The Palestinian Presidency announced its rejection and condemnation of the escalating Israeli measures aimed at imposing restrictions in order to prevent believers from accessing places of worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and participating in the ceremonies for Holy Saturday.

The presidency said in a statement today, Wednesday, "We strongly support the demands of the churches in the city of Jerusalem to allow free and smooth access for Christian pilgrims to attend the Holy Saturday ceremonies," stressing that these continuous attacks on the holy religious places in Jerusalem are a dangerous escalation, the consequences of which the occupation authorities bear. The Israeli that insists on straining the atmosphere and creating a climate of chaos and violence, and that brags before the world of its commitment to preserving the historical and religious situation in Jerusalem.

And she called on all pilgrims to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and participate in the celebration of the activities of Saturday of Light, and to worship freely and in peace, calling on the international community, especially the US administration, to intervene immediately to stop these Israeli crimes, which affect the freedom of worship of Christian and Muslim believers alike.

Today, Wednesday, Hamas condemned the implementation of a settlement project that includes the construction of an aerial suspension bridge in the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood in Silwan , occupied Jerusalem.

Hamas spokesman Muhammad Hamada considered the project a flagrant attack on the town's identity, and a continuation of the policy of Judaizing the occupied city of Jerusalem and changing its civilizational and cultural features. like he said.

Hamada added, "The fascist occupation's feverish pursuit of expanding its settlement projects, in full view of the world, disregarding all international resolutions and covenants that criminalized settlement; our Palestinian people will only meet it with more steadfastness and confrontation."

He called on the international community to take effective action to oblige the occupation to stop its settlement and Judaization policies that threaten the security and stability of the region.

Chinese oil giant Sinopec on Wednesday became the first Asian group to acquire a stake in Qatar's project to expand the Northeast Field, the world's largest natural gas field, Doha reported.

China is Qatar's largest LNG customer and one of the world's largest energy importers. Last year, Sinopec signed a 27-year import agreement with Qatar, which it said was the longest ever in the natural gas industry.

Qatar had launched the $28.75 billion expansion project, which would boost annual gas production growth from 77 million tons annually to 110 million by 2027.

The state-owned Qatar Energy Company said in a statement that it will transfer to China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) a share "of 5 percent of the equivalent of one production line of the project with a capacity of 8 million tons annually, while maintaining the shares of other partners without change."

The Qatari company did not specify the value of the deal.

The French Total, the British Shell, the Italian Eni and the American ConocoPhillips own larger stakes in the North East field.

In a speech during the signing ceremony, Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi said, "Today's event highlights Qatar Energy's commitment to strengthening its relations with major LNG consumers."

He added that Qatar would like to give preference to "long-term strategic partnerships and achieve alignment of interests with partners with global capabilities from China, represented by Sinopec here today."

For his part, Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Sinopec" Ma Yong-xing said, according to a statement by "Qatar Energy" that this cooperation will help "improve the structure of energy consumption in China and enhance the security, stability and reliability of clean energy supply."

Hamas condemned, on Wednesday, in the strongest terms, the Israeli occupation authorities’ prevention of Palestinian Christian citizens in the Gaza Strip from accessing Christian holy sites in Jerusalem to celebrate Easter, by canceling their travel permits.

In a statement, Hamas considered that decision as racial discrimination and a restriction on the Palestinians' freedom of access to their holy places, and a flagrant violation of the most basic rules of international humanitarian law by depriving them of freedom of movement and depriving them of practicing religious rites. as she said.

She called on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities towards ensuring the Palestinians' freedom of access to their holy places, and to pressure the occupation authorities to respect international laws and norms that guarantee citizens under occupation freedom of movement and freedom to practice religious rites, calling for the condemnation of the occupation's crimes and violations, and for its leaders to be held accountable and not with impunity.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported that the prisoner commander , Walid Daqqa , who suffers from a very serious health condition, was admitted to the operating room at 10:00 am today, Wednesday.

The authority stated, in a statement, that the operation came as a result of the accumulated deterioration in his health condition, and that the pneumonia he is currently suffering from is due to the medical crime he was subjected to and still is in recent years.

The commission indicated that his wife, Sana, and daughter, Milad, were allowed to visit him for 10 minutes before entering the operating room.

Today, Wednesday, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced the availability of a number of scholarships in India. In the field of undergraduate and postgraduate studies (Master’s and PhD) for the academic year 2023-2024.

The Ministry called on those concerned with the competition for these grants to visit its website www.mohe.pna.ps for full details.

A Defense Intelligence Agency document recently revealed as part of a collection of leaks of classified Pentagon documents says the United States believes it can pressure Israel into providing "lethal assistance" to Ukraine, the US anti-war website reported.

And the image of the document circulating on the Internet shows that it identifies four possible scenarios in order from the most plausible to the least plausible, which could lead to Israel supplying weapons to the government of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zalensky, according to the document listed under "top secret" titled "Israel: Paths to Providing Lethal Aid to Ukraine." It is dated February 28, 2023.

Antiwar.com states that it has not been able to verify the photo's authenticity, but its contents match reports from media outlets with access to documents that US officials have said are authentic, including The New York Times.

The first and most plausible scenario identified by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) intelligence analysis is that Israel could adopt the "Turkish model" in its dealings with Ukraine under pressure from the United States. (The Turkish model means selling arms to Ukraine through third parties while publicly calling for peace talks to end the war, as Ankara has done throughout the conflict.)

