TOP NEWS

Political situation in Venezuela
USA: Has carried out an attack on a “drug ship”

The US military has carried out an attack on a ship that left Venezuela, says Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a statement on X, he describes it as an attack on a “drug ship”.

President Donald Trump also mentioned the attack at a press conference at the White House, without going into details.

The attack is said to have been carried out in the Caribbean Sea, where the US has increased its military presence in recent weeks. The US has sent warships to the area and says that the country wants to reduce migration and secure the country's southern border.

Venezuela and the US-wanted president Nicolás Maduro have reacted strongly to the US military presence, stating that it constitutes a threat to the country.

Political situation in Germany
Several deaths within the AFD ahead of German state elections

Six people running for the German right-wing populist party AFD ahead of the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia have died in a short period of time. Although the police have stated that there are no suspicions of irregularities, the deaths have given rise to conspiracy theories, reports the BBC.

AfD leader Alice Weidel has fueled speculation by sharing a post in which an economist claims that the deaths are “statistically almost impossible”. However, one of the party’s big names in the state, Kay Gottschalk, says that he has not seen anything that strengthens the suspicions, but that he wants the cases to be investigated.

Around 20,000 people are running in the election and a representative of the state’s electoral commission points out to Der Spiegel that six candidates from other parties have also died during the same period.

Political situation in the UK
Self-proclaimed eco-populist takes over the British Green Party

The British green party Greens has chosen Zack Polanski as its new leader, several media outlets report. Polanski is a former actor and hypnotherapist who describes himself as an “eco-populist”.

He says he wants to make the party as vocal a voice on the left as the right-wing populist Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage have become on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

– We will never copy Reform’s policies. But what Nigel Farage has shown is that bold communication can have an impact, he says.

The party mainly hopes to steal disgruntled left-wing voters from the governing Labour party, but is itself threatened from the left by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s new left-wing party.

Danish intelligence service: Terrorist convict was our source

The Danish security police PET and Denmark’s intelligence service FE admit that Ahmed Samsam, who was convicted of terrorist crimes in Spain, worked for them, Danish media report. Since his conviction in 2018, Samsam has claimed that he had the intelligence services as his employer.

Until now, PET and FE have neither confirmed nor denied Samsam’s claim and referred to the fact that they do not comment on relationships with agents. On Tuesday, they admitted that Samsam collaborated with Danish intelligence in connection with trips to Syria between 2013 and 2014 after the Supreme Court sided with him.

– They have really messed up, Samsam tells DR after the Supreme Court's ruling.