Croatia Switches to Euro, Enters Borderless Europe Club
Business
Asharq Al-Awsat
A woman holds Euro banknotes in this illustration taken May 30, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Croatia on Sunday switched to the euro and entered Europe's passport-free zone -- two major milestones for the country after joining the EU nearly a decade ago. At midnight (2300 GMT Saturday) the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and become the 20th member of the eurozone. It is now the 27th nation in the passport-free Schengen zone, the world's largest, which enables more than 400 million people to move freely around its members. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen will visit Croatia later Sunday to mark the momentous occasion. Experts say the adoption of the euro will help shield Croatia's economy at a time when inflation is soaring worldwide after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent food and fuel prices through the roof. But feelings among Croatians are mixed. While they welcome the end of border controls, some worry about the euro switch, with right-wing opposition groups saying it only benefits large countries such as Germany and France. "We will cry for our kuna, prices will soar," said Drazen Golemac, a 63-year-old pensioner from Zagreb. Many Croatians fear that the introduction of the euro will lead to a hike in prices -- in particular that businesses will round up price points when they convert. For tourist agency employee Marko Pavic, "Croatia joins an elite club". "The euro was already a value measure -- psychologically it's nothing new -- while entry into Schengen is fantastic news for tourism," he told AFP. Use of the euro is already widespread in Croatia. Croatians have long valued their most precious assets such as cars and apartments in euros, displaying a lack of confidence in the local currency. About 80 percent of bank deposits are denominated in euros and Zagreb's main trading partners are in the eurozone. Officials have defended the decision to join the eurozone and Schengen, with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic saying Wednesday that they were "two strategic goals of a deeper EU integration".
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4074116/croatia-switches-euro-enters-borderless-europe-club
Asharq Al-Awsat
People release balloons as they gather to celebrate New Year's Eve, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 1, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Travelers from China now face restrictions when entering more than a dozen countries as concern grows over its surge in Covid-19 cases. China on Sunday reported more than 5,100 new infections and one death linked to Covid out of its population of 1.4 billion. Last month, Beijing abruptly began dismantling its "zero-Covid" containment policy of lockdowns and mass testing, three years after the coronavirus first emerged in the city of Wuhan. Australia's health minister on Sunday cited Beijing's "lack of comprehensive information" about Covid cases as the reasoning behind the latest travel requirement, which will take effect on January 5. The move will "safeguard Australia from the risk of potential new emerging variants," he said. In recent days, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have also imposed either a negative Covid test requirement or testing upon arrival for travelers from China. Canada cited "the limited epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data available" on recent Covid cases in China for its negative test demand. Meanwhile, Morocco moved to ban all arrivals from China on Saturday, "to avoid a new wave of contaminations in Morocco and all its consequences". The flurry of global travel restrictions began as countries anticipated a surge in Chinese visitors after Beijing announced mandatory quarantine for inbound passengers would end on January 8. The World Health Organization has called the precautionary measures "understandable" in light of the lack of outbreak information provided by Beijing. But the European branch of the International Airports Council -- which represents more than 500 airports in 55 European countries -- said the restrictions were not justified or risk-based. European countries will meet next week to discuss a joint response to the issue, with incoming EU presidency holder Sweden saying it was "seeking a common policy for the entire EU when it comes to the introduction of possible entry restrictions".
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4074086/more-countries-roll-out-china-traveler-checks
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat
Israel launches new spy satellite. (Reuters)
SpaceX successfully launched an Israeli spy satellite into space. The EROS C-3 satellite mission was the 61st and final launch of the year for US-based spacecraft engineering corporation headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. The advanced observation satellite from Israel-based remote sensing company ImageSat International (ISI) would be used for military intelligence and security purposes and is considered another significant step forward for Israel's place in the global space industry. According to foreign sources, the company published images of Iranian nuclear facilities or traces of destruction in Syrian sites, which Western reports attribute to Israeli strikes or follows the movements of aircraft carrying out secret missions. The company explained that the "very advanced" satellite was produced by the Israeli aerospace industry for surveillance, adding that it has amazing imaging capabilities and provides high-resolution images. The sources asserted that Israel uses satellites for 80 percent of its intelligence, and only 20 percent comes from traditional intelligence. The EROS C-3 is part of a group of spy satellites that Israel promoted to sell privately, especially after the war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions in Southeast Asia and the Middle East increased demand for satellite services. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Israeli imaging satellite. According to security sources in Tel Aviv, Israel officially entered the space field in 1988 by launching its first satellite, Ofek 1, from an Israeli mobile launch platform. Israel does not release information about its space activities, and any discussion about them is subject to strict security restrictions. However, some sources believe Israel entered the space and satellite programs in the late fifties and early sixties, parallel with its nuclear program's launch. Israel started the idea of launching a satellite when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space in 1954. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion established in 1960 the National Committee for Space Research, and four years later, Tel Aviv asked the United States and France to help set up a satellite monitoring station. In 1966, it established the Space Research Institute, affiliated with the Israeli Space Agency in 1983, and signed an agreement with the US to participate in the Strategic Defense Initiative.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4072991/israel-launches-new-spy-satellite%C2%A0
Erdogan Proceeding with Efforts to Normalize Ties with Assad, Prioritizes Refugee Return
Arab World
Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazek
