English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 10/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.november10.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
The thief comes only to take the sheep and
to put them to death: he comes for their destruction: I have come so that they
may have life and have it in greater measure. I am the good keeper of sheep: the
good keeper gives his life for the sheep
John 10/01-21/Truly I say to you, He who does not
go through the door into the place where the sheep are kept, but gets in by some
other way, is a thief and an outlaw. He who goes in by the door is the keeper of
the sheep. The porter lets him in; and the sheep give ear to his voice; he says
over the names of the sheep, and takes them out. When he has got them all out,
he goes before them, and the sheep go after him, for they have knowledge of his
voice. They will not go after another who is not their keeper, but will go from
him in flight, because his voice is strange to them. In this Jesus was teaching
them in the form of a story: but what he said was not clear to them. So Jesus
said again, Truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before
me are thieves and outlaws: but the sheep did not give ear to them. I am the
door: if any man goes in through me he will have salvation, and will go in and
go out, and will get food. The thief comes only to take the sheep and to put
them to death: he comes for their destruction: I have come so that they may have
life and have it in greater measure. I am the good keeper of sheep: the good
keeper gives his life for the sheep. He who is a servant, and not the keeper or
the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and goes in flight, away from the
sheep; and the wolf comes down on them and sends them in all directions: Because
he is a servant he has no interest in the sheep. I am the good keeper; I have
knowledge of my sheep, and they have knowledge of me, Even as the Father has
knowledge of me and I of the Father; and I am giving my life for the sheep.And I
have other sheep which are not of this field: I will be their guide in the same
way, and they will give ear to my voice, so there will be one flock and one
keeper. For this reason am I loved by the Father, because I give up my life so
that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me; I give it up of myself.
I have power to give it up, and I have power to take it again. These orders I
have from my Father. There was a division again among the Jews because of these
words. And a number of them said, He has an evil spirit and is out of his mind;
why do you give ear to him? Others said, These are not the words of one who has
an evil spirit. Is it possible for an evil spirit to make blind people see?
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on November 09-10/2020
Ministry of Health: 1119 new Coronavirus
cases
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
President Aoun, PM-designate follow-up on government dossier
Kubis pushes for rapid negotiations on formation of new Lebanese government
Lebanese, Syrian figures hit by latest US sanctions targetting supporters of
Assad
Bassil’s presidential ambitions likely dashed by US sanctions
US Envoy: Lebanon’s Bassil Was Open to Breaking Ties with Hezbollah
Bassil Says Shea Tried to 'Drive a Wedge' between Him and Hizbullah
Franjieh ‘Adopts’ Bassil’s 'Earlier' Position that Corrupt Get Sanctioned
Text of Treasury Department press release: Treasury targets corruption in
Lebanon
Lebanon to Begin Lockdown Saturday, Qatar Donates Field Hospitals
Lebanon Mulls New Virus Lockdown this Week
Hassan Says Full Lockdown 'Crucial' to Strengthen Healthcare Capabilities
Beirut Traders Association Says Opposed to New Lockdown
Two Lebanese Youth Offer Migrant Workers a Way Back Home
Bohsali: Lowering Lira Withdrawals Cap Threatens Food Security
Lady of the Mountain Gathering Calls for Aoun’s Resignation
Gebran Bassil Has Been Sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department/Michael
Young/Malcolm H.Kerr Carnegie MEC/November 09/2020
A Letter To The Moronite Bishopes/Elie Aoun/November 09/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
November 09-10/2020
Trump and Pence celebrate Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine
success, but the government didn't fund its development
Trump fires Esper as Pentagon chief after election defeat
Pfizer, BioNTech Say their COVID-19 Vaccine is More than 90% Effective
WHO Chief Looks forward to Working 'Very Closely' with Biden Team
UN Agency for Palestinians May Cut Salaries amid Cash Crunch
Fighting Rages Around Strategic City in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia Says
Human Toll of Incendiary Weapons Documented in New Report
Merkel, after Biden Victory, Says EU and US Must Work Side by Side
Iran's Oil Industry Will Not Yield to US Sanctions, Minister Says
UN opens Libya peace talks in Tunisian capital with eye on elections
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 09-10/2020
Three Leaders, One Catastrophic Consciousness/Hazem
Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2020
Biden’s America in a World That Has Changed/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/November
09/2020
Don’t Freak out about Covid-19 Reinfection Stories/Faye Flam/Bloomberg/November
09/2020
New concern about Turkey’s intent as Libyan talks start in Tunis/Jemai Guesmi/The
Arab Weekly/November 09/2020
Why Biden must continue Trump’s legacy of deregulation/Omar Al-Ubaydli/Al
Arabiya/November 09/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 09-10/2020
Ministry of Health: 1119 new Coronavirus cases
NNA/Monday 09 November 2020
The Ministry of Public Health on Monday announced the registration of 1119 new
Coronavirus cases, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date
to 95,355.
It also indicated that 9 death cases were registered during the past 24 hours.
