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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But what distinguishes Paris from other European capitals?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday astronomers presented an image of the black hole " M87 *" ("M87 *"), "clearer" than that shown by a network of telescopes in 2019, but a scientist who participated in reaching the first image called for reservations about it because of the use of simulation methods to obtain it. .

A team of American researchers led by Leah Medeiros, from the Institute for Advanced Studies, presented a "new version" of this image that roamed the world when it was released, according to a study whose results were published in the "Astrophysical Journal Letters" magazine.

And the international collaboration team "Event Horizon Telescope" (EHT) produced an image of a small dark circle in the center of a glowing orange halo, which is the shape known as the giant black hole located at the heart of the galaxy "M87" (Messier 87), 55 million light-years away. about the ground.

The Institute for Advanced Study indicated that the new image is "more clear", and it shows a much finer orange ring, caused by matter that reached huge temperatures before being absorbed by the black hole, and its central circle is only the "shadow".

A black hole is so dense that nothing, not even light, can escape its gravitational pull.

The first image was obtained at the end of an observational campaign of the Event Horizon Telescope's radio telescope network conducted in 2017.

The new image was produced by passing the data collected by AHT through a machine-learning algorithm filter, called PRIMO, which analyzed about thirty thousand images of black holes obtained through simulations.

However, astrophysics professor Heino Valcke of the Netherlands' Radboud University (in Nijmegen) called this approach "interesting, but very risky".

The EHT team, which he co-founded, avoided such an approach because it "introduces a very strong bias in image reconstruction," Valcke told AFP.

In fact, this simulation is based on theoretical models, "because we do not know what the black hole looks like exactly and we still need to test the laws of physics near it," according to Valcke, who pointed out that the interpretation of the image reached by observing "M87 * using simulations, stemming from the belief that the models used are correct.

One of the authors of the study, which was supervised by Lea Medeiros, described the Primo method as "a golden opportunity for our collective work to understand the physics of black holes," according to a statement issued by the Institute for Advanced Studies.

But for Heino Valcke, the result obtained is "not an image, but an informed assumption".

On Wednesday, the World Bank laid the foundations for a reform that is supposed to enhance its ability to lend to poor and developing countries and better assist them in facing climate change or epidemics, while the institution will change its president in the coming weeks.

"Member states have agreed to measures that could add up to $50 billion to the lending capacity of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (affiliated to the World Bank) in the next ten years," said David Malpass, president of the International Finance Corporation, in a statement published on Wednesday evening.

These changes were approved by the Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which includes finance ministers from 25 countries, after a meeting between 13 of them on Wednesday on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

This is supposed to allow the World Bank to obtain additional financial resources to help poor and developing countries, especially through greater mobilization of private sector funds.

"The importance of concessional resources (loans from the World Bank) and private sector investment has been fully recognized," said David Malpass. "This still falls far short of the resources needed for development and climate, and meeting these needs will require a global effort," he added.

The reform of this ancient institution, which was established at the Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944, and, on a larger scale, the reform of development banks, was launched in October at the push of some member states, especially the United States.

In a separate statement, the UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Mohammed bin Hadi Al-Husseini, Chairman of the World Bank's Development Committee, stressed "the need to do additional constructive work" in order to "cut important milestones" between now and the next meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that will be held in October. October in Marrakech, Morocco.

He said the World Bank's board and management would have to finalize "an action plan with detailed actions to be taken".

Until then, additional measures are supposed to be taken at the International Conference on Financial Aid to the Countries of the South, which will be held on June 22-23 in Paris.

This reform comes while a new head of the World Bank is supposed to be appointed before the summer after Malpass's resignation. He has faced criticism for his lack of action on the climate front in particular.

The only candidate to take over the post to succeed him is Ajay Banga, the American-Indian candidate, whom US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said is "the appropriate leader (...) to accelerate our work to develop this institution."

On Wednesday morning, Yellen praised "very important achievements," noting, in particular, that "the World Bank's mission has come to stress the importance of involving everyone, continuity, and the ability to withstand global shocks in achieving its goals."

Also, she called for maintaining the momentum this year with "additional reforms".

After the meeting, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire affirmed that "with this reform, there is a historic opportunity for multilateral development banks to secure the necessary financial means for developing countries that are at the forefront of those suffering from the economic crisis and inflation."

On the other hand, regarding the long-awaited debt restructuring of low-income countries and emerging countries, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank announced efforts aimed at accelerating the process and making it more effective.

However, the statement did not specifically mention China, one of the main creditors of these countries, which is accused of lacking transparency and the will to reach a restructuring of these debts.

But Janet Yellen expressed optimism. "We have seen some movement from China regarding participation in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring, and this is a sign of hope," she said in an interview with Agence France-Presse.

British fashion designer Mary Quant , who revolutionized fashion with her contribution to spreading the mini skirt, has died at the age of 93, her family said Thursday.

The family indicated that Mary Quant, the prominent name in the "Swinging Sexties" cultural trend in the sixties of the last century, died "peacefully" inside her home in Surrey, southern England.

The family pointed out that Quandt was "one of the most famous fashion designers of the twentieth century and an exceptional creator."

