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

Major stock markets dropped Wednesday as investors digested corporate news and awaited key inflation numbers, while cryptocurrency bitcoin closed in on $60,000 thanks to feverish demand.

A French government plan to enshrine the "freedom" to have an abortion in the constitution is to be tested Wednesday in a crucial vote in the right-dominated Senate.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's funeral is planned for Friday in a Moscow church, his allies said two weeks after his shock death in an Arctic prison.

Church bells tolled, transport came to a halt and marchers gathered across Greece on Wednesday as the country marked a year since the "national trauma" of its deadliest train crash, which killed 57 people and injured dozens more.

In a new comedy film that challenges Ukraine's lingering homophobia, an activist reassures a bewildered family hosting him, saying: "I'm gay, not a Martian."

Ukraine has been locked in an existential fight for its freedom ever since Russia sent armed soldiers with no insignia -- dubbed the "little green men" -- to take over the Crimea peninsula on February 28, 2014, following a pro-EU revolution in Kyiv.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday slammed "completely unacceptable" errors by its Gemini AI app, after gaffes such as images of ethnically diverse World War II Nazi troops forced it to stop users from creating pictures of people.

Southern Vietnam, including business hub Ho Chi Minh City and its "rice bowl" Mekong Delta region, suffered an unusually long heatwave in February, weather officials said Wednesday.

The Gaza war's reported Palestinian death toll neared 30,000 Wednesday as fighting raged in the Hamas-run territory despite mediators insisting a truce with Israel could be just days away.

British telecoms giant Vodafone is in advanced talks to sell its Italian unit to Switzerland's Swisscom, agreeing on a preliminary price of eight billion euros ($8.7 billion), the companies said Wednesday.

A nuclear weapons plant in the US state of Texas said it would be open as usual on Wednesday after pausing operations due to wildfires in the area.

Lilia Vu said Wednesday she was not setting herself many goals this year after storming to world number one in 2023, but qualifying for the Paris Olympics was her first priority.

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday after the release of lacklustre consumer confidence data, with comments from US Federal Reserve officials and fresh economic figures due later in the day.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg met Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a visit to Japan, discussing the risks of generative AI, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

One considers itself to be "the mother" of democratic parliaments, the other is an Islamic theocracy. While Britain's and Iran's legislatures are vastly different, they do share something in common: clerics.

Top seed Alexander Zverev tumbled out of the Mexico Open at the first hurdle on Tuesday, eliminated by German compatriot Daniel Altmaier in three sets.

Apple has abandoned its ambitions to produce an electric car, US media reported Tuesday, ending a struggling decade-long project.

Australia's Jordan Thompson was brought back down to earth on Tuesday, crashing out of the Mexico Open in the first round just two days after winning the first ATP title of his career.

Workers across Greece were set to strike on Wednesday to demand answers a year after the nation's deadliest train crash, which killed 57 people and injured dozens more.

Gamers are anxiously awaiting the release on Thursday of "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth", a title based on a 1997 classic that is blurring the boundaries between remakes and reboots.

Joe Biden scored an easy win in Michigan's presidential primary Tuesday but was dealt a stinging rebuke over the war in Gaza in an Arab American-led protest that raised concerns over his bid to win the swing state in November's election.

In the dim light of a pub in the steel-producing Welsh town of Port Talbot, Jason Wyatt sips his beer, his voice laden with worry.

Max Strus drained an astonishing 58-foot buzzer-beater as the Cleveland Cavaliers conjured a stunning late fightback to sink the Dallas Mavericks 121-119 on Tuesday.

Iranians will cast ballots in legislative and key assembly elections on Friday, with conservatives expected to tighten their grip on power in the absence of any serious competition.

Asian stocks were largely muted on Wednesday after the release of lacklustre consumer confidence data, with comments from US Federal Reserve officials and fresh economic figures due later in the day.

South Korea's birth rate fell to a record low last year, the government said on Wednesday, despite having poured billions of dollars into efforts to encourage women to have more children and maintain population stability.

US President Joe Biden cruised to an easy victory in Michigan's presidential primary on Tuesday -- but was bracing for a substantial rebuke from an Arab American-led protest over his handling of the war in Gaza.

When Marcia Smith moved to a small town in New Mexico last year, she did not expect to find herself battling a Donald Trump-linked lawyer's plan to effectively outlaw abortion across the United States.

Texas, an independent country 200 years ago, now boasts a pocket of people who want that status back, advocating a separation they call Texit.

A bag containing a computer and two USB memory sticks holding police security plans for the Paris Olympic Games was stolen on Monday evening from a train at the capital's Gare du Nord station, police sources said Tuesday.

The United States will take on five-time world champions Brazil in a warm-up friendly ahead of the Copa America, US Soccer confirmed on Tuesday.

Whether they are snipping an actor's lengthy stare, obliging the viewer to process rapid-fire images or creating tension with a pause, film editors who work in sync with directors play a vital role in giving life to a movie -- and its Oscar chances.