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Germany Charges 7 Over Suspected Hamas Oct. 7 Anniversary Plot

Snipers of the police stand on a roof to protect the area around the Neue Wache (New Watchhouse) Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny in Berlin, Germany, where the German President and his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates are expected to lay a wreath, on September 10, 2026. (AFP)
Snipers of the police stand on a roof to protect the area around the Neue Wache (New Watchhouse) Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny in Berlin, Germany, where the German President and his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates are expected to lay a wreath, on September 10, 2026. (AFP)
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Germany Charges 7 Over Suspected Hamas Oct. 7 Anniversary Plot

Snipers of the police stand on a roof to protect the area around the Neue Wache (New Watchhouse) Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny in Berlin, Germany, where the German President and his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates are expected to lay a wreath, on September 10, 2026. (AFP)
Snipers of the police stand on a roof to protect the area around the Neue Wache (New Watchhouse) Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny in Berlin, Germany, where the German President and his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates are expected to lay a wreath, on September 10, 2026. (AFP)

German prosecutors on Friday charged seven suspected members of Palestinian group Hamas for allegedly planning attacks to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, assault in Israel.

"Since at least July 2025, Hamas had been planning a deadly attack in Germany or Austria targeting Israeli representatives, people of the Jewish faith or pro-Israeli individuals," prosecutors alleged.

"This attack was to take place in the immediate run-up to the second anniversary of Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023," they continued.

Suspected high-ranking Hamas operatives allegedly tasked two German citizens with securing weapons and ammunition in Germany, prosecutors said.

They were allegedly joined by a Danish national, a Bulgarian and three Lebanese, according to prosecutors.

When arrested last October, police found three of the men with an automatic rifle, 13 pistols and 700 bullets, according to the charges.

The seven, whose full names have not been made public, are in custody.

Another man suspected of having acted as a ringleader, identified only as Mohammed A., was arrested in London in November and has not yet been extradited.

Prosecutors suspect he moved some of the weapons to Vienna and made a video taking responsibility in the name of Hamas for the planned attack.

Germany has been on alert for potential attacks against the Jewish community since October 7, 2023.

The 2026 attack inside Israel, by fighters from the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza, resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's massive retaliatory ground offensive and bombardment of Gaza has killed 73,670 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, whose figures the United Nations deems reliable.

The ongoing Israeli military response has reduced to rubble most of the densely populated Palestinian territory, which had a population of around two million before October 2023.

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Greek Students, Teachers, Civil Servants Plan Protests

Protesters take part in a rally organized by teachers and students demanding improvements to education and measures to address the rising cost of living in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Protesters take part in a rally organized by teachers and students demanding improvements to education and measures to address the rising cost of living in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Greek Students, Teachers, Civil Servants Plan Protests

Protesters take part in a rally organized by teachers and students demanding improvements to education and measures to address the rising cost of living in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Protesters take part in a rally organized by teachers and students demanding improvements to education and measures to address the rising cost of living in Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Students, teachers and civil servants will rally in Greece on Wednesday to protest against the high cost of living, saying they face the same problems that sparked violent demonstrations in France at the weekend.

Gatherings are expected around midday (0900 GMT) in Athens and Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city.

"In Greece like in France, we are demanding public, free education," Katia Koubousidou, head of a student union at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told AFP.

"This will not be a one-off protest. We have a plan to continue our demonstrations."

Dozens of students set up tents in Syntagma Square, facing Parliament, in Athens, and on a pedestrian street in Thessaloniki on Tuesday.

The civil servants' union has also called for a work stoppage and a gathering in Athens.

Secondary school pupils and teachers are protesting about a lack of infrastructure, a shortage of staff and increased public spending on education.

The conservative Greek government has sought in recent days to avoid any parallel with the protests and violence in France.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday that the country would "never return to the era of great social unrest" during the financial crisis over a decade ago, marked by unpopular austerity measures.

French cities were hit by some of the country's worst rioting in recent years on Saturday, with public buildings torched, hundreds of shops looted and more than 2,000 people arrested.

World

UKMTO: Ship Attacked Near Strait of Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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UKMTO: Ship Attacked Near Strait of Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

A ship was struck on Wednesday by "an unknown projectile" off the coast of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire, a British maritime security agency said.

The tanker, 11 nautical miles (around 20 kilometres) off the town of Bukha, is "now at anchor,” the UKMTO reported.

"All crew are reported as safe. There is no reported environmental impact at this time," it said.

The Strait of Hormuz carried 20 percent of the world's oil and gas prior to the Middle East war, which erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Since then, Tehran has placed a chokehold on the shipping route and regularly targets ships that pass without its authorisation.

Washington has responded by maintaining a blockade on Iranian ports, and negotiations between the two countries are deadlocked.

Attacks on vessels attempting to cross the waterway have increased in recent days, as Washington escorts more ships through the strait and Tehran seeks to maintain control over their passage.

World

Russia Says It Will Respond to ‘Hostile’ Drone Deal with Ukraine by Japanese Company

Spokeswoman of Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a press conference held by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS group of nations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia June 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Spokeswoman of Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a press conference held by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS group of nations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia June 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Russia Says It Will Respond to ‘Hostile’ Drone Deal with Ukraine by Japanese Company

Spokeswoman of Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a press conference held by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS group of nations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia June 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Spokeswoman of Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a press conference held by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS group of nations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia June 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Russia said on Wednesday that it considered a drone sale to Ukraine by a Japanese company to be a hostile step and warned of a harsh response.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman ‌Maria Zakharova ‌said Moscow was responding ‌to ⁠an announcement by ⁠Japanese company Terra Drone last week that it had delivered a batch of drones to Ukraine.

"The Japanese ⁠authorities’ attempts to ‌justify ‌this by claiming that Terra Drone ‌Corporation’s cooperation with ‌the Ukrainian military is merely a 'private initiative' are entirely unconvincing," Zakharova said at her ‌weekly press conference.

"In this regard, we state ⁠clearly ⁠that such hostile moves against Russia will not go unanswered; they will be met with a firm response and measures that will be felt by Tokyo in the relevant areas."