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

After years of negotiations, Switzerland and the European Union will next week sign a package of agreements aimed at simplifying and harmonising their ties, Bern and Brussels said on Wednesday.

Emperor penguins shed all their feathers once a year, a precarious ritual that may have become deadly as climate change pushes them into shrinking patches of Antarctic sea ice, researchers said Wednesday.

Pope Leo XIV will visit four African nations in April, the Vatican said Thursday, including Algeria -- the first time a pope will travel to the North African Muslim nation.

Stock markets in Asia and Europe reached record highs Wednesday on easing worries about the AI sector which many see as overvalued and a threat to several industries.

Defending champions India are looking to bolster their faltering opening combination ahead of a dare-not-lose T20 World Cup clash against Zimbabwe to keep hopes of making the semi-finals alive.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday defended a directive introducing Ramadan-related activities in public schools, rejecting criticism from opponents who said the move undermined Turkey's secular principles.

Hearts manager Derek McInnes says Manchester United legend Alex Ferguson is giving him valuable advice in the club's chase for an historic Scottish Premiership title.

Frenzied fans, dreams of hitting the Premier League jackpot and "the smell of weed in the tunnel": Snoop Dogg's arrival at Swansea heralded the latest chapter in the English Championship's celebrity inspired makeover.

The president of France's famed Palace of Versailles took over as head of the Louvre following a litany of problems at the world's most-visited museum including a $100-million jewellery robbery.

The chief executive of the 2030 Winter Olympics organising committee (Cojop) in the French Alps has stepped down after a serious falling out with the president Edgar Grospiron, it was announced on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, hoping to bolster ties with his country's largest trade partner and high-tech rival as Europe's biggest economy struggles.

British luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda on Wednesday announced plans to cut up to 20 percent of its workforce after widening annual losses on US tariffs and weak Chinese demand.

The chief executive of the 2030 Winter Olympics organising committee (Cojop) in the French Alps has stepped down after a serious falling out with the president Edgar Grospiron, it was announced on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will seek to address Caribbean leaders' concerns about Cuba at a summit on Wednesday, as Washington ramps up pressure on the communist island fresh after removing Venezuela's president.

The president of France's Palace of Versailles is expected to take over as head of the Louvre following the resignation of Laurence des Cars after a $100-million robbery at the museum last year, an informed source told AFP on Wednesday.

Richly talented but much maligned, England captain Harry Brook finally achieved redemption at Pallekele stadium in Kandy after a torrid few months -- and came of age as a leader.

Iran on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.

The roar of machine guns and drone of helicopters shook the luxurious resort where Mexico's most-wanted cartel boss hid on Sunday, plunging tourists enjoying the picturesque western Mexican town of Tapalpa into panic.

Armed with nothing but a crowbar and shovel in the hills of Somaliland, Ahmed Ibrahim hacks away at rocks where he and fellow miners have already found tonnes of lithium.

Thirty-six dancers with raised arms glide slowly forward as they encircle their prey, a lone figure on a red table in a climactic scene from Ravel's "Bolero" choreographed by Maurice Bejart.

Sri Lanka's criminal investigators arrested the country's former intelligence chief on Wednesday in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners.

South Korea has recorded its biggest annual birth rate bump in 15 years, official figures showed Wednesday, but still far below the threshold needed to stop its population shrinking.

The rebuttal to Donald Trump's State of the Union was delivered Tuesday by a stalwart of the Democrats' moderate wing -- seen as a model for the centrism some bet is key to winning November's midterm elections.

Australian detectives arrested two men Wednesday over the alleged kidnapping and murder of an elderly grandfather in a suspected case of mistaken identity.

English football icon Harry Redknapp told AFP that his late grandmother, the inspiration for his love of horse racing, "wouldn't believe" he had a horse that is "running in the (Cheltenham) Gold Cup".

US President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday of a "turnaround for the ages" in a State of the Union speech, seeking to reverse his dismal polls and see off mounting challenges at home and abroad ahead of crucial midterm elections.

The Cleveland Cavaliers emphatically got back to winning ways Tuesday, coasting to a 109-94 victory over the New York Knicks as their recent star signing James Harden scored 20 points.

If Donald Trump was worried about a hostile reception over his breakneck remaking of presidential norms, he did not show it -- striding in six minutes late, with the unhurried confidence of a man who knew the evening belonged to him.

Japan's Greenland-born women's football coach Nils Nielsen is no fan of Donald Trump but he loves his team and believes they can become fan favourites at the Asian Cup in Australia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz touched down in China on Wednesday, beginning his inaugural visit to his country's largest trade partner and a high-tech rival as Europe's biggest economy struggles.

The mayor of New Zealand's capital city took an afternoon dip on Wednesday hoping to assuage public fears after a breakdown at a local wastewater treatment plant pumped raw sewage into the ocean and sprayed faecal matter on coastal homes.

US President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday of a "turnaround for the ages" in a State of the Union speech, seeking to reverse his dismal polls and see off mounting challenges at home and abroad ahead of crucial midterm elections.