Tag: germany

Missing German Model’s Name Surfaces in Epstein Files 11 Years After Disappearance, Family Fears She Was Killed by Sex Traffickers

The name of a young German model who vanished without a trace in 2015 has appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files, raising fresh and disturbing questions about whether she was targeted by the convicted sex offender’s network.

The woman, identified only as “Michele” at her family’s request, was 22 years old when she left her mother’s home in Germany in early September 2015 with a suitcase.

She has not been heard from since.

Michele’s name emerged in emails contained in the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The emails involve Daniel Siad, a Swedish-French modeling scout who appears extensively in the documents, more than 1,000 times in some batches.

According to a report from Speigel International, her family only recently learned that her name appears multiple times in U.S. Department of Justice documents connected to Epstein.

In 2014, one year before Michele disappeared, Siad sent Epstein photos of the young German woman.

In one message, he referred to her as “the girl you missed from Germany” and wrote, “You will love her.”

According to reporting by Der Spiegel, Michele had met Siad in Dubai in 2012. She allegedly worked for him as an escort. Siad positioned himself in communications with Epstein as someone who recruited or “caught” young women across Europe for the financier.

Michele had dreams of becoming a famous model and frequently traveled internationally.

According to her family, it was not unusual for her to leave suddenly.

In early September 2015, she told relatives she was heading out but provided no details about where she was going or when she would return.

German authorities treated the case as a standard missing-person report at the time, but did not launch a major investigation.

Nearly 11 years later, Michele would be 33.

Her mother, Annett, told investigators from Der Spiegel and German public broadcaster ZDF that she now fears the worst.

“I think she’s no longer alive,” Annett said. “That something was done to her.”

Her father has expressed hope for answers while urging German police to reopen and expand the investigation.

Siad has come under increasing legal pressure in Europe. He is currently under investigation in France for human trafficking and related allegations.

Multiple women have accused him of grooming and procuring them for Epstein or his associates, even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Siad has denied any wrongdoing. He has claimed his interactions were professional.

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Nobody needs AI to search the Internet, court says in ruling against Google

Potentially impacting all AI search engines and chatbots known to poorly paraphrase source links, a German court has ruled that Google is liable for false statements in AI Overviews.

The preliminary ruling came in a case flagged by The Decoder, where two publishers found that Google’s AI Overviews incorrectly linked them to scams and other sketchy business practices. After smearing publishers by making affirmative statements like “Yes, [it] is known for dubious business practices and is often perceived as a scam,” Google failed to correct the misleading output, even after the publishers sent a cease-and-desist letter earlier this year.

Google tried the usual arguments to shield itself from liability for false statements in AI Overviews, such as arguing that most users understand that AI outputs aren’t always accurate and must be verified.

But the court found that, unlike traditional search engines that merely present lists of links to third-party statements, Google’s tool made “independent, new, and substantive statements” based on its own misinterpretation of links on the Internet.

That’s a problem, the court said, because while publishers may have been able to sue to stop third parties from publishing defamatory statements appearing in Google search results, only Google can correct the underlying algorithm and outputs displayed in AI Overviews. And because, at least initially, the company did not, it therefore “must be held accountable,” the court ruled. Beyond that, Google’s argument was deemed particularly weak, since the AI overview in this case “contains statements that do not appear in the search results at all.”

The court’s order—requiring a temporary injunction barring Google from spreading the false claims in any further AI Overviews—may have global implications, as the court seems to be the first to hold an AI firm liable for AI speech.

In the past, AI firms have hoped that disclaimers warning about misinformation would protect them from lawsuits over untrustworthy outputs. Last year, one chatbot maker even argued that AI speech is its own category of “pure speech” and the First Amendment should protect it.

According to a Google translation of the German court ruling, however, the false outputs were “primarily an expression of the defendant’s commercial activity,” and the AI tool’s “opinions” and false statements were capable of impacting public opinion.

The court concluded that, in weighing the balance, publishers’ interest in removing the false information outweighed Google’s commercial speech rights.

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AfD’s Weidel Demands Ukraine Pay Reparations Over Nord Stream “State Terrorist” Attack; Calls for End of Military and Financial Support

Co-leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD)—the most popular party in Germany—Alice Weidel has demanded that Ukraine pay reparations to Germany over the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, escalating a political fight over German sovereignty, cheap energy, deindustrialization, and Berlin’s open-ended support for Kyiv.

