During his participation in performing Umrah with his family in the Hijaz lands, the young Omar Muhammad Awadin, 14 years old, asked his mother to pray for him near the Kaaba, and she supplicated: “The Lord of the Worlds grants you success, guides you, and gives you everything you wish.” He smiled and addressed her, saying: “And pray for me with martyrdom.” Martyred by a treacherous bullet from the special occupation units, about three weeks after his return for Umrah, which was a great shock to his family, especially his parents, as he was the only one after the tragic death of his daughter two and a half years ago.

Pictures and situations, recovered by the bereaved father, Muhammad Awadin, in his home in the city of Jenin , during his interview with Al-Quds.com, with the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan, in the absence of his lonely and beloved of his heart, his life, which sparked painful feelings of sadness and pain that increased since the beginning of the month, before his martyrdom. As his father tells Omar, he told him, “He started saving from his personal money, to prepare to buy some of the needs and supplies of Ramadan as he always used to, and to participate in providing beautiful and joyful decorations for our house, but their treacherous bullets, sentenced him to death, stole all our lives that Omar forms, and spoiled our joys.” Forever, no one will ever replace him."

The father, Awadin, resists his tears, sorrows, and great anguish, especially in the virtuous days that opened his wounds, and he said: “The atmosphere of Ramadan is different in our family’s lives today than last year, in the absence of our beloved and the pleasure of our liver, Omar. Omar is with us, preparing for Ramadan, preparing for decoration, and attending to provide a more beautiful atmosphere in Ramadan with us, as well as his companions and friends.

And he adds: "Despite his young age, he was always keen to perform religious rituals and perform Tarawih prayers in Ramadan, and he used to help his mother in preparing the Ramadan table, so we miss him and all the words of the world will not express the extent of the catastrophe and tragedy that befell our lives forever."

Awadin recalls the atmosphere of joy that befell his family when he was born with Omar, the firstborn of his family of 3 members, and he says: "When he saw the light, he lighted our lives and illuminated them, and he received great love and love, being our first and the first grandchild of his family who pampered him, and as he grew older, his status and love strengthened." Because of his morals, literature, and wide relations, he was known and distinguished among adults and children.

He added: "He studied at Hittin School in Jenin, excelled and loved studying. We always plan for his future and a successful and stable life. The values of loyalty, giving and work were instilled in him, and I made sure that he gradually learns my field of work at the center specialized in medical devices and aids in Jenin."

And he continues: "Despite his youth, he was always keen to memorize the Holy Qur'an, and he was kind to his parents, and he was keen to help me in all my fields of work and shouldering responsibility."

At every moment since his martyrdom, the pains of the parents increase again, after the great tragedy. Omar had a close relationship with them, and his father says: “Our relationship was distinguished, and I have always considered him a brother and friend in every sense of the word. aspects of his life, to guide him and direct him to the right and proper path.

And he adds, "Likewise, his mother, Reham, gave him all the tenderness and was always keen to take care of him and build his personality. Their relationship was very strong, and he was keen to help her and contact her before returning home, to ask her about her needs and provide them. He grew up prematurely, and we have always been proud of him."

Signs of sadness and pain are etched on the face of the father, Awadin, at the moment of recalling the memories of the day of his martyrdom, on Thursday 3/16/2023, during the crime of the special units that assassinated the resistance fighters Nidal Amin Al-Khazim and Youssef Shreem, and he says: “Before noon, I called Omar and asked to attend To help me distribute and deliver devices and equipment to some institutions in Jenin, after completing the task, he called me and informed me that he would return home, but I met him after that, and told him that I would go to our second branch.

He continues: "Between Omar's injury by undercover bullets and my conversation with him, one minute passed, I took my car and headed to our showroom, and I don't know why I called him back and he was riding his bike heading to our first showroom on Abu Bakr Street, especially when I heard the sound of gunfire, as if I felt that something was hated He'll get it."

At this time, the undercover units infiltrated the area in civilian clothes using a vehicle with a Palestinian license plate, and suddenly the heavily armed undercover soldiers appeared and fired at the resistance fighter Nidal al-Khazim while he was riding his motorcycle. The fighter Shreim, and they managed to assassinate him, and when the people of Jenin discovered the crime, confrontations erupted and the angry masses started attacking them, so they fired madly.

Awadin says: "All of this happened quickly, and three minutes after the last call with my son, I learned of the crime of the Special Units, and because the site was close to my exhibition, I felt worried about Omar, and I rushed to contact him, and when he did not answer, I called his uncle, as I had an internal fear that made me I feel terrified and terrified."

And he adds, "Soon, my brother informed me that Omar had been wounded by undercover bullets that rained down on passers-by in the streets, hitting my innocent child who did not commit anything, was not armed and did not even carry a stone, because he is a peaceful child, he learns in his school and he has ambitions and dreams."

And he continues: “When the news reached me, I felt a setback and entered a great maze, and I lost control of myself and did not know what I would do from the horror of the shock that I never expected, but we always say the judgment to the Lord of the Worlds in our affliction, and God will be patient with us, and he has gardens of bliss, God willing.”

When he saw his child lying next to the three martyrs who had been assassinated by the Westernized Units, the father, Awadin, stood in a state of shock that he lost the ability to speak when he discovered that he had passed away as a martyr.

And he adds: "Omar's features appeared as if he was sleeping innocently, and the shock was repeated, and I lived through the most difficult situation in my life, when we gave the last farewell look, I remembered his attitudes, laughter, wishes and dreams as a child who loved life, but the occupation bullets killed his dreams and everything beautiful that Omar loved, but if he wills it will come true." His wishes and we meet him in the gardens of bliss.

And he continues: "Omar, despite his youth, always participated in the funeral processions for the martyrs, and was keen to follow the communication networks to know the news and events of Jenin, and many times, he asked us to pray for his martyrdom, so the Lord of the Worlds honored her with it."

