English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese
Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 07/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.july07.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves;
so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10/16-25/:”‘See, I am
sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and
innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and
flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings
because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are
to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the
Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to
death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have
them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one
who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee
to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns
of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ‘A disciple is not above the teacher, nor
a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher,
and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house
Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!”’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 06-07/2020
12 New Coronavirus Cases in Lebanon
MoPH confirms twelve new Coronavirus cases in Lebanon
Lebanese Maronite patriarch calls for end to Hezbollah’s diktat
Lebanese C.Bank Sets 3,900 Pound/Dollar Rate for Essential Food Industries
Lebanon: Berri-Bassil Understanding Rules out Government Reshuffle
Italy Says Hitti Held Important Meeting with Di Maio
Berri Expects Positive Development after Meeting Kuwait Ambassador
BDL Sets Exchange Rate for Food Industry Importers, Manufacturers
Hizbullah, Hamas Blast Israel's Annexation Plans
Judge Demands Prosecution of Top Oil Officials, Firms in Counterfeit Fuel Case
MP Says Capital Control Draft Bill 'Ready'
Fahmi: Diab’s Government is Staying
Lebanese Central Bank sets rate of LBP 3,900 per US dollar for essential food
industries
Protesters march through Mina streets against dire living conditions, power cuts
Protesters block EDL’s Sidon branch road against ailing living conditions
Diab meets Press Syndicate dean, former MP Qandil
Hassan meets Iranian ambassador, receives invitation from Democratic Gathering
to visit Chouf
Apprentice notaries thank Diab for signature of appointment decrees
Musharrafieh to WTO: Tourism sector main pillar to salvage Lebanon from bitter
reality
Bukhari tackles current developments with MP Jean Obeid
Politician of Lebanese Origin Becomes President of Dominican Republic
Winners of MIT Lebanon Challenge 2020 announced/Tala Ramadan/Annahar/July
06/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on July 06-07/2020
Husham Al Hashimi: prominent Iraqi security analyst gunned down
Rafale attacks on Turkish targets in al-Watiya airbase: Egyptian or French?
Russia warns Turkey over Hagia Sophia move
U.S. Virus Death Toll Passes 130,000
U.S. Hails Britain for First Rights Sanctions Imposed on Its Own
Russians, Saudis Top UK 'Independent' Sanctions List for Rights Violators
Israel Launches Spy Satellite as Leaders Hint It was behind Natanz Fire
Supreme Court Rules U.S. States Can Punish 'Faithless Electors'
Trudeau Won't Commit to U.S. Visit for Talks on New Trade Deal
Official Says Israel Can’t Annex Large Parts of West Bank
Titles For
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on July 06-07/2020
How Palestinians Terrorize Their Own People/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone
Institute/July 06/2020
The Mullah's Spies and Assassinations in the West/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone
Institute/July 06/2020
Iran's Hardline Lawmakers Plan to Summon Rouhani after Growing Discontent/Asharq
Al-Awsat/Monday, 6 July, 2020
Poverty, Interventions and 'Small Armies'/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/June
06/2020
Do You Really Want Google to Have Your Personal Fitness Data?/Alex
Webb/Bloomberg/July, 06/2020
Taliban Bounties Would Be a New Low Even for Putin/James Stavridis/Bloomberg/July,
06/2020
"Global security threatened by world powers’ failures on Iran/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/July 06/2020
Iran’s fires highlight need for international nuclear safety oversight/Abdel
Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/July 06/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published
on July 06-07/2020
12 New Coronavirus Cases in Lebanon
Naharnet/July 06/2020
Lebanon on Monday recorded 12 more COVID-19 cases, which raises the overall
tally to 1,885 -- among them 1,311 recoveries and 36 deaths. Eleven of the new
cases were recorded among residents while the 12th case is an expat who arrived
from Nigeria, the Health Ministry said. The local cases were recorded in Tariq
al-Jedideh, Haret Hreik, al-Mreijeh, Mansourieh, Roumieh, Haret al-Naameh, al-Amrousiyeh
and Hay el-Sillom. Ten of the local cases have been traced to known infected
individuals.
MoPH confirms twelve new Coronavirus cases in Lebanon
NNA/July 06/2020
Twelve new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Lebanon by the
Ministry of Public Health in a statement on Monday, raising the tally of
infected people in the country to 1885. Eleven cases were locally detected and
one among returnees.
Lebanese Maronite patriarch calls for end to Hezbollah’s
diktat
The Arab Weekly/July 06/2020
“The stage we have reached compels us to appeal to the President of the Republic
to work to lift the siege on legitimacy and free national decision,” said al-Rahi.
BEIRUT–Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rahi broke his
usual political reserve and called on President Michel Aoun to work on “lifting
the siege on legitimacy in Lebanon and the free national decision” and ensure
Lebanon’s “neutrality.”Lebanese political sources considered the patriarch’s
words as a first since he succeeded the late Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as head
of the Maronite Church in 2011. The sources indicated that “the Patriarch was in
fact accusing Hezbollah without naming it, in order to lift its hegemony over
the institutions of the Lebanese state, including over the presidency of the
republic and the presidency of the Lebanese government headed by Hassan Diab,
which is controlled by the party.” Unlike his predecessor, Patriarch al-Rahi is
not especially popular among Lebanese Christians as he has frequently taken
stances seen as in alignment with Hezbollah.
A prominent Lebanese politician saw that by demanding Lebanon’s “neutrality,” in
other words pushing the country away from the alliance wanted by Hezbollah,
Patriarch al-Rahi has gone far in an indirect campaign against the Shia group.
Al-Rahi made his statements at Sunday Mass in his summer residence in Diman,
North Lebanon.
“The worst thing that we are witnessing today is that most of those who deal
with political life (in Lebanon) are concerned only with their petty gains,
interests and calculations,” the patriarch said, adding that “these politicians
want to cover up their responsibility in depleting the state treasury, and not
undertaking any structural and sectoral reforms.”He pointed out that the
country’s political officials, regardless of their positions, do not have the
courage and internal freedom to meet and find ways to stop the political
suffering, which are the basis of economic, financial, monetary and living
crises.
Lebanese political circles viewed the stance of the Maronite patriarch, who
usually avoids taking sharp positions, as confirmation that the country has no
choice but to disengage from regional conflicts, go back to taking a neutral
position and move away from positions that make it an ally of Iran as Hezbollah
desires. “The stage we have reached compels us to appeal to the President of the
Republic to work to lift the siege on legitimacy and free national decision, and
we ask friendly countries to hurry to Lebanon’s rescue as they used to do
whenever it was exposed to danger,” said the patriarch, without specifying who
the friendly countries are, although he was clearly referring to Arab countries.
Al-Rahi pointed out that “the revolution of our hungry people, who are deprived
of their most basic rights, deserves protection, not repression.”
“Lebanon’s young men and women are not its enemy to deserve being repressed and
arrested. They are our daughters and our sons, and they are the momentum of
change and hope for the future,” al-Rahi added.
Lebanon is experiencing its worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war
(1975-1990), which has triggered since last October popular protests demanding
economic and political reforms.The protesters are demanding the departure of the
political class, which they hold responsible for rampant corruption in state
institutions that is seen as the main cause of the country’s financial and
economic collapse. In addition to its economic crisis, Lebanon is suffering from
severe political division and polarisation, especially since the formation of
the current government, headed by Hassan Diab, last February to succeed the Saad
Hariri government, which resigned last October under pressure from the popular
protest movement.
Lebanese C.Bank Sets 3,900 Pound/Dollar Rate for Essential Food Industries
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 6 July, 2020
The Lebanese central bank will provide foreign currency at a fixed exchange rate
of 3,900 Lebanese pounds per dollar for importers and manufacturers of essential
food items, it said on Monday. The central bank “will secure the necessary
amounts in foreign currency to meet the needs of importers and manufacturers of
essential food items and raw materials used in food industries ... at the fixed
rate of 3,900 pounds per dollar,” it said in a statement. The Lebanese pound has
lost around 80% of its value since October on a parallel market where one dealer
gave exchange rates of 9,000/9,500 on Monday. The official exchange rate remains
1,507.5 pounds per dollar, the central bank said.
Lebanon: Berri-Bassil Understanding Rules out Government
Reshuffle
Beirut - Mohammed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 6 July, 2020
Pro-government sources said they were awaiting the outcome of an understanding
between Speaker Nabih Berri and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM),
former minister Gebran Bassil, to save the Lebanese government and end the
stalling that has so far prevented the implementation of reforms.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources revealed that Bassil had presented
some ideas that include replacing some ministers, under the pretext of low
productivity. Sources in the opposition, on the other hand, noted that Berri
preferred the adoption of a definite program to save the government, calling for
the immediate launch of the administrative and financial reforms that the
cabinet pledged to undertake in its ministerial statement and addressing the
electricity crisis through durable solutions. They said that Berri underlined
the need to reactivate the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) in order to support the financial recovery plan. According to the
sources, the government reshuffle was now off the table for two main reasons:
first, Hezbollah’s active efforts to prevent any changes to the cabinet, despite
the movement’s awareness that the current ministerial lineup is unable to
increase its efficiency; and second, the opposition forces’ unwillingness to
engage in an “adventure” that could lead to a settlement similar to the one that
led to the election of Michel Aoun as president. In this context, the sources
told Asharq Al-Awsat that opposition parties have agreed to reject any attempt
to form a new government. They added that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has
ruled out a return as head of government, as he was now working to regain the
confidence of his supporters, who were “deceived” by the settlement that he
struck with Aoun.
Italy Says Hitti Held Important Meeting with Di Maio
Naharnet/July 06/2020
Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti on Monday held an “important and positive” meeting
in Rome with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s Foreign Ministry
said.
The meeting “can be capitalized on, because Italy is very keen on standing by
Lebanon, which is going through a dangerous economic crisis that might subject
the entire population to grave threats,” a diplomat from the Italian Foreign
Ministry said in a phone interview with Lebanon’s National News Agency. A
statement issued by the Italian ministry said Di Maio expressed his country’s
support for “the reform process that the executive authority led by Hassan Diab
is carrying out.”“It is an essential condition for overcoming the current
difficulties, reviving the economy and meeting the legitimate aspirations of the
Lebanese people,” the Ministry quoted Di Maio as saying.
Berri Expects Positive Development after Meeting Kuwait Ambassador
Naharnet/July 06/2020
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held talks Monday in Ain el-Tineh with Kuwaiti
Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul-Al al-Qinai. The National News Agency said
discussions tackled “the general situations in Lebanon and the region and
bilateral ties between Lebanon and Kuwait.” Asked about the reason behind the
Kuwaiti ambassador’s visit, Berri said he expects a positive development in the
near future following “the meeting with the ambassador of a brotherly and
friendly country.”
Berri also held talks Monday with the ambassadors of Iran and Austria.
BDL Sets Exchange Rate for Food Industry Importers, Manufacturers
Naharnet/July 06/2020
The Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) announced in a statement on Monday a 3,900
Lebanese Pounds as an exchange rate for food industry importers and
manufacturers.
