The Libyan authorities announced the arrest of an American on charges of "Christian proselytizing" activities, according to a press release issued by the Internal Security Agency.

"We were able to arrest one of the foreigners (American nationals) who were the reason for seducing our children to leave Islam and convert to Christianity," the agency said in a statement issued on Tuesday night.

He added, "The foreigner took advantage of his presence in a foreign school teaching the English language, to carry out the call and preach Christianity."

The agency published the confessions of a Libyan explaining how a foreigner residing in Libya incited him to convert to Christianity.

At the same time, the Libyan Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of another Libyan on charges of "apostasy and promoting atheism."

The ministry said on Facebook that he was "referred to the prosecution after confessing the facts attributed to him."

On Friday, Salem Musa, a member of the High Council of State and the Political Dialogue Committee, revealed the "kidnapping" of his son Sifaw on March 26, accusing the Inspector General's office of being responsible for that.

For its part, the Internal Security Agency justified the arrest of Sifaw and others on charges of "apostasy and promoting actions against state systems," stressing its intention to prosecute all "apostates from the true religion."

He said that the arrests against them came "according to the law."

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has plunged into chaos and divisions, with two governments competing for power, one based in Tripoli (west) and recognized by the United Nations, and the other based in the east and supported by Field Marshal Haftar's camp and the House of Representatives.

Libya has been a fully Islamic country for several decades, and its official religion is Islam.

As for non-Muslims, most of whom are foreigners, most of them are Christians who enjoy the freedom to practice their religious rites in churches, especially in Tripoli.

The Ministry of Finance announced, this evening, Wednesday, the disbursement of the April salary payment, at a rate of 30%, before Eid Al-Fitr next week.

The Ministry will also disburse the social affairs payment amounting to "131" million shekels, distributed to "111" thousand families, including "81" thousand families in the Gaza Strip, and "30" thousand families in the West Bank.

The ministry had provided the full salary for the month of March last Wednesday.

The Tunisian National Guard announced today (Wednesday) the recovery of 10 bodies of illegal immigrants after their boat sank, and the rescue of 76 others off the Tunisian coast.

The official spokesman for the General Administration of the National Guard (Gendarmerie), Brigadier General Hussam Eddine Al-Jababli, said in a statement he published today on his official page on ((Facebook)) that "the floating units of the Naval Guards in the center (the maritime region of Sfax) and the north (the maritime region in Tunisia) have recovered 10 Bodies of illegal immigrants whose boat sank at sea while trying to sneak into the Italian coast.

Al-Jababli added that the naval units "were also able to thwart two operations to cross the maritime borders by stealth and rescue and rescue 76 illegal immigrants, including 4 Tunisians and the rest from sub-Saharan African countries."

The Tunisian official did not mention the date of the recovery of these bodies and the thwarting of the two attempts to cross the Tunisian sea borders by stealth, as he only indicated that the Public Prosecution Office ordered, after consulting it, to take the necessary measures regarding these illegal immigrants.

The announcement of the recovery of these bodies comes four days after a Tunisian judicial official announced that a boat sank on Friday/Saturday night off the coast of the Tunisian governorate of Sfax and the loss of about 20 African immigrants among its passengers while trying to sneak into the Italian coast.

Recently, there has been a significant increase in illegal immigration attempts from the Tunisian coast, which extends for 1,300 kilometers, towards the Italian island of Lampedusa.

This Italian island, which illegal immigrants usually choose as the first stop for their cruise, is the closest point to the Tunisian shores, only about 80 kilometers away.

Last Monday, Italian news reports said that about a thousand illegal immigrants had arrived last Sunday to the island of "Lampedusa" on boats they sailed from the Tunisian and Libyan coasts.

According to data published by the Italian Ministry of the Interior earlier, more than 28,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by boat since the beginning of the year until last Monday.

Faced with this situation, the Italian authorities announced yesterday, Tuesday, the imposition of a state of emergency for a period of six months, with the aim of addressing the phenomenon of the increasing arrival of large numbers of illegal immigrants to the Italian coasts.

Saleh al-Arouri , deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, said on Wednesday evening that the resistance's response to the recent scenes of the attacks at Al-Aqsa prevented the occupation from controlling part of the mosque.

