England and Portugal finished the first window of the qualifiers for the 2024 European Football Championship with full marks, by defeating Ukraine and Luxembourg, respectively, on Sunday, while defending champion Italy achieved its first victory at the expense of Malta.

At Wembley Stadium in London, England beat Ukraine 2-0 with goals from Harry Kane (37) and Bucayo Saka (40), while Italy dropped its host and neighbor Malta with the same result, in the second round of Group C competitions.

The "Three Lions" team raised its score to six points after an opening victory over Italy in Naples Thursday 2-1, against "Scudra Azzurra" and North Macedonia (3 points each), which beat Malta in the first round with the same result.

And with the absence of North Macedonia from this round, England secured the lead before the second window scheduled for next June.
For its part, Ukraine played its first match in the qualifiers after its absence from the first round, and more than a thousand tickets were awarded to Ukrainian refugees and British families who hosted them since the Russian invasion in 2022.

The match began with the presentation of golden shoes to striker and captain Harry Kane, who, during the victory over Italy, became the historic scorer for England, by scoring the 54th goal from a penalty kick, before adding the 55th on Sunday.

"I'm very happy," said manager Southgate. "We made a tough game look easy. We've broken a lot of barriers over a period of time. Building on Italy's result was important but there's still room for improvement."

England, who lost the final of the continental championship in 2021 against Italy, by penalty kicks at Wembley Stadium in particular, dominated the course of the match, and the pressure resulted in Kane’s opening goal, after he crossed it from the right side of Saka towards the second post, and he followed it into the net.

Saka doubled the lead for England, which is searching for its second major title only in its history after the 1966 World Cup at home, with a wonderful goal with a curled left-footed shot from outside the area that settled in the top right corner of goalkeeper Anatoly Tropin.

After being absent from the World Cup in Qatar for the second time in a row, Italy is looking forward to returning to the international arena.
And it achieved its first victory in the qualifiers, with goals from Matteo Retigi (15) and Matteo Pesina (27).

Coach Roberto Mancini played the match with a relatively auxiliary squad that was completely different from the one that started against England, leaving only three players, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, defender Giovanni De Lorenzo and Retigi, who scored against the "Three Lions".

Retigui scored his second goal in his second international match, with a header from a corner taken by Sandro Totnali.

Retigui, the Argentine-born who plays for Argentine Tigre, responded to Mancini's confidence in him after the coach said before the window in response to some criticism regarding the call-up of players: "For years it was said that you had to be born in Italy in order to represent the national team. But the world has changed." All teams now have players who are naturalized or come from other countries.

Italy doubled the score through a goal by Matteo Pesina, after a cross from Emerson Palmieri hit Sandro Tonali (27).

Veteran Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo (38 years) increased his tally of international goals and raised it to 122 in 198 matches, by scoring a brace during his country's crushing victory over Luxembourg, 6-0.

Ronaldo had also scored a brace against Liechtenstein in the first match, which ended with his country's 4-0 victory on Thursday, in a meeting in which he broke the record for the number of international matches, before reinforcing it on Sunday evening by raising it to 198 matches.

And the Portuguese national team, during the era of its new Spanish coach, Roberto Martinez, raised its score to 6 points from two matches in Group X, to put itself on the right track to reach the finals, especially since the draw dropped it in a group within its reach that also includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia and Iceland, knowing that the first and second qualify directly for the finals. .

Ronaldo opened the scoring for the 2016 European Champions after 9 minutes, taking advantage of a pass from Nuno Mendes.

And soon, the Chelsea striker, on loan, added Joao Felix II, after a quarter of an hour, with a header, after an elaborate pass from Bernardo Silva.

Portugal added two more goals in the first half through Silva (18), then Ronaldo with an assist from his former colleague in Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes (31). The goal is Ronaldo's eleventh against Luxembourg in 11 matches he has played against.

In the second half, substitute Ottavio added the fifth goal (77), then the other substitute, Rafael Leao, missed a penalty kick (85), before making up and ending the goal festival two minutes before the end of the match.

Denmark lost its lead by two goals against its Kazakh host, and fell 3-2 with three goals conceded in the last quarter of an hour in Group H.

Denmark, which reached the semi-finals of the continental championship in 2021, advanced with a double to young Italian striker Rasmus Venter Hollund in the first half (21 and 35).

But the hosts responded with a hat-trick in the second half, through Baktiar Zayonotdinov (73 from a penalty kick), Skhat Tajiberin (86) and Abat Ambetov (89).

Denmark started the qualifiers on Thursday with a victory at home against Finland (3-1), all of which were scored by Hollund as well, while Kazakhstan achieved its first victory after falling against its host Slovenia (2-1).

Slovenia topped the group with six points after its second victory Sunday at the expense of the modest San Marino team 2-0, while Finland won 1-0 at its host Northern Ireland, to make four teams equal with three points against San Marino empty balance.

After her visit to the prisoner , Yasmine Shaaban, who is held in Damon Prison, and who recently received the news of her father’s death with great shock and indescribable sadness, Hanan Al-Khatib , the lawyer for the Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, conveyed a message from her about his death.

Shaaban said in her message: “On that day, I felt that my heart was being seized, so I spoke to him on the phone from prison. My father was everything in my life. My relationship with my father was very strong. I have poetry, it is my strength and my support, it is my safety, I am not able to imagine the world without him, he was supposed to visit me but the visit was postponed, he was counting the days for the visit, for the first time in my life I felt this pain, my heart broke, I lost the most precious thing, he took my heart with him, I always used to say that my father was by my side and I was strong in his presence. He always recommended to the female prisoners that we should be one hand and not personalize matters. He would write poetry for them and read it to them via radio or letters. I wished to see him, even in a dream, to hug him and tell him how much I miss him and his embrace. They prevented me from seeing him and saying goodbye, but This is the occupation that separates us from our loved ones... They deprived me of my father, but Palestine deserves it."

Shaaban (40 years old) was arrested after her house in the village of Rummana / Jenin was raided, and this is not her first arrest. She had previously spent 5 years in prison, and was subjected to harsh interrogation in the cells as well as being isolated. She is married and a mother of 4 children.

Dozens of members of the Palestinian community, and activists in the American arena, are struggling to force Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney World, to change the character of a superhero in which an agent in the "Israeli Mossad" embodies the role of Sabra. A heroine who fights evil, which is the opposite of what this apparatus is doing in terms of crimes and assassinations against Palestinians.

