Colombo (dpa) - Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yaba Abeywardena announced on Wednesday the appointment of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president.

In a televised statement, Abeywardena said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country earlier in the day, had delegated to Wickremesinghe the power to act on his behalf.

Rajapaksa fled the country by flying to the Maldives, after weeks of protests and after protesters stormed his office last Saturday.

حقق نادي شباب الخليل، بطل دوري المحترفين بالضفة الغربية، الصفقة الأهم والأبرز في دوري المحترفين هذا الموسم، وذلك بالتعاقد مع الجناح الدولي تامر صيام.

وأقنعت إدارة شباب الخليل، الدولي صيام، بإغلاق ملف الاحتراف الخارجي، والاستمرار مع الفريق للموسم المقبل.

وبعد الاتفاق الكامل مع إدارة النادي، وقع اللاعب على عقود الانتقال إلى صفوفه.

وتعتبر صفقة انضمام صيام للشباب الحدث الأبرز والصفقة الجماهيرية الأقوى، والتي تجاوزت بصداها صفقة انضمام النجمين الدوليين عبد اللطيف البهداري ومحمود أبو وردة.

وتراهن إدارة الشباب كثيرا على قدرات وإمكانيات صيام العالية التي كانت سببا مباشرا في الموسم الماضي، في تحقيق انتصارات مثيرة في أوقات قاتلة، ليساهم مع زملائه في احتفاظ فريقه بلقب الدوري للموسم الثاني تواليا، والمرة الثالثة في تاريخه بعد ان كان ساهم في التتويج الأول عام 2016.

AMMAN - (Xinhua) The work of the Arab Entrepreneurship Summit began on Sunday in the Jordanian capital, under the slogan "Opportunities Crossing Borders".

Arab ministers in the business sector and project development and ambassadors of some participating countries will participate in the first summit of its kind, organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in cooperation with the Jordanian Corporation for the Development of Economic Projects.

Also, 600 participants and 50 speakers will participate in the business and project development sectors.

The summit aims to bring together various official and private entities in the Arab countries in a meeting to help Arab small and medium enterprises to access regional and international markets, deal with various financing sources, benefit from regional and international networks, and increase their ability to expand, according to a statement issued by the organizers.

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh, who opened the summit, welcomed the holding of this important summit that brings together decision-makers and entrepreneurs in the Arab world, stressing the government's interest in supporting small and medium enterprises and putting them on the path of growth and prosperity.

In turn, the Jordanian Minister of Industry and Trade, Youssef Al-Shamali, stressed the importance of the summit to discuss the most effective ways to enable small and medium enterprises in the Arab countries to access regional and global markets, and to take advantage of the opportunities provided by international networks and build the institutional capacities of Arab entrepreneurs, to ensure that they are able to obtain Funding and technical support necessary to develop their businesses and enhance their contribution to national economies.

Al-Shamali also stressed the Kingdom's strategic direction for closer economic relations with our Arab surroundings, and taking practical steps with the aim of addressing the challenges facing this type of activities and reaching the desired economic integration with Arab countries.

He said that among the most prominent of these challenges is the difficulty of accessing financing, as the percentage of banking facilities provided to small and medium enterprises is limited to 9 percent of the total banking facilities, in addition to the absence of a legal and regulatory framework for small and medium enterprises.

For her part, Rola Dashti, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Rola Dashti, said, "In the midst of the challenges facing the region, we meet to be a bridge that brings together the energies searching for financing, training and technology opportunities, and between those who are able to find and grant these opportunities, and between those with ambitions and those who have Wealth to be achieved, and between the latent capabilities and those who have the potential to invest in them.

She added that the summit comes as a bridge between decision and policy makers looking to advance our societies, and the available means to achieve their aspirations.

The three-day summit will address several topics, including internationalization, market access and global value chains, access to finance, green entrepreneurship, emerging technology trends and practical applications.

It includes an exhibition in which about 100 small and medium-sized companies participate.

The summit will continue until next Tuesday evening, and seeks to strengthen partnerships and provide opportunities for small and medium enterprises to expand by encouraging entrepreneurs, providing targeted programs to build the capacities of government agencies, and involving Arab countries in developing improved frameworks for policies related to small and medium enterprises that will promote economic growth. comprehensive and sustainable.

New York - "Jerusalem" dot com - (dpa) - The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, this evening, Wednesday, to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Thursday.

He is scheduled to visit a yet-to-be-disclosed site outside the capital on Thursday.

As happened during Guterres' previous visit to Moscow this week, one of the main topics is likely to be the situation in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where the Russian army is besieging Ukrainian forces and civilians.

Guterres had visited Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, then traveled by train from Poland to Kiev.

BAGHDAD (Xinhua) - Salih Muhammad al-Iraqi, known as al-Sadr's minister, announced that next Saturday has been set as the date for the million-strong demonstration in the capital, Baghdad, which was called for by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr , the leader of the Sadrist movement earlier.

Al-Iraqi said in a tweet on "Twitter" today (Sunday), "After a lengthy discussion session with His Eminence Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr, in which he focused on the next demonstration to be peaceful and an unprecedented demonstration in terms of number, it was decided that the date for the demonstration will be next Saturday, provided that The gathering will be in Tahrir Square at five o'clock in the afternoon, then the march towards the celebrations square.

Tahrir Square is located in the center of Baghdad and leads to the Republic Bridge, which connects the square to the heavily fortified Green Zone, which includes government buildings, the Iraqi Parliament, and the embassies of a number of Arab and foreign countries, including the American embassy, as well as many important government departments and security departments, while the Grand Celebrations Square is located Within the green area and close to the parliament building.

