Right-winger calls for 'criminal investigation' as rumors swirl about McConnell

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY, left) 

and President Donald Trump (right), image via Screengrab.

Matthew Rozsa

July 06, 2026

ALTERNET

As rumors swirl that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is brain dead after suffering from a stroke, heart attack or other serious medical incident, the social media platform X is erupting with sentiment — but not of the sympathetic kind.

"Mitch McConnell remaining technically alive for an extra three weeks because of a manipulative procedural maneuver is exactly how he would have wanted to go out,” posted cryptocurrency journalist David Z. Morris. Similarly far right influencer Laura Loomer, who is reportedly close to President Donald Trump, wrote that “a very high level source told me Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead and machines are keeping him alive, but he is a vegetable and ‘never coming back.’”

Loomer added, “So why is his wife @ElaineChao in China instead of by his side? Is she a Chinese CCP spy? How does the wife of one of the most powerful US Senators just travel to China? Is she coming back from China? Who is she meeting with in China? Will she be the one to pull the plug?"

Journalist Desiree Townsend, who has long covered the story about McConnell’s health, posted under Loomer’s tweet that "I have heard the same thing from my sources for days. At this point, I am at the hospital for when they eventually decide to move cut him off of life support and move his body. His Capitol police detail is still here as of 3:39pm ET."

Similarly the wrap-up interview host for Megyn Kelly’s program, Emily Jashinsky, wrote that “this makes it even more bizarre that his wife was meeting with the CCP in Beijing last week about ‘future bilateral relations.’”

Breitbart News' Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle was outraged, tweeting that “if this is true, and I have no idea if it is, it is exactly the disgraceful end to Mitch McConnell (his disgusting consultants covering up his end of life) that we should have all expected.”

Boyle continued, “Frankly, also, every single person who currently knows for sure the status of Mitch McConnell if this is true should never work in politics again. There should be a massive criminal investigation into this as well."

On the other side of the aisle, liberal-leaning podcast host David Pakman wrote that “a source that has been directly in contact with my team has told us that Senator Mitch McConnell has been unconscious in the hospital for the last 3 weeks, and this has been kept a secret."

Finally there was grassroots political organizing group Really American, who posted that "we've reached out to Senator Mitch McConnell for a statement, but have not yet received a response."

Last week licensed-speech language pathologist Hilary Shae commented that McConnell’s apparent symptoms raise questions about whether he is fit to serve in the Senate, saying that “even if he is alive, he is unfit to serve, and he should not be finishing out his term through January. Mitch McConnell is 84 years old, and his health history is not good. He has a history of multiple falls — one of which was significant for concussion — and what appeared to be TIAs, or transient ischemic attacks, and it does not appear that he really came back to his full self. He did not return to his baseline after his concussion."

McConnell has occasionally been vocal, despite his apparent health issues. When it came out in May that President Donald Trump had created a $1.8 billion slush fund for supporters, including those who were involved in the Jan. 6th insurrection attempt, McConnell reportedly said that, “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong – Take your pick."

Trump influencer just dropped a bombshell claim about Mitch McConnell

REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File Photo

Nick Hilden

July 06, 2026

ALTERNET

On Monday, MAGA influencer Laura Loomer made a bombshell claim about Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), posting, “High level source close to the White House tells me ‘Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He’s not coming back.’”

Loomer rose to prominence as a conspiracy theorist, recently admiting that she “fell for Russian propaganda,” and has remained a vocal ally and mouthpiece for President Donald Trump. But her claim does come as rumors swirl around 84-year-old McConnell’s health.

Last week, it was revealed that McConnell had been hospitalized after being discovered unconscious and receiving CPR. At the time, it was reported that there were “still few details surrounding his condition or why he’s there.” With little known about his health condition, some medical experts argued that he could be “unfit to serve.”

The senator has had several highly discussed health scares in recent years, including three public falls in 2025 and a concussion after falling down the stairs in 2023, as well as a number of incidents where he appeared to “freeze” while speaking. These and other instances have prompted calls for him to retire.

McConnell has long been known as a staunch oppositionalist, capably thwarting the Democratic agenda on numerous occasions. His relationship with Trump has been complicated, swinging sharply between cooperation and open hostility. McConnell backed many Trump-era policies and even endorsed Trump’s 2024 run, yet he also delivered some of the harshest Republican criticism of Trump, calling him “practically and morally responsible” for the January 6 insurrection and privately describing him as “a despicable human being” and “a narcissist.”

He has frequently used Senate procedure to block Democratic priorities, from refusing hearings on judicial nominees to limiting debate on major legislation. The most notorious instance came in 2016, when he successfully blocked the confirmation of then-President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

This President From Hell’s Destruction Will Last a Very Long Time

The worst that’s happening right now is nothing compared to what could happen in the years to come.