Born in London on February 11, 1930, Quandt opened her first store in 1955 in the then-thriving Chelsea area. Soon, her clothing and accessories store was frequented by members of the "Beatles" and "Rolling Stones". Among the store's customers were the stars Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn.

Quandt is known for designing short dresses and skirts with simple lines and bright colors. She had a role in publishing women's shorts, raincoats, eye shadow and waterproof mascara.

In Quant by Quant, her first autobiography published in 1965, the British designer says, "My clothes turned out to be very teenage fashion, reflecting popular culture and the atmosphere of jazz clubs."

On Thursday, two of the main defendants in the investigation into corruption in the scandal known as "Qatargate", namely the former Belgian European MP Marc Tarabella and the former Italian European MP Pierre Antonio Panziri , were released after being equipped with an electronic bracelet.

Likewise, the former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kayley, who is still in prison in the framework of this case, will be subject to electronic monitoring in the coming days, after the Belgian judiciary issued a decision to this effect on Wednesday.

Pierre Antonio Panzeri was released from Saint-Gilles prison in Brussels on Thursday morning, an AFP photographer reported.

The 67-year-old former Socialist MP, who in 2019 became president of the NGO Fight Impunity, was arrested in Brussels on December 9, the day that saw a wave of searches and arrests in connection with the scandal.

On that day, Belgian investigators seized 1.5 million euros in cash at the homes of Panziri and Kylie, as well as in a bag that was carried by the latter's father.

Panziri, who was accused of corruption, agreed to cooperate with the Belgian judiciary and admit that he ran a "criminal organization, linked to Qatar and Morocco", two countries that used his services to defend their interests in the European Parliament.

"He's obviously happy to move out of prison to his apartment, but he's still under arrest," his lawyer, Laurent Kennis, told AFP, as the electronic bracelet is a form of pre-trial detention.

The lawyer asked for arrangements to allow his client to go out "from time to time, every day if possible, to get some fresh air".

"This is necessary for mental health," he stressed, noting that Pierre Antonio Panziri had begun to recover from a "depressive phase."

Likewise, the European Socialist MP, Marc Tarabella (59 years), was released Thursday from prison and placed under electronic surveillance.

He was imprisoned in Marche-en-Famenne, in southeastern Belgium, after being accused of corruption on February 11.

"I have not committed any wrongdoing and of course I remain entirely at the disposal of the investigators if they have any further questions," the Belgian MP said, according to a text sent to the European Parliament by one of his aides.

"I feel relieved to be able to reunite with my family. This period has been a real ordeal," he added.

Today, Thursday, the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs , Fadi Al-Hadmi , condemned the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on prayers in occupied Jerusalem , which affect Muslims and Christians.

In this regard, he referred to the restrictions imposed by the occupation on Saturday celebrations in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , and prayers, including Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque .

He said, "The restrictions imposed exclusively by the occupation on the worship of Muslims and Christians in the city of Jerusalem is an affirmation of the falsehood of the Israeli propaganda about freedom of religion in the holy city, and it is also evidence of racism and discrimination."

Al-Hidmi added, "The Israeli restrictions prevented hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from reaching Jerusalem to perform prayers, whether in Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre."

He continued, "While Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan and Christians celebrate Easter, the occupation has turned Jerusalem into a military barracks."

He pointed out that "the scenes of the barbaric attack by the occupation police on worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, the restrictions on military checkpoints and the beatings at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, will remain a witness to the falsehood of the occupation government's claims about freedom of religion."

He pointed out that the past months witnessed a remarkable escalation by extremist settlement groups and the occupation police on the holy sites in the city of Jerusalem.

Al-Hadmi said, "The attacks that have taken place and are still taking place on the holy places and the worshipers in them are another confirmation of the necessity of ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, so that the people and visitors of the city can enjoy the security and stability that has been missing since 1967."

The Minister of Jerusalem Affairs added, "In order to stop these racist practices and any expected occupational escalation against Jerusalem and its residents after the end of the Jewish holidays, we call on the international community to take immediate action before it is too late."

US President Joe Biden expressed his "concern" Thursday about the leaking of classified US documents, but without seeing what happened as an imminent danger.

"I am concerned that this will happen," Biden told reporters after his meeting with Irish President Michael Higgins in Dublin.

He added that the "investigation is ongoing" and appears to be close to conclusions.

The US Justice Department opened a criminal investigation after documents leaked online detailing Washington's views on the war in Ukraine and implying that the United States was collecting intelligence on close allies.

The Pentagon considered the leak a "very serious" threat to the national security of the United States.

The US authorities have not yet publicly confirmed the authenticity of these images, which are circulated on various websites on the Internet, and their authenticity has not been independently verified.

The Washington Post reported that the leak was behind a young man who worked at a military base and published its information through a private group on the Internet.

And the young man, who called himself "OG" (OG) for months, published hundreds of pages of these documents after he transferred them from files at the military base where he works, according to the newspaper.

The documents published on the Internet reveal the concern of US intelligence about the ability of the Ukrainian army to launch a counterattack against the Russian forces, due to problems in training and supply.

