BEIJING --(Xinhua) -- The US central bank raised its benchmark lending rate by 0.75 percentage points last week, the fourth increase and sixth rise this year, pushing the key interest rate to a range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent, the highest in 15 years.

The bank said such increases were necessary to mitigate record high inflation. However, before the previous harsh currency policies had an echo at home, they had already wreaked havoc globally given the dollar's dominance of the international monetary and trading system.

In the wake of rising interest rates in the United States, many countries experienced depreciation of their currencies and capital outflows, soaring costs of debt servicing and massive exogenous inflation, to the extent that some fell into a currency or debt crisis.

- The dominance of the dollar
The term "exorbitant privilege" was coined in 1965 by then-French Finance Minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to bemoan the American practice of using the dominance of the dollar for self-interest.

The international monetary system characterized by the dominant US dollar was established after the "Bretton Woods" agreement in 1944. Since then, Washington waged wars and imposed sanctions against any competitor to impose the hegemony of the dollar.

In the 1980s, when fast-growing Japan sought a higher international profile for the yen, the US imposed the Plaza Accord, which caused the yen to appreciate dramatically against the dollar, setting the stage for a "lost decade" of slow growth and deflation in Japan.

In January 1999, when the euro was officially introduced, one euro was equivalent to $1.8. Two months later, the US-led NATO launched air strikes against the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without UN approval, and the Kosovo War began. This chaos led to an outflow of capital out of Europe and a rapid depreciation of the euro.

History has repeated itself, with devastating results for those who challenge the dollar's hegemony. There seems to be an unwritten rule that the United States will not allow any threat to its "exorbitant privilege".

Exploitation of others
Under a system centered around the US dollar after World War II, Washington took advantage of the dollar's hegemony to export domestic financial crises, reap global wealth, and destroy financial stability or prosperity in other countries. Seigniorage, treasury bills, and monetary policy manipulation are tricks the US uses to make profits.

Another privilege allows the United States to run an external deficit, importing more than it exports and consuming more than it produces year after year without becoming more indebted to the rest of the world.

On October 3, the United States national debt exceeded $31 trillion for the first time amid rising interest rates, pushing the US federal debt-to-GDP ratio to nearly 126 percent.

Although experts have repeatedly warned that such high debt is a ticking time bomb that risks triggering a financial crisis and that a US default will likely lead to a global financial meltdown, successive US governments do not seem to be bothered by the matter.

- Coin weapon
Using the US dollar as a weapon, the US alternates between currency inflation and currency tightening to create "controllable turmoil" in the financial and economic sectors, resulting in business opportunities for US industry.

From the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s to the 1997 financial crisis in Asia and the 2008 global financial crisis, the US dollar has been playing its part. However, each time, the US has emerged unscathed or even managed to turn a profit.
The US has printed roughly half the amount of currency printed in the past 200 years or more in just the past year and a half, allowing inflation to run high and economic bubbles to spread.

Malhar Nabar, head of the IMF's Research Department, told Xinhua that these increases may add pressure on capital inflows in emerging markets, push up exogenous inflation, increase debt vulnerability and reduce space for debt. policies.

In July, the International Monetary Fund estimated that nearly 30 percent of emerging countries and 60 percent of low-income countries are already in debt crisis or close to it.

-- Diminishing dollar concession

With decades of US financial dominance marked by the dominance of the dollar, frustration is mounting around the world.
And last month, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a major oil exporter and supporter of the petrodollar system, announced a reduction in its oil production, which sparked anger in Washington, which asked the kingdom to do otherwise.

US President Joe Biden said he would review the US relationship with Saudi Arabia and there would be unspecified "consequences" for the kingdom.

Andrei Kostin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russia's VTB Bank, said Washington's "weaponization" of financial instruments inevitably undermined confidence in the US dollar as the primary reserve currency as well as the primary means of payment, raising a strong argument in favor of wider use of other currencies.

Muhammad Saqib, Secretary-General of the Indo-China Economic and Cultural Council, told Xinhua that the problem of the current international financial system lies in the dominant dollar which "does not support any other currency, even the euro or the yen," noting that more Countries may venture outside the dollar.

According to International Monetary Fund data, the dollar's share of global foreign exchange reserves fell to less than 59 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, continuing its decline for two decades.

As Michael Roberts, a London-based economist, said, the decades-long dominance of the dollar has put the US in a strong position to dictate the terms of trade and finance over the past 70 years, but the dollar's dominance is gradually waning.

SHANGHAI (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Customs Administration said Thursday that the city's foreign trade volume hit a monthly record in July, surpassing 400 billion yuan (about 59 billion US dollars) to reach 404.22 billion yuan.

Last month, the city's huge exports and imports increased by 32.9 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively, over the same period last year.

Exports of automatic data processing equipment and components, including laptops and mobile phones, rose 52.8 percent year-on-year to 23.13 billion yuan, while exports of labor-intensive products also experienced significant growth, reaching 22.34 billion yuan, up 36.4 percent. on an annual basis.

During this period, the export of new energy industry products became prominent. Shanghai exported 5.52 billion yuan worth of electric cars, 2.75 billion yuan worth of lithium batteries and 1.09 billion yuan worth of solar cells, up 19.5 percent, 560.9 percent and 197.4 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In terms of imports, Shanghai saw an increase in high-quality consumer goods in July, with imports of passenger cars, watches, jewelry and diamonds growing 56.9 percent, 13.8 percent, 36 percent and 14.7 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Meanwhile, over the course of the month, Shanghai imported 16.64 billion yuan worth of gold, up 25.7 percent year on year.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Arab Bank recently donated a radiological imaging device (mammogram) to the Nablus Governorate Health Directorate, as part of the Bank's community contributions and initiatives that provide support to several vital sectors, including the health services sector.

This device was donated due to the urgent need for it in Nablus Governorate, and due to its utmost importance in conducting the necessary examinations for early detection of breast cancer, which determine the progress in completing the appropriate treatment for it and avoid the development of the disease and the complication of the patients’ health condition. Note that this device will provide service to more than 4,000 patients annually.

