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

European equities rose Friday but Frankfurt and Paris held beneath record peaks struck the previous day, as dealers mulled US data that dampened hopes for several interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.

The first Gaza-bound food shipment along a new maritime corridor was visible off the besieged territory's coast, an AFP journalist said, as Palestinians gathered for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.

England centre Manu Tuilagi said on Friday he is unsure if this weekend's Six Nations finale with France will be his final game for his country.

Holders Manchester City will come up against record 14-time winners Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals after being paired together in Friday's draw, meaning the sides will meet in a third consecutive season in the competition.

Top Australian equestrian Shane Rose's hopes of competing at a fourth Olympics were in doubt Friday after a serious fall, just weeks after escaping punishment for wearing a "mankini" during a showjumping competition.

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel on Friday praised captain Manuel Neuer on the goalkeeper's recall to the Germany squad for the first time in 15 months.

A slumping economy gave Swedes less to cheer about last year as alcohol consumption fell the most in nearly a decade in the Nordic country, excluding the 2020 pandemic, research showed Friday.

David Puig finished birdie-birdie on Friday to grab a share of the lead at the International Series Macau with Jbe Kruger.

Senegal waited Friday for key opposition figures Ousmane Sonko and Bassirou Diomaye Faye to take their place on the presidential campaign trail, after their release from prison sparked jubilant scenes 10 days before the key vote.

New parents heading to the Paris Olympics are calling for a ticketing rule change after discovering that their infants will be refused entry to venues unless they have their own seats.

World record holder Kaylee McKeown warmed up for her Olympic 200m backstroke defence with a blistering swim at the NSW State Championships Friday, while sprint star Mollie O'Callaghan upstaged Emma McKeon.

Conditions affecting the nervous system -- such as strokes, migraines and dementia -- have surged past heart disease to become the leading cause of ill health worldwide, a major new analysis said on Friday.

The first aid vessel heading to the besieged Gaza Strip via a new maritime corridor was visible Friday off the coast of the war-ravaged territory, an AFP journalist said.

A siege by Al-Shabaab Islamist militants at a popular hotel near the presidential palace in the Somali capital Mogadishu ended on Friday after more than 13 hours with all the gunmen killed, a police officer told AFP.

Forward Justin Sangster scored a try in the final minute to give the Wellington Hurricanes a 14-10 triumph over the Canterbury Crusaders on Friday and keep the Super Rugby champions winless.

Japanese arch-rivals Nissan and Honda said Friday they were exploring a strategic partnership in electric vehicles to face up to a "once-in-a-century" upheaval in the car industry.

Japan's largest trade union said Friday it had secured the highest wage hikes since 1991 in preliminary data that stokes speculation the central bank will finally shift away from its outlier ultra-loose monetary policy.

Asian markets sank in line with Wall Street on Friday after a sharper-than-expected jump in US wholesale prices dealt a blow to hopes for interest rate cuts, while the uncertainty also sent bitcoin tumbling.

From the hatch of a US aircraft, the destruction wrought by months of war on the Gaza Strip stretched out below in grey piles of debris along the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean.

Saodat Shermatova "cried with joy" after Uzbekistan, a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic, lifted a ban last month on women working as bus drivers.

Sporadic explosions and gunfire rang out from a popular hotel in the Somali capital early Friday, an AFP correspondent said, many hours after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the site near the presidential palace.

British telecoms giant Vodafone said Friday it has agreed to sell its Italian unit to Swisscom for eight billion euros ($8.7 billion), completing efforts to overhaul the UK group's European operations.

Russians started voting on Friday in a three-day presidential election that is set to hand veteran leader Vladimir Putin another six-year term as the raging conflict in Ukraine spreads further into Russian territory.

The Catholic Church in Hong Kong said Friday that confessions by devotees to priests would remain confidential under the city's upcoming national security law.

South Korea's "Squid Game" actor O Yeong-su has been found guilty of sexual misconduct, a local court said Friday, after he was charged with assaulting a woman in 2017.

Japanese auto giants Nissan and Honda said Friday they had agreed to explore a strategic partnership in electric vehicles and other areas.

Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air.

Vienna's first museum on the shock "Actionist" art movement opens its doors on Friday, aiming to highlight the work of its four key artists who long faced contempt and even persecution for their radical actions.

A missile strike damaged a merchant ship in the Red Sea off Yemen, marine security monitors said Friday, as the country's Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened to expand their months-long harassment campaign which has disrupted global trade.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that Israeli fire killed 20 people and wounded 155 waiting to receive desperately needed aid in the besieged territory, but Israel said the reports were "erroneous".

Exiled centre Joe Marchant said he is confident England can compete with France's physicality on Saturday to give themselves a chance of lifting the Six Nations.

When rapper Ghali sang "I'm a true Italian" to 10 million television viewers last month, he spoke for hundreds of thousands of people born to immigrants in Italy who struggle to obtain citizenship.