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

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday faced opposition alliances crystallising on left and right, after the centrist called a snap parliamentary election in the wake of a European poll defeat at the hands of the far right.

The Polish football federation said on Tuesday it was optimistic about Robert Lewandowski's fitness after the captain left the field with a knee issue during the first half of the pre-Euro 2024 friendly win over Turkey.

French business leaders have been pitched into fresh uncertainty by snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron that risk strengthening the far right.

The Netherlands added Borussia Dortmund defender Ian Maatsen to their Euro 2024 squad on Tuesday, after losing two key players to injury including talismanic midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed on with a Middle East crisis tour Tuesday to promote a Gaza ceasefire plan as fighting rocked the Palestinian territory and a blast killed four Israeli soldiers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday pleaded for more air defence help to stop Russian attacks as he began an intense week of diplomatic meetings with Western partners.

Senegal joined the club of oil-producing countries on Tuesday as Australian group Woodside Energy announced that production had started in the west African country's first offshore project.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to moderate his Hindu-nationalist agenda to assuage his coalition partners, but they will likely let him press on with his foreign and economic policies, analysts say.

Japanese biochemist Akira Endo, who discovered cholesterol-lowering statins, has died aged 90, his former student and colleague said on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will promise voters "financial security" and tax cuts when he unveils his Conservative party manifesto on Tuesday, following a disastrous week that even led to rumours he might quit.

French President Emmanuel Macron was to face journalists' questions Tuesday after calling risky snap elections that could result in a far-right surge in parliament.

Asian markets mostly fell Tuesday as traders shifted nervously while awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy decision and the release of US inflation data, while the euro struggled to recover from a sell-off fuelled by political uncertainty in Europe.

When Hong Kong author Kay So left her home city in 2020, she had in her luggage two short stories she had written about the huge, at times violent democracy protests that upended the city in 2019.

Struggling French tech group Atos, an Olympics partner and key French defence contractor, said Tuesday it had chosen a takeover offer by a consortium led by its top shareholder Onepoint.

New Zealand's centre-right government said Tuesday it is scrapping a scheme to price greenhouse gas emissions from livestock -- squelching a so-called burp tax.

A fire ripped through pet shops next to Bangkok's famed Chatuchak market early Tuesday, killing caged dogs, cats, birds and snakes, and damaging more than 100 stalls, police said.

Lasse Stolley was looking for a change in scenery after a planned apprenticeship fell through. So nearly two years ago the teenager began living on German trains.

The mayor of Kosovo's capital is offering to pay people nearly a third of the country's minimum wage every month if they adopt a dog in a novel bid to clear packs of strays from the streets.

Behind metal fences topped with barbed wire, men play volleyball and basketball at a detention center in Texas, passing time as they wait to hear if they will be allowed to stay in the United States.

Italy's rabble-rousing Matteo Salvini has failed to win back mass support from far-right voters in the European Parliament elections after an erratic campaign marked by a reactionary general and poor-quality AI.

An elephant in Thailand has delivered a rare set of twins in a dramatic birth that left a carer injured after he tried to rescue one of the newborns.

South Korean troops fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border this week, Seoul's military said Tuesday, with tensions high over Pyongyang's trash-carrying balloons and the South's retaliatory loudspeaker campaign.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with key Israeli opposition figures on Tuesday, a day after he arrived in the country to push a ceasefire plan for the war in Gaza.

When Sri Lanka's economy crashed in 2022, people sought work abroad wherever they could find it -- including ex-soldiers who joined forces fighting in Ukraine after Russia's invasion.

Asian markets were mixed Tuesday as traders shifted nervously while awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy decision and the release of US inflation data, while the euro struggled to recover from a sell-off fuelled by political uncertainty in Europe.

Steve Borthwick has warned his England side not to underestimate a Japan team coached by mentor Eddie Jones ahead of their Test in Tokyo later this month.

Singapore Airlines said Tuesday it has offered $10,000 compensation to passengers who suffered minor injuries on a flight hit by violent turbulence last month and will discuss higher payouts with those more badly hurt.

Down a Tokyo street lined with bright signs, up narrow stairs and behind a windowless door is a "snack bar" long cherished by regulars but hidden from tourists -- until now.

As India's government took the oath of office at the presidential palace flanked by honour guards, a fleeting sight was spotted -- an apparently leopard-like animal prowling past.

ACT Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa says his team must learn from their previous Super Rugby defeats in New Zealand to succeed in Friday's crunch semi-final at the Auckland Blues.

Jordan hosts a summit Tuesday on the urgent humanitarian response for Palestinians enduring more than eight months of devastating war in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of looming famine.

Montreal-area resident Zachary Siciliani discovered recently that his car had simply disappeared -- likely in one of a rash of vehicle thefts in Canada.