The young Hamza Abu Ghanem (25 years), from the occupied city of Lod , was killed in a shooting crime committed at dawn today, Friday.

Local sources reported that the victim performed the Fajr prayer in the mosque, and when he reached his house, unknown killers shot and killed him.

And last night, ten people, including children, were wounded in two separate shootings, one of which was committed in the city of Lod, wounding seven people, including three children, while the second was committed earlier in the town of Kabul, in the north of the country. Two of the injured, one of whom is a child, are in serious condition.

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said, on Friday, that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , constantly prefers caution and restraint in the security field over measures that may be described as "irresponsible."

According to the newspaper, Netanyahu's security behavior is always associated with making more cautious decisions, and often does not translate his statements and threats into action, and usually refrains from initiating offensive actions that would drag Israel into the danger of war.

It showed that from 2012 to 2021, successive Netanyahu governments embarked on three major operations in the Gaza Strip , claiming that he was drawn into it by the military moves by Hamas in Gaza and other factions.

She said that Netanyahu was moving reluctantly with large-scale but limited operations, and in each of them he was wary of embarking on a major ground operation in the Strip, and was very afraid of military losses, noting that he showed this in Operation Protective Edge in 201, which succeeded. In managing it, he also showed his caution through his personal experiences.

At the same time, the newspaper indicates that Netanyahu deviated from this principle, as he sought revenge against the Islamic Jihad after the organization launched a missile during an election campaign in which he was present in Ashdod in 2019, but the refusal of the former legal advisor, Avichai Mandelblit at the time, led to the postponement of the operation that was aimed at. Leaders in the Jihad, and after two months, the operation began with the assassination of the leader in the Jihad, Bahaa Abu al-Atta .

The newspaper believed that Netanyahu's recent behavior, especially the dismissal of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant , and then his retraction, does not instill much confidence in his considerations for the future.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia will host a meeting to exchange views on the return of Damascus to the Arab incubator, more than a decade after the isolation of Syria following the outbreak of the conflict there.

Several Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, cut off diplomatic relations with Damascus.

The League of Arab States suspended Syria's membership following the outbreak of protests suppressed by regime forces in 2011.

However, indications have recently begun to appear of the rapprochement of several capitals with Syria, including Abu Dhabi, which restored diplomatic relations, and Riyadh, which held talks with Damascus regarding the resumption of consular services between the two countries.

The Gulf Cooperation Council meeting is being held in Jeddah, and Egypt, Iraq and Jordan are also participating in it, to discuss the issue of Syria's return to the Arab League after its membership was suspended in 2012, about a month before the Arab summit in Saudi Arabia.

And Saudi Arabia received, on Wednesday, at the same time, an Iranian delegation to prepare for the reopening of Iranian diplomatic missions in the Kingdom, and the Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal Al-Miqdad, for the first time since the beginning of the conflict in his country.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, and his Syrian counterpart discussed "the necessary steps to achieve a comprehensive political settlement to the Syrian crisis that ends all its repercussions, achieves national reconciliation, and contributes to the return of Syria to its Arab surroundings and the resumption of its natural role in the Arab world."

An Arab diplomat told AFP that "there is a possibility" that Al-Miqdad will attend the Jeddah meeting "to present the Syrian point of view," explaining that the participating countries have not yet received the agenda for the meeting.

Another diplomat confirmed that "Saudi Arabia is completely leading these efforts, but under the umbrella of the Gulf Cooperation Council."

He stated that "the Saudis are trying at least to ensure that Qatar does not object to Syria's return to the Arab League if the issue is put to a vote," noting that he does not expect a unified position on this issue.

Announcing Doha's participation in the meeting, Majid al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday that the change in the Qatari position on Syria "is mainly linked to the Arab consensus and to a field change that achieves the aspirations of the Syrian people."

On Thursday evening, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani considered, in a televised interview, that talk about Syria's return to the Arab League is "speculation," stressing that the reasons for suspending Damascus' membership still exist for Doha.

Gulf countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, provided financial and military support to the Syrian opposition factions, before the support gradually declined over the past years.

In February 2022, Doha hosted a symposium aimed at "improving the performance of the Syrian opposition" in the face of the restoration of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in recent years to some of its diplomatic position and its military control over most parts of the country.

The new diplomatic efforts come after Tehran and Riyadh announced on March 10 that they had reached an agreement between them after a seven-year estrangement following the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran over the execution of Saudi cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Before an Iranian delegation visited Saudi Arabia this week, a Saudi delegation visited Tehran on Saturday to discuss mechanisms for reopening the Kingdom's diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic.

The foreign ministers of the two most important regional powers in the Gulf met in Beijing last week, following the sudden announcement of an agreement to resume relations between the two countries under Chinese auspices last month.

"Assad simply refused to compromise and waited for his enemies to surrender, and he succeeded," Aaron Lund, a researcher on Syria at Century International, told AFP.

He considered that this "sends to the opposition a message that Assad will eventually win and that its allies have betrayed it."

Manchester United lived a disastrous evening by forfeiting a victory within reach and took a big step towards the semi-finals when it fell into the trap of a 2-2 draw against Seville, Spain, and Juventus won a hard-won victory over its Portuguese guest Sporting 1-0 Thursday in the first leg of the European League quarter-finals. "Europa League" in football.

Manchester United was on its way to achieving an easy and big victory when it ended the first half with two clean goals scored by its Austrian international midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, who was loaned from Bayern Munich until the end of the season in the 14th and 21st minutes, but Seville turned the tables in the last ten minutes of the second half with two goals from fire. Al-Sadiqa through Dutch defenders Terrell Malacia (84) and Harry Maguire (90 + 2) by mistake against Spain's David de Gea.

The two teams meet back next Thursday in Seville.

Manchester United, specifically its Dutch coach Eric Ten Hag, paid the price for his substitutions in the second half, especially his removal by Portuguese captain Bruno Fernandes, who will miss the return match due to being suspended for receiving a yellow card today, and Frenchman Anthony Martial (62), then Brazilian Anthony (81), so Seville took advantage of that well. And he snatched a dear draw thanks to the successful substitutions of his new coach, Jose Luis Mendelibar, especially the veteran captain Jesus Navas (37 years), and the Moroccan international striker Youssef Al-Nusairi, who caused the two goals.

Al-Nusairi said, "A tie means a big thing for us at Manchester Stadium. We performed well, and in the next match we will give qualification to our fans."

And he added regarding his causing the goal, which was not counted for him, "I think that I was not the one who scored the goal, but I contributed with my header, and the important thing is that the ball hit the net and we managed to equalize, and we wish us good luck in the return match."

As for Maguire, he said, "We feel very disappointed. We dominated the course of the match and we could have killed its result through the counter-attacks that came before us and in the second half as well, but this is football."

"We have to be confident and win the next match," he added.

It is the fourth match in which United fails to beat the Andalusian team specialized in the competition and the record holder in the number of its titles (6), as it was knocked out by him from the final price of the Champions League in the 2017-2018 season (zero-zero in Seville and 1-2 forth in Manchester) and the semi-finals of the “Europa League” in 2020 (2-1 in one match as a result of the repercussions of the Corona virus).

And Sevilla is the fourth Spanish team to collide with the men of Dutch coach Eric Ten Hag in the competition, after they finished second in the group stage behind Real Sociedad and eliminated Barcelona from the qualifying playoffs to the final price, then Real Betis from the final price.

Manchester United played the match in the absence of international top scorer Marcus Rashford due to injury.

The pressure of Manchester United resulted in a goal scored by Sabitzer when he received a ball from captain Fernandez inside the area, so he prepared it for himself and hit it hard with his left into the goal (14).

Sabitzer added the second goal when he received a ball behind the defense from Martial, so he prepared it for himself, penetrated into the area, and hit it with his left hand to the right of Bono (20).

And Seville succeeded in reducing the difference when Navas took advantage of a fatal mistake by defender Malacia in pushing a cross in front of the goal, so he passed it crossly, and it hit the latter and goalkeeper De Gea and hugged the net (85).

Al-Nusairi succeeded in equalizing with a header from close range, after a corner kick hit Maguire's head and deceived De Gea (90 + 2).
Defender Federico Gatti led his team, Juventus, to a difficult victory over its guest, Sporting, with a goal he scored in the 73rd minute, giving the Turin team a slight advantage before the return match in Lisbon.

