Translation by "Jerusalem" dot com - The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported today, Sunday, that an international conference to commemorate the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords, which was supposed to be held in Israel next month, has been canceled.

According to the newspaper, this came after the representatives of the countries that were invited to participate in the conference refused because of the approaching Israeli elections .

The newspaper pointed out that recently, officials who were invited to the conference in Israel conveyed a message that they feared that their participation in it would be portrayed as interference in the elections, pointing out that it was decided later in Israel to suspend the move.

The Minister of Regional Cooperation, Issawi Freij, confirmed the news, telling Haaretz: "Unfortunately, we had to postpone the conference because of the elections and in order not to involve our partners in the campaign," noting that his office is now trying to hold an alternative conference after the upcoming elections in November. next.

Paris (AFP) - Although the fire season is not over yet, the initial toll of fires is worsening in the European Union, with fires burning more than 660,000 hectares since January, a record number for this period of the year since records began. Satellite data in the year 2006.

Since the beginning of January, fires have destroyed 662,776 hectares of forests in the European Union, according to data updated Sunday by the European Information System on Forest Fires , which has been keeping comparable statistics since 2006 thanks to satellite imagery of the European Copernicus programme.

France experienced worse years in the 1970s, before the consolidated European data. But 2022 is the most dangerous year in 16 years according to these numbers, largely because of two back-to-back major fires in the Gironde, in the southwest of the country, where German, Polish and Austrian firefighters arrived this week to provide firefighting support.

The situation is also exceptional in Central Europe , where it took firefighters more than ten days in July to control the largest blaze in Slovenia's modern history, with the help of residents who mobilized themselves so much that the government had to ask residents to stop donating to the firefighters.

And Slovenia, which does not have aircraft specialized in fighting fire, requested the help of Croatia, which sent a plane ... before retrieving it to extinguish its own fires. The Slovenian government is considering buying its first sea bomber.

In the German capital, Berlin, a large fire broke out last week from a police ammunition depot in a drought-stricken forest, and it was quickly brought under control. Until now, the capital has been spared from such fires, but it is increasingly threatened due to its vast forested areas.

But the region hardest hit by the fires is the Iberian Peninsula. Spain, which was dominated by drought like France due to several heat waves this summer, witnessed the destruction of 245,278 hectares as a result of fires, especially in Galicia in the northwest. However, the situation improved as the temperatures dropped.

Likewise, Portugal has been fighting a fire for more than a week in the global geological reserve recognized by UNESCO in the Serra da Estrela mountain area, which has a peak height of about two thousand meters.

Spain records the largest area of burned land, followed by Romania (150,528 hectares), Portugal (75,277 hectares) and France (61,289 hectares).

"2022 is already a record year" when it comes to the summer period alone, Jesus San Miguel, coordinator of the European Forest Fire Information System, told AFP. The previous record in Europe dates back to 2017, when fires destroyed 420,913 hectares on August 13, and 988,087 hectares in one year.

"I hope we will not see a month like October of that year," when 400,000 hectares were destroyed across Europe in one month, he added.

What contributes to the outbreak of fires is the exceptional drought in Europe, in addition to heat waves.

Extremely dry conditions were often observed in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, but Jesús San Miguel noted that "this is exactly what happened in Central Europe" which had hitherto been untouched by these weather phenomena.

For example, the Czech Republic experienced a fire that destroyed more than 1,000 hectares, which is small compared to other countries, but 158 times higher than the average between 2006 and 2021 when fires were negligible.

In Central Europe, the areas burned are still small compared to tens of thousands of hectares in Spain, France or Portugal. Besides the fires in Croatia, there were only three fires in Slovenia and five in Austria. However, the continuation of global warming in Europe as a whole will contribute to the escalation of this trend.

Jerusalem - "Al Quds" dot com - The Israeli occupation forces launched, at dawn today, a massive campaign of arrests in the town of Silwan , south of Al-Aqsa Mosque .

According to local sources, the occupation forces surrounded the town, preventing entry or exit from it, and stormed a large group of houses, subjecting its residents to a field investigation.

It indicated that those forces arrested a large group of citizens, especially among the young men, on suspicion that the perpetrator of the shooting attack in Jerusalem, which resulted in the injury of 8 settlers, was a resident of the town.

Among the detainees, the Jerusalemite stationed, were Asmaa Al-Shyoukhi, her daughter, and 3 of her young sons.

Beijing - (AFP) - Five Chinese companies , including two of the country's largest oil groups, announced their withdrawal from the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

Sinopec and PetroChina - one of the largest energy groups in the world - said in separate statements that they would apply for a "voluntary withdrawal" from the US financial market.

Similar announcements were made by the Chinese aluminum company "Chalco", "China Life" and a branch of Sinopec based in Shanghai.

A law passed in 2020 by the US Congress requires any company listed in the United States to obtain certification of its accounts by a company accredited by the Independent Accounting Organization.

In the event of non-compliance with the legislation, the companies face the risk of deregistration starting from 2024. In this context, the five companies announced their decision to withdraw.

It justified its decision by the cost associated with maintaining the registration in the United States as well as the burden of complying with audit obligations.
The five groups are on the list of companies ordered by the US Market Regulatory Authority to comply with the imposed accounting obligations and were essentially threatened with expulsion from the New York Stock Exchange.

A translation of Al-Quds.com - Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said today, Thursday, that Israel will continue to work against Iran's proxies, with its partners in the region.

Gantz accused the Islamic Jihad of working for Iran, which transfers tens of millions of dollars to Iran through the Revolutionary Guards every year.

During a press conference with Cypriot Defense Minister Charalamos Petrides, who is visiting Tel Aviv, Gantz indicated that the Islamic Jihad movement launched about 1,000 rockets during the last round, claiming that they were launched towards Israeli and other residential communities.

He accused Iran of supporting Islamic Jihad and standing behind its attacks, and of being implicated in what happened, stressing that Israel would work with its partners in the region against Iran's proxies.

Doha - "Al Quds" dot com - Ismail Haniyeh , head of the political bureau of Hamas, and Ziyad al-Nakhala , Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, confirmed during a call between them yesterday evening, Monday, the failure of the occupation's strategy to break the will of the Palestinian people, and the unity of the resistance in the face of the occupation.

Haniyeh and Al-Nakhala have mercy on the souls of the martyrs of the leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades and all the Palestinian people who rose during the treacherous Israeli aggression in the past days, stressing that this blood will remain a beacon on the path of liberation. According to the text of Haniyeh's office statement.

The two sides discussed the recent confrontation with the occupation and its repercussions, and ways to enhance resistance action and joint coordination, praising the complementarity of resistance action in the field, praising the steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people and the political efforts made at the national, regional and international levels.

The two sides agreed to hold a meeting soon at the leadership level of the two movements to discuss political and field developments, and to fortify the strategic path for the future of the resistance project.

Nablus - "Jerusalem" dot com - Ghassan Al-Katkout / Deanship of Saadeh - 3 young men were killed, and 40 civilians were injured, including 4 seriously and critically, this morning, Tuesday, during the Israeli occupation forces' storming of the Old City of Nablus.

Among the persecuted martyrs was Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, who was pulled from the scene of the operation in critical condition, while the other was Islam Sobouh and Hussein Jamal Taha.

The occupation army had announced the assassination of Nabulsi after besieging him inside a house in the town, before it became clear that he was in a very critical condition, and doctors at Rafidia Hospital tried to save his life, but he died.

The occupation forces fired several missiles at the house in which al-Nabulsi was, who refused to surrender to the occupation, amid clashes with those forces, which resulted in his critical injury.

The occupation forces have been chasing al-Nabulsi for months, accusing him of standing behind shooting operations towards Joseph's Tomb for weeks, which led to the injury of an Israeli officer and settlers.

According to the Hebrew Channel 13, a force from the Special Yamam Unit arrived at the house and surrounded it, and another force of snipers was placed on the nearby rooftops, where he asked Al-Nabulsi to surrender, but he initiated shooting and throwing hand grenades, while the soldiers responded by firing 3 to 4 Matador missiles. Before the fire stopped, that force entered the house.

According to the channel, the one who led the operation to eliminate Nabulsi was the commander of the Shimron Brigade, Roy Zweig, who was shot by Nabulsi himself during a shooting attack he carried out in the Tomb of Joseph weeks ago.

