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Latvia Faces New Hybrid Pressure Through Complaints, Inspections and Court Cases
Latvian security services are warning about a possible new instrument of hybrid pressure in which state institutions are overwhelmed with numerous information requests, complaints and court proceedings submitted by people based in Belarus or Russia. This is not a cyberattack and does not involve direct interference with government systems. Instead, it relies on entirely legal administrative procedures. State institutions are required to respond to requests, examine complaints, conduct inspections and defend their decisions in court. When such applications are submitted systematically and in large numbers, they can consume significant administrative resources while potentially being used to collect information about the internal operations of Latvian state institutions.At the centre of the case is Dmitrijs Matajevs, who moved from Latvia to Belarus after criminal proceedings were launched against him, and the Latvia-registered association “Bukultu iedzīvotāji” linked to him. In 2026 alone, the Administrative Court received ten applications from the association concerning access to information, with proceedings opened in eight cases. Requests and complaints involved the police, the Ministry of the Interior, Riga Municipality, the Ministry of Agriculture, Salaspils Municipality, the State Labour Inspectorate, the Museum of the History of Medicine and the Ministry of Health.
Lorena Isceri’s Death Reignites Italy’s Debate Over Femicide and Prevention
Italy has been shaken by the death of 45-year-old Lorena Isceri, who investigators believe was killed by her former partner after being abducted in Florence. The killing took place on 3 September 2026 and immediately attracted national attention because it is being treated as the seventh suspected femicide in Italy within just a few weeks. According to investigators, Isceri was forced into a vehicle, driven away and later taken to a motorway bridge, where she was allegedly thrown to her death. The case has triggered renewed debate not only because of the brutality of the killing, but also because Italy only recently strengthened its legislation by recognising femicide as a separate criminal offence carrying the country’s harshest penalties. Yet the continuing series of killings suggests that tougher laws alone have not produced the expected change.That contradiction is now at the centre of the national discussion. On one side, authorities have repeatedly stressed that the state is strengthening its response to violence against women, expanding criminal sanctions and imposing tougher punishment. On the other, women continue to be killed, often by current or former partners and frequently in situations involving threats, stalking, controlling behaviour or an inability to accept the end of a relationship. Isceri’s death has become another example of how danger can intensify precisely when a woman tries to leave a destructive relationship.
Tens of Thousands in Croatia Demand Removal of Hazardous Waste from Lika
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Zagreb’s central square on 5 September demanding the immediate start of a full cleanup around Gospić, where authorities previously discovered enormous quantities of illegally dumped waste. The demonstration became one of the largest seen in Croatia in recent years and showed that what began as a local environmental problem has developed into a major national scandal. The dispute centres on between 34,000 and 37,000 tonnes of waste found in the Lika region, much of it imported from Italy in 2023 and 2024. The materials discovered at the site include industrial, plastic, construction and medical waste, while environmental groups have warned about possible risks to soil, air and drinking water.Demonstrators demanded not only faster cleanup operations but also full political and criminal accountability for those responsible for allowing one of Croatia’s most environmentally valuable regions to become a massive dumping ground. Public anger has intensified because authorities had already promised action, while residents and environmental groups say visible progress remains too slow and limited. The government says remediation is moving forward in stages, procurement procedures have been launched and the first removal operations are being prepared. Protesters, however, argue that after waste on such a scale was uncovered, the state should have responded much faster, more decisively and with far greater transparency.
Berlin Refuses to Pay Hackers After Major Breach of Government Network
Berlin authorities have refused to pay a ransom demanded by the Rhysida hacking group after a major cyberattack on the German capital’s government network. The group claims it stole around 5.7 terabytes of data and offered the material for sale on the dark web, demanding a minimum payment of 30 bitcoin, worth roughly €2 million. Berlin’s Senate has confirmed the extortion attempt and the possibility that a large volume of information was taken, while stressing that both the exact amount of stolen data and its contents are still being investigated. The city has made clear that it will not meet the attackers’ demands.The main danger now is no longer simply disruption to the network itself, but the possible publication of the stolen information. Berlin authorities say the affected files may contain personal data relating to public employees, residents and companies. The hackers threatened to release or sell the information after a deadline set for September 4, 2026. Officials also say there is currently no evidence that the attackers still have active access to the government network. The crisis has therefore moved from the stage of technical intrusion into the much more complicated problem of a potentially large-scale data leak and the long-term misuse of stolen information.The cyberattack was detected in August. During the subsequent investigation, authorities concluded that data may have left the network before external connections were cut on August 14.
32 People Remain in Custody in Netherlands After Armed Attack Linked to Drug Crime
Dutch authorities are continuing to investigate one of the most unusual armed attacks seen in the country in recent months, with 32 people still in custody after a shooting at a private house in Overasselt. The incident took place in the early hours of September 1, 2026, when a large group of people, some of them armed, arrived at a property on Ewijkseweg. A 51-year-old security guard was killed and two police officers were wounded by gunfire. Police launched a large-scale operation and arrested 34 people, while prosecutors later decided to keep 32 of them in custody. The suspects include citizens of France, the Netherlands, Algeria, Libya, Ukraine and Belgium, including two French minors aged 16 and 17.The main question for investigators is no longer only who fired the shots, but why dozens of people arrived at the same house at the same time and who organised the operation. Authorities are examining a possible international drug-related conflict involving a large quantity of cocaine, although that theory has not been proven. A threatening video later appeared online in which masked men claimed that a person linked to the house had allegedly stolen more than a tonne of cocaine and two trucks. Police confirmed that they are examining the video, but both its authenticity and the claims made in it still need to be verified. The cocaine theory therefore remains part of the investigation rather than an established fact.
