Hundreds of people, including the leader of Russia's Wagner military group , took part in the funeral of a famous military blogger who strongly supported the attack on Ukraine and who was recently killed in a cafe explosion in St. Petersburg, on Saturday.

Hundreds headed to Troyekurovskoye cemetery in the west of the capital to pay their respects in front of Maxim Fomin's coffin, before his burial, according to AFP correspondents at the scene.

A large number of police officers were deployed at the site. They searched those entering the cemetery, and a large number of them wore clothes with the letter Z or V printed on them, indicating their support for the attack in Ukraine.

Last Sunday, Fomin, better known as Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in an explosion in a St. Petersburg café owned by the head of the Wagner Military Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Moscow has accused Kiev of having arranged, in collusion with supporters of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the attack. Ukraine, for its part, suggested that the attack was the result of "internal terrorism" caused by rivalries within the Russian regime.

"Vladlen Tatarsky will remain with us, and his voice will continue to resonate," Prigozhin was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Saturday from the cemetery.

Vladlen Tatassky, 40, was well known in military circles in Russia , with more than half a million subscribers to his Telegram channel. His popularity on Telegram increased, especially since he published, since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, video clips analyzing the field situation and giving advice to soldiers.

"I had a lot of common friends with the deceased," said Alexei Sobolev, 45, who attended the funeral on Saturday and identified himself as a volunteer fighting since 2014 with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Fomin, who was born in Ukraine's Donbass region, fought on the side of pro-Moscow separatist forces in eastern Ukraine at the start of the war in 2014.

Sobolev added, "We fighters from the first wave are no longer numerous," stressing that a "war of annihilation" is targeting Russia, but the Russian army is in the process of "reconfiguring itself."

The Israeli occupation continues, for the third day in a row, to close the main entrance to the town of Qusra, south of Nablus , with earthen and rock mounds.

According to local sources, the continuation of the closure created suffering for the residents of the surrounding houses, who number more than 300 citizens, and incurred material losses, and created a crisis that impedes access to the city.

Today, Saturday, the Captive Club stated that the prisoner, Walid Daqqa , is still being held in Barzilai Hospital.

According to the club, the prisoner, Daqqa, is still suffering from a serious health condition and is in the hospital under strict security guard, despite the passage of 15 days since his transfer to the hospital.

It is noteworthy that Daqqa recently completed his 37th year in the occupation prisons, and entered his 38th year, and he is facing a serious health condition as a result of his suffering from a rare cancer that affects the bone marrow known as (myelofibrosis).

Today, Saturday, the Ministry of Education held an employment test for applicants for educational, vocational, and support jobs, numbering 45,800 applicants.

The Ministry of Education said in a statement that the test was organized in all directorates of education, including Jerusalem, and the participants were distributed to 270 halls with the participation of 8 thousand teachers, male and female, and administrators. Employment applications, sorted and audited by the Ministry and the General Personnel Council.

The Ministry confirmed that the results will be available during the next few days, especially after adopting procedures that would speed up this, including that the correction and entry processes for the answer sheets be electronically, which will allow proceeding with other steps, including holding interviews for those who passed the exams and preparing the employment record, considering that the success of Holding the exam crowns efforts that continued around the clock.

On Friday evening , the Paris Criminal Court sentenced a woman to thirty years in prison for killing her 36-year-old wife in 2019 on the grounds of sorcery.

Christy Dupin, 42, a former bus driver, said she acted under the "influence" of a Haitian voodoo priestess who gave her instructions to "undo the magic".

The Public Prosecutor considered that the instructions of the sorceress, with which Christie Dubin justified her crime, were nothing but a pretext to "end the life of the mother of her two children."

Silvia, a shop employee and mother of two, was killed on March 23, 2019 in the garage of the building in which she was staying in Paris, and her body was found in a forest on the outskirts of the French capital .

Sylvia had expressed her desire to separate from Christy Dubin in mid-2018, after four years of marriage, and started a new romantic relationship.

On February 13, 2019, she signed an agreement to adopt the twin children she gave birth to in 2013. But she had two months to back out.

On Friday morning, before the court convened for deliberation, Christie Dubin asked for "forgiveness from all family members," stressing that she "regrets what happened."

Sabrina Moreau, who was in a romantic relationship with Christie Dupin at the time of the crime, was also sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Evin Webster, a friend of her Haitian origin, to 25 years.

Sabrina Morrow was the only one who consistently admitted that the trio lured the victim into the building's garage "with the intent of killing her".

Saddam Hussein , 20 years after his regime was toppled, is still a beloved and popular leader in Jordan, and his images are even found on car stickers or cellphone covers.

And while the symbols and images associated with his period of rule have disappeared from public life in Iraq , pictures of the late president are still widespread in Jordan.

On March 20, 2003, US President George W. Bush announced the launch of an operation he called "Operation Iraqi Freedom", and the deployment of about 150,000 American and 40,000 British soldiers in Iraq, under the pretext of the presence of weapons of mass destruction that were never found.

Three weeks later, Saddam appeared on April 9, wandering in the Adhamiya district of Baghdad, surrounded by dozens of Iraqis cheering for him, hours before the announcement of the fall of Baghdad and his regime.

He went into hiding after that for eight months before being found by the US military, tried and then executed in December 2006.

Most Jordanians remember Saddam's pride for his nationalist positions and his resistance to Western intervention in the Middle East, and most importantly his support for the Palestinian cause, while most of them do not know the presidents of Iraq after him.

"Tens of thousands of Jordanians graduated from Iraqi universities in various fields during Saddam's era with free scholarships," prominent MP Khalil Attia told AFP.

He adds that Saddam "supported the uprising and used to pay the family of the Palestinian martyr 25,000 dollars and rebuild his house if the enemy (Israel) demolished it."

According to Attia, Saddam "gives 10,000 dollars to the prisoner and the wounded, and takes care of the treatment of the wounded in Jordan's hospitals." He also gave Jordan quantities of oil for free and others at preferential prices.

Therefore, he believes that it is natural for "Jordanians to adore him, not to forget him, and to raise pictures of him in loyalty to this heroic leader."

Tens of thousands of Palestinians and Jordanians studied in Iraqi universities for free, when education was advanced and well funded.

Salama al-Balawi, 67, who wore a red keffiyeh and carried various banknotes from that era, says, "Saddam was an honorable and honest Arab man whose positions were honorable."

The brown Jordanian, who used to work as a contractor and visited Baghdad in the eighties, added, "Despite the war with Iran, Iraq was a country of riches, but after Saddam, the corrupt plundered it."

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said last month in a television interview that "since 2003, the money that has been wasted exceeds 600 billion dollars."

He added that this money went to "the corrupt and parties in power ... and some of it was shared between political parties and influential people" and others were smuggled abroad.

Transparency International, which monitors corruption, ranks Iraq today among the 25 most corrupt countries in the world.

Shaher Abu Sharkh, 67, who sells mobile accessories in a small shop in central Amman, says, "Any Jordanian knows that Saddam Hussein is a brave, Arab and nationalist leader who defended Arab causes valiantly. We all love him."

"What happened was not the fall of Saddam's regime, but the fall of Iraq. Unfortunately, Iraq ended after Saddam and was systematically destroyed," he added, holding mobile covers bearing pictures of Saddam.

He believed that "most Iraqis now know the value of Saddam, and the prestige and dignity of Iraq during his reign."

As for the seventy-year-old Zuhair al-Amleh, who sells old books in the Hashemite Square in Amman, he says, "Iraq was a beacon of knowledge and a country of goodness and glory."

