AfD MPs elected committee chair +++ Unemployment increases +++ Doctor admits abuse of patients +++ Two dead after shots in Darmstadt +++ The news of the day in the stern ticker.
The most important messages in a short overview:
The news of the day in the star news ticker:
+++ 7.44 p.m .: The entire board of the US Gymnastics Association resigned +++
As a result of the abuse scandal surrounding the ex-team doctor of the American gymnasts, the entire board of the US Gymnastics Association has resigned as announced. This was announced by the USA Gymnastics Association on its website, thereby fulfilling a requirement of the US National Olympic Committee (USOC). Several members withdrew last week after criticism of the association's handling of the scandal. He had come under heavy pressure from statements by prominent gymnasts such as Olympic champions Gabriele Douglas, Alexandra Raisman and McKayla Maroney. Former team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced last Wednesday to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young gymnasts, of which he must serve at least 40 years in prison.
+++ 7.38 p.m .: Brandenburger who converted to Islam wants to remain an AfD member +++
The former member of the AfD state executive committee in Brandenburg, Arthur Wagner, who converted to Islam, wants to remain in the right-wing populist party . The 48-year-old said in Potsdam that he had resigned from his posts on the state board and the district board in Havelland, but wanted to remain a normal member. "I will always remain loyal to the AfD," he said.
Wagner said he wanted to mediate between Islam and national conservative Germans. You have to build bridges. According to his own statements, he came to Germany in the 1990s as a German from Russia. His press conference was also marked by language problems. He now wants to learn German better and study Islamic studies in a distance learning course, said Wagner.
+++ 6.50 p.m.: Train carrying US MPs collides with truck +++
A train carrying US Republican MPs has collided with a truck. The White House said one was killed and one seriously injured, but not among members of the House and Senate. None of the MPs were "seriously injured," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. It was initially unclear whether there were any injuries among the members of Congress.
MPs were en route to a retreat in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, when the train struck a garbage truck. MP Bradley Byrne wrote shortly after the incident on Twitter that security personnel and doctors were on board the train "to secure the site and treat the injured". However, he did not say whether the injured were members of Congress.
+++ 6.48 p.m .: Switzerland wants to approach the EU with new ideas - narrow time window +++
Switzerland wants to bring new momentum into the stalled negotiations with the EU about closer relations. The Confederation has new ideas and intends to tackle the issue much more aggressively in future, said Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in Bern. "We are ready to move forward." The economic, political and cultural ties are deep. "We are part of Europe, even if we don't belong to the EU."
There is a window of around ten months to regulate relations between the EU and Switzerland. Cassis was certain that no movement was to be expected in 2019. Then there is likely to be Brexit, the European Parliament and the Swiss National Council will be elected.
According to Cassis, Switzerland is striving for "the best possible market access and the greatest possible independence". The country has decided against EU membership, but has access to the EU internal market via bilateral agreements. A framework agreement is to regulate this relationship. Negotiations have been going on for around four years.
+++ 6.26 p.m.: rape trial started - young man +++
The trial against a young man for two rapes and two attempted rapes has begun at the Tübingen district court. He allegedly intercepted and assaulted three women on their way home from parties in May and October 2015, according to the indictment. In February 2017, he is said to have invited and raped a disabled woman under a pretext.
At the start of the trial, the man, who says he was 22, wanted to testify about at least one crime. However, the public was excluded because the man was possibly still an adolescent at the time of the crime. The accused comes from Gambia and came to Germany three years ago. According to prosecutors, he gave different dates of birth. An expert on the question of age determination is involved in the court proceedings. The verdict is expected for March 27th.
+++ 5.52 p.m .: "The end": Catalonia's separatist boss throws in the towel via app +++
After the recent setbacks, the Catalan separatist boss Carles Puigdemont said in a private message end of the independence movement in the Spanish conflict region. The central government in Madrid has won, Puigdemont wrote to his political comrade-in-arms Toni Comín via the short message service Signal. The lines were revealed by the TV channel "Telecinco". A journalist photographed the display of Comín's cell phone unnoticed when he read his messages, the broadcaster reported.