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at
LBP 3900
NNA/Monday 09 November 2020
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money
changing companies and institutions, Monday’s USD exchange rate against the
Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900
President Aoun, PM-designate follow-up on
government dossier
NNA/Monday 09 November 2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Monday received designated
Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, this afternoon at Baabda Palace, and continued with
him the study of the government file.—Presidency Press Office
Kubis pushes for rapid negotiations on formation of new
Lebanese government
NNA/Monday 09 November 2020
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, on Monday said via
twitter, “It is essential for the stability of Lebanon that the negotiations on
the formation of a new government are rapidly brought to a successful conclusion
building on the agreements already reached between Lebanese President, Michel
Aoun, and PM-designate, Saad Hariri, on the shape of the government and
distribution of the portfolios.
External factors should be dealt with separately from the government formation
process.”
Lebanese, Syrian figures hit by latest US sanctions
targetting supporters of Assad
Reuters/Monday 09 November 2020
The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on officials, entities and
individuals it accused of providing support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
as Washington continued its efforts to cut off funds for Assad’s government.
The action, which also targeted the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral
Resources, aims to push Assad’s government back toward United Nations-led
negotiations and broker an end to the country’s nearly decade-long war.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it slapped sanctions on Syrian
military officials, members of the parliament, and government entities, as well
as on Syrian and Lebanese people it accused of attempting to revive Syria’s
petroleum industry.
“The Treasury Department is determined to continue to apply economic pressure on
the Assad regime and its supporters for the repression conducted by the regime,”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.
Millions of people have fled Syria and millions more internally displaced after
a crackdown by Assad on protesters in 2011 led to civil war, with Iran and
Russia backing the government and the United States supporting the opposition.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington supports UN Special Envoy
for Syria Geir Pedersen’s “call for a nationwide ceasefire, the release of
political prisoners and detainees, the drafting of a new constitution, as well
as the convening of UN-supervised free and fair elections.”“The Assad regime has
a choice: take irreversible steps toward a peaceful resolution of this nearly
decade-long conflict or face further crippling sanctions,” Pompeo said in a
separate statement. Among the 19 individuals and entities blacklisted in
Monday’s action are Syrian Air Force Intelligence Unit chief Ghassan Ismail and
Syrian Political Security Directorate head Nasr al-Ali, as well as companies in
the oil sector. Syria has been under US and European Union sanctions that have
frozen the assets of the state and hundreds of companies and individuals.
Washington already bans exports to Syria and investment there by Americans, as
well as transactions involving oil and hydrocarbon products.
Bassil’s presidential ambitions likely dashed by US
sanctions
The Arab Weekly/November 09/2020
BEIRUT - The head of the Free Patriotic Movement and former Lebanese Foreign
Minister Gebran Bassil said on Sunday that his refusal to sever ties with
Hezbollah was the main reason for imposing US sanctions on him.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Gebran Bassil, for
his involvement in corruption and his relationship with Hezbollah, which is
classified as a terrorist organisation by the United States and a number of
Western and Arab countries. His inclusion on the sanctions list constitutes a
double blow to the “spoiled son” of Hezbollah’s era, who is aspiring to succeed
President Michel Aoun in Baabda Palace. Political analysts believe that, with
these US sanctions against him, Bassil has also lost all chances of promoting
his political fortunes internationally and that the sanctions would effectively
demolish his political ambitions. The most that Bassil could aspire to now is to
be able to preserve his position as head of the Free Patriotic Movement, and
even this will not be possible in the medium term. These analysts point out that
these sanctions will strengthen the position of a minority movement within the
party that had always had reservations about Bassil’s policies.
The Lebanese president’s son-in-law tried, at a press conference in the capital
Beirut to dismiss the significance of the US sanctions. He said that this
“unjust” decision against him came in response to his principled position of
defending Hezbollah and rejecting foreign interference in the party’s policies.
Bassil also revealed that before sanctions were imposed on him, President Michel
Aoun had informed him that a senior American official had called him and asked
him to break the Free Patriotic Movement's relationship with Hezbollah. Bassil
added that he was recently informed “by the American ambassador (in Beirut) that
four demands must be met, otherwise American sanctions will be imposed ... and
the word corruption never came up in the entire conversation.”
He indicated that the first demand was to “immediately sever ties with
Hezbollah,” but did not reveal the other demands. According to his version of
the facts, the Americans had given him several grace periods to comply with
their demands and later abandoned their other demands and “stayed with the
demand of severing ties with Hezbollah,” a party backed by Iran.
He added that by rejecting the US request, the sanctions against him were
approved, and they turned out to be “related to corruption and hardly mentioned
Hezbollah, while they (the Americans) never mentioned this to me before and only
told me about Hezbollah.”
Basil had indicated that the US administration had tried before to bribe him in
exchange for giving up his ties with Hezbollah, but “my natural quick reaction
was that things do not work this way with me and that I reject the whole issue
... We are friends and not agents,” as he put it.
Bassil described the sanctions against him as a “crime” and said that he would
hire a law firm to request before the US judiciary the “annulment of the
decision” and “file for moral and material compensation.”
It had long been expected that Washington would include the leader of the Free
Patriotic Movement on its sanctions list, which already includes the political
aide of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Ali Hassan Khalil, because of his
cooperation with Hezbollah.
Bassil considered that the US request to sever ties with Hezbollah “contradicts
a fundamental principle of the movement, which is its refusal to take
instructions from any foreign country.”
