Twenty-two people are on trial for carrying out wide ranging crimes — from aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy to attempted murder and murder — on behalf of a Masonic lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux.
At least four of the accused appear to be members of the Athanor Masonic Lodge. Seven defendants, including former intelligence agents, soldiers and businessmen face life imprisonment.
Others on trial include four officers from France’s DGSE intelligence service, three police officers, six business executives, a security guard, a doctor, and an engineer, according to news outlet AFP France 24.
The alleged ringleaders are Athanor Freemasons Jean-Luc Bagur, Frédéric Vaglio, and Daniel Beaulieu.
They stand accused of the murder of race car driver Laurent Pasquali in 2018, the attempted murders of a business coach and a trade unionist, and aggravated assault and criminal activity, all carried out on behalf of a “mafia network” inside the Athanor Lodge.
AFP France 24 reports:
The case was triggered by a botched contract killing in July 2020, when two members of France’s parachute regiment were arrested in possession of weapons near the home of business coach Marie-Hélène Dini.
Under questioning, they said they thought they had been asked to murder Dini on behalf of the French state on the grounds that she worked for Israeli spy agency Mossad.
Investigators discovered a link to Bagur, who is a business coach rival of Dini’s as well as being the 69-year-old “venerable master” of the Athanor lodge.
Investigators say Bagur asked fellow Freemason Vaglio to arrange to have his rival eliminated for a fee of €70,000 ($80,600).
Vaglio, a 53-year-old entrepreneur, allegedly acted as the intermediary between the big boss and a hit squad working for fellow Athanor Freemason Beaulieu, a retired agent for the domestic intelligence service (DGSI).
“What my client found terrifying is the fact that the key figures in this case – police officers, former DGSI agents and Freemasons – are precisely the people who are supposed to act for the good of society,” said Dini’s lawyer Jean-William Vezinet.
Defendant Sébastien Leroy, a former soldier who is seen as Beaulieu’s right-hand man, told investigators that Beaulieu had “manipulated” him, implying that he might become an informant for the DGSI spy agency.
The ages of the defendants range from 30 to 70-years-old. The trial is expected to run for at least three months.
The Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, seeks to please the European Commission instead of the interests of Hungarians, with a new draft proposal leaked by the party’s former head of a church policy working group showing just how much pain Hungarians will be facing under a Tisza government.
Balázs Csercsa posted the leaked document on his Facebook page, with the caption: “‘”I can’t tell anyone, so I’ll tell everyone…’ Many people in Tisza are fed up with the fact that the newcomers are already acting as if they have unlimited power. The wind blew the latest material from Kapitány István’s team to me. Of course, they would keep the truth quiet now too. Tisza voters know nothing about what they are preparing for. It is precisely because of people like this that I have had enough of the Tisza Party.”
István Kapitány was Shell’s vice president of Global Retail from 2014 to 2024, and then became Tisza’s economic development and energy expert.
Excerpts from the document quoted by Maygar Nemzet indicate exactly how far Magyar is prepared to go to fall in line with Brussels. “Hungary must resolve its conflicts with the European Commission and Ukraine, and this cannot be done without substantial compromises and the elimination of Russian energy sources,” reads one line.
“This turn of events also provides an opportunity for Tisza to break with the Fidesz government’s model of excessive state control – with regulatory price regulation and artificial preference for domestic players – and liberalize the Hungarian energy market in line with the European Commission’s guidelines,” it continues, before calling for the immediate elimination of Orbán’s recently announced price cap on gasoline.
“To this end, the protected price of gasoline must be eliminated, a market price must be introduced instead of the reduced overhead (for lower gas utility prices), the conversion of the Mol refinery must be completed, and a new energy independence tax must be introduced to cover its costs,” states the document, which continues to explain how Hungary must also open up Hungary to other international energy carriers and cooperation with countries other than Russia, such as Croatia.
According to the Tisza experts, “protected prices place too great a burden on actors in the value chain – especially fuel traders -, go against all market logic, and discriminatoryly favor domestic consumers, which does not fit with the logic of the EU based on the common market and competition law.”