Hundreds of e-mails were sent to the company’s headquarters urging it to reverse its decision to choose an Israeli actress named Shira Hass in one of the films scheduled to be released next year, within the “Captain America” series, as she embodies the character of a Mossad agent, which will contribute to whitewashing the crimes of the occupation government against the Palestinian people. At a time when human rights institutions and organizations around the world are focusing on the fact that Israel is practicing apartheid and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people.

Activists are calling for changing the heroine's name, "Sabra," because this name evokes a crime that the world will not forget, when the Israeli army carried out the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982.

Source: Wafa Agency.

The Iraqi Parliament approved at dawn on Monday an amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Law , which constitutes a return to the law that was in force before the October 2019 demonstrations, angering the independent and small parties who believe that it serves the interests of the large parties.

The session, which was held during the night, witnessed chaos and many independent deputies were expelled from the hall after they expressed their opposition to the law, according to video clips filmed by the deputies.

And in a statement issued by the House of Representatives, the mother of the parliament said, in its "sixteenth session.... at dawn today, Monday, in the presence of 218 deputies, on the Law of the Third Amendment to the Parliament Elections Law, Provincial Councils, and Districts No. (12) of 2018."

The coordination framework has the majority in Parliament, and it is an alliance of Shiite parties, most of which are close to Iran and support the current Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.

The law is considered a return to the 2018 law, which was rejected by the protest movement that took place in the country in the fall of 2019, when the protesters succeeded in achieving the demand of a new election law that allowed independent candidates to win, as independents managed in the 2021 elections to win about 70 seats out of 329.

Thus, the parliamentary and provincial elections expected in November will be held on the basis of the amended law, while in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, local parliamentary elections will be held on November 18 according to a different law.

The new amended election law makes each governorate one electoral district, i.e. 18 districts, canceling the 83 districts that were approved in the last elections.

Sajjad Jiyad, a political researcher at The Century Foundation, believes that adopting a single constituency "facilitates the possibility of party politicians winning seats," and, on the other hand, will "make it difficult for candidates of small and independent parties to compete at the governorate level."

Under the amended law, votes will be counted according to the proportional method known as "St. Lego", which opponents of the law believe serves the large parties as well.

And Sajjad Jiyad said in a tweet that counting the votes according to the proportional method "also serves the major parties and makes it possible for their candidates who did not get enough votes in the first place to win seats."

"Small parties will not have any hope of gaining representation in parliament" and that they will be "crushed" if the new law is implemented, MP Alaa al-Rikabi of the independent Imtiad bloc told AFP.

Representative Bahaa El-Din Al-Nouri of the Coordination Framework told AFP that his bloc supports the law because it "depends on the distribution of seats to any bloc according to its mass weight, which will ultimately lead to the formation of the government within the constitutional times," thus avoiding long negotiations, as happened in the aftermath of the 2021 elections.

Ammar Al-Khudairi , head of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia , who was the majority shareholder in Credit Suisse before the bailout plan earlier this month, resigned, according to a statement published on the Saudi Stock Exchange on Monday.

The statement stated that the Board of Directors of the National Bank "agreed to accept the resignation of" Ammar Al-Khudairi "due to special circumstances."

Settlers renew the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

Today, Monday, settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy security from the Israeli occupation police.

The settlers performed Talmudic rituals at the doors and inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and made provocative tours.

The occupation police continued to impose restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers to the mosque, and checked their personal identities, and detained some of them at its external gates.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of arrests in separate parts of the West Bank .

The occupation forces arrested Laith Sharaya and Anas Saqr from Askar camp in Nablus, where the area witnessed armed clashes, and stormed the home of the martyr Abdel Fattah Kharousha, the perpetrator of the first shooting attack in the town of Hawara, which killed two settlers.

The young man, Shadi Khader Salahat, was arrested from the Al-Bathan area, north of Nablus.

Anas Salem Abu Fanar, from Yatta, south of Hebron, and Muhammad Harbi Hamamra, from Husan, west of Bethlehem, were arrested.

While Azmi Iyad Mansour was arrested from Bedouin, northwest of Jerusalem.

North Korea Monday fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, the latest in a series of weapons tests in recent weeks, the South Korean military said.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "Our armed forces detected two short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Jonghwa area in North Hwanghae Province (south-central) at 07:47 (22:47 GMT) towards the East Sea," the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.

Each of the two missiles traveled about 370 kilometers, according to the same source, who added that the matter constitutes "a dangerous provocation that affects the peace and stability of the international community and the Korean peninsula."

"Our military has increased surveillance and vigilance in the face of new launches, while maintaining its full readiness thanks to the close cooperation between South Korea and the United States," she added.

For its part, the Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed the launch of the two missiles. Japanese media quoted ministry officials as believing that the two missiles flew in an irregular trajectory before falling outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
This comes at a time when Seoul and Washington are conducting joint amphibious landing exercises, and only days after they completed Thursday their largest joint military exercises in five years.

And the South Korean Ministry of Defense announced that the US aircraft carrier "Nimitz" arrived Tuesday in the coastal city of Busan in southern South Korea to enhance the joint defense deployment.

An official at the ministry said in a press statement that this naval exercise "aims to enhance extended deterrence by deploying US strategic capabilities in the face of North Korea's growing nuclear and ballistic threats."

North Korean state media said on Friday that the joint exercises between Seoul and Washington constitute preparation for the "occupation" of North Korea, which in turn requires "stronger deterrent means" to respond to, especially "a more advanced, diversified and more offensive nuclear attack capability."

The North Korean military conducted its own military exercises, including testing what it described as a "nuclear attack-capable submarine" and its second ICBM launch this year.

Analysts had expected that North Korea would use the exercises between Seoul and Washington as a pretext to conduct new missile launches or even a nuclear test.

And North Korea's official news agency reported on Friday that the exercises on the "submarine capable of launching a nuclear attack," which was personally supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, aimed at "warning the enemy of a real nuclear crisis."

She added that the mission of this weapon "is to infiltrate operational waters by stealth and cause a large-scale radioactive tsunami (...) to destroy the enemy's naval units and main ports of operations."

Also, the agency stated that Pyongyang launched Wednesday strategic cruise missiles "equipped with an experimental warhead that simulates a nuclear warhead."

Analysts questioned North Korea's allegations, but pointed out that it is no longer satisfied with stockpiling nuclear warheads , but is trying to improve and diversify the means of launch.

Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation after a year of record number of weapons tests and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022.

Also, North Korean military provocations have prompted Seoul and Tokyo to transcend their historical differences and try to enhance their defense cooperation.