Al-Quds.com correspondents reported that a special Israeli force infiltrated the Habala neighborhood and clashed with a group of Palestinian resistance fighters, before large military reinforcements arrived in the area, which were attacked by young men with Molotov cocktails and stones.

Our correspondents indicated that the occupation forces surrounded a house in the Old City, and prevented ambulance crews from providing treatment to an injured woman.

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, the Israeli army is besieging the wanted Ibrahim al-Nabulsi.

They pointed out that the occupation forces opened fire indiscriminately at citizens who were in the area, wounding a large number of citizens, indicating that he heard the sounds of explosions in the area.

DOHA - (Xinhua) - Qatar stressed its stance in support of the "one-China" principle and the importance of respecting the principle of state sovereignty, stressing China's pivotal role in maintaining global security and stability.

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on its website Thursday evening that the State of Qatar is following the developments in Taiwan , and stresses the position of the State of Qatar in support of the one-China principle.

The statement added that the ministry also stresses the need to respect the principles of international law, including the principle of state sovereignty and friendly relations between them.

He stressed the important and pivotal role of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America in maintaining regional and global security and stability.

He called for avoiding escalation and relying on international legitimacy and relevant United Nations resolutions.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited China's Taiwan region last Tuesday, ignoring China's strong opposition and official protests.

The international community criticized the visit for grossly violating China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity, and expressed support for the one-China principle and all necessary measures taken by the Chinese side to safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity and integrity.

Washington - (AFP) - The labor market in the United States witnessed dynamism on an unexpected level, restoring to pre-pandemic levels at a time when it was feared that the measures taken against inflation would cause an economic recession, in good news that President Joe Biden praised.

The unemployment rate and the total number of jobs in the country have returned to the level of February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to the economy.

The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 point to 3.5%, as it was in February 2020 when it fell to its lowest level in fifty years, according to what the Ministry of Labor revealed.

US President Joe Biden praised "the progress made for working families."

"More people are working than ever before... which provides dignity and peace of mind to millions of families thanks to the wages they receive," he said in a statement.

He emphasized that this result is "the fruit of my economic plan. I ran into the presidency to advance the middle class."

528,000 jobs were created, twice more than expected.

The Ministry of Labor stated in its statement that "the growth of work included all sectors, driven by new opportunities in the fields of entertainment, hotels, professional and commercial services, and health care."

Job creation between May and June was more than expected, by 386,000 and 398,000 respectively, 28,000 more jobs than expected.

The eye is currently on the labor market in the United States, as its deterioration leads to measures to contain inflation and may herald an imminent economic recession.

The US economy has contracted over the last two quarters.

However, several economists and the White House administration assert that it has not yet entered a recession.

The Federal Reserve is working to curb the rise in prices, which reached 9.1 percent in a year in June, a record level not recorded since 1981. The Central Bank raises key interest rates, which affects commercial banks in the interest rates they offer to customers willing to borrow. the money.

If interest rates on loans rise, purchases and corporate investments will decline and pressure on prices will decrease. However, this induced slowdown could cause an economic recession.

Los Angeles - (AFP) - US police announced that they have arrested a man suspected of shooting a Lady Gaga employee to steal the star's dogs, four months after his release due to an administrative error.

In a statement released Wednesday, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and the US Marshals unit responsible for pursuing the fugitives announced that they had arrested James Howard Jackson in Palmdale, an hour from Los Angeles.

The 19-year-old was released on April 6 as a result of an administrative error, and the Marshals Unit offered up to five thousand dollars as a reward for anyone who provides it with any information that might lead to the arrest of the young man.

Howard Jackson is suspected of being one of the three gang members accused of kidnapping Lady Gaga's dogs after they shot employee Ryan Fisher while he was walking French Bulldogs in Hollywood in February 2021.

Howard Jackson's arrest comes at a time when another suspect, Gaylen Kishon White, 20, was sentenced to four years in prison in Los Angeles after pleading guilty.

Surveillance cameras showed two men getting out of a car near the employee before he was shot and wounded in the chest. The two men then snatched two of the three dogs, Koji and Gustav, and fled, leaving Ryan Fisher bleeding on the floor.

As for the third dog, "Miss Age", he escaped before returning later to Fisher.

The owner of the songs "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance" offered a reward of half a million dollars to whoever could return her two dogs to her.
A woman returned the two dogs to the singer, claiming to have found them tied to a pole, before she was arrested by the police, who said the woman had an affair with the father of one of the suspects.

In April 2021, charges of attempted murder and robbery against the three men were dropped.

This case showed the importance of French bulldogs to the stars on the one hand, and the criminals who take advantage of the small size of this type and its high price to sell it on the black market on the other hand.

Lady Gaga is very attached to her dogs, who often accompany her during events, and the singer publishes pictures of her on social media.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - Today, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested the freed prisoner, Montaser Salameh, north of Ramallah.

According to local sources, the force stormed a shop in the village of Turmusaya, arrested Salama and took him to an unknown destination.

Jerusalem - "Al Quds" dot com - The European Union , in cooperation with Finland and Italy, announced today, Tuesday, the provision of financial support in the amount of 15.678 million euros to the Palestinian Authority, to support the payment of medical referrals to East Jerusalem hospitals .

The European Union (13 million euros), the Government of Finland (1.678 million euros) and the Government of Italy (1 million euros) provided.

A statement by the European Union stated that this support provided to East Jerusalem hospitals, which is provided through the Palestinian Authority, will help hospitals provide the required services for Palestinian patients coming from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The statement indicated that since 2012, the European Union and its member states have supported the Palestinian Authority with regular contributions to cover medical referrals to East Jerusalem hospitals, and those contributions amounted to more than 141 million euros, and these hospitals are an integral part of the Palestinian health care system as they provide specialized services. It cannot be found anywhere else in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

EU Deputy Representative Maria Velasco said: “Through the support of the European Union and its Member States today, we reaffirm our commitment to maintaining access to specialized medical services for all Palestinians, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. East Jerusalem hospitals are among the last The Palestinian institutions that are still operating in the city... Their presence helps preserve the Palestinian character of the city and ensure the provision of high-quality medical services to Palestinian citizens. This contribution indicates our strong and unwavering commitment to the Palestinians and their aspiration for an independent Palestinian state in the future."

In turn, Consul General of Italy in Jerusalem Giuseppe Fidel said, “Italy has always supported East Jerusalem hospitals, in line with its multiple efforts to increase access to quality health services for all Palestinians. East Jerusalem hospitals also play a crucial role in this regard, being the main providers of specialized treatments that It is not yet available in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and through this contribution, we intend to immediately support the Palestinian Authority's ability to pay for the treatment of referred patients, and to encourage broader reform aimed at strengthening the resilience and sustainability of the Palestinian health system."

For her part, the representative of Finland, Ambassador Paeve Peltokoski, said: “Finland, together with the European Union and other Member States, continues to support East Jerusalem hospitals to ensure that they provide high-quality health care to Palestinian patients from East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. Our direct financial support through PEGASE creates stability It eases the lives of Palestinian families who need specialized health services.

Baghdad - (AFP) - In the garden of the Iraqi parliament, demonstrators prepare tea on a primitive stove, while others distribute watermelons. Here, Mahdi's mother came with her four children, determined to stay in the place until Muqtada al-Sadr asked the protesters to return to their homes.

On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators once again filled parliament, their only goal: to remain "obedient" to the influential Shiite leader.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is waging a campaign of pressure on his political opponents, rejecting their candidate to head the government.

His supporters, who began demonstrating on Saturday and intend to spend their night in Parliament, dream of social justice, denouncing chronic corruption and lack of public services, in a country that suffers from a deteriorating infrastructure, although it is rich in oil.

Umm Mahdi says, "When Muqtada al-Sadr decides, we go. When he says 'you go', we go." The woman covered her face with a black veil while wearing a traditional abaya, and carried her infant daughter in her hand, while her eldest son, who is 9 years old, stood beside her.

Her three female relatives also came with her. And the woman adds, "Obedience to the master is the most important thing for us in life," referring to Muqtada al-Sadr.

