„Based on a report I requested from our Consul General in Turkey, who informed me of sexual violence, exposure to the cold, beatings, and repeated humiliation of French nationals, all of these acts are likely to constitute criminal offences (and) I decided yesterday to refer the matter to the public prosecutor,“ Barrot told France Inter radio.
Archiv: unübliche Aktivität (Parlamente / -Verfassungsgerichte / -Gewerkschaften / sonstige Statisten) / unusual activity (parliaments / constitutional courts / unions / other extras)
Israel, Russia added to UN blacklist on sexual violence in conflicts
Published annually by the UN, the list includes dozens of state and non-state groups credibly suspected of having engaged “systematically” in sexual violence in countries such as Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Syria and Mali.
Last August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Israel and Russia of their possible inclusion on the list.
Gefährliche Apps · Im Netz der Datenhändler
(April 7, 2026)
Grundlage dieser Dokumentation ist eine der bislang größten Recherchen dieser Art: Ein Team aus Bayerischem Rundfunk, netzpolitik.org, Le Monde und weiteren Partnermedien hat rund zehn Milliarden Standortdaten ausgewertet. Eine Spurensuche, die um die halbe Welt führt: zu einer ägyptischen Exiljournalistin in Berlin, die bedroht wird. Nach Brüssel, wo hochrangige Mitarbeiter der EU-Kommission betroffen sind. Nach Washington, wo Politiker ein Sicherheitsrisiko für US-Agenten in Europa sehen. Oder an die ukrainische Front, wo Soldaten in den Datensätzen ihre eigenen Stellungen wiedererkennen.
Große ARD-Doku: Achtung, Datenhandel! Lebensgefahr!
(April 7, 2026)
Es geht um Milliarden Standortdaten von ahnungslosen Handy-Nutzer*innen, oftmals metergenau. Angeblich nur zu Werbezwecken erhoben, fließen die Daten über populäre Handy-Apps auf teils verschlungenen Wegen in die Hände von Databrokern. Potenziell betroffen sind alle Menschen, die ein Smartphone nutzen.
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Zur Erinnerung: Das Recherche-Team hat die Daten kostenlos von einem Databroker im Netz erhalten. Prinzipiell zugänglich sind solche Daten für alle, die Datenhändler danach fragen. Für einen vierstelligen Betrag im Monat können Interessierte ein Abonnement abschließen.
No 10 bid for SECOND paedo-linked Labour ally to get ambassador role
He was later pushed on who had ordered him to look into getting Doyle a position, and who had ordered him not to tell the foreign secretary (which at the time was David Lammy).
Robbins said: “I don‘t know what the origin of the suggestion was, and I don‘t know who exactly was behind it or how serious it was.
“It was serious enough for the No 10 private office to ring up the head of the diplomatic service and ask for a forward look of available head of mission jobs, and that‘s the point at which I thought that I needed to lay down some markers.”
Olly Robbins: I was asked to find job for Starmer aide and not tell David Lammy
Testifying to MPs at parliament’s foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, Olly Robbins said he had several conversations with No 10 about finding a role for Matthew Doyle, who was later suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he had campaigned for a friend charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Robbins said he had been asked not to mention the idea to David Lammy, who was foreign secretary at the time.
Robbins described the conversations as part of more general pressure from people at the top of the government to place senior political figures in senior diplomatic posts.
Olly Robbins says he faced ‘constant pressure’ to get Mandelson in post
Asked who in No 10 had applied pressure, he said it was mainly the prime minister’s private office, which is staffed by civil servants. But he added: “I think that the private office would only have been [putting on] this pressure themselves if they were under pressure.”
Fired U.K. Official Describes ‘Pressure’ From Starmer’s Office for Envoy’s Appointment
The former top civil servant in Britain’s foreign office, who was fired by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week, said on Tuesday that Mr. Starmer’s office had a “dismissive attitude” about the security vetting of Peter Mandelson, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein who became ambassador to the United States despite concerns raised during the vetting process.
The former civil servant, Olly Robbins, testified in Parliament that he and other officials in charge of deciding whether to grant Mr. Mandelson a high-level security clearance were working in “an atmosphere of pressure” to ensure that nothing got in the way of Mr. Mandelson’s appointment.
