Germany

This hydrogen-powered train emits only water

That train is a reality.

In March, Germany conducted successful tests of the world's first "Hydrail" -- a hydrogen powered, zero-emission train.

"The new train is 60% less noisy than a traditional diesel train, completely emission free," said Jens Sprotte of Alstom, the French producer of the train. "Its speed and the possibility to transport passengers match the performance of a diesel train."

"The only sound it gives off comes from the wheels and air resistance," Sprotte added.

Here's how the new technology works:

Social media firms to face huge hate speech fines in Germany

The proposed law would give the companies 24 hours to block obviously criminal content after it had been reported, and seven days for other offensive material.

However, a plan to state explicitly that penalties could be imposed after a single infraction has been dropped.

Facebook has voiced concern.

"We work very hard to remove illegal content from our platform and are determined to work with others to solve this problem," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

EU and Germany working together in Kiribati

The work, for which $US686, 000 had been provided, would be implemented by Germany's International Co-operation agency.

The climate change project entails strengthening capacities of Kiribati's technical agencies and some communities to help them to undertake coastal-land use vulnerability & adaptation assessments.

The sustainable energy project entails the design, installation and sustainable management of solar energy systems, at two boarding schools.

Germany warns Turkey over Nazi jibes amid referendum row

But Sigmar Gabriel also emphasised his wish to return to "friendly relations".

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Germany of "Nazi practices" because of the cancellation of rallies involving Turkish ministers.

He is seeking new constitutional powers in a 16 April referendum.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu repeated the Nazi comparison on a visit to Hamburg aimed at drumming up support among some of the 1.4m Turkish voters who live in Germany.

World Cup the end goal for Germany

Arguably that 50-27 win against Os Lobos at the Rudolf-Kalweit Stadium in Hannover was every bit as significant as the victories achieved over France, Italy and Romania during the inter-war years when Germany was in its pomp as a rugby-playing nation.

Not only did the emphatic victory save them from relegation into the third tier of European rugby, it also instilled a sense of self-belief in Germany’s amateur players and broke the cycle of the side promoted into Division 1A, now known as the Rugby Europe Championship, going straight back down.

Facebook to roll out fake news tools in Germany

The world's largest social network said it would enable German users to flag potentially false stories.

The stories will then be passed to third-party fact-checkers and if found to be unreliable, will be marked in users' news feeds as "disputed".

It is the first major rollout of the fake news features announced by Facebook in December.

A fox found frozen in ice in Germany is put on display outside a hotel

Franz Stehle told news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur that he found the block containing the animal while out next to the Danube river in the southwest of the country on 2 January.

The hunter says he thinks the fox drowned and was then frozen solid.

Europe's been experiencing extreme weather conditions.

Franz says it's not unusual for animals to break through the frozen surface of the river in winter and says it's a warning to other people not to walk on the ice at this time of year.

He says he's seen a frozen deer and a wild boar before finding the fox.

12 dead, 48 injured in Berlin truck 'attack'

Local media, citing police at the scene, said first indications pointed to a deliberate attack on the market.

Berlin police said 12 people were killed in the crash. Forty-eight people have been taken to hospital with injuries.

Video footage from the scene showed stalls knocked over and people lying injured on the ground. Police cars and ambulances converged on the scene.

The incident occurred at Breitscheidplatz, near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue in the west of the city.

France defeats Germany 1-0

A stiff defence from France in the second half kept the favourites scoreless despite numerous attempts near France goalmouth.

France regrouped into defensive play with minimal attacks after seeing the need to defend their only point for victory.

French goalkeeper Mylene Chavas was too good for the German attackers, defending every ball her way and was named the Live Your Goal player of the match.

France now makes the final top four with Korea DPR, Japan and USA.

 

(Pictures by Troy Taule and Kennedy Bani)

France leads at half-time

Germany had several attempts in the opening minutes but failed to convert.

An opening shot from forward Jasmin Sehan hit the crossbar and went over.

Just then in the 16th minute, France swung in a corner kick that bounced off the head of a German player to find the boots of skipper Cascarino, just outside the 18 yards.

Cascarino powered a right footy through that got the crowd roaring for the unexpected goal.

German tried to make a comeback with several outside shots but couldn’t find the net as France leads 1-0 at half-time.