News of the day 59-year-old man builds pipe bomb in his apartment – motive unclear so far
The news in brief overview:
- 59-year-old man builds pipe bomb in his apartment – motive unclear (17.34 pm)
- Report: Interior Ministry is considering disciplinary proceedings against Maaben (16.48 o’clock)
- Three heavy explosions and gunfire in central Mogadishu (15.11 p.m.) – At least 19 dead (16.9 p.m.)
- Knife attack in Melbourne: attacker also dies (11.31 o’clock) – IS militia claims attack for itself (12.50 pm)
- 80 years after Reich pogrom night: court allows right-wing march through Berlin (10.26 p.m.)
News of the day in the stern-Ticker:
+++ 17.44 am: Union faction vice president Harbarth to become constitutional court vice president +++
Vice President of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group Stephan Harbarth is to become the new Vice President of the Federal Constitutional Court – and thus possibly the successor to President Andreas Vobkuhle – in 2020. This is reported by the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", Deutsche Presse-Agentur also learned this from Union circles.
+++ 17.37 a.m.: California city of Malibu partially evacuated due to wildfires +++
Due to the wildfires in California, the coastal city of Malibu, known for its fancy mansions and beaches, is partially evacuated. The order applies to the entire area south of the 101 freeway between Ventura County and Malibu Canyon and also includes parts of the small town west of Los Angeles, as the city announced on Friday morning (local time) on its website. Highway 101 is closed in both directions on large stretches because of the so-called Woolsey fire, he said.
Media reported at least 15 homes burned in the Oak Park area of Ventura County, north of the freeway. Of the evacuation are 75.000 homes affected in Los Angeles and Ventura County, media reported.
Residents told to use coastal roads for evacuation. Canyon Roads, which led between rock gorges, are to be avoided, it was said.
+++ 17.36: More than 130 killed in fighting in Hodeida, Yemen +++
Fighting around the Yemeni port city of Hodeida has killed more than 130 militants since Thursday, according to medics. Within 24 hours, 110 rebels and 22 pro-government fighters had been killed, medics in the Red Sea city said. Government forces seek to retake city controlled by Huthi rebels and face fierce resistance.
+++ 17.34: 59-year-old man builds pipe bomb – motive unclear +++
A 59-year-old man from Mogglingen in Baden-Wurttemberg has built a pipe bomb in his apartment, according to investigators. What he wanted to do with it is unclear, police and prosecutors said. The 59-year-old German was mentally conspicuous, there were no indications of political or religious motives. A tip-off had put investigators on the man’s trail. When he was arrested Thursday night, he said, an inoperable machine gun, ammunition and a homemade launcher were also found in the apartment, along with some chemicals. The 59-year-old is in custody, according to police, and has not yet made a statement.
+++ 17.24 a.m.: Boris Johnson’s brother resigns from post as secretary of state +++
The brother of former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Jo Johnson, resigned as secretary of state for transport in protest over the government’s Brexit strategy. This was shared by Jo Johnson in a video via short message service Twitter. The gap between what was promised before the referendum and what Prime Minister May negotiated in talks with Brussels left him with no choice, Johnson said. He said the country was heading for an inconsistent EU exit that would permanently put it in a subordinate position to Brussels. It is now imperative to survey the public again, he said.
Johnson’s older brother Boris had already resigned as foreign minister in July amid a row over the government’s Brexit strategy. Prime Minister Theresa May is currently hoping for an early breakthrough in exit talks in Brussels. But it is unclear whether it will get a majority in parliament to do so. On 29. March 2019 Britain leaves the EU, should no agreement be reached by then, chaos threatens in many areas of life and considerable damage to the economy on both sides of the English Channel.
+++ 16.51 clock: Talks about possible traffic light coalition in hesse probably next week +++
Top politicians from the Greens, SPD and FDP in Hesse are expected to discuss a possible traffic light alliance for a new state government next week. Hessian SPD leader Thorsten Schafer-Gumbel made the announcement in Wiesbaden after a meeting with the FDP. The party leader of the Hessian Liberals, Stefan Ruppert, said: "We want to very seriously explore whether it is possible to form a coalition with the SPD and the Greens in Hesse." At the same time, he stressed that the FDP’s stance had not changed not to vote for a Green prime minister.