Heavy machinery tears down a section of the East Wing of the White House as construction begins on President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom, in Washington, DC, on October 21, 2025.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images)

Tom Engelhardt
Jul 06, 2026

Common Dreams


I know, I know. Recently, Donald Trump has been obsessed with water, at least the algae-green water in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that he wants to be a beautiful, pristine blue. But consider that an irony indeed, since when it comes to the planet he now oversees, water is going to be a problem and a half, algae or not.

Phew, in fact, I’m already sweating and I’ve just been reading about the heat in Europe right now, a region which has been warming twice as fast as the global average for quite a while. And mind you, I’m thousands of miles away (although still in a distinctly hot New York City about to soon get hotter still)!

If it were me, the headline during Trump’s recent algal week in the news wouldn’t have been in question anywhere on this planet (of ours?). I’m thinking, of course, about the recent days when the mid-June temperature in Paris, France, hit a wild record of nearly 115 (yes, you read that right!) degrees Fahrenheit and it was in the 106-113 degree range across the European continent. From England to Switzerland and Spain, temperature records of a remarkable sort were being set and then set again (and again!).

No one had ever seen anything quite like it. In the third week of June, it was so hot, in fact, that across Europe at least 40 people drowned just trying to stay wet and cool and four toddlers died trapped in overheated cars. And yet, crisis as it might have been, think of it as just the beginning on this distinctly overheating planet of ours. With at least two and a half more years to go of Donald J. Trump, a fossil-fuel maniac of the first order who has called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” you can count on this planet becoming ever hotter ever sooner. And count on another thing as well: in the coming years, today’s weather and temperature headlines, however disturbing they might seem right now, are likely to prove all too mild.

In short, we humans—Trump in his wildly pro-fossil fuel views and acts being just the most obviously mad of our leaders—are all too literally hard at work heating this planet of “ours” toward the boiling point. Of course, no one should be surprised that this American president has proven to be an arsonist first class, a fossil-fuelized maniac of the first order. (Or do I mean second class and second order, since this is indeed his second time around?)

Once upon a time, in another age, Donald J. Trump’s return to the presidency would have been just a sign of the descent of a great imperial power. But on this planet of ours at this very moment, he represents so much more than that with his bizarre urge to further fossilize-fuelize our world in every way imaginable. Think of him, in fact, as the eerie personification of the decline not just of the United States, but potentially of everything. Yes, the works!

And keep in mind that, on this ever-changing planet of ours, the keys to imperial power no longer lie in war, as Trump and crew made all too clear recently in Iran, and Vladimir Putin has made even more strikingly clear in his never-ending war with Ukraine, the most devastating conflict in Europe since World War II. And, of course, it continues to pour fossil fuels into the atmosphere (just as Israel recently did in Gaza and Lebanon). It’s estimated that the first four years of that conflict have indeed already put 311 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

On Planet Earth today, it’s not complicated. No matter who (if anyone) wins any war, everyone loses. Yes, every last one of us from the almost 82-year-old me to—especially—my grandchildren who, barring a genuine surprise, will inherit what could only be thought of as the planet from—yes!—hell.

And that’s why, for the first time in human history, taking up the keys to global imperial power should no longer mean becoming the greatest military powerhouse around, something that—to give its leaders credit—China has grasped in a significant way. Now, don’t get me wrong, China is indeed arming itself in a traditional (if I can even use that word) fashion, including with the nuclear weapons that are the fastest way we humans have discovered to do ourselves in on this planet. But its leaders have also grasped that, as the heat rises ever more radically, the need for green power will only grow in an astounding fashion.

And so, in its imperial rise on this planet, and despite the way it, too, continues to burn coal, oil, and natural gas in a staggering fashion, it’s become the Earth’s great green power. It’s now selling the equipment to produce solar and wind power in a distinctly record fashion globally. As the Guardian reports, “the manufacture, installation and export of batteries, electric cars, solar, wind and related technologies accounted for more than a third of China’s economic growth” in 2025 and “clean energy industries drove more than 90% of the country’s investment growth last year, making the sectors bigger than all but seven of the world’s economies.”

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been trying to ensure that, in our future, the United States will indeed be a lost country on this planet. (Fortunately, he’s been unable to stop the remarkable growth and roll-out of green energy here, too.)

In the meantime, all too sadly, the casualties are rising. And make no mistake, this is indeed war (even if of a different kind than anything we’ve been used to). Under the circumstances, don’t you think it strange indeed that Americans would have elected Donald Trump a second time to be our arsonist-in-chief?

And here’s the thing all of us need to try to grasp: the worst that’s happening right now is nothing compared to what could happen in the years to come. And mind you, nothing makes me sadder than imagining the world my grandchildren may find themselves in when they grow up.