Al-Sadr had called yesterday (Saturday) for a peaceful demonstration of millions in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad to support the protesters and support their demands, pointing out that the aim of this demonstration is to send a message that Iraq is with reform.

Al-Sadr said in a tweet transmitted by Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi, known as Minister al-Sadr, in a tweet on "Twitter" "This is my last call ... and I have absolved myself before my Lord, my father and my people, after the protest was divided into two camps ... It has become necessary for me to investigate which of the two camps is more numerous and wider." Sympathy for the Iraqi people, regardless of their affiliation.

And he added, "Yes, I count on you, and I hope that you will be brave and not let down.. It is (the end of the last chance), and that is through a (peaceful) ((million)) unified demonstration from all of Iraq's provinces, regions, villages, and neighborhoods, and even from all its alleys and homes, to go to the beloved capital, Baghdad." And to Tahrir Square, then to your brothers who are protesting to support reform for the love of Iraq, by marching two million majestic people carrying the flags of Iraq and flags of reform and flags of liberation, and with your loud voices that shake the thrones of the wretched..then return to your homes safe and sound.

He stressed, "Let us send a popular, million-strong message to the whole world that: Iraq is with reform.. and reform is with Iraq, and there is no place for corruption and the corrupt. All of you are shepherds and all of you are responsible for reform.. The decision is the people's decision, either reform, or corruption that does not go away, and dependency that takes root to erase all that remains of your goods and dignity." Come and ask for reform in your country.”

On July 30, thousands of al-Sadr's followers stormed the Iraqi parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone, for the second time, and settled there for several days, but al-Sadr ordered them to withdraw from inside and remain in its vicinity.

On August 3, Al-Sadr called for dissolving Parliament, holding early elections, and reforming the political process, calling on the Iraqi people to join the demonstrators, stressing that the protesters will not withdraw until their demands are met.

Parliamentary elections took place on October 10, and the Sadrist bloc won first place, whose leader Muqtada al-Sadr announced his intention to form a government of a national majority and an alliance with the Sunni sovereignty and the Kurdistan Democratic Party and formed the National Salvation Alliance, but failed to achieve a quorum of two-thirds of the members of parliament (220 members) to elect The President of the Republic, as a result of the opposition of the coordination framework of al-Sadr and his insistence on forming a consensual government in which everyone participates, has plunged the country into a political impasse.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Israeli occupation authorities seized 193 dunums of citizens' land in the Al-Auja area in the Jericho governorate.

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said, in a statement today, Saturday, that "the land that was seized belongs to the village of Al-Auja in Jericho Governorate, and the occupation authorities used the pretext of "appropriation for the public interest" to seize it.

The head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Moayad Shaaban, said, "The occupation authorities use expropriation decisions as one of the means to seize lands, specifically in Area C, in light of the occupation's control over planning in those areas and preventing Palestinians from their right to prepare master plans for villages and not to approve them if What I presented to them, which represents 61% of the total area of the West Bank.

He added, "The occupation authorities claim, through expropriation orders, that they are confiscating Palestinian lands for the benefit of a public project for the benefit of settlers, and they are preventing Palestinians, through a military order, from using them to build private buildings or establish private projects."

And Shaaban indicated that the occupation authorities, since 2014, have issued 29 orders to expropriate citizens’ lands under the pretext of the public interest or the interest of the public. Or to serve the settlers by facilitating their lives and movement.

القدس – وجه رئيس الاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم، الفريق جبريل الرجوب، الخميس، رسائل إلى رئيس الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم جياني إنفانتينو، ورئيس الاتحاد الأوروبي لكرة القدم، ألكسندر تشيفرين، ورئيس الاتحاد الآسيوي الشيخ سلمان بن إبراهيم، وذلك حول مكان إقامة المباراة الودّية المقررة بين نادي برشلونة الإسباني ونادي بيتار الإسرائيلي، يوم 4 آب القادم على ملعب تيدي المقام على أنقاض قرية المالحة الفلسطينية المهجرة.

وقال الرجوب في رسالته: “أتمنى أن تصلكم هذه الرسالة وأنتم في أفضل صحة. لا بد أنكم تابعتم الأخبار حول قرار نادي برشلونة الإسباني بلعب مباراة ودّية أمام نادي بيتار القدس، النادي الذي تم معاقبته أكثر من مرة بسبب العنصرية والعنف من قبل مجموعة من مشجعيه المتطرفين، والمعروفين باسم “لا فاميليا”، وسياسة هذا النادي المتمثلة في الحفاظ على نادي (نقي إلى الأبد) من العرب والمسلمين. وعلى الرغم أنه ليس من اختصاصنا، وليس من حقنا إخبار أي نادٍ بكيفية تنظيم مبارياته الودّية، إلا أنه لدينا الحق في الاعتراض على اختيار القدس كمكان لإقامة هذه المباراة المقترحة، فالقدس وفقاً للشرعية الدولية مدينة مقسمة ويُعتبر شطرها الشرقي أرضاً فلسطينية مُحتلة، وهو ما يُعطي للاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم سلطة قضائية على أية أنشطة كروية تقام في هذا الجزء”.

“وعليه، فإن الاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم يتقدم إليكم بشكوى حول اختيار مكان إقامة المباراة والفعاليات المرافقة لها، بما في ذلك النشاطات المجدولة في البلدة القديمة (المكان الذي لا يزال فيه الوضع غير مستقر بسبب الأعمال الحق الإسرائيلية الأخيرة)، والتي تُشكل انتهاكاً لحقوقنا، وهذا ما يخول للاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم بمطالبة الفيفا والاتحادين الأوروبي والآسيوي بضمان احترام حقوقنا”.

