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

Oil prices extended gains Wednesday as Middle East peace talks stuttered, though stocks mostly rose on the back of continued demand for all things linked to artificial intelligence.

When a drone threat alert blared out in Lithuania's capital Vilnius urging residents to seek shelter, Ruta Gaskauskaite hurried down to the nearest one, only to discover it was locked.

French mixed martial artist Ciryl Gane said he is blocking out the political noise ahead of his unprecedented fight at the White House in Washington.

England will have a chance to prove they have learned from their Ashes drubbing when they face New Zealand in the first Test of their home season at Lord's on Thursday.

In the small Romanian town of Onesti, people chanted Nadia Comaneci's name on Sunday as the gymnast who received the first perfect 10 in Olympic history returned home 50 years after the feat.

Coach Darren Bazeley called it "really disappointing" as his New Zealand side suffered a demoralizing 4-0 World Cup warm-up defeat to fellow qualifiers Haiti on Tuesday, in a match delayed by lightning in Florida.

Indonesian military prosecutors sought two-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday for each of the four soldiers charged over an acid attack on an activist critical of the armed forces' perceived expanding role in government.

In a dark exhibition space in Saint Petersburg, visitors stare at giant paintings of Russian battles down the centuries, including World War II, Afghanistan -- and Z-marked fighters in Ukraine.

Claudia Wuttke had no idea she may be a rape victim until police showed her a series of screenshots taken from the laptop of her former husband.

More and more EU countries are being thrown in the public spending sin bin over their mushrooming deficits, with Bulgaria expected to be added Wednesday.

Japan's thousand-year-old samurai horse festival has survived wars, earthquakes and a nuclear disaster. Now it's battling a new challenge -- climate change.

New Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale said Wednesday he would be reviewing a secretive 2022 security pact with Beijing, which rattled Canberra and Washington by opening the door to Chinese forces in the South Pacific.

Oil prices extended gains Wednesday as Middle East peace talks stuttered, though stocks mostly rose on the back of continued demand for all things linked to artificial intelligence.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka can take her quest for a maiden French Open title into the last four on Wednesday, while Felix Auger-Aliassime will be hoping it's la dolce vita as he eyes a first major crown.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order creating a voluntary framework under which AI developers will share advanced models with the government before public release.

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate mass next week at Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, the unfinished basilica designed by famed architect Antoni Gaudi, a fervent Catholic whose cause for sainthood is advancing in the Vatican.

Haruna Ndom, 18, set out two years ago on a days-long journey across the Atlantic in a fragile boat with dozens of other migrants.

A severe tropical storm moved towards Tokyo on Wednesday, with forecasters warning of floods after torrential rain battered swathes of the country and prompted calls to evacuate for hundreds of thousands of people.

"No Scotland, no party" is a popular refrain of the Tartan Army and for the first time in 28 years the World Cup will be treated to the Scottish fans' vibrant blend of noise, colour and passion.

Thousands of Albanians protested Tuesday against a coastal tourism complex allegedly linked to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The EU will set out on Wednesday how the 27-country bloc hopes to slash its dependence on American and Asian technology, and favour European digital alternatives.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale said Wednesday he would be "reviewing" his country's secretive 2022 security pact with China, which rattled Canberra and Washington.

He is already the richest man in the world, but when SpaceX finally makes its hotly anticipated stock market debut, Elon Musk could become the planet's first trillionaire.

In "Masters of the Universe," the insecure Adam transforms into He-Man simply by wielding the Sword of Grayskull.

Liz Benz still believes the distressed caller's voice was her son's -- the tone, enunciation and cadence all matched her 16-year-old.

As SpaceX prepares its long-awaited stock market debut, investors everywhere are scrambling to get a piece of the action -- through investment funds, related company stocks, and even online prediction markets.

It is not New York or Los Angeles.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan begins a three-day state visit to Russia on Wednesday, meeting counterpart Vladimir Putin at a time when her country's reputation in the West has been badly damaged.

Peru's Keiko Fujimori is a perennial political loser. She has run for the nation's presidency three elections in a row -- and three times, she has lost.

Protesting teachers toppled towering statues of football players on Mexico City's main promenade Tuesday and threatened growing protests before the World Cup if the government does not respond to their labor demands.

Yeast has been growing in the guts of a frozen mummy called Oetzi the Iceman for thousands of years, scientists have discovered, telling AFP they used it to make a tasty sourdough bread.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda chases a lifelong dream and Thailand's second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul seeks her first major title when the 81st US Women's Open begins on Thursday at Riviera Country Club.