Ex-employee from AfD politician Krah in court. The situation in the morning

Good morning, dear readers!

The case made high waves in the middle of the 2024 election campaign: An ex-employee of the AfD politician Maximilian Krah is said to have spied on China. As of today, Jian G. and a suspected complicity stand before the Dresden Higher Regional Court. 13 negotiation dates are scheduled in the process by the end of September.

Jian G., a German, is said to have worked for a Chinese secret service since 2002. As an assistant to Krah’s office in the European Parliament, he collected more than 500 documents from September 2019 until his arrest in April 2024, including highly sensitive. He is also said to have spied on AfD leadership and monitored Chinese dissidents. In social networks, he is said to have pretended to be a critic of China to get personal data.

The co -accused Chinesin Jaqi X. is said to have supported him. She worked for a logistics company at Leipzig Airport and sent G. information about flights, freight and passengers between August 2023 and February 2024. According to the federal prosecutor, this data primarily concerned the transport of armaments and people with connections to a German armaments company. Both accused sit in custody.

Krah was a member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2025 and is now a member of the Bundestag. After GS arrest, Krah’s office was searched in Brussels. The federal prosecutor emphasized that it was a “measure with witnesses”. Krah, then the top candidate of his party for the European elections, immediately dismissed G.. In April 2024, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against G. and X.

China rejected the allegations. The assertion of a threat from Chinese spies was “freely invented and malicious,” said foreign office spokesman Guo Jiakun in Beijing.

In the meantime, the Dresden General Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating Krah. The suspicion: money laundering and bribery as an EU MP. Krah is said to have accepted money from China. According to information from the “Spiegel”, between April 2019 and December 2022, he received over 50,000 euros from companies from the environment of the alleged agent G. The 48-year-old rejected the allegations as “absurd and politically motivated”.

A political drama is currently taking place in the United States: several democratic MPs from Texas have left the state. The reason is a dispute over the revival of constituencies, a year before the Midterm elections.

The Republicans under President Donald Trump want to expand their short majority in the House of Representatives in the congress elections in November 2026. To do this, you plan to change the constituencies in Texas by “gerryminging” in Texas so that you benefit from it. Your goal: remove the Democrat up to five seats.

The Texas Democrats fled to the democratically governed states of Illinois and New York to prevent the quorum for the vote. They also succeeded for the time being. A meeting in Austin started on Monday afternoon (local time) without most democratic MPs.

The Texas Governor Greg Abbott – Arch -conservative Republican – threatened to exclude the absent Democrats from the parliament of the state and possibly even prosecute. In addition, the MPs have to pay a penalty for each day of their absence. The Republicans also voted for an arrest warrant against the fled Democrats – but only valid in Texas.

In the “gerrymandering” you manipulate constituencies to concentrate or split up the voices of the opposing party and thus weaken their influence. Both parties use this method, but most recently they used Republican states.

In the meantime, the governors of Illinois, JB Pritzker, and New York, Kathy Hochul, are examining a counter -offensive. They are considering re -drawing the constituencies in favor of their own party in their states. “You have to fight fire with fire,” said Hochul. Will this dispute become a surface fire? Read more about this here:

In the English city of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, around 20 ducks found a place to sleep in the middle of the city center. Every evening around 8.30 p.m., they waddle from the river in around 15 minutes to a parking lot on the market square, as the local newspaper reports. They rest there until around 4.30 a.m. Why the ducks do this daily hike remains a duck mystery. Some suspect that the duck mothers were looking for protection against predators on the river bank with their chicks.

To ensure that the ducks arrive safely, a group of voluntary “duckwalks” has formed in Thirsk. They accompany the birds on busy streets. Once at the destination, the helpers put cone around the ducks and watch them until the city sleeps. One of the guards reports that warning vests and food were donated. A local pub provided the group with warm drinks.

According to “The Press”, the ducks started their hike last year – at that time without protection. A few animals died when crossing the street. The 41-year-old Jodie Wood then founded a Facebook page and since then drums volunteers who accompany the ducks. In the meantime, 15 people are in action and the group receives support from all over the world. The duck hike should continue until mid-December.

There are people who are really unlucky in life and then they continue. The magic formula is: resilience. Can you learn them? Find out the answer here:

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I wish you a good start to Tuesday! Warm, you

A notice: In an earlier version it said: “Republicans under ex-President Donald Trump want to expand their short majority in the House of Representatives in the congress elections in November 2026.” The “ex-president” is wrong. It was corrected. We apologize for the mistake.