He added, "Unfortunately, it cannot return to what it was, because it lacks a leader. Those present now are sectarians and agents of Iran."

The American invasion launched the worst phases of violence in Iraq's history, starting with sectarian fighting, de-Baathification, and reprisals by Shiite militias who abused power, all the way to the dominance of the Islamic State.

In most cases, those involved in the violence from those militias were opponents of Saddam, belonging to conservative and Islamic parties. They had sought refuge for a long time in Iran, and some of them fought with it against their country in the eighties.

From 2003 to 2011, the date of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, according to the "Iraq War Victims" organization. In contrast, the United States lost nearly 4,500 personnel in Iraq.

Although Iraq is an oil-rich country, a third of its 42 million people still live in poverty and high levels of unemployment.

Attia says, "The main reason for the Jordanians' love for Saddam is that he represented them as a hero and a savior leader, who had a project for the advancement of the Arab nation."

He added that "Saddam preserved the unity of Iraq, and made it a beacon of science, health and industry."

He is also "the only Arab leader who established a military manufacturing base from bullets to missiles, and bombed the Zionist entity (Israel) with 39 missiles made by Iraq."

After Washington announced the launch of Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in 1991, the latter responded by bombing Israeli cities with missiles.

Anas Al-Nahhas, 19, says while arranging a number of cell phone covers that bear different pictures of the late Iraqi president, "Saddam Hussein Saqr Al-Arab. If he were alive, many things would not have happened."

He refers to "the daring of the occupation (Israel) against our people in Palestine to terrible degrees, the fall of regimes, the war in Syria and Yemen, and the humiliation and humiliation that the Arabs are currently experiencing."

For his part, a former Iraqi diplomat who worked at the Iraqi embassy in Amman for many years told AFP, "The Arab people in general viewed President Saddam as the leader of the nation and the real and realistic outlet for what the sons of the Arab nation want."

He added, "The Arabs now wish that there would be one or more leaders who would raise the nation's voice and end the state of darkness, brokenness, decline, and submission."

Jamil Mezher , Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, called on Saturday for the formulation of a clear Palestinian strategy based on unity and popular and national participation from all segments of society, to confront the Israeli aggression and confront the plans of the occupation.

In a press conference, Mezher stressed the need to work quickly in order to build a true national unity that works to rebuild the PLO, to call for the convening of a Palestinian National Council in which all forces participate, and to implement the decisions of the national consensus to withdraw recognition of the occupation and break with Oslo and its security, political and economic obligations. Foremost among them is security coordination.

Mezher also called for the formation of a national leadership to manage the battle with the occupation, confront the aggression, deepen the occupation's crises and confuse its plans, praising the recent qualitative operations from Palestine and abroad, which he said revealed the fragility of the occupation's security system, and proved that the resistance is capable of defending its people and its sanctities.

He called on the resistance fighters and all resistance forces to escalate their actions against the occupation and the settlers, as that is the guarantor and effective option to defeat the occupation and force it to leave, calling for the continuation of the mass field engagement and confronting the settler militias through the formation of the People's Protection Committees to protect the people.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the Popular Front affirmed the Front's adherence to the option of resistance in all its forms, side by side with the resistance factions.

Work is underway to prepare three new feature films that take place in the world of “ Star Wars ”, the story of one of which takes place 15 years after the last trilogy, in which the British Daisy Ridley again embodies the character of Rey, according to what the “Lucasfilm” company announced during a conference in London on Friday.

And the head of the studio, which was acquired by “Disney” in 2012, Kathleen Kennedy, during the “Star Wars Celebration” conference, in which the directors of the three films participated, explained that her stories take place in different times.

The sequel “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (2019) was assigned to Pakistani director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who directed “Miss Marvel”.

Thus, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who won two Academy Awards for two short documentaries dealing with violence against women, will become the first woman to direct one of the films in the famous series since George Lucas directed its first parts in 1977.

The director of “Wonder Woman 1984” Patty Jenkins was supposed to be the first woman to take part in “Star Wars”, but it seems that consideration has been diverted at the present time from her movie “Rogue Squadron”, which Disney announced in 2020 that it will be shown in 2023, on This was reported by the American magazine "Variety" last March.

Kathleen Kennedy indicated that James Mangold, who is already directing the fifth part of the famous "Indiana Jones" series, also produced by "Lucasfilm", will deal with the "Star Wars" movie, which was commissioned to direct the appearance of the Jedi warriors.

She added that Dave Filoni ("The Mandalorian") will direct a film about "a metaphor for the war between the remnants of the Empire" and "The New Republic".

The announcement of the three films was met with a warm welcome from about five thousand fans who attended the conference, who have been deprived since 2019 of their favorite story films.

“Disney” bought “Lucasfilm” and its series for four billion dollars in 2012 and immediately began producing a new trilogy and films derived from the “Star Wars” world, starting with “Solo” and “Rogue One”, before curbing its cinematic momentum.

The entertainment giant then focused more on TV series in an effort to boost its Disney+ streaming platform.

Although no new series was announced on Friday, fans saw the first scenes from the series "Ahsoka", which will be shown on the platform next August, and from the series "Skeleton Crew", starring Jude Law, who attended the conference in London, and from " The Oaklight" and from the second season of "Andor".

Last Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that 36 Chinese and French companies signed 18 agreements to expand cooperation in areas including industrialization, green development, new energy and innovation, during a meeting between Chinese and French businessmen last Thursday.

The trade volume between China and France has increased from 60 billion US dollars to 80 billion US dollars over the past five years, said Yu Yuantang, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, in opening remarks to the meeting.

In 2022, China-European cooperation overcame many negative effects and made steady progress, Yu said, with bilateral trade hitting a new record high of 847.3 billion US dollars, while new investment from European companies in China increased by 70 percent to 12.1 billion dollars. American.

Representatives from companies such as Bank of China, BNP Paribas, China National Nuclear Power Corporation and Electricity de France discussed jointly addressing global challenges and enhancing cooperation, and made suggestions on deepening economic and trade relations between China and France.

The companies pledged to seize China's high-quality development opportunities, ensure the stability of industrial chains and supply chains, and expand cooperation in nuclear energy, finance, consumption and other areas.

The " teachers' movement " escalated its continuous protest steps for more than two months, and the movement announced last night, boycotting the " Tawjihi " general secondary exam, and emphasizing the continuation of the strike.

In a statement, the movement stressed the boycott of the "Tawjihi" exam, and its procedures for monitoring and correction, as well as boycotting all training courses, and office and administrative work issued by the Ministry of Education.

The movement decided to continue the strike and for all stages, including the “Tawjihi”, calling for a sit-in in front of the central education directorates in all governorates, tomorrow morning, Sunday, and documenting a solidarity stand in front of schools on the morning of Monday, with pictures to confirm the support of the teacher, Sahar Abu Zina, and to confirm To continue the protest activities until the demands of the teachers are met.

The "teachers' movement" spoke about its claims related to the financial part, explaining that the agreed-upon 15% bonus was partially implemented by paying 5% and not retroactively, and the 10% was postponed for an unknown period, which was rejected by the teachers and the movement.

Al-Hirak indicated that transferring the union bonus (15%) and adding it to the nature of work with its actual financial entitlement was not implemented, and the calculation of contract years for teachers appointed in the year (2016) has not yet been implemented despite the announcement of the agreement.

