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

The 2022 World Cup gets underway on Sunday in Qatar, with France hoping to become the first team to successfully defend the title since Brazil 60 years ago.

Swedish officials confirmed Friday that the September blasts which destroyed sections of the Nord Stream pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea were acts of sabotage.

After a 12-year build-up engulfed by a desert storm of controversy, the World Cup finally kicks off in Qatar on Sunday with Lionel Messi aiming to crown his glittering career by winning football's greatest prize.

From subversive superheroes to sports documentaries, Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds said he is focused on exploring new forms of storytelling, as he received a prestigious film industry honor.

Australia winger Awer Mabil said Friday that France were only human as the underdogs prepared for their daunting World Cup opener against the defending champions.

The US government recommended on Thursday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was immune from legal action over the 2018 murder of a dissident journalist, according to court documents.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged an end to "confrontation" Friday as he relaunched his strategy for the Asia-Pacific region after a bitter row over a cancelled submarine contract with Australia.

Digital currencies need more regulation to stamp out funding for terror operations, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday at a major international forum to combat financing of extremist groups.

Vice President Kamala Harris told Asian leaders on Friday that the United States is committed to the region for the long haul, rejecting doubts about its engagement as China expands its clout.

Sri Lanka's World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has been ordered to pay $70,000 in a defamation case arising from a long-running feud over control of the island nation's cash-rich cricket board.

UN climate talks entered their last day Friday with rich and developing nations deadlocked over creating a fund for countries devastated by the impacts of global warming -- and the EU warning its offer was final.

Brooklyn's Royce O'Neale notched a triple-double that included the game-winning tip-in in the last second Thursday as the Nets beat the NBA's West-leading Trail Blazers 109-107 in Portland.

"We're screwed," said Alphonse Fwamba Mutombo, standing on a plot of rubble overlooking an open-cast cobalt mine in Kolwezi, southeastern DR Congo.

US Vice President Kamala Harris and leaders from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada vowed to pressure North Korea as they held urgent talks Friday on Pyongyang's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Asian markets were mixed Friday as caution permeated trading floors and investors tried to gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy after several officials tried to temper optimism over signs that inflation is slowing.

Nathan Hadlock moved to Portugal to escape the violence and lack of social welfare he saw in the United States, while still enjoying the sun and sea he had loved in California.

In mountains overlooking an azure lake in southeast Albania, wildlife experts are tracking the Balkan lynx as part of last-gasp efforts to save the species from extinction.

Talks at a UN climate conference enter their final day Friday, gridlocked by a make-or-break tussle between rich and developing nations over money for countries in the crosshairs of increasingly intense and costly impacts of global warming.

The Pitcairn Islands, a volcanic outcrop halfway between South America and New Zealand, is the UK's only overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean and home to only 46 people.

Uruguay's top musical export Jorge Drexler overshadowed megastar Bad Bunny's hype at Thursday's Latin Grammys, scoring seven trophies including Best Record during the gala that saw Spain's Rosalia take home the coveted top album award.

Half a century after jazz great Thelonious Monk appeared on a French television program, a new documentary revisits outtakes from the 1969 interview to cast light on the racism and exploitation of black musicians.

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, Seoul's military said, which Japan said may have had the range to hit the US mainland.

China has granted tech giant Tencent its first licence for a video game in 18 months, ending a dry spell that had threatened its position as the world's top game maker.

Japanese inflation hit a four-decade high last month, government data showed Friday, fuelled by high energy costs and a weak yen and ramping up pressure on the central bank to move away from its ultra-loose monetary policies.

Asian markets edged up Friday, though caution permeated trading floors as investors tried to gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy after several officials tried to temper optimism over signs that inflation is slowing.

Australia coach Mal Meninga has vowed that his Kangaroos side, bidding for a third consecutive title, will not take surprise finalists Samoa lightly when the two teams meet at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Ireland host Australia in their final international of the year bidding for a record-equalling 12th successive home Test success on Saturday and frank their status as the top-ranked rugby team in the world.

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, Seoul's military said, its second launch in two days, which Japan said had splashed down in its exclusive economic zone.

Shouting matches with public officials and undercover sting operations on corrupt bureaucrats helped Nepali television host Rabi Lamichhane tap into widespread discontent over an elderly, back-scratching political leadership.

Hong Kong's controversial shark fin trade may face its biggest shakeup in years if conservationists get their way in securing tighter regulations at an international wildlife conference in Panama.

North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, Seoul's military said, the second launch in two days as Pyongyang continues a record-breaking blitz that has sent fears of a nuclear test soaring.

Shocked by a recent spate of teen suicides, shamans in the Colombian Amazon placed their remote Indigenous village under a three-week "quarantine" without alcohol, football or music.