The match witnessed the exit of the brilliant Polish "old lady" goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who saved several dangerous balls, in the 44th minute of the first half, after he felt pain in his chest.

And the "Dazon" broadcasting network reported that Szczesny felt "some throbbing" before he was replaced by his counterpart Mattia Perin, who was decisive in turn.

Juventus waited until the 12th minute to threaten its guest's goal after a long cross pass from the midfield to Argentine Angel Di Maria reached Federico Chiesa inside the area, so he controlled the ball and hit with his right foot, which was blocked by Spanish goalkeeper Antonio Adam.
Sporting took the lead, and the Japanese Hidemasa Morita shot from outside the area, which passed next to goalkeeper Chesney (20). The latter came back and saved his team twice within a minute from Uruguayan defender Sebastian Coates and midfielder Pedro Gonçalves (29 and 30 respectively). The Italian defense dispersed a shot from Nuno Santos in front of the goal (33).

Perrin started the second half by blocking Gonçalves' shot from 25 meters (47).

And Allegri pushed Pflahovic instead of Milik to activate the attack (63), and he was at the good expectation of the Turin fans after he caused the goal of the race after he followed up with his head a cross pass, taking advantage of a wrong exit from goalkeeper Adam, which Quatis dispersed from the goal line, and it reached between the feet of defender Gatti, who followed it into the net ( 73).

The Dutch Feyenoord snatched a valuable victory from its Italian guest, Roma, 1-0, scored by Mats Fever (53).

Roma, the third in the league, suffered a moral blow by injuring its Argentine star, Paulo Dybala, and leaving in the 25th minute, so the Italian of Egyptian origin, Stephan El Shaarawy, entered in his place.

The disappointment of the capital club did not stop at this point, as its captain, Lorenzo Pellegrini, missed a penalty kick (43).

Feyenoord translated its dominance in the first half into a wonderful goal in the second, after a pass from Al-Idrisi, which was followed by Fever with a “on the fly” shot from outside the area, which hit the ground and hit the net of Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio (53).

Three minutes later, Rome lost the efforts of its English striker Tammy Abraham, who suffered an injury in his shoulder, so he left and Andrea Belotti replaced him.

German Bayer Leverkusen fell into a tie trap in front of its Belgian guest, Saint-Gilloise, with a goal by Florian Wertz (82) against a goal by Nigerian Victor Boniface (51).

Italian Fiorentina took a big step towards the semi-finals of the Football Conference League, by defeating Lech Poznan , Poland, 4-1, Thursday, in the first leg of the quarter-finals.

Fiorentina scored early, in the fourth minute, through Brazilian striker Arthur Cabral. Norwegian striker Christopher Filde equalized in the 20th minute, but Argentine striker Nicholas Gonzalez restored the lead for the guests in the 41st minute.

Veteran captain Jacomo Bonaventure strengthened Fiorentina's lead at the beginning of the second half by scoring the third goal (58), and Frenchman Jonathan Iconé concluded the festival with the fourth goal (63).

In turn, Anderlecht of Belgium took a big step towards the semi-finals by defeating its Dutch guest AZ Alkmaar with two clean goals scored by Panamanian Mikael Moreo (22) and Ghanaian Majid Achimero (70).

West Ham United of England returned to a valuable draw from the land of its host, Ghent, Belgium, 1-1.

West Ham United opened the scoring in the 40th minute through Moroccan international defender Nayef Akrad, but the goal was canceled due to a handball on the latter after resorting to the video assistant referee (VAR).

West Ham returned to scoring against its guests, specifically after eight minutes, this time by striker Danny Ings, with a left-footed shot from close range, following a pass from Jarrod Bowen (45 + 3).

Hugo Kuipers managed to equalize at the beginning of the second half, with a left-footed shot from inside the area, following a pass from Alesso Castro-Montes (57).

Switzerland's Basel tied at home to Nice, France, 2-2.

Zaki Amdoni gave Basel the lead in the 26th minute from a penalty kick, and Nice responded with a double for his Nigerian striker Terim Movi in the 38th and 45 + 1 minutes, before Amdoni equalized with his second personal goal and his team in the 71st minute.
The return matches will be held next Thursday.

At dawn on Friday, the Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of arrests in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank .

According to local sources, those forces arrested the editor, Muhammad Obeidat, after storming his house in the town of Abu Dis, occupied Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the young Mahmoud Ayyad, a resident of Bethlehem, was arrested while he was at his relatives' home in Abu Dis.

The forces arrested the child, Adam Al-Fakhouri (13 years old), from the town of Al-Tur, north of occupied Jerusalem.

In the West Bank, editor Khalil Dweikat, a resident of Balata al-Balad in Nablus, was arrested after his house was raided.

Meanwhile, the editor, Muhammad Omar Al-Barghouti, and the young Omar Asif Al-Barghouti, were arrested after their homes were raided and their contents were tampered with during the raid on Kober village, northwest of Ramallah and Al-Bireh.

Meanwhile, the two brothers, Nidal and Ayoub Anfiat, were arrested on the Zabada Bridge, west of the town of Ya`bad in Jenin, and a vehicle for the family was confiscated.

The occupation forces also stormed the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, and were fired upon by the resistance.

On Friday, thousands of citizens performed the Fajr prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque , despite the Israeli restrictions and restrictions.

The occupation forces assaulted the worshipers at Hatta Gate before allowing them to enter to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It is expected that about a quarter of a million worshipers will perform the fourth Friday prayer of the month of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque, as thousands have begun to flock from the West Bank and the occupied interior.

The occupation forces deployed thousands of their personnel in the Old City and the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, where more than 2,300 policemen were dispatched, according to the Hebrew website Ynet.

The state of alert was raised among the Israeli army in the West Bank, on the borders of the Gaza Strip, and on the northern front, and more Iron Dome batteries were deployed.

Unidentified persons, at dawn on Friday, opened fire at a vehicle and set it on fire, in Askar al-Balad, east of Nablus .

According to local sources, the vehicle belongs to Moayad Dweikat , a member of the Nablus Municipal Council.

The firefighting crews were able to control the fire in the vehicle, which was almost completely destroyed by the flames.

The police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

Energy and environment ministers from the Group of Seven countries meet in Japan this weekend, but their differences over the pace of phasing out fossil fuels are undermining their chances of adopting strong measures in the face of the pressing climate crisis.

A draft dated April 5 of a joint statement, to be issued Sunday and obtained by Agence France-Presse, revealed deep divisions, especially with regard to the timetable for G7 countries to abandon coal in the electricity sector.

The UK, backed by France, has proposed phasing out coal in the power sector from 2030. But instead, it may reaffirm a more vague goal formulated at last year's G7 summit in Germany of decarbonising the power sector by The year is 2035.

The debate is also raging about the Japanese offering based on appropriate new investments in the field of gas under the justification of "energy security", in light of the turmoil caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022.

In 2022, the Group of Seven decided to allow gas investments as a “temporary” response to the “exceptional circumstances” related to the war in Ukraine.

Japan is also trying to win support from the Group of Seven for its controversial strategy of using hydrogen and ammonia as common fuels for its gas and coal power plants, a model it intends to export to other Asian countries.

Makiko Arima, an expert on public Japanese investments in fossil fuels from Oil Change International, believes that this "toxic" Japanese strategy threatens to "disrupt" the energy transition in Asia.

She argues that Japan's "green transition" plan only promotes technologies aimed at "extending the use of fossil fuels".

Other NGOs fear that this ministerial meeting, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday in Sapporo (northern Japan), will lead to a decline in climate-related commitments.

"If we see some kind of regression with the G7 summit, it will be horrible," said Vice President of the non-governmental organization "Global Citizen" Frederic Rueder. Dubai at the end of the year.

"If you say your house is on fire and the planet is on fire, but you do little in your home to confront powerful vested interests (...) you will not be sending an inspiring signal to the rest of the world," says Alden Meyer, researcher at the E3G climate research institute.
But the world is facing a climate emergency.

In their latest report published in March, the experts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that human-caused global warming will reach 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era, from the years 2030-2035.

"We have the knowledge, the technology, the tools, the financial resources and everything we need to overcome the climate problems we have identified," said commission chairman Hosung Lee, but "what we lack at the moment is the strong political will to solve them once and for all."
The Paris climate agreement stipulated containing global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"There is no doubt that the G-7 will send a message about reviving fossil fuels one way or another," a government source involved in the negotiations told AFP.

