English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 14/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!’Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16/11-20: “How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!’Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 13-14/2020
Coronavirus Cases Rise to 878 ahead of Country Shutdown
Hariri Hospital: New case of Corona infection, one critical condition in intensive care
Lebanon Doctors Urge Stricter Repatriation Measures, Reopening Delay
Defense Council Decides to Up Border Monitoring to Curb Smuggling
Lebanon to reinstate total lockdown amid spike in infections
Aoun Meets Diab ahead of Higher Defense Council Meeting
ISG Urges Govt. to Engage Lebanese People in Financial Plan Consultations
Report: Lebanon Begins 'Difficult' Negotiations with IMF
Wazni 'Relieved' over 'Constructive' Talks with IMF
Finance Ministry: Government started today formal negotiations with IMF on financial recovery plan
Nasrallah: Arab Spring exploited to achieve control over Syria
Hassan Nasrallah: Israel targeting missile sites in Syria
Nasrallah Urges Renewed Lebanon-Syria Ties, Says Israel in 'Imaginary Battle' in Syria
Tourism Ministry Orders Restaurants Closed, Reverses Suspension of Delivery Services
Israeli Warplanes Flying at Low Altitude over Lebanon
Russian Embassy denies any insinuation about its country’s possible interference in Lebanese internal affairs
Hawat: Illegal Crossings Draining Lebanon's Finances
Aoun receives Wahhab, will chair Supreme Defense Council’s meeting afternoon
Ministry of Tourism announces closure of restaurants, halts delivery services
UNDP, DRM launch awareness campaign to avoid rise of second Covid-19 wave
Former President, Amine Gemayel, meets Italian Ambassador
Diab tackles latest developments with Palestinian ambassador
Judge Aoun presses charges against 12 persons in oil fraud case
Hitti, UNIFIL's Del Col discuss situation in south Lebanon
Hariri, UN's Kubis tackle current situation
Guterres calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament ahead of UNSC debate/Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/May 13/2020
Lebanon’s coronavirus lockdown response endangers lives by ignoring disabled community's needs

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 13-14/2020
Kataib Hezbollah’s influence in Iraq may be quietly eroding
Pompeo says Iran trying to ‘foment terror’ but its regional interference ‘reduced’
Pompeo in Israel: Cooperation with China may endanger Israelis
Israel ex-army chief Gabi Ashkenazi to serve as foreign minister: Party
Israeli troops kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank clashes, as Pompeo arrives
An American-led 'economic prosperity network' could be a good start to not relying on China
Asia Virus Latest: China City in Partial Lockdown, Seoul Sees Test Surge
U.S. Says China Hackers Trying to Steal COVID-19 Vaccine Research
Niger Says 75 'Boko Haram Terrorists' Killed

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 13-14/2020
Turkey the Only NATO Member Singled out in Annual Religious Freedom Report/Tuğba Tanyeri-Erdemir and Aykan Erdemir/ Providence Magazine/May 13/2020
Taliban destroys Afghan military outpost in Laghman/Bill Roggio/ FDD's Long War Journal/May 13/2020
Globalization will get another chance despite being benched/Mohamed A. El-Erian/Arab News/May 132020
Human kindness providing light amid the darkness/Kerry Boyd Anderson/Arab News/May 13/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 13-14/2020
Coronavirus Cases Rise to 878 ahead of Country Shutdown
Naharnet/May 13/2020
The number of coronavirus cases in Lebanon rose to 878 on Wednesday, as the country eyes a four-day shutdown to stem the spread of the virus recording new highs in the past few days. The Health Ministry said eight new cases were recorded, five of them are Lebanese residents and three among repatriated Lebanese nationals. The government on Tuesday decided to fully shut down the country from Wednesday evening until Monday morning at the recommendation of the health minister, in the wake of the biggest spike in weeks in the numbers of coronavirus cases. Lebanon has officially announced 878 cases of COVID-19, including 26 deaths. Last month the crisis-hit country started to slowly emerge from a weeks-long lockdown that has aggravated its worst economic crisis since 1975-1990 civil. Restaurants, cafes and some pubs have reopened at 30 per cent capacity, mosques have resumed prayers, and many people are back at work. But because “more than 100 new infections over four days” were recorded, the directions were reversed until further notice.

Hariri Hospital: New case of Corona infection, one critical condition in intensive care
NNA/May 13/2020
In its daily report on the latest developments of the novel Coronavirus, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital announced on Wednesday that out of 421 laboratory tests conducted today, one new Covid-19 case has been recorded, while the remaining tests came out negative. It added that the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases infected with the virus that are currently present in the Hospital's isolation area has reached 26 cases, noting that it has admitted 8 cases suspected to be infected with the virus, who were transferred from other hospitals. Meanwhile, the hospital report also indicated that no new recoveries have been registered today, whereby the total number of full recoveries to-date remains at 162.
“All those infected with the virus are receiving the necessary care in the isolation unit, and their condition is stable, except for one critical case in the intensive care," the hospital report added. In conclusion, the Hariri Hospital indicated that more information on the number of infected cases on all Lebanese territories can be found in the daily report issued by the Ministry of Public Health.

Lebanon Doctors Urge Stricter Repatriation Measures, Reopening Delay
Naharnet/May 13/2020
The Lebanese Order of Physicians and the deans of medical faculties on Wednesday called for stricter measures in the face of a new spike in the country's coronavirus cases. While lauding “the efforts that the Lebanese state is exerting,” the conferees expressed in a statement their concern that Lebanon could soon face a second wave of infections, “especially after the easing of the state of general mobilization that the Lebanese government had declared.”Lamenting “the chaos and the failure to abide by the health measures aboard flights that brought expats from abroad,” the conferees also voiced surprise over “citizens' laxity in implementing the preventative measures” and “their return to normal life as if the coronavirus pandemic has ceased to exist.”They accordingly called for banning gatherings completely and suspending the repatriation of expats pending the enforcement of a host of measures. The recommended measures include testing passengers for coronavirus before and after the flights, stricter home quarantine, setting up quarantine centers and postponing the reopening of schools, universities, nurseries, malls, large shopping centers, restaurants and places of worship, the conferees said.

Defense Council Decides to Up Border Monitoring to Curb Smuggling
Naharnet/May 13/2020
The Higher Defense Council on Wednesday decided to "intensify monitoring and prosecution and toughen penalties against smugglers and their partners" in a bid to control illicit trafficking across the porous and poorely demarcated border with Syria."All efforts must be exerted in coordination among the various agencies to control the border in order to preveny the smuggling of goods and material and shut down all the illegal crossings," the Council said in a statement issued after a meeting in Baabda under President Michel Aoun. It also decided to "devise a comprehensive plan for setting up military, security and customs monitoring posts." During the meeting, Aoun called on authorities "not to be lenient in this issue," emphasizing the need to "take the strictest measures against violators."

Lebanon to reinstate total lockdown amid spike in infections
Associated Press/May 13/2020
The government called on the public to stay home, starting Wednesday evening and until dawn on Monday, reversing measures earlier this month that phased out restrictions imposed since mid-March.
BEIRUT: Lebanese rushed to food stores to stock up on vegetables and basic items, hours before the government was to reinstate a four-day nationwide lockdown on Wednesday, following a spike in reported coronavirus cases.The government called on the public to stay home, starting Wednesday evening and until dawn on Monday, reversing measures earlier this month that phased out restrictions imposed since mid-March. The new shutdown is a rare reversal and comes as many countries, seeking to balance economic and health care needs, have started easing restrictions despite grave concerns of a setback.
Restaurants will close down after they partially opened 10 days ago, and food deliveries will be halted altogether. The country’s top Sunni Muslim cleric announced that communal Friday prayers in mosques will also be halted, only a week after they were allowed to resume at limited capacity.
The public health crisis comes at a particularly turbulent period for Lebanon. The country is facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, putting pressure on a population that is seeing its savings erode. The currency, pegged at a fixed rate to the dollar since 1997, has lost 60% of its value in a few weeks.
Unemployment had been rising even before the coronavirus restrictions as economic growth and investment dropped. Officials say 45% of the population now lives in poverty. The government has asked the International Monetary Fund for financial assistance, and talks over the rescue plan are due, to begin with the IMF later Wednesday.Lebanon began a phase-out plan to relax a national lockdown late last month that allowed small businesses to reopen, and shortened a nighttime curfew. But after a few days of single-digit cases detected, there was a spike in reported infections this week, including among Lebanese returning home during repatriation programs who did not observe quarantine measures. Lebanon, a country of just over 5 million, has so far been able to contain the virus, recording only 870 infections, including 117 repatriated Lebanese, and 26 deaths after imposing early lockdown measures and strictly implementing a restriction on movement. But over the last few days, government and health officials criticized carelessness and lax implementation of social distancing and other restrictions among the public, warning that the relaxation of restrictions would be reconsidered.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will go into a full lockdown during the days of celebration that follow the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The Interior Ministry said the lockdown would be in effect from May 23 through May 27 — days mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday that comes at the end of Ramadan. That holiday typically sees families invite loved ones over for meals and go out to eat and drink during the day.
And the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, said it will offer free coronavirus testing for all citizens, beginning next week. Foreigners in the country with coronavirus symptoms, pregnant women, those over 50, and those in contact with those who fell ill with COVID-19 also will be among those able to be tested for free.Private beaches at hotels also are beginning to reopen in Dubai, even as the number of confirmed cases and deaths continue to rise in the country.In Tehran, mosques temporarily reopened Tuesday night after about two months' closure, for a special night of prayers in Ramadan.
A mosque at Tehran university campus in central Tehran hosted worshippers for the “Qadr,” or “Night of Destiny,” a special night of prayers in the Muslim holy month. Officials in Iran had closed down all mosques and holy sites across the country in mid-March, at the height of the coronavirus outbreak, to lower the risk of the contagion. The virus has killed more than 6,700 people and infected more than 110,000 people in Iran so far. “Obviously, everyone is feeling great tonight. It has been a tough time especially for mosque-goers and those who love praying, ” said Reza Abbasi, a worshipper who was praying along with his family on the campus of Tehran university. Upon entering the campus, a group of medical students disinfected hands and shoes of worshippers and gave away face masks. Worshippers also had their body temperatures taken by infrared thermometers. Spots were marked on the mosque floor for worshippers to sit down while practicing proper physical distancing.