Last year, North Korea declared its status as a nuclear power "irreversible". Kim recently called for a "massive" increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

In early March, he also ordered his army to intensify its military maneuvers, in preparation for a "real war."

Clashes broke out with the Israeli occupation forces , on Sunday evening, in the town of Al-Ram , north of occupied Jerusalem .

Local sources reported that the occupation soldiers fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades at the youths during the clashes that erupted at the town's junction, without any injuries reported.

The Ministry of Education and the Personnel Bureau announced, on Sunday evening, the completion of the process of recruiting new teachers in all governorates of the country, which would provide the educational process with qualified teaching staff as quickly as possible, as applications for candidacy for educational, professional and support positions have been received. The number of applications submitted is 48,476, of which 45,573 were accepted.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that, in cooperation with the General Personnel Council, the recruitment exam for the year 2023 will be held on 4/8/2023.

Accepted applications were distributed to the Directorates of Education as follows: Jericho 1044 applications, Hebron 3768 applications, Bethlehem 2719 applications, Birzeit 1197 applications, South Hebron 3373 applications, South Nablus 2360 applications, Jenin 4401 applications, Ramallah 3571 applications, and Salfit 1834 applications. North Hebron 2727 applications, the suburbs of Jerusalem 1381 applications, Tubas 1493 applications, Tulkarem 3424 applications, Qabatiya 2609 applications, Qalqilya 2010 applications, Nablus 5182 applications, and Yatta 2480 applications.

The Ministry of Education stated that the new recruitment process comes as part of the Ministry's measures to end the current school year, in response to the calls of the Students' Parents Council, national bodies and institutions, and civil society to save the school year, which is at risk due to the continuing teachers' strike.

The Personnel Council stated that exceptional measures will be taken to speed up the recruitment process.

The Palestinian town of Hawara , south of the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank , seemed unusually like a ghost area , as it was devoid of traffic and pedestrians, while its shops and public facilities were completely closed.

This came after the Israeli army imposed, on Saturday night, a comprehensive closure on areas south of Nablus, closing roads leading to the city, towns, and villages to prevent the passage of Palestinian vehicles, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

The closure took place following a shooting attack by Palestinian gunmen in a speeding vehicle last night, which resulted in the injury of two Israeli soldiers in the town of Hawara, while the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility for it.

The incident, which occurred on the third day of Ramadan, raised fears among the residents of Hawara that the settlers, who gathered near the town's main street, would carry out attacks on their homes and properties, as happened last month.

Mervat Dmaidi, 50, a mother of five from the town of Hawara, told Xinhua that the town's residents found themselves last night again, without any prior notice, stuck in their homes and waiting for their unknown fate.

The woman, who lived through difficult hours last night, recalled the settler attacks last month, adding that the Israeli army "prevented her and her family members from moving to another, safer place, in light of the presence of settlers on the outskirts of the town."

In late February, Hawara was subjected to about 300 violent attacks by settlers, which consisted of burning homes and vehicles and smashing windows, following the shooting of a Palestinian gunman at a car near the town, killing two Israeli brothers.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Red Crescent Society announced at the time that Sameh Al-Aqtash (37 years old) was killed, and more than 300 others were injured by suffocation from tear gas and bruises as a result of the "assault of the army and settlers."

At the time, the Israeli police reported, in a statement, the arrest of 6 settlers suspected of involvement in riots, arson and destruction of property in Huwwara, noting that among the detainees were four adults and two minors who were released and two kept under administrative detention.

Mervat Dmaidi recalls past settler attacks, saying, "We were forced to stay inside our house even after he set it on fire. We didn't know if we would survive or not because the settlers were shouting and vowing to burn us."

"No one can live in such an unprecedented security situation amid the constant threats that surround us all the time because we don't know if we will survive or not the next day," Dmaidi adds, peeking out the window.

Last night, Israeli settlers attempted to carry out attacks on the northern outskirts of Hawara, but the town's popular resistance watch committees and the Israeli army forces thwarted these attempts, according to local sources and eyewitnesses.

The young man, Firas Dmaidi, told Xinhua that dozens of settlers gathered on the outskirts of the town, trying to carry out new attacks, but the young men and families prepared themselves to prevent any danger to their property.

Firas Dmaidi, 39, complains that Israel imposes "arbitrary and punitive" measures on residents, including closing shops and preventing them from practicing the daily routine of life in the town.

The town, which has an area of 990 dunams (a dunam is equivalent to a thousand square meters), and is inhabited by about 8,000 people, incurs daily losses due to the closure of about 500 shops along the main street of Huwwara, about $1.2 million, according to Tayel Huwari.

"Merchants and businessmen in Hawara wait for the month of Ramadan from year to year," said Tayel Hawari, a businessman who owns dozens of shops in the town, considering that "the illegal and unacceptable Israeli measures made us lose the season."

Hawwari accused Israeli officials of adopting "hate" speech against the Palestinians, noting that it is natural for the Israelis, including the army and settlers, to turn the vital town of Hawwara into a "ghost" area.

Earlier this month, the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is the leader of religious Zionism, called, according to what was published by the Hebrew public radio, to "erase" the Palestinian town of Hawara, south of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

In the aftermath of last February's attack on Hawara, a delegation of heads of Western diplomatic missions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, members of the Israeli Arab Knesset (parliament), and the US Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, Hadi Amr, visited the town and expressed their solidarity with its residents and demanded that the perpetrators be held accountable.

In this regard, Nabil Dmaidi, Mayor of Hawara, expressed his concern about the escalation of "attacks" by settlers who are taking advantage of field security incidents against Palestinians in the town and its surrounding areas.

Nabil Dmaidi told Xinhua that the settlers "will not hesitate to carry out their attacks against the Palestinians in an attempt to force them to leave their homes and properties under the protection of the Israeli army forces."

He added that the Palestinian people are facing a "right-wing" Israeli government whose officials adopt hate speech, killing and displacement against the Palestinians, and therefore, in return, we are working to call on foreign and international delegations to show solidarity with the town and its residents and to stand firm on their land.

The events come despite Palestinian and Israeli officials confirming, on March 19, after a meeting attended by American, Egyptian and Jordanian delegations in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, "their commitment to strengthening security, stability and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians, and they acknowledged the need to achieve calm on the ground and prevent further violence."

Tensions have escalated between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank, resulting in the killing of 90 Palestinians by Israeli bullets since the beginning of this year, compared to the killing of 15 people in Israel as a result of Palestinian attacks, according to official Palestinian and Israeli statistics.

