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

Italy's MediaForEurope (MFE) announced Thursday it had taken control of one of Germany's biggest private broadcasting groups, as it seeks to build a pan-European group able to compete with streaming giants.

The European rights court on Thursday found France's laws on sexual consent are insufficient, ruling against the authorities in a case involving a woman who accused her boss of coercing her into an abusive relationship.

Four nights and days since the earth shook and levelled his home in eastern Afghanistan, Khan Zaman Hanafi thought he had endured the worst, until the rain came.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to discuss bolstering security cooperation Thursday in violence-swept Ecuador, as he champions a shoot-first crackdown on the region's criminal groups.

The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan at the weekend rose sharply to more than 2,200 on Thursday, according to a new toll, making it the deadliest in decades to hit the country.

One of thousands of public servants in Gaza's Hamas-run government, Karim, a public works ministry employee, received what seemed like an ordinary message on his phone: an invitation "for a coffee".

Stock markets diverged and global bonds stabilised on Thursday as investors looked to US jobs data to cement rate-cut bets.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un met for talks in Beijing on Thursday, state media reported, while the North Korean leader is in China on a rare foreign visit.

At age 70, Pete Maie appears nervous at the start of a job interview to work as a part-time parcel delivery driver for a German logistics company.

Tottenham's Djed Spence said the opportunity to make history as the first male player who publically identifies as a Muslim to represent England was a "blessing" as he prepares for a potential debut.

Portugal held a day of national mourning on Thursday as the death toll from the derailment of one of Lisbon's iconic funiculars rose to 17 people, with 21 injured.

Taiwanese megastar Shu Qi told AFP that she used her troubled childhood growing up with an alcoholic father as the basis for her directorial debut which premieres at the Venice Film Festival Thursday.

French director Francois Ozon has dared to do what so many other filmmakers have shied away from -- adapting one of French literature's most-read classics, Albert Camus's "The Stranger", for the big screen.

European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were meeting in Paris on Thursday to agree security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a peace accord with Russia to end the three-and-a-half-year war sparked by Moscow's 2022 invasion.

Siya Kolisi has been cleared to play in South Africa's Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks on Saturday but will not be captain in a surprise move by coach Rassie Erasmus.

The French women's team have been barred from the boxing world championships because the results of their gender tests were not delivered on time, the French Federation (FFBoxe) said Thursday.

Asian stock markets diverged on Thursday, with Tokyo and Seoul tracking gains made the previous day on Wall Street even as a selloff of Chinese equities intensified.

Next year's Women's Asian Cup can help break down barriers for women in the region, a lead organiser told AFP, saying it will be the biggest tournament in its history.

Volunteers and rescuers were pulling nore bodies from the rubble of destroyed buildings in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, four days after an earthquake that inflicted a death toll that was already at nearly 1,470 people, Taliban authorities said.

Two blockbuster events in China this week were a successful exposition of President Xi Jinping's vision of a new world order -- one that puts him and his country firmly at its centre while sidelining his rival the United States.

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt predicted Thursday a "super tough" clash in humid conditions against a rampant Argentina, with no room for complacency in a wide-open Rugby Championship.

Hollywood stars arrived in Toronto Thursday for a celebratory 50th edition of North America's biggest film festival, with new movies from Daniel Craig, Sydney Sweeney and Matthew McConaughey among a packed lineup.

President Donald Trump's administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday for an expedited ruling preserving the tariffs that have roiled global markets, saying a lower court ruling against it has already damaged trade negotiations.

Cash-strapped and in dire need of 30,000 naira (about $20), Mariam Ogundairo turned to a loan app, downloading it and registering her phone number.

Human-caused climate change made the hot, dry and windy conditions that fuelled deadly wildfires in Spain and Portugal last month 40 times more likely, researchers said Thursday.

Fist fights and hurled projectiles have marked the end of a campaign rally attended by Argentina's President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires ahead of midterm elections.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed life-prolonging organ transplants and immortality as they chatted before Beijing's massive military parade this week, in comments picked up by state media microphones.

Reigning Olympic pole vault gold medallist Nina Kennedy has Yelena Isinbayeva's world record in her long-term sights while teen prodigy Gout Gout is also in the Australia team for the world championships.

Australia skipper Harry Wilson was declared fit Thursday for the Rugby Championship clash with Argentina while Andrew Kellaway got the nod to fill the shoes of injured wing Tom Wright.

Reigning champion Jannik Sinner marched into the US Open quarter-finals Wednesday as Amanda Anisimova avenged her Wimbledon thrashing by Iga Swiatek to set up a last-four clash with Naomi Osaka.

Stargazers will have a chance to see a "Blood Moon" on Sunday night during a total lunar eclipse visible across Asia and swathes of Europe and Africa.

Reigning champion Jannik Sinner sailed into the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday with a straight-sets win over 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti.