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

France's Harmony Tan had to be helped off court in a wheelchair Wednesday after breaking down in agony with calf problems during her second-round Australian Open clash with Elina Svitolina.

Top seed Ashleigh Barty said Wednesday she had been working hard to make her serve "a weapon" and it paid off as she raced into the Australian Open third round with another near-flawless performance.

President Joe Biden transformed the White House in his first year with policies unrecognizable from the Trump era -- at least regarding the policy on pets, that is.

The Chinese megacity of Xi'an has partially resumed public transport, according to official announcements, after millions were confined to their homes for weeks because of a coronavirus outbreak.

Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha called Wednesday for treason charges against him to be dropped as his trial resumed after two years of delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Long uprooted from his native Iraq, Naseer Shamma, an icon of the Arabic oud, has returned home to help rekindle the flame of Iraqi music, snuffed out by decades of conflict.

As the EU moves to label energy from nuclear power and natural gas as "green" investments, Austria is gearing up to fight this, including with a legal complaint.

Housewife Maira Tayyab has considered begging for money to feed her family in inflation-hit Pakistan, while shop owner Mohammad Hanif finds his thoughts turning to crime.

Every day, Aiden Lee joins the hundreds of thousands of people getting around Taipei on two wheels.

Beijing has forced nearly 10,000 Chinese overseas nationals to return since 2014 using coercive means outside the justice system, according to a new report.

The Spanish government is increasingly under fire over its use of the European Union's massive economic recovery funds, with critics blasting the distribution of aid as too slow and arbitrary.

A Belgian court on Wednesday is to deliver its verdict in a trial of 23 people suspected of being involved with a gang that smuggled Vietnamese migrants to Britain, 39 of whom died in the back of a truck in October 2019.

Liam Broady panned the intimidating home support for Nick Krygios at the Australian Open as an "absolutely awful" experience and one of the toughest atmospheres in which to play tennis.

Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled its big-ticket plans to buy US video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard, a record-smashing acquisition in the gaming sector.

A thief has made off with 42,000 much-sought rapid antigen tests from a freight depot in Sydney, authorities said Wednesday.

Teenage US Open champion Emma Raducanu says 2022 will be a learning experience as she adjusts to the big time, with her first-round win at the Australian Open "a great step forward".

When Joe Biden became president, he inherited an America divided in almost every conceivable way, promising to be a force for unity and reconciliation.

Andy Murray called it "irritating" and Nick Kyrgios said it was "stupid" as confused players at the Australian Open had to deal with spectators giving them Cristiano Ronaldo's "siuu" celebration treatment.

Derby manager Wayne Rooney is in contention for an emotional return to Everton after the former England star's impressive handling of affairs on the pitch despite a financial crisis at the Championship club.

Four-time champions Ghana were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations after crashing 3-2 to minnows Comoros in Group C on Tuesday in Garoua.

ExxonMobil pledged Tuesday to reach "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2050, but stopped short of extending the promise to products it sells throughout the global economy.

An app all attendees of the upcoming Beijing Olympics must use has encryption flaws that could allow personal information to leak, a cyber security watchdog said Tuesday.

The congressional committee investigating the US Capitol riot issued subpoenas Tuesday to Rudy Giuliani -- a key figure in Donald Trump's failed bid to overturn the 2020 election -- and three other allies of the defeated ex-president.

AT&T and Verizon agreed Tuesday to a partial delay in activating their 5G networks following an outcry from US airlines, who said the rollout could lead to travel chaos.

Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung, whose now-banned slogan became a rallying cry during the 2019 pro-democracy movement, was released from jail in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday after serving nearly four years.

A federal judge on Tuesday approved a plan to restructure Puerto Rico's public debt, which will allow the US territory to end the bankruptcy process it declared almost five years ago.

Countries are neglecting the massive impact of the "throwaway" economy on planet-warming emissions, according to research published Wednesday that calculated more than half a trillion tonnes of virgin materials have been consumed since the 2015 Paris climate deal.

US cereal giant Kellogg's has been sanctioned by the Mexican authorities for breaking sugar and other content labeling rules in a country with one of the world's most obese populations.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick built a video game empire with flagship titles like "World of Warcraft", but he could lose control of it after a whopping Microsoft buyout deal announced Tuesday.

Up to 2,000 trucks are backed up at Argentina's main border crossing with Chile due to tougher Covid-19 testing requirements, Argentine haulers said on Tuesday, adding that the supply chain could suffer.

Ralf Rangnick has vowed to play Paul Pogba even if the Manchester United midfielder is only motivated by the chance to secure a move away from Old Trafford.

Oil prices hit their highest levels in more than seven years Tuesday, driven in part by hopes of a global economic recovery that would ramp up demand.