Puigdemont had no choice but to confirm the authenticity of the "intercepted" messages. The 55-year-old, who has been living in exile in Belgium since the end of October after his dismissal as Catalan regional president, denied that he was giving up. "We're going to keep going!" he tweeted.
Following the separatists' success in December's general election, Puigdemont was nominated as a candidate by the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent. On Tuesday, however, he suffered a serious setback: the debate in the regional parliament in Barcelona about his re-election was postponed until further notice by Torrent by order of the constitutional court in Madrid.
+++ 5.42 p.m .: New investigations into suspected Nazi criminals +++
The Central Office for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg has located further suspected Nazi criminals. On the basis of their research, the Erfurt public prosecutor's office began investigating five former SS guards at the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office on request. The allegations were accessory to murder. The men are now between 92 and 96 years old. The daily newspaper "taz" had previously reported on the investigation.
The accused live in Thuringia, Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and the Rhineland, as the head of the Central Office for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes, Jens Rommel, said on Wednesday. You were therefore born between June 1921 and November 1925. Rommel said that four of the accused were deployed there in the "late phase" of Buchenwald, i.e. in 1944/45.
+++ 5.30 p.m .: The number of unemployed rises to 2.57 million due to the winter break +++
Due to seasonal factors, the number of unemployed in Germany rose in January - compared to the previous month by 185,000 to 2.57 Millions. However, that is the lowest reading this month in more than 25 years. According to the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg, the increase was also lower than usual. Compared to the previous year, the number of unemployed fell by 207,000, as announced by the BA. The unemployment rate rose 0.5 points to 5.8 percent. The Federal Agency attributes the increase to the winter break.
+++ 5.08 p.m .: Carnival President: Merkel should go as an Elbin from "The Lord of the Rings" +++
A carnivalist gave Chancellor Angela Merkel and SPD leader Martin Schulz costume recommendations. Merkel can best go as an Elbin, Schulz as a clown, Klaus-Ludwig Fess, President of the German Carnival Association, told the "Frankfurter Rundschau". Merkel "should wear an elfish costume - like in 'The Lord of the Rings'," said Fess. Because the CDU boss is very statesmanlike and exudes calm. Schulz, on the other hand, is "somehow a tragicomic figure". However: "A clown also stands for humour, cheerfulness, cheerfulness and makes people laugh. And that's not wrong in these times."
+++ 4.36 p.m .: "Reichsbürger" sentenced to 15 months in prison for threats +++
In Bavaria, a so-called Reichsbürger has been sentenced to 15 months in prison without probation for threatening officials and other criminal offences To be sentenced. According to the indictment, the 51-year-old from Donauwörth in Swabia had written to the employees of the General Prosecutor's Office in Munich and threatened execution. The accused did not deny the allegations, said the district court in Aichach. However, he made it clear that he did not recognize the judiciary. "Reich citizens" reject the Federal Republic as a state and claim that the German Reich continues to exist. The German courts have been dealing with them for years. The processes often take place with increased security precautions.
+++ 4.24 p.m .: More than 37,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering after a rooster attack +++
After the attack by an aggressive rooster in the Bavarian district of Ebersberg, the owners of the animal have to pay a construction supervisor around 37,500 euros in compensation for pain and suffering and damages pay. The dispute went to the Munich Higher Regional Court in the second instance and ended with a corresponding settlement.
The man was busy with road construction work near the defendant's property in the Ebersberg district. He was attacked by the rooster and stumbled backwards over the edge of the road while trying to avoid it, he later said of the incident. He broke a vertebra in the process.
+++ 4.21 p.m .: Macron warns Turkey of an "invasion" of Syria - Ankara rejects +++
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned Turkey of an "invasion" with regard to its military offensive in Syria warned. If the operation takes a different turn than an action against terror and turns out to be an invasion, "then this operation would pose a real problem for us," he told the newspaper "Le Figaro".
