Transcript of Threats On US Bases Overseas, France Student Protest, German Spy Arrest New

The U.S. pulled all of its bombers out of a British airbase over a credible threat linked to Iran.

Officials feared a possible drone strike at the base near where 5 masked men were arrested last week. How exposed are American forces overseas?

I'm Jimmy Martinez. That is Michelle Martin. And this is Up First from NPR News. Crumbling schools and teacher shortages in France sparked hundreds of thousands to march. The protests have spread nationwide, and riot police clashed with students headed to fight over education And Germany's former spy chief has been arrested on suspicion of treason.

Prosecutors say he passed secrets to a foreign government. We have the details of the allegations. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. Small towns like Clarksdale, Mississippi, are hungry for development. When data centers come knocking, what choices do they need to weigh? That could ultimately transform the environment, The health and well-being of residents and possibly the economy of Clarksdale. Listen to NPR's Code Switch podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. We have new information about events connected to the British airbase used by American bombers near where 5 men were arrested last week in a suspected terror plot.

All of the U.S. long-range bombers that were at that base were brought home over the weekend because of a threat of a possible attack by Iran.

For the latest, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, good morning.

Hi, Michelle.

Do we know what kind of threat Iran was posing?

Yeah, a U.S. official who's not authorized to speak publicly told NPR a credible threat linked to Iran was the reason the U.S. decided to abruptly remove a dozen B-1 bombers from this Royal Air Force Base Fairford in the southwest part of the country. This threat potentially involved a drone attack. The U.S. planes were flown out Sunday. They've returned to home bases in the U.S., and these are long-range bombers that were part It was part of a larger contingent of U.S. warplanes that used this British base in recent months to carry out airstrikes in Iran. The other planes had already left.

And as we mentioned, this all began last week. Are there any updates on that investigation in Britain?

Yeah, one more man was arrested Tuesday. He was the 7th to be picked up since this all began on September 27th. That's when British police arrested 5 young men traveling in white vans near the airbase in a rural area in the middle of the night. Now, no weapons were found in the vans, and a few days after that, a 6th man was detained, but they've all been released on bail, and no one has been charged at this point. Now, President Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham have both said there's a possible link to Iran, but they haven't provided details. Iran, for its part, has denied any involvement.

So it sounds like there's still a lot that we want to know, but have we seen anything similar in the past?

You know, Michelle, last year Ukraine smuggled drones into Russia. It hid them inside small mobile homes on the back of Trucks that parked near several Russian air bases with long-range bombers, and then by remote control, Ukraine launched the drones that hit the Russian planes. 20 to 40 of them were damaged or destroyed. This was a significant portion of Russia's long-range bomber fleet, and this attack certainly grabbed the attention of the U.S., which realized U.S. planes could also be vulnerable to a similar surprise attack.

So, are U.S. military bases at home and abroad now considered more vulnerable than in the past?

Absolutely, yes. The war with Iran has driven this home in multiple ways. Iranian drones and missiles have hit U.S. bases throughout the Middle East. Perhaps the most serious attack was on the very large U.S. naval base in Bahrain. And so for the past 3 decades, the U.S. has built many bases in the region. The idea was to provide some level of protections for U.S. allies there.

So is the U.S. rethinking this arrangement?

Yeah, absolutely. The drone threat has really flipped the thinking in many ways. The US has a constellation of military bases that all have to be defended, and this is very complicated and expensive. You know, this discussion was already taking place about the possible future arrangement for US bases in the Middle East, and now we're learning that US planes operating in Britain were facing some sort of threat as well. And just a quick reminder, the US has hundreds of military bases outside the US, Now all of them have to worry about drone attacks.

That is NPR's Greg Myre. Greg, thank you.

Sure thing, Michelle.

In France, high school students are back to blocking their schools today. They marched across the country yesterday.

The movement started in one high school in a working-class suburb of Paris and quickly spread.

We're going to go now to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, who's been following this story. Good morning, Eleanor.

Good morning, Michelle.

It sounds like this is more than a student protest movement at this point, so what can you tell us? Well, yeah, it could be.

You know, yesterday, hundreds of thousands of young people took to the streets to march in cities across the country, but they were joined by teachers, parents, labor union members. The movement seems to be tapping into a deeper discontent in France over skyrocketing fuel prices, a deeply unpopular president, and a general chipping away at the social support system here over recent years. There's also political angst. France has a presidential election in 6 months, and many fear that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen could become the next president. She's way ahead in the polls. This movement did start at one Paris suburb high school, which is particularly run-down, not enough teachers. This seems to be a common problem in schools, especially in less well-off neighborhoods. So the movement quickly spread. But, you know, this movement has hit a nerve because it's also about inequalities in the French education system. The French school is important to the French image of themselves. You know, French people grow up hearing that you can become You can become anything you want, no matter who you are, if you apply yourself in l'École de la République, the School of the Republic. So it's at the heart of France's democracy and vision of itself as a meritocracy and an egalitarian society.