Today (Sunday) Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a free trade agreement to reduce customs duties on 96 percent of products.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen signed a customs agreement with the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Israel, Muhammad Al Khajah, according to a statement issued by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The signing of the customs agreement will allow the free trade zone agreement between the two countries, which was signed in May 2022, to enter into force.

With the entry into force of the free trade zone agreement, tariffs on approximately 96 percent of products will be reduced or eliminated and Israeli companies will be allowed access to government tenders in the UAE.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "The historic peace agreement that we signed with the United Arab Emirates continues to bear fruit for the benefit of the citizens of both countries."

He added that the signed customs agreement will lead to the implementation of the free trade zone agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which will reduce customs tariffs, lower the cost of living and give a boost to business between Israel and the UAE.

Netanyahu stressed that he "will continue to expand the Israeli circle of peace with other countries in our region."

Eli Cohen said, "The entry into force of the free trade agreement is important news for the Israeli economy to strengthen the relationship with the UAE, and additional evidence of the importance of the Abraham Accords."

The free trade zone agreement between Israel and the UAE will be "a major driver in strengthening economic and trade cooperation between Israel and the UAE and another layer in strengthening relations between the two countries," according to the statement.

In 2022, bilateral trade between Israel and the UAE will amount to more than $2.5 billion, and with the entry into force of the free trade zone agreement, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects that the volume of trade between the two countries will increase significantly, which will lead to more job opportunities in the Israeli market and reduce the cost of living. in Israel.

Israel and the UAE signed a US-brokered peace agreement in 2020.

The UAE strongly condemned Israel's decision to allow re-settlement in areas in the northern West Bank , and its bids to build new settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a statement today, Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, published by the Emirates News Agency, WAM, affirmed the UAE's rejection of all practices that contravene international legitimacy resolutions and threaten further escalation and instability in the region.

The ministry stressed the need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East, as well as put an end to illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

This week, the Israeli government issued bids to build 1,029 settlement units in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, contrary to its commitment at the last meeting in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The prosecution requested a five-year prison sentence against the Algerian journalist, Ihsan al-Qadi , who has been arrested since December, during the trial that took place on Sunday, in the presence of the concerned and the absence of his lawyer, who withdrew from the session, provided that the verdict is pronounced on April 2.

The trial was scheduled for March 12, but the judge adjourned it after the journalist refused the trial remotely using video conferencing, and the lawyers did not attend, protesting the "lack of conditions for a fair trial."

Ihsane Kadi, director of the Algerian station Radio M and the news website Maghreb Emergent, was prosecuted for "foreign financing of his company" under the Penal Code.

The "Morocco Emergent" website stated that the prosecution "requested the imposition of a penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of 700,000 dinars (about 4,800 euros)." Interfas Media, the publisher of the two media outlets, was also fined ten million dinars (more than 68,000 euros).

The prosecution also requested "confiscation of the means and facilities used to exploit the unlicensed audiovisual service" based on the audiovisual law, after the audiovisual control authority, an official body that monitors the work of television and radio channels, was established as a civil party in the case.

Al-Qadi was arrested on December 29 as part of an investigation into illegal fundraising. The capital court said he was suspected of "receiving sums of money and privileges from people and organizations in the country and abroad in order to engage in activities that would undermine the security and stability of the state."

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

A petition launched by Reporters Without Borders to demand the judge's release has collected more than 10,000 signatures.

The Lebanese Minister of Education, Abbas Halabi, announced on Sunday that the educational sector will adhere to the summer time , despite the Lebanese government’s announcement to delay the start of this time until the end of Ramadan.

Lebanon adheres annually to the universal daylight saving time, which began this year on Sunday, but the Lebanese cabinet decided to extend the winter time "exceptionally" until the night of April 20-21. The decision sparked widespread controversy in the multi-sectarian and multi-religious country, and took a sectarian turn with several institutions, including the Maronite Church, declaring their refusal to abide by it. Lebanon's horizons today are divided into two times.

The Minister of Education wrote a series of tweets on his Twitter account, in which he said, "The summer time in schools, vocational schools, and universities remains approved (...). It is not permissible for us to leave educational, vocational, and university institutions at a loss, and parents are unaware of the direction of which hour to turn to." their children to school."

The General Secretariat of Catholic Private Schools announced that it would not abide by the government's decision to maintain winter time, but would adopt summer time.

The resigned government, which is satisfied with a caretaker job in light of a vacuum in the presidency of the Republic in Lebanon that has been going on for nearly five months and an acute political and economic crisis, did not mention the reason for its decision, but it was clear from a newly taken videotape between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Nabih Berri, and it was leaked through websites. Social communication, that the goal is to shorten the fasting time for Muslims in Ramadan.

Abbas Halabi, who belongs to the Druze sect, said, "In light of the great dangers that the country is going through, (...) I call on all the Lebanese to reduce the intensity of the media conflict and to avoid any new decisions, such as the decision that was taken recently about not changing the clock as usual, and it was he who He inflamed sectarian rhetoric in the country, and we were and still are indispensable for an additional issue of division.”
It seemed as if he wished that the Council of Ministers would reverse its decision, in what was considered a mediation by the Druze community to accommodate the tension that had taken place.

The Maronite Patriarchate announced that it would not implement the government decision, and that it would adhere to Universal Daylight Saving Time.

In a statement, her media office criticized the decision-making "without consultation with the rest of the Lebanese components, and without any regard for international standards, and for the confusion and damage at home and abroad."

Several television channels also announced the adoption of daylight savings time, including the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBC), which indicated that non-compliance with the global clock "will affect our business."

The Lebanese Forces Party and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement also rejected the government decision.

And Middle East Airlines announced, "Presenting the departure times for all flights departing from Rafic Hariri International Airport by one hour," after it had issued its travel cards according to the World Summer Time timings.

Commentators on social media mocked the exaggerated controversy and its sectarian turn, considering it unjustified, especially in a country exhausted by crises, and witnessing an economic collapse that has made 80 percent of its population below the poverty line.

One of them wrote, "Apart from the insignificance of the summer time decision, we see an exaggerated reaction and an excuse for sectarian exhaustion."

Another mocked, saying, "Do you see that tomorrow when our children study history (they will find) that the civil war broke out in Lebanon in 2023 because the clock was not brought forward?"

On Sunday, the Central Council for Parents called on male and female teachers who are conscientious and keen on the future of students, to return to their work and not contribute to further ignorance of students and waste of the school year .

In a statement, the Council expressed its surprise at the intransigents who disregard all the initiatives that were presented to end this crisis, and the return of students to their school seats.

