Today’s news in star-Ticker.
Today’s news in star-Ticker:
11.22 a.m.: London court admits US request for the extradition of Julian Assange
An appeals court in London has overturned the rejection of the US extradition request for Julian Assange. This was announced by a judge at the London High Court. The Wikileaks founder must now expect to be extradited to the United States after all.
10:56 a.m.: Despite Corona restrictions, Slovakia is loosening up despite the highest infection rate worldwide
Although the country has the highest infection rate in the world, Slovakia is easing the restrictions: shops, ski resorts and churches are now open again to those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. According to a count by the AFP news agency, the seven-day incidence in Slovakia is 1099 per 100,000 population. The government in Bratislava justified the loosening that was carried out in spite of this with pressure from the population. People complained about not being able to do Christmas shopping or making plans for the holidays, said Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky. The opening of shops is “a relatively risky step from an epidemiological point of view, but it is done to calm the population”. The corona situation is “still very serious”, but is “under control”. The government announced that it would reevaluate the easing in the coming days. Depending on the situation in the hospitals, the measures could also be changed again.
10.55 a.m.: Teenager sentenced to nine years in prison for murder
The Heidelberg Regional Court sentenced a 14-year-old to nine years in prison for the murder of a 13-year-old boy. After extensive evidence, the Great Youth Chamber saw it as proven that the victim was lured into a wooded area near Sinsheim-Eschelbach on February 24th. According to the court, the accused stabbed a total of seven times in the back and neck area of the unsuspecting and defenseless boy. He died a little later at the scene of the crime. The judges named treachery as a feature of the murder. The now convicted youth initially denied the crime, but later confessed. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The fatal attack with a kitchen knife shook even die-hard detectives.
10.33 a.m.: ICE high-speed line Hamburg – Berlin will be freely accessible again from Sunday
After months of construction work on the high-speed route between Berlin and Hamburg, the ICE trains between the two metropolises will be back on the regular route from Sunday, according to Deutsche Bahn. The modernization of the line will be finished “according to plan”, announced the railway. When the timetable changes on Sunday, the trains will again travel between the two cities at a speed of 230 km / h. Construction work on the route began in September. According to Deutsche Bahn, 400 kilometers of new rails and 24 new points were installed for around 100 million euros. In addition, 15,000 sleepers and around 30,000 tons of ballast were replaced on the heavily used route. The control and safety technology was also renewed.
9.51 a.m.: Chancellor Scholz travels to Poland on Sunday
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will travel to Poland on Sunday for his inaugural visit. In Warsaw he will be received with military honors by the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced. The following discussion should focus on “bilateral, European and international issues”. The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border is likely to play a role. Since the beginning of the year, thousands of migrants – many of them from the Middle East – have come via Belarus to the EU’s external borders in Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. The EU accuses the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of targeting migrants to the EU’s external borders. Currently, many people are stuck in icy temperatures in the border area.
8.10 a.m.: Bush fire in popular Australian holiday region Margaret River
A massive bush fire has got out of control in a popular holiday region in Western Australia. In the Margaret River region south of Perth, which is known for wine growing and surfing, 6000 hectares of land have already been devastated in the past three days, reported the Australian broadcaster ABC, citing the local emergency services. People from communities near the fire were brought to safety. The Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park on the Indian Ocean is particularly badly affected. Around 250 firefighters were on duty to fight the flames. A spokesman for the authorities said, miraculously, no one has been killed so far. No houses have been burned so far.
7.02 a.m.: Convicted murderer executed in the United States
In the United States, a convicted murderer has been executed with lethal injection. A spokesman for the Oklahoma Law Department said the execution using a lethal drug cocktail was “without complications”. The 79-year-old executed Bigler Stouffer had served more than 35 years on death row for the 1985 murder of teacher Linda Reaves and the attempted murder of boyfriend Doug Ivens. The Supreme Court and Governor Kevin Stitt had denied requests for the execution to be postponed. Stouffer was the second convict to be executed in Oklahoma that year and the eleventh nationwide.