The bank said that requests should be submitted and paid in Lebanese pounds at
local banks in full. Banks would in turn hand these requests to BDL and the
latter transfers their value in dollars to the account of the bank in question
with the correspondent bank accredited to it. The official exchange rate of the
dollars remains at 1515 Lebanese pounds, added the statement.
Hizbullah, Hamas Blast Israel's Annexation Plans
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 06/2020
Lebanon's Hizbullah and the Palestinian Hamas on Monday said Israel's plan to
annex parts of the West Bank is an "aggression against the Palestinian people"
and called for unity to confront it. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sent a letter
to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in which he said that the Palestinian
cause is facing "grave dangers," according to a statement released by the
Lebanese group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex up
to 30% of the occupied West Bank in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's
Middle East plan, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and was rejected by the
Palestinians. But the move appears to be on hold at the moment, as Israel
grapples with a renewed coronavirus outbreak and awaits a final green light from
Washington. Israel also faces heavy opposition from the international community
and some of its closest allies.
"The Palestinian people are capable of confronting this plan," the Hizbullah
statement said. It called on Arab and Muslim nations and "free people of the
world to quickly move to stop the occupation's continuous aggression against the
Palestinian people."
Both Hizbullah and Hamas have fought several wars with Israel over the past
decades. The United States and the European Union view both as "terrorist"
groups.
Judge Demands Prosecution of Top Oil Officials, Firms in Counterfeit Fuel Case
Naharnet/July 06/2020
Judge Ghada Aoun on Monday demanded the prosecution of top oil officials and
several firms and employees in the counterfeit fuel case. The National News
Agency said Aoun called for prosecuting the Director General of Oil at the
Energy Ministry, Aurore Feghali, and the Director General of Oil Facilities,
Sarkis Hleis, on charges of professional negligence, an offense who penalty can
reach two years in jail. Aoun also demanded the prosecution of Algerian oil
company Sonatrach and Lebanese firms ZR Energy DMCC and Energy Group Holding on
charges of fraud. She also called for prosecuting ZR Energy CEO Ibrahim al-Zouk,
the representative of Sonatrach in Lebanon Tarek al-Fawwal and the owner of ZR
Energy Teddy Rahme on charges of fraud, forgery and money laundering. Penalties
for such offenses can reach seven years in jail. Aoun also demanded the
prosecution of several employees at the oil facilities in Deir Amar and al-Zahrani
on charges of falsification and receiving bribes, calling for putting them on
trial before the Criminal Court.The Energy Ministry had accused Sonatrach of
delivering a counterfeit fuel shipment to Electricite du Liban on March 25.
MP Says Capital Control Draft Bill 'Ready'
Naharnet/July 06/2020
Member of Parliament Nicolas Nahhas said on Monday that a capital control draft
bill is ready to be sent to the Finance and Budget parliamentary committee after
introducing some changes based on suggestions by the International Monetary
Fund.
In remarks to the Voice of Lebanon radio station, the MP said: “The new text of
the capital control law proposal is ready after adding some ideas and taking
into account the comments of the International Monetary Fund. The draft law will
be submitted soon to the Finance and Budget Committee."
On the size of losses in the banking system, Nahhas said: “It is too late to
unify the figures resulting from more than five files that have different
approaches,” pointing out that the government is not giving the significance
needed to address this file.
Nahas stressed that "the consensus is essential and very necessary at this stage
between the government, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, and the
Association of Banks, for all of them to establish a road map for a solution."
Lebanon had faced a political crisis, a currency meltdown and de facto capital
controls in the months before the coronavirus pandemic forced a nationwide
lockdown.
Banks imposed restrictions on dollars withdrawals, transfers
Fahmi: Diab’s Government is Staying
Naharnet/July 06/2020
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi stressed the government’s determination to face
the campaigns against it, assuring that PM Hassan Diab's cabinet is “staying
until further notice,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday. Reports on a
close change in the government of Diab subsided over the weekend.
“There is no change in the government. Everyone must accept the fact that the
government is staying until further notice regardless of political sentiments of
some,” said Fahmi in remarks to the daily. The Minister said that sone
"obstacles sometimes delay the results intended, including the verbal attacks
against PM Diab from several sides inside and outside Lebanon," he stated,
stressing “determination to confront the difficulties no matter how fierce the
campaigns are.” “Diab is personally following the files that concern the people,
mainly at the monetary and financial levels,” he concluded, adding that
“ministerial work will be activated to cope with the challenges at this critical
stage.”Several Lebanese politicians have called for a governmental change as the
economic and monetary crisis deepens in the country.
Lebanese Central Bank sets rate of LBP 3,900 per US dollar
for essential food industries
NNA/July 06/2020
The Lebanese Central Bank on Monday issued a statement making clear that it
would be providing US dollars at a fixed exchange rate of LBP 3,900 per US
dollar for importers and manufacturers of essential food items.
"The Central Bank will secure the necessary amounts in foreign currency to meet
the needs of importers and manufacturers of essential food items and raw
materials used in food industries (...) at the fixed rate of LBP 3,900 pounds
per US dollar," the statement read. Requests should be submitted through banks
and their value should be paid -- in cash -- in Lebanese pounds to the bank,
which in turn will transfer them to the Central Bank. The latter will then
exchange their value into US dollars and retransfer them to the account of the
bank that is performing the transaction, the statement explained. Meanwhile, the
official exchange rate remains at LBP 1,507.5 per US dollar, the Central Bank's
statement added.
Protesters march through Mina streets against dire living
conditions, power cuts
NNA/July 06/2020
Al Mina locals have marched through the various streets of the city, in protest
against the stifling daily living conditions, the uncontrollable hike in the
prices of commodities and food products as well as the high dollar exchange
rate.
Protesters also deplored the incessant power rationing.
Protesters block EDL’s Sidon branch road against ailing living conditions
NNA/July 06/2020
A number of activists staged a sit-in outside Sidon's Electricity of Lebanon (EDL)
branch, blocking the road for a brief time with burning trash containers, in
protest against the dire living conditions and incessant power cuts.
Protesters then headed to Elia's Square.
Diab meets Press Syndicate dean, former MP Qandil
NNA/July 06/2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, has received today Press Syndicate Dean, Awni
Al-Kaaki and Editor-in-chief of Al-Binaa newspaper, former deputy Nasser Qandil,
in the presence of PM Advisor, Khodor Taleb. After the meeting, Al-Kaaki
declared: "Discussions with Prime minister featured press-related issues, as the
press is currently struggling, like other institutions, due to prices’ and
dollar’s surge, which affects this sector that is facing the prospect of
complete work stoppage."“We asked PM Diab to stand alongside the press sector
and back it, just like the State provides support to some key sectors in the
country. Lebanon has the merit of being the most important Arab country in the
field of journalism. In fact, the Press has offered a lot to Lebanon, even
martyrs like Riad Taha, GebranTueni, Salim al-Lawzi and Nasib al-Matni. " The
Press Syndicate confirmed that PM Hassan Diab had made direct contact with the
concerned parties, to stand with the Lebanese Press and contribute to its
sustainability.--PM Press office
Hassan meets Iranian ambassador, receives invitation from
Democratic Gathering to visit Chouf
NNA/July 06/2020
Minister of Public Health, Dr. Hamad Hassan, on Monday received in his office at
the Ministry Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Dr. Mohammad Jalal Firouznia, with
whom he discussed an array of issues of mutual concern and readiness to assist
amid the current difficult circumstances.
Minister Hassan thanked Iran for its donations to the Ministry of Public Health
in the context of curbing the Coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, Hassan
received in his office Minister Hassan also received in his office "Democratic
Gathering" MPs, Bilal Abdullah and Hadi Abou el-Hessen, accompanied by Ain W
Zain Hospital’s Board Chairman, General Director Dr. Zouheir el-Imad. MP
Abdullah said that the visit aimed at thanking Minister Hassan, in the name of
the Democratic Gathering and the Progressive Socialist Party, for the support he
provided to the people of the Chouf and the Iqlim Al-Kharroub to limit the
spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.The delegation extended to Minister Hassan an
invitation to visit the Chouf region shortly.
Apprentice notaries thank Diab for signature of appointment
decrees
NNA/July 06/2020
Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, received at the Grand Serail this afternoon, a
delegation of apprentice notaries. The delegation thanked PM Diab for signing
their appointment decrees after almost a year and a half of waiting. The
delegation emphasized that the Prime minister's respect for the signature of the
21 judges who supervised the exams constitute a sign of confidence in the person
of the Prime minister, who reiterated, in every situation, his keenness on
preserving and supporting competent employees to build a better future for them
and for Lebanon.—PM Press Office
Musharrafieh to WTO: Tourism sector main pillar to salvage
Lebanon from bitter reality
NNA/July 06/2020
Minister of Tourism, Ramzi Musharrafieh, on Monday partook in the 46th meeting
of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Committee for the Middle East, chaired
by the United Arab Emirates. The meeting discussed the challenges experienced by
the Middle East region within the tourism sector amidst the Coronavirus
pandemic. "It is no secret that Lebanon today suffers from numerous economic and
social problems; the Coronavirus pandemic has only come to increase the severity
of these problems and place additional burdens on the Lebanese people and state
institutions as a whole," Musharrafieh said. "The tourism sector is one of the
most important elements of the national economy, and we consider it the main
pillar to lift Lebanon from its grim reality and to retrieve its distinguished
status and pioneering role on the regional and international tourism map,"
Lebanon's Tourism Minister added.
"Today, we are looking forward to implementing practical recommendations that
will accelerate recovery from the negative ramifications on the tourism sector
-- the sector mostly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic," he added.
Musharrafieh concluded, "We highly value the efforts exerted by the World
Tourism Organization, especially in the framework of supporting governments and
accelerating the recovery of this vital sector."
Bukhari tackles current developments with MP Jean Obeid
NNA/July 06/2020
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid bin Abdullah Bukhari, on Monday welcomed at
his Yarzeh residence, MP Jean Obeid, with talks reportedly touching on most
recent developments and issues of mutual concern.
Politician of Lebanese Origin Becomes President of
Dominican Republic
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 06/2020
Opposition candidate Luis Abinader swept to victory in the Dominican Republic's
presidential election, early results showed Monday, ending 16 years of unbroken
rule by the Caribbean nation's center-left PLD party after voters braved a
worsening coronavirus outbreak to cast their ballots. Abinader, the candidate of
the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), took 52.51 percent of the vote with 82
percent of polling station returns counted, the Central Electoral Board said.
"We won, today we won," a victorious Abinader told dozens of supporters at his
campaign headquarters in the capital Santo Domingo. "This is the change the
Dominican people voted for," said the 52-year-old businessman who will take
office on August 16. Gonzalo Castillo, standing for outgoing President Danilo
Medina's Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), conceded late Sunday after winning
just 37.69 percent of the vote. Gray-haired Abinader -- whose holding company
has interests in tourism, agriculture and cement -- has the dual challenge of
reviving the coronavirus-hit economy and regaining public trust after the Latin
America-wide Odebrecht corruption scandal embroiled local officials.
