English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese
Related, Global News & Editorials
For
April 14/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.april14.20.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
The Third Time That Jesus Appeared To The Disciples After His
Mark 16/09-20/When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She
went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.
When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not
believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while
they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest;
but they did not believe them either. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they
were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal
to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And
these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out
demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their
hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they
will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”After the Lord
Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right
hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord
worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News & Editorials published on April 13-14/2020
Hariri Hospital: We have 28 cases, 3 in critical condition
80 Recoveries, 632 Coronavirus Cases in Lebanon
2 new coronavirus cases registered in Lebanon
Bcharre Hospital: Four new cases in the province, one in Chekka, hospital staff
test results came out negative
Hassan from Bahman Hospital: There is no financial impediment towards preserving
citizens’ health
Araji after a tour of the airport: There is a possibility to renew the process
of transferring the Lebanese and opening Beirut airport
UNIFIL grant to Jaba Amel Municipalities Union to confront Corona
Arrival of MEA flight from Jeddah with 126 passengers on board
New Batch of Expats to Arrive in Beirut
Report: PM Meets Political Aide to Speaker on ‘Haircut’ Draft Law
Israel Fires Flare Bombs over Shebaa Outskirts
Lebanon: Food Imports Threatened by Coronavirus, USD Shortage
Rahi during Monday Easter Mass dedicated to France: We are called to be
witnesses to resurrection in our way of life
Lebanese Army to start distributing aids on Tuesday
Diaspora Businessmen Council: We place our potentials and capabilities to
provide assistance when needed
Druze Sheikh Aql contacts President of the Republic, spiritual figures on Easter
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
April 13-14/2020
Pompeo: US welcomes apparent consensus on forming a government in Iraq
US oil sanctions against Iran are unjust, says Rouhani
Coronavirus: US passes half a million cases as Trump threatens to cut WHO
funding
Coronavirus: Iran prepares 10,000 graves in Tehran for victims
Khamenei representative attacks UNICEF, says UN children’s agency US ‘servant’
Coronavirus: Iran COVID-19 cases up to 73,303, death toll increases to 4,585
Three Turkish prisoners die of coronavirus, says Justice Minister
Turkey Confirms Providing Israel with Medical Supplies in Virus Fight
Hamas Says No Progress Made in Prisoner Deal with Israel
Gantz urges Netanyahu to rise to the emergency and share power
Chairman of UAE Banking Federation: COVID-19 Will Change Economic Life, Everyone
Must Adapt
Cautious Hope for Pandemic Peak as Spain Readies to Reopen Some Factories
Erdogan Refuses Minister's Resignation over Turkey Lockdown Chaos
Virus 'Disaster in the Making' in War-Torn Syria
Millions Watch Andrea Bocelli Sing in Empty Milan Cathedral
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on April 13-14/2020
Pandemic Exposes the Paranoid Style of Iran’s Supreme Leader/Tzvi Kahn/FDD/April
13/2020
Iran's Military Likely Can't Fight Thanks to Coronavirus/Michael Rubin/The
National Interest/April 13/2020
Al-Kadhimi must steer Iraq away from US-Iran tensions/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab
News/April 13/2020
Virus has potential positive effect on foreign policy/Maria Maalouf/Arab
News/April 13/2020
Global unity key to tackling the coronavirus pandemic/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/April 13/2020
‘Useful idiots’ damaging search for truth in Syria/Chris Doyle/Arab News/April
13/2020
Russia-Saudi ties will only be stronger after the pandemic/Kirill Dmitriev/Arab
News/April 13/2020
Coronavirus Should Finally Smash the Barriers to Telemedicine/Virginia Postrel/Bloomberg/Monday,
13 April, 2020
British Conservatives are Shifting Further to the Right/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al
Awsat/April 13/2020
IMF Must Not Buy the Mullahs' Coronavirus Lies/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone
Institute/April 13, 2020
Coronavirus: A French Disaster/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/April 13, 2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on April 13-14/2020
Hariri Hospital: We have 28 cases, 3 in
critical condition
NNA/April 13/2020
Rafik Hariri University Hospital indicated on Monday in its daily report on the
latest developments about the Corona Covid-19 virus, that the total number of
laboratory-confirmed cases of infected patients currently present in the
hospital's health isolation area has reached 28 cases, adding that the total
number of cases that have been fully cured from the virus to-date remains 80.
"According to the directions of the World Health Organization and the Ministry
of Public Health, one case infected with the Coronavirus was released from the
hospital to be home quarantined, after the attending physician confirmed the
patient’s clinical recovery, and informed him of all measures and instructions
related to domestic isolation,” the Hospital statement added. It also stressed
that all those infected with the virus "are receiving the necessary care in the
isolation unit and their condition is stable, except for 3 cases who are in
critical condition."
In conclusion, the Hospital indicated that more information about the number of
infected cases on all Lebanese territories can be found in the daily report
issued by the Ministry of Public Health.
80 Recoveries, 632 Coronavirus Cases in
Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 13/2020
The Health Ministry said on Monday that the total tally of individuals infected
with coronavirus rose to 632 cases. It said two individuals have tested positive
for the virus, while the number of deaths remains at 20. Recoveries rose on
Monday bringing the tally to 80 cured. Meanwhile, Health Minister Hamad Hassan
assured that financial obstacles will not prevent the ministry from providing
the needed healthcare for Lebanese. Hamad comments came during a visit on Monday
to the Bahman Hospital, accompanied by Minister of Industry Imad Hoballah, and
in the presence of MPs Amine Cherri, Ali Ammar and Fadi Alameh.
2 new coronavirus cases registered in Lebanon
Annahar Staff/Annahar/April 13/2020
The state of general mobilization remains extended until April 26 to further
minimize the spread of the virus. BEIRUT: The Ministry of Health confirmed the
recording of only two new coronavirus cases in Lebanon, raising the tally of
COVID-19 patients to 632. In the past 24 hours, 256 tests were administered, of
which only two came back positive. The number of new cases registered on Monday
has been the lowest in over a month. So far, the virus has led to the death of
20 people in Lebanon. Of the total count, 80 have recovered while 34 are in
critical condition. Additionally, 2014 have been placed under quarantine,
according to the Health Ministry. The state of general mobilization remains
extended until April 26 to further minimize the spread of the virus. On Monday,
four planes are said to arrive at the Beirut International Airport, repatriating
Lebanese from Jeddah, Paris, Libreville and London.
Bcharre Hospital: Four new cases in the province, one in
Chekka, hospital staff test results came out negative
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
The Bcharre Governmental Hospital administration announced, in a statement on
Monday, the release of the 123 PCR examination results that were conducted on
Saturday, which turned out as follows: three new infected cases in Becharre, a
new case in Barhalioun and another one in Chekka. “Hence, the total number of
positive cases in the province of Bcharre so far is 64 positive cases, including
one recovery,” the statement indicated. The Hospital added that the test results
of its medical staff at its isolation center came out negative.
Hassan from Bahman Hospital: There is no financial
impediment towards preserving citizens’ health
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
Public Health Minister, Hamad Hassan, stressed Monday that "there is no
financial barrier in the face of maintaining the citizen’s health," adding, “Our
responsibility as a whole is to guarantee the safety of the nation and the
health of its citizens." Hassan emphasized that "restoring confidence in the
state lies in mutual cooperation and integration among each other, without any
consideration for any political calculations." The Minister’s words came in a
press conference he held following a tour in the various sections of Bahman
Hospital in Beirut’s southern suburb region, which he inspected at noon today
and inaugurated its medical center for treating Corona patients, in the presence
of the Minister of Industry Imad Haballah and Deputies Ali Ammar, Amin Sherri,
and Fadi Alamah, as well as the Director of Bahman Hospital Ali Karim, and the
Hospital’s administrative staff.
Hassan commended the medical center for being equipped on a high degree of
responsibility and professionalism, and praised its well-planning and proper
implementation on a scientific, health and professional basis.
The Health Minister also paid tribute to the medical teams who are exerting
relentless efforts to serve the human being in terms of his health, protection
and immunity, on more than one level. He added: "What we do is our professional
and ethical duty, and the investment that we made in people, especially in the
medical, nursing, radiological, laboratory and service crews, was an investment
in place, for they are always with us…and they are our partners in the
sacrifice: municipalities, mayors, municipal unions, and all civil societies
that endeavored with the beginning of the crisis to be the field partner, the
advocate and supporter of community immunity and the implementation of all
decisions issued by the National Anti-Corona Committee, headed by Prime Minister
Hassan Diab.”
Hassan asserted that as a crisis cell, its members are working to follow-up on
and implement the decisions issued by the government or the crisis management
ministerial committee, so that they do not remain on paper only. "Maintaining
the dignity and rights of the employee, nurse and doctor is our common
responsibility and we will not hesitate in meeting it,” he corroborated,
assuring that the financial dues to the hospitals are being settled. Hassan
highlighted the partnership and collaboration between the Ministries of Public
Health and Industry in facing the country’s crises and economic hardships,
hoping that the joint cooperation with the rest of the ministries will reflect
the image that we desperately need these days to restore confidence in the
state. “Today we are all in the service of the public health of the citizen, and
on all Lebanese territories…In our shared path, our responsibility is to protect
society, and what we are doing, God willing, is a guarantee for the safety of
the citizen," Hassan concluded. to return to Lebanon. On Sunday, Lebanese expats
returned from Kuwait, Dubai, Angola's Luanda and Rome. According to the Health
Ministry they have all tested negative for the virus. Lebanon confirmed 11 new
infections of the COVID-19 coronavirus on Sunday, which raises the country's
total to 630.
Araji after a tour of the airport: There is a possibility
to renew the process of transferring the Lebanese and opening Beirut airport
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
Parliamentary Health Committee Head, MP Assem Araji, toured on Monday the
various sections at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, accompanied by
MP’s Fadi Alamah and Ali al-Moqdad and the Director General of Civil Aviation,
Airport Director Fadi al-Hassan, and Head of the Airport Security Authority,
Brigadier General George Doumit, to have a closer look at the measures
undertaken to ensure the safe return of the Lebanese from abroad, in the context
of the emerging Coronavirus epidemic. After the tour, MP Araji pointed out that
during the cabinet meeting tomorrow, "there will be an assessment to determine
whether or not a second round to evacuate the Lebanese from abroad will be
implemented." He stressed that "the infected cases that appeared on the two
planes coming from Rome and Paris were less than what the National Corona
Committee expected, so I believe that there is a possibility to renew the
process of transporting the Lebanese from abroad and opening Beirut airport, and
this is what I hope for because there are many Lebanese students, whether in
Georgia or Ukraine and Belarus, who are appealing to the government to ensure
their return due to their difficult situation there.”For his part, Airport
Director al-Hassan indicated that "the process of evacuating the Lebanese from
abroad is carried out only via the Middle East Airlines or private planes that
come to Lebanon. As for Kuwaiti, Emirati or Qatari planes, they come to evacuate
their nationals or foreign nationals."
UNIFIL grant to Jaba Amel Municipalities Union to confront
Corona
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
The Union of Municipalities of Jabal Amel received at its headquarters in the
town of Al-Taybeh on Monday, a grant from the UNIFIL peace-keeping forces
operating in southern Lebanon, estimated at 37 million Lebanese pounds to
purchase equipment needed to cope with the outbreak of the Corona epidemic. The
grant was presented to the Municipalities Union Head Ali Taher Yassin, in the
presence of the representative of the Civilian Affairs Office at the UNIFIL Wael
al-Shami, the Civil-Military Cooperation Office Head in the South, First Army
Lieutenant Sami Sabah, and representative of the Civil-Military Cooperation
Office in the eastern sector, Major Stojanovic. It is to note that this grant is
part of the budget allocated by the Union to confront the Coronavirus, which
amounts to approximately 300 million pounds.
Arrival of MEA flight from Jeddah with 126 passengers on
board
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
A Middle East Airlines flight arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport in
Beirut around 4:30 p.m. today, coming from the city of Jeddah in the Saudi
Kingdom, with 126 passengers on board, NNA correspondent at the Airport
reported. The regular procedures adopted at Beirut Airport began immediately
with the plane’s arrival carrying Lebanese citizens returning from abroad,
including medical examinations and precautionary measures.
New Batch of Expats to Arrive in Beirut
Naharnet/April 13/2020
New planes repatriating Lebanese expats are expected to land in Beirut on
Monday, this time carrying passengers from the Saudi city of Jeddah, Paris,
Libreville and London. The number of passengers have not been identified yet.
Beirut's international airport has been closed since March, along with schools,
universities, restaurants and bars, and Lebanese have been urged to stay at home
to stem the spread of COVID-19. On March 31, Lebanese authorities allowed
expatriates to return despite a lockdown in response to the coronavirus
pandemic. An estimated 20,000 people want
Report: PM Meets Political Aide to Speaker on ‘Haircut’
Draft Law
Naharnet/April 13/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab reportedly held a meeting with political aide to
Speaker Nabih Berri, former Minister and MP Ali Hassan Khalil who relayed the
Speaker’s rejection of any economic rescue plan targeting bank savings of
Lebanese through a “haircut” procedure, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on
Monday. Khalil “informed Diab frankly that Berri would not agree on a rescue
draft law mainly the part aiming to deduct from the deposits of senior
depositors,” a political source told the daily on condition of anonymity. “Diab
and Khalil held an extended meeting and deliberated the issue for over two hours
and half,” said the source. “The PM eventually reached a conviction that a
haircut draft law will not be approved in the Cabinet or Parliament, and that
the Speaker rejects it because it contradicts the Lebanese Constitution which
states that Lebanon is a free economy system, and looks at deposits as a sacred
issue,” added the source. Many officials have described the “haircut” draft law
on savings as a “blatant theft.”The new cabinet is expected to outline its
financial rescue plan as the country grapples with an unprecedented economic and
financial crises, adding to the global coronavirus pandemic that also hit the
country’s stricken economy.