Aoun Meets Diab ahead of Higher Defense Council Meeting
Naharnet/May 13/2020
President Michel Aoun held talks Wednesday afternoon with Prime Minister Hassan Diab ahead of a Higher Defense Council meeting. Aoun has called for the Defense Council meeting to discuss "measures to control cross-border smuggling."The issue of smuggling has stirred a wave of controversy in the country in recent days. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is leading the calls for putting an end to the illegal practice.

ISG Urges Govt. to Engage Lebanese People in Financial Plan Consultations
Naharnet/May 13/2020
The International Support Group of Lebanon on Wednesday called on the Lebanese government to “engage all relevant stakeholders, most importantly the Lebanese people, in consultations” on its financial rescue plan. “The ISG takes due note of the unanimous adoption by the Government of Lebanon of its Financial Recovery Plan as a constructive framework for future reforms as well as its decision to request an IMF program as a first step in the right direction,” the ISG said in a statement. “The ISG also takes due note of the assessment by the World Bank that the Plan recognizes the nature and depth of the crisis, the necessary structural reforms and adjustments needed to ensure a vibrant economy with sustainable growth and productive sectors, in a business climate and conditions favorable for private sector development and the prosperity of the Lebanese people,” it added. Recognizing the importance of “domestic political support” necessary for “successful conduct and rapid completion of negotiations with the IMF, the ISG encourages the Government of Lebanon to engage all relevant stakeholders, most importantly the Lebanese people in consultations on the contents of the plan and ways to expedite its implementation,” the Group went on to say. It added: “Equally, the ISG encourages the Government and Parliament to work together in creating the necessary conditions for timely implementation of the needed reforms and to ensure full transparency and accountability as demanded by the citizens of Lebanon.” Recalling the statement of its Paris meeting December 11, 2019 and the necessary reforms that were discussed, the ISG expressed support to Lebanon “to help it overcome the current economic, monetary, and fiscal crisis and to address economic, social, security, humanitarian challenges, as well as the impact of COVID-19 facing the country.” It also called upon the international community, including international organizations and financial institutions, to support Lebanon as it seeks to address the current crisis. Voicing concern over the worsening economic situation in Lebanon and the growing poverty, the ISG said it encourages the Government to “remain committed to protect the rapidly growing number of poor and vulnerable segments of the population and encourages the Government to quickly finalize all necessary measures to unlock additional external financial assistance to address the increasingly dire humanitarian needs of the population.” The ISG also reaffirmed the need for “internal stability” and the “right to peaceful protest to be protected.”The International Support Group brings together the United Nations and the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with the European Union and the Arab League. It was launched in September 2013.

Report: Lebanon Begins 'Difficult' Negotiations with IMF
Naharnet/May 13/2020
Lebanon begins negotiations on Wednesday with the International Monetary Fund to reach an agreement on funding the government’s economic rescue plan, amid indicators the negotiations are going to be “long and arduous,” al-Joumhouia daily reported on Wednesday. Observers believe the government has formulated a plan with “many gaps” that will need time to agree and amend, said the daily. Some items in the plan “may be difficult to achieve, while others were hastily raised with the purpose of completing the plan’s preparation and moving quickly to the stage of negotiating with the IMF,” according to assertions made by economists to the daily. Earlier in May, Lebanon signed a request for financial help from the IMF with hopes to ease the country’s worst post-war economic crisis. The government had unanimously approved an economic reform plan, expected to reduce Lebanon's enormous public debt burden from 170 percent of GDP to less than 100 percent.It aims to see positive economic growth restored from 2022. According to the economist quoted by al-Joumhouria ,the government's proposal for a gradual lifting of restrictions on capital movement as of the year 2021, “cannot happen next year.”He said Lebanon's worsening financial situation “does not allow for the loss of more dollars and their exit from the country before the balance of payments is corrected, especially that Lebanon needs these dollars to finance imports, which raises question marks about the feasibility of this step.”He noted that “the final version of the government’s rescue plan removed a clause assigning a global company to audit financial accounts of public sector workers, politicians and their families who own more than a million dollars. It indicates that political pressure was exerted to stop the auditing of accounts.”
He concluded saying that counting on a rapid progress in the negotiations are therefore “illogical. The government will have difficult negotiations as it may be unable to meet the IMF’s conditions, because of the "veto" that may be put by political components that brought it to power.”

Wazni 'Relieved' over 'Constructive' Talks with IMF
Naharnet/May 13/2020
The Lebanese government and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday finished the first phase of “talks aimed at reaching an agreement that would re-put the Lebanese economy on the correct track,” the Finance Ministry said. “We are relieved over the atmosphere of these preliminary discussions and we expect the coming discussions to be as constructive,” Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said in a statement issued by the Ministry. Teams from the Finance Ministry and the central bank and representatives of the offices of President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab took part in the video-conference talks, the Ministry added in a statement. The global body for its part said it held remote meetings with Wazni and other officials. They aim to reach "a comprehensive framework that can help Lebanon address the current challenging economic and social conditions and restore sustainability and growth," a spokesperson said. Under the rescue plan, the government will seek more than $10 billion in financial support on top of $11 billion in grants and loans already pledged by international donors in 2018. Last week, Wazni said Lebanon would be seeking between $9 billion and $10 billion from the IMF. President Michel Aoun has said financial aid from the IMF is "mandatory" for an economic recovery. The country's local currency has plummeted in value on the black market in recent weeks, and some 45 percent of the population now live in poverty. The rescue plan aims to reduce the deficit, restructure a colossal debt, and reorganize an oversized banking sector. Lebanon is one of the most indebted countries worldwide with a debt equivalent to 170 percent of its gross domestic product. It defaulted on a repayment for the first time ever in March.
The country is also in the grips of a severe liquidity crunch, with depositors unable to make transfers abroad or withdraw dollars.

Finance Ministry: Government started today formal negotiations with IMF on financial recovery plan
NNA/May 13/2020
The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday announced in a statement that "the Lebanese government has kicked off today formal negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to discuss the financial recovery plan set by the government.”
Finance Minister, Dr. Ghazi Wazni, is administering these talks, following preliminary discussions he held on Monday (May 11, 2020) with representatives of the International Monetary Fund. A team of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Lebanon are participating in these talks, in the presence of representatives of the President’s Office and the Prime Minister’s Office. It is to note that these talks are organized through “video-conferencing.”Minister Wazni said: "The Lebanese government and the International Monetary Fund have completed the first round of talks with the aim of reaching an agreement that will put the Lebanese economy on the right track,” adding "We are satisfied with the atmosphere of the preliminary talks, and we expect that the upcoming discussions will be equally constructive."

Nasrallah: Arab Spring exploited to achieve control over Syria
NNA/May 13/2020
Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, gave a televised address this Wednesday, dedicated to paying tribute to martyr Mostafa Badreddine, on the 4th commemoration of his martyrdom.
In his speech, Nasrallah seized the opportunity to congratulate nurses on their international day. "Those are fighting on the frontlines against the threat of a pandemic that jeopardizes the whole world, the latter being left in utter confusion as to the means to deal with the disease, as stated by the World Health Organization," Nasrallah said in tribute to the nursing staff, urging material and moral support for nurses, so they could fulfill their mission, steadfast and armed with resilience. Tackling the situation in Syria, Nasrallah pointed out that "the plan for dominance over Syria was of American, Israeli and Saudi doing," noting that "the problem was not with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in person, nor with the nature of the regime, but rather because Syria was free of the US control in the region."
"The Arab Spring has been exploited to achieve the goal of controlling Syria, under the pretext of democracy. We were well aware that going to Syria would have repercussions, and would entail sacrifices. We knew that some would exploit this matter at the sectarian level, and that we would be criticized in Lebanon. However, the size of the risks threatening Palestine and the Resistance had made us realize that our involvement in Syria would bring less losses than the ones that were looming."
"Syria has survived division and won, despite the side battles. Had certain countries not spent their money in Syria, on [the financing of] terrorists and takfiris, those countries would have been able now to invest these funds into the battle against coronavirus," Nasrallah suggested.
"What they were unable to achieve in Syria, they tried to achieve politically by exerting pressure on the latter, as well as on Russia and Iran. But all of this has failed, knowing that the risks of political pressure are, at times, a lot more dangerous," he went on.
"As these pressure tools fell flat, those countries resorted to psychological warfare, sanctions, and betting on economic repercussions. Those besieging Iran, Gaza and Venezuela are now suffering the siege of coronavirus and its economic repercussions," Sayyed Nasrallah stated, uttering hope in the Syrian people's capabilities and in the resources of Syria, to overcome the present difficult circumstances.
Turning to the psychological war waged on Syria "by claiming that its allies, be it Russia or Iran, had abandoned it," Nasrallah discarded the idea as mere rumors that have no validity whatsoever. He said "Iran's goal was to prevent the fall of Syria. It has no ambitions in it whatsoever; it simply does not want Syria to be subject to any Zionist influence."He pointed out that "a difference in evaluation may, at times, occur between allies," stressing however that "there has been no dispute as a result of such occurrences."
In this context, Nasrallah reassured "the Resistance supporters that there is no clash of influence between Syria's allies in Syria. The Israelis have bet on armed groups in southern Syria to support them. They had set a number of targets in Syria, but when the war on it failed, and war was eventually lost, Israel set to itself another target, part of which is related to the Syrian missile capabilities."The Resistance leader saw that Israelis were "deceiving their audience," revealing that "in Syria, there are only Iranian military advisers who were there before 2011. There are no Iranian military forces, that is, and no Iranian military troops or brigades. (…) Their job was to provide military advice, train Syrian troops, and coordinate with the Resistance. The need did not arise for the presence of Iranian military forces, although, at one stage, there had been a discussion on bringing in Iranian military forces."
He added: "After the liberation of the Syrian Badia and the opening of the Aleppo road and the Damascus countryside, there was a discussion about the return of Iranian personnel to Iran, and the same for Iraqis. That was two years ago. Under the leadership of Qassem Soleimani, the withdrawal also included Hezbollah, after Syria had started recovering.""What happened was a victory for Syria, Iran and the Resistance," he said firmly. "Therefore, a new positioning was enforced, in the light of these victories."Describing "the Israeli media as idiotic when talking about those [our] withdrawals," Nasrallah called on "the Israeli public not to pay attention to its leaders' so-called victories, as they are fake achievements."