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye August 20, 2022. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ready to meet with head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad if the appropriate conditions are met. Sources indicated that the recent meeting in Moscow between the defense ministers and heads of the intelligence services of Türkiye, Syria and Russia discussed a roadmap for normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said if the appropriate conditions were met, high-level officials would also meet, and there may be another at the presidential level. In an interview with the Turkish NTV news channel, Akar added that the Moscow meeting was "positive" and addressed Russian and Syrian views. "We expressed our security concerns regarding terrorist organizations in Syria." Akar stressed that combating terrorism was the main goal, reiterating that Türkiye has no issues with any ethnic, religious, or sectarian group. Meanwhile, Haberturk reported that the Moscow meeting tackled four main issues. They addressed the safe and dignified return of refugees, the return of property to their owners upon arrival, ensuring fair trials, and completing constitutional amendments to hold free and fair elections, it quoted sources as saying. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed the need to ensure a safe return of Syrian refugees, noting that the Syrian regime wanted them to go back. Cavusoglu also stressed the importance of communicating with the Syrian regime to achieve lasting peace and stability. Speaking from the foreign ministry, he added it was also essential to involve the international community and the United Nations in the process of returning the refugees back to their homeland. The minister said the next step in the roadmap would be a meeting of the foreign ministers, but the timing has yet to be determined. Reactions The United States emphasized that it does not support any efforts to normalize relations with the Assad regime given its brutal and repressive history against the Syrian people. The regional spokesman for the US State Department, Samuel Werberg, said Washington was aware of the ongoing talks between the regime, Türkiye, and Russia and that US policy has not changed in this regard. Werberg stressed that the US continues to work with the United Nations and the international community to achieve a political solution in Syria under UN Security Council resolution 2254. Cavusoglu indicated that some countries welcomed the rapprochement between Türkiye and the Assad regime, while some supporters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), such as the US and European countries, do not welcome dialogue between Ankara and Damascus. Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) called for confronting what it described as the "trilateral alliance" and taking it down. The Salvation Government in northwestern Syria rejected and denounced the meeting, stressing that Türkiye’s conferences and consultations with the Damascus regime threatened the lives of millions of Syrian people. The government said the Turkish talks with the regime aimed to achieve progress in the refugee file ahead of upcoming elections in Türkiye and to pressure the SDF.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4072826/erdogan-proceeding-efforts-normalize-ties-assad-prioritizes-refugee-return
General Assembly Refers Israeli Occupation to UN Court
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
This picture shows ongoing construction work at Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem, on December 30, 2022. (AFP)
The UN General Assembly on Friday asked the International Court of Justice to consider consequences for Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territories, a day after the Jewish state's most right-wing government ever took over. The General Assembly voted 87-26 with 53 abstentions on the resolution, with Western nations split but virtually unanimous support in the Islamic world -- including Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel -- and backing from Russia and China. The resolution calls on the UN court in The Hague to determine the "legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination" as well as of its measures "aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status" of the holy city of Jerusalem. The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said the vote sent a signal to the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over its efforts to "accelerate colonial and racist policies" and hailed nations that were "undeterred by threats and pressure." "We trust that regardless of your vote today, if you believe in international law and peace, you will uphold the opinion of the International Court of Justice when delivered," Mansour said. Speaking ahead of the vote, the Israeli ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called the resolution "a moral stain on the UN." "No international body can decide that the Jewish people are occupiers in their own homeland," Erdan said. "Any decision from a judicial body which receives its mandate from the morally bankrupt and politicized UN is completely illegitimate," he said. The resolution also demands that Israel cease settlements but General Assembly votes have no legal force -- unlike those in the Security Council, where US ally Israel wields veto power. The United States, Britain and Germany opposed the resolution, while France abstained. "We do not feel that a referral to the International Court of Justice is helpful in bringing the parties back to dialogue," British diplomat Thomas Phipps said. "It is also the position of the UK that it is inappropriate without the consent of both parties to ask the court to give an advisory opinion in what is essentially a bilateral dispute." Among Western nations that backed the resolution was Portugal, whose representative acknowledged the "risk of over-judicializing international relations" but said the world court "underpins the international rules-based order which we seek to preserve."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4072681/general-assembly-refers-israeli-occupation-un-court%C2%A0
North Korea Fires 3 Ballistic Missiles after Unprecedented Year of Tests
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
31 December 2022, South Korea, Seoul: People watch breaking news about North Korea's firing of three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on a television installed at Seoul Station in central Seoul. (dpa)
North Korea fired three ballistic missiles toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Saturday, the South Korean military said. The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korea this year, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time. The three short-range ballistic missiles were fired from around 8 am local time (2300 GMT) from North Hwanghae Province, south of the capital Pyongyang, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. All three flew at an altitude of around 100 km (62 miles) and covered a range of around 350 km (217 miles), Japan's defense ministry said. South Korean military also said the missiles flew about 350 km. "North Korea's ballistic missile(s) launch is a grave provocation that undermines peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as the international community," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, condemning it as a clear violation of the UN Security Council resolution and urging it to stop immediately. US Indo-Pacific Command said the latest launches did not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to Washington's allies, but they highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Korea's weapons program. The launches came a day after South Korea's defense ministry announced it had successfully conducted a test flight of a solid-propellant space launch vehicle. On Monday, five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea, prompting the South's military to scramble fighter jets and attack helicopters to try to shoot them down, in the first such intrusion since 2017. Relations between North Korea and US-ally South Korea have grown more tense since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's conservative government took over in May, promising a tougher stance toward the North. Not counting Saturday's launches, North Korea has fired around 70 ballistic missiles this year, Yonhap news agency said, including about eight intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). North Korean state media KCNA had yet to mention the launches, but said on Saturday that leader Kim Jong Un had presided over a party meeting on Friday to decide policy and strategy for 2023.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4072616/north-korea-fires-3-ballistic-missiles-after-unprecedented-year-tests%C2%A0
Australia to Ring in 2023 with No COVID Restrictions
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
A person in protective face mask walks along the harbor waterfront across from the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, October 6, 2021. (Reuters)
