ترجمة خاصة بــ”القدس” دوت كوم- قال يسرائيل كاتس عضو الكنيست عن حزب الليكود، مساء اليوم السبت، إنه كان بإمكانه تشكيل حكومة قبل أن يتم نقل التفويض إلى يائير لابيد لتشكيلها.

ووجه كاتس خلال مقابلة مع قناة 12 العبرية، انتقادات لزعيم حزبه بنيامين نتنياهو، الذي قال إنه فضل ترشيح رئيس وزراء حزب صغير (بالإشارة لنفتالي بينيت) بدلاً من أحد أعضاء الليكود لتشكيل الحكومة.

واعتبر أن نتنياهو أخطأ في موقفه بعدم تركه بتشكيل حكومة يمينية، مشيراً إلى أنه كان بإمكانه أن ينجح في ذلك وتكون حكومة واسعة النطاق، على أنه بعد عام يمكن تحويلها لحكومة طوارئ وأنه حينها يمكن لنتنياهو أن يقودها لكنه قرر الدخول في المعارضة.

وقال كاتس “نتنياهو جلب 30 مقعدًا لليكود، وهناك دعماً شعبياً واسع واضح لنا، ولكن في لحظات معينة يجب إجراء تحليلاً واقعياً، كان يمكن أن يعرض على شخص من الليكود لتشكيل الحكومة”.

وأكد القطب الكبير في الليكود، أن حزبه لن يستسلم حتى استبدال الحكومة الحالية، قائلًا “سنوصلهم إلى طريق مسدود، لا يملك بينيت عصا التحكم التي يحتاجها كرئيس وزراء”.

وأشار كاتس إلى أنه في حال قرر نتنياهو ترك قيادة الليكود فسينوي الترشح لقيادة الحزب.

Paris, (AFP) - Iran is witnessing a security campaign punctuated by executions in unprecedented numbers for years, mass arrests of opponents of the regime, some of which targeted a number of the most prominent film directors, and trials of foreign citizens that were denounced by their families as sham.

And it seems that none of the segments of society was spared from the grip of the authorities, according to activists, as the campaign affected activists in labor unions and others who oppose forcing women to wear the veil, as well as followers of religious minorities.

This coincides with the passage of a year since President Ibrahim Raisi, the former head of the judiciary, who is considered a hardline conservative, assumed power to succeed Hassan Rouhani, who is considered more moderate.

Raisi and the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are grappling with an economic crisis that has come with a string of disasters, including a fatal building collapse in Abadan in May that sparked infrequent demonstrations.

Most of the economic problems are due to the sanctions imposed on Iran to push it to curb its nuclear program. However, there are no indications so far that the international powers and the Iranian authorities are close to achieving a breakthrough in the negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

Ali Fathallah Nejad, an Iranian affairs expert at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs and the American University of Beirut, said, "The current security crackdown is closely linked to the escalation of protests in Iran."

He pointed out that the protests that took place across the country in December 2017 and November 2019 left their mark on the Iranian leadership. While it was primarily driven by social and economic conditions, it "soon turned political and targeted the entire (ruling) establishment."

"The popular demonstrations still pose a threat to the regime's stability," he told AFP.

The significant increase in the number of executions was remarkable, as Iran executed twice as many people in the first half of 2022 as it executed in the previous year, according to Iran Human Rights, a non-governmental organization based in Norway. The organization recorded 318 executions by hanging this year.

Amnesty International said that Iran is witnessing an "execution spree", as hangings are now proceeding at a "terrifying pace".

The Organization of Human Rights in Iran stated that the executions included ten women, three of whom were hanged in one day on July 27 after they were convicted of killing their husbands.

Meanwhile, Iran has also resumed cutting off the fingers of prisoners convicted of theft. Since May, at least two people have been subjected to this punishment, carried out with a specially designed guillotine in Evin Prison in Tehran, according to Amnesty.

On July 23, Iran carried out its first public execution in two years.

"The authorities are using large-scale executions to spread fear in society to prevent any new anti-government demonstrations," said Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam, director of Human Rights in Iran.

A growing movement inside and outside Iran uses the hashtag #edam_nakon, meaning "stop the execution", calling for an end to the use of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic, which executes more people annually than any country in the world except China.

Director Muhammad Rasoul Af was among the most prominent figures calling for stopping the executions. His poignant anti-death penalty film "The Devil Does Not Exist" won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.

However, the arrest of Rasoul Af was stopped in early July after he published, with a group of directors and actors, an open letter in late May urging the security forces to lay down their weapons "in the face of the protests."

And then the director, who won several international awards, Jaafar Panahi, who remained for years unable to leave Iran, was arrested when he went two days later to ask about the whereabouts of Rasoul Af and was told that he had to serve a six-year prison sentence previously issued against him.

They join other well-known dissidents behind bars, including human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, who rights groups fear is at risk due to health problems that prison authorities have failed to treat properly.

Likewise, the security campaign witnessed the arrest of a number of relatives of victims of the authorities’ violent repression of the November 2019 demonstrations, who called for justice for their family members.

"There is no reason to believe that the arrests are more than insidious steps to deter public anger at the government's widespread failures," said Tara Sepehrifar, Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, accusing the government of resorting to its "spontaneous repressive response to arrests." known opponents.

The past two months have also seen arrests of Baha'is, as part of what the international Baha'i community has described as "an escalating crisis in the Iranian government's systematic campaign" against the country's largest non-Muslim minority.

More than 20 foreign nationals or dual nationals remain under house arrest or stuck in Iran, according to the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, as part of a policy their families describe as hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West.

In July, Iran allowed German-Iranian citizen Nahid Taqawi to leave prison for treatment and released American-British-Iranian citizen Morad Tahbaz with an electronic ankle bracelet. But they are still not allowed to leave Iran, while a Polish and a Belgian citizen, as well as a Swede and two French nationals, are also imprisoned.

Among those imprisoned is German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd, who, according to his family, was kidnapped in the Gulf in July 2020 and now faces the death penalty in a trial that is expected to conclude in the coming weeks.

"This is a fabricated operation aimed at persecuting dissidents and journalists who use freedom of expression in the free world... Allowing this to happen is outrageous," his daughter, Ghazal Sharmahd, told AFP.

CAIRO - (Xinhua) - The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced today (Monday) the discovery of stone blocks from the era of King Khufu , east of Cairo.

The ministry said, in a statement, that the joint Egyptian-German archaeological mission operating in the Matareya (Heliopolis) area succeeded in uncovering granite stone blocks from the era of King Khufu in the Temple of the Sun, in addition to the foundations of the temple’s courtyard, which dates back to the era of the New Kingdom, and a number of statues and altars. During the completion of its excavations on the western side of the open museum with the obelisk of King Senusret the First in El Matareya.

Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, stressed the importance of this discovery, as it is the first time that antiquities from the era of King Khufu have been discovered in Ain Shams.

Waziri indicated that they may have been parts of an unknown building, or they may have been transferred from the Giza pyramids area to be used as building materials in the Ramesside era, which is the period when stones from historically older buildings were commonly used.

Dr. Ayman Ashmawy, Head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities and head of the mission from the Egyptian side, added that the mission also succeeded in uncovering some evidence of the early presence of this region, as many archaeological layers dating back to the Zero Dynasty (Naqada III period) were discovered. ), in addition to layers of pottery rubble, which indicates religious and ritual activity in the third millennium BC at the site.

Ashmawy indicated that there is evidence indicating a large presence during the era of the Third and Fourth Dynasties, as the mission found a piece of granite belonging to King Pepi I (2280 BC) with an inscription in relief of the Falcon Horus, pointing out that the mission will continue its excavation work to uncover more.

He noted that the base of a statue of King Amasis (Ahmose II) was also uncovered, in addition to many altars from the late era, on which sacrifices from the late era were offered.

Many parts of the statues in the form of the Sphinx were also revealed, which are evidence of the use and royal presence in the temple, as well as many additions from the era of a number of kings, including Kings Amenemhat II, Senusret III, Amenemhat III, Amenemhat V, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II and III, Horemheb, Ramses II, and King Seti II.