Written by: Dr. Asad Abdul Rahman

Once again, the Gaza Strip stands alone in the face of the Israeli military destruction machine, despite the passage of 16 years of what resembles “clinical death” economically, socially, structurally, and infrastructurally, while matters in the Strip are becoming more miserable day after day.

In fact, there is no reason for us to merely try to philosophize the issues and the positive reasons that led to the new battle. Quite simply, there is a continuous colonial occupation targeting the Palestinian people that began a century ago, and it did not stop except for short periods, during which the stopping was a cease-fire, in preparation for the next stages.

Indeed, the situation in the Strip is almost catastrophic, reaching the point of collapse in an area that has become devastated. Since the unilateral Israeli disengagement plan and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the wars against the Strip (2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021, and the latest in 2022) aim at not allowing the Palestinian resistance to accumulate its material and armament capabilities and to keep it in a state of permanent restoration.

According to Israeli observers, any attack on the Strip does not add anything qualitative to the Zionist state ("battles between two wars in the Israeli expression). At the end of each confrontation, the two sides, Israel and the resistance, return to the same point they were at. It is clear to these observers that the assassination of leaders and commanders in The Palestinian resistance factions are not able to change the resistance’s ability and plans.The questions inside the Israeli are talking about the price that Israel paid for the assassinations, and will it improve the security situation for the Israelis after the assassinations?The occupation army has previously made it clear that there is no military solution to the issue of Gaza, and even the “Shin Bet” He supported easing the blockade and still does.

The Gaza Strip has also become an Israeli electoral slogan, as everyone always pledges to succeed in the war against the Strip, while the situation of the Strip remains tragic and enveloped in a security threat to serve the Israeli political spectrum, with an emphasis on Israel's responsibility, according to international law, for the Gaza Strip, despite its withdrawal from it, because it has not It still controls its borders, waters and airspace, and flouts the laws of war that prevent harm to civilians. More importantly, the aggressive battles waged by Israel against the "Gaza Strip" undermine hypotheses that prevailed for more than two decades, most notably the efforts of several parties that spoke of a real Israeli desire to achieve a settlement! As for the current outcome of those efforts, it confirms that Israeli governments, regardless of who heads them, seek to liquidate the Palestinian peace camp and, of course, the resistance camp.

The Israeli understanding of dealing with the Gaza Strip fluctuates between progress through mediation, led by Egypt, in the truce negotiations, and a bloody Israeli escalation.

Therefore, it seems that the Israeli government today has adopted a two-fold scenario, recognizing the de facto authority in Gaza and dealing with it according to specific controls and caveats, coinciding with proceeding with a policy of gradual weakening of Hamas's influence and capabilities, ignoring the exit from the furnace of war against the "Strip". It will be through a political project that not only ends the blockade, but also establishes a “settlement” for the entire Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli conflict.

Accordingly, without a political horizon, the countdown to the next military confrontation has begun with the end of the confrontation that has just ended, in light of the reluctance to support the “sector” and its people on the part of the overwhelming majority of Arab, “Islamic” and even international governments!

Tubas - "Jerusalem" dot com - Today, Sunday, two young men were injured, and a number of others were arrested, during the Israeli occupation forces' incursion into the city of Tubas in the northern West Bank.

According to local sources, a special force infiltrated one of the city's neighborhoods, followed by the entry of military forces following the outbreak of armed clashes.

The sources pointed out that the occupation forces opened fire at the young men, wounding two of them with moderate injuries, while about 3 other young men were arrested.

Rabat (AFP) - Moroccan human rights activists announced Wednesday that they have joined a trial targeting the "NSO" company in the United States, based on a complaint by the American Internet giant " Meta ", as "victims" of the Pegasus spy application developed by the Israeli company.

Six Moroccan activists said in a statement that some of them had "already received official messages from the WhatsApp company owned by the Meta Group, alerting them that their mobile phones had been subjected to a criminal hack from the Pegasus application via WhatsApp."

The rest of the members of this group said that they "learned that they were victims of a similar hack through international organizations," and decided to form a coalition of "Moroccan victims of illegal hacking of their phones with the Pegasus app."

And accordingly, "joining collectively the case brought by Meta Corporation against NSO Corporation in the San Francisco Courts" of the United States.

The coalition includes human rights activists Fouad Abdel-Momani, Abdel-Latif Hamamouchi, Hisham Al-Mansouri, and journalist and university professor Omar Broksi.

It also includes Kholoud Mokhtari, the wife of imprisoned journalist Suleiman Raissouni, and Ali Reda Zayan, son of imprisoned lawyer Muhammad Zayan. Raissouni and Zian are imprisoned on criminal charges, which they consider "targeted because of their opinions."

They relied on the US Supreme Court's decision on January 9, which authorized the "Meta" company to prosecute "NSO" company, after the latter requested to drop the prosecution dating back to October 2019 before a federal court in California.

"Pegasus was used to suppress human rights activists, political opponents, journalists and lawyers. These practices must stop immediately... It goes without saying that we must seize the opportunity of this trial in the United States to achieve justice," Fouad Abdel Momani told AFP.

Morocco is among the countries accused by an Amnesty International report in the summer of 2021 of using Pegasus software to hack the phones of Moroccan and foreign journalists, politicians, and human rights activists.

Rabat strongly denied the accusation and filed lawsuits against newspapers that reported it in France and Spain, confirming its lack of evidence.

For its part, the National Committee for Monitoring the Protection of Personal Data (official) announced last week a series of meetings with technical experts "about the unproven technical allegations" of the Amnesty International report.