As for the unification of the risk allowance for male and female teachers in Jerusalem and its calculation on the salary slip with its financial entitlement, it was not implemented, according to the "movement", and the regularity of the salary, the scheduling of the late financial dues according to a known timetable, and the pledge not to prejudice the salary in the future was not implemented.

With regard to the provisions of the demands related to the administrative part and working conditions, the "movement" affirmed that the formation of a democratic representation for teachers (the democratization of the union and the start of the dismissal of the General Secretariat) was implemented only in a sham and vague manner, and (the professionalization of education) and the financial and administrative entitlements resulting from that were not implemented despite their approval. The three deferred financial demands until the democratization of the union have not been implemented because they are conditional on the implementation of their principle, which is democratization.

Al-Hirak indicated that no penalty imposed on teachers in this human rights round was canceled, starting with the teacher, Sahar Abu Zeina, all the way to what he called the “Hirak” massacre of salary confiscation that took place, in addition to the constant threats to teachers of arbitrary dismissal and transfer.

The movement accused the government of seeking to dismantle the strike in any way without fulfilling the teachers' demands, calling on parents not to send their children to schools and students not to go if they were asked to do so. Because the teachers did not fulfill their demands.

The Secretary of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub, confirmed during a press conference the day before yesterday, Thursday, the government's commitment to the agreements it signed and to meeting all the teachers' demands, and that the Fatah movement in all its frameworks is the guarantor of this, including the government's disbursement of the 15% bonus for the nature of work, so that it is spent The 5% and 10% will be placed on the salary slip, and all legal, administrative and financial measures taken against striking teachers will be reviewed and cancelled. The professionalization of education will also be approved, and there will be procedures for there to be a general federation of teachers elected starting from the beginning of the next academic year according to the regulations of the popular organizations in the organization editing.

For his part, teacher Faisal Jadallah from the Nablus Education Directorate, and one of the observers of the agreement concluded with teachers last year, told Al-Quds, “Setting a time limit for disbursing the remaining 10%, as well as canceling all penalties and measures that were previously taken against male and female teachers because of their activity. Union, and ensuring that other similar penalties do not occur later, may be the way out for an honorable solution to this crisis.

Jadallah said: "For more than a month, we have all been searching for a state of balance that restores matters to normal, and we cooperate and engage in dialogue with all parties in a very positive way. We know that teachers' rights are based on two starting points: first, the institutions' initiative, which includes five points, and secondly, the prime minister's commitments in his speech." Last year, after he announced his approval of the initiative, he also pledged to include the cost of living, his talk of paying the full salary, and approving the teacher protection law.

And Jadallah continued, "Accordingly, a huge effort was launched in order to achieve this, and there was a response from all parties, including the Teachers Union, which approved the amendments that were recommended by the democratization committee, but unfortunately there was a complete denial of these rights before the current teachers' strike, which led to To hold the government and the union responsible for this crisis.

With regard to the speech of Rajoub, Jadallah affirmed that it carries a high positivity, especially since there is a commitment to last year's initiative, and the entry of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement has a positive return. Students.

In turn, Omar Assaf, a member of the mediation initiative that led to the signing of the agreement last year, told Al-Quds: “We expected Rajoub to take a step forward, but his speech did not bring anything new except for guarantees, so the teachers’ response was expected. We respect what the teachers decide. They are stakeholders, and we appeal to the initiative, but Rajoub's speech did not implement the initiative that was concluded last year."

And the "teachers' movement" spoke in a statement after the Rajoub conference, about what it called a "conspiracy" aimed at breaking the teacher in the most brutal and brutal way, through the repeated record that does not bring anything new and has been repeating itself for two months, and that its aim is for teachers to get bored and gradually break according to the government's vision.

The teachers are calling for the implementation of an agreement concluded, in May 2022, between the Palestinian government, the General Union of Palestinian Teachers and the "teachers' movement", sponsored by many institutions and personalities, and the strike stopped after that, but the protests and strikes have returned since February 5, 2023, to demand the implementation of those measures. The initiative.

The agreement included 5 items, namely: returning discounts to teachers, professionalizing education, issuing a teacher protection law, working to “democratize the union”, and depositing a 15% bonus for the nature of work on the salary slip, starting from the first month of the new year 2023.

The citizen , Atallah Ibrahim Abayat , was bruised, prior to his arrest by the occupation soldiers, today, Saturday, during an attack by a group of settlers on sheep shepherds in the village of Kisan , east of Bethlehem .

According to local sources, a group of settlers assaulted the shepherds, injuring Abayat, who was arrested by the occupation soldiers.

Today, Saturday, the Captive Club said that the Israeli occupation authorities continue to expand the crime of arbitrary administrative detention against the Palestinians, under the pretext of having a (secret file), as their number reached (1016) administrative detainees, including (6) Children and female captives, and this percentage is the highest since 2003.

The Captive Club stated in a statement that the number of administrative detention orders issued since the beginning of this year amounted to about (800), and the highest percentage of them were new administrative detention orders.

The administrative detainees are held in three central prisons: (Ofer, the Negev, and Megiddo), where the number of administrative detainees in (Negev) prison (442), (340) in (Ofer) prison, and (131) in (Megiddo) prison. The rest of the detainees are in other prisons, noting that these numbers are until the end of March.

The Captive Club added, in a statement, that the crime of administrative detention, which constitutes one of the most prominent and most serious crimes it carries out against the Palestinians, has increased significantly since last year, compared to the past few years. In January of last year, the number of administrative detainees was about (500), and at the end of last year their number exceeded (850).

The Captive Club indicated that the Israeli occupation authorities issued, over the past nine years, about 13,000 administrative detention orders, the highest percentage during the past year, compared to the past few years, when the number of orders reached (2409).

The Captive Club pointed out that 80% of the administrative detainees are former detainees who spent years in the occupation prisons, including under administrative detention.

The occupation authorities aim, through the crime of administrative detention, to undermine any effective state in Palestinian society, on several levels, and do not exclude any group from this, especially in light of the current escalation of the confrontation.

It is worth mentioning that the occupation authorities resort to administrative detention, against those against whom they cannot file an indictment, under the pretext of having a secret file, and as a (retaliatory) measure, based on the Emergency Law that it inherited from the British Mandate, and the occupation courts are complicit, through their decisions, in consolidating This crime by carrying out the orders of the occupation intelligence.

The Captive Club reviews the case of detainee Wael Abdel Hafez Awadat (51 years old) from Aqabat Jabr camp / Jericho, who was arrested on 3/27/2023 and an administrative detention order was issued against him, for a period of 6 months. The detainee Awadat is the father of the two martyrs, Ibrahim and Raafat Awadat, who were martyred on the sixth of February of this year, along with three other martyrs. Qasi is in Ofer detention center, and he is still arrested.

The Awadat family was subjected to a policy of collective punishment, and to repeated acts of abuse by breaking into their house, harassing them, and threatening them. On February 4, 2023, the occupation forces raided the family's house and demolished its facade.

The detainee, Awadat, had been arrested several times previously, since the nineties, as well as in 2006, and spent a total of two years, married and the father of six sons and daughters.

The Wall Street Journal has strongly denied the charge of "espionage" officially leveled by Russia against its journalist, Ivan Gershkovitch, who has been detained for a week.

And the government agency TASS reported, quoting an unidentified source in the security forces, that the Russian authorities had "accused" the "Wall Street Journal" correspondent who worked for Agence France-Presse in the past, of "espionage for his country."

The agency added that the journalist "categorically denied all the charges and said that his activities in Russia are journalistic."

The Wall Street Journal condemned the charges, saying they were "false".