Someday, Donald J. Trump will undoubtedly be remembered as the president from—yes, it’s an all too appropriate and accurate word—hell. He will have been our arsonist-in-chief on a planet that, all too sadly, as in Europe recently and despite everything now being done, could be going to hell in a handbasket.


Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.


Tom Engelhardt
The above piece, published here with permission, first appeared at Tom Engelhardt's substack page, where you can find more of his writing.

Engelhardt, was editor-in-chief of TomDispatch.com for over 24 years, is the author of numerous books, including: "A Nation Unmade by War" (2018, Dispatch Books), "Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World" (2014, with an introduction by Glenn Greenwald), "Terminator Planet: The First History of Drone Warfare, 2001-2050"(co-authored with Nick Turse), "The United States of Fear" (2011), "The American Way of War: How Bush's Wars Became Obama's" (2010), and "The End of Victory Culture: a History of the Cold War and Beyond" (2007).
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Leaked report shows Trump admin knows of threat that may send 'shockwaves' through economy

Alexander Willis
July 6, 2026 

RAW STORY

While the Trump administration has gone all in on an emerging technology, a leaked internal report from the Treasury Department revealed Monday that officials are well aware of the “significant risk” it poses, a risk that could “send shockwaves throughout the entire economic system,” NOTUS reported.

That emerging technology is generative artificial intelligence, with the companies leading its development receiving significant support from the Trump administration, such as when President Donald Trump signed an executive order last December to block states from enacting their own laws to regulate the technology.

And yet, even as it champions GenAI companies, the Trump administration's own Treasury Department appears well aware of the risks that support carries, according to the draft report obtained by NOTUS.

“Career Treasury analysts found that AI firms are more deeply entrenched in the U.S. economy than their dotcom predecessors and pose significant risk to the entire system if financial conditions change, productivity goals are missed or various choke points stymie growth,” NOTUS’ report reads.

“A downturn in the AI market would send shockwaves throughout the entire economic ecosystem, the analysts wrote."

Should AI companies struggle financially, Treasury analysts predicted that “stock markets, private credit markets, companies financing data center buildouts, cloud providers, chip manufacturers and utilities would all feel the effect,” according to NOTUS review of the report.

“AI investors are taking risks so significant that much of the financial system now rests upon AI meeting expectations for productivity gains and profitability,” NOTUS’ report reads.

In public, the Trump administration has “shown nothing but bullishness toward the AI industry,” NOTUS’ report reads. It’s created an AI Action Plan aimed at speeding the building of GenAI data centers, repealed Biden-era regulations around AI, and publicly backed major AI projects.

MAGA melts down as Bruce Springsteen torches Trump in new interview: 'He is a coward'

Nicole Charky-Chami
July 6, 2026

RAW STORY

Bruce Springsteen performs during a dedication ceremony for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois, on June 18, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

MAGA loyalists were furious Monday after music legend Bruce Springsteen said he was a true "patriot" and called out President Donald Trump.

In a PBS special called "Bruce Springsteen: Finding America in Song," the musician talked about fighting for a better America and encouraging others to do the same, Variety reported. Springsteen has been critical of Trump and his administration — and the president has lashed out against the artist, calling him a "bad, and very boring singer."

"I believe in critical patriotism," Springsteen told PBS. "I believe that’s the definition of a patriot, you know, that you love your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place, and believe that you carry in your heart the country that is waiting."

MAGA fans reacted to Springsteen's comments.

"He is wrong. What he is doing is using his platform to add to the unjustified rhetoric that is fueling the fires which are tearing this country apart. He is no hero," actor and filmmaker Jeff Rose, who often shares MAGA-related content, wrote on X.


"And I believe you’re a two-bit schmuck who hasn’t had a decent song since born to run! So do that song boy RUN!!" Jeffrey Calvert, who self-describes as "Christian, conservative," wrote on X.


"Springsteen sounds ungrateful for living in a country where he could become rich by being a musician. You can't define a country you love by the things you hate about it," Ted Nightingale, who shares pro-MAGA content and self-describes as "Patriot," wrote on X.

"He is a coward, not a patriot. Bruce Springsteen Declares Himself a ‘Patriot’ for Trashing Trump: ‘I Believe in Critical Patriotism,'" MAGA commentator Kevin Kmak wrote on X.

DINO

Fetterman sparks firestorm over Fox News interview claims: 'Look in the mirror'

Nicole Charky-Chami
July 6, 2026 
RAW STORY


Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., arrives before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS


The internet was livid Monday after Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) slammed Democrats for boosting Maine Senate candidate and Democrat Graham Platner — taking swipes at his own party and prominent leaders.

Fetterman appeared on Fox News in an interview with anchor Laura Ingraham, as calls were mounting for the candidate to step down from the competitive Senate race after he was accused of sexual assault.

"I would really call Bernie Sanders to apologize for pushing this kind of predator more than anyone he helped him elect," Fetterman said. "Maybe he should stop pushing these communists."