For his part, Hesse’s Economy Minister Tarek Al-Wazir of the Greens had said on Thursday that his party would approach the Liberals and offer a meeting.
After the state election on 28. October, the exact outcome remains open. The Greens came second only to the SPD, behind the CDU. In a coalition with SPD and FDP, the Greens would therefore claim the office of head of government for themselves. However, changes in the secondary votes between the preliminary and official final results could mean that the SPD ends up ahead of the Greens after all and could become the prime minister.
+++ 16.48 o’clock: Steinmeier has put Maaben into temporary retirement – Report: Interior Ministry is considering disciplinary proceedings +++
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has ordered the current president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaben, into temporary retirement. The corresponding document was signed on Thursday, as confirmed by the Office of the Federal President on Friday. First the "Suddeutsche Zeitung" had reported about it. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) had announced the transfer of Maaben to temporary retirement on Monday.
Seehofer had held on to Maaben for a long time after he came under criticism in connection with comments he made about the incidents in Chemnitz this summer. The grand coalition agreed to transfer Maaben to the Interior Ministry. On Monday, Seehofer said a trusting cooperation with Maaben was no longer possible.
The interior minister was reacting to a speech by Maaben in which he sharply criticized the coalition in connection with his dismissal and spoke of "radical left-wing forces," among other things had spoken in the SPD. Maassen will now receive 71.75 percent of his previous salary for a maximum of three years and then his pension, which is based on the number of years of service as a civil servant.
After Maaben’s transfer to temporary retirement, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is considering a new appointment, according to "Spiegel"-Information now further steps and is considering initiating disciplinary proceedings against Maassen.
+++ 16.38 o’clock: Six injured in Boeing emergency landing in Guyana +++
Six people were injured in an emergency landing of a Boeing 757 of the airline Fly Jamaica Airways. 118 passengers and eight crew members were on board when the plane was forced to return to the airport in Guyana’s capital Georgetown shortly after takeoff Friday morning due to a breakdown in the hydraulic system, local media reported. Fly Jamaica Airways confirmed the incident. The injuries occurred when the plane crashed into piles of sand at the end of the runway at Cheddi Jagan airport, which is located about 40 kilometers south of Georgetown, while landing.
+++ 16.9 p.m.: At least 19 dead in bomb attack on hotel in Mogadishu +++
A bomb attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu has killed at least 19 people, including six of the suspected Islamist attackers, according to police reports. Detonations could be heard from afar, followed by the rattle of automatic weapons; large columns of smoke also rose above the city, a reporter told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Police suspected the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Shabaab behind the attack.
The attack began, according to a police official, when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in their cars at the entrance to the Hotel Sahafi, followed by another detonation at the back of the hotel. Four Al-Shabaab fighters who tried to storm hotel killed by security, police say. At least 13 civilians were killed and 15 others were injured, police official Ali Hassan Kulmiye said. The hotel near the busy intersection "Kilometer four" not far from the airport is popular with Somali government officials, among others.
+++ 16.10 a.m.: State environment ministers demand clear rules from the federal government on shooting wolves +++
The federal states have demanded clear, legally secure guidelines from the federal government on the shooting of so-called problem wolves. This was decided by the Conference of Environment Ministers in Bremen, as the department heads of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony stated. In addition, the ministers agreed that the state should support livestock owners better than before in protecting against wolf attacks on herds.
The return of the wolf is a great success from the perspective of species protection, said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment and Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus (SPD). However, this could only continue if it was also accepted in society. "This is not the case, especially in the affected regions and among grazing livestock farmers." A regulation on the so-called removal of problem wolves is therefore important.
According to the information provided, the federal government is to draw up a corresponding regulation by the next conference of environment ministers. Wolves have so far been strictly protected under European and national regulations. They may not be hunted. However, due to the increasing number of wolves in Germany, there is discussion about relaxing the ban at least in certain cases. The issue is, for example, animals attacking herds or approaching settlements.