Israel Fires Flare Bombs over Shebaa Outskirts
Naharnet/April 13/2020
The Israeli army launched eight photoflash bombs overnight over al-Shahal area
on the outskirts of the town of Shebaa in the district of Hasbaya, the National
News Agency reported on Monday. Moreover, an Israeli spy plane conducted
intensive overflights over Beirut and its southern suburbs all day on Sunday,
NNA said. The agency said the overflights have recurred much in the past days.
Lebanon: Food Imports Threatened by Coronavirus, USD Shortage
Beirut- Enas Sherri/Asharq Al Awsat/April 13/2020
Months ago, before the first confirmed case of coronavirus infection in Lebanon,
and the subsequent measures such as public mobilization and quarantine, Lebanese
importers and traders were warning of possible food shortages in local markets
due to the dollar crisis.
These threats became more imminent in light of the complete closure imposed by
some of the most virus-stricken countries and suppliers to Lebanon. In remarks
to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hani Bohsali, the head of food importers, confirmed the
presence of a worsening problem in the import of food products but ruled out
“reaching a disastrous situation represented by the depletion of basic products
from the Lebanese market.” He explained: “The import chain is faltering because
of coronavirus. There are many obstacles facing the importers, including the
decision of some countries to reduce their exports in order to serve their
domestic market, the halting or decrease of production in some factories in
affected countries due to precautionary measures, delay of shipments due to
restriction of movement, and the fact that ports in Lebanon are operating
half-time in line with the general mobilization decision.” He asserted that many
basic foods, such as cereals, rice, milk, and oils were available in quantities
sufficient for up to two months in case import stops. “But the import has not
stopped and will not, but it faces difficulties,” he stressed.
Bohsali noted that Lebanon imports 80 percent of its food products, and this
will have repercussions “as long as coronavirus in the US and Europe is on the
rise, and as long as the number of cases increases.”When talking about the
possibility of food depletion, traders and importers confirm that the dollar
crisis was more dangerous than the virus. Importers, especially in light of the
pandemic, need foreign currency more than ever to reserve their share of
products. Nabil Fahd, the head of supermarket owners’ association, expressed
fears that some basic food products were running out because 20 percent of food
produced locally needed raw materials imported from abroad.“If the (coronavirus)
crisis continues, we will reach a stage in which some items will be depleted,
especially those that are fully or partially manufactured, such as canned food,
biscuits, and chocolate, but not basic food,” he underlined.
Rahi during Monday Easter Mass dedicated to France: We are called to be
witnesses to resurrection in our way of life
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara al-Rahi, presided over Easter Monday Mass
service held in Bkirki today, devoted to the intention of France. In his homily,
al-Rahi said: “We, as Christians, are called to be witnesses to the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus through our new way of life, our evangelical culture, and the
millennial civilization that has always been for the good of man and all of
humanity.” “It is a civilization of love that promotes truth, justice, freedom
for the children of God, peace and brotherhood among people,” he added. “We pray
for the intention of France, its President Emmanuel Macron, and the French
people, and we ask His Excellency Ambassador Bruno Foucher to convey to them our
Easter well-wishes…We also extend our sincere wishes to him and his colleagues
at the French Embassy in Beirut,” al-Rahi went on. The Patriarch expressed, on
behalf of the Maronite Church, the Lebanese people and officials, deepest
gratitude and appreciation for what France has provided to Lebanon, in helping
it face its economic and social challenges especially in the medical field
associated with the Corona virus. “Since the ninth of March, the beginning of
the emergence of the Corona epidemic known as COVID 19, France has made
donations to protect the health system and the medical teams working without
interruption in Lebanese hospitals, in order to treat the infected and avoid new
cases. It also provided a large amount of drugs, according to what the World
Health Organization estimates, to treat 45 to 50 thousand people, 17 thousand of
whom are admitted to hospital,” al-Rahi disclosed. He continued to indicate that
“since the public health sector is one of the priorities of cooperation with
Lebanon, the French Development Agency has decided to allocate a portion of its
development programs to the emergency situations linked to the Corona epidemic,
especially in the framework of the project that the Red Cross International
Committee affiliates to the Rafic Hariri Hospital in Beirut, alongside other
French aids currently under preparation.” “Additionally, France continues to
support refugees in Lebanon through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Refugees (UNRWA) and the International Supreme Agency in the treatment of
Coronavirus patients,” al-Rahi added. “It is known that France, for its part, is
suffering from an outbreak of the Coronavirus, but considers that through
international cooperation we can limit the spread of this epidemic,” the
Patriarch underscored.
Lebanese Army to start distributing aids on Tuesday
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
The Lebanese Army Command announced in a statement on Monday, that the
distribution of social assistance to citizens affected by the coronavirus will
begin on Tuesday, in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers.
The Army Command also confirmed that it will comply with the nominal regulations
it received from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Diaspora Businessmen Council: We place our potentials and
capabilities to provide assistance when needed
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
In a message to the “sons of the nation", the Lebanese Emigrants Businessmen
Council announced on Monday that its capabilities and potentials are at the
disposal of the Lebanese "to provide aid and assistance when necessary."
President of the Council, Nassib Fawaz, addressed the people of the homeland in
all parts of the world, affirming that the Council members place their “full
potential and modest capabilities to offer help and assistance when needed.”
“Through our faith in the Lord Almighty, first and foremost, and secondly in the
capabilities of science, we will inevitably come out of this darkness into the
light, and there is no doubt that it is a darkness over all humanity, yet it is
a darkness that precedes the sun's shining and the near-emerging of the morning
light,” he reassured. Fawaz reminded all fellow Lebanese citizens of the need to
maintain utmost measures of safety and precaution, and to demonstrate coherence,
unity and service amongst each another. He also urged them to commit to staying
in their homes, while wishing those infected with the coronavirus a speedy
recovery.
Druze Sheikh Aql contacts President of the Republic,
spiritual figures on Easter
NNA/Monday/April 13/2020
“Sheikh Aql” of the Druze Unitarian Community, Sheikh Naim Hassan, contacted on
Monday the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, Maronite Patriarch
Cardinal Beshara Boutros al-Rahi, Armenian Catholic Patriarch Aram I Keshishian,
and Armenian Catholic Patriarch Gregoire Boutros XX, congratulating them on the
holy occasion of Easter. Hassan hoped that the coming days will carry with them
salvation for the whole world from the emerging epidemic and wished those
infected speedy recoveries. He also hoped that Lebanon would be able to overcome
the ordeals that have befallen it.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on April 13-14/2020
Pompeo: US welcomes apparent consensus on forming a government in Iraq
Reuters, Washington/Monday 13 April 2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that his country welcomes an
apparent agreement among Iraq’s Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups to form a new
government, adding it would need to be capable ofconfronting the coronavirus
pandemic, helping the economy andbringing arms under control. “We welcome that
Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish political leaders seem to have arrived at a consensus
on government formation, and hope the new government puts Iraq’s interests first
and meets the needs of the Iraqi people,” Pompeo said in a statement.
US oil sanctions against Iran are unjust, says Rouhani
Reuters/Monday 13 April 2020
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said US sanctions against Iran and Venezuela
were unjust in a telephone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on
Monday and called for the two countries to cooperate together within the OPEC+
group. Washington re-imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 when US President Donald
Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
Iranian officials have said the sanctions have hampered efforts to combat a
coronavirus outbreak in the country. Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here
for all the latest updates. “America’s cruel and illegal sanctions on oil
production against Iran and Venezuela are against international regulations and
human principles,” Rouhani said, according to the official presidency website.
He added, “We need to continue cooperation for reduction of production and the
return of stability to prices.”The OPEC+ group of oil producers, comprising the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other countries,
agreed at the weekend to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in May
and June, representing about 10 percent of global supply.
Coronavirus: US passes half a million cases as Trump
threatens to cut WHO funding
Joyce Karam/The National/April 13/2020
The death toll passed 22,000 on Monday but the government is considering easing
lockdowns and reopening the country by May 1
Coronavirus cases in the US exceeded 560,000 on Monday, as the Trump
administration reviewed options on penalising the World Health Organisation
(WHO) and slashing funding. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to make
a set of recommendations this week for Donald Trump to sanction the
organisation, which the US President accuses of knowing about the pandemic
months before it broke out. “They could have called it [the epidemic] months
earlier. They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably
did know,” Mr Trump said this month.
The administration is looking at placing conditions on – and possibly also
cutting – funding to the WHO. The US is the biggest contributor to the
organisation, but Mr Trump said last week that he could slash by more than half
the annual funding, which is currently $122 million (Dh448m).
The virus has now claimed more than 22,100 lives in the United States, with the
first reported mortality on the USS Theodore Roosevelt ship. The vessel, which
is moored in Guam in the Western Pacific, has at least 580 confirmed Covid-19
infections.
The spread of the virus has triggered a crisis in the Navy leadership following
the dismissal of captain Brett Crozier, who sounded the alarm about the
infections two weeks ago. The backlash from his dismissal led to the resignation
of acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly last week.
The ruckus at the Navy coincided with another split in the administration
between Mr Trump and the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Tony Fauci. Mr
Trump retweeted a call to fire Dr Fauci on Sunday evening, after the expert went
on CNN and acknowledged that an early shutdown in February could have saved
lives.
Mr Fauci, known for his candid and science-based opinions, undermined Mr Trump’s
message that the administration acted early to fight the pandemic. "Obviously,
you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you
started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives," he said on Sunday.
The US public gave the celebrity doctor 27 more points than Mr Trump in a Yahoo
YouGov poll on their handling of the pandemic. Mr Fauci confirmed on Sunday that
there was a “pushback [from the administration] about shutting things down” in
February.
The statement appeared to irk Mr Trump, who retweeted a call with the “Fire
Fauci” hashtag in response. But by Monday, the US administration appeared to
shift focus towards going after China and the WHO. Mr Trump has accused the
organisation of being too close to China. “They are very, very China-centric…
China always seems to get the better of the argument and I don’t like that, I
really don’t like that. I don’t think that’s appropriate,” he said on Friday.
The blame strategy is also part of Mr Trump’s campaign messaging to direct blame
at China and accuse his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joseph Biden of
being too close to the Chinese government. But polls and the economic forecast
indicated trouble for Mr Trump on Monday as US stocks opened lower, and
projections about a second wave of Covid-19 slowed down the plans for reopening.
The Dow opened 0.4 per cent lower on Monday, and unemployment is expected to
soar much higher in May. While Mr Trump is pushing for reopening the country by
May 1, the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert
Redfield was more conservative in his projections. Mr Redfield said on Sunday
that a careful and gradual reopening is advised to prevent a second wave of
infections.
Coronavirus: Iran prepares 10,000 graves in Tehran for
victims
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Monday 13 April 2020
Iran has prepared 10,000 graves for coronavirus victims in the capital Tehran,
the deputy director of Tehran's municipal urban services Mojtaba Yazdani said on
Sunday. Authorities have allocated a new section in Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra
cemetery, the country’s largest cemetery, to coronavirus victims, Yazdani said,
adding that 10,000 graves have so far been dug in this section, according to the
official IRNA news agency. Yazdani did not say how many people have died of
coronavirus in the capital. The Iranian health ministry does not disclose the
coronavirus death toll for each province and instead reports the overall death
toll for the entire country. As of Sunday, 4,474 in Iran have died from
coronavirus, and there are 71,686 confirmed cases, according to the health
ministry. The ministry has warned in a report that the national death toll from
the virus could reach 30,000 by the start of May if social distancing
regulations are relaxed. “Low-risk” businesses will reopen in the capital Tehran
from April 18, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, a day after “low-risk”
economic activity was allowed to resume elsewhere in the country. Iran reopened
government offices on Saturday after a brief nationwide lockdown to help contain
the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Khamenei representative attacks UNICEF, says UN children’s agency US ‘servant’
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Monday 13 April 2020
A representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said UNICEF seeks to
target the family unit in Iran, calling the UN children’s agency a US “servant.”UNICEF
is a part of the United States’ “cultural infiltration” plan against Iran,
Khamenei’s representative in the Quds Force Ali Shirazi wrote in a commentary
piece published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The Quds Force is the
overseas arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). UNICEF has sent
several pharmaceutical and health aid packages to Iran to fight coronavirus,
including guidelines in the Persian language for protecting children against the
virus and creating a secure environment for them at home during the outbreak,
according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. Read more: Iran expels Doctors
Without Borders team, rejects coronavirus aid Shirazi criticized the inclusion
of UNICEF activities in Iranian school textbooks, saying “the enemies of Islam”
use organizations such as UNICEF to pursue their owns goals. The
“westernization” of Iranian lifestyle as well as “destroying the family unit”
are some of the US’ goals which UNICEF pursues in Iran, he said. Shirazi did not
present any evidence for his claims. He added, UNICEF uses “human rights,
women's rights, children's rights, gender equality and women's empowerment” as
cover to “instil western beliefs into others.”The agency is “a servant of
America and has no purpose other than to promote western culture,” Shirazi
wrote. UNICEF provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide
Coronavirus: Iran COVID-19 cases up to 73,303, death toll
increases to 4,585
Reuters, Dubai/Monday 13 April 2020
Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has risen to 4,585, with 111 deaths
overnight, a health ministry official tweeted on Monday, adding the total number
of infected cases had reached 73,303 in the most-affected Middle Eastern
country.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.