"The Europeans, who are the most ambitious in the climate field, exert a lot of pressure, and there is a Japanese resistance that is discreetly supported by the United States and Canada," he added.

But the Europeans are not always on the same wavelength. Germany and Italy in particular have been facing an energy crisis since the start of the war in Ukraine.

However, all G7 members have already agreed to call on the countries of the entire world to act “collectively” in this “critical decade”, in particular to allow the start of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions “by 2025 at the latest”, as stated in a part that was published. Approval of it in the joint statement to be issued on Sunday.

This message is directed specifically, and implicitly, to China, according to experts.

The Human Rights and Democracy Media Center ( Shams ) said that the occupation state 's restriction and limitation of the number of Christian believers heading to Jerusalem to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and celebrate the Holy Saturday and the glorious Easter , is another form of racism practiced by the occupying state against the Palestinians.

The center stated in a statement issued by it that freedom of movement and movement is a right guaranteed in international human rights law, especially in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and is also guaranteed in international humanitarian law, and that freedom of religion and belief and the right to access religious places and places of worship An inherent right for every human being guaranteed by all international human rights conventions and all heavenly laws.

And "Shams" stressed that freedom of movement and the right to access holy places and places of worship is an inherent right and not a favor from anyone who can limit or prevent it whenever he wants, and it is a right attached to a person regardless of color, race, sex, national origin or belief. .

The "SHAMS" center also stressed that what the occupying state is doing is a blatant and dangerous attack on the religious rights of Palestinian Christians, and represents a new chapter of the chapters, policies and procedures of apartheid (apartheid) in the occupied Palestinian territories, and expresses a double exclusionary and biased racist policy, and is considered a consecration system of systematic apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He pointed out that the occupying state uses the policy of double standards; At a time when the occupying state allows extremist settlers to desecrate Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to reach the so-called "Joseph's Tomb" in Nablus under strict guard and protection from the Israeli occupation army forces and in countless numbers, it limits the numbers and restricts the movement of faithful Christians who come to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in The city of Jerusalem on the occasion of the glorious Christian holidays.

And it prevents believers, Muslims and Christians in the Gaza Strip, from reaching places of worship in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

"Shams" also warned of the new occupation measures that may be a prelude to new Israeli Judaization policies aimed at preventing Palestinians from reaching places of worship and praying in them, whether they are Christians or Muslims. religious war.

The Center called on the countries of the whole world, especially the countries of the European Union, to the need for immediate intervention and pressure on the Israeli occupation state in order to stop this racist and exclusionary policy that violates the most basic religious rights of believers. The Center also called on the Vatican State and the Holy See in the Holy Land to intervene urgently to stop these Israeli practices. Immoral and illegal, which reveal the ugly face of the occupation, which has always been sung and boasted that it is a microcosm of the West in the Middle East and that it is the protector of religious places and sanctities in the Holy Land and the protector of Christians from injustice and persecution in the East.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that federal law enforcement officials (FBI) have arrested a 21-year-old man from Massachusetts allegedly in connection with the disclosure of classified documents that revealed classified and sensitive US defense and intelligence information. .

In brief notes at Justice Department headquarters, Garland identified the suspect as Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot, and said he was arrested "in connection with an investigation into allegations of the removal, retention, and transmission of classified National Defense information." The New York Times, which first disclosed his name Thursday, reported him as Teixeira as a member of the Guards 102nd Intelligence Wing.

Garland said FBI agents "took Teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident." Before he spoke, a news helicopter over Teixeira's mother's home in North Dayton, Massachusetts, showed a man in shorts and a T-shirt walking backwards with his hands over his head toward law enforcement officers wielding rifles and wearing military fatigues. The man was soon captured and taken to the back of an armored vehicle.

The attorney general said Teixeira will appear in court to face charges in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The FBI said in a statement that agents "continue to conduct authorized law enforcement activity at home."

Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, called the disclosure a "deliberate criminal act" but declined to comment further at a news conference Thursday. "This is a law enforcement matter, and it would be inappropriate for me or any other Department of Defense official to comment at this time," he said.

Teixeira's arrest came hours after a story in The Washington Post detailed a small online group on the Discord platform where the group's leader appeared to have shared documents over several months, and that the person was known to fellow members as "OG." And he worked on a military base, while other members of the group told the Washington Post, and it is not yet known whether the accused's motives were political or ideological.

For his part, US President Joe Biden said during his visit to Double, Ireland, on Thursday, that investigators are close to identifying the suspect.

Dozens of documents exposed in the past few days contained details about the war in Ukraine, including information about expected Russian air strikes on specific targets and other Russian war plans. The records provide an unprecedented glimpse into US efforts to support the Ukrainian government, as well as the extent to which US intelligence agencies have penetrated Russian communication channels on behalf of Ukrainian forces.

The documents also showed that the United States was watching the allies closely. One document details conversations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top military official. He conveyed the latest concerns expressed by South Korean leaders about sending ammunition to Ukraine. A third said that Israeli intelligence agency leaders called on intelligence officials and Israeli citizens to protest divisive judicial reforms proposed by the government.

Al-Quds Al-Sharif' class='highlighted-tag'>Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency in Jerusalem organized the second annual meeting for persons with disabilities under the slogan: "Jerusalem is supported by determination", in the presence of leaders and representatives of a number of bodies, institutions and associations in the Holy City.

The director in charge of running the agency, Dr. Mohamed Salem Al-Sharqawi, said that the second edition of the forum coincides with the agency's commemoration of its silver anniversary, under the high patronage of Moroccan King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Jerusalem Committee, who gives the agency generous patronage and directs it to implement tangible projects that have an impact on the Holy City and on Its people are Almoravids.

In his speech delivered on his behalf by Ismail al-Ramli, coordinator of the Agency’s programs and projects in Jerusalem, Al-Sharqawi affirmed the Agency’s commitment to allocate April 12 of each year, to be an annual meeting for people with disabilities, to enable members of this honorable group to meet, discuss, and put forward new ideas. And innovative to improve her situation and make her more involved and integrated in the issues of her community.

The director in charge of running the agency indicated that the forum, which is held under the title "Jerusalem Supported by Determination", increases "our concerns in the agency about how to secure support, in the best and shortest way, for the largest possible number of institutions, agencies and associations, in light of the limited funding available to the agency." Emphasizing that "the agency's funds are unconditional, except to the extent that we can make sure that they reach their beneficiaries in full and without any defects."

Al-Sharqawi announced the "allocation of fixed quotas, commensurate with the approved standards, for the benefit of people with special needs in all the agency's projects related to construction, civil initiatives, various educational grants, vocational training programs, and electronic marketing of the products of associations and merchants."

In his speech on this occasion, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia in Jerusalem, praised the agency's efforts for its field work in support of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, especially in the city of Jerusalem, and said: We are loyal to this effort, and from Jerusalem we say thank you to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Jerusalem Committee, and we are loyal to your gifts and efforts.

For his part, the Director of the Arab Association for Persons with Disabilities, Ihsan Edkaidek, praised the roles played by the Jerusalem House Agency and what it provides to Jerusalemites, to protect the city of Jerusalem, maintain its religious and civilizational center, and provide the means for a decent life for its residents through programs and projects in the health, educational and urban fields, appreciating the standing of Morocco’s leadership and people. Alongside the Jerusalemite man who defends the purest sanctities in the name of the Arab and Islamic nation.

The forum witnessed the signing ceremony of an agreement signed on behalf of the agency by the coordinator of its projects in Jerusalem, Ismail Al-Ramli, and on behalf of the Arab Association for Persons with Disabilities, Ihsan Idkidek, stipulating that the agency finance a project to empower people with social disabilities in Jerusalem, through workshops and campaigns that included psychological relief, awareness-raising, community advocacy and inclusion in Community and vocational training.

The depression receded as of Thursday night, and a series of atmospheric elevations began, starting from Friday, and reaching its peak the next week, while agricultural damage, losses, and traffic accidents were recorded as a result of the depression.

The Director General of Meteorology, Eng. Youssef Abu Assad, told Al-Quds.com, “The current low has receded, starting Thursday night, and we will witness a series of air rises starting from Friday, when the temperature is two degrees below its average, but the temperature continues to rise and reaches higher.” From its average by two degrees the day after tomorrow, Saturday, and the peak of the heights will reach next Wednesday, reaching 30 degrees Celsius, then it will decrease slightly as of next Thursday.