+++ 15.54 p.m.: Italy: No fundamental change to budget plan +++
Shortly before the deadline for a response to the EU Commission, Italy shows itself intransigent in the budget dispute. The fundamental aspects of the draft budget would not be changed, Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said at a meeting with Eurogroup head Mario Centeno. Italy wants a "constructive dialogue with Brussels, but "the basic cornerstones and characteristics of our budget will be confirmed.".
Italy plans higher new borrowing for the coming year than promised by the previous government. Since Italy is already more indebted than almost any other country in the world, the dispute has been causing nervousness in the financial markets and within the EU for weeks. The EU Commission has rejected the draft of the populist government in Rome because it violates the stability criteria. It demands a response from Rome by Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said he does not fear EU sanctions against his country. "At present, no penalty is foreseen for Italy", he told the foreign press in Rome. It relied on dialogue with Brussels.
+++ 15.48 o’clock: Maas sees progress in Brexit negotiations +++
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) sees further progress in negotiations with London on Britain’s EU exit in the last few days. He is optimistic that it will be "in the final meters" there would be an agreement, Maas said in the Bundestag during deliberations on a Brexit transition bill. However, it remains difficult to regulate border traffic between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of Great Britain. Maas did not give details.
Even after Brexit, he said, a close partnership with the United Kingdom would be necessary, for example in foreign and security policy. This is already being worked on – in parallel with the withdrawal negotiations – Maas said. 100 years after the end of the First World War, the future of the European project and common responses to globalization, climate change, migration and demographic development are also at stake.
+++ 15.40: Capsized in the English Channel: video shows dramatic rescue operation +++
Dramatic scenes in the English Channel: Four British fishermen got into distress with their boat off the English coast in stormy seas this week and had to be rescued. This was announced by the British authorities. A video of the rescue operation showed two of the men clinging to the hull of their capsized ship as it drifted in stormy seas. They are then taken aboard a helicopter with the help of a cable winch. Two other crew members of the capsized fishing boat drifting in the sea were picked up by a merchant ship. All four were taken to the Coast Guard station in Dover. Did not require medical treatment. The incident occurred already on Wednesday, according to the statement.
+++ 15.11 p.m.: Three heavy explosions and gunfire in the center of Mogadishu +++
Three bombs exploded near a busy intersection in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The detonations could be heard from afar, followed by the rattle of automatic firearms; in addition, large columns of smoke rose above the city, as a reporter reported to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. There was initially no information on possible victims.
Eyewitnesses said that two hotels or a security agency could have been targeted in the attack. The explosions occurred near what was described as "kilometer four" known intersection at heavily guarded Mogadishu airport.
The city is the scene of recurrent attacks, most of which are claimed by the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. The group is fighting for dominance in the Horn of Africa country and wants to establish a radical Islamist form of rule there.
+++ 14.56 o’clock: "Spiegel": Merz assured Merkel of support on the phone +++
Former CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz has pledged his support to Chancellor Angela Merkel if he is elected CDU leader. According to information from the news magazine "Spiegel" from CDU circles, Merz signaled to the Chancellor in a telephone call at the beginning of the week that he would try to work together well. He also said he would not work against the chancellor at a meeting with CDU deputies in Berlin Thursday morning. This is already required by the "state-political responsibility", Merz said according to the report. Merkel had said she would work as chancellor under a new party leader until the end of the legislative period.
In addition to Merz, CDU Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Health Minister Jens Spahn and a number of widely unknown candidates are vying for the presidency. The decision will be made at a party conference in Hamburg in early December.
+++ 14.44 o’clock: "Spiegel": Interior Ministry is considering disciplinary proceedings against Maaben +++
The Federal Ministry of the Interior is investigating, according to a "Spiegel" report-Report of disciplinary proceedings against former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaben. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had placed Maaben in temporary retirement on Monday. In a speech to international intelligence staff, he is said to have spoken of partly left-wing radical forces in the SPD and to have described himself as a critic of a "naive and left-wing policy on foreigners and security" have called.
