Paris - (AFP) - Paris Fashion Week organizers announced Wednesday that Victoria Beckham will join the official list of designers participating in this event, through a live show on the catwalk next fall.

The British designer and former Spice Girls star has, in the past, presented her fashion shows in London and New York, but has not held any in-person fashion shows since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beckham will present her new luxury collection during the Spring 2023 women's ready-to-wear shows, which will take place from September 26 to October 4.

Paris Fashion Week recently attracted a number of British talents, including the rising men's designer Craig Green, who returned to the catwalk in June, also for the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic began.
Beckham held a live show for her luxury brand in London in February 2020, then presented online shows in September 2020 and February 2021.
But she was notably absent from London Fashion Week last February, having previously stated that high costs make it difficult to present live shows.
Beckham joined the London Fashion Week program in 2018 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the launch of her brand, after years of walking shows in New York.

New York - (AFP) - Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has denied sexual assault charges brought against him by American actor Anthony Rapp, whose civil trial has begun in New York.

"I don't remember that I was with him at a private party or that I was with him in an apartment," Spacey said in response to his lawyer's questions, as confirmed by the plaintiff.

Spacey, who won two Oscars, was absent from the screen and from the stage, after he was one of the first artists to be tabled by the global “Me Too” wave since its inception in 2017 in the United States.

Actor Anthony Rapp, 51, who participates in the series “Star Trek: Discovery”, filed a lawsuit against Spacey in September 2020 accusing him of sexually assaulting him during a party in New York in 1986 when he was still fourteen years old.

Rap explained in his lawsuit that Spicey invited him to dinner with friends in his small apartment in Manhattan, and after the other guests left, he carried him in his arms while he was watching TV, and put him on a bed "before lying next to him and then on top of him."

During cross-examination on Monday, Spacey described his father, in public for the first time, as a "white supremacist" and a "neo-Nazi" who had no homosexuality or interest in theatre.

Spacey said he was "shocked, scared and confused" after the 2017 accusations, which were contained in an article by Anthony Rapp in "Buzzfeed News", and that he issued a public apology that day at the recommendation of his agents, which he regrets today.

"I learned the lesson, which is that one should never apologize for something one did not do," he said.

He added that he decided on that day to declare his homosexuality, after he had been thinking about the matter for more than a year, after he established himself professionally in the world of acting.
"I was accused of trying to change the subject, trying to distract, or confusing it with being gay, which was never my intention," he said tearfully, adding that he would never have done "anything to harm the gay community."
Spacey faces other lawsuits in both the United States and Britain. In London, he is on trial for sexually assaulting three men between March 2005 and April 2013 when he was artistic director of a theatre. The star pleaded not guilty to these charges last July.

غزة-وضعت قرعة بطولة كأس العرب الثامنة للشباب تحت 20 عاماً، منتخبنا الوطنيّ في المجموعة السادسة إلى جانب منتخبي المغرب والسودان والتي جرت في مدينة الدمام بالمملكة العربية السعوديّة بتنظيم الاتحاد العربي لكرة القدم، حيث ستنطلق في 20 من تموز المقبل، وتستمر حتّى 6 من آب المقبل بمدينة أبها بالسعودية.

وتضمُّ المجموعة الأولى: السعودية، موريتانيا، العراق، والثانية: الإمارات، الأردن، اليمن، والثالثة: الجزائر، لبنان، ليبيا، والرابعة: مصر، عُمان، الصومال، والخامسة: تونس، البحرين، جيبوتي.

ويفتتح منتخبنا مبارياته في 25 من تموز المقبل بمواجهة السودان في مدينة الأمير سلطان، ويلاقي المغرب في 28 من نفس الشهر في نادي ضمك.

وينطلق دور ربع النهائي في 31 تموز، على أن يفتتح دور نصف النهائي في 3 من آب، وتقام المباراة النهائيّة في 6 من آب المقبل.

يذكر أنّه تمّ تصنيف المنتخبات إلى ثلاثة مستويات، ضمّ الأوّل السعودية والمغرب ومصر وتونس والجزائر والإمارات، وحلّ منتخبنا بالمستوى الثاني مع منتخبات العراق وعمان والبحرين والأردن ولبنان، تاركين الثالث لمنتخبات موريتانيا وليبيا والسودان واليمن وجيبوتي والصومال.

الجدير بالذكر أنّ النسخة الماضية أقمت في القاهرة، وتُوِجَ باللقب السعوديّ بفوزه على منتخب الجزائريّ.

Istanbul - "Al Quds" dot com - A delegation of Muslim scholars advised the " Hamas " movement to review its decision to restore relations with the Syrian regime because of the "great harms" it entails.

This came in a statement - as reported by the Turkish Anadolu Agency - issued by 8 scholars who had previously met with the leadership of the political bureau of Hamas "to hear from them directly about their decision to restore relations with the Syrian regime and carry out the duty of advice," while Hamas did not comment on the matter. statement immediately.

The statement indicated that the decision has "great corruptions, and it does not agree with the principles, values, and legal controls, and this, in the view of those present, requires that the movement review and re-study it in the light of what scholars have mentioned."

He added, "The head of the political bureau of Hamas (Ismail Haniyeh) promised to present the scholars' statements to the movement's office at its nearest meeting."

And he continued, "The scholars are awaiting the response of the movement's leadership to carry out the appropriate legal duty for the situation, and for the interest of the Palestinian cause, which is the cause of all Muslims."

The delegation of scholars revealed that it met with leaders of the "Hamas" movement in order to "speak the truth and advise people, and we are certain of the importance of the Palestinian cause and an effort to contribute to the fulfillment of its right and the right of its struggling people, and out of concern for the movement with a bright history."

The statement was signed by Sheikh Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, head of the Association of Yemeni Scholars, Sheikh Osama al-Rifai, head of the Syrian Islamic Council, Sheikh Ali al-Qara Daghi, Secretary-General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, and Sheikh Issam Ahmed al-Bashir, Vice President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

The statement was also signed by Sheikh Abdul Hai Youssef, a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Federation of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Karim, Secretary-General of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Sami Al-Saadi, Secretary-General of the Research Council of the Libyan Dar Al-Ifta, and Sheikh Wasfi Ashour Abu Zaid, member of the Board of Trustees of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

Hamas had taken a decision to restore relations with the official regime in Syria , which sparked a lot of controversy.

Relations between Hamas and the Bashar al-Assad regime were severed in 2012, following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.

Los Angeles - (AFP) - A second man of the three accused of attacking an employee of Lady Gaga to kidnap the star's dogs was sentenced to six years in prison in Los Angeles, after the first defendant was sentenced to four years in prison about a week ago.

Lafayette Sean Wiley, 28, admitted his participation in the robbery, noting that he was part of the group that shot Ryan Fisher while he was in Hollywood walking Lady Gaga's three French bulldogs in February 2021.

Surveillance cameras showed two men getting out of a car near the employee before he was shot and wounded in the chest. The two men then snatched two of the three dogs, Koji and Gustav, and fled, leaving Ryan Fisher bleeding on the floor.