And he continues: "The world must stop remaining silent and prosecute the occupation for its crimes against our people, which do not distinguish between an old man, a young man, a woman, and his child. We consider him a martyr, like all the heroes of Palestine, and we ask God for patience, we and all families, because in every home there is a martyr, wounded, and prisoner, worship Their sacrifices are our way towards freedom and liberation from the occupation."

A Russian court on Monday sentenced a former military and rescue worker to 19 years in prison for throwing Molotov cocktails at a municipal building to protest the mobilization of soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

This is the longest sentence to date for this type of attacks on official buildings, which have multiplied in Russia since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

And the Tass news agency said that a military court in Akaterinburg had convicted Roman Nasriyev and Alexei Nureyev, notably of committing a "terrorist act" within an organized gang.

According to investigators, Nasriev, who worked in the National Guard, and Nureyev, who worked in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, broke a window on the ground floor of the municipality building of the small town of Bekal in mid-October.

After that, they threw several Molotov cocktails without causing serious damage or casualties in the building.

The two defendants did not deny the facts, but they rejected the charge of committing a terrorist act and confirmed that they wanted to denounce the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.

"I just wanted to show that in our city there are people who oppose mobilization and the special military operation in Ukraine," Nureyev said during the trial, as quoted by the "Zona Solidarnosti" organization.

The two men are old friends who play together in a rock band, according to Russian media.

Dozens of similar anti-war attacks on public buildings have been reported in Russia since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the charges and sentences handed down have been less harsh.

The Russian authorities equipped themselves with a large legislative arsenal to punish voices opposed to the invasion, sentencing hundreds of activists and ordinary citizens who voiced their opposition to fines or prison terms.

An imam and three elderly people were arrested in a village in Bangladesh after ordering them to beat and stone a woman for allegedly cheating on her husband, police said Monday.

Last week, Hamida Sultana was hit with 82 sticks and pelted with 80 stones under a fatwa issued by the imam of the village of Habigang (northeast) to punish her, according to the police.

Sultana, 30, told AFP that she was "a victim of terrible injustice... I can't describe what they did to me."

This fatwa sparked controversy and was rejected by feminists and human rights activists, who organized demonstrations and demanded that the perpetrators be prosecuted.

"They acted like people from the Middle Ages," Fawzia Muslim, head of Bangladesh's most prominent women's rights organization, told AFP.

"It is barbaric. The Bangladeshi justice system allows for arbitrary local councils but they are not allowed to punish anyone for any wrongdoing," she added.

Bangladesh, a country in South Asia with a population of 170 million, has a Muslim majority but its judicial system is secular and the application of Islamic law in criminal cases is illegal.

According to police officer Zakir Hussain, four people, including the imam of the local mosque, were arrested immediately after Sultana filed a criminal complaint against 17 people following the assault.

"The village council ordered beatings and stoning in the name of Islamic law because Sultana was accused of cheating on her husband. Relationships outside marriage are strictly prohibited in Islam," he told AFP.

He pointed out that the elderly in the village "said that attacking her would exonerate her of her guilt and cleanse her honor."

The victim's husband, Anwar Mia, who works in the Sultanate of Oman and returned to Bangladesh to be with his wife, is calling for "justice for his wife".

Decades ago, village councils in Bangladesh implemented Islamic law and punished Muslim women accused of adultery or having sexual relations outside marriage.

In a 2011 ruling, the Bangladesh Supreme Court allowed fatwas to be issued but prohibited their enforcement.

When shopping on Temu, Lori Silva paid just $1.25 for a pair of earrings and $15 for a cardigan. Laurie is just one of the millions of American consumers who have been drawn to the Chinese platform thanks to its dizzying array of affordable products.

Timo topped the US app download rankings in early April, a position it has maintained since January, but its rapid rise comes as platforms linked to Chinese companies face mounting pressure and a ban on youth-favorite TikTok appears inevitable. from him.

Sensor Tower market data shows that some of the most popular platforms currently being downloaded in the US have Chinese origins, including TikTok, video editing app CapCut, and fashion app Shein.

Timo presents itself as an Amazon-like store that sells everything from beauty to homeware and electronics, and its quiet launch last September marked Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo's first foray into the US market.

With the company's rapid rise, which has an office in Boston, Teemo has become the second Chinese-made shopping app, after Shen, to become a hit in America in recent years.

"I've seen a lot of things in the catalog on the app ... on Amazon and other online retailers, but at much higher prices," Lori Silva, a 65-year-old California resident, told AFP.

Lori placed about 20 orders on Timo to purchase supplies, handicrafts, jewelry and gifts.

For her part, Stephanie Wolf, 38, said she first bought supplies such as eyeliner and jewelry as a trial in January.

"It arrived so quickly. I couldn't believe it. ... Once I knew the app could be trusted, I kept asking for more," she added.
To promote the app, the company used messages promising Americans opportunities to "shop like billionaires."

"I saw the ad and thought, 'This is the app I'm using!' Since then I've noticed it's getting more and more popular," Wolf said.

Sensor Tower reported that Timo has been downloaded 33 million times in the US since its launch, with user numbers rising during a February ad campaign marking the NFL, the most-watched television event in the US.

- Link to China -

The rise of Chen and Timo comes as leading US fashion and fashion companies seek to reduce their dealings with China as concerns grow about escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to Xing Lu, a professor of fashion and fashion studies at the University of Delaware.

Both brands primarily source their products from China, Sheng Lu said, and Timo mostly ships direct from there as well, while Amazon has distribution centers in the US.

He added that this allows Timo to take advantage of China's strengths in producing larger numbers of items with greater flexibility while benefiting from exemptions in the United States from import duties for low-value shipments.

Lu said that for Chen in particular, AI and big data play a "crucial role" in the app's widespread adoption and success.

"Shine's management used data it collected from its apps and other social media channels to understand consumers' shopping habits and lifestyles, which enabled the company to offer what was needed," he added.