Commenting on this initiative, Jamal Hourani, Palestine Area Manager of the Arab Bank, explained that the bank attaches great importance to supporting the health sector, one of the main axes of its social responsibility program (together). The bank is very interested in supporting and adopting development initiatives that directly contribute to improving the level of health services as one of the basic needs of citizens. This is in addition to his many other contributions in the fields of education, environmental protection, combating poverty and supporting orphans.

It is worth mentioning that the Arab Bank made many contributions to support the health sector, including contributing to the establishment of the first center specialized in treating kidney diseases at Al-Najah Teaching Hospital, providing devices specialized in treating cancer diseases, donating a “freezer” device to the Central Blood Bank, as well as donating machines Dialysis for a number of hospitals, and a number of necessary medical devices for a number of health centers, including the Al-Eizariya Health Directorate and the Qalqilya Health Directorate.

Doha - (AFP) - Argentine star Lionel Messi has become one of the players who walk the most throughout most matches, but this feature did not prevent him from being the smartest among his peers and breaking down the opponent's defenses to lead Albicelesi to the quarter-finals in the Qatar Football World Cup.

According to the statistics of the International Federation (IFA), Messi's name was included in the top ten in the list of the most walkable players, as shown by the four matches he played in the World Cup.

The numbers do not seem important to the best player in the world seven times, as he won the award for best player in the match twice, so it is safe to say that what is happening does not affect the effectiveness of the "flea".

He contributed to scoring 3 goals, including two decisive goals in the victory over Mexico 2-0 in the second round of the group stage, and Australia 2-1 in the final price in his thousandth match in his career when he scored for the first time in the knockout rounds, and he also missed a penalty kick against Poland 2 -zero.

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand, who works as an analyst for BT Sport, said that Messi's performance against Australia was "the best we've seen in the World Cup so far, by a wide margin."

Messi passed in a match during which he deciphered the "Socruz" defense by opening the scoring and hitting 6 balls on the goal, 8.59 km, at the second lowest rate for a key player, including 4.75 km on foot.

On the other hand, the BBC sports channel indicated before the Argentina match against Australia that Messi occupies one of the first three places as the one who walks the most: he walked successively in his first three matches, 4.99 km, 4.73 km and 4.62 km!

Is Messi lazy, or is he smarter than others?

His former coach and current English Manchester City Spaniard Pep Guardiola made it clear that the French star of Paris Saint-Germain is not satisfied with just walking without doing anything.

Messi, at his peak with his former team Barcelona before moving to the Parisian capital club, does not feel lethargic even when he walks. "He (Messi), he watches, he walks. This is what I love most. Not outside the match, but part of it," Guardiola said in a documentary program about the Argentine player entitled "This is Football" broadcast on Amazon.

He added, "He moves his head: right and left and then left and right. He knows exactly what will happen. But his head is always like this (Guardiola turns his head left and right). He is in constant motion."

He continued, "He doesn't run, but he always watches what happens. He looks for weak points in defense. After five or 10 minutes, he has the map in his eyes, in his mind to know exactly what the spaces and the scene are."

Guardiola described what the Argentine player is doing, "It's like being in a forest and I have to fight to survive. He knows that if he moves here, there or there, he will have more space to attack."

But this does not mean that Messi does not interfere in the game when the rhythm of the match imposes this challenge on him, as Ferdinand said after the end of the match against Australia, “It almost suggests to everyone that he was not interested in what is happening, but suddenly he comes back alive” and “What he can do is Opening the game from any position on the field. That's the difference between him and the others."

This phenomenon is not related to the age of Messi, the 35-year-old, but rather a feature that extends over many years, as the figures shed light on what he has been doing since the World Cup in Russia 2018 and before that Brazil 2014 in Russia, where it was clearly shown that he was walking But he is not lazy.

Messi walks more during matches than any other player on the planet, but he also has the time to smile despite the intensity of the match.

Research has shown that Messi's effectiveness lies in creating space and spending time in the positions closest to the opponent's penalty area and the most important on the field.

"Can we say that Messi gets a lot of space by not participating in the game? Yes, this is exactly what the studies show," Luke Bourne, a data scientist at FC Barcelona, asked during a press conference to study the analytics.

Only the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski (34 years old) surpassed Messi in the World Cup in Qatar in this regard, as he passed 5202 m walking in front of Saudi Arabia, compared to 4998 m for Messi in front of Mexico.

During the confrontation between Argentina and Poland, Messi walked 4736m compared to 4829m for Lewandowski, so some asked: Messi is tired or just a player who is used to walking instead of running?

London - (AFP) - This week, Britain is witnessing a strike by railway, postal and shipping workers, the worst in decades, to demand higher wages in the face of high inflation and a decline in purchasing power in the country.

And the trade unions called on tens of thousands of employees of railway companies in Britain to stop working on Thursday and Saturday, which represents a new chapter in the largest strike in the sector in thirty years, which began at the end of last June.

And the state operator of the railway network, Network Rail, announced that one out of five trains would run during the school holidays and called on Britons to travel "only when absolutely necessary".

The entire transport network in London will be almost paralyzed on Friday and will remain very turbulent through the weekend.

"I will be very late, that's for sure," Osama Sarda, a 30-year-old dentist, told AFP from a London train station as he was heading to a wedding in the north of the country. However, he stressed that the strike is "right, because inflation is now at a record level."

RMT General Secretary Mike Lynch warned Thursday that the largest strike movement of rail workers since 1989 "may continue indefinitely." He continued, "British workers (are paid) mainly low wages," considering that the strike movement "will not be broken," but on the contrary, may expand to include "all sectors of the economy."

Starting from Sunday, the loading and unloading of ships at the port of Felixstowe (east of England), which is the largest shipping port in the country, begins an eight-day strike, threatening to stop a large part of the movement of goods in the country.

And the demand of workers is the same across the country, which is to increase salaries in line with inflation, which in July reached 10.1 percent on an annual basis and is expected to exceed 13 percent in October.

Purchasing power was affected by the record high prices, which "proves the urgent need ... to defend the value of workers' wages," according to the statement of Sharon Graham, Secretary-General of one of the most important unions, Unite.

More than 115,000 British postal workers are taking a four-day strike between the end of August and early September, at the call of the CWU sectoral union. About 40,000 workers in the telecom operator BT are also continuing their first strike in 35 years.