In turn, Dr. Dietrich Rau, head of the mission from the German side, explained that the mission also succeeded in uncovering parts of sarcophagi and altars from the era of kings Amenemhat IV, Sobekhotep IV, Seti I, Osorkon I, Tekelot I, and Psamtik I.

Rao added that a quartz sculptural model in the form of the Sphinx of King Amenhotep II and the base of a huge pink granite monkey statue of a baboon were also uncovered.

Managua (AFP) - A Nicaraguan court on Wednesday sentenced an opposition leader to ten years in prison for organizing protests against Daniel Ortega's government in 2018, his political movement announced.

The Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy said that a court in Managua had sentenced Yobranque Suazo to five years in prison after convicting him of "conspiring to undermine the unity of the country" and an additional five years for "dissemination of false news".

Suazo, 31, is from the southern city of Masaya, which witnessed the strongest anti-government protests in 2018.

The "Civil Alliance for Justice and Democracy," one of the opposition groups that emerged from the demonstrations, said that Suazo "was prosecuted and convicted without having committed any crime and without having any connection with criminal structures."

Suazo was released in 2019 under an amnesty issued by the government for hundreds of dissidents who participated in the protests, after mediation by the Catholic Church.

In May, he was arrested again and brought to justice.

He had stated a few days ago that the police had prevented parishioners from entering a Catholic church in Masaya, whose priest, Harvey Padilla, had spoken of harassment by the police.

On this occasion, the Bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Alvarez, stressed that the government intends to "stifle the voice of the Church" against injustice.

Suazo is one of 190 dissidents detained in Nicaragua, according to human rights groups.

Among those detained - in prison or under house arrest - are seven former presidential candidates who intended to run in the November 2021 elections that led to Ortega's re-election for a fourth consecutive term.

Ortega accused the imprisoned dissidents of "financing or seeking resources and support" from the Americans to destabilize the country in 2018.

The suppression of these demonstrations led to at least 355 deaths, according to figures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Ortega, the 76-year-old former rebel who has been in power since 2007, stated that the opponents, despite the amnesty issued in 2019, "continue to plot and bet on a new wave of terrorism" in order to "cancel" last year's elections.

The opposition trials began last February.

Since then, more than forty of them have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years for conspiracy and other crimes.

Paris - (AFP) - The artificial intelligence program "ChatGBT", which is able to write texts in response to simple questions, has spread widely in the world of education, prompting teachers to question the appropriateness of banning it or benefiting from it.

In mid-December, just weeks after the tool was made available by California startup OpenAI, eight Australian universities announced that they would adjust their exams, classifying students' use of AI as cheating.

In this context, students' exams will be "monitored" in 2023 by "increasing the use of paper and pen," said Vicky Thompson, president of the "Group of Eight (universities)" via a blog affiliated with The Australian newspaper.

Recently, after several media outlets reported on increased use of the tool by students around the world, encouraged especially by videos on TikTok, public schools in New York restricted access to ChatGBT on their networks.

Gina Lyle, a spokeswoman for the city's education department, told AFP that the tool "doesn't help develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are skills necessary for success academically and in life."

ChatGBT is a chatbot that has been "trained" by fumbling huge amounts of data gleaned from the Internet, and can "predict" the likely sequel to a text. However, due to the absence of human reasoning, this bot produces a remarkable mixture of correct answers and factual or logical errors that are somewhat difficult to detect.

It happens, for example, that the robot includes the whale shark among marine mammals, or mistakes the area of the countries of Central America, or “forgets” some historical events such as the Battle of Amiens in France in 1870, or fabricates references that do not exist in the original.

However, in the world of education, there are some voices calling for this innovation to be integrated into the teaching media.

Antonio Caselli, a professor at the Polytechnic Institute in Paris and author of a book entitled "Waiting for the Robots" ("Waiting for the Robots"), told AFP that "ChatGPT" is an innovation "important, but not more important than calculators or text-editing tools" that have found a place for them. Finally at school.

"ChatGPT+ can help with a first draft when you find yourself facing a blank piece of paper, but after that, you have to write and style" the scripts, he added.

The expert also noted that ChatGBT partly reflects the teaching philosophy, based on the teacher asking the questions.

This time, it is the student who is questioning the machine, "and it is an opportunity for us to see how the students are carrying out the tasks assigned to them, to make them work on fact-finding, and to check whether the bibliographic references generated are correct," says Caselli.

According to Olivier Ertscheid, a researcher in information sciences at the University of Nantes (western France), banning the tool is "counterproductive" because it enhances students' desire to benefit from it.

As with the arrival of Wikipedia or search engines, the challenge for teachers, he says, is to "test the limits" of these tools.

Finally, the response required to detect texts generated by AI techniques is regulated. For example, the online service GPTZero is a offering for education professionals, while OpenAI is working on a "statistical watermark" that is applied during text creation, to prevent fraud potential.

Written by: Hamada Pharaoh

More than 150 soldiers specializing in urban warfare from the "Yamam", "Shin Bet" and "Golani" forces of the colonial forces, with directive air surveillance drones, participated in the Nablus operation against the valiant Palestinian resistance fighters, in an unequal battle that lasted for four hours.
The colony is waging a fierce battle, with all its capabilities and superior capabilities, against the Palestinian people, isolating itself city after city, cell after cell, and liquidation after liquidation, and so on, which requires the fighters to realize their enemy’s plans, ferocity and aggression, and to take measures of vigilance, attention and concealment, as valor and courage do not help Alone in resisting the enemy, the human losses of the Palestinian people remain free, when they lack planning and good initiative.
The losses of the youth are a loss for all Palestinians, because the confrontations are unequal, and the loss from one side is harmful and exhausting, and leads to damage to morale.
The Palestinians have responded to the calls to strike and protest, as an expression of the people's appreciation for the sacrifices of its fighters, their valor, and their high willingness to sacrifice, which proves that the people of Palestine are vigilant, know their duties, tasks, and where they stand in the majority and their bias towards the choice of continuous struggle against the colony and its projects, programs and plans.
The difference is fundamental between individual action and collective action, and the results are definitely different. The difference is fundamental between the results of the first intifada in 1987, and the second intifada in 2000, and between intermittent unilateral actions and operations. And emotional, because the enemy, by observing it, reveals the identities of the fighters, their weapons, and their geographical locations.
The Nablus massacre, and before that Jericho, and before that Jenin, successive stations in an open battle. The sacrifices of the youth of Palestine will remain bright candles for the path of freedom and independence. The enemy and its superiority, however, it won because of the justice of its causes and the legitimacy of its demands, and the sacrifices of its best men and women, and the Palestinian people will not be an exception, but will continue the path, with its steadfastness, courage, and the solidarity of the components of its people, its unity and cohesion, which is the first condition for victory, and this is what you must understand, understand and work for. political, rather than division and fragmentation, and space constraints due to the prevailing disease of monopoly, between Ramallah and Gaza.

Written by: Jamal Zaqout It is not enough for your stance to be realistic and rational in order for it to be viable. The failure of the settlement in which the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization invested all the assets of our people does not mean that it was not correct in principle, but rather the abandonment of the elements of power that it had in its hand at the time, and gasping behind begging for the mirage of that settlement, and even insisting on continuing the adventure of searching for a “lost peace.” To the point of risking fragmenting and dissipating any possibility of restoring the building and strengthening of the elements of Palestinian power, this is the abyss that ravages not only the balance of the revolution and the achievements of our people and exposes its sacrifices to squandering, and may even jeopardize the national cause itself. Peace is not just an "ideal moral value", and whoever cannot possess the ability to withstand pressures and fluctuations will not be able to make and impose a balanced, just and viable peace.