Al-Arouri added in a speech during a conference on the occasion of International Quds Day in Beirut, "The resistance stopped settler incursions in the last ten days of Ramadan, and we have the resistance that will stop the aggression and liberate Al-Aqsa."

And he continued: "The resistance was standing and present to respond to the aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque , and the last response from Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza 48 proved that the mosque has a God to protect it and a people to protect it, and the occupation chose to submit."

The leader of "Hamas" saw that the conditions are preparing and moving vigorously in favor of the axis of resistance, which has come to represent the entire Islamic nation, and those who make peace and normalize an exception and a departure from the general line. like he said.

Al-Arouri added, "The entire Islamic nation is an axis of resistance, and it is on the rise, and there is a great acceleration in events in favor of the axis of resistance."

And he continued, "Those who opened up in their relations with the occupying entity, their situation has reached rock bottom, and the entity has never experienced this state of conflict, failure, and division."

There are analyzes that need deep thinking, taking the subject from its various angles and turning it around in several aspects, linking matters that are barely insinuated and others that are completely hidden and others that are declared, going back to the past and looking at precedence and measuring them, taking subjective and objective considerations among those involved in a case, and then linking some of them some to reach convincing conclusions that are close to the truth, a process that requires extensive involvement, the ability to analyze, and a comprehensive vision.

The real problem is in analyzing what does not need to be analyzed, because it is like interpreting water after effort with water.

The position on what is happening in Al-Aqsa is clear and does not need an explanation. Despite this, we see analysts from different sects and regions preoccupied with it.

The incursions continue throughout the year, and it is a declared policy that seeks to impose a new fait accompli on the Al-Aqsa Mosque campus, and its temporal and spatial division between Muslims and Jews, meaning that Muslims have known and limited hours during which they enter the sanctuary that Jews do not enter, at least in the early stages, and for Jews Known hours during which they enter the sanctuary and during which Muslims are prevented from entering it, then the Jewish control over it expands little by little, according to local, Arab, Islamic and international circumstances and reactions.

From this point of view, they attack the seclusion in Al-Aqsa, and consider that their presence obstructs this plan, as the time set for Muslims ends with the end of the evening prayer, and whoever remains after that in the mosque is considered an “instigator and saboteur.”

In his justification for the recent storming, in which hundreds of young men were arrested after they were beaten with batons, rifle butts, and all kinds of abuse, Netanyahu said that the police entered the mosque to remove worshipers who had been detained by "extremist elements" and forced them to stay in the mosque.

These words are not directed at domestic consumption, as all Jews and Arabs know that it is a thick lie, but he directs it to America, the West and the world, as there are those who still hear, or need such nonsense to justify their positions in support of the occupation.

The current escalation is related to the situation of the current government, and Netanyahu wants it to be a calculated escalation, first an opportunity to embarrass his opponents who are demonstrating against his judicial reforms, and what they call a dictatorship, and at the same time give his allies among the religious nationalists what they are asking for. The Commander-in-Chief of the Police declares his opposition to the storming of Al-Aqsa in the past ten years, because he expects the results, which may lead to a loss of control and an expansion of the confrontations on the various fronts.

Netanyahu does not want Hezbollah and Iran behind it to reach a situation that forces them to confront and intervene, because this means contributing to raising Iran’s shares, and giving a strong impetus to the Iranian-Saudi rapprochement, and this disturbs the atmosphere for the normalizers, especially those who have a relationship with Jerusalem such as the Jordanian regime, which is considered an agent of Administration of holy sites in Jerusalem according to the Wadi Araba agreements.

The escalation will push the Jordanian people to take to the streets in anger, in support of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the people who are subjected to abuse in its vicinity simply for performing religious rituals, and this will put Jordanian-Israeli diplomatic relations under great pressure that King Abdullah cannot ignore. This will apply to other Arab countries.

For their part, the "Hamas" and "Islamic Jihad" movements in the Gaza Strip cannot remain silent if the attacks on the mosque and worshipers escalate, and they will be forced to respond, in coordination with Hezbollah, and this will trigger a response.

Hezbollah, which declared on every occasion that Al-Aqsa is not alone, will find itself in a confrontation that it does not want, but it cannot ignore it, and it may retaliate. Who and how and with his knowledge.