According to the meteorologists, the weather will be tomorrow, Friday, partly cloudy to clear, springy, pleasant and moderate, and the weather will return to stability in general, with a significant rise in temperatures, while remaining slightly below their general average, and the winds will be southwesterly to southwesterly light to moderate speed, and the sea will be light. wave.

As for the day after tomorrow, Saturday, the weather will be partly cloudy to clear in general, warm in the mountainous areas, relatively hot in the rest of the regions, and a tangible rise in temperatures will occur to become two degrees higher than the general average, and the winds will be northwesterly to southeasterly, light to moderate in speed. It is active sometimes, and the sea is light wave height.

On Sunday, the weather will be generally clear, warm in the mountainous areas, relatively hot in the rest of the regions, and another rise in temperatures will occur, becoming 3 degrees Celsius higher than the general average, and the winds will be northwesterly to southeasterly, light to moderate in speed. It is active sometimes, and the sea is light wave height.

In terms of damages, Imad Abu Bakr from the Palestinian Civil Defense Information Office told Al-Quds.com that the civil defense crews dealt with 32 interventions during the recent depression, which resulted in 4 fires in various homes, between electrical shorts, heater use, and so on. Actor, in addition to interfering with six traffic accidents that resulted in 9 injuries.

Abu Bakr continued, and 6 cases of water drainage from homes, institutions, offices and warehouses were also dealt with, and water was drained in several streets in Kafr Aqab and Samiramis, and stuck vehicles were withdrawn from the water.

On the other hand, the Director General of International and Public Relations and Information at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mahmoud Fatafta, told Al-Quds.com: “The ministry has not yet officially ended the damage resulting from the depression, and the committees will limit that next Monday, if the damage is related to infrastructure.” or agricultural crops.

Fatafta pointed out that the damages did not reach the level of natural disasters, but rather they are individual cases, as the damages included "uprooting greenhouses and drowning open agricultural crops."

Norway announced Thursday the expulsion of 15 employees of the Russian Embassy in Oslo, which it considers "intelligence agents," while the Russian mission described the decision as "extremely unfriendly," vowing to "respond."

"These 15 intelligence agents have been declared persona non grata for activities not commensurate with their diplomatic status," Norwegian Foreign Minister Annekin Hotvelt said in a statement.

"It is an important measure to counter and reduce the size of Russian espionage activities in Norway," she added.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry stated that the fifteen Russians present in the country under diplomatic cover should leave the Norwegian territory "soon".

And Hotvelt stressed during a press conference that their activities had been tracked "for a while", without wanting to specify the charges actually against them.

"Our reaction is very negative," Russian embassy spokesman Timur Chekanov told AFP in an email.

"It is a new, extremely unfriendly decision, which will be followed by a response," he added.

Oslo justified its decision with "new geopolitical data that generated, in terms of espionage, an increasing threat from Russia."

The Norwegian intelligence services classify Russia and China as two major threats in the field of espionage to the NATO member state, which shares a 198-kilometer border with Russia in the Arctic.

And in April 2022, a few weeks after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oslo, like many other European capitals, expelled three Russian diplomats suspected of espionage, prompting Moscow to respond by expelling three Norwegian diplomats.

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated greatly due to the conflict in Ukraine, after they had maintained close relations for a long time, especially in the far north.

Norway has approved almost all of the sanctions that Brussels imposed on Russia, even though Oslo is not a member of the European Union.

Ismail Haniyeh , head of the political bureau of the "Hamas" movement, and the Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhala , confirmed that the two movements will continue to choose the resistance until the liberation of Palestine.

This came in two separate speeches in the virtual "Jerusalem Forum", on the occasion of International Al-Quds Day .

Haniyeh said, "The act of resistance from southern Palestine to southern Lebanon, passing through the Jordan Valley and the Tel Aviv process, is evidence that our people will not abandon the guarding of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that our people are on the path of resistance."

And he considered that what is happening in the occupying state in terms of manifestations of rift, conflict and division indicates that it is on the path of disintegration and the destruction of its political structures, leading to its demise from our land. like he said.

He continued: "The resistance today is flourishing and its actions are escalating on the ground, especially in the West Bank, as an extension of the strategic base represented by Gaza."

Haniyeh stressed that i'tikaaf in Al-Aqsa Mosque today is a jihad, pointing out that the West Bank is the advanced trench to protect the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, as he said.

The head of the political bureau of the "Hamas" movement added, "Our people will not rest, will not be complacent, and will not leave the ribat and i'tikaaf in Al-Aqsa Mosque."

Haniyeh stressed that the decision to resist is bond, steadfastness, resistance and steadfastness, regardless of the sacrifices and whatever the high prices. like he said.

He pointed out that the region is facing a new international order in which poles rise and others decline, and an era that signals the decline of American influence globally, and he said: “We see on the side of the nation unity, rise, steadfastness and determination, and on the side of the enemy crack, conflict, fissure, disintegration and collapse, while the reality of the nation bears good news, and this is how we look To the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and we hope that it will have a positive impact on the region.

He added, "The repercussions of the agreement that took place between Iran and Saudi Arabia will be on several countries, especially the situation in Yemen. Based on these changes, we say that we are in an advanced position, and Israel will come out, God willing."

For his part, Ziyad al-Nakhala, Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad, said, "Here are the arenas of resistance confirming their presence, support and support for the Palestinian people and their resistance, and the flags of resistance are raised everywhere...and the nation realizes once again how difficult and humiliating the years of humiliation and normalization were. Today we are rejoicing." Well, with the positive steps that are taking place in the region, to extinguish the fire of sedition that America and Israel ignited. like he said.

He added: “The struggling Palestinian people, and their heroic fighters who are spread throughout Palestine and its blessed shore, and its fighting battalions that today represent the Shield of Jerusalem, and throughout its vicinity, come out to them from everywhere, in the blessed month of Ramadan, and in the great days of destiny, and on the day of Jerusalem that It will remain a day that will shade our lives, our jihad, and our journey towards the promise of the Hereafter.”

Receipt of Cabinet decisions on the tenth of this month, the payment of April’s salary before the Eid al -Fitr holiday, and the statements of Finance Minister Shukri Bishara yesterday, Wednesday, that it is not possible to pay another salary before the Eid, so that the Ministry of Finance decides, after hours, to pay 30% of the salary before the Eid. Overshadowing the crisis, writers and analysts warn that its effects will be reflected on the economy and employees.

Confusing employee expenses

Economic experts and analysts believe that the conflict of decisions between the Council of Ministers and the statements of the Minister of Finance, and then the Ministry's decision to pay part of the salary, caused a state of confusion regarding the expenses of the employees, who built their expenditure plans based on the decision to pay a salary before Eid.

The expert and economic analyst, Dr. Tariq Al-Hajj, confirms in an interview with Al-Quds.com that the Eid expenses, in light of the high prices and the exorbitant price, had to pay a full salary to the employees, as the salary, even if it was full, is not sufficient for the expenses of the occasions.

Al-Hajj indicates that some countries have given instructions to banks, such as Jordan, after deducting loans from salaries absolutely before the Eid, and there is also control over prices so that a certain price is not exceeded, and some countries have also taken measures to pay Eid holidays for each employee, but we do not have any of these matters.

In turn, Professor of Economics at Birzeit University, Dr. Youssef Daoud, in an interview with Al-Quds.com, said that the non-disbursement of the salary before the Eid created psychological and social effects on the employees, especially as it is an occasion that needs additional expenses to bring happiness to the family, wishing the decision-makers the need to consider and resolve the already difficult economic situation.

For his part, says the economist d. Nasr Abdul Karim: "The employees built their consumption behavior based on the existence of a salary payment before the holiday, and they did not take their precautions, and built their commitment based on that, which means that what happened will be reflected in their joy in the holiday, and will increase their crisis."

An important salary before the holiday

Paying a salary before the holiday is an important matter for employees and for all sectors of the economy, but what happened in terms of not paying a full salary affects, according to the expert and economic analyst, Dr. Tariq Al-Hajj, to withdraw liquidity from the hands of citizens, and thus cause slowdown and confusion in the wheel of the economy.

This also affects, according to al-Hajj, the family because of the inability of the head of the family to fulfill the requirements of the holiday, and those who have loans that they will not be able to repay, or this may be at the expense of the liquidity available with employees, in addition to non-payment of their debts, and the accumulation of goods with merchants.

Spend 30% of your salary, says economics professor at Birzeit University, Dr. Youssef Dawood said that it is not enough for Eid, which means that employees are unable to provide “Eidiyat”, even the rest of the citizens are affected by the matter, and the wheel of the economy.

Dawood says: "What makes the matter more difficult is that the holiday comes at the end of April, and the previous salary is barely sufficient with the presence of additional expenses for the holiday, and the employee may be forced to borrow, unless he was able to save special amounts previously in order to deal with the expenses of the holiday."

Whereas, the economic expert, Nasr Abdel Karim, says: “The disbursement of 30% of the salary will greatly affect the economic cycle, in light of questions about whether the banks will deduct the obligations of the employees, and that it may have been possible to spend the 30% of the employees’ dues on the government.” It is not from the salary of the current month of April, and whoever has no dues, part of the salary is paid to him.”

Undermining confidence in the government

What happened in terms of decisions and statements in which writers and economic and political analysts believe that their effects will be reflected on the citizens, as they lose confidence and credibility in the government, especially among the unions that represent employees, stressing that it was possible to deduce a better method of disbursing the salary.

According to Al-Hajj, the statements of Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh during the government session on the tenth of this month may show that there is no financial crisis at all, and the subsequent statements of the Minister of Finance yesterday, Wednesday, may also show that the Minister of Finance is the one who controls the money and that he creates crises, postpones them, and may leave them. The minister is supposed to be part of the solution and not part of exacerbating the problem.

Al-Hajj notes that what is happening on the ground in terms of government employment or spending in light of the difficult financial situation may indicate that there is no crisis, or that we may have many other resources whose size is not disclosed.

Al-Hajj indicates that everyone was waiting for matters to be resolved with the unions, and the teachers in particular, but the statements of the Minister of Finance, although his statements are few, at this time after the Prime Minister's statement about the disbursement of another full salary before the Eid, raises question marks about that.

Daoud believes that what happened between Shtayyeh and the Minister of Finance is more an issue of internal disagreement than disagreements over salary disbursement, and this was supposed to be resolved at higher levels and not in front of people, and not affect them in a negative way.

While Abd al-Karim expresses his regret over the controversy over the issue of salary disbursement, he says: "Even if the prime minister hastened and made enthusiastic populist emotional statements that he would pay two salaries within two weeks, especially since everyone is aware of the difficulty of that, but it was more appropriate for the Minister of Finance, and to preserve The prestige of the government is that this be resolved in the same session that Shtayyeh announced, and the difficult financial situation is clarified, or that this be done after the session with an explanatory statement, and he does not wait two weeks to talk about it.

Bad output reflects a crisis

Nasr Abdel-Karim affirms, "What was directed was bad, whether at the beginning of Shtayyeh's statements or Bishara's statements. The formula for directing this reflects the existence of a major crisis in the management of public affairs, and raises many questions about the importance of entitlement to a broad ministerial change, and the matter remains in the president's court."

Abdul Karim says: "The prime minister is the one who controls all the ministers, and in government meetings discussions take place and decisions are issued, even if a minister maintains an opposition position, but he adheres to the decisions, but a number of ministers realize that they are not subject to the cabinet, and they take opposite decisions, and this is not The first time this happened with the Minister of Finance, when he confirmed that he would not pay dues to the unions.

For his part, writer and political analyst Samer Anabtawi stressed in an interview with Al-Quds.com that what happened about the disbursement of salaries is an illogical and illegal dispute. The prime minister is responsible for ministers if they deviate from the general framework of cabinet decisions.

Anabtawi says: "What happened suggests that there is a state of confusion among the government and the state, and that there were disputes over the powers that existed, and appeared in the street, and in light of these differences, we cannot confront the Zionist project and the crises that afflict the Palestinian people."

Anabtawi continues, "These statements and decisions of the Minister of Finance increase the gap between the employees and the various sectors with the government. Therefore, it is required to review the entire Palestinian political system at all levels, and to address the existing differences, because they afflict the Palestinian people and make the situation more difficult."

Wang Chuang-jin , who works at a hostel in the tiny Taiwanese archipelago of Matsu, had severe difficulties communicating with customers after two underwater electric cables mysteriously failed in February, reflecting Taiwan's digital vulnerability.

The two cables, which connect the archipelago near mainland China to the main island of Taiwan, were cut a few days apart, one 50 kilometers from Matsu and the other 40 kilometers from it, according to Chunghwa Telecom. The Taiwanese Communications Authority suspects that Chinese fishing or shipping vessels are responsible.

Since 2021, dozens of similar incidents have been recorded, which is now prompting officials in Taiwan to resort to satellite communications instead of cables.

The growing Chinese military threat also contributes to this penchant for satellite communications.

"Cutting undersea cables has hindered us a lot, as we all depend a lot on the Internet," said Wang, 35.

Tourism in Matsu was also negatively affected, as it was difficult for customers to book or pay online, says Amber Chen, a hotel employee.

"I think China is aware of the situation," said Cheng Yun-bin, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

It would have been easy to prevent such an act of vandalism, but she did not."

The failure in communications raised questions about national security in Taiwan and the fragility of its main island connected to the world through 12 submarine cables, in addition to the two cables that connect it to the Matsu Archipelago, in the event of a war with China.

Lie Wen, director of the Democratic Progressive Party's office in Matsu, asked, "If an internet failure is possible in Matsu, couldn't it also happen in Taiwan?"

"Our government is studying a lot of new technologies, like the low-orbit satellites that played a crucial role in the war in Ukraine, to provide secure communications," he added.

Taiwan is currently testing satellite receivers with the aim of installing them in about 700 locations across its territory.
In an interview last year, Taiwan's Minister for Digital Affairs Audrey Tang asserted that the goal was to provide internet access for residents as long as they could "see the sky".

The plan calls for a budget of NT$540 million (€16.2 million) over two years to ensure communications for the government "in emergency situations such as natural disasters or wars," according to the Ministry of Digital Affairs.

According to media reports, two members of the US Congress have discussed with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen the possibility of deploying a network of Starlink satellites belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceX company, just as Starlink satellites have been deployed to improve communications in Ukraine.

SpaceX and the Taiwanese presidency did not respond to a request for comment from Agence France-Presse.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs confirmed that Taiwan is "ready to cooperate with any qualified satellite service provider".

Residents of the Matsu archipelago accuse Chinese fishing and cargo vessels, which regularly pass through Taiwanese waters, of cutting cables while dropping anchor or dredging the sea floor.

In the last three years, the Taiwan Coast Guard has turned away more than 4,000 ships trying to remove sand from the seabed in Taiwan for construction projects in China.

Experts say that although there is no evidence that China deliberately cut the cables, the incident allowed Beijing to obtain valuable information.

"China had an opportunity to test the resilience of Matsuo's military and civilians in the digital arena," says Taipei-based military expert Tsing Yi-su.

Matsu's roughly 8,000 residents had to deal with a very slow emergency communication network before the cables were repaired at the end of March.

Fishermen in Matsu, who rely on the Internet to receive their customers' orders, talked about the negative impact of the lack of communication on their lives.

"The internet connection was very, very slow and messages weren't even coming," said Wang Chia-wen, 45. "When I was receiving calls, the line would cut off even before I could finish my sentence."

The loss of communications in Matsu for several weeks provided an example of what life would be like for Taiwan's 23 million people if communications were lost on the island.

"The Chinese invasion, if it happens, will target the means of communication," says military expert at National Chengxi University, retired General Richard Hu, adding, "The incidents have reinforced doubts about the level of preparedness of Taiwan."

Today, Thursday, the Israeli Public Prosecution decided to close the investigation file for the field execution crime carried out by members of the Israeli occupation police against the martyr Muhammad Al-Osaibi (26 years) from the town of Hura in the Negev, at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque last March.

The Israeli authorities cited the absence of a “violation” in the crime carried out by the occupation police officers, and the prosecution adopted the police allegations that the reason for not documenting the crime was the “lack of time” to “activate the body cameras,” and that “the accident occurred in a” dead zone, meaning “no.” Covered by any security cameras."

The statement stated that "Mahash recommended to the Public Prosecution Office to end the examination procedures and close the file due to the absence of a violation, which was the recommendation adopted by the Public Prosecutor and his criminal deputy."

The occupation police claimed that the martyr Al-Osaibi tried to snatch the weapon of one of its members near the Chain Gate and carry out a shooting attack, while witnesses reported that the police officers shot Al-Osaibi after a fight with them after they assaulted a girl by beating, and they tried to arrest her and remove her from the courtyards of Al-Aqsa.