Social media users called Fetterman out for his comments.

"Says the guy also pushed on us by Bernie," Rachel Murphy Azzara, founder and executive director of Democrats Work for America, wrote on X.

"This guy is more of a FOX maga anchor than a congressman," liberal political commentator Rodger Williams wrote on X.

"Has Laura Ingraham or Fetterman for that matter ever pushed for Trump to resign?" Political writer Zaid Jilani wrote on X.

"Democrat who trashes Democrats and appears on Fox every chance he gets wants everyone else to look in the mirror," political commentator Hemant Mehta wrote on X.

"Have long disliked Platner, but Fetterman owes his Senate seat in large part to Bernie. And millions of Democrats are jusifiability [SIC] angry at Sanders pushing fake progressive Fetterman. 'While serving as Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor, he was a vocal progressive Democrat who aligned with the Bernie Sanders wing of the party," frequent progressive commentator Janice Hough wrote on X.

Cuba's power grid collapses again as US oil blockade strains ageing plants

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By bnl editorial staff July 6, 2026

Cuba's national electric system suffered yet another total\ collapse on July 6, the state-run Cuban Electric Union (UNE) said, the latest in a string of islandwide blackouts to hit the country since late 2024 as a US blockade on oil shipments squeezes the island's power supply.

The UNE said on its official channel that the cause of the disconnection was still unknown and under investigation, adding that further details would be released once available.

The utility said it was applying protocols for a gradual recovery of the grid, prioritising the creation of local microsystems to restore power to hospitals, aqueducts and other essential services.

The outage comes amid tightening US economic pressure on Havana. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening tariffs on countries that export or facilitate fuel shipments to Cuba.

Pressure on the communist-run island intensified after US forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of Havana, in a military operation in early January, severing a supply of Venezuelan oil that had propped up Cuba's economy for years. Trump told reporters shortly afterwards that Cuba "looks like it is ready to fall" and has since suggested the US could carry out a “friendly takeover” of the island, without elaborating.

The de facto oil blockade has placed additional strain on a generation network that already depends on ageing Soviet-era thermal plants and has been pushed beyond the breaking point by the US fuel embargo. Cuba's thermal blocks include ten units from the former Soviet Union alongside Japanese, Czechoslovak and French-built generators, most of which have been in operation for more than 30 years, with seven blocks running for over four decades.

Cuba has received only one oil shipment from Russia since the blockade tightened this year. A Russian-flagged tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, delivered 730,000 barrels of crude to the Bay of Matanzas on March 30, the first vessel to reach the island in three months, after Washington allowed the delivery on humanitarian grounds. Those supplies had reportedly been exhausted by late April. A second Russian tanker, the Universal, carrying nearly 270,000 barrels of diesel, stalled roughly 1,600 km off the Cuban coast after departing Russia in April and later turned around off the coast of Brazil in late May without reaching the island.

Havana has attributed the repeated grid collapses, which have strained the country's healthcare infrastructure and dealt a final blow to the once-thriving tourism industry, to the cumulative effects of the decades-old US trade embargo, which it says restricts its access to the fuel, spare parts and financing needed to maintain and modernise its power sector.

German public university creates Islamic theology faculty

Christoph Strack  

DW

07/02/2026

The University of Münster is the first public university in Europe to establish an Islamic theology faculty, a move that is is attracting international attention.


The new 'Campus of Religions' at Münster University is still under construction

Image: Uni Münster – Linus Peikenkamp


Since 2021, work has been underway on the new "Campus of Religions" in the western German city of Münster. Much of the site is still under construction. Scheduled for inauguration in 2027, the complex will bring together the faculties of Catholic, Protestant, and Islamic Theology, as well as the Department of Religious Studies, in a single location.

The faculty marks a milestone: for the first time in Germany — and indeed in Europe — a public university is home to an independent Faculty of Islamic Theology.

"I have the privilege of being part of a unique chapter in history," scholar Mouhanad Khorchide told DW. Looking back on 15 years of work at the University of Münster, he said the achievement fills him with deep gratitude. At the same time, the 54‑year‑old emphasized the responsibility that comes with it.

"We want to make the most of this unique opportunity and advocate for an open‑minded, enlightened understanding of Islam." According to Khorchide, the faculty's work will have an impact not only across Europe but also throughout the Muslim world.

Mouhanad Khorchide is an Austrian sociologist and Islamic theologian and a Professor of Islamic Religious Education and Director of the Center for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster in Germany.Image: ZIT/Peter Grewer

Faculty status a significant milestone

As of July 1, a new chapter begins for Khorchide. For the time being, however, he will continue working from the temporary university offices near Münster's Paulus Cathedral. Until now, the sociologist and religious educator has led the Center for Islamic Theology (ZIT) at the University of Münster. He is now the founding dean — the first dean of the newly established Faculty of Islamic Theology.