“We cannot stab any Lebanese for the sake of a foreigner ... and it is not
possible to turn against Hezbollah ... We will not walk down the path of
isolating any Lebanese component, even if it costs us dearly ... Neither your
planes nor your threats, nor your sanctions will work with us,” a defiant Bassil
added.
He further pointed out that “the road with the United States has always been
difficult, but we are forced to walk it and endure injustice to remain free in
our homeland and to protect Lebanon from division and infighting, while
insisting that we remain friends of the American people, no matter how unjust
their administration is with us.”
The US Treasury Department had stated that Bassil was “responsible for or
complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in corruption, including the
misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for
personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of
natural resources, or bribery.” Moreover, an American official accused him of
using his influence to delay the formation of a government in Lebanon. He said
his political partnership with Hezbollah had allowed the latter to “expand its
influence.”
Observers believe that Bassil's attempts to deny any direct involvement in
corruption cannot hide the reality of his responsibility in the country’s
current acute financial crisis, as the head of a party participating in the
governing coalition,and also as a former state official in charge of the energy
portfolio.
Observers point out that Bassil monopolised the energy portfolio for years, and
during that period there had been no improvements made on that front. Rather, he
increased the public debt in Lebanon by about $50 billion due to his reluctance
to pursue any feasible project in the electricity sector, whether through the
help of the German company Siemens or through Arab funds, particularly the
Kuwait Fund.
Observers say that Bassil sought to exploit his partnership with Hezbollah to
strengthen his political influence, throwing off all existing balances through
his interference in the process of forming a government.
Lebanon is currently suffering from a governmental crisis due to a large extent
to the high demands erected by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement in the
face of the Prime Minister-designate, the Sunni leader Saad Hariri, including
insisting that the Maronite current obtain the crucial third of the ministerial
portfolios in addition to maintaining the energy portfolio for his party.
Bassil’s intransigence comes at a time when the country is facing the risk of
financial and economic collapse, which is raising serious concerns internally
and externally. Observers expect him to stick to his demands and get even closer
to Hezbollah in the hope of preserving his weight in Lebanese politics.
“We cannot stab Hezbollah in the back,” he said at his press conference, “and we
will not let go (of Hezbollah) under external pressure. If we do that, it would
be for internal reasons,” alluding at the same to the existence of several
disagreements between his party and Hezbollah, among which are “peace in the
region and Israel’s existence.”
Bassil, 50, is one of the people closest to Aoun. He is the current president of
the Free Patriotic Movement led by the President of the Republic, and a close
ally of Hezbollah under the terms of a memo of understanding between the two
parties dating back to 2006.
This is the first time that the United States imposes sanctions on a
high-ranking politician who is one of Hezbollah's Christian allies. In
September, Washington also imposed sanctions on former minister from the
Christian Marada Movement allied with Hezbollah, Youssef Fenianos, and former
Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil of the Shiite Amal Movement headed by
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah’s most prominent ally in Lebanon.
On Saturday, President Michel Aoun requested the evidence that prompted
Washington to impose sanctions on Bassil.
The close relationship between the Aoun and Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement and
Hezbollah goes back to 2006, when the two parties signed a strategic partnership
agreement, known as the Mar Mikhael Agreement. That agreement came during a
period of highly sensitive circumstances that Lebanon was going through
following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, in
which a Hezbollah operative was convicted a few months ago.
US Envoy: Lebanon’s Bassil Was Open to Breaking Ties with Hezbollah
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
The US envoy to Lebanon said on Monday that head of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic
Movement MP Gebran Bassil, who has been sanctioned by the United States, had
voiced willingness to sever ties with Hezbollah, challenging his assertion that
he rejected the idea outright.
The US on Friday blacklisted Bassil, son-in-law of Lebanon’s president and
leader of its biggest parliamentary bloc, over charges of corruption and ties
with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which Washington deems a terrorist group. Bassil
slammed the sanctions as unjust and politically motivated, saying they were
imposed after he refused to submit to a US demand to break ties with Hezbollah
as that would risk Lebanon’s national unity and peace. US Ambassador Dorothy
Shea told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that Bassil, in exchanges with her, had
“expressed willingness to break with Hezbollah, on certain conditions.
“He actually expressed gratitude that the United States had gotten him to see
how the relationship is disadvantageous to the party,” said Shea, without
elaborating on the conditions.
Bassil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He, along with an array of the political elite, have been the target of mass
protests since October 2019 against widely perceived corruption, waste and
mismanagement of state funds. Bassil denied corruption charges and said he would
fight the sanctions in US courts and sue for damages. President Michel Aoun said
Lebanon would seek evidence from Washington. “We endeavor to make as much
information publicly available as possible when announcing designations, but, as
is often the case, some of this information is not releasable,” said Shea,
adding that Bassil was welcome to legally contest the blacklisting.
Bassil was sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act, which targets human rights abuses and corruption. Shea did not rule out
further sanctions against him or others in Lebanon.
Washington in September blacklisted two former Lebanese government ministers it
accused of directing political and economic favors to Hezbollah.