Hassan Nasrallah: Israel targeting missile sites in Syria
The New Arab/May 13/2020
Hezbollah chief also denies presence of Iranian troops in Syria beyond 'military advisers and experts'.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, has said Israel is now concentrating its attacks in Syria on missile-manufacturing sites, while denying that Iranian troops were currently operating in the war-torn country beyond serving as "military advisers and experts".
Israel has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of Syria's war in 2011, saying any presence of Hezbollah and Iran, which have played a vital role in supporting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, remained a strategic threat in the neighbouring country. In rare comments on Israeli attacks in Syria, Nasrallah said that with al-Assad firmly in control, Israel has turned its attention more recently to striking targets "linked to missile production in Syria", saying Israel feared that the manufacturing of "precision missiles" could spell "new dangers" for Israel.
During the televised statements on Wednesday, Nasrallah also denied that any Iranian troops were currently operating in Syria or that Israeli air attacks have pushed either Hezbollah or Iran to retreat from Syria, calling Israel's claims that they have done so "imaginary victories". "In Syria, there is an imaginary battle that Israel is waging, called 'not allowing the presence of Iranian military troops in Syria'," he said. Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said in April that the Israeli military was working to drive Tehran out of Syria. Nasrallah instead said that Iranian military experts were in Syria with the aim of "advising and helping Syrian troops, and managing groups of Syrian, Arab and Islamic popular resistance forces". "They train them, prepare them and manage them in ongoing battles," as well as handle "coordination with resistance movements including Hezbollah", he said. The head of the Shia movement, which officially joined the war in Syria in 2013, however, conceded that in "an exceptional case" Iranian troops took part in the battle for the northern city of Aleppo in late 2016. The victory dealt a major blow to the armed opposition in the country.
Iran 'not waging a battle for influence' Nasrallah also rejected the notion that the Damascus regime's allies Iran and Russia are entangled in a power struggle in Syria. "Iran is not waging a battle for influence with anybody, not with Russia ... and not with anybody" else, he said. "The Islamic Republic's position in Syria has been clear, and based on preventing Syria from falling under the hegemony of America and Israel," he added. The Hezbollah chief spoke on the four-year anniversary of the death of a top Hezbollah commander in Syria, who was killed in an explosion near Damascus International Airport.
The group has blamed Sunni fighters for killing Mustafa Badreddine, who was on a US sanctions blacklist and wanted by Israel. He had been on trial in absentia before a special tribunal in The Hague accused him of masterminding the 2005 bombing that killed Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Nasrallah Urges Renewed Lebanon-Syria Ties, Says Israel in 'Imaginary Battle' in Syria
Naharnet/May 13/2020
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday said the Lebanese government must cooperate with its Syrian counterpart if it wants to put an end to cross-border smuggling. “No one can deny that there is cross-border smuggling between Lebanon and Syria, and I'm not talking about the fighters or arms of the resistance,” said Nasrallah in a televised address commemorating slain Hizbullah military commander Mustafa Badreddine. “Cooperation between the two countries, governments and armies is necessary to halt the smuggling,” he stressed. Criticizing “talk of U.N. forces on the Lebanese-Syrian border” as unacceptable, Nasrallah said such calls aim to “achieve the objectives of the July war.”He also warned that “delaying the arrangement of Lebanon's ties with Syria entails a loss for Lebanon” amid its worst financial and economic crisis since the civil war.
Separately, Nasrallah described Israeli air strikes in Syria -- where his group and Tehran are backing the Damascus regime -- as an "imaginary battle" against Iranian troops. "In Syria there is an imaginary battle that Israel is waging, called 'not allowing the presence of Iranian military troops in Syria,'" he said, insisting that only "Iranian military advisers and experts," not troops, are there. “These Iranian advisers oversee Syrian, Arab and Muslim volunteers,” he noted. “I advise the Israeli public not to listen to the lies of their leaders about the situation in Syria,” Nasrallah said. Noting that the withdrawal of Hizbullah and other fighters from some areas in Syria has nothing to do with the Israeli strikes, Hizbullah's leader said “Israel in Syria is scared and worried.”“Israel is still fighting some battles in Syria but it has lost the war,” he emphasized. Pointing out that Israel “has been strongly involved in the war in Syria since 2011,” Nasrallah announced that “Syria has survived the fragmentation attempt.” “Today we can say that Syria has triumphed in this war,” he boasted.

Tourism Ministry Orders Restaurants Closed, Reverses Suspension of Delivery Services
Naharnet/May 13/2020
The Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday announced the closure of all tourism institutions and restaurants across Lebanon during the four-day shutdown over coronavirus, the National News Agency reported. The Ministry later announced that it was reversing a decision on suspending restaurant delivery services. It confirmed that they will be allowed to operate between 5:00 am and 6:00 pm. In the wake of the biggest spike in weeks in the numbers of coronavirus cases, the government on Tuesday decided to fully shut down the country from Wednesday evening until Monday morning at the recommendation of the health minister. Starting May 4th, restaurants, playgrounds, salons, barber shops and others were allowed to reopen with 30% capacity.

Israeli Warplanes Flying at Low Altitude over Lebanon
Naharnet/May 13/2020
Israeli warplanes were seen flying at a low altitude over several towns in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday. NNA said the planes flew over Hasbaya, al-Arqoub, Mount Hermon, Shebaa Farms, Occupied Golan Heights, Marjayoun, Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Toffah and Jezzine. Israeli warplanes over the past few months, conducted extensive flights over Lebanon.

Russian Embassy denies any insinuation about its country’s possible interference in Lebanese internal affairs
NNA/May 13/2020
The Russian Embassy in Beirut denied in a statement any insinuation about the possibility of Russia’s interference in the Lebanese internal affairs, including the presidential elections.

Hawat: Illegal Crossings Draining Lebanon's Finances
Naharnet/May 13/2020
Strong Republic MP Ziad Hawat sounded the alarm on Wednesday saying that smuggling through illegal crossings into Syria are draining the state’s resources and finances, noting that many crossings in Eastern Lebanon are under Hizbullah’s control. “Smuggling through Lebanon’s (over 100) 17 illegal border crossing into Syria is a crime against the finances of the country and it must be stopped,” said Hawat in a press conference. The Lebanese are “sliding into poverty. The government has not set a clear action plan to stop illegal border crossing draining the country of its resources,” he added, noting that around one billion dollars worth of subsidized diesel oil is being smuggled into Syria in addition to flour. The MP stated that being a partner in the State, Hizbullah must not provide cover for smugglers mainly in the eastern borders. “Hizbullah is a partner in the State and must not be a partner covering smugglers. The majority of illegal border crossings in the eastern side are controlled by Hizbullah,” he said.

Aoun receives Wahhab, will chair Supreme Defense Council’s meeting afternoon
NNA/May 13/2020 
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, will chair a Supreme Defense Council meeting, this afternoon at 3:00pm. The meeting will be attended by Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, Ministers of Justice and Energy, in addition to heads of security and military apparatuses and their assistants, the Discriminatory Public Prosecutor and Government Commissioner to the Military Court. The defense meeting will be devoted to tackle security conditions in the country, and measures to be taken to combat smuggling operations throughout illegal border crossings, in addition to issues related to public mobilization.
The President received the Head of the Arab Unitarian Party, Former Minister Wiam Wahhab, and discussed with him recent developments at the political and security levels.Wahhab said that he discussed a number of issues of interest in the “Jabal” region, including road and infrastructure conditions, especially the entrance of Chouf District, at the town of Dmit. Minister Wahhab also indicated that he had given President Aoun all information available about the electricity file.—Presidency Press Office

Ministry of Tourism announces closure of restaurants, halts delivery services
NNA/May 13/2020 
The Ministry of Tourism announced in a circular issued on Wednesday the closure of all tourism institutions across Lebanon, including restaurants and delivery services, during the four-day lockdown from Thursday 14/5/2020 until Monday morning 5/18/2020.  The Tourism Ministry’s decision is based on the Cabinet’s fresh decision to impose a state of total lockdown, as part of the general mobilization measures, in a bid to help combat and curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus.  This decision includes restaurants, cafes, bars, tea shops, discos, snacks, seasonal institutions, tourist resorts, swimming pools, and tourist residences. The statement added that delivery services would be fully halted during the aforementioned period.

