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

Reigning champion Jannik Sinner called Novak Djokovic "an inspiration" after setting up an Australian Open semi-final blockbuster against the 24-time Grand Slam winner.

The dollar recovered slightly on Wednesday as traders awaited the US Federal Reserve's outlook on interest rates, while gold reached another record high as investors seek safety amid an uncertain economic outlook on several fronts.

Ireland could be without veteran centre Bundee Aki for their daunting Six Nations opening match against title holders France in Paris next week after he was dropped from the squad going to a training camp in Portugal.

West Ham announced on Wednesday they had signed winger Adama Traore from Fulham for an undisclosed fee.

Novak Djokovic admitted he got lucky after opponent Lorenzo Musetti retired hurt on Wednesday to send the Serbian great into his 13th Australian Open semi-final and a showdown with reigning champion Jannik Sinner.

"Physically strong" reigning champion Jannik Sinner will face 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster Australian Open semi-final after taming Ben Shelton on Wednesday in straight sets.

Grieving relatives of Ran Gvili gathered on Wednesday as Israel prepared to bury the last hostage returned from Gaza, marking the end of a painful national saga triggered by Hamas's 2023 attack.

Iran on Wednesday rejected holding negotiations with the United States if it makes threats against the Islamic republic, after President Donald Trump refused to rule out military intervention over its deadly crackdown on protests.

France prop Uini Atonio has had to retire from all rugby with immediate effect after being hospitalised on Tuesday after "a heart attack", his club La Rochelle announced in a statement.

South Korean chip giant SK hynix said on Wednesday its operating profit doubled last year to a record high after a surge in global demand for technology powering artificial intelligence.

Donald Trump has ridiculed Denmark's defence of Greenland as amounting to "two dogsleds", but the Sirius Dogsled Patrol is no joke: the elite navy unit works in extreme conditions where only the toughest survive.

An "extremely lucky" Novak Djokovic admitted Wednesday he must play far better to stand any chance of winning an elusive 25th Grand Slam crown after surviving a massive scare to reach the Australian Open semi-finals.

Dutch tech giant ASML, which sells cutting-edge machines to make semiconductor chips, reported a significant gain in annual net profit Wednesday but said it would cut hundreds of management jobs to improve internal organisation.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, hoping to restore long fraught relations.

Lorenzo Musetti said Wednesday he fears a muscle tear in his leg after being forced to retire from his Australian Open quarter-final against Novak Djokovic, calling the decision to pull out "really painful".

A volcano in Russia's far east on Wednesday spewed ash several kilometres into the sky, authorities said, putting on a spectacular display in its latest eruption.

Thailand has given a contraceptive vaccine to wild elephants for the first time in an effort to control their ballooning population, a conservation official said on Wednesday.

Novak Djokovic admitted he got lucky after opponent Lorenzo Musetti retired hurt on Wednesday to send the Serbian great into a semi-final against either two-time reigning champion Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton.

US immigration agents may have breached "protocol" in Minneapolis before shooting dead a nurse during protests, a senior White House aide said on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump suggested he would "de-escalate a little bit" in the city.

An "extremely lucky" Novak Djokovic survived a massive scare to reach the Australian Open semi-finals on Wednesday when Lorenzo Musetti retired hurt while two sets up, keeping alive the Serbian great's bid for a 25th Grand Slam crown.

Top players on Wednesday backed Coco Gauff's call for more privacy during tournaments, with world number two Iga Swiatek saying it felt like "animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer begins a three-day visit to China on Wednesday, where he will defend London's "pragmatic" partnership with the Asian giant after years of fraught relations.

Far from the legendary skies above Hogwarts school, a young woman chased a "Golden Snitch" highlighting how the craze for Harry Potter's favourite sport, Quidditch, has taken hold in a remote Ugandan village.

Shivering in her flat after Russian strikes knocked out the heating, 91-year-old Lidia Teleschuk said she couldn't remember a winter this harsh since World War II.

A South Korean judge handed the country's former first lady Kim Keon Hee 20 months in jail for accepting lavish gifts from a cult-like church on Wednesday, but acquitted her for alleged stock manipulation and other charges.

Unemployment was soaring and the country was in economic turmoil when Monika Pudlik first left Poland to find a job in Ireland just over two decades ago.

Dutch tech giant ASML, which sells cutting-edge machines to make semiconductor chips, reported a significant gain in annual net profit Wednesday and predicted a bright future driven by demand for artificial intelligence.

A South Korean judge handed the country's former first lady Kim Keon Hee 20 months in jail for corruption on Wednesday but acquitted her for alleged stock manipulation and other charges.

Seconds after an attacker sprayed US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with unidentified liquid at a Minnesota meeting, she confronted the man and then defiantly went on to finish her comments, AFP journalists saw.

Jessica Pegula said she will have to "crack the code" of Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open semi-finals after dismantling error-strewn Amanda Anisimova on Wednesday in an all-American showdown.

Australian authorities have sparked a backlash by killing a group of dingoes linked to the death of a young Canadian woman on an island in the country's east.

Brazil has declared the acai berry a national fruit, a move to stamp its ownership on the popular "superfood" as concerns grow about foreign companies staking claims to the Amazon's biological riches.