Germany is introducing measures to tackle its refugee crisis earlier than previously expected, a top government official said on Friday, allowing accelerated deportation procedures to begin as early as next week.

A dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who pleaded guilty to trying to export sensitive information about U.S. military jets to his native Iran could be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison at a hearing on Friday.

A masked swordsman who killed a teaching assistant and a boy and wounded two others, all with immigrant backgrounds, was driven by racist motives, Swedish police said on Friday, fuelling concerns that refugee numbers were polarizing public opinion in the country.