UNDP, DRM launch awareness campaign to avoid rise of second Covid-19 wave
NNA/May 13/2020 
The United Nations Development Programme and the Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, the Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Lebanese Red Cross launched a three-pillar national campaign on Wednesday. The campaign aims to raise awareness among the Lebanese on the importance of closely following precautionary measures to avoid the rise of a second wave of the novel Coronavirus.
The three pillars highlighted by the campaign include: physical distancing with a minimum of 1.5 meters between individuals; precautionary measures, such as the importance of wearing the medical mask and covering one’s mouth when coughing or sneezing; and hygiene practices, such as washing one’s hands for a minimum of 20 seconds and sanitizing purchased products before using them.

Former President, Amine Gemayel, meets Italian Ambassador
NNA - Former President, Amine Gemayel, met Wednesday at his residence with Italian Ambassador to Lebanon, Nicoletta Bombardiere, with who he discussed the current situation in light of the unprecedented financial crisis endured by Lebanon.

Diab tackles latest developments with Palestinian ambassador
NNA/May 13/2020
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, met this Wednesday with Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Dabbour. Discussions featured high on the latest developments and on the situation of the Palestinian refugee camps.--PM Press Office

Judge Aoun presses charges against 12 persons in oil fraud case
NNA/May 13/2020
Mount Lebanon's Public Appeal Prosecutor Ghada Aoun, pressed charges against 12 persons in the oil fraud dossier, including the Director General of the EDL, Kamal Al-Hayek, for negligence of duty, in addition to the Director General of Oil Installations, Sarkis Hleis, and the Director General of Oil, Aurore Feghali, for receiving bribery and duty negligence. Judge Aoun also pressed charges against ZR Energy in the same case, after collecting new information from the detainees' mobile phones.

Hitti, UNIFIL's Del Col discuss situation in south Lebanon
NNA/May 13/2020
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Nassif Hitti, received this Wednesday UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col, with whom he discussed the situation in South Lebanon and UNIFIL mandate extension mechanism.

Hariri, UN's Kubis tackle current situation
NNA/May 13/2020
Former Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, received this Wednesday at his “Center House” the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, with whom he discussed the latest developments and the general situation in the country.
The meeting took place in the presence of former Minister, Dr. Ghattas Khoury.
Earlier, Hariri met with MP Mohammed Suleiman, with whom he discussed issues and demands related to the region of Akkar. Among Hariri's itinerant visitors for today had been Head of the Union of Beiruti Families Associations, Mohammed Afif Yamount, with whom he discussed the needs of the capital.

Guterres calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament ahead of UNSC debate
Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/May 13/2020
الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة يطالب الحكومة اللبنانية بتجريد حزب الله من سلاحه ويدوا إسرائيل لإيقاف طلاعاتها الجوية في الأجواء اللبنانية
'I renew my call for Israel to adhere to its obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions and immediately cease its overflights above Lebanese airspace.'
The Lebanese government and army should ensure the disarmament of Hezbollah, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said as he warned of the dangers of the paramilitary group’s involvement in neighboring Syria in advance of Wednesday’s closed-door UN Security Council debate on the matter in New York.
“I continue to urge the government and the armed forces of Lebanon to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hezbollah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity outside the authority of the State,” Guterres wrote.
“The continued involvement of Hezbollah in the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic... carries the risk of entangling Lebanon in regional conflicts and undermining the stability of Lebanon and the region,” Guterres said.
He addressed these concerns in a report on activity in Lebanon from October 15, 2019 to April 7 of this year, which he submitted ahead of the discussion on compliance with the 2004 Resolution 1559. That resolution calls for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and the dissension and disarmament of “all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.”
That resolution was never enforced and Guterres described how there were a number of armed groups in Lebanon, of which Hezbollah was the largest. But, he wrote, “no progress was made during the reporting period with regard to dismantling the military bases of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Fatah al-Intifada in the country.”
In his report, dated April 30, Guterres said, Hezbollah’s self-acknowledged maintenance of arms and “the alleged increase by Hezbollah of its arsenal pose a serious challenge to the State’s ability to exercise full sovereignty and authority over its territory.” Hezbollah’s “renewed admission that it possesses missiles is also of great concern,” Guterres said.
He also took issue with Israeli violations of the resolution, such as the flyovers. “Unscrewed aerial vehicles and fixed-wing aircraft, including fighter jets, of the Israel Defense Forces, continued to make near daily overflights above Lebanon during the reporting period,” Guterres said.
“The alleged use of Lebanese airspace by the Israel Defense Forces to strike targets in the Syrian Arab Republic is deeply concerning. I renew my call for Israel to adhere to its obligations under relevant Security Council resolutions and immediately cease its overflights above Lebanese airspace,” Guterres said.
In a statement that appeared aimed at both Israel and Hezbollah, Guterres said that “violations, by air and ground, run the risk of triggering an escalation and could jeopardize stability in Lebanon, Israel and beyond. They undermine the credibility of the Lebanese security and State institutions and generate anxiety among the civilian population.”
Wednesday’s UNSC debate comes just one week after the UNSC discussed the implementation of Resolution 1701 adopted in 2006, which ended the second Lebanon War and the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in monitoring that resolution. UNIFIL’s mandate is renewed annually in August.
After the meeting, Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said that “if Hezbollah continues to paralyze UNIFIL operations and intensify its terrorism operations in the region, there will be no choice but to begin making decisions on the purpose of the UN organization in its present form.”
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft similarly expressed her frustration at the limited role UNIFIL plays.
Craft charged that Hezbollah “openly flaunts its weaponry; flagrantly disregards Resolution 1701; and, for all intents and purposes, dictates to UNIFIL where and when it can patrol.” In addition, Craft accused the Lebanese government of preventing UNIFIL from accessing and investigating Hezbollah terror tunnel sites located within UNIFIL’s area of operations.
“Now, we see UNIFIL barred from the places it used to patrol and prevented from inspecting sites clearly used for military activity,” Craft said.
From November 1 to February 18, UNIFIL was prevented 13 times, sometimes violently, from carrying out its mandate, Craft said.
Despite UNIFIL, Hezbollah armed itself, stockpiled munitions, dug tunnels for terrorist fighters, built factories to upgrade its rockets and used women and children as shields in assaults on UNIFIL peacekeepers, Craft said.
In a March 10 report for that meeting, Guterres listed violations of 1701 from both sides the border and expressed his concern about the lack of access granted to UNIFIL.
According to his report, UNIFIL has 10,368 military personnel and conducted 14,457 monthly military operational activities, including 6,774 patrols, during the reporting period.
Guterres said that UNIFIL recorded “313 ground violations of the Blue Line by unarmed Lebanese civilians crossing south of the Blue Line, including 209 violations by shepherds and farmers.”
Separately, he said that “UNIFIL recorded 291 air violations” by Israel, “for a total overflight time of 890 hours.” He said that 79% of that air-traffic was from aerial vehicles and the remainder was from “fighter aircraft or unidentified aircraft.”
After last week’s meeting, Estonian Ambassador Sven Jürgenson, who holds the rotating monthly presidency of the UNSC for May, said, that UNSC members had “stressed the importance of UNIFIL being able to fulfill its mandate.” He added that members were concerned by violations of Resolution 1701 including “land and air.”UNSC members “recalled that all parties should make every effort to ensure that the cessation of hostilities is sustained.”