Leaving the political labyrinth... a national need

It is true that the political system in Israel was never ready for the minimum requirements of this peace, because it realizes, by its nature escaping from history, that making peace that enshrines the Palestinian truth may carry the seeds of the annihilation of the Zionist thought that carries within it the idea of annihilating the indigenous people and dispelling their existence, but The transformed Israel, under the pressure of conscious resistance and the continuous uprisings, was aware that its existential question lies in the idea of recognizing the reality of Palestine’s present, in order to guarantee its future, and this in itself is the beginning of the transformed Zionism to the point of approaching the defeat of its historical project, which paves the way for a solution that guarantees within the framework of the balance of power the power of the novel and the will of its owners. thus; Thus, only one day may come out of their midst who says, "There is another narration of a people. We have not and will not be able to obliterate its existence or confiscate its narration." Then and at that moment, the door will be opened for that historic settlement in this country, whether with two coexisting states based on the interests of geography, or within the framework of one state free and pure of the ideology of racist thought that denies the other. And our historical mission until entering that moment is to build our society and our strong institutions that are capable of building and strengthening the position of the competing Palestinian who is ready for both options, and the requirements between them for the ability to withstand and resist, whatever the costs, to the plans of obliteration and displacement, and perhaps this is the essence of the vision of former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. , which was known as the “two-year plan to end the occupation and establish the state.” Building institutions was not an illusion, as some short-sighted people called it, but rather the essence and content of the requirements of the steadfastness process that everyone calls as a slogan without practical and tangible content, while they get confused when they are armed with practical mechanisms whose essence is strengthening confidence People themselves, their future, and the ability to achieve them. Perhaps this is the essential function of leadership, any leadership, and at any stage, whether it is to achieve national liberation or democratic building of inclusive institutions, or both together, as is our Palestinian case. Here, I invite those who did not have the ability or knowledge to understand the content of that plan to reconsider it. It is, in fact, an attempt to complete the stage of the Great Intifada, and to respond to the moment of wandering that could reunite the country under an inclusive tent within the framework of the Liberation Organization, and redefine its political project for national liberation and democratic construction, and whoever has other than this answer should present it to a logical and serious dialogue.

Israel's crisis and the division trap

Israel, which is living its historical crisis regarding its identity and the future of the Palestinian, on the brink of recognition due to its stubbornness clinging to the land of its homeland, possesses the military strength and the looseness of the Arab reality that motivates it to refuse to fully accept the reality of this Palestinian, but at the same time, the fall of the dominant parties on the Palestinian scene In the Israeli trap to the point of risking dissipating the elements of Palestinian power in the inter-conflict, under the illusion of trying to negate each other, is what helps Israel’s continued entrenchment and its impulse towards more adherence to its right-wing, Zionist, racist character, and its rejection of the idea of transformation generated by the steadfastness of the Palestinian and the will of the resistance to its liquidation project for purification ethnic.

This elongation is to describe the state of the components of the internal conflict in the Palestinian case, and to cultivate the illusion, whether in begging for the possibility of making peace by appeasing the enemy, devoid of the elements of strength, the essence of which is the unity of the people and their will to survive, and what it requires to provide the elements of steadfastness, or the illusion of the capabilities of the “missile” resistance. Or martyrdom" capable of removing Israel from existence! Both of them make Israel and its society once again a prey to its ideological Zionist racist character, which absolutely does not want to see the Palestinians and recognize their truth, or to accept their right to stay and self-determination on the land of their homeland. This is the essence of the strategy of the mighty Zionist ideology, that the Palestinian should remain weak and weak, or a "terrorist extremist" who does not deserve and/or cannot be spoken to and recognized and his right to self-determination.

This shows us that getting out of the state of division and disorientation is not just the outcome of the mechanical combination of two forces and the reactivation of their potential. Rather, the return to the principle of unity in the face of the occupation takes us back to the path of hope and the accumulation of growing strength to deepen Israel's dilemma in the question of the future of the Palestinian who is not subject to control, the rejecter, or rather And fiercely resisting the illusion of exclusion from the equation of geography and human heritage in this country.

It seems that Israel, immersed in the "illusion of its victory over demography" through its "strategic success" in diverting Gaza from a single entity towards growing separation, and exploiting the tragedy of the displacement of refugees from Lebanon and Syria, to distant exiles, found what tempted it to be able to break through its essential episode of tearing apart the geography of the West Bank, and transferring the conflict To advanced stages towards “sideways” cantons, it began with a strategy of isolating and annexing Jerusalem in its favour, while it monitors the transformations of the south of the West Bank from its north, at a time when it is tightening its teeth in the West Bank and its countryside.

Weapon chaos and targeting Nasser Al-Shaer

The national impasse, and the drift of the internal conflict to what it has reached, encourages all hostile and/or delusional parties, foremost of which is the Israeli occupation, to ignite the fire of sedition, and perhaps slip into the brink of a civil war that eats everything and everything, whether in the continuous divisive struggle to appease the enemy, and obtain from him a merit. His security agency, or the war of struggle over the “succession,” and what it requires of evoking the tribe in the struggle of the two tribes that dominate the scene. The shooting of the Hamas leader and former deputy prime minister, Nasser al-Din al-Shaer, regardless of whether it was an attempt to assassinate him, or just a message from the party behind this crime, is only evidence of these intentions, which certainly does not rule out the involvement of Israel, which has the supreme and primary interest in this. More auto-fragmentation, this time bloody. However, in any case, the Palestinian Authority, by virtue of its political and security responsibility, and regardless of the extent of the erosion of its prestige and legitimacy, will remain responsible for the necessity of exposing the perpetrators of this national crime, and those behind them, which exceeds the danger of merely injuring one of the national symbols known for its eagerness to restore national unity. Rather, it targets this unit itself for killing, and enters the divisive struggle of its infernal circle with the aim of liquidating what remains of our people of hope and strength that enables it to continue to reject the racist liquidation project, and to submit to its transitional project by submitting to its plans to invent a leadership according to the occupation’s measurements and standards, which helps it in further dismantling The national entity and its political expressions are merely the ties of cities or cantons, until despair does its act of self-displacement, especially in light of the deepening and widening symptoms of chaos, which this time tries to overthrow intellectual pluralism, cultural and religious diversity, and the cohesion of the national fabric that has always served as a solid pillar for the elements of Palestinian strength in their battle. extended since the inception of Zionism on the usurped land of Palestine.

The current battle is a battle of futile defeat of the moment, an urgent and safe exit from the state of political disorientation and chaos of arms, and the restoration of justice and a sense of security, and there is no way for that except to stop wasting time and elements of strength, and return to the moment of awareness that the people of the uprisings store in the compass of history, and the requirements of their unity against The fundamental and main contradiction with the occupation. The battle of regaining consciousness and leaving the moment of wandering is the key to freedom and a sure salvation from the occupation.

اسطنبول - (أ ف ب) -يلتقي الرئيس التركي رجب طيب إردوغان نظيره الروسي فلاديمير بوتين على هامش قمة إقليمية تستضيفها العاصمة الكازاخستانية أستنانا الأربعاء، وفق ما أفاد مسؤول تركي فرانس برس.

التزمت تركيا الحياد على مدى النزاع في أوكرانيا إذ تقيم علاقات ودية مع كل من أوكرانيا وروسيا.

ولم يعلّق إردوغان بعد على القصف الروسي الكثيف الذي استهدف مختلف أنحاء أوكرانيا الاثنين وأسفر عن مقتل 19 شخصا على الأقل وإصابة أكثر من مئة بجروح.

لكن وزير الخارجية مولود تشاوش أوغلو أجرى اتصالا هاتفيا مع نظيره الأوكراني دميترو كوليبا بعد الهجمات، وفق ما ذكر مصدر دبلوماسي تركي، من دون تقديم تفاصيل.

التقى إردوغان الرئيس الروسي على هامش قمة إقليمية عقدت في أوزبكستان الشهر الماضي.

وما زال يأمل بإقناع بوتين والرئيس الأوكراني فولوديمير زيلينسكي بالجلوس حول طاولة المفاوضات، وهو أمر لا يبدي أي من الجانبين اهتماما به بينما يصر مسؤولون أتراك على أنه ضروري وواقعي.

تجنّبت تركيا المنضوية في حلف شمال الأطلسي الانضمام للعقوبات الغربية المفروضة على روسيا.

ويسعى إردوغان لتعزيز التجارة مع موسكو في وقت يحاول إعادة الاستقرار إلى الاقتصاد التركي قبيل الانتخابات المرتقبة في حزيران/يونيو المقبل.
واستجابت أنقرة للضغوط الأميركية وأكدت الشهر الماضي بأن آخر ثلاثة مصارف تركية كانت لا تزال تعالج دفعات بالبطاقات الروسية ستتوقف عن ذلك.
وجاء القرار بعد أسابيع من التحذيرات الأميركية الصريحة لتركيا ودعوتها إما للحد من علاقاتها الاقتصادية مع روسيا أو مواجهة إمكانية تعرّضها لعقوبات هي أيضا.

