Deutschland (Germany)

De Maiziere: Germany has 520 potential attackers | News | DW.COM | 10.09.2016
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has warned that more than 520 Islamist militants could carry out attacks at home. He also described how terror "hit teams" could be smuggled into the country, under the radar.
In addition to the 520 "potential attackers" de Maiziere cited in his interview with German daily "Bild" on Saturday, he said there were a further 360 "relevant" people, known to police for their proximity to the potential attackers.
 
Three Syrians arrested in Germany 'linked to Paris attackers' | Breaking News | DW.COM | 13.09.2016
erman Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere delivered a statement on Tuesday regarding the arrest of three suspected members of the so-called "Islamic State" ("IS"), saying the suspects had links to the group that carried out the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris.

Specifically, de Maiziere said the three suspects arrested in Germany on Tuesday were smuggled out of Syria by the same smuggling organization used by members of the Paris group.

The three men arrested in the raids have been identified as Syrian nationals. The prosecutor's office listed their names as Mahir Al-H. (17), Mohamed A. (26), and Ibrahim M. (18). The full names of criminal suspects in Germany are usually not released by officials in line with the country's privacy laws.

For the purposes of their travel, prosecutors say they were given passports by IS along with cash in US dollars "in a high four-figure sum" and mobile phones pre-loaded with a communications program. The suspects came to Germany from Syria through Turkey and Greece, the statement said.

Over 200 officers from the German Federal Criminal Police Office, the national police force and Schleswig-Holstein state police were involved in the operation.

According to the BKA, authorities have received 415 leads on refugees with a terrorist background, but most have proven to be unfounded. Sixty-three investigative proceedings have been launched based on the information the BKA has received.
Germany arrests Syrian IS group suspects with ‘links’ to Paris attackers - France 24
... German police had surveilled the men for months and tapped their phones, meaning that at no stage was there a risk of an attack.
Police also raided several other asylum seeker shelters, Die Welt daily said.

Warrants for their arrest had been issued by a federal judge on September 7, based in part on intelligence provided by Germany's domestic security agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
 
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/business/dealbook/monsanto-bayer-deal.html?ref=business
$66 billion for Monsanto
Bayer will acquire Monsanto for $128 per share in cash, according to a statement released by the companies. That price represents a 44 percent premium to Monsanto’s stock on May 9, the day before Bayer’s interest in a deal first surfaced. Including the assumption of debt, the transaction is valued at $66 billion.

The European competition regulators said publicly before a deal was even signed that they would look at how the combination could affect prices and the availability of seed products as well as research.

To assuage Monsanto’s concerns, Bayer threw in a $2 billion breakup fee if the deal fell apart on antitrust grounds.
Monsanto accepts sweeter bid from Bayer | Business | DW.COM | 14.09.2016
The deal stands to be the biggest-ever acquisition by a German company. It would create a new global leader in genetically modified seeds and pesticides. Bayer makes a wide range of crop protection chemicals, while Monsanto is known for its seeds business.

The transaction is still pending final approval from regulatory bodies in Europe and the US.
Heroin, Nazis and Agent Orange: Inside the $88b deal of the year
History about the two companies etc
 
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http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...o-fight-ISIS-smuggling-in-Mediterranean-.html
The German cabinet gave the green light on Wednesday to send up to 650 troops to join a new NATO mission to combat arms smuggling by the ISIS militant group in the Mediterranean Sea.

The German involvement in NATO's operation Sea Guardian will last until the end of 2017. In exceptional emergencies, it will be possible to temporarily increase the number of German soldiers involved in the mission.

The deployment is part of a broader shift by Germany to expand its military role in Europe and NATO. Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has sought to rebuild equipment and troop levels of the armed forces after years of declines.
 
"How do I recognize extremist and intelligence activities?"
German intelligence agency says terror perpetrators are 'controlled from afar' | Germany | DW.COM | 14.09.2016
"We are concerned about the new type of perpetrator who seems to be acting alone," the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday.

Maassen said these potential attackers are presumably given orders by foreign terror leaders through encrypted instant messaging services. "This scenario is especially challenging for security authorities - as is the uncovering of sleeper cells," he stressed.
Attacks are ordered through social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, where "perpetrators themselves are safe and not recognized."

