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

US skier Breezy Johnson announced her withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday after a recent knee injury dashed her dream of gold at the 2022 Games.

A leading UK freight lobby group has urged the British and French governments to hold talks to ease miles-long backups at Channel ports that have been blamed on Brexit.

Norway said it will put "tangible demands" on the Taliban during talks in Oslo on Tuesday, the last day of the hardline Islamists' controversial first visit to Europe since returning to power in Afghanistan.

The threat to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's position deepened on Tuesday, as police said they were investigating lockdown-breaking parties at his Downing Street office and government departments.

China's President Xi Jinping had a rare pandemic-era encounter with a foreign visitor Tuesday when he met with Olympic chief Thomas Bach as the country readies to host the Winter Games.

The crush that killed eight people and left dozens injured prior to Monday's Africa Cup of Nations last 16 match between hosts Cameroon and the Comoros in Yaounde is the the latest in a long line of football stadium tragedies.

Pfizer and BioNTech have begun enrollment for a clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of their Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in adults aged up to 55, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

Europe's busiest airport in Istanbul welcomed its first flight in 24 hours on Tuesday and Greece declared a public holiday as the eastern Mediterranean neighbours began digging themselves out of a rare snowstorm that ground their capitals to a halt.

A live preview for a Netflix documentary on Brazilian soccer star Neymar attracted more than 500,000 streaming views on Monday night in the South American nation.

Credit Suisse warned Tuesday that litigation would hit fourth-quarter profits while its investment bank faces a loss, in the latest blow to the scandal-plagued financial giant.

Brazilian surfing world champion Gabriel Medina announced on Monday he will take a break from competing for mental-health reasons, joining gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka on a list of sports stars who have said they are battling psychological stress.

Supporters of Burkina Faso's new ruling junta were set to rally on Tuesday as France and the UN condemned the West African country's latest coup.

Myanmar demonstrators who bang pots and pans in protest at last year's coup can be charged with high treason, the junta warned Tuesday, days ahead of the putsch's one-year anniversary.

Ashleigh Barty said Tuesday she was having fun "problem-solving" on court after accelerating her march towards a maiden Australian Open title Tuesday with a straight-sets masterclass against Jessica Pegula.

Jessica Pegula admitted Tuesday she felt "helpless" against ruthless world number one Ashleigh Barty, saying she "plays more like a guy".

European stock markets rebounded Tuesday, shrugging off steep Asian losses on the eve of a Federal Reserve monetary policy decision and after tumbling the previous day on Ukraine tensions and US rate hike fears.

An electricity grid accident left millions of people in three Central Asian countries without power on Tuesday, idling subway trains, disrupting flights and trapping people in lifts.

Rafael Nadal dug deep into his immense reserves of resilience for the second match running to keep his dream of a 21st Grand Slam title alive at the Australian Open on Tuesday, as women's top seed Ashleigh Barty powered into a semi-final against Madison Keys.

An ailing Rafael Nadal said he was "destroyed physically" by his gritty five-set quarter-final win over Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

US-backed Kurdish forces tightened the noose around armed jihadists hunkering down inside a Syrian prison Tuesday, with both sides facing a bloodbath or talks to end the five-day-old standoff.

Europe's busiest airport in Istanbul delayed its reopening on Tuesday and Greece declared a public holiday as the eastern Mediterranean neighbours began digging themselves out of a rare snowstorm that ground their capitals to a halt.

Moscow on Tuesday accused the United States of ratcheting up tensions over Ukraine after Washington put several thousand troops on alert for possible deployment to boost NATO.

Eight people were killed and dozens more injured in a crush outside a Cameroonian football stadium ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations match, officials said Tuesday.

Indian actress Shilpa Shetty has been formally cleared of obscenity charges dating from when Hollywood star Richard Gere publicly kissed her at an AIDS awareness event 15 years ago.

Japan's justice minister on Tuesday ordered the immigration agency to investigate violent workplace abuse allegedly suffered by a Vietnamese intern in a case that has heightened scrutiny of a state-sponsored training programme.

A fuming Denis Shapovalov slammed Rafael Nadal for receiving preferential time treatment after losing to the Spanish great in an epic quarter-final at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Ashleigh Barty accelerated her march towards a maiden Australian Open title Tuesday with a straight-sets masterclass against Jessica Pegula, setting up a semi-final with Madison Keys.

Mikal Bridges scored a team-high 23 points and Chris Paul finished with 18 points and 16 assists as the Phoenix Suns rolled over the Indian Pacers for their sixth straight win on Saturday.

Robbie Gould kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired and the San Francisco 49ers rallied for a stunning 13-10 victory over the top-seeded Green Bay Packers on Saturday to punch their ticket to the NFC Championship game.

Filipino Mark Magsayo dethroned WBC featherweight champ Gary Russell on Saturday with a majority decision to end the longest championship reign in professional boxing.

Australian Open organisers said Sunday that Peng Shuai's safety "is our primary concern" after video emerged of security staff preventing spectators wearing T-shirts in support of the Chinese player.

Madison Keys credited a more relaxed approach to helping her stun eighth seed Paula Badosa to power into an Australian Open quarter-finals for a third time Sunday.