Its president, Omar al-Sagroshny, commented Wednesday on Twitter, "We are waiting for the prosecutors to justify their accusations scientifically, avoiding media assassination attempts. Why do they want to avoid discussion?"

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Prisoner's Club said that the prisoner, Jamal Ibrahim Amr, is suffering from a deterioration in his health condition, as a result of a tumor in the liver and kidneys, the nature of which has not been determined, since 2018.

The club stated, in a statement, that prisoner Jamal Amr (48 years), from Hebron, recently conducted new tests, which proved that the tumor in the liver had increased in size, pointing out that prisoner Amr suffers from the crime of deliberate medical negligence (slow killing) by the prison administration. Occupation , in addition to having tumors, he suffers from other health problems, most notably in the teeth, where only six of his teeth remain.

And the club indicated that the prisoner Amr was arrested in 2004, and a life sentence was issued against him, and he was subjected, over the years of his detention, to systematic abuse, which led to the continued deterioration of his health condition.

It is reported that the prisoner, Amr, is married and has two daughters and a son.

(AFP) - The New York attorney general announced that the Bahamas authorities arrested, at the request of the US court, the former CEO of the "FTX" cryptocurrency platform, Sam Bankman-Fried, after the sudden collapse of his company.
"Earlier this evening, Samuel Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahamas authorities at the request of the US Government and pursuant to a sealed indictment issued by the Southern District of New York," Attorney General Damian Williams said in a tweet.
The Attorney General stated that new details regarding this case will be announced on Tuesday.
For a month, Bankman-Fred has not stopped participating in media interviews from the Bahamas, despite the risk of being prosecuted for financial fraud after his company, whose value at the beginning of the year was $ 32 billion, went bankrupt overnight.
In early December, Bankman-Fried said he refused his lawyer's advice to remain silent now, stressing that "it is my duty to explain what happened."
For his part, Ryan Bender, the Attorney General of the Bahamas, said in a statement posted on Twitter that the United States “filed a complaint” against the 30-year-old and “will likely request that we hand him over.”
Philip Davis, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Bahamas, an archipelago located northeast of Cuba, said that both the United States and his country "have an interest in bringing to justice individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law."
In a statement, he added that his country would conduct its own "criminal investigation into the FTX collapse case."
Recently, Bankman-Fried said he was "shocked" by the many details that were revealed when the cryptocurrency platform collapsed, stressing that the problems resulted from lax oversight and controls in the company and not from any fraudulent intent.
On November 11, FTX filed for bankruptcy while facing a major cash shortage and a flood of withdrawals from panicked customers.
At the time, FTX took about $10 billion in client funds without permission, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Much of the interest focused on the relationship between FTX and its trading subsidiary, Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried acknowledged that it was "embarrassing" that he had not paid sufficient attention to the conflicts of interest between the two companies, but insisted that he was not familiar with the details of Alameda and did not take over the company's management.
According to Coindesk, a cryptocurrency news site, Alameda's balance sheet relied heavily on a cryptocurrency created by FTX that is not tied to any asset of independent value, the FTT.
Just ten days before its bankruptcy, FTX was considered the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
According to US media, Bankman-Fred's fortune, which amounted to about $16 billion, evaporated within a few days.

Gaza- “Jerusalem” dot com – Ahmed Al-Masharawi – Khadamat Al-Bureij Club, the most prominent club in the Gaza Strip, achieved a big victory over its rival Khadamat Rafah, with a score of 94-64, at Abu Yusef Al-Najjar Hall, in the sixth round of the Premier League Basketball Championship, sponsored by Jawwal 2021. -2022.

The two teams exchanged attacks in an attempt to advance in the first quarter, and Rafah scored 11 points through Wael Tim 8 points, and 3 points for Ahmed Abdel Rahman, and from Al-Bureij Ahmed Mahdi 5 points, and Nashat Kaskin 6 points, and another 6 for Ibrahim Abu Rahal, to end with Al-Bureij 11-17. In the second quarter, the performance of the Rafah players improved by speeding up the performance, playing on quick counter-attacks, and pressing outside the area. Tim scored 11 points, including a hat-trick, and 4 points for Muhammad Al-Hams, and Al-Bureij Ramy Al-Jammal 5 points, so that Rafah advanced, with a score of 19-17.

In the third quarter, Al-Bureij returned, with Abu Rahal scoring 13 points, Thaer Issa 3 three-pointers, and Ibrahim Musleh 8 points, to end with a wide margin of 38-14. And in the last quarter, Al-Bureij excelled in the wake of Rafah, to end up winning 22-20.

Al-Bureij topped the standings with 14 points, while Rafah remained third with 10 points.

The match referee: Basil Kron, Tamer Qeshta, Musa Ghannam, Mohamed Salahat, scorer, Marawan Hamad, 24-second timekeeper, Ahmed Shehadeh.

In the second meeting, Al-Bureij youth defeated Gaza Al-Riyadi, with a score of 68-64. The first quarter was tied, and ended in a 17-17 draw.

In the second quarter, Al-Bureij advanced 16-12, and Mosleh managed to make the difference and win.

In the third quarter, Al-Riyadi appeared in a distinguished way through Moataz Al-Huwaihi and Fadl Al-Maghrabi, and advanced 19-18. In the last quarter, the balance of Al-Bureij prevailed, and Mosleh excelled in the scoring, to advance 17-16, and in total 68/64. Al-Shabab raised its tally to 10 points in fourth place, while Al-Riyadi remained with 8 points in sixth and final place.