The second scenario is if Russia provides Iran with more advanced equipment, such as the Russian Su-35 fighters, or expands its support for Iranian weapons programs, and Israel responds by providing lethal aid to Kiev.

The third scenario is if Israel requests expanded US support for "anti-Iranian activities" in response to Russia's permitting of Iranian conventional weapons advanced through Syria. In exchange for US support for Israeli operations against Iran, Israel will provide lethal aid to Ukraine.

According to experts, the background provided for the third scenario indicates that Israel has already requested US support for its operations against Iran. This background reads (according to the document in question): “Israeli defense leaders call for increased risk to confront Iran, including proposing bilateral US-Israeli operations. Israel has regularly requested overflights of high-tech intelligence (ATG base) to support its strikes in Syria.”

The ATG most likely refers to al-Tanf, a US base in southern Syria, as the Wall Street Journal reported in July 2022 that the US and Israel were coordinating on Israeli airstrikes in Syria launched from the direction of ATG (Al-Tanf) according to the report. The vast majority of Israeli air strikes passing through the Al-Tanf ATG base have been approved by the United States.

A fourth, and less plausible, scenario is if Russia suffers loss of life from Israeli airstrikes in Syria it may start shooting at Israeli planes, prompting Israel to change its calculus about lethal aid to Ukraine.

Since the publication of the document on February 28, Israel has dramatically escalated its airstrikes in Syria, including the one that killed two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. But at this point, there is no indication that Israel has pledged to provide the "lethal aid" Washington wants.

The American Axios website had reported on March 15 that Israel had agreed to export to Ukraine an anti-drone jamming system, which uses electronic warfare to shoot down drones. The site attributed to Israeli officials (at the time) as saying that this export does not mean that their position has changed because the system does not contain live ammunition that can kill the Russians. The Axios report said Israel first notified Ukraine that it would approve the export on February 15, before the CIA analysis was published.

The Defense Intelligence Document (DIA) said there are three Israeli weapons systems the US hopes can be sent to Kiev, including the Barak-8 (surface-to-air) missile system, the Spyder air defense system, and the Spike and Penetrator ATGM, the Israeli equivalent of the Javelin system. American Javelin anti-tank.

Bank of Palestine provided its contribution to the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability of Bethlehem University in carrying out educational visits to schools, through the mobile educational museum, in several governorates of the country, as part of the Unity and Diversity in Nature and Society project.

The visits carried out by the institute, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, through visits to the mobile educational museum to a number of schools in Hebron, Jericho, and Tubas, aimed at introducing students to the issues of biological and human diversity in Palestine, the importance of preserving it, and promoting responsible interaction of students with the environment through samples and educational materials. contained in the Museum.

Mahmoud Shawa, General Manager of Bank of Palestine, expressed his happiness with Bank of Palestine’s contribution to supporting this educational and educational activity, stressing the importance of this project, which would facilitate the process of delivering information, acquiring the required knowledge to students, and encouraging them to pay attention to environmental issues, stressing the importance of the mobile exhibition in reaching to all segments of our society.

Shawa confirmed that Bank of Palestine’s support for such initiatives and events comes within the context of its strategy and its implementation of the sustainability approach, in addition to its adherence to its social responsibility as an effective Palestinian banking institution that represents an integral part of society, praising at the same time the important role played by the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity in its activities. And various activities aimed at raising awareness about the concept of biodiversity.

In turn, Professor Mazen Qumsiyeh, founder and director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability, praised the importance of Bank of Palestine’s support for projects to protect the Palestinian environment and the sustainability of people and nature.

It is noteworthy that Bank of Palestine allocates about 5% of its annual profits to support community initiatives, in implementation of its vision of supporting the community through an effective contribution to achieving sustainable community development.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said that with the entry of the prisoner, Sheikh Khader Adnan , into his 67th day of his open hunger strike in rejection of his arrest, this strike will be the longest strike he has ever waged throughout the total number of years of his past detention, in which he went through five strikes before that, and this is the sixth strike.

The Captive Club confirmed that every hour that passes since the prisoner Adnan’s strike increases the risks to his fate and his life, in light of the serious symptoms he faces, especially that the prison administration refuses to transfer him to the hospital, and continues to detain him in the (Ramla prison clinic), just as the prisoner Adnan refuses Carrying out medical examinations, taking the supports until today, and only relying on water as part of his battle, in which he is demanding his freedom and an end to his detention.

Ukraine will continue its pressure on the International Olympic Committee so that Russian athletes are not allowed to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris , more than a year after the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian Sports Minister announced to Agence France-Presse .

"We must keep up the pressure. Perhaps the International Olympic Committee will understand that as long as there is war in Ukraine, the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be appropriate," Minister Vadym Gotzeit said Tuesday in an interview with AFP.

A ban was imposed on Russian and Belarusian athletes in international sports competitions, in connection with the military campaign launched by Moscow in February 2022.

As the war dragged on, the International Olympic Committee this year opened the door for individual athletes to return, under a neutral flag and as long as they did not "actively" support the invasion or were not affiliated with the Russian army.

But the International Olympic Committee postponed its decision to participate in the Paris Olympics for a later time.

A decision that angered the Ukrainian authorities, who accused the International Olympic Committee of promoting war. Many Western countries condemned this step, and Kiev is counting on it to maintain the Russian-Belarusian ban.

