Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

Mediators said Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, but Israel cautioned that some final sticking points still needed to be ironed out.

Virgil van Dijk has played down suggestions that Premier League leaders Liverpool are having a wobble after they drew 1-1 against Nottingham Forest to stay six points clear at the summit.

Marco Rubio, Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, said Wednesday that a "dangerous" China cheated its way to superpower status as he vowed to ramp up support to deter an invasion of Taiwan.

Phil Foden admitted Manchester City's bid to win a fifth successive Premier League title is over after the troubled champions drew 2-2 at Brentford.

Scientists analysing 2,000-year-old DNA have revealed that a Celtic society in the southern UK during the Iron Age was centred around women, backing up accounts from Roman historians, a study said Wednesday.

The UK government on Wednesday banned the flesh-rotting so-called zombie drug xylazine as it tries to tackle deaths from narcotics and crack down on criminal gangs.

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages being held in Gaza following separate meetings with Qatar's prime minister, a source briefed on the talks told AFP.

Kosovo police on Wednesday raided 10 Belgrade-linked government offices in ethnic Serb areas, the interior ministry said, the latest move by Pristina to dismantle a Serbian system of social services and political offices in the country ahead of parliamentary elections.

Social media sensation Ilona Maher has said rugby union needs to undergo a culture shift if the sport is to attract new fans.

A push for increased defence spending among NATO members will be a key point at an upcoming summit to be held later this year, Baltic states defence ministers said Wednesday.

Inflation in Russia accelerated in 2024, official statistics published Wednesday showed, as the costs of Moscow's full-scale offensive on Ukraine weigh on the domestic economy.

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje was on Tuesday ruled out of the Champions Trophy because of a back injury.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced a ban on Red Dye No 3, a controversial food and drug coloring long known to cause cancer in animals.

Marco Rubio, Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, charged Wednesday that China cheated its way to superpower status and vowed to cast aside the "liberal world order" long promoted by the United States.

Large US banks reported soaring profits Wednesday propelled by strength in trading and financial advisory services as Wall Street eyes a potential merger boom under the incoming Trump administration.

A series of underwater explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 caused the largest known methane leak on record from a single incident, according to new research published on Wednesday.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that humanity had unleashed a "Pandora's box of ills," including "out of control technology" that risks upending "our very existence."

The United States unveiled further export controls Wednesday on advanced computing semiconductors, boosting due diligence requirements for businesses as it seeks to prevent diversion of tech to China despite existing restrictions.

Rescuers pulled more bodies from a disused gold shaft in South Africa where the toll climbed to 78 Wednesday as police try to clear out illegal miners who have been underground for months.

Despite four years in prison for blasphemy, Mubarak Bala defends his atheist beliefs but says he keeps a low profile now in the face of threats in his mostly conservative Muslim region of Nigeria.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that humanity had unleashed a "Pandora's box of ills," including "out of control technology" that risks upending "our very existence."

Outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced a ban on Red Dye No 3, a controversial food and drug coloring long known to cause cancer in animals.

Hamas has approved a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, Palestinian sources close to negotiations said Wednesday, after mediator Qatar expressed hope an agreement to end the war could be reached very soon.

US consumer inflation rose for a third straight month in December as energy prices jumped but a widely-watched measure eased slightly, raising hopes that underlying inflation may be moderating.

Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm will mount a battle of the No.1 players on the DP World Tour and LIV Golf Tour at the $9 million Hero Dubai Desert Classic, which begins Thursday.

Stock markets surged on Wednesday, buoyed by robust US bank earnings and encouraging inflation data from the United States and Britain.

Social media giant TikTok plans to completely shut down its operations in the United States this Sunday if a ban ordered by legislators goes through as planned, a report said.

Ghana's newly elected President John Mahama has announced plans to investigate his predecessor's contested $400 million National Cathedral project, a stalled religious landmark that for critics become a symbol of fiscal irresponsibility.

Simon Easterby stuck with the tried and tested in his first squad as interim coach of two-time defending Six Nations champions Ireland on Wednesday, naming just one uncapped player in a 36-man roster.

Jonny Gray was recalled to the Scotland squad for the Six Nations on Wednesday, almost two years since the second row's most recent Test appearance.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday said transitional justice was "crucial" for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country.

US consumer inflation rose for a third straight month in December as energy prices rose, according to government data published Wednesday, adding pressure on the Federal Reserve to pause rate cuts.