As for the third dog, named "Miss Age", he escaped before returning later to Fisher.

The owner of the songs "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance" offered a reward of half a million dollars to whoever could return her two dogs to her.
A woman returned the two dogs to the singer, claiming she had found them tied to a pole, before she was arrested by the police, who said the woman had an affair with the father of one of the suspects.

In April 2021, charges of attempted murder and robbery against the three men were dropped.

The ruling comes a week after Jaylen Kishon White, 20, Lafayette's accomplice in the kidnapping, was sentenced to four years in prison, in addition to the arrest of James Howard Jackson, 19, after he was released on April 6 as a result of a mistake. Administrative.

This case showed the importance of French bulldogs to the stars on the one hand, and the criminals who take advantage of the small size of this type and its high price to sell it on the black market on the other hand.

Lady Gaga is very attached to her dogs, who often accompany her during events, and the singer publishes pictures of her on social media.

Translation by " Jerusalem " dot com - Australia has officially revoked its recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of "Israel", thus reversing the decision taken by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government believed the issue should be resolved as part of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and that her country would not support an approach opposing that possibility.

She added: The Australian embassy has always been in Tel Aviv and will remain there. We are committed to the two-state solution, a future Palestinian state, and Israel side by side, in peace and security and within borders recognized by the international community.

And she continued: We renew our commitment to contributing to international efforts and working towards the two-state solution, which is a just and lasting solution.

And she continued: “Australia will always remain a loyal friend to Israel .. We were one of the first countries to officially recognize it and our government will never back down from its support for Israel and the Jewish community in the country. Likewise, we have steadfastly supported the Palestinian people, providing them with humanitarian support every year since 1951, Therefore, we call for the resumption of peace negotiations."

In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that it would summon the Australian ambassador in the coming hours and provide an official response to this step.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said the decision was taken in a hasty manner in response to some incorrect news in the media, and we can only hope that the Australian government will be more serious about other matters.

He added, "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of a united Israel, and nothing will ever change it," as he put it.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - During the month of September 2022, the Israeli occupation authorities arrested (445) Palestinians from the occupied territory, including (35) children and (19) women.

Arrest cases in Jerusalem constituted the highest percentage, as in every month, as the total number of arrests during the aforementioned month reached (181) cases, including (31) children and minors, and (16) women, followed by Jenin with (59) cases, and Hebron with (59) cases. (55) cases of arrest, while the number of administrative detention orders issued during the aforementioned month reached (245), including (102) new orders and (143) renewal orders.

Last September witnessed a high intensity of violations and crimes carried out by the occupation, including field executions, the policy of collective punishment, and the implementation of more organized arrests, which were accompanied by grave violations against detainees and their families, in addition to the recording of various injuries, including severe ones, among the detainees. shot by the occupying army.

Prisoners and human rights institutions refer; (The Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Addameer Association for Prisoner Care and Human Rights, and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Jerusalem), that the number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the occupation prisons reached about (4,700) prisoners, until the end of September 2022, Among them are (30) female prisoners, about (190) minors, and (800) administrative detainees, including two female prisoners, and about 6 children.

Beirut - (AFP) - Qatar joined on Sunday, during an official ceremony in Beirut, as a partner to the French companies Total Energy and the Italian Eni in the framework of a consortium to explore for oil and gas in the Lebanese maritime border waters with Israel.

After two years of US mediation, Lebanon and Israel reached an agreement in October to demarcate the maritime borders between them, which they unanimously described as "historic", and would allow the two countries to explore for gas and oil in the disputed area from their territorial waters.

And the Lebanese government presidency stated, in a statement that followed a ceremony held at the Grand Serail in Beirut, about "the signing of the amending annexes to the exploration and production agreements in blocks 4 and 9, on the occasion of the entry of Qatar Energy as a partner with the French company Total Energy and the Italian company Eni."

The move came months after the Russian company Novatek announced its withdrawal from the coalition that was formed in 2018.

Thus, Qatar Energy Company became a partner in the consortium of companies that owns the petroleum rights in Blocks 4 and 9 in the Lebanese offshore waters, and holds 30 percent, compared to 35 percent for the French company and 35 percent for the Italian company.

Block No. 9, where the Qana field is partly located outside the territorial waters, will constitute a major area for exploration to be carried out by the three companies.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during the signing ceremony, "The consortium of these internationally renowned companies enhances investment confidence in Lebanon, despite the difficult circumstances it is going through, and puts Lebanon in the future on the oil map in the Levantine basin of the Mediterranean."

Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad on the Lebanese side, State Minister for Energy Affairs of Qatar and CEO of Qatar Energy Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi on the Qatari side, Executive Director of Total Group Patrick Pouyanne on behalf of the French company and CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi on behalf of the Italian company signed the agreement. In the presence of the ambassadors of Qatar, France and Italy.

Fayyad hoped that the signing would constitute "the beginning of a new phase that contributes to consolidating Lebanon's position on the oil map in the region, enhances its role as an investment destination, and opens a window of hope for the next phase."

Since the fall of 2019, Lebanon has witnessed an unprecedented economic collapse, with which the ability of state utilities to secure basic services, especially electricity, has declined. The collapse is exacerbated by political stalemate, which is reflected in constitutional and judicial paralysis.

Energy expert Naji Abi Aad told AFP that "Qatar's accession to the coalition has political implications, especially" in the midst of the protracted economic crisis.

TRIPOLI - (Xinhua) Eleven years ago, the United States and its allies launched a military campaign under the name "Odyssey Dawn" to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya under the slogan of freedom and democracy, but it pushed the country into continuous security and economic turmoil.

In February 2011, Libyans took to the streets as part of the "Arab Spring" revolutions to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, which had been in power for more than 40 years, and the demonstrations quickly turned into a military confrontation.

In response to the escalation of violence and confrontations that took place in the country between the Libyan revolutionaries and the forces of the regime at the time, the "Odyssey Dawn" campaign came, and with it the lives of the Libyans did not shine, but plunged deeper into darkness.

Western countries led by the United States have made Libya an unstable country riven by armed conflicts, after it was once a country rich in abundant oil and gas resources, while the per capita GDP in 2010 was more than 12 thousand dollars.

Khadija Al-Mansouri, a 46-year-old Libyan housewife from Tripoli, told Xinhua, "When the February 17 revolution took place, we expected Libyans to enter the stage of openness, improved living, and a better life, but what happened is the opposite."

And she continued: "The level of the economy has declined and people have become poorer, all due to illusions marketed by Western countries, led by America, that Libya will be an advanced democratic model with the departure of Gaddafi."

Interference in Libya under the guise of freedom and democracy has led to civil unrest in the country. For the past 11 years, the political situation in Libya has been unstable, armed conflicts are continuing, the security situation is deteriorating, and people are living in hardship.