At the entrances to parliament, demonstrators set up a military-style tent, while crates of water were scattered around them. The demonstrators roamed freely around the place, surrounded by security men who dealt with the matter normally, as witnessed by a journalist in France Press.

With the onset of the night hours, about ten small trucks loaded with water, which were placed in coolers, and watermelons arrived, which some cut and distributed to the demonstrators. Others distributed rice with meat.

Nearby, at one of the sidewalks parallel to the garden, some demonstrators gathered around a primitive stove, on which they placed a copper teapot. A tall young man stood on the sidewalk and started selling cigarettes to the protesters.

The demonstrators reject the name of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, who was nominated by al-Sadr's political opponents for the position of prime minister within the coordination framework that includes Shiite blocs, most notably the State of Law led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Fatah bloc, which represents the pro-Iranian Popular Mobilization factions.

On the ground floor of the parliament building, demonstrators chanted religious slogans related to Ashura, coinciding with the start of the holy month of Muharram on Sunday, in which they commemorate Imam Hussein.

At sunset, dozens of men prayed, some of whom brought their own carpets.

"I left my home and my family," says Zainab Hussein from inside Parliament, as she dons the traditional black abaya and puts a white shroud on her shoulders to participate in the sit-in.

Women repeat the reasons that make them upset, reasons shared by 42 million Iraqis. "Water, electricity, schools, hospitals," she says.

And she adds, "Why is there no electricity in Iraq? Where do the oil resources go?"

Inside Parliament, some demonstrators sat on luxurious black sofas, while others chose to sit at wooden tables, and some spread blue and red carpets that covered the floor. Some of them passed the time by browsing their phone, and some of them took a nap.

In the streets around Parliament in the heavily fortified Green Zone, demonstrators sat on the grass, or some took a walk to pass the time.

The demonstrators see Muqtada al-Sadr as an opposition figure and an anti-corruption figure, condemning other parties that have taken power since 2003, that is, after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Note that many of his loyalists hold important positions in the ministries.

Sayed Haider, 35, comes from the popular Sadr City neighborhood in the capital, saying, "Corruption pervades all departments of the state."
He added, "Any simple poor person cannot reach the state or the ministry unless he is linked to a political party."
He, in turn, affirms "obedience" to Muqtada al-Sadr, and stresses that he is participating in the sit-in awaiting "instructions." He added, "He tells us 'withdraw', we withdraw. We will return if he tells us to return, even if it is at midnight."
He believes that Muqtada al-Sadr is "the only person who defends the poor today in Iraq."

Ramallah - exclusive to "Al Quds" dot com - The Union of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestine Red Crescent Society confirmed, today, Saturday, its resumption of its sit-in in front of the headquarters of the General Administration of the Crescent Society in the city of Al-Bireh, as well as the resumption of its protest steps again, to demand the management of the Society for its "rights." Since the start of tomorrow, Sunday.

A spokesman for the Union of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Red Crescent Society, Osama Sweiti, told Al-Quds.com, “The union suspended its protest steps and sit-in, and held dialogue sessions with the Society’s administration, and the Society’s management refused to sit in another dialogue session today, as the Syndicate saw the existence of procrastination.” By the association’s management to give the union its rights, which prompted us to go back to the escalation.”

Sweiti confirmed that the union will return to resume the sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Crescent administration, and will study possible escalatory steps, and perhaps announce them during the sit-in, and all options will be open, including the option of handing over the ambulance charge to the Presidency.

Sweiti said, "The management of the Red Crescent Society does not realize the seriousness of what is happening, and we have seen it procrastinating, after promises to implement what was agreed upon, which prompted the union to return to escalation."

The Ambulance and Emergency Union confirmed in a statement, this evening, Saturday, that it had responded to the invitation of the President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, through his office manager, to sit down in order to contain the crisis and end the existing conflict in a way that meets the rights and demands of ambulance and emergency workers within the directives of the President of the Society, Dr. Younis Al-Khatib. .

And the union continued, "After all that the union has done, the association has not even committed itself to setting a date for a dialogue session or an assurance from it to stop its arbitrary measures taken against employees or to meet any of the union's demands."

The union confirmed the resumption of the escalation program and the completion of its steps, starting with the central sit-in for all ambulance officers with their families at the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society tomorrow, Sunday, while the administrative body of the Ambulance and Emergency Services Union confirmed that it is one of the most important trade unions operating under the umbrella of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, and that its reference It belongs to the General Secretariat of the Union, and it adheres to its directives to serve the interests of workers, preserve their rights and meet their demands.

Last Sunday, the Ambulance Services Union confirmed through its spokesman, Osama Sweiti, to Al-Quds.com, that it is in the process of handing over the ambulance charge to the Palestinian Presidency, in order to return the ambulance services to the one who commissioned the association to provide ambulance services in Palestine, but the step was postponed due to the presence of dialogue sessions. .

Sweiti stressed that the decision of the Ambulance and Emergency Services Union to hand over the ambulance covenant to the Presidency institution, comes as a response to the assignment to its owner when the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, President Yasser Arafat, in 1996, assigned the Red Crescent Society to provide ambulance service in Palestine, in order to emphasize the need for everyone to stand In fulfilling his responsibilities to provide the ambulance service to the fullest.

The union stopped the administrative disobedience step on the twenty-first of this month, in compliance with the law, after the management of the Red Crescent Society obtained an urgent decision from the Administrative Court in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, to stop the implementation of the decision to declare complete and comprehensive administrative disobedience by the Ambulance and Emergency Syndicate, since The strike affects the public interest and the lives of citizens. The union stopped the hunger strike, but continued to sit inside the headquarters of the General Administration of the Red Crescent Society for about a week, until it entered into another dialogue with the management of the Red Crescent Society.

The Syndicate of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Red Crescent Society confirmed that the declaration of complete and comprehensive administrative disobedience, which it started on the twentieth of this month for a day after it was suspended by a judicial decision, as it excluded from disobedience only very urgent cases, including security incidents and injuries resulting from the occupation, as a continuation. announced escalatory steps.

The union accuses the association’s management of refusing to discuss its demands, and its failure to abide by the terms of the agreement signed between them on May 24, 2022, noting that a dialogue session was held on the eighth of this month, in which no solution was reached to the conflict and the failure of the dialogue, which forced it to return again to the escalatory steps, However, the official spokesman for the Red Crescent Society, Mamoun Al-Abbasi, confirmed to Al-Quds.com earlier that “there are some issues that were agreed upon, and controversial issues remained, and we did not reach a dead end in which escalatory measures are announced, as some issues need discussion and dialogue.” enough."

The Ambulance and Emergency Services Syndicate is calling for several union issues, the reopening of reduced ambulance and emergency centers, the provision of ambulances as was the case before 2018, the abolition of all repressive measures, and the abolition of leave, dismissal and transportation.
The Syndicate of Ambulance and Emergency Services carried out an open sit-in on the day of the signing of the last agreement, inside the general headquarters of the Crescent Society, after an administrative disobedience, and refraining from providing ambulance services, for two days.

Washington - (AFP) - Donald Trump , who has returned to Washington for the first time since leaving the White House after his failed attempt to overturn the election in which he lost to Joe Biden, gave a campaign speech punctuated by strong hints that he might run for a new term in 2024.

At the invitation of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank run by his allies, the 76-year-old billionaire presented a plan of action to "the Republican president who returns to the White House in 2024."

For more than an hour and a half, Trump talked about his favorite topics, especially the fight against immigration and crime, while he fiercely attacked his successor, Joe Biden, accusing him of "bringing the United States to his knees."

After drawing a bleak picture of the country, he said, "The story is not over yet, and we are preparing for an amazing comeback. We have no other choice."

Trump appeared publicly in a city that witnessed weeks of sessions held by a committee of the Democratic-dominated House of Representatives, regarding the events of January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to prevent the election results from being approved.

In response to a question on the same day on NBC, Attorney General Merrick Garland did not rule out the possibility of prosecuting Donald Trump and said, "We intend to hold accountable everyone who bears criminal responsibility for (his role) in the events of January 6, and for any attempt to interfere with it." The legal transfer of power from one administration to another.

Donald Trump responded in his speech that the committee was made up of "thieves and hackers". "They want to get to me so I can't work for you anymore, but I don't think it will work," he added.

