Latvia's Premier Signals Ukraine Will Get New Patriot Batteries
'There is a commitment to help Ukraine with new Patriot systems,' the premier told reporters in Riga after she took part in a call with Ukrainian allies on Thursday. 'How that will happen and when that will happen, I think that is restricted information.'
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Their families fled the Nazis. Facing Trump, US Jews are making Germany ‘Plan B'
Germany is making it easier for the descendants of victims of Nazism to obtain German citizenship, and an increasing number of American Jews are applying. While some are seeking citizenship for practical reasons or as a form of reparation, others see it as a way to escape an increasingly anti-Semitic America under US President Donald Trump. Joe Sacks, a high school science teacher in Washington, DC, has begun the process of obtaining German citizenship. He is one of hundreds of Jewish Americans looking to reclaim German citizenship after their families fled the Nazis. "You click 'Yes, I'm Jewish' on the German form and send it to the German government,' he told NPR in an interview last month. 'It's wild.' Among the hundreds of Jewish-American applicants seeking German citizenship, many cite practical reasons like easier travel or opportunities in Europe. Others say they want to have a 'Plan B' in today's tense political climate. But for many, it is a decision taken with a heavy heart. A growing trend Trump's attempts to demonize and scapegoat segments of the population – notably immigrants, 'elite' institutions like universities as well as the media – are uncomfortable echoes of 1930s prewar Germany. His insistence on abject loyalty and taking control of state, independent and cultural institutions to serve his own ends have drawn comparisons to fascist and autocratic regimes. And more than one former Trump adviser has publicly made a Nazi salute – in one case, prompting a French far-right leader to cancel a planned US speech. Read moreWhat parallels do historians see between the Trump administration and the Nazi regime? The United States is also experiencing a surge in hate crime and xenophobic speech. "This rise of authoritarianism just parallels the rise of Hitler,' Eric Podietz, a retired, Philadelphia-based IT consultant who has applied for German citizenship, told NPR. "The squelching of speech and the academic institutions being compromised. The signs are there. It's happening." Podietz's mother fled Germany when she was a child in the late 1930s. Like Sacks, he isn't planning to move, but is increasingly worried by the political rhetoric in the United States that he says harks back to that heard in Germany before his family was forced to flee. At a ceremony held in July 2024 at the German consulate in New York, 82 Holocaust survivors, along with their children and grandchildren, became German citizens. "We've seen an upward trend since 2017, when Donald Trump [first] became president,' David Gill, Germany's then consul general in New York, told the German news program Tagesschau, which covered the event. And the numbers only continue to increase. The New York consulate received 350 applications in 2016 versus 1,500 in 2024, which resulted in 700 naturalizations, according to the German Consulate General NY Instagram account. Streamlined procedure The German constitution granted citizenship to former German citizens who were persecuted by the Nazis and their descendants back in 1949. But for years, difficult legal requirements prevented many applicants from taking advantage. Some were denied German citizenship because their ancestors had adopted another nationality before their German citizenship was officially revoked. Individuals born before April 1, 1953, could only obtain citizenship if they were able to prove that their father had been stripped of German nationality – citizenship having been stripped from the mother was not enough. Germany addressed these problems and others beginning in 2021, significantly simplifying the citizenship process. Anyone applying now can rely on proof obtained on the maternal side, and no longer need to prove they can support themselves financially. Applicants just need to prove that their ancestors were persecuted in Germany between 1933 and 1945, or that they belonged to a targeted group like Jews or Roma, political dissidents or the mentally ill. Although the application process is free of charge, finding old documents to prove family links can be a major hurdle, said Marius Tollenaere, a partner at Frankfurt-based immigration law firm Fragomen, in comments to CNN. The applications must also be submitted in German. Reluctance from some families All four of Scott Mayerowitz's grandparents were forced to flee Germany in the 1930s. He grew up in New Jersey with parents who refused to buy any German-made products or drive a German car. The decision to apply for citizenship from the country that had caused his family so much pain was a weighty one. His mother Susan agreed to gather the necessary documents, albeit reluctantly. 'My parents must be turning over in their graves,' she told CNN. Mayerowitz convinced his mother by pointing out the practical benefits, including the work and educational opportunities the EU could offer his own daughter. 'And finally, I said if for some reason she one day needed to flee the US for persecution, this opened up a lot more doors,' he told the network. Arlington resident Anne Barnett had a similar experience with her mother, who was initially upset that she wanted citizenship from the country that had exterminated so much of her family. She came around eventually, Barnett told CNN. Unfortunately, what convinced her was the increasing anti-Semitism in the United States. Travel writer Erin Levi of Connecticut also made the move to obtain German citizenship after she found her grandfather's US alien ID card, which was stamped '1942' and had Germany as his country of citizenship. Eighty years after the end of World War II, Levi told CNN she feels safer in Germany than in other countries where anti-Semitism is on the rise. 'I think Germany has become such a strong ally and supporter of Israel. It's incredible to see the responsibility they've taken for the atrocities they committed. There aren't that many other countries that have,' she said. Turning the Page Steve North made the decision to apply for German citizenship in 2020 out of fear that Trump would be re-elected. North, a writer for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, recalled an emotional exchange with former consul general Gill, who handed him his naturalization papers. To his surprise, Gill said that giving him his papers 'feels wonderful, because we Germans get part of our history back', North wrote for the agency. ''It reminds us how much knowledge and wisdom was lost by expelling and murdering the Jews.' Gill went on to describe handing naturalization papers to a 97-year-old woman from Hamburg who said the process gave her closure, and of repatriating a 95-year-old man who told him, 'the Germany of today is a Germany I feel comfortable with'. While North isn't planning on leaving the United States just yet, he is keeping his options open. '[T]he unthinkable happened in a supposedly civilized country in modern times, and it would be foolish to disregard the possibility of history repeating itself here, given the Jew-hatred we constantly see expressed on both the extreme right and left of the American political spectrum,' he wrote.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