Political analyst Faraj al-Dali said, "Western intervention in Libya and the United States' leadership of the campaign to overthrow Gaddafi in 2011 was a full-fledged conspiracy, not because Gaddafi's regime was good or ideal, but because it carried out change by force and not with the conviction of a broad spectrum of Libyans who originally supported Gaddafi." Thus, we entered into a spiral of civil war, the end of which cannot be predicted.

Al-Dali added, "The mistake is that America is always trying to export to others its democratic system, and this is what it describes as at least, and it is a flawed, defective system that has big problems. This made it a country of the jungle, not a country of law.”

Mahmoud Darwish, 37, a Libyan citizen working as a translator in Tripoli, said, "Before 2011, the Libyan dinar was equal to 1.28 US dollars, and now the dollar is equal to 5 dinars, and the currency's decline caused the cost of living to rise sharply."

"In the past we had good security, now we have power outages of more than 10 hours a day," he said.

For his part, Fathi al-Madhuni, 40, a teacher, said, "The conditions in Libya have changed dramatically since 2011 until today, and unfortunately the change has been year after year for the worse, and our country has become a prey to division and fragmentation, and the disturbing thing is that foreign interference has become overt and even some Countries are talking as if they are occupying us or that Libya is part of it.”

And he went on to say, "Sovereignty is robbed, and our political and national decision is in the hands of certain countries, and we do not have any ingredients or roles to bring about real change."

Al-Madhoni has five children, and before 2011 his monthly salary, he says, was sufficient to support his family, but now it is less than half a month, and in addition to teaching, he has to find time to drive a taxi to support the family.

In turn, Iman Jalal, a political science professor at the University of Tripoli, said, "America must be aware that every country has a specificity in adopting the political system that suits it, and here it can be said that trying to detail any political system or idea and exporting it to others is a failed idea par excellence."

She added, "All previous experiences, starting from Afghanistan to Iraq, passing through Syria and ending with Libya, proved that foreign intervention, which America often rushes to, was the cause of poverty and the decline of these countries at all levels."

"Methods of cooperation, coordination and international assistance should be adopted without dictates or military solutions, because it will only add to the expansion of terrorism, crime and economic failure," she stressed.

Jerusalem - "Jerusalem" dot com - Dozens of settlers stormed today, Tuesday, the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque , under the strict protection of the occupation police.

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

Settler groups storm Al-Aqsa on a daily basis, except for Friday and Saturday.

Ramallah - "Al Quds" dot com - The two detainees , Raed Rayan and Khalil Awadeh , continue their open hunger strike in rejection of their administrative detention, and the occupation refuses to this day to respond to their demand to end their administrative detention.

The Captive Club confirmed in a statement that they are facing serious health conditions, which are exacerbating with the passage of time, in addition to a number of systematic abusive policies aimed at undermining and putting pressure on them, as they remain to this day in "Ramla" prison.

Detainee Raed Rayan (28 years old) from the town of Beit Duqu / Jerusalem, has been on hunger strike for 103 days, and has been in administrative detention since 3/11/2021, when an administrative detention order was issued against him for a period of six months, and the order was renewed for the second time for a period of 6 months. Note that he is a former detainee who spent nearly 21 months under administrative detention.

While the detainee Khalil Awawda (40 years old) from the town of Ithna / Hebron resumed his hunger strike on 7/2/2022, after he suspended it earlier after 111 days of the strike, based on promises to release him, but the occupation reneged on his promise, and issued a A new administrative detention order is issued against him for a period of four months, noting that he has been detained since 27/12/2021, when the occupation issued an administrative detention order against him for a period of six months, and his detention order was renewed for the second time for a period of four months, and he is married and the father of four children, and a former prisoner who spent years in occupation prisons.

Jenin - "Jerusalem" dot com-Ali Samoudi- The young Khaled Jamal Muhammad Abu Al-Rub (26 years old), from the town of Jalboun , east of Jenin, is living in a state of fear and tension, after he received a notification from the occupation forces to demolish his house, which he was preparing for his marriage, after he was about to Finishing it off and preparing it for housing.

"My dream is threatened with loss, and I will lose my tiredness and the hardship of my life if the occupation demolishes my house." Khaled said, who dispelled the occupation's joy and turned his life into sadness and pain, adding, "Years ago, my life consisted of work and perseverance. I spent my life working hard and hard to collect construction costs."

He continued, "After I completed the finishing process of the house, and started preparing for my wedding, I was surprised by the arbitrary and unjust demolition decision. I saw the occupation soldiers and the Civil Administration sticking demolition notices on my house, and giving me 96 hours to implement the decision."

Building without a permit
Abu Al-Rub's house is located east of the village of Jalboun, and since receiving the notification, he has submitted several complaints, demanding that the decision be annulled.

He says, "This is a crime, and the decision is a great setback. Everything that I have collected in my life and for my future is threatened with loss, and I do not know what I will do to protect my house and not demolish it. I filed a complaint with the Settlement Wall Resistance Commission, to file a case against the occupation to retract this notification and not demolish my house," adding, " The occupation claims that the demolition is under the pretext of building without a permit because my house is located in Area C, but the occupation is deliberately obstructing us and denying permits, to stifle us and prevent us from our legitimate right to construction, stability and a safe life. to deport our people and uproot us,” calling for the need to move to stop these policies immediately.”

On 21-6-2022, the occupation forces stormed the border and wall village of Jalboun, east of the city of Jenin, and distributed demolition and stop-building notices against 9 citizens in the village, which suffers greatly due to the apartheid wall that besieges and surrounds it from the three northern, eastern and southern sides.

targeting the village

According to the head of the charitable association in Jalboun, Ali Abu al-Rub, the occupation has targeted his village since the Nakba until today, because of its strategic location on the armistice lines, and the extension of its lands in the areas and lands that were occupied by the occupation in the Nakba in 1948.

Abu Al-Rub stated that the area of Jalboun’s land was more than 36,000 dunums, extending in the areas of Bisan in the interior and Tubas in the Jordan Valley, and it was subjected to continuous targeting, and the occupation confiscated about 30,000 dunums from it, and all of it was planted with olive trees, and the village’s elders still remember They retrieve the pomegranates, figs, cacti, olives, and almonds that were carried by those trees, explaining that all the confiscated lands were owned by their owners with title deeds, identification papers, and official bills, and despite that, they were targeted and stolen by the occupation.

He was not satisfied with that. After the setback of June 1967, he confiscated more lands on which the settlements besieging Jalbun were established, namely; Merav, Ma'ale Gilboa, and King Joshua.

Abu Al-Rub explained that these settlements built on the lands of Jalboun village have great impacts and many harassments on citizens who are subjected to attacks and abuse, in addition to diverting waste water in the village lands, which causes damage to crops and the spread of diseases and insects in a large way, which affects the environment in general.

The occupation imposed restrictions on the lives and movements of citizens and farmers, especially after the construction of the apartheid wall within the borders of Jalboun, which led, as Abu al-Rub explains, to the isolation of large areas of land behind the wall, and its owners became denied access to it. Wastewater in the lands, and even deliberate delay in issuing permits to farmers even in the olive season, so that it becomes neglected and easy to confiscate and steal.

