Sawt Falasteen - News from Ramallah, the political, economic and cultural centre of Palestine, as well as the West Bank and the whole world

US oil giant ConocoPhillips has been urging President Donald Trump's administration to provide extra protection around assets in Qatar where the company has invested significantly, its chief executive said Tuesday.

Oil prices jumped on Tuesday as traders turned cautious over the prospect of a negotiated agreement between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war.

CERN scientists on Tuesday pulled off the unprecedented feat of transporting antiprotons by road, successfully test-driving the world's first antimatter delivery system, with an eye to one day supplying research labs across Europe.

Chile's new hard-right President Jose Antonio Kast on Tuesday withdrew Santiago's support for former socialist president Michelle Bachelet as candidate for the post of UN secretary general.

There is a limit on how many times a mammal can be cloned before suffering "mutational meltdown", Japanese scientists have discovered, after making 1,200 clones over two decades that started off with a single mouse.

A 600-year-old grape seed discovered in the toilets of a medieval French hospital is genetically identical to the grapes still being used to make pinot noir wine, scientists said Tuesday.

NASA's chief on Tuesday said the US space agency will invest $20 billion to develop a base on the Moon, while suspending its plans to create the lunar orbital space station known as Gateway.

The National Museum in Prague on Tuesday unveiled a van containing a 3D scanning device that will soon travel to war-ravaged Ukraine to help preserve its cultural artifacts.

Antoine Griezmann will leave Atletico Madrid for MLS side Orlando City at the end of the season, the two clubs announced on Tuesday.

The 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps, already bedevilled by several senior executives quitting, faces another potential headache with the election of far-right politician Eric Ciotti as mayor of Nice.

Afghanistan's Taliban government announced the release of a US national on Tuesday who had been detained for more than a year, after a letter from his family requesting his freedom.

A New Mexico jury began its first full day of deliberations on Tuesday in a trial where social media giant Meta is accused of endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen claimed the men's giant slalom World Cup title on Tuesday after the discipline's leader Marco Odermatt crashed out on the first run at the season-ending race in Norway.

The first boat of a flotilla carrying medical supplies, food and solar panels reached Cuba on Tuesday to aid the island as a US fuel blockade deepens its energy crisis.

Survivors who escaped the massive blaze that killed 168 people at a Hong Kong housing estate last year told a public hearing Tuesday they still blame themselves for failing to save their neighbours.

European and US stocks resumed sliding and oil prices jumped on Tuesday as traders turned cautious over the prospect of a negotiated agreement between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war.

Sheffield's Crucible will remain home to the World Snooker Championship until at least 2045, ending fears that the sport's flagship event would quit the celebrated venue.

Mercedes is not simply pushing the V-Class into the electric age; it is changing the vehicle’s very character. With the VLE, the familiar people carrier becomes something much closer to a rolling grand limousine. That is the real message behind this reboot. In the future, Mercedes will draw a clearer line between the VLE, positioned roughly on E-Class territory, and the even more luxurious VLS at the top end. This restart is therefore aimed not only at European families or hotel shuttles, but at a global market in which large luxury vans have long since become status objects.The technical leap is just as significant. The VLE is the first model to sit on a dedicated electric van architecture and it brings precisely the ingredients Mercedes wants to associate with its upper-class passenger cars: 800-volt technology, very fast charging, air suspension, rear-axle steering, a much more digital cockpit and an interior that feels more like a lounge than a traditional van. Up to eight seats, a highly flexible rear compartment, generous luggage space and strong towing credentials are all meant to prove that this is not merely a beautifully staged product, but a genuinely usable one. Mercedes wants to dissolve the old compromise: the VLE is supposed to be a business shuttle, a family car, a travel vehicle and a prestige product all at once.That inevitably puts range at the centre of the debate. On paper, the package is convincing: a large battery, a modern EV-first platform, strong aerodynamics, rapid charging and a clear attempt to present long-distance usability as something tangible rather than theoretical. All of that supports the idea that the official WLTP claim is not just marketing theatre. Even so, it would be a mistake to read that figure as an everyday guarantee. A vehicle of this size already weighs roughly three tonnes before passengers or luggage are added, and the heavier versions push total weight significantly higher still. Add several occupants, baggage, winter temperatures, climate control, large wheels and brisk motorway speeds, and the usable range will naturally fall. The VLE does not defeat physics; it simply shows how far current engineering can reduce the traditional drawbacks of large electric vehicles.

The health of a humpback whale stranded on Germany's Baltic Sea coast is deteriorating, conservationists said Tuesday, as efforts to free the animal continued.

Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi announced a dip in quarterly profit on Tuesday after slower smartphone sales, while electric vehicles drove a modest surge in annual revenue.

Iran and Israel traded strikes on Tuesday, as the Middle East war showed no sign of de-escalation despite US President Donald Trump signalling "very good talks" to end the three-week conflict.

Indian Premier League champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will keep 11 seats at their M. Chinnaswamy Stadium empty in memory of the fans crushed to death in title celebrations last year, the team said Tuesday.

European stock markets steadied, oil prices jumped and the dollar rebounded on Tuesday as traders turned cautious over the prospect of a negotiated agreement between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war.

He is, according to President Donald Trump, a "top person" in the Iranian system who is "most respected" and is in an unenviable position.

At an archaeological site in southern Lebanon's Tyre, small signs bearing a blue and white emblem provide a symbolic shield, meant to protect the ancient ruins from bombardment.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on Tuesday of a "deep rift" with traditional ally the United States and said the US-Israeli war on Iran was a "breach of international law".

Iran fired a fresh broadside of missiles at Israel Tuesday, causing damage and injuries in Tel Aviv, as uncertainty swirled over possible talks to end the three-week Middle East war.

French superstar Kylian Mbappe says the knee injury that kept him sidelined for almost two months is "behind him" and there had never been a concern he would miss this year's World Cup.

The Football Supporters Europe (FSE) group filed a lawsuit on Tuesday with the European Commission against football's world governing body FIFA over "excessive ticket prices" for this year's World Cup finals.

Soaring black-market prices of cooking gas in India's capital are pushing poorer families back to wood and coal, raising health risks and worsening air quality in the highly polluted megacity.

Ibrahima Mar first lost his livelihood then lost his son when the fish off Senegal's coast began to disappear, rupturing a way of life that had sustained his family for generations.

Iran fired a fresh broadside of missiles at Israel Tuesday, causing damage and injuries in Tel Aviv, as uncertainty swirled over possible talks to end the three-week Middle East war.