Volkswacht Bodensee - News from Lake Constance, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Schaffhausen, Switzerland, Europe and the whole world

Euro 2024's quarter-finals kick-off on Friday with a blockbuster match between hosts Germany and Spain as the tournament heads towards its decisive final week.

Russia said Wednesday its forces had captured a district in the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been pressing for months.

French prosecutors have requested prominent arthouse film director Benoit Jacquot be charged with raping actors Isild Le Besco and Julia Roy, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP on Wednesday.

World number one Jannik Sinner takes on Italian compatriot and former runner-up Matteo Berrettini for a place in the Wimbledon third round on Wednesday as defending champion Carlos Alcaraz looks to avenge a rare Grand Slam defeat.

Britain's political leaders made a final push for votes Wednesday on the last day of an election campaign expected to return a Labour government after 14 years of Conservative rule.

Eurozone stock markets rallied Wednesday and the euro rose on hopes France could avoid a far-right majority in looming polls, while London also gained ground on the eve of its general election.

Two men accused of trying to blackmail relatives of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher had access to private family photos, German prosecutors said Wednesday.

The EU's powerful competition regulator on Wednesday announced it has conditionally approved German airline Lufthansa's proposed stake in Italy's ITA Airways.

India's T20 Cricket World Cup winners were finally heading home Wednesday, officials said, after a hurricane in the West Indies delayed their departure.

Georgian student Elene Deisadze was browsing TikTok in 2022 when she stumbled across the profile of a girl, Anna Panchulidze, who looked exactly like her.

The far-right National Rally (RN) is the only party capable of winning an absolute majority in France's legislative elections, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Wednesday, urging voters to block their rise to power.

Turkey are turning their second home into a fortress at Euro 2024 as a blistering start and a stunning save from Mert Gunok at the death engineered a 2-1 win over Austria to reach the quarter-finals.

UEFA said Wednesday it had opened a probe into Turkey defender Merih Demiral for celebrating a goal in the team's 2-1 win against Austria at Euro 2024 with an allegedly ultra-nationalist salute.

The very same day Biniam Girmay became the first black African to win a Tour de France stage, Olympic champion Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to pull on the overall leader's yellow jersey.

Ex-prime minister Boris Johnson tried to rally the Conservative party faithful as UK politicians on Wednesday spent a final day campaigning ahead of the general election.

Indonesia launched its first electric vehicle battery plant on Wednesday, President Joko Widodo said, as Southeast Asian countries move to gain a foothold in the emerging industry.

Asian and European stocks rose Wednesday following fresh records on Wall Street after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell fanned hopes of an interest rate cut by saying the battle against inflation had made "progress" and the job market was cooling.

Kenyan police said they have arrested more than 270 people masquerading as protesters who are suspected of going on a criminal rampage during anti-government rallies on Tuesday.

Six people have been killed in floods precipitated by torrential rains across northeast India and neighbouring Bangladesh that inundated the homes of more than a million others, officials said Wednesday.

Senior All Blacks are enjoying the energy brought by new head honcho Scott Robertson -- the surfing, breakdancing, maverick coach who faces his first Test in charge against England on Saturday.

Japan's top court ruled on Wednesday that a defunct eugenics law under which thousands of people were forcibly sterilised between 1948 and 1996 was unconstitutional, local media reported.

Between the orange trunks of the acacia trees in the Chad savannah, a herd of elephants move through Zah Soo National Park, under the watchful eye of one of the only humans allowed to witness the scene.

One of the world's most renowned photo festivals, in the French town of Arles, returned this week with a timely ode to diversity at a moment when France is turning towards the far right.

Cedric Petit's drone hummed above a Belgian field. He spotted a white dot on the control screen: a tiny fawn nestled in the tall grasses -- soon to be rescued from a grisly end.

Far from her home in the tourist mecca of Tenerife, Cati Padilla is one of the growing number of travellers escaping heatwaves for cooler holidays in Nordic countries.

World number one Jannik Sinner takes on Italian compatriot and former runner-up Matteo Berrettini for a place in the Wimbledon third round on Wednesday.

Torrential rains in northeast India have sparked heavy flooding killing at least four people, government disaster officials said Wednesday.

Survivors of India's deadliest stampede in over a decade on Wednesday recalled the horror of being crushed at a vastly overcrowded Hindu religious gathering that left 121 people dead.

Hurricane Beryl churned towards Jamaica Tuesday, with forecasters warning of potentially deadly winds and storm surge, after the storm killed at least seven people and caused widespread destruction across the southeastern Caribbean.

At an indoor pool in Dubai, three rowers battle artificial rain and simulated waves as they train for an Arctic voyage intended to highlight the perils of marine pollution.

Iranians will vote on Friday in a presidential runoff pitting the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian against ultraconservative anti-Western former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Microscopic attention to details has helped turn Ireland into a rugby powerhouse, says former World Cup-winning South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber ahead of a series between the teams.