Moscow (AFP) - A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced Ilya Yashin to 15 days in prison, one of the last Russian opposition figures still in the country amid a wave of crackdowns since the attack on Ukraine.

Yashin, 38, was sentenced after being convicted of "disobedience to the police," according to the Information Office of the Moscow Courts, a charge he considered fabricated, indicating on Telegram that he was "a critic of President (Vladimir) Putin and an opponent of the war in Ukraine."

Also, he raised the possibility of a long prison sentence.

"My arrest may be a prelude to a future criminal case," he said, recalling that the procedures against him are reminiscent of those taken against his "comrade Vladimir Kara-Murza," one of the few dissidents who remained in the country and was imprisoned in the spring.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was arrested in Moscow in April and sentenced to 15 days in prison for "disobeying the police". He was then charged with "dissemination of false information" about the Russian army, a crime punishable by 15 years in prison. He was then placed in pretrial detention.

For her part, his girlfriend, journalist Irina Pabloyan, who was with him via Telegram, said that Ilya Yashin stopped the two during a walk in a park in Moscow. Pabloyan, a witness to the arrest, confirmed, "They say he insulted (the police) and used obscene language during his arrest. This is not true at all."

The dissident wrote on Telegram, "The story contained in the (police) report about insulting two policemen, which claims that I pushed their arm as a joke. I am not crazy to get into a fight with three policemen."

Yashin has been a prominent opposition figure for years, notably during the massive move against the Kremlin in 2011-2012.

He was close to Vladimir Putin's archrival Alexei Navalny, who is now serving a nine-year prison sentence, and Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015.

He is currently an elected opposition member of a Moscow constituency and has on several occasions denounced Russia's military offensive against Ukraine.

The crackdown on all anti-Kremlin movements and independent media in Russia has increased since this attack.

And the Russian authorities surrounded themselves with a legal arsenal that allows the imposition of penalties of up to 15 years in prison against those who denounce the attack on Ukraine.

Before that, figures critical of the Kremlin and independent media were subject to administrative or judicial harassment.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Palestinian Presidency condemned the new crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Aqabat Jaber camp in Jericho, at dawn today, Monday, which resulted in the death of five citizens and the injury of others.

The presidency affirmed that the commission of this crime in Jericho confirms that the new Israeli government is continuing its series of crimes against our Palestinian people.

The presidency considered that the crime of the occupation forces in Jericho is a challenge to all the international efforts that were made during the past days to stop the Israeli aggression.

She pointed out that the international silence on the occupation's violations and crimes encourages it to commit more massacres against Shabna.

It called on the international community, especially the US administration, to intervene and put pressure on the occupation government to stop its dangerous escalation, to spare the region more violence and tension, and to provide international protection for our people.

Kiev - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in neighboring Belarus, whose territory Moscow used to launch its invasion of Ukraine nearly 10 months ago, on a rare visit aimed at holding talks with his counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko.

And his arrival in Minsk came hours after the Russian forces launched a series of attacks with drones on basic infrastructure in Kiev, causing a power outage.

The Kremlin has been seeking for years to consolidate the foundations of integration with Belarus, which relies on Moscow to obtain loans and oil at reduced prices, but Lukashenko has been vehemently opposed to attempts to unify the two countries, even though he is a key ally of Russia in this war.

And ahead of the Russian president's visit, speculation was growing about his intention to pressure Lukashenko to send soldiers to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russian forces, which have suffered a series of setbacks during about ten months of fighting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin had planned to visit Belarus to persuade Minsk to take part in the conflict in Ukraine, saying the allegations were "stupid" and "baseless".

These attacks came with drones, which resulted in the injury of three people in the suburbs of Kiev, at a time when Russia announced that it had shot down several American-made missiles in its airspace near Ukraine.

Natalia Dobrovolska, 68, who lives in Kiev, told AFP, "I heard sirens sounding in the street... and I thought it was going to be a march. For the first time, I felt scared."

She added that she heard several explosions before the power went out in her building in western Kiev. Officials reported that Russia had launched 35 drone attacks on Ukrainian territory, including 23 targeting Kiev.

The air defenses said that they shot down 30 combat air vehicles, including the Iranian-made Shahed drones that targeted the capital in recent weeks.

On Monday, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed "explosions" in the Solomyansky and Shevchenkivsky districts of the capital.
He revealed that "damage" was caused to important infrastructure facilities, but there were no reports of injuries.

Ukraine's energy operator announced the rationing of electricity in the capital following the attack.

For its part, the Russian army announced, on Monday, that it had shot down four American-made missiles over its territory in the skies of the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine. This announcement is the first in about ten months of fighting.

"Four American Harm anti-radar missiles were shot down in the airspace of the Belgorod region," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in its daily report, which was published on Telegram, without giving further details.

Since the start of the Russian invasion in February, Ukraine has been subjected to repeated air attacks, which have killed many people.

After a series of field setbacks and the loss of territory in the summer and fall, Moscow changed its strategies and escalated its air campaign.

But amid freezing temperatures, missile and drone strikes have plunged cities across Ukraine into darkness, cutting off water and heating supplies for millions of people.

After a massive attack on several cities, in which more than 70 rockets were fired on Friday, the national electricity operator was forced to impose rationing until it works to repair the damaged network.

In a video message to the leaders of several NATO countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his country's allies to supply more weapons to his military forces.

He told the leaders gathered in Riga, "It is possible and necessary to thwart the Russian aggression. Our task now is to accelerate the pace to achieve this goal."

The Ukrainian president said in a speech late on Sunday that electricity had been restored to nine million people.
Almost 40 million people live in Ukraine.

Ahead of Putin's visit, Zelensky described the situation on the borders with Russia and Belarus as a "steadfast priority".

"We are ready for all possible defense scenarios," he said, adding that he had discussed the situation in the border areas with military officials.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, is an old ally of the Kremlin and allowed Russian soldiers to use his country's territory as a platform to launch their military operations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Minsk on Monday, accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Before the Russian president arrived in Minsk, Moscow announced that its military forces were conducting military exercises with the Belarusian forces.

And the Russian Ministry of Defense published pictures of military maneuvers with the Belarusian forces, showing soldiers driving armored vehicles and practicing artillery strikes and sniping in a snowy field.

"From morning to evening, there is not a moment of silence on the training grounds in Belarus," the minister said.

In October, Belarus announced the creation of joint regional forces with Moscow, to which thousands of Russian conscripts joined.
It did not clarify where the military maneuvers would be held and how long they would take place.

The deployment of Russian soldiers in Belarus raised fears that Belarusian forces would join military operations in Ukraine.

Moscow - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine of committing crimes against civilians on Holocaust Remembrance Day, in a speech he has long used to justify his military operation in the neighboring country.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commemorated the anniversary by calling on the world to stand together in the face of "indifference" and "hatred".

"Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies," Putin said, adding, "This is confirmed by crimes against civilians, ethnic cleansing and punitive measures organized by neo-Nazis in Ukraine."

"Our soldiers are bravely fighting this evil," he added.

To justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin has repeatedly denounced the "extermination" of the Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine and described the regime of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "neo-Nazi".

"Every attempt to revise our country's contribution to victory (during World War II) is in fact aimed at justifying the crimes of Nazism and opening the way for the revival of its murderous ideology," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.

Putin mourned the "millions of innocent dead - Jews and representatives of other nationalities - who were murdered, tortured, died of hunger and disease" during the Holocaust.

Exceptionally this year, and because of the invasion of Ukraine according to Warsaw, Russian representatives were not invited to the ceremonies commemorating the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in southern Poland.

Every year, Russia participates in the commemoration ceremony on January 27.

Russian Rabbi Beryl Lazar told reporters Friday after a ceremony at the Jewish Museum of Tolerance in Moscow that not inviting the Russian representatives was "an insult to us".

"We are fully aware of and remember the Red Army's role in the liberation of Auschwitz and the victory over the Nazis," he added, stressing that "every people should always be able to find the means to be grateful to those who saved them from extinction."

