Authorities in Germany’s Bavaria believe they have now pinpointed the motive behind the stabbing of a 23-year-old last August
German detectives have revealed new details in a murder case that drew media attention back in August 2022, saying that it was the victim’s looks that sealed her tragic fate. Authorities believe the suspect had deliberately looked for a young woman with a similar appearance to herself in order to fake her own death.
In a statement on Monday, police in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt said that the suspect named Sharaban K had wanted to go into hiding “on account of family problems.”
According to investigators, the crime was preceded by lengthy preparations, with the suspect texting multiple potential victims on various social media platforms beforehand. Sharaban’s attempts to lure them to a meeting on various false pretexts had all failed until she came across beautician Khadidja M on Instagram in early August of last year, police spokesperson Andreas Aichele told the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.
The official said the victim had fallen for an offer involving cosmetics.
On August 16, Sharaban and a male accomplice, Sheqir K, both 23 years old at the time of the crime – the same age as the victim – picked up the beautician. While driving back to Ingolstadt, the suspects took a turn to a nearby wood, police claim. There, Sharaban and Sheqir allegedly stabbed Khadidja more than fifty times. The suspects are believed to then have put the heavily bleeding woman back in Sharaban’s Mercedes and eventually abandoned the vehicle in an Ingolstadt neighborhood.
Late that same day, police were alerted to the car, finding the woman, who, according to media reports, was still alive at the time. Paramedics, however, failed to save her. A couple from Munich – Sharaban’s parents – who were looking for their missing daughter were called to the scene, and mistakenly identified the victim as their daughter.
The German media suggest that aside from striking similarities in appearance between Khadidja and Sharaban, the fact that the woman was found in their daughter’s car may have led the parents to misidentify her.
It was only the next day that the error came to light. Shortly afterward police apprehended Sharaban and Sheqir, both of whom have been in pretrial detention ever since.
However, it took the investigators months to unravel the case.
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January 31, 2023 at 12:02AM
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The fund expects 0.3% growth in 2023, having previously predicted a contraction
The International Monetary Fund has revised upwards its estimate of Russian economic development, projecting GDP to grow by 0.3% this year, and 2.1% in 2024.
According to the fund’s World Economic Outlook update published on Monday, Russia’s GDP fell by 2.2% last year. In its October forecast, the IMF reported that the decline was expected to be 3.4%. For this year, the fund previously predicted a drop of 2.3%, and for 2024, a 2.1% decline.
The IMF’s estimates are beginning to converge with Russian forecasts, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development told RBK business daily following the release of the report.
“Indeed, the Russian economy is confidently overcoming the sanctions barriers of unfriendly countries. In 2023, further economic recovery will depend on the improvement of consumer demand, as well as measures to ensure the growth of corporate and consumer lending,” the ministry stated.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin stated that the Russian economy is in better shape than previously expected, and is on course for further stabilization. He added that the Western sanctions and international pressure have failed to seriously harm the economy, and the results have shown this.
Washington instigated the crisis and is pushing for it to rage on, the foreign ministry has said
The US is the “initiator and biggest promoter” of the crisis in Ukraine, Beijing has said, commenting on Washington’s reported claims that state-run Chinese companies were providing non-lethal aid to Russia.
If the US government actually wants to help the Ukrainian people and see the crisis end as soon as possible, it should “stop sending weapons and reaping the benefits of war,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Monday during a news briefing.
She dismissed the claims of assistance to Moscow, which were reported in the Western media last week, as “unfounded suspicion and accusations” and said Beijing would not accept “groundless blackmail” or discrimination against Chinese companies by Washington.
The reports were based on an anonymous source described by Reuters as “familiar with the situation.”
“What we’re seeing is non-lethal military assistance and economic support that stops short of wholesale sanctions evasion,” the source was quoted as saying. The person added that Washington was not sure if the Chinese government was aware of the “activity” and that it had communicated its concerns to Beijing.
The US government publicly threatened China with consequences for any assistance to Russia in circumvention of the economic sanctions imposed by Washington and its allies.
When asked about the alleged assistance last Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the US was “monitoring the situation” and would “continue to communicate to China the implications of providing material support” to Russia. She pledged that the US would support Ukraine for “as long as needed.” Washington has already allocated over $100 billion related to propping up Kiev in its fight against Moscow.
Beijing has criticized Russia for sending troops against its neighbor but has said that the stage for the conflict was set by NATO’s expansion in Europe and its refusal to acknowledge Russia’s security concerns.
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January 30, 2023 at 12:00AM
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"When they cry it feels like someone is stabbing you through the heart. And then they pull out the 'You broke my heart' because you wouldn't let them do something dangerous. It's awful."
Skeptics argue it could take decades for Kiev to qualify for accession
Ukraine sees itself as part of the EU in two years, but even its most ardent supporters in the bloc believe that target to be overambitious, Politico reported on Monday. The deadline was set by Prime Minister Denis Shmigal ahead of an EU-Ukraine meeting in Kiev next Friday.
“We expect that this year, in 2023, we can already have this pre-entry stage of negotiations,” Shmigal told the news outlet.
Ukraine applied for EU candidate status last February, after Russia launched its military operation. Brussels granted Kiev that status in June, though the timing for accession remains a matter of debate.
Kiev and its biggest backers, such as Poland, claim Ukraine deserves to be fast-tracked to full membership. More skeptical nations have argued that it may take considerable time before the country meets the criteria.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned in May that the accession process “would probably take several decades,” unless the EU lowers its requirements “and also partially the principles that we hold.”
Türkiye has been kept waiting on the EU’s doorstep since 1999, while Ankara’s request to join the European Economic Community, the EU’s predecessor, was filed in 1987.
European Council President Charles Michel, who traveled to Kiev earlier this month to offer reassurances that Ukraine will eventually become part of the EU, indicated that the bloc’s leadership has no intention of bending the rules.
“If it means changing the rules and procedures, no, because we believe in and defend the rule of law,” Michel said in an interview last week when discussing what fast-tracking Ukraine could mean.
Politico described Shmigal’s deadline as “throwing down a gauntlet to the EU establishment.” The head of the Ukrainian cabinet said he expects progress in specific areas, including the continued suspension of tariffs and quotas for Ukrainian goods, and inclusion into the EU’s mobile roaming area.
Kiev could take certain steps to allay any criticism from the EU, such as rolling back controversial legislation which regulates how justices of the Constitutional Court are appointed, according to Politico.
The reform was passed in December, with Kiev ignoring recommendations from the Venice Commission to modify the draft to prevent political influence on a special body tasked with screening candidates.
President Vladimir Zelensky has been at loggerheads with the Constitutional Court since 2020, when he launched a campaign to remove the chief justice after the court struck down a bill that the presidential office wanted passed into law.
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January 29, 2023 at 11:02PM
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