New German crime figures and an expanding investigation into an alleged sexual exploitation of teenage girls near the Nuremberg, Germany, central railway station are intensifying a broader European battle over migration, integration and whether officials have been too reluctant to confront patterns of organized sexual abuse.

Germany recorded 751 cases categorized as group rapes in 2025, according to the federal government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry submitted by the opposition Alternative für Deutschland party. All parties represented in the Bundestag German federal parliament may submit formal questions requiring government responses, a key tool through which opposition lawmakers scrutinize federal policy.

Police identified 1,087 suspects in the cases, including 509 German citizens and 578 non-German nationals. Syrians were the largest foreign-national group, with 110 suspects, followed by Afghans with 64, Iraqis with 46 and Turks with 44.

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The government cautioned that «group rape» is not a separate criminal offense or standardized police category. Officials generated the figures by filtering recorded rape cases in which suspects were listed as not acting alone. The numbers represent suspects identified during police investigations, not people convicted in court.

The figures emerged as investigators in Nuremberg, Germany, pursued allegations that vulnerable girls were deliberately drawn into a network involving affection, gifts, narcotics and sexual exploitation.

Bavarian police said in May that men operating around the city’s main railway station allegedly approached girls from unstable or vulnerable backgrounds, initially offering them attention, clothing or cosmetics. Investigators said some were later given hard drugs, including crystal meth, and that their resulting dependency was allegedly exploited to obtain sexual acts or other «services.»

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Protesters gather before a party convention of Alternative for Germany, or AfD in Erfurt, Germany, July 4, 2026. (Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press )

The investigation, known as EKO Kajal, has continued to expand. Police said Tuesday that ten suspects were being held in pretrial detention in cases involving alleged sexual offenses against girls and young women and the distribution of drugs or medication to minors.

In the latest arrests, police alleged that a 21-year-old Syrian man raped two girls, ages 15 and 18, in a Nuremberg, Germany, apartment after they were given narcotics by a 40-year-old Syrian man. Both men were detained, but the accusations remain allegations and have not been adjudicated. 

Emma Schubart, a research fellow at the London-based Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that the Nuremberg, Germany, allegations bear similarities to grooming-gang cases uncovered in Britain, where girls were plied with drugs and alcohol before being repeatedly abused by groups of men.

«It’s a severe failure in both countries,» Schubart said, arguing that the problem begins with insufficient screening and continues with inadequate integration after migrants arrive.

«The first step that both authorities in the U.K. and in Germany really are not doing is screening migrants effectively,» she said. «But then, once the migrants are already here, the integration policy is completely lacking.»

Schubart said the isolation of some immigrant communities can contribute to «ghettoization» and create environments in which criminal networks operate with limited scrutiny or cooperation with authorities.

She also challenged the argument that disparities in some sexual-offense statistics can be explained primarily by poverty.

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A supporter wearing a plastic policeman’s helmet and holding fake money criticises the way the police dealt with the grooming gang scandal on Jan. 29, 2022, in Telford, England. (Martin Pope/Getty Images)

«Socioeconomic factors matter, but they absolutely do not fully explain the disparities,» Schubart said. «Native Germans from similar socioeconomic backgrounds absolutely do not show equivalent rates in group sexual offending.»

Schubart said she viewed the apparent intersection between drugs and sexual exploitation as an especially important parallel with Britain.

«In the U.K. and in Germany, it’s a very similar pattern where it’s basically drug trafficking that also involves sex trafficking,» she said. «These drug-trafficking networks and cells operate across the country, not just in those cities where we see the crimes playing out.»

Britain has spent years reckoning with grooming scandals in places including Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford and Oxford, England, where official reviews found that police, social workers and local authorities repeatedly missed or ignored evidence that vulnerable children were being systematically abused.

Baroness Louise Casey’s national audit, published by the British government in June 2025, concluded that inconsistent definitions, incomplete records and failures to collect ethnicity data made it impossible to establish the full national scale of group-based child sexual exploitation. It nevertheless found evidence of the disproportionate representation of Pakistani-heritage suspects in some local datasets and cases, while warning against extrapolating those findings to the entire country.

The British government later backed an independent inquiry intended to examine failures or obstruction by police, councils and other public bodies in relevant local areas.

Schubart argued that officials in both countries have sometimes avoided discussing offenders’ backgrounds out of concern that doing so could damage relations with minority communities.

«In the U.K., it’s usually the phrase ‘community relations,’» she said. «There’s a huge effort to not threaten community relations.»

Germany’s ifo Institute reported in February 2025 that its analysis of district-level police data from 2018 through 2023 found no correlation between a rising foreign population and local crime rates, including in areas receiving more refugees.  