In order to effectively respond to the dangerous situation, police officials, the BfV and Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, must be massively upgraded and equipped with new technology and personnel. Maassen has previously brought attention to the precarious situation. So-called returnees who temporarily joined IS in Syria and Iraq must also be seen as dangerous.
(You're all going to be listened to! Did someone say Stasi? )
 
Muslim fashion shops in Germany linked to extremist Salafists | Germany | DW.COM | 15.09.2016
The Hijabi store in a central Frankfurt district sells niqabs, burqas and others kinds of veils for orthodox Muslim women.
Hijabi's owner, Latifa Rouali's father Abdellatif, is a well-known Salafist in the southern and southwestern Rhine-Main-Sieg region. Rouali was a founder of the banned Dawa FFM, an organization that called on believers to follow the Quran. He is also known to have been closely linked with Pierre Vogel, who openly advocates the supremacy of Sharia - or Islamic law - over all earthly constitutions.
In 2014, for example, Rouali set up a shop in Frankfurt's central Stiftstrasse, called "Mekka." But repeated complaints from neighbors forced him to shut shop. "They closed the business because they found out that the 'Mecca' water he was selling was not from the holy city, but from Frankfurt's water supply," Schröter said.
 
Police Officer Stabbed By 15 Year Old Girl In ISIS Inspired Palestine-Style Kitchen Knife Attack
(from March)
A 15-year-old Moroccan was arrested on Friday after an Islamist attack at Hanover central station inspired by the Islamic State. The young girl who was wearing a headscarf was observed to fix officials in the office with her gaze — this much can be seen from surveillance videos from the station, reports Bild.

Approached by an officer, the young girl handed over her identity documents, but as he was distracted reading the paper, she struck. A spokesman said: “When the officer slightly turned away to check her identity, with lightning speed she stabbed him… The colleague had no chance to defend himself”.

At that point, other officers piled in and detained the girl. The struck officer had to receive emergency surgery, the kitchen knife having entered his neck, with a colleague remarking “it’s a miracle he survived”.

The event garnered no media attention at the time but it has now been proven the attack was inspired by Islamist ideology, with the young girl attacking a target in Europe because she was unable to travel to the Islamic State itself to join her co-religionists.

Berlin newspaper BZ reports the girl had spent time living on the Turkish-Syrian border, and had possibly been radicalised there. She had recently been returned from the area to her mother in Germany, and it may be frustration at being taken away from being near the Islamic State that brought about the attack.

A police spokesman remarked on her remarkable callousness, showing no interest in whether the stabbed officer died but great concern after her arrest that her headscarf covered her properly, having become dislodged.
 
Social Democrats receive most votes in Berlin election, populist AfD enters state assembly | News | DW.COM | 18.09.2016
The Social Democrats (SPD) won the most seats in Berlin's regional elections on Sunday and remains the strongest party in the German capital - though it may have to find a new coalition partner as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) finished with 18 percent.

The center-left SPD, led by current Berlin Mayor Michael Müller, won 23 percent of the vote. Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU and the Left Party came in second and third, winning 18 percent and 16.5 percent of the vote, respectively. It was the CDU's worst performance in the capital, public broadcaster ARD reported.

As no party was able to win an outright majority, the SPD will now form a new regional coalition government. It is largely expected to form a three-party coalition along with the Greens and the Left Party.

The populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party entered Berlin's state assembly, earning 11.5 percent of the vote. It now enters its 10th regional assembly out of 16 German states.

Berlin Mayor Michael Müller issued a dramatic warning, saying that a strong AfD result would be "seen throughout the world as a sign of the resurgence of the right and of Nazis in Germany."

(Shock! The N word! :D)
 
Cologne police: Detained refugee from Syria planned bomb attack | News | DW.COM | 21.09.2016
The unnamed 16-year-old boy was detained by a special counterterrorism unit late Tuesday in the refugee shelter where he lived in the Porz district of Cologne.

The teenager had been planning a bomb attack, police spokesman Klaus-Stephan Becker told journalists on Wednesday. In online chats, the boy expressed an "unequivocal willingness" to follow through on such a plot.

