Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

In-form George Russell dismissed talk of a special spiky rivalry with four-time champion Max Verstappen as fictional on Thursday as he began preparations for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

Global fragmentation is fuelling unprecedented turmoil and disproportionately harming poorer nations, South Africa's foreign minister warned Thursday, urging a united G20 response for peace.

Roston Chase and Shai Hope compiled an unbroken partnership of 63 to lift West Indies to 135 for five in reply to Australia's first innings total of 180 at lunch on the second day of the first Test in Barbados on Thursday.

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are free to continue racing each other as hard as always despite their crash at the Canadian Grand Prix, world championship leader Piastri said on Thursday.

Champion jockey Oisin Murphy has been charged with drink driving and failing to cooperate with police after a car crash.

Israel has acknowledged being hit by more than 50 missiles during the 12-day war with Iran, but the true extent of the damage may never be known due to stringent press restrictions.

Argentina will try in absentia ten Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, a ruling seen by AFP on Thursday said.

A Spanish court on Thursday said it had temporarily suspended heavy fines the leftist government imposed on budget airlines Ryanair and Norwegian Air for "abusive practices" such as charging for hand luggage.

The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for states to potentially cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the country's largest abortion providers.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday signed four landmark bills into law aiming to overhaul the country's tax system, after backing away from more controversial tweaks that would have upended revenue sharing among states.

The COP30 climate conference will be held as planned in the Amazonian city of Belem in Brazil despite concerns about shortage of accomodation and exorbitant prices being charged by hotels and property owners, the event's CEO said on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked a court on Thursday to postpone his testimony in his long-running corruption trial, after US President Donald Trump called for the case to be cancelled altogether.

South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns head out of the Club World Cup with their heads high and the firm belief that they have made a mark on the global stage.

A French robber convicted with seven others of stealing jewellery worth $10 million from reality television star Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016 died on Thursday, a source close to the case said.

A vehicle crashed into pedestrians in an "accident" near a primary school in Beijing on Thursday, with footage shared online showing young people lying seriously injured in the street.

After satisfying Donald Trump's calls for Europe to ramp up defence spending in NATO, EU leaders were meeting in Brussels Thursday on the next big challenge ahead: how to seal a trade deal with the US leader.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted Thursday that American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were a success, backing President Donald Trump and berating the media for covering an intelligence report that questioned the results of the operation.

Kylian Mbappe has accused his former club Paris Saint-Germain of moral harassment in a legal filing, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP on Thursday as it confirmed an investigation had been opened.

Kirsty Coventry said on Thursday that the first meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board under her presidency supported her belief that "we should protect the female category".

A medical panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to recommend a new antibody treatment against RSV, a common respiratory illness that is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in the United States.

A gardening game created by a teenager on online platform Roblox has attracted a record 21 million simultaneous players, a figure rarely seen in the industry.

VIPs whizzed by speed boat through Venice Thursday as the three-day wedding party of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez kicked off and protesters demonstrated in St Mark's Square.

US stock markets rose and the dollar slid Thursday as President Donald Trump lined up candidates to succeed Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell, fuelling bets of cuts to US interest rates.

Europe's top rights court on Thursday condemned France over its police discriminating against a young man during identity checks, in the first such ruling against the country over alleged racial profiling.

Cristiano Ronaldo inked a two-year extension with Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr, the club announced Thursday, following months of speculation over which team he would sign for next season.

In-form opener Pathum Nissanka scored an unbeaten 146 as Sri Lanka tightened their grip on the second Test against Bangladesh on day two in Colombo on Thursday.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday became the most prominent European leader to describe the situation in Gaza as a "genocide", as rescuers in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory said Israeli forces killed 56 people.

The top American diplomat in Hong Kong defended US Independence Day celebrations as "perfectly normal" on Thursday after local education officials reportedly warned teachers and students to stay clear due to national security risks.

The UN's air service which flies humanitarian workers and cargo to hard-to-reach corners of the world has been forced to slash its global fleet by almost a quarter due to funding cuts, the World Food Programme (WFP) told AFP.

A massive trove of artwork and curios linked to Napoleon Bonaparte, including one of his iconic bicorne hats, has sold for more than $10 million in Paris, an auction house said.

At least 16 people died in protests across Kenya on Wednesday, Amnesty International said Thursday, as businesses and residents were left to clean up the devastation in the capital and beyond.

In a Finnish town a stone's throw from Russia, Moscow's reported military build-up on its side of the border is raising concerns about the Nordic country's security, locals told AFP.