BfV

BfV

Germany's top spy: A tumultuous history with the far-right

Secret services typically work away from the limelight, but Germany's top domestic spy Hans-Georg Maaßen has repeatedly crashed into the public eye, with his latest outing pitting him directly against Chancellor Angela Merkel.

islamism

Number of Salafists in Germany has doubled since 2013

The number of Salafists in Germany has doubled in the last five years, the Interior Ministry said this week.

islamist

Court frees suspected 'Islamist' intelligence agent

A Düsseldorf court on Wednesday freed an intelligence agent detained last November on suspicion of being an "Islamist" preparing to bomb his agency's headquarters.

islamist

What we know about the 'gay porn star turned Islamist spy'

German officials confirmed that an agent with the country's domestic spy service, the BfV, was in fact a suspected Islamist. Then media reported he had also once been a porn actor. Here's what we know so far.

islamist

German Islamist spy was Spanish gay porn actor: report

The bizarre story of a spy for Germany's domestic secret service who was revealed to be an Islamist got even stranger when media reported on Wednesday that he was also once a gay porn star.

spies

Berlin plays down alarm after 'Islamist' found in spy service

Update: The German government insisted on Wednesday that security measures at its domestic intelligence agency were sound after an agent was unmasked as a suspected Islamist.

Internet

Spies 'traded Germans' data for US software'

Media reports on Thursday alleged that German spies traded access to information about the country to the US National Security Agency (NSA) in exchange for surveillance software.

spying

Chief prosecutor sacked in media treason row

Germany's justice minister on Tuesday fired the chief prosecutor in an escalating row sparked by a controversial treason case against a blog accused of revealing state secrets.

facebook

Spy row as agency steps up Facebook checks

Opposition politicians on Friday demanded government clarification of reports German secret services spied for the NSA. It came as intelligence chiefs confirmed closer surveillance of social network users.

Politics

Death of leading neo-Nazi set to cripple far-right

One of the driving forces of neo-Nazism in Germany, Jürgen Rieger, has died after suffering a stroke, his far-right National Democratic Party announced on its website Friday morning.

Politics

Squabbling neo-Nazis set for election drubbing

Neo-Nazi political parties are likely to go backwards in Germany’s upcoming elections as internal strife and growing tribalism in the far-right scene leaves their support in tatters, the domestic intelligence agency said on Friday.