Record coronavirus infections
Voters lined up to cast their ballots wearing masks and standing six feet apart
as the presidential and legislative polls went ahead Sunday despite soaring
coronavirus cases. The polls were originally scheduled for May 17 but were
postponed as the virus outbreak gathered pace across the Caribbean and Latin
America. Gunfire outside a polling station in the capital left one person dead
after an argument among opposing party activists turned violent, police said.
But elsewhere, voting appeared to progress smoothly, with few disruptions
despite the extra virus precautions. "It's pretty fluid and very well organized.
The truth is I didn't expect it," said Maribel Roman, a 47-year-old business
consultant, as she waited for her turn to vote. The country on Sunday broke its
record for the number of daily infections as health officials reported 1,241 new
cases. On Saturday, the number of new infections had exceeded 1,000 for the
first time. Since the first infections were registered on March 1, the country
has recorded 37,425 cases with 794 deaths from COVID-19. An election monitor
from the Organization of American States (OAS) who travelled from Washington,
"tested positive" for the virus and is "in isolation" the organization said on
Twitter. Abinader, whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon, unsuccessfully
ran for the presidency in 2016 and the vice-presidency in 2012. He failed as a
Senate candidate in 2005. His father, Jose Rafael Abinader, fought against the
dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in the 1930s and 1940s. When democracy
returned, Abinader senior held numerous public offices and unsuccessfully ran
for the presidency three times before winning a senate seat in the 1990s.
Economic challenges
While regaining public trust remains a deep concern, restoring economic
performance to the levels of the past seven years -- when the tourism-dependent
country averaged around 5.0 percent annual growth -- will be Abinader's key
task.
GDP slumped almost 30 percent in April compared to the same month last year due
to the impact of COVID-19 containment measures. "We will face the most difficult
challenges in our history, economic recovery and regaining confidence in
democratic institutions," he said. Brazilian developer Odebrecht has admitted to
doling out $92 million in bribes in the Dominican Republic in exchange for
winning public works contracts.The country, which shares the island of
Hispaniola with Haiti, ranks 137th out of 180 countries on Transparency
International's corruption index.
Winners of MIT Lebanon Challenge 2020 announced
Tala Ramadan/Annahar/July 06/2020
BEIRUT: While Lebanon is experiencing its greatest economic crisis in decades,
MIT Lebanon Challenge 2020 brought together multidisciplinary teams over a
three-day period to generate solutions that will help Lebanon in its recovery
amidst the ongoing crisis. The standard of the challenge was incredibly high,
with an array of techniques and formats used to bring solutions to life. Many of
the judges praised the participants for breaking from convention to explore new
ideas.
600 applicants were divided into teams and were connected with startup mentors,
industry advisors, how-to guides, workshops, data sets, and other resources
needed to develop their solutions. The 48-hour virtual hackathon was designed to
unite diverse minds will tackle 3 tracks:
MIT Lebanon Challenge 2020, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology aimed to advance solutions for Lebanon, brought together diverse
stakeholders from Lebanon and the diaspora to address the challenges the country
is facing and then pitch their ideas to the judges.
Basic needs: Ensure the provision of basic goods and services (food, shelter,
clean water, healthcare, energy, and waste management) to residents of Lebanon,
especially the most vulnerable. Industrial economy: Strengthen local agriculture
and manufacturing to reduce reliance on imported goods.
Knowledge economy: Develop the technology and digital sector - create software
products to increase the export of services to the region.
After the challenge, selected teams won the opportunity to bring their idea to
life.
MIT will be supporting the chosen team in a post-hackathon implementation phase.
The selected winners were the following:
Khebez w Meleh
Problem: Lebanon is facing challenges related to sectarianism, becoming
predominantly urban with 90% of people living in urban areas, and having 80% of
poverty existing in rural areas.
Solution: Khebez w Meleh is a social enterprise that offers rural families the
opportunity to generate income by hosting guests and creating authentic,
customized, and affordable packages and plans through a customer-centered
web-platform.
DAIMLAS
Problem: There exists no platform for tech companies to hire a team for
Artificial Intelligence projects.
Solution: A web platform where leading tech companies can hire remote Artificial
Intelligence teams.
EduBud
Problem: A high percentage of public school students drop out before the age of
15.
Solution: A philanthropic online platform that links underprivileged students to
mentors and tutors.
LebPort
Problem: Lebanese talent has no access to high-value opportunities.
Solution: Platform to connect outsource demand to Lebanese talent.
Farmlend
Problem: Financing for smallholder farmers is at an all-time low, with local
funders experiencing financial challenges while foreign funders are too to large
and inefficient to finance smallholder farmers.
Solution: Develop a digital lending platform to distribute capital from large
impact funds and development finance institutions to smallholder farmers, track
the farmers’ progress, and manage loan collection.
Zubabati-ذبابتي
Problem: High dependence on imported fertilizers and feed and lack of organic
waste management and unsustainable agricultural practices
Solution: Local and sustainable fertilizer and feed, new export market
Maaloumet w tefeha
Problem: No data about agriculture
Solution: A data-driven platform to help take better decisions
LEATHER TEAM
Problem: The decline of the Leb leather manufacturing industry and the important
deficit in the Leb Trade
Solution: Linking the GCC high-end sandals and shoe brands and Lebanese
Manufacturers
BOOSTER
Problem: Lebanon's manufacturing sector is struggling to find the needed working
capital
Solution: Digital solution to connect businesses in need of cash with bank
depositors
SABOUNTI
Problem: High unemployment rates among Lebanese marginalized women and a lack of
fresh money
Solution: Helping marginalized women to produce, market and export locally
produced soap
Biyati
Problem: Pollution levels in Lebanon have placed the country as the 3rd most
polluted in the world
Solution: Using a plant-based filtration system to tackle Lebanon's air
pollution problem.
Medicycle
Problem: 60% of Lebanese people cannot afford their medication, and tons of
expired medication is thrown out every year.
Solution: We take medication 3-6 months before it expires and distribute it to
local charities so people in need can have access to their medication.
BATRE
Problem: Short term blackouts due to devaluation of the currency, diesel prices,
and the generators mafia
Solution: BATRE’s repurposed batteries will allow underprivileged families to
get access to electricity during electricity cuts.
SHAREK
Problem: Residents in Lebanon are finding it increasingly difficult to access
affordable housing due to increased inflation and unemployment
TANDIYA
Problem: Water scarcity in Lebanon is due to the lack of centralized water
management
Solution: This involves working with communities to implement household water
reduction practices while locally increasing water supply
TOO GOOD TO WASTE
Problem: Food Waste due to gap between farmers and customer
Solution: Mobile app solution that links customers to farmers and producers
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on July 06-07/2020
Husham Al Hashimi: prominent Iraqi
security analyst gunned down
The National/July 06/2020
Prominent Iraqi security expert Husham Al Hashimi was shot dead on Monday night
by unknown gunmen outside his house in Baghdad.
Interior Ministry sources said Al Hashimi was taken to hospital where he died
shortly after the shooting. A medical source at the hospital said he suffered
"bullet wounds in several body parts". An investigator said Al Hashimi, 47,
walked out of his home in east Baghdad and was getting into his car when three
gunmen on two motorcycles fired at him from metres away. He was wounded and
ducked behind his car, but the gunmen approached and shot him four times in the
head at close range, the investigator said. Born in Baghdad in 1973, he was a
well-respected security analyst who wrote extensively about ISIS and Al Qaeda,
including three books, and advised the current and past governments on terror
and extremist groups. He was strongly in favour of the popular protests that
erupted across Baghdad and Iraq's Shiite-majority south in October, which
slammed the government as corrupt, inefficient and beholden to neighbouring
Iran. Al Hashimi had been working closely with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al
Kadhimi and was a member of the Iraq Advisory Council, a panel of prominent
experts and former policymakers. A prolific tweeter with 147,000 followers, he
posted less than an hour before the news of his death.
Al Hashimi's last post was on the divisions forming in Iraqi politics since Mr
Al Kadhimi took office in May. Many of his followers expressed their condolences
and shock under his final message. While more than 500 were killed in mass
protests that erupted late last year, high-profile political killings have been
rare recently. "Cowards killed my friend and one of the brightest researchers in
Iraq, Husham Al Hashimi. I am shocked," wrote Harith Hasan, who was an academic
researcher before becoming an adviser to Mr Al Kadhimi. Martin Huth, the EU
ambassador to Iraq, also mourned Al Hashimi’s death. “Together with his family
and friends, we mourn the death of Dr Husham Al Hashimi," Mr Huth said. "The
perpetrators of this heinous crime must be brought to justice." The British
ambassador to Iraq, Stephen Hickey, condemned the assassination. “Devastated and
deeply saddened by the news of the killing of Husham Al Hashimi," Mr Hickey said
on Twitter. "Iraq has lost one of its very best – a thoughtful and brave man.
These attacks cannot continue.
“The government, supported by the international community, must hold the
perpetrators to account." The UN's top official in Iraq, Jeanine
Hennis-Plasschaert, said she was shocked by the assassination. “We strongly
condemn this despicable act of cowardice," Ms Hennis-Plasschaert said. "Our
heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. I call on the government to
quickly identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice."– Additional
reporting by AFP
Rafale attacks on Turkish targets in al-Watiya airbase:
Egyptian or French?
Jemai Guesmi/The Arab Weekly/July 06/2020
TUNIS – Informed sources told The Arab Weekly that the warplanes that targeted
al-Watiya airbase in western Libya were Rafale jets, which limits the identity
of the attacking power to France and Egypt, the two countries within the range
of the base that possess this type of aircraft.
The sources considered the attack a quick response to Turkish Defence Minister
Hulusi Akar’s visit to Tripoli, which reflected the extent of Turkish
persistence in western Libya.
The Turkish presence in Libya is highly worrisome to both Cairo and Paris,
pushing them to raise the tone of their criticism of Ankara. Cairo has
threatened to intervene militarily in Libya if the Turkish-backed Tripoli
militias tried to advance towards Sirte, while Paris described the Turkish moves
as “unacceptable,” stressing that it would not allow this to continue.
But this recent airstrike on al-Watiya air base showed that the red lines in
airspace differ from the red lines on land drawn by Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi. Indeed, basing fighter planes and military drones in al-Watiya
constitute a direct threat to any army units deployed in Sirte, al-Jufra base
and eastern Libya. Sisi has floated the possibility of his country directly
intervening in Libya, pointing out that Egypt “will not allow the conflict in
Libya to cross the Sirte line.” He also stressed that, “with regard to Egypt’s
security, al-Jufra is a red line that we will not allow any force to cross.”