Turkey has been taking action against the Kurdish militia YPG in the Afrin region in northwestern Syria since January 20. Macron spoke out in favor of talks and decisions between Europeans and "more widely among allies" because of the offensive. "Because it is changing the nature of this Turkish incursion and that is why I will be speaking to (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan again in the coming days." According to the paper, Macron gave the interview after a dinner hosted by France's Armenian community in Paris.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim replied: "The whole world knows and should know that Turkey is by no means operating with the logic of occupation." If France understands it that way, its activities in Syria should be evaluated in the same way.
+++ 4.12 p.m .: Ukraine removes four EU countries from the list of tax havens +++
After sharp criticism, the Ukrainian government has the four EU countries of Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Hungary back removed from a tax haven blacklist. This was announced by Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman of the state agency Ukrinform. The Caucasus state of Georgia was also removed from the list that was only published on January 1st. The Estonian government welcomed the move. "I'm glad that the Ukrainian colleagues acted quickly," said Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, according to a statement from the State Chancellery in Tallinn.
+++ 3.39 p.m .: Car manufacturers assure the consequences of controversial exhaust gas tests +++
In view of the outrage over diesel exhaust gas tests with monkeys, the German car manufacturers involved have assured the federal government that there will be consequences. Representatives of VW, Daimler and BMW would have ruled out their own studies with research on living beings in the future, the Ministry of Transport announced after a special meeting of its exhaust gas investigation committee.
The companies only want to participate directly or indirectly in studies in which compliance with applicable German law and German ethical principles is guaranteed. The manufacturers also wanted to check whether there were other clubs like the EUGT.
+++ 3.37 p.m .: German temporarily becomes group leader of the EU Social Democrats +++
The German MEP Udo Bullmann takes over the group chairmanship of the European Social Democrats for about a month. This was announced by the previous parliamentary group leader Gianni Pittella in Brussels. Pittella is running in the Italian general elections on March 4th. He wants to leave office during the election campaign. If he is elected, he will declare his resignation before the European Parliament on March 7, the Italian told journalists. In this case, the election of his successor will then be prepared.
Udo Bullmann is deputy leader of the European Social Democrats in the European Parliament. The 61-year-old from Gießen in Hesse is already being treated as Pittella's permanent successor in media reports.
+++ 3.31 p.m.: Iran wants to crack down on "anti-headscarf demonstrations" +++
The Iranian public prosecutor wants to crack down on the growing number of "anti-headscarf demonstrators". "Removing the headscarf in public is against the law and Islamic duty and is therefore a clear criminal offence," said Tehran's prosecutor Abbas Jafar Dolatabadi. He confirmed that at least one protester had been arrested and imprisoned. According to the Ilna news agency, Dolatabadi warned that the public prosecutor's office would "consistently fulfill their duty".
As a protest against the compulsory headscarf in Iran, women take off their headscarves on the streets and hang them on a stick as a flag. So far, a dozen women are said to have taken part in the campaign. The "anti-headscarf protests" in Tehran and other cities are gradually becoming a serious problem for the state.
+++ 3.12 p.m .: Swiss Air Force checks almost all fighter planes for cracks +++
As a precaution, the Swiss Air Force checks its 30 F/A-18C Hornet fighter planes for damage to the landing flap. During a control flight, a break in a fastening hinge of the landing flap was discovered, the government said. As a precautionary measure for airworthiness and safety, this jet's mounting hinges would now undergo a crack test before its next flight.
All Hornets should be checked by Thursday evening. "Until an aircraft is checked, it won't take off," said a spokesman. The jets used for the air policing service would be checked with priority. This ensures the ability of the Luftwaffe, which also has Tiger machines, to intervene.
+++ 3:00 p.m.: Young people in Thailand convicted of lese-majeste +++
Five teenagers and a young man have been sentenced to several years in prison in Thailand for lese-majeste. The six accused were found guilty, according to their lawyers, of setting fire to portraits of members of the Thai royal family. The harsh verdict is part of a trend toward ever-increasing penalties for defaming the royal family in the Southeast Asian country.