As for Zelensky, who is of Jewish origin and comes from the south of the country, whose population is mostly Russian-speaking, he said, "Today, as always, Ukraine honors the memory of millions of Holocaust victims. We know and remember that indifference kills as does hatred."

Washington - (AFP) - The White House confirmed Friday that US President Joe Biden has "no intention" of holding a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin , now.

"He has no intention of talking to Mr. Putin right now," White House national security adviser John Kirby told reporters. "He also said that Putin has shown no inclination to show any interest in any dialogue of any kind. In fact, the opposite is the case."

Biden said during a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that he would be willing to talk to Putin about finding a solution to the issue of Russia's invasion of Ukraine if the Russian president was "looking for a way to end the war."

And those statements on Sunday were the farthest extent in which Biden expressed his openness to meeting Putin, who ordered his army to invade Ukraine more than nine months ago, which caused a wide diplomatic and economic shock.

The Kremlin did not adopt Biden's offer, as his spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that Biden's terms mean that the offer is available "only after Putin leaves Ukraine."

Meanwhile, Kirby indicated that the West is not pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to enter into talks with Russia while Ukrainian forces are achieving successive victories over Moscow's forces.

"The president was not at all suggesting that now was the time for talks. In fact, he was consistent (in his expression) that only President Zelensky can determine if, when, and under what circumstances a negotiated settlement will be reached," Kirby said.

"The war can end today if Putin does the right thing and leaves Ukraine. There is basically no place for his soldiers there."

Washington - (AFP) - US President Joe Biden said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not "terrorize" the United States and its allies, warning that NATO will defend "every inch" of its territory.

"America and its allies will not be intimidated," Biden said in an intervention at the White House. "(Putin) will not intimidate us." Then he turned to the Russian president, saying, "America is fully prepared, with our NATO allies, to defend every inch of NATO territory (...) Mr. Putin, don't misunderstand what I'm saying, every inch."

The US President was speaking shortly after Putin officially signed a decision to annex four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces, then promised him to achieve "victory" from Red Square in Moscow.

Biden described Friday's ceremony in the Kremlin as "vulgar" and aimed to show Putin's strength, but in fact proved "that he is in a difficult situation."

And touching on new aid to Ukraine worth $12 billion approved by Congress, Biden promised to "continue to provide military equipment" to this country "so that it can defend itself."

Likewise, he promised to send all the necessary equipment to the site of the explosions that affected the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines to "determine what actually happened," after he described what happened as a "deliberate act of sabotage."

"We will work with our allies to uncover everything that happened. I have begun to help our allies strengthen the protection of these critical infrastructures," he said.

Moscow, (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Thursday in Kaliningrad , as tensions mount over the Russian enclave surrounded by NATO members at the height of the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin began his visit to Kaliningrad by meeting students who have resumed their academic year and answering their questions on various topics such as the economy, space and the Russian attack in Ukraine, according to scenes broadcast live on Russian television.

"Our task and the task of our soldiers (...) is to stop this war that Kiev is waging in Donbass (eastern Ukraine), to protect people and of course to defend Russia itself," he said.

The Russian President stressed that the residents of Donbass, a region in which many Russian speakers live, "consider that they are part of the (...) cultural and linguistic space" of Russia.

Putin's visit to Kaliningrad comes within the framework of intense tension over this Russian enclave located on the shores of the Baltic Sea and between Poland and Lithuania, two NATO members, at the height of the conflict in Ukraine.

Under the sanctions decided by the European Union in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine, Lithuania in June stopped allowing the passage of some goods through its territory in the direction of Kaliningrad.

After protests and threats from Moscow, the European Union ended up asking Vilnius to allow the transit of Russian goods by rail, except for military equipment.

In this context of tension, Moscow announced last month the deployment of the latest hypersonic missiles in Kaliningrad.

Moscow - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that Russia will stop shipments of gas and oil to countries that set a price ceiling.

And he considered that setting a possible ceiling for Russian gas prices by the Europeans would be "foolish." "We will not send anything at all if it conflicts with our interests, our (economic) interests in this case. No gas, no oil, no coal, no fuel oil, nothing," he added.

Moscow - (AFP) - Russia's ruling party has proposed holding a referendum in the Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces to annex them to Russia, on November 4.

The party, which is led by President Vladimir Putin , said that the Secretary-General of the United Russia Council, Andrei Turchak, confirmed that "Donetsk, Luhansk and many other Russian cities will be able to return to safety. The Russian world, which is currently divided by official borders, will restore its territorial integrity." On the fourth of November, Russia celebrates National Unity Day.

Moscow - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered his forces to continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine after capturing all of the Lugansk region.

Putin said during a televised meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that the Russian forces "must carry out their mission in accordance with the approved plans."

"I hope that things will happen in its sectors as it happened in Luhansk," he added.

Putin made these statements the day after announcing the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the strategic city of Lysychansk, which enabled Russian forces to control the entire Luhansk region, which together with neighboring Donetsk constitute the Donbass basin, which Moscow intends to fully control in eastern Ukraine.

Putin also mentioned that two of his generals, Alexander Lapin and Asadullah Abatchev, would be awarded the title of "Hero of Russia " for their role in the battles in Ukraine, without giving further details.

Russia, which requires complete secrecy about this type of information, recently revealed the names of two generals, Sergei Surovikin and Alexander Lapin, as leading the attack on Lisichansk.

Putin said on Monday that the two generals had submitted directly to him "a report on the progress of their tasks and their proposals for the next stage of offensive operations."

Jerusalem - Pal Sport Agency / The young cyclist Qusay Al-Qasrawi, the nineteen-year-old from the city of Khalil Al-Rahman, completes a 250-kilometer bicycle journey in one day. His idea began with a challenge with his friends to prove to them that he is capable of achieving it.

Where he said that this tour started at 9 am from Hebron and reached Jenin at 11:30 pm, arriving at the Arab American University, then went to the city of Jericho and Jerusalem, and returned to Hebron.

Al-Qasrawi stressed that the tour was fraught with dangers, the most important of which was the road and its difficulty, the bypass line, the attack of stray dogs, extreme fatigue and exhaustion, and the occupation’s arrest of him at the Container Checkpoint and Beit El.

Al-Qasrawi indicated that his hobby of cycling started a year and a half ago as an amateur, then he became a skilled athlete and goes out on semi-weekly tours with the Khalil Al-Rahman cycling team.

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday threatened Western countries to "cut production" of Russian oil "if necessary", days after the European Union, G7 countries and Australia set a ceiling for the price of a barrel of Russian oil at $60. .

"We will consider the possibility of cutting production if necessary," Putin said during a press conference in Bishkek on the sidelines of a regional summit.
He considered that the mechanism put in place by the West and began to be applied at the beginning of the week was a "stupid decision".

He assured reporters that "the imposed ceiling (at $60) is commensurate with the price we are selling based on today. In this direction, this does not affect us at all."

The price of a barrel of Russian oil (crude from the Urals) is currently hovering around $65, just above the European ceiling, which implies very limited impact in the short term.

And the Russian president believed that for the countries importing Russian oil, "pursuing this harmful (non-market) solution will be foolish for everyone."

He pointed out that such a mechanism "means everyone... because if one party accepts once that the consumer sets the price, this will lead to the collapse of the (oil) sector, because the consumer will always insist that the price be the lowest possible."

"We will not be losers under any circumstances," he stressed.

And the 27 member states of the European Union, the Group of Seven and Australia agreed last week to set a ceiling for the price of Russian oil transported by sea at $ 60 a barrel, and this ceiling began to be applied on Monday. The aim of this measure is to reduce Moscow's revenues to finance its military offensive in Ukraine.

Thus, the oil that Moscow sells can continue to be delivered at a price equal to or less than $60. In the event that the price is higher than this ceiling, companies will be prohibited from providing services that allow marine transportation (ships, insurance...).