Egyptian news websites published undated photos of Hawk missile batteries and
radars, which they said were among the targets attacked in al-Watiya. The Libyan
National Army (LNA) had withdrawn from al-Watiya base following sustained
Turkish air strikes on the base, allowing the Ankara-supported militias of the
Tripoli government to take control of the base. Since then, there have been
several reports of a plan to convert the place into a Turkish base, a
development that France strongly opposes. According to some news reports, Paris
had suggested to convert it into a NATO base.
On Sunday, the Tripoli government accused “a foreign air force” of bombing al-Watiya
base, without providing details of the identity of the attacking aircrafts nor
of the targets hit. Although Turkish and Qatari media denied that there were
casualties in the bombing, the Libyan source confirmed that the raids caused the
deaths of a number of Turkish soldiers who were transferred to the hospital in
the town of al-Jamil, near the base. A retired Libyan army officer residing in
the Zintan region revealed to The Arab Weekly that a squadron of fighter planes
launched a series of air strikes on al-Watiya base, where Turkey had deployed
F-16 fighters, Bayraktar TB2 and Anka-S drones, backed by a MIM-23 Hawk air
defence system with its radars.
The retired officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that nine air
strikes targeted the al-Nadab quarters at al-Watiya base, which the Turkish
military forces on the base had used as their headquarters since last May. Also
targeted were Sungur air defence systems, fixed and mobile radar installations
and Koral signal jamming system, which the Turkish army units had stationed at
al-Watiya base. Before that, a number of activists in Libyan west coast cities
circulated video clips showing a Turkish military convoy loaded with multiple
air defence equipment heading towards al-Watiya base located about 140 km
southwest of the capital, Tripoli. The Libyan officer described the strikes on
Al-Watiya base as a “qualitative air operation.”
From the side of the official Libyan authorities in Tripoli, however, there was
no reaction to these air raids that all observers saw as an “unusual” military
operation, and one that seems a prelude to coming political changes beyond what
is currently prevailing. It opened new gates to curtailing the Turkish expansion
in Libya. That expansion has actually began to shrink as a result of regional
and international pressures. Libyan parliament member Ibrahim al-Darsi said that
“the air strikes were launched by forces all too well-known to us,” and added
that the targets of these attacks were “a clear message and constituted a strong
and painful slap in the face of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his
proxies in Libya, especially the militia government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.”
Speaking with The Arab Weekly by phone from eastern Libya, al-Darsi said that
the messages of these raids “confirm that the Libyan arena is not empty, but
includes forces that have the ability to strike hard anywhere and at any time,
and their timing is a direct warning to Erdogan, reminding him of the red lines
not be crossed, especially after the increase in Turkish movements in Libya,
amid reports of preparations for an attack on the city of Sirte and on the base
of al-Jufra.”
Turkey had stepped up its provocations in Libya. The attack on al-Watiya came
after a two-day visit to Tripoli and Misrata by Akar and Turkish Chief of Staff
Yasar Gular, during which they inspected Turkish soldiers and Turkish military
operations rooms in the two cities.
Addressing the Turkish soldiers in Libya, Akar said that “putschist Haftar’s
dream of controlling all of Libya was about to be achieved, but your
contributions have changed the balance of power and put an end to it, and it is
not only the press that says this, but decision-making circles and military
circles around the world and the international community. They all said the
Turks came here and changed the fate of this place, changing by the same token
Haftar’s situation.”
Immediately after that, Khalifa Haftar responded to the Turkish defence ministry
with a message stating that he was still present and firmly standing, by
conducting inspection tours that included a number of camps of the LNA’s combat
units in the city of Benghazi, including the Garyounis camp, which hosts more
than 1,000 officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
*Jemai Guesmi is a Tunisian writer.
Russia warns Turkey over Hagia Sophia move
AFP/NNA/July 06/2020
Russian officials and the Orthodox church on Monday urged caution over calls in
Turkey to alter the status of the Hagia Sophia, the historic former cathedral in
Istanbul. Turkey's top court is debating whether one of the architectural
wonders of the world can be redesignated as a mosque, a move that could inflame
tensions with the West and the Christian community. A ruling expected in the
coming days on the site, which is currently a museum. The head of Russia's
Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill said he was "deeply concerned" by the moves,
describing Hagia Sophia as "one of the greatest monuments of Christian culture".
"A threat to Hagia Sophia is a threat to the whole of Christian civilisation,
and therefore to our spirituality and history," the Orthodox church leader said
in a statement. "To this day, for every Russian Orthodox person, Hagia Sophia is
a great Christian shrine," he said, urging the Turkish government to be
cautious. He said that altering the current neutral status of the historic
building would cause "deep pain" among the Russian people. Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said the future of the historic site was a domestic Turkish issue,
but added that he hoped Hagia Sophia's status as a World Heritage Site would be
"taken into account".He said the former cathedral was a "world masterpiece" that
has "sacred value" for Russians. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told
reporters Russia hopes "the global significance of the object will be taken into
account". Hagia Sophia was first constructed as a cathedral in the Christian
Byzantine Empire in the sixth century but was converted into a mosque after the
Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Transforming it into a museum was a
key reform of the post-Ottoman authorities under the modern republic's founder
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
U.S. Virus Death Toll Passes 130,000
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 06/2020
The United States passed another grim coronavirus milestone Monday as the death
toll from the virus climbed past 130,000, according to a tally kept by Johns
Hopkins University. The country has had 2,888,729 COVID-19 cases and 130,007
deaths as of midday in Washington, the university reported.
The world's hardest hit country, both in confirmed cases and deaths, the United
States has experienced a resurgence of the disease since June that has forced
several states to suspend their phased economic reopenings. On Saturday, the
number of new daily infections hit a record 57,683. When the death toll passed
the 100,000 mark May 27, President Donald Trump expressed satisfaction that the
number of new infections was declining, even though experts warned of a possible
resurgence.
Despite the worsening trend, White House officials say the U.S. economy, which
went into a nosedive in March and April due to lockdowns, will not be shut down
again.
U.S. Hails Britain for First Rights Sanctions Imposed on
Its Own
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 06/2020
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday hailed post-Brexit Britain for
imposing human rights sanctions on its own for the first time, including against
an angered Russia. "This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for
UK sanctions policy and cooperation between our two democracies," Pompeo said in
a statement. "The United States will continue to seek out additional allies and
partners to jointly leverage all tools at our disposal to deny access to the US
and international financial systems to all those who engage in serious human
rights abuses," he added.
Britain earlier Monday imposed sanctions over human rights for the first time
independently. Previously, it has followed European Union and United Nations
sanctions regimes. It froze any British-based assets and banned visas for 49
individuals or organizations designated Monday -- most of them from Russia or
Saudi Arabia. The 25 Russians are listed for their alleged involvement in
the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the 20 Saudis for suspected roles in
the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to the Foreign Office.
Russia replied by threatening to retaliate against Britain's "hostile" action.
The United States in recent years has enthusiastically used individual sanctions
as a tool of pressure, including under a law named after Magnitsky. Canada has
also passed similar legislation.
Russians, Saudis Top UK 'Independent' Sanctions List for
Rights Violators
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 06/2020
Britain on Monday identified 49 "notorious" individuals and organisations, 25 of
them Russian and 20 Saudis, to be sanctioned under its first post-Brexit
targeting of accused human rights violators, prompting immediate anger from
Moscow.
The Russians are listed for their alleged involvement in the death of lawyer
Sergei Magnitsky and the Saudis for suspected roles in the death of the
journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Foreign Office said. One notable name on the
list is Saud al-Qahtani, who it is believed oversaw the team that killed
Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey in 2018. Individuals from North Korea
were also included on the list and all those named will have their UK assets
frozen and travel bans imposed. It is the first time Britain has gone it alone
and used sanctions to penalize individuals and organisations accused of human
rights abuse. Previously, it has followed European Union and United Nations
sanctions regimes. The new measures were announced by Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab in a statement to the House of Commons. He said the government would now
have the "power to impose sanctions on those involved in the very worst human
rights abuses right around the world. "These sanctions are a forensic tool, they
allow us to target perpetrators without punishing the wider people of a country
that may be affected." He added: "Today this Government and this House sends a
very clear message on behalf of the British people that those with blood on
their hands, the thugs of despots, the henchman of dictators will not be free to
waltz into this country to buy up property on the King's Road, to do their
Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or frankly to siphon dirty money through
British banks or other financial institutions."
Those targeted would be those not just committing human rights abuses but anyone
who profited from them, Raab said. Lisa Nandy, the main opposition Labor party's
foreign affairs spokeswoman, said the sanctions could not come too soon. Britain
had been a "haven" to those who use corruption, torture and murder, she said.
Moscow angered
The decision drew a furious reaction from Russia, marking another low-point
between the two countries. "The Russian side reserves the right to take
retaliatory measures in connection with Britain's hostile decision," the Russian
embassy in London said in a statement without elaborating. The mission said
Moscow was particularly outraged by the sanctioning of top directors of Russia's
Investigative Committee and General Prosecutor's Office as well as judges.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backed the move as an example of
British post-Brexit diplomacy.
"This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for UK sanctions policy
and cooperation between our two democracies," he said in a statement.
Independent sanctions
The move follows the passage of the 2018 Sanctions Act to set up a post-Brexit
sanctions regime. Britain formally left the EU earlier this year following the
2016 referendum vote backing the move. Emil Dall, a senior research fellow with
the RUSI think tank, called the list "UK's first independent sanctions", in a
briefing with journalists. The new regime of sanctions would hit London's
financial sector, the insurance industry and even UK boarding schools, where
some of the individuals had sent their children, he said. Raab paid tribute to
Magnitsky, who was arrested after detailing an alleged large-scale tax fraud by
Russian officials. He died in jail in 2009. Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist
based in the United States, whose columns were critical of the Saudi regime. He
was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Israel Launches Spy Satellite as Leaders Hint It was behind
Natanz Fire
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 06/2020
Israel said it successfully launched a new spy satellite into space on Monday as
its leaders hinted it was behind a massive fire at an Iranian nuclear site last
week -- potentially ratcheting up a long-running covert war. If Israel was
responsible for the fire at the heavily fortified Natanz facility, it would mark
another in a series of daring strikes against Iran's nuclear program attributed
to Israel, while also risking Iranian retaliation on either Israeli or Western
targets. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the launch of the new Ofek 16
satellite, the latest addition to a fleet deployed over the past two decades.
"The success of the Ofek 16 satellite very much increases our ability to act
against Israel's enemies, near and far alike," he told his Cabinet. "It greatly
expands our ability to act on land, at sea, in the air and also in space."
Netanyahu did not mention Iran or last week's fire. But the Islamic Republic is
Israel's top security concern and a target of its satellite
intelligence-gathering efforts. After initially playing down last Thursday's
fire, Iranian officials over the weekend confirmed the blaze was much more
powerful than initially indicated and that advanced centrifuges at the
top-secret facility had been damaged. Iran's nuclear agency said the damage to
the centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for both civilian and military
purposes, could delay research and development for the "medium term." Iran has
not directly blamed the fire on Israel or anyone else. Israel, which accuses
Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, has neither confirmed nor denied
involvement in the fire. But a growing pile of evidence is pointing toward
Israel - one of the few countries with the motivation and capability to pull it
off. In a speech on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi noted that
it was Israel's long-term strategy to prevent Iran from gaining the ability to
build a nuclear weapon. He made no mention of the Natanz incident but noted that
Israel takes "actions that are better left unsaid."