Der Geheimdienst und seine Journalisten
Der Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) zahlt Honorare an Journalisten. Aus Gründen des „Staatswohls“ hält die Bundesregierung Namen und genaue Summen jedoch zurück.
Grüne verlangen von Bundesregierung Ermittlungen zu Jeffrey Epstein
„Die Haltung der Bundesregierung zu den Epstein-Files zeigt eine Ignoranz für die mögliche größere Dimension des Skandals, die gefährlich und mindestens fahrlässig ist“, sagte die Parlamentarische Geschäftsführerin der Grünen im Bundestag, Irene Mihalic, den Zeitungen des RedaktionsNetzwerks Deutschland (RND).
Die Taten, die im Raum stehen, seien „widerwärtig“ und dürften nicht ungesühnt bleiben, sagte Mihalic. Sie forderte eine umfangreiche Aufklärung der Frage, inwiefern Politiker und Behördenmitarbeiter oder Personen, die den deutschen Staat repräsentieren, in den Akten auftauchten.
The Epstein storm could topple a world leader — but it’s not Trump
His premiership hung by a thread Thursday after a revolt by MPs in his Labour Party further damaged a 10 Downing Street operation staggering from crisis to crisis.
Starmer tried to clarify his earlier statement in parliament on Wednesday that he knew about the friendship between former Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and Epstein — but still made him ambassador to Washington.
UK will release files related to Mandelson‘s appointment in more Epstein fallout
The move came after the opposition Conservative Party said it would force a vote in Parliament on Wednesday calling for the release of emails and other messages related to Mandelson’s appointment in 2024. Critics say he should never have been given the job because his relationship with Epstein – though not its extent – was known at the time.
The government has agreed to release the requested information unless it is ”prejudicial to U.K. national security or international relations.” It’s unclear how much material will be released, or when.
EU Parliament eyes freezing US trade deal over Trump’s Greenland threats
(January 9, 2026)
“I cannot imagine that in the current situation MEPs would vote for any trade measures benefiting the U.S.,” the Greens’ top trade lawmaker and chair of the Internal Market Committee Anna Cavazzini told POLITICO.
“We should have such a discussion, it’s inevitable,” added Brando Benifei, the Socialist lawmaker who chairs Parliament’s delegation for relations with the U.S.
Under the deal, most EU exports are subject to a 15 percent U.S. tariff. To complete its side of the bargain, the EU also needs to pass legislation to abolish all tariffs on U.S. industrial goods, including the 10 percent it currently slaps on U.S. cars, and ease market access for some farm produce and seafood.
Nach Krisensitzung zu Grönland: Dänemark bleibt auf Beschwichtigungskurs
Nicht mal eine Tasse Kaffee durften die Abgeordneten vom Auswärtigen Ausschuss des dänischen Parlaments mitnehmen, als sie sich gestern Abend in einem abhörsicheren Raum ohne Fenster trafen. Die Lage ist ernst. Wie soll Dänemark auf die aggressiven Töne aus den USA zu Grönland reagieren?
Nach dem Treffen wird klar: Dänemark versucht es weiter mit Beschwichtigung. Außenminister Lars Lökke Rasmussen betont: „Wir müssen dafür sorgen, dass die vermeintlich sachlichen Argumente, die Präsident Trump anführt, widerlegt werden. Nichts deutet darauf hin, dass viele Amerikaner seine Sicht teilen.“
Danish PM says US attack on Greenland would be the end of NATO
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that any bid by the United States to take over Greenland will result in the end of the NATO military alliance, as reverberations from Washington’s military attack on Venezuela and the abduction of its leader are felt across the globe.
Frederiksen made the comments on Monday following US President Donald Trump’s latest calls for the Arctic island to come under direct control of Washington.
‚Everything will be over‘: Denmark’s PM says US must not annex Greenland
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says a US annexation of Greenland, a sovereign part of the Kingdom of Denmark, would mean that ‚everything would be over‘ as parliament‘s Foreign Affairs Committee was summoned to an extraordinary meeting in Copenhagen.
Dems Demand Answers as Trump Photo Disappears From DOJ Online Epstein Files
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said during a Friday CNN interview that the DOJ only released about 10% of the full Epstein files.