According to the organization Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the charges included lèse majesté, arson and property damage. Four of them received prison sentences of eleven and a half and seven years and eight months, respectively. The other two are serving three years and four months in prison.+++ 2.56 p.m .: Public prosecutors are investigating against Bosch employees +++
The public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart has been investigating two employees of the automotive supplier Bosch for the past week. As the public prosecutor announced, they suspected the two of aiding and abetting fraud in connection with exhaust gas fraud software for diesel cars. Specifically, it is about a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck from the US automaker Chrysler, which have been equipped with a shutdown device for the emission control system.
The public prosecutor's office assumes that "the relevant contributions to the crime" were made in their area of responsibility. Bosch explained that the company has been cooperating "unreservedly" with the investigators since the allegations became known. The car supplier did not want to comment any further
+++ 2:52 p.m.: Half a ton of cocaine discovered in a private jet from Colombia +++
After the discovery of 500 kilograms of cocaine in a private jet in Great Britain, five men have to answer in court. The drugs, worth over £50m (about €57m) were hidden in 15 suitcases on the plane from Colombia. It is one of the largest finds of this type in Britain in recent years. Investigators arrested two British brothers, two Spaniards and an Italian man, who have now been charged with drug smuggling. The plane was searched shortly after landing at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, south-west of London on Monday.
+++ 2:26 p.m .: Soccer coach Rolf Schafstall died +++
German soccer and VfL Bochum in particular mourn the loss of coach Rolf Schafstall. According to VfL information, the football teacher, who was born in Duisburg on February 22, 1937, died on Tuesday at the age of 80. In addition to Bochum, Schaffstall also coached MSV Duisburg, FC Schalke 04, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Hannover 96.
+++ 2.22 p.m .: Herne double murder: Marcel H. sentenced to life imprisonment +++
A 20-year-old man from Herne has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a cruel double murder. The Bochum regional court also determined on Wednesday that the guilt was particularly serious. Marcel H. had confessed to killing a nine-year-old boy next door and a 22-year-old ex-school friend in March 2017.
+++ 1:50 p.m.: After China, Hong Kong also bans trade in ivory +++
Hong Kong has banned the trade in ivory. As the Legislative Council of the Chinese Special Administrative Region has now decided, the ban should apply from 2021. Violations are to be punished with up to ten years imprisonment. Hong Kong is following mainland China, where the trade in ivory has been banned since the end of last year. The ivory market in Hong Kong is one of the largest in the world and is therefore directly linked to the massive poaching of pachyderms in Africa. According to the WWF, the result of the strong demand for ivory is a dramatic poaching crisis in Africa. Around 20,000 elephants are illegally killed every year, according to environmentalists.
+++ 1.35 p.m .: Aldi wants to build apartments in Berlin +++
The discounter Aldi Nord wants to build around 2000 apartments in Berlin. This was announced by the retail chain. "That's the idea: an Aldi market on the ground floor and apartments above it," it said. 200 apartments in the districts of Neukölln and Lichtenberg will be built shortly, and another 15 locations in the capital are under consideration.
Aldi needs larger retail space for its new concept with a larger range of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. The connection with apartments should make it easier for the company to obtain building permits. Because the Senate wants to use the often only single-storey supermarket locations more for apartments.
Against a similar background, Aldi is already building in Hamburg. The company did not say whether the discounter in Berlin also acts as a landlord or wants to sell its apartments.
+++ 1.34 p.m .: France wants to make D-Day beaches a Unesco World Heritage Site +++
France wants to declare the D-Day beaches of the Allied landings in Normandy a Unesco World Heritage Site permit. A spokesman for the UN cultural organization confirmed receipt of the French nomination. The Paris Ministry of Culture said the beaches bore the traces of a "fight for freedom and peace". On the so-called D-Day, June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed in Germany-occupied France during World War II.
+++ 1.32 p.m .: Nine young people arrested in Naples after an attack on teenagers +++
After a brutal attack on a teenager, nine young people were arrested in Naples. The minors are suspected of beating up a 15-year-old outside a metro station on January 12 for no reason, so badly that his spleen had to be removed in an emergency operation, police said. They are said to belong to a so-called baby gang. According to the police, eight of them came to assisted living communities, one suspected attacker may continue to live with his family. The southern Italian city - which is also home to the Mafia organization Camorra - is repeatedly shaken by violent crimes by young people.