Lebanon’s coronavirus lockdown response endangers lives by ignoring disabled community's needs
The New Arab/May 13/2020
The Lebanese government is putting the lives of disabled people at risk by having "completely ignored" their needs in its Covid-19 response, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The rights group said the government had neither communicated with nor consulted disabled people about the measures rolled out to tackle the pandemic, and therefore their needs were not taken into consideration when designing the strategy. In turn, disabled people have been deprived of potentially life-saving information, while their access to healthcare, schooling, and other vital support which cannot be easily accessed remotely has been severely curtailed.Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "The Lebanese government's Covid-19 response has completely ignored the rights and needs of people with disabilities, who were marginalised long before the virus hit."
"This exclusion is robbing people with disabilities of potentially life-saving information and services that they need to weather this crisis," she added. HRW spoke to a dozen representatives from disability organisations and six parents of children with disabilities, who all said the government’s coronavirus response had not taken their needs into consideration. For example, no arrangements have been made for disabled people - many of whom require frequent health appointments - to access medical care or obtain their necessary medication during the lockdown period, which was extended for another four days on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the government has not provided essential and life-saving information on the pandemic in ways accessible for people with disabilities. HRW said that television broadcasts must include qualified sign language interpretation, while social media information campaigns and websites must be made accessible to people with various disabilities, including hearing or visual impairments. Education and schooling for children with disabilities has also been adversely affected by the widespread closures since the end of February, while online and distance learning do not accommodate the needs of disabled children.
For example, online or video classes are not accessible for students with visual disabilities, while Deaf children require large screens and programs that allow teachers to sign and show documents simultaneously. Parents of children with developmental struggles told HRW that schools had halted the one-on-one educational or therapy sessions that were once delivered in school. "The Lebanese government should urgently take into account the needs of people with disabilities," Majzoub said.
"This includes making sure they have access to information, healthcare, and the resources children with disabilities need to continue their education, while taking meaningful steps to make schools more inclusive."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 13-14/2020
Kataib Hezbollah’s influence in Iraq may be quietly eroding
Agencies/The Arab Weekly/May 13/2020
Few Iraqis seem willing to speak openly about Kataib Hezbollah, and none will provide details about its hierarchy.
LONDON--Five months after US missiles killed Iran’s most important general and its top militia leader as they were visiting Baghdad, the Iran-backed group Kataib Hezbollah may be quietly losing its grip in the country.
Not only are US forces still present in Iraq, but the killings have created space for a new Iraqi government to assert a degree of independence from Tehran. The clearest indication of this is the ascendance of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
There seem to be current moves to more fully integrate some Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) factions into government chains of command and structures that existed prior to 2014. If Iraq’s new government succeeds in doing this, it could reduce the influence of powerful armed groups with suspected loyalty to Tehran.The PMU were officially formed in 2014 through a fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for volunteers to fight against ISIS in order to defend Shia holy sites and Iraq in general. They played a key role in the country’s territorial defeat of ISIS.
Several of the brigades within the PMU belong to armed groups that existed for many years prior to the PMU’s formation in 2014. These factions have long been supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Others set up in 2014 and loyal to Sistani are known as “shrine units.” On April 23, an official announcement that four of these shrine-linked PMUs would be placed directly under the prime minister’s office seemed to signal an attempt to draw some of the factions from the more than 100,000-strong motley fighting force further away from Iranian and Kataib Hezbollah influence.
Some of those in the PMU have previous experience in Iraq’s armed forces. Also answering directly to the prime minister’s office is Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), which played a key role in the fight against ISIS and was supported and trained by the international anti-ISIS coalition.
The CTS has long been accused by pro-Iran factions of being too close to the United States. The international coalition quietly continued to support the CTS after it temporarily halted its training and advisory missions for other Iraqi forces earlier this year amid the surge in US-Iranian tension and a vote by the Iraqi parliament to call for the removal of all foreign forces.
Kataib Hezbollah is only one of several Iran-linked armed groups active in Iraq but it has long been considered the greatest danger to the Iraqi government’s aspiration to be a proper state in the classical sense — by exerting a monopoly over the use of force within its territory. It also holds territory in Iraq that even government officials are allegedly prevented from entering.
Some of Kataib Hezbollah’s brigades have been incorporated into Iraqi government-salaried PMU, most likely as part of an attempt to rein in the group. Many of its fighters nevertheless continue to cross in and out of Iran and Syria, according to local security officials in border areas.
Two of Kataib Hezbollah’s government-incorporated brigades were targeted in a US airstrike in late December near Qaim, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, killing at least 25 fighters. This led to an attack on the US Embassy by supporters of Kataib Hezbollah and other armed factions — which was followed by the drone strike on PMU deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iran’s most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani on January 3.
Few Iraqis seem willing to speak openly about Kataib Hezbollah, and none will provide details about its hierarchy. Muhandis, in addition to being a leader of the Shia-dominated, government-salaried PMU, was a strategist and able to coopt some local Sunni fighting groups and their commanders as part of the fight against ISIS. He was key to providing them with weapons and support to retake their home territory.
However, there have recently been reports of tension between the Iran-linked armed group and the Iraqi intelligence services, because of both the secrecy employed by the Iran-linked group and various threats. Kataib Hezbollah had at various times threatened Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi and the head of intelligence, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who became Iraq’s prime minister on May 7.
Kataib Hezbollah strongly opposed Kadhimi and accused him of being linked to the killing of Muhandis and Soleimani through providing intelligence to the United States.
Even as Kadhimi takes the country’s reins, Kataib Hezbollah continues to occupy the entire town previously known as Jurf al-Sakr in Babil province, allegedly to protect the nearby Iraqi Shia holy city of Karbala against possible ISIS attacks coming from Sunni-majority Anbar province. The Iran-backed armed group also seems to have recently occupied an area in the capital’s Green Zone near the prime minister’s office.
After reports that the Green Zone land had been given to them by the prime minister’s office were denied, Iraq analyst Michael Knights noted in a tweet that “KH don’t have to wait for the PMO to give them something. They just take it, and then try to keep it.”
Whatever the Iraqi government and other stakeholders are doing to separate other armed groups from Kataib Hezbollah is being done quietly because of the risks involved.
The risk is that Kataib Hezbollah, without Muhandis at its helm, may now become even more uncontrollable in its efforts to prevent a loss of power and influence.
However, the erosion of the group’s influence is underway and there is no single event to which one can attribute this reality. In fact, nationwide protests against corruption and Iranian influence, as well as internal strife within and among Iranian-backed militias, helped Kadhimi’s rise. At the same time, Soleimani’s death was a factor.

Pompeo says Iran trying to ‘foment terror’ but its regional interference ‘reduced’
The Arab Weekly/May 13/2020
LONDON--US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran on Wednesday of using its resources to “foment terror” even as its people face the Middle East’s coronavirus outbreak and the country has more limited resources as a result of US sanctions. “Even during this pandemic the Iranians are using the ayatollah regime’s resources to foment terror across the world, even when the people of Iran are struggling so mightily,” Pompeo said in Jerusalem ahead of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “It tells you a lot about the soul of those people who lead that country,” he added. In an interview with Israeli newspaper Hayom Israel published Tuesday on the eve of his visit to Israel, Pompeo reiterated his administration’s determination not to let Iran develop a nuclear bomb but he warned against Tehran’s designs during the next coming months. “In October, Iran will have the ability to build up their conventional weapon systems in ways that would make it even more possible for them to conduct terror around the world and to coerce and extort nations around the world, giving them even more space to continue to execute on a plan to ultimately increase the risk that they have a nuclear weapon someday,” he said. Pompeo pointed out that because of US sanctions, Iran’s capacity to intervene in Syria, directly or through their Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, “has been reduced.”Iranians may have “more limited resources,” he added, but “they choose to take those precious resources and either give them to the ayatollah, for his own private benefit or to the benefit of other Iranian elites, or they choose to squander that on campaigns in Syria, or campaigns in Iraq.”Dealing with Iran’s regional involvement is expected to be on the agenda during Pompeo’s talks with Israeli leaders.
The United States is engaged in a showdown with pro-Iranian proxy militias in Iraq, especially since the targeted killing of Iran’s Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last January. Israel, on the other hand, has launched several attacks in recent weeks against Iranian and pro-Iranian targets in Syria. Pushing Iran out of Syria has increasingly become part of Israel’s military doctrine. Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett recently said that “Iran has nothing to do in Syria… (and) we won’t stop before they leave Syria.”

Pompeo in Israel: Cooperation with China may endanger Israelis
DebkaFile/May 13/2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent the first three hours of his eight-hour trip to Israel on Wednesday closeted with PM Binyamin Netanyahu before making the acquaintance of Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz and FM-designate Gaby Ashkenazi. For some time, the Trump administration has frowned on deepening Chinese investment in Israeli utilities and infrastructure. Pompeo chose to emphasize this point in is talks on Wednesday. In an interview with Israel national radio before flying out, said:. “We don’t want the Chinese Communist party to have access to Israeli infrastructure and its communications systems or anything that places Israelis in danger and therefore jeopardizes US ability to work with Israel on important joint projects. We consider the dangers to be very real and have shared concrete information on the subject so that you can make your own decisions,” said the Secretary State.
Touting “Israeli technology and Israeli medical expertise” and the possibility for cooperation between the US and Israel to save lives, Pompeo added in a dig against China: “You’re a great partner, you share information, unlike other countries that obfuscate and try to hide that information.”Traveling abroad for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, Pompeo’s visit was seen as a gesture of support for the new coalition government due to be sworn in on Thursday, calling it “an opportunity for peace on the basis of the Trump Middle East plan.” He noted that the campaign against Iran was producing results, but “there is still more work to be done.” The guest and hosts chose to forego handshakes and face masks although they kept their distance while conversing.

Israel ex-army chief Gabi Ashkenazi to serve as foreign minister: Party
AFP/Wednesday 13 May 2020
Former Israeli army chief Gabi Ashkenazi, who spent nearly four decades in the military, will be nominated as Israel’s next foreign minister, his Blue and White alliance said Wednesday. Ashkenazi held talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem ahead of his “appointment as minister of foreign affairs this coming Thursday,” said Blue and White, which is led by the incoming alternate prime minister, Benny Gantz.A unity government agreed between Gantz and veteran right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to be sworn in on Thursday evening, ending more than a year of political deadlock.Foreign affairs was a key profile secured by Blue and White in coalition talks with Netanyahu’s Likud party, along with the defence ministry which will be led by Gantz. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Ashkenazi joined Israel’s army in 1972 and fought in the Yom Kippur war a year later. He also took part in Operation Entebbe, an Israeli commando raid to rescue hostages from a plane that had been hijacked by Palestinian and German militants and diverted to Uganda’s main airport. Netanyahu’s brother Yonatan was killed in the operation. Ashkenazi went on to take part in or lead a series of high-profile and sometimes controversial operations. Turkey put Ashkenazi and three other Israeli military leaders on trial in absentia in 2012 over the deadly 2010 storming of a Turkish ship that had been bound for Gaza. He was army chief during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza in 2008-2009.