It is expected that strikes will be organized in the warehouses of the "Amazon" group, the giant e-commerce, in the ranks of criminal lawyers and garbage collection workers.

The CBI employers union confirmed in a statement that "employers are doing everything they can to help their employees get through this period." But, she added, "a large majority cannot afford to raise wages enough to keep up with inflation."

Recently strikes were averted at the last minute, after workers received offers of wages deemed satisfactory.

This is what happened with the workers of the refueling company at Heathrow Airport, who threatened to block navigation but quickly abandoned the strike.

British Airways workers, who were demanding a refund of 10% deducted from their salaries during the pandemic, also agreed to a 13% increase in wages and called off the strike.

The continued strike of the railway workers Thursday is an indication that negotiations with all operators in the private sector are at an impasse. They also rejected an offer from the "Network Rail" company, which they considered conditional on the dismissal of a large number of workers.

The organizations criticize the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps, who refused to participate directly in the talks, and accuse him of not giving enough time to the companies to negotiate.

The government's decision to change the law to allow temporary workers to replace strikers angered the unions.
The famous "Harrods" chain of stores was "the first company to threaten its employees" by using this law.

The strikes may continue beyond the summer and could expand to include teachers and health workers who rejected an offer of a 4% wage increase.

قلنا وما زلنا نقول بأن الانتهاكات والجرائم الاسرائيلية هي وراء ما تشهده الضفة الغربية من عمليات ضد الاهداف العسكرية الاسرائيلية التي عاثت وتعيث في الارض الفلسطينية فسادا.

وكلما امعنت دولة الاحتلال في انتهاكاتها وجرائمها بحق شعبنا وأرضه ومقدساته وسائر ممتلكاته، ومحاولات تمس هويته الوطنية والنيل من ثقافته وتزوير تاريخ فلسطين، فإن مثل هذه العمليات، الى جانب المقاومة الشعبية ستزيد في الضفة بما فيها القدس الشرقية، وربما تمتد لتشمل جميع فلسطين التاريخية.

واذا كان الاحتلال يعتقد بأن تصعيده في الضفة الغربية بما فيها القدس الشريف، سيجعل شعبنا يستسلم ، او يرضخ للاحتلال الذي سلب كل شيء، فان هذا الاحتلال واهم، ولم يتعلم من دروس الماضي والحاضر، فمنذ الهجمة الصهيونية على فلسطين وشعبنا يقاوم هذه الهجمة بكل السبل والوسائل المتاحة والمنصوص عليها في القوانين والاعراف الدولية.

وليس هذا فحسب، بل ان شعبنا افشل جميع محاولات تصفية قضيته الوطنية، وكشف زيف الادعاءات الصهيونية بأن فلسطين ارض بلا شعب لشعب بلا ارض هو اليهود الذين تم جمعهم من جميع بلدان العالم ليحلوا محل شعبنا وسط مؤامرة دولية كبرى قادتها بريطانيا ومعها العديد من الدول الغربية التي تدعي الديمقراطية وحقوق الانسان بما في ذلك الولايات المتحدة الاميركية، الداعم الرئيس في هذه المرحلة ومراحل سابقة لدولة الاحتلال التي تقتل بالاسلحة الاميركية والغربية ابناء شعبنا، لا لشيء إلا لأنه فلسطيني ويطالب بحقوقه الوطنية الثابتة في تقرير المصير وإقامة دولته المستقلة على ترابه الوطني وعاصمتها القدس الشريف.

وانتهاكات وجرائم الاحتلال لن يدفع ثمنها شعبنا لوحده، بل ان دولة الاحتلال ستدفع هي الاخرى الثمن، الذي هي مسؤولة عنه جراء ما تقوم به في الضفة والقطاع وسائر فلسطين التاريخية، بل انها تتعدى ذلك للعديد من دول الجوار العربي، وخاصة ضد سوريا ولبنان.

وها هي دولة الاحتلال تصعد من تهديداتها ضد لبنان على خلفية فشل ترسيم الحدود البحرية حتى الآن، وتعتدي على سوريا تحت مزاعم وحجج مختلفة.

ان ابسط الطرق لعدم مواصلة تفجير الاوضاع المتفجرة اصلا هو قيام دولة الاحتلال بالاعتراف بحقوق شعبنا الوطنية الثابتة والتي اقرتها الامم المتحدة في العودة وتقرير المصير واقامة الدولة المستقلة وعاصمتها القدس الشريف.
انه بدون ذلك فإن الاوضاع ستزداد تفجرا، وستعم المنطقة بأكملها، ولا يعرف ما ستؤول اليه، وربما ستقود الى تهديد الامن والسلم العالميين المهدد اصلا جراء انتهاكات الاحتلال والدول الغربية الداعمه له والتي تحاول مواصلة سيطرتها على العالم من خلال القطب الواحد الذي تمثله اميركا.

Translation by "Jerusalem" dot com - 8 settlers were wounded in a shooting attack that took place near the Old City of occupied Jerusalem , specifically near the so-called "Western Wall".

According to the Hebrew channel Reshet Kan, 3 of the injured were in a critical condition, and a fourth was in a state of danger, danger, and 4 described their injuries as between medium and minor, while Channel 13 reported that the number had risen to 9.

And the talk is about shooting at a bus that was carrying a group of settlers, as well as shooting at a vehicle, and at passers-by in the vicinity of Ma'ale Hashlom Street.

The perpetrator of the operation was able to withdraw from the area, amidst a large pursuit by Israeli forces that stormed the Silwan neighborhood, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, from which it is believed that the perpetrator arrived and returned to after carrying out the operation.

KHARTOUM, (Xinhua) -- Labor strikes paralyzed vital sectors in Sudan , protesting the deterioration of salaries and the worsening economic conditions in the country.

Thousands of workers and students in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, were forced today (Sunday) to go and return from their places of work and study on foot after the owners of public transport buses entered an open-ended strike to protest the high license fees, traffic violations and taxes.

More than 75% of the population of the capital, Khartoum, depends on buses as the main means of transportation.

"Today we were surprised by the strike of the bus owners, which forced us to walk to the college," said Ramzi Saleh, a student at the College of Optics in Omdurman.

In a statement to Xinhua, he added that this is additional suffering in light of the economic deterioration and the suffering of various sectors of the Sudanese people.