The statement called on the government and the Palestinian leadership to find a quick solution to save what can be saved from the school year, by studying finding alternatives for striking teachers to ensure the progress of the educational process until the end of the crisis, noting that there are tens of thousands of applicants to work in teaching jobs at the Ministry of Education.

The council praised the male and female teachers who returned this morning to their schools and continued their lofty message, noting that about a thousand teachers joined the educational process, which was reflected in the tens of thousands of students who returned to their ranks, in most of the governorates, especially Nablus, Jenin, Qabatiya and Hebron, and thus we are optimistic that this period will soon end. The crisis from which every Palestinian home was affected. As the statement said.

The Tunisian National Guard announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of 29 migrants from African countries after their boats sank off the coast of the country.
A spokesman for the Guard said in a statement that "11 illegal immigrants of different African nationalities were also rescued after clandestine immigration boats sank," referring to three drowning incidents.

One of the accidents occurred 58 kilometers off the coast, and 19 bodies were recovered by a Tunisian fishing vessel after the boat sank.
In a second incident, a naval guard patrol off the city of Mahdia (center) recovered eight bodies and rescued 11 migrants after their boat sank while on its way to Italy, while two Tunisian fishing boats recovered two other bodies.

Dozens of migrants have died and others are missing in a series of drownings since President Kais Saied delivered a speech last month in which he deemed sub-Saharan Africans a demographic threat to the country and the cause of crimes.

Black immigrants in the country faced acts of violence, and hundreds of them became homeless for weeks in miserable conditions.

For years, people who have fled poverty and violence in Sudan's Darfur region, West Africa and other parts of the continent have come to Tunisia to try to reach Europe in search of a better life.

The Italian island of Lampedusa is located only 150 kilometers from the Tunisian coast, but Italy is putting pressure on the Tunisian authorities to curb immigration, and has helped boost the capabilities of the Naval Guard, which human rights organizations accuse of committing acts of violence.

In this context, the far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Friday that Tunisia's "major financial problems" threaten to spark an "unprecedented wave of migration" towards Europe.

It also confirmed its intention to send a mission to the North African country, in which the Italian and French foreign ministers would participate.

Meloni echoed comments made earlier in the week by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who warned of the risk of an economic collapse in Tunisia that could lead to new flows of migrants towards Europe.

Ukraine called Sunday for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to confront Russia's "nuclear blackmail" after President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would deploy "tactical" nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Russian officials have repeatedly made veiled threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine in the event of a major escalation in the conflict. Belarus borders Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.

"Ukraine is waiting for active measures from the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We demand that an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council be held immediately for this purpose," calling on the Group of Seven and the European Union to put pressure on Belarus by threatening it with "serious consequences" if it accepts the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons.

Earlier Sunday, the Secretary General of the Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote in a tweet, "The Kremlin is holding Belarus nuclear hostage," adding that this decision is "a step towards destabilizing the country" led by Alexander Lukashenko since 1994.

Danilov believed that Putin's announcement "raises to the maximum the negative impression and popular aversion towards Russia and Putin in the ranks of Belarusian society."

Putin announced Saturday that he had "agreed" with the Belarusian president that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, and that ten aircraft had been prepared to be ready to use this type of weapon.

"There is nothing unusual here: the United States has been doing this for decades. It has long been deploying its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its allies," Putin said in an interview broadcast on Russian television.

"We agreed to do the same thing," he said, confirming the approval of Minsk.

"As of April 3, we will start training teams. And on July 1, we will complete the construction of a special depot for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus," he said.

On Sunday, the German government denounced a "new attempt at nuclear intimidation" by Russia.

Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine's presidential advisor, wrote in a tweet on Sunday that Putin "admits that he fears defeat (in the war) and that all he can do is sow fear."

He accused the Russian president of "violating the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."

"We have already helped our Belarusian colleagues and equipped their planes...without violating our international obligations in terms of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Ten planes are ready to use this type of weapon," Putin said Saturday.

Belarus did not participate directly in the conflict in Ukraine, but it allowed Moscow to launch an attack from its territory on Kiev last year, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Putin justified his decision on Saturday with London's intention to send depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, according to recent statements by a British official.

Putin vowed to use this type of missile if Kiev received similar ammunition from the West.

He added that weapons "can be classified as the most harmful and dangerous to humans as well as to the environment."

In a meeting this week between Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Moscow, they said that they reject any nuclear war, while tensions with the West have reached their peak, and stressed that everyone will lose in a similar confrontation.

In the joint declaration, the two countries made it clear that "there can be no winners in a nuclear war, and (such a war) should never happen."

Many Russian officials, including former President Dmitry Medvedev, have threatened Ukraine and its Western allies to resort to nuclear weapons since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Putin announced last month that Moscow would suspend its participation in the New START treaty, the last remaining arms control treaty between the world's two major nuclear powers, Russia and the United States.

Putin's announcement was met with international condemnation, although the Russian Foreign Ministry later announced that Moscow would continue to comply "responsibly" with the restrictions imposed by the treaty, which was extended until February 5, 2026.

The Russian nuclear doctrine does not stipulate the preventive use by Russia of nuclear weapons, but only to respond to an attack against it or its allies, or in the event of a "threat to the existence of the state."

Today, Sunday, the Israeli occupation authorities issued a decision to seize lands in the villages of Jinsafut, Al-Funduq, and Hajjah, east of Qalqilya Governorate .

The Director General of Documentation and Publication in the Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission, Amir Daoud, said that the occupation authorities issued a decision to seize 218 dunums of land from Jinsafut, the hotel and Hajjah, for "military purposes."

Daoud pointed out that the decision is limited to the end of 2027, and it is renewable, similar to previous similar decisions.

Today, Sunday, the League of Arab States announced that the Arab Summit Conference will be held on May 19 in the Saudi capital , Riyadh .

Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General supervising the affairs of the League Council, said in a statement, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency, that the 32nd Arab Summit is expected to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on May 19.

Zaki added that this came after the consultations carried out by the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, with the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the latter's statement that it welcomed the holding of the summit on the aforementioned date.

The Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States stated that the summit will be preceded by several preparatory meetings at the level of senior officials and ministers, in preparation for holding it over a period of five days.

It is noteworthy that the year 2023 is also expected to witness the convening of an Arab development summit in Mauritania and the Arab-African summit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Today, Sunday, large Palestinian crowds mourned the body of the captive martyr Ahmed Badr Abu Ali in the town of Yatta, south of Hebron .