Contrary to all his speeches in which he recalls "electoral fraud" and "theft of the election" when he was defeated by Biden, Trump did not talk about it, but said, "I ran the presidential race the first time and won, then I ran it a second time and won more votes," before adding, "I might do that." for the third time!" They promised additional "details" in the coming weeks.

Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund announced on Tuesday that it expects the Russian economy not to be affected much this year by international sanctions, adding that European countries, on the other hand, are suffering more than expected.

The IMF expects Russia's GDP growth to contract by 6.0% in 2022, much less than the 8.5% decline it bet on in its previous forecast published in April.

The Fund stated in its report that it is expected that "the Russian economy will contract less than it was assumed in the second quarter of the year, and exports of crude oil and non-energy products were better than expected."

"In addition, it seems that domestic demand is showing some resilience, thanks to the containment of the impact of sanctions on the local financial sector and the decline in the labor market in a way that is weaker than expected," he explained.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia to strangle it financially and economically.

On the other hand, the effects of these sanctions will be more than expected in 2023, the year in which the International Monetary Fund expects a recession in the Russian economy by 3.5 percent, which is 1.2 points less than its previous forecast.

On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund indicated that "the effects of the war on the main European economies were more negative than expected."

Economic growth forecasts for 2022 have been cut for Germany (-0.9 points at 1.2%), France (-0.6 points at 2.3%) and Spain (-0.8 points at 4.0%).

The IMF stated that these consequences are stronger due to "high energy prices, as well as a decline in consumer confidence, a slowdown in manufacturing activity resulting from continued supply chain disruptions, and an increase in the cost of raw materials."

A complete halt to Russian gas exports will "significantly" reduce the growth of the eurozone in 2022 and 2023. This would force European countries to ration energy, which would affect the main industrial sectors.

New York (AFP) - Amazon has announced that it will acquire US-based primary healthcare company One Medical for $3.9 billion, in a major step for the online retail giant's move into the medical sector.

The giant has steadily expanded its business beyond e-commerce, and earlier this year said its telemedicine service was expanding nationwide in the US.

"We believe healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need to be reinvented," said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services.

"We see a lot of opportunities to improve the quality of the experience and give people valuable time in their days," he added.

One Medical, which operates a network of primary care practices and telemedicine services, has grown in recent years to more than 750,000 members.

The news comes after Amazon announced in February that it's expanding its Amazon Care service, which first launched in 2019 to provide the group's employees with access to doctors.

The technology company said the service combines virtual visits by doctors or nurses using the Amazon Care mobile app with personalized care by medical staff sent to patients' homes.

The telemedicine sector has grown with the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, and Americans' use of it has increased by about 38 times compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to a report issued by "McKinsey & Company" in July.
At the same time, Americans typically get their health insurance through their jobs, so the current employment crisis in the US has prompted employers to offer increasingly attractive benefits.

Aden - (Xinhua) - The United Nations Mission in Yemen announced today (Thursday) that four civilians were killed in a landmine explosion in the coastal governorate of Al-Hodeidah on the Red Sea in the west of the country.

A statement of the mission, a copy of which was received by Xinhua News Agency, stated that it "regrets what was reported of another landmine explosion that killed four civilians, including three children from the same family, while collecting fuel wood in Al-Hawk district."

According to the statement, this tragic incident once again highlights the dangers that citizens in Hodeidah, especially children, face every day as they go about their daily lives. More than half of the victims who were reported killed or injured in landmine and explosive remnants of war incidents in July were from children.

The UN mission renewed its call on the parties to take urgent and concrete measures to clean up the contaminated areas.

It affirmed that it "will continue to provide coordination of mine action and technical support to relevant partners to protect the most vulnerable people in Hodeidah."

The UN mission in Hodeidah called on "the international community to continue providing support for mine clearance work."

The United Nations Mission in Support of the Hodeidah Agreement is a monitoring mission formed by the United Nations following an agreement sponsored by the Yemeni government and the Houthi group in the Swedish capital Stockholm in December 2018, with the aim of monitoring the cessation of military operations in the coastal Hodeidah on the Red Sea, which includes the port of Hodeidah, the main artery of basic supplies in Yemen. .

Al-Hodeidah suffers from high pollution due to mines and ordnance from war remnants, and as a result, civilian casualties are constantly occurring in large areas of the coastal governorate.

Colombo - (AFP) - Three candidates named Tuesday are competing to succeed former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country and resigned last week due to the worsening economic crisis in Sri Lanka .

The winner will take over the presidency of a country in bankruptcy and hold talks with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout plan at a time when the 22 million people suffer severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

Parliament announced that acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe would compete with former Education Minister Dolas Alhabiruma (who has the support of the opposition) and left-wing leader Anura Dissanayake in a secret ballot on Wednesday.

The deputies formally named the three candidates during a session that lasted less than ten minutes in the heavily guarded parliament building.
Moments earlier, opposition leader Sajit Premadasa announced on Twitter that he was withdrawing from the race in favor of Alahabiruma, 63, who split from the Rajapaksa party.

"For the sake of the country that I love and the people that I cherish, I am withdrawing my candidacy for the post of president," Premadasa said.

Political sources said that they reached an agreement during the night stipulating that one of them assume the presidency and the second the prime minister and work to form a unity government that will lead the country out of its economic crisis.

But Wickremesinghe, 73, a political veteran who has served as prime minister six times, has official support from leaders of the Rajapaksa party, which remains the largest in the 225-member parliament.

The third candidate is Anura Dissanayake, 53, leader of the leftist People's Liberation Front, which holds three seats in parliament.

A fourth candidate, former army chief Sarat Fonseca, failed to win the support of lawmakers to run for the presidency.

The new president will hold power for the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which lasts until November 2024.

Hebron - "Jerusalem" dot com - Jihad Al-Qawasmi - Al-Shalala Street acquires importance, as it is the main artery of the ancient town of Hebron, after the closure of Al-Shuhada Street, following the massacre of the Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994, and the link between it and the point of departure to the neighborhoods and suburbs of the city, and one of the most important streets The markets are vulnerable to attacks by the occupation and its settlers, which made his shops threatened with closure.

destination shoppers

Badr Al-Daour Al-Tamimi, head of the Tourism Services Union, fears that the scenario of Al-Shuhada Street will be repeated in Al-Shalala Street, which was the destination of shoppers decades ago, as it is a comprehensive market for all family needs, and its shops and stalls are distinguished by their popular prices, but the decline in demand for it led to a decline in movement. Economic and purchasing from it, due to the occupation and its settlers to limit the commercial movement that pushes towards the displacement and deportation of merchants and shoppers by creating problems.

Al-Daour stressed, we will not surrender to the occupation and its settlers, because Al-Shalala Street is the entrance to the old town and the Ibrahimi Mosque, which are considered the identity and spirit of the city, and we will not leave it to repeat the model of Al-Shuhada Street, and this calls for the presence of Palestine in this street, which is of great importance and reflects the city's cultural reality and its civilized face, pointing out that Its commercial stores are more than decades old, and therefore it must be preserved and citizens should be encouraged and motivated to reside in it, to restore the spirit to it and protect the remaining commercial stores and stalls in it, stressing that the occupation seeks to exclude us from the Old City and everything that reaches to empty the scene for the settlers.

A museum in itself

Imad Hamdan, Director General of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, said that in order to preserve Al-Shalala Street, the committee, which has been seeking since its inception to restore life to the town’s markets, alleys and corridors, and its success led to encouraging citizens to live and occupy most of the residential buildings, indicating that since 2020 it has worked The committee decided to restore the shops again, and the old town itself became a museum that is visited with its old stones in its markets, alleys and shops after the restoration. A new imprint was made for it by completing the project of installing umbrellas in the old Shallala Street, in a sophisticated way and in a manner of architectural and historical splendor that carries with it the legacy of the fathers and grandfathers.

He added: The project was completed with the installation of iron awnings for eighty-five shops in the old al-Shalala market, which is considered the main artery of the old town, especially since it is the most vulnerable market to Israeli attacks. Sometimes the goods are damaged.