+++ 1:10 p.m .: Helpers fear many deaths in a boat accident in the Mediterranean Sea +++
Up to 40 migrants could have drowned in a boat accident in the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend. That's according to testimonies from survivors who went ashore last night in Augusta, Sicily, International Organization for Migration spokesman Flavio di Giacomo tweeted today.
On Saturday, around 800 migrants were rescued in several rescue operations, including by the Italian coast guard and aid organizations. Two bodies were recovered. Because they had water in their lungs, 16 migrants - including six resuscitated children - had to be flown to the hospital in Sfax, Tunisia, in a military helicopter.
+++ 12.54 p.m .: Three Syrians convicted of attacking Germans in Istanbul +++
Attack in TurkeyHow a tour guide prevented further victims in Istanbul
More than two years after After a suicide attack on Germans in Istanbul, a Turkish court sentenced three Syrians to life imprisonment. Several other suspects were acquitted in Istanbul. The convicts were accused, among other things, of membership in IS, intentional killing and attempted subversion of the constitutional order. Twelve Germans were killed and 16 injured in the attack on January 12, 2016 in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul.
+++ 12.21 p.m .: Anyone who gets cannabis must hand in their gun license +++
Anyone who is allowed to consume cannabis for medical reasons must hand in their gun license. This emerges from a judgment of the Bavarian Administrative Court, which was published in Munich. A hunter from the Miesbach district did not want to accept that the district office had withdrawn his gun license and hunting license - because he inhaled cannabis flowers several times a day.
However, the court is of the opinion that even with medically justified regular cannabis consumption, reliable handling of weapons and ammunition is not guaranteed. It
There is insufficient scientific evidence that the effects of the intoxicant in medically supervised cannabis use differ from those in cannabis abuse.
+++ 12.09 p.m .: AfD MPs elected committee chair +++
For the first time, AfD MPs will chair three Bundestag committees. They received the necessary majority in the committees for budget, law and tourism. Normally, the chairpersons do not have to stand for election, they are only appointed. However, since several committee members objected to the nominees, elections became necessary.
Bundestag insults, violence, agitation - these are the committee chairmen of the AfD
The AfD member of parliament and euro opponent Peter Boehringer was elected chairman of the budget committee in an open election with the votes of his own party and the FDP . The legal committee elected AfD MP Stephan Brandner as its chairman. The young AfD MP Sebastian Münzenmaier will head the tourism committee in the future. Union and FDP voted yes in his election, the left no. SPD and Greens abstained.
+++ 12.07 p.m .: Doctor admits to the abuse of patients +++
A doctor accused of sexually abusing patients has made a confession before the Constance Regional Court. This was announced by the presiding judge. The public was excluded from the hearing during the confession with a view to the personal rights of the 39-year-old. The public prosecutor accuses the former senior physician and specialist in neurology of having performed sexual acts on several patients. He is said to have asked the women to undress down to their underwear.
During the examination, he is said to have partially pushed the patient's panties to the side and touched the women on and between the labia. The man took advantage of the counseling, treatment or care relationship with the women. According to the indictment, five patients are affected - the crimes are said to have happened between April 2014 and February 2015.
+++ 11.54 a.m .: Acquittals in the trial of the banned Salafist association +++
In a trial of the banned Salafist association Millatu Ibrahim, the Hamburg Regional Court acquitted the twelve accused. "The evidence has revealed circumstantial evidence, but in no way evidence sufficient for a conviction," said the presiding judge. The public prosecutor and the defense had also pleaded for acquittal.
The men, aged 25 to 37, were accused of being supporters of the Salafist association, which has been banned since 2012, and of having met regularly in a mosque in Hamburg-Harburg. In addition, they are said to have organized Koran distribution stands. According to the indictment, they violated the club ban.
