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

Louis Rees-Zammit is back on the wing for Wales's Nations Championship opener against Fiji in Cardiff on Saturday.

Germany's ruling coalition has agreed on sweeping tax, labour and pension reforms, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, a breakthrough aimed at reviving the struggling economy and countering the rise of the far right.

The Paris Opera announced Thursday that it had been forced to extend planned renovations on its historic home in the French capital by three years because of lead contamination.

Europe's main stock markets rose Thursday awaiting key US jobs data, brushing off a rout for Asian technology giants.

Thailand's foreign ministry denied Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron knelt before the country's king during his state visit to Paris this week, after an AI-generated picture circulated online.

Former Arsenal and Spain playmaker Santi Cazorla retired from football at the age of 41 on Thursday after more than two decades in the game.

European champions Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal aim to book their places in the last 16 of the World Cup on Thursday as Algeria look to salvage some pride for African football.

German drone maker Quantum Systems said Thursday it has raised $1.2 billion (one billion euros) in a funding round and more than doubled its valuation, highlighting investor buzz surrounding defence tech firms.

Russia launched its largest ever barrage on Kyiv early on Thursday, according to the city's mayor, tearing open apartment buildings in a hours-long drone and missile attack that killed at least 17 people.

Hundreds of people were besieging Lidl supermarkets in and around Paris Thursday, with scuffles and shouting matches breaking out as residents scrambled to get their hands on bargain air-cooling units before the next heatwave hits the French capital.

Veteran Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani has announced his departure from Boca Juniors after three years.

Japan has begun installing hundreds of cameras in its northern mountains as part of a nationwide survey of the bear population following a surge in maulings, an official told AFP on Thursday.

West Ham's Portugal midfielder Mateus Fernandes has joined Spurs after the Hammers' relegation from the Premier League, the clubs announced on Thursday.

German semiconductor giant Infineon opened a five-billion-euro ($5.7 billion) microchip plant Thursday, at a time Europe seeks to bolster its high-tech autonomy.

More research is needed to determine whether bones buried beneath a Dutch church belong to d'Artagnan, the swashbuckling French soldier who inspired the novel The Three Musketeers, officials said Thursday.

Russia launched its largest ever barrage on Kyiv early on Thursday, tearing open apartment buildings and leaving at least 13 people dead, Ukrainian officials said.

The contrast cannot be starker: selfie-taking tourists sipping coffee at Starbucks -- an icon of globalisation and capitalism -- while looking out over reclusive, communist North Korea.

The EU's top court upheld Thursday a record 4.1 billion euro ($4.7 billion) fine the bloc slapped on Google for anti-competitive practices related to its Android operating system.

Germany's ruling coalition has agreed on sweeping tax, labour and pension reforms, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, a breakthrough aimed at reviving the struggling economy and countering the rise of the far right.

Italy on Thursday named debutants Alessandro Ortombina and Malik Faissal to start against Japan in their Nations Championship opener in Tokyo as they look to build on their Six Nations success.

France recalled their record try scorer Damian Penaud on Thursday for their Nations Championship clash with New Zealand in a starting side stacked with Bordeaux-Begles players.

Outgoing Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt Thursday said he had no ambition to do the same job for another national side once he hands over to Les Kiss after the opening round of the Nations Championship.

South Korean stocks plunged nearly eight percent Thursday in tech stock rout that led losses across much of Asia as investors unwound huge bets on the sector that have propelled markets to record highs.

India has asked Meta to hold off launching its username feature on WhatsApp in the world's most populous country, citing concerns over fraud and impersonation, media reports said Thursday.

Ruben Love was given the nod on Thursday to start at fly-half against France as new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie named his first New Zealand side for the Nations Championship opener in Christchurch.

Russian missile and drone strikes tore open apartment buildings in Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow was preparing a "massive attack".

Australia coach Joe Schmidt Thursday praised Jock Campbell's resilience after he was recalled from four years in the Test wilderness while backing a fresh halves combination for their season-opener against Ireland.

The next indirect US-Iran talks will come after the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral, mediators said Thursday, as diplomacy inches ahead on ending the Middle East war.

Back in his village in rural Malawi, Ahamadi Assani recalled his terror during an attack by anti-foreigner vigilantes in South Africa that led him to flee the country with just a few bags.

At the edge of rugged Montenegrin foothills, a years-long effort to save one of the country's oldest olive trees, which locals say dates back millennia, is finally bearing fruit -- literally.

Ireland coach Andy Farrell rewarded Sam Prendergast for his stellar club form by picking him as playmaker for their Nations Championship opener against Australia in a starting XV dominated by Leinster players.

Gold and gas-driven economic growth in Papua New Guinea, the South Pacific's largest nation, is leaving its people behind, the World Bank said on Thursday.