Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez denied wrongdoing in court testimony Wednesday to an investigation into alleged corruption, one of several legal cases connected to the minority left-wing government.

France's trial of a man who drugged his wife so dozens of strangers could rape her while unconscious has been both ordinary and extraordinary, AFP journalists who have been covering it say.

A Saudi human rights activist appeared via a video link Wednesday at a UN forum in the kingdom to denounce the "silencing" of dissent under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

National Grid unveiled Wednesday a massive plan to nearly double the transmission capacity of the UK's electricity grid, boosting the British government's net zero ambitions.

Former Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, famous for his tattoos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday announced that he plans to leave Russia.

Timothy Weah is unlikely to play for Juventus until the new year after the Serie A club announced on Wednesday that the USA attacker had picked up a thigh injury.

France's highest appeals court on Wednesday confirmed a verdict against former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling, ordering him to wear an electronic tag for a year, a first for a former head of state.

The coaching team behind Olympic 800 metres champion Keely Hodgkinson have suggested she could break athletics' longest-standing world record as early as next year.

Italian bank UniCredit's move to increase its stake in German lender Commerzbank, which further fuelled speculation of a takeover bid, was "uncoordinated and unfriendly", the German government said Wednesday.

All public transport in Serbia's capital Belgrade will be free from next month -- the latest European city to adopt the radical measure to counter gridlocked roads.

Human societies need a radical overhaul to stop the destruction of the planet, according to the UN biodiversity expert panel's "transformative change" report released Wednesday.

Russia Wednesday expanded an operation to clean up thousands of tonnes of oil that spilt into the sea and contaminated 50 kilometres of beaches after tanker ships were wrecked in a storm.

Climate change intensified Cyclone Chido as it barrelled toward the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, said a preliminary study by scientists studying the link between global warming and tropical storms.

France's flagship nuclear reactor at Flamanville in Normandy will finally enter service on Friday after a dozen years of delay, operator EDF said Wednesday.

After losing hope of finding his two brothers among those freed from Syrian jails, Ziad Alaywi was filled with dread, knowing there was only one place they were likely to be: a mass grave.

The UN envoy to Syria called on Wednesday for "free and fair" elections after the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad, as he voiced hope for a political solution for Kurdish-held areas.

Dutch authorities fined video streaming giant Netflix 4.75 million euros ($4.98 million) Wednesday over its handling of subscribers' personal data, which it said was unclear or incomplete in several respects.

UK annual inflation climbed further above the Bank of England's target rate in November, official data showed Wednesday, firming expectations that it will avoid cutting interest rates this week.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is in talks with UK anti-immigration firebrand Nigel Farage about donating to his hard-right party, the British lawmaker has said.

Toxicology tests in Fiji have ruled out alcohol poisoning from a hotel bar's cocktails as the cause of a mystery illness that sent seven guests to hospital, the Pacific nation's government said Wednesday.

With over 60 million downloads and an estimated $180 million in revenue since late October, a new Pokemon mobile game app is enjoying worldwide success as the latest incarnation of the hit Nintendo-owned franchise.

Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff is to coach his son on next month's England Lions cricket tour of Australia.

Stock markets mostly climbed and the dollar steadied against main rivals Wednesday with the US Federal Reserve set to cut interest rates.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez testified in court on Wednesday in a probe into misappropriation allegations, one of several sensitive legal cases undermining the minority left-wing government.

Cycling legend Rik Van Looy, renowned for his prowess in the one-day classics, has died at the age of 90, Belgian media reported on Wednesday.

The first commercial flight since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad took off from Damascus airport on Wednesday, offering Syrians a glimmer of hope after years of war and decades of oppression.

The district of La Vigie on the French overseas territory of Mayotte was until last week a bustling hub of life. Now it no longer exists.

French authorities Wednesday searched for survivors and raced to supply aid as they sought to assess the full scale of devastation wrought by Cyclone Chido on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, after the French overseas territory emerged from a first night under curfew.

When a US warship docked in Cambodia this week, it moored just a few kilometres from a base where China has built an extended new pier and two of Beijing's own vessels have been berthed for about a year.

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said he wants to keep Marcus Rashford in his squad after the local hero suggested he could leave Old Trafford for a "new challenge".

Gruff men shout over an angry motor as they float huge blocks of ice towards a rusty conveyor belt on the bank of a frozen river in northeastern China.

Simona Halep was handed a wildcard for Australian Open qualifying Wednesday as the two-time Grand Slam champion attempts to ramp up her return to tennis following a doping ban.