HORST SEEHOFER

Poland reinforced its border with Belarus with more riot police, a day after groups of migrants tried to storm through a razor-wire fence on the eastern frontier where thousands have camped on the Belarusian side in the tense standoff.

The Bavarian Red Cross says a knife attack on a high-speed train in Germany left three people severely wounded.

Germany’s top security official has proposed introducing joint German-Polish patrols on the two countries’ border to help clamp down on illegal crossings into Germany by migrants arriving from Belarus.

Germany and the Netherlands have suspended deportations of migrants to Afghanistan due to the tense security situation in the country.

German officials defended their actions ahead of last week’s devastating floods that caught many towns by surprise and left 196 people dead in Western Europe, but they conceded that lessons still need to be learned from the disaster.

Cases are up 10% in a week and there are concerns Euro 2020 matches could be super-spreader events.

A top German official says it was “absolutely irresponsible” of European soccer’s governing body to allow some 40,000 fans to watch England’s European Championship match against Germany at London’s Wembley Stadium. The crowd for Tuesday’s second-round match, which England won 2-0, was the biggest in Britain since the pandemic began in March 2020. The event came as the more contagious delta variant is fueling a sharp rise in new COVID-19 cases in the U.K.

Berlin police have arrested a 53-year-old German man on suspicion of sending dozens of threatening letters to politicians, lawyers and journalists that were signed with the acronym of a neo-Nazi group.

Berlin police arrested a 53-year-old German man on suspicion of sending dozens of threatening letters to politicians, lawyers and journalists that were signed with the acronym of a neo-Nazi group, as officials warned Tuesday of a disturbing rise in far-right extremism across Germany. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said far-right crimes rose 5.65% in 2020, accounting for more than half of all “politically motivated” crimes. “This shows again that right-wing extremism is the biggest threat for our country,” Seehofer told reporters Tuesday.

Germany saw a drop in reported crime last year, partly due to pandemic restrictions that kept people indoors, although there was a rise in child abuse, domestic violence and cybercrime.

Thousands of Berliners have taken to the streets to protest a ruling by Germany’s highest court that a cap on rent prices implemented last year by Berlin’s left-wing state government is unconstitutional and void.

Earlier today, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland met virtually with the Home Affairs Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom to advance cooperation against transnational crime, terrorism, and malign foreign interference. The ministerial was the Attorney General’s first international engagement in office. U.S. Attorney General Garland was joined by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The meeting was hosted and chaired by United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel. Other G6 attendees included French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, EU Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, and EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

One topic of the meeting are the current developments of the new coronavirus pandemic in Germany. Parliament had authorized 217.8 billion euros in new borrowing. Government spending last year totaled 443.4 billion euros, below the 508.5 billion euros that was forecast, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. “Germany is in comparatively good shape because we acted quickly and strongly in the budget,” Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in a statement. The economic development is better, job losses are smaller, tax income is higher and new borrowing significantly lower than was forecast at times.”Critics say that aid has been too complex and flowed too slowly.

(John MacDougall/Pool via AP)BERLIN – Germany's Cabinet on Wednesday approved legislation that will require large companies to put at least one woman on their management boards. The Justice Ministry said that will apply to around 70 companies, some 30 of which currently have no women on their boards. The government also plans to ensure that around 90 companies in which it has a majority stake have at least one woman on managements boards that have more than two members. Those companies include the national railway operator and the national air traffic control agency. The new legislation, which needs parliamentary approval, adds to rules in place since 2015 that require leading companies to have at least 30% women on their supervisory boards, the German equivalent of a board of directors.

(AP Photo/Michael Probst)BERLIN – Calls grew Friday for tougher lockdown measures soon in Germany as the country’s disease control center reported record daily increases in both coronavirus cases and deaths. The Robert Koch Institute said the country’s 16 states reported 29,875 new cases of COVID-19, breaking the previous daily record of 23,679 cases reported the day before. “We wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves if this Christmas became above all a festival for the virus,” he added. “And if we're honest, the virus doesn't take much account of whether we've all finished our Christmas shopping or not." The latest polls show nearly 50% of Germans are for tougher restrictions, while 35% support the current lockdown measures.

BERLIN – More than 180 police officers raided homes in three German states early Tuesday after the German government banned a far-right group, the interior ministry said. The homes of 11 members of the far-right group Wolfsbrigade 44 were searched in Hesse, Mecklenburg West-Pomerania and North Rhine-Westphalia to confiscate the group's funds and far-right propaganda material, the German news agency dpa reported. The far-right group, founded in 2016, is also known for its anti-Semitic and racist ideology as well as its violent and aggressive appearances in public and on social media. Earlier this year, the German government banned other far-right groups including the Combat 18 and the Nordadler, dpa reported. “There isn't any room in the military for enemies of the constitution,” Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a statement.

BRUSSELS – European Union interior ministers agreed Thursday that sweeping new proposals to revamp the bloc's failed asylum system should form the basis for negotiations on building a fresh policy for managing the arrival of unauthorized migrants in Europe. Under the proposals, migrants arriving at Europe’s outside borders without permission would be screened within five days. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said she was “very encouraged” by the ministers’ response to the proposals she helped draw up. Broadly speaking, countries that accept to host refugees would receive 10,000 euros ($11,650) per person in assistance from the EU’s coffers. These countries would have eight months to deport people not allowed in or be forced to accept them.