Therefore, after the formation of the Tisza government, these two challenges – the reduction of Russian energy purchases and the reduction of excessive state involvement – must be addressed immediately, with a ban on the import of Russian gasoline and diesel into Hungary to be submitted at the inaugural session of the National Assembly.
Tisza is vocal about a wealth tax on “NER elites,” referring to government-friendly entities and individuals they claim have enriched themselves during the Orbán governments. However, there is also a plan to go after household savings, while telling voters — after the election — that this is the fault of Fidesz’s poor policies.
The level of household savings in Hungary is very high compared to the European average, with the Tisza stating that “a 1 percent tax rate on savings would therefore generate 240 billion forints per year, and 1.5 percent would generate 360 billion forints. The EDF should be introduced for two years, and its revenues would finance the costs of the energy transition in 2026 and 2027. The above steps should be implemented immediately, after the formation of the new parliament.”
According to the Tisza economic working group, the implementation of everything will take approximately two and a half years, starting from the second month after the formation of the government.
The sale of state-owned MOL shares and the privatization of at least 75 percent of MVM’s ownership is also discussed, with these moves scheduled for completion by the end of 2028. MVM is Hungary’s state-run power company, which oversees the distribution of and billing for gas and electricity for households and businesses across the country. Under consecutive Orbán governments, households have benefitted from lower gas and electricity rates, known as “reduced overhead” here in Hungary, something Brussels has long called to be ended.
Regarding political risks and their management, it was explained that the transformation of the healthcare system will cause social tensions, and these emotions should be directed against Fidesz. According to the draft, “the Tisza government must therefore prepare in advance and consciously for political attacks,” by essentially laying blame on Fidesz and prominent Fidesz-aligned businesses and individuals.
In one pointed attack on longtime Orbán ally Lőrinc Mészáros, the document also reads: “The energy companies owned by Lőrinc Mészáros must be held responsible for the price increases, and a debate must be launched on the nationalization of Lőrinc Mészáros’ energy companies!”
A growing sense of unease is spreading among Germany’s youth. A new 2026 study on generational conditions reveals that a significant share of young people are seriously considering leaving the country, driven by economic uncertainty, limited access to housing, and a lack of future prospects.
A Generation Looking Outward
The data paints a concerning picture: around 21% of young people aged 14 to 29 already have concrete plans to emigrate, while up to 41% say they would consider doing so in the future.
Taken together, this means that more than six in ten young Germans do not rule out leaving the country—a striking indicator of generational dissatisfaction that is difficult to ignore.
This is not an isolated trend. It reflects a combination of structural challenges that are directly affecting younger generations.
Debt, Employment, and an Uncertain Future
One of the most alarming findings in the study is the rise in youth debt. Approximately 23% of young people report being in debt, pointing to growing financial vulnerability at a critical stage in life.
At the same time, the labor market has become increasingly difficult. Even those with university degrees are struggling to secure stable employment. Years of economic stagnation have reduced opportunities, creating a widespread sense that upward mobility is increasingly out of reach.
The result is clear: more young people feel that hard work no longer guarantees results.
Housing: The Major Barrier
Access to housing has become one of the most significant sources of pressure. Rising rents and the high cost of living are making it difficult for young people to achieve independence, delaying major life milestones such as starting a family or establishing long-term stability.
The study highlights how the combination of tight wages, inflation, and soaring housing costs is creating a barrier that is nearly impossible for many to overcome.
For a growing number of young Germans, emigration is no longer just an option—it is becoming a necessity.
Psychological Strain and Lack of Outlook
Beyond economic factors, the emotional toll is also significant. Nearly 29% of young people report needing psychological support, reflecting high levels of stress, anxiety, and exhaustion.
The study portrays a generation living under constant pressure, with a growing sense of losing control over its future.
This mix of economic, social, and emotional pressures is fueling a widespread perception of limited prospects.
A Symptom of a Deeper Problem
The fact that more than 60% of young people are considering leaving Germany points not only to a generational crisis, but also to a broader structural challenge for the country.
Young people—traditionally a driving force for growth and renewal—are increasingly looking abroad for opportunities they cannot find at home.