Match referee: Basil Kroun, Ahmed Al-Qadi, Tamer Qishta, Jad Agha, scorer, Samir Al-Shatly, match timer, Moamen Al-Jarba, 24-second timekeeper.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Israeli occupation forces stormed, on Monday evening, the town of Kifl Haris, north of Salfit.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the town, fired stun grenades, and prevented citizens from moving around the town, in order to secure protection for the settlers who used to desecrate the Islamic shrines in it.

Lima (AFP) - Peru's government has announced a year-long plan to buy all illegal crops of the coca plant, the main ingredient for the cocaine industry, as part of its fight against drug production and trafficking.

The South American country is among the three largest cocaine producing countries in the world along with Colombia and Bolivia, according to United Nations figures.
Peru currently produces about 160,000 tons of coca per year, and 62,000 hectares of agricultural land is allocated to it.

But about 95 percent of these crops are grown illegally and sold to drug dealers, who produce about 400 tons of cocaine annually.

Under Peruvian law, farmers must sell all their coca production to the state coca company, Ainaco, but the national company collects only 2,500 tons annually.

The government has a registry of 95,000 legal coca growers, but is now seeking to create a new registry for the 400,000 illegal growers.

"It is necessary for at least a year to buy the coca crop from existing registered producers and from those for whom a new registry will be created," Peruvian Prime Minister Anibal Torres said Wednesday when announcing the initiative.

The government's plan also includes the demilitarization of Peru's main coca-growing valley, the Fraim.

Peruvian forces have been stationed in the south-central region of the country since 2006 due to the continued presence of the Shining Path armed Maoist movement allied with drug trafficking groups.
Government opponents have criticized the new plan, saying it will increase drug trafficking.
"The government's message is that they are legalizing coca cultivation, and they will buy illegal coca. The message is grow coca, and this is very dangerous because we are talking about a raw material used in the drug industry," former Interior Minister Rubén Vargas told AFP.
Inaco uses the coca you buy to make sweets, drinks, flour and chewing gum, a tradition in the Andes to help fight fatigue.
"By encouraging coca cultivation, farmers will have two markets: the state and drug traffickers," Vargas added.
"This will cause immeasurable damage, not only to the environment but also to the rule of law in the country," he added.
Peru established a registry of coca plant producers in 1978 as part of the country's policy to combat the drug industry and trafficking, which also included the destruction of illegal crops.
Earlier this month, Peruvian authorities carried out a weeks-long operation to burn about 16 tons of drugs seized this year.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Ministry of National Economy warned today, Thursday, against consuming vegan cheese contaminated by the Israeli company "Tnuva", due to the fact that it contains metal fragments during the manufacturing process of the product, which poses a threat to the health and safety of the consumer.

The Ministry of Economy stated, in a press statement, that its staff took precautionary measures regarding this product, foremost of which is informing the supplier to stop supplying it to the market, and to withdraw it from the shops of this product, which ends between 21-25/2/2023.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Economy withdrew, between the years 2019-2023, a number of contaminated Israeli products that pose a threat to the health and safety of citizens, some of which contain salmonella bacteria and listeria germs, and others that contain part of the body of a snake and were contaminated during the manufacturing process.

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

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

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

Beirut - (dpa) - The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, affirmed that his country is performing its duties towards Lebanon without discrimination between one sect and another.

According to the "National News Agency" today, Wednesday, Ambassador Bukhari held the signing ceremony of the framework memorandum of understanding (the Saudi-French Fund for the Support of the Lebanese People) yesterday evening, Tuesday, in Beirut, in the presence of the French Ambassador, Anne Griot, and a large number of political, diplomatic, economic, academic, social and media personalities.

In a speech after signing the framework memorandum of understanding, Ambassador Bukhari said, "This partnership aims to support humanitarian and relief work in Lebanon with the highest standard of transparency, as the funding aims to support key sectors, namely food security, health and education, energy and water, and internal security." ".

He added, "We perform our duties towards Lebanon without discrimination between one sect and another, as Saudi Arabia has devoted distinguished efforts full of giving and the human spirit that values the value of the human being."

He pointed out that "Saudi Arabia has implemented many humanitarian projects in Lebanon, and that this support comes as a continuation and continuity of support during the past decades, as the Kingdom, with its partners, was keen to support everything that alleviates the human suffering of those in need."

In her turn, Ambassador Grio called on the Lebanese authorities to "assume responsibility and take the required decisions for the benefit of the Lebanese people," noting that they celebrate the partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in order to provide direct and tangible assistance to the Lebanese people, in the financial, social, economic, living, health and food fields. And humanity.

She added, "This partnership between France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to quickly support humanitarian projects for the Lebanese people. This assistance will be clear and bear titles of solidarity and trust between France and the Kingdom, and expresses the depth of the ties between these two countries and Lebanon."

Washington - "Jerusalem" dot com - Saeed Erekat - Al-Monitor published a report on Wednesday under the title "Military Minds Gather in Israel, While the War in Ukraine Redefines Strategies". A magnet for foreign security officials from dozens of countries.

Al-Monitor says in this regard that a high-ranking Israeli military source said on condition of anonymity: "They appear in large numbers from countries in the West that have already eliminated the possibilities of war, as well as from countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations. There is an urgent sense of the need to raise the level of military capabilities as quickly as possible, especially in the field of self-defense."

The source added, "Take Germany for example... After the world wars and trauma, it reached a semi-peaceful stage. Now they are waking up."

Al-Monitor quotes the source as saying, "Many Western countries neglected their military power and made it a marginal role within their set of priorities. Suddenly they realized that the era of peace was an illusion."