6.16 a.m.: AfD wants to send suspected extremists to the defense committee
According to a media report, the AfD wants to send a member of the Bundestag Defense Committee whom the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) classifies as an extremist. The news portal “The Pioneer” reported from parliamentary circles that the AfD parliamentary group should formally vote on the day whether the newly elected AfD MP Hannes Gnauck may actually move into the committee. According to media reports, military intelligence had questioned Gnauck’s loyalty to the constitution. The background is therefore connections between the former Bundeswehr soldier and organizations that are monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the area of right-wing extremism.
5.05 a.m.: Nobel Peace Prize winners are awarded in Oslo
Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitri Muratow personally received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today. The Filipinos and Russians received this year’s award for their commitment to upholding freedom of expression. The two of them will be awarded the prestigious Nobel medals and diplomas at an award ceremony in Oslo City Hall around lunchtime. Representatives of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), will also attend the ceremony.
4.20 a.m.: Federal Administrative Court negotiates student loans for student pensioners
The Federal Administrative Court is negotiating student loans for a student pensioner in Leipzig. The man made up his Abitur 40 years after graduating from secondary school and began studying at the University of Hamburg shortly before retiring. The funding office rejected his application for student loans. A lawsuit before the administrative court and the higher administrative court in Hamburg was also unsuccessful. The Higher Administrative Court ruled that training is not eligible if the person concerned is already of retirement age at the time of graduation. On the other hand, the man moved to the Federal Administrative Court.
3.55 a.m.: Rapper Slim 400 shot in Los Angeles
According to the California police, the US rapper Slim 400 was shot dead. The musician with the real name Vincent Cohran was fatally injured on Wednesday evening (local time) on a street in Inglewood, said police spokesman Scott Collins of the German press agency. The incident is being investigated. There was initially no arrest. A video of the incident was circulating on the net. According to Collins, it is not known who posted the video. The musician (“Goapele”, “Piru”) was born in Germany to a US military family. He grew up in Compton, a city known for gang crime, near Los Angeles. He was seriously injured in a shootout there in 2019.
2.41 Ur: New Year’s Eve celebration in Rio de Janeiro is supposed to take place
The traditional New Year’s Eve party on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro is now supposed to take place. “The city is open, the city will celebrate,” said Mayor Eduardo Paes at a press conference after canceling the celebration over the weekend with reference to the corona pandemic. In order to curb the risk of infection, the city now wants to ignite fireworks in various places and has canceled planned concerts. In the Brazilian metropolis, around three million people usually ring in the New Year with music and fireworks on the famous Copacabana Beach. After the new and probably more contagious Omicron variant of the corona virus appeared, the city council of Rio, like most of the other regional capitals of Brazil, canceled their official New Year’s Eve celebrations on Saturday. Since then, however, Mayor Paes had consulted with health authorities and the regional government.
1.50 a.m .: CNN – US actor Jussie Smollett is convicted
The US actor Jussie Smollett, 39, who was accused of making false statements to the police, has been found guilty on most counts. Jurors in the Chicago trial came to the verdict after two days of deliberations, the broadcaster CNN reported. A judge must determine the sentence at a later date. The actor faces imprisonment and a fine. The charges accused the former star of the US series “Empire” of having faked a racist and homophobic attack directed against him. The headline-grabbing case began in January 2019 when Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men one night near his home. The actor was later arrested for alleged false testimony. According to investigators, he is said to have paid the men to fake the attack against him. The gay and African American actor wanted to advance his career, it said.
0.24 a.m.: Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of Beijing
Nicaragua has broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and now recognizes the People’s Republic of China. Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said: “The People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory”. After decades of pressure from Beijing, only 14 countries officially recognize Taiwan as a state. Nicaragua’s declaration follows Beijing’s line that the island of Taiwan is a breakaway province. China is striving for reunification with the mainland, if necessary by force. At the same time, Beijing is trying to isolate Taiwan internationally. In Latin America, China has recently had some success: Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic have switched sides in recent years.