“The DOJ has had months and hundreds of agents to put these files together, and yet entire documents are redacted—from the first word to the last,” Garcia said on X. “What are they hiding? The American public deserves transparency. Release all the files now!”
In a joint statement Friday, Garcia and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said, “We are now examining all legal options in the face of this violation of federal law.”
Admiral ousted by Hegseth talks privately to lawmakers
(December 9, 2025)
Adm. Alvin Holsey, who was pushed out of his post as the top U.S. military commander overseeing operations in Latin America, spoke privately with several lawmakers on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the meeting — an indication that Congress is quietly pursuing a bipartisan inquiry into the Sept. 2 boat strike in the Caribbean Sea.
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Also on Tuesday, House and Senate leaders known as the „Gang of Eight“ are hearing separately from President Donald Trump‘s national security team: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Hegseth won‘t commit to letting Congress see video of deadly boat strike, Schumer says
WASHINGTON (TND) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth would not commit to showing all members of Congress the full video of a deadly double strike on an alleged drug boat on September 2.
He shared the news after he attended a closed-door meeting with Hegseth, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as fellow top lawmakers known as the „Gang of Eight“ on Tuesday afternoon.
Sen. Warner says „Gang of Eight“ wasn‘t shown Sept. 2 boat strikes video in Hegseth-Rubio briefing
(8 hours ago)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Tuesday about the Sept. 2 strikes on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. CBS News congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns has the details.
Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn’t radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawmakers
For a little under an hour — 41 minutes, according to a separate US official — Bradley and the rest of the US military command center discussed what to do as they watched the men struggle to overturn what was left of their boat, the sources said.
Ultimately, Bradley told lawmakers, he ordered a second strike to destroy the remains of the vessel, killing the two survivors, on the grounds that it appeared that part of the vessel remained afloat because it still held cocaine, according to one of the sources. The survivors could hypothetically have floated to safety, been rescued, and carried on with trafficking the drugs, the logic went.
The other source with direct knowledge of the briefing called that rationale “f**king insane.”
Lawmakers see video of second strike on boat survivors, say admiral testified there was no kill order
GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, spoke with reporters after the briefings. They both said Bradley told them that he had not been ordered to leave no survivors. The initial Post report quoted an anonymous source as saying that, before the first strike, Hegseth verbally ordered that everyone on the boat be taken out. „The order was to kill everybody,“ the Post‘s story quoted the source as saying. Hegseth has denied the Post‘s account.
Pete Hegseth faces deepening scrutiny from Congress over boat strikes
Trump, a Republican, has largely stood by his defense secretary, among the most important Cabinet-level positions. But the decisions by Wicker, alongside House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers of Alabama and the top Democrats on the committees, to open investigations provide a rare moment of Congress asserting itself and its authority to conduct oversight of the Trump administration.
Boat Strike Revelations Draw Bipartisan Outrage, Spurring Push for Hearings as Soon as ‘Next Week’
Lawmakers from both parties were raising the term “war crime” on Monday, as pressure mounts on the Trump Administration to release military video evidence and explain the legal basis for its escalating campaign in the Caribbean.
In the Senate, the calls for oversight were coalescing around Senator Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has already directed an inquiry to the Pentagon and pledged “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.” Several Senate Democrats told TIME on Monday that they have confidence in Wicker leading the investigation into the strike, but urged him to move quickly.
House committee seeks ‘full accounting’ of boat strike after WaPo ‘kill everybody’ report
The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said late Saturday they are seeking “full accounting” of an early September U.S. military attack against an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean after a report alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. troops to “kill everybody” aboard the vessel.
“This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) military operations in the Caribbean,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chair of the House committee, and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the panel, said in a joint statement.
Senate Democrats ask Hegseth, Bondi to declassify DOJ memo on drug boat strikes
(November 24, 2025)
Senate Democrats are asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi to declassify and publicly release the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel’s classified, written opinion outlining the legal basis for the Trump administration’s strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
Thirteen Senate Democrats, all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, are demanding an “expeditious declassification and public release” of the classified opinion, which was drafted over the summer and argued that U.S. troops who participate in boat strikes, which have taken place on both sides of South America, cannot be prosecuted.
Watch live: House expected to vote on releasing more Epstein files
The House is set to vote on Tuesday, on a measure that would force the Justice Department to release all of its records on Jeffrey Epstein.