Australia is gearing up to celebrate its first restriction-free New Year's Eve after two years of COVID disruptions, with more than a million revelers expected to flock to Sydney's harborfront and watch an elaborate fireworks display. Sydney is one of the world's first major cities to welcome in the New Year and draws huge TV audiences around the world, with a public countdown and fireworks display over its iconic Opera House. Lockdowns at the end of 2020 and a surge in Omicron cases at the end of 2021 led to crowd restrictions and reduced festivities. However, curbs on celebrations have been lifted this year after Australia, like many countries around the world, re-opened its borders and removed social distancing restrictions. "This New Year's Eve we are saying Sydney is back as we kick off festivities around the world and bring in the New Year with a bang," Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney, said. "2022 has been another year of significant challenges as we continued working to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but tonight we put the year behind us and look with hope to 2023." A rainbow of color will light up Sydney Harbor, with 2,000 fireworks to be launched from the four sails of the Sydney Opera House and 7,000 fireworks from more positions on the Sydney Harbour Bridge than ever before. For the first time in 12 years, fireworks will be launched from four building rooftops to frame the spectacular show, the organizers said. Prior to the pandemic, over a million people would join the festivities on the ground in Sydney as a billion spectators tuned in from other parts of the world.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4072546/australia-ring-2023-no-covid-restrictions%C2%A0
Ronaldo Joins Saudi Arabian Club Al Nassr until 2025
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
A handout picture released by Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr football club on their Twitter account shows Portugal's forward Cristiano Ronaldo being presented with the club's number seven jersey by club president Musalli Almuammar in Madrid on December 30, 2022 upon signing for the Saudi Arabian club. (Al Nassr Football Club / AFP) /
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a 2-1/2 year contract, the club announced on Friday, after leaving Manchester United to become a free agent. Ronaldo departed Old Trafford last month following an explosive television interview in which the 37-year-old forward said he felt betrayed by the club and did not respect their Dutch manager Erik ten Hag. Al Nassr issued a statement saying the five-time Ballon D’or winner will join on a deal until 2025. "I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia," Ronaldo said in the statement. "I am looking forward to joining my new team mates and together with them help the Club to achieve success." Ronaldo will arrive in Saudi Arabia with a vast collection of club honors after a glittering spell at Spanish giants Real Madrid from 2009-18 where he won two LaLiga titles, two Spanish Cups, four Champions League titles and three Club World Cups. He went on to score a club record 451 times for Real and has more than 800 senior goals overall for club and country. Ronaldo claimed two Serie A titles and a Copa Italia trophy in three years at Juventus before rejoining United with whom he had bagged three Premier League crowns, the FA Cup, two League Cups, the Champions League and Club World Cup. He played for Portugal in Qatar, where he became the first player to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty in his side's opening Group H game against Ghana. Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Morocco. Ronaldo said Qatar would probably be his last World Cup as he plans to retire at 40, with a move to Saudi Arabia likely to mark the swansong in the career one of the game's greatest current players alongside Lionel Messi. "This is more than history in the making," Al Nassr Football Club President Musalli Almuammar said. "This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations." The Saudi Arabian club, who have won nine Saudi Pro Premier League titles, are hoping Ronaldo can help them win another domestic league title and a first AFC Asian Champions League. However, the Portuguese forward will miss his first two domestic games after being banned for knocking a phone out of a fan's hand after United's defeat at Everton in April.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4072541/ronaldo-joins-saudi-arabian-club-al-nassr-until-2025%C2%A0
Attack Kills 10 in Syria, Kurdish Forces Arrest 52 Militants
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces stand outside a prison in Syria's north-eastern city of Hasakeh on January 26. (AFP)
A militant rocket attack in eastern Syria on Friday targeted a bus with oil industry employees, killing at least 10, the government said. To the north, Syrian Kurdish-led forces announced they arrested 52 militants in an operation against ISIS sleeper cells. According to Syria’s petroleum ministry, the rocket struck in the Al-Taym gas field in eastern Deir Ezzor province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, said ISIS was behind the attack. The Observatory also reported a higher death toll from the rocket attack, saying at last 12 workers were killed. Also Friday, the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said their raids had reportedly thwarted an attack planned for New Year’s Eve. The ISIS militants were hiding in residential areas and farms, a statement from the forces said. The yearslong US-backed campaign had succeeded in crushing the militants’ territorial control in Iraq and Syria, but ISIS fighters maintain sleeper cells and have staged attacks that have killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians in the past months. On Thursday, the Syrian Kurdish-led forces announced their operation, citing a surge in ISIS attacks and saying that “Operation Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt” aims to target sleeper cells in al-Hol and nearby in Tal Hamis areas. Since 2011, Syria has been mired in a bloody war that has drawn in regional and global powers. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has mostly regained control of the country, but parts of its north remain under the control of opposition factions, as well as Turkish and Syrian Kurdish forces. Also, some 900 US troops in Syria support the Kurdish-led forces' fight against ISIS and have frequently targeted the extremists, mostly in parts of northeastern Syria under Kurdish control. The US Central Command on Thursday reported conducting some 313 operations against ISIS in 2022 in Syria and Iraq, mostly in cooperation with Kurdish-led forces. According to a CENTCOM statement, 215 militants from the ISIS group were arrested and 466 were killed in Syria.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4071356/attack-kills-10-syria-kurdish-forces-arrest-52-militants
COVID Travel Curbs against Chinese Visitors ‘Discriminatory’, Says State Media
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
People wearing face masks walk along a street near Saint Paul's during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Macau, China, December 29, 2022. (Reuters)