The statements of the leaders of the opposition parties that Netanyahu may demolish what his predecessors built. They intend to strain relations with countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, as well as with Islamic countries, even those far away, in addition to losing the traditional sympathy of many European countries, and of course weakening the Palestinian Authority so that its role ends, and this For Netanyahu's opponents, it means returning to the square that preceded the Oslo Accords, and this means burying a stage and starting a new stage of the conflict.

We said that the obvious must be clarified, which is that the occupation is the first and last responsible for escalating or reducing the flames, and is responsible for the results in both cases. About "Arab 48"

Simply put, this is wrong and must end. Some honest and direct questions: How can we look at our Palestinian neighbors and not feel the immorality of our 55-year domination over them? How can we Jews, who have suffered more persecution than anyone else in history, not feel their pain at their suffering at our hands? How can we, who have just celebrated the festival of freedom and soon will celebrate the establishment of our state as a nation, not understand the burning desire of millions of Palestinians for freedom and independence? How can we not sympathize with their passion and willingness to fight and fight for freedom and independence against those who associate them with the occupation as we did?
Those of us who have worked for peace across lines of conflict for decades have too often centered our approaches and arguments on interests, on what would be beneficial to Israel and the Palestinians. We have calculated the economic costs of occupation and what profits can be made from peace. We avoided talking about ethics. We were told, and we said to ourselves, that we would be called "yafe nefesh" (good spirits - quasi-curse term in Hebrew). This Easter, hours before Passover, I wrote: How do we celebrate freedom while our oppression against the Palestinians continues with unrestrained brutality? Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Qibli Mosque, which the Israeli police brutally attacked and raided to empty it, because many Muslims during the month of Ramadan want to sleep in it and continue praying until dawn prayer? This is a common custom in the Islamic world, especially in Al-Aqsa. Early in the morning, the Israeli police came again and brute force pushed the Muslims who were praying on prayer rugs while walking on them in their military boots violating their seclusion with brute force. How can we as Jews look at this scene and not feel sympathy for the Muslims who are praying? Israeli forces cleared the mosque and forced the worshipers to make way for the Jews who were invited by the criminal Minister of State Security Itamar Ben Gvir to climb up the Temple Mount in groups in a show of force - who is the owner of this holy site.

I am disgusted by our brutality throughout the Occupied Territories. I am ashamed of 55 years of occupation. I have witnessed with my own eyes and heard from hundreds of my Palestinian friends and colleagues about the shameful behavior of our forces and Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians. No moral person can look at what we Israelis do to the Palestinian people and not feel moral outrage. It does not matter that the Palestinians also bear responsibility for their plight. It does not change my moral outrage that they are using violence against us. I don't buy the false myth that they learned to hate Jews with their mother's milk. Their incitement against us is a direct result of the conditions in which they are forced to live under a brutal occupation. Their struggle for freedom and liberation is no less just than our "struggle for freedom and liberation." At Easter we sing "We were slaves and now we are free." But we are not free. We are slaves to the occupation we maintain and feel we have no choice because we tell ourselves we have no partners.

The fervor of Israeli settler movements fully supported by nearly every government in Israel since 1967 has created an unequal binational reality akin to the apartheid we live in today. This is a fact and peacemaking based on partition seems less likely than ever. I do not know how to establish a Palestinian state based on the lines of June 4, 1967, even with an equal exchange of land to enable about 80% of the settlers to live under Israeli sovereignty. I am quite sure of this - there is no possible solution to this conflict based on hard separation. Whoever dreams of a unilateral retreat behind the wall forgets about it. Gaza should be an example of what happens when we do this. At the time of the 2005 Gaza disengagement, there was an opportunity to connect with Mahmoud Abbas who had just won a major victory in the Palestinian elections on the ticket of non-violence and opposition to the armed second intifada. Prime Minister Sharon rejected this possibility, because he knew that if he negotiated anything with Abbas over Gaza, the next step would be negotiating a Palestinian state in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well. So we withdrew unilaterally from Gaza, locked the gate, and threw away the key. Then Hamas declared victory because it claimed that it was through "resistance" that the Jews escaped. The Palestinian public accepted this narrative and saw Abbas's narrative of moderation and negotiations as a broken strategy that only led to more Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land.