Former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution "He would be highly welcome": guess which party is now courting Maaben
How Maaben’s exact choice of words at the meeting of European intelligence chiefs on 18. October in Warsaw was, the Ministry of the Interior is now trying to find out, reports the news magazine further. Two speech manuscripts existed – one in English and one in German. Only the German text refers to "radical left-wing forces" in the SPD the speech. This version could be read for a time on the intranet of the constitutional protection agency.
+++ 14.31 o’clock: Preliminary all-clear in North Carolina +++
After police in the U.S. state of North Carolina went to a high school with a large contingent, there is for the time being all-clear: The alleged shots apparently turned out to be sounds of a defective water heater, the authorities told U.S. media (u.a. CBS) according to. No casualties were reported.
The incident shows once again how widespread the fear of school rampages is in the United States: schools in the area were closed as a precaution, children and staff were taken to safety. Police searched the premises of Top Sail High School near Wilmington. Reporters reported, among other things, special forces on the roof of the building.
+++ 14.8 p.m.: Shots reported at school in North Carolina – police in full-scale operation+++
Several shots were reportedly fired at a school in the U.S. state of North Carolina. This was reported by several U.S. media outlets (u.a. CBS) concurring, citing police investigating related tips. Information on possible casualties is not yet available. Police are on the scene with a large contingent to check on the report of the shooting.
+++ 13.29 a.m.: Turkey to arrest more than 100 soldiers for 2016 coup attempt +++
"ByLock", the "terror software This app makes you a suspected terrorist – in the eyes of the Turkish government
Istanbul prosecutors issue arrest warrants for dozens of soldiers after 2016 attempted coup. The 103 military personnel involved are believed to have ties to U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Gulen accused by Turkey of being responsible for coup attempt. He himself denies the. Police arrested 74 suspects so far in raids in 23 provinces, according to Anadolu.
+++ 13.19 o’clock: Atomic mushroom T-shirt – Japanese broadcaster cancels performance of boy band +++
A band member’s controversial T-shirt costs popular South Korean boy band BTS a planned live appearance on Japanese television. TV Asahi cited the controversy over the shirt depicting an atomic bomb blast as the reason for the cancellation of BTS’s performance on its "Music Station" program. "We apologize to the spectators who were looking forward to the performance", the station’s website stated.
Images of BTS singer Jimin’s T-shirt have sparked a flood of comments on social media in Japan. The shirt shows a mushroom cloud, as it would appear after a nuclear bomb explosion, together with the words "patriotism", "Our story", "Liberation", "Korea.".
The singer apparently wore the shirt last year to commemorate Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910-45), South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Japan is the only country in the world to have had nuclear bombs dropped on it in a war – on 6. and 9. August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by the U.S.
+++ 13.01 o’clock: Trial for death of Johanna – defense pleads to manslaughter +++
In the trial of the violent death of little Johanna from Hesse, almost 20 years ago, the defendant is not to be convicted of murder, but only of manslaughter, according to the defense. In addition, the 42-year-old should be placed in a rehab clinic for his drug use, the defense demanded in its plea before the Giessen Regional Court. No specific sentence was given.
Earlier, the prosecution and the joint prosecution had demanded a life sentence for murder. The 42-year-old is accused of kidnapping, abusing and killing Johanna, then eight, from Ranstadt in the Wetterau district of Hesse in September 1999. The defendant had admitted to the kidnapping at the beginning of the trial about half a year ago, but presented the death of the child as an accident. The verdict will be announced on 19. November spoken.
+++ 12.58: Merkel warns of growing hatred of Jews in Germany +++
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned of increasing hatred of Jews in Germany and called for decisive action against racism, xenophobia and exclusion. "’There is flourishing Jewish life again in Germany’, said the CDU politician in Berlin at a commemoration of 80. Anniversary of the Nazi pogrom night. "But at the same time, we are witnessing a worrisome anti-Semitism that threatens Jewish life in our country and in other places around the world that were thought to be safe." This anti-Semitism is increasingly discharging itself openly in partly uninhibited agitation on the Internet as well as in the public sphere.