The young suspect received "very concrete instructions" from a chat partner abroad on how to build a bomb, added police chief Jürgen Mathies.

He said there was no evidence to suggest that the teen possessed the required materials for an explosive device.

Police and prosecutors said information gleaned from his mobile phone showed he was in touch with IS and "wanted to recruit the young Syrian for Islamist activities," authorities said.

The statement did not say how it had intercepted the communications but did note that a 35-strong investigation team has been detailed to follow the case. Authorities added that it was believed his "radicalization" had begun relatively recently.

Prior to being detained, the teen was questioned three times by police over the past few months after authorities received tips from social workers and fellow refugees as well as a mosque in Cologne which suggested the teen had been rapidly radicalized.

Police noted that the teen came from a "good home" and that he was first registered in Germany along with his parents and sister in January 2015. His parents were academics who lived in Damascus before fleeing the Syrian civil war.
 
With the Syrian convoy bombing, EU sanctions, and eager German companies wanting to do business with Putin -
Germany's Gabriel discusses Syria and EU sanctions with Russia's Putin | News | DW.COM | 21.09.2016
Germany's Gabriel discusses Syria and EU sanctions with Russia's Putin
Germany's Vice Chancellor has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin amidst tensions over the crisis in Syria. Gabriel wants to build bridges between Germany and Russia, despite controversy over his visit back home.
...
Gabriel, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) and also the Economic Affairs Minister, has taken a more conciliatory stance towards Moscow, sparking tensions within Germany's Grand Coalition government. He plans to discuss possibly easing EU sanctions with Putin during the high-level talks.

The SPD's conservative coalition partners, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavarian sister-party the Christian Social Union (CSU), criticized Gabriel's remarks. Merkel has insisted that Russia must do more to help the fragile Ukraine peace process.

However, business leaders in Germany who are eager to resume trade with Russian partners view Gabriel positively.

Gabriel urged prior to his trip to Moscow that "isolation and confrontation offer no prospects and are not a sensible policy."
(With the right wing taking votes from the traditional parties, I can see a cynical move to ease sanctions so a boost to the economy will hopefully win voters back.)
 
Suspected member of 'Islamic State' arrested at Dusseldorf airport | Germany | DW.COM | 24.09.2016
Authorities in the city of Karlsruhe said on Saturday that the German Federal Prosecutor's Office had authorized the arrest of the individual at Dusseldorf airport on Friday.

The 22-year-old man was taken into custody as he arrived in Dusseldorf from Turkey on Friday. He is believed to have traveled to Syria in August last year and joined IS there.

He has been accused of attending a training camp in Syria and obtaining an automatic rifle and hand grenades to use in battle. "Therefore, he has proven himself willing to engage in armed fighting," the Prosecutor's Office said.

The alleged jihadist is believed to have returned from Syria to Turkey in December of last year.

The unnamed individual is also believed to have tried to persuade other people living in Germany to join him in IS-controled territory.

"The State Criminal Police Office detained a 22-year-old Turkish German immediately upon his reentry.

According to estimates from security services, about 800 people have left Germany to fight with jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. About a third of them are believed to have returned to Germany.
(So the Turkish diaspora in Germany is going to Syria to fight for IS which is now being attacked by ... the Turkish Military and others)
 
Germany's former top spy, Werner Mauss, goes on trial for alleged tax evasion | News | DW.COM | 26.09.2016
Former intelligence officer Werner Mauss's trial begins on Monday in the western German city of Bochum, where tax officials will seek to prove that the 76-year-old hid around 50 million euros of earnings from them.

Described by German media as a living legend, who was trusted to handle top secret assignments for the federal government, Mauss will asked to account for the operation of several bank offshore accounts, in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the Bahamas under aliases.
...
But Mauss's defense says the bank accounts were opened by Western and Israeli intelligence officials in the mid-1980s to fund covert security operations around the world.