Abdul Rahim Fadl, an owner of a public transport bus in Khartoum, defended the decision to strike.

He added, "There are significant increases in licensing fees, high traffic fines and taxes on the transport sector."

He continued, "These additional costs affect the transportation sector, and we cannot now provide them in light of the stability of the transfer value and our commitment to a lower value for students."

The transportation sector was joined by continuous strikes from various sectors, including education, university students, the tax sector and meteorology.

Sudanese economic analyst Kamal Awad warned of the effects of strikes on sectors, especially productivity.

"During the past year, more than 100 days were lost due to repeated strikes, which had negative effects on important service and production sectors," he said.

"The educational sector and academic achievement were also affected, and the Ministry of Education was forced to change the academic calendar several times," he continued.

Several Sudanese universities witness strikes from time to time due to the high tuition fees in public and private universities.

And 20 educational unions issued a statement today criticizing the increase in tuition fees in universities by nearly 800%.

"In light of the current economic conditions, the increase in university fees constitutes an additional burden on Sudanese families, who cannot afford the increase, which is nearly 800 percent compared to the previous academic year," the statement said.

The Sudanese teachers' strike has been going on for about a week, forcing the government to suspend classes until January 29.

An uncertain state prevails in the economic situation in Sudan, while efforts to pass the 2023 budget falter.

Sudan is suffering from an economic crisis due to the depreciation of the national currency, the increase in inflation rates and the high prices of consumer goods, while the official authorities are trying to address the revenue deficit by imposing fees and taxes.

The former transitional government headed by Abdalla Hamdok, which was formed in 2019, had begun to implement an economic reform plan, with the supervision of the World Bank, to obtain forgiveness for Sudan's foreign debt, which amounts to about $60 billion.

However, that plan was stalled after the measures taken by the Sudanese army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, on October 25, to dissolve the government and impose a state of emergency.

The United States of America and international agencies suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in aid that were scheduled for Sudan, and stipulated the restoration of civilian rule.

Sudan's debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (IMF) initiative has stalled.

Washington hastened to freeze $700 million in emergency aid, while the process of disbursing $500 million in direct budget support, which was expected in late November from development agencies, stopped.

Nor was another $150m of the International Monetary Fund's so-called special drawing rights, which are used to boost official reserves.

Since the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Sudan has been facing a stifling economic crisis after losing two-thirds of its oil production.

Moscow - (AFP) - A member of a municipal council in Russia announced that he had filed a lawsuit against President Vladimir Putin , accusing him of publishing "false information" about the army because of the master of the Kremlin's use of the word "war" when he was talking about the military operation launched by his forces in Ukraine . .

On Thursday, the Russian president used the word "war" during a press conference, stressing that he wanted the conflict in Ukraine to end "as soon as possible."

Russia's military intervention in Ukraine began on February 24, but its official name in Russia is a "special military operation."

And the Russian authorities issued a law providing for severe prison sentences against anyone who publishes “false” information about the Russian army.

To date, many have been convicted of spreading false information about the army, especially because they described the conflict in Ukraine as a "war".

According to the complaint filed by a member of the Municipal Council in St. Petersburg, Nikita Yuverev, before the Russian Prosecutor General, Igor Krasnov, and published its text on his Twitter account on Thursday evening, that "the Russian Federation has not waged any war."

He continued, "In line with a decision of the President of the Russian Federation issued on February 24, 2022, what is happening is a special operation," calling for an investigation into Putin's statements and prosecution for "disseminating false information about the Russian army."

The chances of the investigation reaching results are very slim, noting that the text of the municipal council member contains several inaccuracies, such as the date of Putin’s speech and the president’s name, which was once mentioned in the feminine form.

However, the initiative remains very rare in a country where the crackdown has accelerated since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Several court cases have been opened against opposition politicians and individuals who have criticized this Russian interference.

In early December, dissident Ilya Yashin was sentenced in Moscow to eight and a half years in prison for denouncing the Russian attack in Ukraine on YouTube.

Jerusalem - Pal Sport Agency / The curtain fell yesterday evening, Friday, on the final match of the Cup Championship for handball clubs, "the championship of the late Sherine Abu Aqelah" for the 2022 season.

In that meeting, which brought together the brothers, Azzun Club and Yasid Club, and the meeting ended with the victory of the Yasid Club team. The meeting was held under the auspices of the President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - Today, Sunday, settlers attacked citizens' vehicles near the northern entrance of Al-Bireh .

Local sources said that the settlers of "Beit El", protected by the occupation army, threw stones at the citizens' vehicles, which broke the windows of a number of them.

Settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles at the Ain al-Hilweh junction in the northern Jordan Valley.

And local sources reported that settlers gathered at the Ein Al-Hilweh junction, and attacked Palestinian vehicles passing from the street, and placed stones in the middle of the street.

This highway links different areas of the Palestinian Jordan Valley to each other, and citizens depend on it for their daily movements.

It is noteworthy that the area has been witnessing repeated attacks by settlers against Palestinians and their property for several days in the northern Jordan Valley.

(AFP) Leaders Arsenal face a difficult test when they visit their neighbor Chelsea on Sunday in the fifteenth round of the English Football League , while Liverpool needs to beat their hosts Tottenham to enter again the circle of struggle for the first four places that qualify for the Champions League.
And with only two matches remaining in the league before the players are freed to participate in the World Cup finals in Qatar, which begins on the 20th of this year, Arsenal lead, the surprise of the season, by two points from defending champions Manchester City.
It is expected that Manchester City will take the lead on Saturday when it hosts Fulham at the Etihad Stadium, to increase the pressure on Arsenal in its match at Stamford Bridge the next day.
Chelsea, who is 10 points away from the top, has been suffering locally recently after failing to win in its last three matches and falling 1-4 against Brighton last week, and therefore cannot suffer a new loss that may complicate its affairs in the competition, at least for fourth place.
And the new Chelsea coach, Graham Potter, who took over the task in place of the German Thomas Tuchel, said from his position at the beginning of the season, on Wednesday, after defeating Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia 2-1, in the last round of the group stage of the Champions League competition: “We have just faced a month (October / October). full of challenges."
He added, "We were in a position where we had to achieve results. We lost key players such as (French) Wesley Fofana and Reece James, which had some effect on the stability of the level."
"It is not always easy to find the right solutions, but we suffered one defeat in 11 games," he added.
And left-back Ben Chilwell was added to the list of injured in Chelsea, after suffering a rupture in the posterior muscle, which also raises doubts about his participation in the ranks of his country in the World Cup in Qatar.
On the other hand, Arsenal breathed a sigh of relief after it became clear that the injury of its international star Bukayo Saka in the ankle against Nottingham Forest last week (5-0) was not serious, in light of the player’s brilliance since the beginning of the current season.