- Audit -
But the rise of Chinese apps has come with scrutiny of their operating systems. In 2021, the non-governmental group Public Eye found that some workers in factories from which Shin imports work 11 to 13 hours a day.

It is also being criticized for the accumulation of waste generated by cheap clothing.

"In addition, similar to TikTok, the rapid expansion of Xin and Teemo in the US has resulted in the collection of massive amounts of personal data from American consumers," Lu said.

TikTok is facing the possibility of being banned in the United States, under the pretext that the data it collects could threaten national security and that its algorithm poses a threat to mental health. During a hearing in the US Congress last month, the CEO of TikTok faced accusations that the app was a threat to America.

So far, Timo and Shin are still spared.

Georgia Institute of Technology professor Milton Mueller played down the risk of data sharing and said that "a company's nationality is a non-essential and nationalistic criterion" in assessing security threats.

A paper Mueller co-authored and published in January concluded: "Data collected by TikTok can only be of espionage value if it comes from users closely associated with jobs with the national security services and who use the app in ways that reveal sensitive information."

The study confirmed that "these risks arise from the use of any social media application."

Meanwhile, the vast majority of American consumers ignore rumored security concerns.

Wolf said she uses a VPN and pays through PayPal. "Because I take precautions, I'm not worried," she explained.

A Beijing court has sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers, one of whom previously called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to step down, to more than 10 years in prison, a rights group and the wife of one of them said Monday.

Convicted of "subverting state power" after closed trials, Xu Ziyong and Ding Jiashi were both activists in the "New Citizens" rights movement, which called for constitutional reforms and criticized government corruption.

Xu, who called on the Chinese president to step down over his management of the COVID-19 outbreak, was sentenced to 14 years in prison after a closed trial in Shandong Province (east), Human Rights Watch said.

As for Ding, he was sentenced to "12 years in prison and deprived of his political rights for three years," his wife, Luo Shengchun, told AFP, referring to a punishment in China that bars convicts from holding public office.

A court official declined to confirm the rulings to AFP.

Rights groups say civil liberties and freedom of expression declined during Xi Jinping's rule 10 years ago.
"The draconian convictions and sentences handed down on Xu Ziyong and Ding Jiashi show President Xi Jinping's endless hostility to peaceful activism," said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch noted that the trials of Xu and Ding "were marred by procedural problems and complaints of ill-treatment."

Deng was detained in December 2019 after participating in a secret meeting with human rights activists and lawyers, including Xu, in Fujian Province (southeast).

His wife expressed her "extreme concern" that he had been tortured during his detention.

Former law professor Xu was detained in February 2020 after posting a series of blog posts criticizing Xi for his harsh approach to managing crises, including the COVID-19 outbreak and pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.

He had previously spent four years in prison after demanding that public sector employees declare their personal property.

Observers regularly raise concerns about due process in China, where the conviction rate in courts is nearly 99%.

On Monday afternoon, an Israeli settler died of her wounds sustained in the shooting attack that took place in the Jordan Valley last Friday.

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, with the death of the settlement, the death toll has risen to 3.

The settlement whose death was announced is the mother of the two dead women in the same operation.

Today, Monday, large Palestinian crowds mourned the body of the martyr Muhammad Fayez Bilhan (15 years old), who was killed by the Israeli occupation bullets in Aqabat Jaber camp , south of Jericho .

Hundreds of people mourned the body of the martyr Bilhan, carried on their shoulders, in a march that started in front of Ariha Governmental Hospital, after his family gave him a farewell look, to his hometown in Aqabat Jaber camp, and prayers for him in the Abbasiya mosque in the camp, and his burial in the camp cemetery.

During the funeral, the mourners chanted angry expressions, denouncing the occupation's crimes against our people.

One of the leaked Pentagon documents , which appeared online as part of a set of leaks, showed how many NATO special operations forces are inside Ukraine , according to The Guardian.

According to the newspaper: "One of the slides indicated that a small contingent of less than a hundred special operations personnel from NATO members France, America, Britain and Latvia, was actually active in Ukraine."

According to a copy of the document circulated on Twitter, whose authenticity has not been verified, there are 97 NATO special operations soldiers inside Ukraine, including 14 Americans.

On Saturday, the French government denied the presence of its forces inside Ukraine. There are no French forces operating in Ukraine. The documents mentioned do not come from the French armies. "We do not comment on documents of uncertain origin," said a spokesman for the French Armed Forces minister.

Last Thursday, The New York Times first raised the issue of the leaked documents, which appeared online. The documents show the US is planning a Ukrainian counterattack and appear to be authentic as the Biden administration scrambled and the Justice Department launched an investigation into the leak.

A new trove of documents emerged on Friday that extend beyond Ukraine's borders and include reports on China, North Korea, Iran, Israel and other regions around the world. According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon restricted the flow of intelligence in response. A US official said the move "revealed a high level of panic among the Pentagon leadership".

The Washington Post report said the slide, which showed fewer Russian casualties than Ukrainians, appeared to have changed. But there was no indication that other documents, which would include the slide that showed the number of special operations forces in Ukraine, had been amended.

Western media reported earlier about the presence of NATO special operations forces in Ukraine. The Intercept reported last October that there were US special operations forces on the ground, and in June 2022 the New York Times reported that there were a few dozen commandos from Britain, France, Canada and Lithuania.

Earlier in January, an anonymous member of a chat group with just over 10 members posted files containing US military documents classified as "secret" and "top secret."

The Wall Street Journal said, in an extensive report on these military documents, that "it seemed that no one in the outside world had noticed" when the documents were leaked for the first time.

According to the newspaper, the documents - which appear to be in the hundreds - remained until early March among members of the small group on the "Discord" messaging platform, a social networking platform for chatting.

And in early March, another user re-posted dozens of those documents in another group with a larger audience, before it spread among the Minecraft community.

