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

A huge fire broke out Thursday in a popular forest in western Berlin next to a police munitions storage site, sending plumes of smoke into the skies and setting off intermittent explosions.

The Bank of England unleashed Thursday its biggest interest rate hike since 1995 as it forecast inflation topping 13 percent this year and warned of a looming year-long recession.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged restraint Thursday as China launched massive military drills off Taiwan, warning the situation risked spiralling into "open conflicts".

A red ball of spicy fire with luminous patches glowing menacingly against a black background.

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's firm is selling its stake in the parent company of fintech upstart AMTD Digital, according to a statement released Thursday, after the company enjoyed a massive rally this week.

China fired ballistic missiles and deployed fighter jets and warships on Thursday as it held its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, a show of force sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island.

After her high-profile trip to Taiwan, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in South Korea Thursday where her agenda included a visit to the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) -- but not a meeting with the country's president.

Erling Haaland has warned the contenders to Manchester City's title that he will only improve in the competitive environment of English football as the Norwegian prepares for his Premier League debut away to West Ham on Sunday.

Under-fire New Zealand coach Ian Foster has made nine changes to the matchday 23 beaten by Ireland last month for a Rugby Championship opener against South Africa in Mbombela on Saturday.

European stocks mostly rose Thursday but London fell before an expected interest rate hike from the Bank of England, while traders tracked Chinese military drills around Taiwan.

The hum of holiday vibes and the selfie-snapping is interrupted by the roar of explosions as projectiles shoot up into the sky, prompting oohs and aahs from the surprised tourists.

Curious onlookers made their way Thursday to the site of a volcano erupting near Iceland's capital Reykjavik to marvel at the bubbling lava, a day after the fissure appeared in an uninhabited valley.

A Beluga whale, a protected species usually found in cold Arctic waters, has been seen in France's Seine river, with authorities urging people to keep their distance to avoid distressing the animal.

Negotiators were due to kick off a fresh round of talks over Iran's nuclear programme in Vienna on Thursday, seeking to salvage the agreement on Tehran's atomic ambitions.

Major Taiwanese government websites were temporarily forced offline by cyber attacks believed to be linked to China and Russia during US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island, Taipei said Thursday.

A charred chunk of space junk found jutting from a paddock by an Australian sheep farmer was confirmed to be part of one of Elon Musk's SpaceX missions by authorities Thursday.

Asian markets on Thursday tracked a Wall Street rally fuelled by healthy economic and earnings data, while traders kept a wary eye on Chinese military drills around Taiwan.

A Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar has been charged with breaching immigration law and encouraging dissent against the military, the junta said Thursday.

An out-of-tune Bangladeshi singer with a huge internet following was hauled in by police at dawn and told to cease his painful renditions of classical songs, sparking a furore on social media.

Soldiers on Ukraine's eastern front have spent five exhausting months under Russian bombardment, measuring out the long days and longer nights in the metronomic cadence of relentless artillery fire.

When a United Nations committee ruled Nahia Alkorta had suffered obstetric violence during the birth of her first child, it was the culmination of a 10-year quest for justice.

In a wave tank at a robot laboratory in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, engineers observe in silence as an underwater drone rises stealthily to the surface.

Kenya's William Ruto, the sharp-suited deputy president now running for the top office, is one of the wealthiest men in the country but likes to portray himself as a champion of the poor and downtrodden.

Raila Amolo Odinga, a veteran Kenyan political leader and one-time prime minister, has long cast himself as an anti-establishment firebrand, despite belonging to one of the country's top political dynasties.

Once a street child in Nairobi and a grave digger in Britain, George Luchiri Wajackoyah barged onto the political scene with a "bhang": vowing to legalise marijuana, breed snakes and sell hyena testicles to China to offset Kenya's mammoth debt.

Parts of Australia's beleaguered Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades, a government report said Thursday, suggesting the aquatic wonder could survive given the chance.

On a beach in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, just a few kilometres from an island controlled by the Taiwanese authorities, life is carefree despite some of the worst cross-strait tensions in decades.

Bridges collapsed and rivers burst their banks as heavy rain lashed northern Japan on Thursday, with 200,000 residents urged to evacuate as authorities warned of dangerous flooding.

Toyota upgraded its annual net profit forecast on Thursday, predicting an earnings boost from the weaker yen even after first-quarter net profit took a hit from pandemic-related supply chain issues.

Model Chrissy Teigen and her award-winning singer husband John Legend said Wednesday that the couple is expecting another child, nearly two years after announcing her miscarriage.

World number one Daniil Medvedev, playing his first match in six weeks, beat Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday at the ATP hard court tournament in Los Cabos, Mexico.

Chinese military exercises around Taiwan are set to disrupt one of the world's busiest shipping zones, analysts told AFP, highlighting the island's critical position in already stretched global supply chains.