Israeli troops kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank clashes, as Pompeo arrives
AFP, Hebron, Palestinian Territories, Tel Aviv, IsraelWednesday 13 May 2020
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager during clashes in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Israel. A health ministry spokesman told AFP that Zaid Qaysia, 15, was killed by a live bullet to the head fired by Israeli troops in Al-Fawar refugee camp near the flashpoint southern city of Hebron. A further four Palestinians were wounded during clashes. The Israeli military said troops had entered the camp to make arrests and had been met with a “violent riot” in which shots were heard and a soldier was lightly injured. “Troops responded with riot dispersal means and live fire.“We are aware of a report regarding a Palestinian casualty and a number of injured Palestinians,” it added. Witnesses said the raid by Israeli force in the early hours had sparked clashes with residents. It was the second death in clashes in the West Bank in as many days. On Tuesday, the Israeli army suffered its first fatality of the year when a Palestinian stone-thrower killed a soldier during a similar raid in the northern village of Yaabad.Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli soldier was killed by a rock hurled by a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, an army spokeswoman told AFP. A military statement said that the 21-year-old soldier was hit in the head “during operational activity” in the village of Yaabad near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
The spokeswoman said she did not have further details.
Pompeo to meet Netanyahu
Pompeo arrived in Israel on Wednesday morning for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. He is expected to discuss Washington's support for Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank in a move the United Nations says is a violation of international law. Palestinian leaders have warned it could trigger a surge of violence. Pompeo will not meet US ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who is said by an embassy spokesman to be displaying “mild upper respiratory symptoms” although he has tested negative for COVID-19.

An American-led 'economic prosperity network' could be a good start to not relying on China
Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/May 13/2020
The post-World War II, American-led, rules-based, liberal, international order has long been, to borrow a metaphor from scholar Robert Kagan, a garden encroached upon by a jungle. The current global health and economic crisis reveals — to those with eyes that see — the startling extent to which the weeds and wild critters have overrun the fruits and flowers. Here’s the primary reason: Illiberal regimes neither recognize American leadership nor abide by the international order’s rules.The world’s most powerful illiberal regime rules China, from where COVID-19 originated and spread globally thanks to a toxic mix of incompetence, malevolence and deception. Beijing is not now nor will soon become a reliable partner of America and other liberal nations. Recognizing this reality, the Trump administration aims to reduce dependence on China for strategic goods and supply chains — pharmaceuticals, sensitive technology, weapons systems, anything essential for America’s public health and national security. Significantly, this effort appears to be conceived not as retrenchment, America First isolationism, but as leadership, America First in the sense of taking the point.
Reuters reported last week: “The United States is pushing to create an alliance of ‘trusted partners’ dubbed the ‘Economic Prosperity Network.’” The goal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, would be to work with friendly nations to “move the global economy forward.”
*Keith Krach, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, added in an email to me: “Transparency, accountability, respect for the rule of law, and reciprocity are essential values in a trusted relationship. Entities that respect those values are natural partners and are likely to prosper. Those that don’t, are likely unreliable as partners and pose a threat to stability.”

Asia Virus Latest: China City in Partial Lockdown, Seoul Sees Test Surge
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 13/2020
Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic:
- Chinese city in partial lockdown over virus outbreak -
A northeastern Chinese city has partially shut its borders, cut off transport links and closed schools after the emergence of a local COVID-19 cluster that has fuelled fears about a second wave of infections in China. Authorities in Jilin, with a population of more than four million, suspended bus services and said it will let residents leave the city only if they have tested negative for COVID-19 in the past 48 hours and complete an unspecified period of "strict self-isolation".
- Seoul sees virus tests surge after promising anonymity -
Screenings for the novel coronavirus have surged in South Korea since authorities introduced anonymous testing, officials said, as they scrambled to tackle a nightclub cluster amid concerns anti-gay prejudice could impede the response.
The country has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus, but a spike of new cases, driven by the cluster in venues in Seoul's Itaewon district -- including several gay clubs -- forced authorities to delay this week's planned re-opening of schools.
- Virus kills sumo wrestler in Japan -
A 28-year-old sumo wrestler died in Japan after contracting the novel coronavirus and suffering multiple organ failures, becoming the sport's first COVID-19 fatality, the national association said. Shobushi, a lower-ranking wrestler belonging to the Takadagawa stable in Tokyo, died after battling the disease for more than a month.
- Two new infections end Hong Kong's 24-day clean sheet -
Two people in Hong Kong tested positive for coronavirus, officials said, ending a 24-day run of no new local cases that saw the city begin to ease social distancing regulations.
The financial hub was on course for 28 days of no local transmissions -- a yardstick often used by epidemiologists to judge if an outbreak has been defeated.
- Equities mixed with second wave fears in focus -
Asian markets were mixed but investors remain on edge after Donald Trump's top virus adviser warned that easing lockdown measures too early could spark another wave of infections and batter the economic recovery.
- Australia church fined for selling bleach as virus cure -
A church in Australia has been fined for unlawfully advertising a purported "miracle" coronavirus cure that contains a bleach product, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said.
The medical regulator said MMS Australia had received 12 fines totalling Aus$151,200 (US$98,000) for promoting its "Miracle Mineral Solution" (MMS), which the TGA said contained a high concentration of sodium chlorite -- a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant.
- Nepal sees biggest jump in cases -
Nepal saw the highest single-day jump in its coronavirus tally, reporting 83 cases.
But the country's total number of confirmed infections remains relatively low at 217, with a majority of the cases recorded in the country's southern districts adjoining India.
- Pro golf returns to S. Korea -
Leading professional golfers will return to competitive action for the first time in months after the coronavirus shutdown when three of the world's top 10 women tee off in South Korea on Thursday. The domestic showpiece KLPGA Championship will follow the country's football and baseball leagues in starting behind closed doors at the Lakewood Country Club in Yangju, northeast of Seoul.
- Free beer heads to Aussie outback -
Free beer is on its way to help Australians in Queensland's outback celebrate the loosening of coronavirus restrictions, with a major brewer donating 3,000 litres to pubs as they prepare to reopen this weekend.
"I'm sure there's going to be a lot of happy patrons, a lot of happy families and let the XXXX Gold start flowing," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told media.
Queensland's outback pubs will be allowed to welcome up to 20 patrons from Saturday as the nation slowly rolls back virus restrictions.
- Cases in Indian slum past 1,000 -
Coronavirus cases in one of Asia's most populous slums -- Mumbai's Dharavi -- climbed past 1,000 late Wednesday after authorities said they were informed of nine deaths that had occurred earlier. The crowded neighbourhood, made famous in the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire", now has 1,028 positive cases and 40 deaths, the Mumbai city authority said. Mumbai, the financial capital, has an official tally of 14,947 virus infections with 556 deaths. Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, has been the worst-hit among states and territories, with 24,427 cases -- about a third of India's total -- and 921 deaths. Experts have warned that India is still not testing wide enough and the real number of cases could be higher.

U.S. Says China Hackers Trying to Steal COVID-19 Vaccine Research
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 13/2020
U.S. authorities warned Wednesday that Chinese hackers were attempting to steal coronavirus data on treatments and vaccines, adding fuel to Washington's war with Beijing over the pandemic. The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said organizations researching COVID-19 were at risk of "targeting and network compromise by the People's Republic of China." They warned that Chinese government-affiliated cyber actors and others were attempting to obtain "valuable intellectual property and public health data related to vaccines, treatments, and testing from networks and personnel affiliated with COVID-19-related research." "China's efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation's response to COVID-19," they said. The two organizations gave no evidence or examples to support the allegation. But the warning added to the growing battle between the superpowers over the outbreak that began in China and has killed at least 293,000 worldwide, and more than 83,000 in the United States. President Donald Trump has accused China of hiding the origins of the virus and not cooperating with the United States and other countries in efforts to research and fight the disease. Asked on Monday about reports that the U.S. believed Chinese hackers were targeting U.S. vaccine research, Trump replied: "What else is new with China? What else is new? Tell me. I'm not happy with China."
- Spies, academics targeted -
The warning Wednesday also underscored that Washington believes China has continued broad efforts to obtain U.S. commercial and technology secrets by any means possible, under President Xi Jinping's drive to make his country a technological leader this decade. In February the U.S. Justice Department indicted four Chinese army personnel suspected of hacking the massive database of credit rating agency Equifax, giving them the personal data of 145 million Americans. The U.S. recently also charged a number of academics with crimes relating to that alleged effort, both American and Chinese nationals.
On Monday the Department of Justice announced the arrest of University of Arkansas engineering professor Simon Saw-Teong Ang for hiding ties to the Chinese government and Chinese universities while he worked on projects funded by NASA. The indictment said Ang was secretly part of the Xi-backed Thousand Talents program, which Washington says China uses to collect research from abroad. Also on Monday Li Xiaojiang, a former professor at Emory University in Atlanta, admitted tax fraud in a case focused on his hidden earnings from China, also as a participant in the Thousand Talents program.
- Race for a vaccine -
Beijing has repeatedly denied the U.S. accusations.
"We are leading the world in COVID-19 treatment and vaccine research. It is immoral to target China with rumors and slanders in the absence of any evidence," Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday. The FBI warning comes as dozens of companies, institutes and countries around the world are racing to develop vaccines to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Many more groups are researching treatments for infected patients. Currently there is no proven therapy. An effective vaccine could allow countries to fully reopen and potentially earn millions of dollars for its creators.
Most expert believe it will take more than a year to get a vaccine fully approved, and much longer to produce enough of it for even a fraction of the people on the globe. The warning about Chinese hackers added to a series of alerts and reports accusing government-backed cyber operators in Iran, North Korea, Russia and China of malicious activity related to the coronavirus pandemic, from pumping out false news to targeting workers and scientists. Britain's National Cyber Security Centre and CISA said jointly last week they had detected large-scale "password spraying" tactics -- hackers trying to access accounts through commonly used passwords -- aimed at healthcare bodies and medical research organizations.