"We hope that the big and powerful federations will stand in solidarity with Ukraine... and not allow them to participate in international competitions," said Gotzeit, who has been chairing the Ukrainian Olympic Committee for a year.

He continued, "Our cause must be defended. We have not lost yet."

The minister was surprised by the softening of the Olympic Committee's stance towards the Russian and Belarusian athletes. "Nothing has changed, it has only gotten worse! How many cities have been destroyed, how many people have been killed - women, children!"

At the present time, Ukrainian athletes are “preparing” and “training”, but in the event of the reintegration of Russian and Belarusian athletes, Ukraine may boycott the Paris Olympics. "We are not talking about boycott now."

"It's difficult. The Olympic Games are the most important moment for every athlete," said the former Olympic champion in fencing in 1992. "But the most important thing for us now is to win the war.. Even if we don't participate, it's just a competition."

According to the minister, at least 273 Ukrainian athletes have died since the beginning of the Russian invasion and at least 343 sports venues have been destroyed across the country.

Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said, during a press conference held today, Wednesday, in the city of Ramallah, that there is no other salary for public employees before Eid Al-Fitr.

Bishara added that salary and semi-salary inflation exceeded 100% of the total revenues of the Palestinian Authority.

He pointed out that the value of the salary bill rose to $3.7 billion by the end of 2022, down from $2.9 billion by the end of 2018.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh had previously announced a salary for employees for the current month of April, which will be paid before Eid al-Fitr.

The Director-General of the United Nations Organization for Migration, Antonio Vitorino , announced on Wednesday that the first quarter of this year witnessed the largest number of migration victims across the Mediterranean since 2017, explaining that 441 migrants died on these crossing trips.

Vitorino said that the period between January and March 2023 saw the highest number of victims recorded in migrant crossings across the Mediterranean since 2017.

"The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is unbearable," he added.

He pointed to "more than twenty thousand deaths on this road since 2014," stressing, "I fear that the death of these people will become a normal matter."

In an important history that is the first of its kind, the book " Christian Palestine ... From the First Century A.D. Until the Beginning of the Ottoman Rule" reveals an important historical period in the history of Palestine that has not been adequately covered or highlighted. It is an important book in refuting the Zionist narrative about Palestine. About claiming that Judaism was dominant.

The book, which was recently prepared by Hussam Abu Al-Nasr and Joseph Hazboun, included words and research papers that were presented at the “Christian Palestine” conference organized by the Papal Mission in Jerusalem, in Ramallah last year, in cooperation with the “Al-Sabil Center”, and its publishing rights belong to the Jerusalem House for Palestinian Studies and Research. And the Papal Mission, which is available in Palestinian libraries in the West Bank, and its authors and publishers hope that it will be spread globally.

The writer, historian, and head of the "Christian Palestine" conference, Prof. Hossam Abu Al-Nasr, told Al-Quds.com: "The book Christian Palestine is a historical book that deals with the Christian era in Palestine from the first century AD until the fall of Constantinople and the beginning of the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD."

According to Abu al-Nasr, many references did not address an important period of the emergence of Christianity in Palestine and Islamic-Christian relations, where the religion was widespread, and not as it is rumored that the Jewish religion is widespread, so the book came to respond to the allegations of the occupation and the Zionist movement that the Jewish religion was widespread.

Abu Al-Nasr pointed out that the Christian religion originated from Palestine and spread in it and then to the world, and refutes the incorrect claims that the religion spread in Palestine is Judaism, as the widespread antiquities, churches and monasteries in which many Palestinian villages and towns were associated with the "word monastery", which is what It proves the spread of Christianity, not Judaism.

Abu Al-Nasr noted that this period is important in the history of Palestine, and it was evaded and skipped by a number of historians, either inadvertently or deliberately, which deals especially with the first three centuries, which constituted a lack of historical references, so the book came to be important as well in the context of the necessity of a critical reading. The book presents the subject from a historical rather than a religious point of view, and as a continuation of the subject of "Canaanite Palestine" and then "Christian Palestine".

Abu Al-Nasr explains that the book included research papers by fifteen researchers that were presented last year, at the "Christian Palestine" conference, and dealt with that historical period. Those papers were transcribed, prepared and edited in a book that included 250 pages.

The book falls into three main chapters: "The first: talks about the roots of Christianity in Palestine, the second: Christianity and the emergence of Islam, and the third: Christian history and the dialogue of sects."

Today, Wednesday, the Minister of Social Development, Ahmed Majdalani , announced that the allocations for poor families benefiting from the cash transfer program will be disbursed before Eid Al-Fitr, in all governorates alike.

Majdalani said at the outset of the meeting of the Social Protection Sector Working Group, which he chaired, with the participation of partners in the European Union, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the International Labor Organization, that the ministry is making strenuous efforts to secure disbursement of allowances for needy families despite the financial crisis facing the government to secure allocations before the end of the year. RAMADAN month.

He added that the Ministry's policy is to make the social register available to partners, in a way that improves coordination among all, and will also allow the sharing of data between the parties, stressing the importance of the partnership and strategic relationship that brings the Ministry together with donors, government institutions and civil society institutions, which aims to strengthen a comprehensive protection system that reflects the Ministry's approach to transition. From relief to development, and from the need for production, indicating that this is done by adopting the national social register based on multidimensional poverty, the comprehensiveness of case management in Palestine and integration in order to draw up policies to provide comprehensive interventions for the poor and marginalized.

