Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

A long-haired sorcerer wearily checked his smartphone as elves and androids bustled past at the digital entertainment expo ChinaJoy on Friday, the crowds a testament to the local gaming industry's tentative recovery after a period on pause.

US gymnastics great Simone Biles is aiming to have a sixth unique skill named for her, a new move on the uneven bars that she will unveil at the Paris Olympics.

Canadian soccer chiefs on Friday pleaded for FIFA not to deduct points from their women's Olympic football team amid a drone-spying scandal which led to head coach Bev Priestman being dramatically kicked out of the Paris Games in disgrace.

The Olympic flame cruised into Paris on Friday on a diesel-belching tug, the torch held aloft by its white-clad bearer, having earlier been carried by US rapper Snoop Dogg, as it passed under the peripherique motorway.

The US Federal Reserve's favored inflation measure eased further in June, according to government data published Friday, in more good news for policymakers ahead of next week's interest rate decision.

Kraigg Brathwaite could only watch as the West Indies squandered a promising position by losing three wickets shortly before lunch on Friday's first day of the third Test against England at Edgbaston.

German car parts manufacturer ZF said Friday it would cut a fifth to a quarter of jobs in Germany as it struggled with the switch to electric vehicles and foreign competition.

Allyson Felix may have finally hung up her spikes after a glittering career that spanned three decades and five Olympics, but the track and field icon is still making her presence felt at the Paris Games.

Spanish motorbike racer Joan Mir has extended his deal with Honda to continue racing the elite-level MotoGP circuit until 2026, the Japanese team said Friday.

Arson attacks scrambled France's high-speed rail network for tens of thousands of passengers on Friday, after what officials called premeditated acts of "sabotage" just hours before the Paris Olympics opened.

Remco Evenepoel, one of the favourites for Olympic time trial gold on Saturday, criticised the presence of numerous "holes" on the Paris roads which will stage the event.

France's rail network was paralysed Friday by coordinated acts of sabotage which knocked out most of its high-speed train services hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Major stock markets mainly rose Friday as traders looked ahead to key US inflation data that could firm expectations for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates in September.

Former US president Barack Obama endorsed his fellow Democrat Kamala Harris' bid for the White House on Friday, delivering a major boost to her campaign to defeat Donald Trump in November's presidential election.

India's Suryakumar Yadav said Friday he was not going to repeat the mistakes of his domestic captaincy ahead of his first trial as Twenty20 skipper against Sri Lanka.

An Australian swimming coach who backed a South Korean rival to beat two of his countrymen avoided being kicked out of the Olympics Friday, with officials deciding it would be too disruptive.

Arson attacks scrambled France's high-speed rail network for tens of thousands of passengers on Friday, after what officials called premeditated acts of "sabotage" just hours before the Paris Olympics opened.

US Olympic icon Allyson Felix believes Kamala Harris winning November's US presidential election would be a "monumental" moment for the country.

The Paris Olympics are a family affair for Laurent and Cecile Landi, the husband and wife coaching team that has shepherded Simone Biles back to the pinnacle of gymnastics and into a third Games.

The Olympic Games tennis tournament gets underway at Roland Garros on Saturday with Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka all in action.

"Bigger than basketball": After qualifying for the Olympics for the first time, South Sudan's basketball team are on a mission to make their troubled young country proud.

Rafael Nadal returned to training at Roland Garros on Friday after an injury scare had put his participation at the Paris Olympics in doubt.

The Paris Olympics are set to open in a spectacular and unprecedented ceremony on the river Seine on Friday but hours before the show France's rail network was paralysed by what officials said were acts of sabotage.

China and Russia's foreign ministers met their Southeast Asian counterparts Friday after vowing to counter "extra-regional forces", a day before Washington's top diplomat was due to arrive.

France's high-speed rail network was hit by arson attacks that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers on Friday, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body said Friday.

Gymnastics has emerged as one of the showstopping Olympic sports. AFP Sport takes a look at five unforgettable moments served up by some of the world's greatest athletes on the journey to this summer's Games in Paris with action getting underway on Saturday:

Investors fought back Friday after a tech-fuelled sell-off, taking heart from forecast-beating US growth data that indicated the economy was still in rude health, but did not dent hopes for an interest rate cut.

Two rival gang leaders signed a truce to end armed conflict in Haiti's largest shantytown, a community leader said Thursday.

One of the most enduring images of Greece's summer travel brand is the world-famous sunset on Santorini Island, framed by sea-blue church domes on a jagged cliff high above a volcanic caldera.

The Philippine Coast Guard on Friday raced to offload 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil from a sunken tanker and prevent an "environmental catastrophe" in Manila Bay.

Indian soldiers and top brass gathered Friday in the remote Himalayan foothills to commemorate a battle fondly remembered among compatriots for imposing a humiliating military defeat on arch-rival Pakistan.