Shop protection

And Hamdan indicated that the importance of this project comes with the aim of protecting these shops and their goods from rain, dust and sunlight, in addition to providing a beautiful view of the street, which encourages citizens to visit the old town and enjoy wandering among its markets, explaining that the project came to meet the needs of shop owners in That area, as it was a collective demand from merchants and citizens, who suffer from daily Israeli attacks and suffer from weak commercial traffic because of these attacks, expressing his hope that all shops will open their doors and economic life in the Old City will return to its former state.

Sultan Street

The opening of Al-Shalala Street, which is located in the area extending from Bab Al-Zawiya Square in the north, to the Old Municipality Gate Square in the south, and is bordered by Al-Shuhada Street in the west, and “Nasir Al-Din Nasser Al-Din Street” known today as the New Al-Shalala Street in the east, is due to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed in The second half of the eighteenth century.

Historian Dr. Youssef Abu Mazer stated that the reason for naming this street by this name is due to the presence of some Bedouins who were camping in the area surrounding the Arab Bank, and they were dealing in trade with the residents of Hebron, and they were from the “Al-Shalala” or “Al-Shalaleen” clan from Beersheba, and that was At the end of the fifties of the last century, until the year 1967 AD, that is why the residents called the street Al-Shalala Street after the Arabs of Al-Shalala.

historical landmarks

He added that the street, from which the urban expansion began on both sides of the road, includes several historical monuments, such as the "Al-Manjikiya" corner known as Zawiyat Al-Saeed, and to the south of it is the Al-Dabouya building, which the occupation calls "Beit Hadassah" and at the end of the road at the Old Municipality Square. In the Ottoman era, a water pipe was withdrawn from Al-Shuhada Street to Al-Shalala Street, and a water tap was installed, which was called “Ain Al-Askar,” noting that in 1929, a hotel was built opposite Ain Al-Askar, and it was called the Palestine Hotel, which was converted into Folklore and Interpretive Museum of the Old City.

Abu Mazer continued, that on the opposite side, specifically in the square of Bab al-Zawiya, there was a spring of water called the eye of "Umm al-Faraj", and there was a pool of water underground in the square of Bab al-Zawiya, and near it was a chapel and it had a small mihrab, adding: To the south of Ain Umm al-Faraj, a mosque Bab al-Zawiya, and near it is an old archaeological well, which the residents called “Bir Ibrahim,” which is different from the well that people know today, which is located opposite Nasir al-Din Bridge, pointing to the Shawer Mill, near the Arab Bank, which is closed today, pointing out that the street that was famous for orchards With various fruit trees due to the fertility of the land and the abundance of water, in addition to the old olive trees.

Many deserted him

Historian Abu Mirz explained that the occurrence of the Al-Dabouya building, on Al-Shalala Street, which was seized by settlers, exposed the neighboring residents and shops to the continuous attacks of the occupation and its settlers, by throwing dirt, directing insults, and attacking the shops to displace residents and merchants from the area, which prompted the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee , to the erection of an insulating mesh fence over Al-Shalala Street, pointing out that before the events of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, the street was teeming with pedestrians and commercial traffic and was the backbone of the area, but the large number of settler attacks led to the migration of many merchants to safer areas, and the movement in it declined.

Chengdu (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong stressed workplace safety and flood relief during the flood season .

Wang made the remarks during his inspection tour to southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday and Friday.

While visiting factories involved in gas, chemicals and environmental protection, Wang urged efforts to uncover hidden dangers, punish misconduct, and deepen reforms for workplace safety.

During his visit to hydropower stations, urban flood control dams and water conservancy projects, he examined measures to prevent mountain torrents, debris flows, earthquakes and other disasters, and called for more inputs to improve disaster early warning and rescue capabilities so as to protect people's safety at all costs. towards better.

Jerusalem - PalSport Agency / Chairman of the Pioneers Forum in Jerusalem, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - in Jerusalem, lawyer Kamal Obeidat, said that, under the directives of Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub, we are working in the Pioneers Forum to unify the references of the old people under one unified framework, as it is not reasonable for it to be in every governorate. The homeland has four or five references for the veterans, and this is a file that we started working on two years ago under the directives of the Rajoub team, but the Corona pandemic that struck Palestine and the whole world hindered our work, and now we have returned to work on that in cooperation with all the official and civil Palestinian sports authorities and references.

Attorney Obeidat praised that the decision of Qudsna and PAL Sport Network to issue an encyclopedia on the history of former athletes in the period from "1900-200" is tantamount to preserving and preserving the archives and records, praising this step and expressing his readiness to support all initiatives that are in favor of this step.

Obeidat blessed the Capital Club for the formation of a new board of directors headed by Dr. Abu Arafa, as this club is expected to have a great influence on the local sports map in view of the successes achieved by the Palestinian Academy for the Gifted in Sports, from which the club was sent to the Jerusalem sports space to fly high, wishing its management and technical committees to continue with the approach of breeding young people because they are the hope of the future and its great immunity to keep Our Palestinian sport is free of all viruses.

Obeidat touched on the difficulties that Jerusalem sports suffer from, calling for the need to find a formula that guarantees the continuity of sports, youth and scouting activities in the city in a way that balances the size of the large financial burdens and exorbitant expenses and the need for the flame of sports to glow and its continuity, stressing the need to support the civil and official institutions of clubs and institutions that are threatened by the danger of closure due to Bankruptcy on the one hand, and in light of the continuous Israeli attempts to Judaize the city and kill the spirit of the Palestinian and Jerusalemite youth in it on the other hand.

Tegucigalpa - (AFP) Four people, including the son of former Honduras president Porfirio Lobo, were shot dead Thursday outside a nightclub in the capital, Tegucigalpa, the former president and police announced.

Lobo told local media that heavily armed individuals "forced the youths out of the cars" and shot them "as happens in a commando operation".

He added that his son Saeed, 23, was killed and his other son, Louis, who was in another car, was unharmed.

Police said the crime took place in the underground car park of the nightclub building.

Television footage broadcast by HCH channel showed masked men armed with rifles intercepting a car and forcing its occupants to get off and stand against a wall.

Among the youths killed was the nephew of retired general Romeo Vasquez, who in 2009 led a coup against then-president Manuel Zelaya.

Porfirio Lobo, who led Honduras from 2010 to 2014, has a third son, Fabio, who is currently serving a 24-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.
Ex-president Rosa Bonilla's wife is also imprisoned in Tegucigalpa on corruption charges when she was the country's first lady.

Washington - "Jerusalem" dot com - Saeed Erekat - Since US President Joe Biden assumed the presidency on January 20, 2021, his administration has been saying that the Palestinians deserve the same standards of "freedom, security and prosperity" as the Israelis , but "instead, They obtained American aid and permits to work inside Israel and the Jewish settlements," according to the Associated Press in a report on Monday evening, in which it is likely that "this contradiction will emerge when President Joe Biden visits Israel and the occupied West Bank this week for the first time since taking office."

Israeli officials are likely to point to the thousands of work permits issued to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, “allowing them to earn much higher wages and inject much-needed cash into a Palestinian economy faltering under Israeli restrictions.” He is also likely to speak. Biden about tens of millions of dollars in US financial aid to the Palestinians, which he returned after his predecessor, Trump, cut it off.

Supporters of the US president believe that such economic measures improve the lives of Palestinians and help preserve the possibility of an eventual political solution.

But when Biden steps past the towering Israeli checkpoint to meet the Palestinians in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, he will hear a very different story — of how Israel has consolidated its decades-long military rule over millions of Palestinians, without end. Sam Bahour, an American businessman of Palestinian origin who resides in Ramallah, said, "Economic measures have the potential to contribute positively to peacemaking, but this requires that Israel and the United States have a plan to end this 55-year military occupation..they (they) The Israelis) don't, so any "economic" confidence-building measures are merely measures to entrench the occupation.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli coalition government, which did not last long before its dissolution last week, had issued 14,000 permits to the Palestinians in Gaza, which has been under a suffocating blockade since the "Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)" seized power 15 years ago.

Israel claims the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas from arming itself.

Israel has also increased the number of permits issued in the West Bank, where more than 100,000 Palestinians work within Israel and settlements, mostly in construction, manufacturing and agriculture. It has even begun allowing small numbers of Palestinian professionals to work in higher-paying jobs in Israel's booming high-tech sector, the Associated Press reports.

Israel claims these and other economic measures as gestures of goodwill, "even as it approved the construction of thousands more settler homes in the occupied West Bank."