He pointed out that the national social registry based on the multidimensional poverty approach will ensure justice and non-duplication in the provision of all social services to the poor and marginalized groups, including cash and in-kind and social services, noting that the ministry's strategy for the years 2024-2029 will be prepared with the wide participation of all partners. national and international.

In turn, the representative of the European Union, Eduardo Cuomo, affirmed that the Union will continue to support the efforts of the Palestinian government to achieve sustainable development in Palestine, as well as provide assistance to poor families, in addition to developing more economic empowerment projects for poor families, which make them able to produce.

For her part, UNICEF Representative Lucia Elmi confirmed the continuation of technical support for the preparation of the strategy, as well as the continuation of work to provide social protection and care services for children and the eradication of child poverty, indicating her support for the centralization of the social protection system.

The meeting was briefed on the latest developments on the importance of forming the topical committee for persons with disabilities, as well as the topical committee for cash and vouchers. The members also reviewed the multidimensional poverty reduction strategy and the ministry's plan to prepare the new strategy for it.

An Iranian delegation arrived Wednesday in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pave the way for the reopening of Iranian representations, following a similar visit to Riyadh, following an agreement brokered by China last month, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"The Iranian delegation arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday to visit and reopen the embassy and consulate in line with the recent agreement between the two countries," the agency said.

It is the first official visit by Iranian officials to Saudi Arabia since the visit of officials of the Iranian Hajj Agency to the Kingdom in December 2019, a Saudi official told AFP.

The Iranian visit comes after the visit of a similar Saudi delegation to Tehran on Saturday to discuss mechanisms for reopening the Kingdom's representations in the Islamic Republic, and after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries last Thursday in Beijing.

It also comes amid accelerated diplomatic moves that fall within the framework of the normalization of relations between the two most important regional powers in the Gulf, according to the sudden announcement of an agreement to resume relations between the two countries under Chinese auspices last month.

On March 10, Tehran and Riyadh announced that they had reached the agreement after a seven-year estrangement, following the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran over the execution of Saudi cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, two regional rivals, have fought regional conflicts by proxy, most notably the war in Yemen, as well as in Iraq and Lebanon.

The two countries held a number of rounds of dialogue in Baghdad and the Sultanate of Oman before reaching an agreement in Beijing, which was negotiated over a period of five days between the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, and his Saudi counterpart, Massad bin Muhammad Al-Aiban.

It is expected that the next step in the path of restoring relations between the two countries will be the visit of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to Riyadh after receiving an invitation from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, as confirmed by Iranian officials, an invitation that Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed.

It will be the first visit by an Iranian president to Riyadh since Mohammad Khatami's visit in 1999.

Countries in the region and beyond have hailed the Iran-Saudi Arabia agreement as a positive step towards stability that could pave the way for more regional diplomatic rapprochement.

Observers hope that the agreement will contribute to the calm in Yemen, where the two countries have been waging a proxy war since 2015. This may also apply to other countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, where Iran is more present than ever before.

The US government on Wednesday introduced stricter standards on vehicle emissions, a measure that aims to make 67% of cars sold in the country electric by 2032.

This goal exceeds the ambitions revealed by President Joe Biden two years ago, which aspired to have half of the cars sold in the United States by 2030 free of emissions, that is, electric cars, plug-in hybrids or hydrogen cars.

This time, the administration did not specify an exact quota for clean cars to be sold.

But the EPA plans to gradually cap the average amount of polluting emissions from new cars produced by each manufacturer, encouraging it in the process to add more electric cars to its fleet.

These new standards "could save us nearly 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions (by 2055), more than double the total US carbon dioxide emissions in 2022," the EPA said in a statement. .

The new standards represent "an essential step on the road to reducing our country's largest source of carbon pollution and providing cleaner air and a safer climate," Manish Babna, head of the NRDC environmental organization, said in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse.

"If properly implemented," he added, these measures would also reduce oil imports and motorists' fuel expenditures.

The EPA estimates that savings from the new standards will outweigh costs by at least $1,000 billion.

It will be left to the car manufacturers to choose which technologies to adopt to reduce their emissions.

In the past, manufacturers reduced the size of their vehicles or improved the efficiency of their engines. And companies will be able to use new particulate filters.

But since many manufacturers have already embarked on the path of transition to electric vehicles, the agency is counting above all on accelerating this movement.

It calculates that, with the new standards, electric cars could account for 67% of sales of light vehicles (city cars, sedans, SUVs, and pickups) in 2032, 50% of sales of buses and garbage trucks, and 35% of pickup trucks. domestic and 25% of long-distance transport trucks.

The situation is not easy for manufacturers: Despite the significant increase in the past two years, sales of fully electric cars in the United States accounted for only 5.8% of cars sold in 2022, according to Cox Automotive.

The White House climate advisor, Ali Zaidi, indicated during a press conference that expectations on this issue are subject to constant review with technological progress.

In addition to the many public aid aimed at boosting the emergence of the electric car since Joe Biden took office, the private sector has invested $120 billion in manufacturing electric cars and batteries, according to Zaidi, who said it is sufficient to monitor "what is being made and at what speed."