As a global power invades its neighbour, deploys massive force, bombs cities and kills civilians in numbers not seen in Europe since the world wars, and the sun continues to shine. It changes the perception and strategy of every sane place on the planet."

The report notes that even as Israel is calculating the unexpected increase in its defense exports (which have already broken records this year), it - like other countries - is currently weighing the strategic implications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Kiev - (AFP) - On Friday, Russia continued its offensive in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, the day after Russian missiles were fired at the capital, Kiev, during a visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The bombing of Kiev, the first since mid-April, coincided with the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Thursday to Bucha and other suburbs of Kiev, which witnessed violations attributed by the Ukrainians to Russian forces, and from which he called on Moscow to "cooperate" with the International Criminal Court's investigation into possible war crimes. .

The mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, said, "The enemy bombed Kiev in the evening. Two strikes on the Shevchenkovsky district, on the lower floors of a residential building."
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "five missiles" fell on the city of Kiev. "This says a lot about Russia's actual position towards international institutions, about the efforts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the United Nations and everything that the organization stands for," Zelensky said in a video clip.

AFP correspondents saw fire consuming a floor in one of the capital's buildings and shattered windows, while large numbers of security and ambulance personnel were deployed in the place. According to the emergency services, ten people were wounded by the missile strike.

For his part, UN spokesman Saviano Abreu told AFP that Guterres and his team members were "shocked" by how close the bombing was to their whereabouts, stressing that they were all "fine."

He added, "It is a war zone, but the occurrence (of the bombing) near us is shocking," without specifying how close they were to the building that was targeted by the bombing.
In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denounced, in a tweet on Twitter, "a barbaric and disgraceful act," pointing out that the capital was targeted by long-range missiles, and the head of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, saw Russia denying its right to use the veto in the UN Security Council.

A few hours ago, the US President confirmed that his country could not stand idly by regarding the conflict in Ukraine, in order to justify his request from Congress to allocate an additional $33 billion to provide more military assistance to Kiev. However, he stressed that the United States "does not attack" Russia, but rather "helps Ukraine to defend itself" in light of Russia's "atrocities and aggression".

On Thursday, Guterres met with the Ukrainian President, expressing his regret over the failure of the UN Security Council to prevent the war launched by Russia on Ukraine on February 24.

On Thursday, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Irina Venediktova, confirmed Thursday in an interview with the German "Deutsche Welle" network that Ukrainian investigators had identified "more than eight thousand cases" of possible war crimes since the start of the Russian invasion two months ago.

Her office added that "ten soldiers of the 64th Brigade of the Russian army are under investigation" for alleged war crimes in Bucha.
On April 2, AFP journalists discovered a street strewn with the bodies of men in civilian clothes in Bucha. The United Nations confirmed that it documented "the killing of 50 civilians, including those killed by summary executions" after carrying out a mission in this city on April 9th. Russia denied responsibility for it in early April and spoke of "fabricated" scenes.

With regard to Mariupol, the United Nations coordinator in Ukraine announced Thursday that she will head to the south of the country to prepare for an attempt to evacuate the city, which is almost completely controlled by Russian forces.
Guterres stressed that the international organization is doing "whatever it can" to evacuate the civilians trapped in the city of Mariupol, which was destroyed by the battles with the Russian forces. "Mariupol is a crisis within a crisis. Thousands of civilians (in it) need vital help. Many of them are elderly, they need medical attention," he said.
On the ground, the Azov Battalion explained via Telegram that a military hospital located in the Azovstal industrial complex, where Ukrainian fighters are holed up, was bombed on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, noting that the operating room collapsed, killing the soldiers who were receiving treatment there and wounding others.
In turn, Lyudmila Denisova, in charge of human rights in the Ukrainian Parliament, wrote, "I call on international human rights organizations to respond to Russia's continued attempt to eliminate even the defenders of Mariupol who can no longer bear arms."
Coinciding with Guterres' visit to Kiev, the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, where Russian attacks are concentrated, were heavily bombed.
The Ukrainian General Staff said, "The enemy is stepping up its attack. The occupiers are carrying out strikes practically in all directions, with intense activity, especially in the regions of Kharkiv and Donbass." And she stressed that the Russian army is trying to prevent the transfer of Ukrainian forces from the north to the east.
According to Kharkiv Governor Oleg Senigubov, five people were killed Thursday in shelling targeting the city and the surrounding area. He confirmed via Telegram that the Russian forces, which were trying to advance from Izyum towards "Prazkivka, Dovinki, and Velika Komeshovakha," had suffered "heavy losses and were forced to retreat."
For his part, the head of the Kramatorsk administrative region, Andrei Pankov, told AFP that "the situation is very difficult in Liman in the Donbass region, and the whole city is besieged." He pointed out that half of the territory of the region is occupied by Russian tanks coming from Izium in the north.
"We don't know what the situation will be like tomorrow morning," said Oleksiy Megreni, head of emergency services in the region.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that it had destroyed, on Wednesday night, two weapons and ammunition depots in the Kharkiv region with "high-precision missiles", and carried out air strikes on 67 Ukrainian military sites.
In Kherson, the only major city that the Russians have completely controlled since the beginning of their invasion, the Russian local administration said Thursday that it wants to use the ruble instead of the Ukrainian hryvnia from May 1. Lyudmila Denisova denounced "a serious violation by Russia" of the United Nations Charter.
In southern Ukraine, since the start of the invasion, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been unable to reach the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia plant, and its director, Rafael Grossi, returning from Ukraine, has expressed "concern".
And one of the Ukrainian presidential advisers hinted that Kiev might attack military targets in Russia. "Russia is attacking Ukraine, killing civilians. Ukraine will defend itself by all means, including strikes on warehouses and bases of Russian killers. The world recognizes this right," Mykhailo Podolyak said in a tweet.

