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Three weeks after a neo-Nazi was convicted of murdering regional governor Walter Lübcke. In answer to a parliamentary information request from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the Interior Ministry reported that 1,534 crimes against politicians, party members or party property had been reported in 2020, a 9% increase on the year before. The crimes recorded by the ministry ranged from verbal abuse, slander, threats and hate speech to property damage and arson attacks on party offices. There were also a handful of cases of physical assault. The AfD reported 694 crimes reported, followed by Angela Merkel's conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), with 231, and the Green party, with 206. The Interior Ministry attributed 544 crimes to actors with a left-wing motive and 393 to the right wing and reported that 532 could not be attributed. Many local AfD offices have been vandalized in recent years, as … [Read more...] about Germany: Hate speech, threats against politicians rise

Wuhan is hosting a waxwork exhibition to celebrate the Chinese city's 'successful' response to coronavirus on the first anniversary of its 76-day lockdown . Figures in full PPE suits adorned with the hammer and sickle, army medics wearing face masks and wax fumigation teams fill the halls of the city's local museum. The Communist shrine is the latest in a propaganda blitz by the Chinese who are seeking to deflect from the ongoing World Health Organisation probe into the origins of Covid. Beijing has been pumping out pictures of normality in Wuhan, youngsters dancing in nightclubs, the infamous disease-spawning wet market doing a roaring trade and streets bustling with activity. WHO investigators arrived in the city on January 14 and are expected to begin field work later this week following the end of a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Seeking to deflect from that, Beijing has spread fake news about the safety of the Pfizer vaccine and has filled the airwaves with claims … [Read more...] about China waxes lyrical about its Covid response: Waxworks are exhibited in Wuhan showing medics and soldiers to PRAISE city’s coronavirus ‘success’ as Beijing propaganda blitz continues

Ashli Babbitt (pictured) has been identified as the woman who was shot and killed inside the US Capitol when Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building and violently clashed with police in a bid to stop Joe Biden's victory being certified Four people are dead and dozens have been arrested after Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol and clashed with police in a bid to stop Joe Biden's victory being certified. Ashli Babbit was the first person confirmed dead after she was shot in the chest when she and dozens of other protesters breached security perimeters at the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. Babbit's husband revealed her identity to San Diego news outlet KUSI . He said Babbit was a 14-year veteran who served four tours with Air Force as a 'high level security official', a fervent supporter of Trump and 'a great patriot to all who knew her'. It remains unclear who shot Babbit as the Metropolitan Police Department in DC conducts an investigation into her … [Read more...] about Wall of FBI agents, police and National Guard protect senators on return to chamber after Capitol siege: DC Mayor Muriel Bowser imposes 15 days of emergency measures after pipe bombs, guns and Molotov cocktails are found

Neo-Nazi Stephan Ernst, 47, was found guilty of the murder of regional governor Walter Lübcke on Thursday, bringing to an end Germany's first trial for a political assassination since the 1970s. He was sentenced to life in prison. Judge Thomas Sagebiel also acknowledged the "special gravity" of Ernst's guilt, which will extend the time Ernst will have to spend in prison before he can be considered for parole. For a life sentence in Germany, the minimum is 15 years, but in such circumstances Ernst is unlikely to be considered for parole for at least 22 years. Expressing sympathy with Lübcke's family, who were present in court as co-plaintiffs, the judge said he recognized that the trial would have been "difficult and painful" for them. "That did not change anything about our task, which was also difficult," he added. Lübcke was a strong supporter of Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policies Lübcke had become a hate figure for the far right following a speech he made … [Read more...] about Neo-Nazi convicted of German politician’s murder

L ast summer, shortly after the first lockdown was relaxed enough to allow strangers to meet outdoors, Rosie, 35, an editor based in London, joined a man for a first date on Hampstead Heath. “He said: ‘I brought some wine with me, but the glasses are in my flat, round the corner.’ I’d only met him for an hour. Even in normal times, I wouldn’t be up for that.” She can’t be entirely sure if he was suggesting an illicit drink or a very quick-off-the-bat shag, but it wasn’t a dilemma, at least. “Maybe people’s pheromones have gone funny,” Rosie says, “or maybe I secretly have Covid and can’t smell anyone properly, but I’ve had more smouldering frisson at the supermarket than I have on a date. I’ve had sex just four times since March.” For nearly a year, give or take the odd month, the rules introduced to fight the spread of coronavirus mean that, in England, sex between single people, or established couples who don’t cohabit, has in effect been either illegal, or against regulations, … [Read more...] about ‘We are desperate for human contact’: the people breaking lockdown to have sex