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

The Ebola virus was circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo for several weeks before the outbreak was identified and declared, during which time affected communities believed it to be a "mystical illness".

The top United Nations court ruled Thursday that the right to strike was protected in a key treaty of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a decision that could have profound implications for global labour relations.

SpaceX's blockbuster IPO filing included some out of this world details, including a provision that founder Elon Musk's massive bonus only kicks in if one million humans settle on Mars.

Pep Guardiola's expected departure from Manchester City marks the end of an era, but a strong Spanish influence remains on the Premier League thanks to an array of talented coaches.

Oil prices jumped while stock markets mostly retreated and the dollar firmed Thursday as hopes of a Middle East peace accord faded on conflicting headlines on the state of talks.

Jeep and Fiat owner Stellantis said Thursday that it would invest 60 billion euros in a five-year push to restore profitability, reducing its factory capacity in Europe while focusing on "affordability" in the shift to clean-energy vehicles.

Italian divers who died in the Maldives may have taken the wrong tunnel in a cave and died in a dead-end corridor, the head of the company that recovered their bodies told AFP Thursday.

Many of the world's tennis stars will protest against perceived low prize money when they gather at Roland Garros for media duties ahead of the French Open which begins on Sunday.

Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will not be able to meet until the French Open final after the pair were placed in opposite halves of the men's draw on Thursday, while Coco Gauff could face Aryna Sabalenka in the women's semis.

A Turkish journalist with Deutsche Welle (DW) went on trial in Ankara on Thursday for allegedly "insulting the president", with the court granting him conditional release, the German broadcaster said.

Mikel Arteta said he was barbecuing alone in his garden when Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to win the Premier League this week.

Italy, Ireland and Spain have called on the EU to sanction Israel's far-right national security minister, who posted a video showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla forced to their knees with hands bound.

The eurozone economy will expand less than expected this year, the EU said Thursday, as the Middle East war and subsequent energy shock take their toll.

Authorities have razed a ramshackle 10-storey home that for years defied demolition notices and building restrictions to become an off-beat tourist attraction in southwestern China, footage from the owner showed.

Paris' appeals court Thursday found Air France and Airbus guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight that killed 228 people, the worst disaster in France's aviation history.

Swiss coach Mauro Lustrinelli has replaced Marie-Louise Eta as coach of Union Berlin, the Bundesliga club announced on Wednesday.

Spanish rider Alex Marquez will be sidelined for at least the next two MotoGP races after suffering two fractures in a horror crash at the Catalan Grand Prix last weekend, his Gresini Racing team said Thursday.

Tourists and Parisians goggled at the sight of the French capital's oldest bridge transformed into a giant "cave" on Thursday, a spectacular new public work by the street artist JR.

Britain's late queen Elizabeth II pushed for her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be given a high-profile job as a trade envoy, a senior official said in a 2000 document released by the government on Thursday.

Scientists will conduct an autopsy on "Timmy", the humpback whale whose ordeal to return to the open seas captured Germany's hearts and sparked a media frenzy, Denmark's environmental protection agency said on Thursday.

Oil prices jumped, European stock markets retreated and the dollar firmed Thursday as hopes of a Middle East peace accord faded on conflicting headlines on the state of talks.

Independent filmmakers in Iran face a fresh wave of repression and extreme economic hardship because of the war, risking choking off a mainstay of world cinema, industry insiders say.

Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was handed a surprise recall to Germany's 26-man World Cup squad on Thursday, coming out of international retirement to play in the tournament for a fifth time.

Samsung Electronics chip employees are expected to receive average bonuses worth 509 million won ($338,000) this year, a company official said Thursday, under a tentative deal between management and labour unions to avert a strike.

Wearing leaf skirts and with brightly painted faces depicting mythical spirits, Cambodian revellers danced through village streets on Thursday, praying to an ancient guardian for rain, good fortune and peace with neighbouring Thailand.

A first Ebola case has been confirmed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province, in an area under the Rwanda-backed M23 militia's control, the armed group's spokesman said Thursday.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday presented what he called Spain's biggest-ever campaign against forest fires after deadly blazes devoured a record amount of land last year.

Cubans expressed their shock and indignation after the United States indicted former president Raul Castro on murder charges, a stunning new step in President Donald Trump's pressure on the communist state.

Pakistan's army chief was due in Iran Thursday, Iranian media reported, with Islamabad mediating as the Islamic republic examines a new US proposal to end the Middle East war.

British no-frills airline EasyJet said Thursday that its losses deepened in the six months to end-March after the Middle East war sent jet fuel prices soaring.

At least four Iranian footballers and one of their entourage went to the US embassy in Ankara Thursday to submit visa applications for the World Cup, an AFP correspondent said.

Financial irregularities surrounding Sri Lankan cricket were far worse than feared, government-appointed administrators said Thursday, promising a full accounting and sweeping reforms.