“Fortunately 45,983 of those infected with the virus have recovered ... There
were 1,617 new infected cases in the past 24 hours,” tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh,
an adviser to Iran's health minister.
Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that 3,877 of those
infected with the new coronavirus were in critical condition.
Three Turkish prisoners die of coronavirus, says Justice Minister
AFP, Ankara/Monday 13 April 2020
Three Turkish prisoners have died from the coronavirus, Turkey’s justice
minister said Monday as he announced the first cases of convicts diagnosed with
the disease. A total of 17 convicts in five open prisons have contracted the
virus, Abdulhamit Gul told reporters in Ankara.
“Three of them unfortunately died during their treatment in hospital,” he said.
Some convicts are sent to open prisons towards the end of their sentences to
serve out the remainder of their punishment as the state prepares them for
release. They are given permission to leave for temporary periods and must
accept work, according to the Civil Society in Penal System Association.
Thirteen of the sick convicts are in a good condition in hospital, Gul said, but
one prisoner with chronic diseases remains in intensive care. He did not give
any further details on where the prisoners were but insisted the necessary
precautions had been taken in every jail. “There are no positive cases in closed
prisons,” he added. Turkey has nearly 57,000 COVID-19 infections and around
1,200 have died, according to health ministry figures published on Sunday.
Turkey Confirms Providing Israel with Medical Supplies in
Virus Fight
Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazek/Asharq Al Awsat//Monday 13 April 2020
Turkey approved the dispatch of medical equipment and supplies to Israel to help
it cope with the spread of COVID-19.
“There was a demand for medical aid from Israel, and it will be completed within
days. We will simultaneously send medical supplies to Palestine,” announced
presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin. Kalin recalled that Turkey has been
delivering medical equipment to many countries since the beginning of the
pandemic, including Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, five Balkan countries,
Azerbaijan and Qatar. Earlier, Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth daily confirmed that
Turkey will send medical supplies to Israel as part of a "commercial deal", not
as "humanitarian aid." A Turkish official told Bloomberg that the Turkish
government approved the sale of medical equipment to Israel for humanitarian
reasons. The equipment sent includes: face masks, protective overalls and
sterile gloves to help the country fight the coronavirus outbreak. Three planes
from Israel are expected to land in southern Incirlik air base to pick the cargo
on Thursday, said the official, who is familiar with the shipment and asked not
to be named discussing the sensitive issue. Turkey will donate medical aid for
the Palestinians within the next few days, the official said. Turkish officials
refrained from commenting on the matter for days, however, Turkey’s English
Channel TRT mentioned Bloomberg’s report in one of its reports on Turkish aid to
countries around the world fighting the coronavirus. Israeli media, including
the Hayom newspaper, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “important
step” reveals the improvement of relations between Tel Aviv and Ankara.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the deal is pending at Istanbul airport after
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office refused a condition to allow
aid to reach Palestinian authorities without any holdups. Netanyahu refused to
bargain, considering that Erdogan had returned to his negative policy against
Israel, and thus froze the deal and aid. According to the channel, Israelis
outside the government bought the shipment of Turkish equipment, which was
supposed to be distributed to medical facilities in Israel.
Hamas Says No Progress Made in Prisoner Deal with Israel
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 13/2020
The Hamas movement denied reports that progress has been made in the prisoner
swap file with Israel. There have been no developments in the issue, said Hamas
official Moussa Doudin. Doudin, who is responsible for the prisoner file, said
claims that a deal is about to be struck are “baseless”, adding that no serious
contacts are taking place and the Israeli leadership is not taking the issue
seriously. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the only progress made is that
Hamas is ready with its proposals, requests and lists, but contacts have not
risen to the desired level. Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh confirmed last
week that a prisoner deal with Israel could be accomplished if Tel Aviv
responded to the requirements. He did not specify the conditions, but Hamas has
long called for the release of prisoners Israel had recaptured. Hamas and Israel
are both looking forward to a comprehensive deal, but reports now indicate there
will be a partial agreement according to an initiative proposed by the
movement’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar told al-Aqsa television last
week that the movement is willing to make partial concessions on the issue of
the two Israeli soldiers in its custody, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. He said
that Hamas is ready for the humanitarian initiative, in exchange for Israel’s
approval to release the elderly, sick and female Palestinian prisoners. Sinwar
did not clarify what he meant by partial concessions, but this could include
providing information about the soldiers in Gaza, whether they are alive or
dead, and may include the release of civilians. The Israeli government responded
by saying it was ready to start indirect talks with Hamas to conclude an
agreement leading to the release of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip.
Countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Sweden and Germany are expected to
contribute to help move the talks forward.However, sources confirmed that
contacts were made with Hamas after the Israeli announcement, but that did not
progress into anything further. Tel Aviv is in no rush to strike a deal because
it is preoccupied with efforts to form a new government and the fight against
the coronavirus outbreak.
Besides Shaul and Goldin, whom Hamas captured in the summer 2014 war, it is also
detaining Avera Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent, and Hashem Badawi al-Sayyed,
of Arab descent. Both crossed into Gaza at two different times after the war.
Israel believes Shaul and Goldin are dead, however, Hamas does not provide any
information about them.
Gantz urges Netanyahu to rise to the emergency and share power
DebkaFile/April 13/2020
It’s either unity or a costly fourth ballot, said Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz
in an emotional broadcast to the nation Monday night, April 13, the last day of
his mandate for forming a government. Turning to Likud leader PM Binyamin
Netanyahu, he said: “This is our moment of truth.” A caretaker government can’t
cope with the colossal challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis, dead victims
piling up, a million jobless, destitute families and the huge task of putting
the country back on its feet. “You need to have me aboard,” he stressed. The
response from the prime minister’s office was instantaneous: “Let’s meet tonight
and sign the deal, “said Netanyahu. While declaring that he was putting
self-interest and politics to one side, Gantz nevertheless touched on the most
sensitive point at issue when he said he would never move from his principles on
“democracy and the rule of law.” This phrase has been taken by Likud as a
euphemism for defending the prosecution’s corruption case against the prime
minister. On Thursday, the Knesset ends its Passover recess and goes back to the
business of legislation under its new Speaker… Benny Gantz. His party had
pledged in its election campaign to enact a law disqualifying a person under
indictment for heading a government. If he goes through with this law, Likud
will drop unity talks and accuse Gantz of insincerity in seeking a power-sharing
accord. This will bring a fourth election that much closer, since President
Reuven Rivlin has said he will not pass the premiership candidacy to Netanyahu –
that is, of course, unless he can muster a parliamentary majority for a new
government coalition in the coming 21 days remaining for this attempt.
Coronavirus cases in Israel rose by Monday night to 11,586, of whom 183 were in
serious condition and 132 on respirators. The number of dead reached 116.
Chairman of UAE Banking Federation: COVID-19 Will Change
Economic Life, Everyone Must Adapt
Dubai - Mosaed al-Zayani/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 13/2020
A senior Emirati banker said that economic life in the wake of the coronavirus
pandemic will change for everyone, calling on companies and institutions to
adapt to the new situation. Abdul-Aziz Al-Ghurair, the CEO of Mashreq Group and
Chairman of the UAE Banking Federation, said that the UAE government and the
central bank were looking to back private sector companies and institutions by
supporting the economy in the country. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat through a
video call, Al-Ghurair said: “Everyone desires that companies and small and
medium enterprises and individuals working in the country keep their businesses
running.”He explained that crises “usually create great opportunities for some
companies to adjust their way of business, by knowing the best means to manage
them.”“There is no doubt that some companies, which cannot respond to the
current circumstances, will find difficulties to survive,” he emphasized.
Al-Ghurair noted that recent initiatives launched by the UAE government
constituted the largest support for the banking sector. He pointed out that the
stimulus amounted to about 265 billion dirhams (USD 72.1 billion), including 205
billion dirhams (USD 55.8 billion) to increase liquidity, in addition to 50
billion dirhams (USD 13.6 billion) represented in reducing the capital adequacy
requirements to give banks the opportunity to start offering additional
facilities without resorting to increasing their capital. According to the
senior banking official, the total number of loans granted to individuals and
companies from the private sector, except for the public sector or semi-public
companies, amounted to one trillion dirhams (USD 272.2 billion). “Growth may not
be at the same pace in the coming four years, but I would like to assure
everyone that there is a sufficient package of liquidity to be used in the
banking sector,” he stressed. He also said that depositors have to take
precautionary decisions within the institution, by reducing costs and expansive
operations, and waiving some imaginative projects that they wished to implement.
The UAE leadership attaches great importance to controlling health conditions
after approving the stimulus package to bring life back to normal, according to
Al-Ghurair.
Cautious Hope for Pandemic Peak as Spain Readies to Reopen
Some Factories
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 13/2020
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has slowed in some of the worst-hit
countries, with Spain readying Monday to reopen parts of its economy as
governments grapple with a once-in-a-century recession.
Italy, France and the US have all seen a drop in COVID-19 deaths in the past 24
hours, with Italy -- the European nation most afflicted -- reporting its lowest
toll in more than three weeks. It came as Pope Francis delivered an
unprecedented livestream message to a world under lockdown on Easter Sunday, and
Britain's Boris Johnson left hospital, thanking medics for saving his life. More
than half of the planet's population is staying home as part of efforts to stem
the spread of the virus, which emerged in China late last year and has now
killed at least 112,500 people, overwhelming healthcare systems and crippling
the world economy. Spain's death toll has fallen in recent days, but as a small
bump in deaths was reported on Sunday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that
the locked-down country was "far from victory". "We are all keen to go back out
on the streets... but our desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a
relapse," he said, as some companies were set to resume operations at the end of
a two-weeks halt of all non-essential activity. In the US -- now the world's
worst-hit nation with a fifth of all deaths and more than half a million
confirmed cases -- the government's top infectious disease expert added to
cautious optimism that the pandemic may have reached its peak. Anthony Fauci
said parts of the country could begin easing restrictions in May, but warned
that the world's biggest economy would not turn back on like a "light switch".
"We are hoping by the end of the month we can look around and say, OK, is there
any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on?" Fauci
told CNN.
'Easter of solitude'
President Donald Trump had previously wanted the US to be back to normal by
Easter, but most of the country remained at a standstill and churches took
celebrations online. Many of the world's more than two billion Christians
celebrated Easter from the confines of their homes, while Pope Francis delivered
a livestream message from a hauntingly empty Vatican. "For many, this is an
Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is
causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties," he said. One priest
in Rio de Janeiro blessed the Brazilian city from a helicopter, while another in
Portugal addressed the faithful from the open top of a moving convertible car.
In Britain, which has logged more than 10,000 deaths, Prime Minister Boris
Johnson said on Sunday he had been discharged after "a week in which the NHS has
saved my life, no question", referring to the country's state-run National
Health Service. Britain is now seeing daily death tolls to match those
previously seen in Italy and Spain, after recording nearly 1,000 fatalities on
Friday and Saturday. There were 737 new deaths reported Sunday. Johnson, like
Trump, had initially resisted stringent measures such as shutting down public
places.
Spain ends 'economic hibernation'
Some factory and construction workers in Spain were set to return to work on
Monday, with police to hand out face masks at metro and train stations. The
fortnight of "economic hibernation" is about to be lifted, drawing criticism
from some regional leaders and unions, but the rest of the lockdown restrictions
in the nation of around 47 million people will remain in place. In China, where
authorities appeared to have the virus under control last week, officials
reported 108 new symptomatic cases Monday, the highest number of confirmed
infections in a single day in over a month.
Imported cases accounted for most of the total, the National Health Commission
said, underscoring why the government has been so focused on preventing new
outbreaks stemming from international arrivals. Meanwhile, there were also
worrying signs the virus could be taking hold in new, and vulnerable, parts of
the world. Conflict-wracked Yemen reported its first case last week, raising
fears of a devastating outbreak in the war-torn country. In Mumbai's crowded
Dharavi slum -- one of Asia's biggest and the inspiration for the 2008
Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" -- more than 43 cases have been
confirmed. While sub-Saharan Africa has not been as badly hit by the coronavirus
pandemic as some other parts of the world, the economy is being pummelled.
Governments are under pressure to keep populations safe while preventing
economic collapse, amid warnings of a downturn not seen since the Great
Depression.
But the World Health Organization has warned countries against lifting lockdown
restrictions too early.
Erdogan Refuses Minister's Resignation over Turkey Lockdown
Chaos
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 13/2020
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday refused to accept the
resignation of his interior minister over an abrupt nationwide lockdown that
triggered a spate of panic-buying. Suleyman Soylu came in for fierce criticism
after the 48-hour shutdown to counter the spread of the coronavirus was
announced on Friday night with just two hours' notice. The declaration sent
thousands flocking to markets and bakeries in defiance of social distancing
rules. Roads in Istanbul and Ankara were also packed, with long queues forming
outside off-licences, grocery stores and banks. Reacting to the chaotic scenes
on Friday, Soylu said the lockdown had been on the "instructions" of the
president. But on Sunday the powerful 50-year-old interior minister accepted
"entire responsibility for the implementation of this measure", which he said
had been carried out "in good faith". Erdogan however refused to accept Soylu's
resignation. "He is going to continue to carry out his functions," he added.