On Wednesday (April 5), a Russian propaganda account on Telegram published a "grossly fake" copy of one of the documents, along with a few other unedited documents, according to the same newspaper.

Officials said the intelligence leak represents one of the most damaging leaks in decades and is seen as one of the most serious security breaches after the 2013 WikiLeaks leaks, which included more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables.

US officials said Saturday that the United States is considering a range of possibilities for how the leak occurred, including that someone with a top-secret security clearance leaked information or hacked US intelligence systems.

The Vernon Hollingsworth family has been growing oranges for more than 150 years, and their farm in East Florida has been a source of both pride and anxiety since Hurricane Ian devastated their crops last September.

On a March morning, the 62-year-old farmer traverses his fields in his truck, pointing to sporadic damage caused by the storm.

"I have lost most of my crops," he says. "We will have to replant, but we need help to do that."

Hurricane Ian is the latest hit to crops of this famous fruit in Florida, where it is a major symbol that appears even on car registration plates.

The state, located in the southeast of the United States, occupies the second place in the world for the most important regions exporting orange juice , after Brazil, but it has been fighting for seventeen years another pest, the Asian citrus greening disease (HLB).

This bacterium is transmitted by an insect of the phylloxera species, which causes infected trees to turn green, making them unusable, and in most cases leading to their death within a few years.

Disease and damage from Hurricane Ian have hit the whole sector hard: production this year is expected to reach 16.1 million cages (each weighing 41 kilograms), a 60% decrease compared to last year's crop.

Florida is currently experiencing one of its worst harvests since the 1930s, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

A study conducted by the University of Florida estimated the losses incurred by the agricultural sector in the state as a result of Hurricane Ian at $1.03 billion, including $247.1 million in the citrus sector alone.
To make matters worse for Hollingsworth, the season was looking promising before the arrival of Hurricane Ian.
He had just treated his trees with an antibacterial treatment recommended by the authorities in order to fight the Asian citrus greening disease.
And the American farmer says, "With the new treatment, it became clear to me that the orange trees can bloom and the fruits grow normally. We were in this situation when the hurricane hit. And it happened at the worst stage to citrus in Florida."

And now his farm, which employs about fifty full-time employees, in addition to seasonal workers, faces complex months ahead.

Normally, the income from the year's harvest is used to finance the next harvest. But this year, his crops made little money, and the insurance did not cover the damage in full.

In addition, each replanted tree will take four years to produce its first fruits.

"This is really hard. I'm trying to do the best I can, but it would be great to get help" from the state of Florida or the federal government, "we really need it," Vernon Holligsworth said.

The Florida Citrus Agency, which regulates the sector, is studying how to help producers who must replant, says Marisa Zansler, who heads the agency's economic research division.

This initiative is key to supporting a $6.9 billion industry in Florida alone that employs 32,500 people.
Pending the implementation of this assistance, the price of orange juice has risen in American stores, and Brazil is taking advantage of this situation.

The giant South American country exported 240,000 tons of oranges to the United States in the last quarter, up 82% in one year, according to official data.

But on his farm, Hollingsworth did not lose hope, and he is even convinced that if he succeeds in withstanding the current crisis, the future looks bright, especially with treatments against Asian citrus greening bacteria.

In any case, "I have to go on, I don't know any other trade," says Hollingsworth.

Today, Monday, the Captive Club said, "100 cases of arrest were recorded in Jericho governorate since the beginning of this year, and they concentrated in Aqabat Jaber camp , which is witnessing an escalating confrontation with the Israeli occupation , and among the detainees were 10 children."

In a brief statement, the club confirmed that (32) of them are still under arrest, and part of them are under investigation to date, and that a group of them have been issued orders banning them from meeting with a lawyer.

Among the detainees were first-degree relatives of the martyrs, including the administrative detainee Wael Awadat (51 years old), who is the father of the two martyrs, Raafat and Ibrahim, and the father of the prisoner, Abdel Hafez Awadat.

The club added, "The occupation authorities transferred 15 of them to administrative detention, including Wael Awadat."

He stated that the majority of those arrested were subjected to abuse, threats, and torture, which affected their families, in addition to the repeated storming of citizens' homes, and the use of all kinds of weapons.

The club confirmed that, through testimonies and follow-up, the policy of (collective punishment) was the most prominent policy that the occupation authorities deliberately used against citizens in Jericho, specifically in Aqabat Jaber camp, which has been subjected to more than one aggression since the beginning of this year.

The official spokesman for the presidency , Nabil Abu Rudeineh , said, "The invasion of our lands by settler militias, led by ministers from the Israeli occupation government, does not change the fact that it is Palestinian land and will remain so, and that this invasion, which comes by force of arms, does not create a right."

Abu Rudeineh added: "This invasion, which is accompanied by the daily killing of our people, the last of which was the martyrdom of the child Muhammad Fayez Nabhan (15 years old), and the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, pushes matters towards an explosion, which no one will ever be able to control."

Abu Rudeineh held the Israeli occupation authorities responsible for these serious attacks and escalating provocations, which confirm Israel's endeavor to drag the region into the square of violence and unrest.

And he stressed that all settlements are illegal on the land of the State of Palestine, and that all these crimes and attacks will not legitimize it, and its fate will be annihilated, as is the occupation.

Abu Rudeineh stressed that the silence of the American administration encouraged the occupation to continue its crimes against our people, calling for immediate and rapid intervention to stop this madness, for which the whole region will pay the price.

Total Swiss exports to Russia fell only slightly despite the sanctions imposed by Bern, while exports of medicines rose to record levels, according to a report published Sunday.

Switzerland imposed sanctions on Russia within the framework of the ten strict measures imposed on it by the European Union since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The New Zurich Zeitung am Sonntag newspaper said, after analyzing the figures issued by the Federal Office of Customs and Border Security, that despite the suspension of Swiss trade with Russia in many key sectors, especially machinery and watches, pharmaceutical exports recorded a record high.