New attack

The occupation imposed strict control, through the settlements, on the lives of the villagers, which are subject to continuous campaigns, including raids, sieges, and restrictions on agriculture and construction, the latest of which was the attack and the new campaign two months ago. The occupation, which tried to prevent expansion and population expansion, and deliberately refuses to issue licenses, while the Israeli settlements, areas, and factories established in them are expanding. demolish it immediately.

The citizen Muhammad Mahmoud Asaad Abu Al-Rub (60 years old) is an example of what citizens were subjected to in terms of targeting and unfair decisions. The old man, who supports a family of 9 people, and retired after many years of service as a teacher in education, started building a house for his family a year and a half ago. He says, "I started building a single floor of 240 meters, so that my family and I could live a stable life under one roof, but the occupation suppressed our joy while we were still under construction, and issued a decision to stop work and construction, which included several citizens, whose homes are still under construction, and we are still following up on the complaint." The Palestinian Liaison to Prevent Demolition and Displacing Us.” And he continues, “There are houses whose owners received demolition notices, even though they were built and inhabited for 30 years. .

Citizen Muhammad considered this measure a continuation of the occupation’s imposition of the gradual confiscation of the border area, and to restrict people and prevent the people from expanding as a message of warning and threatening to the rest of the people to prevent them from building and building new homes and settling their lives, adding, “Our papers are ready, and we are ready for licensing, but the occupation is the obstacle because it wants Strangling us, preventing us from practicing our normal lives.”

The head of the Charity Association, Abu Al-Rub, confirms that these measures are continuously being taken by the occupation, and are not new to the village of Jalboun, whose people refuse to submit to its arbitrary decisions, and are still steadfast and clinging to their land and its protection, while the owners of the threatened homes appealed to humanitarian and international institutions to move and put pressure on the occupation. , to cancel arbitrary decisions, and allow them to complete construction and live normally, as guaranteed by international norms and laws.

Gaza - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Egyptian authorities decided to close the Rafah land crossing with the Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

According to the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza, the crossing will be closed in both directions, due to the presence of an official holiday on the Egyptian side.

BEIJING (Xinhua) -- China's National Observatory on Friday issued a red alert for high temperature, the highest level in the four-level alert system, as the sweltering heat wave continued in more areas of the country.

During the daytime hours tomorrow, parts of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Henan, Hubei, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia are expected to experience temperatures ranging from 35 to 39 degrees Celsius, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The center added that temperatures in parts of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang may exceed 40 or even 42 degrees Celsius.

The center advised the local authorities to take emergency measures to confront the severe heat wave, by suspending work in open spaces under high temperatures, paying close attention to fire prevention measures, and paying special attention to vulnerable groups.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Housing Bank supported the Needy Student Fund at Hebron University, as part of a series of donations made by the Bank to Palestinian universities, in order to enable students to complete their educational journey and overcome the financial conditions that prevent this.

The official of the Grants and Aid Unit at Hebron University, Hakam Al-Jabari, received the Director of the Housing Bank branch in Hebron, Nael Sajdia, and thanked the Housing Bank for this assistance.

During the visit, ways of joint cooperation were discussed between the two parties, and he wished further development and success for the Housing Bank to carry out its societal and national role on an ongoing basis, stressing that this is not new for the bank, which was known for its giving and harmony with society and its distinguished role in assisting humanitarian and development cases.

The Regional Director of the Housing Bank, Osama Herzallah, said that this donation reflects the bank's keenness on its commitment to social responsibility, emphasizing the complementarity of roles between national institutions to serve the educational process. He also pointed out the importance of creating a sound educational environment suitable for teaching and learning.

It is worth noting that the university established this fund to collect donations and allocate them to support needy university students who suffer from difficult economic conditions that impede the completion of their educational career.

Astana - "Jerusalem" dot com - President Mahmoud Abbas arrived, this evening, Wednesday, the Republic of Kazakhstan, on an official visit, to participate in the sixth summit of the "Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia" (SICA), to be held in the Republic of Kazakhstan , with the participation of a number of Leaders of member states, heads of government, regional and international organizations.

During his visit, he will meet with a number of leaders of the countries participating in the summit, to discuss regional and international issues of common concern. His Excellency will also inform them of the latest developments on the Palestinian level, and the Israeli occupation's violations against our people.

The President is accompanied by: Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Hussein Al-Sheikh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Maliki, Head of the General Intelligence Service Major General Majid Faraj, Adviser to the President for Diplomatic Affairs Majdi Al-Khalidi, and Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Kazakhstan Montaser Abu Zaid.

The "SICA" organization includes 27 countries as permanent members, and 8 other countries as observer states and 5 international organizations. Vast resources and intellectual potential, along with fast-growing transportation corridors and markets, which together produce more than 50% of global GDP, and provide two-thirds of global economic growth.

Madrid - (AFP) - Spain's King Felipe VI called for "unity" and "responsibility" on Saturday, as the country faces an unprecedented institutional crisis over a clash between the leftist government and the conservative opposition.

In his traditional Christmas speech, Felipe VI considered that "division makes democracies more fragile. Union, on the contrary, strengthens them. In Spain, we know this from our own experience," warning of the weakness of institutions.

"I believe that in these times we should all show responsibility and think constructively about the consequences of ignoring these risks for our union, our coexistence and our institutions," he added.

And the king continued in this televised speech, "nearly 45 years have passed since the adoption of the constitution" that established democracy in Spain in 1978, and "of course many things have changed and will continue to change."

He stressed that "the spirit that was born from him, and his principles and foundations, which are the product of everyone, cannot be weakened and should not fall into oblivion."

This speech comes at a time when heated discussions have recently intensified between the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the Popular Party, the most prominent right-wing party, due to a deep disagreement over judicial reform.

This amendment, which aims to renew four judges of the Constitutional Court, was voted on by deputies last week after the ruling coalition parties added it to the text of a law related to amending the Penal Code.

But it had to be withdrawn from the final text submitted Thursday to senators after a veto by the Constitutional Court to which the People's Party referred the case.

This objection angered the left, which accused the court of "isolating institutions" and preventing parliament from approving "legislation."

This crisis is the culmination of four years of challenge between the government and the opposition over the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, which is responsible for appointing the majority of the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.

The two parties exchange accusations of seeking to tighten the grip on the judicial institution by imposing or keeping judges from their political current in it, one year before the legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2023.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh called today, Tuesday, for the need to intensify international efforts to lift the siege imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities for days on the people of Shuafat camp , in occupied Jerusalem.

In a statement, Shtayyeh called on the United Nations and the International Red Cross to enter the camp, see the extent of the suffering the refugees endure there, and work to allow them to leave the camp and enter it freely.

He called for an end to settler attacks on olive pickers in villages and towns, in which the season of harvesting the blessed tree began, amid attacks by settlers armed with the protection of the occupation soldiers, who confiscate the crop and prevent farmers from reaching their fields.