Soylu took up the interior ministry portfolio in August 2016, a month after a
bloody failed coup attempt against Erdogan. The government had come under harsh
criticism from the opposition and on social media for the chaotic implementation
of the lockdown, accusing the authorities of endangering the lives of thousands
of people. Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition party, who had
previously called for a lockdown, was also critical of the short notice and
complained of not being informed in advance. After the initial chaos, the
shutdown, which ended at midnight (2100 GMT) on Sunday, was generally respected.
Turkey has nearly 57,000 COVID-19 infections and around 1,200 have died,
according to the latest health ministry figures.
Virus 'Disaster in the Making' in War-Torn Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 13/2020
As Europe and the United States struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic,
experts warn that disaster looms in war-torn Syria, where hospitals are unable
to meet existing needs and hygiene conditions are dire. The outbreak has
infected more than 1.8 million people and killed more than 112,000 around the
world since emerging in China in December last year. In Syria, the Damascus
government has closed borders, forbidden movement between provinces and shut
schools and restaurants in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. Official
numbers are low with two deaths and 19 confirmed cases, but only 100 patients
are being tested daily, with half of the testing carried out in the capital
Damascus. And while the government has regained control of most of the country
after almost a decade of civil war, some areas are still held by pro-Ankara
rebels and Kurds. Experts accuse Damascus of minimising its death toll for
political motives. "Medical staff believe that there are many people who are
dying in Syria with the symptoms of the virus," said Zaki Mehchy, senior
consulting fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House. "But the security
agencies ask them or order them not to mention it, especially to the media," he
added.
'Impossible physical distancing'
Aid groups are sounding the alarm on the potentially devastating consequences of
a severe outbreak in Syria, where nine years of war have hit hospitals and left
them ill-equipped to deal with the pandemic. "There is a disaster in the
making," said Emile Hokayem, Middle East analyst at the International Institute
for Strategic Studies in London (IISS). According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), less than two-thirds of hospitals were up and running at the
end of 2019 and 70 percent of healthcare workers have fled since the war began
in 2011. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that
physical distancing is impossible in displacement camps in Idlib, the last
rebel-held province, which was already enduring a humanitarian crisis before the
pandemic started. "A lack of food, clean water and exposure to cold weather have
already left hundreds of thousands of people in poor health, making them even
more vulnerable," said Misty Buswell from aid group International Rescue
Committee (IRC), adding that the devastation in Idlib could be "unimaginable".
The IRC said that almost all of the 105 intensive care beds and 30 adult
ventilators in Idlib were already in use. WHO said testing would start in Idlib
at the end of March, but little help is to be expected from Damascus, according
to Mazen Gharibah, associate researcher at the London School of Economics. "One
cannot simply assume that the regime -- which was systematically targeting the
hospitals three weeks ago -- is going to provide the same hospitals with medical
equipment next week," he said. Activists have repeatedly accused the government
of targeting hospitals in rebel-held areas, a charge denied by Damascus.
Catastrophic politicisation'
A ceasefire negotiated at the beginning of March for the northwest region
between the two main foreign power brokers in Syria's war, Russia and Turkey,
has so far held. But according to the IRC, "the security and political vacuum
the pandemic will create is likely to be exploited by actors involved in the
Syrian conflict -- including ISIS (jihadists) -- to serve their interests". For
Syria expert Fabrice Balanche, associate professor and research director at the
University of Lyon 2, "this epidemic is a way for Damascus to show that the
Syrian state is efficient, and all territories should be returned under its
governance".
But Gharibah said politicisation of the pandemic by the Syrian government was
catastrophic, accusing the regime of "using the current pandemic for its own
political gains by gambling with the lives of millions of people". Experts
say there is a risk that the pandemic will lead to a decrease in humanitarian
assistance as donor countries focus on kickstarting their economies. "With
attention and resources at home focused on recovery, it is going to be a lot
harder to make a political case for sustaining humanitarian operations abroad,"
Hokayem said. Aid groups warned against cuts in aid at a time when needs are
critical. "Should we fail, not only will the most vulnerable pay the price today
for the inaction of the international community, the consequences will be felt
across the globe for years, if not decades, to come," said IRC president David
Miliband.
Millions Watch Andrea Bocelli Sing in Empty Milan Cathedral
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 13/2020
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli performed a solo Easter concert from an empty Milan
Cathedral streamed live to millions of people around the world in coronavirus
lockdown. The "Music for Hope" performance, which was streamed on YouTube from
Milan's Duomo cathedral, has been watched more than 22 million times so far.
Accompanied by an organist, Bocelli sang four songs inside the magnificent
Gothic building and ended with a rendition of "Amazing Grace" from the cathedral
steps with a montage of images showing the empty streets of Paris, London and
New York. "On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs,
I'm honoured and happy to answer 'Si' to the invitation of the City and the
Duomo of Milan," the visually impaired star said in a message played before the
short concert. "Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of
clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth's pulsing
heart," he said. The Lombardy region, of which Milan is the capital, has been
the hardest hit in Italy's coronavirus crisis, with more than 9,000 deaths.
"Andrea Bocelli is a true gift from God. This was beautiful and just what I
needed to see and feel right now. Thank you Mr. Bocelli for sharing your gift of
your voice and music with us," wrote YouTube viewer Peggy Young. Churches in
Italy remain closed and even prayers given by Pope Francis on Easter Sunday were
livestreamed.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on April 13-14/2020
Pandemic Exposes the Paranoid Style of Iran’s Supreme
Leader
Tzvi Kahn/FDD/April 13/2020
Iran’s supreme leader wants you to know that it’s not his fault.
On March 22, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to ravage Iran, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei suggested that the United States bore responsibility for his nation’s
plight. In a speech rejecting US offers of medical aid, Khamenei
declared—echoing a claim first promulgated by Chinese officials—that America may
have created the virus in a deliberate effort to target Iranians.
“I do not know how real this accusation is, but when it exists, who in their
right mind would trust you to bring them medication?” Khamenei said on the same
day his government announced 21,638 coronavirus infections and 1,685 deaths in
Iran to date. “Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.”
It’s hardly the first time Tehran has promoted conspiracy theories.
Khamenei asserted that America created ISIS and al-Qaeda in order to sow
division among Muslims. He argued that Washington was behind the November 2015
terror attack in Paris, where ISIS killed 129 people. He claimed that Iran’s
enemies—chiefly the United States—“planted the Zionist regime in the region so
that they can create discord and busy regional countries with themselves.” He
contended that Sunni Arab nations opposed to Iran constitute a tool of the West,
stating that Iran’s enemies “sometimes use certain Islamic countries to say and
do what they want.”
Such conspiracy theories do not merely seek to deflect blame for the failures of
the regime, which has badly mismanaged the coronavirus crisis, the economy, the
environment, and a range of other policy issues. Rather, they also reflect
deeply felt convictions that lie at the heart of the regime’s radical Islamist
ideology.
According to this worldview, the United States and Iran remain locked in a
permanent struggle for the soul of the Middle East. Shiite Iran, Khamenei
believes, amounts to the vanguard of authentic Islam in a region corrupted by
Western influence and values.
In this context, America poses not only a physical threat but also a spiritual
threat: through cultural and political infiltration, it seeks to transform the
Middle East into a secular, godless region marked by violence, greed, and
promiscuity. In the regime’s eyes, both Israel and the Sunni Arab states are
agents of Washington, which secretly guides and manipulates their actions as
part of a nefarious plot to overthrow Iran’s regime. Thus, America’s defeat is
both a political objective and a religious imperative.
Waging war against the United States “is among our fundamental duties,” Khamenei
affirmed in an August 2015 speech. “It is one of the principles of the
Revolution. If fighting against arrogance does not take place, it means that we
are not followers of the Holy Quran at all.” America, he declared in an October
2015 address, “is a transgressor by nature. It is in the nature of
world-devouring powers to transgress, to advance, to occupy, and to dig in their
claws.”
In another speech a month later, he asserted—citing a statement by the Islamic
Republic’s founding father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini—that America “was behind
all problems” and lies at “the root of all evil things.” “If they could destroy
the Islamic Republic,” Khamenei added, “they will not hesitate even for a
moment.”
This Manichean vision, rooted in an inflated perception of American omnipotence,
omnipresence, and moral incorrigibility, reflects what the late American
academic Richard Hofstadter dubbed the “paranoid style” of politics.
“The paranoid spokesman,” he writes in a famous 1964 essay, “sees the fate of
conspiracy in apocalyptic terms—he traffics in the birth and death of whole
worlds, whole political orders, whole systems of human values. He is always
manning the barricades of civilization.” Moreover, unlike “the rest of us, the
enemy is not caught in the toils of the vast mechanism of history, himself a
victim of his past, his desires, his limitations. He wills, indeed he
manufactures, the mechanism of history, or tries to deflect the normal course of
history in an evil way.”
Hofstadter wasn’t writing specifically about Iran, but he notes that the
“paranoid style is not confined to our own country and time; it is an
international phenomenon.” And in the case of contemporary Iran, the Islamist
regime clearly regards itself as the historical counterweight to America,
defending nothing less than Islamic civilization itself from an evil and
imperialistic superpower.
Tehran thus adopts a paranoid style that finds expression in a toxic fusion of
religious millenarianism and old-fashioned conspiracy theories, all of which
seek to demonize the enemy while simultaneously explaining why Iran’s
counter-efforts have yet to yield sufficient results. In this sense, Iran’s
paranoid style expresses both weakness and strength. It lionizes America but
also lionizes Iran by declaring that Iran, with the help of God, will
eventually—inevitably—overcome America’s predations.
This mentality helps explain Tehran’s bungled response to the coronavirus.
Khamenei’s attribution of the pandemic to a US campaign of biological warfare
seeks not merely to excuse his own failure to prevent its spread. Rather, it
also implicitly conveys defiance. Because Khamenei regards Iran’s victory over
America as inexorable, the perceived might of Washington would make the Islamist
regime’s triumph that much more impressive.
In the meantime, the Iranian people will continue to suffer the consequences of
the rapidly spreading virus. Unlike the myopic regime that leads them, Iranians
know where the ultimate fault truly lies.
*Tzvi Kahn is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Follow him on Twitter @TzviKahn. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonprofit, and
nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
Iran's Military Likely Can't Fight Thanks to Coronavirus
Michael Rubin/The National Interest/April 13/2020
Expert: "One of the reasons why the 1917-1918 Spanish flu struck down so many in
the prime of life was that it tore through military barracks. If the
Revolutionary Guards are at the forefront of the Iranian fight against COVID-19,
it is unlikely they will retain pre-COVID-19 readiness."
Secrecy, denial, and incompetence have condemned thousands of Iranians to their
deaths amidst the coronavirus outbreak. Even if Iranian leaders now adopt
best-practices, it is likely too late to meaningfully control the virus’s
continued spread in Tehran. Traffic jams show that the city—which has grown
seven-fold since the 1979 Islamic Revolution—has not practiced social isolation
and will likely suffer far more casualties.
While Iranian reporting is opaque, it is likely that the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps and their families have suffered disproportionately within Iranian
society. When Iranian authorities first acknowledged that the coronavirus was
out-of-control, they put the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in charge of the
domestic response. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC-Ground Forces for the
past decade, told an Iranian audience that his forces were playing a pivotal
role in all aspects of the Iranian public health fight, from securing the supply
chain to sending forces into the infected zones to spray disinfectant or set up
field hospitals.
In almost all countries, first responders have suffered because of their
proximity to the ill, and it is unlikely that Iran would be immune from such a
phenomenon. The living quarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps likely
compound the problem. One of the reasons why the 1917-1918 Spanish flu struck
down so many in the prime of life was that it tore through military barracks. If
the Revolutionary Guards are at the forefront of the Iranian fight against
COVID-19, it is unlikely they will retain pre-COVID-19 readiness.
Any outbreak among the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will likely have
ramifications beyond immediate military readiness. Among the Islamic Republic’s
military veterans, there are long-standing grievances with regard to health
care. The government largely abandoned those injured during the 1980-1988
Iran-Iraq War. The most dysfunctional Veterans Administrations hospitals in the
United States outperform by far the best medical centers available to Iranian
veterans. Those who served Iran to fight the pandemic and suffer long-term
health complications due to their troubles will breed resentment toward the
government. The Iranian government’s financial woes and the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps’ prioritization of support for foreign interventions
over pensions will breed resentment among the families of those who succumb to
COVID-19. And while the Guards’ top commanders are millionaires several times
over and live posh lifestyles, most Guardsmen live a more impoverished existence
in the apartment blocs of western Tehran or in the slums to the city’s south.
This means that they are more likely to spread the disease through their own
communities than those in more affluent northern neighborhoods.
The Revolutionary Guards will also likely suffer future recruitment woes. While
the organization depicts itself as the ideological vanguard, it is as
faction-ridden as Iranian politics. There are many ideological hardliners—the
late Qassem Soleimani or his successor Esmail Ghaani, for example—but there are
also those who join the Revolutionary Guards for more cynical reasons. Iran is
still a conscript society and so, if military service is a necessity, better to
join a Guards unit which will pay more and provide better connections and
opportunities in the future. Future generations may think twice, however, about
volunteering for the Guards if its missions expose them to greater harm. Indeed,
the Guards and the paramilitary Basij were also suffering a manpower shortage
due to resistance among many ordinary Iranians to deployments into Syria,
leading the Guards’ leadership to rely increasingly on Lebanese Hezbollah or
Iraqi, Afghan, or Pakistani Shi’ite militia groups.
