German police have detained four people from a group suspected of preparing large-scale attacks on the electricity infrastructure and abductions of public figures, the state prosecutor's office of the German city of Koblenz and State Criminal Police Office in Mainz said on Wednesday

The sentencing of Anwar Raslan, allegedly the chief of a "torture unit" in Syria's General Intelligence Directorate, is a watershed moment in the effort to achieve justice for crimes against humanity committed in Syria, the European Union said on Friday

The regional court in the German city of Koblenz in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Thursday sentenced Syrian national Anwar Raslan, believed to be an officer of the Syrian special services, to life in prison for crimes against humanity

The prosecutor's office of the German city of Koblenz has launched an investigation against officials of the Ahrweiler district of Rhineland-Palatinate state over the deaths of people in July floods, according to the official press release published on Friday

Authorities in the German district of Ahrweiler on Saturday denied rumors of dam breaches in the area, after media reported that people with megaphones were driving through streets spreading "fake news."

Death toll from devastating floods in the western German district of Ahrweiler rose to 98 on Saturday afternoon, police in the nearby city of Koblenz said