The former vacuum cleaner salesman turned millionaire claims he helped thwart an attempted poisoning of Pope Benedict XVI by the Mafia, freed hostages held captive by Colombian rebels, and worked against the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) group. The ex-spy also claims he mediated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as Hamas
 
Security tightened after Dresden bombings | Germany | DW.COM | 27.09.2016
Extra police have been installed around Dresden's three mosques and Muslim prayer rooms following the two explosions by suspected xenophobic attackers, German media reported on Monday evening.

Security will also be boosted for the Day of German Unity celebrations, which are due to held in the city on October 3 with German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel in attendance, officials said.

"We have now switched to crisis mode," Dresden police chief Horst Kretzschmar, adding that no one had claimed responsibility for the blasts.

On Monday evening, two small bombs detonated in front of a mosque and a convention center, which was due to play host to the 26th anniversary reunification commemorations.

The blasts also coincided with a ceremony in Berlin to mark the tenth anniversary of the German Islam Conference, a forum to improve dialogue between the government and Muslim communities.

Dresden has come under criticism for far-right politics and xenophobia in recent years, beginning with the anti-Islamization PEGIDA movement founded in the city in October 2014. Monday's bombings came just after PEGIDA staged its latest march through the city.
 
Opinion: Deutsche Bank in dire straits | Opinion | DW.COM | 27.09.2016
FTSE 100 skids towards 6,800 as Deutsche Bank's woes worsen
Could Deutsche Bank be the next Lehman Brothers?
Jordan Hiscott, Chief Trader at ayondo markets weighs in on the debate as Deutsche's shares hit a new low.

“Today Deutsche Bank has fallen to a record low of €10.18, with negative sentiment being fired at it from various avenues. What started as a fine from the US Department of Justice of around $14bn has snowballed into a run on the bank , with serious questions now being asked about its capital.

“Previously regarded as the premier bank of Europe , shares of Deutsche Bank are down 53pc on this year alone, which is remarkable given that over the same period the DAX has dropped by just 1.4pc. This is beginning to feel like a crescendo period and if they are having funding and capital requirement issues, this could have major consequences for various Spanish and Italian banks. The question on many people’s lips now is: could this be the next Lehman Brothers?

Merkel hopes 'temporary problems' at Deutsche Bank can be solved
Back to Deutsche Bank. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told reporters in Berlin that she hopes the problems at Deutsche Bank can be solved.

The comments come a day after the German Lender said it would solve its problems itself - adding that it needed no state aid with a $14bn US Department of Justice claim, relating to mis-selling mortgage backed securities.

When asked during the news conference in Berling about Deutsche Bank and if the government was considering assistance for the lender, Chancellor Merkel said:

"I only want to say that Deutsche Bank is a part of the German banking and financial sector. And of course we hope that all companies, also if they face temporary problems, can develop in the right direction.

"I don't want to comment beyond that."

Deutsche Bank said on Monday it had no need for German government help.
(Keep your fingers crossed Merkel steps in to save Deutsche Bank otherwise it could get ugly :eek: Those who saw "the Big Short" or read the book know about Deutsche Bank)

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/09/27/business/27reuters-germany-banks-bundesbank.html
Political support for Europe's oversized banking sector must stop, a top official at Germany's central bank said on Tuesday, comparing banks to dinosaurs facing a threat of extinction.

Concerns about German banks are mounting, with top lender Deutsche Bank forced to reassure investors this week that it did not need government support to cover a possible U.S. fine and about low interest rates eating into its profits.

Andreas Dombret, the Bundesbank board member in charge of supervision, said banks' deficiencies should be tackled and the sector should be allowed to shrink further.

"Political support for the banking sector must finally come to an end - something that unfortunately I've only seen to a limited extent," he told an audience in Vienna.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/b...e-bank-abbey-life-insurance.html?ref=business
Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its Abbey Life insurance business, part of efforts to simplify the bank’s structure and improve returns, amid concerns that it may be forced to raise additional capital to resolve a dispute with American authorities.
...
The latest in those efforts was the sale of Abbey Life to a subsidiary of Phoenix Group Holdings, which specializes in buying closed life insurance pools and pension funds, for 935 million pounds, or about $1.2 billion.
...
This month, the bank disclosed that the Justice Department was seeking $14 billion in penalties as part of an investigation of the bank’s underwriting of residential mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis. The amount of penalties sought could change as negotiations progress.
Deutsche Bank sells UK asset and battles bailout rumors | Business | DW.COM | 28.09.2016
Deutsche Bank said in a statement that the sale would boost its core capital ratio - the stock of funds regulators require banks to have on hand - by 10 basis points, or 0.1 percent over its level on June 30.