Beyond eroding Iran’s military readiness, the impact of the virus on public
perception will be huge. Even the Islamic Republic’s most ardent apologists
recognize that there is a growing trust deficit between the Iranian public and
the regime. The problem is not just at home. Tehran must often temper its
strategic partnerships in response to public distrust of its international
partners. Take Russia, for example: While Iranian authorities have pursued an
unprecedented rapprochement with Russia, the Iranian public has neither forgiven
nor forgotten centuries of Russian imperial exploitation and so Iranian
authorities must at times put brakes on the partnership or at least keep some
aspects of it secret.
This historic distrust of Russia is one reason why Iranian authorities sought to
hedge their bets. Jomhuri-e Eslami, one of the Islamic Republic’s flagship
newspapers, published an article (no longer available online) on July 21, 2018
arguing that Revolutionary Leader Ruhollah Khomeini’s slogan “Neither East nor
West but Islamic Republic” should not prevent Tehran from outreach to Beijing.
Yayha Rahim-Safavi, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
and a top military advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, drove home the point
in a January 2019 speech.
The World Health Organization may condemn linking COVID-19 to its origins in
Wuhan, China, but most Iranians will not be so politically correct. They
recognize that it was their government’s trade with China and its air links
coupled with a diplomatic decision not to antagonize Chinese authorities that
first introduced the disease into Iran and facilitated its rapid spread. Whereas
just a few months ago, most Iranians were indifferent to their government’s
outreach to China and the growing Chinese presence in Iran, that too will likely
change as suspicion of China and the Chinese will likely taint government
outreach. Russia will always have a greater stigma within Iranian society than
China, but no longer will Tehran be able to sell its turn toward Beijing as
cost-free. That will not mean that Iranian leaders would abandon their eastern
strategy, but even ardent regime Islamists recognize the potency of grassroots
Iranian nationalism and will think twice about openly crossing it.
* Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
(AEI). You can follow him on Twitter: @mrubin1971.
Al-Kadhimi must steer Iraq away from US-Iran tensions
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/April 13/2020
Iraq’s President Barham Salih, left, and newly appointed Prime Minister Mustafa
Al-Kadhimi, right, in Baghdad, Iraq, April 9, 2020. (Reuters)
Even before Iraq was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, party squabbling and mass
protests had paralyzed the country’s political establishment. Prime Minister
Adel Abdel Mahdi was forced to resign last November and, since then, two
candidates have tried, and failed, to win parliament’s support to form a new
government. The country is deeply divided and US-Iran tensions have cast a
shadow over attempts to turn the page and end the longest political stalemate
since the American invasion of 2003.
President Barham Salih had nominated Mohammed Tawfik Alawi, a former
communications minister, for the top job in February, but he was seen as too
close to Tehran and his bid was foiled by the street and Sunni and Kurdish
parties. Then Salih picked Adnan Al-Zurfi, the governor of Najaf, but Shiite
parties accused him of being pro-US and he was forced to withdraw last week.
Now there is hope that a consensus has been reached after Salih nominated the
head of the National Intelligence Service, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, to form the next
government. Al-Kadhimi, a former journalist and a fierce opponent of Saddam
Hussein, has never joined a political party or been accused of corruption. On
selecting him, Salih described Al-Kadhimi as a “patriot and cultural figure…
well known for his integrity, moderation (and) giving consideration for all
Iraqis regarding their general rights.”
As he was handed his mandate by the president, Iraq’s political elites were in
attendance, indicating that, for now, there is general support for his
nomination by both Sunni and Shiite parties and figures. Perhaps more
importantly, Al-Kadhimi, whose previous position enabled him to deal with the US
and Iran without being seen as an ally of either, has been given the initial nod
of approval by both Washington and Tehran.
“If Al-Kadhimi is an Iraqi nationalist, if he is dedicated to pursuing a
sovereign Iraq, if he is committed to fighting corruption, this would be great
for Iraq, and I think it would be great for our bilateral relationship,” US
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker was quoted
as saying last week. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry described Al-Kadhimi’s
designation as “a step in the right direction.”
Following his nomination, the 53-year-old pledged to form a government that
makes the aspirations and demands of Iraqis the top priority. He has 30 days to
present his Cabinet to parliament for approval. The road ahead will be fraught
with challenges. Even though he has the support of the major political players,
he is yet to put together a Cabinet that meets the demands of the people, while
striking a balance that serves the sectarian reality on the ground.
Al-Kadhimi pledged to form a service-oriented government, but the real test will
be in dealing with the sectarian quota system that has been denounced by the
protesters as a main reason for the endemic corruption that has brought Iraq to
its knees.
His job will not be easy. Aside from overcoming the coronavirus challenge —
there have been more than 1,300 cases in Iraq and over 70 deaths — the next
government will have to deal with worsening economic conditions in light of
plummeting oil prices. The dire living conditions that triggered mass protests
last year have not improved and the pressure will be on to come up with
immediate solutions. With most of Iraq under lockdown because of the virus,
protests have receded, but it is only a matter of time before people take to the
streets once more as living conditions worsen, especially for those who were
already suffering before the shutdown.
Meanwhile, Iraq will remain at the center of US-Iran tensions. Pro-Iranian
militias will continue to threaten the US military presence in Iraq as Tehran
feels the impact of economic sanctions and the spread of the coronavirus. One of
the militias that rejected Al-Kadhimi’s nomination was Kata’ib Hezbollah, which
accused the chief of Iraqi intelligence of involvement in January’s US
assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu
Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Interestingly, Al-Kadhimi is supported by the Fatah
coalition, which is headed by militia leader and Iran loyalist Hadi Al-Amiri,
the State of Law coalition of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, and the
Hikma movement headed by cleric Ammar Al-Hakim.
The real test will be in dealing with the sectarian quota system that has been
denounced by the protesters.
Last week, the US offered a $10 million reward for information on Sheikh
Mohammed Al-Kawtharani, one of the military leaders of Kata’ib Hezbollah. The US
accuses Al-Kawtharani, who was an associate of Soleimani, of coordinating with
pro-Iran militias that it accuses of carrying out attacks against coalition
military bases and Western embassies in Baghdad’s Green Zone.
For Al-Kadhimi to succeed in his mission, both the US and Iran must stop using
Iraq as their own backyard in order to settle scores and allow the Iraqi people
to emerge from years of sectarian feuds and political corruption. That is easier
said than done and Al-Kadhimi will soon find that he will be walking a tightrope
as he tries to balance his country’s interests against those of Tehran and
Washington.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
Twitter: @plato010
Virus has potential positive effect on foreign policy
Maria Maalouf/Arab News/April 13/2020
It is essential that any assumptions about America’s decline, which have to bear
the weight of the US’ status as a superpower in the post-coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) world, be analyzed carefully and critically. America’s power is so
imposing that many questions have been raised as to why it has been in a big
quandary and looks weakened during the COVID-19 epidemic. There is a sketch of a
vulnerable America that has coincided with the global virus onslaught. Yet the
US foreign policy of realism will be the diplomatic avenue for its conduct in
the world. Realism in foreign policy stipulates the use of power in articulating
a national interest while recognizing the importance of alliances and the role
of history and geography in any country’s foreign relations.
The coronavirus crisis has provoked every country in the world not to be
entirely independent, because every country needs help. Many adapted quickly,
sealing borders, declaring a state of national shutdown, and trying to heal
those infected to lower the death rate. America did this, but it never abandoned
its fundamental principles of being a democratic, capitalist society and a
powerful and resourceful nation. This has been manifested in many questions,
such as what will happen to the 2020 presidential election? How much damage has
been done to the American economy? And can the US medical and pharmaceutical
sectors come up with a cure for COVID-19? In addition, US foreign policy has
been a factor in the crisis, as it offered an expression of how America was able
to give a reason for what happened (President Donald Trump’s labeling of
coronavirus as “the Chinese virus”) and why such tough measures had been taken
(to help nations avoid even more catastrophic consequences).
Economic suffering and how it conflicts with public health obligations have
complicated life in the majority of nations in the world. The leaders of many
nations, from Brazil to Europe and the Middle East, found themselves in a
similar position to Trump, in that they had to take these measures to mollify
the damaging impact of an intractable global health crisis. While Trump uses a
tone of self-defense for having to order a national shutdown, many other leaders
also used self-justification in their apologies for having to assume these
unpopular policies. Their safest language was to repeat what Trump said: That it
is a virus that originated in China and that these hated policies derive from
the necessity to save lives.
The coronavirus will not affect America’s foreign policy in terms of charting a
new path in the world, but rather by giving rise to a new attitude. The virus
will not abolish the crises of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Ethiopia-Egypt,
Russia-Ukraine, and other hotspots. Its legacy and influence on world diplomacy
will be that it revved up the idea of cooperation among nations to solve such
problems. Positively, the Trump administration sounds more responsive to
diplomatic openings to solve these problems, but it will not submit initiatives
toward their resolution.
Trump learned some hard lessons. When he presented his plan to end the
Arab-Israeli conflict and when he ordered the withdrawal of US troops from
Syria, he found out that the former proposal was quickly rejected and that some
in the Pentagon were not wholeheartedly supportive of the latter. Therefore, he
will let others formulate diplomatic ideas as the starting points of future
peace plans. He is still tempted by the allure of a deal to denuclearize North
Korea — ideally a few days before the November presidential election — and he
would also welcome, for example, a Gulf Cooperation Council announcement of a
plan for Iraq to counter Iran, or President Vladimir Putin trying to coordinate
the work of Russia’s troops in Syria with the UN and US. Personally, he would
approve of such diplomatic gambits.
Perhaps the global ordeal can be a self-fulfilling prophecy for Trump’s desire
to find a working relationship with Putin; allowing them to change many of the
geopolitical realities associated with these conflicts. For instance, if both
Trump and Putin wanted to curb the ambitions of Iran and Turkey, they could work
together to implement policies in Syria and Iraq that could help achieve this.
Trump’s ultimate strategic goal is to contain China. He now moves on the world
stage more by instinct than by his convictions, and the clearest indication of
this is his sense that, since the coronavirus outbreak started in China,
Beijing’s appeal is now less compelling to many than it was previously. Many in
America and around the world view China as a nation that cannot evade important
questions about its domestic situation.
Its legacy and influence on world diplomacy will be that it revved up the idea
of cooperation among nations.
This crisis could produce valuable results for future US foreign policy.
Foremost is how to establish a minimum degree of consensus on some basics of
international relations. This will surely include more investment and
coordination over creating a global public health care infrastructure. Trump is
not a fan or the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias toward some
countries — a clear insinuation of China — and he threatened to cut US funding
for it. But, if there was an idea to create global and regional funds to support
health care in poor countries, this could lead to more US, European and Canadian
attention to augmenting weak health care systems around the world, especially
with the need for an early warning system for epidemics.
Hopefully the coronavirus pandemic will also allow the world to utilize a
growing motivation in Washington and other capitals to stop regional crises such
as the one in Syria from being prolonged into endemic wider strategic dilemmas.
*Maria Maalouf is a Lebanese journalist, broadcaster, publisher, and writer. She
holds an MA in Political Sociology from the University of Lyon. Twitter: @bilarakib
Global unity key to tackling the coronavirus pandemic
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/April 13/2020
In light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, think tanks worldwide
are working to study the spread of the virus and global attempts to combat it.
In this context, a virtual symposium was held last week, bringing together
distinguished figures from organizations around the world. It was organized by
the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the Lauder Institute at the
University of Pennsylvania. About 300 researchers and chief executives
representing 170 institutes from 65 different countries participated in the
symposium. Among the participants was the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah).
Over the past two months, the economic and social fallouts of the virus have
been clearly apparent worldwide. Resolving this health crisis depends on the
discovery of a vaccine that totally destroys COVID-19 — otherwise its role will
be limited to lowering the number of deaths and easing the pressure on health
systems.
This pandemic could impact think tanks, especially their work environment,
research streams and financing. Due to lockdowns and curfews in cities around
the world, think tanks are not currently able to hold workshops, conferences and
open discussion forums. This is in addition to a decline in their ability to
regulate work timings, which will, of course, affect productivity.
For these reasons, one solution could be to create a virtual work environment
that enables the members of think tanks to communicate during their working
hours and talk during specific periods of the day. This is in addition to
organizing conferences and workshops via videoconferencing technology and
supporting information technology teams to ensure such activities run as
smoothly as possible.
With regard to the impact of the virus on research streams, it is expected that
there will be a shift in research focus. Also, while it is probable that
conventional armed conflicts will see a slowdown, it is likely that virtual and
cyberattacks will surge. It is also expected that human activities that depend
on mobility, huge public gatherings, tourism and travel will also see a decline.
Therefore, think tanks should focus on the impact of this virus on the nature of
human activities and how societies are likely to adapt and survive in the age of
COVID-19.
This is in addition to a need to measure the changes happening to human behavior,
beliefs and ideas in light of the impact of the virus on established ideologies
and belief systems. There should also be studies on how the virus has impacted
key economic sectors, such as tourism and aviation, as well as the socioeconomic
consequences of the virus, such as unemployment, declining incomes, and a
potential rise in crime and social disorder.
On financing, it is to be expected that the ability of think tanks to finance
themselves will weaken in the coming period. Hence, there is a need for them to
address this challenge by maximizing resources and lowering expenditures. Think
tanks must study the financial packages introduced by policymakers to see
whether they can apply for funds to compensate for the decline in their private
financing sources. This is in addition to scaling down office space and cutting
administrative jobs concerned with running and regulating the physical work
environment, which has now become virtual in most cases.