Speaking at an AfD event on Tuesday, Weidel rejected Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal to move Ukraine closer to the European Union through associate membership. She described Kyiv as a “bottomless pit” that has already drained enormous sums from German taxpayers.

“Germany has already transferred more than €100 billion to Ukraine over the past four years alone,” Weidel said.

Her remarks come as German investigators continue pursuing suspects in the September 2022 sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2—the Baltic Sea pipelines built to carry Russian natural gas directly to Germany.

The blasts destroyed three of the four pipeline strands at a depth of roughly 80 meters. Nord Stream 1 had long delivered large volumes of cheap Russian gas to Germany, while Nord Stream 2 had been completed but never activated because of political tensions over Ukraine.

The sabotage, as many Germans see it, was not merely an attack on infrastructure, but an attack on Germany’s industrial future, energy independence, working class, and ability to remain economically sovereign.

Weidel said Ukraine must explain its role before Berlin considers further concessions, aid, or EU privileges, framing the pipeline destruction as a direct assault on Germany’s most important energy lifeline.

“We need to know how this state-terrorist act against the most important infrastructure we had, namely the Nord Stream pipelines, came about and what role Ukraine played in it,” she said.

German investigators have reportedly attributed the explosions to a small group of Ukrainian operatives. The alleged ringleader was extradited to Germany from Italy last autumn.

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Germany Says It’s Ready To Take the Lead in Russia-Ukraine Peace Negotiations

This readiness does not mean much, since Russia won’t accept the Europeans as mediators.

Yesterday (7), once again the E3 group of Euro-Globalists (UK’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz) met with Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the war and the peace process in the Russia-Ukraine war.

These meetings have happened countless times, and never yield anything practical, only tired speeches from four deeply unpopular leaders.

This time around, the E3 leaders published a list of 5 demands to achieve peace in Ukraine – a list that will surely be ignored by both the Russians and the US.

Today, a spokesman for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the European leaders are ‘ready to assume the leading role in negotiations’ to end the war.

Politico reported:

“’What is new, I believe, is that this process is now gaining new momentum in Europe’, Stefan Kornelius, Merz’s spokesperson, said following a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany and the U.K in London late Sunday. ‘Another new development is that we are taking up and continuing the negotiation process that the U.S. has largely led. We are doing this in close coordination with the U.S’.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have led efforts to broker negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, since early 2025 with few tangible results. The European initiative to assume a leading role in peace talks comes as Washington focuses increasingly on ending the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.”

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German Activist Drives 22 Hours to Portugal, Defying Exit Ban

German remigration activist Maximilian Märkl, who was arrested by federal police on Friday as he prepared to board a flight to Portugal and forbidden to leave the country, defied the travel ban and was greeted as a hero when he arrived at the Remigration Summit in Porto after 22 hours of driving across Europe.

“It was a little European adventure,” Märkl said in an interview with alternative TV channel AUF1, adding that the drive through Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal reminded him of “just how beautiful our homeland is and how much it’s worth fighting for.”

While expecting legal consequences upon his return to Germany, the spokesman for Identitäre Bewegung Deutschland, said he’s counting on alternative media and the organization’s support network to stand behind him. 

Asked what the organization will do if the German government continues trying to stop its representatives from attending events in other countries, Märkl said, “Either they ignore us—and we have direct access to the people—or they get desperate and try to suppress us.” But, he said, “these measures generate such a stir and so much attention that I’m convinced there will definitely be a way in the future to meet, network, and, above all, make progress on the issues at hand.”

Generation Identity, Märkl’s organization, said on X it will take the German authorities to court over the travel ban. 

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German Gov’t Handed Out Millions to Charity Allegedly Tied to Muslim Brotherhood: Reports

Millions in taxpayer cash were directed towards an Islamic organisation with alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood by the German government, reports have revealed.

According to reports from Berlin’s Federal Audit Office, obtained by paper of record Die Welt, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office (AA) gave Islamic Relief Germany (IRD) nearly 8.5 million euros ($9.9m) between 2013 and 2016 and millions more on top of that.

This is despite the group’s parent organisation, Islamic Relief Worldwide, having been classified as a terror group in 2014 by Israel, which accused the group of having funnelled money to Palestinian Hamas terrorists, a charge the supposed charity denies. A 2009 report from Germany’s Baden-Württemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution also accused the group of being tied to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to impose Sharia on the world.

A later 2019 government report found that the IRD had “significant personnel connections to the Muslim Brotherhood or organisations close to it,” following which the Foreign Office ceased funding the group.

The reports from the Federal Audit Office concerning the grants provided by the German government to IRD were classified and withheld from the public for over five years, with the government arguing that the release of the information could “lead to polemics” and would risk public discourse that would not be “conducive to the welfare of the federal government.”

However, the findings were finally disclosed following a lengthy lawsuit from attorney Seyran Ateş and the Institute for Secular Law. According to Die Welt, the first report found that the Foreign Office was “unable to explain on what basis” it had decided that Islamic Relief Germany was a reputable charity and worthy of millions in government grants.

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German Police ARREST Right-Wing Activist Traveling to “Remigration Summit” at Airport Gate, Issue EXIT BAN

German Federal border police took right-wing “Generation Identity” activist Max Märkl into custody today at Munich Airport to prevent him from traveling to the “Remigration Summit” taking place Saturday in Porto, Portugal, and issued a travel ban to prevent the young man from traveling to Portugal. The Gateway Pundit spoke to Max exclusively.

“They were waiting at the gate for me when the plane started boarding, pulled me out of the line, took my documents and took me into custody at the airport police station, where I was issued a citation banning me from traveling to Portugal until midnight Saturday and threatening to fine me €500 every time I failed to report to my local police station twice daily until then,” Max said.

ing youth movement originally founded in France 2014, which seeks to preserve the cultural identity of Europe. He was scheduled to speak at the Remigration Summit, whose speaker list includes Stefano L. Forte of the New York Young Republicans, US influencer Joey Mannarino, Generation Identity Austria head Martin Sellner, Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, German state parliamentarian Lena Kotré, UK Grooming Gang survivor Sammy Woodhouse and Belgian activist Dries van Langenhove, who was found guilty of “hate speech” this week for drawing a connection between migration and crime, even though the court admits the connection exists.

Last year, eight Generation Identity activists were also prevented from traveling to the 2025 Remigration Summit in Milano, Italy, from Munich airport, but four went via car anyway and were never charged with a crime, presumably meaning prosecutors know the case would never stand up in court.

This time, the Federal police were better prepared, threatening to fine Max if he defies the ban and confiscating his mobile phone right away to prevent him from filming the arrest like last year (as The Gateway Pundit reported).

The Federal Police citation, which Gateway Pundit has read, justifies the travel ban on a free German citizen who has committed no crime by calling the concept of “Remigration” (deportation of illegal migrants) a violation of the German constitution.

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Germany Moves to Control Social Media: ‘Trusted’ News Sources To Be Algorithmically Boosted By Law

Germany is moving toward what critics are calling a sweeping new form of state influence over online speech, after plans surfaced to force social media platforms to prioritize content from government-approved outlets—raising serious concerns about censorship, narrative control, and the future of free expression in Europe.

According to documents obtained by Apollo News, regulators are preparing a system that would require platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to give preferential treatment to content from so-called “reliable” media.

What makes the proposal particularly controversial is not just the intent, but the mechanism. For the first time, state-linked authorities would directly shape the algorithms that determine what information citizens see—effectively inserting government priorities into the digital public square.

At the center of the plan is the concept of “public value” media. In theory, these are outlets that provide socially beneficial information, but in practice, critics argue, they are media organizations vetted and approved by the same political system they are meant to scrutinize.

That distinction is crucial. The power to define what is “reliable” would rest with regulatory bodies tied to the state, not with citizens, readers, or independent market forces.

Once granted this status, approved outlets would receive algorithmic advantages. Their content would be pushed higher in feeds, made easier to discover, and given preferential visibility over competing voices.

The proposal does not stop there. Individual articles and videos could also be labeled as “public value,” creating a two-tier information system where some content is actively promoted while other viewpoints are quietly deprioritized.

Platforms would then be required to adjust their recommendation systems accordingly. In some cases, regulators are even discussing quotas to guarantee exposure for approved content, effectively turning private platforms into vehicles for state-guided messaging.

For many critics, this crosses a fundamental line. It transforms social media from an open marketplace of ideas into a managed information ecosystem shaped by political authorities.

Supporters of the initiative claim it is necessary to combat “disinformation” and preserve democratic discourse.

But that justification is precisely what alarms opponents. They argue that “fighting disinformation” has increasingly become a catch-all rationale for restricting dissent and controlling narratives.

“This is not about removing illegal content,” one observer noted. “This is about deciding which legal speech deserves to be seen—and which does not.”