The lender is currently restructuring its business, selling assets abroad and planning to slash 200 branches in Germany as well as almost 9,000 jobs worldwide by 2020. Shares in the bank have lost more than half of their value since January after the bank booked a loss of almost 7 billion euros in 2015.
Germany 'prepares Deutsche Bank rescue' - BBC News
The German government and financial authorities are working on a rescue plan for Deutsche Bank in case it cannot pay fines in the US, according to Die Zeit newspaper.

Germany's biggest lender is facing a $14bn (£10.8bn; €12.5bn) bill for mis-selling mortgage-backed bonds before the financial crisis of 2008.

In the worst-case scenario, the government would even take a 25% stake in the bank, according to the article.

Deutsche Bank has denied the report.
 
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German woman and baby kidnapped in Syria are freed | Middle East | DW.COM | 28.09.2016
German woman and baby kidnapped in Syria are freed
German daily "Bild" identified the woman as Janina F, a freelance journalist, who worked for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper and broadcaster "NDR."

In a report on her disappearance in February, "Focus" magazine described how the 27-year-old had been kidnapped in October 2015 by the al-Nusra Front militant group, and gave birth to her son in December.

The militants allegedly demanded 5 million euros in ransom. It is unclear if any money was paid.
(Did they pay or did "special forces" get her out?)
 
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...uspect-extradited-to-Germany-from-France.html
A suspected member of the ISIS group who turned himself in to French authorities and revealed plans of an attack plot has been extradited to Germany.

Federal prosecutors said Friday that Saleh A., a 29-year-old Syrian whose last name wasn't given in accordance with German privacy laws, was turned over on Thursday.

He and three other men face charges in Germany of membership in a terrorist organization for allegedly plotting an attack in the western city of Duesseldorf. Prosecutors say they all were arrested before they had formed a concrete plan.

After the suspect turned himself in Paris on Feb. 1, his information led to the arrests in Germany of his three alleged co-conspirators, Syrian citizens ages 25, 27 and 31 who were living in refugee shelters.
'Islamic State' attack suspect extradited to Germany | News | DW.COM | 30.09.2016
Sala A, whose full name has been withheld in accordance with German privacy laws, was detained in Paris in February.

He revealed to French investigators that an "Islamic State" (IS) cell planned to launch an attack on the western German city of Düsseldorf.

The alleged plot involved two militants blowing themselves up in the historic quarter of the city, while other assailants launched gun and bomb attacks.

Their instructions came directly from senior IS leaders, prosecutors have said.

In July, German newspaper "Welt am Sonntag" said Sala A's statements to police appeared to be fraught with contradictions.

The newspaper cited an German intelligence source as saying the 29-year-old was an "informer" for the federal intelligence service (BND).

(So this from September 13 Germany arrests Syrian IS group suspects with ‘links’ to Paris attackers - France 24
and from June Germany arrests three Syrians suspected of attack plot in Duesseldorf - France 24 is the arrest of the 3 accomplacies )
 
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Montenegrin confesses smuggling arms to Paris on eve of November attacks - France 24
A Montenegrin caught in Germany with a car full of weapons a week before November’s Islamist attacks in Paris confessed at the start of his trial on Friday to acting as a gun runner, but denied knowing what was planned with the arsenal.

The man in his early 50s, named by prosecutors only as Vlatko V., was stopped by police on Nov. 5 on the motorway between Salzburg and Munich. His navigation system showed he had come from Montenegro via Croatia and Slovenia, and was heading to an address in Paris.

Police found an arsenal of weapons hidden in his Volkswagen Golf, including eight Kalashnikov assault rifles, pistols, hand grenades, explosives and detonators.

Vlatko V. is charged with transporting the weapons to Paris for use in a serious but unspecified act of violence.
 

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