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Friday, September 25, 2026
Politics in Germany > Hapless Merz on his way out? Merz government forming "Stasi 2.0"?
It's time for Germany's government to start representing the people instead of expecting the people to honour the left-wing, godless government.
Merz faces pension mutiny after election disaster
The German chancellor is under pressure to soften plans to scrap early retirement as his SPD coalition partners demand a change of course
Published 25 Sep, 2026 15:12 | Updated 25 Sep, 2026 16:15
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s humiliating run of regional election defeats has reignited a bitter fight over his unpopular pension reform, with his Social Democratic coalition partners pushing back against plans that could make Germans work longer, national media have reported.
Merz’s Christian Democrats suffered a historic drubbing this month, culminating in what the chancellor himself called a “disaster” in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The CDU failed to clear the 5% threshold for the state parliament, while the right-wing, anti-immigration and Euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first. The AfD also topped the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, while in Berlin the CDU was pushed into second place behind the left-wing Die Linke. The SPD also suffered significant losses.
The defeats have complicated Merz’s already contentious reform drive. At the center of the fight is the so-called “pension at 63,” which allows people with 45 qualifying years to retire early without deductions. A government commission recommended scrapping the scheme, citing Germany’s aging population straining pension finances and the workforce. Merz, who has repeatedly urged Germans to work more, backs the reform.
Opponents, however, have argued abolition would punish people who started work young and paid into the system for decades. The issue is particularly sensitive in eastern Germany, where incomes and private savings tend to be lower. An INSA poll published last month found 68% of Germans opposed scrapping the scheme.
The election rout has given those opponents fresh leverage, including within Merz’s conservative camp, German media has reported. An SPD strategy document circulated this week argued there are “open questions” on proposed early retirement changes. SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch has called the entitlement after 45 years a “fundamental issue of justice,” while Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister-President Manuela Schwesig argued that people who have worked and paid contributions throughout their careers should retain the right to retire early without deductions.
The coalition is now scrambling for a compromise. According to Bild and Spiegel reports on Thursday, options include preserving deduction-free early retirement for physically demanding jobs, such as roofing, or raising the qualifying period from 45 years to 46 or 47. Hardship exemptions and transition periods for workers nearing retirement are also under discussion.
Alexander Hoffmann, parliamentary group leader of the CSU, the CDU’s sister party, argued there could be no pension reform without scrapping the early retirement scheme, telling Bild: “We have a clear agreement in the coalition: hardship cases yes, standard cases no.” However, nearly four hours of coalition talks this week reportedly failed to produce an agreement.
The clash threatens more than the pension scheme. Merz came to power promising sweeping reforms to revive Europe’s largest economy after years of stagnation, but the election defeats have sharply narrowed his room for maneuver. Analysts say SPD lawmakers whose votes he needs have less incentive to embrace unpopular measures after the governing parties were punished at the ballot box, while resistance is also reportedly growing within the CDU itself, particularly in the east. Merz, however, has responded to the election defeats by insisting that “the reforms must come.”
The chancellor’s own standing has plunged amid economic weakness and dissatisfaction with his government. Earlier this month, just 10% of respondents told pollster Forsa they were satisfied with his performance, against 88% who were dissatisfied. A YouGov poll published ahead of the latest elections found 48% of Germans expected him to be out of office by year-end. German media have also discussed the possibility of a Kanzlertausch, or “chancellor swap,” if the CDU suffers further setbacks.
Merz government wants ‘secret police’ – opposition
German lawmakers have warned that sweeping new powers for intelligence agencies would undermine fundamental rights
Published 24 Sep, 2026 18:46 | Updated 24 Sep, 2026 19:50
Germany’s opposition lawmakers have accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government of seeking to create a “secret police” by dramatically expanding the powers of the country’s intelligence agencies.
The accusations came during the first parliamentary debate on the reform on Thursday, with lawmakers from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Left and the Greens raising concerns over surveillance and fundamental rights. The government argues that the changes are needed to counter growing security threats.
Under a reform approved by the cabinet last month, the BND foreign intelligence agency and the BfV domestic security service would gain broader operational powers, allowing them to move beyond primarily gathering and analyzing information.
Among the proposed changes, the BND could sabotage foreign companies, penetrate foreign IT systems and disable weapons deemed a threat to Germany. The BfV, meanwhile, could secretly enter homes and access computers and mobile phones under certain circumstances.
Sounds like a threat to the AfD.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the reform would usher in a “new era” by turning the country’s intelligence services into “genuine intelligence agencies” capable of actively countering threats. He said Germany must bring its services to the level of its European partners.
AfD MP Gottfried Curio branded the proposed overhaul of the BfV “Stasi 2.0,” referring to East Germany’s notorious secret police, and called the reform a “coup against the rule of law.” The AfD, however, supports granting the BND greater operational powers.
Even though it will most likely be used against them before the next federal elections? Go figure!
The BfV has itself been locked in a legal battle with the AfD. In 2025, the agency designated Germany’s most popular party a “confirmed right-wing extremist” organization, but a Cologne court in February barred it from applying that classification while the case proceeds.
The ruling came months before the AfD scored major gains in regional elections. It won 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt earlier this month and 38.3% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday.
