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

In the southern Athens seaside suburb of Glyfada, a pensioner struggles to cross an avenue with her shopping trolley, zigzagging between cars stuck in traffic.

Residents of Guam and the Northern Marianas boarded up windows and stocked up Friday as a monster weather system forecast to become a "super typhoon" approached the US Pacific territories.

Thirty seconds before kick-off, humanoid robot footballers in red and blue jerseys await the referee's signal in the South Korean port city of Incheon.

El Nino will quickly develop into a strong event between July and September, fuelling the likelihood of extreme weather, the United Nations' weather and climate agency warned Friday.

France endured a rise of nearly 30 percent in the number of deaths recorded during the week starting June 22, the peak of a record-breaking heatwave that battered the country, the public health authority said Friday.

In the Venezuelan resort town of La Guaira, a group of rescuers watched as sensors that once detected life under the rubble now showed nothing, as silence gave way to resignation.

New dawn-to-dusk drone patrols of Sydney's beaches spotted sharks 73 times in the first two days, forcing multiple closures, data obtained by AFP showed on Friday.

Asian stocks rose Friday as tech firms enjoyed a much-needed rebound from the heavy selling of recent weeks, with a big miss on US jobs creation soothing worries over a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

The body of Iran's supreme leader, killed in US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of his funeral, state media reported.

A classic David versus Goliath encounter will take centre stage at the World Cup on Friday as tiny Cape Verde face Lionel Messi and Argentina with a place in the last 16 at stake.

Kylian Mbappe's France have been the outstanding team so far at this World Cup and will be expected to get the better of Paraguay on Saturday and extend their run to the quarter-finals.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has resigned following his team's shock last-32 exit from the World Cup at the hands of Paraguay, several media reported on Friday.

Skipper Harry Wilson said Friday Australia will look to feed off a wave of patriotic sporting fever sweeping the country when they face Ireland in the Nations Championship.

All Blacks captain Ardie Savea said Friday it was a "blessing" to see how Christchurch has recovered 15 years after a deadly earthquake, as New Zealand prepare to play France at the new Te Kaha stadium.

From century-old maps to meticulous field notes, Belgium is sitting on a trove of geological records on colonial-era Congo -- a coveted archive it is working to open up amid a global scramble for critical minerals.

"Private property. No entry", "No photography" read the signs on a gate set up in front of a traditional log house in Vlkolinec, a UNESCO-listed Slovak village visited by tens of thousands of tourists a year.

Amid fast-changing fashion trends, Wimbledon has remained a bastion of "classy" style, with players and attendees donning their finest whites at the London tennis tournament which some say is reminiscent of traditional British high society.

The opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo has called demonstrations in the capital and other cities on Wednesday to demand the resignation of the president, who it says is trying to cling on to power by changing the constitution.

Ukraine said on Friday that the death toll from a massive barrage on its capital had risen to at least 30 people, as both Kyiv and Moscow vowed fresh assaults.

NBA star Kyrie Irving walked out onto a basketball court in southwest China to rapturous applause, his brightly coloured Chinese-made sneakers a vivid statement of domestic sportswear brands' increasing global reach.

El Nino will quickly develop into a strong event between July and September, fuelling the likelihood of extreme weather, the United Nations' weather and climate agency warned Friday.

A man died after setting himself on fire outside the UN's headquarters in New York on Thursday, police said, with activists and reports identifying him as a pro-Tibet campaigner.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic and Portugal's Roberto Martinez paid tribute on Thursday to Luka Modric, who almost certainly played his last World Cup match.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said VAR is taking "the joy out of football" after seeing his team have a stoppage time equaliser disallowed in their 2-1 World Cup defeat to Portugal on Thursday.

The number of monks killed has risen to 10 after an 11-year-old boy drove a pickup truck into a Buddhist procession in Thailand, officials said Friday.

Lugging suitcases across the border after packing up in Pakistan, Afghans are returning home with their worldly possessions but often lack one key item to restart their lives: an identity card.

Asian stocks rose Friday as tech firms enjoyed a much-needed reprieve from the heavy selling of recent weeks, with a big miss on US jobs creation soothing worries over a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

Cristiano Ronaldo said it was a "coincidence of life" that Portgual's World Cup last-16 win against Croatia on Thursday came almost a year since the death of his late teammate Diogo Jota.

The main act of pop sensation Taylor Swift's wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce was due to get underway Friday, as celebrities flooded New York for the A-lister extravaganza at the storied Madison Square Garden.

Banned Japan coach Eddie Jones will be absent as his team begin their Nations Championship campaign in Tokyo on Saturday against an Italy side looking to build on Six Nations success.

After giving birth, Shakhnoza Nazarova thought registering her daughter's name would be a mere formality. Instead, her chosen name was rejected -- deemed not Tajik enough by authorities of the Central Asian country.

Portugal battled into the last 16 of the World Cup with a drama-filled 2-1 victory over Croatia on Thursday to set up a titanic showdown with European champions Spain.