Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

Voters on both sides of the political aisle in Venezuela are convinced of victory in Sunday's presidential elections, in which incumbent Nicolas Maduro faces opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

Venezuelans go to the polls Sunday to elect a president between incumbent Nicolas Maduro and rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in a tense atmosphere marked by the last-minute barring of international observers and complaints of widespread opposition repression.

Belgian Remco Evenepoel added the Olympic gold medal to his world title on Saturday, defying rain, a strong field and a Tour de France hangover to win the 32.4km individual time trial in Paris.

Argentina bounced back from the chaos of their opening game in the Olympic men's football tournament to beat Iraq 3-1 on Saturday, while Spain are the first team through to the quarter-finals.

Russia on Saturday claimed the capture of another village in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region amid heavy fighting, as its forces advanced towards the city of Pokrovsk.

Natsumi Tsunoda gave Japan a winning start in the Olympic judo, taking women's under-48kg gold on Saturday as the competition started in Paris with the two lightest weight classes.

The thunderous ovation that greeted Samir Ait Said at Bercy Arena on Saturday nearly knocked the French gymnast off his stride as he launched his Paris Olympics qualifying campaign.

New captain Suryakumar Yadav hit an attacking half-century to set up a dominant 43-run victory for India in the first of three T20 internationals against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

China shaded Japan in men's artistic gymnastics qualifying at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.

France's national rail operator on Saturday said train travel was gradually returning to normal after multiple sabotage acts paralysed the network hours ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony.

Sergio Perez went into Saturday's qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix fearful that another poor display could see him sacked by Red Bull, but he ended it on the front row of the grid and is now aiming for a career-saving win.

South Africa said Saturday it would deport as soon as possible 95 Libyans arrested at a camp being investigated for running military-style training in violation of regulations.

China grabbed the first two gold medals at the rain-disrupted Paris Olympics on Saturday as Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus prepared for a titanic duel in the pool.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will aim to end a three-race winless streak and triumph from 11th on the grid for the first time on Sunday after topping a wet-and-dry qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Belgian Remco Evenepoel added the Olympic gold to his world title on Saturday, defying rain and a strong field to win the 32.4km individual time trial in Paris.

LVMH's high profile and highly visible product placement in the Paris Games opening ceremony surprised marketing experts and raises the possibility it could cause problems for the International Olympic Committee with their long-term sponsors.

Table tennis player Zeng Zhiying said her "dream came true" Saturday after making her Olympic debut aged 58, despite suffering defeat for her adopted Chile.

Max Verstappen, facing a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new engine, topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a qualifying session run in mixed wet-and-dry conditions at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Australia's Grace Brown stormed to her first Olympic gold in the women's individual time trial raced over 32.4km of rain-slicked Paris streets on Saturday.

Sandro Bazadze said the referees at the Olympics had "killed him for a second time" after the Georgian world number one lost in the last 16 of the men's sabre in Paris on Saturday.

New captain Suryakumar Yadav hit an attacking half-century as India reached 213-7 against Sri Lanka in the first of three T20 internationals on Saturday.

President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday hailed the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, saying the bold showpiece on the River Seine had made France extremely proud.

Novak Djokovic set-up a potential Olympic Games blockbuster with Rafael Nadal on Saturday as Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek made winning returns to a rain-swept Roland Garros where they were crowned French Open champions last month.

Novak Djokovic said his 6-0, 6-1 rout of unranked Matthew Ebden in just 53 minutes at the Olympics on Saturday was "not a good image" for tennis and demanded a change in the rules governing late call-ups.

Argentina bounced back from the chaos of their opening game in the Olympic men's football tournament to beat Iraq 3-1 on Saturday, while Spain got the better of 10-man Dominican Republic.

Joe Root became just the seventh man to score 12,000 Test runs but fell short of a hundred after spearheading an England recovery against the West Indies at Edgbaston on Saturday.

The top diplomats of China and the US sparred on Saturday over the South China Sea, where Beijing is locked in a territorial dispute with US treaty ally the Philippines.

Australia's Grace Brown stormed to her first Olympic gold in the women's individual time-trial on Saturday raced over 32.4km of rain-slicked Paris streets.

American basketball star Diana Taurasi said Saturday she is not allowing herself to be distracted by thoughts of personal glory as she prepares for her Olympic farewell.

China grabbed the first two gold medals of the Paris Olympics on Saturday as swimming prepared to take centre stage on a rain-disrupted first full opening day of sporting action.

Hosts France set up a dream rugby sevens final with double Olympic champions Fiji on Saturday as Antoine Dupont inspired a Les Bleus comeback in a 19-5 semi-final win over South Africa.

For someone who was a "shrimp" to his schoolfriends, Leon Marchand has come a long way in his short life but it is the next journey to the Olympic swimming pool at the La Defense Arena in Paris that will mark his place in sporting history.