"Unfortunately, we have almost become accustomed to the fact that every Jewish institution (. ) must be guarded or specially protected by the police", Merkel said. "But we are horrified by attacks on people wearing a kippah and stand stunned before the right-wing motivated attack on a Jewish restaurant in Chemnitz in August this year." This form of anti-Semitic crime brings back "bad memories of the beginning of the persecution of the Jews in the 1930s, said the chancellor.
+++ 12.50: IS militia claims Melbourne attack as its own +++
The jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the deadly knife attack in Melbourne. A statement distributed by IS propaganda mouthpiece Amaq said the perpetrator was an IS fighter and had targeted nationals of countries fighting IS. A knife attacker had stabbed a passerby and injured two others in Melbourne before being gunned down by police.
+++ 12.11 a.m.: Former first lady of the Philippines sentenced to long prison term +++
The former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, has been sentenced to many years in prison for embezzling millions of dollars of government money. The widow of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos must be jailed for at least six years for each of the seven offenses she was charged with, a court in Sandiganbayan city ruled.
Judges found the 89-year-old guilty of using Swiss foundations to move some $200 million out of the country with her husband in the past. However, it is unlikely that Imelda Marcos will actually have to go to jail for a long time. Marcos can appeal the verdict and remain free for the time being on payment of bail.
+++ 11.54 o’clock: Care Strengthening Act passed +++
The German government wants to counter the nursing shortage in Germany with a comprehensive package of measures. The Bundestag passed the Care Strengthening Act, which includes an immediate program to eliminate personnel bottlenecks. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) spoke in the Bundestag of the "biggest step in nursing care for over 20 years.
The immediate program stipulates that inpatient care for the elderly 13.000 new jobs to be created and funded. Training allowances for prospective nurses to be covered by health insurers in first year of training. Nursing staff costs of hospitals to be removed from the currently applicable flat rates per case and fully refinanced. This also applies to staff increases and pay rises. Furthermore, the bill provides for the refinancing of training allowances in pediatric nursing, nursing and nursing assistance in the first year of training by the insurance companies from 2019 onwards. This should strengthen the willingness to train nurses.
+++ 11.31 o’clock: Knife attack in Melbourne: attacker also dies +++
Two people were killed in the suspected terrorist attack in the city center of the Australian metropolis of Melbourne with its millions of inhabitants. According to police, a man went after passersby with a knife and then police officers as well. In the process, he fatally wounded one man, and two other people escaped with injuries. The attacker himself was then gunned down by police and died a short time later in hospital.
According to police chief Graham Ashton, the crime was probably committed by a man who had immigrated from Somalia in the 1990s. The alleged perpetrator is known to police, he said. "We treat this as a "terrorist incident, he said. According to media reports, the attacker is said to have had contacts in the Islamist scene.
See also entries from 7.40, 8.08, 8.26 and 11.00 o’clock.
+++ 11.12: Thai soldier with HIV allegedly raped dozens of boys +++
In Thailand, a soldier with HIV infection allegedly raped more than two dozen boys. The 43-year-old man was arrested at a barracks in the north of the country, about 450 kilometers from the capital Bangkok, according to police.
See doctor! Police dog bites HIV-infected person in Darmstadt – and other people afterwards
Investigators accuse him of contacting boys via a dating app for homosexuals and a fake Facebook profile, then forcing them to have sex. To do this, he apparently first had nude photos sent to him, which he then used to pressure the children. According to police, some of the boys were as young as 13 years old. Investigators so far tracked down 28 boys whom the soldier is alleged to have abused. It is suspected that there were actually more than 70. The man denies the accusations.
+++ 11.02 a.m.: Berlin’s interior senator announces appeal against permission for right-wing demo +++
Berlin’s Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) will appeal the decision of the administrative court that overturned the ban on a planned right-wing rally on the anniversary of the Reich Pogrom Night. "We will go to the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg", announced a spokesman for the Interior Senate. The association Wir fur Deutschland (We for Germany), which has close ties to right-wing extremist circles, has registered a demonstration for Friday evening.