A group calling itself the "Cheetahs of the Homeland" has claimed responsibility
for the fire. The fact that Iran experts have never heard of the group, and that
Iranian opposition groups denied involvement, has raised questions about
possible foreign involvement. The group, claiming its members were dissidents
from Iranian security services, referred to the site as "Kashan," the home of a
one-time Jewish community, instead of the modern name of Natanz. Israel and the
U.S. are believed to have created the "Stuxnet" computer virus, which attacked
Iran's nuclear program a decade ago. At the time, Ashkenazi was Israel's
military chief of staff. More recently, Israel uncovered what it called Iran's
"nuclear archive," a collection of thousands of documents seized by Mossad
agents from a Tehran warehouse in 2018. Israel says the documents prove that
Iran intended to develop nuclear weapons and hid its efforts from the
international community. Earlier this year, Israel was suspected of crippling an
Iranian port in a hacking attack in response to an alleged Iranian cyber attack
that targeted Israel's water supply.
The Natanz fire came less than a week after an explosion in an area east of
Tehran that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile
production sites.
Iran has long claimed its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. The
International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, says Iran has
been enriching uranium to about 4.5% purity - below weapons grade but higher
than the terms of the 2015 U.S.-led international nuclear deal. Workers have
also conducted tests on advanced centrifuges, according to the IAEA. Iran says
its breaches are a response to President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the
U.S. from the deal and to impose painful economic sanctions.
Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies
and former Iran specialist on Israel's National Security Council, said it was
difficult to say for sure whether Israel was involved in the fire, either
directly or with Western or Arab partners opposed to Iran. He also said that not
everything that happens in Iran is necessarily the result of cyberwarfare or
sabotage. "Having said that, some of the things that happened in Iran in the
last week are not coincidence," he said.
He said the perpetrators of the fire might have had several goals, most
critically to slow Iran's nuclear program. They might also have wanted to send a
message to Iran that there is a cost for continued nuclear research. There might
be pressure to draw Iran back to negotiations. Some international players might
even dream of fomenting regime change. "Not everything is related to Israel. But
I think Israel should be the most concerned about Iran advancing," Guzansky
said. How Iran responds is difficult to predict, he added.
Monday's satellite launch did not appear to be directly connected to the
developments in Natanz, given the lengthy preparations involved. Beyond the
nuclear program, Israel is alarmed by Iran's development of long-range missiles,
its support for hostile militant groups and Iran's ongoing military presence in
neighboring Syria. Israel believes Iran also is trying to help Lebanon's
Hizbullah to develop a guided-missile program. Israel does not confirm the
number of its operational satellites but Amnon Harari, the head of the Defense
Ministry's Space and Satellite Administration, mentioned at least two others:
the Ofek 5, launched in 2002, and the Ofek 11, launched in 2016. In a briefing
to reporters, he said that having additional spy satellites improved Israel's
ability to gather intelligence. Foreign threats require "constant monitoring,"
he said. "You can assume that once you have more than one satellite in parallel
in the sky, you achieve better visit times over the targets of interest." Alex
Fishman, the defense analyst of the Yediot Ahronot daily, said the suspicion
that Israel was involved in last week's fire made sense, given Iran's economic
troubles and coronavirus crisis. "Someone decided that a window of opportunity
had opened, that Iran was in distress, and that now was the time to strike
wherever possible," he wrote.
Supreme Court Rules U.S. States Can Punish 'Faithless
Electors'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 06/2020
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that U.S. states have the right to remove and
punish members of the Electoral College for not backing the presidential
candidate whom they pledged to support. The unanimous ruling, which comes ahead
of November's election between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger
Joe Biden, allows states to use measures to bind Electoral College members to
their commitments, essentially preventing them from going against the will of a
state's voting majority. The Electoral College, a peculiarly American
institution, is comprised of 538 electors who translate the popular vote by
casting their ballots in favor of the candidate who gets the most votes in each
state. Historically, so-called faithless electors have been rare. During the
presidential elections organized from 1796 to 2016, only 180 electors have voted
contrary to their pledge, according to a document admitted to the court.
Advocates of faithless electors argued that since the Constitution makes no
mention of the issue, states should not be allowed to fine or remove electors
who do not remain true to their commitments. But all nine Supreme Court justices
concluded that states can assure that their electors "have no ground for
reversing the vote of millions of its citizens.""That direction accords with the
Constitution -- as well as with the trust of a nation that here, We the People
rule," they wrote, invoking the opening words of the U.S. Constitution. In 2016,
seven of the 538 electors cast votes at odds with the popular-vote winners,
including five who declined to cast votes for Hillary Clinton even though she
won the vote in the states of those electors. Two declined to vote for Trump.
Faithless electors have never upended an election result, but Justice Brett
Kavanaugh said in May arguments that the court had "to look forward ... and
worry about chaos." Fifteen states already have laws that allow sanction of
faithless electors, including his or her immediate removal and replacement with
an alternate whose vote the state reports instead. A few states impose monetary
fines on electors who flout their pledge.
Trudeau Won't Commit to U.S. Visit for Talks on New Trade
Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 06/2020
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he was reluctant to go to
Washington next week for a summit marking the entry into force of the new North
American trade agreement, in part due to concerns over possible US tariffs on
Canadian aluminum. "We're still in discussion with the Americans about whether a
trilateral summit next week makes sense," Trudeau said at a press briefing.
"We're obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and
steel that the Americans have floated recently," he said. The United
States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA) took effect on Wednesday, as
borders between the countries are partially shut due to the coronavirus
pandemic. The deal replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). Trudeau said another source of concern with respect to the summit was
the "virus reality that is still hitting all three of our countries." The United
States is the worst-hit country in the world in the pandemic, with 2.7 million
cases and more than 128,000 deaths. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador will meet US President Donald Trump next week in Washington. "I can
confirm that we received an invitation from the government of the United States
for an official work visit on July 8 and 9," Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo
Ebrard tweeted Tuesday. Earlier this week, Trudeau mentioned rumors that Trump
could reimpose tariffs on Canadian aluminum, saying he had argued the United
States needs the material for its automotive and high-tech industries. U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Congress on June 17 the Trump
administration was willing to take action when necessary against possible
breaches of the new pact.
Official Says Israel Can’t Annex Large Parts of West Bank
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq cAl Awsat/July 06/2020
Outgoing Defense Ministry director-general Udi Adam said that Israel cannot
unilaterally annex large areas of the West Bank. Annexation has become less
urgent amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he stressed. His comments came as Zionist
Organization of America National President Morton Klein was informed by senior
White House officials that "the American window for deciding on the matter of
Israeli sovereignty is between a month and 45 days." Klein stated that "applying
sovereignty is the most rational, humane and security-driven decision, which is
reinforced by the Bible. It gives Israel defensible borders instead of the 'thin
waist' it has now and brings stability and normalcy to the lives of 500,000 Jews
who currently reside in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley." A classified
document that the Israeli delegation to the European Union forwarded to the
Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on EU’s reaction to sovereignty predicts that
should it go ahead, the Europeans will immediately boycott diplomatic visits.m
Israel’s former ambassador to the EU, Oded Eran, and former Israeli ambassador
to Germany Shimon Stein have also raised the alarm about the worsening situation
in Israeli-EU relations, saying that “declaring the application of sovereignty
will bring condemnation and possibly even punishments.” In a report published by
Bloomberg, journalist Zev Chafets wrote that “there’s at least a strong
possibility that after four years of a beautiful partnership Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could soon be facing life without Donald Trump.”
“While many of the US other allies might find that a cause for relief, for Bibi
the reaction is likely to be more complicated. Trump has lavished priceless
gifts on Bibi -- the Golan Heights, a US embassy relocation to Jerusalem and
permission to wage covert war against Iran.”Chafets said “Trump tore up the Iran
nuclear deal at Netanyahu’s urging and adopted Netanyahu’s design for a
Palestinian mini-state in the West Bank. He even named the plan after
himself.”“In the last three Israeli electoral campaigns, Trump worked hard to
keep Bibi in office. Now it is Trump who is running for re-election. The
president fully expects Bibi to reciprocate,” he added.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published on July 06-07/2020
How Palestinians Terrorize Their Own People
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/July 06/2020
"We see corruption everywhere. Is the Palestinian Authority headed towards
self-destruction? Or is it just destroying the [Palestinian] people so that its
own sons and relatives can rise to power?" — Nadia Harhash, journalist, who
awoke on June 1, 2020 to find her car being torched, raialyoum.com.
Instead of heeding the call of the Palestinian Coalition for Accountability and
Integrity and many Palestinians to end nepotism and ensure accountability and
transparency, the PA has chosen to remain silent.
Thanks to the criminal negligence of the international community and the
so-called human rights organizations, however, the Palestinian Authority
leadership can simply continue to pursue its policy of deadly intimidation
against Palestinian journalists. These groups are much too busy drafting
condemnations of Israel to have time left over to expose the true Palestinian
menace: the Palestinian Authority.
Nadia Harhash, a prominent Palestinian journalist, was not surprised by the
pre-dawn torching of her car. All fingers point to one culprit: the Palestinian
Authority. Harhash has good reason to suspect the PA and its leaders. The
articles she has published over the past few years have earned her the wrath of
many senior Palestinian officials. PA leaders have always resorted to various
methods to silence and intimidate their critics. (Illustrative image by iStock)
The leadership of the Western-funded Palestinian Authority (PA) has again proved
that it does not -- and will not -- tolerate any form of criticism, particularly
when it comes from its own people. In the past few days, at least three
Palestinian journalists have fallen victim to the PA's long-time policy of
terrorizing and silencing dissenting voices.
PA leaders have always resorted to various methods to silence and intimidate
their critics. These methods include, among other things, arrests, recurring
summons' for interrogation, dismissal from work, and physical and psychological
abuse.
The PA leadership has drawn deeper from its well of malevolent creativity to
muzzle Palestinians from expressing critique: they are now also torching private
cars.
This is an old technique of Palestinian activists to silence voices that dare to
speak out against corruption, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power.
The victims of car-torching are considered "lucky": fire is directed at their
property and not their bodies -- it is better to have your car set on fire for
your views than to get shot or stabbed for them. Torching cars has a twofold
goal: to inflict financial damage and to send a deterrent message to both the
victim and the surrounding environment.
The latest victim of the car-torching technique is a prominent Palestinian
journalist, author and feminist Nadia Harhash, a resident of Jerusalem and a
long-time critic of corruption in the PA leadership. She does not criticize the
Palestinian leadership because she is "on the payroll of the Zionist lobby," but
out of concern for the welfare of her people.