France halts Gaza evacuations over antisemitism row involving Palestinian student
France has suspended all evacuations from Gaza following an antisemitism controversy involving a Palestinian student recently admitted to the country. The move comes after it was revealed that Nour Atallah, a 25-year-old woman from Gaza, had posted antisemitic content on social media before being accepted into a prestigious French university. French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced the decision in Paris on Thursday. 'She must leave the country. She does not have a place in France,' Mr Barrot said in an interview with radio station france">France Info, without naming the student. He did not specify whether the student would be sent back to Gaza. He added that no new visas will be issued, and no new admissions from Gaza will take place until an investigation is conducted. The French and Israeli vetting of her before she arrived in France did not reveal the 'antisemitic and unacceptable' posts, Mr Barrot said. The temporary suspension will also see a review of all Gaza evacuees who have arrived in France so far. The scandal has triggered strong condemnation across France's political spectrum. Ms Atallah, who had been awarded a scholarship to study at Sciences Po Lille, faces expulsion from France after her university withdrew her accreditation. Her social media posts surfaced recently, containing antisemitic rhetoric and praise of Adolf Hitler. French authorities say a criminal investigation has been opened on the grounds of 'justifying terrorism and crimes against humanity'. French interior minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X that he has requested legal action to be taken. 'Hamas propagandists have no place in our country,' he added. Since October, France has evacuated more than 500 people from Gaza, including children, journalists, and artists, as part of its ongoing humanitarian efforts. The incident has placed renewed scrutiny on the vetting procedures coordinated with Israeli authorities. A statement from Sciences Po Lille said the content of the student's post was 'in direct contradiction' with its values. '(Sciences Po Lille) fights against all forms of racism, antisemitism, and discrimination, as well as against any type of call to hatred, against any population whatsoever,' the university said on X on Wednesday. The French government has not said when evacuations might resume, promising a thorough review and strengthened protocols before any further admissions from Gaza will be considered.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
UK, US and allies accuse Iran of cross-border assassination plots
The United Kingdom and 13 allied nations have publicly accused Iran's intelligence services of orchestrating a wave of assassination attempts, abductions and intimidation campaigns against individuals living in Europe and North America. In a joint statement issued on Thursday, governments including the United States, France, Germany and Canada denounced Tehran's alleged extraterritorial operations as a flagrant breach of national sovereignty. 'We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty,' the group said. The signatories – which also included Albania, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK – urged Iranian authorities to halt these activities, which they claimed were increasingly carried out in partnership with international criminal groups. Iran rejects accusations In a statement on Friday, Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described the claims as 'baseless'. He called them 'an attempt to divert public attention from the most pressing issue of the day, the genocide in occupied Palestine'. Baghaei said the accusations were 'blatant fabrications … designed as part of a malicious Iranophobia campaign aimed at exerting pressure on the great Iranian nation'. A UK parliamentary committee recently attributed at least 15 plots targeting individuals in the UK since 2022 to Iranian intelligence operatives. British officials have responded with tighter measures. In March, the UK government said Iran would be required to register any political influence activity inside the country, citing 'escalating aggression' from its intelligence services. In May, UK police arrested seven Iranians over alleged threats to national security, which Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced as 'suspicious and unwarranted'.Similar concerns have emerged elsewhere in Europe. Dutch security services said Tehran was behind a foiled 2024 attempt to assassinate an Iranian dissident in the Netherlands – charges Iran denied. Authorities arrested two suspects, one of whom is also linked to the shooting of Spanish politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a vocal supporter of the Iranian opposition. Across the Atlantic, the US Department of Justice charged three European-based gang members and later a senior Iranian official with plotting to kill an Iranian-American journalist. Two were convicted earlier this year, while the third pleaded guilty. Prosecutors claimed the men acted at the behest of the Iranian state. Iran's foreign ministry has also called such statements 'baseless'. New tensions The allegations come at a time of renewed tensions over Iran's nuclear programme. Talks between Iran and Western powers remain frozen. Last week, Iranian officials held 'frank' discussions in Istanbul with diplomats from the UK, Germany and France. The meeting marked the first engagement since Israel's mid-June air strikes on Iran, which triggered a 12-day flare-up involving US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. While Israel insists Iran is covertly pursuing nuclear weapons, a claim it has not substantiated, Tehran maintains its nuclear activities are for civilian use only. US intelligence agencies, meanwhile, assessed in March that Iran was not actively developing a bomb, contradicting former President Donald Trump's claim that it was 'close' to doing so.