Shtayyeh also called for the formation of popular committees in the targeted villages and towns, to protect farmers and confront settler attacks.

Jerusalem - "Al-Qudsat.com - Muhammad Abu Khudair - The Association for Civil Rights and the Committee for Parents of Students in Occupied East Jerusalem submitted a petition to the Israeli Administrative Affairs Court, asking it to oblige the municipality to perform its duty, and to work to improve safety arrangements in the vicinity of educational institutions in Eastern neighborhoods of the city before the start of the school year.

It is noteworthy that the Association for Civil Rights conducted an examination between the months of March and July 2022, in the vicinity of dozens of educational institutions, in 12 neighborhoods east of Jerusalem. Traffic to 30 km/h, and there are no traffic lights for pedestrians (children crossing the street), and in the vast majority of these institutions, bumps are not placed to limit the speed of cars, and pedestrian paths are not demarcated, and only in a few schools are areas equipped for ascent and disembarkation Pupils from buses and private cars, or install safety guards separating the school from the street to prevent pupils from rushing into the street at the end of the school day.

In the affidavit attached to the petition, Adel Ghazzawi, head of the parents’ committee in Al-Thawri neighborhood, testifies: “When we pass through the Jewish neighborhood of Abu Tur and reach the Palestinian side of the neighborhood, we move to another world.. The neglect of our infrastructure is appalling, as there is no Sidewalks, no parking spaces, and every process of entry or exit from the neighborhood is accompanied by severe congestion, which prompts drivers to cut off the road and drive recklessly, and this is a very dangerous matter for children and adults.. There are between 6-7 schools and nurseries in the neighborhood, and all of them suffer From neglecting the exit and entry area, and the municipality is obligated to take care of placing traffic signs and arranging public safety affairs before a child is killed here.”

It is noteworthy that the association's appeals to the municipality of Jerusalem, and repeated calls by parents to it, were met with complete disregard by both the municipality and its education department.

Attorney Tal Hussein, from the Association for Civil Rights, said: “The Jerusalem municipality ignores the requests of parents and school principals, and it ignores its duties, being responsible for the roads and infrastructure in the areas that fall under its authority, with its clear disregard for the lives and safety of thousands of Palestinian students, and their right to safety.” Body, dignity and equality.

He added, "Such behavior is associated with deep and long-standing discrimination against neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem, and it is easy to assume that similar requests from parents and administrators in the west of the city would have been met through active reform of safety risks and failures in the periphery of educational institutions."

He continued, "The process of demarcating pedestrian paths, installing safety railings, and installing traffic lights are essential and easy to implement."

Pedri, the Barcelona midfielder, expressed his aspiration to face Real Madrid in a friendly at dawn tomorrow, Sunday, in addition to shedding light on the deals concluded by Barca in preparation for the new season.

Pedri talked about El Clasico, according to what was reported by the Spanish newspaper "Marca", saying: "There is a constant desire to participate in El Clasico. We always play that match with great enthusiasm. It is good that we reach the start of the season with good dynamism, and winning the El Clasico will help us to do that."

He added, "Barca enters every season with the ambition to win everything, and with the new deals, hope becomes greater. Every year we start with the intention of fighting for the Champions League, and the reinforcements will help us in that. We will be ready to fight, and Barca has always been among the favourites."

He added, "The competition within the team is always good for everyone and for the coach, and we hope to have a special year."

He touched on Robert Lewandowski's transfer to Barcelona: "He is a player who guarantees you to score goals. We saw that in Bayern, and it is a matter of pride that he is with us."

And about Frank Casey, he commented: "He surprised me a lot. We have faced him in matches before. He is a very strong player, and I try not to collide with him a lot in training."

And about the possibility of including Inigo Martinez, he continued: “He is an amazing player, I played with him in the national team, I hope that this transfer will happen.”

And he concluded by talking about the injuries he suffered: “It has become a part of the past. I am in good physical condition and I am looking forward to the start. I worked for months to change my physical form. In football now, you must prepare yourself well and continue to work.”

Paris - (AFP) - France is preparing for a day of major unrest on Tuesday, with unions calling for strikes and demonstrations to demand higher wages and an end to forcing striking workers in refineries and fuel depots to work.

This mobilization day comes in a context that has become combustible due to the strike at refineries, which has greatly disrupted fuel distribution throughout the country for about two weeks, especially in the north, center and Paris region.

The government responded by calling the strikers to reopen some fuel depots. Likewise, French President Emmanuel Macron, Monday, summoned Prime Minister Elizabeth Born and the relevant ministers to assess the situation at a time when 30 percent of service stations in France are experiencing unrest, and there are often endless queues for motorists.

"We will continue to do our best," Macron said, adding that he wants to resolve this crisis "as soon as possible" and stressing that he stands "by all our citizens who are struggling and who are tired of this situation."

For his part, Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said that it should "liberate fuel depots and refineries that have been denied access and resort to means to issue orders that force employees to work."

He added, "The time for negotiation has passed. There was negotiation, and there was an agreement, and this means that the force must remain with the vote of the majority," referring to the agreement between the "Total Energy" group and two unions, but it was not signed by the General Confederation of Workers (CGT). ) who initiated the strike movement.

On the other hand, the Secretary-General of the General Confederation of Labor, Felipe Martinez, on Monday called on the government to "sit around the table" with the unions to "discuss raising the minimum wage."

Likewise, the General Secretary of the "Manpower" union, Frederic Soyo, who is also participating in this strike day, stressed that "forcing employees to work by official order is unacceptable and is never the right solution."

Among the reasons behind the dissatisfaction of millions of employees: inflation affecting purchasing power, the upcoming tightening of rules for unemployment benefits, and pension reform expected at the end of the year.

Tuesday's strike will particularly affect the railway companies (SNCF) and the Paris public transport companies (RATP).

Rail traffic is expected to see major disruptions in the Paris region as one out of every two trains will be running. On the other hand, traffic on the main line is expected to be less turbulent.

Meanwhile, union and government officials will monitor on Tuesday the number of strikers, especially in strategic sectors such as transportation and energy... and any calls for a renewed strike, in the railways sector, for example, in light of the approaching school holiday that begins Friday.
These moves come in the wake of a demonstration against the "high cost of living" organized by left-wing parties, including "rebellious France" in Paris. The number of participants reached 140,000 people, according to the organizers, 30,000 people, according to the police, and 29,500 people, according to a census conducted by the "Ocurance" center for a number of media outlets, including Agence France-Presse.
The consequences of the strike at refineries are felt in many sectors: difficulties in getting to work, anxiety in rural areas in the midst of the harvest season, fear of disruption to leavers and cancellations of bookings.

Nablus - "Jerusalem" dot com - A number of Palestine TV crew members were injured, this evening, Monday, in an assault by Israeli occupation soldiers, after broadcasting today's file program from Nablus.

5 Palestine TV crew members were injured and taken to the hospital as a result of tear gas canisters being thrown at them heavily.

Fellow photographer Moataz Al-Sudani was hit directly in the face with a gas bomb.