«We find no correlation between an increasing share of foreigners in a district and the local crime rate,» ifo researcher Jean-Victor Alipour said when the findings were released. «The same applies in particular to refugees.» Researchers said differences in suspect rates can be influenced by age, sex, urban concentration and other demographic factors.

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A woman poses with a sign as members of the public queue to enter a council meeting during a protest calling for justice for victims of sexual abuse and grooming gangs, outside the council offices at City Centre on Jan. 20, 2025, in Oldham, England. (Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Germany’s Syrian population also plays a significant role in sectors facing severe labor shortages. 

The German Medical Association reported that 7,959 Syrian citizens were working as physicians in Germany at the end of 2025, making Syrians the country’s largest group of foreign doctors.

The competing evidence presents European governments with a difficult test: investigating organized exploitation and demographic patterns without political hesitation, while avoiding the suggestion that hundreds of suspects define millions of immigrants.

Tributes poured in Sunday from President Donald Trump, congressional leaders and foreign allies after Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died at 71 following what his office described as a «brief and sudden illness,» bringing to an end the career of one of the Senate’s most influential Republican voices.

The South Carolina Republican had served in the Senate since 2003 and became one of the GOP’s leading voices on national security and foreign policy. Once a sharp critic of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, Graham later emerged as one of the president’s closest allies while maintaining a prominent role on issues ranging from judicial confirmations to Ukraine, Israel and Iran.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Graham «was always working,» and called the Palmetto State senator «a true American Patriot.» 

«Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!» Trump wrote. «So sad!»

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM DEAD AT 71 AFTER ‘BRIEF AND SUDDEN’ ILLNESS, OFFICE SAYS

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster called Graham «irreplaceable» and the «fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America.» Per South Carolina law, McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement for Graham, who was seeking a fifth term in November.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said his «heart is heavy» following Graham’s death, calling him a trusted adviser whose influence «on the federal judiciary, our national defense, and his beloved South Carolina will be felt for generations.»

Thune praised Graham as a tireless advocate for the United States and its allies, saying he believed in «the might of America to achieve good in the world» and spent his career advancing that cause.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wrote on X that Graham spent his career advancing America’s interests and believed in «the might of America to achieve good in the world.» (Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images)

United States UN Amb. Mike Waltz remembered Graham not only as a senator, but as a fellow military officer. Waltz said he first met Graham when he was serving as a colonel in the Air National Guard, recalling that Graham spent his annual training deployments in Afghanistan helping train Afghan Army Judge Advocate General officers.

Waltz also praised Graham’s commitment to the U.S. military and foreign policy, saying no member of Congress traveled more extensively «from Libya to Lebanon» to meet with American troops and bring «ground truth back to legislating.»

«Rest easy, Patriot,» he wrote on X.

Graham’s death also prompted tributes from across the aisle. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., remembered his Republican colleague as «kind, gracious, and thoughtful,» and an expert on foreign policy.

«Sudden and awful news about Senator Lindsey Graham,» Fetterman wrote. «The United States Senate lost a foreign policy giant.»

The outpouring of tributes quickly spread beyond Washington, with world leaders remembering Graham as one of America’s most influential voices on national security and foreign affairs.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Graham had visited Ukraine 10 times since the full-scale Russian invasion. (Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu/Getty Images)

In one of his final overseas trips, Graham met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week. The visit marked his 10th trip to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion, where the two, according to readouts of the meeting, discussed tougher sanctions on Russia and the country’s air defense needs.

After Graham’s death, Zelenskyy posted on X, calling him «a true defender of freedom» who stood with Ukraine «when it was most needed.» He said Graham’s bipartisan work to increase pressure on Moscow helped bring «peace closer,» adding, «America and the world have lost a determined leader.»

Other European leaders echoed those sentiments.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte described Graham as «a powerful advocate for America who believed strongly in the NATO Alliance and was actively working to bring an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.» Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised his «tireless commitment» to NATO and the trans-Atlantic bond, as well as his «staunch support» for Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Graham was «a true friend and partner of Germany in the transatlantic alliance. We stood side by side for more than four decades.»

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Graham «a great friend of Israel» and said he devoted his life to strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance. (Israeli Prime Ministry Press Office/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The tributes extended to the Middle East as well, where Graham was remembered as one of Israel’s strongest allies in Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him «a great friend of Israel» and «a cherished friend of mine,» saying Graham understood that the security of Israel and the United States «is inseparable» and devoted his life to strengthening the alliance between the two countries.

«Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,» Netanyahu said.

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Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told The Associated Press that Graham’s death leaves Congress without one of its most steadfast pro-Israel voices at a particularly precarious moment.