"As we have said from the outset, these accusations are completely false and unjustified, and we continue to call for Evan's immediate release," the American Business Daily said in a statement.

The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Gershkovich's trial is taking place on the basis of Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code, which provides for a 20-year prison sentence for this charge. This indictment paves the way for a trial, the date of which has not yet been announced.

The reporter was arrested last week by Russian security services while covering Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. The authorities accused him, in particular, of collecting information on the Russian defense industry.

Similar to the Wall Street Journal, the US authorities, led by President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, called on the Kremlin to release the journalist.

However, Moscow confirmed to the new US ambassador to Russia, Lynn Tracy, on Thursday that exerting pressure in this file is "useless."

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "the noise around this issue ... in order to pressure the Russian authorities and the court that will decide the fate of Ivan Gershkovich is useless and meaningless."

The Wall Street Journal called last week in an editorial for "the expulsion of the Russian ambassador from the United States and the Russian journalists working there, at least."

Moscow's warnings did not prevent Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Mitch McConnell, the highest-ranking officials in the US Senate, from calling, in an unprecedented joint statement on Friday, for the release of the journalist.

The two parliamentarians condemned what they considered "arbitrary arrest" and demanded "the immediate release of this independent journalist, who is appreciated all over the world."

Official statistical data published by the Central Bank of Tunisia showed that Tunisia's external debt services increased by 23% over the past three months.

The value of these services, according to data from the Central Bank of Tunisia, amounted to 2.4 billion dinars ($784.313 million).

The Central Bank of Tunisia did not specify in its statements the total volume of Tunisia’s external debt, noting that the latest data in this regard was published by the Tunisian Ministry of Finance on March 16, in which it indicated that the volume of those debts amounted to 66.5 billion dinars ($21.732 billion) at the end of last December.

Multilateral cooperation such as the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund and other donor banks account for 60.3% of Tunisia's total foreign debt, followed by the other financial market by 21.3%, and bilateral cooperation by 18.4%.

In addition, the Central Bank of Tunisia revealed in its statement that Tunisia's foreign exchange reserves amounted today (Friday) to 22.1 billion dinars ($7.222 billion), which covers the country's imports for a period of 95 days.

On the other hand, the statistical data of the Central Bank of Tunisia showed that the revenues of the Tunisian tourism sector recorded during the past three months, an increase of 64% compared to the results recorded during the same period last year.

The value of these revenues, according to the data of the Central Bank of Tunisia, amounted to about one billion dinars (326.79 million dollars).

This rise reflects the beginning of the recovery of the Tunisian tourism sector after the crises it was exposed to during the years following the overthrow of the regime of the late former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, 2011.

Before 2010, the Tunisian tourism sector contributed about 14% of the country's gross domestic product, and is a major source of foreign exchange in the country.

However, after 2010, he experienced a crisis described as the most difficult, as he was greatly affected by the political crisis in the country, as well as by the Corona virus pandemic.

The Tunisian authorities look forward to the "tourism development strategy for the horizon 2035", which was approved by the current government headed by Naglaa Boudin, to contribute to the revival of this sector again so that it can regain its role in the economic process.

The employment sector in the United States improved for the second month in a row, according to government data Friday.
And 236,000 jobs were created in March, compared to 311,000 jobs in February, a number close to experts' expectations.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, according to a report by the Ministry of Labor.

This data comes days after other reports showed an increase in employment in the private sector and the services sector, while the manufacturing sector remained weak.

Average hourly earnings increased by 0.3% to $33.18, according to the data.

"Employment continued to increase in entertainment, hospitality, government, professional, business and healthcare services," the Labor Department said.

According to the report, the labor force participation rate continued to rise last month as well.

For his part, President Joe Biden said in a statement that the report "shows that we continue to face economic challenges from a position of strength," although he acknowledged that "there is more work to be done."

Labor market data is closely watched for its potential impact on the Federal Reserve's future interest rate decisions.
It is not clear if the latest numbers will be enough to lead to a pause in interest rate increases.

On Saturday morning, a citizen was injured as a result of being shot by one of his relatives after a fight between them in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip .

The condition of the injured person, who was transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, was described as serious.

And the police in Gaza opened an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

On Saturday, the Gaza Traffic Department announced the registration of 3 deaths and 25 injuries during 71 traffic accidents last week (from 1 to 7 April).

According to the statistics, among the injuries, there was a serious condition, 13 were in moderate condition, and 11 were in minor condition.

93 vehicles sustained material damage and damage, according to the statistics.

Napoli regained its balance and approached a new step towards the third title in its history and the first since 1990, with an unconvincing victory over its host Lecce 2-1 on Friday, in the opening of the twenty-ninth stage of the Italian Football Championship .

Giovanni Di Lorenzo (18) and Antonino Gallo (64 fouls against his team) scored the goals for Napoli, and Federico Di Francesco (52) scored the goal for Lecce.

The southern team returned to the winning streak after losing humiliatingly at home to its guest, Milan, last season's champion, by 4-0, achieving its 24th victory this season, so it moved away by 19 points temporarily in the lead against its direct pursuer, Lazio, who hosts Juventus on Saturday at the end of the stage.

And Napoli regained its balance at an appropriate time, specifically before its trip to Milan to face Milan in particular, next Wednesday, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

"It was not easy to achieve this result after that defeat (against Milan) ... This result gives us some relief before the next matches," Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti told the streaming network "Dazon".

For his part, captain De Lorenzo said, "Against Milan, we were not in our day, but that does not change what we did. These are three important points, we continue our journey towards our dream."

Napoli played the second match in the absence of its top scorer and Nigerian international player, Victor Osimhen, due to a thigh injury.

"Osimhen wants to play every game, but these are situations that need a correct assessment," Spalletti said of his absence. "At the moment he needs to do some basic training because all he has done is run a little bit."

Lecce had the advantage at the start of the match and almost opened the scoring early through Moroccan midfielder Youssef Maleh with a shot from inside the area following a header by his colleague Federico Francesco. Goalkeeper Alex Merritt pushed it to a corner (8). The legislator is before him (9).

And Napoli succeeded in opening the scoring when South Korean international defender Kim Min-jae passed a cross from the right, which Di Lorenzo followed with his head from close range, and he placed it to the left of goalkeeper Vladimiro Falcone (18).

It is Di Lorenzo's second goal in the league this season.

Mexican international striker Hirving Losano almost added the second goal with a creeping shot from outside the area, which goalkeeper Falconi pushed into a corner (34).

And Lecce succeeded in equalizing at the beginning of the second half when Di Francesco took advantage of a rebound from the crossbar after a header by Gambian Assan Sisay from close range, so he prepared it for himself and hit it powerfully with his right from the same distance to the right of Merritt (52).

And Napoli regained its lead in the result, with a fatal mistake by goalkeeper Falconi, in catching a rebound from his defender, Gallo, after a cross by Portuguese Mario Roy from the left (65).

French defender Samuel Umtiti, on loan from Barcelona, Spain, almost equalized with a powerful shot from outside the area, which passed near the left post (73).

The North Macedonian, Elif Almas, missed the opportunity to deliver the final blow to the landowners when he received a ball on a platter of gold from De Lorenzo inside the area, which was blocked by goalkeeper Falconi (84).

And Milan, the defending champion, failed to take advantage of the land and public factors in order to confirm its great victory at its host, Naples, by falling into a goalless draw in front of its guest, Empoli.

Milan raised its tally to 52 points in third place and threatened to drop to fourth place if Roma (50 points) beat Turin on Saturday.