Tottenham receives Liverpool in a strong confrontation in north London.
Tottenham enters the match, ecstatic by leading its group in the Champions League, after my struggle beat Marseille, France, in the final seconds 2-1, and reached the final price, but the only black point was the injury of its brilliant South Korean striker, Heung-min Son, with a fracture around his left eye, as a result of which he will undergo surgery Friday, amid Doubts about his participation in the World Cup.
Son was crowned the league's top scorer last season, with 23 goals, on par with Egyptian Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.
The injured Swedish winger Diane Kulusevski and Brazilian striker Richarlison continue to be absent, which places a heavy burden on Harry Kane to continue his effectiveness in the front line.
On the other hand, Liverpool's hopes of winning the title declined after two consecutive sudden losses against Nottingham Forest and Leeds, with German coach Jurgen Klopp admitting that time was already running out even just to reach the top four.
Liverpool are eight points off the Champions League qualifying places and are ninth with a match in hand against Chelsea.
But Liverpool's victory over Italian Napoli (2-0) in the last round of the Champions League in the middle of this week, and its first defeat in various competitions this season, gives hope to Liverpool to restore its balance, especially since its Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunes has begun to prove his feet since he moved to him from Benfica in a huge deal.
"The key to winning was the defensive organization," Klopp said, after his team ended the Italian team's long unbeaten run. "Suddenly we started making the right decisions on the field, and suddenly we became a difficult team to face."
And Spanish coach Unai Emery inaugurates his reign with Aston Villa with a strong confrontation at home against Manchester United, who did not lose in the last 9 matches and kept clean sheets in 6 of his last seven matches.
United, fifth, is one point away from fourth place, knowing that it has a postponed match.
And Emery, who went through the English Premier League experience with Arsenal, stood in the way of Manchester United winning the European League title (Europa League) in 2021 when he led his former team, Villarreal, to a penalty shootout victory over it.
It is noteworthy that the two teams will also meet next Thursday in the League Cup at Old Trafford.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced today, Thursday, the start of submitting applications for students who benefited from the President's scholarship for outstanding students in the general secondary exam for the year 2022.

The scholarship includes the top ten students in Palestine in the scientific and literary branches, the top three students in the industrial and commercial branches, and the first in each of the other professional branches, within the first category, while the second category includes within the scholarship; The first in each directorate in the scientific and literary branches.

The Ministry invited all students whose names were announced on its website www.mohe.pna.ps to view the grant instructions, with the need to commit to submitting the required documents no later than 10/27/2022.

At Al-Hussein bin Ali Stadium in the city of Hebron, Al-Sawahra youth took the lead, following its great victory over its host Beit Al-Mur with three clean goals, and the meeting came for the ninth round of the first division league “Partial Professionalism”. Al-Obaidiya, while Beit Ummar’s balance was frozen at 16 points, in third place.

Al-Sawahra owes this victory to the player Ahmed Hammad, who opened the scoring in the tenth promotion, so that his colleague Zuhair Shaaban returned and added the second goal 23, and Omar Shabana widened the difference by scoring the third goal.

Ahli Qalqilya - Shabab Al-Carmel

And at the Martyr Jamal Ghanem Stadium in the city of Tulkarm, the Al-Ahly Qalqilya team healed the wounds of its guest, Shabab Al-Carmel, after defeating it 4/2, so that Al-Ahly raised its score by 8 points in the ninth place, while Al-Carmel continued to bottom of the standings with one point.

Al-Ahly waited for 30 minutes to open the scoring through Saher Jaber, and after one minute, Nidal Atout added the second goal,

In the second half, Ahmed Taha widened the difference by scoring the third goal 57, and Al-Karmel narrowed the difference in the 62nd minute through Muhammad Hrebat. Al-Ahly Mohamed Shawahneh meeting with the fourth goal.

Beirut - "Quds" dot com - Ismail Haniyeh , head of the political bureau of the "Hamas" movement, and Ziyad al-Nakhala , Secretary General of the "Islamic Jihad" movement, received two phone calls from Ali Velayati, advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Iranian Revolution for international affairs.

According to a statement by Haniyeh's office, during the contact between him and Velayati, many political and field developments related to the Palestinian issue took place, including the "Aqaba" summit, which the Iranian official considered as evidence of the occupation's dilemma from which it is trying to get out with such meetings that will not affect the Palestinian people. And his resistance. As he was quoted.

For his part, Haniyeh said: "We are facing a new phase of confrontation with the Zionist occupation, and resistance today is a spirit that prevails among the Palestinian youth, who form the advanced trench of the nation in defending Jerusalem and the sanctities in Palestine," indicating that his movement is following the summit and is aware that the escalating intifada is in The West Bank constituted a crisis and a dilemma for the occupation, unable to confront it.

Haniyeh considered the deployment of the resistance brigades in the West Bank to make the US administration rush to put pressure on the parties in order to save the occupation from its predicament, pointing out that the general Palestinian position is the rejection of this meeting and this summit, and stressed that the authority does not express the will and conscience of the Palestinian people through this participation, and said "The resistance will not be affected by the results of this summit and will continue to work, move and stand firm, and we are well aware that the enemy is facing a strategic dilemma from which such meetings will not save them."

In a related context, the head of the "Hamas" movement stressed the strengthening of the relationship with the nation with all its forces, especially the axis of resistance, praising the support provided by the Islamic Republic to the Palestinian cause and the resistance in Palestine.

For his part, he assured Nakhalah, in a separate call, of the Palestinian people's determination to continue resisting the occupation.

