


A horrific Christmas attack in Germany is weirder than first thought
The far right tries to exploit a Saudi anti-Islamist’s murder spree
FOR WEEKS German officials had fretted about the risk of a terrorist attack on the country’s Christmas markets: crowded, difficult-to-secure gatherings with religious connotations that could make them attractive targets for jihadists. In 2016 a Tunisian migrant aligned with Islamic State drove a lorry into a Christmas market in west Berlin, killing 13 people in one of modern Germany’s deadliest terrorist incidents. Since then, patrons of the markets had grown wearily familiar with the presence of security barriers and armed police.

Inside Ukraine’s secret missile programme
With foreign aid uncertain, Ukraine revives its rocket industry

We need to talk about Europe’s Kevins
How an American name became a European diagnosis

Police brutality is not stopping Georgia’s protests
Pro-EU demonstrations continue, despite little help from abroad
France’s new prime minister faces a looming mess
François Bayrou has an emergency budget but no government yet
German politicians are talking tough, but offering little
Sparks fly as the election campaign kicks off—but the parties are scaling back their ambitions
The killing of a Russian general shows Ukraine’s spies remain lethal
Igor Kirillov was accused of ordering the use of chemical weapons