+++ 11.25 a.m .: Missing man drifted 114 kilometers dead in the Rhine +++
Almost two months after the disappearance of a 35-year-old in Düsseldorf, the man's body is 114 kilometers away in Nijmegen in the Netherlands been found. How the man died is still unclear, the police said. He probably fell into the Rhine and was carried down the river to the Netherlands. The man from Oberhausen had been reported missing since December 3, 2017 after going home alone with a work colleague in Düsseldorf's old town after a Christmas party. It is not unusual for a drowned body to drift so far, says spokesman for the Duisburg water police, Ramon van der Maat.
+++ 11.04 a.m .: Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in German coastal waters approved +++
The construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline has cleared another hurdle. The Stralsund Mining Authority, which is responsible for approval in the German coastal waters, today gave the green light for construction. After examining all the documents submitted and weighing up the objections received, the authority declared the construction and operation of the pipeline over 55 kilometers in the German territorial sea to be permissible, the Energy Ministry of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania announced.
+++ 10.44 a.m .: Mexican government dispatches 5,000 security forces due to wave of violence +++
Because of the increasing violence in Mexico, the government has dispatched more than 5,000 additional security forces to several vacation spots and other areas of the country. The measure should "quickly reduce this growing violence," said Mexican Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete in Mexico City. The security forces were reinforced, especially in the holiday resort of Cancún and in the Baja California Sur region with the seaside resorts of Los Cabos and La Paz.
+++ 10.37 a.m .: The left requests a vote on the AfD candidate for chairing the budget committee +++
The left requests a vote on the AfD candidate for chairing the committee in the budget committee of the Bundestag. This was announced by the left housekeeper Gesine Lötzsch before the start of the constituent committee meeting. The AfD candidate Peter Boehringer had made racist and misogynist statements in the past, Lötzsch justified the move.
Normally, the chairmen of the Bundestag committees are not elected, only appointed. But if another faction objects to a candidate, there must be an election of the leader instead.
+++ 10.35 a.m .: Police find dead people in Darmstadt - witnesses heard shots +++
The police found two dead people in Darmstadt near the main train station. The police suspect a violent crime. Witnesses had reported shots and a burning car and alerted the authorities, a police spokeswoman said. Firefighters put out a burning car at the scene. The "Darmstädter Echo" had previously reported on it.
A man was found dead in the car, police said, and a woman's body was discovered nearby. The vehicle was parked in a parking lot in a yard. It could be a homicide and a suicide.+++ 10.25 a.m .: Government wants to dissolve fraternity after Nazi songbook scandal +++
Austria"We create the seventh million" - FPÖ politician is under pressure because of anti-Semitic songs
In Austria, the Germania fraternity is to be dissolved after the scandal surrounding a song book with anti-Semitic lyrics. A corresponding procedure should be initiated, said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP).
Meanwhile, it was revealed that one of the four suspects in the affair was a member of the Social Democrats. The SPÖ immediately expelled the man from the party, who is said to have illustrated the song book that was republished in 1997.
Vice-Chancellor and FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, on the other hand, sees no reason to ban FPÖ top politician Udo Landbauer from the party. The 31-year-old explained that he did not know the text. Landbauer was vice-president of the fraternity.
+++ 10.09 a.m .: Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission in the USA are investigating throttling in iPhones +++
Apple is now also being targeted by the US authorities because of the performance throttling in older iPhone models. According to the Bloomberg news agency, the Justice Department and the SEC are checking whether Apple should have informed its customers immediately after the introduction of this throttling - and not only after customers had complained about it. Apple admitted in December that older smartphones are slowed down via software updates to prevent them from suddenly switching off.
The technology group introduced this update a year ago. In the meantime, Apple has apologized to customers, made battery replacement significantly cheaper and announced that users will soon be able to decide for themselves whether to reduce the performance recommended. Bloomberg reported, citing informed circles, that informing customers late could constitute a violation of the law.