The administration of US President Biden adopted a similar strategy, providing financial aid to the Palestinians, but did not exert any pressure on Israel to motivate it to end the occupation, or to demand that the Palestinians be granted equal rights. Even its (relatively) modest plan to reopen an American consulate in Jerusalem serving the Palestinians has collided with Israeli opposition, and it seems that the US administration does not want to prove its declared position in this regard.

The Associated Press quotes Michael Milstein, an Israeli analyst who has been advising the military body responsible for civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, as saying that the theory of "economic peace" - or the promotion of economic development in the absence of peace negotiations - is a policy that goes back decades, and "goes back to appearing because of the long lack of any peace process, and because of the political crisis inside Israel, but at best it will only lead to a temporary calm.” He adds that while this method can maintain stability to some extent, "but this is not a way to solve deep political problems."

For individual Palestinians, the permits are a godsend, as their average wage inside Israel is about $75 a day, double the rate in the West Bank, according to the World Bank. And in Gaza, where unemployment is about 50%, lined up Tens of thousands obtained permits (to work inside Israel) last fall."

But critics of the policy say the permits - which Israel can revoke at any time - are another tool of control and undermine the development of an independent Palestinian economy.

Bahour, an American-Palestinian businessman, says: "Every permit issued by Israel to Palestinian workers goes to serve Israel's economic development and empty the Palestinian workforce, so we will remain in the private sector, unable to create a different economic reality."

Even with the issuance of work permits, Israel is tightening its grip on what is known as Area C - that is, 60% of the West Bank is under full Israeli control according to the Oslo interim accords signed in the 1990s, while the Palestinian Authority enjoys limited self-rule in an archipelago of cities and towns in Area A ( a).

Area C includes most of the open spaces and natural resources in the West Bank. The World Bank estimates that lifting severe restrictions on Palestinian access to the area would boost their economy by a third.

The Israeli political system, which is dominated by right-wing parties, views the occupied West Bank as an integral part of Israel. Even if Israeli Prime Minister Lapid, who has said in the past that he supports a two-state solution, manages to form a government after the November 1 elections - which recent opinion polls indicate is unlikely - his coalition will almost certainly rely on some hard-line parties, preventing Without it.

Experts believe that the improvement in the economic situation of the Palestinians will ease the confrontations with the Israeli occupation authorities, as an opinion poll conducted by the "Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research" showed that 65% of the Palestinians support the so-called confidence-building measures, including the issuance of more work permits by Israel. . The poll included 1,270 Palestinians from all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

But the same poll also found a remarkable rise in frustration, as (the poll showed) support for the two-state solution dropped from 40% to 28% in just three months, and 55% of those surveyed support “a return to confrontation and armed intifada.”

Today, Wednesday, settlers attacked Palestinian property in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the Old City of Hebron , targeting the ancient "Al-Ain Al-Jadida" water spring, which is an important Palestinian historical and heritage heritage.

Last week, the settlers built a wall of stones around the wall surrounding Al-Ain.

The Director General of the Hebron Reconstruction Committee, Imad Hamdan, explained, "This eye is located at the bottom of the hill of Rumeida near the Islamic cemetery, and it is an Islamic endowment run by the Islamic Endowments Directorate. The new eye has been subjected to attacks since 2012."

Hamdan added, "The settlers are constantly building stone terraces, planting trees, or setting up signposts indicating the Jewishness of the area with the aim of turning it into a Jewish national park. It has also been included on tourist routes for Jewish settlers, which threatens to seize it."

Hamdan said, "This spring is one of the important historical and heritage monuments in the city of Hebron, which demonstrates the nobility and originality of this town's past and its Arabism. It is a spring whose waters gushed out at the end of the Mamluk era, and that is why it was called the New Spring, and the name remained common to this day, and because of the sweetness of its waters, it was used for drinking." And to irrigate the crops, which is seven meters lower than the ground level, and it descends to it by about 13 degrees.

Hamdan considered that these current and previous settlement encroachments are a serious violation and a blatant encroachment on the archaeological and historical monuments in the old city of Hebron, which enjoys an important place on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The efforts of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee have thwarted all previous attempts by settlers to seize this important landmark, and the plantings and indicative signs around it have been removed, and it will work hard to stop all new encroachments.

Governorates - "Jerusalem" dot com - Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces prevented workers from the municipality of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus , from working in the archaeological area.

According to local sources, the occupation forces expelled the workers who refused to leave the place, before chasing them and forcing them to leave the place.

In the context of the Israeli attacks, the occupation forces delivered notices to a number of families to stop building their homes in the Khirbet Humsa al-Tahta area in the northern Jordan Valley .

The occupation forces expelled several families from their homes in Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa to conduct military exercises in the area, which will continue from today until Wednesday.

Written by: Dr. Saeed Sabry

The cost of life is overwhelming and harsh for Palestinian citizens. Wherever they are, public or private sector employees, they have been overwhelmed by the storm of rising prices on their monthly income. So while that male or female citizen dreamed of a monthly salary to secure a decent life for him, he was attacked by the exorbitant costs of life. So where is the solution? ‏

Was the price hike limited to foodstuffs, and does the "food basket" subsidized by the government constitute economic stability for the Palestinian citizen? Today, the entire Palestinian national economy is at risk, not just the food basket. ‏

The transformation in the Arab world has reached a stage that requires us to start looking to the future. It is indisputable that the voices calling for our removal from the tunnel of turmoil, instability and economic stagnation in which they are immersed are increasing.

The price hikes of commodities and raw materials are continuing rapidly and non-stop. These hikes were not a result of the moment, as it began when the Corona pandemic ravaged the world to create a wave of imbalances in the levels of demand and aggregate supply and in the ability of supply chains to secure goods and goods, especially the strategic ones, so that war would come. Russian-Ukrainian to further complicate the scene, with food and feed prices expected to rise by 8 to 20 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), causing the global food crisis to escalate.

It is quite clear that the rise in prices has included all economic sectors, and important sectors of the Palestinian economy have been negatively affected, such as the construction and agricultural sectors. With him, they will not even be able to buy bread, and from here we see that harming the contracting sector is harming the private sector in general and will negatively affect consumers and the weak and marginalized classes.

In May 2022, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank published reports with their assessment of the current Palestinian economy, emphasizing the dire financial situation of the Palestinian Authority. Revenues fell sharply from NIS 16.6 billion in 2016 to NIS 13.6 billion in 2020, and only partially recovered in 2021 to NIS 14.9 billion. The significant decline over time has been in non-taxable revenues (mainly domestic fees and costs) and on external support from donor countries and organizations.

Foreign aid funds decreased by 70 percent, from $1 billion in 2018 to $250 million in 2021. Thus, in 2021, expenditures exceeded revenues by 15 percent and the fiscal deficit reached 5.7 percent of GDP.

There are great challenges facing the Palestinian economy today. The popular movements that were ignited by economic and social factors that prevailed for a long time, will in turn produce a new social and economic environment. However, as far as these factors were clear and unanimous to many, the new environment seemed murky and full of challenges. Nevertheless, the prospects, in my opinion, are still positive, but they will not be achieved by themselves

The responsibility of maintaining food prices within the purchasing power of the majority of consumers falls within the framework of government policies. The government must work to develop modern policies that are commensurate with local and regional changes, in order to guarantee freedom of the market, in a way that limits the various forms of monopoly. As well as providing support to the beneficiaries according to a mechanism that guarantees its access to them only. And work clearly to create modern mechanisms that guarantee transparency and control of prices for foodstuffs, construction materials, and others offered in the market, and work to stabilize them. ‏

We are witnessing successive rises in the prices of oil and its derivatives, and in the face of all these steady increases that "eat away" the income of citizens, the Palestinian citizen stands bewildered, in the shadow of his inability to secure the priority requirements of life, and the government stands unable to intervene by reducing people's suffering and preserving the purchasing power of their incomes. Even if it was at the expense of the treasury

I turn to the crisis cell that was formed by the Palestinian government with a set of questions that I hope I and the citizen will find practical and realistic answers: -

- And the most important and urgent question, how will the government deal with all the financial challenges that the treasury of power suffers in light of the severe shortage of revenues from Western and Arab countries and the large financial deficit, which is estimated to increase further with the increase in the prices of government-subsidised commodities?