Green MP Konstantin von Notz said granting the BfV such extensive powers would be a “grave mistake” and questioned whether parts of the reform would survive scrutiny by the Constitutional Court. He nevertheless backed giving the BND greater powers.
Left Party MP Clara Buenger went further, warning that the BfV could become a “new German secret police.”
“Fundamental rights are being trampled on here,” she said, arguing that the agency would gain powers traditionally reserved for police.
The debate comes as Merz’s government braces for growing AfD influence at the regional level. The Telegraph and Die Welt reported in July that Berlin was developing a “secret plan” to counter potential “obstructionism” by regional authorities, allowing the federal government to bypass them in a crisis.
The German government wants the intelligence reform to take effect at the beginning of 2027. It still requires approval from both the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
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Thursday, September 24, 2026
Terrorism Around the World > Terrorist goes for cops' throats in Toulouse; Three arrested in France, one in the USA; Ambassador's son in serious condition
France: Muslim screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ tries to slash the throats of two police officers
Translation: “Video of the knife attack targeting two police officers in Toulouse this Monday, August 10. The suspect allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” while carrying out his act, which, according to this same source and the footage, clearly aimed to kill, as he reportedly targeted the officers’ throats.”
He was merely demonstrating his faithfulness to the beloved religion. “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks.” (Qur’an 47:4). Watch for him to be declared mentally ill forthwith.
Meanwhile, the ineffectual female police officers trying vainly to stop him epitomize the weakness and pusillanimity of the West in the face of this threat it has brought upon itself.
France: ‘Soldiers of Allah’ arrested for plotting jihad massacre of Jewish community
If Islam were what the political and media elites insist that it is, we would expect a group calling itself the “Soldiers of Allah” to be devoted to charitable works, giving meals to shut-ins and impoverished people, visiting the sick and abandoned, caring for those without hope. Instead, this.
Three arrested in France over suspected ISIS plot targeting Jews
by Itamar Eichner, Ynet News, September 6, 2026:
Three men have been arrested in France on suspicion of advancing a jihadist plot in which they considered joining the Islamic State in Africa and carrying out an attack against the Jewish community in France….
The investigation was opened in early July following jihadist activity detected among members of a WhatsApp group called “Soldiers of Allah.” Based on information gathered during the investigation, the three suspects were arrested. The main suspicion is that they were preparing to leave France in order to join ISIS in Africa, while investigators also suspect they considered carrying out a “violent action” targeting the Jewish community….
Another detail adding sensitivity to the case is a possible connection between one of the suspects in France and a woman arrested in the United States in August on suspicion of planning, on behalf of ISIS, to carry out a bombing attack at the New York State Capitol.
According to a report by RTL, the woman is 35-year-old Jessica Bowie, who is suspected in the United States of planning the attack. A source close to the French investigation confirmed to AFP that “there is a connection between one of the suspects brought before the judge and a woman arrested by the FBI in the United States.”…
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Neria Leiter, son of Israel’s ambassador to US, remains in ‘very serious condition’ after terror attack
Yechiel Leiter’s wounded son faces peril after undergoing brain surgery following a car-ramming near Modi’in.
(Sept. 24, 2026 / JNS)
Neria Leiter, the son of Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, remains in very serious condition after being injured in a Palestinian terror attack on Wednesday, Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center said on Thursday morning.
“He is in very serious condition, and there is still a danger to his life,” professor Alexander Ioscovich, the hospital’s deputy medical director general, told the Kan Reshet Bet radio station.
“We are doing what we can and hoping for the best,” he added.
Shaare Zedek Medical Center said on Wednesday night that Leiter had undergone complex brain surgery lasting several hours.
The Israel Defense Forces reserve soldier was wounded on Wednesday evening in a car-ramming attack at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443, near Modi’in.
The ambassador said on Wednesday that his son needed “a miracle.”
“I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen,” Leiter wrote on X.
The ambassador’s oldest son, Maj. Moshe Leiter, was killed in Gaza in 2023. The Israeli representative noted that Neria continued to serve in uniform after his brother’s death.
“Since Oct. 7, he has served hundreds of days in the reserves on multiple fronts,” the ambassador said, of Neria.
“Palestinian terrorism seeks to uproot the people of Israel from their land,” he stated. “They choose death. We choose life.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Leiter family at the Jerusalem hospital on Wednesday evening before departing for the U.N. General Assembly in New York to deliver a speech, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu asked the public to pray for the recovery of “Neria Dov ben [son of] Chana.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday ordered the IDF’s 98th Division headquarters to operate in Judea and Samaria and take command of the Judea and Etzion brigades, citing “the need to enhance security during this tense period.”
The move aims to strengthen command and control and to “enhance defensive and offensive capabilities” following “recent events” in the area, the IDF said.
Until now, the Judea and Etzion regional brigades reported to the Judea and Samaria Division, which oversees the entire area. The change is meant to ease the load on that division, according to local media.
In addition to Wednesday’s attack that seriously wounded Leiter, three days earlier Netanel Shukrun, a father of six from Alei Zahav, was murdered in a terrorist shooting at the Ein Raya spring in Samaria on the eve of Yom Kippur.
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