BREAKING NEWS

Germany bans neo-Nazi group as fears of far-right grow

BERLIN - Germany has banned the neo-Nazi group "White Wolves Terror Crew" (WWT) following raids on 15 properties across the country as worries grow about a rise in right-wing sentiment after the influx of more than a million migrants last year.
Attacks on refugee shelters are increasing, with more than 200 on migrant hostels this year and right-wing sympathizers responsible for almost all of them, police say.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there was no place in Germany for groups like the WWT, which his ministry says advocates the creation of a dictatorship based on Nazism.
"The WWT acts openly and aggressively against our state and our society, against migrants and people who think differently," he said.
"It spreads a xenophobic and inhuman ideology, it brings right wing extremist incitement onto the street and is not scared of committing violence."
Hamburg's intelligence agency said in a report last year that WWT was originally a fan club of a right-wing radical skinhead band and that some members had been seen shouting "Sieg Heil" and giving the Nazi salute. Both are banned in Germany.