A driver who rammed a car into a crowded Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, killing at least five people and injuring more than 200, has been identified by authorities as a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen who had lived in Germany for more than a decade and worked as a doctor.

Authorities are working to determine the motive of the attacker, who had a history of making anti-Islam statements and said that he had helped people, particularly women, flee Saudi Arabia.

The suspect first came to Germany in 2006 and had permanent residency in the country, according to Tamara Zieschang, the interior minister of Saxony-Anhalt state, of which Magdenburg is the capital. Zieschang said the man worked as a doctor in Bernburg, a small town about 25 miles south of Magdeburg.

The man is yet to be formally identified, but German media have named him as Taleb A., following the convention in Germany of withholding the full name of suspects in criminal cases.

He was arrested and is thought to have acted alone, according to German authorities.

In a now deleted feed on X apparently belonging to Taleb A., he made anti-Islam statements and self-identified as a Saudi dissident. He spoke openly about renouncing his Islamic faith, expressed sympathy for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and accused Germany of promoting the Islamization of the country.

Germany welcomed more than 1 million refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016, mostly from the Middle East. Originally praised for opening its doors, Germany has seen support wane for the policy with the rise of the anti-migrant AfD.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the attack after it emerged the suspect was a Saudi national.

The first warning came in 2007 and was connected to concerns held by Saudi authorities that Taleb A. had expressed radical views of varying kinds, the source said.

Saudi Arabia considers the suspect a fugitive and requested his extradition from Germany between 2007 and 2008, the source said, adding that German authorities refused, citing concerns for the man’s safety should he return.

Saudi authorities alleged that the man had harassed Saudis abroad who opposed his political views. They also noted that he had become a supporter of the AfD, and had developed radical anti-Islamic views, the source said.

The German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Saturday described the man as “an Islamophobe.” She gave few other details and said that the investigation was at the very beginning, with security authorities looking into the background of the attack. The authorities have not yet released any information about a motive.

Taleb A. appears to be the same man who was in touch with media in the past about his efforts to help people leave Saudi Arabia.

Some experts have already pointed out that the man was an unusual suspect in a mass casualty attack of this type.

“After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar,” Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King’s College London, wrote on X.

A crash between a passenger bus and a truck early Saturday killed 30 people on a highway in Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil, officials said.

The Minas Gerais fire department, which responded to the scene, said 13 others were taken to hospitals near the city of Teofilo Otoni. The bus had reportedly departed from Sao Paulo and was carrying 45 passengers.

Authorities said Saturday afternoon that all victims had been removed from the site and an investigation would determine the cause of the accident. Witnesses told rescue teams that the bus blew a tire, causing the driver to lose control and collide with a truck. Others said that a granite block hit the bus, the fire department added.

A car with three passengers also collided with the bus, but all three survived.

Gov. Romeu Zema wrote on X that he ordered “full mobilization” of the Minas Gerais government to assist the victims.

“We are working to ensure that families of the victims are supported to face this tragedy in the most humane way possible, especially as it comes just before Christmas,” Zema said.

In 2024, more than 10,000 people died in traffic accidents in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Transportation.

In September, a bus carrying a football team flipped on a road and killed three people. The Coritiba Crocodiles, a team from the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, was headed to a game in Rio de Janeiro, where they were set to play in the country’s American football championship. The game was canceled following the deadly accident.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Holiday romances are the stuff of rom-coms and chick-lit — but not for 18-year-old Marcus Fakana, who is facing a one-year prison sentence for his summer fling.

The construction apprentice from London was on holiday with his family in Dubai in September when he met a fellow British teenager at his hotel, and they began a romantic relationship that became sexual.

The pair planned to continue their budding connection in London. But when the 17-year-old girl returned to the United Kingdom, her mother discovered the relationship and reported Fakana to Dubai police.

The age of consent in the United Arab Emirates – of which Dubai is the biggest city – is 18, making the girl a minor at the time of her relationship with Fakana.

“I did not intend to break the law, I didn’t even know she was one month away from being 18,” says Fakana, adding he didn’t consider age an issue as they were in the same school year.

The teenager says he’s sorry and regretful for breaking law — but is appealing to the conservative monarchy’s Prime Minister and Dubai ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, to repeal the one-year jail sentence handed down to him last week, “to let me go home for Christmas with my family.”

A ‘modern’ tourist destination

Dubai is popular with Western European travelers, who flock to the beach-side city for its warm climate and luxury lifestyle. The city hosted a record 17.15 million international visitors last year, and its airport served 87 million passengers, making it the second-busiest in the world.

But most travelers are unaware of how different the authoritarian nation’s legal system is, being based on both civil and Sharia law.

Dubai has marketed itself as a “modern and liberal tourist destination,” which can be “confusing for tourists” when they come up against little-known laws or the arbitrary application of them, says Radha Stirling, CEO and founder of Detained in Dubai, a UK-based legal advisory and human rights organization.

As a result, Fakana’s case is just the latest example of a foreigner in trouble in the City of Gold.