Chinese state-media said COVID-19 testing requirements imposed around the world in response to a surging wave of infections were "discriminatory", in the clearest pushback yet against restrictions that are slowing down its re-opening. Having kept its borders all but shut for three years, imposing a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing, China abruptly reversed course toward living with the virus on Dec. 7, and a wave of infections erupted across the country. Some places have been taken aback by the scale of China's outbreak and expressed skepticism over Beijing's COVID statistics, with the United States, South Korea, India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan imposing COVID tests for travelers from China. Malaysia said it would screen all international arrivals for fever. "The real intention is to sabotage China's three years of COVID-19 control efforts and attack the country's system," state-run tabloid Global Times said in an article late on Thursday, calling the restrictions "unfounded" and "discriminatory." China will stop requiring inbound travelers to go into quarantine from Jan. 8. But it will still demand a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before departure. Italy on Thursday urged the rest of the European Union to follow its lead, but France, Germany and Portugal have said they saw no need for new restrictions, while Austria has stressed the economic benefits of Chinese tourists' return to Europe. Global spending by Chinese visitors was worth more than $250 billion a year before the pandemic. The United States have raised concerns about potential mutations of the virus as it sweeps through the world's most populous country, as well as over China's data transparency. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention is considering sampling wastewater from international aircraft to track any emerging new variants, the agency told Reuters. China, a country of 1.4 billion people, reported one new COVID death for Thursday, same as the day before - numbers which do not match the experience of other countries after they re-opened. China's official death toll of 5,247 since the pandemic began compares with more than 1 million deaths in the United States. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million, has reported more than 11,000 deaths. UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID. Cumulative deaths in China since Dec. 1 have likely reached 100,000, with infections totaling 18.6 million, it said. ‘Excess mortality’ China's chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said on Thursday that a team at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention will measure the difference between the number of deaths in the current wave of infections and the number of deaths expected had the epidemic never happened. By calculating the "excess mortality", China will be able to work out what could have been potentially underestimated, Wu said. China has said it only counts deaths of COVID patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as COVID-related. The relatively low death count is also inconsistent with the surging demand reported by funeral parlors in several Chinese cities. The lifting of restrictions, after widespread protests against them in November, has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes across the country, with scenes of people on intravenous drips by the roadside and lines of hearses outside crematoria fueling public concern. Health experts say China has been caught ill-prepared by the U-turn in policies long championed by President Xi Jinping. In December, tenders put out by hospitals for key equipment such as ventilators and patient monitors were two to three times higher than in previous months, according to a Reuters review suggesting hospitals were scrambling to plug shortages. Experts say the elderly in rural areas may be particularly vulnerable because of inadequate medical resources. Next month's Lunar New Year festival, when hundreds of millions travel to their hometowns, will add to the risk. Economic woes The world's second-largest economy is expected to slow down further in the near term as factory workers and shoppers fall ill. Some economists predict a strong bounce back from a low base next year, but concerns linger that some of the damage made by three years of restrictions could be long-term. Consumers may need time to recover their confidence and spending appetite after losing income during lockdowns, while the private sector may have used its expansion funds to cover losses incurred due to the restrictions. Heavily indebted China will also face slowing demand in its main export markets, while its massive property sector is licking its wounds after a series of defaults. China's factory activity most likely cooled in December as rising infections began to affect production lines, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. Chinese airlines, however, look set to be the early winners of the re-opening.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4071251/covid-travel-curbs-against-chinese-visitors-%E2%80%98discriminatory%E2%80%99-says-state-media
Yemeni Commission Documents over 3,411 Rights Violations in 2022
Arab World
Aden - Ali Rabih
A member of a Yemeni mine disposal team works during an awareness campaign against the dangers of landmines and explosives, in the Khokha district of the Hodeidah province of Yemen, on December 21, 2022. (AFP)
The National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations to Human Rights (NCIAVHR) said Thursday it has documented and investigated 3,411 human rights violations across Yemen in 2022. The violations include attacks on civilians, archaeological and religious sites, medical personnel and health facilities the destruction of private and public property, recruitment of minors and casualties from mine explosions. In a press release, NCIAVHR said the violations affected 3,713 people from both genders and all ages. It documented 940 attacks against civilians that left 1,412 deaths and injuries. It documented 447 deaths, including 35 women and 82 children. It confirmed 891 injuries, including 84 women and 212 children. It confirmed 426 victims of mines and explosive devices. Of those victims, 23 were women and 106 were children. It reported the arrest and disappearance of 968 people, targeted attacks against religious and archeological sites, 14 attacks against medical staff and facilities, and 1,092 attacks on private and public property. It documented 131 cases of child recruitment. The Commission said it had completed investigations into the bombing of 52 houses, the forced displacement of 144 families and 87 cases of extrajudicial killings. NCIAVHR added that the commission carried out 11 field visits to the governorates of Aden, Lahj, Taiz, Marib and Shabwa to investigate attacks on neighborhoods, residential areas and camps. They probed attacks on schools, medical facilities and farms. They toured contact lines and inspected the humanitarian situation on the ground. The commission also carried out field visits to remote mountainous region in the Dhale, al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Hajjah, Saada and Hodeidah. They held direct interviews with victims of torture, lootings, arbitrary sacking and child recruitment in the Dhamar, al-Mahwit, Amran and Sanaa regions. NCIAVHR called for probes into the human rights violations. It urged all warring parties to respect international humanitarian law. It called an end to arbitrary attacks and a halt to arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and looting. It called against imposing restrictions on women in engaging in social, political and public life. It urged the international community to condemn the human rights violations committed in Yemen and to identify the parties responsible. It urged it to increase humanitarian aid to the war-torn country and help the legitimate government meet its commitments.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4071236/yemeni-commission-documents-over-3411-rights-violations-2022
World Reacts to Death of Brazilian Football Icon Pelé
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
An image of Brazilian football legend Pelé is displayed on the South American Football Confederation building, in Luque, Paraguay December 29, 2022. (Reuters)