The elevation to full faculty status gives Islamic theology a new standing within the university and represents a significant academic policy milestone. Until now, the ZIT lacked faculty status of its own and therefore depended on another faculty for important academic functions.

An increase in Islamic religious education

As an independent faculty, Islamic Theology can now confer doctorates and habilitations in its own right, helping to cultivate a new generation of scholars and establish a lasting academic legacy. The new status is also expected to make it easier to secure third‑party research funding.

Khorchide recalls the early days of the ZIT in 2012, when it had just 15 students and three staff members. Today, the center employs eight professors and more than 50 staff members, and Khorchide expects student numbers to exceed 500 in the coming years.

He expects a high demand. Across Germany, Islamic religious education is being introduced in public schools, creating a growing need for qualified teachers.

For example, in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine‑Westphalia where Münster is located, up to 3,000 teachers are required, but only around 330 are currently in place. For graduates, this offers a clear career path.

Between worlds: Young Muslim women in Germany  12:34

'Islam and Social Work' specialization

Starting in 2027, Khorchide plans to launch a master's program titled "Islam and Social Work." He says there is strong demand for this specialization, particularly in fields such as youth services, hospital chaplaincy and elder care.

In its guiding principles, the faculty affirms the compatibility of faith and democracy, promotes a scholarly and contemporary reading of the Quran, and emphasizes interreligious dialogue. It also explicitly rejects extremism, antisemitism, and Islamism. "We oppose every form of religiously motivated violence and ideological manipulation," the document states.

Shaping Islam beyond Germany

Khorchide says he has been deeply impressed by the level of interest generated since news of the new faculty became public. Media outlets as far afield as Africa and Asia have reported on the development. He specifically points to Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population.

"People long for an open-minded Islam," Khorchide says. In the long term, he believes, Münster could help shape the broader debate on the future development of Islam far beyond Germany.

"Münster has traditionally been strong in theology," Norbert Robers, the university's spokesperson, told DW. Now, for the first time, the two Christian theological faculties and Islamic theology are being brought together under one roof, sharing a library and a cafeteria. "That has great symbolic power."

Europe's first Islamic theology department at a public university

A faculty of Islamic theology has long existed in Sarajevo, but it is not part of a public university structure. So Münster is now home to the first Faculty of Islamic Theology at a public university in Europe.

Robers, the university spokesperson, notes that the upgrade to faculty status may appear to be a "pure administrative act," but it carries significant legal and institutional weight. A ceremonial opening is scheduled for September 24 in the university's main hall.

Annette Schavan, a politician with the center-right Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) served as Germany's federal minister of education from 2005 to 2013. She played a key role in establishing Islamic theology at German universities and describes the current step as a "milestone." Writing on Cologne-based Catholic Domradio's portal in mid-June, she argued that the opening of the Faculty of Islamic Theology represented "a strengthening of academic theology as a whole" and predicted that the new faculty would be recognized across Europe.

This article has been translated from German.

Christoph Strack Christoph Strack is a senior author writing about religious affairs.@Strack_C

Jehovah's Witnesses fight German state for Holocaust archive

Helen Whittle

DW

July 5, 2026

The Jehovah's Witnesses have secured a partial victory in a dispute over a unique archive documenting the community's persecution by the Nazi regime. It comes after a new memorial to the victims was unveiled in Berlin.

Annemarie Kusserow was the eldest of 11 children who, along with their parents, were all persecuted by the Nazis

Image: Jehovas Zeugen, Archiv Zentraleuropa


Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled in favor of the Jehovah's Witnesses in a dispute over a unique archive that meticulously documents the persecution of its adherents in photographs, letters, reports from the Gestapo secret police, arrest warrants and death sentences.

The religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses was one of the groups persecuted by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. From 1933 to 1945, around 15,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted across Nazi-occupied Europe. Around 4,500 were sent to concentration camps where they were forced to wear purple triangles. Over 1,800 were murdered.

Annemarie Kusserow, herself a victim of Nazi persecution who died in 2005, bequeathed her private archive to a branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany. However, in 2009, one of her brothers sold the more than 1,000 documents to the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden and gave assurances that he was the rightful owner. The Jehovah's Witnesses have since been locked in a years-long legal battle with the German state for the return of the archive.

