French prosecutors have issued a public appeal for potential victims to come forward in a sweeping abuse investigation involving a 79-year-old former teacher accused of raping and sexually assaulting 89 minors over several decades.

Speaking in Grenoble on Tuesday, Prosecutor Etienne Manteaux outlined the case against Jacques Leveugle, who has been in custody since being charged in 2024. In a rare step, authorities disclosed the suspect’s identity, saying the decision was intended to encourage other possible victims to testify.

“This name must be known because the aim is to enable potential victims to come forward,” Manteaux said.

Leveugle, born in 1946 in Annecy, is accused of abusing teenage boys between the ages of 13 and 17 from 1967 to 2022 in multiple countries, including Germany, India and Colombia. According to prosecutors, he described himself as a “gentleman boy-lover” and portrayed his actions as mentorship. Manteaux said the suspect presented himself as cultured and charismatic, using intellectual influence to gain the trust of adolescents.

Investigators were alerted in 2022 when Leveugle’s nephew handed over USB drives containing extensive personal writings. Authorities said the material spans 15 dense volumes and documents encounters across several countries where Leveugle worked as a freelance teacher and instructor, including in speleology and French language studies.

Serge Procedes, who heads the Grenoble investigation unit, said the case involves what he described as moral coercion rather than physical violence. Around 150 individuals have been interviewed so far, and investigators have formally identified 89 victims. However, only two have filed civil actions.

The inquiry is constrained by time limits under French law. Procedes said the judicial investigation is expected to close in 2026, making the search for additional testimony urgent. Some individuals mentioned in the seized writings are identified only by nicknames or first names, complicating efforts to locate them.

Prosecutors also disclosed that Leveugle confessed to suffocating his terminally ill mother in the 1970s and his 92-year-old aunt in the 1990s, describing the acts as mercy killings. He allegedly told investigators he would wish the same for himself under similar circumstances.

Leveugle had no prior criminal record. Authorities said they delayed public disclosure of his identity until they had verified key elements of the case.

The appeal for witnesses comes amid broader scrutiny of institutional responses to sexual abuse in France, following other high-profile cases that exposed systemic failures. Prosecutors are urging anyone with information related to Leveugle’s activities, whether in France or abroad, to contact investigators.

Spain and Portugal endured fresh storms and torrential rain on Saturday, claiming another life just days after Storm Leonardo caused deadly flooding and widespread damage.

One person was killed in Portugal as heavy rainfall from Storm Marta swept across the Iberian Peninsula. Authorities reported that a 46-year-old member of the emergency services drowned in a river at Campo Maior, in the central Portalegre district, while attempting to cross a flooded area.

The extreme weather forced three municipalities in Portugal to postpone a presidential vote scheduled for Sunday by a week. Storms in recent weeks have already taken a heavy toll: Storm Kristin killed at least five people in Portugal last week, while Storm Leonardo claimed another victim on Wednesday.

Officials warned that the risk of flooding from the Tagus River in the central Santarém region remained at its highest level. Further south, in Alcácer do Sal, floodwaters from the Sado River had receded to the banks, though the city had previously been submerged, forcing residents to evacuate. Alcácer do Sal lies about 90 kilometres south of Lisbon.

In Spain, Storm Marta prompted the closure of dozens of roads as it moved northeast. In Ávila, a snow plough driver died on Saturday after the vehicle plunged down a 20-metre slope at the El Pico pass. According to the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), more than 100 roads were closed in the early morning, mostly due to flooding, snow, or ice.

The province of Cadiz was the hardest hit, with several roads rendered impassable, followed by Cordoba and Seville. Snowstorms in mountainous regions led to road closures in Granada, Asturias, Salamanca, and Navarre.

Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) said rainfall would ease on Sunday in many areas but persist in some regions, including the Strait of Gibraltar, the Alboran Sea, Andalusian mountain ranges, the Balearic Islands, northeastern Catalonia, and the Cantabrian Sea. Locally heavy showers are expected, with thunderstorms and hail reported in some areas.

Authorities in both countries continue to urge residents to exercise caution, avoid flooded zones, and stay updated on weather alerts. Emergency services have been deployed to assist those affected by rising waters and to prevent further casualties.

The repeated storms across the Iberian Peninsula highlight the ongoing vulnerability of the region to severe weather events in recent weeks, with communities struggling to recover from back-to-back floods and heavy rains.

Spain and Portugal’s governments have stressed the importance of preparedness, especially in flood-prone regions, as meteorologists warn that unsettled weather may continue to affect the peninsula over the coming days.

The German army brigade stationed in Lithuania is not under direct fire, but troops report facing hybrid attacks, including surveillance, psychological operations, and drone activity, as tensions with Russia persist in the Baltic region.

Soldiers have described unusual incidents, including mysterious phone calls where conversations from hours earlier were played back by unknown callers. “A comrade phones home, speaks for half an hour, and then gets a call from an unknown number. He answers – and hears his own conversation from earlier, recorded and played back,” Joshua Krebs wrote in his book, Inside Bundeswehr, calling the tactic “uncanny.”

Drones have also reportedly been used to monitor sensitive defence systems and exercises involving Germany’s Battletank Brigade 45 in Lithuania. Last year, a Russian reconnaissance aircraft entered Belarusian airspace during the Bundeswehr’s exercise Iron Wolf, raising concerns about Russian surveillance in the region.

Germany’s Inspector General, Carsten Breuer, described such incidents as “proof of the very real threat to Lithuania.” Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius echoed the warning during a meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart in Berlin, stressing that hybrid warfare poses a particular concern for Lithuania and the wider Baltic region.

The risks are compounded by Russian incursions into European airspace. In October 2025, two Russian fighter jets briefly entered Lithuanian airspace for approximately 18 seconds before turning back under NATO escort. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the incident as a “provocation,” with the aircraft thought to have flown from Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.

Given the Baltic states’ proximity to Russian territory, the region is under constant NATO monitoring. Germany, Spain, and the UK currently lead the mission to police Baltic airspace, while Germany also supports ground operations, including deploying a mobile air force command post for air surveillance from January to March this year.

Experts note that hybrid attacks often exist in a legal grey area. Unlike conventional military operations, many hybrid actions, such as surveillance or unmarked troop movements, cannot be directly attributed to a single actor, and international law does not automatically classify them as armed attacks under Article 51 of the UN Charter. The aim is often psychological: to provoke, unsettle, and signal presence without triggering a military response.

Incidents reminiscent of the “little green men” in Crimea have occurred in the Baltics. In December, Russian border guards briefly crossed into Estonia without authorization, prompting diplomatic protests rather than military retaliation. Armed men in unmarked uniforms were also spotted near the Estonian border earlier in the year, reinforcing concerns about Russia’s hybrid strategies.

According to Pistorius, these tactics are part of a broader pattern of Russian pressure. “The threat posed by Russia is felt more acutely in Lithuania and across the Baltic region than elsewhere in Europe,” he said, citing provocative airspace incursions and intelligence-gathering operations as ongoing challenges for NATO forces in the region.