Bassil Says Shea Tried to 'Drive a Wedge' between Him
and Hizbullah
Naharnet/November
09/2020
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil hit back swiftly on Monday at
remarks made by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea. “If the U.S. policies
have so far failed to break the understanding between the FPM and Hizbullah,
despite all the pressures practiced by Washington over the years, the attempt to
drive a wedge between them through a statement speaking of ‘certain conditions’
instead of a track of comprehensive national dialogue is a cute attempt, but
this way will certainly fail,” Bassil’s press office said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Shea announced in a video statement that Bassil had recently
expressed to her his “willingness to break with Hizbullah, on certain
conditions.”Separately, Bassil’s office said that Shea’s other remarks prove
that “there is no evidence behind the corruption accusations addressed to the
FPM chief.”“If this information is available and she does not want to publish
it, MP Bassil demands that the relevant U.S. authority at least hand over the
information to the competent Lebanese authorities,” the office added. In her
remarks, Shea said the U.S. had “endeavored to make as much information publicly
available as possible” when announcing the sanctions on Bassil, but noted that
“as is often the case, some of this information is not releasable.”
Franjieh ‘Adopts’ Bassil’s 'Earlier' Position that
Corrupt Get Sanctioned
Agence France Presse/November
09/2020
Marada Movement chief Sleiman Franjeih vented at the Free Patriotic Movement and
newly US sanctioned ex-minister Jebran Bassil, saying the latter was right to
say that US sanctions unveil “corrupt” officials in Lebanon, in a jab at Bassil.
Franjieh was indirectly hitting at Bassil saying he too was sanctioned because
of corruption. “After the US sanctions against (Marada) minister Youssef
Fenianos and (Hizbullah) minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Bassil and some FPM
officials reacted saying (sanctions) the corrupt and perpetrators were finally
revealed. Commenting on the US sanctions against Jebran today, I adopt Bassil’s
stance then,” said Franjieh. The US Treasury announced sanctions against former
energy and foreign affairs minister Jebran Bassil Friday, accusing him of
corruption involving billions of dollars that has left the economy in a
shambles. Sanctions were imposed in September on former finance minister Ali
Hassan Khalil and former Marada transport minister Youssef Fenianos for alleged
corruption and support of Hizbullah. On claims that sanctions against Bassil
have freed Franjieh’s path from a future rival for the presidency post, Franjieh
brushed these off. “The presidential election issue can not be decided today.
The name of the future president highly depends on the circumstances when the
time is due in two years,” said Franjieh.
Text of Treasury Department press release: Treasury targets corruption in
Lebanon
Treasury Targets Corruption in Lebanon
November 6, 2020
Washington – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Gibran Bassil (Bassil), the President of the
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) political party and Member of Parliament (MP),
pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, for his role in corruption in Lebanon.
E.O. 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act, targets corruption and serious human rights abuse around the
world.
“The systemic corruption in Lebanon’s political system exemplified by Bassil has
helped to erode the foundation of an effective government that serves the
Lebanese people,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This designation further
demonstrates that the United States supports the Lebanese people in their
continued calls for reform and accountability.”
CORRUPTION IN LEBANON BENEFITS ELITES WHILE LEBANESE SUFFER
Lebanon has long suffered from corruption and economic mismanagement by power
brokers who advance their own interests at the expense of the Lebanese people
they are supposed to represent. Since October 2019, protests with participation
from a broad representation of Lebanese citizens have called for political,
social, and economic reform in Lebanon. Successive governments in Lebanon have
failed to stem rising inflation, reduce the country’s mounting debt, improve
failing infrastructure, or ensure that reliable electricity and other services
reached Lebanese households. Socioeconomic conditions for ordinary Lebanese
continue to deteriorate while political leaders are insulated from the crisis
and are failing to implement needed reforms.
Lebanon continues to experience an unprecedented garbage crisis caused by
mismanagement and corruption that is continually pouring toxic waste into the
Mediterranean Sea, polluting the water and ultimately endangering the health of
its citizens. The country is also experiencing an energy crisis that leaves
people without electricity for hours or even days at a time, and government
officials offer constant claims that they are fixing the problem, only to spend
billions of dollars resulting in no improvement for Lebanese citizens. Political
dysfunction like this tragically contributed to the catastrophic explosion at
the port of Beirut on August 4, which many saw as a further example of the
negligence and corruption that victimizes Lebanese citizens while enriching the
political elite.
GIBRAN BASSIL AT THE FOREFRONT OF CORRUPTION IN LEBANON
Bassil has held several high-level posts in the Lebanese government, including
serving as the Minister of Telecommunications, the Minister of Energy and Water,
and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, and Bassil has been marked by
significant allegations of corruption. In 2017, Bassil strengthened his
political base by appointing friends to positions and purchasing other forms of
influence within Lebanese political circles. In 2014, while Minister of Energy,
Bassil was involved in approving several projects that would have steered
Lebanese government funds to individuals close to him through a group of front
companies.
Bassil was designated for being a current or former government official, or a
person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or
complicit in, or who has directly or indirectly engaged in corruption, including
the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for
personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of
natural resources, or bribery.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the
individual above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50
percent or more by him, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in
the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked
and must be reported to OFAC. Unless authorized by a general or specific license
issued by OFAC or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all
transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that
involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked
persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of
funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or
the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from
any such person.
GLOBAL MAGNITSKY
Building upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the
President signed E.O. 13818 on December 20, 2017, in which the President found
that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source,
in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such
scope and gravity that it threatens the stability of international political and
economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that
form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have
devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the
rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of
dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to
impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human
rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system
of the United States from abuse by these same persons.
