Several killed in train crash in Germany, media say
Police in Stuttgart, who were cited by media in initial reports of the crash, were not immediately available for comment. A picture published in German media showed carriages had left the tracks and rolled over. — Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
21 hours ago
- GMA Network
Cambodia asks Thailand to release detained soldiers as truce holds
Cambodia accused Thailand on Thursday of detaining 20 of its soldiers and killing another in post-ceasefire incidents, as a fragile peace held for a third day along their disputed border. Five days of intense clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbors that began last week killed at least 43 people, many of them civilians, and displaced more than 300,000, until a truce brokered in Malaysia on Monday halted the fighting. Thailand has since accused Cambodian troops of violating the ceasefire multiple times, a charge denied by authorities in Phnom Penh, who instead allege that the Thai military has wrongfully detained a number of its soldiers. "We appeal to the Thai side to promptly return all 20 of our forces, including other forces if any are under Thai control," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Thursday. In a statement, senior Cambodian defense official Lieutenant General Rath Dararoth said one Cambodian soldier had died in Thai custody since the ceasefire and his body had been returned. He did not provide further details. Thailand currently has custody of 20 Cambodian soldiers who had surrendered, including two who are under medical treatment, Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri told reporters. "We are investigating them to verify the facts. After this is finished, they will be released," Thailand's Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said, stressing the Thai military had not violated the ceasefire agreement. As per talks between military commanders held after Monday's truce announcement, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to facilitate the return of wounded soldiers and bodies of those deceased, besides refraining from reinforcing troops along the border. Cambodia took military attaches and diplomats to a border checkpoint on Wednesday to verify the ceasefire as both sides exchanged accusations of violating the truce. For decades, Thailand and Cambodia have wrangled over undemarcated points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, with ownership of the ancient Hindu temples Ta Moan Thom and the 11th century Preah Vihear central to the disputes. The recent truce followed a push by Malaysia and calls by US President Donald Trump's phone calls to leaders of Thailand and Cambodia, warning them that trade deals would not be concluded if the fighting continued. Both countries face a tariff of 36% on goods sent to the US, their biggest export market. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, said early on Thursday that trade deals had been made with both countries ahead of the August 1 tariff deadline. — Reuters
GMA Network
a day ago
- GMA Network
Austrian ambassador to EU quits after reports he kept sexually explicit blog
VIENNA, Austria - Austria's ambassador to the European Union has stepped down, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after reports he published an anonymous, sexually explicit blog for years. Thomas Oberreiter, 59, had been permanent representative to the European Union in Brussels since 2023. He did not respond to requests for comment. When Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger became aware of the allegations on Saturday, the matter was thoroughly reviewed, the foreign ministry said, without describing the allegations. "On Monday, the ambassador requested that he be dismissed for personal reasons. Minister Meinl-Reisinger accepted the request," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said it could not provide further details for reasons including data protection, and that its statement should not be taken as confirmation of the unspecified allegations. Reports in Austrian media including Der Standard newspaper identified Oberreiter as the author of the blog, which included graphic accounts mixing fantasy scenes with real-life photos and appears to have been publishing by 2015. Der Standard said Oberreiter disputes what it called "the alleged allegations". — Reuters
GMA Network
a day ago
- GMA Network
UN sounds alarm on SE Asia scam center surge
Barbed wire fences are seen outside a shuttered Great Wall Park compound where Cambodian authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia September 21, 2022. REUTERS/ Cindy Liu/ File photo GENEVA, Switzerland - Human trafficking for forced criminal activity is growing at an alarming rate, with hundreds of thousands of people trapped in online scamming centers across Southeast Asia, the United Nations said Wednesday. Too often, instead of getting help, victims are arrested for crimes they were forced to commit, the head of the UN's migration agency said on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. "Trafficking is a human rights crisis, but it's more than that. It's a massive global business that fuels corruption, spreads fear, and prays on the most vulnerable," Amy Pope said. Her International Organization for Migration agency has witnessed trafficking for forced crime expand with "alarming" speed, she said. "Right now, across Southeast Asia, hundreds of thousands of people are stuck in online scamming compounds," the IOM chief said. "These operations bring in an estimated $40 billion a year, and many of those trapped are migrants, young jobseekers, children, and people with disabilities." She said the Geneva-based IOM had helped nearly 3,000 victims rebuild their lives since 2022. The agency has helped bring people home from the Philippines and Vietnam and supported victims in Thailand, Myanmar, and beyond, Pope said. But she warned that far more remained stranded. "To make matters worse, instead of getting help, they're often arrested, prosecuted, and punished. Let me be clear: no-one should be jailed for something they were forced to do," she said. She urged governments and civil society to step up and get national laws changed so that trafficking survivors could be protected rather than punished -- and urged authorities to go after the traffickers rather than those they exploit. Myanmar's many-sided civil war -- sparked by a 2021 coup -- has enabled the rapid growth of lucrative internet fraud factories established in its loosely governed borderlands. Cyberscam operations lure foreign workers with promises of high-paying jobs but hold them hostage and force them to commit online fraud. Many of the trafficking victims are Chinese men. Many people have said they were trafficked into often heavily fortified scam compounds to target victims with romance or business scams on social media, luring them into making untraceable cryptocurrency payments. — Agence France-Presse