Geisel had banned the rally on Wednesday, citing Remembrance Day this Friday as the reason. But the Berlin Administrative Court apparently considers the ban order illegal and overturned it on Friday, a court spokesman said.
+++ 11.00 o’clock: Knife attack in Melbourne: Police assume "terrorist incident" from +++
After the deadly knife attack in Melbourne, Australia, police believe it was a terrorist act. "We are now treating this as a terrorist incident,", said police chief Graham Ashton. The suspected perpetrator, who had previously killed one person and injured two others with a knife in Melbourne, had been known to the police for some time.
+++ 10.26: 80 years after Reich pogrom night: court allows right-wing march through Berlin +++
Berlin’s Administrative Court has overturned the ban on a right-wing populist demonstration on 9. November lifted in the capital. This means that the urgent application by the "Wir fur Deutschland" alliance has been granted granted, as the court announced. Berlin’s interior senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) and the police had banned the rally, which took place on 80. Demonstration of right-wing populists and right-wing extremists planned for the 50th anniversary of the Pogrom Night prohibited. Friday’s march "would blatantly negate the meaning and moral-ethical significance of this day of remembrance", the SPD politician had justified. The court did not follow this reasoning.
+++ 10.06 a.m.: Federal Cartel Office allows Karstadt and Kaufhof merger +++
The Federal Cartel Office has given the green light for the merger of the department store chains Karstadt and Kaufhof. This was announced by the competition authority in Bonn. After intensive examination, there were no competitive concerns from the point of view of consumers or manufacturers and suppliers, explained Andreas Mundt, President of the Cartel Office.
+++ 9.39 o’clock: Schauble to the 9. November: Never again endanger freedom +++
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schauble has commemorated the historic events of 9. November called for peace and freedom never again to be endangered. "The 9. November is the "fateful day of the Germans", Schauble said in the Bundestag, referring to the proclamation of the republic 100 years ago, but also to the pogrom night of 1938 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
"On this date, our recent history is condensed in its ambivalence, with its contradictions and contrasts", said Schauble. "Tragedy and happiness, futility and success, joy and guilt: they all go together. Inseparable."
In light of the anti-Jewish pogroms of 9. November 1938 Schauble called it a "gift, that today living Judaism had become a reality again in Germany. Recent attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions, however, showed how their protection is still needed.
+++ 8.48 clock:Spahn wants higher social contributions for childless people +++
German Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) wants childless people to pay higher social contributions compared to parents. This is a question of justice, Spahn, who is currently running for the CDU presidency, told the newspapers of the Neue Berliner Redaktionsgemeinschaft (u.a. "Markische Oderzeitung"). He says this deliberately as a "childless man himself who is prepared to contribute more financially to the sustainability of the system".
The question of higher contributions for childless people arises in the case of pensions and nursing care insurance. "Here, too, parents also raise future contributors and thus secure the system for the future", the minister justified his move. Up to now, there has already been a surcharge of 0.25 percentage points on the nursing care contribution for childless persons. This is "right and exemplary, CDU politician stressed. "In the pay-as-you-go system, the old get the money from the young – even if it’s only the children of the others.", Spahn continued. He said it was a matter of making the social security system generationally fair.
+++ 8.26 o’clock: Knife attack in Melbourne: one dead, background still unclear +++
At least one person has been killed in the knife attack in the city center of the Australian metropolis of Melbourne, which is home to millions of people. The alleged perpetrator was shot down by police. It is suspected that he had previously set fire to a car.
Cell phone video shows the man attacking several officers in uniform with a knife. Eyewitnesses reported several explosions. The exact background was initially unclear. The area around the burned-out car was cordoned off extensively.
The alleged perpetrator was found in "critical condition", according to police taken to hospital. In addition, at least three people were being treated for stab wounds, it said. "The exact circumstances have yet to be clarified", it said in a message of the police.