The situation of the second pole of Milan, Inter, was not better, as it fell into the trap of a draw in front of its host Salernitana 1-1.

Veteran Salernitana midfielder Antonio Candreva, 36, added to the tribulations of his former team, Inter, and prevented him from regaining the winning streak when he equalized (1-1) in his own net in the last minute.

Inter advanced with a goal to his German defender Robin Goossens (6), but Candreva, who defended the colors of Inter between 2016 and 2020, equalized with a deceptive cross pass (90).

Inter Milan continued bleeding points and failed for the fourth consecutive match in the league to win and sixth in various competitions after three consecutive defeats in the Calcio and two draws against its Portuguese hosts Porto, 0-0, in the second leg of the Champions League final, and Juventus 1-1 in the first leg of the semi-finals of the local cup competition. .

The disappointing tie will increase the pressure on coach Simone Inzaghi before the Lisbon trip to face Benfica, Portugal, on Tuesday, in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the prestigious continental competition.

Inter raised its tally to 51 points in fourth place and threatened to drop to sixth place if Rome and Atalanta (48 points) beat Bologna on Saturday.

Inter was the best party and could have scored more than one goal had it not been for the brilliance of the Mexican international goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who owes much to this tie.

"It's difficult to come and talk about the equalizer after all the chances we created. The serious problem is not scoring the second goal," Inzaghi said. "It's not a simple moment, but I have nothing to blame my players for."

And Inter scored first through Gouzens with a left-footed shot from inside the area, following a pass from Belgian international Romelu Lukaku (6).

Lukaku hit a powerful ball creeping from inside the area, which Ochoa blocked in two waves (23), then with difficulty pushed Argentine Joaquin Correa's header from close range, following a cross pass from Gouzens (32).

Salernitana's first dangerous opportunity was after a powerful, creeping shot by Mali's Lassana Coulibaly from outside the area, which was blocked by Cameroonian international Andre Onana (43).

Ochoa removed Lukaku's header from the goal (45 + 2).

Inter continued his advantage in the second half and denied the right post, Nicolo Barella, from reinforcement at the beginning of the second half, by returning his powerful shot from outside the area (49).

And Onana turned a cross from Candriva at a suitable time to a corner before it hit his own net (58).

The Armenian international, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, tried his luck with a shot from outside the area, which Ochoa sent to a corner (63), through which Lukaku almost strengthened the progress with a header from close range, hit the crossbar and prepared in front of the Dutchman Stefan de Vree, who followed it with his head, but Ochoa removed it from the goal line (65).

Senegalese international substitute Boulay Dia almost equalized with a shot from close range, following a cross by Candreva, but the ball bounced off the crossbar and was dispersed by the defense (72).

Ochoa continued his brilliance by brilliantly saving the Argentine international substitute, Lautaro Martinez (82).
Dia responded with a shot from close range in the hands of Onana (83).

Lukaku hit a powerful, creeping ball from inside the area, which was pushed away by Ochoa (86).

And Candreva did it in the last minute with a deceptive cross pass from the right, which was placed in the far right corner of goalkeeper Onana (90).

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid on Saturday condemned the bombing, which was attributed to Turkish forces, and targeted Friday , Sulaymaniyah airport in Iraqi Kurdistan, where, according to Ankara, fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are holed up.

Rashid said in a statement, "Turkish military operations are repeated against the Kurdistan region, the latest of which was the bombing of the Sulaymaniyah civilian airport."

Rashid added, "While we condemn these blatant attacks on Iraq and its sovereignty, we affirm that there is no legal justification that authorizes the Turkish forces to continue their approach of terrorizing safe civilians under the pretext of the presence of opposing forces on Iraqi soil."

The bombing near Sulaymaniyah airport, the second city in the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, comes in an atmosphere of tension with Turkey closing its airspace in early April to planes coming from and heading to this airport.

Ankara justified this measure by accusing the Turkish Kurdish fighters of the PKK of intensifying their activities in the sector and criticized the "infiltration" of the "terrorist" organization into the airport.

On Friday, the security services at the airport spoke briefly about an "explosion" near the surrounding wall, which caused a fire, but did not result in any casualties.

Turkey considers the Syrian Democratic Forces, whose main component is the People's Protection Units, an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
The coalition responded late on Friday evening to the "news claiming" that the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, was targeted in Sulaymaniyah, stressing that these reports are "untrue."

Rashid called on the Turkish government to "take responsibility and offer an official apology for these actions, stop these attacks, and solve their internal problems by opening channels of dialogue with the concerned parties."

He stressed that "in the event of a recurrence of these attacks, there will be a firm stance to prevent their recurrence in the future."

Ankara regularly carries out ground and air operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria and against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq.

In July 2022, artillery strikes attributed to Ankara targeted an entertainment area in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing nine civilians, including women and children. Türkiye denied any responsibility for the bombing and blamed the PKK.

Lens continued his awakening and tightened the screws on the leaders, Paris Saint-Germain, when he temporarily reduced the difference between them to three points by defeating his guest, Strasbourg, 2-1, on Friday, in the opening of the thirtieth stage of the French Football Championship .

Lens first scored through the Polish international midfielder Przemyslaw Frankowski, following a pass from Adrian Thomason (11).
Argentine defender Facundo Medina added the second goal in the 64th minute, before Kevin Gameiro narrowed the deficit in the 84th minute.

It is the fourth successive victory for Lens and the eighteenth this season, temporarily dissolving the second-place partnership with Marseille, who will be a guest at Lorient on Sunday at the end of the stage, raising its score to 63 points, compared to 60 for the southern team and 66 for the capital team, which is a guest on Nice on Saturday.

On the other hand, Strasbourg suffered its second loss in a row and its fourteenth this season, so its balance froze at 26 points in the sixteenth place.

Saturday will also play Angers, who are in last place, with Lille, fifth.

Sunday also meets Lyon with Rennes, Ajaccio with Auxerre, Montpellier with Toulouse, Reims with Brest, Troyes with Clermont-Ferrand, and Nantes with Monaco.

Sevilla, led by its new coach, Jose Luis Mendelibar, wasted a valuable victory at home to Celta Vigo and fell into a trap in stoppage time 2-2 on Friday in the opening of the twenty-eighth stage of the Spanish Football Championship .

Seville was on its way to achieving its second victory in succession, led by Mendilibar, against the backdrop of Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, who was dismissed from his post due to the disappointing results, when he advanced two goals to Moroccan international striker Youssef Al-Nusairi (43) and Argentine international defender Marcos Acuna (81), but Celta Vigo turned the table around by equalizing. Thanks to two goals by Miguel Rodrigues (90) and Portuguese Goncalo Paciencia (90 + 3).

Sevilla played with ten players since the 19th minute, after Senegalese midfielder Pap Guy was sent off for receiving a second warning after the first in the sixth minute, then Acuña was sent off in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Celta Vigo was temporarily ninth with 36 points, one point ahead of its former partner Osasuna, who hosts Elche on Saturday, while Sevilla strengthened its position in thirteenth place with 32 points.

The stage will be completed on Saturday with Espanyol’s meetings with Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad with Getafe, and Real Madrid with Villarreal, provided that Sunday meets Valladolid with Real Mallorca, Real Betis with Cadiz, Almeria with Valencia, and Rayo Vallecano with Atletico Madrid.

The stage ends on Monday with the Catalan Derby between leaders Barcelona and Girona XI.

The struggle continues for the top spot in the Saudi Football League , when the leaders Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Wahda on Sunday, and Al-Nasr with its veteran Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo defeated Al-Fayhaa, within the twenty-third stage.