A translation by "Jerusalem" dot com - A settler was injured, at dawn today, Friday, when a vehicle he was on board was hit with other settlers, after they stormed Joseph's Tomb, east of Nablus , in the northern West Bank.

According to the Hebrew Channel 7, the settler was injured when the vehicle overturned after being shot at, noting that the settler was slightly wounded in the head.

The Israeli army said that 4 settlers entered Joseph's Tomb without coordination and were shot, indicating that one of them was treated after their vehicle overturned.

An Italian press report revealed, on Monday evening, the position of Argentine Paulo Dybala , the former Juventus star, on wearing Francesco Totti's shirt, after his expected joining Rome .

It is expected that Roma will officially announce his contract with Dybala, in the next few hours, after the player passed the medical examinations this morning, which he conducted in a private medical clinic in Portugal.

And Sky Sport Italia reported that Totti encouraged the idea of Dybala wearing the No. 10 shirt, which he wore with Roma until 2017, before announcing his retirement from football, and no player in Rome has worn this number since that time.

She added that Paolo would not wear a Totti shirt in Rome, although he was wearing the No. 10 shirt in Juventus, noting that the Argentine star would wear the No. 21 shirt instead, and thus the former Manchester United player coming to Rome, Nemanja Matic, would give up the number 21 that preceded And he chose him with the wolves, to wear the number 8.

It is noteworthy that Dybala is expected to sign a contract with Rome for a period of three years, with the option to extend it for another additional year, with a penalty clause of 20 million euros.

Bangkok - (dpa) - A court controlled by Myanmar's ruling military junta on Wednesday sentenced the country's isolated leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to five years in prison, sources familiar with the proceedings said.

It is the first ruling among 11 other corruption charges Suu Kyi faces under the anti-corruption law. Each of these charges carries a possible maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

Suu Kyi was convicted of allegedly accepting a bribe of $600,000 in cash and gold bars from the former chief minister of Yangon, which she denied.
Journalists and members of the public were prevented from attending the trial.

She has already been sentenced to six years in prison for five less serious charges, including possession of a walkie-talkie and violating coronavirus restrictions.
Suu Kyi, 76, faces prison sentences totaling more than 160 years.

London - (dpa) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production, seeking for his part to cool record fuel prices, echoing comments by US President Joe Biden last week, Bloomberg News reported Monday. .

"There may be some questions about how much the Saudis can pump at this very moment," Johnson said before the House of Commons today, Bloomberg said. However, "they undoubtedly need to produce more oil."

Last week, Biden said he hoped major producers in the Gulf would increase their oil production as he prepares this month for a visit to Saudi Arabia, which leads the OPEC+ alliance. Crude oil prices are still above $110 a barrel, as supplies failed to keep pace with the recovery in demand for it in the aftermath of the Corona virus pandemic, which puts pressure on consumers and threatens to push the global economy towards recession.

BEIJING (Xinhua) -- During their ninth high-level economic and trade dialogue on Tuesday, China and the European Union agreed to make joint efforts to enhance practical cooperation in the field of economy and trade, and to address the challenges facing the global economy.

The dialogue, held via video link, was co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.

The two sides held pragmatic, frank and effective discussions on four topics, namely macroeconomics, industrial and supply chain, trade and investment, and financial cooperation.

The two sides reached a series of results and consensuses on macroeconomic policy coordination, industrial and supply chain cooperation, WTO reform, wider market opening, implementation of the China-EU Geographical Indications Agreement, animal and plant inspection and quarantine, and mutual opening up of the financial sector. and organizational cooperation.

The two sides believe that the political and economic situation in the world is undergoing profound changes, and that healthy and stable relations between China and the European Union, and economic and trade relations between China and the European Union, are conducive to global development and prosperity.

The two sides expressed their willingness to make joint efforts to enhance mutual understanding, support practical cooperation between China and Europe in the economic and trade field, and enhance the stability of cooperation between China and the European Union, to better deal with the uncertainty of the global economic situation.

The two sides expressed their readiness to jointly address the challenges facing the global economy, enhance communication and coordination on macroeconomic policies, maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and protect and strengthen the rules-based pluralistic trading system with the World Trade Organization at the heart.

They also agreed to make active efforts to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment, promote fair competition, protect intellectual property rights, create a better business environment for enterprises, and promote mutual opening-up and regulatory cooperation in the financial sector.

LONDON, (Xinhua) -- More than half of Americans have contracted COVID-19 at least once, according to a study recently released by US medical authorities.

A report published by Reuters news agency on Tuesday, citing a study issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that about 58 percent of the total US population and more than 75 percent of young children have been infected with the virus since the beginning of the epidemic.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said infection and hospitalization rates in the United States had risen in the past week.

"The presence of antibodies caused by infection does not necessarily imply protection against future infection," said Kristi Clark, co-author of the study.

"We haven't examined whether people have a level of antibodies that would prevent reinfection or severe disease," he added.

Riyadh - (dpa) - Today, Saturday, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah excluded the “uncle and uncle” from the mahrams of a woman who wants to accompany a mahram with her while performing the rituals. The “close relatives” are limited to: (the father, brother, husband, or son) only, and no one else.
This came in the ministry’s response to a question about the possibility of accompanying an uncle or uncle when performing the rituals of Hajj for this year, as the Ministry of Hajj said in its response today: “It is not possible to add a mahram except for kin in the offered options (father, brother, husband, son) The possibility of linking their data with the applicant.