BERLIN - (Xinhua) Damages caused by extreme weather have cost Germany 145 billion euros (146.5 billion US dollars) since 2000, according to a study published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action on Monday.

Most of the damage, worth 80 billion euros, occurred in the past four years, the study said. Disasters related to floods in July 2021, which destroyed entire villages and killed 186 people, accounted for half of the losses.

"The climate crisis is escalating around the world," said Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, citing current droughts and bushfires in southern Europe and floods in Australia, Madagascar and Germany.

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said the study was "a wake-up call that more crisis-prevention efforts are needed" to avoid further heavy losses globally and for the German economy.

While Germany aims to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 65 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels, the government last week postponed presenting concrete measures to achieve the national target.

Due to the imminent gas shortage caused by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany recently decided to restart some coal-fired power plants to ensure the security of electricity supply.

"This is an emergency, short-term measure that will not come at the expense of our climate goals," Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Petersburg Climate Dialogue on Monday, adding that "we should not now think of slipping into a global renaissance of fossil energy, coal in particular."

Schultz reaffirmed the commitment of major Western industrialized nations to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance in poor countries. Germany has announced a contribution of €6 billion by 2025 at the latest.

Zaporizhia (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine hopes to resume evacuating civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol on Tuesday, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will go to the Ukrainian parliament by videoconference, the first such move by a Western official since the war began.

Evacuations are supposed to resume on Tuesday morning, with the support of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, in the destroyed city of Mariupol, which is now occupied by the Russians, according to the municipal council of this strategic coastal city located in the southeast of the country. Last weekend witnessed for the first time since A siege was imposed on the city two months ago and the incessant bombing operations, the evacuation of about a hundred civilians who were refugees in the underground floors of the Azovstal steel complex, which is the last pocket of resistance in the strategic city located in the south of Donbass.

But Monday, in Zaporizhia, 200km northwest of Mariupol, a car park converted into a refugee reception site where two armored four-wheel drive vehicles belonging to UNICEF and international NGOs parked did not catch a convoy from Mariupol.

And in the evening, the Azov battalion, participating in the defense of the steel plant, explained, "After a partial evacuation of civilians from the territory of Azovstal, the enemy continues to bomb the factory, including buildings in which civilians are hiding." The city, where AFP headed Friday as part of an organized visit from the Russian army, does not appear to be a confrontation except for the distant sound of explosions emanating regularly from Azovstal. Destroyed. In southwestern Ukraine, coastal Odessa was once again the target of Russian missiles.

On Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned a Russian strike that killed a teenager and injured a girl at ten o'clock. "For what? What did these children threaten... the Russian state?" Zelenci asked.

The Ukrainians fear that the city will become one of Russia's targets, especially after the assurances of a Russian general that the Kremlin attack in Ukraine aims to establish a corridor from Russia to the separatist Moldavian region of Transdniestria, passing through Odessa. Western allies are increasing their pressure on Moscow and their support for Kiev, with a speech by the British Prime Minister via video. In front of the Ukrainian Parliament, in the first such gesture by a Western official since the start of the Russian invasion. Your glory."

He will add, "When my country was threatened with invasion during the Second World War, our Parliament, like yours, continued to sit during the conflict, and the British people showed such great unity and determination that we remember our period of great peril as our hour of glory."

According to the statement, the Prime Minister will announce in his speech a new military aid package for Kiev worth 300 million pounds (357 million euros), which includes especially defensive military equipment. So far, Britain has provided Ukraine with 5,000 anti-tank missiles and five air defense missile systems with more than From 100 missiles and 4.5 tons of explosives. The Europeans, for their part, are working to tighten economic sanctions against Moscow. On Tuesday, the European Commission will propose a sixth package of sanctions, which will include a timetable for a gradual cessation of Russian oil imports, which constitute 30% of the European Union's imports in this regard. Immediate effect, especially the imposition of fees on transport by oil tankers, according to a European official.

The new sanctions will also include "the banking sector with the exit of other Russian banks from the SWIFT system," according to what European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said in Panama on Monday. Speculation about how Moscow will present the gains it has made in Ukraine.

And the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense believed on Monday that Moscow might take advantage of these celebrations to raise the issue of annexing separatist "republican" loyal to it in the Donbass to the Russian Federation. Moscow had recognized the independence of these regions prior to its invasion of Ukraine. In Washington, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Michael Carpenter, referred to "very reliable" information that Russia intends to organize referendums "around mid-May" in an "attempt to annex" Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk said that he expected an "intensification of bombing operations" with the approach of May 9. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that Russia was preparing a special military move on this anniversary, in an interview with the Italian "Mediaset" broadcast on Sunday. A sensation caused by Lavrov's remarks, which said that "Jewish blood was flowing through Hitler," which sparked diplomatic tensions with Israel.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid denounced his Russian counterpart's statements and summoned the Russian ambassador to obtain "clarifications".

On the ground in the Donbass region, the Russian forces continued their offensive with fierce battles in the vicinity of Izyum, Liman and Robzhny, which the Russians are trying to "control in preparation for their attack on Severodonetsk," one of the major cities in Donbass that is still under the control of Kiev, according to what the Ukrainian General Staff confirmed. maf/gt/gdMEDIASET SPA

Jerusalem - Pal Sport Agency / The Palestinian hero from the town of Silwan, Jerusalem, Muhammad Essam Abu Sway, won the silver medal and ranked second in the "Mens physique" ... Mr Universe IFB championship, which was held today, Saturday, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The Jerusalemite sports family congratulated the Jerusalemite champion Abu Sway on this great achievement.

Gaza - "Jerusalem" dot com - President Mahmoud Abbas stressed, on Thursday evening, the need to end the division and establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and confront the occupation's annexation plans.

This came in a speech he delivered during a mass festival of the "Fatah" movement in Gaza, on the eighteenth anniversary of the martyrdom of the late President Yasser Arafat , in the presence of the leaders of the factions and the national and Islamic forces, in Al-Katiba Square, west of Gaza City.

President Abbas said, "Gaza is the impregnable fortress of our national project with our people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the diaspora," stressing the continuation of following "the approach of Fatah and the approach of the Liberation Organization, the sole and legitimate representative of our people... the approach of Palestinian nationalism, which was enshrined in the consciousness of this great people."

President Abbas stressed that the Palestinian people will remain invincible to defeat and defeat, in the face of the Zionist narrative that attempts to strip our people from their homeland, land and history.

He reiterated that the "Fatah" movement would not accept the continuation of division, and that there would be no Palestinian state in the West Bank without Gaza, and no state in Gaza without the West Bank and Jerusalem.

President Abbas said: "We will not accept anything less than a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is the trust of President Arafat, and we are committed to achieving it."

He added, "As Abu Ammar repeated: They see it as distant, and we see it as close by the steadfastness of our people."

And he considered that the continuation of the division means the absence of a single geography for the Palestinian state, wondering who benefits from that.