L’avvocata generale della Corte UE definisce discriminatorie le regole italiane per la polizia
L’avvocata generale della Corte di giustizia dell’Unione europea Tamara Ćapeta ha concluso che la combinazione tra il divieto italiano di tatuaggi visibili per gli agenti di polizia e l’obbligo di indossare uniformi cerimoniali diverse per uomini e donne può costituire una discriminazione diretta fondata sul sesso. Le conclusioni sono state presentate il 3 settembre 2026 nella causa C-320/25 Lertimene, nata dopo l’esclusione di una donna da un concorso per entrare nella Polizia di Stato italiana a causa di un piccolo tatuaggio floreale sul polpaccio sinistro. Per la candidata il tatuaggio risultava visibile con la divisa femminile, che prevede gonna e scarpe, mentre lo stesso tatuaggio su un candidato uomo sarebbe stato coperto dai pantaloni.Dal punto di vista giuridico, non si tratta ancora di una sentenza della Corte di giustizia dell’UE. Le conclusioni dell’avvocata generale non sono vincolanti per i giudici, che delibereranno separatamente e pronunceranno la sentenza in un momento successivo. La posizione di Ćapeta è però rilevante per le regole italiane di reclutamento, perché mette direttamente in discussione la possibilità di escludere automaticamente una donna da un concorso a causa di un tatuaggio la cui visibilità dipende dal tipo di uniforme previsto per il suo sesso. Il punto centrale del caso non è quindi la liceità dei tatuaggi in quanto tali, ma l’effetto diverso che la stessa regola può produrre su candidati uomini e donne.
Brussels prosecutor warns of sharp rise in armed violence between drug gangs
Brussels prosecutors are warning that armed violence linked to the city’s drug trade has escalated sharply in 2026. Since the beginning of the year, authorities have recorded 69 incidents involving firearms across the Belgian capital, while the total since the start of 2025 has reached roughly 170. Chief Brussels prosecutor Julien Moinil says most of the recent violence is linked to rival drug groups fighting over territory and control of profitable street-level markets. What alarms prosecutors most is not only the number of shootings but the way they are being carried out. Automatic and military-style weapons are increasingly appearing in densely populated districts, and one of the recent targets was even a police station in Anderlecht.The growing danger is no longer confined to people directly involved in organised crime. Recent incidents have taken place near restaurants, homes and busy streets, increasing the risk to ordinary residents and passers-by. In one case, customers inside a pizzeria had to take cover during automatic gunfire. In another, a bullet struck the window of a residential property while a woman was still inside. Moinil has warned in unusually direct terms that anyone can now become an accidental victim. The message from prosecutors is that Brussels is no longer dealing only with criminals shooting at other criminals, but with a wider public-safety problem created by an increasingly violent struggle over the city’s drug economy.
Northern Ireland house fire investigated as arson intended to endanger life
Police in Northern Ireland have opened an investigation into a deliberate house fire in Coalisland, County Tyrone, after the property was set alight during the early hours of 29 August 2026. Emergency services were called to Ballynakilly Road at approximately 01:40 after reports of a fire at a residential property. Police Service of Northern Ireland officers and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service crews attended the scene and brought the blaze under control. The people inside the house managed to escape before the situation became even more serious. One person required hospital treatment after suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.Investigators believe the fire was started deliberately and are treating the incident as arson with intent to endanger life, a considerably more serious classification than ordinary criminal damage by fire. That means detectives are examining not only how the blaze began and who may have started it, but also whether the circumstances demonstrate a deliberate intention to put the occupants of the house in danger. Police have not publicly established a motive and have not announced any arrests. Officers are now gathering witness statements, CCTV footage and other evidence that could establish who was in the Ballynakilly Road area shortly before the fire.According to police, the blaze affected a residential property on Ballynakilly Road, one of the roads serving the Coalisland area. The emergency call was received at around 01:40 on 29 August.
Polish Olympic chief’s arrest pushes Zondacrypto crypto scandal to a new level
The president of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, has become one of the most prominent figures drawn into the Zondacrypto investigation after being detained on 27 August 2026. Prosecutors accuse him of paid influence peddling and of actions connected with favouring one group of creditors over others while the company was facing the threat of insolvency. Piesiewicz denies wrongdoing and rejects claims that he received unlawful benefits from people associated with Zondacrypto. The case, however, now reaches far beyond Polish sport. Investigators are examining a cryptocurrency platform whose clients are estimated to have lost at least 350 million złoty, or around €80 million, after access to their funds was disrupted.The wider scale of the investigation makes the arrest of the Olympic chief only one part of a much larger story. Around 30,000 people are estimated to have lost access to money held through Zondacrypto, while prosecutors are investigating alleged fraud, money laundering, the origin of capital and the movement of funds around the business. Polish authorities have also publicly referred to possible links between individuals around the company, Russian-speaking organised crime and Russian intelligence services. Those claims remain under investigation and have not been established by a court, but they have transformed what began as a cryptocurrency and financial scandal into a case with potential national-security implications.