This raises critical questions: • Is Germany’s economic model leaving its own youth behind? • Can a country sustain long-term stability while losing young talent? • What reforms are needed to reverse this trend?
The prospect of a “generational exodus” in Germany signals a profound shift in the relationship between young people and their country.
The message from the study is clear: without real opportunities, economic stability, and access to housing, even the strongest economies risk watching their future—their youth—walk away.
And when an entire generation begins to look for a way out, the question is no longer whether there is a problem, but how deep it truly runs.
Four men were sentenced to prison in Berlin on Wednesday for operating a covert Hamas weapons-stockpiling network across Europe in preparation for potential terrorist attacks — a landmark ruling marking the first time a German court convicted members of the Palestinian terrorist group under the country’s terrorism laws.
The Berlin State Protection Senate — a special national-security chamber within the Berlin Court of Appeal — convicted the defendants of stockpiling weapons for future attacks in Europe, including possible targets in Germany, sentencing them to four and a half to six years in prison for membership in a foreign terrorist organization and related charges.
The court determined the men, aged 36 to 58, had acted as foreign operatives for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, and had already helped establish several firearms caches across Europe.
According to official records, the defendants helped build weapons depots as part of “preparations to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in European countries,” with possible targets including the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, the US Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany, and Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport.
German authorities also found the stockpiles were meant for attacks on Israeli, Jewish, or other targets across Europe over an extended period, with sites discovered in multiple countries including Poland, Bulgaria, and Denmark.
Although all four denied being members of Hamas, the main defendant admitted to visiting an arms cache in Bulgaria, claiming the trip was part of “private arms dealing.”
Arrested in December 2023, the four men — all Lebanese-born, including an Egyptian and a Dutch citizen — have been in custody since then, with three having lived primarily in Germany and the fourth in the Netherlands.
Hamas, long supported by the Iranian regime as well as Qatar and Turkey, is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and several other Western countries, including the United States.
However, the terrorist group has not been officially classified as such under German law, making Wednesday’s ruling especially important because it sets a legal precedent allowing membership in the group to be treated as a criminal offense.
“It’s a clear and important ruling by the Berlin Court of Appeal, even though we know that it does not in itself reduce the danger of terrorist attacks,” Stephan Weh, Berlin police union chief, said in a statement.
“As a Western metropolis, Berlin remains a focal point for radical Islamist networks, which today primarily recruit new members and supporters via social media,” he continued.
In recent months, German authorities have arrested several more suspects tied to alleged Hamas arms-procurement efforts, with the weapons said to be intended for attacks on Israeli or Jewish sites in Germany and across Europe.
Hamas has repeatedly denied any connection to these criminal networks, calling the allegations of its involvement “baseless.”
However, experts have warned that the group has expanded its terrorist operations beyond the Middle East, exploiting a well-established network of weapons caches, criminal alliances, and covert infrastructure quietly built across Europe over the years.
Last year, West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center released a study detailing how Hamas leaders in Lebanon have been directing operatives to establish “foreign operator’ cells across Europe, collaborating with organized crime networks to acquire weapons and target Jewish communities abroad.
An incident on a train between Sterzing and Bolzano has caused a stir and prompted political reactions. A woman reports having been subjected to severe verbal abuse and intimidation by two men. “I was verbally abused and told that, as a woman, I was worthless and should convert to Islam. I was terrified for my life,” the woman told the South Tyrolean Freedom Party.
According to her account, the whole thing started when the men brought their bicycles onto the train without a second thought. When she pointed this out, the situation escalated. The two men reacted aggressively, insulted her and made religiously motivated and misogynistic remarks.
The South Tyrolean Freedom Party is deeply concerned about the incident. It is unacceptable for women to be subjected to such intimidation and threats on public transport. The case raises fundamental questions about safety in public spaces and how to deal with extremist and misogynistic attitudes.
“Anyone who does not respect our values and degrades women in this way has no place in our society,” emphasises Karin Meister.
The movement is calling for concrete measures to improve safety on public transport. It recently tabled a motion to this effect in the provincial parliament. However, this was rejected by the SVP. One of the reasons given was that such an incident had “never happened” to the party’s parliamentary spokesman, Harald Stauder.