School is about equality of chances, but we've seen that schools are not equal. And this is why you see even elite public schools in the center of cities like Paris out there joining the movement and blockading their schools.

So We have seen some images of violence during these protests. And just tell us how that's all sort of playing out.

That's right. You know, the French were first watching on the news skirmishes between young people and police. And they watched cars and trash cans and even schools burn. And at first, the far right denounced delinquency. But people also saw police aggression. And critics are— from the right and left— are accusing the government of reacting too late and then treating it like a problem of urban violence instead of addressing the students' demands. Listen to far-left lawmaker Mathilde Panot lecturing the prime minister yesterday in Parliament. She says, we do not brutalize children and treat young people like a military adversary. And she told him repression and stun grenades would not stop young people from standing up for their futures.

So how is the government going to handle this situation?

This is coming at a horrible time. France has record debt, and today it has higher borrowing costs than Greece and Italy. The government is just finalizing a budget and was going to teaching posts, but how can it do that now? It has little wiggle room. The government fears other public sector workers could join the movement and there could be huge social unrest. So far, this movement seems to be benefiting far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon. He is running for president next spring for the 4th time, and he is milking this for everything it's worth. Listen to this. So that's a campaign video he just put out of him at the Paris march yesterday. He's being hugged by young people and acclaimed. The usually grumpy and scowling candidate was all smiles. Meanwhile, students are waiting for a response to their demands, and so far the government has just put up a platform for them to write their complaints, and it also called for schools to be adjourned Friday so that each establishment can organize a time of, quote, internal democracy and reflection, and the prime minister is going to speak to the nation tonight. Everyone will be waiting.

That is NPR's Eleanor Beardsley. Eleanor, thank you.

You're welcome.

From spy chief to alleged traitor: In Germany, a former head of the country's foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, will be brought before a federal judge today to face charges that include espionage and attempted treason.

His arrest comes as German officials debate a bill to give intelligence agencies more powers and also amid warnings of Russia's growing threat to national security. For more, we're joined Esme Nicholson in Berlin.

Esme, good morning.

Good morning, Michelle.

So prosecutors say Hanning used classified information to make money since leaving office 2 decades ago. Can you just give us more details?

Well, yeah, first of all, I think let's be clear about the magnitude of these allegations. August Hanning served as the head of Germany's CIA equivalent, known here as the BND, for 7 years, from 1998 to 2005. Federal prosecutors accuse Hanning of using classified information to brief a foreign intelligence agency in at least one instance. That amounts to attempted treason. And prosecutors also believe that Hanning was in close contact with a member of another foreign intelligence agency to whom he passed sensitive political information. He allegedly shared information for 12 years, all after he left office. And prosecutors believe he did it with the help of his former chief of staff, a man they've named as Manfred D., who was also arrested yesterday. This high-ranking aide actually continued to serve Hanning's 3 successors until he retired earlier this years, and prosecutors say he passed on more than 2,000 classified documents to his former boss in return for payment. Now, we reached out to Hanning's lawyers, but they declined to comment.

And what do we know about who may have been benefiting from his alleged services?

Well, federal prosecutors have not yet disclosed who his alleged clients were or which foreign intelligence agencies were allegedly involved. And while the German press, including Die Welt and Der Spiegel, is reporting that Russia is not This has not stopped speculation among German lawmakers. The deputy chair of the Bundestag's Intelligence Oversight Committee, Konstantin von Notz, has demanded a thorough probe. Here he is speaking to public broadcaster ZDF. He says, naturally, questions are being asked as to whether information was leaked to Russia, adding that the suspicion alone is outrageous. And it's worth pointing out here that this alleged very high-profile security breach is not an exception. at Germany's foreign intelligence agency. The organization's former head of Russian counterintelligence is currently on trial for allegedly spying for Russia.

So how damaging is this to German intelligence?

Well, I think to say this is a major blow to Germany's security apparatus is putting it mildly. Prosecutors allege that Hanning's former aide passed on documents that were meant only for internal high-level briefings or for the German chancellor. So it raises concerns about the credibility of Germany's intelligence agencies, especially among its Western allies and whether their own agents have been compromised. And the arrests come as the new head of foreign intelligence, Martin Jäger, warns that Russia is waging what he calls a shadow war in Germany, which includes sabotage, cyberattacks, and disinformation campaigns. So the fallout from this is not only humiliating but potentially dangerous.

That is Esme Nicholson in Berlin. Esme, thank you.

Thank you, Michelle.

And that's Up First for Wednesday, October 7th. I'm Michelle Martin.

And I'm Emi Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Andrew Sussman, Miguel Macias, Tina Kraia, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Much and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin. Join us again tomorrow.

On NPR's Wildcard podcast, drag queen Trixie Mattel on finding her confidence.

I mean, I got into it for the drink tickets. when I started doing drag. But now, at this point in my life, it's funny that drag over the years has helped me convince myself that, like, you really can do anything.

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