Al-Nakhala said: "The courage of the fighters in the field and the Palestinian people rallying around them is the biggest proof that our people will not be broken, will not back down, and will continue to resist until the liberation of Jerusalem and Palestine," stressing the resistance's position that rejects what is happening in the Aqaba Conference.

Jenin – “Jerusalem” dot com – The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Jenin governorate reported that the so-called “Salem” and “Al-Jalama” courts extended the detention of prisoners from the governorate for various periods.

The authority stated that the arrested prisoners are:

Faraj Omar Shehab (5 days), Muhammad Mazen Jabareen (6 days), Raja Ayed Waked (8 days), Ahmed Maher Freihat (8 days), Issam Khaled Alawneh (8 days), Uday Freihat (8 days), Wissam Abu Zaid (6 days), and Youssef Atatreh (8 days), who was shot in the foot and was lying in Afula Hospital as he was infected with the Corona virus, and Ghassan Atrash (72 hours) to transfer him to administrative detention.

The occupation authorities released the two prisoners, Muhammad Ali Jamahna and Muhammad Yusef Taher.

Qalqilya - "Jerusalem" dot com - Mustafa Sabri - Occupation soldiers deployed, at noon on Sunday, in the vicinity of the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, claiming to throw stones at settler vehicles passing through the area.

Eyewitnesses said that the occupation soldiers deployed in agricultural lands and carried out searches after throwing stones at settler vehicles, as they claim.

In addition, the occupation soldiers opened fire on workers and citizens south of Qalqilya in the area of the apartheid wall known as the Abu Al-Adass area, and opened fire on citizens and workers to prevent them from entering agricultural lands, and the sounds of bullets were heard in the place, and the occupation forces were intensively present.

The occupation forces had closed the openings of the wall and set up tents for the soldiers near them to prevent entry to the lands, as well as denying workers access to their places of work.

Tokyo - (AFP) - The famous "Call of Duty" game will become available on "Nintendo" devices in the event of a Microsoft acquisition of the company that publishes the game, an official in the American company announced Wednesday.

Microsoft, which produces Xbox video game consoles, announced in January its acquisition of the American company Activision Blizzard for a record amount of $ 69 billion, but this project is still under the watch of the authorities in charge of regulating competition in the United States. United and Europe.

Regulators fear that the acquisition could allow Microsoft to stop making Activision Blizzard games, including "Word of Warcraft" and "Candy Crush," available on competitors' platforms.

"Microsoft wants to provide more games to a larger segment of people, whatever way they choose to play," said Phil Spencer, head of the games department at the American giant, in a tweet on Twitter.

He added, "Microsoft is committed to providing + Call of Duty + to + Nintendo + for ten years after its acquisition of + Activision Blizzard King +," noting that copies of the new "Call of Duty" will also remain available through the "Steam" platform for video games on Computers.

Serkan Tutu of Mantan Games, an analytics company in Tokyo, said in an interview with Agence France-Presse that this announcement "is clearly a publicity stunt due to its timing."

The Federal Trade Commission should consider Thursday the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, according to several outlets. As for the European Commission, it launched an investigation in early November dealing with this deal, while the competition authorities in the United Kingdom announced in September that they had initiated a comprehensive investigation.

Toto pointed out that the video game player "Switch" from "Nintendo", which has sold more than 110 million copies since its launch in the market in March 2017, "is not new," adding, "If + Activision + really wants to allow + Call of Duty+ on a Nintendo platform would have done that three or four years ago."

And Phil Spencer said in an interview with “Bloomberg” on Wednesday that a similar agreement to the one that was concluded with “Nintendo” was proposed to “Sony”, the maker of the “PlayStation” device, which strongly opposed the Microsoft- Activision deal from the beginning. According to Spencer, the Japanese group would have refused the offer.

Geneva - (AFP) - A senior official in the World Health Organization announced Friday that the time has come for a realistic review of the Covid epidemic, after recording one million deaths from the disease this year.

Maria van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's COVID-19 technical team, said the toll was "heartbreaking" because tests, treatments, vaccines and public health measures are all in place to control the virus.

"Since we are in the third year of the outbreak of the epidemic (...) it is even more tragic that we have the tools that can actually prevent these deaths," she added, in a direct dialogue via the social media channels of the World Health Organization.

"Many of us have become numb to numbers," she noted.

"We need a realistic review. We really need to assess where we are now. We shouldn't be in a situation where 14,000 to 15,000 people die every week."

Maria Van Kerkhove stressed that the epidemic is not over yet, but that it can be brought to an end while people continue to live their daily lives.

"We just need to do some extra thinking on that, to be a little bit more careful," she said, adding, "A lot of people talk about living with Covid, but we have to live with it responsibly."

And she warned, "One million deaths this year is not coexistence with Covid, and that we have 15,000 deaths per week is not coexistence with Covid responsibly."

According to the latest statistics of the Health Organization, Covid-19 has claimed 6.45 million lives worldwide since the first infections appeared at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China.

Last week, more than 5.3 million new infections were reported to the United Nations agency.

"These are huge numbers, and this is an underestimate," Maria Van Kerkhove said, given that home tests are not included in the data.

"We see this virus spreading intensively around the world," she added, expressing her regret that this virus does not leave us.