Arthur Wheaton, a specialist in the automotive sector at Cornell University, said that these ambitions collide with three main challenges that must be overcome.

Manufacturers continue to face problems in their supply chain.

The startups, Rivian and Lucid, for example, failed to meet their production targets.

For industry giants, transforming the entire production system, from building battery factories to retrofitting assembly lines, takes time. Electric cars still make up only a small part of General Motors and Ford sales, and they cost them a lot of money.

Manufacturers must also adapt to "limited raw materials" such as lithium, according to Wheaton.

But it is important for the expert that the government shows high ambitions, as this allows "the same rules to apply to all manufacturers."

Even if only 85% of the targets are met, "the path to transforming the production system and supply chain is at least underway."

The repercussions of the economic crisis in Egypt were not limited only to the rise in prices and bank interest rates, but also extended to the well-established habits of the people of Upper Egypt and the Delta .

On top of these customs, which began to be abandoned by the residents of the north and south, are the wedding celebrations and preparations that the rich and simple in these regions used to celebrate.

In the governorate of Menoufia, in the Nile Delta, villagers used to celebrate the "Henna" day, which preceded the wedding ceremony. Those who are about to get married on that day gather their friends and relatives to celebrate the marriage and end by putting henna on the feet and hands of the groom.

Henna day is held in a marquee made of colorful fabrics, in which a cow or buffalo is slaughtered to prepare food and serve various drinks to the attendees.

It also includes bringing an artistic band or speakers to sing and dance, provided that the groom and his family cover the costs.

However, this habit began to disappear, according to what the young engineer, Muhammad Shadid, said in his hometown of Quesna and the surrounding villages.

Shadid explains, "The celebration of Henna Day is very low... We used to attribute the reason to Corona at first, but then people collided with economic conditions."

The Egyptian economy has recently been suffering from the repercussions of the Covid pandemic, as well as the impact of the war in Ukraine, as Russia and Ukraine are the main sources from which Egypt imports wheat, and they are an essential source for tourists visiting the Nile countries.

Egyptians suffer from inflation of 33.9 percent, exacerbated by a continuous decline in the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound, which lost 50 percent of its value.

Since 2017, Egypt has received four loans from the International Monetary Fund to address the dollar shortage and support the budget, but indicators of recovery from the economic crisis remain negative.

In Nubia, in the far south of the country, Omar Mughrabi, a 43-year-old Nubian language teacher, told AFP, "Because of the high price, our joys or condolences are no longer what they used to be."

"The situation has become difficult, and homes now need what we used to spend before on our habits," he continues.

The Nubians' weddings used to extend over three days, or even a week for the rich, according to a Moroccan, who invited all the villagers "with breakfast, lunch and dinner provided to them over the entire specified period."

However, the high costs of weddings due to the low exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against the dollar, as well as food prices in a country that imports most of its food needs, made sticking to this habit difficult.

"A few months ago, the Nubian villages agreed to reduce wedding expenses," Mughrabi added. "The wedding is now limited to a light dinner."

He added, "Even gold... when the price was affordable, the groom was required to have a certain weight, but now it may end up with a small ring."

Also, the Egyptian Dar Al Iftaa published on its official website a short while ago a fatwa stating that jewelry made of gold can be replaced with other jewelry that is less expensive than silver, "to facilitate and encourage marriage."

"Everyone in the village used to take out trays of food during funerals to console the family of the deceased" before the harsh economic conditions, former parliamentarian Mohamed Refaat Abdel-Aal told AFP from his village in Qena, in the south of the country.

Now, "the matter has become confined to family members close to the family of the deceased," says Abdel-Al, the 68-year-old doctor, and adds, "families suggest that condolence be limited to the funeral to avoid costs."

According to official statistics, the poor represent about 30% of the total population of about 105 million people.
And while everyone reduced the consumption of meat, chicken and sweets on major occasions, bread is still widespread.

However, the high prices of commodities such as flour and oil led to the diminishing of an important and vital habit in the villages of Upper Egypt, which is baking bread in homes, according to Abdel-Al.

Maintaining subsidies in state bakeries has led to a demand for grain purchases from them.

"It was a shame for villagers in Upper Egypt in the past to buy bread from the tabouneh (bakery), because that indicates laziness and laziness inside the house," he explains.

"Now everyone is racing to the tabouneh because of the low price of bread and the speed of its preparation," he added.

An-Najah National University achieved a new achievement in the international rankings of universities, as it ranked first in Palestine and the Arab world, and fifth globally in the HE Higher Education Ranking.

The HE Higher Education Ranking is a distinguished classification that is published by the Turkish Higher Education Quality and Assessment Council (HEQAC), as it measures the performance of higher education institutions according to a number of criteria and key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure specific aspects of the work of higher education institutions.

Universities are evaluated in this classification according to 25 criteria and 177 performance indicators that measure the quality of higher education around the world, such as access to sustainable education, achieving justice and equality in the educational process, ensuring quality and accreditation, developing digital access to the educational institution, future vision, and achieving the goals of the United Nations for development. sustainable development, and Vision 2023; As well as enhancing transparency and academic freedom for higher education institutions.

An-Najah University achieved this achievement by surpassing all Palestinian and Arab universities, and came in fifth place in the world, as only 146 universities around the world were able to participate in the ranking out of 71 countries around the world.

