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Germany charges teens in alleged right-wing extremist group with attempted murder

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s federal prosecutor brought charges Thursday against eight suspects for their alleged membership in a “right-wing extremist terrorist” group that allegedly aimed to destabilize the country’s democratic system by carrying out attacks on migrants and political opponents.

The prosecutors also charged the seven alleged members and one supporter of the group, some of them teenagers, of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and grievous bodily harm.

Most of the youths were arrested in May, when they were accused of involvement with a group calling itself “Last Defense Wave.”

According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the group sees itself as the “final authority” for defending the “German nation.” It said the group was founded in May 2024 and that it planned or carried out arson and bomb attacks on asylum-seekers’ homes and left-wing institutions.

At the time, five suspects between 14 and 21 years old were arrested in the states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Hesse. The police searched 13 properties there, as well as in Saxony and Thuringia. Three other suspects were already in custody at the time.

Due to the suspects’ age, some of them had to appear with their parents before the investigating judge at the federal court of justice in Karlsruhe. With the exception of one suspect, who was released in July, all others are in pretrial detention.

Federal prosecutors attribute three attacks and planned attacks to the group, including an arson attack on a cultural center in Altdöbern in the state of Brandenburg, an attempted but unsuccessful attack on an asylum-seekers’ home in Schmölln in Thuringia, and plans to attack an asylum-seekers’ accommodation in Senftenberg, also in Brandenburg.

Nobody was injured during the incidents. Several members of the group were also accused of robbing and beating individuals, causing significant injuries, the prosecutor’s statement said.

According to documents released in July, the group’s members planned to “trigger a race war in which a spiral of violence and counterviolence would be set in motion to preserve the ‘white race’ and ultimately eliminate liberal democracy,” German news agency dpa reported.

They are said to have posted racist and antisemitic messages on social media and glorified the “Third Reich” and National Socialism, according to dpa.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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