The funeral procession of a military funeral departed from the front of the Yatta Governmental Hospital, to his family's home, to take a farewell look at his body before praying for him in the Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Mosque, and his burial in the family cemetery.

The mourners carried the body of the martyr Abu Ali wrapped in the Palestinian flag, condemning the occupation's crimes against the prisoners and our people.

The prisoner Abu Ali (48 years) was martyred on the tenth of last February, in the Israeli (Soroka) Hospital, years after he faced the crime of medical negligence (slow killing).

On Sunday, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries announced that they had sent a letter to the US Secretary of State to denounce the statements of an Israeli minister who denied the existence of a Palestinian people.

In a letter to Minister Anthony Blinken, the foreign ministers of the six-nation bloc denounced the statements of the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich about the need to "erase" the Palestinian town of Hawara, which witnessed the killing of two Israelis by a suspected Hamas activist.

In its message published on its website Sunday, the Council called on the United States of America to assume its responsibilities in responding to all measures and statements that target the Palestinian people.

He also urged the US administration to "do its part to reach a just, comprehensive and lasting solution" to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Last week, the United States described Smotrich's remarks as "insulting" and "dangerous".

It also expressed its "grave concern" over the Israeli parliament's cancellation of part of a law that prevents settlers from residing in areas in the occupied West Bank that the Israeli government had evacuated in 2005, considering the decision to be "provocative."

The Gulf Cooperation Council, whose foreign ministers met in Riyadh last week, includes six countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

The UAE and Bahrain normalized their relations with Israel in 2020 under the "Abraham Accords" sponsored by the United States.

After being considered for a long time very risky and expensive, the stocks of technology sector companies have risen since the outbreak of the recent banking crisis to the extent that they are considered a safe haven for investors.

The value of Mita, Alphabet and Microsoft shares have all risen by more than ten percent on Wall Street since the first signs of the storm that swept the US banking sector at the beginning of March, while the Dow Jones index fell by more than 2 percent.

" Investors see these technology companies with large market capitalization as a safe destination at the present time," said Angelo Zino of the CFRA Research office for studies and analysis.

This contrasts with the image that has accompanied the technology sector since the collapse of the "internet bubble" in 2000, as a sector that is often overvalued, with uncertain financial prospects and many unpleasant surprises.

Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities noted in a note that "many have been warning about the technology sector" for months, "but the reality is that the Nasdaq is up about 13% this year," adding that "many investors who were expecting its decline are seeking to understand" this phenomenon.

"A large portion of the largest companies in the world come from the technology sector," said Scott Kessler of Third Bridge, noting that their huge market capitalization partially protects them from surrounding fluctuations.

He added that these companies "have financial flexibility and huge liquidity reserves," which provides them with a strong base in times of market turmoil.

Likewise, the digital world has become entrenched in the lives of individuals, unlike the situation in the year 2000.

"People will not abandon Windows or Amazon Web Services (cloud services) at once, or stop doing research on the Internet," the analyst said, stressing that the services provided by Internet and information giants "are essential and necessary."

To these structural elements are added circumstantial factors that provided an ideal and unexpected situation for the shares of this new economy.

Among the parties who went to these stocks, according to Dan Ives, a large number chose to abandon the financial sector, as "it is not known which bank is facing a crisis and any news that can be received one evening" regarding emergency measures.

The United States is still in a fragile situation due to the collapse of three banks within a few days, which undermined market confidence in the financial system, although the wave of panic was contained.

And those who moved to the technology sector stocks found attractive increases in the value of assets resulting from the sudden correction process that the technology sector witnessed in 2022 as a result of the exit from the Covid-19 epidemic and the entry into a ring of rapid tightening of monetary policy.

On the other hand, Angelo Zeno pointed out that since the end of last year, "investors are getting (from major technology companies) what they are looking forward to, which is savings plans."

Amazon announced this week a batch of new layoffs affecting 9,000 employees, in addition to the layoffs of 18,000 employees in January. A few days earlier, Mita announced more drastic redundancies, taking its staff cut rate to 24%.

Scott Kessler believed that "the general feeling about these big names has changed due to their emphasis on efficient performance" and rationalizing costs, which were criteria that did not seem necessary until then due to their continuous growth.

The last card in favor of technology companies was the US Federal Reserve's slowdown in tightening its monetary policy, which prompted stock exchange clients to expect the central bank to stop the approach of raising interest rates and moving to reduce them in stages until the end of the year.

Such a scenario would be ideal for big technology companies, which, like the entire sector, are counting on credit terms to fund their rapid growth.

"It looks like the interest rate hike is over, removing a huge cloud over the sector," said Dan Ives.

However, Angelo Zeno warned that companies with a medium market value do not enjoy the same prospects, noting that some companies "the most modest will find it more difficult to adapt to the tightening of the conditions for access to loans" as a result of the turmoil in the banking sector, especially since the crisis began with the bankruptcy of a bank. Silicon Valley which counts a lot of tech startups among its clients.

He believed that these companies "will have to be more selective."

Today, Sunday, Israeli forces arrested a boy from the town of Al-Tur in occupied Jerusalem .

According to local sources, these forces arrested Fouad Tariq Ahmed (16 years old), after they raided and searched his family's house.

Today, Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the continuous incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards by extremist settlers, and the occupation police's expulsion and expulsion of worshipers and seclusion by force and assault on them.

In a statement, the ministry considered this a real crime and an offense against the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, its courtyards, and the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan.

The ministry believed that the Israeli government, which preceded the holy month with a campaign of incitement against the Palestinian people under the pretext of (warning of an escalation of violence) during the month of Ramadan, reveals once again its plans to use these incitement campaigns to escalate its aggression against the Palestinians and its incursions and targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque with the aim of perpetuating its temporal division on the road Divide it spatially if it is not completely demolished.

The ministry called for a practical and effective American and international position to force the Israeli government to abide by its commitments in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh and to stop targeting Jerusalem and its sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque, before it is too late.

Today, Sunday, the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, quoting her lawyer, Jacqueline Al-Fararjeh, monitored the barbaric and arbitrary beatings and violations that harm them and their families during their detention.

Among these prisoners: the prisoner Walid Hammad (24 years) from the city of Ramallah, who was stopped at the “Mahsoum” “Arael” pilot checkpoint, and then he was severely beaten all over his body by the occupation soldiers, and he was cursed with obscene words, and he was transferred to a nearby camp. The prisoner was kept blindfolded and handcuffed for three days, and then transferred to the "Etzion" detention and investigation center.

