الكاتب: kafej

Lisbon, famed for its golden sunsets and cobbled streets, stands rich in history and resilience.

It has weathered earthquakes and political and economic turmoil, cultivating a strong spirit.

Currently, the city navigates issues like gentrification, a housing crisis and climate threats.

As Portugal’s capital evolves into a leading tech and remote-working hub, it faces the challenge of evenly distributing financial benefits among its citizens.

Amid Portugal’s political upheaval, including Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s resignation due to corruption inquiries, how might these national events influence Lisbon’s transformation?

The Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, talks to Al Jazeera.

Israeli air raids have killed many Palestinians at the al-Fakhoora School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), in the Jabalia refugee camp and another school in Tal al-Zaatar, also in northern Gaza.

At least 50 people were killed in the attack on the al-Fakhoora School, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Saturday. It said the two attacks killed and injured hundreds of people, with a combined estimated death toll of 200.

Several hundred people were believed to have taken shelter at both schools, fleeing the non-stop Israeli attacks. The attack on al-Fakhoora is believed to have taken place in the early hours of the morning, while the attack on Tal al-Zaatar took place later in the day.

The Israeli military had told Palestinians to move from north Gaza for their safety, but deadly air raids continued to hit central and southern areas of the narrow coastal territory.

According to United Nations figures, about 1.6 million people have been displaced inside Gaza in six weeks of fighting. The Israeli army’s relentless air and ground campaign has since killed at least 12,000 people, including 5,000 children, according to Palestinian officials.

President Joe Biden’s rigid pro-Israel stance would have been considered convention for United States policy 50 years ago.

“It’s not a mainstream position any more,” says Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

Alterman tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, and Israel’s continuing destruction of the Gaza Strip, will force major changes in the political leadership of Palestinians and Israelis.

There will be no progress unless Israel makes way for a solution “that gives dignity and some sense of self-determination to the Palestinians,” says Alterman.

Israel’s beleaguered prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has bowed to pressure after a five-day march by families of hostages taken by Hamas and thousands of supporters.

He has finally agreed to meet the families along with his war cabinet on Monday.

A huge march set off from Tel Aviv on Tuesday, arriving in Jerusalem on Saturday, with thousands joining them on the way.

Follow live: Israel-Gaza latest

Among them was Dr Guy Halfteck, who told Sky News it should never have been needed.

“It should not have required a march of 80km (50 miles) with people suffering and families suffering only to get a meeting with the prime minister,” he said.

Shelley Shemtov’s 21-year-old son Omer was taken by Hamas at the music festival near Gaza on 7 October. The last month and a half has been unbearable, she said.

“It’s 43 days of nightmare. We don’t sleep, we don’t eat. I don’t know (if) my son (is) eating, if they are giving him food or if they are beating him. I know nothing. It’s a nightmare.”

Asked if marching with thousands of others soothed her pain, she said: “Very much. It’s a power. They are giving us power.”

They were here with a message for the Israeli government. Moran Mina, whose grandmother is being held, said there should be only one Israeli mission in Gaza.

“The message is that there will be victory,” she said. “We already lost. We have 240 people in Gaza. We need to bring them all back and this is our victory.”

In a moment of haunting poignancy they released balloons, one for every hostage still missing. The mood was sombre, with a sense of deep sadness and pain. But also of determination that their voices are heard and their loved ones are not forgotten.

Read more:
Hamas claims ‘at least 50 killed’ in Israeli attack on Gaza school
Israel poised for ‘second phase’ of war against Hamas

The march, which ended outside Mr Netanyahu’s office, adds to the pressure on Israel’s beleaguered leader.

Ariel Tishbi told Sky News the prime minister should take the hint and stand down: “Our prime minister doesn’t belong here. He lost his credit long ago and what happened in the last year is horrible and led to these events. No, I’m sorry, Mr Netanyahu should go home.”

By the end of the day, there was another huge rally in Tel Aviv, keeping up the pressure on the prime minister – pressure he seems to be bowing to, agreeing to the meeting with the families who will use it to press their case.

About 170,000 took to the streets, a day after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was sworn in for a second term.

Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through Madrid in opposition to a controversial Catalan amnesty law that enabled Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to form a government for a second term.

Sanchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) secured the backing of the Catalan separatist Junts party by offering amnesty to those linked to a botched bid for regional independence six years ago.

According to the authorities, more than 170,000 took part in Saturday’s protest, the largest yet against the deal, which has prompted the opposition to take to the streets in cities across the country.

Sanchez was sworn in on Friday, nearly four months after an inconclusive election left the country with a hung parliament. The conservative main opposition People’s Party (PP) won the largest share of the vote, however, the right-wing coalition with the far-right Vox party failed to secure the absolute majority needed to form a government.

Protesters waved Spanish flags and held signs that read “Sanchez traitor” and “Don’t sell Spain”.

Four judicial associations, opposition political parties and business leaders say the law threatens the rule of law and the separation of powers.

PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo and Santiago Abascal, head of Vox, were among the demonstrators.

After the rally, hundreds of people protested on the motorway near the Moncloa Palace, the prime minister’s residence in Madrid. The A6 road was closed for about an hour during the protest but later reopened after the police cleared the area.

A small protest was held outside the Spanish Embassy in London.

Approximately 400 people involved in the independence bid that came to a head in 2017 will benefit from the law, including both separatists and police involved in clashes with activists.

Among them is former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Junts and the brains behind the illegal referendum, who today lives in exile in Belgium.

The independence referendum was declared illegal by the courts and resulted in Spain’s worst political crisis for decades.

The amnesty will be the largest in Spain since the 1977 blanket amnesty for crimes committed during the Francisco Franco dictatorship, and the first amnesty law approved in the European Union since 1991, according to Spain’s CSIC research council.

Sanchez, who won a parliamentary vote to form a new government on Thursday by 179 votes in favour and 171 against, has defended the law saying an amnesty would help to defuse tensions in Catalonia. Some of his ministers, including PSOE senior official Felix Bolanos, have hailed the legislation as a way to “heal wounds and resolve the existing political conflict” in the region.

Protesters, including neo-Nazi groups, have held demonstrations outside the Socialist party’s headquarters in Madrid for 15 consecutive nights since the deal was announced, leading to violent clashes with police and arrests.

In a survey by pollster Metroscopia in mid-September, approximately 70 percent of respondents – 59 percent of them Socialist supporters – said they were against the idea of an amnesty.