For this reason, I suggest that think tanks should fine tune their human
resources on a short-term basis and discuss with experts the possible solutions
to the aforementioned challenges. This is in addition to providing suggestions
and policy papers to decision-makers that could be useful in resolving some of
the problems caused by COVID-19.
Part of their budgets should be reallocated to recruit volunteers and
researchers to devise low-cost, practical applications that help communities
overcome the obstacles they face during this period of crisis.
Think tanks should focus on the impact of this virus on the nature of human
activities.
During this critical period, think tanks should also play a proactive role in
providing morale-boosting services to society and be supported financially to
allow them to accomplish their respective missions.
As Saudi Arabia is hosting the G20 summit in November, the T20 — an
international think tank network — will play a critical role in providing
much-needed policy advice to member countries. Thus, we believe that Saudi think
tanks need to work together to devise initiatives, ideas and proposals to enrich
the G20 summit. These should then be shared with other think tanks worldwide to
enable an exchange of views on the pandemic and to come up with proposals to
contribute to curbing the disease. This strategy will also contribute to
rendering the Kingdom’s hosting of the summit successful, creating a qualitative
transformation in the work of the T20, developing its tools, and increasing its
responsibility.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami
‘Useful idiots’ damaging search for truth in Syria
Chris Doyle/Arab News/April 13/2020
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), chemical weapons, nerve agents and 9/11 —
one thing links all of these dreadful elements. They all fuel an industry that
grows and metastasizes like the most virulent pandemic: The world of conspiracy
theories. An array of fringe academics, so-called journalists and activists,
aided by social media bots and trolls, avail themselves of every opportunity to
spread the most creative and dangerous confections with threadbare arguments
that serve to question reality and faith in major institutions. These “useful
idiots” typically become the willing dupes and echo chambers of Russian
propaganda, for example, to advance the most pernicious of agendas.
All of this was in sharp focus last Wednesday, when the international chemical
weapons watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
published its latest report into chemical weapons use in Syria. For the first
time, the OPCW specifically attributed blame for a chemical weapons attack to
the Syrian regime. In the past, it had lacked the authority to do so, but this
changed after the organization was given additional powers in 2018.
This new Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) determined that the Syrian
regime bore responsibility for several incidents at Ltamenah in Hama province in
March 2017, which included the use of sarin gas and chlorine. Its report stated:
“The IIT has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the
perpetrators of the use of sarin as a chemical weapon in Ltamenah on 24 and 30
March 2017, and the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon on 25 March 2017 were
individuals belonging to the Syrian Arab Air Force.” The report gives copious
details, not least the movement of key Syrian personnel, forces and, crucially,
planes.
One “truther” felt vindicated by the phrase “reasonable grounds to believe,”
insisting that “disbelief” was, therefore, also “not unreasonable.” This
preposterous piece of quackery makes a false equivalence between “reasonable
grounds to believe,” which indicates a high benchmark of evidence, and
disbelief.
That said, the OPCW must not escape proper scrutiny. The investigation into the
Douma incident of April 7, 2018, has caused controversy, not least allegations
from whistleblowers. All this must be cleared up by an impartial assessment.
Doubts persist about that particular incident, but this does not exonerate the
regime from the other incidents where the evidence is overwhelming.
Three things stand out from the whole issue of chemical weapons use in Syria.
Firstly, until 2013, the Syrian regime denied that Damascus had any chemical
weapons. This was the greatest lie of all. When the Syrian regime was finally
compelled to sign up to the Chemical Weapons Convention, its years of gratuitous
lies and falsehoods were exposed as it coughed up 1,300 tons of VX nerve agents,
sarin and mustard gas for destruction. This did not cause any questioning at all
among the truthers. The Syrian regime had been caught red-handed with this
monstrous arsenal. With this, it was implicitly acknowledged that Damascus had
committed the August 2013 chemical weapons attack on Ghouta that killed
hundreds.
Secondly, the Syrian regime could have cooperated with the OPCW investigations,
not least if it was innocent. It did not. By failing to grant the inspectors
full and immediate access to the locations, no report can be utterly conclusive,
which the regime plays on.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the Syrian regime has bombed and killed
far more innocent civilians with conventional weapons than with chemical
attacks. The world has failed to stop this. Needless to say, the useful idiots
just ignore these blatant regime crimes. These conventional attacks alone are
enough to justify war crimes commissions and trials. Moreover, if there is a
temptation for the opposition to mount false flag exercises — as some allege —
it is because they have realized that it is only chemical weapons use that gets
the world to take notice.
That the IIT report was published during the maelstrom of the coronavirus
pandemic is hugely fortunate for the Syrian regime. The media did cover the
report, but far less comprehensively than it would have done in normal times.
This cannot be said for the useful idiots. Many of those who question the Syrian
chemical weapons attacks are the same people who push baseless conspiracy
theories about COVID-19 being a biological weapon, or that it is just a
low-fatality virus little different to the flu. One asked in an interview, “Is
coronavirus the new 9/11?” — spreading nonsense on both the pandemic and the
2001 terror attacks on the US.
Some of the worst offenders are ensconced in universities, not least in Britain,
and involved in a shady outfit known as the “Working Group on Syria, Propaganda
and Media.” Serious questions must be asked about their academic credentials,
not least as they put their names to articles on issues in which they have no
expertise.
Many of those who question the Syrian chemical weapons attacks are the same
people who push baseless conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
The damage such nonsense does is extraordinary. It serves to undermine leading
expert institutions in a muck-throwing exercise that causes sections of the
general public to question basic reality. Hard evidence is refashioned as
dubious and objective realities questioned in an industrial gaslighting
exercise. The evidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons is
overwhelming, as is the evidence that Russian agents used Novichok in Salisbury
in 2018 and polonium in London in 2006. Yet this is never enough for such
characters.
All these institutions, including the OPCW, must be held to account and
compelled to maintain the highest of standards, but that process cannot continue
if a miasma of confusion and fakery is deliberately deployed in an attempt to
bring the whole edifice down.
*Chris Doyle is director of the London-based Council for Arab-British
Understanding. Twitter: @Doylech
Russia-Saudi ties will only be stronger after the pandemic
Kirill Dmitriev/Arab News/April 13/2020
Russia and Saudi Arabia have once again led the way for other countries by
agreeing a major oil output reduction deal that will stabilize energy markets
and help the global economy in the face of the recession triggered by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Many other oil-producing countries, including the US, supported this agreement
at the meeting of G20 energy ministers chaired by Saudi Arabia. This is a great
example of the kind of leadership and partnership needed in these turbulent
times, when the pandemic is already having a major impact on the lives of
billions of people worldwide.
Without this agreement, oil prices could have plunged to below $10 per barrel
due to an unprecedented demand shock. This could have had a devastating effect
on global economies.
At this crucial moment, our countries managed to put aside their differences,
work together, find a solution and convince others to join this agreement.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have already come a very long way together. Only a few
years ago, our relationship was almost nonexistent and we knew very little about
each other. However, since the first visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
to St. Petersburg and his first meeting with President Vladimir Putin in 2015,
our countries have made a giant leap forward and achieved visible results.
The OPEC+ agreement to stabilize oil prices, which has been in place since 2016,
was a major contribution to global economic growth by Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Together with our partner, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has invested more than $2.5 billion in
over 30 projects. We are now working with PIF, Saudi Aramco, SABIC and other
Saudi partners on 25 new investment projects in sectors such as petrochemicals,
infrastructure, agriculture, and technology.
The RDIF has supported the breakthrough in our relationship with Saudi Arabia in
every key area and has become the main partner for the Kingdom’s companies in
Russia. We have also supported bilateral cultural events and cooperation between
media groups.
Most importantly, we have developed trust between our nations. The recent
developments have shown that this trust and partnership have survived despite
the global turbulence and different tactical approaches.
I have personally enjoyed traveling to Saudi Arabia in recent years. I love
visiting the ancient site of AlUla, the pristine coast of the Red Sea and the
gleaming office buildings in Riyadh. Many Saudis have become my close friends
and I deeply regret not being able to see them at the moment because of the
pandemic.
At this crucial moment, our countries managed to put aside their differences,
work together, find a solution and convince others to join this agreement.
We saw the number of Russian tourists in Saudi Arabia grow very quickly last
year after the decision to open the Kingdom’s hidden treasures up to
international visitors. These achievements should not be forgotten. Instead, we
should build on them and look forward.
Trust and continued partnership between our countries can help us successfully
combat the pandemic and speed up the return to a normal world with international
travel and face-to-face business meetings. Russia and Saudi Arabia can do a lot
together to achieve this.
Our doctors, scientists and businessmen can work together to find a vaccine and
share available information about clinical research and best practices. For
example, we at the RDIF believe that the quickest way to reopen the global
economy lies through extensive testing of not only people with symptoms, but
also all those who could potentially be infected.
In our view, this is the most effective strategy. Russia and Saudi Arabia can
join forces now to implement this strategy. Together with our partners, we have
found the best available testing technologies and invested in some of the most
accurate, fast and mobile testing systems in the world.
The use of these systems can exponentially increase the number of tests. They
are now being rolled out in Russia, the US, the UAE, Austria and many other
countries. We are already working with Saudi researchers to bring these testing
systems to the Kingdom.
This is further proof that partnerships and a coordinated global response are
key to the imminent victory over this pandemic. We believe that this global
emergency will bring Russia and Saudi Arabia even closer to each other and make
our partnership even stronger.
*Kirill Dmitriev is CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Coronavirus Should Finally Smash the Barriers to
Telemedicine
Virginia Postrel/Bloomberg/Monday, 13 April, 2020
Under normal circumstances, internist Jenni Levy makes house calls, checking on
patients with chronic conditions and serving as what she calls “rolling urgent
care.” She works for Landmark Health, which offers supplemental home visits to
people with Medicare Advantage plans and a high risk of hospitalization.
When she joined Landmark, Levy heard that the company was working on a
telemedicine app. Two and a half years later, she still hadn’t seen anything. It
turns out developing proprietary software that complies with the privacy
provisions of the US’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,
better known as HIPAA, is a time-consuming process. So far, the company has
pilot programs running in only a couple of markets.
Now, with circumstances far from normal, Levy and her colleagues are suddenly
seeing patients over FaceTime and WhatsApp. In response to the Covid-19
pandemic, federal regulators last month eased the stringent interpretation of
HIPAA for telemedicine. Rather than special HIPAA-compliant platforms,
health-care providers operating in good faith can use everyday communications
tools, so long as they aren’t open to the public.
FaceTime is fine, in other words; Tik Tok is not. The changes, says Levy, a
college friend of mine, “enabled us to start doing something we’d been intending
to do all along.”
Until recently, telemedicine seemed like one of those technological promises
that was always in the future. While it sounded good in theory, it confronted
economic barriers, regulatory hurdles and resistance from doctors and patients.
Covid-19 has radically changed the environment. For all its horrors, the
pandemic provides an opportunity to cut through some of the red tape that
stymies medical progress. To keep patients out of waiting rooms and limit the
spread of the disease, physicians, insurers, and state and federal regulators
are pushing the rapid expansion of technologies once confined to niches and
optimistic press releases. In the US, regulatory barriers have fallen,
reimbursement rates have risen and skeptical physicians are getting comfortable
with video consultations.
Doctors, patients and businesses are having to change the way they think about
telemedicine. If we learn the right lessons and avoid reverting to the status
quo ante once Covid-19 is brought under control, the result could be better care
at lower costs — without eroding the already shaky finances of primary-care
physicians.
Take the relaxation of those HIPAA rules. When the privacy law was passed by
Congress in 1996, nobody was thinking about how it would apply to FaceTime
visits. We were living in the world of fax machines, letters and phone calls —
the technologies HIPAA still favors absent a crisis. The emergency response
reveals just how ill-founded the restrictions are. Letting doctors use widely
available, even free, software to examine patients at a distance vastly expands
the number of practices that can incorporate telemedicine. You no longer have to
be a large organization capable of building or buying a specialized system. You
don’t have to make telemedicine the backbone of your practice, hiring crews of
nurse practitioners to take calls from around the country. You can be a small
clinic that wants to offer an occasional convenience to regular patients who are
too sick or located too far away to easily come to the office.
That, in turn, changes the political economy of the concept. Many primary-care
physicians have resisted telemedicine, supporting state restrictions that limit
its scope. They justifiably feared that virtual consultations could skim off
their profitable cases and put them out of business. If even small practices can
offer online visits, however, telemedicine becomes a way of expanding care and
potentially increasing income. It’s cheap and convenient but no longer a
substitute for an ongoing relationship with a primary-care physician.
But if regulators later demand a return to the old rules on telemedicine
platforms, warns Grady Gibbs, a technology consultant who admits he’s
self-interested, since his clients are primary-care practices, “that will kill
telemedicine — not kill it dead, but it will make the rollout much, much more
difficult because the small, especially independent, PCP office — one doc, maybe
one doctor and a mid-level — is not going to be able to go out there and get
access to a good platform that's HIPAA-compliant.”
Regulation isn’t the only barrier to widespread telemedicine. “The single
biggest thing that probably has held back deployment is, as is often the case,
reimbursement,” says Steve Spearman, senior director with Huron Consulting
Group, who specializes in health-care issues. Here, too, the current crisis has
changed the status quo. Medicare, which used to pay a much lower rate for
telemedicine when it reimbursed it at all, is now covering a wide range of
telemedicine services at the same reimbursement rates as in-person offerings.