+++ 9.59 a.m .: Unemployment rises to 2.57 million in January +++
The number of unemployed in Germany rose by 185,000 to 2.57 million in January compared to the previous month. Compared to the previous year, the number of unemployed fell by 207,000, as reported by the Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg. The unemployment rate rose 0.5 points to 5.8 percent.
+++ 8.56 a.m.: Inspectors are shot dead in a Cambodian reserve +++
Three men were killed in a mysterious exchange of fire in the Cambodian jungle. The two officials and an environmentalist were on a patrol in the remote Keo Seima nature reserve on the border with Vietnam when a firefight broke out with alleged border officials, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported. It was speculated that the three men caught wood thieves in the act. Tropical timber has been cut down on a large scale in the Southeast Asian country for many years.
+++ 8.56 a.m.: 6.1 magnitude earthquake shakes northeast Afghanistan +++
A severe earthquake shook northeast Afghanistan. According to the USGS, the quake had a magnitude of 6.1 and was centered near the border with Tajikistan in the Hindu Kush Mountains at a depth of 191 kilometers. The tremors were also felt in the Pakistani capital Islamabad and the Indian capital New Delhi.
A baby died in Pakistan when the roof of his family's home in the southwestern province of Baluchistan collapsed. According to an official, nine other family members were injured. Nothing was initially known about other victims or damage caused by the earthquake.
+++ 8.44 a.m.: Convicted murderer of women executed in the US state of Texas +++
A prisoner convicted of murdering his wife and girlfriend has been executed in the US state of Texas. William Rayford, 64, received a lethal injection in Huntsville Jail and was pronounced dead last night, the Corrections Authority said. The US Supreme Court had previously rejected a final appeal against the execution of the death sentence.
Rayford, an African American man, was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of his girlfriend. He had previously been sentenced to 23 years in prison for the 1986 murder of his wife. He was serving eight years in prison and was paroled at the time of the second murder.
+++ 8.42 a.m .: Juso boss Kühnert criticizes agreement with Union on family reunification +++
Juso chairman Kevin Kühnert has criticized the agreement between the SPD and Union on family reunification for refugees. At the SPD party conference, a "further hardship regulation" was called for, said Kühnert on Deutschlandfunk. "This order has not been fulfilled."
Union and SPD agreed on Tuesday to extend the suspension of subsequent immigration for refugees with limited protection status until the end of July. After that, a monthly quota of 1,000 people should apply for the reunification of family members. In addition, the previous hardship regulation remains in place.
+++ 8.40 a.m .: Quiksilver boss missing at sea - search continues +++
French and Spanish rescue workers continue to search for Pierre Agnes, the boss of the fashion brand Quiksilver on Wednesday. After a fishing trip on the Atlantic, Agnes' boat washed up on the beach in Hossegor in southwestern France on Tuesday, the local naval prefecture said.
Agnes, 54, had disembarked from his 11m boat Mascaret III at 7.30am yesterday morning, local media reported, citing authorities. He later radioed that he was returning later than planned because of the fog, according to the French news agency AFP. At 9:17 a.m., the boat was found on the beach without Agnes. Rescue workers from France and Spain searched for him on Tuesday. The search was initially unsuccessful.
+++ 6.57 a.m.: Secret government papers accidentally auctioned in Australia +++
Government papers were accidentally auctioned off at an auction in Australia, some of which were declared "top secret". According to a report by ABC television on Wednesday, the documents come from a total of five different previous governments. Acting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commissioned an investigation into how they got to the public. Several documents still bear the "Top Secret" stamp.
The papers were discovered in older government office furniture sold at a recent auction in the capital, Canberra. According to the TV report, the furniture wasn't too expensive because it was locked and the keys couldn't be found. But then someone managed to pick the locks. According to the broadcaster, it was able to view the papers for several days.
+++ 6.43 a.m .: Report: Afghan Taliban threaten 70 percent of the country +++
According to research by the BBC, the radical Islamic Taliban threaten around 70 percent of Afghanistan - significantly more than previously estimated. The recently published summary of the data collected over several months in autumn 2017 states that the Islamists have full control over 14 districts (four percent of the country) and an active presence in a further 263 districts (66 percent of the country).