While the prisoner Muhammad Abu Namous (24 years old) from Aqabat Jabr camp / Jericho, was subjected to a violation by the Israeli occupation forces, as the Israeli army raided his house at 3 am, and they broke the door and severely beat him with the butts of their rifles, and one of the soldiers stepped on his arm He was transferred to the “dco” in Jericho, where he remained for 5 (hours), and then to the “Etzion” detention and investigation center.

The prisoner Abd al-Rahim Akila (23 years) from Jericho was subjected to the same policy when his house was raided at 3:00 in the morning. The door of his house was broken and a dog accompanying the army attacked him and pushed the prisoner to the ground. After that, the soldier hit the prisoner on his ear, which is still in pain. They took him to a nearby camp and then to the Etzion detention and interrogation center.

The Prisoners Authority confirmed that all prisoners detained by the occupation authorities are subjected to several different forms of physical and psychological torture during their arrest, through interrogation, and even their stay in Israeli detention centers.

In another statement, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said, "There is an overcrowding with the number of prisoners and detainees inside the " Etzion Detention Center," which numbered 33 detainees."

In a statement issued by its lawyer, the Commission stated that most of the young prisoners who were arrested spent two days and more in army camps and police stations, before they were taken to the "Etzion" detention center.

She added: "The prisoners inside the prison are subjected to the most severe types of psychological and physical pressure, and the occupation is trying to undermine their resolve by depriving them of their life rights, by detaining them in sections that are not suitable for human living."

The Commission continued: "Some prisoners were brutally and barbarously beaten during their arrest, their homes were destroyed and vandalized during the raids, and their families were terrorized with sniffer dogs."

It is noteworthy that Etzion Prison (Etzion Detention Center) is located in the south of the occupied West Bank, and is located on lands north of the city of Hebron, within the "Gush Etzion" settlement bloc, and is considered the worst among the detention centers.

Today, Sunday morning, the Israeli occupation authorities handed over the body of the captive martyr Ahmed Badr Abu Ali , who died on 02-10-2023 as a result of medical negligence in the occupation prisons .

According to the Civil Affairs, the body will be transferred to Yatta Governmental Hospital, where his immaculate body will be buried, according to the arrangements of his family.

After the release of the body of the captive martyr Abu Ali, the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of 12 prisoners of the martyrs of the captive movement.

According to the Captive Club, the martyr prisoner Anis Dawla has been holding his body since 1980, while the body of martyr Aziz Owaisat has been held since 2018.

As for the three martyrs, Fares Baroud, Nassar Taqatqa, and Bassam Al-Sayeh, their bodies have been held since 2019.

Since 2020, the occupation continues to detain the bodies of the two captive martyrs, Saadi Al-Gharabli and Kamal Abu Waar, while the occupation has detained the body of the captive martyr, Sami Al-Amour, since 2021.

Since the past year 2022, the occupation has detained the bodies of the martyrs Daoud Al-Zubaidi, Muhammad Maher Turkman and Nasser Abu Hamid.

While he continues to detain the body of the martyr, Wadih Abu Ramuz, since January 2023.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday that the European Union seeks to avoid being dependent on China as it was with regard to Russian gas , calling for strengthening trade with Latin America.

"We discovered that dependence, which was one of the elements of building peace, is also a weapon that can be directed against us," Borrell said, referring to "Europe's excessive dependence on Russian gas."

This emerged after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when Moscow reduced gas shipments to Europe, forcing the continent to search for other supply routes.

He pointed out that this dependence "made (Vladimir) Putin believe that he can invade Ukraine with complete impunity because Europe, hostage to our gas consumption, 40 percent of which comes from Russia, will not move."

"We want to avoid making our relationship with China dependent on it, as was the case with Russia," he said in a speech at the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

Borrell considered that 2023 was an "important year" for concluding agreements in other countries, with Latin America in particular, in preparation for the summit between the European Union and the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States that will be held in July.

"Europe and Latin America have an opportunity to show that their trade relationship is still a source of progress," Borrell said, adding that European investments are more in Latin America than in Russia, China, India and Japan "combined."

A UN report issued by the Economic Commission for Latin America stated that 36 percent of foreign investments in the region amounting to $142 billion came from Europe in 2021.

Eight years after the first blows of its military campaign in Yemen , Saudi Arabia is seeking to find a way out of the Yemen war, and to focus on its ambitious projects at home, despite the slim hopes of achieving lasting peace in the poorest country of the Arabian Peninsula.

Saudi Arabia may find in the agreement to resume relations with Iran, which supports the Houthis in Yemen and is accused by Riyadh of smuggling weapons to them, an impetus for its endeavor to end what appeared over the past years as a proxy war between the two regional powers.

Ahmed Naji, an expert at the International Crisis Group, told AFP that while Saudi Arabia is keen to bring about major social and economic changes in the kingdom, it is also seeking to "transform its approach in Yemen from a military strategy to a soft security and political strategy."

Naji believes that "military operations such as air strikes" may now probably stop, explaining that the priority is "a diplomatic solution."

The Saudi intervention began at the head of a military coalition on March 26, 2015, after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and moved towards other areas in the impoverished country.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed for direct and indirect reasons, while 4.5 million people have been internally displaced, and more than two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line, according to United Nations estimates.

A UN-brokered ceasefire between April and October led to a significant reduction in hostilities.

Before the end of the armistice, the Kingdom had begun to negotiate with the Houthis through back channels, including talks that took place between the two parties in the neighboring Sultanate of Oman.

Analysts say that Riyadh's priority now is securing the border areas and stopping missile attacks and booby-trapped drones that targeted its important oil facilities.

Naji says, "Saudi Arabia is currently negotiating with the Houthis to reach understandings that will enable it to secure its border lands while preserving its influence" in the areas controlled by the Yemeni government.

"This new approach may enable Saudi Arabia to maintain its position as a major player in Yemeni internal politics, to ensure that the kingdom is not affected by security threats in case the conflict continues at the local level," he added.

The stated aim of the Saudi intervention was to protect civilians from Houthi attacks, restore government authority, and prevent Yemen from becoming a haven for Iranian-backed forces.

But eight years later, the rebels still control large swathes of the country and possess a large arsenal of weapons that they have also used in missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the other important member of the coalition.

The resumption of these attacks threatens Saudi Arabia's endeavor to turn into a center for business, tourism, entertainment and sports, as part of its economic diversification plan to stop relying entirely on oil.

And Saudi Arabia, which has been closed for decades, is building the future city of Neom, worth $ 500 billion, and many resorts and tourist attractions.

