Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met Syria's new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus Friday, state media said, in the latest such visit from a European diplomat since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

French skipper Charlie Dalin is firmly on course to win the Vendee Globe non-stop solo round-the-world yacht race after main rival Yoann Richomme informed organisers he had lost a sail during the night.

A Russian court will next week issue verdicts against three of Alexei Navalny's former lawyers, being tried for "extremism" as part of an escalating crackdown on the Kremlin critic's allies even after his death.

Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer will return for Saturday's trip to Borussia Moenchengladbach but Jamal Musiala has been ruled out, coach Vincent Kompany confirmed Friday.

There will be "real-world harm" if Meta expands its decision to scrap fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, a global network warned Thursday while disputing Mark Zuckerberg's claim such moderation amounts to censorship.

Felix Auger-Aliassime needed four match points and nearly three hours to beat Tommy Paul 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4 and reach the Adelaide International final on Friday.

South Korea's presidential security chief resigned Friday as he faced questioning over why his guards prevented the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, and as investigators prepared to make a fresh arrest attempt.

Equities fell Friday as traders prepared for the release of US jobs data that could play a key role in the Federal Reserve's decision-making on interest rates, with several officials indicating the cutting has finished for now.

Research published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was around 40 percent higher than recorded by the Palestinian territory's health ministry.

South Korea's presidential security chief resigned Friday as he faced questioning over why his guards prevented the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and investigators prepared to make a fresh arrest attempt.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani began his first official visit to post-Assad Syria on Friday with a tour of the landmark Umayyad mosque in Damascus.

Flying south through smoky skies down the famous Malibu coast, at first the burnt-out mansions are the exception -- solitary wrecks, smoldering away between rows of intact, gleaming beachfront villas.

Pakistan's state-owned airline, plagued by a history of deadly crashes and a pilot licence scandal, resumed flights to Europe on Friday after a four-year ban was lifted by EU regulators.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, due to be sworn in Friday for a third six-year term after elections he is widely accused of stealing, has been written off many times during a turbulent decade in power.

With its soldiers trained in France and high-profile endorsements from the French and Ukrainian presidents, the "Anne of Kyiv" brigade was supposed to be a flagship unit for Ukraine's army.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, in office since 2013, is due to take the oath of office for a third term Friday despite a global outcry that brought thousands out in protest on the ceremony's eve.

Red-hot Coco Gauff said Friday that keeping cool in tough moments was behind a scintillating run of form that has made her a major threat to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open.

World number two Alexander Zverev insisted Friday he has the mindset to win a first Grand Slam -- but admitted Jannik Sinner was red-hot favourite to defend his Australian Open title.

In Riga Russian Theatre's rehearsal room, actors gather for a table-read of the season's big premiere, "Lady Macbeth" -- but the play's poster will not crop up around the Latvian capital as it normally would.

Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai will attend a summit on girls' education hosted by her native Pakistan, where she was nearly killed by militants as a schoolgirl.

Nicholas Norman managed to save his home using little more than buckets of water when towering flames ripped through his neighborhood in a suburb of Los Angeles. But now he's facing a new danger: looters.

Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles have killed at least 10 people, authorities said, as California's National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder.

Iga Swiatek described the inner turmoil and "chaos" of her doping ban Friday ahead of the Australian Open, calling it "the worst time in my life".

A Vietnamese court sentenced a prominent former lawyer to three years in jail Friday over Facebook posts it ruled undermined the state by criticising a leading judge.

World number one Jannik Sinner said Friday he did not know when the highest court in sport will deliver its verdict as ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi stressed the Italian's doping case was "run by the book".

Donald Trump will be sentenced Friday for covering up hush money payments to a porn star despite the US President-elect's last-ditch efforts to frustrate a process that would make him the first felon in the White House.

Artificial intelligence is moving from data centers to "the edge" as computer makers build the technology into laptops, robots, cars and more devices closer to home.

England's Harry Hall carded a six-under-par 64 to grab a share of the lead at the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday.

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen said at the Australian Open Friday that she is getting "closer and closer" to Aryna Sabalenka, having been well beaten in last year's final by the big-hitting Belarusian.

In a remote village in Tajikistan's soaring mountains, Muslikhiddin Makhmudzoda relies on a mobile phone to light his modest home as his family spends another winter without electricity.

In the skies above Los Angeles, air tankers and helicopters silhouetted by the setting California sun dart in and out of giant wildfire plumes, dropping much-needed flame retardant and precious water onto the angry fires below.

Months of dry weather and recent strong winds created optimal conditions for the deadly wildfires engulfing Los Angeles, but narratives on social media falsely single out "liberal" policies -- including those to increase diversity in the city's fire force -- as the culprit.