«You have a few Democrats and Republicans willing to stand up in Israel’s defense, but those type of people are few, it’s not a body of people,» he said. «So when you lose someone like Lindsey Graham, it’s a diplomatic and strategic loss for the state of Israel.»

Chéjov legisló para todos los teatros del mundo menos uno. Si en el primer acto hay un rifle colgado en la pared, decía, en el tercero tiene que disparar: la economía dramática exige que el arma se justifique, que su presencia sea una promesa y no un adorno. La regla presupone algo que en los Estados Unidos nunca fue cierto: que el arma sea una excepción, un objeto que la trama debe explicar. En la literatura norteamericana el rifle no necesita colgarse en el primer acto porque ya estaba ahí antes de que se levantara el telón; antes del teatro, incluso antes del país. No es utilería: es la escenografía misma.

Entender la diferencia entre el arma como recurso narrativo y el arma como atmósfera es entender buena parte de la historia literaria de los Estados Unidos, y de paso su presente político, que sigue discutiendo en 2026 lo que no pudo resolver ni después de Columbine, ni después de Sandy Hook, ni después de Uvalde; ni para el caso el intento de magnicidio de Trump o el asesinato de Charlie Kirk, o Kennedy, o John Lennon.

En los Estados Unidos circulan más armas de fuego que personas: alrededor de ciento veinte por cada cien habitantes según el Small Arms Survey, una proporción que duplica a la del segundo país de la lista, Yemen, un país en guerra. Apenas dos o tres constituciones en el mundo reconocen algún derecho a la tenencia de armas; ninguna le da la centralidad casi litúrgica de la Segunda Enmienda, ratificada en 1791 y reinterpretada en 2008, cuando la Corte Suprema decidió en District of Columbia v. Heller que aquella frase sobre las milicias bien organizadas protegía en realidad un derecho individual.

Esa cultura no nació de la caza ni del deporte ni siquiera de la desconfianza jeffersoniana hacia el poder central, aunque todas esas cosas la adornaron después. Nació de dos empresas de despojo. Hacia el oeste, el arma fue el instrumento de la conquista territorial y del exterminio indígena; hacia adentro, fue la herramienta de las patrullas esclavistas, las milicias blancas que recorrían los caminos del sur cazando fugitivos. Las diversas teorías que intentan comprender esta cultura plantean que la Segunda Enmienda se redactó, en parte decisiva, para garantizar a los estados sureños el derecho a mantener armadas esas patrullas; como el residuo jurídico de la colonización: el ciudadano armado original no se defendía de un tirano sino que perseguía a un esclavo o desalojaba a un indio. Un eslogan publicitario de la época dorada del revólver lo dijo sin querer: “Lincoln liberó a los hombres, pero fue Sam Colt quien los hizo iguales”. El relato fundacional norteamericano es el del hombre blanco que se interna en la tierra salvaje, mata, y regresa purificado y renacido. No redimido a pesar de la violencia: redimido por ella. El arma no es un accesorio de ese relato; es la imagen de un rito sagrado.

Emily Dickinson casi no salió de su casa y jamás publicó en vida más que un puñado de poemas, buscó una figura para decir su propia vida, encontró esto: “Mi vida había sido un arma cargada”, arrinconada, hasta que el dueño pasó y la reconoció. Se ha leído ese poema como alegoría de la ira femenina, de la vocación poética, de la potencia sin destinatario; lo que importa aquí es más simple y más inquietante: en la América de 1863, hasta la interioridad de una mujer enclaustrada se pensaba a sí misma con la gramática del fusil. El arma no era un tema; era un idioma.

En Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain cuenta la disputa entre los Grangerford y los Shepherdson, dos familias aristocráticas que se matan entre sí desde hace tanto tiempo que nadie recuerda el motivo, y que asisten juntas a la iglesia con los rifles entre las rodillas para escuchar un sermón sobre el amor fraterno. Huck anota que todos elogiaron la prédica. Unas páginas más adelante, el coronel Sherburn mata a un borracho inofensivo en plena calle y luego, solo con su escopeta, humilla desde el porche a la turba que venía a lincharlo, con un discurso sobre la cobardía del hombre promedio. Twain entendió las dos caras del asunto: el honor armado como farsa sangrienta, y el arma como la única oratoria que en ciertos lugares garantiza ser escuchada.

Con Hemingway el arma dejó de ser tema y se volvió estética. No es una metáfora fácil: la famosa economía de su prosa, la frase corta, el adjetivo suprimido, la teoría del iceberg, se formó en el mismo molde que su ética de cazador, expuesta sin pudor en Las verdes colinas de África: el tiro limpio, único, sin desperdicio, que mata bien. Escribir una frase y disparar un rifle eran para él disciplinas hermanas. Toda una generación de narradores norteamericanos aprendió a escribir así, lo que significa que aprendió, aunque no lo supiera, a escribir como se dispara.