A document seen by Agence France-Presse speaks of US concerns regarding Ukraine's ability to continue to defend itself against Russian strikes.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani said Thursday in Rome that his country wants the International Monetary Fund to start disbursing a loan to Tunisia without conditions.

"Our proposal is to start financing Tunisia through the International Monetary Fund and then pay a second tranche, after the first tranche, with the progress of reforms," he said during a press conference with his Tunisian counterpart, Nabil Ammar.

Taiani stressed that the two tranches should not be "entirely conditioned on the conclusion of the course of reforms," adding, "The minister assured me that the reforms will continue."

Last week, Tunisian President Kais Saied expressed his rejection of the "dictates" of the International Monetary Fund, which asked Tunisia to carry out economic reforms and remove part of government support in return for granting it a loan.

Saeed said, "Dictations that come from abroad and lead to more impoverishment are unacceptable."

European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, fear the collapse of the Tunisian economy and the influx of more migrants to European shores.

And its foreign minister considered Thursday in Rome that "all skeptical or not positive messages with regard to Tunisia (...) do not help the Tunisian economy and thus feed all pests, including irregular migration."

"Helping the Tunisian economy also means fighting immigration," said Antonio Taiani.

Tunisia's debts amount to about 80% of its gross domestic product, and it reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund in mid-October to obtain a new loan of about two billion dollars to help it overcome the serious financial crisis it is going through.

But the talks have reached an impasse over Tunisia's failure to strictly implement a reform program to restructure more than 100 heavily indebted state-owned companies and lift subsidies on some basic goods and services.

The Prisoner's Club said that the health condition of the administrative detainee Khaled Al-Nawabit (44 years old), from Burqa, Ramallah and Al-Bireh, who suffers from severe heart problems, has deteriorated. He was scheduled to undergo an open-heart surgery before his arrest in November. Since the past year, however, the occupation has prevented him from completing his treatment and following up on his health status.

And the Captive Club stated, in a statement, today, Thursday, that among the symptoms that increase in severity for the Nawabit detainee are severe chest pains, shortness of breath, and continuous dizziness, in addition to his suffering from severe pains in the extremities and knees.

He added that the Occupation Prisons Administration only transfers the Nawabit detainee from "Ofer" prison to the so-called " Ramla prison clinic " for some examinations, as the process of transferring him to the "Ramle clinic" contributes to the exacerbation of his situation, as it is for him a journey of torment, instead of transferring him to the hospital.

It is noteworthy that Al-Nawabit is a former prisoner, who spent about seven years in the occupation prisons at intervals. He is married and father of four children, and the occupation authorities had issued an administrative detention order against him for a period of 6 months.

The Captive Club confirmed that the occupation authorities continue to escalate the crime of administrative detention, which affected many detainees who suffer from difficult diseases, as they insist on their arbitrary detention under the pretext of having a "secret file."

It is noteworthy that the number of administrative detainees in the occupation prisons reached 1016 detainees until the end of last March.

California's hillsides are covered in swaths of orange, yellow, purple and white roses after a rainy winter... The vast swathes of rural areas, which are brown for months of the year, are transformed into a colorful tapestry visible from the sky.

"The scene is like a painting," says Triana Montserrat, 29, as she inspects the poppies, the "Britelbech" bushes, and the lupine plant. "The view is very intricate and beautiful."

The most populous US state witnessed several storms for months, during which record amounts of rain fell.

Californians were accustomed to wearing light clothing indoors in the winter, but a large number of them detected leaks from the roof that had not been recorded during several years of drought.

But when the rainy winter gave way to spring, nature revealed its amazing flowers.

The lands became covered with blooming roses as a result of irrigating a barren land with abundant amounts of water.

These flowers have always fascinated all who had the chance to see them, from the first Spanish missionaries to some of the most prominent writers of American literature.

Unfortunately for nature lovers, the age of Instagram and TikTok means that these flowers may become victims of the popularity of these platforms.

A short distance from the place visited by the Agence France-Presse team, a walking path was closed to the public, to avoid being visited by too many tourists.

People were forbidden to visit the town of Lake Elsinore, and a patrol was stationed in Walker Canyon to ensure that no one entered the area.

These measures come within the framework of efforts aimed at avoiding a recurrence of what was called in 2019 "the end of poppies", which was represented in the invasion of tens of thousands of rural hikers, causing stifling traffic jams that paralyzed the region.

Celebrities from communication sites and tourists parked their cars at the time along the highways, and walked directly towards the spaces covered with wild flowers, so they trampled on everything they came across in an effort to take beautiful pictures.

"It was a nightmare," said Pete Liston, owner of the Skull Canyon zip line.

They trampled everything that appeared in front of them and damaged many flowers.”

"In the area above Walker Canyon, tracks dating back to 2019 can still be seen. None of the flowers bloom even when they are in bloom," he added.

Leiston's adventure park attracts a large number of visitors, and among the activities it provides is a zipline that allows you to enjoy the flowers without damaging them.

Montserrat believes that these activities represent the best way to see the spectacle of flowers without disturbing the landscape.

"I have always wanted to walk among the flowers, but I wanted to make sure that future generations will be able to enjoy them as well," she told AFP.