الجزائر- (أ ف ب) -كرست الانتخابات التشريعية في الجزائر التي قاطعها أكثر من ثلاثة من كل أربعة ناخبين، فوز الأحزاب الحاكمة منذ عقود بعيدا عن التجديد الذي وعد به النظام في ما اعتبره معارضوه “هروبا إلى الأمام”.
بعد ثلاثين شهرا على بدء من الحراك الشعبي المناهض للنظام، وعلى الرغم من وعود ب”جزائر جديدة” روج لها الرئيس عبد المجيد تبون، لن يختلف المجلس الشعبي الوطني المنبثق عن انتخابات 12 حزيران/يونيو، كثيرا عن برلمانات عهد عبد العزيز بوتفليقة، حسب محللين.
فقد أظهرت النتائج الموقتة، فوز حزب جبهة التحرير الوطني، أكبر كتلة نيابية في البرلمان المنتهية ولايته، في انتخابات تميزت بامتناع تاريخي عن التصويت (77%).
وسجلت الجبهة تراجعا حادا، إلا ان الحزب الواحد سابقا استفاد من قاعدته الشعبية القديمة كونه قاد حرب الاستقلال (1962).
ونتيجة لذلك، يتوقع المحلل السياسي منصور قديدير أن يبقى”الوضع على حاله” و”لا أعتقد أن هناك تجديدا” كما قال.
وحلت جبهة التحرير الوطني، الحزب المرتبط بالرئيس السابق عبد العزيز بوتفليقة، في المركز الأول أمام مجموعة متباينة من المستقلين والإسلاميين والتجمع الوطني الديمقراطي حليف السلطة منذ زمن.
وقالت أستاذة العلوم السياسية لويزة دريس أيت حمادوش إن النتائج الموقتة “تظهر أن الرئيس (تبون) فشل في حشد قاعدة اجتماعية مختلفة عن تلك التي كان يتمتع بها الرئيس السابق”.
وبعد غيابه شبه الكامل عن الساحة بسبب إصابته بجلطة دماغية العام 2013، أُطيح بعبد العزيز بوتفليقة من السلطة تحت ضغط الشارع والجيش في نيسان/أبريل 2019، ما وضع حدا لحكمه الذي استمر 20 عاما. ومن رفضه الشعبي، ولد الحراك الذي يدعو إلى تغيير جذري في “النظام” الحاكم منذ الاستقلال.
كذلك، يجد تبون نفسه اليوم أمام “مجلس بعدم شرعية مضاعفة: مشاركة ضعيفة للغاية وأحزاب سياسية فاقدة للمصداقية”، على أوضحت الأكاديمية دريس آيت حمدوش.
وتلقى بوتفليقة خلال فترة حكمه بين 1999 و2019، دعم حزب جبهة التحرير الوطني والتجمع الوطني الديمقراطي والإسلاميين في حركة مجتمع السلم، بالإضافة إلى عدد قليل من المستقلين.
وقد يشهد في المجلس الشعبي الوطني الجديد التحالفات نفسها.
والأربعاء كشفت حركة مجتمع السلم، التي غادرت التحالف الرئاسي الداعم لبوتفليقة في 2012، أنها مستعدة لدراسة أي عرض للانضمام إلى الحكومة.
ورأى المحلل السياسي إسماعيل دبش أن “فوز الأحزاب التقليدية يجد تفسيره في أن المرشحين فضلوا الاعتماد عليها لتحقيق الفوز”.
لكن هذا النجاح شابته نسبة المشاركة (23,03%)الأضعف في تاريخ الجزائر، بحسب أرقام رسمية من السلطة الوطنية المستقلة للانتخابات. حتى أن المحللين وصفوا الامتناع عن التصويت بأنه”أكبر حزب في الجزائر”.
واعتبر الحراك وجزء من المعارضة العلمانية واليسارية اللذان وجها دعوة لمقاطعة الانتخابات، أن ما حصل “مهزلة انتخابية” و”هروب إلى الأمام” من طرف النظام.
وأثبتت نتيجة الاقتراع “صحة” ما يدينه الحراك الذي قمعته السلطة بشدة، على ما أكدت لويزة دريس آيت حمدوش.
وقالت إن “18 مليون جزائري الذين لم يصوتوا أثبتوا أن انعدام الثقة (في السلطة) أقوى من الحراك نفسه”.
وأكد المحلل السياسي منصور قديدير أن الانتخابات التشريعية “أعطت الحراك حجة كبيرة”.
ورأى “هذا يعني أن كل ما تم ترديده في المسيرات كان صائبا والنظام السياسي يرفض التغيير”.
وهذه أول انتخابات تشريعية تشهدها الجزائر منذ اندلعت احتجاجات الحراك في 22 شباط/فبراير 2019، بشكل سلمي وغير مسبوق ومن دون شخصية قيادية.
وإذ أشار محللون إلى أن هذا الاقتراع يمثل الفشل الثالث لتبون بعد انتخابه بنتيجة ضعيفة نهاية العام 2019 والاستفتاء على الدستور في تشرين الثاني/ نوفمبر الذي قاطعه الجزائريون، أعتبر آخرون أن الرئيس بات الآن حر اليدين لتطبيق “خريطة الطريق” الخاصة به.
والسلطة مصممة على “تطبيع” عمل المؤسسات واستعادة السيطرة على الوضع بعد زلزال الحراك، لكنها تتجاهل مطالب الشارع المتمثلة بدولة القانون والانتقال الديمقراطي والسيادة الشعبية والقضاء المستقل.
وعلق الكاتب الصحافي عابد شارف “النتيجة: خسارة كبيرة، مع سلطة تدور حول نفسها، وبلد راكد، ومجتمع غير منظم، ومؤسسات بلا محتوى، وحراك ممزق”.
أما الخطوة التالية فقد تكون بتجديد الثقة في رئيس الوزراء الحالي عبد العزيز جراد لتشكيل حكومة جديدة قبل الانتخابات المحلية المقررة في الخريف.
وحذرت آيت حمادوش من أن “الصعوبة الأولى ستكون تشكيل حكومة متماسكة” في الوقت الذي تواجه فيه البلاد أزمة سياسية واقتصادية واجتماعية خطرة.

Kiev - (AFP) - Ukraine on Thursday reiterated its demand for Western allies to supply it with tanks and to "stop trembling in front of" Russian President Vladimir Putin , in light of the hesitation of some leaders who fear an escalation with Moscow.

On the other hand, the Kremlin warned Thursday that the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine by Western countries capable of targeting the depth of Russian territory would lead to a dangerous escalation in the armed conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

In the same context, the Ukrainian Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Olesky Reznikov and Dmytro Kuleba, issued in a joint statement, "an appeal to all partner countries that have previously provided military assistance or are studying this possibility, in which we call on them to greatly enhance their contribution."

In the statement, the two ministers mentioned 12 countries, including Turkey and Germany, that own Leopard tanks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Germany's reluctance to supply Ukraine with heavy tanks of its own making.

"There are times when we should not hesitate or compare. As if someone says, 'I will give tanks if someone else does that'," Zelensky said via video link during a breakfast on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland.

During the visit of European Council President Charles Michel to Kiev on Thursday, Zelensky said, "The courage of our army and the impulsiveness of the Ukrainian people (...) in the face of thousands of tanks belonging to Russia are not enough."

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter, "There are no taboos. From Washington to London, from Paris to Warsaw, they say one thing: Ukraine needs tanks. It is the key to ending the war. It's time to stop trembling in front of Putin and pass the last stage."

For his part, Michel stressed "the need to send tanks to Kiev."

The German Leopard tanks are among the modern heavy tanks of Western design that Kiev requires from its allies, and experts say that it will be decisive in the upcoming battles in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president was referring to media reports that Berlin would not give Ukraine heavy tanks unless the United States sent Abrams tanks.
However, Washington is not ready to provide Ukraine with these powerful combat tanks, as confirmed on Wednesday by a senior Pentagon official, justifying this refusal with issues related to maintenance and training, without ruling out a change in the US position in this regard in the future.

US Representative Gregory Mix indicated that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that the United States and Germany will send their tanks together to Ukraine. "It should be the United States and Germany (together), there is no doubt about that," he told AFP on Thursday.

On Friday, defense ministers and senior military officials of Western countries that provide military aid to Ukraine, as well as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, will meet in Ramstein, Germany. This will be the third meeting of its kind.

