the CDU could still govern as junior partner in a third-term coalition with Premier Erwin Sellering's center-left Social Democrats.

The AfD entered Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's 71-seat Schwerin assembly Sunday after a campaign directed at Merkel's decision last year not to close Germany's border to refugees arriving in the country through Hungary and Austria.

 

[Andy_T]

Not a big surprise to me.

The East of Germany has been a hotbed of Neo-Nazi activity ever since the unification.
I typically advise persons of colour who ask me which places in Germany to visit to rather stay in the Western part, as it is decidedly less dangerous.

 

[robert99]

Bayer offers $65bn to win control of Monsanto - BBC News
Germany's Bayer has raised its offer for Monsanto to $65bn (£49bn), or $127.50 a share, in a bid to create a global seeds and pesticides giant.

Bayer said it was in advanced talks with Monsanto, but warned there was no guarantee a deal would result.

Combining Bayer and Monsanto would create the world's biggest agricultural supplier and be a market leader in the US, Europe and Asia.

However, a Bayer takeover of Monsanto could raise US competition concerns because of the sheer size of the combined company and the control it would have over the global seeds and sprays markets.

Farming groups have raised concerns that such mergers could lead to fewer choices and higher prices.

 

[robert99]

Seehofer blames Merkel's refugee policy for 'disastrous' AfD success in state election | News | DW.COM | 06.09.2016
Christian Social Union (CSU) = old Nazi
AfD = neo Nazi
A collaboration is not impossible.

 

[Andy_T]

@robert99 , I can't fully agree.

The AFD has its share of old Nazis (e.g. their spokeswoman Ms. von Storch being proud of her grandfather, who was German Minister of Finance from 1933 to 1945), and there is also the NPD, who had been the "logical successors" of the NSDAP for many years (but rather obscure in all areas apart from Eastern Germany)

 

[Andy_T]

I saw a good meme today, let me translate it to English ...

"If in the German country with the lowest population density and the lowest number of refugees, 22 % of voters elect AFD because they are afraid of refugees ... then the government should not reconsider the refugee policy ... but rather the education policy..."

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Iran intelligence minister in Berlin
Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi has made an unannounced trip to Germany, with observers describing the unprecedented trip — about which little detail has been made public — as highly significant.

According to a brief press release that appeared on the website of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry on Tuesday, Minister Alavi and his accompanied delegation traveled to the Federal Republic of Germany at the invitation of “pertinent authorities” in the European country.

The timing of the trip was not made available.

In Berlin, Alavi “met with German intelligence officials and discussed issues of mutual interest,” according to the press release.
(Mmm ... )

 

[robert99]

Turkey signals Incirlik Air Base access, if Germany "behaves" well | News | DW.COM | 07.09.2016
Turkey signals Incirlik Air Base access, if Germany "behaves" well
Access demanded by German parliamentarians to the Incirlik NATO airbase could be restored, says Turkey's foreign minister. Mevlüt Cavusoglu has warned through that any approval will depend on how Berlin "behaves."
Cavusoglu told "Die Welt" Wednesday that if Germany "behaves as it's doing now we will consider it," - implying restoration of parliamentarian access.

"If Germany, however, tries to treat Turkey badly then that will not be the case," he said, adding that his country refused to be regarded as a "second class country."
Based at Ercirlik alongside crews from other nations are some 240 German soldiers and Tornado reconnaissance aircraft involved the international campaign against the jihadist "Islamic State" (IS) militia which holds parts of Syria and Iraq.