Reactions poured in from around the world to the death of Brazilian football legend Pelé . He died of cancer in Brazil at age 82. His grace, athleticism and mesmerizing moves transfixed players and fans. ____ “A simple goodbye to the eternal King Pelé will never be enough to express the pain that hits the entire world of football at this moment. An inspiration for so many millions, a reference of yesterday, today, always. The affection he has always shown for me was reciprocal in every moment we shared, even at distance. He will never be forgotten and his memory will last forever in each and everyone of us football lovers. Rest in peace, King Pele.” — Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese football star. ___ “Your place is on God’s side. My eternal king. Rest in peace.” — 1970 World Cup winner Roberto Rivellino and teammate of Pelé on the Brazilian national team. ___ “Before Pelé, ’10′ was just a number. I read that somewhere at some point in my life. But that line, beautiful, is incomplete. I would say that before Pelé football was just a sport. Pelé changed everything. He transformed football into art, entertainment. He gave voice to the poor, to the Black and above all he gave Brazil visibility. Football and Brazil elevated their standing thanks to the King! He is gone, but his magic will endure. Pelé is eternal!” — Brazilian star Neymar. ___ “I had the privilege that younger Brazilians didn’t have: I saw Pelé play, live, at Pacaembu and Morumbi (stadiums). Play, no. I saw Pelé give a show. Because when he got the ball he always did something special, which often ended in a goal. I confess that I was angry with Pelé, because he always massacred my Corinthians. But, first and foremost, I admired him .... Few Brazilians took the name of our country as far as he did." — Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. __ "For a sport that brings the world together like no other, Pelé’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend is a story of what is possible. Today, Jill and I’s thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him." - US President Joe Biden. ___ "Pelé was one of the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. And as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, he understood the power of sports to bring people together. Our thoughts are with his family and everyone who loved and admired him.” — Former US President Barack Obama. ____ “The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten. RIP KING.” French player Kylian Mbappé. ___ “With the death of Pelé, soccer has lost one of its greatest legends, if not the greatest. Like all legends, the King seemed immortal. He made people dream and continued to do that with generations and generations of lovers of our sport. Who, as a child, didn’t dream of being Pelé?" — Didier Deschamps, former player and manager of the French national team. ___ “It will be very difficult to find another Pelé. Pelé had everything a player should have. Agile, jumped like no one, could kick with both legs, physically very strong and brave. There was no one like Pelé.” — Cesar Luis Menotti, Argentine coach and Pelé teammate in the Santos football club in Brazil. ___ “Today football says goodbye to its most beautiful chapter. The man who charmed the world and changed the history of the game forever. You will always be the greatest, because 60 years ago, with all the difficulties you faced, you already did what only a few can do today. The man who dedicated his 1,000th goal to children and made our country discover it could be much more.” - Brazil player Richarlison. ___ “Thanks for his flair and his class. He left a mark even on the generations who weren’t lucky enough to see him play. Today the whole world mourns a legend named Pelé.” - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. ___ “Pelé is an incontestable symbol of our nation, a source of pride for all of us. Beyond his achievements as a legend of world sport, Pelé was an exemplary public officer, loyal to his principles, values and to our country. We all lose in his departure.” — Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Pelé served as his sports minister. __ “Football lost the greatest in its history today – and I a unique friend. Born in Três Corações, Pelé had three hearts: for football, for his family, for all people. One who played with the stars and always remained grounded. In 1977, I went to the United States. Because I really wanted to play in a team with Pelé at the New York Cosmos. That time by his side was one of the greatest moments of my career. We became US champions together straight away, and Pelé called me his brother from that moment. It was an unimaginable honor for me.” - West Germany star Franz Beckenbauer. ___ “Pelé had a magnetic presence and, when you were with him, the rest of the world stopped. His life is about more than football. He changed perceptions for the better in Brazil, in South America and across the world. His legacy is impossible to summarize in words. Today, we all mourn the loss of the physical presence of our dear Pelé, but he achieved immortality a long time ago and therefore he will be with us for eternity.” - FIFA president Gianni Infantino. ___ “I had the pleasure of meeting Pelé on a number of occasions in the 1980s and 1990s and our last meeting was on a working visit to Mexico in 2013 in Guadalajara. In each of our meetings I was struck by that same sense of joy with which he graced the football pitch.” - Ireland President Michael D. Higgins. ___ “Pelé has died. The most divine of footballers and joyous of men. He played a game only a few chosen ones have come close to. 3 times he lifted the most coveted gold trophy in that beautiful yellow shirt. He may have left us but he’ll always have footballing immortality. RIP Pele.” - Former English player and broadcaster Gary Linker. ___ “RIP Pelé. A hero to so many and one of the greatest to ever grace the game.” - London Mayor Sadiq Khan. ___ “Pelé was a truly magical footballer and a wonderful human being. It was an honor to have shared a pitch with him and I send my sincerest condolences to his family, friends and the Brazilian people.” - Sir Bobby Charlton, former English player. ___ “This is very sad news indeed… Pelé was an unbelievable footballer; he had style, grace, flair and made everything look so easy. The precision in the way he played made him such a joy to watch. However more than anything he was a good man with a great presence and a fantastic smile.” - Denis Law, former Scottish player. ___ “He was and will remain the king of football. Goodbye Pelé.” - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4071111/world-reacts-death-brazilian-football-icon-pel%C3%A9
Pele, Brazilian Legend of the Beautiful Game, Dies at 82
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
Brazilian soccer legend Edson Arantes Do Nascimiento better known as "Pele", gestures during a photocall of the movie "Pele", in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (AP)
Pele, the legendary Brazilian football player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday at the age of 82. Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital, where Pele was undergoing treatment, said he died at 3:27 p.m. "due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition." The death of the only man to win the World Cup three times as a player was confirmed on his Instagram account. "Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today," it read, adding he had "enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love." Tributes poured in from across the worlds of sport, politics and popular culture for a figure who epitomized Brazil's dominance of the beautiful game. The government of President Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves office on Sunday, declared three days of mourning, and said in a statement that Pele was "a great citizen and patriot, raising the name of Brazil wherever he went." Bolsonaro's successor, President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wrote on Twitter that "few Brazilians carried the name of our country as far as he did." French President Emmanuel Macron said Pele's legacy would live forever. "The game. The king. Eternity," Macron tweeted. Pele had been undergoing chemotherapy since he had a tumor removed from his colon in September 2021. He also had difficulty walking unaided since an unsuccessful hip operation in 2012. In February 2020, on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic, his son Edinho said Pele's ailing physical state had left him depressed. On Monday, a 24-hour wake will be held for Pele in the center of the field at the stadium of Santos, his hometown club where he started playing as a teenager and quickly rose to fame. The next day, a procession carrying his coffin will pass through the streets of Santos, passing the neighborhood where his 100-year-old mother lives, and ending at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where he will be buried in a private ceremony. ‘What is possible’ US President Joe Biden said on his Twitter that Pele's rise from humble beginnings to football legend was a story of "what is possible." Pele, whose given name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, joined Santos in 1956 and turned the small coastal club into one of the most famous names in football. In addition to a host of regional and national titles, Pele won two Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, and two Intercontinental Cups, the annual tournament held between the best teams in