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

Global stocks rallied and oil prices fell Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said the Middle East war that has roiled markets could be over within weeks.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are holding talks in China to try to find a way to end months of conflict sparked by cross-border attacks, two officials from Islamabad told AFP on Wednesday.

Amsterdam on Wednesday celebrated 25 years since same-sex weddings were legalised, with Rob Jetten, the first openly gay Dutch prime minister, as guest of honour.

The head of France's Dassault Aviation said on Wednesday he was giving his company "two to three weeks" to see if the multibillion-euro warplane programme with Germany could work as the government tries to salvage the project.

Bosnian football fans partied in towns and cities around the country until early dawn on Wednesday, after the Balkan nation defeated Italy in a nail-biting match to qualify for just their second World Cup.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are holding talks in China to end months of conflict, two officials from Islamabad told AFP on Wednesday.

Marc Guehi said England needed to "stick together" after Tuesday's World Cup warm-up defeat by Japan.

A generation of Italian children are yet to see their national team take part in a World Cup as the beleaguered Azzurri delivered another qualification disaster which was met with horror by fans and media.

A journeyman Australian has emerged as an unlikely saviour of Indian football after the 32-year-old took just four minutes to score on his debut for the country and made a small piece of history.

Leading economic institutes more than halved their growth forecasts for Germany on Wednesday, warning that the energy shock caused by the Middle East war would hit Europe's top economy hard.

Police in Spain said on Wednesday that they were investigating "Islamophobic and xenophobic" chants heard during the Spain-Egypt international football match in Barcelona.

Italians will once again be forced to watch a World Cup from the sidelines after another play-off disaster highlighted just how far one of the great footballing nations has fallen.

Tehran was rocked by a fresh wave of explosions Wednesday, as US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran could be over in two or three weeks.

A study commissioned by Greenpeace said on Wednesday that oil companies have been making more than 80 million euros a day in "war profits" in the European Union since the start of the war in the Middle East.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned Wednesday the months ahead "may not be easy" because of the Middle East war, in a rare address to the nation across television networks.

Fiji are looking for a new coach just 18 months before the Rugby World Cup after parting ways "by mutual agreement" with Mick Byrne on Wednesday.

Equities rallied and oil tumbled Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said the Middle East war would be over in up to three weeks and his Iranian counterpart said Tehran had "the necessary will" to bring it to an end.

Coach Graham Arnold challenged his team to "shock the world" after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico on Tuesday.

Luka Doncic returned from suspension to score 42 points as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-113 to extend their impressive form with a fourth straight victory on Tuesday.

Anthropic accidentally released part of the internal source code for its AI-powered coding assistant Claude Code due to "human error," the company said Tuesday.

Jason Heath had ventured with his family from northeastern Maine to the Sunshine State for a vacation -- but soon found out they were set to "witness history" with the launch of NASA's Artemis 2 mission.

Israel struck Iran's capital on Wednesday ahead of US President Donald Trump's planned address to the American public on the month-long war he said could end within weeks.

Coach Hajime Moriyasu cautioned it was only a friendly, but Japan's slice of history with a statement 1-0 win over England at Wembley shows they could go deep at the World Cup.

Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday, defeating Bolivia 2-1 in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico to seal their first appearance at the finals in 40 years.

Russian women say the idea of "therapising" them into having children is coercive, cruel and unworkable, and will do little to reverse declining birth rates -- currently at their lowest in 200 years.

Three men with alleged ties to a German extremist group that plotted to overthrow the government and kidnap a minister will go on trial in Munich on Wednesday.

Pope Leo XIV is preparing to celebrate Easter for the first time as pontiff a year after his predecessor's death, as concerns grow among Christians over the Middle East war.

A string of self-driving robotaxis owned by Chinese internet giant Baidu stalled in central China, stranding passengers after an apparent "system malfunction", police said Wednesday.

Captain Son Heung-min admitted South Korea have work to do after losing two friendlies in Europe without scoring a goal and with his own form under scrutiny ahead of the World Cup.

Divorcing parents in Japan can opt to share custody starting Wednesday, ending a system both criticised for encouraging parental child "abductions" and defended as a safeguard for domestic abuse survivors.

The NFL will not scrap pro-diversity policies that require teams to interview minority candidates, despite legal pressure from Florida's Republican attorney general, commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday.

Delirious football fans took to the soaked streets of the capital Kinshasa and danced into the night in the rain after the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.