The occupation police had claimed that the crime of executing the young doctor Al-Osaibi in Al-Aqsa was not documented with cameras, noting that at least 7 surveillance cameras were counted at the place of his martyrdom in the Bab Al-Silsilah area, in addition to the surveillance cameras installed in the uniforms of the occupation police officers.

The Haaretz newspaper quoted an Israeli police official as saying, "It is illogical that there is no documentation of the incident." "It is not true that there are no cameras at Bab al-Silsilah," he added. While the former occupation police chief in Jerusalem, Yair Yitzhaki, stated, "I do not believe that there were no surveillance cameras that documented the incident. I myself installed cameras in the area during my work period."

It is noteworthy that the Israeli Public Prosecution closed several files, including the case against the settler who stabbed the martyr Ali Harb to death in the olive grove near the "Ariel" settlement established on the lands of Salfit Governorate.

The crime took place in June 2022, when a group of settlers arrived at an olive grove near the village of Iskaka, east of Salfit, to establish a new settlement outpost, where a confrontation broke out between citizens and settlers, during which one of the settlers stabbed Ali Harb to death.

Despite the amount of evidence that reinforces the suspicion of the settler's premeditated killing of Harb, and contradicts his claim that he acted in self-defense, the Occupation Prosecutor's Office announced the closure of the case "due to insufficient evidence."

On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry urged Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syria , in a position confirming that tensions still exist despite efforts to bridge the rift.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister is visiting Ankara for the third round of talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The acceleration of diplomatic communication with Turkey, which is mired in an economic crisis and which will witness crucial elections next month, comes within the framework of the efforts exerted to normalize relations with a number of Arab countries that have been at odds with Ankara over the past decade.

Shoukry reaffirmed that Cairo wants to continue improving the relations that were severed following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, Turkey's ally, in 2013.

However, Shoukry pointed out that there are discrepancies regarding Syria, where Turkey is deploying forces and supporting opposition factions in the war in the country.

And the Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed, during a joint press conference after the talks with Cavusoglu, the necessity of preserving Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the necessity of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Syrian territory.

The Turkish military deployment in northwestern Syria complicates Ankara's efforts to hold a peace summit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Egypt and Arab governments are accelerating efforts to rapprochement with Damascus, in steps that have angered Washington.

This April, Shoukry received his Syrian counterpart, Faisal al-Miqdad, in Cairo, on a visit that was the first by a Syrian official at this level in more than ten years.

Turkey is seeking to hold a summit meeting between its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Assad, but the latter requires a prior withdrawal of Turkish forces from his country to hold the meeting.

Cavusoglu reaffirmed his country's firm position, which considers the military presence on Syrian territory necessary to combat "terrorism."

"We have to make sure that there is no threat to us there," Cavusoglu said.

In addition to its support for opposition factions, Turkey has carried out several military operations in Syria, especially to confront Kurdish groups it considers "terrorist".

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) expected in its monthly report, Thursday, that global demand will increase in 2023 by 2.3 million barrels per day compared to the previous year, to reach an average of 101.9 million barrels per day.

The organization's monthly report generally confirms last month's forecasts.

OPEC revised expectations of oil demand from countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development by a slight increase, as it expected it to rise by 2.2 million barrels per day in 2023 (compared to +2.1 million barrels per day in March), mainly driven by China and India.

OPEC attributed this slight adjustment to "the better-than-expected improvement in economic activity in China after abandoning the zero Covid policy, as well as the expected additional improvement in the Middle East, Latin America and other European countries" that are not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

On the other hand, demand expectations from OECD countries have been lowered, and it is now expected to rise by 0.1 million barrels per day (compared to an expectation of an increase of 0.2 million barrels per day in March) on average compared to last year, taking into account Especially an "expected decline in economic activity" in the countries of the Americas and Europe that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Despite climate change, the consumption of fossil fuels responsible for greenhouse gas emissions that are harmful to the climate is increasing.

It is expected that the average global demand for oil will reach 101.9 million barrels per day in 2023, which is a record high level despite the uncertain economic prospects, according to OPEC, which revises its forecasts for oil supply and demand every month.

OPEC indicated that “the growth momentum for the second half of 2022 is expected to continue in the first half of 2023,” and the organization estimates that “the global economy will continue to face challenges such as high inflation and high interest rates, especially in the euro area and the United States, and levels of High indebtedness in many areas.

Total global oil demand will average 99.6 million barrels per day in 2022, according to OPEC's latest report, almost unchanged from its last report in mid-March.

The " Warner Bros. Discovery " group has set May 23 as the date for the launch in the United States of its new platform, " Max ", which combines "HBO Max" and "Discovery Plus", and announced the production of the first television series adapted from the Harry Potter series, noting that The author of these stories, JK Rowling, will be the executive producer of the work.

"The stories of all the Harry Potter books (seven volumes) written by J.K. Rowling will be turned into a series spanning over a decade," Max said in a statement.

The British novelist said in a statement, "Max's commitment to preserving all my books is important to me, and I look forward to participating in the new work that will deal with stories with depth and detail that only the TV series can provide."

“Max” also promised a new part of “Game of Thrones”, which takes place a hundred years before the events of the original series, after a final part titled “House of the Dragon” that was released in the summer of 2022.

The new platform, which features HBO hits like "The Sopranos" and "Success," will be available with three monthly subscriptions, starting at $9.99 to $19.99.

The platform, which will display content from “HGTV”, “Food Network” and “Discovery Channel”, is looking to compete with Netflix and Disney Plus, two years after the merger between “Warner Media” and “Discovery”.

Today, Thursday, the Higher Follow-up Committee for the Arab Masses demanded the immediate release of the captive , Walid Daqqa . She referred to his "critical health condition", following his admission to the intensive care unit at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon , after he underwent surgery yesterday, Wednesday, during which part of his right lung was removed.

The prisoner, Walid Daqqa, suffered successive health setbacks during his 37 years of captivity, and since last March his condition has deteriorated as a result of a crime of medical negligence, after he was diagnosed with a rare cancer that affects the bone marrow on January 18, 2022.

A statement issued by the follow-up committee stated that it "demands the immediate release of prisoner Walid Daqqa, given his very critical health condition these days, so that he will be in the bosom of his family, after these long years in the prisons of tyranny and injustice."

The follow-up said, "The prisoner's survival in prison, despite his critical and dangerous situation, indicates a mentality of injustice and tyranny," stressing that "it is his human right to be in the arms of his family."

The follow-up called on the components of the committee and the popular committees to interact with the popular movement in order to release the captive Daqqa immediately.

The prisoner, Daqqa, has suffered successive health setbacks since last March, as a result of the crime of medical negligence, after he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis (a rare cancer that affects the bone marrow) on January 18, 2022, which developed from leukemia. ) that was diagnosed in 2015.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the family and campaign for the release of the prisoner, Daqqa, stated that he “needs intensive health care for the lungs, kidneys, and blood on the one hand, and on the other hand, he needs a very sensitive marrow transplant (noting that there is more than one donor) that requires a therapeutic environment that is not available.” The minimum number of them in light of the conditions of captivity, and the strict security practiced by the prison administration.”

The family and the campaign to release the prisoner Walid Daqqa called on local, regional and international human rights organizations to work to release the prisoner Walid Daqqa immediately to receive treatment in a hospital without restriction, in which the necessary conditions are met for the success of the medical operations he needs in the presence of his family. As well as the urgent formation of a medical team from the family, prisoners' institutions, and human rights institutions to visit Walid, and break the medical obscurity that is practiced on his condition.

Today, Wednesday, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported that the prisoner leader, Walid Daqqa, who suffers from a very serious health condition, was admitted to the operating room at 10:00 am today. She explained that "the operation came as a result of the accumulated deterioration in his health, and that the inflammation of the lungs that he is currently suffering from is due to the medical crime he has been subjected to in recent years." And the authority indicated that "his wife, Sanaa, and his daughter, Milad, were allowed to visit him for ten minutes before entering the operating room."

The prisoner, Daqqa, 60, from the town of Baqa al-Gharbia in the lands of 1948, has been detained since March 25, 1986, and he comes from a family consisting of three sisters and 6 brothers, noting that he lost his father during his years of detention.

The prisoner Daqqa is considered one of the most prominent prisoners in the occupation prisons, and he contributed to many paths in the detention life of the prisoners, and during his long career in detention, he produced many books, studies and articles, and contributed cognitively to understanding the prison experience and its resistance.