Legislation around relationships, alcohol and online activity are some of the issues tourists most commonly run into. While alcohol consumption is legal in licensed venues in Dubai, and party culture is “widespread,” anyone caught with alcohol in their system in a public place can be charged with public drunkenness or consuming alcohol without a license, says Stirling.

“No one would think that it’s illegal to leave a venue, get in a taxi, and go home – but while you’re outside the venue, you’re violating the law,” she adds.

Another area of confusion is the nation’s sweeping cybercrime laws, which cover online activity from hacking and terrorism to unfriendly comments and promoting charities. These laws apply to private and public communications, retroactively and internationally — so something you share online before you travel to the UAE can still lead to prosecution after you arrive, says Stirling.

“I’d say almost 100% of visitors to the UAE are already in violation of those laws, if someone made the effort to report them,” she says. This year, a 39-year-old Irishman was detained in Dubai for three months over sending a “threatening emoji,” and a Northern Irish man was detained for two months over a negative Google review.

‘It can break you’

While the UAE has one of the highest rates of foreign prisoners in the world — not surprising given its population is around 90% non-Emirati — Stirling says most of those detained in the UAE do not end up serving prison time.

The strict application of these laws is necessary to maintain public safety and security, says Azaan Salahuddin, managing partner at Dubai-based law firm Al Adl Legal. “Laws are meant to protect citizens, or people coming in from outside the country,” he says.

He pointed to the nation’s low crime rate: in Dubai, official police figures recorded just 24.6 crimes per 100,000 people in 2023. This is significantly lower than the UK’s rate – measured on a different ratio entirely – of 84 per 1,000 people.

“Every country that I’ve been to enforces their laws,” says Salahuddin, adding that ignorance is not an excuse and it’s each traveler’s responsibility to know the law. In Fakana’s case, “it is clear that the girl was under the age of consent and her parents have cast charges,” he says. “It’s a simple case.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is also the member of parliament for Fakana’s constituency, Tottenham, echoed these sentiments: “It is the case wherever you are in the world – and that’s why the Foreign Office makes clear on its website what the rules are – that you follow the rules and the law according to that country.”

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “recognizes it’s an extremely distressing situation for Marcus and his family,” and that the Foreign Office “is in regular contact with his family and his legal team at this difficult time.”

But other foreigners have also found the UAE’s legal system, and many caveated laws, confusing.

In July this year, Tori Towey, a 28-year-old Irish flight attendant for Dubai-based airline Emirates, was facing six months in prison for attempting suicide and consuming alcohol.

Towey, who lived in Dubai for one year, says her partner became physically abusive after they moved in together. She reported the domestic violence to the police, but her partner made a retaliatory case against her, resulting in a travel ban that prevented her from working or leaving the country.

After attempting to take her own life in May this year, Towey found herself at the police station facing charges of attempted suicide. In the UAE, suicide is illegal, despite a widely publicized announcement in 2020 that it would be decriminalized.

“I had to find out for myself what the charges were, because I wasn’t told,” she says. Finding legal representation was difficult, too. “Lawyers won’t even look at your case without 20,000 dirhams (about $5,400) up front.”

Towey finally got legal advice from Detained in Dubai, and with mounting pressure from the Irish government and the media spotlight on her story, her two-month travel ban was finally lifted, the charges were dropped, and she was able to return home.

Before the incident, Towey says she was happy in Dubai, and still has a lot of love for the city and culture she left behind. “It’s just the system and the stress that it can cause. It can break you, because you can lose everything,” she says.

An uncertain future

Meanwhile, Fakana’s parents had to return to the UK for work, and he remains in Dubai, alone.

“I’ve been here for four months and it’s been stressful and financially draining,” he says. “I’ve been without a family for a long time, suffering anxiety, headaches, and sleepless nights.”

Stirling believes Fakana’s case should have been tried at the court of misdemeanors, alleging that the police incorrectly stated his age as 19 and his nationality as Pakistani in their report, which she says likely led to a harsher judgment.

Fakana and his lawyers are now deciding whether to appeal his one-year sentence in Dubai Central Prison, a jail with a poor record for human rights abuses and torture — although there’s a chance the prosecution will seek an even harsher sentence.

“I heard they could give me a fine and deportation instead and I am pleading for that,” Fakana says.

“It’s been an eye-opener; this has been the most stressful time of my entire life.”

A judge in Germany ordered the suspect in a deadly Christmas market ramming attack to be held in pre-trial detention following a late-night court appearance on Saturday as authorities face growing accusations they could have done more to prevent it.

Taleb Al Abdulmohsen is accused of ramming a car into a busy market in the city of Magdeburg, killing five people and injuring more than 200.

The motive for the attack is unclear but the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who has lived in Germany for more than a decade and worked to help Saudis leave his home country. On social media, he has been a fervent critic of Islam and prosecutors suggested he may have become embittered with how Germany treats Saudi refugees.

Recent messages have grown increasingly threatening. One says “if Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die, or go to prison with pride.”

“The magistrate ordered pre-trial detention for five counts of murder, several counts of attempted murder and several counts of dangerous bodily harm,” a statement from police early Sunday said.

“The accused was taken to a correctional facility accordingly.”