And the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah stated when announcing the Hajj mechanism for this year last week; that a woman can register with a mahram or without a mahram with the Women’s League; While when registering in Muharram, he must enter his personal information, and he must have previously registered through the electronic portal for receiving requests for those wishing to register for Hajj for this year 1442 AH.

The Ministry provided 4 categories for the “Muharram”, they are: (husband, brother, father, or son); Provided that the offender has previously registered with a separate application.

And last Saturday, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj announced that the Hajj for the year 2021 will be limited to citizens and residents inside the Kingdom, with a total of 60,000 pilgrims, due to the continuing developments of the emerging Corona virus pandemic that causes “Covid-19” disease, and the emergence of new mutations in it in the world.

New Delhi (AFP) - A record heat wave is hitting India and Pakistan, causing power outages and water shortages for millions of people who are expected to face increasingly hot weather in the future, according to climate change experts.
The temperature in New Delhi approached 46 degrees Celsius on Thursday and this sweltering heat wave is expected to continue for another five days in northwest and central India and into the weekend in the east, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.
"It's the first time I've seen such heat in April," said Dara Singh, 65, who has run a small street shop in New Delhi since 1978.
Districts in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have resorted to rationing electricity in factories to reduce consumption due to the lack of coal.
Several areas of the country of 1.4 billion people have reported a decline in water supplies that will worsen until the annual monsoon rains in June and July.
In March, the temperature in New Delhi rose to 40.1°C, the highest for that month since 1946.
Heatwaves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010. Scientists say that due to climate change, they are more frequent but also more intense.
Mariam Zakaria of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London said, “With climate change, India is likely to experience higher temperatures. earlier than this month only once every 50 years.
"We can now expect such high temperatures about once every four years," she added.
- 48 degrees in Pakistan -
Neighboring Pakistan also suffered sweltering heat Thursday and the heatwave is expected to continue into next week with temperatures peaking at 48 degrees in parts of rural Sindh on Wednesday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Society.
Farmers will need to manage water supplies wisely in a country where agriculture absorbs about 40% of the total workforce.
"The country's public health and agriculture will face serious threats due to extreme temperatures this year," Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said.
It was the hottest March on record since 1961, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Office.

Washington - (AFP) - US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States can only act on the conflict in Ukraine, in order to justify his request from Congress to allocate an additional $ 33 billion to provide more military assistance to Kiev.

Of this huge sum, $20 billion will be allocated to supplying weapons to Ukraine, nearly seven times more than the amount of weapons and ammunition that have already been sent to Kiev since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

In an intervention from the White House, Biden announced that Kiev had received ten anti-tank weapons for every Russian tank that entered its territory, but he made it clear that the United States "does not attack" Russia, but rather "helps Ukraine defend itself" in light of the Russian "atrocities and aggression."

Earlier, the Kremlin warned that the delivery of weapons to Ukraine "threatened European security."

The US Congress must approve the allocation of the additional 33 billion.
Although they unanimously support Ukraine, US lawmakers differ on the content of the law that would enhance military assistance. The democrats

They want to include in it an amendment to increase the budget to combat Covid at the same time, which Republicans strongly reject.
And if the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, tries to bring the two sides closer together, the matter may end in failure on both sides, according to what a member of the Republican administration in the Senate warned.

This assistance remains urgent for Ukraine, as Russia is intensifying its attacks in the south and east of the country, more than two months after the outbreak of the conflict.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that the US administration will exert "maximum pressure" to obtain congressional approval, adding that Biden's decision to personally announce the request for assistance to Ukraine reflects his interest in this matter.
Biden's visit Tuesday to the Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama that produces Javelin anti-tank missiles, one of the main weapons supplied to the Ukrainian army, is likely to be an additional impetus for Congress to pass the aid.
And after Washington was satisfied with weapons considered defensive, it now sends artillery, helicopters and drones to the Ukrainian army, whose soldiers received training in the use of these weapons in the United States or in other countries before returning to the front.
In addition, on Thursday, Biden attacked Vladimir Putin's "irresponsible" threats of the possible use of nuclear weapons. "This shows a sense of despair on the part of Russia, which is facing its miserable failure in view of its first targets" when the attack began, he said.
The White House said in a statement that the Biden administration wants to tighten pressure on the Russian president and his circles by proposing to liquidate the assets of Russian financiers that were confiscated and transferred to Kiev to "compensate for the losses caused by the Russian aggression."
In terms of sanctions, EU countries have so far confiscated Russian assets worth more than $30 billion, including some $7 billion in luxuries belonging to oligarchs (yachts, artwork, real estate, and helicopters), according to the White House.
As for the United States, it "imposed sanctions on ships and planes worth more than a billion dollars and prevented their movement, in addition to freezing hundreds of millions of dollars of the assets of the Russian elite in American accounts."
This month, Spain agreed to a US request to confiscate a $90 million luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who is close to President Vladimir Putin.
The White House promised Thursday to continue its action against maneuvers aimed at "avoiding sanctions" by strengthening the US investigation and prosecution capabilities against Russian oligarchs.

Hebron - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Israeli occupation forces blew up, on Thursday morning, the house of the martyr Muhammad al-Ja'bari , in the Hebron governorate .

The occupation forces raided the house, late on Wednesday evening, and evacuated the surrounding houses, before demolishing its internal walls and planting explosives inside.

After hours of prolonged operation, those forces blew up the house, causing explosions to be heard in the area.

The martyr Al-Ja'bari carried out a shooting attack last October, near the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron, which led to the death of a settler and the wounding of another.