According to South Tyrolean Freedom party, reports from those affected and staff members were not taken into account.
The party is calling on people to report such incidents consistently and not to remain silent. It argues that this is the only way to prevent such incidents from happening again.
The South Tyrolean Freedom Party believes that the most effective measure is the systematic deportation of violent offenders.
In March 24, the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) published an international bulletin in which it claims that “The recent parliamentary elections in the Republic of Slovenia have been marked by a systemic and multi-layered compromise of the democratic process.”
The irregularities include, among others: statistically impossible data fluctuations, candidate misallocation, erroneous vote attribution, physical removal of ballot boxes during voting hours, voting invitations issued to thousands of deceased individuals, insufficiency of ballots in rural regions, systemic failure of voting from abroad, and failure of ballots postal delivery.
The next sentence in the bulletin set off alarm bells in my head: “The digital infrastructure of the National Electoral Commission (DVK) suffered a total collapse and was non-functional throughout the critical hours of election night. Upon the system’s restoration, numerous alarming discrepancies were discovered.”
In the election frauds committed in both Venezuela (2017, 2024) and Bolivia (2019), the electoral authorities servers went offline for several hours, and when they came back online, the results had shifted in favor of the São Paulo Forum candidates, Nicolás Maduro and Evo Morales.
Chapter 10 of my book, “The Electoral Fraud of the São Paulo Forum,” states:
On October 20, 2019, at 19:40, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) published the Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission System (TREP). With 83.76% of the verified tally sheets Evo Morales had 45.28% of the votes. However, at around 8:00 p.m., the TREP’s counting was paralyzed. Almost 24 hours later, on October 21, the TREP began to operate again and produced new results. According to these results, Evo Morales obtained 46.86%. With these numbers, Morales won the elections without needing a second round.
The fraud, carried out with the assistance of Venezuelan experts, was uncovered, and Morales was forced to flee Bolivia. The parallels between what happened in Slovenia and the situations in Bolivia and Venezuela are alarming. It is important to highlight the ties between the Levica party —a member of Robert Golob’s governing coalition— and the Venezuelan regime.
In my personal experience—as a person who has investigated the São Paulo Forum for 30 years, and as an international observer in numerous elections—the Left uses electoral fraud as a new way to carry out coups d’état without firing a single shot. Recently, American researcher Ralph Pezzullo published a book titled Stolen Elections in which he documents the use of the Venezuelan method to commit fraud in at least seventy nations.
If the Slovenian people allow this fraud to take root, two things will happen: the fraud will become a permanent mechanism and Golob will remain in power indefinitely, regardless of who actually wins the elections; and second, a series of reforms will be gradually passed to impose a totalitarian system in Slovenia. I have personally experienced this process in the case of my country, Venezuela.
The responsibility for exposing the fraud does not rest solely with the SDS party; the Slovenian people should also mobilize to defend their democracy. The elections should be annulled and repeated, this time without the irregularities experienced on March 22. Early voting, for example, should be eliminated, because it is one of the factors that contributes most to fraud.
Seven people have been seriously injured after a car ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians in a busy city centre last night. Cops have arrested a man in his 30s after scrambling to the scene in Derby. The man, originally from India, was detained on suspicion of attempted murder, causing serious injury through dangerous driving, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, and dangerous driving. He remains in police custody. Derbyshire Police say the incident, around 9.30pm, involved a black Suzuki Swift in the Friar Gate area, which was packed with pubgoers. Continue reading https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3866403…
Following a defeat in the Europa League against Aston Villa on March 12, Lille OSC also faced sanctions behind the scenes. The Lille club was sanctioned by UEFA after displaying a massive tifo featuring the figure of Joan of Arc, which the European organisation deemed problematic as it was viewed as a potentially hateful message.
Double punishment for LOSC. Following the defeat against Aston Villa, Lille must also pay a hefty fine. This was due to several serious shortcomings identified during the first leg of the European League round of 16 in Villeneuve d’Ascq.