And while most people agree on the need to protect the flowers, not everyone wants to close paths and just provide scenes captured by cameras installed in the place, as the Lake Elsinore authorities did.

Evan Meyer of the Tudor Paine Foundation, an organization that works with Southern California plants, says the blooms are "a moment for people to connect with nature and foster a passion for California's biodiversity."
"With Walker Canyon closed, Lake Elsinore is sending the opposite message."

Instead of banning people from enjoying these amazing sights, moral norms that value nature should be introduced into popular culture, Meyer says.

The guides at Skull Canyon strive to set similar standards. They remind tourists that picking flowers is prohibited, and point out the need to adhere to the designated paths.

For photography buffs like Lisa Meyer, zip lines are the perfect way to enjoy the colorful mountains.
And she confirms that she will publish her photos on Instagram, with useful comments attached to them as specific advice.

"I will write about the need to protect the flowers and not to trample on them, and to make sure where we prove our steps," she says.

Bahrain and Qatar decided to resume their diplomatic relations two years after the Gulf reconciliation with Doha, following meetings between the two parties that discussed the differences between the two countries, including the maritime borders.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia , the UAE and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting extremist organizations in the region, accusing it of drawing closer to Iran, before signing a reconciliation agreement in Al-Ula in January 2021.

Despite the reconciliation agreement, relations between the two Gulf neighbors remained severed due to thorny issues, including maritime borders, as the two sides have long exchanged accusations of arresting fishermen in the territorial waters of each country.

The Bahrain News Agency stated that the Bahraini-Qatari follow-up committee held its second meeting at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in Riyadh on Wednesday.

During the meeting, it was decided to "restore diplomatic relations between the two countries," while the two sides stressed that "this step comes out of a mutual desire to develop bilateral relations and enhance Gulf integration and unity."

The Qatar News Agency also confirmed the resumption of diplomatic relations with Manama.
This reconciliation comes in the midst of regional diplomatic efforts to resolve the region's crises, especially after Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed last month to resume relations.

The European Union said that the Chadian government's decision to expel the German ambassador was "regrettable" and constituted a "hostile step".

On Friday evening, the Chadian government announced the expulsion of the German ambassador , Jan Christian Gordon Kreike, for his "scandalous position" and "disrespect for diplomatic norms," without giving any details.

The German government considered that this decision was "unjustified" and decided to expel the Chadian ambassador in Berlin, Maryam Ali Moussa.

"The decision of the transitional authorities in Chad to expel the German ambassador is regrettable," said Nabila Masrali, spokeswoman for European Union foreign minister Josep Borrell.

She added that this decision "constitutes a hostile step, especially in light of the long-standing partnership and commitment of the European Union and its Member States in Chad, including in the context of the continuation of the ongoing transition."

Kreikeh has been German ambassador to Chad since July 2021.

A source in the Chadian government confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity that the authorities accuse the diplomat in particular of "excessive interference" in "the governance of the country" and of making "statements that cause division among Chadians."

The German Foreign Ministry said that "Ambassador Kreike performed his duties perfectly and committed himself to human rights and the rapid transition to a civilian government in Chad."

"The European Union reiterates the importance of a speedy return to the constitutional order and a transition within a time-bound period that guarantees respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms," Masrali said.

She stressed that "a comprehensive process supported by all parties, civil and political actors, is necessary to ensure the credibility and legitimacy of the ongoing process, and thus the success of the transitional period."

And she stressed that "the European Union will continue to insist on these points, which are important conditions for its partnership with Chad."

General Mohamed Idriss Deby Itno took over the leadership of Chad in April 2021, succeeding his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who was killed on the front against the rebels after leading this vast coastal country for thirty years.

After that, Mohamed Deby promised the Chadians and the international community to return power to civilians in "free and democratic elections" and not to run for the presidency.

A national dialogue boycotted by much of the opposition and civil society in October chose Déby as head of a "transition" for two years to reach "transparent" elections.

Real Madrid, the Spanish champions, put the defending champion ahead in the semi-finals of the European Champions League in football, by defeating its incomplete guest, Chelsea, England, 2-0, on Wednesday, in the first leg of the quarter-finals, while Milan settled the pure Italian confrontation with Napoli by leading it 1-0.

In the first match at its stadium, "Santiago Bernabeu", Real Madrid owes the victory that will make it play the second leg on the 18th of this month at the "Stamford Bridge" stadium in London comfortably, to the trio of French striker Karim Benzema and substitute Marco Asensio, who scored the goals of the match in the 22nd and 74th minutes. And the Brazilian Vinicius Junior, who has two assists.
"It was one of our best matches this season, but we have the second leg and we have to keep calm and come out as strong as we did today," Vinicius told Movistar.

"We had a lot of space and always wanted to score more goals, but we played against a great team. We know it's difficult to play away from home, that's why we wanted to score more".

And Chelsea complicated his task in front of the 14-time champion of the competition, after he was forced to play the last half hour with ten players, after defender Ben Chilwell was sent off with a red card after a mistake he committed at the edge of the area on the Brazilian Rodrigo.

