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

US-Saudi strikes on Iraq killed at least 20 militants, including several Iranians, on Wednesday, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi, an armed Iraqi alliance that includes pro-Iran groups.

Cuba on Wednesday moved to open several key crisis-ravaged sectors of its state-run economy to private firms, as the communist government tries to ease acute shortages resulting from a US energy blockade.

Brazil's Supreme Court has demanded an explanation from former president Jair Bolsonaro, after an AI-generated version of him appeared in a video urging supporters to back his son Flavio Bolsonaro in October elections.

France has ordered Russian commentator Xenia Fedorova to leave the country, the interior ministry said Wednesday, after accusations she was churning out Kremlin propaganda on French television and radio.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has revealed that an autonomous artificial intelligence agent which hacked a popular platform for computer programmers also attempted to breach four other companies during the incident.

To one side, blue sky, to the other, ashen smog, as erratic winds fanned the flames from the forest fire threatening to raze even more of the French coast.

Oscar-winning Irish musician and actor Glen Hansard, who starred in the 1991 cult film "The Commitments", died on Wednesday, his agent said, with reports suggesting he was killed in a motorcycle crash.

The former top US infectious disease official on Wednesday faced adversarial questioning from Republican senators about the origins of Covid-19, and on the advice of lawyers invoked his constitutional right not to answer, casting the hearing as a character assassination.

Ukraine said Wednesday that it had appealed against the International Olympic Committee's decision to ease restrictions on Russian athletes, arguing the move was premature and violated the Olympic Charter.

Neymar has confirmed his international retirement, tearfully declaring he was done playing for the Brazil national team following their World Cup defeat by Norway.

German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall on Wednesday reported record second-quarter core profit, beating analyst expectations, sending shares in the firm up almost nine percent.

The Formula One season will finish in Europe if the planned races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are cancelled due to the Middle East war, the sport's CEO Stefano Domenicali said Wednesday.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said it had struck a mosque in the Gaza Strip which it said had been used by Hamas as a weapons storage facility.

Thousands of Spaniards evacuated from huge wildfires returned home on Wednesday while in France firefighters braced for worsening conditions in their own battle with raging flames.

President Donald Trump vowed to hit back hard at Iran after it attacked US bases in Jordan on Wednesday, as the Middle East war reignited and once again drew in the Islamic republic's proxies.

French DJ and musician Kavinsky, known for his electronic classic "Nightcall", has been found dead at his home in Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Swiss banking giant UBS reported Wednesday that net profit rose 17 percent to $2.8 billion in the second quarter, driven by investment banking.

AFP photo editor Maximilien Lamy was on holiday with his partner and daughter last week when he took a series of snapshots of vacationers in fire-struck southwest France with his smartphone.

There was a furious backlash on Wednesday to FIFA's controversial plans to sell a stake in the business operations of the World Cup and its other competitions through the creation of a private subsidiary.

Just over half of England has been declared in drought after "record-low rain and exceptionally high temperatures", the UK government said Wednesday.

TRON DAO, the community-governed DAO dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet through blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps), today announced the listing of TRX spot trading and perpetual contracts on Backpack Exchange. The listing expands market support and access to the native utility token of the TRON network, one of the industry's most actively used blockchain ecosystems.

“In a rapidly maturing digital asset market, relying on fragmented risk data is a critical vulnerability. Building a resilient ecosystem demands institutional-grade intelligence.”

Tottenham striker Mathys Tel scored a stunning freekick as the London club were held to a 1-1 draw by Sydney FC on Wednesday in a setback to their pre-season momentum.

Global stock markets largely retreated Wednesday, with South Korea's index suffering one of its steepest plunges as investors further unwound bets on the AI boom.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday he would convene new talks on ending the half-century-old Cyprus conflict, inviting leaders on the divided island and its three guarantor powers.

The wildfire that engulfed Spain's Avila region, northwest of the capital Madrid, is now considered the largest in the country's modern history, with around 50,000 hectares burned, the government said this week.

As far as the eye can see, Jose Fernandez spied only burnt furniture, half-collapsed walls and mountains of ash on what used to be his house and land.

The vice-president of the German FA (DFB) on Wednesday slammed FIFA's controversial plans to sell stakes in its competitions, including the World Cup, as "an outright attack on football".

Nepal's tiger population has risen by roughly 20 percent in the past four years to an estimated 429, officials said on Wednesday, a conservation milestone despite challenges from human-wildlife conflict.

FIFA's plans to sell a stake in the business operations of the World Cup and its other competitions through the creation of a semi-private subsidiary has sparked disbelief and outrage globally.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faced a rising chorus of criticism from within his own centre-right CDU party Wednesday as he completed a chaotic cabinet reshuffle.

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington was named on Wednesday as a vice-captain of Europe's team for the 2027 Ryder Cup in his native Ireland.