And he continued, "We feel the suffering of our people under the unjust siege, and we try as much as we can to alleviate it for you.. But this pain and torment will not end until the end of the division that has taken our cause steps back and threatens the gains achieved by our people, the price of which was heavy sacrifices of the martyrs and the wounded."

And he continued: "Arafat left a great national legacy that we must preserve... They wanted to divide us and believed that they succeeded in 1948, but we opened our renaissance and our people rose with us despite their massacres and blurred our identity and our cause, and we revived it and crucified its promise... Yasser Arafat handed us the national constants and we adhere to them and will not We give it up, and we said in his farewell, the covenant is the covenant, and the oath is the oath.. We have to be ready for the next stage and thwart the annexation schemes, as we failed them before, and as we thwarted the deal of the century, and we firmly confront attempts to prevent the leadership of the Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.

He added: "We tell them that we are here to stay and we will not leave, and we will remain adherent to our constants, our independent national decision and the decisions of international legitimacy, and we will continue to reject any dictates from anyone. We will remain together as one hand until we end the division and occupation, and we have nothing but this option and the path, and we will follow it until Jerusalem and raise the flags of Palestine." on our sanctities.

President Abbas concluded his speech: "We will continue the march until we achieve the goal of freedom, independence and an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, the jewel of our crown and the spirit of our patriotism."

The commissioner of the "Fatah" movement in Gaza, and a member of the Central Committee of the movement, Ahmed Helles, delivered a speech in which he said that Gaza was subjected to aggression and siege, but it did not bow its head and remained and will remain proud, and that the late President Yasser Arafat deserves this fulfillment from it, as he was present in every arena, field and event. National.

Hellas added, "Yasser Arafat is the bomber of the revolution and the sponsor of national unity. He paid a price with his life in order to preserve his brothers and fellow fighters."

And he emphasized that our people are united in the face of plans to obliterate our identity and our rights, and that those who think they are alternatives to our people are destined to disappear.

The Fatah leader said, "The time has come for Gaza to be seen for what it deserves. Gaza has paid all the prices and has never given up on its national project. It has never abandoned its role and has never been late in any of our people's battles. Gaza, which represents the pride of the Palestinian people, has no right to It is not permissible for anyone to neglect Gaza and to remain a single martyr whose relatives search for his rights.. The time has come to do justice to all the families of our martyrs, as they are not political classifications, and they are the martyrs of Palestine, all of Palestine.

Hellas added, "There should not be any form of discrimination on the basis of geography, between one place and another, and between one employee and another. All of our people deserve to enjoy the same status. Gaza has the right to take its rights. Gaza does not barter its rights for its national belonging." It cannot barter over its national cause and its sanctities. Gaza has not and will not barter, but it has the right to raise its voice and extract its right.”

He continued, "Everyone should devote themselves to the greatest danger represented by the occupation that targets our land, our people, and our sanctities."

He pointed out that President Abbas made decisions for implementation, but these decisions are up to the parties that are supposed to implement them, and they are decisions related to justice for the people of Gaza, its employees and its martyrs, and they must be implemented.

Hellas stressed the need to end the division by heading for comprehensive elections to turn the page on the division.

He called for the necessity of serious and effective action in order to rekindle hope in future generations, in light of what the current generation is going through, which goes abroad without returning.

Brussels - (AFP) - The European Union on Saturday condemned the Taliban's ban on women working in non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan , announcing that it was assessing the repercussions of this on the issue of providing aid to the country.

"The European Union strongly condemns the Taliban's recent decision to ban women from working in national and international NGOs... We are assessing the situation and its impact on our provision of aid on the ground," a spokeswoman for the European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, told AFP in a statement.

The Taliban has ordered NGOs operating in the country to prevent female employees from working for them.

A notice sent to all NGOs stated that the decision came as a result of "non-compliance of women" working for NGOs with the "veil".

It is not yet clear whether the new directives include foreign women working in non-governmental organizations, knowing that two international non-governmental organizations working in Afghanistan confirmed to France Press that they had received the notice.

The European Union is one of the most prominent funders of relief organizations working in Afghanistan, but it does not officially recognize the Taliban government.

"Our main concern remains the well-being, rights and freedoms of the Afghan people," Borrell's spokeswoman, Nabila Masrali, said.

She stressed that banning women from working in non-governmental organizations "is yet another severe limitation on the ability of women in Afghanistan to exercise their basic rights and freedoms and represents a clear violation of humanitarian principles."

Written by: Wissam Zaghbar

The global food security crisis is no longer far from the territories of the Palestinian Authority, but has affected it and affected the poor and marginalized groups without the government agencies in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip taking urgent and serious measures and measures to save the poor, the needy and those with limited income and to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land in the face of the colonial settler occupation The Israeli apartheid system

The global food security crisis prompted five international organizations to take urgent measures to reduce it, which coincided with US President Joe Biden's announcement of one billion dollars in aid to support food security in the Middle East and North Africa, while the Russian Foreign Ministry held Western countries and the United States responsible for the exacerbation of "security." World Food »as a result of imposing sanctions on it, and in return, decision-makers in Gaza and the West Bank contributed, with limited measures, to protecting the poor and low-income people without improving their standard of living.

The fears of the food security crisis announced by the five international organizations (the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, the World Food Program, and the World Trade Organization) are due to the disruption of food, fuel and fertilizer markets as a result of the Corona pandemic, and the interruption of supply chains. International supply, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, remains in place, which negatively affected people who suffer from severe food insecurity to the extent that their lives and livelihoods have become at risk, and their number reached 345 million people in 82 countries, according to the World Food Program.

Perhaps the situation in Palestine seems different from other countries in the region, especially as it suffers under the Israeli occupation that controls resources and crossings, which impedes the creation of any sustainable development, in addition to the linkage of the Palestinian economy with its Israeli counterpart (according to the Paris Economic Agreement) and the irregular transformation of Israel Customs revenues (clearance), which makes it difficult for citizens to be able to coexist with the global food security crisis and the wave of high prices. While the average per capita income in the occupying state is more than 10 times that of the Palestinian Authority, which makes the Palestinian economy hostage to the customs envelope and undermines its ability to develop, grow, and compete as well. ‏

And if we look at the reality of the situation in the territories of the Palestinian Authority, and I mean the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian West Bank, we find that there is a large difference between the average income of a citizen in the West Bank and his income in Gaza. This is evident in the unemployment rate among the labor force (47%) in Gaza compared to (14%) in the West Bank, while the poverty rate in Gaza exceeds the barrier of (60%), and food insecurity is (62%) for more than (80%) of the population depend on humanitarian aid, and what made matters worse was the delay in the disbursement of social affairs allocations, who number about (115) thousand, of whom nearly (85) thousand have been in the Gaza Strip for more than a year, which has exacerbated the rates of poverty, unemployment and insecurity It made the life of the Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, bad and increased their suffering

The high-price crisis did not stop at secondary commodities only, but rather it affected the citizen's food security and affected the basic commodities that are considered food for the poor without any interference from government agencies to stop the high-price bleeding. Imposing it on those with high incomes only, in addition to doubling duties, taxes and import permits, and without providing facilities and tax exemptions for national production to support agriculture, industry and marine fishing.