Chelsea was playing its second match under the supervision of its old-new coach and legend when he was a player in his ranks, Frank Lampard, after losing the first against Wolverhampton 0-1 in the local league.

Chelsea once again suffered from offensive sterility, as it failed to score the net for the fourth match in a row, which is what happened to it for the first time since December 1993.

The two teams met in the knockout rounds for the third consecutive season, as the London team won the semi-finals of the 2020-2021 season on its way to winning the title, while Real won the quarter-finals of the 2021-2022 season also on its way to winning the cup.

Real started the match pressing, but Chelsea was the most dangerous two minutes after the starting whistle, relying on counter-attacks, including a ball started by Frenchman N'Golo Kante and passed to Portuguese striker Joao Felix, who entered the area and hit a crawl that was blocked by Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

The host team responded with a joint game on the left side of the area between Vinicius and Benzema, who got rid of Brazilian Thiago Silva and hit with his left foot a ball that was blocked by goalkeeper Kepa Arisabalaga (12), but the latter failed in another attempt after a pass in the back of the defense from 25 meters from Dani Carvajal to the Brazilian inside. The area hit it directly with his left foot, the Spaniard blocked it, and Benzema followed it into the empty goal (22).

It is Benzema's fourth goal in 7 matches this season and the 90th in his career in the main continental competition.

The Frenchman also scored his 20th goal in 27 matches against English clubs, and the sixth in 5 matches against Chelsea.

Chelsea almost equalized after a minute, after a pass from the right side from James inside the area, which was followed by Raheem Sterling, who started from behind, with a powerful shot that Courtois blocked.

Kepa kept his team in the atmosphere of the match by blocking a shot from Rodrigo (34), another from Benzema from 20 meters (36), and a third from Uruguayan Federico Valverde (44).

Real started the second half and finished the first after a wonderful individual effort from Vinicius on the left side to enter the penalty area and pass a ball to Benzema, who in turn turned it to Croatian Luka Modric outside the area, so the latter curled a ball that passed centimeters over the crossbar (51).

Lampard made an emergency change after Senegalese defender Khalido Coulibaly was injured, so Spaniard Marc Cocoria replaced him (55), before he was sent off after 4 minutes by Chilwell after a mistake he committed at the edge of the area on Rodrigo, so that the referee awarded a free kick that Austrian David Alaba hit and the goalkeeper picked it up.
Felix and Sterling left and German Kai Havertz and Trevo Chaluba entered instead (65), and Ancelotti responded by taking out French Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrigo and introducing German Antonio Rudiger and Asensio (71), so the latter scored the second goal with a shot from the edge of the area after a new assist from Vinicius (74).

Benzema missed a header in front of the goal (90 + 2), and Rudiger saved his team by saving a shot (90 + 4).

And at the San Siro stadium, Algerian international Ismail Ben Nasser scored the only goal for his Milan team, against his compatriot Napoli, to lead him to victory.

Bennacer's goal came in the 40th minute.

Napoli, who reached the quarter-finals of the continental competition for the first time in its history, played the match in the absence of its Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, who suffered a muscle injury during his participation with his country in the last international window.
On the other hand, he won his last eight away matches in various competitions before Milan put an end to this series.
Napoli is flying at the top of the Italian league standings, and its crowning with it for the first time since 1990 is only a matter of time.
On the other hand, Milan, the defending champion, entered seven times, the last of which was in 2007, with high morale against its southern rival, after suffering a severe four-goal loss in its own home earlier this month in the local league.

This is the first Italian confrontation in the knockout rounds since the Milan Derby in the 2005 semi-finals.

Only a minute had passed since the start of the match, until the first opportunity arose for Napoli, when the brilliant Georgian winger, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, hit a ball from a very narrow angle, but one of the Milan defenders saved it before it crossed the goal line.
Then Cameroonian Andre Franck Angisa hit a powerful ball, which Milan's French international goalkeeper, Mike Manian, pushed away with his fingertips (3).
Napoli remained the best team in the first twenty minutes before Milan made its first serious attempt through its Portuguese winger Rafael Liao, who made a wonderful individual effort before hitting outside the three woods (25).

And from a quick counterattack led by the Spanish winger Brahim Dias, the ball reached the Algerian international, Ismail Bennacer, inside the area, so he fired it powerfully with his left into the net (40).

Milan almost consolidated its lead when Danish defender Simon Kayer lifted a ball with his head and hit the crossbar (45 + 3).
At the beginning of the second half, Napoli almost equalized when the North Macedonian striker, Alif Almas, hit a ball that Manian saved, then the crossbar (53).

The matter became more difficult for Napoli when he completed the last quarter of an hour with ten players, after Angisa was expelled for obtaining the second yellow card (74).

The veterans of Jabalia youth and the veterans of the Sports Club reached the golden square in the Ramadan football tournament for veterans, which is held throughout the holy month of Ramadan, under the auspices of Abdul Salam Haniyeh, Assistant Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, in cooperation with the Gaza Sports Club and on its stadium. In the Al-Sudaniyya region, in the north of the Gaza Strip, in a special and wonderful Ramadan evening, attended by a large crowd of sports and legal personalities and stars of the beautiful time from the seventies, eighties and nineties, and large crowds filled the stands and sides of the stadium amid great encouragement, applause and cheers that did not stop to bring back the memories of these stars on the fields dirt in the past.

