Germany to intensify crackdown on terror, interior minister says

Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced Thursday that he will seek measures to help the government fight terror, including a faster process for deportation of foreign terror suspects. He said that he will push for adoption of the new measures in German law before the federal elections in the fall of 2017.  Among the proposed steps are ones to facilitate deportation of those posing a danger to public security; retain cellular telephone, landline and internet data; and shorten the time that refugees who have been refused asylum are allowed to stay in Germany before being deported. The interior minister is also supporting two bills that are likely to face opposition in the parliament and among the public. One bars women from wearing burqas, and the other bans citizens from having dual citizenship. Germany's police, meanwhile, plans to add 15,000 recruits by 2020 and install video cameras in the centers of cities and other crowded areas.
Fifteen people have been killed and dozens have been wounded during the latest wave of terror in Germany, which began on July 18.