Medicines are considered humanitarian goods and are exempt from penalties.

Switzerland exported goods worth 2.9 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion) to Russia between March 2022 and February 2023.

The newspaper added that the value of exports declined from 3.5 billion Swiss francs recorded in the previous twelve months, but the value of exports exceeded the threshold of 2.9 billion francs only three times in recent years.
"Looking at the long list of goods that can no longer be shipped to the country at war, the impact seems very small," the newspaper added.

Pharmaceutical exports have risen by about 40%, from around CHF1.4 billion to around CHF2 billion since the invasion - and now make up about a third of all Swiss exports to Russia.

Switzerland is home to many large pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis and Roche.

"Sales in Russia were driven by a number of factors, including the influx of patients who postponed medical treatment due to the epidemic," the newspaper quoted Novartis as saying.

The company added regarding the war that "one of the factors was the resort of patients and hospitals to form stocks in anticipation of possible difficulties in obtaining medicines."

Despite respecting EU sanctions against Russia, landlocked Switzerland's military position is neutral.
But the issue has been hotly debated since the return of all-out war to Europe.

Despite pressure from Kiev and its allies, Switzerland has so far refused to allow countries that possess Swiss-made weapons to re-export them to Ukraine.

Tesla , the American automaker, announced last Sunday that it will build a new huge factory in Shanghai, which will be dedicated to the manufacture of the company's energy storage batteries, which bear the name "Megapac".

Tesla said at the signing ceremony for the project in Shanghai that it is planned to start building the new factory in the third quarter of this year and launch production work in the second quarter of 2024.

The new plant will initially produce 10,000 units of Megapack batteries each year, which equates to about 40 gigawatt-hours of stored energy. The products will be sold all over the world.

The new factory will be located in the Lin-gang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The construction of the plant is expected to create another industrial park, valued at more than 100 billion yuan (14.6 billion US dollars), said Lu Yue, an official with the Lingang Special District Administration.

Zhuang Mudi, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, said the project will help stimulate the development of new energy storage industry and the green and low-carbon transformation of Shanghai.

In January 2019, Tesla began construction of its Shanghai Gigafactory, becoming the first company to benefit from the new policy allowing foreign automakers to establish wholly-owned subsidiaries in China.

As Tesla's first large-scale plant outside the United States, the plant delivered 710,000 vehicles in 2022, up 48 percent from 2021. The plant has become Tesla's primary vehicle export hub, with electric vehicles selling well in Asia Pacific, Europe, and more. from regions.

Since 2019, Tesla has been increasing its investment in Lingang, expanding the production capacity of the Shanghai factory and building more facilities, including a supercharger manufacturing plant.

Tao Lin, vice president of Tesla, said that thanks to the superior business environment in Shanghai and Lingang Special District, Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory has an industrial chain localization rate of more than 95 percent.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank begin their spring meetings Thursday, two days after the release of global growth forecasts on Tuesday, in light of a charged atmosphere between the need for reforms, successive crises and an economic slowdown.

The publication of the revised outlook for the global economy on Tuesday will be the informal starting point for the meetings held by the two financial institutions at their headquarters in Washington, but IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has already hinted at the prevailing trend, with expected global growth below 3%.

Such an indicator does not include anything new, as the International Monetary Fund expected, in the latest revised figures issued in January, a growth of 2.9 percent.

However, what is new is that this trend may continue for a while, as the Fund expects global growth of no more than 3% at an annual rate until 2028, which reflects, according to Georgieva, "the weakest forecast we have issued in the medium term since 1990."

At the end of March, the World Bank was more pessimistic, as it predicted an annual global growth rate of 2.2% until 2030, which would make this period the weakest decade in terms of growth in more than forty years.

This reflects a significant slowdown at a time when the world is facing an unprecedented series of challenges, ranging from the repercussions of climate warming to the risks of global trade fragmentation and the possibility of a generalized debt crisis.

Faced with these problems, a number of countries, led by the United States, are increasingly calling for reform of international financial institutions.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed in an interview with Agence France-Presse that she "hopes to reform the tasks" of these institutions, especially the World Bank and its branches, so that "resilience to climate change, epidemics and conflicts" is included in their core.

Yellen added, "We hope to carry out other reforms during the rest of the year. This will be among the talks during the upcoming meetings of the International Monetary Fund, as well as during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Morocco" next October.

It is assumed that this development will begin with the regional investment banks and the World Bank under the administration of its next president, who is expected to be the American candidate, Ajay Banga, the only candidate for this position.
However, development should take place quickly, as Georgieva reminded that the environmental transformation of emerging and low-income countries will require a minimum of $1,000 billion per year in the coming years, an amount that international financial institutions currently do not have sufficient resources to provide.

And she stressed that it was imperative for "our wealthier members to help fill the gaps" in terms of fundraising, at a time when Banga intends to incentivize the private sector to join this effort after he takes office.

These topics will be among the main points of discussion during the spring meetings, provided that a first series of announcements will be issued on this occasion, especially related to the lending capabilities of the World Bank and its branches, Yellen told AFP.

However, this will not prevent the international financial institutions from raising a number of other points, foremost of which is the risk of destabilizing the financial sector if central banks increase interest rates additionally in the context of combating inflation.

On Thursday, Georgieva stressed that central banks should continue their efforts in this regard, stressing that they should "give priority to combating inflation, and then support financial stability through various tools."

Likewise, raising interest rates will increase the risks of a debt crisis in an increasing number of low-income countries, and the Director-General indicated that 15% of these countries suffer from a debt crisis, while 40% of other countries are close to this possibility.

To face such a situation, international financial institutions need more resources, which their managements will try to confirm to representatives of countries in the coming days, in order to avoid a more difficult economic environment.

China announced Monday that it had "successfully completed" its military exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan , which lasted for three days, during which it simulated "encircling" the island.