Statistical numbers and astronomical rates of oppression, hunger and suffering speak for themselves in the territories of the Palestinian Authority, whose successive governments have fallen into the temptation to rely on imports in order to increase (customs) revenues, and not to develop the potentials inherent in the economy in terms of agriculture, industry and trade.

In front of these dangerous data, the responsibility lies with decision makers and policy makers by setting plans, programs and budgets. To provide the foundations for resilience and social protection; To reduce poverty, hunger and oppression in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, which is facing a tragic reality, which requires greater effort from the PA government and the de facto authority to stop the terrible deterioration in all aspects of life. Therefore, an effective and rapid response is necessary to support poor and extremely poor families. And support them by supporting them to obtain their daily sustenance

..
The main characteristic for government agencies, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, is to support basic consumer goods, through tax exemption, reduction of customs duties, and control of their prices. investment

..
In addition, the responsibility rests with the Palestinian Authority government and the de facto authority, the need to achieve sustainable development goals and move away from patchwork solutions, through short and long-term measures, which include providing immediate support to vulnerable groups and enhancing their food security in order to expand effective and comprehensive social protection systems to ensure livelihood Al-Karim, and following an alternative economic policy, the main axis of which is the transition from a profitable rentier economy to a system of economic policies that depend on local resources and labor and increasing sustainable food production through measures to encourage investment in agriculture and marine fishing. This in itself requires disengagement from economic dependence on the occupation in all its tax, customs and monetary forms.

..
The responsibility also rests with trade unions, people's federations, and civil society organizations to raise their voice in the face of the outrageous price hikes, especially with basic commodities, and pressure the government to find serious mechanisms to protect the poor from the negative effects of that.

In conclusion, all the solutions proposed by the two authorities in Gaza and Ramallah will not meet the requirements of the struggle phase that our people are going through, as a phase of national liberation. Therefore, practical steps are required to end the division and rebuild the Palestinian political system by launching a comprehensive national dialogue workshop to reach understandings. National elections to hold comprehensive elections based on democratic, fair and transparent foundations that guarantee the rebuilding of national institutions, enabling us to develop a national strategy that preserves the steadfastness and sacrifices of the people in the face of settler colonial occupation and “apartheid.”

* Palestinian journalist and trade unionist / Gaza Strip

Paris - (AFP) - The twenty-seven countries of the European Union have adopted a mechanism to set a ceiling for gas prices in the bloc, but the effects of this decision on the energy bill for companies and individuals will be limited, according to experts who fear negative repercussions on the ability of Europeans to supply gas next winter.

Gas is bought and sold on exchange platforms at a wholesale price through intermediaries and sometimes directly from industrialists.

On Wednesday, wholesale contracts for gas were exchanged over a month (ie with delivery in the following month) at 99.35 euros / megawatt hour in the euro market for the reference "TTF" index, which serves as the "gas exchange" in the Netherlands and whose prices are a reference for exchanges in Europe. In August, these prices rose to 345 euros for a short period.

The European ceiling is activated in two cases, either when this price for the monthly contract exceeds 180 euros/megawatt-hour in three consecutive days, or if it is 35 euros higher than the international price of LNG delivered by ships. The protection mechanism permission is not resorted to unless natural gas prices in the European continent exceed those of liquefied natural gas.

The roofing mechanism shall remain in operation for twenty days.

It is automatically invalidated if the price falls for three consecutive days below 180 euros or a state of emergency is declared for EU supplies.

Since the mechanism relies on a double restriction of very high prices (180 euros/megawatt-hour) that may occur only in rare cases, "the final effect is very uncertain," according to Simone Tagliapietra of the Bruegel Institute.

And in the event that tensions prevail over the global gas supply, especially in the face of increasing demand from China, “every supply problem, cold wave and insufficient decrease in European demand may lead to the availability of the conditions” necessary to activate the mechanism, according to Katia Yafimava of the Oxford Energy Institute.

However, in any case, "this ceiling aims to avoid extreme fluctuations and not to reduce energy prices in general." What is ultimately required is to avoid the record levels recorded in 2022.

Thierry Bros, an analyst specializing in oil and gas affairs, confirms that "there is no impact at all on individuals, and the impact is very small on industrialists."

He explains, "There is no necessarily direct relationship between the wholesale price and the price paid for electricity or gas... Governments intervened 18 months ago and spent 700 billion euros to limit price increases and avoid repercussions" on the consumer.

The effects of reducing the wholesale price are limited to the limited number of industrialists who buy directly from the wholesale market.

Simone Tagliapietra considers that "the main danger lies in undermining the mechanism, the possibility of securing supplies (and filling gas stocks during the year 2023). But in this case, the system is simply nullified."

The biggest risk is that consensual deals take place outside regulated markets to avoid capping, which makes exchanges "less transparent" and more risky for financial stability, according to Tagliapietra.

As for Thierry Bruce, he is more pessimistic and believes that "it will have negative repercussions, as supplies are usually guaranteed at high prices. Low prices do not guarantee anything."

In his view, the problem lies in creating a precedent for intervention in the market, and "some operators may believe that politics can now intervene at any moment."

Norway, a major supplier to the European Union, does not hide its concern in this regard. Taliapietra considers that "negotiating with them by mutual consent gives better results than setting a price ceiling."

It was recommended that "the EU decouple the price of gas from electricity, which is a means of decarbonising the system and lowering electricity prices", according to Thierry Brosse.

Simone Tagliapietra concludes, "This crisis will not be resolved unless we maximize alternative supplies of Russian gas, including renewable energy sources, and reduce demand. It is also the only way to radically reduce energy prices."

Paris, (AFP) - Afghanistan has lost more than half of its journalists, especially women, since the Taliban seized power a year ago, according to a study prepared by Reporters Without Borders on Friday.

According to the organization's estimates, "there were 11,857 journalists before the Taliban came to power, and today only 4,759 of them remain." The organization indicated that "76.19 percent of female journalists have lost their jobs."

The study, published by the organization on its website, showed that "on August 15, 2021, the country had 547 media outlets, and after a year, 219 of them stopped working." In contrast, four new media outlets appeared.

The organization stressed that "in some regions, a number of institutions were forced to stop broadcasting due to the replacement of music programs and news bulletins with religious programs."

The organization also explained the closure of some media institutions with "new economic difficulties, such as the cessation of international and national aid and the decline in advertising revenues in light of a severe economic crisis."

There were "before the arrival of the two students to power, 2,756 women were working as journalists in media organizations or cooperating with them, but their number is now limited to 656, the majority of them in the capital, Kabul."

There are no female journalists in 11 of the 34 states.

A journalist working in Kabul said, "The living and working conditions of women in Afghanistan were and still are difficult, but today we live in an unprecedented situation."

At least 80 Afghan journalists have been arrested over the past year, and three are currently imprisoned, according to the organization.

Afghanistan ranks 156th in the World Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters Without Borders.