Lebanon to Begin Lockdown Saturday, Qatar Donates Field
Hospitals
Naharnet/November
09/2020
Lebanon’s anti-coronavirus ministerial committee on Monday agreed on enforcing a
general lockdown from Saturday morning until November 30, TV networks said. Al-Jadeed
TV said the decision was taken through a vote and that the final decision will
be taken by the Higher Defense Council on Tuesday. LBCI television meanwhile
reported that the lockdown will not apply to Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International
Airport, which will remain open to flights. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad
Hassan told the TV station that he “insisted on securing the appropriate
circumstances for the lockdown.”
“I have asked the Defense Ministry to check on the food parcels so that they be
provided to the poorest families and we must secure the success of this
lockdown,” Hassan added. “A two-week lockdown is something logical and it is
true that there are social and economic concerns, but we have reached a stage in
which it is difficult to provide beds to coronavirus patients, and within two
weeks we will equip 60 ICU beds in government hospitals,” the minister went on
to say. LBCI meanwhile reported that Qatari Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed
Hassan Jaber al-Jaber has called Hassan to inform him that Qatar will donate two
field hospitals to Lebanon. “The first will be set up in the Tyre region and
will contain 500 beds and the second will be set up in the North-Tripoli region
and will also contain 500 beds,” the TV network added.
Lebanon Mulls New Virus Lockdown this Week
Agence France Presse/November
09/2020
Amid a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in Lebanon, the country is weighing a
total 15-day nationwide lockdown starting Thursday in an effort to stem the
surge in coronavirus cases, media reports said Monday. The Higher Defense
Council will reportedly meet to decide on the lockdown which will extend over 15
consecutive days as a preliminary move, before other appropriate steps are taken
shall the lockdown reap effective results translated in a drop in infections.
Reports said that strict security measures will be taken this time to make sure
that people who flout restrictions will face fines. Lebanon has already imposed
a raft of restrictions in recent weeks, but compliance has been patchy and the
country has largely continued to function as usual. The move will include a wide
range of security checkpoints in various Lebanese regions, and penalties will be
imposed on violators. The decision will be taken after a series of
recommendations from the parliamentary committees and the corona follow-up
committee. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan had warned earlier this month
that Lebanon is “at a very dangerous crossroads,” warning that hospitals are
running out of intensive care beds.
The country of six million people has recorded 94,236 cases of Covid-19
including 723 deaths since February. Around a third of the population are Syrian
or Palestinian refugees, many living in overcrowded camps. A first country-wide
lockdown imposed in March was effective in stemming the spread of the virus, and
restrictions were gradually lifted as summer beckoned people outdoors. But then
daily infections slowly ticked up again -- and they surged after the monstrous
Beirut port blast of August 4 ravaged swathes of the capital and overwhelmed
hospitals. Daily new cases have risen from a few dozen in early summer to more
than 1,000 now.
Hassan Says Full Lockdown 'Crucial' to Strengthen
Healthcare Capabilities
Naharnet/November
09/2020
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan highlighted the necessity on Monday to
impose nationwide lockdown amid the sharp rise in the number of coronavirus
infection cases in Lebanon. “Full lockdown is a chance to beef up the readiness
of the healthcare sector,” Hassan said following a meeting of the Medical
Scientific Committee at the Ministry of Health. The minister stressed that
partial lockdown measures imposed earlier “did not yield the sought results," he
said. He also announced that after a series of contacts with the Central Bank of
Lebanon, it had been decided to earmark a specific amount of funds for private
hospitals to prepare wards specifically for the treatment of coronavirus cases.
Beirut Traders Association Says Opposed to New Lockdown
Naharnet/November
09/2020
The Beirut Traders Association announced Monday that the entire commercial
sector “categorically rejects obliging commercial institutions, shops and
markets to close for up to two weeks as being reported by governmental and
administrative sources.” In a statement, the Association noted that previous
lockdowns had “failed” to stem the spread of coronavirus. “If it is true that
the partial lockdown has not succeeded, the total lockdown had been a total
failure according to all health and economic standards,” the Association said.
It decried that “all economic sectors, especially the commercial ones, are
suffering a dangerous deterioration, which has reached 70 to 90 percent.”It
accordingly warned that any “rash and unfair measure targeting the activities of
commercial shops, institutions and malls would subject them to the threat of
extermination and would terminate the jobs of thousands and thousands of
employees, especially amid the absence of any support from the state for these
sectors, contrary to what the other countries are doing.”“The Interior Ministry,
which has always showed understanding and cooperation with us, realizes that the
breach of coronavirus precaution and safety measures is not being recorded at
commercial shops and institutions but rather at other places, especially public
administrations,” the Association added
Two Lebanese Youth Offer Migrant Workers a Way Back
Home
Associated Press/November
09/2020
In a damp room with a few rotting pieces of furniture and old mattresses on the
floor, seven migrant women sit hugging their belongings, a Kenyan flag hanging
behind them on the wall. A Lebanese woman walks into the apartment, located in a
poor area east of Beirut, and the migrants rush excitedly to hug her.