On the other hand, Zelensky reiterated Thursday his intention to liberate all the territories that Russia controlled, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

On Thursday, the British defense minister announced in Estonia that the UK would send Ukraine an additional 600 Brimstone missiles to help it counter the Russian invasion.

Sweden has decided to supply Ukraine with long-range, mobile and modern Archer guns that Kiev has been demanding for several months, Prime Minister Ulf Christerson announced.

Sweden, which since the start of the invasion of Ukraine has abandoned its doctrine of not delivering weapons to a country at war, will also send fifty CV-90 infantry fighting tanks, as well as portable anti-tank missiles, "NLo", according to what the government confirmed.

Denmark decided to give Ukraine 19 long-range French-made Caesar cannons, knowing that some of them had not yet been received by Copenhagen, according to what the government announced Thursday.

For its part, Russian forces, with the support of the armed Wagner Group, are redoubling their efforts to seize the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, where bloody battles have been taking place for several months.

Russian forces made little progress on the ground, capturing much of the nearby town of Solidar.
In another context, Zelensky's statements in Davos come the day after a helicopter crash near Kiev killed Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky and at least 13 other people.
In response to a question about whether the helicopter crash was an accident, Zelensky replied, "The investigation is underway. Several hypotheses are being studied, and I am not authorized to talk about any of them until the investigations are completed."

Kiev - (AFP) - Two Ukrainians were killed and nine others wounded Sunday, according to Kiev, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's unilateral declaration of a ceasefire on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas.

On Sunday, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kyrilo Tymoshenko, confirmed that one person was killed and eight others were wounded in the eastern Donetsk region during the past 24 hours as a result of the "Russian armed aggression."

Tymoshenko said that another person was killed in the northeastern Kharkiv region and another wounded in the southern Kherson region in the same period.
"Despite the so-called 'ceasefire' declared by the Russian occupiers, the enemy fired nine missiles, (carried out) three air strikes and launched 40 attacks from several missile launchers," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a separate statement.

"Civilian infrastructure was particularly bombed," she added.

Putin had ordered a 36-hour ceasefire to allow Orthodox Christians to observe Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7 in Russia and Ukraine.

The unilateral ceasefire ended at 11:00 pm in Kiev (21:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Correspondents in Kiev and Agence France-Presse on the ground said there were no significant signs that the fighting had subsided on Saturday.

"After midnight, the enemy launched seven missile attacks on Kramatorsk and two on Kostyantinivka," Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kirilenko said.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that it respected the armistice, but confirmed that it had repelled a number of Ukrainian attacks and killed dozens of Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine rejected the truce, seeing it as a tactic by Russia to buy time and to regroup its forces and strengthen its defenses after a series of setbacks on the battlefield.

And the governor of the Luhansk region, Sergei Gaidai, announced that the Russians are redeploying forces from Bakhmut, the current center of fighting, to the city of Kremina.

"We expect an escalation in the fighting," he added, referring to the drop in temperatures.
"Our heavy equipment will finally be able to move forward faster," he said.

Moscow - (AFP) - The Kremlin announced on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had held talks with those responsible for the Russian military operation in Ukraine, which is targeting intensive Russian bombing of its territory.

The Kremlin said in a statement that "the president spent a full day on Friday at the headquarters of the forces participating in the special military operation" in Ukraine.

The head of the Russian state especially held a "meeting" there with the participation of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He also held "separate meetings with the leaders" of the various branches of the Russian army involved in the operation, according to the same source.

"I would like to hear your proposals regarding our moves in the short and medium term," Putin said during the meeting, clips of which were broadcast on Russian television on Saturday.

The announcement comes as Ukraine was targeted Friday by new Russian missile strikes that caused power outages across the country, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Faced with a series of military setbacks this fall, Russia, which launched an offensive against Ukraine at the end of February, has since October chosen the tactic of massive strikes targeting Ukraine's power grids and transformers.

Washington - "Jerusalem" dot com - Saeed Erekat - A delegation representing the Palestinian and Arab-American community met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken , on Friday, in the State Department building, before the US minister took off on a flight that would take him to the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel and Egypt, where the delegation discussed with him another The developments of the crisis situation in the Palestinian territories in light of the heightened tension and the high level of violence practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian citizens under occupation.

According to a source who participated in the meeting, which was arranged some time ago, and before the recent wave of confrontations launched by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian citizens, and the discussion focused on the minister's agenda for his tour in the region, "which was exacerbated by the recent Israeli military raid in Jenin camp ( Thursday morning), which resulted in the killing of 10 Palestinian citizens, and the injury of more than 20 Palestinian citizens.”

The correspondent of Al-Quds.com learned that the discussions at the meeting were serious, frank and objective, and allowed the Arab-American participants to express their concerns about the goals of American policy and its statements regarding the situation in Palestine, specifically the events in Jenin and the mass displacement of Palestinians from the villages of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank. occupied.”

According to the source, the group expressed to Minister Blinken its opinion that "the United States bears the responsibility to act to curb Israel's aggressive behavior towards the Palestinian people who are under occupation, as decades of turning a blind eye to the United States have led to Israel's policies of settlement expansion, land confiscation, house demolitions, and a group of From other human rights violations to an Israeli sense of impunity and despair among the Palestinians, and whether the administration will fulfill its commitments to equal value for Israelis and Palestinians and their rights to security, prosperity and dignity, the group also stressed that Minister (Blinken) show firmness and determination to rein in the Israeli behavior that threatens the chances of peace in the future."

The group also called on the US Secretary of State to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop all of its illegal unilateral actions that endanger stability in the region. And stop pressuring the Palestinians only and support their legal procedures, including their demands for membership as a member of the United Nations.

The group also raised another central concern of the Palestinian and Arab American community regarding Israel's ongoing efforts to obtain visa waivers to enter the United States at a time when Israel continues to enforce laws that restrict Palestinian Americans' entry into the West Bank, limit their movement, and impose arbitrary conditions on them. (such as the COGAT law adopted by the occupation authorities last October), and the delegation asked the minister to reject these new regulations and to ensure that all Americans receive equal treatment before approving the visa waiver request, including at all entry points, including Gaza .

With regard to the goal highlighted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs behind the Minister's tour in the region, as it comes within the framework of encouraging Israel's integration in the region, the participants urged the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ensure the protection of the rights of the Palestinians in any regional integration (normalization) projects supported by the United States.

The delegation affirmed the Arab and Palestinian American community's condemnation of anti-Semitism and hate crimes against the Jewish people and other minorities in the United States and elsewhere. They also expressed their deep concern about efforts to expand the definition of anti-Semitism to include criticism of Israeli policies and behavior, and warned that this confusion is nothing more than an attempt to silence any Criticism of Israel and its repressive practices against the Palestinians.

And participated in the meeting with US Secretary of State Blinken and his aides for Middle East affairs, Barbara Leaf and Hadi Amr, on the part of the Arab American community, Hanna Hananiya, Khalil Jahshan, Zaha Hassan, George Salem, James Zogby, Ted Kattouf, Samia Bahour, Nada Al Hanouti, John Debit, and Diab Mustafa.

"This week I met with representatives of the American Jewish and Palestinian American communities to hear their important views ahead of my travels to Israel and the West Bank, and I value these useful discussions," Secretary Blinken said in a tweet on Twitter.

Moscow - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Tuesday that the situation is "very difficult" in the four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine that Moscow declared annexing without fully controlling them.

"The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, is very difficult," Putin said.

Putin was speaking in a video addressed to employees of the Foreign Security and Intelligence Service and the protection of senior officials, who annually celebrate their "professional holiday" in Russia on December 20.

Putin praised the performance of the Russian security services who work in the "new regions of Russia," stressing that "the people who live there are Russian citizens" who depend on the "protection" of these services.

The Russian president, who formerly worked in the KGB, called for "extreme concentration" by counterintelligence services.

"It is necessary to severely suppress the work of foreign intelligence services and effectively identify traitors, spies and saboteurs," he said.

In September, the Russian president announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions) that are partly controlled by the Russian army, after holding local "referendums" that were denounced by Kiev and the West.

But in November, Ukraine recaptured Kherson, the capital of the region of the same name, which was a major setback for Moscow after a several-week counteroffensive.

Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - Today, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation authorities expelled the member of the European Parliament, Anna Miranda , and prevented her from entering the occupied Palestinian territories, as part of an official visit by a delegation from the European Parliament.

In a tweet on her Twitter account, Miranda wrote: "I was expelled by Israel! After several hours of waiting, since 9 pm Israel has not allowed me to enter as a member of the delegation for relations with Palestine in the European Parliament. It is almost five in the morning and I set out on the first trip to Madrid."

Member of the European Parliament Grace O'Sullivan commented, in a tweet to her on Twitter: "My colleague Anna Miranda has not been allowed to enter Israel even though she is a member of the official delegation of the European Parliament, and we received a note last week approving our visit," and she said: "This is completely unacceptable. It came after our colleague in the European Parliament, Manu Pineda, was banned."

The delegation of members of the European Parliament, headed by Margaret Okin, member of the European Parliament for relations with Palestine, will visit the Palestinian territories from 21 to 23 February. The delegation will meet tomorrow, Wednesday, with officials of the Palestinian National Authority, including Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh.

Moscow (Ukraine) - (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened the West to "respond" to Ukraine's supply of advanced tanks, in a threat that comes amid speculation about a new Russian military escalation.

At a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over the German army in Stalingrad, Putin said, "Those who drag European countries, including Germany, into a new war against Russia and irresponsibly present this as a fait accompli, and those who expect Russia's defeat in The battlefield, they clearly don't understand that a contemporary war with Russia would be very different."

And the Russian president added, "We do not send our tanks to their borders, but we have something to respond to them with, and this matter will not be limited to the use of armored vehicles."

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia "will use all its capabilities" to respond to Western arms supplies to Ukraine.

Last fall, Putin made similar statements that were interpreted as a threat to use nuclear weapons.

"When new weapons from the 'collective West' appear, Russia will use all the capabilities it has to respond" to such arms supplies, Peskov said.

In his speech delivered Thursday in Volgograd, a city located in the southwest of the country that was formerly called Stalingrad, the Russian president considered that history repeats itself, likening the war that his forces are waging in Ukraine to that of the Soviet forces against the Nazi army.

"It's incredible, but true. We are again threatened by German Leopard tanks (...) Once again, Hitler's successors want to fight Russia on Ukrainian soil using 'Bandervotsy'," Putin said, as the supporters of Ukrainian ultra-nationalist Stepan Bandera ( 1909-1959) who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Since his forces began invading Ukraine on February 24, Putin has been calling the authorities in Kiev "neo-Nazis" who are committing "genocide" against the Russian-speaking population in the east of the country.

After Berlin gave it the green light, several Western countries pledged to supply Ukraine with heavy German-made Leopard-2 tanks, and Germany itself committed to providing a number of these tanks to Kiev.

After long procrastination for fear of escalating the conflict, the West finally agreed to send modern tanks to Ukraine, such as the German Leopard-2, the American Abrams, and the British Challenger.

However, Kiev has not yet obtained any commitment to provide it with high-precision missiles with a range of more than 100 km, which it says its forces need to strike the rear lines of the Russian forces.

Many observers believe that both Kiev and Moscow are planning new offensives as winter ends and spring arrives.

Following a series of humiliating field setbacks in the fall, Russian forces massed hundreds of thousands of reservists and stepped up their ground offensives, particularly in eastern Ukraine.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky followed the example of his defense minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, by saying that Russia is preparing to launch a new major offensive, on February 24, the first anniversary of the start of the invasion.

Zelensky said during a joint press conference in Kiev with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, "Russia is mobilizing its forces, we all know that. It wants revenge not only on Ukraine, but also on free Europe."

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Defense Minister warned that Moscow was preparing "very seriously (...) to try something by February 24."

In recent weeks, the Russian army has made some field gains around Bakhmut, the city in eastern Ukraine that Moscow has been trying to capture since the summer.

In Bakhmut, which turned into a ghost town, 75-year-old Natalya Shevchenko told AFP, "Forget about gas. If we had electricity, everything would be easier. We would have heating and the ability to cook."

"The worst is that there is no (phone) coverage. I cannot call my family," she added.

However, this old woman still resides in her house, despite the fact that the continuous bombing has forced her to live underground in the basement of her house "like a mole".

In Kiev, von der Leyen announced that the European Union intends to impose sanctions on Moscow on the first anniversary of the start of the invasion, stressing that Russia is losing 160 million euros per day due to setting a ceiling on the price of its oil.
The European official did not give any details about the upcoming sanctions.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a television interview, accused the Europeans of seeking a "final solution to the Russian issue."

Lavrov said that von der Leyen "declared that the outcome of the war should be Russia's defeat (...) so that it would not recover for decades," asking, "Isn't this racism, Nazism, and an attempt to solve the Russian question?", likening it to "the final solution to the Jewish question." The Holocaust orchestrated by the Nazis.

For his part, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that he did not rule out supplying combat aircraft to Ukraine, but considered that this equipment is not a "magic wand" capable of quickly changing the course of the war.

In Vienna, parliamentarians from twenty countries expressed their desire to ban the participation of the Russian delegation in the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to be held at the end of the month in the Austrian capital.

Gaza - "Jerusalem" dot com - The head of the government media office in Gaza, Salama Marouf, issued today, Thursday, an explanation regarding the poisoning of a child who ate from a "bag of chips" found inside it on decomposed remains.

Salama said, in a brief statement, that decomposed remains were found in the bag, and the necessary medical work was done with it and reassurance on its condition, and the matter is being followed up by the Ministries of Health and the Economy, and the appropriate measures will be taken after the completion of the verification process.

Moscow - (AFP) - The Russian authorities vowed to fix "mistakes" made in the context of President Vladimir Putin's declaration of mobilization, after summoning people to fight who were supposed to be exempt, sparking controversy.

With Putin announcing a "partial mobilization" of reservists Wednesday to head to Ukraine, he made it clear that only people with military experience or "relevant" skills would be called up.

However, summoning people who were over fighting age, sick, or exempt for other reasons sparked angry reactions on social media, embarrassing the authorities.

In the Volgograd region (southwest), a 63-year-old retired soldier with diabetes and head problems was summoned to a training center before he was allowed to leave.

In the same area, Alexander Valtin, 58, who is the director of a small rural school, was summoned, noting that he had not served in the army before. After his daughter posted a video on social media that was widely circulated, he was able to return home.

After an uncharacteristic acknowledgment that mistakes had been made, Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, blamed the regional authorities overseeing the mobilization.

In a statement on the Telegram website, it denounced "inappropriate summons that have sparked heated debate in society and on social media."

"Some seem to think that submitting a report quickly is more important than properly performing an important task for the state. These abuses are completely unacceptable," she added.

It ordered that "the partial mobilization be completed in full respect of the standards that have been announced, and without making a single mistake."

These failures constitute a new example of the organizational difficulties that Russia has been witnessing since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.

And the Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday the replacement of Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov, General Mikhail Mizintsev (60 years), who until then headed the National Defense Control Center.

While the authorities confirm that summoning people who are supposed to be exempt are only isolated cases, their statements indicate a kind of anxiety in the face of the reaction of part of the angry population.

On Saturday, the head of the Kremlin's Human Rights Council, Valery Fadaev, called on Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu "to urgently solve the problems" so as not to "shake the people's trust."

And he talked about 70 heads of a large family who were summoned in the Russian region of Buryatti, western Siberia, in addition to nurses and midwives who do not have any military experience in the Sverdlovsk (Ural) region, "under pain of prosecution," in the event of refusal.

Fadaev also criticized those who "hand out summons at two in the morning, as if they consider us all (fugitives)". He warned that this method is frowned upon.

Faced with the situation, the governors of the regions near Moscow and in Leningrad (northwest) undertook to return people who were mistakenly summoned to their homes.

On Sunday, Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko asked the heads of districts in his region "to personally take care of residents' complaints and every file."

Many students also confirmed that they had been summoned, knowing that the authorities had promised to exempt them.
On Saturday evening, Putin signed a decree exempting those pursuing professional disciplines in state universities and schools.
In addition, demonstrators against the invasion of Ukraine are also raising controversy, as they received summonses while they were in police custody, while the Kremlin confirmed that it did not see it as "illegal".