Berliner Tageblatt - News from Berlin, Europe and the whole world

Russian leader Vladimir Putin's oversized table has become an unlikely star of diplomatic efforts to ease the Ukraine crisis, and a source of pride for the small Italian firm that claims to have made it and hopes it will help peace efforts.

A fire broke out early Friday on an Italian-flagged ferry sailing through the Ionian Sea, injuring three people among the nearly 300 people on board, Greek officials said.

Matt Hamilton fell agonisingly short of a curling medal at the Beijing Olympics on Friday but the American did win a legion of new fans -- including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Six African countries have been chosen to establish their own mRNA vaccine production, the World Health Organization said Friday, with the continent largely shut out of access to Covid jabs.

There aren't many Olympic sports that involve sequins, leather and spandex. But figure skating is the notable exception, with the rink a kaleidoscopic disco of glitter and glamour.

Shellfire rang out in eastern Ukraine on Friday as the army and Moscow-backed separatists accused each other of provocations and US warnings of an imminent Russian invasion stoked international tension.

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has denied reports of a power struggle with Cristiano Ronaldo as the club battle to end the season in the Premier League's top four.

When marine researchers started recording sounds in the seagrass meadows of the Mediterranean Sea they picked up a mysterious sound, like the croak of a frog, that resounded within the dense foliage -- and nowhere else.

Lewis Hamilton said Friday he was ready to attack the new Formula One season after getting over a "difficult time" following the traumatic end to his 2021 world championship campaign.

Shares of Chinese food delivery giant Meituan slumped Friday as Beijing released new guidelines instructing internet platforms to lower fees for struggling eateries.

Opener Pathum Nissanka was the shining light with 46 as Sri Lanka collapsed to 139 for eight in the fourth Twenty20 clash against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton insisted Friday he never said he was going to quit Formula One despite the traumatic end to his 2021 world championship campaign.

Transgender US swimmer Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle race at the 2022 Ivy League women's championships Thursday, defying critics who have called for her to be barred from competing.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday it made "significant progress" on its first mission to review the planned release of treated water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.

Thomas Bach said Friday it was "chilling" to see how Kamila Valieva's coach treated the Russian teenager after a doping scandal engulfing the skater culminated in an error-strewn performance at the Beijing Olympics.

Kyiv driving instructor Andriy Atamanyuk does not want to be saved by Vladimir Putin despite the Kremlin chief's pledge to fight "discrimination" against Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Bobsleigh teams begin their charge over the ice with encouraging shouts, but Czech Republic racer Jakub Nosek has to rely on his team-mates' "rhythm" at the Olympics.

The Ukrainian military and their Russian-backed separatist foes traded allegations of fresh ceasefire breaches on Friday, a day after the shelling of a kindergarten sent international tensions soaring.

Six African countries have been chosen to establish their own mRNA vaccine production, the World Health Organization said Friday, with the continent largely shut out of access to Covid jabs.

Olympic sponsor Airbnb has hundreds of listings in Xinjiang and Tibet, two regions where China stands accused of widespread human rights abuses and forced cultural assimilation, new research reveals.

Equity markets were mixed Friday following a steep drop on Wall Street fuelled by renewed fears that Russia will soon invade Ukraine, adding to long-running angst about the Federal Reserve's plans to hike interest rates.

Hong Kong's foreign domestic workers are being "abandoned" in the current coronavirus wave sweeping the city, with some forced to sleep rough or being denied treatment after testing positive, charities warned Friday.

Germany have dominated sliding sports at the Beijing Olympics on high-speed sleds using materials "basically similar to Formula One", says one of the men who builds them.

A five-year-old boy trapped for three days down a remote Afghan village well died moments after being pulled out alive, officials said Friday.

An Indian court sentenced 38 people to death on Friday over a string of bomb blasts in 2008 that killed dozens in the city of Ahmedabad, in one of the country's biggest mass death sentences.

Asian markets were mixed Friday following a steep drop on Wall Street fuelled by renewed fears that Russia will soon invade Ukraine, adding to long-running angst about the Federal Reserve's plans to hike interest rates.

Sri Lanka's High Court on Friday acquitted two top officials accused of "crimes against humanity" for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people.

The soaring minarets of the 16th-century Suleymaniye mosque paint the postcard image of Istanbul, but that is now blighted by rickety wooden scaffolding at a nearby construction site, sparking fury on social media.

Two minutes into a Greek jobs fair interview, Hashim, a 21-year-old Afghan refugee, is offered work as a waiter at a swanky Corfu hotel.

Finland powered into the final of the Beijing Olympics men's ice hockey for the first time in 16 years on Friday with a 2-0 win over Slovakia.

The IOC called an immediate meeting with Chinese organisers to remind them to keep politics out of the Beijing Olympics, president Thomas Bach said Friday, after a local spokeswoman hit back at "lies" about Xinjiang.

Californian-born Chinese sensation Eileen Gu said she felt "a deep-seated sense of gratitude" after winning her second gold of the Beijing Olympics and third medal overall in Friday's halfpipe.