A.D. expressed Abdel Nasser Zaid , President of the University, expressed his pride in this rise, which is added to the list of achievements that the university has achieved and which it is working to achieve in accordance with the comprehensive strategic plan that included sustainable development issues, its application, and its development among its priorities.

He pointed out that this achievement confirms the extent of An-Najah University's commitment to international standards of excellence to achieve its vision and implement its strategic plan. And a true translation of the hard work and tireless efforts made by the university administration, its academic and administrative staff, and its students to move forward towards more regional and global achievements.

The 76th edition of the Cannes Festival, next May, will witness the screening of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar 's short film " Stranger Way of Life ", starring actors Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal , as the organizers announced Tuesday.

And the festival management stated in a statement that the 30-minute “Strange Way of Life” will be on the official list of selected films, and its screening, which is the first in the world, will be followed by a meeting with the director and his team.

This western film deals with the story of the relationship between two men, one of whom is a rancher played by the star of the TV series "The Last of Us" Pedro Pascal, and the other is the chief of the city's police (played by Ethan Hawke), who meet again after 25 years of working together as contract killers.

Almodovar has previously described his short as an "answer" to Ang Lee's 2005 movie "Brokeback Mountain" about two gay cowboys.

He explained to the singer Dua Lipa in her podcast last December that the story of the film deals with "two men in love", and it is centered on "the deep concept of masculinity because the Western is a masculine type" traditionally.

The statement quoted Pedro Almodovar as saying that the strange way of life referred to in the title of the film is taken from the title of a song by Portuguese singer Amalia Rodriguez, whose words consider that "the strangest life is when a person turns his back on his own desires."

This is the second English-language film directed by "Todo Sopro Me Madre" and "Apple Kon Ella" after the first short film "The Human Voice" starring Tilda Swinton was screened at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.

Almodovar has been a frequent participant in the Cannes Festival, and the film "La Mala Educación" was shown at its opening in 2004 and he chaired the jury in 2017.

The cinematic community is awaiting the announcement on Thursday of the full program for the seventy-sixth session, which will be held from May 16 to the twenty-seventh of it. Indiana Jones titled “Indiana Jones and the Dale of Destiny”, and the movie “Jeanne du Barry” by French director Maywen starring Johnny Depp, which is shown at the premiere.

The Israeli occupation authorities deported 6 Jerusalemite boys from the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque for a month.

The lawyer of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem, Muhammad Mahmoud, stated that the judge decided to release 6 boys, namely Abdullah Idkidak, Amir Al-Bazlamit, Maher Al-Abbasi, Adam Al-Safadi, Mahmoud Al-Abbasi, and Suhaib Al-Rajabi, on the condition of deportation from Al-Aqsa for a month, and house arrest for 9 days. And a cash guarantee of 1,000 shekels each, and a third party guarantee.

The occupation police arrested the six boys, last Friday, as soon as they left Al-Aqsa Mosque after performing Friday prayers.

In another context, the occupation authorities extended the detention of Mufid al-Abbasi until next Sunday, noting that he was arrested yesterday from his home in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood in Silwan.

China has launched a satellite monitoring system for its ecological environment, according to the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

It is also a satellite set of gross ecosystem product, which indicates the total value that an ecosystem contributes to human well-being and sustainable economic and social development.

The system provides a variety of spatial core data such as ecological classification, water conservation, atmospheric monitoring and carbon sink monitoring, to meet the demand for remote sensing data.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation developed a series of resource and ecology monitoring satellites to serve China's ecological construction.

Prince Saud bin Khalid Al-Faisal , Deputy Governor of Al- Madinah Al-Munawwarah Region, honored 7 male and female memorizers from the children of the Charitable Society for Memorizing the Holy Qur’an in the region, among the winners of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s award for memorizing the Holy Qur’an. He also honored the two students who won the King Abdul Aziz competition. Dear, and the winner of the Dubai International Quran Memorization Competition.

This came during the Emir's sponsorship of the annual ceremony honoring 400 male and female memorizers of the Book of God Almighty among the students of the association in the vicinity of the Prophet's Mosque.

The Deputy Emir of the region congratulated the honorable students for memorizing the Noble Qur’an, and advised them to adopt the teachings of the Qur’an, adopt the morals of the Qur’an, and adopt the etiquette and teachings of our tolerant Islamic religion.

For his part, the President of the Charitable Society for the Memorization of the Noble Qur’an in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah region, His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Ali Al-Obaid, presented his great thanks and gratitude to His Highness the Deputy Emir of the region for his generous sponsorship of the association’s graduates’ ceremony. And what they were entrusted with, under the technical supervision of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, and the financial and administrative supervision of the National Center for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector, so they have all thanks and appreciation for their efforts in supporting the association to achieve its goals.

The annual celebration of memorizers comes within the framework of encouraging the Charitable Society for Memorizing the Holy Qur’an in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah region, and its endeavor to achieve its goals within the care and interest of the wise leadership in the Holy Qur’an in terms of learning and teaching.

The first Qatar Stem Cell Transplantation Conference highlighted the importance of stem cell research in advancing medicine and improving patient outcomes, especially in the treatment of blood cancers.

The conference, organized by Hamad Medical Corporation, showed Qatar's commitment to becoming a leader in this important field, and represented an important step forward in the field of stem cell transplantation and its uses in the field of medicine in the Middle East. The event witnessed the participation of 13 regional and international experts as lecturers, including a number of prominent scientists, doctors and researchers from around the world, to exchange information and experiences in the field of stem cell transplantation, in addition to the presence of more than 300 participants from doctors and specialists in the field.

