German men selling fatherhood to refugee women for cash

German officials say growing numbers of pregnant immigrant women are paying German men to pose as fathers so that they can qualify for residency.

German broadcaster RBB found up to 700 cases in Berlin alone. "There are many unreported cases," said Ole Schröder, a top interior ministry official.

The pregnant immigrant women are reported to have paid fake fathers and solicitors as much as €5,000 to get paternity registered and once that is done, the baby automatically becomes a German citizen and the mother has the right to stay. There has been a rise in asylum requests from pregnant women from Vietnam, Africa and Eastern Europe.

On the other hand, the mainly unemployed men pay nothing to the women for the care of the children, with the state instead being responsible for welfare payments.

“The estimated number of unknown cases is high,” said Ole Schröder, undersecretary in the Interior Ministry.

Martin Steltner, a state prosecutor in Berlin, told ARD television there were signs of widespread abuse involving paternity, for example one man claiming to be the father of 10 children.

But the prosecutors currently have few legal options at their disposal to tackle the deceit, as no law is being broken. Current law states that whoever recognizes fatherhood of a child is the father, regardless of whether this is biologically true or not.

“For this reason, we don’t have the legally means to investigate these cases,” said Steltner.

Paris police attacker shot outside cathedral Notre-Dame

Police have shot a man who attacked an officer with a hammer outside the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The assailant, later found to be also armed with kitchen knives, was brought down as he threatened passersby outside one of the French capital’s busiest tourist attractions on Tuesday afternoon

The man shouted "this is for Syria" during the attack, the interior minister said. Prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation.
The officer suffered minor injuries. The suspect was wounded in the chest when another policeman opened fire.
Tourists fled for cover as the attack unfolded. Hundreds of people were in the cathedral at the time.

Recent terror attacks in France

• 20 Apr 2017 - A convicted criminal who was investigated for threatening to kill police opens fire at police on the Champs Elysees in Paris, killing one and wounding two. He is shot dead - and the assault is claimed by IS
• 3 Feb 2017 - A machete-wielding Egyptian man shouting "Allahu akbar" attacks French soldiers at Paris's Louvre Museum - he is shot and wounded
• 26 Jul 2016 - Two attackers slits the throat of a priest at his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in Normandy. They are shot dead by police
• 14 Jul 2016 - A huge lorry mows down a crowd of people on the Nice beachfront during Bastille Day celebrations, killing 86. IS claims the attack - by a Tunisian-born driver, later shot dead by police
• 13 Jun 2016 -A knife-wielding jihadist kills a police officer and his partner at their home in Magnanville, west of Paris. He declares allegiance to IS, and police later kill him
• 13 Nov 2015 - IS jihadists armed with bombs and assault rifles attack Paris, targeting the national stadium, cafes and Bataclan concert hall. The co-ordinated assault leaves 130 people dead, and more than 350 wounded
• 7-9 Jan 2015 - Two Islamist gunmen storm the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 17 people. Another Islamist militant kills a policewoman the next day and takes hostages at a Jewish supermarket in Paris. Four hostages are killed before police shoot the gunman dead. The other two gunmen are cornered and killed by police in a siege

Saudi billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi dies aged 82

Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, a billionaire businessman known for his lavish lifestyle, has died in London at the age of 82 on Tuesday, according to a family statement.

"It is with deep sadness that the Khashoggi family must announce that our beloved father Adnan Khashoggi, aged 82, died peacefully today in London while being treated for Parkinson's disease," the family said.

"He lived his last days surrounded by his devoted family, children and grandchildren, with the same elegance, strength and dignity that characterised his remarkable life. He is survived by his wife Lamia.

Mr Khashoggi became one of the world's richest men in the 1970s and '80s by brokering international arms deals. At the peak of his wealth in the 1970s, Mr Khashoggi was estimated to be worth £2.4 billion.

He most famously brokered arms deals between US firms and Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and 70s.

Mr Khashoggi, whose late sister Samira was married to former Harrods chief Mohamed Al Fayed, was an uncle of Princess Diana's final love, Dodi Fayed.

Kevin Grosskreutz 'sacked' by Stuttgart

World Cup winner Kevin Grosskreutz has been sacked by 2. Bundesliga side Stuttgart after he was involved in a street brawl that left him with serious head injuries. 

According to reports, witnesses claim he was jumped by four youths between the ages of 16 and 19.

Stuttgart said on its website that the 28-year-old right back’s contract has been terminated by mutual consent with immediate effect.

The former Borussia Dortmund defender Grosskreutz said in a press conference that he doesn’t want “anything to do with football for the time being.”

He did not suffer serious injury in the altercation. Police said on Tuesday that a 28-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury after receiving a punch in a fight between two groups on Monday.

This isn't the first time Grosskreutz' has been involved in the wrong side of headlines,

Hours after the final of the 2014 German Cup, Grosskreutz was seen urinating in the lobby of a Berlin hotel.

Tanzania jails notorious elephant poacher

Tanzania's most notorious elephant poacher, nicknamed "The Devil", has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Boniface Matthew Maliango, commonly known as ‘Shetani’ or ‘The Devil’, is one of Tanzania’s most notorious ivory traffickers. Today he was given a 12-year sentence,” the PAMS Foundation, which finances the government’s fight against poaching, wrote on its Facebook page.

The 47-year-old, considered the biggest ivory trafficker in east Africa, was arrested in Dar es Salaam in September 2015 after a year-long manhunt.

The Elephant Action League, which fights wildlife crime, said he was believed to be responsible for killing thousands of elephants at the head of 15 poaching syndicates operating throughout Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique and southern Kenya.

He was sentenced alongside his brothers, Lucas Mathayo Maliango and Abdallah Ally Chaoga.

The three have been arrested in October 2015 whereas trying to smuggle tusks price greater than $850,000

He is also accused of leading a poaching network supplying a 66-year-old Chinese citizen Yang Fenlan known as the “Ivory Queen”, who is currently on trial in Tanzania for illegally trafficking 706 elephant tusks price $2.5m between 2000 and 2014.