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Germany

Germany Warns Of ISIS Infiltration, Recruitment Of Refugees

Top German security officials say criminals and violent Islamists are using the asylum crisis to recruit refugees. They especially target minors traveling alone.

Refugees in Dresden, Germany
Refugees in Dresden, Germany
Stefan Aust, Michael Behrendt, Manuel Bewarder and Claus Christian Malzahn*

BERLIN — Germany's top domestic security official is warning that ISIS is actively recruiting among the new waves of refugees arriving in the country.

Hans-Georg Maaßen, president of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, told Die Welt that Islamist terror groups are busy trying to recruit refugees, especially young men who have traveled without their families and are looking for people to connect with.

"We have counted about 300 direct approaches," Maaßen says. "And we do think that the real number is a lot higher than the reported cases we know of. We especially worry about the many unaccompanied minors. The recruitment process holds an enormous potential for radicalization."

Radical elements in mosques and Arabic-speaking criminal networks also see the potential in connecting with refugees, he said, "especially young and physically strong men."

Maaßen further warns that the ISIS terror group is using the flood of refugees to infiltrate combatants. "ISIS is planning on attacking Germany and German values," he told Die Welt. German cities have been named in the same context as Paris, London and Brussels.

André Schulz, head of the Federation of German Detective Officers (BDK), says that there are thousands of immigrants in Germany whose origins are unknown. "We don't know where they came from and where they are right now," Shulz says. He characterizes that situation as unacceptable for a constitutional state.

"The assumption of some politicians that it's highly unlikely that ISIS combatants would enter the country by mixing in with refugees is simply naïve," Shulz said.

German authorities are currently looking for dangerous Islamists who have disappeared — among them 76 violent individuals with outstanding arrest warrants. In 2015, approximately 150 Islamists left Germany to return to Iraq or Syria. Over the years, 800 departures have been counted. Among them, approximately 130 are dead, 80 of them killed in fighting last year. About 70 have actively participated in battles or have gone through some sort of a military training.

*This is an abbreviated version of the original article.

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eyes on the U.S.

Murdoch Resignation Adds To Biden's Good Luck With The Media — A Repeat Of FDR?

Robert Murdoch's resignation from Fox News Corp. so soon before the next U.S. presidential elections begs the question of how directly media coverage has impacted Joe Biden as a figure, and what this new shift in power will mean for the current President.

Close up photograph of a opy of The Independent features Rupert Murdoch striking a pensive countenance as his 'News of the World' tabloid newspaper announced its last edition will run

July 7, 2011 - London, England: A copy of The Independent features Rupert Murdoch striking a pensive countenance as his 'News of the World' tabloid newspaper announced its last edition will run July 11, 2011 amid a torrid scandal involving phone hacking.

Mark Makela/ZUMA
Michael J. Socolow

Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States of America on Jan. 20, 2021.

Imagine if someone could go back in time and inform him and his communications team that a few pivotal changes in the media would occur during his first three years in office.

There’s the latest news that Rubert Murdoch, 92, stepped down as the chairperson of Fox Corp. and News Corp. on Sept. 21, 2023. Since the 1980s, Murdoch, who will be replaced by his son Lachlan, has been the most powerful right-wing media executivein the U.S.

While it’s not clear whether Fox will be any tamer under Lachlan, Murdoch’s departure is likely good news for Biden, who reportedly despises the media baron.

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