(AFP) - Brentford achieved a heavy-caliber surprise by returning victorious from defending champion Manchester City 2-1 at the opening of the sixteenth stage of the England Football Championship , so Arsenal took advantage of the gift by defeating Wolverhampton 2-0 and moving away 5 points in the lead. .
Arsenal owes its victory to the Norwegian international midfielder Martin Odegaard, who scored both goals in the 55th minute when he received a cross from close range by Portuguese substitute Fabio Vieira, who followed it into the empty goal and 87 rebounds from Portuguese goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Arsenal, who lost the efforts of its Swiss international midfielder Granit Xhaka due to his injury in the 16th minute, when Vieira entered his place, raised its tally to 37 points, compared to 34 for City in the last stage before stopping due to the World Cup in Qatar.
Arsenal took advantage of City's fall at the hands of Brentford, who achieved its second major result this season after inflicting a severe loss at home to Manchester United 4-0 in the second stage.
The star of the meeting was Brentford's top scorer Evan Toney, who was not chosen by England coach Gareth Southgate in the official squad to participate in the World Cup in Qatar, despite his remarkable brilliance this season, by scoring the two goals of the match.
City entered the meeting with a perfect record at home this season, domestically, after winning its seven matches since the beginning of the current season, but Brentford put an end to this series. It was also his first fall at home since last February.
The loss is the second for City in the league this season and the first since its fall to Liverpool 0-1 on October 16 in the 11th stage, after which it achieved victory over Brighton 3-1, Leicester City 1-0 and Fulham 2-1 in the league, as it knocked Chelsea out of The third round of the League Cup competition by defeating it 2-0 on Wednesday.
Manchester City's Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland, returned to the starting line-up after his absence from the last match against Chelsea in the League Cup (2-0) in the middle of the week, and Phil Foden and Portugal's Bernardo Silva helped him on the sides.
The meeting was the third between the two teams, and Brentford achieved its first victory after two losses.
Brentford started the match strongly and was a stubborn match for the hosts and succeeded in opening the scoring by its top scorer Tony, who invested a cross ball that he followed with his head into the net, despite the intervention of Spanish international defender Aymeric Laporte.
City found it difficult to penetrate Brentford's organized defense and only hit the goal in the 39th minute by Foden, but Spanish goalkeeper David Raya parried his effort brilliantly.
However, Raya stood helpless when Foden fired a powerful ball with his left "on the fly" that hit his net (45 + 1).
Manchester City pressed at the beginning of the second half, but did not succeed in threatening Brentford's goal, which was just around the corner from advancing again had it not been for Laporte's intervention at the right moment to deflect a cross that almost reached Tony lurking in front of the goal (65).
City threw his weight at the end of the match, and his Spanish coach, Pep Guardiola, involved his young Argentine striker, Julian Alvarez, in an attempt to settle the score, but Brentford took advantage of a quick counterattack, during which Josh Dasilva passed a perfect cross, which Tony followed from close range into the net ((90 + 8) amid shock inside the Etihad Stadium .
Tony raised his tally to 9 goals in the league this season.
"The better team won," Guardiola said. "Usually, we manage to press and recover the ball, but the opponent knew how to make long passes forward that we couldn't intercept. We also faced some good defenders."
For his part, Brentford's Danish coach Thomas Frank praised his players and said, "Amazing performance. Speaking to some people from the club, this is probably the biggest result ever, against one of the richest clubs in the world, and we have one of the lowest budgets in the league."
And Newcastle continued its impressive results in recent times and achieved its fifth successive victory when it deepened the wounds of its guest, Chelsea, by defeating it with a single goal scored by Joe Willock with a wonderful shot from the edge of the area (67).
And Newcastle strengthened its position in third place with 30 points, while Chelsea, who failed to win in its last five matches in the league, suffered a third loss in a row and fourth in various competitions after leaving empty-handed from the League Cup competition by falling to Manchester City 0-2 Wednesday in the third round.
And Tottenham regained its balance, making up for its fall at home to Liverpool in the last stage, when it snatched a difficult victory from its guest Leeds United 4-3 in an exciting match during which it fell behind three times.
The London team found itself lagging early, specifically in the tenth minute, through Dutchman Chrisencio Summerville, and international Harry Kane equalized after 15 minutes (25), but Spaniard Rodrigo re-advanced the guests two minutes before the end of the first half.
Defender Ben Davis succeeded in equalizing at the beginning of the second half (51), and Rodrigo scored his second and third personal goal for Leeds United in the 76th minute), before Uruguayan international Rodrigo Bentancur turned the tables on the guests and scored a double in two minutes (81 and 83), giving victory to coach Antonio's men. Conte.
Tottenham strengthened its position in fourth place with 29 points.
Liverpool continued its revival with its second successive victory and sixth this season when it beat its guest Southampton 3-1.
Liverpool first scored through its Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino, specifically in the sixth minute, with a backhand kick, following a side free kick that Scottish full-back Andrew Robertson set out for, but his joy only lasted three minutes, as the guests equalized through the other Scot, Che Adams, with a header from close range. Side free kick (9).
Uruguayan international striker Darwin Nunes imposed himself as a star of the match by scoring a double for Liverpool, as he gave him the lead again when he took advantage of a cross from Harvey Elliott, followed by his left “on the fly” from close range to the left of the goalkeeper (21), then dealt the fatal blow to the guests by scoring his second and third personal goal for his team. When he took advantage of a cross pass to Robertson inside the area, he followed it with his right to the right of the goalkeeper (42).
It is Nunes' fifth goal in the league this season.
Liverpool rose to sixth place temporarily, with 22 points, with a match postponed, by one point, against Brighton, which hosts Aston Villa on Sunday, and Chelsea.
Nottingham Forest finished last by defeating Crystal Palace with a single goal scored by Morgan Gibbs-White (54).
Palace Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Zaha missed a penalty kick in the 41st minute.
Bournemouth honored its guest, Everton, with a clean triple, which was scored by Marcus Tavernier (18), Welshman Kiefer Moore (25) and Jaydon Anthony (69).
West Ham United suffered its third loss in a row when it fell to Leicester City with two clean goals scored by James Madison (8) and Harvey Barnes (78).
Belgian Youri Tielemans missed a penalty kick for Leicester in the 42nd minute.

Rome, (AFP) - The center-left Italian Democratic Party announced Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the left and the Greens over legislative elections to be held in September, and the right-wing bloc allied with the nationalist right appears to be the most likely to win.

This agreement with the "Green Europe" and "Italian Left" parties was "necessary", according to the Secretary General of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta.

Letta was speaking at a joint press conference with the leader of the "Italian Left" Nicola Fratoianni and co-speaker of the "Green Europe" party Angelo Bonelli.

Mr. Fratoianni emphasized that "differences should not be an obstacle to rapprochement," stressing that "a new phase begins" in order to "prevent the extreme right" from coming to power.

The Democratic Party was able to obtain the support of the small centrist group "Labor" led by Carlo Calenda, with the aim of confronting the conservative bloc consisting of the "Forward Italy " parties led by Silvio Berlusconi, the "League" led by Matteo Salvini and the "Brothers of Italy" led by Giorgia Meloni. .

The left has been under pressure since the collapse of Prime Minister Mario Draghi's National Unity coalition last month. Draghi launched the election campaign, which was quickly dominated by the right.

