Court throws out Holocaust appealBERLIN — A German federal court said today that it has thrown out the appeal of a 95-year-old former Auschwitz death camp guard against his conviction for being an accessory to murder.The decision to uphold Oskar Groening’s conviction sets an important precedent for German prosecutors’ efforts to pursue further suspects who served at Nazi death camps and other Holocaust perpetrators.Groening was convicted in July 2015 of being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews and sentenced by a court in Lueneburg to four years in prison.Groening testified at his trial that he oversaw the collection of prisoners’ belongings and ensured valuables and cash were separated to be sent to Berlin. He said he witnessed individual atrocities, but did not acknowledge participating in any crimes.Presiding Judge Franz Kompisch ruled last year, however, that Groening was part of the “machinery of death.”In throwing out Groening’s appeal, the Federal Court of Justice noted his responsibilities had included keeping watch on the inmates and preventing resistance or attempts to flee by force.

Hospital brimming with casualties IRBIL, Iraq — The main hospital treating trauma victims from the battle for Mosul is overflowing with civilian and military casualties, according to a doctor there.Dr. Marwan Ghafuri of the West Irbil Hospital, the main triage center for trauma cases from the Mosul battle, said his facility is admitting up to 150 new patients per day“The problem here is we have not enough beds in the emergency (room),” he said. “We have a lack of medications and the operating rooms are full. We cannot operate immediately on all the patients.”Ghafuri said he expects the influx of wounded to continue at the same level for the next three months as the Mosul operation continues.The offensive to free Mosul of Islamic State militants is now in its second month, and progress has slowed as troops try to avoid mass civilian casualties.