The conference activities included holding a series of sessions, including plenary sessions, panel discussions, and workshops, all of which discussed topics related to the use of hematopoietic stem cells (autologous and allogeneic) in the treatment of malignant blood cancers, the latest developments in the field of stem cell transplantation, and research ethics in the field. stem cell research. Participants also reviewed issues related to monocyte stem cell transplantation for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the region.

The Israeli occupation forces continue, for the fifth consecutive day, to tighten their military measures at the Hamra checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley .

Local sources reported that the occupation soldiers at the checkpoint stopped the citizens' vehicles and searched them thoroughly, and checked the identity cards of the passengers, which caused a suffocating traffic jam.

The same sources added that the occupation forces closed the secondary road that citizens use as an alternative to the main road in the event of the closure of the checkpoint.

It is noteworthy that the occupation forces closed the dirt roads in Sahl Atouf, which is an outlet for farmers to reach their lands, east of Street (60) in the Jordan Valley.

For five days, the occupation authorities have imposed a siege on the Jordan Valley.

The occupation forces set up the Hamra military checkpoint at a crossroads linking the cities of the West Bank with the central, southern and northern Jordan Valley.

The general index of consumer prices, " inflation ", increased in the first three months of the current year 2023, by 3.98 percent, to reach 108.26, compared to 104.11 for the same period last year.

The Department of Statistics said in its monthly report, yesterday, Tuesday, that the most prominent commodity groups that contributed to this increase were fuel and lighting by 31.75 percent, rents by 5.17 percent, transportation by 3.24 percent, dairy products and eggs by 8.73 percent, and health by 6.71 percent.

According to the report, the general consumer price index rose for the month of March of this year, reaching 108.83 compared to 104.73 for the same month of last year, registering an increase of 3.91 percent.

The report indicated that what mainly contributed to that increase were the fuel and lighting group by 31.61 percent, rents by 5.17 percent, transportation by 3.68 percent, dairy products and eggs by 9.50 percent, and health by 6.70 percent.

Joe Biden will visit Northern Ireland on Wednesday, where he will try to encourage dialogue, while political paralysis prevails and the atmosphere is tense.

Belfast constitutes the first stop of this visit, which then takes a more emotional curve, as the US President heads on Wednesday afternoon to the Republic of Ireland, where he spends two days following in the footsteps of his ancestors on his mother's side.

While awaiting his arrival, he repeated before boarding the US presidential plane that his priority lies in "keeping the peace", which the parties reached with difficulty 25 years ago.

Monday's violence in the border city of Londonderry came as a reminder that the wounds had not yet healed.

The United States actively participated in the negotiations that led to the agreement, which was signed on April 10, 1998. This "Good Friday" agreement put an end to decades-long confrontations between Unitarians, who are overwhelmingly Protestant, and Republicans, most of whom are Catholics.

The 80-year-old Democratic president does not intend to remain idle in the face of the institutional paralysis that struck this British territory more than a year ago.
The functioning of the self-governing joint institutions in Northern Ireland, which is one of the gains of the peace agreement, is suspended due to the refusal of the Democratic Unionist Party, the main Unionist party, to participate in them.

And Joe Biden will have the opportunity on Wednesday to “meet the leader of each of the five major political parties” in the region, to deliver a speech at the University of Belfast, according to what the White House said.

But the White House was keen to say that the meeting "will not be formal."

It will not be easy for the Democratic president to influence the Unitarians who remain wary of this Catholic president, who is very proud of his Irish roots.

"Northern Ireland is not really important to Biden," said one of the most prominent leaders of the Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley.
Biden, who will also meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, arrives with a "double message", according to what John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said Tuesday.

Joe Biden wants to "congratulate" first on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the peace agreements, and he also wants to talk about the future and adopt "economic and trade policies that are in the interest of all groups."

Washington seeks, in particular, to bring the institutions out of paralysis. This requires removing the DUP's rejection of measures on the very sensitive land border situation with the Republic of Ireland after the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

After his lightning visit to Britain, Joe Biden begins the personal and family part of his visit.

Biden, who had previously visited Ireland when he was US Vice President, praises his Irish origins after his ancestors immigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century in search of a better life.

The White House was keen to detail the president's family tree for reporters and provide a series of funny details about the president's ancestors.

The US President seeks to turn the visit into a political platform, as he intends to run for elections in 2024.
He wants to prove to the frustrated middle class that the "American dream" is still possible, while emphasizing that he comes from a humble working family.

Biden plans to visit two Irish towns that genealogy experts say his great-grandparents came from: Louth and Mayo.
In the small town of Ballina, located in the northwest, American flags have been spread around a mural that has adorned a local bar since Biden won the presidential elections in the United States.

Between the two stops, the US President will visit Dublin, which will include bilateral meetings and a speech to parliamentarians.

The US space agency ( NASA ) unveiled on Tuesday a house that appears at first glance ordinary, but in reality it will host, starting next June, four people who will quarantine themselves in it for more than a year to simulate life on Mars .

The house, called "Mars without Alpha," was built at the NASA Research Center in Houston, Texas.
The stay of the four people in this house is intended to prepare for a future trip to the Red Planet.