It is noteworthy that the occupation imposed a life imprisonment sentence against him, which was later set at 37 years, and the occupation added two years to his sentence in 2018, to become 39 years, according to the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs.

An exhibition kicking off Thursday in Paris tells the story of a city that has imposed itself since the tenth century as a world capital of gastronomy, with testimonies that reflect the vast experience in this field, pictures, and stories, fueled over the decades by the romantic and popular aura and freedoms enjoyed by the French capital.

This exhibition, which takes place in the former royal residence of La Conciergere in Paris, takes its visitors on a journey through the history of French cuisine from the Middle Ages to the present day.

"Paris does not have a monopoly on gastronomy in the world, as there has been strong competition going on for decades with other cities, New York, London and Tokyo, which include a number of Bigger than the Michelin-starred restaurants.

However, as shown in the exhibition titled "Paris, Capital of Gastronomy from the Middle Ages to the Present Day", the French capital has a "unique position, both as a point of preservation for the world's gastronomic heritage, and also as a laboratory" for the best schools of cuisine that attract young talents. from all over the world.

"They come to learn the basics of cooking, and then return to their countries to present their own experience," Godry added.

From elaborate menus to intricate cutlery... the exhibition presents testimonies of French expertise dating back more than six centuries.

François Regis Gaudry says, "The banquet of King Charles V in 1378, which was supervised by the great cook Tayvan, shows that the Middle Ages included refined gastronomy, and not only a kitchen rich in spices that were used to mask the taste of rotten meat."

However, the French supremacy in gastronomy is relatively recent, and it depends to a large extent on the image of the French capital cemented in the collective imagination, but also on clever promotion, says Loic Bianasi, a historian at the European Institute for the History of Food Culture in the city. tor french.

Paris began to occupy a special place in the history of cooking since the eighteenth century, as all new cookbooks were published in it, and it witnessed the development of food innovations that were transformed from the most famous foods, such as baguettes and croissants ... in addition to foods whose name suggests that they are from other French regions, including Beef bourguignon and béarnaise sauce.

But what distinguishes Paris from other European capitals?

The historian explains that "in Protestant countries, any promotion of good food would have been met with a whole host of cultural and psychological caveats, which prevented cities like London and Amsterdam from acquiring this status."

However, English cookery "was not an abomination, quite the contrary", as beef dishes were especially prized in Paris for the masculinity associated with it in the nineteenth century.

As the first industrialized country, Britain "very rapidly entered the age of modernity in food" by abandoning local land produce.

In the face of Spain and Italy, "French centralism" benefited from the influence of French cuisine, according to the historian.

But the emergence of the concept of the restaurant, whose modern rules saw the light in Paris (individual tables, menu, bill), "is what established this position, as any foreign visitor can now taste Parisian cuisine."

Restaurants were essential sites in political and cultural life, and until the beginning of the twentieth century they remained associated with “private rooms”, which are beds or couches that are not visible in restaurants for lovers or for people who have relationships with other than their spouses. The Parisian exhibition recreates these rooms, which are also presented through drawings or menus with bold drawings.

Loyec Pianassi points out that "the culinary aura of Paris derives its glow from everything that feeds the public imagination, and the aura of liberation is part of that. This imagination promoted by literature was prevalent" in the nineteenth century.

The American company, " Jul ", the manufacturer of electronic cigarettes, agreed on Wednesday to pay 462 million dollars to six US states in addition to Washington, D.C., for targeting young age groups, thus continuing to settle a group of lawsuits filed against it.

Restrictions were also imposed on the company related to marketing its products, such as mandatory placing them behind payment boxes in stores, according to a statement by the New York Attorney General who signed the settlement along with his counterparts in the states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Washington DC.

In the statement, Attorney General Letitia Demes noted that Juul had sparked a nationwide health crisis by making addictive products available to minors and convincing them that they were harmless.

The lawsuit, filed by the plaintiff, accuses Juul of "glorifying" electronic cigarettes in advertisements promoting cigarettes with different flavors such as fruit, candy and mint, which attracts small groups, in addition to misleading consumers regarding the nicotine content in its products and the harm caused by electronic cigarettes.

Many other lawsuits have been brought against the company on similar grounds.

In September 2022, Joule agreed to pay $438.5 million to 34 US states and territories, while in December it announced agreements to settle five thousand lawsuits filed against it by ten thousand people.

The company announced Wednesday that it has so far settled claims in 47 US states and territories.

The company's value has declined in recent years, due to these lawsuits and the uncertainties surrounding the company's status. In June, the US health authorities issued a decision banning the company from selling e-cigarettes, before an appeals court in Washington partially lifted this decision.

At the end of 2022, the company launched a restructuring plan.

Under the settlement that took place on Wednesday, Joule is prohibited from using people under 35 years of age in its ads, in addition to limiting the number of products per purchase, and preventing it from displaying its products in virtual reality games.

The American "Axios" website attributed US and Israeli officials as saying that the escalation of tensions and violence in Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the past few weeks has exacerbated the already strained relations between Jordan and Israel.

It is mentioned that Jordan's King Abdullah II is the custodian of the Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.

The site says: "The Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, is the third holiest site for Muslims, and it is also the holiest site for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. This fact has long made the compound one of the most sensitive and explosive areas in the Middle East."

Israel, Jordan, the United States and other major players in the region have stepped up efforts to calm tensions ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which also coincided with Passover.

The first two weeks of Ramadan were largely quiet, but the situation escalated last week when the Israeli occupation police raided the compound to remove the Palestinians who were inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jordan strongly condemned the raid and held Israel responsible for the escalation. Since then, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued at least 11 statements and tweets condemning and criticizing Israel's policy toward the holy site.

Jordan initiated an emergency meeting of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He also urged a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Jerusalem. Israeli and American officials said the United States blocked a press release issued by the council condemning Israel.

The site says: "Tensions continued to escalate as the Jordanian and Israeli governments exchanged statements blaming each other for responsibility for the escalation, as Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday accused Israel of unjustified aggression against peaceful Palestinian worshipers. He told CNN, "Israel is paying us to the abyss of violence and undermine the peace treaty with Jordan,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry responded, claiming that the Jordanian endowment, which runs the mosque, had not taken steps to stop the violence of Palestinian worshipers.

"We call on Jordan, through the Waqf guards, to immediately remove extremists planning riots from Al-Aqsa Mosque," the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter on Saturday evening, hours before the start of a major Jewish prayer. Israeli officials accused Safadi of stirring up tensions with his statements.

The site says that they "told Axios that the meetings between Safadi and a number of Israeli officials before Ramadan went well. But they accused him of taking an extreme stance when tensions began to escalate..and that Safadi acted as if he was the Jordanian Ben Gvir, in reference to the far-right Israeli Minister of National Security who provoked Tensions in the past, including in Jerusalem," according to the site.

Senior US officials said Safadi was angry and saw the Israeli police raid on the mosque as a provocation by the Israeli government.

The site notes that "behind the scenes, Israeli and American officials said that the Israeli government asked the United States and the UAE to ask the Jordanian government and Safadi in particular to calm down the rhetoric and work to calm the situation."

Jordanian and American officials said Safadi asked the Biden administration and the Emiratis to say the same to the Israelis.

And the site adds: “The Jordanians at a certain point refused to receive the messages sent to them by the United States and the United Arab Emirates, claiming that Israel was lying about what was happening in the mosque, and confirmed that they were only willing to hear from Israel directly that it was committed to stopping it. Status quo violations in the compound, The Biden administration and the Israeli government were concerned that tensions with Jordan would escalate the situation on Sunday, but prayers for Jews and Muslims alike ended quietly with no Israeli police raiding the mosque and no violence among Palestinian worshipers.

The report notes, “The Israelis told the United States after that that things did not explode because the Biden administration pressured Jordan and the endowment, and the Jordanians informed the United States that things did not explode because the Biden administration pressured Israel.”

Israeli officials say Safadi has in recent days refused to speak to Israeli government representatives and that tensions with the Jordanians remain high.

On Thursday, a child and a young man were killed in two traffic accidents in the Gaza Strip .

According to the Gaza Traffic Department , the child Walid Zaki Shurrab (3 years old) died in a traffic accident that occurred in the Khan Younis Al-Balad area, noting that the driver of the vehicle was detained.

Alaa Shahwan, 22, died in a traffic accident on Salah El-Din Road near Al-Matahen roundabout, north of Khan Yunis.