"There is a great focus in Saudi Arabia now on development, tourism and mega projects," says a political expert involved in negotiations between Riyadh and the Houthis, on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. For Riyadh, there are fears that "anything that involves conflict" will harm investment and stability.

The expert states that the informal talks with the Houthis are now ripening to turn into a possible "understanding" that could pave the way for a lesser Saudi military role before the Yemeni dialogue between the internal conflict parties under the auspices of the United Nations.

"They want to move from some form of Saudi-Houthi understanding, to the ability to hand this understanding over to a broader process of the United Nations. (...) They seek to wash their hands and avoid the repercussions of any future escalation in the conflict," he says.

"They are ... stuck in a very costly quagmire on all levels," he says.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan confirmed this month, during a visit to Moscow, the existence of "efforts to first reach a permanent ceasefire, and then launch a political process between the Yemeni parties to end this crisis."

"We will continue this dialogue, and there are dialogues across multiple tracks," the Saudi minister said.

On the other hand, Yemeni parties fear that any Iranian-Saudi agreement will come at the expense of the authority, such as the kingdom withdrawing from the conflict amid guarantees that it will not be targeted and leaving the government alone in the face of the rebels who almost controlled the entire country had it not been for the Saudi intervention in March 2015.

A Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the kingdom "shares a long border with Yemen and we certainly will not tolerate any threat to our security."

The Moroccan national football team continued writing history and its wonderful performances that dazzled everyone in the World Cup in Qatar late last year by reaching fourth place, when it achieved a historic victory over its Brazilian guest 2-1 on Saturday at Ibn Battuta Stadium in Tangiers and in front of 65,000 spectators in an international friendly match.
Sofiane Boufal (29) and Abdel Hamid Al Sabiri (79) scored the goals for Morocco, and Casemiro (67) scored the goal for Brazil.
It is the first victory for Morocco over Brazil in three confrontations that brought them together so far, after losing to it twice, the first in a friendly in 1997 in Belem, where it made a good presentation before falling with two clean goals in the last ten minutes scored by Denilson (80 and 88), and the second one year later, in the role of The groups in the 1998 World Cup in France in Nantes, with three goals, which were scored by Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Bebeto.
The "Atlas Lions" made a great match and stood equal to the stars of the Seleçao, especially the Spanish Real Madrid wingers, Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo, and they managed to achieve a well-deserved victory over the world number one, the first for an Arab team over the five-time world champion.
Morocco also became the second team from Africa to defeat Brazil, after Cameroon, which it defeated 1-0 in the last round of the group stage of the Qatar World Cup.
It was the first match for the Moroccan national team after its historic career in the World Cup in Qatar, when it achieved remarkable victories over Belgium, Canada, Spain and Portugal and became the first African and Arab team to reach the semi-finals before being eliminated by France, the 2018 champion, who lost the Doha final against Argentina.
Morocco coach Walid Regragui commented after the match, "We achieved what we aspired to, which is to please the huge fans who came to support us, and I think we were on time with this historic victory over a great team that has many stars and talents."
He added, "Our message today is that we will make sure to prepare a team that will fight on the field, whether we win or lose. We will always play with this fighting spirit to achieve the best results."
Coach Regragui pushed his starting line-up, which did well in Qatar and witnessed one amendment, by bringing in the promising Belgian Genk midfielder Bilal Al-Khanous, at the expense of Valladolid's Spanish player, Salim Amlah, who was absent due to injury.
French Paris Saint-Germain defender Ashraf Hakimi participated in the main, after suspicion was hanging over him due to an injury that kept him out of action in the last two weeks.
It was also the first match for the Brazilian national team since its disappointing exit from the quarter-finals on penalties against Croatia.
Brazil played the match in the absence of its defense poles Marquinhos (Saint-Germain), veteran Thiago Silva (Chelsea, England), striker Richarlison (Tottenham, England) and star Neymar (Saint-Germain) due to injury, and under the leadership of its interim coach, Ramon Menezes, pending contracting with a successor to Titi, who resigned from his post after the World Cup. diagonal.
Menezes summoned 10 players who were present at the World Cup.
The Moroccan fans, who filled the entire stands of Ibn Battuta Stadium, observed a minute of silence in honor of the legend Pele, who passed away on December 29th. The Seleçao players wore T-shirts with the name "Black Jewel" written on them.
Regragui was up to his promise that he made before the match when he played an offensive risk from the start of the match, contrary to his defensive caution that characterized him in the World Cup, but the first dangerous opportunity in the match was Brazilian when Palmeiras striker Rooney was alone inside the area after receiving a through ball from Rodrigo and hit it over the crossbar (14). ).
Morocco responded when Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech passed a cross to Bayern Munich defender Naseer Mazraoui inside the area, so he placed it on his chest and manipulated Tottenham defenders Emerson and Real Madrid Eder Militao before hitting it hard next to the left post (23).
And Rodrigo almost did it after a mistake by Mazraoui at the edge of the area, so he recklessly hit the ball, which was saved by the Spanish goalkeeper, Yassin Bono, in two waves (24).
Morocco succeeded in opening the scoring after a coordinated attack and a joint game between Al-Khanous and Boufal inside the area, so the Qatari Al-Rayyan striker finished it off with a creeping shot from close range to the right of the Palmeiras goalkeeper, Verton (29).
And Rodrigo missed the opportunity to equalize when he received a ball inside the area and hit it far from the three woods (36).
Ziyash followed suit after receiving a ball on a plate of gold from Boufal inside the area, which he hit next to the far right post (37).
Marseille's French midfielder Ezzedine Onahi almost did it with a clever shot from close range that hit Militao's foot and passed next to the far left post (37).
Vinicius responded with a deceptive shot, which passed a few centimeters over the crossbar (41).
Bono saved his goal from the equalizing goal at the beginning of the second half, by deftly deflecting a powerful shot "on the fly" by Rodrigo from outside the area into a corner that did not bear fruit (47). Onahi hit a powerful ball from outside the area, which the goalkeeper pushed away with difficulty, before the defense dispersed it (54).
The captain, Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, managed to equalize with a shot from outside the area, which escaped from Bono's hands and hit the net (67).
And the substitute, the Italian Sampdoria midfielder, Al-Saberi, succeeded in giving victory to Morocco when he took advantage of a rebound from his fellow substitute, the Italian striker Bari, Walid Chedira, after a cross pass to the third substitute, Wydad Casablanca defender Yahya Atiyatallah, hit it powerfully with his right from close range, hit the ceiling of the crossbar and hugged the net (79).