And the Eastern Command of the Chinese army stated in a post on social media, "From April 8th to the tenth of it, the Eastern Command successfully completed various tasks within the framework of war readiness patrols in the vicinity of Taiwan and within the framework of joint sword exercises, and it fully tested the integrated joint combat capabilities." of various military branches in actual combat conditions.

The Kremlin fully supported the military maneuvers that China is conducting in the vicinity of Taiwan, considering that Beijing is being subjected to "provocations" by the United States, which supports the island.

"China has the sovereign right to act in response to these provocative actions, in particular by conducting maneuvers," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Today, Monday, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh affirmed that the government will do everything within its legal powers to complete the educational process, calling on teachers to return to work.

At the beginning of the weekly government session, Shtayyeh said, "Yesterday and today, more than 2,500 male and female teachers returned to work, since the government responded positively to their demands."

Shtayyeh expressed his hope that the financial crisis would have ended by the end of the year, enabling us to complete the disbursement of dues, allowances, etc., and we will continue our struggle for all our rights, including financial ones, and to stop the unfair deductions made by the occupying power.

In another context, Shtayyeh held the Israeli government fully responsible for everything that is happening here and in the entire region.

Shtayyeh called on the world to hold the Israeli government accountable for its repeated crimes on a daily basis, the latest of which was the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque, the march of ministers and members of Knesset in support of settlement, incursions and programmed killing, and the martyrdom of the child Muhammad Fayez Bilhan in Aqabat Jaber camp during his storming this morning.

He added: "The assault on the worshipers and those in i'tikaaf, and the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque with the rugs of their soldiers, should not pass easily and without accountability. I salute our steadfast people in Jerusalem and the defenders of the sanctities, and the intense presence in Al-Aqsa Mosque is the guarantor of preventing the temporal and spatial division that Israel wants."

In addition to the educational process, the Council of Ministers discusses the development plan for the coming years, information security, and infrastructure projects for the Energy Authority and the Ministry of Education.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos confirmed on Monday that his country would not allow any "offensive actions" from the bases that he made available to US forces.

Last week, Manila identified four additional military bases that the United States could use, one near the disputed South China Sea and another not far from Taiwan.

Washington and Manila have been allies for decades and are linked by a 2014 defense treaty known as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. This treaty allows US forces to use five Philippine bases and store military equipment and materials there.
The number of these bases was increased to nine in February, but without specifying the locations of the four additional ones.

China warned last week that "the strengthening of (US forces) deployment in the region" would "inevitably lead to an increase in military tension and threaten regional peace and stability."

Marcos said Monday that China's reaction was "not surprising," but reassured Beijing that Manila was only working to bolster its territorial defense.

"We will not allow our bases to be used for any offensive actions. This is only intended to help the Philippines when we need help," he told reporters.

"If no one attacks us, they don't need to worry because we won't fight them," he added.

The United States seeks to strengthen its relations with Manila, after it has witnessed tension in recent years. Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte preferred cooperation with China at the expense of Washington, the former colonizer of the Philippines.

But the new Philippine government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants to strengthen its partnership with Washington, spurred on by Beijing's claims over Taiwan and the establishment of Chinese bases in the South China Sea.

Marcos' comments came in the wake of the third day of China's war games around Taiwan Monday, as it simulated a "full encirclement" of the self-ruled island.

The Chinese maneuvers, which began on Saturday, came as a protest against a meeting Wednesday in California with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Last month, the Directorate of Precious Metals at the Ministry of National Economy stamped about a ton of gold (0.953 kg), while its revenues from the process of stamping gold jewelry that bears the Palestinian hallmark “The Dome of the Rock” amounted to approximately 1.11 million shekels.

The Ministry of Economy stated in a statement today, Monday, that the average price of an ounce of gold reached (1970) dollars last month, an increase of 2% compared to the same month of last year, at (1947) dollars.

Last year, the directorate stamped about 17.75 tons of gold, an increase of 93% from the average, compared to the previous five years, while the total revenues collected as a result of the stamping process amounted to 17.77 million shekels.

The Precious Metals Directorate annually stamps about 10 tons of gold jewelry, while around 577 factories, workshops, and shops work in the manufacture and sale of precious metals, employing 3,000 manufacturers and merchants, and are subject to the supervision and inspection teams of the Precious Metals Directorate.

The Directorate called on citizens to obtain an invoice containing details of the item, caliber, weight, statement, price of the item, total price, currency, and the name of the business when buying gold, and to verify the Palestinian stamp on the jewelry, in addition to the type of jewelry industry (local or foreign).

Today, Monday, the child Muhammad Fayez Bilhan (15 years old) was killed, and two civilians were injured during the Israeli occupation forces’ raid on Aqabat Jaber camp in Jericho .

According to the Ministry of Health, the child, Bilhan, was killed by live bullets in the head, chest, and abdomen, while two civilians were wounded by live bullets in the lower extremities.

The number of martyrs since the beginning of the year has risen to 96.

Large forces of the occupation army surrounded a number of houses in the camp, which led to clashes.

Those forces imposed a tight security cordon around the area.

Today, Monday, an Israeli officer and soldier were injured during the Israeli occupation forces’ raid on Al-Ain camp in Nablus .

The occupation army confirmed that the officer and the soldier were slightly wounded by shrapnel from the local explosive devices that were fired at them.

Large forces of the occupation army stormed the Al-Ain camp at dawn today, amid violent armed clashes in the camp, and the throwing of homemade explosive devices, "albows".

A young man was shot, after midnight last night, during clashes with the Israeli occupation forces in Al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem .

According to local sources, a young man was wounded by rubber-coated metal bullets in the hand, during the clashes that centered in the "al-Tal" area, after which he was transferred to a hospital.

The United States is working to assess any risks to its national security that may arise from the leaking of classified documents , especially related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the US Department of Defense announced Sunday.

This leak of classified documents, revealed by the New York Times last week, not only includes reports and documents related to the conflict in Ukraine, but also relates to very sensitive analyzes about the allies of the United States.