On July 1, Harhash woke up early to the noises of neighbors and firefighters
outside her home in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Bet Hanina. When she
looked out of the window, Harhash saw that her car had been completely gutted by
fire.
It is hard to say that Harhash was surprised by the pre-dawn torching of her
car. It is also hard to say that she does not have a clue why she had been
targeted and who was behind the arsonists who went to great pains to set her car
on fire.
For Harhash, all fingers point to one culprit: the Palestinian Authority, whose
political and security officials and headquarters are located in Ramallah, a few
kilometers from her home.
Harhash and other Palestinian journalists have good reason to suspect the PA and
its leaders.
The articles she has published over the past few years have earned her the wrath
of many senior Palestinian officials. Harhash is unique in her public handling
of issues long considered taboo in Palestinian society, including financial and
administrative corruption, women's rights and gender equality.
In a recent article, Harhash appeared to have crossed a red line: she wrote
about the explosive issue of nepotism among the top echelon of the PA leadership
in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians. The article was written
in the aftermath of a public outcry over the appointment of relatives of
influential Palestinian officials to senior jobs in the PA's public service.
According to Palestinian sources, at least three cases of nepotism were
discovered in the past few weeks. The reported cases involve the son of Jamal
Muheissen, member of the ruling Fatah Central Council faction, the nephew of
Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the PA General Authority for Civil Affairs, and the
sister of former PA Minister of Health Jawad Awwad.
Commenting on the latest scandal involving the relatives of senior Palestinian
officials, Harhash pointed out that while the PA was complaining about the lack
of money and that it will not be able to pay full salaries to its employees,
"the son of a senior official is appointed to a high position."
Palestinian officials, she wrote, "are engaged in a game of chairs and jobs."
"Their sons, daughters, nephews, and brothers, sisters, and cousins are
scattered everywhere. We see corruption everywhere. Is the Palestinian Authority
headed towards self-destruction? Or is it just destroying the [Palestinian]
people so that its own sons and relatives can rise to power?"
The nepotism scandal has sparked a wave of condemnations among Palestinians,
many of whom took to social media platforms to express disgust -- yet again --
with the abuse of power and corruption among the PA leadership, particularly at
a time when Palestinians are facing economic hardship due to the outbreak of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The Palestinian Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) called on PA
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh "to formulate and adopt a clear and decisive
policy to suspend appointments and promotions" of family members of senior
Palestinian officials.
AMAN stressed "the need to approve, make publicly available and quickly
disseminate a policy on the suspension of appointments and promotions" in the
Palestinian public sector.
Instead of heeding the call of AMAN and many Palestinians to end nepotism and
ensure accountability and transparency, the PA has chosen to remain silent. The
Palestinian leaders are actually sending a message to their people that they
consider the PA a private fiefdom belonging to them and their family members.
The other message these leaders are sending: "You can hold all the university
degrees and have all the experience in the world, but if you're not a relative
or son or daughter of a senior official, you're not going to get a good job with
us."
Reacting to the torching of her car, a defiant Harhash vowed to continue with
her work. Describing the incident as a terrorist attack, Harhash wrote:
"I think about terrorism, which has become a homeland for us. There are those
who terrorize and those who are terrorized. Truth is strength. The power of
oppression and intimidation, no matter how long it continues, is invalid. Yes,
corruption is rampant and the arms of oppression are long and outstretched. But
if silence was a solution, I would be the first to remain silent."
Harhash is fortunate that the unidentified arsonists who came to set her car on
fire did not harm her or any members of her family. In addition, she is lucky
because she lives in Jerusalem, under Israeli sovereignty. If Harhash were
living in Ramallah or any other city under the control of the PA, she could have
been arrested or physically harmed.
In the past few days, two of her Palestinian colleagues living in PA-controlled
areas, Sami al-Sa'i and Tarek Abu Zeid, were arrested by Palestinian security
forces. Like Harhash, the two journalists are known for their critical views of
the PA leadership.
Thanks to the criminal negligence of the international community and the
so-called human rights organizations, the PA leadership can simply continue to
pursue its policy of deadly intimidation against Palestinian journalists. These
groups are much too busy drafting condemnations of Israel to have time left over
to expose the true Palestinian menace: the Palestinian Authority.
*Bassam Tawil is based in the Middle East.
© 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.
The Mullah's Spies and Assassinations in the West
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/July 06/2020
The Iranian regime has been involved in assassinations, terror plots, and
terrorist attacks in more than 40 countries.
While the Iranian regime continues its assassinations and terrorist plots in the
West, the EU and the UN -- which it is time for the US to defund -- remain
silent.
The Iranian regime has been involved in assassinations, terror plots, and
terrorist attacks in more than 40 countries. Pictured: Police patrol in front of
the Roskilde District Court in Denmark on June 26, 2020, as the court prepares
to deliver its verdict for an Iranian spy for being an accessory to the
attempted murder of an Iranian dissident. (Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen /
Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images)
Another spy from the Iranian regime, Mohammad Davoudzadeh Loloei, 40, has been
sentenced to prison in a European court -- this time, Denmark -- for being an
accessory to the attempted murder of one or more individuals who are opponents
of the Iranian regime. What is unusual is that this is all taking place while
Europe's leaders continue to pursue a policy of appeasement with the ruling
mullahs of Iran.
According to Roskilde District Court, in Denmark, Loloei had collected
information on a dissident, so far unnamed, and given it to Iran's intelligence
service, who planned to murder the man. The information included photos of the
target's house, street and surroundings. "The court found that the information
was collected and passed on to a person working for an Iranian intelligence
service, for use by the intelligence service's plans to kill the exile," the
court's statement read.
The public prosecutor, Soeren Harbo, pointed out that the Iranian spy has
received a permanent entry ban and would also be expelled from Denmark after
serving his sentence. Harbo added that "It's a historic case. And it's a
powerful message to (foreign) intelligence services: they have to handle their
conflicts among themselves and stop involving us."
Remarkably, this case involving the Iranian regime's intelligence service
carrying out espionage and attempting to assassinate its opponents abroad is not
a rare one. The Iranian regime has been involved in assassinations, terror
plots, and terrorist attacks in more than 40 countries.
Last fall, in November 2019, another dissident, Massoud Molavi, who ran a social
media channel on Telegram criticizing the Iranian regime and exposed corruption
in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was gunned down while walking on the
streets of Istanbul.
After Molavi's murder, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said:
"The Iranian regime also continues to export cruelty outside its own borders.
Last week, an Iranian dissident, Massoud Molavi, was assassinated in Istanbul
after he defected to Turkey from Iran. The killing of Mr. Molavi is yet another
tragic example in a long string of suspected Iran-backed assassination attempts
outside of Iranian soil. The regime's brutality and amorality know no
international boundaries."
In 2018, in Denmark, the Iranian regime attempted another assassination.
Denmark's former Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen emphasized the seriousness of
the plot:
"An Iranian intelligence agency has planned an assassination on Danish soil.
This is completely unacceptable. In fact, the gravity of the matter is difficult
to describe. That has been made crystal clear to the Iranian ambassador in
Copenhagen today."
Germany summoned Iran's ambassador in Berlin, after a 31-year-old Pakistani
student was convicted of spying for Tehran on Reinhold Robbe, the former head of
the German-Israel Friendship Society, in 2018. The American Jewish Committee in
Berlin urged Germany's Foreign Ministry to expel the Iranian ambassador, but the
German leadership took no such action.
In June 2020, an Iranian fugitive judge was killed and thrown out of his hotel
room window in Romania. The Foreign Ministry of Romania also summoned the
Iranian ambassador for an explanation because the Iranian authorities had made
different claims about the death of the judge.
It is worth noting that the United States is not immune from the mullahs' spies
and terror plots as well. Two individuals in California, Ahmadreza Mohammadi
Doostdar, 38, in Chicago and, Majid Ghorbani, 59, were sentenced to prison by
the federal court on January 15, 2020 for giving the Iranian regime information
that could be used to harm American citizens.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers pointed out:
"This case illustrates Iran's targeting of Americans in the United States in
order to silence those who oppose the Iranian regime or otherwise further its
goals. The defendants, working for Iran, gathered information on Americans that
could then be used by the Iranian intelligence services to intimidate or harm
them or their families. These prosecutions should serve as a reminder to anyone
here working covertly for Iran that the American law enforcement will pursue you
to protect this country, its citizens and the First Amendment principles upon
which it was founded."
Iran Intelligence Minister and chief spy, Mahmoud Alavi, has bragged about the
fact that Tehran has agents across the West, including in Washington DC as well.
"Many who live in Canada, London, or the United States," Alavi added, "[are
devoted] to the [Islamic] revolution and the supreme leader ... In those places
some attend religious ceremonies. [Those people] love the [Islamic] Revolution."
While the Iranian regime continues its assassinations and terrorist plots in the
West, the EU and the UN -- which it is time for the US to defund -- remain
silent.
*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.
Iran's Hardline Lawmakers Plan to Summon Rouhani after
Growing Discontent
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 6 July, 2020
Iran's hardline lawmakers plan to summon the president for questioning, a move
that could ultimately lead to impeachment, media reported on Monday, amid
growing discontent over the government's economic policies.
Iranians' daily struggle to make ends meet has become harder since the
reimposition of US sanctions in 2018, and the economy has been further damaged
by rising inflation, growing unemployment, a slump in the rial and the
coronavirus crisis.
A motion to question President Hassan Rouhani was signed by 120 lawmakers out of
290 and handed to the presiding board of the assembly, Iran's semi-official
Tasnim news agency reported. To take effect, the motion must be passed to the
president by the presiding board, Reuters said. However, analysts say the board
might hold back from issuing the summons, mindful that Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei has called for unity among the branches of authority at a time when
Iran faces mounting US pressure.
A move by parliament to question Rouhani's predecessor was blocked by a rare
intervention by Khamenei.
"The lawmakers have various questions for the president, including the reasons
behind the foreign exchange market crisis as well as the high prices of basic
goods and basic necessities of the people today," Tasnim quoted Tehran lawmaker
Eqbal Shakeri as saying. Defying central bank attempts to revive its value,
Iran's rial currency has continued to fall against the US dollar on the
unofficial market since April.
First elected in a landslide in 2013 and re-elected in 2017, Rouhani opened the
door to nuclear diplomacy with six major powers that led to a 2015 nuclear deal,
under which Iran agreed to curb its sensitive nuclear work in return for the
easing of sanctions.
But hardliners opposed to the West were always lukewarm about the agreement, and
they fiercely criticized Rouhani when US President Donald Trump quit the deal in
2018 and reimposed sanctions that have choked Iran's vital oil exports.
Iran's sanctions-damaged economy forced Khamenei to give tentative backing to
the accord but the country's top authority has regularly criticized its
implementation.
According to Tasnim, lawmakers also planned to ask Rouhani about "the
government's strategic mistake that allowed the US withdrawal from the deal at
the lowest cost".