- In light of the international failure to pay aid, can the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Palestinian government, increase the salaries of employees with this worsening deficit?

- Do we have the possibility or item in the budget that we can increase the allocations to support the main commodities? Is there a ceiling for the authority to bear the financial burden? ‏

- Is there any direction among the government's strategies to grant Palestinian citizens financial support that guarantees covering the high costs of it? ‏

I believe that the Palestinian government does not have many options to curb the price hike, but it is clear that we are prisoners of circumstances beyond our control, but they were imposed on us and must be dealt with under the shadow of general data. ‏

Here are some suggestions that I hope the Palestinian government and the "economic crisis cell" will study and adopt:

In order to deal realistically with this issue, we must work to involve the private sector in decisions and consultations. We must all realize that the crisis that struck our economy is a global crisis, not a Palestinian one, and not a fabricated one. We must also realize together that we are in one trench and that it is expected to continue for a long time and escalate. And it is repeatable, and therefore we must have a clear vision based on looking at the inflation issue temporarily and strategically, and we look at things on three levels, the short, medium and long term. ‏

First: - the short term. In my opinion, the Palestinian government should work to encourage the policy of dumping the market with products and accompany it by setting a period of time to exempt these consumer products from customs.

Second: - As for the medium term, we must focus on reducing the costs of operating expenses for the production sectors, including factories and agriculture, by reducing the cost of customs on raw materials, as well as the cost of energy.
Third: - As for the long term, work must be done to build a national stock of basic materials inputs, including commodities and foodstuffs. ‏

Fourth: Working on activating market supervision on consumer products, and working on launching a website that addresses the consumer by setting price ceilings. ‏

In conclusion, I wish the Palestinian government to work and accelerate achievement, establish a protective and barrier framework that protects the foggy future, and create societal security, which is the basis for economic security. ‏

Tehran - (AFP) - At least 17 people were killed when a train derailed near the city of Tabas, in central Iran, during a journey between the cities of Mashhad (northeast) and Yazd (center) on Wednesday morning.

"17 people were killed and 37 wounded were taken to hospital," said the authority's spokesman, Mujtaba Khalidi, as a result of the accident, pointing to the possibility of the death toll rising due to the presence of critical cases among the wounded.

The preliminary toll provided by Khalidi on Wednesday morning stated that ten people were killed and others injured, at least 12 of whom were in critical condition.

The train derailed at 5:30 am on Wednesday local time (one after midnight GMT), according to what the official media reported, quoting rescue officials.

Officials confirmed that five of the 11 carriages that make up the train derailed as a result of the accident.

The deputy head of the Iranian Railways Company, Mir Hassan Mousavi, told the official channel that "the train, which had 348 passengers on board, deviated after contact with a drilling machine" that was near the tracks.

Pictures published by ISNA showed a yellow tracked excavator flipping on its side, while the bottom of it touched carriages from the train still on the tracks that extend in a desert area in the center of the country.

Also, aerial footage shown by local media showed that at least four carriages derailed, including two that were completely separated from the rest of the train.
Some of the carriages appeared to have been toppled on their side and sustained significant damage.

Tabas is located in South Khorasan Province, about 900 km by road southeast of Tehran, on the road between Yazd, one of the most prominent cities in the center of the country, and Mashhad in the northeast, which is the second largest city in Iran and includes the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth infallible imam of the Shiites.

The train derailment comes more than two weeks after the collapse of part of a building in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province in the southwest of the country, in an accident that killed 43 people, according to the latest figures announced by officials on Tuesday, as searches continue under the rubble.

On May 23, a large section of the ten-storey "Metropole" building collapsed in Abadan, one of the main cities in the border province with Iraq, causing one of the worst disasters resulting from similar accidents in years.

The building collapse incident sparked a series of popular movements in solidarity with the families of the victims, interspersed with protests against corruption and calls for those responsible to be held accountable.

Two trains collided in northern Iran in November 2016, killing 44 people and injuring more than eighty others, in one of the worst railway disasters in the Islamic Republic in years.

In the aftermath of that accident, the head of the railway company, Mohsen Bursaid Aghaei, announced his resignation, "as an expression of my social responsibility and sympathy for the survivors of this accident."

The official, who at the time held the position of Deputy Minister of Roads, offered an "apology" to those affected by the accident, noting that his resignation came after the announcement of the arrest of four of his employees by the judicial authorities.
In January 2010, at least seven people were killed when a train derailed between Mashhad and Tehran.

Written by: Jawad Boulos

As every year, twenty-one years ago, the month of May arrives in Jerusalem, and with it memories of the smell of salt hidden in the cracks of time, and the sad sounds of flutes that flow into faint whispers in the veins of the stones of its walls. Jerusalem, the abode of angels and the abode of wrath, does not know the taste of sorrow, nor what remorse should be like; She is the daughter of that eternity, falling asleep on his sacred heavenly horns and waking up like a frightened deer of legends after the hustle and bustle of a brutal hunting party.

It is Jerusalem, to which I return at the end of every spring, tired of the treachery of the seasons and the farewell of loved ones. May he sneaks, with his proud giggles, to where the burners of hope are, leaving on its walls the sighs of its slaughtered dawn and the mutterings of widows and their torments. Mayarna, when we used to match hammers to machetes, was a well for the sweat of the poor, the simple, and the toiling, and an artery for their pure blood. Since “the people of the East ate their breasts,” the month of oppression and death has come to remind us of our ignorance and absent wisdom, and to heal the open wound of Jerusalem, since Faisal al-Husseini, the protector of her dreams, traveled And we develop its castles, on his last journey towards those treacherous deserts.

The memory of Faisal Al-Husseini's departure will remain while he was at the peak of his activity and gave him a taste of renewed bitterness. This is not because we expected, at the time, that his heavy loss would not only be compensated, but rather because we felt that his absence, in the complex circumstances faced by the city of Jerusalem in particular, imposed a logical question about who were the beneficiaries of the incident of his departure and getting rid of his pivotal role in successfully confronting most of the machinations. Which was woven against Jerusalem and against its status as a Palestinian capital, imposed by Faisal and the Jerusalemites with him on the world's conscience and in daily life.

This would not have been possible had it not been for Faisal’s distinctive qualities and insightful and determined vision of the necessity of building the unifying Palestinian national Jerusalemite identity and bestowing it on all the residents of the city, who infiltrated it, with satisfaction and pride, and acted to protect it and defend it in the face of the Israeli occupation, and in front of all its enemies from abroad. and tucked in. Why Faisal?

It is easy to answer, as many have often done; Because he was a pure person par excellence, a gentle, shrewd and wise political interlocutor, and a fierce and stubborn fighter for the dignity and freedoms of the Jerusalemites. All the streets and squares of Jerusalem testified to Faisal. And I knew him in all the international platforms in which he was received with great respect and apparent hospitality, just as he should receive a leader who knows how to harness all his limbs and tentacles in order to win the battle or avoid the expected defeat.

Faisal possessed all of these qualities, but he deliberately fertilized them with additional “Faisalian” characteristics that brought him into the hearts of the Palestinians, and of course all Jerusalemites, and enabled him to become the beloved Knight of Jerusalem, the protector of its faithful umbrella, and the officer of its national ruler, whose “code” drew the boundaries between betrayal and its opposite.
Among those advantages was his conviction that differences in Palestinian viewpoints are a normal and acceptable phenomenon, provided that these differences do not turn into disputes that tamper with the single Palestinian body and destroy the foundations of its struggle, which must remain directed and unified against the Israeli occupation. Faisal, with his sophistication, integrity, and integrity, sought to embody this conviction in Jerusalem, and succeeded in bringing together all political factions and forces, national and Islamic, under one umbrella.

Faisal exercised his leadership with the guidance of what is called in the world of modern politics "the entity of the supreme state", or the supra-factional or partisan practice; Or what is known idiomatically as statehood, which is one of the unfamiliar terms in the lives of Arab peoples and regimes, for understandable reasons, of course.