Europe and South America. He took home three World Cup winner's medals, the first time as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958, the second in Chile four years later - even though he missed most of the tournament through injury - and the third in Mexico in 1970, when he led what is considered to be one of the greatest sides ever to play the game. He retired from Santos in 1974 but a year later made a surprise comeback by signing a lucrative deal to join the New York Cosmos in the then nascent North American Soccer League. In a glorious 21-year career he scored between 1,281 and 1,283 goals, depending on how matches are counted. Pele, though, transcended soccer, like no player before or since, and he became one of the first global icons of the 20th century. With his winning smile and an aw-shucks humility that charmed legions of fans, he was better known than many Hollywood stars, popes or presidents – many if not most of whom he met during a six-decade-long career as player and corporate pitchman. "I am sad, but I am also proud to be Brazilian, to be from Pele's country, a guy who was a great athlete," said Ciro Campos, a 49-year-old biologist in Rio de Janeiro. "And also off the field, he was a cool person, not an arrogant athlete." Pele credited his one-of-a-kind mix of talent, creative genius and technical skill to a youth spent playing pick-up games in small-town Brazil, often using grapefruit or wadded-up rags because his family could not afford a real ball. Pele was named "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee, co-"Football Player of the Century" by world soccer body FIFA, and a "national treasure" by Brazil's government. His celebrity was often overwhelming. Grown adults broke down crying in his presence with regularity. When he was a player, souvenir-seeking fans rushed the field following games and tore off his shorts, socks and even underwear. His house in Brazil was less than a mile from a beach, but he didn't go there for some two decades because of fear of crowds. Yet even in unguarded moments among friends, he rarely complained. He believed that his talent was a divine gift, and he spoke movingly about how football allowed him to travel the world, bring cheer to cancer patients and survivors of wars and famine, and provide for a family that, growing up, often did not know the source of their next meal. "God gave me this ability for one reason: To make people happy," he said during a 2013 interview with Reuters. "No matter what I did, I tried not to forget that." Brazil's CBF soccer federation said: "Pele was much more than the greatest sportsman of all time... The King of Soccer was the ultimate exponent of a victorious Brazil." Kylian Mbappé, the French star many view as the current best soccer player in the world, also offered his condolences. "The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten," he wrote on Twitter. "RIP KING."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4070991/pele-brazilian-legend-beautiful-game-dies-82
Yemeni Government Accuses Houthis of Exploiting Truce to Increase Looting
Arab World
Aden - Ali Rabih
Part of the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Yemen in the city of Aden. (Saba)
The Central Bank of Yemen in Aden affirmed its commitment to the monetary policies it set to protect the local currency from collapse and maintain the stability of the markets. In parallel, Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani accused the Houthi militia of exploiting the truce to double the looting of resources and increase levies. In an official statement, Al-Eryani said the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militia has continued to plunder hundreds of billions of state revenues, without assuming any obligations, and stopped the payment of salaries to public sector employees in the areas under its control, ignoring the difficult economic conditions of citizens and the worsening humanitarian crisis. The Yemeni minister stated that the total revenues looted by the Houthi militia from taxes, customs, zakat, endowments, fuel, and domestic gas amounted in 2020 to 2.3 trillion riyals. Al-Eryani accused the Houthi militia of “taking advantage of the UN-sponsored truce in early 2022 to escalate the systematic looting of public revenues, tax and customs revenues for oil derivatives through the port of Hodeidah and trafficking in smuggled Iranian oil in local markets…” He called on the international community, the United Nations, and US envoys to “exercise real pressure on the Houthi militia, to stop its systematic looting of state revenues, and to allocate it to the regular payment of employee salaries, according to the 2014 civil service database, instead of directing it in favor of the wealth of its leaders…” The Houthi militia has stopped paying the salaries of government employees in the areas under its controls since late 2016, despite collecting hundreds of billions of riyals from the revenues of institutions. Meanwhile, the Central Bank in Aden launched on Wednesday the last session of the meetings of its board of directors for the current year 2022, headed by the bank’s governor Ahmed Ahmed Ghaleb. The Yemeni official media stated that the meeting reviewed “the bank’s financial statements for the period 2016-2020, the observations submitted by the external auditor, and issues related to strengthening the principles of transparency, governance, and control procedures for the banking sector and exchange companies.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4069526/yemeni-government-accuses-houthis-exploiting-truce-increase-looting
Ukraine Targeted in Another Russian Missile Barrage
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Smoke rising from the Ukrainian neighborhoods of Bakhmut, due to the Russian bombing (AP)
Several regions of Ukraine, including its capital, were facing a Russian missile attack Thursday morning, the latest in a series targeting national infrastructure. Air raid sirens rang out across the country. In Kyiv, the regional administration said that air defense systems were activated to fend off the ongoing missile attack. Sounds of explosions were heard in the city, reported The Associated Press. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said numerous explosions took place in Ukraine's second-largest city. Ukrainian authorities in several regions said some incoming Russian missiles were intercepted. The governor of southern Ukraine's Mykolaiv province, Vitaliy Kim, said five missiles were shot down over the Black Sea. The Ukrainian military’s command North said two were downed over the Sumy region, located on the border with Russia in the country’s northeast. The Kyiv regional administration said fragments from a downed Russian missile damaged a private building in the Darnytskyi district and a car parked nearby. Thursday’s attack is the latest in a series of Russian strikes targeting vital infrastructure across Ukraine. Moscow has launched such attacks on weekly basis since October, causing widespread blackouts and power rationing. After earlier attacks, the Ukrainian military reported shooting down incoming Russian missiles and explosive drones, but some still reached their targets, increasing the suffering of the population amid freezing temperatures. As the latest wave of Russian strikes began Thursday, authorities in the Dnipro, Odesa and Kryvyi Rih regions said they switched off electricity to minimize the damage to critical infrastructure facilities if they were hit. Earlier this month, the United States agreed to give a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine to boost the country’s defense. The US and other allies also pledged to provide energy-related equipment to help Ukraine withstand the attacks on its infrastructure.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4069341/ukraine-targeted-another-russian-missile-barrage
Turkish Court Upholds Rights Leader's Life Sentence
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Demonstrators including lawyers and opposition lawmakers react after the verdict of jailed rights defender Osman Kavala outside Istanbul courthouse, on April 25, 2022. (AFP)