Engaging on the path of a true peace process is the only way forward to achieve security and peace for both peoples living on earth. As long as the occupation continues with settler violence and settlement building, there will be violence against Israelis. The occupation is violence and can even be called state-sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people. There are no easy solutions and peace may be a long way off with more innocent victims along the way, but there is no chance of getting there without serious engagement. Serious engagement begins with leaders who, instead of repeating every day that we have no one to talk to, say that our intention is to make peace and end Israel's control over the Palestinian people. Then begins the long and difficult process of communication and speaking, coupled with actions on the ground that end provocations, freeze settlement construction and also enable the Palestinian economy in Gaza to open up to the world and improve people's lives.

Scenes of continuous protests in the Israeli street for a very long time, and continuing despite the attempts of Benjamin Netanyahu's government to "change the subject" and direct Israeli public opinion to the dangers threatening from "Palestinian terrorism", "Lebanon terrorism" or "Syrian terrorism"... This situation What is new in Israel makes those interested in reading the Israeli scene attach importance to diving into it and analyzing it to find out what is really happening.

The society from which Israel is formed is originally a colonial society of immigrants. Today, the conflict is no longer a political struggle between the left and the right. Rather, it has become a multi-layered struggle, an ethnic, racial, and class struggle, which is an essential dimension related to the Zionist founding project.

It is important to know that the opposition camp in Israel today consists of Western Jews known as the Ashkenazim, who are secular, called the founding group of the state, because they are the ones who established the basic laws and policies of the state, and enshrined the separation of powers and the form and main character of the state. It remains necessary to ask the following question; Who is important in the opposite camp? The so-called New Right, which is represented by the Israeli government today, can be briefly said that it is made up of groups that historically did not contribute to the establishment of the Zionist project, and were in its margins or joined it later, after a period of the date of the establishment of Israel in 1948. They are mainly from the Oriental Jews known as The Sephardim and Mizrahis belong classally to the less fortunate and lower-income classes in Israeli society, and religiously they are considered the most puritanical and the most fundamentalist and conservative. Added to them are the Ethiopian Falasha Jews who feel persecution and discrimination.

Eastern Jews were not part of the first Zionist project to establish Israel, but they came to it later through various organized displacement campaigns from Arab and Islamic countries. At the time of its founding, Israel was made up of Ashkenazi Western Jews at a rate of more than 95 percent of the composition of the population, and therefore with the completion of the arrival of the eastern Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, the State of Israel practically became a country divided in half between the two groups, not forgetting that there is another important group, which is the “Haredi.” »It is the name given to the fundamentalist religious group, a group that was against the Zionist project and its basic project, but in the last moments before the declaration of the Israeli state in 1948, it was agreed between it and the founding Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion to grant them a form of autonomy, in exchange for their participation And their agreement to establish the state.

And the last group, which is very important and influential, is the group of settlers, and it is very important, because it is the one that leads the new right. Its importance lies in the fact that religious Zionism has historically been marginalized, weak, and small, and it was not nationally extremist, unlike the Haredim group. And this group of settlers deeply believes that the turn now has come to achieve the “salvation of the land” to fulfill the Lord’s promise of Greater Israel after the fulfillment of the “slave’s salvation” and their salvation on the Promised Land, after the concern of religious discourse was such as preserving the customs of the Sabbath and the sacred slaughter.

Deep demographic changes remain the most important source of the extreme right's strength. It is a radical shift in the "humanitarian cloth" in Israel. In short, the number of secularists is decreasing sharply, because the ultra-Orthodox Haredim have children in huge numbers, and the secular have few children, and their emigration from Israel to Western countries has become remarkable. The secular, who once made up 95 percent of Israel's population at its founding, barely make up 45 percent of the population today. This massive shift in the "character" of the Israeli state makes it lose the "absolute support" of American Jews, and reduces the historical support of the Democratic Party, to which most members of the Jewish community in the United States belong.

It may seem logical to shed light at this stage on Benjamin Netanyahu, and this would be a mistake, because he is just an opportunistic politician whose cards have been burned, and the same mistake may be made by focusing on the controversial figure, Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, because he is populist, but with a weaker ideology, and relies on agitation and passion.

