BERLIN (AP) — A descendant of an executed opponent of the Nazis tried to remove a wreath from the far-right Alternative for Germany party at an event in Berlin marking the 82nd anniversary of a failed attempt to kill Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Tobias Korenke, a great-nephew of Protestant pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted to remove the wreath from the parliamentary group of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, at Monday's event at the site where the main plotters were executed, German news agency dpa reported. Security officers intervened, and the wreath was damaged in the scuffle.
“Many descendants, myself included, feel really great anger when we see AfD laying wreaths here,” Korenke said. “We will not accept this.”
AfD finished second in last year's German national election and is now the biggest opposition party. It hopes to secure its first-ever state governor when three regions vote in September. The party vehemently rejects accusations of extremism.
AfD's parliamentary group confirmed that it had provided a wreath for the memorial event, but it wasn't clear whether any of its members were present, dpa reported. AfD lawmaker Götz Frömming said it is invited to such official events as one of the parties represented in the German parliament.
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg tried to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb on July 20, 1944, during a meeting at the dictator's headquarters in what was then the German region of East Prussia. Hitler escaped the full force of the blast when someone moved the briefcase next to a table leg, deflecting much of the explosive force. The plot crumbled when news spread that Hitler had survived.
Von Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters were executed within hours. Bonhoeffer, who was associated with the plotters, was executed in 1945.
Tuesday's memorial event went ahead as planned with a speech by Education Minister Karin Prien.
A grandson of Stauffenberg, Karl von Stauffenberg, told Welt television that AfD was trying to exploit his grandfather's memory, but said the party shouldn't be prevented from laying a wreath. “We are democrats ... we must see that we also allow people who think differently to speak,” he said.
Tobias Korenke, center, grandnephew of Dietrich and Klaus Bonhoeffer and grandson of Ruediger Schleicher, try to remove a wreath of Germany's far right AFD party during a memorial event held by the federal government in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock of the Defence Ministry in occasion of the National Day of Remembrance for Resistance Against Nazi regime in Berlin, Monday, July 20, 2026. (Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa via AP)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Supporters of India’s youth-led Cockroach movement said Tuesday they will continue their protest in New Delhi, refusing to leave their sit-in site a day after police used tear gas and batons to disperse thousands of them as they tried to march toward Parliament.
Hundreds of protesters camped at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, under heavy police presence, saying they would stay until Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns over alleged failures in India’s examination system.
“We are going to continue our protest,” said Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, which emerged just two months ago.
The movement, drawing students, professionals and families, marks a rare public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s government in its third term, reviving criticism over its handling of dissent and its use of force to respond to protests.
Also Tuesday, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and dozens of his Congress party lawmakers staged a sit-in protest outside Modi’s residence, marking a dramatic escalation. Several were seen fastening zip ties around their wrists.
They are there to “demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday,” Gandhi wrote on X. He urged ”every patriotic Indian who believes that our students should get justice" to join the sit-in.
The Cockroach movement began as a satirical protest but quickly evolved into a nationwide, youth-led movement focused on exam leaks, unemployment and government accountability.
It gained momentum over the weekend after prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose three-week hunger strike has become a symbol of the protests, was forcibly taken to a hospital by police.
Video of police beating protesters and dragging them away spread on social media, fueling public outrage. Footage showed young protesters crying and pleading with officers not to hit them, while others stood their ground and endured blows.
Delhi Police said nearly 180 people were injured, including 118 security personnel and 60 protesters.
Sona Bisht, a 20-year-old student who was part of the protest, said the confrontation strengthened her resolve.
“If the government thinks that doing this with Gen Z, they can stop us, then that won’t happen. We are here talking about education, talking about securing our future. And till the time our demands are not met, we will not move from here,” she said.
After nearly a month of silence, the government made its first apparent move to engage with the protesters Monday, when a senior minister held talks with movement representatives. The outreach failed to ease tensions.
Movement leaders said they wanted action rather than assurances, including Pradhan’s resignation, examination reforms and compensation for families of students who died by suicide after alleged exam irregularities.
Dipke accused authorities of breaking their word, saying police resorted to a baton charge after protesters were invited for talks.
Rights group Amnesty International said in a statement late Monday that the police action showed “how peaceful dissent is being suppressed in India," noting that the right to freedom of peaceful assembly is recognized under the Indian constitution.
More people have joined the movement after seeing the confrontation.
Rabina Kashyap, a 26-year-old working professional, said she joined the protest on Tuesday.
“I have nothing to do with this protest," she said. “But this is India, this is my country, and these are my people. So I will stand by them.”
Associated Press video journalist Piyush Nagpal contributed to this report.
Supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party scuffle with police as they attempt to march toward India's Parliament, demanding the resignation of the education minister, in New Delhi, Monday, July 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Vipin)
Security officers stand guard at the camping site of the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, sits by a portrait of hunger-striking activist Sonam Wangchuk during a protest in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
A supporter of the Cockroach Janta Party holds posters of Bhagat Singh, an Indian revolutionary freedom fighter, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
Supporters gather at the camping site of the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)