A Turkish appellate court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a leading critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan whose jailing has added to tensions in Ankara's uneasy ties with the West. Paris-born activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole in April on the charge of trying to topple the government by financing street protests in 2013, AFP said. Seven others were jailed for 18 years each for aiding the attempt to overthrow the government of then-prime minister Erdogan during the so-called Gezi Park rallies in Istanbul. The Anadolu state news agency said the appellate court ruled that the April verdict "complied with the law". The defense can still appeal the case in Türkiye’s Supreme Court. Kavala's years-long trial has been gnawing on NATO member Türkiye’s strategic but tempestuous ties with its main Western allies since his unexpected arrest in October 2017. Kavala was then best known as a soft-spoken businessman who was spending part of his wealth to promote culture and projects aimed at reconciling Türkiye and its arch-nemesis Armenia. But Erdogan portrayed him as a leftist agent of the Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros who was using foreign money to try and overthrow the state. Kavala was first charged with funding the wave of 2013 protests that some analysts view as the genesis of Erdogan's more authoritarian posture in the latter half of his two-decade rule. A court acquitted and released him in February 2020 -- only for the police to arrest him before he had a chance to return home to his wife. Another court then accused him of being involved in a failed 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan in which more than 250 died in Istanbul and Ankara. Kavala ultimately ended up facing both sets of charges. The court ultimately convicted him of the same set of charges of which he had been cleared in 2020. Germany demanded his immediate release while the United States said it was "deeply troubled" by the ruling. "His unjust conviction is inconsistent with respect for human rights and the rule of law. We again call on Türkiye to release Osman Kavala," said Vedant Patel, a spokesman with the US State Department. "The people of Türkiye deserve to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms without fear of retribution." Türkiye has already ignored a European Court of Human Rights ruling demanding Kavala's release.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4069311/turkish-court-upholds-rights-leaders-life-sentence
Death Toll from Philippine Floods, Landslides Climbs to 33
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, residents are evacuated by rescuers in a flooded village in Panitan, Panay island, Philippines on Tuesday April 12, 2022. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
One person died and three others were missing in the southern Philippines after being hit by a landslide, police said Thursday, taking the nationwide death toll from recent rains to at least 33. Authorities were still searching for more than two dozen other people missing after heavy downpours over the Christmas weekend caused flooding and landslides across central and southern regions, said AFP. The latest death happened Wednesday in Mati City in the province of Davao Oriental on Mindanao island when a landslide buried four people as they fished, police said. The body of a 62-year-old man was recovered and the search for his companions was still under way, Mati City police chief Ernesto Gregore told AFP. "There was a heavy downpour in the mountains. They were fishing in a river when the landslide occurred," Gregore said. The weather turned bad over the weekend as the disaster-prone nation of 110 million people prepared for a long Christmas holiday. Hundreds of houses have since been destroyed and more than 5,000 hectares (12,400 acres) of crops wiped out by rains that have forced tens of thousands of people into evacuation centres, the national disaster agency said. Most fatalities have been in the province of Misamis Occidental, also on Mindanao, where 15 people died from drowning or rain-induced landslides. The Philippines is ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change, and scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4069241/death-toll-philippine-floods-landslides-climbs-33
Joint Saudi-Omani-Kuwaiti Coalition to Develop Petrochemical Complex in Duqm
Business
Muscat - Merza al-Khuwaldi
Signing the agreement to develop the petrochemical complex in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm in the Omani-Saudi-Kuwaiti partnership (Oman News Agency)
A joint Saudi-Omani-Kuwaiti coalition was established on Wednesday in Muscat. The coalition seeks to develop a petrochemical complex that meets the growing market demand. Oman’s OQ, Saudi’s SABIC, and the Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) have signed a Project Development Agreement for a jointly owned petrochemical complex in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), in the Sultanate of Oman. The three companies aim to establish a petrochemical complex consisting of a steam cracker and derivative units and a natural gas liquid (NGL) extraction facility. They will conduct the necessary studies and collaborate using their wealth of technical and commercial experience to develop the project with unique attributes that make it globally competitive and profitable for all three partners. SABIC owns a 40 percent stake in the project while OQ and KPI each have a 30 percent stake, according to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat. Chairman of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) Abdul Salam Mohammed Al Murshidi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the agreement embodies the interest of the three countries' leaders in economic integration. He further considered the agreement a demonstration of the success of Oman's economic diplomacy and its endeavors to invest Oman’s natural wealth and vital components to attract foreign investments. Al Murshidi highlighted that the project has a huge economic and industrial feasibility, mainly that the three states stand as oil producers and exporters. The agreement was signed by OQ Group CEO Talal bin Hamid al Awfi, CEO of SABIC Abdulrahman bin Saleh al Fageeh, and CEO of KPI Shafi Taleb al Ajmi. Al Awfi said: “The agreement is a significant milestone reached between the partners and comes at an important time in Oman along with our 52nd national day celebrations and the near completion of the OQ8 refinery project in SEZAD being undertaken by OQ and KPI through the OQ8 joint venture.” “This agreement also comes in line with Oman Investment Authority (OIA) plans to attract foreign investments to support the realization of Oman’s vision 2040 in its endeavor to diversify Oman’s economy.” For his part, Al Fageeh said that “SABIC’s collaborative approach has built longstanding relationships of collaboration, delivered innovative solutions, and created mutual value for more than 45 years.” He said the agreement “enables us to identify and assess the opportunity for ambitious and sustainable growth by bringing together our capabilities, expertise, and technologies and work collectively with our partners.” “Our involvement in this well-positioned project is consistent with our growth strategy and Saudi Vision 2030 goals to develop a stronger downstream business addressing challenges in the petrochemicals industry such as carbon neutrality and providing diversified and sustainable products.” “Working with our regional partners supports KPC's 2040 strategy for growth in the petrochemical industry and enhances integration between the refining and petrochemical sectors,” Al Ajmi commented. “The project also supports the economic growth and development of the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD),” he added. The project intends to deploy state-of-the-art technologies to minimize carbon footprint and incorporate circular economy aspects and commit to high environmental standards. In addition, the project would also benefit from the excellent location of Duqm and taking advantage of the infrastructure which has been developed in the area, as OQ continues in its strategy to help develop SEZAD as a manufacturing and logistics hub in line with vision 2040.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4069231/joint-saudi-omani-kuwaiti-coalition-develop-petrochemical-complex-duqm
Emilie Bickerton
Emilie Bickerton - Emilie Bickerton is a film critic.
