Vossische Zeitung - News from Berlin, Brandenburg, Europe and the whole world

Days before the year-end holiday, downtown Washington's streets were dominated Wednesday not just by Christmas decor but by the flag of Ukraine, marking the surprise visit to the US capital by Volodymyr Zelensky.

Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford marked their return from World Cup duty by scoring the goals as Manchester United booked their place in the quarter-finals of the English League Cup with a 2-0 win at home to Championship leaders Burnley on Wednesday.

European and US stocks traded firmly higher Wednesday, lifted by US company earnings reports and cheerier consumer confidence data.

Brazilian football great Pele will spend Christmas in hospital, his medical team and family said Wednesday, as he receives treatment for worsening cancer as well as kidney and heart problems.

Twitter boss Elon Musk is looking for a new CEO, but the winner will have to live in the shadow of the mercurial billionaire, who says the platform avoided certain ruin thanks to his leadership.

The ALMA telescope in the Chilean Andes has resumed operations nearly two months after shuttering due to a cyberattack, the observatory said Wednesday.

A former Argentine police officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for the torture and disappearance of a student 46 years ago under the South American country's last military dictatorship.

The hospital treating Brazilian football great Pele announced a "progression" Wednesday in his cancer, as well as kidney and heart problems.

The UN Security Council called for Myanmar's junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi Wednesday as it adopted its first ever resolution on the situation in the turmoil-ridden Southeast Asian country.

Hundreds of high profile figures from the global cinema industry called Wednesday for Iran to release actor Taraneh Alidoosti, who was jailed over her support for the country's three-month-old protest movement.

Toulouse's France full-back Thomas Ramos has been suspended for five weeks for headbutting and making contact with the area of an opponent's eye during last weekend's Champions Cup win over Sale, tournament organisers announced on Wednesday.

Nick Kyrgios believes Novak Djokovic "needs to be playing at all costs" and is happy the Serb will be allowed back into Australia to compete in the opening Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne next month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday hailed US support and received promises of more, including new missile defense systems, after he flew to Washington on his first foreign trip since Russia's invasion.

An Ivory Coast prosecutor Wednesday urged life in jail for four suspects over one of West Africa's bloodiest jihadist attacks -- a 2016 machine-gun assault on a beach resort that killed 19.

Peru's new president appointed new ministers Wednesday as the country reeled from ongoing protests against the ouster of her leftist predecessor and a diplomatic spat with Mexico simmered.

NASA said farewell on Wednesday to the InSight lander that spent four years probing the interior of Mars.

Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens announced Wednesday that Francisco 'Francis' Roig, one of the architects of Rafael Nadal's record-blitzing Grand Slam career, will become her new coach.

The United States on Wednesday targeted Iran's prosecutor general in its latest sanctions over a crackdown on major protests, deploring his role in executions.

Teenage rising star Rehan Ahmed could take another step in his rapid ascent through the ranks of world cricket by earning an Indian Premier League contract.

Samuel Bankman-Fried, the onetime head of highflying cryptocurrency business FTX, agreed Wednesday to be extradited from the Bahamas to face charges of fraud in New York, local and US media reported.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris, the man whose stunning catch in an NFL play-off game is celebrated as the "Immaculate Reception," has died at the age of 72, his club announced.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the US Congress as a wartime leader appealing for American support, as British premier Winston Churchill did more than 80 years before.

The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed a Russian-speaking career diplomat as ambassador to Russia, ending a three-month gap that comes as tensions soar over the Ukraine war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Wednesday in Washington on his first foreign trip since Russia's invasion, with US leaders hailing him as "heroic" and pledging to provide new missile defense systems.

Flights of the new European Vega-C rocket have been suspended pending an investigation into an overnight launch failure, French firm Arianespace said Wednesday, leaving Europe with few avenues into space.

Pep Guardiola has insisted his time as manager of Manchester City will "not be complete" if he fails to win the Champions League.

A chef from Glasgow, who claims to have invented the curry dish chicken tikka masala, has died at the age of 77, a family member told AFP on Wednesday.

Treviso's Italy prop Cherif Traore said on Wednesday he would no longer stay silent about the racism he has suffered after a club team-mate gave him a rotten banana as a Christmas present.

Life-threatening blizzards and bone-chilling winds are forecast across much of the United States over the next few days, threatening chaos for millions during the peak holiday travel period.

Starting the 2024 Tour de France in Florence will fix an "incongruity" and celebrate Italian cycling, race director Christian Prudhomme told AFP on Wednesday as he confirmed the first-ever Italian Grand Depart.

Mike Hodges, the British director of gritty 1970s crime drama "Get Carter" and 1980 film "Flash Gordon", has died at the age of 90, media reported Wednesday.

Benjamin Netanyahu was poised Wednesday to announce an Israeli government, assuming power for a third time since the 1990s, with an administration expected to be the most right-wing in Israel's history.