Around 4,500 Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps where they were identified with a purple triangle

Image: Caroline Seidel/dpa/picture alliance

"To learn that here was a family that was persecuted by the Nazis and you have a clearly expressed will of Annemarie Kusserow who herself was persecuted, suffered, was imprisoned, and she clearly states what should happen with this archive that she collected meticulously, and morally it is so clear where this archive should be," said Sebastian Stock, a spokesperson for the Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany.
Targets of 'blood and soil' ideology

The Jehovah's Witnesses are an outgrowth of the International Bible Student movement founded in the US in the 1870s. Many of their missionaries traveled to Europe. By 1933, over 25,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were living in the German Reich, and the eastern German state of Saxony was home to Europe's largest community. Both the Protestant and Catholic Churches in Germany opposed the group, known as the International Bible Students and the Earnest Bible Students, and from 1931, as the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Before the Nazis came to power in 1933, the Bible Students were targeted by the German ethno-nationalist "völkisch" movement that emerged in the late 19th century, and which viewed the German people as a "racially pure" community tied to the land as part of the so-called "blood and soil" ideology. Baseless propaganda was spread that "World Jewry" or an international Jewish conspiracy financed the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Born in the western German town of Bochum in 1913, Annemarie Kusserow was the eldest of 11 children who, along with their parents, would all be imprisoned by the Nazi regime. In 1931, the family moved to the nearby town of Bad Lippspringe where Kusserow's father encouraged her to document their systematic persecution.

Annemarie Kusserow, pictured in her youth, meticulously documented the persecution of her family

Image: Jehovas Zeugen, Archiv Zentraleuropa

The Nazis issued a nationwide ban on the Bible Students in 1935 after several German states, Prussia and Bavaria among them, had already imposed regional restrictions. Its members were dismissed from the civil service, lost their jobs and pensions, and were subjected to waves of mass arrests.

To find work, Kusserow moved to Berlin where she was able to visit her younger brother Wolfgang who was in prison for his refusal to join the military. She was arrested in Berlin on October 25, 1944, and was sentenced to four years for discussing her faith and for being in possession of the group's literature. Her brother Karl-Heinz Kusserow was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp and died at the age of 28 in 1946 as a result of his treatment there.

Conscientious objectors executed

The Nazis targeted Jehovah's Witnesses because they were unwilling to swear allegiance to the Nazi state and Adolf Hitler. They believe that their primary allegiance is to God and not any government or human leader. Jehovah's Witnesses refused to give the Hitler salute, would not become members of any Nazi organizations or institutions, and refused to join the military based on their religious pacifism. They were the single largest unified group that refused military service in the Third Reich.

Nearly 300 young men were executed by the Nazis for refusing to fight, including two of Annemarie's brothers. Kusserow's younger brother Wilhelm was executed by firing squad in 1940. "At age 25, imagine this young man who stood there and who gave his life for his conviction not to kill others," said Stock. In 1942, their 20-year-old sibling Wolfgang was executed by guillotine.

Operation 1005: How the Nazis concealed their atrocities  42:34

The executions of conscientious objectors are one reason why the right to refuse military service is now enshrined in Germany's Basic Law. "My brothers died for refusing to participate in military service. I don't find it proper that this inheritance is stored, of all places, in a military museum," Paul-Gerhard Kusserow, the youngest sibling, told the New York Times in 2022.

The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe ruled on June 26 that Annemarie's brother Hans-Werner had taken possession of the archive without authorization. It also ruled that in the case of a "singular, historical significant archive," the state cannot simply rely on the reassurances of a seller and has a duty to investigate. The Higher Regional Court in Cologne will now determine whether Annemarie was the sole owner of the documents, how she lost possession of them, and whether sufficient questions were asked of her brother's right to sell the archive.

New memorial to persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses

The ruling came just two days after a new memorial to the Jehovah's Witnesses who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis was unveiled in Berlin. The nearly five-meter-high bronze stele stands in the capital's Tiergarten park where groups of Jehovah's Witnesses would meet to organize resistance activities. Members were arrested by the Gestapo at the park's goldfish pond in 1936.

The memorial to the Jehovah's Witnesses persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime was unveiled in Berlin

Image: Christian Ditsch/epd/IMAGO

The new memorial in Berlin has, however, prompted criticism. Prominent historian Tim B. Müller wrote an opinion piece for the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper. He argues that the Jehovah's Witnesses persecuted by the Nazis have no legitimate representation today. The Bible Student movement was marked by various schisms and, according to Müller, there is no straightforward continuity between those persecuted by the Nazis and later Jehovah's Witnesses. Müller writes that the memorial presents a "one-sided narrative" where "well-organized voices drown out historical plurality, and some of the victims are not represented."

Author Stefanie de Velasco has also criticized the memorial. She has written at length about her upbringing in the Jehovah's Witnesses, which she describes as a "totalitarian" sect. "The Jehovah's Witnesses were victims of the Nazis; I don't doubt that. But I would have preferred a memorial that focused on the individuality of the victims and their involuntary suffering — not on their heroic steadfastness," she wrote in Der Spiegel news magazine.