"We are finally going home," says Nancy, a 25-year-old Kenyan. "Déa is a
heavenly saint. We experienced a lot here, but Déa and her friend are our
saviors."Déa Hage-Chahine and Serge Majdalani are two young Lebanese who have
partnered on a mission to repatriate domestic migrant workers stranded in
Lebanon by the worst economic crisis in the country's modern history. In two
months, they have helped get home more than 120 women, mostly Kenyans and some
Ethiopians, fundraising more than $35,000 for flights and coronavirus tests
through an online campaign and working tirelessly to clear bureaucratic and
legal hurdles. It's a mission both came into unexpectedly. The 33-year-old
Majdalani, who works in finance in New York, was visiting his family in Beirut
in the summer when he heard about the thousands of migrants lining up outside
their embassies trying in vain to get help to leave.
First, he tried to use his brother's travel agency to arrange private chartered
flights for them. "But that was way too costly," he said. A friend connected him
to Hage-Chahine. Separately, she too had been inspired to act. "I was walking my
dog in Beirut and saw so many women and children on the streets. No one was
helping them," she said. "I could not see that and turn a blind eye."Lebanon has
some 250,000 migrant workers, most of them women working as maids.
Even before the crisis, they were subjected to abuse under a sponsorship system,
known in Arabic as "kafala," which ties workers to their employers. Rights
activists have described the system as a form of "neo-slavery." Thousands have
escaped employers then stayed to work undocumented.
"Workers are viewed as objects here," said Majdalani. Employers use the fees
they pay to brokers to justify barring maids from leaving, he said. "They
confiscate their passports as if they owned them." Then the bottom fell out of
Lebanon's economy this year in a combination of financial collapse and the
coronavirus pandemic. Lebanese have lost jobs and seen the value of their
savings evaporate as the currency plunges in value. Migrant workers were thrown
into desperate straits. Many maids have not been paid for months. Some employers
dumped them on the streets or outside their embassies. Now many can't afford the
exorbitant costs of repatriation flights.
Hage-Chahine worked in marketing but has recently been unemployed. In addition
to the money from fundraising, she has used some of her savings to pay for a
shelter for the women and provide food and medicine.
She spent her days with them on the streets, counseling them, shopping for them.
Meanwhile, she and Majdalani worked out the nitty gritty details of arranging
departures. They retrieved workers' passports and belongings from former
employers, talked daily with security officials to resolve legal obstacles, and
organized and paid for flights. "We help change someone's life," Hage-Chahine
said. "Unfortunately, the work we do is actually so small compared to the
reality of the problem." They played the role of embassies, which they describe
as corrupt and incapable of helping the migrants.
On its website, the Kenyan Consulate in Lebanon says it is registering legal and
illegal workers seeking to return home. Phone calls to the consulate, which has
been embroiled in allegations of abuse and exploitation, went unanswered. The
Ethiopian Embassy did not respond to an Associated Press request for a comment.
Back at the shelter, the two helped the women load their luggage into a bus.
Nancy, the Kenyan woman who gave just her first name for fear of retaliation,
fled her employers years ago because, she said, the children abused her because
she's Black. She has worked without papers since. With no one paying dollars
anymore, she couldn't stay. What she did save is trapped in a bank account by
currency controls. She's relieved just to get out. "I am going to see my son and
start my own business," she said. "I will not come back here again." The final
goodbyes at the airport with Hage-Chahine and Majdalani were emotional for
everyone. "I don't think anyone will forget what they have done," said Ririan,
34. "Seeing their happiness, when they are finally able to leave, is very
rewarding," said Majdalani, who has since returned to New York. "Especially
knowing that we are freeing them from horrible living conditions. That is a
moment of pride and joy."
Bohsali: Lowering Lira Withdrawals Cap Threatens Food
Security
Naharnet/November
09/2020
The central bank and commercial banks’ decision to lower the caps on withdrawals
in Lebanese lira has “dangerous repercussions on food security” in the country,
a syndicate chief warned on Monday. “This measure will slash foodstuffs imports
by more than half of the current volume due to the scarcity of lira liquidity,
which represents the only tool at this moment to provide foreign currency
liquidity to fund the importing of both subsidized and non-subsidizes
foodstuffs,” said Hani Bohsali, the head of the Syndicate of Importers of
Foodstuff, Consumer Products & Drinks. He noted that around 50% of consumers’
supermarket purchases take place through debit and credit cards, whereas the
central bank has specified that only cash can be used to obtain dollars from the
central bank and the parallel market for the import of foodstuffs. “This means
that with every commercial cycle, importers will lose half of their purchasing
power (volume of liquidity that they can use),” Bohsali said. “The course is
clear: we either enable importers to withdraw their money in Lebanese lira or
else we will reach a stage marred by a severe shortage of foodstuffs, which
would jeopardize the food security of the Lebanese,” he warned.
Lady of the Mountain Gathering Calls for Aoun’s Resignation
Naharnet/November
09/2020
A gathering of Lebanese Christians, known as “Lady of the Mountain Gathering”
urged President Michel Aoun on Monday to resign from office over the
deteriorating economic, financial and living conditions in the country. “We
regret how things have turned out, but in order for Lebanese and Christians not
to pay the cost for mistaken policies, we demand the resignation of President
Michel Aoun,” said ex-MP Fares Soaid on behalf of the gathering. “We consider
this resignation as a national duty,” he said. Lebanon is mired in its worst
economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, with recovery hampered by endless
political deadlocks. Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri is struggling to form
a cabinet to replace a government that resigned after a devastating August 4
blast at Beirut port.