It is important to focus on the figure of this stage, who is leading the counter-movement in the Israeli street, and he is Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionist Party (religious settlement extremism). He is religious, nationalist, and it is very clear that the weaker classes represent his ideological backbone, and behind him are rabbis who read, look and present to him the opinions of the Torah and the Talmud.

Israel is changing violently from within and its society is threatened by existential confrontations. In agreement with the "Middle East"

Whether from the secretions of reality depending on interests and alignments, or as a result of conflict between two or more parties, the Americans were able, after their success in the folds of the Cold War and its details and results in 1990, to impose themselves and those with them, whether they were allies or tools, by controlling them as one pole on the global political scene, taking advantage of what is available. They have gains, markets, privileges, and the imposition of the dollar currency as the most powerful global currency in circulation.

The emergence of China as a competing second economic power after the United States, Russia's recovery of part of its power, and their collision, individually or collectively, with American policies, and their rejection of American exclusivity and dominance, reinforced the emergence or gradual restoration of them as the second pole in the face of the United States and Britain, and those with them.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine strengthened the state of sorting and alignment, and almost marked the beginning of the next political scene, a return to the presence and politics of the two poles, and a gradual end to the hegemony of the American one pole.

The French President's statements following his visit to Beijing indicate the emergence of a European pole that lies between the two poles, and are almost tangible premises that express independent positions, and a desire to move away from American hegemony, without falling under Sino-Russian hegemony, i.e. not replacing the American-British pole with the Russian-Chinese pole. Rather, it is an independent policy that heralds the birth of a third pole led by France with Germany.

Germany has the capabilities to liberate itself from American hegemony as a result of World War II, which defeated Germany, or the outcome of the Cold War, which defeated Russia and its socialist camp in 1990.

Germany has a productive economic capacity that puts it in the position of the third economic country in the world after the United States and China, and it also occupies the first political position in Europe, but it does not have the military capacity that matches its economic superiority and its political position, and for this reason it allocated an amount of one hundred billion euros last year as a financial advance to build its national army And it is in the process of allocating another hundred billion this year and the next so that it will be prepared for the day of its liberation, or rather its independence and restoration of its sovereignty on 1/1/2025, with the end of the period of sanctions imposed on it since its defeat in World War II, and thus Germany will be the owner of its power: economic, political and military And then it will get rid of Washington's hegemony, and move towards its independent decisions, and remove the American bases from its lands.

Germany and France will constitute the third pole, and there is no doubt that strong countries will walk with them and towards them, and take refuge in them, in the face of the domination of a pole or the singularity of a pole, which creates a balanced outcome in the world, more than what prevails today, as what Washington did in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen And in other countries, this was done by an American decision, albeit with the desire, push, and incitement of the Israeli colony.

French President Emmanuel Macron's statements that "Europe should pursue a policy independent of the United States and China, and cease subordination to Washington" do not require clever extraction or diligence in guesswork, as he talks about the continent's "strategic independence" for Europe from the United States, and he says so. Combined with the development of the first gradual steps when it deals with steps to reduce Europe's dependence on American weapons, energy sources, the US dollar, or other steps of political, economic or military action, moving away from the issues of the collision of the two poles, and not taking sides with one against the other, as it is. The case is in Ukraine, Taiwan, or any other sharp, explosive headline.

The Arabs and Palestine will be the first to benefit and be the first to support, and had it not been for Saudi Arabia's early reading of these trends, it would not have responded to the Chinese initiative to restore Saudi-Iranian relations, and to work for the continuation of the cease-fire and the renewal of the armistice in Yemen.

The educational issue is facing a dilemma that is more serious than it can be represented by the strike, the legal demands of the teaching staff, and the lack of response or inability of the government to respond to these demands. The teacher has every right to defend his rights, and there is no dispute about that, but the strike has very negative effects and threatens an entire generation of thousands of male and female students as a result of disrupting the educational process.

What is required is that the conflict between the teachers’ demands and the government’s positions not be a battlefield, because the government’s demands and positions must be consistent and cooperative and not conflicting, overflowing with challenges such as a comprehensive strike and disrupting the entire educational process, with respect and appreciation for the teachers’ demands and their strategic role in life and future generations.