Niger Says 75 'Boko Haram Terrorists' Killed
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 13/2020
The Sahel state of Niger, which has been battling a bloody jihadist insurgency, said Wednesday around 75 Boko Haram combatants had been killed in the southeast and in neighbouring Nigeria. Twenty-five "terrorists" were killed on Monday south of Diffa, the main city in southeast Niger, while "about 50... were neutralised" the same day on Nigerian soil in the Lake Chad region, in two operations by a regional anti-jihadist force, the defence ministry said in a statement. The figures could not be verified independently. On Monday, troops from Niger's contingent in the regional force carried out "aggressive reconnaissance" on the banks of the Komadougou river and clashed with Boko Haram fighters at a locality 74 kilometres (45 miles) south of Diffa, the ministry said. "All the terrorist group," comprising 25 combatants, was killed, it said, adding that two soldiers were lightly injured. A vehicle, four motorbikes, weapons, ammunitions and various material "for military use" were seized, the statement said. The same day, around 50 "enemy elements" were "neutralised" in coalition air strikes and artillery bombardment of Tombon-Fulani, an island in the marshy Lake Chad region in northeastern Nigeria, the defence ministry added.
"Shelters and logistical dumps" were also destroyed, it said. Jihadists carried out a major attack against a Nigerien military camp outside Diffa on May 3, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, according to the government. A propaganda video released by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a Boko Haram splinter group affiliated to the so-called Islamic State, purported to show heavily-armed insurgents storm an army camp following sustained fighting and heavy weapons fire. Jihadists carried out another attack in the same area on Saturday. Boko Haram's insurgency has claimed more than 36,000 lives since it began in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and displaced nearly two million from their homes The violence spilt over into neighbouring Sahel countries in 2015, especially in the Lake Chad region, where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria converge. Diffa, a city of 200,000 people located near the Nigerian border, has been repeatedly attacked. The region is home to 120,000 refugees from Nigeria as well as 110,000 people internally displaced within Niger, according to UN data released in October. The countries around Lake Chad, together with Benin, have set up a combined group, the Multinational Joint Task Force, to counter the jihadists.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 13-14/2020
Turkey the Only NATO Member Singled out in Annual Religious Freedom Report
Tuğba Tanyeri-Erdemir and Aykan Erdemir/ Providence Magazine/May 13/2020
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2020 Annual Report on April 28 and recommended the US government include Turkey on the State Department’s “Special Watch List” for “engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.” This designation would single out Turkey as the only country among NATO’s 30 member states with such a flawed record on freedom of religion or belief, providing yet more evidence of Ankara’s ongoing drift from transatlantic values.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) and issued its first annual report in May 2000. In its 2009 report, USCIRF for the first time recommended adding Turkey to its watch list alongside ten other countries that “require close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom.” Three years later, USCIRF downgraded Turkey, recommending its designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC), alongside 15 others, a category reserved for the top offenders of religious freedom around the world, where violations are “systematic, ongoing, and egregious.” CPC designations have the potential to trigger the White House to issue IRFA-based sanctions, which Turkey has managed to avoid so far.
With the 2014 report, USCIRF upgraded Turkey back to the watch list of second-tier countries that fall short of a CPC designation, where it remained until this year. Ankara’s 2016 imprisonment of US pastor Andrew Brunson on trumped-up charges for almost two years, however, has prompted discussions in Washington about Turkey’s designation once again as a CPC.
While USCIRF’s 2020 annual report repeated some of its usual criticism from earlier years—such as government officials’ anti-Semitic hate speech and Ankara’s refusal to open the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary and comply fully with European Court of Human Rights rulings on freedom of religion or belief—there were also some new concerns.
The Turkish government’s imprisonment of Brunson, as well as other US persons, has prompted USCIRF to recommend passing the Defending United States Citizens and Diplomatic Staff from Political Prosecutions Act of 2019 (S.1075), which advocates “the release of United States citizens and locally employed diplomatic staff unlawfully detained in Turkey” and calls for the US president to impose sanctions on senior Turkish officials. USCIRF highlighted that Ankara targeted some of the detained US persons “in connection with religion or belief,” a violation that calls for “the imposition of sanctions on responsible Turkish officials.”
In the annual report, the commission also highlighted the need for US diplomatic staff to track religious minority communities’ efforts to “open, regain, renovate, and protect places of worship and other religious sites of spiritual, cultural, or historic importance,” while also working with the Turkish government to “ensure the protection of such sites.” USCIRF’s attempt to raise international awareness about the challenges Turkey’s religious minorities face in restoring, controlling, and maintaining access to their worship halls is of utmost importance. In 2015, Diyarbakir’s restored Surp Giragos Church, the largest Armenian Apostolic Church in the Middle East, was destroyed and desecrated during clashes between Turkish security forces and the militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which then led to the Turkish government’s confiscation of the church’s properties.
USCIRF highlighted Ankara’s problematic conduct not only in the Turkey section but also in its review of Syria. The commission called for the US government to “exert significant pressure on Turkey to provide a timeline for its withdrawal from Syria,” while ensuring that neither its military nor its Syrian proxies “expand their area of control in northeast Syria.” USCIRF also asked the administration to prevent Ankara from carrying out “religious and ethnic cleansing” in that area, or “otherwise abuse the rights of vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities there.”
USCIRF’s criticism of Turkey’s conduct over the last year has not been limited to the 2020 annual report. In March 2019, USCIRF condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s threats to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque ahead of the country’s mayoral elections. Last September, USCIRF called out the Turkish government over its latest interference in the internal affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church by imposing severe restrictions on the eligibility of individuals who can stand for election in the upcoming vote for a new patriarch. In April 2020, USCIRF identified Turkey in its updated Legislation Factsheet on Blasphemy Law as one of the 84 countries that maintain blasphemy laws, urging Ankara to repeal these laws that violate freedom of religion and expression and free all those detained or convicted for blasphemy.
The special concern USCIRF has for Turkey’s conduct is also evident in the fact that last June USCIRF chose to hold its first congressional hearing in ten years on “Religious Freedom in Turkey,” featuring among others Andrew Brunson. In her opening remarks, then-USCIRF Commissioner Kristina Arriaga warned about Turkey’s “downward trajectory on freedom of religion or belief.”
The issues USCIRF has chosen to highlight in its 2020 report and the commission’s efforts over the last year accurately reflect the key obstacles to freedom of religion or belief in Turkey. The commission’s recommendation for the US government to include Turkey on the State Department’s “Special Watch List” is an important reminder for Ankara to address its longstanding shortcomings in the field of minority rights and religious freedoms. It is, however, also important for USCIRF to include in next year’s report a key grievance that it failed to include in the 2020 report, namely Turkey’s refusal to provide full legal status to religious communities, which disproportionately affects minority faiths. For the time being, US officials could make up for this omission by continuing to raise this key grievance in their interactions with their Turkish counterparts.
*Tugba Tanyeri-Erdemir is the coordinator of the Anti-Defamation League’s Task Force on Middle East Minorities. Follow her @TurkishFacade. Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). He serves on the Anti-Defamation League’s Task Force on Middle East Minorities and the steering committee of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB). Follow him @aykan_erdemir.

Taliban destroys Afghan military outpost in Laghman
Bill Roggio/ FDD's Long War Journal/May 13/2020
At least 27 Afghan soldiers were killed and nine more remain missing following a Taliban attack on an Afghan National Army outpost in the eastern province of Laghman on May 10.
The Taliban has relentlessly attacked Afghan security forces since the U.S. and the group signed an agreement on Feb 29. that sets the conditions for American forces to withdraw from the country.
When news of the Taliban attack on Afghan forces in Alishing district in Laghman broke yesterday, the Afghan military incorrectly claimed that only six soldiers were killed, that the assault was repulsed, and that the Taliban took “heavy casualties,” TOLONews reported.
A provincial official said the death toll for Afghan forces was much higher, with 22 killed. The Taliban, which claimed credit for the attack, put the number of Afghan forces killed at 24, but did not comment on its casualties.
A video released on Twitter by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid contradicted the Afghan military’s claim that the attack was beaten back. The video showed the burned out wreckage of more that a dozen military vehicles strewn outside of a military outpost. While the authenticity of the video cannot be independently verified, similar videos made by the Taliban in the past have proven to be authentic.
Alishing district is a known Taliban hotspot. Of Laghman’s five districts, Alishing and Alingar are assessed by FDD’s Long War Journal to be contested.
ATTACKS SOAR AS U.S. OFFICIALS CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR A “REDUCTION IN VIOLENCE”
The attack in on the Afghan National Army in Alishing is but one of many by the Taliban since the Feb. 29 agreement was signed. The Taliban has been clear that it will continue to attack Afghan security forces after signing the withdrawal agreement.
The Taliban has increased its attacks on Afghan forces “by more than 70 percent between March 1 [the day after signing the so-called peace agreement with the U.S.] and April 15 compared with the same period a year ago,” Reuters reported.
The Taliban’s surge in attacks has piqued U.S. officials and military commanders. On May 2, General Colonel Sonny Leggett, the spokesman for U.S. Forces -Afghanistan and Resolute Support, released a letter to Taliban spokesman Mujahid calling for “restraint” and a “reduction in violence” in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Leggett, “General Miller also discussed with your military representatives in Doha the need for all sides to reduce violence …”
Mujahid responded by telling the U.S. military to “honor your own obligations.” The Taliban has accused the U.S. military of launching airstrikes against the group, which the U.S. military has denied.
U.S. officials have repeatedly claimed the Taliban has committed to a so-called “reduction in violence.” Leggett cited Miller’s discussion with Taliban commanders in Doha as evidence.
However, a discussion is not a commitment, and without the commitment in writing, Leggett, Miller, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and others berating the Taliban to honor its agreement have little to stand on.
There is nothing in the three and half page agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban that mentions a reduction on violence, let alone a ceasefire, as some U.S. officials are demanding. Because of this, the Taliban will continue military operations against the Afghan government.
*Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD’s Long War Journal.