On Sunday, shouts of 'liar' interrupted a speech to parliament about the accord
by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as some lawmakers vented their
displeasure.
Zarif, also Iran's top nuclear negotiator, hit back by saying that the nuclear
talks had been agreed by Khamenei.
Analysts say the hardline Khamenei may be happy to have a weakened Rouhani, but
he does not want to harm the legitimacy of the country by forcing the president
out of office with less than one year of his second-term left.
Parliament has no major influence on foreign affairs or nuclear policy, which
are set by Khamenei. But it might bolster hardliners in the 2021 election for
president and toughen the anti-Western tilt of Tehran's foreign policy.
Poverty, Interventions and 'Small Armies'
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 06/2020
What is the most expressive picture of the future of the Middle East? Is it the
image of a Lebanese man who committed suicide, leaving a painful note on his
body saying: “I am not a heretic, but hunger is heresy”?
Or is it the image of the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, boasting his
country’s forces in Libya and preparing for the establishment of two Turkish
bases in this vulnerable Arab country?
Is it the image of a region mired in ancient conflicts, under which militias and
small armies - backed by missiles and drones - split maps, share influence, and
squander lives in endless wars?
Painful are the scenes coming from Lebanon. Escaping hunger by committing
suicide is an unprecedented story in Lebanon’s independent history.
I don’t want to hold President Michel Aoun responsible for everything that
happens. He is not the only official to blame, but he is certainly accountable
by virtue of his position, and is required to find solutions or light a candle
of hope in this darkness.
He is also to blame because he has let the game slip away. Scenes from Lebanon
suggest that we are at the end of a presidential term, knowing that Aoun’s
mandate has only reached its halfway and the president does not easily resign.
He is to blame because soon after his election, he was not adamant about the
formation of a reform government that deserves to be named as such. Back then,
beside him were Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblatt, and Samir Geagea. But misconduct or
bad faith led to the loss of the three together, although they showed different
degrees of opposition and condemnation.
Moreover, the president has no right to punish the country with a government
like that of Hassan Diab, which has lengthened the Lebanese people’s stay in the
dark tunnel, instead of presenting a plan to get them out of it. The scandal of
inconsistent figures in the negotiations with the IMF showed that the Lebanese
train continued its fall towards the abyss with no limits or controls. It’s a
sad amateurs club. It’s a theater of puppets and echoes.
Lebanon has absolutely no interest in this early gloomy end to a thrilling story
– that of Michel Aoun. The man exhausted the country and the people by insisting
on taking over the presidency. But when it was given to him, it turned out that
he had no clear program or a definite mandate from his ally, Hezbollah.
It is a gloomy end for a man, who had a wide supporter base within his sect.
It’s a big disappointment for those who bet that in his era would witness the
rise of the Lebanese state, not its complete collapse.
I don’t want to accuse former Minister Gebran Bassil, the president’s
son-in-law, alone, for striking a heavy blow to the presidency’s image and
credibility.
What is sure, however, is that Gebran was at the forefront of the team that
dragged the presidency into the greed of securing seals in the post-Aoun era.
Lebanon does not deserve such punishment.
It’s a painful conclusion to Aoun’s thrilling story, and a heartbreaking end to
an exciting tale called Lebanon. Any calm reading of the scene suggests that the
combination of corruption, disintegration, and foreign allegiances, in addition
to the insistence that Lebanon bear roles that surpass its capacity, are all
factors that worsen the Lebanese downfall.
What is more disturbing is that the Lebanese scene is merely an aspect of a dark
painting that illustrates widespread poverty, unemployment, disintegration, and
failure. The number of Arabs residing in the camps exceeds the population of
Lebanon. The number of Arab children who do not attend school is equal to the
population of a country.
But the more frightening numbers are those of residents who live below poverty
line or who are thrown by unemployment on the sidewalks of destitution and
violence. They correspond to the population of a large or medium-sized country.
The painting is scary because it tells us about the coming days. The future
begins today and these are its signs. The problems of poverty, faltering
development, and the spread of corruption could have been less catastrophic if
they were not coupled with reckless and increasingly ignored policies.
At a time when the peoples of the region were seeking to drive out militias and
“small armies”, the era of mercenaries blatantly emerged.
Turkey’s move to deploy thousands of Syrian militants to fight Libyans on their
own soil is a very dangerous precedent.
Is it rude to say that Libya should be left to decide its own fate without the
intervention of foreign militias and armies? Is it rude to say that Iraq should
be left to the Iraqis, Syria to the Syrians, Yemen to the Yemenis, and Lebanon
to the Lebanese? Is it naive to call for placing these thorny files in the hands
of the United Nations? It has become evident that the great danger usually comes
from “regional wolves”, who are looking to impose their guardianship, establish
their hegemony, ensure their interests, and violate small maps.
The most dangerous pretext in marketing the Turkish program is to say that
Ankara repeats what Tehran has done. If the engagement in maps has achieved
temporary successes in overthrowing a system or turning the balance of power, it
cannot be considered a legitimate solution. A look at the countries whose maps
have been breached reveals the depth of their financial and political confusion.
The ordinary citizen dreaming of a normal state in these countries has suffered
more harm than the losses to his national currency. Attempting to besiege the
maps with missile arsenals, militias, and military bases promises nothing but a
terrifying Middle East. Conquering capitals, seals, universities, and screens by
the forces of the distant past, heralds only long seasons of poverty, violence,
and the return to the caves of history.
Do You Really Want Google to Have Your Personal Fitness
Data?
Alex Webb/Bloomberg/July, 06/2020
If you’re concerned about the pervasive role in daily life of technology
companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, then its planned $2.1 billion
acquisition of Fitbit Inc. is a worry.
Google already owns the biggest search engine, the most popular video-streaming
site (YouTube), the biggest mobile operating system (Android) and the dominant
e-mail service (Gmail). All of these feed a digital-advertising business that
generated $135 billion of sales last year. Do we really want to add Fitbit’s
fitness tracking to its armory?
A coalition of 20 organizations on Thursday urged antitrust authorities in the
European Union, the US and five other jurisdictions to scrutinize the takeover
more closely. The EU plans to rule on the deal by July 20, although it may
extend the probe if needed.
The problem is that Google’s dominance in one market — digital advertising —
isn’t necessarily enough, from an antitrust perspective, to block a deal in
another sector. Google doesn’t currently make a health tracker or smartwatch. As
such, it doesn’t compete with Fitbit. It isn’t trying to consolidate the market
or cut the number of rivals. Indeed, a better capitalized Fitbit might improve
competition in a smartwatch market dominated by Apple Inc.
But this deal isn’t really about hardware sales: Fitbit’s $1 billion in expected
2020 revenue would represent just 0.7% of Alphabet’s total. The value from the
acquisition is in the data that Fitbit is accumulating on all of its users.
Knowing how far, how often and where people walk, run, cycle or swim every day
could help advertisers, health insurers, city planners and plenty more besides.
While Google is unlikely to sell that information directly to advertisers, it
would help it build more complete advertising profiles of its users. In that
sense, the fitness tracker market isn’t discrete from Google’s dominant ad-tech
business. It could feed it, extending its dominance.
With that in mind, regulators could impose restrictions while still clearing the
deal. Aitor Ortiz, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, expects behavioral remedies
will be imposed. That could mean Google promising not to merge Fitbit data with
other user info without explicit consent. The tech giant takes a similar
approach with Nest, a home automation company it acquired in 2014. Last year, it
started encouraging users to merge their Nest data with their Google accounts.
For those alarmed about Alphabet hoarding even more of our personal data, these
promises probably won’t be enough. A stronger remedy would be to prohibit Google
from ever extracting fitness information from a user’s devices. That’s how Apple
treats fitness data from its Watch. Google insists that it wants Fitbit anyway,
even without being able to farm its data. If that’s true, then it shouldn’t have
any complaint about such a restriction. The purchase would still give it an
entree to the smartwatch market, which will grow to $96 billion by 2027,
according to Allied Market Research.
Fitbit’s products also need to keep working with Apple’s mobile operating system
as well as with Android. Otherwise, they would become a tool to force people to
buy Android devices.
This is an important test case that will be hard for regulators to get right.
Past attempts at imposing behavioral remedies on the tech giants have failed:
Facebook Inc. told Brussels back in 2014 that it wasn’t technically possible to
merge its data with those of WhatsApp, but then it went ahead and did it anyway,
accepting a paltry 110 million-euro ($124 million) fine from the European
Commission for breaking its agreement. Google tends to be better behaved than
Facebook, but its deep pockets give it a lot of power.
Given the risks, the easiest solution might just be to block the Fitbit deal
outright. But that would be legally harder to justify.
Taliban Bounties Would Be a New Low Even for Putin
James Stavridis/Bloomberg/July, 06/2020
As Americans consider news reports that Russia offered Taliban fighters bounties
to kill US service members, it’s worth recalling the tortured history the two
nations have in Afghanistan.
Going back to the days of the Afghan mujahideen and “Charlie Wilson’s War,”
Washington provided weapons — notably, surface-to-air missiles — and training to
Soviet adversaries in the 1980s. When I visited Moscow as the NATO commander of
the Afghan mission almost 30 years later, I met with the man who had been the
last Soviet general in Afghanistan (he had retired and gone into politics). He
said to me that we Americans had “Russian blood on your hands.”
But that was very different from allegedly providing cash payments to Taliban
fighters for killing individual American soldiers, especially as peace talks are
unfolding. Providing arms and training to allies and occasionally to surrogates
is common international behavior — the US does so for North Atlantic Treaty
Organization allies and many other entities. But offering “bounties” for killing
individual soldiers is shocking. It is especially dangerous when directed from
the intelligence service of a nuclear-armed nation to the armed forces of a
strategic opponent.
Whether or not President Donald Trump was formally “briefed” on these
allegations is an open question (he denies it). But the charges are so explosive
that the real question is simple: If he wasn’t briefed, why not?
If I had caught a whiff of Russian bounties being placed on the 150,000 troops
that were under my strategic command in Afghanistan, I would have instantly
called my direct senior, the secretary of defense. And I’m reasonably sure he
would have immediately called the White House and set up a meeting of the
National Security Council.
Certainly Congress will dive into this, and it should. If the bulk of the
intelligence is accurate — and it certainly sounds plausible given what we know
about the GRU, Russia’s shadowy intelligence service — there needs to a forceful
response. We’ll know more in a few days and weeks, but should already be
considering what the response might be.
First, the US should fully and thoroughly assess all the extant intelligence and
— at an appropriate level of classification that protects sources and methods —
reveal publicly what Russia has done. Washington has already shared much of this
with the UK, according to press reports. Other allies who are still alongside
Americans in Afghanistan, mostly NATO nations, need to see this as well, to
ensure they can maintain suitable force protection.