+++ 8.09 a.m.: Activists: 22 rebels killed in attack by Syrian government forces +++
In an attack by Syrian government forces near Idlib province, 22 rebels have been killed, according to activists. The fighting broke out on Friday night after the Syrian army captured a position held by the Jaysh al-Issa group in the north of Hama province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has close ties to the opposition.
+++ 8.08 a.m.: One dead after knife attack in Melbourne +++
As reported by a reporter of the news agency AFP, a person has died after the knife attack in Melbourne. This is what the police said.
+++ 7.40 h: Knife attack in Melbourne: several injured +++
In the Australian metropolis of Melbourne, several people have been injured in a knife attack. As reported by The Guardian newspaper, among others at least one person is in "critical condition". One man has been arrested. A burning pickup truck can also be seen in several photographs from downtown Melbourne. Police cordoned off the area. The background of the incident and the identities of the victims and the arrested man are currently unknown.
+++ 6.05 o’clock: Report: Berlin LKA had V-man in Amri mosque +++
According to a media report, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office (LKA) also had an informant in the Fussilet mosque, which the Berlin Breitscheidplatz attacker visited. According to information from "Berliner Morgenpost" and RBB an anti-terror service of the LKA led the V-person in the meanwhile closed mosque. Their existence resulted from a letter of the police to the interior administration from 9. January 2017, according to the media. It is unclear whether and to what extent this person had contact with the attacker Anis Amri.
Terror in Berlin Verfassungsschutz apparently targeted V-man at Amri even before attack
According to the report, a spokesman for the Berlin interior administration "did not want to comment on possible confidants" Do not comment. Accordingly, the Berlin police did not provide any information on this either. It is known that V-men of the LKA North Rhine-Westphalia, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution frequented the mosque.
+++ 5.31 clock: Federal budget 2019 stands +++
The federal budget for the coming year stands. It foresees spending of 356.4 billion euros – about 13 billion euros more than this year – if new debt is waived again. This was the result of the final deliberations of the budget committee in Berlin. Among other things, spending on defense, development aid and homeland security was increased. Also coming in 2019 is relief for taxpayers and families.
+++ 5.30 o’clock: Doctors want to separate Siamese twins from Bhutan +++
Doctors in Australia want to save Siamese twins from the Himalayan state of Bhutan with a spectacular operation. The two 15-month-old girls named Nima and Dawa are fused together at the torso. Their heads are separated. Preliminary tests had shown that they appeared to share a liver. Also the intestines are to a large extent interconnected. Doctors did not know exactly whether the organs were functioning normally before the operation began.
The operation began now in a children’s hospital in the Australian city of Melbourne. It should last at least six hours. In the same hospital, the Royal Children’s Hospital, conjoined twins from Bangladesh were successfully separated nine years ago. The operation lasted a total of 38 hours.
+++ 4.20 o’clock: To the 9. November: Knobloch calls for more action against hostility to Jews +++
The former president of the Central Council of Jews, Charlotte Knobloch, has celebrated the 80th anniversary of her death. On the 50th anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht, more commitment against anti-Semitism called for. "We have a lot of upright democrats in Germany. But it is at the political level that they must speak out loudly to denounce hostility to Jews", said the president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria to the Berlin "Tagesspiegel". Missing her.
"A cross-party outcry is finally needed!", demanded Knochloch. It is simply too little to just deplore anti-Semitism, he said. There must be more to come. "Politicians must embrace the Jewish community, make its welfare a reason of state."
+++ 3.25 o’clock: Stephen Hawking’s wheelchair and dissertation sold at auction +++
The first wheelchair of physicist Stephen Hawking was auctioned in London for the equivalent of 320,000 euros. The original of his 1965 doctoral thesis went for a bid of just under 670.000 euros to an unknown bidder, as the auction house Christie’s announced on its website. The proceeds from the auction of the estate will go to charity – to the Hawking Foundation and to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, an organization that conducts research into motor neurone disease.
+++ 2.25 a.m.: Northern California brush fire knocks out thousands +++
Thousands of Californians have fled a rapidly spreading brush fire. Several people were injured, reported, among others, the CNN channel. According to the fire authority, the fire near the village of Chico in Northern California has grown to an area of more than 70 square kilometers in a few hours. According to a CNN report, the fire grew to the size of 80 football fields in one minute.
Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for Butte County as a way to mobilize help quickly. The "Camp Fire" threatened, especially a rural region at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about 300 kilometers north of San Francisco. It is feared that dozens of buildings have already burned down.
+++ 2.09 a.m.: Around 500.000 killed in "war on terror of the USA +++
Since the beginning of the "war on terror" of the U.S., about half a million people have been killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, according to a report. The report by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs puts the death toll at between 480.000 and 507.000. Among the dead are insurgents, civilians, police, other security forces, and soldiers from the U.S. and allied countries.
Compared to the last report in August 2016, the number of dead had increased by more than 110.000, the university said. This shows how "intensively" which was destroyed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11. The "war on terror" launched on September 2001 remains the same – even though it is often little noticed by the U.S. public, media and politicians anymore.
+++ 1.06 a.m.: Number of right-wing extremist demonstrators rises significantly +++
The number of right-wing extremist demonstrators in Germany has increased significantly again. From July to September 2018, 7614 neo-Nazis took part in 23 far-right rallies such as protest marches, demonstrations and commemorative events, according to the German government’s findings. In the corresponding period last year, there were 3040 participants – less than half as many as this year. That is according to a response from the German government to a question from the Left Party in the Bundestag, as reported by the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe (u.a. "Berliner Morgenpost") report.
Overall, according to government figures, right-wing extremists organized demonstrations in the first nine months of this year with about 15.264 participants. In 2017 as a whole, a total of around 11,285 neo-Nazis had demonstrated on German streets and squares.
+++ 0.51 a.m.: Florida faces threat of recount in U.S. election +++
Midterms in Florida threatened with recount – Trump smells election fraud
In the U.S. elections, there could be a recount of votes in the state of Florida for the Senate and in the governor’s race. In the Senate election, after receiving more results, Republican candidate Rick Scott was only ahead by 0.22 points, or just over 17.000 votes ahead of his Democratic opponent and incumbent Bill Nelson in front. The election laws provide for an automatic recount by hand if the result is a difference of less than 0.25 percentage points. Such a hand count could take weeks.
+++ 0.41 o’clock. More food aid for Yemen +++
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) plans to nearly double its food aid to people in the civil war-torn country of Yemen. Currently, food for seven to eight million people is being delivered daily, said WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel in Geneva. The new goal is to provide food for 14 million people, he said. The United Nations speaks of the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world.
+++ 0.6 p.m.: After counting breakdowns in Hesse: SPD senses chance for change of power +++
In view of a possible shift in the final result of the Hessian state elections, the SPD again sees chances of replacing the black-green government. "We reach out to the Greens and FDP in Hesse to switch to the future in our country", said SPD state leader Thorsten Schafer-Gumbel to the "Spiegel" magazine. There would be a majority without the CDU.
The CDU, the strongest force in the state parliament, had postponed its decision on who to enter into coalition negotiations with, which was actually planned for this Friday. She wants to wait for the official final result, which will be announced on 16. November is to come. The background is that the SPD could end up overtaking the Greens and become the second-strongest force after all. This could have consequences for the formation of the government.
On election night, a slow computer system had delayed the count. In addition, there were sometimes considerable mishaps in Frankfurt constituencies with incorrectly transmitted values.
+++ 0.00 o’clock: USA wants to tighten asylum law +++
In the fight against illegal immigration, the U.S. wants to tighten asylum laws. In the future, people will only be able to apply for asylum if they cross the U.S. border at an official crossing point, the Department of Homeland Security announced. According to the report, U.S. President Donald Trump will sign the new regulation shortly.
Trump had announced last week a presidential decree for a tightening of the asylum law. Before Tuesday’s congressional elections, he had stepped up his rhetoric against immigrants, regularly warning of an alleged "invasion" by illegal immigrants. The reason for this is the thousands of migrants, mainly from Honduras, who are currently on their way to the USA. Trump at the same time affirmed that he is not against immigration, but it must be controlled.