The rise of the two teams

The Jabalia veterans team qualified for the Golden Square after defeating the veterans of Al-Shati’ services, with a score of 2-1. Salman Abu Namous and Saleh Asaliyya scored for the youth, and Rashad Abu Ziada scored the only goal for Al-Shati’. And the veterans of the stairs club climbed to the golden square after passing the veterans of Beit Hanoun, with a score of 5-3. “Hazem Shteiwi, Muhammad Shabat – two goals, and Hussein Selim, Riad al-Zaytouna, nicknamed Abu Fasih, scored for the stairs, while the players Essam Athamna, Ramzi Naseer, Fikri scored for Beit Hanoun. Bassiouni.

Upcoming matches

Jabalia youth will face Al-Daraj Club team in the Golden Square next Saturday in the first match at 8:30 pm. Referee: Muhammad Al-Hasani, Abdullah Abu Osheba, Hassan Salah. The tournament is supervised by a committee consisting of Ziyad Abu Samra as Chairman, Hossam Al-Gharbawi in the media, Muhammad Abu Riyala as a photographer, Rajaa Al-Haj Ahmed as a member.

The quarter-finals matches will continue this evening with two matches. The first brings together the veterans of Palestine with the veterans of Al-Sadaqa, and the veterans of Gaza Sports will play with the veterans of Al-Zaytoun in the second match, at 8:30 pm, at the turf of the Gaza Sports Club in Al-Sudaniya. The committee supervising the tournament confirmed that the Golden Square and Final matches will be held next Saturday 4/15 at 8:30 pm, and the champion and his runner-up will be crowned.

Ramadan Stars Championship

The Jenin team reached the top of the South Group - Khan Yunis and Rafah governorates after its victory over the Jerusalem team by penalty shootout with a score of (3-1) after the end of the regular time with a draw with a goal for each of them at Abu Youssef Al-Najjar hall in Khan Yunis in the Ministry of Youth and Sports complex, within the competitions of the Ramadan Stars Championship For football sixes, sponsored by the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and the Malaysian Cultural Center in cooperation with the Football Association.

Jenin's goal was scored by Omar Abu Obeida, Muhannad Hassanein scored for Jerusalem, and Anas Al-Shakhrit won the best player award in the match, as he was presented with the championship shield.

The referee of the match: Muhammad al-Ghoul, Muhammad al-Nabris, and Khaled Abu al-Khair, as well as treating Asaad al-Saqa, and led the Jenin team’s training. Moussa, Bilal Shaat, Alaa Al-Nabris, Ahmed Abu Shabab, Omar Abu Obeida.

semi-final

This, and the semi-finals of the tournament will be held between the central champion, the Hebron team, and the southern champion, “Jenin,” today in Abu Youssef Al-Najjar hall at 8:30 pm. The day after tomorrow, the semi-final match will be held to determine the second party in the final match between the “Hadira” team, the northern champion, and the “Acre” team. Gaza Champion, with the final to be held on Saturday.

Union decision in the cup championship

The Palestinian Football Association decided to take the club’s decision and implement the recommendations of the Competitions Committee to cancel the Sector Cup, the second national championship after the Premier League Championship, for the current season 2022/2023 at the request of the Premier and First Division clubs. And the clubs of the first and first divisions submitted a request to the Football Association, requesting the cancellation of the championship for the current season, provided that the competition begins at the beginning of the next season, unlike what is done every year. The federation will announce its final position regarding the competition and the super match for the next season, as well as the date for opening the door for registration and deletion in the summer transfers.

It is noteworthy that the Football Association previously announced the launch of the Cup tournament at the beginning of next May, which met with great objection from the clubs after they stopped training after the end of the league championship, and a large number of players moved between clubs, while the Football Association canceled the cup tournament in the two previous seasons. Due to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, it was reorganized in the West Bank for the current season, as it will start after the blessed month of Ramadan.

It is noteworthy that the Football Association canceled the cup championship in the previous two seasons due to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, and reorganized it in the West Bank for the current season, as it will start after the blessed month of Ramadan.

Al-Ahly deals

The Palestinian club Al-Ahly kept its profitable deals, and decided to strengthen the team's ranks after its return to the Premier League, as it reached an agreement with three players to join the ranks of the team in the next season. Al-Ahly completed the deal to include goalkeeper Iyad Abu Diab on loan from Al-Hilal, to be his second experience with the team, and the fifth time that goalkeeper Abu Diab will play outside the ranks of Al-Hilal on loan. Abu Diab contributed to the return of Al-Shati to the Premier League last season, so that Abu Diab achieved the achievement of ascending to the Premier League for the third time in his history, as he rose with Al-Hilal in the 2012/2013 season and with Al-Ahly in the 2020/2021 season. It is noteworthy that Abu Diab conceded only 9 goals with Al-Ahly club.

Join the Kuwaiti guard

Al-Ahly club contracted with young goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Kweifi from Beit Hanoun Al-Ahly Club, with whom he presented remarkable levels last season and contributed to the team’s presence in the competition square for the two promotion cards, but its results declined in the last rounds that kept the team out of the competition race.