Concentration camp survivors persecuted in GDR

The persecution of the Jehovah's Witnesses did not end with World War II in 1945. It continued in Soviet-occupied Germany and intensified in the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990). Jehovah's Witnesses in Soviet-occupied Germany were initially able to carry out church services. Those who had been imprisoned or held in Nazi concentration camps were also given official papers recognizing them as victims of fascism.

"That changed by around 1947 and then a ban was introduced in 1950 on the religious community in the GDR. The official status of victims of fascism was then revoked," historian Falk Bersch told DW. "I've even come across cases where the time spent in Nazi concentration camps was counted by the GDR authorities as a prior criminal offense."

A total of 6,740 Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned in the Soviet occupation zone and later in the GDR. Sixty-five died in custody, around half of whom had spent time in Nazi camps. "We know of over 600 men and women who were persecuted by both the Nazi and the GDR regimes. Around 400 were in concentration camps or imprisoned under both regimes," Bersch said.

Edited by Rina Goldenberg
Helen Whittle British journalist in Berlin

Fashion against fascism: When trademarks deter neo-Nazis

Sarah Hucal

DW

06/07/2026 - 

In Germany, where Nazi symbols are banned, activists are using trademark law to fight far-right merchandise.

A campaign uses creative means to fight racist codes, even turning them into anti-racism merch

Image: Jung von Matt

In recent years, far-right merchandise has become an important source of income for some right-wing extremist groups and individuals in Germany. Online stores sell clothing, accessories and other products that use symbols members of the far-right scene recognize.

Because many openly Nazi symbols are illegal in Germany, sellers have increasingly relied on coded language to get around the law. Hitlerhas become HTLR, while Hakenkreuz (swastika) is abbreviated to HKNKRZ.

But the campaign "Recht Gegen Rechts" (Rights Against the Right) has found a clever way to combat this legal workaround. They take control of Nazi-related symbols, coded extremist phrases and the names of far-right businesses by registering them as trademarks at the European trademark office.

The campaign was launched in 2021 by German creative agency Jung von Matt, together with Hamburg-based nonprofit Laut Gegen Nazis (Noise against Nazis).

If extremist retailers continue to sell products bearing the newly protected names or phrases without permission, they could face legal action for infringement — including paying compensation for each item sold.
How registered trademarks stopped far-right merchandise

"These online shops are not in the darknet; they're existing there online. You have just to find the right URLs," explained Simon Knittel of Jung von Matt.

Simon Knittel was among those who started the campaign in 2021 to raise awareness about neo-Nazi codes       Image: Jung von Matt

However, for those outside of the far-right scene, the stores aren't easy to find. The team had help from Joern Menge, the founder of Noise against Nazis (Laut Gegen Nazis), as well as Philip Schlaffer, a former neo-Nazi and online shop owner, who is now a speaker and activist against far-right extremism.

"Basically, you can find these shops if you know what keywords to enter. A lot of them are now based overseas," Schlaffer told DW. "It's become a global business where a lot of money is changing hands."

The team identified more than 35 online stores with over 1,000 articles in each shop and then determined which trademarks would be most effective. For Schlaffer, the campaign's approach is both creative and effective.

"Neo-Nazis shouldn't feel like they have a safe haven; they should be afraid that the ideas they have — the ones they're selling — might be taken away from them and that the products will need to be taken offline. That takes away their sense of security," he said.

Indeed, the team saw this in action after the first trademark was secured.

"When we published our initial press release announcing that we had registered a trademark, it only took about 30 minutes, and the trademark was taken down by all the online shops. We didn't have to do anything," explained Knittel. "They did it voluntarily because they knew that we really had something against them and didn't want to be on the losing side of a court case."

Each subsequent trademark was met with the same response: items were quickly taken offline.

"In the end, we had to wait just 10 minutes, not 30. That was the proof for us that we found something that really solves the problem," said Knittel.

Philip Schlaffer is a former neo-Nazi-turned activist who helped advise the campaign

Image: Philip Schlaffer

Germany's strict approach to Nazi symbols

Germany's approach to Nazi imagery reflects the country's history and its efforts to prevent the revival of National Socialism. Under Section 86a of the German Criminal Code, displaying or distributing symbols of unconstitutional organizations is generally prohibited. This includes symbols associated with the Nazi Party, such as the swastika, SS symbols and the Nazi salute, except in educational contexts or for research and historical documentation.

Violations can result in fines or even imprisonment. Germany has one of the strictest approaches to extremist symbolism anywhere in the world.

How Germany is targeting violent neo-Nazi networks  13:44

Turning racist codes into anti-fascist merch

Rights Against the Right has also taken the process a step further by turning the neo-Nazi slogans into snarky anti-Nazi merchandise.

The campaign secured the trademark and the web domain of Druck18, a major online seller of neo-Nazi merchandise run by far-right extremist Tommy Frenck.

The shop sold products featuring extremist and xenophobic messages, including items designed to appeal to Nazi nostalgia. Recht Gegen Rechts replaced it with their own online shop, which sells anti-Nazi and anti-racist merchandise.