At the King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Wahda, armed with a historical advantage and remarkable levels that enabled it to take the lead, a point behind Al-Nassr (53-52).

Al-Ittihad lost only one match this season, which was against Al-Hilal 0-1 on January 5th.

The “Brigadier” is counting on his Brazilian professionals Marcelo Grohe, Igor Coronado and Romarinho Da Silva, the Egyptians Ahmed Hegazy and Tariq Hamed, and the Moroccan striker Abdel Razzaq Hamdallah.

On the other hand, Al Wahda is in thirteenth place with 22 points.

And after five consecutive matches, during which he did not receive any losses (4 draws), Al-Wahda fell in front of the last Al-Batin with a clean double, to remain surrounded by the danger of relegation.

The unit relies on a group of professionals such as Moroccan goalkeeper Mounir Al-Mohammadi, his compatriot Faisal Fajr, Brazilian Anselmo de Morais and Costa Rican Oscar Duarte.

Al-Nasr seeks to overcome the obstacle of its host, Al-Fayhaa, when they meet on the same day, at Al-Majmaa Sports City Stadium.

Al-Nasr is historically superior to its tenth-placed guest, who did not know the path of victories in the last three matches.

In Al-Fayhaa, his Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, Brazilian Paulinho and Nigerian Anthony Nwakaimi stand out.

After losing the lead against Al-Ittihad, Al-Nasr regained its balance and achieved two important victories at the expense of Abha and then Al-Adala.

Al-Nasr is missing its star Sami Al-Naji through injury, but he has distinguished names in all positions, led by Ronaldo (38 years), the best player in the world five times, and the Brazilian Anderson Talisca, the top scorer, who extended his contract until 2026, and his compatriot Luiz Gustavo and the Spaniard Alvaro Gonzalez.

Al-Hilal, the defending champion in the last three seasons, is looking to compensate for its disappointing loss against Al-Shabab 0-3 on Friday, when it hosts Al-Tai on Monday.

And a series of four victories for Al-Hilal stopped by losing to Al-Shabab for the first time since 2014, so it fell to fourth place with 45 points, logically losing chances to retain the title amid the successive victories of rivals Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr.

On the other hand, Al-Taei wants to return to the path of victories, after a 2-2 draw with Al-Raed, to stop his score at 22 points in eighth place.
The third youth will be a heavy guest on the Gulf on Tuesday, ecstatic from its great victory over Al-Hilal by 3-0 at the summit of the twenty-second stage.

Al-Shabab regained third place after raising its score to 47 points, while Al-Khaleej clings to the last hope for survival, especially since the match will be held at its home stadium and among its fans.

In the rest of the matches, Al-Ahad will meet Al-Taawun with Al-Ettifaq and Abha with Al-Batin, and Al-Monday will play Al-Raed with Al-Fateh and Damak with Al-Adalah.

Burnley, supervised by former Belgian defender Vincent Kompany, promoted to the English Premier League in football, after beating Middlesbrough 2-1 on Friday.

After a series of 19 games without losing, Burnley moved away by 19 points from Luton III, who would not be able to catch up with him, six games before the end of the season.

Burnley had included Kompany, the four-time Premier League champion, as a player with Manchester City, in 2022, after he was relegated after six seasons in the Premier League.

The former center back expressed his surprise at this rapid rise, "We are still in the Easter period, there are seven matches, and here we are celebrating. We did not expect that."

With his relegation, he had to pay off a large part of his debts of $ 78 million and sell a number of his important players.

But the 36-year-old Kompany, the former coach of Anderlecht, has succeeded in making a good team of new faces, taking advantage of his connections in Belgium and with Manchester City to strengthen his squad.

The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said that the Ministry of Settlement in the Israeli government is heading, through an action plan prepared by it, to double the budgets that will be transferred to settlement councils in the West Bank , to be used in monitoring and documenting Palestinian construction in Areas (C), and this was included in the general budget for 2008 2023 and 2024.

A budget of 40 million shekels will be allocated to local and regional settlement councils, compared to about 20 million that was allocated for that in the past, and the Ministry of Settlement is looking forward to doubling the budget that will be allocated to settlers to equip themselves with drones and patrols that monitor Palestinian construction in Area C, with the aim of fighting the Palestinian presence in them. .

The budgets that will be transferred to the settlements will be allocated to hiring employees for the patrol departments and purchasing drones, tablet computers, and vehicles. Large settlements will be able to finance the pensions of 4 full-time guards and four others part-time. The allocated budget can also be used to operate many volunteers within the so-called “project.” National Service” and holding conferences on preventing Palestinian construction and expansion in Area C, and establishing security infrastructure against the implementation of so-called “illegal activities on the ground” such as fencing and building paths and roads.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Settlement, headed by Tzachi Hanegbi, approved in 2020 a budget of 20 million shekels to monitor Palestinian construction in Area C. In recent years, so-called "land patrols" have been operating and active in West Bank settlements that monitor Palestinian construction and agriculture, and these patrols submit their reports. To the Civil Administration and the occupation authorities to issue demolition notices and stop work and construction for Palestinians.

The Civil Administration also operates a hotline calling on settlers to report Palestinian construction work, which is known in Israel as the “Campaign on Area C”, as part of a plan to empty Area C of Palestinians and annex it to Israeli sovereignty.

At the same time, the occupation authorities are promoting preliminary plans for about 6,500 settlement units in new or existing settlements in East Jerusalem, despite their repeated commitments to a temporary halt to construction in the settlements, as the Israeli Local Planning Committee in Jerusalem presented plans for the Wadi Al-Jouz Business Center (Silicon Valley), and the lower canal, and the "ramot".

The Local Planning Committee in Jerusalem recently held discussions on five settlement plans in French Hill / Mount Scopus (2), Givat Shaked, Pisgat Ze'ev, and Ramot, and objections to the Lower Canal plan were rejected.

The lower canal plan includes the construction of 1,465 housing units, which would lead to the expansion of territorial contiguity between "Har Homa" and "Givat Hamatos", which would lead to an increase in the settlement wedge between the southern end of East Jerusalem and the Bethlehem area in the West Bank.

As for the Wadi al-Jouz Business Center, despite the claim that it will increase job opportunities for Palestinians and boost the economy in East Jerusalem, there is acute concern that it will eventually lead to the eviction and demolition of about 200 Palestinian companies, and replace them with Israeli or international companies.

The Ramot North A and Ramot North B plan, which was discussed by the local planning committee, would expand the current Ramot settlement to the northeast towards Bir Nabala.

With regard to the French Hill / Mount Scopus, work is underway within the framework of developing two plans in the area and the buildings of the Hebrew University campus in Mount Scopus for a total of 1,539 housing units, in addition to an expansion in "Pisgat Ze'ev" by about 730 housing units east towards the separation wall and the Hizma area. This leads to the depletion of the few remaining land reserves in the region.

The local planning committee of the occupation municipality had rejected the objections submitted to the Wadi Al-Joz business center plan (Silicon Valley) and recommended approval of the plan, which will be built on the ruins of the industrial zone. The period for submitting objections to the plan ended on February 26, when 59 objections were submitted by By landowners and business owners in the area.

The Silicon Valley plan, launched by the Jerusalem Development Authority, is an 80-dunam business center in the urban center of East Jerusalem not far from the Old City, a bustling commercial area with shops, garages and other small businesses, all at risk of being demolished and replaced with high-rise corporate office buildings. High-tech, the plan also includes 194 housing units, which is a very small number that constitutes only 13% of the building area, and most, if not all, of the existing facilities will be evacuated, and the majority will not be eligible for any compensation, and local shop owners estimate that closing existing facilities It means that 2000 workers will lose their jobs.