Critics describe the system as a form of “soft censorship.” Instead of banning opposing views outright, it ensures they are drowned out by state-preferred content.
“It is reverse censorship,” analysts warn. “You don’t delete the message—you just make sure nobody sees it.”

The consequences for independent and alternative media could be severe. Outlets that challenge government policy or question mainstream narratives may find their reach quietly throttled, without any formal accusation or legal recourse.

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Ukraine Could Be Granted Associate EU Membership

The same European Union that cannot control its own borders, cannot stop economic contraction, cannot keep factories from fleeing, cannot keep farmers from revolting, and cannot even keep the lights on without deindustrializing itself is now discussing some absurd “associate membership” for Ukraine while the country is still actively at war. This is what happens when unelected bureaucrats and failed politicians start treating geopolitics like some university fantasy project instead of reality.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is now proposing that Ukraine receive an “associate member” status within the EU, allowing participation in summits, ministerial meetings, portions of the EU budget, and even coverage under the bloc’s mutual defense clause, all without formal full membership. In plain English, they want to drag Europe deeper into the conflict while pretending they are not technically doing so.

This is the same Europe that spent years screaming about “democracy” and “rules-based order” while openly bypassing the actual populations of Europe on issue after issue. Nobody voted for this. Nobody in Germany was asked if they wanted endless liabilities attached to Ukraine. Nobody in France was asked if they wanted another open-ended financial commitment while their own economy stagnates. Nobody in Europe voted to transform the EU from an economic bloc into a military and geopolitical machine permanently tied to war.

What makes this even more outrageous is that the EU has spent decades humiliating countries in the Balkans with endless accession requirements, delays, lectures, and bureaucratic torture. Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, all sat there jumping through hoops for years while Brussels moved the goalposts repeatedly. Now suddenly the rules no longer matter because Ukraine has become the emotional and political obsession of the European establishment.

Merz openly admitted full accession is not realistically possible anytime soon because of the “countless hurdles” and ratification problems. Yet instead of admitting reality, they invent another fake middle category to force integration through the back door. Europe has become addicted to political gimmicks where every failed policy creates another layer of bureaucracy to cover the previous failure.

The proposal reportedly includes access to parts of the EU budget and application of the mutual assistance clause. That means European taxpayers become increasingly financially and strategically tied to a nation still in an active territorial war with Russia. These people are playing with the possibility of continental escalation while ordinary Europeans cannot even afford energy bills and groceries anymore.

Germany itself is collapsing economically under the weight of these policies. Industrial production has suffered. Manufacturing confidence has deteriorated. Companies continue relocating abroad because energy costs became suicidal after Europe destroyed its own energy security. Yet the political class behaves as though Europe has infinite money, infinite patience, and infinite stability.

The Economic Confidence Model has warned repeatedly that Europe was entering a period of fragmentation, sovereign debt stress, and civil unrest into 2028. Instead of stabilizing the continent, Brussels continues pouring fuel onto every fire simultaneously. Mass migration destabilized the social structure. Climate fanaticism destabilized energy. Endless sanctions destabilized industry. Now they want permanent geopolitical integration with a war zone.

The EU elite genuinely cannot understand why nationalist parties continue surging across Europe. Every single crisis becomes an excuse for more centralization, more spending, more integration, more censorship, and less accountability. The populations are increasingly treated as obstacles rather than citizens.

What Merz is proposing is effectively EU membership without calling it membership because they know many Europeans would reject the real thing outright. That is why they invent phrases like “associate membership,” “special partnership,” and “interim integration.” Politicians always rename things when they know the public would oppose the truth.

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Syria blocks deportations from Germany, leaving more than 11,000 deportation orders in limbo.

Germany is facing a serious administrative bottleneck in its migration policy after it emerged that Syria is allegedly preventing the issuance of travel documents required to carry out thousands of already ordered deportations by German authorities.

The case affects, according to European sources, more than 11,000 Syrian nationals who have received notices to leave the country as part of legal return procedures. However, the lack of consular cooperation from Damascus has effectively stalled a large share of these expulsions.

A system blocked in practice

Although deportation orders have been issued in accordance with German law, their execution depends on a key requirement: official identification and the issuance of travel documents by the country of origin.

Without this documentation, German authorities cannot complete the process, which turns many of these decisions into open cases with no immediate possibility of execution.

The result is a silent but significant blockage within the European migration system, where national decision-making power collides with international reality.

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