Pero en Hemingway el arma es también, y sobre todo, una herencia, en el sentido más literal y más siniestro. Su padre, Clarence, médico de Oak Park, se mató en 1928 con un revólver que había pertenecido al abuelo; la madre le envió después el arma a Ernest por correo. Él escribió el duelo oblicuamente en Padres e hijos uno de los cuentos de Nick Adams, y pasó las tres décadas siguientes rodeado de escopetas, hasta la madrugada del 2 de julio de 1961 en Ketchum, Idaho. Habría que resistir la tentación de leer esa muerte como símbolo, porque fue antes que nada una enfermedad y una tragedia familiar que siguió cobrando, su hermana, su hermano, su nieta Margaux; pero sería deshonesto no anotar que la estadística lo acompaña: más de la mitad de las muertes por arma de fuego en los Estados Unidos no son homicidios sino suicidios, el costado del problema del que la épica no habla nunca.

Faulkner ofreció el rito contrario. En El oso, la nouvelle central de Desciende, Moisés (1942), el joven Ike McCaslin quiere ver al oso legendario del bosque grande, y no lo consigue hasta que comprende que debe desprenderse de todo: deja el rifle, después el reloj, después la brújula, y solo entonces, desnudo de técnica, el oso se le aparece. Y Faulkner la lleva hasta el final, porque Ike, años después, renuncia también a la plantación que le corresponde por herencia, al descubrir en los libros de contabilidad de la familia el incesto y la esclavitud que la fundaron. El rifle y la escritura de propiedad son, en Desciende, Moisés, la misma herencia envenenada. Ningún escritor norteamericano vio con tanta claridad que el arma del sur no apuntaba al bosque sino al pasado.

En su cuento Un buen hombre es difícil de encontrar (1953) Flannery O’Connor nos presenta a una abuela charlatana y egoísta que alcanza su único instante de gracia cuando reconoce al asesino con tres balas de por medio, y el inadaptado pronuncia entonces su veredicto atroz: “habría sido una buena mujer si hubiera tenido a alguien que le disparara cada minuto de su vida”. O’Connor explicó su método: para los duros de oído hay que gritar, y para los casi ciegos hay que dibujar figuras grandes y grotescas. En su ficción el revólver es el megáfono de Dios, el único instrumento capaz de perforar la sordera espiritual de un país lleno de sí mismo. Y tal vez sea por eso que sus cuentos siguen incomodando: sugieren que en la imaginación norteamericana ni siquiera la gracia encuentra otro vehículo que el cañón de un arma.

Y después está Cormac McCarthy. Meridiano de sangre (1985) toma la materia histórica de la expansión hacia el oeste y la devuelve a su verdad documental: la pandilla de Glanton, cazadores de cabelleras a sueldo de los gobernadores de Chihuahua y Sonora, matando indígenas por dinero y, cuando escasean, mexicanos cuyas cabelleras se les parezcan. No hay duelo al atardecer, no hay código, no hay pueblo mirando detrás de las ventanas; hay comercio. Veinte años más tarde, en No es país para viejos (2005), McCarthy remató la operación con un detalle de una crueldad perfecta: su asesino, Anton Chigurh, mata con una pistola de aire comprimido para aturdir ganado, la herramienta de los mataderos. Le niega al verdugo hasta la dignidad del revólver; las víctimas mueren como reses. Y alrededor de Chigurh, la novela despliega el paisaje real del Texas contemporáneo: todo el mundo está armado: el cazador Moss con su rifle de francotirador, los narcos con sus ametralladoras, los rancheros, los policías, y ese arsenal universal no salva absolutamente a nadie.

Charlton Heston, en la convención de la NRA del año 2000, levantó un rifle sobre su cabeza y desafió a quitárselo “de sus manos frías y muertas”. La frase se volvió consigna porque condensa el mito entero: el arma como parte del cuerpo, inseparable de la vida misma del hombre libre. Chéjov, otra vez, no sirve aquí; su regla suponía que el rifle podía descolgarse de la pared. En los Estados Unidos el tercer acto llega todos los días y el rifle sigue colgado, o mejor dicho empuñado, fundido a la mano que lo sostiene.

Lo mejor de la literatura norteamericana lleva doscientos años haciendo el trabajo lento y probablemente inútil que su política no intenta: abrir esos dedos, uno por uno, para mirar qué es lo que la mano tiene tanto miedo de soltar.