The District Planning and Building Committee in Jerusalem also decided to deposit a plan to build 460 settlement units in the "Gilo" settlement, south of occupied East Jerusalem. The plan covers a total area of about eight dunums, and includes this number of settlement units in five residential buildings, which are two towers with a height of 35 meters. Three floors and three 10-story buildings, the lower floors house work areas, a clinic, and a commercial front.

Of the total housing units, about 92 units will be allocated for small apartments of up to 55 square metres. In addition, as part of the plan, 3.5 dunums will be allocated for public open spaces, about 3 dunums for the construction of a new primary school, and about 2,500 square meters for four daycare classrooms. And five kindergarten classrooms, and the construction of two new temples and the expansion of two existing ones.

New outposts
In the rest of the regions and governorates of the West Bank, the looting of Palestinian lands continues, sometimes by military orders, and at other times by settler thieves.

Settlers established a new settlement outpost in the southern area of the lands of the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, and brought mobile homes and tents. .

The settlers also established a new settlement outpost near the Al-Auja Spring community, north of the city of Jericho, and placed a portable dwelling and a water tank on a mountain overlooking the Al-Auja Spring Bedouin community, and made a way to it with the aim of seizing lands in the area.

It is noteworthy that the Al-Auja Spring community is one of the Bedouin communities that is subject to repeated violations by the occupation and its settlers with the aim of stealing water and controlling the land for the benefit of settlement projects.

The occupation authorities are not satisfied with deploying more forces, police and border guards along the West Bank from north to south and from east to west. The Israeli police chief called on settlers who have a weapon license to carry their weapons with them wherever they go during the days of the Jewish Passover holiday and to Coming armed to the Eid prayers in synagogues, and carrying weapons when they go out for a walk.

The police, the Israeli army, and the Shin Bet claim that they have received dozens of warnings about planning operations carried out by Palestinians inside Israel and in settlements in the occupied West Bank. The police say that they have reinforced their forces and border guards at the military checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank in order to prevent Palestinians from entering Israel.

Facilities for the killer of the Dawabsha family
In a move of racist significance, the Israeli occupation authorities decided to grant facilitation to the terrorist settler Amiram Ben-Uliel, who killed the Dawabsha family by burning down their house in the village of Duma, south of Nablus in 2015, who is serving a life sentence 3 times.

The decision to facilitate the facilities was taken by the Occupation Prisons Service and the Shin Bet on the pretext of the Jewish “Passover” holiday, which lasts until April 12, and the facilities include allowing him to leave isolation and spend the “Passover” period in the religious wing with other prisoners.

At the international level, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted two resolutions on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the illegality of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, during its meeting in its 52nd regular session, and 38 countries voted in favor of the decision on the illegality of settlements in the Palestinian territories, including occupied Jerusalem. While 5 countries abstained from voting, and 4 countries voted against it, 41 countries voted in favor of the resolution of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination, 3 countries abstained from voting, and 3 countries voted against the resolution.

The UN resolution came about two weeks after the Knesset approved the repeal of what is known as the "disengagement law" or the law of "separation" from the occupation settlements and camps in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank, allowing settlers to return to 4 settlements in the northern West Bank that were evacuated in 2005.

On Saturday, the Chinese army began a three-day military exercise in the Taiwan Strait , in an atmosphere of tension with the island, after its president, Tsai Ing-wen, met with Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in the United States.

Chinese military spokesman Shi Yi said in a statement that the exercises constitute "a solemn warning against the collusion between the separatist forces seeking 'Taiwan independence' and outside forces, as well as their provocative activities."

The Chinese army explained that the maneuvers include "patrols".

And the maritime authorities in Fujian (east) said that live-fire exercises will be held on Monday in the Taiwan Strait near the coast of this province, which is located opposite the island.

Military analyst Song Zhongping warned that these "operational" exercises are aimed at proving that "if provocations intensify," the Chinese army is ready to "finally settle the Taiwan issue."

Taipei saw the maneuvers as threatening "stability and security" in the Asia-Pacific region.

On Saturday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen condemned China's "authoritarian expansionism", stressing that the island "will continue to work with the United States and other countries (...) to defend the values of freedom and democracy."

The maneuvers come after President Tsai's visit this week to the United States, where she met McCarthy on Wednesday.
Beijing immediately vowed to take "firm and strong measures" in response.

China looks with displeasure at the rapprochement that has been going on for years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which provides the island with important military support, despite the lack of official relations between them.

Beijing considers Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, to be an integral part of China's territory, which it has not yet been able to reunite with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

The United States recognized the People's Republic of China in 1979 and is theoretically supposed to have no official contact with the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the "one China principle" that Beijing defends.

Since Thursday, China has intensified its military pressure on the island by sending warships and aircraft to the Taiwan Strait.
A few days ago, Beijing reinforced the presence of the coast guard in the strait to carry out exceptional patrols.

The exact location of the new exercises has not been determined, except for Monday's live-fire drills, which will be held around Pingtan, the closest point in China to Taiwan.

The narrowest part of the Taiwan Strait between the Chinese coast and the island is about 130 km wide.

On Saturday, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said, during its daily briefing, that it had detected eight warships and 42 Chinese fighters around the island. She explained that 29 of the aircraft crossed the middle line in the Taiwan Strait.

Agence France-Presse journalists in Pingtan on Friday monitored a military ship and at least two military helicopters crossing the Taiwan Strait.

However, it is not clear whether these moves represent an increase in the usual number of Chinese patrols in the area.
Last August, Beijing conducted unprecedented military maneuvers around Taiwan when the then-Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, visited the island.

But so far, the response to the meeting between Tsai and McCarthy has not been compared to the summer of 2022.

The military maneuvers come a day after French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to China, where he raised the Taiwan issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Elysee said Friday that "the conversation was intense and frank" on this subject.

Xi Jinping told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Thursday during a meeting in Beijing that "anyone who thinks China will make concessions on Taiwan is delusional," in comments reported by the Chinese foreign ministry.

Today, Saturday, the Israeli occupation forces tightened their military measures in the vicinity of Tubas , at the Tayasir and Hamra checkpoints, for the second day in a row, and this came after the killing of two settlers by gunfire in the Jordan Valley yesterday.

The forces also stopped citizens' vehicles heading to the Jordan Valley, searched them and checked their identity cards, at intermittent intervals, and intensified their presence in several areas of the Jordan Valley since yesterday.

The World Bank announced a $10 million grant to support the Palestinian Authority in its efforts to improve the quality, efficiency and resilience of public health service delivery.

Despite efforts to improve access to and quality of health care in the Palestinian territories, much work remains to be done to improve utilization of primary health care in the West Bank . As the World Bank says.

He adds: One of the biggest causes of disease burden in the Gaza Strip is access to reliable care for people with chronic diseases, especially cancer . The Strengthening Health System Efficiency and Resilience Project will help address these challenges.

Commenting on this, Stefan Emblad, Director and Resident Representative of the World Bank in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said: “Although government spending on health constitutes 4% of GDP, exceeding the level of many peer countries, the Palestinian health care system is finding it difficult to Providing the necessary care for all citizens. The new project, funded by the World Bank, aims to help ensure the continuity of health care services, expand their coverage, and build their resilience.”

