Politically motivated crimes in Germany reached their highest level in 2023 since tracking began

BERLIN (AP) — Politically motivated crime in Germany last year reached its highest level since the government started tracking it more than 20 years ago, with the greatest threat coming from people with far-right motivations, the country's top security official said Tuesday. ...

Germany's foreign minister says in Kyiv that air defenses are an 'absolute priority' for Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Sending air defense systems to Ukraine to help protect it from Russian cruise missiles, rockets and drones is an “absolute priority,” Germany’s foreign minister said in Kyiv on Tuesday after visiting a local power plant that was largely reduced to ruins by a recent...

The alleged leaders of a suspected German far-right coup plot have gone on trial

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple Germany's government went on trial on Tuesday, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022. Nine defendants faced judges at a special warehouse-like...

Georgia's parliament speaker vows to override presidential veto on divisive foreign influence bill

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s parliament speaker on Monday vowed to override the presidential veto on divisive legislation that sparked weeks of mass protests by critics who see it as a threat to democratic freedoms and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union. ...

The Israel-Hamas war is testing whether campuses are sacrosanct places for speech and protest

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Stephen Hawking on the Big Bang. Millions of students for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. They were provocative in their times, products of an ideal that holds universities as sacrosanct spaces for debate,...

The German chancellor tours flooded regions in the southwest in a show of solidarity

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday toured flooded regions in the southwest, where rivers have swelled and caused flash floods and landslides after heavy rain and severe weather. Scholz canceled his attendance at an election campaign event in Saarland, on the...

Israeli army finds bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza killed at Oct. 7 music festival

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk. A photo of 22-year-old Louk's twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around...

Israeli military says it found the bodies of three Israeli hostages in Gaza, including German-Israeli Shani Louk

German parliament approves plans to relax strict restrictions on family names

BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament on Friday approved plans to relax strict restrictions on family names — clearing the way, among other things, for couples to take double-barreled surnames and pass them on to their children. The reform of Germany's rigid rules is due to take...

Germany's parliament lifts immunity for prosecution of a far-right lawmaker

BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Thursday lifted the immunity from prosecution of one of the far-right Alternative for Germany party's top candidates in the upcoming European Parliament election as he faces an investigation. The German parliament's lower house, or Bundestag,...