The US also must redouble intelligence collection in Afghanistan to fully
understand the double game the Russians are playing, and what other ways they
are seeking to undermine the nascent peace process. There needs to be a serious
assessment of the degree to which the GRU has penetrated the Taliban broadly. If
bounties were offered, was this low-level activity by overactive intelligence
officers, or part of a broad strategic effort by Russia to undermine the peace
talks?
If the latter, what can our Afghan partners in the government of President
Ashraf Ghani tell us about what is happening? What are the Russians’ objectives
beyond killing American soldiers and embarrassing the US in the country they
dominated for a decade before being ignominiously driven out.
If the bounty reports are proved accurate, the Trump administration should
strongly consider expelling the Russian ambassador to the US and his entire
intelligence team, along with consul generals. This would likely set off
diplomatic retaliation by Russia, but that is a price we should be willing to
pay. Similarly, no senior US diplomats or military officers should meet with
their Russian counterparts, including Trump meeting or talking with President
Vladimir Putin or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with Russian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov.
In terms of military actions, the US should reverse the recently announced
removal of 10,000 troops from Germany. This is not the time to be showing a lack
of resolve in our forward presence. It is also a good time to increase US
support to front-line allies dealing with Russia such as the Baltic states and
Poland.
Finally, the US should look at additional economic sanctions on Moscow, and
certainly stop discussions of lifting current sanctions for its illegal invasion
and occupation of Ukraine. It may be time to look at sanctions on individuals at
the very senior levels of the Russian government, including Putin himself. It
seems highly unlikely he would have been unaware of these bounties, particularly
given his background as a KGB spymaster.
In a season of outrageous and unpredictable events, this stands out. If true, it
shows such a blatant and reckless disregard for the norms of international
behavior, even in a combat zone, that it puts the US and Russia squarely on a
geopolitical collision course.
"Global security threatened by world powers’ failures on
Iran
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/July 06/2020
Last Tuesday, the UN Security Council (UNSC) discussed the 2015 Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 powers. It was
reiterated that the Iranian regime is continuing with its hostility, which is
endangering regional security and stability. Despite these concerns and Iran’s
routine breaches of the JCPOA, the UNSC is still clinging to the nuclear deal.
The most important current issue in relation to the JCPOA is a draft resolution
introduced by the US to extend an arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire
in October.
This draft resolution is opposed by Russia and China. For these two nations to
oppose this resolution is deeply disappointing for the region. Both powers have
put their narrow political and economic interests ahead of UN principles and
values, which they are expected to uphold as members of the UNSC. This issue has
become a source of conflict and rivalry among UNSC members, with Russia and
China seeking political and economic gains instead of protecting global peace
and security.
The Iranian regime’s profound and dangerous behavior has repeatedly been proven
via indisputable evidence, with its belligerent military operations targeting
Saudi civilians and airports, among other targets across the region. Vital
economic zones in eastern Saudi Arabia were targeted by missiles and drones
manufactured in Iran in September last year, as officially acknowledged by the
UN last month.
The P5+1 committed a massive, crucial and strategic mistake by signing the JCPOA,
which was confined solely to Iran’s nuclear program, paying no heed to the grave
and far greater imminent danger to the region; namely Iran’s hostile behavior
and its support and financing of militias from Lebanon in the north to Yemen in
the south. This is in addition to the danger posed by the regime’s ballistic
missile program. This does not mean that the nuclear program is not dangerous —
it is an additional danger, but only in the medium to long term, while these
other dangers are already present.
The dangers posed by the Iranian regime’s hostility and its missile program are
imminent and experienced daily. The international community’s great strategic
mistake of addressing the aforementioned issues separately — as though they were
not interconnected — has made Iran more dangerous, more hostile and more
supportive of terrorism, sectarianism and militias since 2015. The facts on the
ground completely contradict the objectives announced by the P5+1 at the time,
which were to rationalize and moderate the Iranian regime’s behavior and make it
wiser and more temperate.
The P5+1 made another strategic mistake by not allowing the regional countries
that bear the brunt of Iran’s aggression to participate in concluding the
nuclear deal. Today, as Iran’s belligerency, arrogance and recalcitrance toward
all international treaties and rules are increasingly apparent to the world, the
reduced P4+1 group — with the US having pulled out of the nuclear deal — is
making the same mistake again.
Through such willful blindness, the P4+1 states are showing absolute
indifference and ignoring the evidence and facts on the ground. They are now
giving Iran’s regime a green light to engage in further chaotic and
destabilizing behavior regionally and globally. The biggest danger in this is
that, when the arms embargo expires in October, Iran will seize the opportunity
to provide all its terrorist militias in the region and beyond with domestically
manufactured weapons under the guise of using its sovereign right to sell
weapons to whomever it wants and in whatever quantities it deems appropriate.
Such a catastrophic transfer of weapons would be carried out under the guise of
a legal sale of arms. Meanwhile, the weapons that Russia, China and others sell
to Iran will not remain within Iran’s borders, but will be transferred to
Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen. Therefore, if the
international community chooses to remain heedless of this fact, which we see
clearly unfolding before our eyes even before it transpires, it will throw the
region and the entire world into further and greater conflict, escalate a global
arms race and threaten security and peace worldwide.
Any future escalation in the region will impact the entire world, whether
directly or indirectly, at the security, economic and geopolitical levels. Many
Western countries have now reached the same conclusion as the people of the
region, who have for decades experienced the criminal behavior of the Iranian
regime. The people of the region are now warning and calling on these Western
nations to listen to them, as they have first-hand knowledge of the Iranian
regime’s behavior and know the gravity of the imminent danger if Iran is given
carte blanche to manufacture and buy weapons.
The P4+1 states are showing absolute indifference and ignoring the evidence and
facts on the ground.
Bearing all this in mind and in the hope of averting this catastrophe, the
mistakes of the past should be urgently rectified via two main steps. First, the
arms embargo against Iran must be extended. And, second, the fears and concerns
of regional countries must be taken into account. If these steps are not taken,
Iran will increase its hostility and Arab countries will have no choice but to
continue in their efforts to confront the danger Tehran poses to regional and
global security. We may hope that Iran’s regime will change its longstanding
behavior and turn into a normal state but, going by experience, it is unlikely
to do so.
If the major global powers continue to bicker among themselves and put
self-interested political agendas ahead of global security and stability, Iran
is unlikely to alter its behavior in the region. In the end, history will judge
everybody fairly, and the world will not forgive those countries that pursued
their political and economic interests at the expense of global peace; with
their illusory political and diplomatic triumphs leading to a global disaster.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami
Iran’s fires highlight need for international nuclear
safety oversight
Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/July 06/2020
The Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, in Isfahan Province, after the fire,
last week. (Reuters)
Iranian authorities revealed on Sunday that the Natanz nuclear enrichment
facility sustained “significant damage” when a fire broke out there last
Thursday. The incident was one of the most striking in a series of mysterious
fires to have hit Iran’s nuclear and power facilities over the past month. These
incidents should worry Iran’s neighbors and its nuclear deal partners alike.
The Natanz facility in Isfahan province is believed to be one of the most
important nuclear sites in Iran. It houses a centrifuge assembly workshop.
Centrifuges are needed to produce enriched uranium, which can be used to make
reactor fuel and also nuclear weapons. An Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
spokesman admitted that the incident “could slow down the development and
production of advanced centrifuges in the medium term.” But he added that Iran
would be able to “replace the damaged building with a bigger one that has more
advanced equipment.” In 2010, the Natanz site was also temporarily paralyzed by
a cyberattack.
Iran has kept quiet about the cause of Thursday’s fire, but there is already
rampant speculation about who could be behind it. A previously unknown group
calling itself “Cheetahs of the Homeland” has claimed responsibility for the
incident, but its claim has not been verified.
Just a week before the Natanz fire, another suspicious incident took place at
Parchin, about 25 kilometers from Tehran — another site where nuclear activity
and missile production have been reported previously. Parchin was hit twice
before, in 2007 and 2014. Two people died in the 2014 incident.
On June 26, Parchin was hit by a powerful explosion. An Iranian military
spokesman downplayed the incident, attributing it to a “gas leak.” However, the
Associated Press released satellite images showing signs of a vast blackened
area in the hills adjacent to the Parchin facility and the cruise missile
factory at Khojir missile base — evidence of the explosion and fire that lit up
the night sky in Tehran. The New York Times reported that the blast actually
occurred at Khojir rather than Parchin, but they could have been two separate
incidents.
On Saturday, two days after the fire at the Natanz nuclear site, a large fire
was reported in Ahvaz in southwestern Iran. This was caused by a “distribution
transformer explosion,” according to firefighters. The fire apparently spread to
the Zargan nuclear plant, just 5 kilometers from Ahvaz, a city of 1.5 million
people.
These recurring incidents at Iran’s nuclear facilities underline the fragility
of the country’s nuclear installations and its inability to maintain safety at
those facilities, regardless of whether they are used for peaceful or military
purposes. Iran is the only country in the world operating a nuclear plant
without being party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the most important
international legal instrument governing safety rules at nuclear power plants.
This 1994 treaty obliges nations to implement strict safety rules and standards
at facilities related to nuclear energy. The International Atomic Energy Agency
oversees compliance with this convention. It also monitors Iran’s compliance
with the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Other Iranian facilities, such as the Bushehr nuclear reactor, are located on
earthquake fault lines. In April 2013, there was a close call when a large
earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the area. Its epicenter was
only about 80 kilometers from Bushehr and it was felt throughout the Gulf,
causing concern about possible damage to the reactor, which could have resulted
in an environmental disaster. The nuclear plant is located less than 200
kilometers from important population centers in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia. If a nuclear incident were to take place at Bushehr, the air in the Gulf
and the water used by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for desalination
could be dangerously contaminated, in addition to marine life, as Japan’s
Fukushima and Ukraine’s Chernobyl incidents tragically showed.
These recurring incidents underline the fragility of the country’s nuclear
installations.
The GCC has long called for Iran to accede to all international nuclear safety
agreements, such as the Convention on Nuclear Safety, and to comply strictly
with nuclear safety standards. As we have seen with this past week’s incidents,
Iran’s nuclear facilities are vulnerable to attacks from within or without, both
cyber and physical. Some of the facilities are showing their age and could
self-ignite, while others are located in areas prone to earthquakes. Many are
located near large population centers such as Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz
and Ahvaz. Some are located near the Gulf, creating the possibility of damage to
neighboring countries.
The fires and explosions in Iran’s nuclear facilities should persuade Tehran to
join international nuclear safety agreements and accept international
inspections. That step could be the beginning of a process of
confidence-building with its neighbors.
International actors with close links to Iran should also shoulder their
responsibility for nuclear safety. It is a pity that previous nuclear talks did
not take safety concerns fully into consideration. Future talks should include
an emphasis on nuclear safety, for the benefit of the Iranian people who live
next to their country’s nuclear installations and the neighboring countries that
live with the threat of contamination from Iran’s decrepit nuclear facilities.
*Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council’s assistant
secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation, and a columnist for
Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily
represent those of the GCC. Twitter: @abuhamad1