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Rise in Number of Fighters Returning to Germany from Mideast

Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP
Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP
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Rise in Number of Fighters Returning to Germany from Mideast

Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP
Police investigators in Dortmund, Germany, April 12, 2017. AP

The German interior ministry has admitted that the number of fighters who have traveled from Germany to Syria and Iraq increased in 2017.

In response to a parliamentary questionnaire submitted by the Left party, the ministry said at least 249 people have traveled from Germany to both countries.

The number of those heading to fight alongside Kurds between April and December 2017 reached 45. While 204 people, including 69 Germans, joined different terrorist organizations in the two countries last year.

Twenty-one of those who embarked on the journey on fight alongside Kurds against ISIS were killed, it said.

It added that 22 of those supporting Kurds in Iraq and Syria have returned. They are part of 124 people who have returned to Germany after fighting in the two countries.

The number of those joining terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq had dropped significantly in 2016.

Ulla Jelpke, one of the Left party politicians who submitted the questionnaire, was highly critical of the interior ministry for considering Kurdish fighters as terrorists.

"The fact that ISIS has been pushed back is thanks, in great part, to Kurdish YPG ground troops and their volunteer supporters. To investigate them for being members of a terrorist organization upon return is just grotesque," said Jelpke.

German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung quoted police as saying that the judiciary has opened an investigation into many terror-related cases on returnees from Syria and Iraq.

The prosecution has accused 27 of them of belonging to a terrorist organization. But dropped charges against 16 because of lack of evidence.

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World

Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
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Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)

Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against “the violence of war that kills and destroys,” saying “we need this song of hope today” as conflicts spread around the world.

With the US-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities. In his Easter homily, the pope singled out those who wage war, abuse the weak and prioritize profits.

Leo, the first US-born pope, addressed the faithful from an open-air altar in St. Peter’s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope’s message of hope.

The pontiff implored the faithful to keep their hope in the face of death, which lurks “in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys,” he said.

He quoted his predecessor Pope Francis in warning against falling into indifference in the face of “persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty,” because “it is also true that in the midst of darkness, something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.”

He will later deliver the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message — Latin for “to the city and the world.”

Christians in the Holy Land were marking a subdued Easter Traditional ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli police. Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public gatherings due to ongoing missile attacks.

The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing at the Western Wall — normally attended by tens of thousands — was limited to just 50 people.

The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities and Christian leaders. Police last week prevented two of the church’s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

On Tuesday, the pope had expressed hope that the war could be finished before Easter.

World

China Executes Frenchman Convicted in 2010 for Drug Trafficking

A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
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China Executes Frenchman Convicted in 2010 for Drug Trafficking

A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)

A Frenchman sentenced to death in China in 2010 for drug trafficking has been executed, France's foreign ministry announced on Saturday, expressing its "consternation."

Chan Thao Phoumy, a 62-year-old Frenchman born in Laos, was executed, "despite the efforts of the French authorities, including efforts to obtain a pardon on humanitarian grounds for our compatriot", said a ministry statement.

His defense team did not get access to the final court hearing, in violations of his rights, the ministry added. The sentence was carried out in Guangzhou the south of the country.

The ministry reaffirmed France's opposition to the death penalty "everywhere and in all circumstances" and called for "its universal abolition".

China's foreign ministry did not comment on the specifics of the case when asked on Sunday about the execution.

"Cracking down on drug-related crime is a shared responsibility of all countries," a statement provided to AFP said.

China "treats defendants of different nationalities equally, handles cases strictly and fairly in accordance with the law and protects the lawful rights and treatment of the parties involved", it said.

World

Iran Internet Blackout Is Longest Nationwide Shutdown on Record, Says NetBlocks

Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Internet Blackout Is Longest Nationwide Shutdown on Record, Says NetBlocks

Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)

Iran's internet blackout, first imposed well over a month ago, is now the longest nationwide shutdown on record, according to the monitor NetBlocks.

"Iran's internet blackout is now the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record in any country, exceeding all other comparable incidents in severity having entered its 37th consecutive day after 864 hours," NetBlocks said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the monitor noted some countries had experienced intermittent or regional-level shutdowns over longer periods, while North Korea had never been connected to the global internet at all.