He goes on trial on Monday on charges he used illegal campaign financing from Libyan dictator Gaddafi to fund his victorious 2007 presidential election campaign
world19 hours ago
Five people died across Germany and a police officer was seriously injured from accidents linked to the powerful fireworks Germans traditionally set off to celebrate the new year, police said in a preliminary count.
Germans celebrate the new year with a particularly intense usage of fireworks, which spurs a recurrent debate about outlawing the most powerful devices, given the high number of injuries each year, as well as the pollution and noise they cause.
Some 13 law enforcement officers were injured as a result of the accidents this year, including one seriously, police spokesman, Florian Nath, said.
Some 330 people were detained in the capital Berlin overnight, police said, adding that contrary to previous years, "there were no major violence or incidents".
Near Paderborn in the northwest region of North Rhine-Westphalia, a 24-year-old man died after detonating a pyrotechnic rocket, according to local police, who believe the victim had made the device himself.
In Oschatz in Saxony, a 45-year-old man died of serious head injuries when he set fire to a "pyrotechnic bomb". According to the police, it was a powerful F4 category firework, which requires a special permit to purchase.
In the same eastern region of Saxony, a 50-year-old man died on the spot from head injuries in the town of Hartha when he tried to detonate a pyrotechnic pipe bomb, a police spokesperson said.
Near Hamburg in the north, a 20 year-old man died lighting a pyrotechnic firework.
Finally, in Kremen near Berlin, a fifth man died from an "inappropriate manipulation" of pyrotechnics, according to local police. Three other people in the region were seriously injured in similar circumstances.
He goes on trial on Monday on charges he used illegal campaign financing from Libyan dictator Gaddafi to fund his victorious 2007 presidential election campaign
world19 hours ago
Many are believed to have been buried in mass graves after being tortured in jails during a war that has killed more than half a million people
world20 hours ago
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of ferocious weather and severe travel delays
world1 day ago
In her older age, Tomiko Itooka enjoyed bananas and Calpis, a milky soft drink popular in Japan
world1 day ago
The plane was a single-engine Van's RV-10, a small model with four seats
world3 days ago
There were initial concerns that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had accomplices still on the run
world3 days ago
No group has claimed the four activists' abduction and they have not been heard from since
world3 days ago
The ministry wished for a speedy recovery for all those injured
world3 days ago