The police also released additional details on the victims of Friday’s attack. The dead include a nine-year-old boy and four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, according to the statement.

The attack has been met with confusion and anger from the public and politicians, with questions raised over potential security lapses just two months before federal elections where immigration is likely to be a flashpoint issue.

Germany stepped up security at Christmas markets – a fixture of the festive season – following a deadly car ramming in Berlin in 2016.

But Magdeburg police chief Tom-Oliver Langhans said Saturday that the attacker was able to gain access to the market using emergency exit points, usually reserved for ambulances and other emergency vehicles.

At the same conference, city official Ronni Krug insisted the security concept for the Magdeburg Christmas market was “constantly being revised and modified.”

Krug continued, “How this case could come about must first be investigated by the police. I will not indulge in speculation. But you can rest assured that we will continue to update the security concept, which we are constantly updating anyway, once we have reached an assessment with our colleagues from the police.”

Saudi warnings

But speaking to German public broadcaster ZDF, Holger Münch, the president of Germany’s federal criminal office confirmed, “We ourselves were once the recipient of a tip-off from Saudi Arabia in November 2023.”

He continued that proceedings were initiated and Saxony-Anhalt police took “appropriate investigative measures,” however the information they had on Taleb al-Abdulmohsen was too “unspecific” and he was “not known for violent acts.”

German politicians from opposite ends of the political spectrum have seized on Friday’s deadly attack to attack the coalition government.

Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party, called for Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to explain “why so many tips and warnings were ignored beforehand.”

Bernd Baumann, the parliamentary head of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), demanded a special parliamentary session be called to discuss security issues in a post on X.

While the US had the opportunity to elect its first female president, voters who hoped to see the glass ceiling broken saw a defeat for the second time in eight years. Three of the countries that picked a female leader in 2024 – North Macedonia, Namibia and Mexico – did so for the first time in their nation’s history.

In the post-World War II period, the first woman was elected to lead a UN country 64 years ago. Here’s a look at where, and when, women have secured national leadership positions since then.

Forty-nine UN member states have had one female leader in the last seven decades. Another 18 countries have had two female leaders, nine countries have had three female leaders, and just two countries – Finland and Iceland – have been headed by four different female leaders. Still, a woman has never served as head of state or government in 115 UN member countries.

The first continent with a UN member state to have a female leader after WWII was Asia. In 1960, Sri Lanka – known then as Ceylon – elected its first female prime minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. She entered politics after her husband was assassinated while serving as prime minister.

Since then, women have led 13 other countries in Asia. A lot of them came into politics through their husbands or fathers, in former colonial countries.

“Many of the earliest women to come to power were those with dynastic connections to power, and in places where the dynastic connection was tied very closely to the struggle for independence,” said Minna Cowper-Coles, research fellow at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London.

Asia also leads when it comes to women’s tenure in power, with Sheikh Hasina holding the record for the highest number of years served by a woman as a national leader.

Hasina was prime minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2009 until her resignation in August 2024 following massive anti-government protests.

Her father, an independence leader, was Bangladesh’s first prime minister.

Isabel Perón was the first female head of state in the Americas. Her husband, Juan Perón, was president of Argentina and died in office in 1974. As the vice president, she took over many of his duties when he became ill, and was sworn in to the presidency after his death.

In October, Claudia Sheinbaum was inaugurated as the first female president of Mexico.

The first woman to become leader of an African country was Elisabeth Domitien, who was appointed prime minister of the Central African Republic in 1975.

The first elected female head of state in Africa was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who became president of Liberia in 2006.

In 2021, Tunisia became the first Arab country to be governed by a woman, when Najla Bouden was appointed prime minister by the country’s president.

Margaret Thatcher became Europe’s first female prime minister in 1979. A few months later, Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo of Portugal became the continent’s second female head of government.

Since 2010, 28 countries in Europe have had at least one female leader, and the region now has the highest proportion of countries to have had a female leader. Around two-thirds, or 65%, of the 43 UN member countries in the region have had a female leader, and just under a quarter of them are currently being led by a woman.

European female leaders have also achieved significant tenure, with five leaders in the top 10 for longest time served, all with over 10 years in office. Angela Merkel, who first became Germany’s chancellor in 2005, held the role for 16 years.

Jenny Shipley was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1997 to 1999. Julia Gillard was the first woman to hold the title of prime minister of Australia, serving from 2010 to 2013.

Experts say it’s important for women to play key roles in government because it broadens representation.

One possible positive outcome of women winning elections around the world is that their success may inspire others to go for leadership roles, encouraging younger generations of women into politics.

“We can talk about the power of recruitment,” Jalalzai said. “If a woman wins, maybe then we’ve learned the lesson that a woman can win… so you end up finding more women who are willing to throw their hats in the ring.”

Methodology

This data does not count: monarchs or governors appointed by monarchs; acting or interim heads of state or government who were not subsequently elected or confirmed; honorary heads of state or government; joint or collective heads of state or government, and chairpersons or presiding members thereof.

As a result, female leaders for Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina are excluded. Kosovo, although it has a female president, is not a UN member state, so the country is excluded