"Interagency collaboration has begun to assess the national security impact (leak) of these video documents and our allies and partners," said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.

According to US media analysis, these leaks may be beneficial to Moscow, as these documents show the extent to which US intelligence services have penetrated certain parts of the Russian military apparatus.

The US Department of Justice, which opened an investigation on Saturday, is trying to determine the source of the leaks and is still examining the validity of the published documents.

The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that some of these documents were forged. But most of them are original and consistent with CIA reports circulating in the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department, according to the same source.

Some of them contain information related to the internal discussions of governments allied with the United States. For example, one document highlighted government discussions in South Korea about the possibility of supplying Ukraine with American artillery shells, according to The New York Times.

Twenty-four hours after an explosion brought down a four-storey building in Marseille , southern France , rescue services have found the first two bodies of eight people suspected of missing in the rubble.

The firefighters said in a statement shortly after dawn on Monday that "two bodies" had been found, but "given the difficulties... it will take time to recover (the bodies from the site)."

"Tonight, the sorrow and the pain are great," Marseille Mayor Benoit Payen said in a statement, adding, "We continue to do everything we can to complete the rescue operations."

The collapse of the building in the coastal city of Marseille injured at least five people, and there are still people missing, but a fire is hampering rescue efforts.

After a large explosion on Saturday night, Building No. 17 on Tivoli Street in a neighborhood famous for its cafes and restaurants in Marseille collapsed, and two adjacent buildings were damaged, one of which collapsed hours after the accident, while the second was about to fall.

Before the bodies were found, the Marseille public prosecutor, Dominique Lawrence, said, "We have eight people who are not responding in building number 17 on avenue Tivoli and at the level of the garden that connects buildings 15 and 17 (...) we have no news."

For their part, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan and the city's mayor, Benoit Bayan, said that five people residing in buildings close to Building 17 were injured, but their conditions are stable.

"The eight people you spoke about told us their relatives and families that there is no news about them," Lawrence added.

Rescue teams have been searching for hours, and firefighting teams are racing against time to put out a fire under the rubble that prevents trained dogs from searching for possible survivors.

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "sadness" over this tragedy.

An AFP photographer from a tall building in the neighborhood on Sunday evening saw smoke continuing to billow near the ruins.

Earlier, Darmanan, who came to the site to support the residents and about a hundred firefighters during their work, announced the presence of four people under the rubble "for sure," and added that "there could be about ten people."

Lawrence indicated that "it is still impossible at this time to determine the causes of the explosion," which led to the collapse of the four-storey building.

She added that "gas is of course one of the possible possibilities" and may have caused the explosion, which was recorded by surveillance cameras at 00:46 (22:46 GMT).

Witness Aziz told AFP that when the explosion occurred, "everything shook and we saw people running and smoke everywhere, then the building collapsed in the street."

"We soon smelled a strong smell of gas, which we kept smelling this morning," said Savera Mosnier, who lives in a nearby street, to AFP.

The official in charge of security in the municipality of Marseille, Yannick Ohannesian, said that a number of witnesses spoke of "their suspicion of inhaling gas odors."
About 30 precautionary buildings have been evacuated, including 186 people or 90 families in four streets, according to Housing Minister Olivier Clain, who is visiting Marseille on Monday.

In November 2018, eight people were killed in the collapse of two buildings in another area of Marseille. These buildings were dangerously dilapidated in a city where 40,000 people live in slums, according to NGOs.

But the mayor seems unlikely that the building that collapsed on Sunday is dilapidated in a neighborhood known for its restaurants, bars and nightlife.

He said, "As far as I know, there are no special problems with this building. We are not facing the case of a street that includes unhealthy housing."

Today, Monday, settlers stormed the Suleiman Pools tourist area, south of Bethlehem , for the second day in a row.

According to local sources, a large number of settlers stormed the Suleiman Pools area under the protection of the occupation forces, and performed Talmudic rituals in the place.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" topped the North American box office over the Easter weekend, in perhaps one of the best performances for films released this year.

The animated film, which was produced by "Universal", "Nintendo" and "Ilumination" studios, generated revenues of $ 146 million in its first weekend, according to preliminary figures released by the specialized "Experience Relations" company Sunday.

Franchise Entertainment Research analyst David A. Gross noted that the film's results in theaters in the United States and Canada are "amazing."

Gorse considered that what the work achieved represents the best start for the first part of an animated movie, which constitutes a success due to the fact that the work attracts different age groups, from children to adults who feel nostalgic towards one of the most famous characters in the history of video games.

And second in the ranking was the movie “John Wick: Chapter 4”, in which Keanu Reeves plays the role of a professional killer fighting an international criminal group, achieving $ 14.6 million, in a result that shows a significant difference from what the Mario movie achieved.

The movie "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves", which was at the top of the box office last week, fell to third place. The film, which stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant and Reggie-Jean Page, grossed $14.5 million.

The fourth place went to the movie “R”, directed by Ben Affleck, which deals with the history of the “Nike” sports brand and the role of the famous American basketball player Michael Jordan in launching this brand, with revenues amounting to 14.4 million dollars, which David Gross described as “very good.” for a movie of this kind.

Fifthly, "Scream 6", starring Courteney Cox and "Wednesday" star Gina Ortega, came in with revenues of $3.3 million.

Here are the remaining films in the top ten rankings at the North American box office this week:
6. He's Only Sun ($3.3 million)
7- "Creed 3" ($2.8 million).
8. "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" ($1.6 million)
9- “Paint” ($750,000).
10- “A Thousand and One” ($600,000).

The US Navy announced that the destroyer "Milius", which carries guided missiles, sailed Monday in the waters of the South China Sea , which Beijing claims sovereignty over, at a time when the Chinese army is conducting maneuvers around Taiwan .

"This freedom of navigation operation respected the rights, liberties, and lawful use of the sea," the US Navy said in a statement, adding that the ship passed near the Spratly Islands.

