Wednesday's top story: Police raids target suspected armed far-right group
German police searched properties in several states Tuesday as part of a probe into a suspected right-wing extremist group allegedly in possession of automatic firearms.
Eight suspects were targeted in the raids, which involved police special forces, in Lower Saxony, Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, according to prosecutors and police.
The suspects, aged between 32 and 57, are accused of "having formed and participated in an armed group based on alleged right-wing extremist views", said a statement.
Four of them are accused of illegally possessing "military weapons and other fully automatic firearms", it said.
Tuesday's raids come after a pistol and ammunition were seized from one of the suspects in April.
The searches, targeting 13 properties, aimed to find weapons and gather fresh information about the group's activities and plans, officials said. Investigations are ongoing.
Germany has been on alert after a rise in politically motivated crimes, with a particularly pronounced threat of far-right extremism.
READ ALSO: German police arrest five members of a suspected right-wing terrorist cell
Officials in May reported a 40 percent surge in such offences last year, ranging from hate speech to acts of physical violence.
In total, an unprecedented 84,172 politically motivated crimes were recorded in 2024, almost half of them driven by a far-right ideology.
Alternative for Germany politicians received at White House
A senior lawmaker from Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was received at the White House on Monday to discuss "freedom of expression in Germany," a party spokesman told AFP.
Beatrix von Storch, deputy chair of the AfD parliamentary group, held talks with several representatives of US President Donald Trump's administration, the spokesman said.
These included members of Vice-President JD Vance's office as well as representatives of the State Department and the National Security Council.
Von Storch, whose grandfather was a senior Nazi officer serving as finance minister under Hitler, was accompanied by her party colleague Joachim Paul. Paul was barred from running in local elections in western Germany because local authorities said there were doubts over his commitment to the German constitution.
The White House meeting focused on Paul's case and "freedom of expression in Germany", the spokesman said, confirming a report first published by news site Politico.
Paul had also previously been disciplined by the AfD itself in 2023 after making a gesture associated with white supremacists, according to German media.
READ ALSO: US Vice-President Vance clashes with Germany over far right
German ex-spy chief probed over high-profile child kidnap case
A former chief of German foreign intelligence is under investigation for alleged involvement in a plot to kidnap two of the children of a steakhouse chain heiress, prosecutors said Tuesday.
August Hanning, 79, and a retired police officer, who then headed a security firm, are accused of having accepted a commission from Christina Block, whose father founded the popular Block House restaurants.
Prosecutors charge that the two men were involved in an initial failed 2022 plot to kidnap the children from Denmark -- which was followed by a successful abduction allegedly involving Israeli ex-security officers on New Year's Eve 2023.
Hanning and the retired police officer were to be paid more than 100,000 euros ($118,000) in exchange for returning the children in 2022 from Block's ex-husband, who had custody of the youngsters and was living with them in Denmark, prosecutors in Hamburg said.
The plot involved distracting the children's escort, using force if necessary, so their mother could put the children into a car and drive them back to Hamburg, northern Germany, they said.
READ ALSO: German steakhouse heiress goes on trial accused of kidnapping own children
"The plan was only thwarted because the children's father noticed suspicious individuals at his home in time and informed the Danish police," according to a statement.
As part of the probe into the case, 13 properties were searched Tuesday in several German states and in Switzerland, according to prosecutors.
Hanning, who was head of the foreign intelligence agency BND from 1998 to 2005, has previously denied in media interviews any involvement in the attempted abduction of the children.
Traffic bottlenecks hit new section of A100 Autobahn in Berlin
Traffic congestion has become a frequent problem on the recently opened 16th section of the A100 motorway connecting Neukölln to Treptower Park, which opened on August 27th.
The newly extended highway, intended to improve access from Berlin’s eastern districts to the motorway network and BER Airport, is now causing regular standstills, especially on the inbound lanes approaching Treptow.
Drivers experience delays of up to 40 minutes during peak hours, with bottlenecks forming particularly near the Elsenbrücke — a key exit and route over the Spree River that currently operates with lane restrictions due to construction work. The resulting traffic jams affect not only motorists but also bus routes and cyclists, who face increased difficulties navigating the area.
READ ALSO: Germany's 'most expensive motorway' opens in Berlin
Local residents report increased noise, pollution, and blocked cycling paths. Berlin’s Senate and transport authorities acknowledge the challenges and are working on additional improvements, including expanding lanes and upgrading the Elsenbrücke bridge, with completion expected by 2028.
The new 3.2 kilometre section of the A100 Autobahn took 12 years to complete and cost approximately €721 million to build.
Number of E.coli infections rises sharply in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
The number of reported infections caused by E.coli, in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has sharply increased to 78 confirmed cases, with 16 new infections reported in a single day by the state health authority (LAGuS) in Rostock.
This surge, following a short period of falling numbers, confirms Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as the epicentre of the ongoing outbreak in Germany.
The source of the infections is still unclear despite ongoing investigations by health authorities and the Robert Koch Institute.
E.coli bacteria produce powerful Shiga toxins that cause severe gastrointestinal illness, including diarrhoea and can lead to the highly dangerous hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which damages red blood cells and impairs kidney function.
An outbreak of the O104:H4 EHEC strain in 2011 caused widespread illness and approximately 50 deaths in Germany.
Since mid-August 2025, children have been especially affected in this outbreak, with 15 cases of HUS detected. The infections span both city and rural areas, with some cases among visitors from other federal states.
For ongoing updates, the LAGuS website provides current case numbers and health advice.
With reporting by AFP.
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