The use of the abortion pill will still be allowed in the United States after a ruling by a federal appeals court, which nevertheless decided to impose harsh conditions on access to it.

Three visits to the doctor and permission to use it during the first seven weeks of pregnancy exclusively and prevent it from being sent by mail. A panel of three judges based in the conservative south set strict conditions on Wednesday evening for the distribution of these pills.

However, the future of these grains, which is at the center of intense legal battles, will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

And last week, a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump, known for his conservative views, revoked the license to market these pills.

Despite the scientific consensus, the judge considered that these pills pose a threat to women's health and suspended the licensing of these pills throughout the United States.

The judge had given one week before starting to implement his decision to give the federal government time to appeal.

The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden had asked the New Orleans Court of Appeal to intervene to block the "extraordinary and unprecedented" ruling issued by Judge Matthew Kaksmarek, "primarily pending study of the file."

In its appeal, the government said more than five million women had used the abortion pill in combination with another pill since it was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000.

She stressed that serious side effects are very rare when used properly.

On Thursday, the Algerian National Assembly approved a new media law that tightens control over the work of journalists and imposes new restrictions and penalties for violations.

Among the main provisions of the text approved on March 28 by the National People's Assembly, the first chamber of parliament, is to prevent the Algerian media from receiving any funding or material assistance, direct or indirect, from any "foreign entity."

The law stipulates that the journalist has the right to “protect his sources,” but he is obligated to disclose them to the judiciary if he is requested to do so.

The new law de facto excludes dual nationals from the right to own or contribute to the ownership of a media outlet in Algeria.

However, the members of the National Assembly "reserved" about Article 22 of the text related to the conditions for obtaining "accreditation" to work in Algeria in foreign media.

In particular, the senators considered that the thirty-day period was "insufficient" to obtain the aforementioned accreditation from the date of submission of the application.

The new law stipulates a fine of up to one million dinars (about seven thousand euros) for anyone who works for a foreign media outlet without obtaining accreditation.

For his part, Sherif Idris, a political science professor at the University of Algiers, told AFP, "We have to wait for the executive texts to see if we are facing a pioneering law compared to the old law, or if it reproduces the same old pattern."

He lamented that "the issuance of executive texts is still slow" in Algeria.

Many members of the Council pointed out during the discussions that there are no executive texts accompanying the draft law.

Algeria ranks 134th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders in 2022.

On April 2, a court sentenced the Algerian journalist, Ihssan El-Kadi, who had been arrested since December, to five years in prison, on charges of receiving money from abroad.

A Dutch court on Thursday sentenced four women who were returned by the government last year from a refugee camp in Syria to prison terms of up to three years after convicting them of terrorism.

In February 2022, five women and 11 children arrived in the Netherlands after the government returned them from the al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria, where families of jihadist fighters are being held.

Shortly after their return, the five women appeared before a court in Rotterdam, where they were charged with joining fighters in the Islamic State at the height of the Syrian civil war, and planning terrorist acts.

On Thursday, the Rotterdam Court said in a statement that the women on Thursday "went to battlefields in Syria and Iraq, knowing that there is a war going on."

"There, the women joined the Islamic State," the statement added, in which their husbands were active.

The sentences imposed on the four women ranged from 30 to 36 months of imprisonment, of which 12 to 15 months were suspended.

In its statement, the court affirmed that the four convicts "expressly renounce the ideology of the Islamic State."

The court acquitted the fifth woman of the terrorism charge, but sentenced her to 16 months in prison, nine of which were suspended, for "endangering her child by traveling to a conflict zone."

About 300 Dutch jihadists have traveled to Syria to join radical Islamist fighters since 2012, according to Dutch government figures.

Dutch intelligence said that about 100 people are still there, and a large number of them are in camps and detention centers in northern Syria, Iraq and Turkey, while about 100 others have died.

After 12 years of diplomatic isolation imposed on Damascus , several Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are opening their arms once again to President Bashar al-Assad , paving the way for Syria's return to the Arab fold and seeming to be an acknowledgment of his victory in an endless war.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia received Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, on his first official visit to the kingdom since the start of the conflict.

The visit comes before a meeting to be held in Saudi Arabia on Friday that brings together the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. On its agenda is the return of Syria to the Arab League after it suspended its membership in it since 2011, and about a month before the convening of an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia.

This coincides with the change of the political map in the region after the Saudi-Iranian agreement announced last month.

"Assad simply refused to compromise and waited for his enemies to surrender, and he succeeded," Aaron Lund, a researcher on Syria at Century International, told AFP.

He considered that this "sends to the opposition a message that Assad will eventually win and that its allies have betrayed it."

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Arab countries, headed by Saudi Arabia, have severed their relations with Damascus and withdrew their ambassadors from it, and a number of them have provided support to the armed and political opposition. During an Arab summit in 2013, a delegation from the Syrian opposition coalition participated in the meetings in Doha as a "representative" of the Syrian people.

Within 12 years, more than half a million people have been killed and more than half of Syria's population has been displaced inside and outside the country, and the country has turned into an arena for settling scores between regional and international powers. And all this left its mark on the tired economy. But Assad, who is now looking forward to reconstruction funds, remained in his presidential palace.

His forces have regained most of the areas that were lost at the beginning of the conflict, with the support of his two main allies: Russia and Iran.

The first signs of Arab openness towards Damascus emerged in 2018 with the resumption of relations between Syria and the United Arab Emirates, and the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey in February constituted a remarkable turning point. Al-Assad received a torrent of calls from the leaders of Arab countries, and even Saudi Arabia sent aid planes, the first of its kind since severing its relations with Damascus.

Attracting funds for the reconstruction phase is a priority for the Syrian regime today, after the war destroyed infrastructure, factories, and production.

While Al-Assad realizes that obtaining the money of the international community is difficult outside a political settlement, he is pinning hopes, perhaps on the Gulf states.

There is no doubt that the Gulf openness would activate the commercial and economic movement in Syria to some extent, but several obstacles impede any real reconstruction, including, according to Lund, the US and Western sanctions imposed on Syria, which "will deter Saudi and Emirati investments."

Likewise, "any serious investment in Syria today is considered an adventure, as the economy is devastated, corrupted to the point of chaos, and controlled by a dangerous and violent regime," as he put it.

The Arab countries also impose sanctions on Syria, including freezing commercial exchanges with the Syrian government and freezing the Syrian government's bank accounts in Arab countries. It is likely that these sanctions will be lifted if Damascus returns to the Arab embrace, but the effect of this remains limited if the country remains under the influence of Western sanctions.

The researcher on Syrian affairs, Sam Heller, believes that opening up to Syria also means "more security cooperation, especially in the field of combating drug smuggling", which is one of the biggest sources of concern for Saudi Arabia, especially in terms of Captagon pills that are mainly manufactured in Syria and find a large market for them in Saudi Arabia. According to various reports.

A joint statement issued following the meeting of the Saudi and Syrian foreign ministers on Wednesday touched on the issue of drug smuggling.

This rapprochement would also, according to Heller, "reduce the importance of the Syrian-Syrian negotiations in Geneva (...)", noting that the Syrian government "originally refuses to recognize opposition representatives, insisting on negotiating at the level of the countries" that support it.

"Therefore, the agreement with Saudi Arabia and other countries is exactly what Damascus wanted," he added.

Several rounds of negotiations between the regime and the opposition, led by the United Nations in Geneva, in an attempt to establish a political settlement, failed.

Lund says, "I do not think that there is a political solution for Syria on the table, and basically there was no solution. There is also no military solution" due to the deployment of forces from several countries in it.

The return of Syria to the Arab embrace may not change the political and field map in the short term, as there are other parties that must be taken into account, from Russia and Iran to the United States, which is deploying forces in Syria in support of the Kurdish fighters, to Turkey, which controls border areas.

Lund says, "Syria as a country has changed in irreversible ways just because about a quarter of the (pre-war) population is watching Assad's return to the Arab bosom from exile."

Activists who raised their voices against the regime in Syria speak of "expected disappointment" from the Arab countries.

The Syrian dissident and CEO of the Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability, Muhammad al-Abdullah, said, "Al-Assad's return to the Arab League, albeit unfortunate, appears as if the Arab region is being controlled to return it to what it was before 2011."

"But it will not work because it is simply based on many grievances: the refugees, the displaced, the missing and the detainees," he added.