BBC News with Jonathon Izard.

The German parliament has voted to legalize same-sex marriage. It was only added to the parliamentary schedule at the last minute after the Chancellor Angela Merkel changed her position to allow a free vote on the subject. She herself voted against the change but she said she hoped it would lead to more social peace.

Three former executives working for the Japanese power company Tepco have pleaded not guilty in the first criminal trail relating to the Fukushima nuclear disaster 6 years ago. One of the accused, the former Tepco Chairman Masataka Shimizu said the earthquake and tsunami wave that severely damaged the nuclear plant were impossible to predict.

United Nations says almost half a million Syrians returned their home this year in what a spokesman described as a significant trend. Most were displaced within Syria, 30,000 returned from abroad.

The UN Human Rights Commission says letters have been sent to families in the Iraqi city of Mosul, threatening them with possible expulsion over alleged links with the Islamic State group. The commission called on the Iraqi government to prevent illegal evictions or connective punishment.

South African President Jacob Zuma has opened a conference of governing African national congress as arguments continue to rage among party membership about his future. Some veterans of the anti-party movement are boycotting at the meeting and calling for Mr. Zuma’s resignation.

The German Parliament has approved a law that obliges social media sites to delete illegal content with 24 hours or face fines about 250 million euros. The new law obliges tech giants, such as Facebook and Google to swiftly remove posts containing hate speech and criminal content.

And the French politician, and holocaust survivor, Simone veil has died at the age of 89. She was born into a Jewish family in Southeast France and was deported at the teenage to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. As a French Minister of Health, she led successful campaign to legalize abortion.

BBC News.