The security agencies of the country's 16 states, which have a combined 276,000 employees, investigated 319 suspected cases of internal far-right extremism during a time period of over three years, from January 2017-March 2020. Meantime, federal security agencies reported 58 alleged cases among their 109,000 employees during the same time period, while the military's counter intelligence agency reported 1,064 suspected cases among its 260,000-person military and civilian workforce. Hundreds of the reported cases are still being being investigated, and in several proceedings have been undertaken to discharge the suspected individuals. “”But the vast majority of members of the security agencies stands firmly behind our basic law." Earlier this year, the country's defense minister disbanded one of the military's special forces units after numerous allegations of far-right extremism.

The Department for Research and Information on Anti-Semitism Berlin, or RIAS documented 410 incidents in Berlin, more than two a day, in the first half of 2020, including physical attacks, property damage, threats, harmful behavior and anti-Semitic propaganda. In a report released Tuesday, the Department for Research and Information on Anti-Semitism Berlin, or RIAS, documented 410 incidents - more than two a day - during the first half of 2020. In Kreuzberg, 10 “Stolpersteine” - brass memorial plates like the ones near the Lichtenberg bar - were painted black. The latest threat came the Monday before the arson, when an anonymous caller told the bar owner he wasn’t wanted in the neighborhood. The Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism's Salomon said more investment is needed to help fight anti-Semitism.

BERLIN Senior German officials on Sunday condemned attempts by far-right protesters and others to storm the parliament building following a protest against the countrys pandemic restrictions. Hundreds of people, some waving the flag of the German Reich of 1871-1918 and other far-right banners, breached a security barrier outside the Reichstag late Saturday but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed. About 300 people were arrested in front of the Reichstag and following an incident at the Russian embassy, according to police. Berlin's top security official, Andreas Geisel, praised three officers who had stood alone against the protesters outside the Reichstag until reinforcements arrived. The fact that Nazis with imperial war flags try to storm the Bundestag recalls the darkest period in German history, he told the Funke media group.

BERLIN Germany recorded a significant rise in the number of right-wing extremists last year, after security agencies added thousands of members of the country's main far-right party to the count. An annual report on extremism in Germany released Thursday estimates the number of right-wing extremists in the country at 32,080 last year. The report, released by the BfV domestic intelligence agency, includes for the first time around 7,000 members of the Alternative for Germany party's youth section and a radical faction known as The Wing. The number of far-left extremists increased by 1,500 to 33,500 last year, according to the report. More than two-thirds of those are classified as not violence-oriented.The report also counts about 28,020 people in Germany with tendencies toward Islamic extremism, up from 26,560 in 2018.

(Hannibal Hanschke/Pool via AP)BERLIN Germany's domestic intelligence agency is warning consumers that personal data they provide to Chinese payment companies or other tech firms could end up in the hands of China's government. The head of the BfV, Thomas Haldenwang, said German's data isn't safe with Chinese companies because they are required by law to provide the data to their government. Any customer here in Germany who uses such a system shouldn't be surprised if this data is abused in Beijing, he told reporters. We can only warn against this.Germany's top security official also expressed concern about what he called the hybrid threat from China, which included the purchase of key German companies. Seehofer added that Germany has yet to reach a political decision on whether to let Chinese telecoms equipment company Huawei supply infrastructure to German cellphone service providers.

BERLIN Germany's top security official violated the rights of a far-right party by posting remarks criticizing it on his ministry's website, the country's highest court ruled Tuesday. The Alternative for Germany party, known as AfD, whose anti-migration and anti-establishment stance helped it get into the German parliament in 2017, is currently the largest of several opposition parties. Its case against Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stems from an interview that his ministry posted on its website in 2018, in which he decried a broadside by AfD against President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Seehofer described AfD's behavior as undermining the state and asserted that they stand against this state. The interview was taken down from his ministry's website a little over two weeks after it was posted there.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a televised interview at the hauptstadtstudio (Capital city studio) of public broadcaster ARD in Berlin, Thursday June 4, 2020. Merkel dismissed such talk in an interview Thursday with ZDF television. Really not.Presssed as to whether her decision stands, she said: Very firmly.The 65-year-old Merkel, who became chancellor in 2005, announced in October 2018 that she wouldn't seek another term. But she did say she planned to serve out her current term, which is due to end late next year. It remains unclear who will seek to replace Merkel as chancellor.

(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. TOP OF THE HOUR: India surpasses China in coronavirus infection cases. ___NEW DELHI Indias coronavirus infection cases have surpassed Chinas with the health ministry on Saturday reporting the spike to 85,940 cases with 2,752 deaths. The state recently surpassed 300,000 tests, which Kemp hailed as a milestone in efforts to locate virus cases. ___Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

Video of the attack was livestreamed on streaming site Twitch, which said it had "worked with urgency" to remove it. A body lies on a road in Halle, Germany, Wednesday, October 9, 2019 after a shooting incident. APPolice secures the area after a shooting in the eastern German city of Halle on October 9, 2019. before the shooting, according to SITE. German federal prosecutors, who always handle cases involving suspected terrorism or national security, took over the investigation of shooting in Halle, according to German news agency dpa.