Globalization will get another chance despite being benched
Mohamed A. El-Erian/Arab News/May 132020
Having already been buffeted by two big shocks in the last 10 years, the global economy’s highly interconnected wiring is suffering a third because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Globalization thus faces a potential “three-strikes-and-out” situation that could well result in a gradual but rather prolonged delinking of trade and investment, adding to the secular headwinds already facing the global economy.
Appeals to recommit to the current globalization process are almost certain to fall on deaf ears — particularly because this latest shock will be driven simultaneously by governments, companies and households in developed countries. Those keen to preserve globalization in the longer term would instead be better advised to focus on minimizing the disruption caused by the coming period of deglobalization and laying the groundwork for a more sustainable process thereafter.
For starters, it is already clear that many firms will look to strike a more risk-averse balance between efficiency and resilience as they emerge from the damaging pandemic shock. The corporate world’s multi-decade romance with cost-effective global supply chains and just-in-time inventory management will give way to a more localized approach involving the reshoring of certain activities.
This inclination will be reinforced by government mandates to secure safer inputs for sectors deemed to be of national security interest. We are already seeing such requirements in the US for energy generation, telecommunications, health care materials, and pharmaceuticals. It is only a matter of time until this trend spreads to other sectors and countries.
The aftermath of the current crisis management phase is also likely to feature an intensified blame game, adding a geopolitical impetus to deglobalization. Already, the US is complaining that China didn’t do enough to contain the spread of the virus and inform other countries of its severity. Some American politicians have even called for China to pay reparations as a result. And many in America and elsewhere perceive Beijing’s initial COVID-19 response as yet another example of the country failing to live up to its international responsibilities.
Moreover, the worsening geopolitical situation will likely intensify the weaponization of economic policy tools that accelerated during the recent China-US trade war — the second recent blow to the globalization process. That, in turn, will confirm many multinational companies’ fears that they can no longer rely on two key operating assumptions: The ever closer integration and interconnectedness of global production, consumption and investment flows; and the orderly and relatively predictable resolution of trade and investment conflicts through multilateral institutions applying the rule of law.
Today’s anti-China rhetoric will also give fresh momentum to the pushback against globalization that first emerged a decade ago. With some segments of the population feeling alienated and marginalized by the process, the anti-establishment backlash gave rise in some places to more extreme political movements that have scored some surprising successes, not least Brexit. Such developments greatly weakened global policy collaboration, as has been starkly evident in the world’s uncoordinated approach to containing COVID-19.
This is not an ideal time for the world economy to undergo secular deglobalization. Most countries, and virtually all segments of their economies (companies, governments and households), will emerge from the crisis with higher levels of debt. Absent a major round of debt restructuring, developing countries in particular will find their ability to service this debt hampered by high levels of unemployment, lost income, more sluggish economic activity and, perhaps, less dynamic consumption.
Today’s anti-China rhetoric will give fresh momentum to the pushback against globalization that first emerged a decade ago.
Against this background, those who appreciate the power of cross-border interconnectivity to unleash win-win economic opportunities and reduce the risk of major military conflicts will be inclined to defend the pre-pandemic status quo. But this approach is unlikely to gain traction at a time when governments have become more inward-looking as they battle the pandemic’s direct and indirect damage, companies are still reeling from disruptions to their global supply chains and markets, and households have a heightened sense of economic insecurity.
Rather than fight an unwinnable war of principle, advocates of globalization should adopt a more pragmatic approach that focuses on two priorities. First, they should find ways to manage an orderly and gradual process of partial deglobalization, including avoiding a descent into self-feeding disruptions that result in unnecessary pain and suffering for many. Second, they should start putting in place a firmer foundation to relaunch a more inclusive and sustainable process of globalization, in which the private sector will inevitably play a bigger design and implementation role.
To revert to the baseball analogy, this third strike against globalization has sent it back to the dugout for now. But, as in baseball, there will be another at-bat. The challenge now is to use the time on the bench to understand the situation better and come back stronger.
*Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, was Chairman of US President Barack Obama’s Global Development Council. He is the author, most recently, of “The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability, and Avoiding the Next Collapse.” Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2020.

Human kindness providing light amid the darkness
Kerry Boyd Anderson/Arab News/May 13/2020
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is clearly a global crisis, bringing sadness and suffering as people die or are taken ill, causing an economic crisis, and exacerbating inequalities and divisions. At the same time, as crises often do, it has also brought out the best in many people. In some cases, people work through institutions that are designed to help those in need; in other cases, individuals are developing creative ways to help and connect with others.
Many front-line workers are taking risks to care for the sick and provide essential services. Health care workers, especially the doctors and nurses caring for patients with COVID-19, are particularly exposed to the virus, but many of them continue working to save lives and to ease the suffering of those who are sick. Many people that society often overlooks — such as grocery clerks, cleaners and taxi drivers — are now seen as critical to maintaining food supply and other vital services. They also take on significant risks, given their greater potential for exposure to the virus.
Some of the most touching examples of people’s responses to the pandemic have been efforts to show appreciation for these front-line workers, especially health care workers. From China to Lebanon, Italy to the US and more, entire communities have opened their windows, stood at their doors or climbed onto roofs, balconies or fire escapes to clap and cheer for doctors and nurses. These efforts have not only helped to boost the morale of medical workers; in some urban areas they have helped form new connections in the age of social distancing.
There are many examples of people making donations of money, food or essential items to help those directly affected by the virus or by the economic crisis. As the economic crisis has led to a massive growth in food insecurity, religious institutions, charities, food banks, restaurants and individuals have stepped up to provide food around the world, including to street children in India, refugees in the Middle East, and unemployed workers in the US. In just one example, well-known Spanish-American chef Jose Andres has worked through his charity, World Central Kitchen, to provide meals to those in need and to help boost struggling restaurants.
Multiple wealthy individuals and celebrities have made major donations to help provide food, medical equipment and protective gear, as well as to fund research and efforts to combat the virus. While high-profile donors have the means to provide large amounts of crucial funding, many of the most touching donations have come from individuals giving what they can to support their communities. People are giving to those in need in many ways, such as making and donating masks, providing food to health care workers, and offering free tutoring to children.
Human beings, as social creatures, are designed to connect with each other in person, especially to celebrate important moments in life, participate in the rituals that define those moments, and comfort each other in mourning. Sadly, large gatherings for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and funerals are not safe at this time. It does not feel normal for people to mourn or celebrate while physically separated from many friends and family, but there are still ways to show love and support.
People are finding creative ways to celebrate together. Children often struggle to understand why they cannot have parties to celebrate their birthdays, so their communities are finding new ways to help them feel special. These include dropping off gifts and treats, forming local car “parades” to greet the child, and singing “Happy Birthday” from a safe distance. The pandemic has disrupted weddings around the world, but many couples and their families have still found ways to marry and celebrate. Some stream their ceremony online, scale down their ceremonies to a very small group, or prioritize being together over having the clothes and party they had planned. Their families are finding ways to celebrate with them, such as playing music from their cars while the couple dances. Many graduates are missing the usual graduation ceremonies and celebrations but are still finding ways to mark their accomplishments, with online get-togethers, small family celebrations, and more.
Many of the most touching donations have come from individuals giving what they can to support their communities.
Mourning the loss of a loved one is a particularly difficult experience while keeping to the social distancing rules. Still, people are finding ways to connect and support each other. These include streaming funerals online, placing flowers in seats at a funeral to represent those who cannot be there in person, and virtual gatherings to remember the loved one with recollections, photos, music, etc.
Of course, there are many more examples of how people are showing kindness and support during this difficult time. Many teachers continue to determinedly teach children, albeit online. Religious leaders are finding creative ways to minister to people and support them during this time of anxiety and need. Many physical trainers, yoga teachers and others are providing classes online, sometimes for free or at a discount, to help people remain healthy.
There are many ways that people can contribute to their communities in the middle of this pandemic. The really good news is that there are far too many wonderful examples of individual kindness to record here. They provide lights of hope in these dark times.
*Kerry Boyd Anderson is a writer and political risk consultant with more than 16 years’ experience as a professional analyst of international security issues and Middle East political and business risk. Her previous positions include deputy director for advisory with Oxford Analytica and managing editor of Arms Control Today. Twitter: @KBAresearch