That leaves "some 15 million Afghans - half the population - living in areas that are either controlled by the Taliban or where the Taliban have an open presence and regular attacks," the BBC reported. According to its own statements, the BBC interviewed more than 1,200 people from all districts for the study between August and November.
+++ 4.54 a.m.: Indonesian family lived with dead father for two years +++
In Indonesia, a family lived with the dead father's body in the house for two years. The remains of the 84-year-old were discovered by a social worker who wanted to visit the family in Cimahi township on the island of Java. According to police, the dead man was wrapped in a blanket. A more thorough investigation later found a second body: apparently the couple's eldest daughter, a woman in her 50s.
+++ 4.52 a.m .: Nauru is back with Facebook after almost three years of blockade +++
On the Pacific island of Nauru - one of the smallest countries in the world - the approximately 10,000 residents are back after almost three years Access to Facebook. President Baron Waqa announced that the state blockade of the social network would be lifted with immediate effect. The blockade had been in effect since May 2015. At the time, Waqa justified this by saying that the country had to be protected from "criminals and sexual perverts".
+++ 4.33 a.m.: Seven dismembered bodies discovered in southern Mexico +++
Investigators have discovered seven dismembered bodies in southern Mexico. The human remains were discovered in 15 plastic bags near the town of Chilapa in the troubled province of Guerrero, the local security authorities said yesterday. At least one woman was among the victims.
Mexico is currently being overwhelmed by an unprecedented wave of violence. Last year was the worst in the country's recent history, with 29,168 homicides. Around 30,000 people are also believed to have disappeared.
+++ 4.24 am: Truck damages famous Nazca Lines in Peru +++
The government of Peru has ordered increased surveillance of the World Heritage-listed Nazca Lines after a truck drove over the archaeological site had driven. The Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday (local time) that the 450 square kilometer area should also be monitored at night and with drones in the future. On Saturday, a truck driver left tire marks on the 2,000-year-old geoglyphs. He was arrested and charged.
The truck damaged three lines that were part of a lizard picture over a distance of around one hundred meters, the newspaper "El Comercio" reported. The driver said he entered the protected area to change a tire.
+++ 0.46 a.m .: USA: Helicopter crashes on house - three dead +++
Three people were killed when a helicopter crashed in a residential area in Newport Beach, California. According to the police, there were four people on board the helicopter. Five people were affected by the accident, including one in the residential area. The crash happened in a row of houses near John Wayne Airport, according to airport officials. Parts of the crashed helicopter could be seen in television pictures in the front yard and on the roof of a house.
+++ 0.43 a.m .: Union and SPD reach agreement on improvements in care +++
Union and SPD have reached an agreement on improvements in care in their coalition negotiations. In the future there should be nationwide collective agreements in the industry, as the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) said last night in Berlin. In return, it should be possible to declare a collective agreement to be generally binding more quickly in the future.
There should also be simplifications when applying for benefits, for example with "preventive home visits". Older people who are not yet in need of care should benefit from it.
+++ 12:35 a.m.: Trigger of the false Hawaii missile alert believed it was an attack +++
The employee who terrified the population of Hawaii with a false missile alert on January 13, really believed in an imminent attack. According to the "Washington Post", this is the result of a preliminary investigation report by the US Federal Authority responsible for communication channels, the FCC. On Tuesday (local time), a leading member of Hawaii's civil protection team resigned.
+++ 0.06 a.m.: British mosque attacker wanted to kill Labor leader and London Mayor +++
According to his own statements, the assassin who attacked Muslims in London wanted the British Labor leader Killing Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. 48-year-old Darren Osborne testified in a London court yesterday. Accordingly, he wanted to meet the two politicians at a pro-Palestinian march, to which Corbyn was expected.
The father of four from Cardiff, Wales, reportedly drove a van into a group of Muslims coming from evening prayers at Finsbury Park Mosque in London on June 19, due to numerous road closures due to the event. One man died and eleven others were injured. According to eyewitnesses, the driver shouted that he wanted to "kill all the Muslims."