Gebran Bassil Has Been Sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department
Michael Young/Malcolm H.Kerr Carnegie MEC/November
09/2020
Gebran Bassil, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and son in law of
President Michel ‘Aoun, has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s
Office of Foreign Assets Control “for his role in corruption in Lebanon … which
builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act.” This is the first designation under the act in Lebanon.
This comes after the Trump administration imposed sanctions last September on
two politicians accused of assisting Hezbollah. They were ‘Ali Hassan al-Khalil,
a Shi‘a former finance minister and senior aide to the speaker of parliament
Nabih Berri; and Youssef Fenianos, a Christian former minister of public works
and transportation, who is a member of Suleiman Franjieh’s Marada Party.
Why Is It Important?
Bassil is one of Lebanon’s most senior politicians and is the leader of
Lebanon’s largest Christian party, with a very significant bloc in parliament.
Bassil has long been on the United States’ target list for his party’s alliance
with Hezbollah, so it is interesting that he was sanctioned under legislation
designed primarily to highlight corruption. This was, partly, an effort to
underline U.S. support for the popular uprising that began over a year ago in
Lebanon, and that was directed against the systematic and widespread theft of
state assets carried out by Lebanon’s political leadership.
However, Bassil’s relations with Hezbollah were also never far from U.S.
thinking. To the Americans, the FPM provides valuable Christian cover for
Hezbollah, which has sought to anchor its dominant role in Lebanon through
cross-sectarian alliances such as the one with Aoun’s followers. The Trump
administration seems to believe that by targeting Bassil, it might be able to
peel him and his party away from Hezbollah, which will be gradually more
isolated.
By going after Bassil, the Trump administration is also effectively going after
Michel ‘Aoun. He was largely responsible for shepherding the political rise of
his son in law, who has great influence over the president’s decisions. Indeed,
‘Aoun, who is in his mid-80s, has often acted as a substitute for Bassil in
negotiations with other politicians over governmental matters. Sanctioning
Bassil is a not-so-subtle way of implying that ‘Aoun has abetted his son in
law’s abuses by placing him in ministries in which he could make money
illegally.
What Are the Implications for the Future?
Bassil is currently negotiating with prime minister-designate Sa‘d Hariri over
his share of portfolios in a new government. Many observers believe he wants to
force Hariri into again giving the Energy Ministry to someone close to the FPM,
with the financial rents accompanying it. But as Hariri has said his government
will be focused on implementing a French plan to revitalize the collapsing
economy, he is adamant that no one close to Bassil be named.
This is all the more vital as a large part of the government’s budget deficit
comes from the notoriously inefficient and murky electricity sector. If Hariri
wants to move forward on an International Monetary Fund package for Lebanon, he
has to show a serious intention to reform the ministry. The U.S. sanctions may
be aimed partly at forcing Bassil to surrender the energy portfolio. That said,
it may have the contrary effect in pushing him to harden his position. Bassil,
it seems, would ultimately like to use his control over the Energy Ministry as
leverage to secure Hariri’s support for Bassil’s presidency when Michel ‘Aoun’s
term ends.
The Energy Ministry is even more important for being, technically, in charge of
the highly lucrative offshore natural gas file. Bassil has been flustered by the
fact that his great political rival, Nabih Berri, has taken the de facto lead on
this front, as he and Hezbollah have agreed to allow Lebanon to negotiate an
agreement over its maritime borders with Israel. A successful conclusion would
mean that drilling for gas could begin in Bloc 9, which is off southern Lebanon
and would likely generate revenues for Berri and Hezbollah in Lebanon’s shady
Balkanized patronage system. Bassil and ‘Aoun, in turn, reportedly view their
loss of the ministry as tantamount to the end of ‘Aoun’s mandate. But if doing
so offers Bassil a way out of his current predicament with Washington, it will
be difficult for him to ignore.
Finally, a sanctioned Bassil will face a dilemma. His vulnerabilities could
render him more dependent on Hezbollah, but reinforcing his ties with the party
would only make it more difficult to break free of the noose the Americans have
placed around his neck. Moreover, a sanctioned Bassil is of less use to
Hezbollah. As the party looks for a major sectarian ally in Lebanon to help
anchor its position locally and internationally, it has much greater interest
now in reinforcing its ties with Hariri the Sunni than with Bassil the
Christian. That could seriously weaken Bassil in the government formation
process as well as undermine what remains of his presidential chances, which
were already seriously compromised to begin with.
One thing is clear, however. Many Lebanese will have received news of Bassil’s
designation with absolute delight. The FPM leader is one of Lebanon’s most
despised politicians, to the extent that during protests last year a popular
song directed against him, one of dubious taste, echoed throughout the streets
of the country.
A Letter To The Moronite Bishopes
Elie Aoun/November 09/2020
إيلي عون: رسالة إلى المطارنة الموارنة
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/92227/elie-aoun-a-letter-to-the-moronite-bishopes-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d9%84%d9%8a-%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b7%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7/
The statement issued (on October 31st 2020) by the Maronite Synod contains
errors in faith and politics.