And because he believed in the vitality of work according to this principle and prioritizing it over all traditional incentives, he deliberately, during his political career, not to take advantage of the influence of his prestigious family lineage, and to always appear as an independent person as Faisal Al-Husseini, bearing in mind that he was proud of his struggling father, the well-known leader Abdul Qadir, and the history of the Al-Husseini family, which is well-known. through decades. Even his "conquest" was a militant political identity devoid of any recognizable factional adolescence. Faisal chose to be the son of all of Palestine, the servant of its sanctity and the eternally haunted, and a popular leader at the forefront of the squares, like a shield and like a spear together. Because he simply believed that whoever fears and lowers the ranks, taking refuge in the breasts of the youth of Palestine while defying the arrogance of the occupation, is not worthy of being their leader.
Faisal and the theory of deterrence and raising the Palestinian flag,,,

I do not know how many of those who discussed the phenomenon of Israeli brutality, police and popular gangs, against those who raise the Palestinian flag in Jerusalem and inside Israel, know the history of this phenomenon and its defining stations. But I will recall, in this haste, one of those beautiful stations, especially as we write about the features of the "Faisaliah" era.

Faisal confronted Israel's policy in East Jerusalem on several fronts and through several means. And he relied on the field to follow what he called the "positive deterrence" approach, which led to the abortion of many of Israel's hostile plans. The battle against the order to close the Orient House in 1999 may be the most prominent of those cases in which Jerusalem demonstrated the importance of its true readiness to resist the occupation and the meaning of its people rallying around Faisal al-Husseini and his companions in the leadership. I will not, in this haste, address that incident and will suffice to point out that intended deterrence sometimes requires that you take the initiative in a measured harassment of your enemy and not be content with just reactions. This also depends on two basic principles, which Faisal used to repeat in front of the Israelis: The first says: “Do not miscalculate! Whoever can impose calm, security, and security in the streets of East Jerusalem can light fires and awaken the giant from his bottle.” He meant, of course, that Orient House and its leadership are the ones that control the city. Jerusalem street pulse. And the second says: “If your enemy is good at wrestling or boxing, do not concede to him with what he is good at, but rather try to lure him to a board where you are more skilled and skilled. Which he has tried to do over and over again.
The Netanyahu government failed in the face of the Jerusalemites' steadfastness and retracted its decision to close the "Orient House" after it understood the meaning of Faisal and Jerusalemites' readiness to defend their Jerusalem or ignite the two banks of the city.
Months after that battle, the Vatican announced Pope John Paul II's decision to visit Jordan, Israel and Palestine, including Jerusalem. Vatican representatives coordinated the details of the visit with each country; As for the Pope's visit to Jerusalem, their title was "House of the Orient" and its president, Faisal Al-Husseini. I held several meetings at the house of the Apostolic Nuncio in the "Al-Sawana" neighborhood to coordinate every major and minor matter related to the arrangements for the visit, as requested by the Vatican and despite Israel's objections and protests. The Pope refused to sleep in hotels in West Jerusalem and insisted that he stay in the house of the Apostolic Nuncio, and that his visit to Jerusalem begin from there, and then directly to the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinian educational institutions in Jerusalem announced sending school students to stand saluting the Pope on the roadsides from Al-Sawanah to Al-Aqsa courtyards. Israel objected to the decision, but Faisal and Jerusalem insisted on its implementation. The Pope expressed his satisfaction with that. I contacted the Israeli police chief and quoted Faisal as saying, "Either the welcome line up, or there is no security and no security for anyone." The police understood the significance of the message, and their leaders knew that Faisal could carry out his threat; They agreed on the condition that the welcoming students carry only flowers and not raise the flags of Palestine. Faisal refused to accept their condition and insisted that every cub raise a rose and every baby girl raise a Palestinian flag. The Israeli side got angry and the Vatican was relieved, once again, so I conveyed a second message from Faisal to the police chief, to the effect: "We will inevitably carry the flag, and you have to choose, either the flag or the stone." The Israelis acquiesced, in order to avoid the scandal of throwing stones at the Pope's convoy, which walked, according to the agreement, on Palestinian roads protected by the children of Palestine whose hands were decorated with roses and Palestinian flags. It was a visit of Faisaliah and Qudsia flavor.
A year after the visit, Faisal traveled to Kuwait and did not return. The rest of the story is written by the youth of Jerusalem, the sons of Faisal, and told by the yellowness of the neglected grass in the courtyards of the “Oriental House”, which was closed by the order of the Israeli police.

Develop an action program to address the challenges

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The General Assembly of the Federation of Renewable Energy Industries announced the election of the new Board of Directors for the Federation headed by Eng. Anan Anabtawi, during the Federation's Board of Directors meeting in March of this year, and Eng. Fathi Sheikh Khalil was also elected as Vice-Chairman And Eng. Nashat Othman as Secretary, and Eng. Muhammad Al-Khazendar as Treasurer, in addition to the election of Eng. Osama Amr, Eng. Abdul Rahman Hijawi, Mr. Abdul Hakim Al-Shani, Mr. Sa’ed Abu Salim and Mr. Mansour Mansour as members of the Board.

The elected Board of Directors announced the development of an action program for the federation during the coming period, which will focus on dealing with three pivotal issues and files with the aim of addressing the challenges faced by renewable energy companies, and what this requires in terms of forming specialized committees from members of the General Authority and the Board of Directors to follow up on these issues with the concerned authorities. .

The files presented in the work program cover the file of legislation, laws and agreements, including energy purchase agreements and network connection agreements with the authorities authorized to manage and use the network, and to secure financial payments to investors in renewable energy projects and guarantee them by an accredited government agency according to what is stated in accordance with the law in the sovereign guarantee clause. This is in addition to protecting the rights of renewable energy companies from any impact resulting from amendments that may occur to applicable laws and from arbitrary or permanent severance and termination of agreements. This file also includes negotiations and legislation related to tariffs, as well as the network code file approved for solar power plants in the network connection agreements.

The work program also includes the technical file and technical designs, as it focuses on the issue of the absence of an approved code for the network, which allows energy distributors to unilaterally make technical decisions and approve designs without referring to an approved standard and scientific reference, and the consequent approval of customers and developers on the requirements and conditions of distribution companies. Electricity to complete projects quickly and without ensuring implementation according to an approved technical reference, and the inability of independent engineers to audit standards and conditions in the absence of reference. This is in addition to the ambiguity of points of view regarding the classification of the technology used and its quality, in addition to the old procedures followed for issuing certificates and approvals by the Palestinian Standards and Metrology Institution on the technology used, which hinders the implementation of projects.

The third file deals with the obstacles faced by renewable energy companies in terms of obtaining information transparently, as electricity distribution companies have the sole right to approve the sites of new projects without adopting the reference of the law or referring to the concerned government agencies in light of the lack of information and maps that show the status of these sites. And the possibility of investing in them, in addition to the difficulty of accessing technical information about networks.

This file also includes the scarcity of accurate and updated information on lands, especially the areas that are still under settlement procedures and those classified as Area C, in addition to the impossibility of implementing research and development projects in light of the lack of accurate information about the current infrastructure and networks.

The work program proposed by the Board of Directors comes at a sensitive and important stage, according to the clarification of the President of the Union, Eng. Anan Anabtawi, especially in light of the warnings facing citizens, institutions and the government to cut off electricity from the Israeli side, which calls for expediting the treatment of issues that hinder the implementation of solar and renewable energy projects. Pointing out that the files of the work program were agreed upon based on the many challenges and problems faced by renewable energy companies that have emerged in the past years, despite the possibility of addressing them with possible and available solutions in the event that everyone has the will, especially the concerned government agencies and regulators of this sector.

He also stressed the importance of the issues that the union will focus on following up to enable investors to invest in clean and renewable energy while guaranteeing their rights and the rights of all partners, which will protect the right of the subscriber and the final consumer to obtain sustainable and uninterrupted electrical energy at economical and low prices, which will also contribute to Advancing many sectors and encouraging investment projects, especially industrial and agricultural.

Anabtawi stressed the need for concerted efforts by all components of this sector and the removal of various obstacles and challenges such as legal, regulatory and technical obstacles and other problems that may lead to the reluctance of investors to invest in solar energy in the event that these issues are not addressed. Considering that the file of renewable energy represents a national interest par excellence, and we must consider it as a top priority and involve all partners in order to get rid of electricity crises that harm the interests of citizens and institutions, and negatively affect the government treasury and the progress of the national economy.