We have heard from official spokespersons that things are approaching a breakthrough, and this is not the first time, but in many cases it was just a statement that does not reflect the reality. They say we have reached a solution, and the teachers deny this and continue the strike. The problem has been prolonged and they have not found a solution to it. What is required is for both sides to fully understand the situation. That is, when they demand an increase in salaries and the government does not have enough money to do so, the situation must be evaluated positively and the strike stopped, or at least reduced, that is, the strike takes place one day a week or one daily portion that is suspended by the strike.

And if the teaching staff is required to understand the situation, even at the expense of their demands in part, then the government must make an initial response and explain its potential and capabilities to respond to the teachers' demands, and the teachers must understand that.

The comprehensive strike certainly threatens the entire academic year, and this is a catastrophe whose effects will extend for several years, in which the Tawjihi students will be affected in the first place, and an entire academic year will be lost for them.

We stand with the teachers and their demands and we see that they are right, but we see the comprehensive and continuous strike as a black catastrophe that harms an entire generation as well as the teachers who caused it.

What is required is to find a solution through mutual understanding and appropriate and patriotic assessment, and not to limit the teachers’ demands to their conditions only, and to ignore the students and their rights, and they are the ones who have no fault whatsoever.

What is required is a field and realistic understanding session that includes a number of teacher leaders, education officials, and perhaps the prime minister, and that each side understands the reality of the other side, and therefore the national interest is the ruling, which is the point of understanding and the way out of this impasse by striking.

Time has passed, statements have increased, and nothing has really changed. The stage has come at this time for a meeting between the elite teachers, the Ministry of Education and the Prime Minister, and finding a logical solution that appreciates the circumstances, capabilities, capabilities, duties, and responsibilities of each party. Thus, they can find a solution if the government understands the right of demands, and teachers understand the government's financial capabilities.

The Director-General of the United Nations Organization for Migration, Antonio Vitorino, announced on Wednesday that the first quarter of this year witnessed the largest death toll from migration across the Mediterranean recorded between January and March since 2017, explaining that 441 migrants died on these crossing trips.

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

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

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

The International Organization for Migration warned that "during the Easter holidays, 3,000 migrants arrived in Italy, bringing the total number of arrivals since the beginning of the year to 31,192."

The International Organization for Migration noted that delays in search and rescue operations were a critical factor in at least six incidents this year, killing at least 127 of the 441 people.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement that "the complete absence of response during the seventh rescue operation claimed the lives of at least 73 migrants" who are included in the above toll, noting that search and rescue efforts carried out by non-governmental organizations have decreased significantly in recent months.

"The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable," said Vitorino.

The UN agency's Missing Migrants Project investigates many cases of missing boats in which no survivors and wreckage have been found and which have not received search and rescue operations.

The organization said that about 300 people who were on board these boats are still missing.
"Saving lives at sea is a legal duty of states," Vitorino stressed.

"We need proactive coordination of countries in search and rescue efforts.

We call on countries to work together and strive to reduce the loss of human life along migration routes, in a spirit of shared responsibility and solidarity.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said today, Wednesday, that Jordan was and will continue to stand by the Palestinians in order to stop the Israeli practices that deprive the Palestinian people of exercising their full rights.

Al-Safadi said during a session in the House of Representatives: "Instead of the whole international debate becoming that Jordan withdrew its ambassador and expelled the Israeli ambassador , we wanted the international community to remain focused on Israel's measures and aggressions."

He added, "Jordanian diplomacy is aware of the extent of the danger that Israel is posing in the occupied Palestinian territories, and has worked and is working continuously to stop all Israeli measures and violations against the Palestinians."

Al-Safadi indicated that Jordan has made extensive efforts to put an end to what Israel is doing, noting that Jordan is currently dealing with the conflict according to a political approach, and Jordan offers the interests of the Palestinians, and it will not hesitate for a moment to take everything that would help the Palestinian brothers.

He stressed that ending the Israeli occupation is the only way to achieve peace in the region, and we will not accept anything less than respecting the historical and legal status quo in the sanctities of Jerusalem.

He said: "If it weren't for the Hashemite tutelage, Israel would have fully imposed its sovereignty over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Manufacturers continue to face problems in their supply chain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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