The legislative elections will be held on the twenty-fifth of September, while Italy, which is heavily indebted, is witnessing high inflation and concerns about energy supplies due to the war in Ukraine.

Brussels - (AFP) - European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders announced Saturday that some 17 billion euros of assets of Russian oligarchs and entities in the European Union have been frozen in seven member states, following sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the war in Ukraine.

"So far, the assets of 90 people have been frozen, amounting to more than 17 billion euros in seven member states, including 2.2 billion in Germany," he said in an interview with media affiliated with the German "Fonke" group.

At the beginning of July, Reynders estimated the value of frozen assets in the European Union at €13.8 billion, mainly in five countries, owned by oligarchs or members of the Russian elite sanctioned by the 27 countries.

"If it is criminal funds confiscated by the European Union, it can be transferred to the compensation fund of Ukraine," the commissioner also said in the interview published on Saturday.

Ukrainian officials demand that the frozen assets be used to rebuild their country after the war. But Reynders warned that "the amount is completely insufficient to fund reconstruction".

Western sanctions have also led to the "freezing of 300 billion euros" of foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Central Bank in the world, an amount that can be used as "collateral", according to the Commissioner's estimate.

"Ukraine also wants to use this money for reconstruction," said Didier Reynders.

"From my point of view, it is possible to at least keep the 300 billion euros as collateral so that Russia will automatically participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine," he added.

In total, since the invasion of Crimea in 2014, the assets of 1,236 people have been frozen, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, members of the State Duma and oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Friedman or Peter Aven, and 115 entities, and they have also been banned from entering the European Union.

Gaza - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Gaza Traffic Department announced, on Sunday, that it had recorded two deaths and 48 injuries during 69 traffic accidents last week (from 1 to 7 October).

According to the statistics, of the injuries, 2 are in serious condition, 20 are in moderate condition, and 26 are in minor condition.

63 vehicles, including 5 motorcycles, sustained material damage, according to the statistics.

PARIS - (Xinhua) A leak has been discovered in the primary circuit of reactor No. 1 of France's Seifou nuclear power plant, the French electricity company has confirmed.

The leak could delay the restart of the reactor, which is supposed to take place on January 8 in order to help France deal with the energy crisis this winter.

According to the French electricity company, hydraulic testing on the reactor that began on November 2 when the leak was discovered was halted.

The company stated that "the pressure reduction in the primary circuit is not related to a breach in the piping or welding. Rather, it comes from the failure of a specific part used to perform the hydraulic test."

However, no radioactivity has been measured outside the facilities, the company confirmed.

Jerusalem - "Jerusalem" dot com - Hundreds of settlers stormed, on Tuesday morning, the Al-Aqsa Mosque , in the form of successive groups, amid calls to intensify the incursions during the coming hours and days on the occasion of the so-called "Jewish Throne Day".

According to the Islamic Waqf, more than 1,030 settlers and 30 members of the occupation intelligence service participated in the raids.

Previously, large forces of the occupation police stormed the courtyards of the mosque to secure the settlers' incursions.

Dozens of stationed men and women gathered inside Al-Aqsa, where they shouted takbeers, amid attempts to confuse the settlers’ incursions.

The occupation forces deployed heavily inside the Old City since the early hours of dawn, in preparation for securing the settlers' incursions, and assaulted the citizens who tried to reach Al-Aqsa.

In recent days, various factions, forces, and activists have issued calls to gather in Al-Aqsa and Rabat within it, coinciding with calls for settlers to participate strongly in the incursions.

(AFP) - The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) announced on Tuesday that it will distribute 209 million US dollars to clubs that will release their players in order to participate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

And the international body said in a statement that each club will benefit from “about 10 thousand US dollars for every day that one of its players stays with its national team in the 2022 World Cup, including the days of official preparations, and every club for which the participating player played in the last two previous years will benefit.” for the 2022 World Cup, which will be held from November 20 to December 18.

This initiative has already seen 416 clubs from 63 member associations benefit from the same amount after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, according to FIFA.

The International Federation established this system before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after an agreement with the European Clubs Association, whose teams include most of the players participating in international competitions.

Salfit - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Israeli occupation authorities released, on Sunday evening, the prisoner Muhammad Abdel Halim Shuaib (40 years) from the city of Qalqilya.

The occupation released prisoner Shuaib from Megiddo prison, after the end of his 20-year sentence.

Saarbrücken - (dpa) - German authorities found a gunman who shot and wounded a police officer in the German city of Saarbrücken dead at his home today, Friday.

The body of the 67-year-old was found during a police raid after he barricaded himself in his home for hours.

And the police wrote on “Twitter”: “There is no longer any danger.”

The policeman who was injured earlier in the day was trying to carry out a search warrant when the man opened fire from his window.

A city administration official was injured by flying glass.

Translation by "Jerusalem" dot com - The Israeli army announced, on Monday evening, that the Jordanian authorities had returned an infiltrated Israeli to its territory.

According to an Israeli military spokesman, the Israeli crossed the border into Jordan, was arrested and interrogated there, and then returned.

Tokyo - (AFP) - The Tokyo Municipal Council has approved a controversial plan to rehabilitate a neighborhood in the city center, as it includes the demolition of historic sports facilities and the uprooting of trees donated by citizens more than a century ago in honor of Emperor Meiji.

The project calls for the demolition of the Meiji Jingu baseball stadium, the oldest in Tokyo for this sport that is widely popular in Japan, in addition to other nearby sports sites, including the Shichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, and replacing them with new facilities.

The plan does not include a neighborhood on Jingu Gaen Street lined with ginkgo trees, prized by Tokyoites for their gorgeous golden-yellow leaves in fall.

But conservationists argue that the project's planned construction, including skyscrapers, could kill ginkgo trees by damaging their roots.

They pointed out that the project requires cutting down about 900 other trees, some of which were donated by citizens and planted more than a century ago, when this green oasis was established in honor of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), who oversaw the rapid modernization of Japan.

Several popular petitions were prepared against the neighborhood rehabilitation project, one of which had more than 110,000 signatures.

But the governor of Japan's capital, Yuriko Koike, confirmed this week that the Jingu Gaen rehabilitation project will in fact increase the number of trees and green areas, preserving its historic spirit while looking to the future.