Private insurers are following, voluntarily or by demand from state regulators.
That equal treatment likely won’t continue once the pandemic passes, but it sets
a precedent for how to think about telemedicine: It doesn’t have to be a quick,
cheap and transient service offered by companies without bricks-and-mortar
investments in local clinics. It could also serve as an addition to primary
care, especially for patients with chronic conditions — if reimbursement rates
reflect clinic overhead.
Gibbs makes an analogy to how restaurants and bars are regulated differently
depending on whether serving alcohol is their primary business or an adjunct to
it. Doctors who offer telemedicine to existing patients as a convenience could
get higher reimbursements, he suggests, while “if you operate the big call
center, then maybe your reimbursement is just dirt cheap. And it becomes
something that only gets used in the off-hours” or perhaps by patients without
primary-care doctors. “That to me would be a great way to thread the needle,
because you’ve got to protect the family practitioner.” We don’t want local
doctors to disappear — or to fight the advance of new technologies.
British Conservatives are Shifting Further to the Right
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 13/2020
Two names have come to the fore of British politics in recent times: Keir
Starmer, who was elected leader of the Labor Party, succeeding Jeremy Corbyn,
and Dominic Raab, who assumed leadership of the government and the Conservative
Party after Boris Johnson became sick with the coronavirus. In the event of
things getting worse for the latter, Raab will maintain those two positions. In
the event of his recovery, Raab would have solidified his position as his number
two.
In the meantime, and going back to abundant literature that has been written
about the “interim” leader, we can be sure of one thing: he is a Thatcherite
cub. The Guardian described him as more rightwing on education than Thatcher;
indeed, he is famous for, among other things, inviting companies to manage
public schools: his Laborite critics commented: he is going to privatize what
was not privatized by Thatcher. His supporters called him: ''the male Margret
Thatcher''.
Dominic Raab was born in April 1974, so he belongs to the generation of
conservatives that entered public life during the era in which the ''Iron Lady''
was the star. On April 9 2013, the day after she died, this is some of what he
said in his eulogy in the House of Commons: “Margaret Thatcher was our greatest
post-war leader. She rescued the UK economy from debilitating socialism,
defended British democracy from a despotic military junta and helped win the
Cold War.” Some of those who admire his Thatcherism add having "the discipline
of an athlete" to his list of qualities; for Raab carries a black belt in
karate.
He is originally from a wealthy area in southeast England (Buckinghamshire)
which borders Greater London. He comes from a family imbedded in commerce: his
father (a Jew whose family fled from the former Czechoslovakia in 1938) was a
manager in Marks and Spencer's food department. His mother worked in the
clothing industry, and his Brazilian wife Erika Rey is an executive marketing
manager.
Young Dominic studied in one of the elite “grammar schools”. As a youth, he went
to Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in law, and he later continued his
studies in Cambridge.
Upon graduating, he worked at one of Britain’s most prestigious law firms,
Linklaters, founded in 1838 and belonged to the “golden circle” of law firms.
Some 2,800 lawyers across more than 20 countries currently work there.
As for the electoral district that he has been representing since 2010, it is
Esher and Walton in the affluent Surrey County, a very safe Conservative seat.
His representation has persisted uninterrupted since then, defeating his
competitors by large margins.
Raab worked as a consultant before becoming an MP. The government and
international institutions often consulted him on financial issues and
litigation (as did the Palestine Liberation Organization regarding the
implementation of the Oslo agreement). This role granted him the status of a
cold technocrat, someone who leans towards reducing situations to numbers,
putting some ice on his hot ideological makeup.
His name shined with Brexit, especially during the dispute with the European
Union regarding withdrawal, for he is an enthusiastic Brexiter; Theresa May
appointed him Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. He resigned
after four months, earning his title as one of the most extreme hardliners. He
helped push May to step down, then ran for Conservative Party leadership after
her resignation in May 2019, presenting himself as more radical than Boris
Johnson. He could not garner a substantial number of votes, so he pledged his
allegiance to Johnson who promoted him to the position he now holds, Foreign
Secretary, and appointed him deputy.
Among the other opinions that Raab was famous for: foreign policy should further
the national interest, getting involved in external disputes should be avoided
if possible; aid should go to the poorest countries; free trade should be
championed. Human rights are good, and he was consulted previously on bringing
war criminals to The Hague by the International Court of Justice, but these
rights should not affect Britain's relationships with countries that accrue
economic benefits and create employment opportunities. He supports strict
scrutiny of the records of asylum seekers to Britain, the government's right to
prevent them from getting visas in case of violations and to confiscate their
property if they have any. Foreign prisoners sentenced to one year or longer are
to be deported unless they might be tortured in their countries. The European
Union is defamed as a corrupt and wasteful institution. Private companies should
be encouraged to invest in the National Health Service in addition to public
education. The 45 percent tax rate on the highest incomes should be lowered. All
government spending elicits extreme reluctance. A strike of workers in emergency
and transportation services must be approved by 50 percent of union workers.
Discrimination against women is a hoax; indeed, it is men who are discriminated
against. Feminists are heretics.
Overall, we are facing inclinations to the right of those of Margaret Thatcher.
However, the question being asked sternly today: is it possible, with those
ideas, to rule Britain after the coronavirus and the economic crisis and poverty
triggered by it?
Even before Covid-19, Medicare had changed its reimbursement policies to
encourage a particularly promising form of telemedicine: regularly monitoring
patients with chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and
congestive heart failure. In 2018, a primary-care doctor who sent a patient home
with equipment to take regular readings had to personally spend 30 minutes a
month going over results with the patient to receive reimbursement from
Medicare, which paid nothing for the equipment. And the monthly payment was a
paltry $59. “No doctor is going to do 30 minutes of their own time, plus capital
equipment, to make $59,” says Gibbs. “So there was no adoption.”
In 2019, however, Medicare changed its policy. In industry jargon, it “unbundled
the code,” offering a one-time setup fee and a monthly equipment-rental
reimbursement averaging $66 nationally. It also allowed doctors to delegate the
monthly checkups to staff and cut the time required to 20 minutes. “We go from
59 bucks for 30 minutes of the doctor's time to $52 for 20 minutes of the
staff’s time, plus the 60-something for the equipment itself,” says Gibbs. That
made the idea profitable for primary-care practices.
Starting this year, the doctor can hire a third party to analyze the data and
alert the practice of any warning signs. The result is significantly greater
adoption of telemedicine. Instead of measuring blood pressure twice a year
during in-person checkups, for instance, patients take their readings every day.
Down the road, wearable technology will make it possible to continuously monitor
at-risk patients. “The world that we’re headed to,” says Gibbs, “is your PCP is
going to know what’s going on with your health 24/7 and will then only intervene
when there’s a problem.”
Gibbs, whose firm analyzes data for doctors and makes money by renting them the
monitoring equipment, recounts the recent experience of training a small
practice that brought in 10 patients to set up with monitors. Three of them
turned out to have such high readings that the nurse immediately walked them
back to see the doctor. One man’s systolic blood pressure reading topped 200,
where 120 is considered normal. “He was four months away from his next office
visit,” says Gibbs. “So what happens to him in the next four months? He strokes
out. He passes out, falls, breaks a hip because of the high blood pressure.”
Telemonitoring allows early detection of changes that might otherwise lead to
hospitalization. That saves both lives and money.
By forcing doctors to think about how to best serve patients remotely, Covid-19
has encouraged greater adoption of telemonitoring. It has also taught patients
who would never have used online services, such as Dr. Levy’s elderly clientele,
how to reach their doctors remotely. When the crisis is over and in-person
visits are again easy to manage, these habits will remain. With the right
regulation and reimbursement policies, telemedicine can become a normal part of
regular health care in the United States — a complement rather than a substitute
for hands-on practice.
IMF Must Not Buy the Mullahs' Coronavirus Lies
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/April 13, 2020
The U.S. Embassy wrote in a Facebook post: "The possessions of the current
supreme leader Ali #Khamenei alone are estimated at $200 billion, while many
people languish in poverty because of the dire economic situation in #Iran after
40 years of rule by the mullahs."
If the Iranian leaders are so concerned about the public health, why they have
been ratcheting up their use of lethal force, suppression and human rights
abuses against those who have been revealing the truth about the COVID-19 virus
in Iran or who have been voicing their concern about the regime's mishandling of
the coronavirus crisis?
"The world's leading state sponsor of terrorism is seeking cash to fund its
adventurism abroad, not to buy medicine for Iranians. The regime's corrupt
officials have a long history of diverting funds allocated for humanitarian
goods into their own pockets and to their terrorist proxies." — U.S. State
Department Spokesman to CNN, April 9, 2020.
The ruling mullahs of Iran are doubling down on requests to the International
Monetary Fund immediately to give Tehran an emergency $5 billion loan. Pictured:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
The ruling mullahs of Iran are doubling down on requests to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), headquartered in Washington DC, immediately to give Tehran
an emergency $5 billion loan.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that his government wants to use the $5
billion fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and stressed once again, "I urge
international organizations to fulfill their duties ... We are a member of the
IMF." The IMF, however, should definitely decline the mullahs' financial
request, because the ruling mullahs have plenty of cash and that they would most
likely misuse the funds to advance their anti-American and anti-Semitic -- and
even anti-Iranian people -- agendas.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for instance, the unelected
"representative of God on earth" and the longest-ruling autocrat in the Middle
East, has a financial empire worth at least $95 billion, according to a report
published by Reuters in 2013.
According to the most recent estimate, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad estimated
Khamenei's wealth as worth nearly $200 billion. The U.S. Embassy wrote in a
Facebook post:
"The possessions of the current supreme leader Ali #Khamenei alone are estimated
at $200 billion, while many people languish in poverty because of the dire
economic situation in #Iran after 40 years of rule by the mullahs."
One of Khamenei's major organizations, Setad (short for Setade Ejraiye Farmane
Emam meaning "The Executive Headquarters of Imam's Directive"), is worth at
least $95 billion. Roughly half its holdings are invested in the corporate field
and the other half in real estate, mainly through "the systematic seizure of
thousands of properties belonging to ordinary Iranians" according to Reuters. In
2013, the EU sanctioned the president of Setad, Mohammad Mokhber, for
involvement in "nuclear or ballistic missile activities." The United States
Department of the Treasury called Setad a "massive network of front companies".
Also, if the Iranian leaders are so concerned about the public' health, why they
have been ratcheting up their use of lethal force, suppression and human rights
abuses against those who have been revealing the truth about the COVID-19 virus
in Iran or who have been voicing their concern about the regime's mishandling of
the coronavirus crisis? Recently, approximately 36 prisoners in Iran were
reportedly killed by the regime's security forces for protesting over their
fears of contracting COVID-19 virus. According to a recent report by Amnesty
International:
"In recent days, thousands of prisoners in at least eight prisons around the
country have staged protests over fears of contracting the coronavirus, sparking
deadly responses from prison officers and security forces. In several prisons,
live ammunition and tear gas were used to suppress protests, killing around 35
prisoners and injuring hundreds of others, according to credible sources. In at
least one prison, security forces beat those taking part in the protest action,
possibly leading to the death of an inmate."
The IMF really should not provide funds to a regime that is both the "world's
worst state sponsor of terrorism" and the world's leading executioner and
torturer of children. Some of the children who have been executed are as young
as 12. Iran's Sharia Penal Code allows girls as young as 9 and boys as young as
15 to be executed. Vague charges -- such as "waging war against God," spreading
moharebeh ("corruption on earth"), protesting, or "endangering the country's
national security" -- are generally brought up by the Islamic Republic's
judiciary system or the Revolutionary Court.
If the IMF grants the Iranian regime billions of dollars, the "world's worst
state sponsor of terrorism" will most likely spend the funds on supporting,
arming and finance proxies and terror groups across the region to attack
Americans and their allies and further destabilize the region. As a US State
Department spokesperson in the Trump Administration recently said:
"The world's leading state sponsor of terrorism is seeking cash to fund its
adventurism abroad, not to buy medicine for Iranians. The regime's corrupt
officials have a long history of diverting funds allocated for humanitarian
goods into their own pockets and to their terrorist proxies."
The State Department official added, accurately:
"Iranians themselves know this best, which is why many dissidents and former
political prisoners have written to the IMF requesting that they deny providing
direct financial support to the regime, which would not go to help the Iranian
people."
An official from the US Department of Treasury noted:
"The United States is aware of Iran's request for financing from the IMF and, as
in the past, we remain opposed to funding going to Iran that could be used to
foster the regime's malign and destabilizing activities. Unfortunately, the
Iranian central bank, which is currently under sanction, has been a key actor in
financing terrorism across the region and we have no confidence that funds would
be used to fight the coronavirus."
The IMF must not buy the mullahs' coronavirus lies; if the funds are given to
the ruling mullahs of Iran, the last place the funds will be used is fighting
COVID-19 virus.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated
scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and
president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has
authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at
Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Coronavirus: A French Disaster
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/April 13, 2020
The first bad decision was that, in contrast to the European Union fantasies,
borders apparently do matter. France never closed them; instead it allowed large
numbers of potential virus-carriers to enter the country.
In January 2020, several hundred thousand masks were available, but on February
19, President Macron decoded to send them to Wuhan, as a "gesture of solidarity
with the Chinese people".... The French government announced that masks would be
available soon, but by the end of March, most doctors and caregivers still had
no masks. Several doctors fell ill. As of April 10, eight have died from
COVID-19 and several others are in critical condition. On March 20, the
Government's spokeswoman, Sibeth N'Diaye, incorrectly said, "masks are
essentially useless".
