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

Hansjorg Wyss, one of Switzerland's richest men, said Wednesday he had been offered the chance to buy Chelsea, with the English Premier League side's Russian owner Roman Abramovich under growing scrutiny.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday made his first visit to Israel since taking office, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and international efforts to forge a new Iran nuclear deal.

India's superstar cricketer Virat Kohli plays his 100th Test on Friday, but not as captain following his shock resignation from one of world sport's top jobs in January.

Crude surged past $113 a barrel Wednesday and equities sank with investors growing increasingly fearful about the Ukraine war's impact on global energy supplies and the economic recovery.

The latest damning report into former president Jacob Zuma, released late Tuesday, laid out the most detailed roadmap yet into how to prosecute his fusion of state, party and private business.

Crude surged past $110 a barrel Wednesday and equities sank with investors growing increasingly fearful about the Ukraine war's impact on global energy supplies and the economic recovery.

The United States warned citizens against travelling to Hong Kong on Wednesday, citing the risk of children being separated from parents as the Chinese city imposes controversial Covid isolation policies.

A leading Myanmar actor, singer and model jailed for supporting pro-democracy protests has been pardoned and released, his legal team said on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka's public transport was crippled Wednesday as buses ran out of diesel, officials said as the country's foreign exchange crisis worsened with no dollars to import fuel.

After more than 100 countries spoke during two days of extraordinary debate, the UN General Assembly was poised to vote Wednesday on whether it will vigorously deplore Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demand Moscow withdraw troops immediately.

Democratic countries must not "turn a blind eye to military aggression", Taiwan's leader said Wednesday, warning her island faces threats similar to those confronted by Ukraine at a meeting with a delegation of former US security officials.

Russia's war against Ukraine is a week old, but its consequences are already reverberating across the globe: it has upended international relations, left Moscow isolated, united a previously divided West, and raised the specter of a nuclear standoff.

New Zealand anti-vaccination demonstrators set alight their own protest camp outside parliament Wednesday after riot police moved to end their weeks-long occupation of the legislative precinct.

Russian forces landed in Ukraine's second biggest city on Wednesday and triggered immediate clashes in the streets of Kharkiv, the military said, following Moscow's relentless air assault across the ex-Soviet state.

Luka Doncic scored 25 points as the Dallas Mavericks sent the Los Angeles Lakers spinning to a third straight defeat on Tuesday.

Novak Djokovic's turbulent start to 2022 took another twist Wednesday as the 20-time Grand Slam champion revealed he had split from his long-time coach Marian Vajda after last year's ATP Finals.

Floodwaters crashed into more towns on Australia's east coast as a deadly storm front barrelled south on Wednesday towards Sydney, where the main dam began to spill water.

Ashes-winning Australia will face unfamiliar conditions, heavy security and unpredictable, but talented, opponents when they begin their first Test in Pakistan for 24 years on Friday.

President Joe Biden won standing ovation upon standing ovation Tuesday in a rousing State of the Union speech seeking to transform bipartisan support for confronting Russia into momentum for broader unity as the United States finally emerges from the Covid pandemic.

Beijing's Winter Paralympics open Friday under the shadow of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with questions remaining over whether athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus will be barred from participating in the Games.

VfB Stuttgart's American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo admits his job involves psychology as much as coaching football in the fight to keep his club in the Bundesliga.

Thousands of Filipinos flocked to churches to observe Ash Wednesday, with Catholic priests and nuns daubing their foreheads with a cross for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Nations is to launch formal negotiations on Wednesday for a global treaty to address a plastic trash "epidemic" that supporters say is a historic moment for the planet.

Apple, ExxonMobil and Boeing announced Tuesday in rapid succession steps to withdraw or freeze business in Russia as more US corporate giants take action after the Ukraine invasion.

US credit card giants Visa, Mastercard and American Express said they were blocking Russian banks from their payment networks following international sanctions in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Overflowing hospitals, empty supermarket shelves and grim quarantine camps -- Hong Kong is in chaos battling a ballooning Covid outbreak in a business hub once renowned for its efficiency.

The Women's Cricket World Cup begins in New Zealand on Friday, with organisers keen to capitalise on growing interest in the women's game after overcoming a string of pandemic-related hurdles.

Middlesbrough produced another FA Cup shock to extend Tottenham's long wait for silverware with a 1-0 win after extra time at the Riverside on Tuesday, while Manchester City eased into the last eight with a 2-0 victory at Peterborough.

The start of the Major League Baseball season was delayed on Tuesday after marathon labor talks between team owners and players ended in deadlock.

An Indigenous community in Canada said Tuesday it has identified 169 "potential" unmarked graves at a former residential school site, adding to a growing tally of such gruesome discoveries that first rocked the country last year.

Parents of transgender American minors are under investigation in Texas as part of a controversial new order by conservative Governor Greg Abbott, who has deemed the transitioning procedures "child abuse," according to a complaint filed Tuesday.

The European subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank will be wound up after coming under pressure from Western sanctions levelled against the bank in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, European banking regulators said Tuesday.