So that’s the end of that. With the deaths of Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Marie Straub this year, the curtain has come down on two of the most radical filmmakers of the 20th century. In their wake, a great era of European cinema has drawn to a close. Their unclassifiable films interrogated the nature of image-making past and present, encompassing a whole sweep of historical, philosophical and musical references. While Mr. Godard remained famous, largely thanks to his early 1960s features that are among world cinema’s most recognized classics, Mr. Straub and his partner Danièle Huillet’s films were barely seen, though consistently championed by art house filmgoers. What these directors gave us, in their different but extreme works, were among the deepest reflections of what cinema was and can be. They leave European cinema, buffeted by the pandemic, in a parlous state. Attendance numbers across the continent are in decline, the range of films is diminishing, and ticket prices are rising. Streaming platforms, which offer a model for movie watching that is cheaper, simpler and often more comfortable than a trip out to the movie theater, are generally held responsible for this state of affairs. While a reprise of a common argument that technological innovation — from the emergence of sound to television — would bring the demise of cinema, the charge has plenty of ammunition. The ubiquity of readily accessible movies and television series has undeniably dented the willingness of people to seek out more challenging films. And yet, to judge from the array of films released this year, there’s nothing wrong with the quality of European filmmaking. Often I emerged from a movie theater surprised, moved, disturbed and encouraged. Cinema may be threatened by changing habits of consumption, underfunding for nonblockbuster fare, narrow aesthetic codes and limited exposure, but it continues — more than 100 years after the Lumière brothers pronounced the form’s imminent death — to thrum with life. Much of that vitality emerges from the work of female directors. “One Fine Morning,” by the French director Mia Hansen-Løve, is certainly up there with her best, bringing together all the admirable qualities of her filmmaking — quiet emotional drama, subtle observation of human interaction and character evolution, stories rooted in cities and spaces — in a simple tale of one woman’s new relationship developing in parallel with her aging father’s mental decline. Germany’s Angela Schanelec also added a fine, beguiling film to her already impressive filmography. “I Was at Home, But” tells the story, through a series of domestic scenes from a charming dance routine to negotiations over a defective bike, of a mother’s complicated response to her son’s return home after a weeklong absence. Originally released in 2019, the film — delayed by the pandemic, like many others — went on general release in French cinemas only in 2022. The year also saw the continued flourishing of working-class films, or proletkino, a genre born in the Soviet Union of the 1920s. The proletariat was far more empowered than it is today in postindustrial Europe, yet in recent decades there has been an impressive and surprising resurgence of films in this genre across the continent. This new proletkino, as I’ve called it, had another bumper year. The Dardenne brothers, Belgian filmmakers who have made a career out of social dramas set in an old steel town, produced one of their strongest — and bleakest — films to date, “Tori and Lokita,” about two child migrants from Benin landing in France and the new hell they enter when one of them cannot get the required papers. Pedro Costa, a Portuguese auteur, also returned to his long-running subject of Cape Verde migrants in the Lisbon slums with his painterly and poetic “Vitalina Varela.” In France, Stéphane Brizé concluded his superb trilogy of films reflecting on the modern world of labor. In “Another World,” he focuses on the pressures felt by a middle manager, once close to his workers but now forced to deliver on increasingly impossible demands for greater efficiency and enforce massive layoffs. As a chronicle of the changing nature of work in the past few decades, there’s little better than Mr. Brizé’s trilogy. It’s been a fine year for feature documentaries, too, including Jonàs Trueba’s ambitious “Who’s Stopping Us.” Across five years and in more than three hours, the film charts the lives of young people in Madrid as they transition from their teens to their 20s. It continues an intriguing lineage of recent works mixing documentary and fiction that has its roots in Michael Apted’s classic British TV series “Seven Up!,” which began in 1964, and includes Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” (2014) and Sébastien Lifshitz’s “Adolescents” (2019). In their marriage of sociological interest with formal experimentation, films like Mr. Trueba’s offer an exciting new route for documentary cinema, exploring and expanding the possibilities of the form. Perhaps no one better exemplifies that blending of reality and fiction than Alice Diop, the French documentarian whose first feature film, “Saint Omer,” is on the Oscar shortlist for best international film. The courthouse drama, based on the true story of an infanticide, deserves its recognition — and so does Ms. Diop, whose documentary “We,” released in cinemas earlier in the year, insightfully and sensitively brings to light the experience of second- and third-generation immigrants in suburban France. Adieu, then, Mr. Godard and Mr. Straub. The world of cinema has lost two titans. Beyond the loss, there are major reasons for concern, especially about distribution — which relegates ever fewer films to limited runs in exclusive locations — and a lack of cinema education that ideally would start in school. Mr. Godard, in particular, was a wonderful guide here: His films are a lesson in the history of cinema. There is currently no pretender to his throne in the 21st century. But we still have time. For now, a few new ghosts have joined us in the auditorium. The New York Times
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4069171/emilie-bickerton/european-cinema-has-still-got-it