In the new Druck 18 online shop, you can buy a sweatshirt with the words HKN KRZ, the shorthand for swastika in German, that features the words crossed off and the text: "Thank you trademark law: We've registered this Nazi code as a trademark so Nazis can't spread it."

The team had to find a way to use the new trademarks without contributing to neo-Nazi rhetoric

Image: Jung von Matt

New trademarks are legally required to be used commercially within five years, so the team had to get creative. "We had to find a way to make [these Nazi codes] commercially available without contributing to any Nazi scandal or anything like that. So, we turned them upside down and had them written on the shirts," said Knittel.

Challenges with registering trademarks

The campaign has secured six trademarks and is in the process of securing more.

"It's quite complicated — it takes up to six months to have one trademark registered and costs €1,600 ($1,823) — and you never know if you will actually get it registered," said Knittel. The campaign relies completely on donations to fund its operations. Jung von Matt works entirely pro bono.

Harassment in the form of hate mail, emails has been commonplace, and the campaign is currently looking for name donors, as each trademark needs to be registered under an individual's name.

Street art against far-right hatred in Verona  04:57

The campaign is also involved in a lawsuit with Tommy Frenck, the owner of the original Druck 18. He sought a court order to stop them from using the shop's name but lost in both the first instance and on appeal.

And some of the codes used by Neo-Nazis can't be protected by trademark law in the first place. "So, there are still codes out there that we can't protect against," explained Knittel. "But in the end, the goal was to create awareness that these codes exists," in both the public and political spheres.

And that is something Rights Against the Right has certainly done — one trademark at a time.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier


Sarah Hucal Freelance Multimedia Journalist

El Niño Forecast To Intensify, Increasing Likelihood Of Extreme Weather

July 5, 2026 
By UN News

More blistering heatwaves and other weather extremes are becoming increasingly likely across the world now and in coming months, linked to strengthening El Niño conditions in the tropical Pacific, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.

“El Niño will also give an extra boost to global temperatures,” said WMO scientist Alvaro Silva. “We know that during El Niño years, the global temperatures normally reach record levels.”

Key points

El Niño has developed in tropical Pacific
Rapid development expected from July to September
El Niño typically peaks between November and February
Countries urged to act on WMO warning, to save lives and livelihoods

According to WMO’s monthly Global Seasonal Climate Update, strong El Niño conditions are expected to develop rapidly from July to September, with “high confidence” in this outlook.


It is based on multi-model forecasting from WMO partners which indicates a “consistent and significant warming of ocean temperatures” across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, with seasonal-average sea-surface temperature anomalies expected to exceed 2°C in monitored regions.
Regional variations

On land, the outlook is equally worrying. “It’s the first week of July, it’s the start of what is traditionally the hottest month of the year,” WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva. “And yet already in June we’ve seen record-breaking temperatures in many parts of Europe; just as an example, Germany last weekend saw a new national temperature record of 41.7°C.”

The WMO update highlights a “prolonged and dangerous heatwave” in the central and eastern United States until the end of this week and into the Independence Day weekend, flagged by the US National Weather Service.


In addition, there are likely to be drier than average conditions in Central America and the Caribbean, along with North and South America.

Drier weather patterns are also forecast in parts of Indonesia and Southeast Asia during the monsoon season, but wetter conditions are anticipated during the rainy season from September to December in East Africa. It is also possible that East Africa may be wetter than normal and face flooding because of another important climate driver, the Indian Ocean Dipole, which WMO describes as a possible development.

The El Niño alert has prompted an “unprecedented mobilization” by WMO, its members worldwide and partners in regional climate centres, to support governments by providing timely forecasts to save lives and protect livelihoods, the agency said.
No time to lose

“We have a window to act for preparedness for early action. And this window is narrowing in some regions,” WMO’s Mr. Silva said. For areas where drought is anticipated, priorities include ensuring that there is enough water for agriculture, energy production and other key activities.

El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO); they are one of the most powerful climate drivers.

The naturally occurring phenomenon is characterized by above-average sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

El Niño events typically occur every two to seven years and usually last between nine and 12 months. They often begin developing between March and June, reach peak intensity between November and February, and exert their strongest influence on global temperatures in the year following their onset.


The effects of El Niño vary depending on the intensity, duration, the time of year and also how it interacts with other climate variability modes, including the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Not all regions of the world are affected, and even within a region, impacts can be different. “Even when ENSO is neutral, extreme weather can still occur,” WMO explains.

The agency classifies El Niño and La Niña events as weak, moderate, strong or very strong.

“The intensity of El Niño is important because it increases the likelihood of extreme weather and climate events in different parts of the world…on top of long-term climate change due to human activities,” WMO’s Mr. Silva stressed.