On February 25, a renowned French epidemiologist, Professor Didier Raoult...
published a video... In it, he said he had found a treatment quickly to end the
pandemic: hydroxychloroquine... (used with azithromycin)... On April 10,
Professor Raoult published data showing that he had treated and cured 2,401
patients.
Immediately, Olivier Veran, the new French minister of health, said that
Professor Raoult's statements were "unacceptable" and that the treatment he was
proposing was "worthless".... In an attempt to quell the controversy, the French
government, by decree, authorized Professor Raoult's treatment in "military
hospitals" for "patients reaching the acute phase of the disease" but prohibited
family doctors from prescribing hydroxychloroquine. Professor Raoult replied
that the treatment was only effective if administered "before the disease
reaches its acute phase". [Emphasis added]
France's mainstream media would do well to fight harder for physicians to be
able supply hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin and zinc sulfate. The French
media would also do well to be more aware of the dirty game China is playing.
"The behavior of our leaders has been marked by unpreparedness, casualness,
cynicism, and many of their acts imply the enforcement of the criminal law.
Deliberate endangerment of the lives of others and failure to provide assistance
to people in danger are obvious... In war, generals who are judged incompetent
are sometimes shot. The President and other officials are well aware of this." —
Regis de Castelnau, attorney, in Marianne, a center-left magazine, April 4,
2020.
In contrast to European Union fantasies, borders apparently do matter. France
never closed them; instead it allowed large numbers of potential coronavirus-carriers
to enter the country. Pictured: A French policeman uses a drone to check the
surroundings of the German-French border in Strasbourg, France, on April 9,
2020. (Photo by Frederick Florin / AFP via Getty Images)
On April 9, in France, one of the three European countries most affected by
COVID-19 -- the others being Spain and Italy, 1,341 people died from the Chinese
Communist Party virus. For Italy, the main European country affected so far, the
figure on April 9 was 610 deaths; for Spain 446, and for Germany 266. While the
pandemic has been stabilizing in Italy and Spain -- and in Germany seems
contained -- in France it seems still expanding.
Extremely bad decisions taken by the authorities created a situation of
contagion more destructive than it should have been.
The first bad decision was that, in contrast to European Union fantasies,
borders apparently do matter. France never closed them; instead it allowed large
numbers of potential virus-carriers to enter the country. Even when it became
clear that in Italy the pandemic was taking on catastrophic proportions,
France's border with Italy remained open. The Italian government, by contrast,
on March 10, prohibited French people coming to its territory or Italians going
to France, but to date, France has put no controls on its side of the border.
The situation is the same on France's border with Spain, despite the terrifying
situation there. Since March 17, it has been virtually impossible to go from
France to Spain, but coming to France from Spain is easy: you just show a police
officer your ID. The same goes for France's border with Germany. On March 16,
Germany closed its border with France, but France declined to do the same for
its border with Germany. When, on February 26, a soccer match between a French
team and an Italian team took place in Lyon, the third-largest city in France,
3,000 Italian supporters attended, even though patients were already flocking to
Italy's hospitals.
France never closed its airports; they are still open to "nationals of EEA
Member States, Switzerland, passengers with a British passport, and those with
residence permits issued by France" and healthcare professionals. Earlier, until
the last days of March, people arriving from China were not even subject to
health checks. French people in Wuhan, the city where the pandemic originated,
were repatriated by a military plane, and, upon their arrival in France, were
placed in quarantine. While Air France interrupted its flights to China on
January 30, Chinese and other airlines departing from Shanghai and Beijing
continue to land in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron summarized France's official position on the
practice: "Viruses do not have passports," he said. Members of the French
government repeated the same dogma. A few commentators reminded them that
viruses travel with infected people, who can be stopped at borders, and that
borders are essential to stop or slow the spread of a disease, but the effort
was useless. Macron ended up saying that the borders of the Schengen area (26
European states that have officially abolished all passport and border control
with one another) could not be shut down and raged at other European leaders for
reintroducing border checks between the Schengen area member countries. "What is
at stake," he said, seemingly more concerned with the "European project" than
with the lives of millions of people, "is the survival of the European project."
Other bad decisions the disastrous management of the means of fighting the
pandemic.
In early March, when people in large numbers started to arrive ill at hospitals,
doctors and caregivers warned that they did not have enough masks and said that
working without any protective equipment put them at high risk. Journalists
quickly discovered that in 2013, France had possessed a reserve of several
million masks, but that the government had decided to destroy them to reduce
storage costs. In January 2020, a few hundred thousand masks were still
available, but on February 19, President Macron decided to send them to Wuhan,
as a "gesture of solidarity with the Chinese people".
The French government then announced that masks would be available soon, but by
the end of March, most doctors and caregivers still had no masks. Several
doctors fell ill. As of April 10, eight have died from COVID-19 and several
others are in critical condition. On March 20, the government's spokeswoman,
Sibeth N'Diaye, incorrectly said that "masks are essentially useless".
At the end of February, France had almost no tests available, and no means of
manufacturing them. The government decided to buy tests from China, but by March
19, the number of tests was still insufficient. While Germany performed 500,000
screening tests per week, France was only able to only perform 50,000.
Rather than admit that tests were unavailable, or that the government had
mismanaged situation, the France's minister of health, Olivier Veran, announced
that large-scale screening was useless, and that France had chosen to "proceed
differently".
Municipal elections, scheduled for March 15, took place despite the virus and
despite the fact that many doctors warned that polling stations were places of
contagion. Sure enough, in the days that followed, hundreds of people in charge
of polling stations flocked to the hospitals. On March 16, President Macron
delivered a speech declaring that "France is at war" and that on the following
day, March 17, France would be placed on lockdown.
Lockdown is still in place and the French government has decided to extend it
indefinitely. The rules are strict. The French can only leave home, within a
radius of one kilometer, for one hour a day, to buy food, and must have written
authorization to present to the police who patrol the streets. Anyone who is on
a street without authorization is fined 135 euros ($145) the first time, 1,500
euros ($1,630) the second time, and after three offenses, can be subject to a
sentence of six months in prison. Any meeting with a person not sharing the same
place of lockdown is prohibited.
Most of the population has complied, except in the no-go zones. The police have
been ordered to turn a blind eye to what happens there. The no-go zone in Seine
Saint Denis, for instance, has a fatality rate 63% higher than in the rest of
the country.
It was not exactly a secret that before the pandemic that the French economy had
also not been doing that well. Growth was barely above zero and unemployment
high. Now, the French economy has effectively stopped. It is hard to imagine
what the situation will be after the pandemic.
Now, almost all the French hospitals are full; patients wait on beds in the
halls. On March 18, France had only 5,000 ventilators, so "triage" procedures
began: some patients survived, others, for lack of treatment, did not.
A scandal erupted. Agnes Buzyn -- who was Minister of Health until February 16,
then a candidate for mayor of Paris; then, on March 15, defeated -- said on
March 18: "I knew a tsunami [presumably meaning a deadly pandemic] was going to
hit France". She added that she had told everything to President Macron in
January. Immediately, Marine Le Pen, President of the National Rally, the main
opposition party in France, said that "by staying silent about a worrying
situation, Agnes Buzyn behaved in an unconscionable manner". Le Pen added, "if
Agnes Buzyn is speaking the truth, the government and President Macron have
seriously failed in their duties, and the case will have to be brought before a
Court of Justice".
Another scandal, however, even more important, had erupted before that. On
February 25, a celebrated French epidemiologist, Professor Didier Raoult,
President of the Marseille University Hospital Institute for Infectious Diseases
(Méditerranée Infection), one of the main European research centers on epidemics
and pandemics, published a video, "Coronavirus: Towards a way out of the
crisis". In it, he said that he had found a treatment to infected people
quickly: hydroxychloroquine (a drug used against malaria since 1949) and
azithromycin (a commonly used antibiotic), that had already cured 24 patients.
Immediately, Olivier Veran, the new French minister of health, said that
Professor Raoult's statements were "unacceptable". A harsh medical and political
battle began. Many doctors close to President Macron agreed with Veran and
denounced Raoult. Some even claimed he was a "charlatan", apparently forgetting
that, until then, Professor Raoult had been considered by many France's most
prestigious epidemiologist. Other doctors said that Dr. Raoult was right and
supported his findings.
In an attempt to quell the controversy, the French government, by decree,
authorized Professor Raoult's treatment in "military hospitals" for "patients
reaching the acute phase of the disease" -- but prohibited family doctors from
prescribing hydroxychloroquine. Professor Raoult replied that the treatment was
only effective if administered "before the disease reaches its acute phase".
[Emphasis added]
A clinical trial was launched by the government but Professor Raoult said that
"the trial is not based on the treatment I use and is destined to fail."
On April 10, Professor Raoult published data showing that he had treated and
cured 2,401 patients. A recent international poll of thousands of doctors rated
hydroxychloroquine the "most effective therapy" for combating COVID 19. The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized widespread "compassionate use"
of hydroxychloroquine, while awaiting the results of scientific tests, projects
to be complete in "a year or a year and a half".
Philippe Douste Blazy, Professor in Medicine, former French Minister of Health,
said that "the obstructive behavior of Emmanuel Macron and the French government
'was "criminal'". He added that "the treatment proposed by Professor Raoult has
positive results" and that "France will soon be the last country to refuse the
use by doctors of hydroxychloroquine." He then launched a petition calling on
the government to stop obstructing the use of the treatment. The text was signed
by thousands of doctors, professors of medicine and other former ministers of
health.
The treatment recommended by Professor Raoult still cannot be prescribed by
French family doctors. A decree promulgated by President Macron on March 28
authorized doctors to use Rivotril (clonazepam) to "alleviate the suffering of
patient in a state of respiratory distress". Clonazepam slows breathing and can
lead to respiratory arrest. Dr. Christian Coulon, a renowned anesthesiologist,
tweeted:
"Euthanasia of our elders suffering from respiratory failure. Yes, they decided
[to do] it. As a doctor, I suffer deeply".
Dr. Serge Rader explained on radio on April 3 that many senior citizens living
in retirement homes and who get Covid-19 are not sent to a hospital because the
hospitals are overwhelmed; instead they receive an injection of Rivotril and die
alone in their rooms. Many other doctors expressed their horror on social media,
but added that they were powerless.
The result is that anxiety and anger have increased sharply in the population
and add to the distress arising from the pandemic and the strict lockdown.
A French lawyer, Regis de Castelnau, wrote in Marianne, a center-left magazine:
"The behavior of our leaders has been marked by unpreparedness, casualness,
cynicism, and many of their acts imply the enforcement of the criminal law.
Deliberate endangerment of the lives of others and failure to provide assistance
to people in danger are obvious... In war, generals who are judged incompetent
are sometimes shot. The President and other officials are well aware of this and
have to know that they will be held accountable."
Economists expect the GDP of France in the second quarter of 2020 to be in free
fall. One economist, Emmanuel Lechypre, said, "France will experience a very
severe recession.... What is happening has never been seen in the past and the
country will never be the same."
A recent survey shows that 70% of French people think that the government is not
telling the truth, and 79% think that the government and the President do not
know where they are going.
Before the pandemic, France was on the edge of chaos. From the moment President
Macron was elected, not a single week in France has passed without
demonstrations. The uprising of the "yellow vests" lasted 70 weeks and was
accompanied by riots. A strike against a reform of the bankrupt French pension
system that began in December 2019 lasted until the appearance of the pandemic.
On March 27, Macron said in a threatening tone that those who criticized his
handling of the pandemic were "irresponsible" and that he would remember "those
who did not live up to his expectations".
On April 1, the columnist Ivan Rioufol wrote in Le Figaro:
"The president is not only wrong, but he lied and let others lie. He and his
team are guilty. The official speech was unable to assess the seriousness of the
situation. It denied, to the point of absurdity, the usefulness of national
borders... It is the government that repeated, before claiming the contrary,
that masks and tests are useless. It is the State that maintains an
incomprehensible confusion around chloroquine... The law of silence that Macron
would like to impose is completely untenable."
Those who hold power in France seem more clueless today than before the
pandemic. Sadly, a debacle in France seems increasingly closer.
In the French mainstream media, China is treated extremely politely. No
journalist will remind the public that that the pandemic began in Wuhan, China.
Reporters say that the United States is in a difficult situation and show New
York hospitals, as if showing the suffering of Americans would alleviate the
suffering of the French.
France's mainstream media would do well to fight harder for physicians to be
able supply hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin and zinc sulfate. The French
media would also do well to be more aware of the dirty game China is playing. On
April 5, reports started coming in that in January, before China had let the
world know there was a problem, it had begun deliberately lying about it. On
January 14, 2020, in a tweet, the World Health Organization repeated China's
lie:
"Investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear
evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
identified in #Wuhan, #China"
Meanwhile, Maria Bartiromo disclosed on Fox News, that, before alerting the
world about the coronavirus crisis, China had begun cornering the market in
medical supplies. It bought $2 billion worth of medical masks -- China makes
half the world's supply; why would it buy them? -- as well as hundreds of
millions of dollars' worth of other medical gear. Now, reports are stating that
China is demanding payment from Italy for donated medical equipment that Italy
had donated to China and that China now wants Italy to buy back.
Finally, it would not hurt the French media to show more compassion, to pay more
attention to what they say, to watch with more care their own society, and to
think about ways to find remedies to the economic and political dysfunction that
unleashed such an unimaginable horror.
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27
books on France and Europe.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.