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

US basketball star Brittney Griner said Friday in her first remarks since being released from a Russian prison that it was "so good to be home" and vowed to play again for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Africa's ruling ANC party went into a closely watched conference Friday that is expected to re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa as leader for a second term, despite a tarnishing cash-heist scandal.

The head of the Russian cultural centre in the Central African Republic was badly wounded Friday after opening a parcel bomb, Moscow's embassy said, amid accusations France was behind the blast.

Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has made radical changes that have sparked fears for the future of the platform, from firing half the staff to restoring ex-president Donald Trump's account and suspending those of several journalists.

France star Ousmane Dembele has admitted he will have no room for sentiment for Lionel Messi in Sunday's World Cup final as the holders look to retain the trophy when they face Argentina.

Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey appeared in court in London via videolink from the Middle East on Friday, accused of seven new sexual offences against a man in the early 2000s.

Buckingham Palace on Friday declared a reconciliation between Prince William's godmother and a black British woman who was repeatedly asked where she was "really" from.

Sinisa Mihajlovic has died of leukemia at the age of 53, the family of the Serie A icon said in a statement on Friday.

Russia is readying for a protracted war in Ukraine and Kyiv's NATO backers must keep sending weapons until President Vladimir Putin realises he "cannot win on the battlefield", alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg told AFP on Friday.

Pope Francis is to return to Greece three fragments of Athens' Parthenon temple, in what the Vatican called Friday a gesture of friendship.

Ten people died, including five children, in a pre-dawn blaze on Friday at a rundown apartment building in a deprived suburb of the French city of Lyon, the government said.

France's World Cup final preparations were rocked as three more players were forced to miss training with cold-like symptoms on Friday just two days before their showdown with Argentina.

Angelina Jolie announced Friday that she is stepping down from her role as the UNHCR's special envoy after more than 20 years of working with the United Nations' refugee agency.

Scores of activists and campaigners held a candlelight vigil on Friday for Jyoti Singh, the young woman who was brutally gang-raped and murdered on a New Delhi bus 10 years ago.

Fighting resumed on Friday in eastern DR Congo between M23 rebels and rival armed groups after 10 days of relative calm, civilian and security sources said.

Twitter-owner Elon Musk drew anger and stern warnings from regulators on Friday after suspending the accounts of half a dozen prominent journalists -- accusing them of endangering his family.

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Friday urged Moscow to declare France a "sponsor of terrorism" after a parcel bomb wounded a Russian official in the Central African Republic.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday his government was working "flat out" to settle post-Brexit trading problems in Northern Ireland to end political paralysis in Belfast.

A satellite lifted off Friday from California on a mission to survey nearly all bodies of water on Earth, offering key insights on how they influence or are impacted by climate change.

After an exodus of nurses, Zimbabwe now faces losing its teachers as a new British recruitment policy threatens a fresh brain drain in the southern African country confronting a devastated economy.

Serbia on Friday asked NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo to allow the return of Serbian military and police to its former breakaway province, a minister said.

Three people were critically injured on Friday after a crush outside a south London venue hosting a concert by Nigerian Afrobeats singer Asake, UK police said.

Just off Colombia's Pacific coast lies a dot of an island that is postcard perfect: mountains, lush jungle, pristine beaches and humpback whales and other critters that find the place irresistible.

"That Lorca is completely bonkers," says the actress in Spanish, prompting laughter from a group of British teenagers at London's Cervantes Theatre.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz says he is a "lucky guy" to have a top player like Novak Djokovic on tour and is looking forward to the Serb's return to the Australian Open next month.

France players Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate and Kingsley Coman sat out training on Friday with cold-like symptoms two days before the World Cup final against Argentina, a source close to the team said.

Argentina fans staged a second day of demonstrations Friday outside a Doha hotel demanding that their country's national federation help them to get tickets for the World Cup final.

Climate change is fuelling a global cholera upsurge, the WHO said Friday, warning the situation was compounded by vaccine shortages and will only worsen unless it is stamped out soon.

A giant aquarium burst in Berlin on Friday, sending a "tsunami" of water and 1,500 tropical fish gushing into a hotel lobby and spewing debris onto a nearby street.

Italian skier Elena Curtoni had some good fortune with the conditions on Friday as she won the first World Cup downhill of the weekend on a shortened course at St. Moritz.

Six Macau casino firms agreed Friday to invest a total of 118.8 billion patacas ($15 billion) after being granted 10-year operating licences, with the bulk of the money pledged to non-gaming projects.

Spanish midfielder and 2010 World Cup winner Sergio Busquets announced his international retirement on Friday.