Berliner Tageszeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg and the world

The world's largest economy staged a solid recovery last year as it grew at the fastest pace since 1984, but damage from the Omicron variant of Covid-19 still looms.

A long-abandoned fuel tanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen poses a "grave threat" to millions of the impoverished country's residents, potentially exacerbating its humanitarian crisis, Greenpeace warned on Thursday.

The fourth round of Italy's presidential elections flopped before it began Thursday, with parties unwilling to risk a crisis by picking Prime Minister Mario Draghi, but unable to agree on an alternative candidate.

Iranian women were allowed Thursday for the first time in three years to attend a football match of their country's national team in a Tehran stadium.

Young, determined and willing to take chances, slalom skier Kiana Kryeziu's journey to the Olympics mirrors the recent history of her native Kosovo with the teenage skier set to become its first female Winter Olympian when she heads to Beijing.

English Premiership club Exeter Chiefs have decided to abandon their controversial Native American branding from July.

McDonald's reported higher profits Thursday on price increases and fewer impacts from Covid-19 restrictions despite higher operating costs.

Young, determined and willing to take chances, slalom skier Kiana Kryeziu's journey to the Olympics mirrors the recent history of her native Kosovo with the teenage skier set to become its first female Winter Olympian when she heads to Beijing.

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands said on Thursday she has retired from competitive swimming aged 31.

Princess Charlene of Monaco, who is being treated for extreme fatigue, is still several weeks away from a recovery, the palace said on Thursday.

Some of the greatest names in French cinema came together to pay a final tribute to their fellow star Gaspard Ulliel on Thursday, whose death last week aged 37 in a ski accident shocked the country.

French bailiffs have seized 230,000 euros ($260,000) from Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema over his conviction last year for complicity in a bid to blackmail former France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape, a source familiar with the case said Thursday.

Squeezed into the back of a military jeep driving along frozen unpaved roads on the Poland-Belarus border, a group of journalists is being taken into a restricted zone under strict surveillance.

When Israeli lawyer Inbar Nacht saw pictures last year of Afghans desperately trying to escape their homeland, she thought of her relatives who were murdered in the Holocaust and knew she had to act.

India's beleaguered national carrier landed back in the hands of its founders Thursday, decades after it was nationalised and following years as a monumental burden on the public purse.

The Cameroonian government wants to "improve" access to the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde after the deadly stampede that killed eight people at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, its spokesman told state media on Thursday.

Iga Swiatek said she came up against the fastest balls she has ever faced after being blown off court by the raw power of Danielle Collins to miss out on an Australian Open final Thursday.

Burkina Faso's new ruling junta held talks with union leaders on Thursday on the eve of a regional summit that could slap sanctions on the country for the overthrow of its elected president.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday ordered police to investigate a mass shooting carried out by a member of the national guard that left five dead and several others fighting for their lives.

In what was expected to be one of the last addresses by a Holocaust survivor to the German parliament, Inge Auerbacher appealed Thursday to keep alive the victims' memory.

The de facto head of India's main opposition party has complained to Twitter about "strange" activity on his account, accusing the US giant of being the "unwitting" ally of the government in curbing free speech.

Madison Keys said that starting the year on such a strong footing gave her a lot of confidence for the season despite being thrashed by Ashleigh Barty in the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday.

Nearly a dozen poachers were jailed by an Indonesian court Thursday over the 2020 killing of five critically endangered Sumatran elephants and the illegal trade of their lucrative tusks, as the Southeast Asian archipelago's battle with wildlife crime continues.

A ruthless Ashleigh Barty swept into her first Australian Open final on Thursday with a clinical, straight-sets demolition of Madison Keys to set-up a title match with the hard-hitting Danielle Collins.

Equity markets mostly retreated Thursday, with the sharpest losses in Asia, after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell refused to be drawn on the pace of US interest rate hikes to battle decades-high inflation.

Snow carpeted Jerusalem and the eastern Mediterranean Thursday as a rare storm turned the holy city into a winter wonderland but brought misery to the region's Syrian refugees.

Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have helped Liverpool conquer England and Europe, now both crave Africa Cup of Nations winners' medals.

Randy Nteka was about to hit the big time when the phone rang.

Commuters trooped back to the office in England on Thursday, with public transport visibly busier, after the government scrapped restrictions imposed to combat the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Hong Kong on Thursday shortened the mandatory quarantine for international travellers from three weeks to two, even as the city struggles to contain virus outbreaks involving Omicron and Delta variants.

The death toll from a storm that struck three southern African countries rose to 70 on Thursday as emergency teams battled to repair damaged infrastructure and help tens of thousands of victims.

Like nearly one in four workers in Portugal, Fernanda Moreira, a food services worker at a hospital in a Lisbon suburb, earns the minimum wage.