Al-Ahly strengthened its ranks by contracting with veteran defender Ibrahim Al-Nateel, who ended his association with Shabab Rafah, especially since he was unable to participate sufficiently due to the injury he recovered from at the end of the season. The team returning to the Premier League strengthened its ranks by including Sami Al-Daour from Al-Hilal and Muhammad Al-Haddad from Al-Sadaqa, in addition to renewing the contract of Captain Hamada Shbeir to continue the technical leadership of the team that led him to rise to the Premier League again.

1. Apple terminates the contracts of its players

This, and Sami Hassouna, director of football at Al-Tuffah Club, announced that the board of directors had agreed to leave eight players from the ranks of Al-Tuffah Club, the competitor in the second division league, the Gaza Branch and the North, to which it was relegated, after the end of the last football season 2022-2023. And the contracts of eight players with Al-Tuffah have ended, they are the top scorer Ismail Abu Dan, Fadl Quneita, Hazem Qafah, Haitham Abu Zaher, Moamen Abu Odeh, Hazem Zaheer, Asif Al-Katnani, and Abd Al-Rahman Salah. Hassouna stated that the coaching staff is expected to include new players during the transfers. Next summer, with the aim of returning to the first division again, after finishing third in the second league last season.

buttonholes at the beach

The clubs continue their profitable deals, and the Beach Services Club contracted with the veteran player Fadi Al-Arawi, to strengthen the team’s ranks in the Premier League championship next season, to be the fifth summer deal for the Navy team, and Nour Abu Hassanein, a member of the club’s board of directors, said that Al-Arawi was contracted to strengthen the center of the defense line. Where the player has extensive experience, after playing in the ranks of the Gaza Sports Club for 7 seasons, in which he was one of its most prominent players, and assumed the captaincy. It is noteworthy that Al-Shati seeks to arrange the ranks of its team after returning again to the ranks of the first-class clubs, and not to repeat the relegation to the first-class league, as the club previously contracted with players Khamis Hamouda, Sameh Awida, Osama Eid, and goalkeeper Ahmed Afana. On the other hand, the Beach Club decided to renew the contracts of three players who played in the first division, to continue with the team during the Premier League competitions next season.

Al-Gharabawi announces the preparation program

In turn, the technical director of Jabalia Youth Club announced the preparation program for the team in the Premier League, which will start in preparation for the Premier League championship in the event of the cancellation of the Sector Cup.

It is noteworthy that the stability of Al-Gharabawi came with the appearance of the team well in its temporary mission after taking over the reins following the resignation of Abdel-Hadi, as he enjoys the confidence of the majority of Jabalia youth members, and he has held the position of general manager of the team since the 2012/2013 season and worked with many coaches who took turns. On the training of the team, including Naim Salama, Emad Hashem, Khaled Abu Kwaik and Ahmed Abdel Hadi. The administration preferred between Al-Gharbawi and Nader Al-Najjar, the former technical director of Nuseirat Services, but the balance of the first was outweighed in light of his experience and knowledge of the capabilities of the team’s players.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday evening that his company has laid off more than 6,000 employees, about 80 percent of its workforce, since late last year.

Twitter's workforce reduction is not comparable, in percentage terms, to other big tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, which have laid off tens of thousands of employees worldwide.

Twitter is facing a slew of lawsuits and other legal actions on behalf of the former employees over its layoffs and benefits issues, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The company also stated in a recently published legal filing that "Twitter Inc. has been merged into XCorp. It no longer exists."
According to the legal filing, XCorp is a private company. Its parent company is X Holding Corp.

During the pre-dawn meal, the Israeli special units stormed the house of the young man, Muhammad Amer Hanaysha (40 years), in the town of Qabatiya , and took him from among his children during the month of Ramadan. An atmosphere of sadness prevailed in his family’s house, as they pass the current holy month, and their son is still in prison, a hostage. Unjust administrative detention , which has been extended three times in a row.

In the town of Qabatiya in Jenin Governorate, the captive Muhammad was born, raised, and lives. He learned, as his wife tells, in her schools until he successfully completed high school, then he joined the Arab American University, specializing in physiotherapy. He was released within a short period of time, the occupation re-arrested him, and prevented him from continuing his university studies, and he was sentenced to 44 months in actual prison.

Umm Muammar says: "After his release from the second arrest, he worked hard until he was able to establish his life, we got married, and devoted his life to the family, especially after we had three children, the eldest of whom is Muammar 10 years old and the youngest of whom is the girl Ayloul 4 years, and in his arms we lived a beautiful and stable life, until it was disturbed by the occupation." We".

The family’s joy did not last in the blessed month of Ramadan, as the occupation targeted it, as Umm Muammar recalls, when the “Yamam” unit and dozens of soldiers stormed her house during the Ramadan Suhoor at dawn on 4/26/2022, and she says: “We were surprised by their presence inside our house, after they blew up and destroyed the main gate.” They spread everywhere in a frightening manner and terrified our children. During the raid, they were on alert and shouting at us. They detained me and my children and isolated us in a room from my husband.”