He continued, "The ongoing restrictions on freedom of movement and access, continued pressures on public finances, and the continuous escalation of violence have weakened the health system and its ability to provide high-quality health care services. The Ministry of Health also relies on the external medical referral system to provide specialized health services to patients." These referrals are due to the lack of services in public hospitals, which impose a huge burden on the public finances of the Palestinian Authority, which leads to a narrowing of spending space on other basic health services, and priority expenditures in other sectors.

The project will prioritize primary health care and strengthen hospitals in order to increase access to and efficiency of services, thus contributing to reducing the financial burden of referrals and ensuring that the population receives timely treatment. The project aims to provide prevention and treatment of priority non-communicable diseases, especially high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer, at the primary care level in areas with low levels of access to services. In parallel, the project will focus on strengthening the public hospital system by providing the necessary medical equipment for treatment. Cancer, cardiovascular, maternal and neonatal health care.

The project will also contribute to the establishment of radiotherapy services in the Gaza Strip, which is one of the main obstacles to treating cancer patients in the Strip.

This project is an extension of the World Bank's long-term operational and technical support to strengthen the Palestinian healthcare system. Emblad commented: “The financing needs of the Palestinian health sector remain significant.

The World Bank will work in close coordination with development partners to achieve integration and avoid overlapping efforts in order to improve the sustainability of financing the health sector by reducing spending on external medical referrals.

The citizen, Mahmoud Zakarneh (57 years), died at dawn today, Saturday, of critical injuries he sustained yesterday evening as a result of being shot in the occupied city of Haifa .

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, Zakarneh was hit by several gunshots, and later died as a result.

The website indicated that another 18-year-old was injured in the accident, which the Israeli police opened an investigation into.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation warned of the consequences of the continued attacks of the Israeli occupation authorities, their officials, and settlers on the sanctity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque , including provocations, continuous abuses, and serious daily assaults and incursions.

This came during the final statement issued by the extraordinary meeting of the open-ended executive committee of the organization, which was held at its general headquarters in Jeddah, today, Saturday, to discuss the continuation of the Israeli attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, at the invitation of the State of Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in coordination and consultation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In its statement, the organization considered that what is happening is a gross violation of international law, and an unprecedented tampering with the existing historical and legal situation, in an attempt to perpetuate the temporal and spatial division of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

She affirmed that the Israeli occupation has no sovereignty over any part of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif, and that Muslim worshipers have the absolute right to pray freely and safely in and around it, at any time, without any hindrance or violence.

All the resolutions issued by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation related to the issue of Palestine and Jerusalem affirmed the central nature of the issue of Palestine, with Jerusalem and its sanctities at its heart, for the entire Islamic Ummah, and the eternal connection of Muslims all over the world to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first of the two qiblahs and the third of the Two Holy Mosques.

It stressed the Arab and Islamic identity of occupied East Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, and refused to prejudice it in any way.

It condemned "in the strongest terms the dangerous escalation of the Israeli occupation forces and terrorist colonizers by repeatedly storming the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif, during the blessed month of Ramadan, which reached, on the night of the 14th of Ramadan, a brutal attack on worshipers and those who are secluded in its courtyards while performing their prayers and rituals, including women." and children, and led to the injury and arrest of hundreds of them, and damaged the Al-Qibli prayer hall, which is a provocation to the feelings of Muslims all over the world and an assault on the existing legal and historical situation and a serious violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

In its statement, the organization held Israel, the occupying Power, responsible for the consequences of these dangerous and provocative actions of the racist Israeli government, as it continues to seek, through systematic brutal attacks, deliberate provocation and repeated incitement, to inflame the situation and provoke a religious confrontation with unimaginable consequences.

It warned of the repercussions of this on international peace and security, calling on the international community, and specifically the Security Council, in its capacity as responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, to shoulder its responsibilities and take urgent action to take the necessary measures to deter and stop the dangerous Israeli escalation and with it all other illegal and provocative measures and policies. It harms the occupied city of Jerusalem and the sanctity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif, without selectivity or double standards.

It appreciated the positions of the countries that expressed their rejection and condemnation of the provocative and aggressive Israeli incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling on them to take practical steps, including imposing sanctions on the Israeli colonial regime, to stop these practices and all its illegal procedures and policies.

In this context, the Islamic Cooperation stressed the responsibility of the states parties to the Geneva Conventions to hold Israel, the illegal colonial occupying power, accountable for all its violations of international humanitarian law, whether by its government officials, military forces, or extremist colonialists.

And she saluted the Palestinian people who are steadfast in the city of Jerusalem, affirming her standing with them and supporting their heroic steadfastness in all possible ways, as well as the sovereignty of the Palestinian people over Jerusalem and all its holy places and the old town of Jerusalem and its walls, and that all measures taken or intended to be taken by the colonial occupation authorities Israeli actions intended to change the character and legal status of the city or its demographic composition are null and void and have no legal effect.

The historical Jordanian Hashemite Custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy places in the city of Jerusalem, and its role in protecting these sanctities and preserving the existing legal and historical situation in them, confirmed that the Jerusalem Endowments and Affairs of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif affiliated to the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites is the authority authorized to manage Al-Aqsa affairs.

And she stressed the importance of the role of the Jerusalem Committee headed by Moroccan King Mohammed VI in confronting the dangerous policies implemented by the Israeli occupation authorities in Jerusalem, to change the identity of the city and its legal status, as well as its demographic, cultural and historical composition, appreciating the role played by the Beit Mal Jerusalem Agency.

The organization called on member states, and its general secretariat, to take urgent action to confront these serious attacks, to activate the mechanisms stipulated in its relevant resolutions, to act at all levels, and to send urgent messages to the concerned international bodies, including the Security Council, reflecting the organization's positions in this regard.

And called for the provision of international protection for the Palestinian people and the occupied city of Jerusalem and its sanctities, specifically the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif, in the face of illegal attempts to change the current legal and historical situation.

She reaffirmed the importance of continuing coordination and cooperation among the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States, and the African Union in order to protect the occupied city of Jerusalem from the systematic Israeli policies and attacks.

The group of ambassadors of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called for action and conveying the contents of this statement to the capitals of influential countries around the world.

The organization urged the Islamic Group in the relevant international organizations to take action and initiate the necessary consultations and measures to confront and stop the systematic Israeli attacks in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

At the end of her statement, she stressed her continued follow-up of all developments related to the city of Jerusalem, specifically the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and to take the appropriate steps in this regard, as stipulated in the decisions of the Islamic summits and the councils of foreign ministers.

On Saturday, Washington expressed its support for Israel's right to self-defense, following two separate bloody attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank, and the firing of missiles from Lebanon that prompted the Jewish state to launch raids.

A 36-year-old Italian tourist was trampled to death and seven others were injured Friday night in a car attack at the Tel Aviv waterfront.

Earlier Friday, two sisters from the settlement of Efrat, aged 16 and 20, were killed and their mother seriously injured in an attack in the West Bank.

"The targeting of innocent civilians, of any nationality, is unacceptable," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement, adding, "The United States stands with the government and people of Israel."

With regard to the missiles launched from Lebanon, the United States expressed its support for Israel, without explicitly supporting the raids launched by the Jewish state on southern Lebanon in response to those missiles.

A second US State Department spokesperson said, "We urge de-escalation from all sides, and we recognize that Israel can exercise its natural right to self-defence."

"Using Lebanon as a launching pad for missile attacks against Israel endangers Lebanon and increases the possibility" of an expansion of the conflict, he added.