About 1,300 kilometers from here, Chinese fighters and warships are conducting three-day maneuvers in the vicinity of Taiwan, including simulated raids on the island.

The maneuvers came after a meeting last week in California with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

These maneuvers raise condemnation from Taipei and calls for calm on the part of Washington, which said it was "monitoring Beijing's actions closely."

Beijing said Monday that Chinese fighter jets carrying "live ammunition" had conducted "simulated strikes" near Taiwan and that the Chinese aircraft carrier "Shandong" was taking part in the maneuvers, which entered their third day.

China also said the maneuvers included a simulated "collar strike" on Taiwan.

On Monday morning, hundreds of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque , under the strict protection of the occupation police.

More than 1,500 settlers made provocative tours of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and performed Talmudic rituals.

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

The Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of raids and arrests in separate areas of the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem .

Large forces of the occupation army stormed, at dawn on Monday, the city of Nablus, and arrested the editor, Abdul Rahman Akouba, from the Northern Mountain area in Nablus.

They also stormed Al-Ain camp, amid violent armed clashes in the camp, and threw homemade explosive devices "Al-Akwa".

According to the Red Crescent, two young men were wounded by shrapnel, and field treatment was provided to them. A slight fall and 10 suffocation injuries were recorded.

In Hebron, the occupation forces stormed the town of Beit Ummar, north of the governorate, and arrested the young man, Musab Khalil, from his family's home, after thoroughly searching it.

The occupation forces also stormed the town of Kafr Nima, west of Ramallah.

Other forces stormed the Shuafat refugee camp, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, and searched a number of homes.

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said, on Monday, that the so-called Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir , and his ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich , discovered after the last cabinet session that was held a few days ago in light of the state of security tension, that these meetings do not serve them politically.

According to the newspaper, Benjamin Netanyahu tried for months not to convene the Cabinet for reasons that may relate to the fact that a group of his ministers do not have security experience, including Ben Gvir and Smotrich, but in light of the recent conditions he was forced to do so, and decisions were taken that apparently did not suit the political campaign of the two extremist ministers.

Ben Gvir, along with Smotrich, was criticized from the right for their role in what was described as "very moderate" decisions issued by the cabinet, and their commitment to secrecy emanating from the meeting made it difficult for them to speak publicly about the cabinet's decisions.

After the operation that took place in the Jordan Valley , Ben Gvir came out trying to defend his position, expressing his frustration, and wrote on Facebook: "It is clear that I often find myself frustrated with certain decisions... I cannot talk about what is happening in the inner chambers of the Council of Ministers and security consultations. Unfortunately, I do not determine the security policy of the government.. My positions have not changed, and I believe that deterrence cannot be achieved through containment.

Smotrich also expressed his feelings regarding his failure to implement the policy he pledged to promote during the election campaign, writing in an internal WhatsApp group, "I try very hard to be sincere and not attack the government of which I am a member, but it simply cannot go on like this." ".

After the operation in the Jordan Valley, Smotrich criticized the fact that the cabinet to which he belongs did not order the closure of the exits from Nablus.

Despite the criticism, the two ministers made it clear that they did not intend to overthrow the current government, and on the political level there were those who estimated that their public criticism was a move aimed mainly at dispelling anger against them in the ranks of the right. As the paper says.

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said today, Monday, that the Israeli police could have refrained from storming the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacking the worshipers, which pushed the situation to security tension and the firing of rockets from more than one front.

The newspaper referred to the passage of the past two days with relative calm in the Al-Aqsa Mosque after it stopped storming at night and attacking Palestinian worshipers in it, noting that it was possible to act in a similar way last week and avoid storming the mosque.

Officers in the Israeli police claimed that the raid was aimed at preventing Palestinians from hurling pilgrims and throwing the firecrackers they brought into the mosque, while in the past two days no similar tools were entered, while in the Islamic Waqf there is a conviction that until last week it was possible to prevent the break-in. And reach a truce without entering into a violent conflict. As the paper says.

And the newspaper adds: “As with any “what if” question, there is no definitive answer to this dilemma, but after the recent events, the citizens of Israel have the right to know who decided to storm the mosque, and did he take into account all the risks and consult all the relevant authorities, and whether The fact that the Ministry of National Security is headed by a person (Ben Gvir) who appears unfit for the position influenced this set of considerations."

The newspaper pointed out that today will begin the first of the last ten nights of Ramadan, which will be particularly sensitive, noting that the Israeli government must decide whether it will respect the status quo by stopping the storming of the mosque during these days, or prefer to expose Israelis and Palestinians to danger. In order to try to show its sovereignty and a small group of "Temple activists" over Al-Aqsa.

In another report, the same newspaper said that Al-Aqsa Mosque, as it was clear and expected for the Israeli government and the security establishment, is at the heart of the current escalation, stressing that caution could have been taken when storming it, especially the use of violence against worshipers, especially since what was published of video clips was clear that It will cause an escalation of the situation, which resulted in the firing of rockets from every front, and the implementation of shooting operations in the West Bank.

The newspaper indicates that in the previous government in 2022, the behavior was different and there was great care to neutralize the state of tension, especially in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and therefore there were no storming of the mosque and attacking the worshipers, and political steps were taken towards the relationship with the United States and the Arab countries and an attempt to strengthen the Palestinian Authority, Ramadan passed relatively quietly.

And the newspaper says: “This time the situation is different, in the office of the Minister of National Security sits a clown preoccupied with provocations on Twitter and every time he interferes in what is happening under his leadership the situation gets worse, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is busy with a hundred other problems most of which are of his own making, and perhaps most of all In recent months, the government removed seat belts when relations with the United States, Jordan, and the Gulf states soured due to security tensions in the past months in the West Bank, and internal crises.. It can be said that when there is no one to help calm the situation, it is difficult to stop escalation in Jerusalem.