She added: "The undercover men did not take into account the panic and terror of my children and their screams. I felt fear and anxiety for my husband, whom they subjected to field investigation, then tied him up and prevented me from seeing him or talking to him, and they refused to allow him to say goodbye to his children, with the aim of terrifying us and destroying our will and our morale as the families of prisoners, but no matter how unjust the occupation practiced and despite the suffering By arresting my husband, the will is strong and morale is high, and they will not break us."

Muhammad’s arrest was a great shock to his wife and children, who still cry daily for missing their father, who was transferred by the occupation to the investigation cellars in Al-Jalama prison, and his wife says: “Throughout the interrogation period, there was no news of him, and we were patient in the hope of his freedom and his return to his children, but the great tragedy that we lived through was the death of Muhammad. His sister, Raeda Hanaisheh, died of a malignant disease 19 days after his arrest, and the news did not reach him until after the end of the 40-day torture journey, which caused him great shock and sadness that cannot be described in words.

She adds, "After his detention was extended several times, and although he was not convicted of any charge, they refused to release him, and transferred him to administrative detention for a period of 6 months, under the pretext of a secret file."

And she continues: "When he finished the period, they renewed his administrative term for a second time for six months, and the lawyer filed an objection and appeal, demanding his release because there was no charge or evidence to justify his arrest, so the court reduced the period by two months."

According to the reduction, the date for the release of the prisoner Muhammad was set on 28/2/2023, and as the date approached, his family began preparing to celebrate his freedom, but they faced a new shock, as his wife says: "They refused to release him, and they handed him a decision from the Israeli intelligence to renew his detention for the third time." For 4 months, the lawyer filed an appeal, but the court rejected it on the recommendation of the intelligence services, as part of the continuous targeting of my husband, despite their inability to convict him of any charge.

She adds: "My eighty-year-old mother-in-law, Khader Hanaysha, suffered a health setback and became ill because of his refusal to release her. She was transferred to the hospital, as she suffers from heart problems. She could not bear the news, and was psychologically and healthily affected by her daughter's death and the renewal of her youngest son's arrest, and the continued deprivation of her and his children from him without charge or reason." ".

And she continues: "My mother-in-law has not been able to visit and see her son since his arrest due to illness and old age, although she previously spent 9 years at the prison gates to visit him in his previous arrests, and to visit her second son, Amjad, who spent 6 years and was freed, and every moment she talks about him and does not stop praying." The Lord of the worlds, to extend her life so that he can return to her arms and embrace him freely without restrictions, the doctors approved the implantation of a heart valve for her, but the operation was canceled because her health condition is unbearable.

The patient wife, Umm Muammar, defied the circumstances and assumed her responsibilities with patience and loyalty, and continued her life, as a teacher in her job, and a caretaker and educator for her children in her home, and followed up on the issue of her husband’s arrest and his visit behind bars, and she says: “His absence affected all of our lives, but we will not allow the occupation to harm us and destroy our lives.” The Lord of the Worlds honored me with patience, and I still fulfill all my duties and provide for all the needs of my children, but no one can compensate them for the love and tenderness of their father.

And she adds: "My son Muammar has a close relationship with his father, and feels sad after he became deprived of all the beautiful things that his father used to provide for her. Likewise, the two children, Elia and Aylul, miss their father, and remember him in every moment and situation, especially in Ramadan."

And she continues: "Our pain and sadness are great since the beginning of the holy month, because we miss my husband and we feel anxious about the nightmare of administrative detention, and we pray to the Lord of the Worlds that this suffering will end and he will return to us on the next Eid."

The World Bank announced the allocation of financial assistance of $200 million to repair the infrastructure of energy facilities in Ukraine, during a meeting between Ukrainian officials and leaders of the Financial Authority in Washington.

A World Bank statement said that Russia had destroyed more than 50 percent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure in attacks launched during the fall and winter months.

The World Bank noted that eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is intense, has been badly affected.

The money will be provided by the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund, with an additional $300 million in financing sought from partners "as the project scales".

The project will target emergency repairs to the electricity and heating infrastructure.

Anna Berdy, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank, spoke of losses of $11 billion in energy infrastructure over the past year, noting that the sector is one of the sectors in which Ukraine most needs "urgent support."

The World Bank has allocated more than 23 billion dollars to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of its lands in February of last year, of which 20 billion has been spent so far.

On Wednesday in Washington, a meeting of Ukraine's main supporters was held at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund, in the presence of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a number of the country's partners participated via the Internet.

The International Monetary Fund announced that it had reached an agreement on March 21 with the Ukrainian government regarding a four-year assistance plan worth $15.6 billion, knowing that it still requires approval by the fund's board of directors.

Zelensky thanked his country's supporters and stressed the need not to reduce their aid.

He said, "By rebuilding what was destroyed by the enemy's terrorist target, we will return to a normal life," calling for the use of frozen Russian assets in Western countries in the reconstruction of Ukraine.

A study conducted by the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Union, and the Ukrainian government stated on March 22 that Ukraine will need $411 billion for its recovery and reconstruction, noting that the amount is likely to rise given that the conflict is still ongoing.