By measuring their performance and cognitive abilities, the agency will get a clearer picture of the "resources" that should be provided to participants in the ambitious Mars mission, said Grace Douglas, CHAPEA program manager who oversees the experiment.

She explained that defining the requirements is critical because there are "limited to the weight of what can be sent on these missions".

The 160 sqm home includes four bedrooms, an exercise room, a vertical vegetable farm, an operating room, a relaxation area and work points.

A covered passage leads to a section where the Martian environment has been recreated. On its red sand floor there is a weather station, a brick making machine, a small greenhouse, and a treadmill.

Susan Bell, responsible for the agency's "Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory" program, said that this device allows participants to make an effort similar to what physical activity requires on Mars, in terms of movement, collection of samples and information, as well as construction.

The agency did not announce the names of the volunteers who will participate in the test, but it is known that they will not be astronauts. They will face constant pressure, for example, in terms of rationing water use or equipment breakdowns.

The house is also distinguished by the fact that it was built using 3D printing technology, which is “one of the technologies that NASA is studying to adopt to build housing on the surface of other planets or the moon,” according to Grace Douglas.

The US Space Agency is preparing to send a mission to Mars on a mission that will last for several years, but it will not happen soon, but rather "at the end of the thirties of the current century," according to NASA President Bill Nelson.

The International Monetary Fund predicted that Ukraine's economy will decline by 3 percent this year compared to a contraction of 30.3 percent in 2022, the Ukrainian government-run news agency Ukrinform reported on Tuesday, citing a recent IMF report.

The International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook report that inflation in Ukraine will rise slightly, with consumer prices rising by 21.1 percent this year, compared to 20.2 percent in 2022.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate decreased to 20.9 percent in 2023 compared to 24.5 percent in 2022, according to the report.

Earlier this month, the World Bank predicted that Ukraine's GDP would increase by 0.5 percent this year.

According to preliminary estimates of the Ukrainian government, the country's economy will decline by 29.2 percent in 2022.

The head of “Twitter” Elon Musk is seeking a project for the network in the field of artificial intelligence , according to an article published by “Insider”, after the billionaire was among the signatories last month on an appeal to temporarily stop research on this advanced technology.

And “Insider” quoted unnamed sources as saying that Musk recently bought about ten thousand graphics processors, and that the “Twitter” project for artificial intelligence includes a language tool.

These tools, whose learning is based on a large amount of data, can generate all kinds of text and answer user questions through programs such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Cool.

"Insider" indicated that Musk, who has dismissed thousands of Twitter employees since his acquisition of the platform in October, has hired artificial intelligence specialists in return.

Among them, for example, Igor Babushkin and Manuel Kroes, who worked for the "DeepMind" laboratory for artificial intelligence within the "Alphabet" group, the owner of "Google".

And the specialized “The Information” website previously reported at the end of last February that the head of “Tesla”, “SpaceX” and “Twitter” is trying to form a team to compete with “Open AI”, which caused a sensation with the success of the “ChatGB” chatbot. T that I created.

Agence France-Presse has not yet received any answers from Igor Babushkin and the Twitter media department for its inquiries regarding this information.

All the tech giants, from Microsoft to Snapchat, as well as a number of startups, are investing in generative AI.

However, the adoption of this technology and its high-speed progress raises many concerns at the same time, especially since the head of “Open AI” Sam Altman talked about reaching in the next stage the so-called “general” artificial intelligence, which is programs that are “smarter than humans” in general. .

At the end of last March, hundreds of academics, heads of companies and personalities, including Musk and the head of Stability AI, a competitor to OpenAI, Imad Moustak, signed a petition calling for a six-month cessation of research to find more powerful artificial intelligence techniques than Chat. GPT4, released by OpenAI.

They expressed their fear of the "great dangers this technology poses to humanity," and asked: "Is it intended to develop non-human souls that could eventually outnumber us in terms of numbers and intelligence and replace us?"

Musk co-founded Open AI in 2015, before leaving the company in 2018. Since 2019, Microsoft has been the main financier of the startup, which is based in California.

Russia announced that it had successfully test-fired an "advanced" intercontinental ballistic missile , weeks after it suspended its participation in the latest nuclear arms control pact with the United States .

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that "a combat crew successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from a mobile ground-based missile system" from the test site in Kapustin Yar on Tuesday.

"The warhead of the missile hit an imaginary target at the Sary-Shagan training ground (Kazakhstan) with specific accuracy," the statement added.

Since sending troops to Ukraine last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued veiled warnings that he might use nuclear weapons there if Russia is endangered.

Putin announced at the end of February that Moscow would suspend its participation in the New START treaty, under which Russia and the United States agreed to limit nuclear stockpiles and undergo mutual inspections.

Less than three weeks ago, Putin said he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring and ally Belarus, bringing these weapons to the European Union's doorstep.

NATO condemned the two ads.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not specify the type of missile used in the launch on Tuesday, but stated that the aim of the test was "to test advanced combat equipment for intercontinental ballistic missiles."

She added that this "launch allowed to validate the design department and the technical solutions used in the development of new strategic missile systems."

Putin said in February that a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile would be deployed this year, after US information that a new launch failed.

The missile "Sarmat" - which Western analysts called "Satan 2" (Satan 2) is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads. It is one of Russia's next-generation missiles, which Putin described as "invincible".