Les Tifos gigantesques des supporters du LOSC pour leur choc face à Aston Villa 🔥
According to the Birmingham.Live website, as confirmed by La Voix du Nord, the northern club must pay a fine of €82,750, corresponding to five offences recorded by UEFA. These include the display of a giant tifo featuring the figure of Joan of Arc, sword in hand, accompanied by slogans such as “French never die”, “Joan raises her sword and Lille fights on” or “Proud. Strong. Fierce”. An image and messages that the European organisation deemed problematic, particularly in light of the fight against content that incites hatred.
LOSC is also accused of further offences, including organisational failings regarding access to the stadium and the management of spectator flows. After the match, several fans condemned the violence perpetrated by security personnel against English fans. UEFA also highlights the throwing of objects onto the pitch, the use of fireworks in the stadium, and irregularities relating to ticket sales.
Colonel Richard Kemp is a retired British Army officer who commanded British forces in the First Gulf War, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan and led the international terrorism team for the Joint Intelligence Committee. Known for his extensive counter-terrorism experience, he is now a prominent commentator on military strategy.
He joins NCF Senior Fellow Rafe Heydel-Mankoo to discuss the dire state of the British armed forces, which haven’t been this weak in centuries.
Ulrich Heyden, 2009 Juerg Vollmer / Maiakinfo, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
The Moscow-based German journalist Ulrich Heyden, who has been covering Russian affairs for a wide variety of German media for over three decades, recently learned that his German bank, the Hamburger Sparkasse, is cancelling his bank account, apparently for reasons relating to the EU’s Russia sanctions. According to Heyden, writing on his Telegram channel, this is what he was told by a bank employee with whom he spoke by telephone, although the written cancellation notice he received merely refers to the bank “reviewing … its business relationships with clients who have their residence in Russia.” Heyden notes that he lives exclusively from the fees of German, Swiss, and Austrian media that are paid into his German account.
Two other German journalists who live in Russia, Alina Lipp and Thomas Röper, were placed on the EU sanctions list last May, resulting in the freezing of their EU-based bank accounts. The EU accuses Lipp and Röper of spreading pro-Russian “war propaganda” and “misinformation.” Heyden, however, does not figure on the sanctions list.
Moreover, unlike Lipp and Röper, whom the EU describes as mere “bloggers,” Heyden is—or, at any rate, was—very much a mainstream journalist. As he notes in the open letter to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that he published on his Telegram channel, he was for ten years a contributor to the German public radio Deutschlandfunk, for thirteen years the Moscow correspondent of the daily paper the Sächsische Zeitung, and for no less than thirty years a contributor to the center-left intellectual weekly Freitag. He has also written for such likewise thoroughly mainstream venues as the Tagesspiegel, the Rheinische Merkur, and the German edition of the Financial Times.
Like Lipp and Röper, however, Heyden has tried in recent years, now writing mostly for alternative online outlets, to provide a more balanced view of the Ukraine conflict and to report on Russia, as he puts it, “with understanding and not foaming at the mouth.” Showing any understanding of the Russian side of the conflict would appear to be controversial in the German public discussion nowadays. “Putinversteher”—literally, someone who understands Putin—is an actual slur that is commonly used in the discussion.
In an interview with NachDenkSeiten, Heyden has noted that numerous reporters for major, mainstream German media are also based in Moscow, and he wonders whether they, too, have had their accounts cancelled, thus also threatening their livelihoods. In his open letter to President Steinmeier, he writes,
I will be 72 this year. What shall I say to my great-uncle Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld when I meet him in heaven? He was murdered, strangled with a wire around his neck, in Berlin-Plötzensee in September 1944 as a member of the resistance against the Hitler regime. I bear my first name in his honour. What will my great-uncle say? He will say that there was also murder and terror against dissidents in the Nazi era, and that he could not have imagined that such a thing would happen again in Germany.
In an update on his Telegram channel, Heyden adds that the bank employee with whom he spoke said that the initiative for the closing of his account came in fact from Germany’s financial oversight authority, the BaFin. The BaFin, Heyden notes, itself falls under the authority of the German Ministry of Finance, which is headed by Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil.