This letter is not intended as a mere form of criticism, but to point out
fundamental mistakes that must be corrected in order to save ourselves and the
country.
From a religious aspect, the Patriarch made a reference to Christian-Muslim
“partnership” and the “Document on Human Fraternity” signed by the Pope and the
Grand Imam (in Abu Dhabi on February 4th 2019). Actually that Document negates
both Christianity and Islam.
The Document states that “pluralism and the diversity of religions … are willed
by God.”
In other words, the Pope and the Grand Imam are stating that all religions are
of God – and that is certainly not true.
It is estimated that there are 4,300 religions in the world today. How can they
all be willed by God when most of them do not worship the true God? How could
God in His wisdom will religions that do not believe in Him and practice against
Him?
What happened to the Biblical teaching: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism”? What
happened to the Islamic belief “no god but God”?
Furthermore, the Document’s call for “the widespread promotion of a culture of
tolerance” is also inaccurate.
When the clergy preach “tolerance,” the morals in society degenerate:
corruption, vices, etc. Everything becomes tolerated.
What the clergy need to preach is truth and valid principles. To say that all
religions are from God, that is not truth. We are under no obligation to
tolerate falsehoods in pursuit of a utopian “humanity” and “fraternity.”
Creating a “fraternity” with the rest of the world has nothing to do with the
Christian faith.
To love our neighbor does not mean to become like them and tolerate whatever
they do. There are certain truth and principles that must be adhered to.
In summary, this Document of “humanism” is heresy and contrary to true Faith. A
true Christian cannot be one with the religions of the world.
Unfortunately, the entire class of clergy – Christian and Muslim – have lost
their way. This spiritual corruption is a fundamental reason for all forms of
corruption witnessed on a social, political, and economic levels.
Nothing can be corrected in Lebanon without first correcting the spirituality –
because everything emanates from it.
With regard to politics, the bishops accused the political establishment of
ruining the country and impoverishing the people. However, many of the
politicians responsible for this outcome are supported by the clergy, whether
Christian or Muslim.
The clergy have authority to influence whoever gets elected to political posts,
and they occasionally use that influence to support many politicians. If the
political class is a failure, this is an indication of the failure of the
clergy’s political selection process. If the clergy truly desire a better class
of politicians, then they have to make the effort to achieve that end by
supporting morally fit politicians – and not by supporting corrupt politicians
and then complain about the status quo.
If an element of saving the country is Lebanese neutrality, the bishops could
address this issue in a formal manner with the clergy ruling Iran – to acquire
an Iranian acceptance to Lebanese neutrality and to stop interfering in Lebanese
affairs.
In the end, nothing can be corrected in Lebanon without first correcting the
spirituality – because everything emanates from it.
Without correcting the spiritual corruption, the result of all the clergy’s
involvement in politics (Christian and Muslim) is being more destructive than
constructive.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November 09-10/2020
Trump and Pence celebrate Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine
success, but the government didn't fund its development
John Haltiwanger/Business Insider/November 09, 2020
On Monday, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence celebrated a
milestone in the development of a coronavirus vaccine, but misleadingly
presented Pfizer's milestone as an accomplishment of the Trump administration.
"HUGE NEWS: Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump,
@pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing
infection in 90% of its volunteers," Pence tweeted. Pfizer announced that its
vaccine had proven to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.
The pharmaceutical giant did not use taxpayer funds in terms of the research and
development of the vaccine.
But, over the summer, the US government had placed a nearly $2 billion order
with Pfizer for 100 million doses of the vaccine.
The Pfizer vaccine will not immediately be distributed as it must still be
evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence celebrated and appeared to
take credit for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine success on Monday, though the federal
government did not fund the vaccine's research and development. Pfizer announced
that its drug was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19,
marking one of the most major and positive developments yet in the fight against
the pandemic.
Responding to the news, Trump tweeted: "STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING
SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!"
Similarly, Pence tweeted: "HUGE NEWS: Thanks to the public-private partnership
forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine
trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers."Pfizer first
pushed against the notion that it worked with the Trump administration, and
sought to present itself as separate from Operation Warp Speed, the government's
initiative to accelerate the development and distribution of a vaccine.
"We were never part of the Warp Speed," Kathrin Jansen, a senior vice president
and the head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, told The New York
Times. "We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone."
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in September told CBS News' Margaret Brennan that the
company was taking somewhat of a risk by not taking taxpayer money to help with
the vaccine, but that it wouldn't "break" the pharmaceutical giant.
"I wanted to liberate our scientists from any bureaucracy," Bourla said. "When
you get money from someone, that always comes with strings. They want to see how
we are growing to progress, what types of moves you are going to do. They want
reports. I didn't want to have any of that."
That said, however, the US government over the summer did place an initial $1.95
billion order with Pfizer for 100 million doses, which will be given to
Americans for free.
"Expanding Operation Warp Speed's diverse portfolio by adding a vaccine from
Pfizer and BioNTech increases the odds that we will have a safe, effective
vaccine as soon as the end of this year," Health and Human Services Secretary
Alex Azar said in late July. "Depending on success in clinical trials, today's
agreement will enable the delivery of approximately 100 million doses of this
vaccine to the American people."
Pfizer later on Monday said that it was a participant in Warp Speed, noting the
advance purchase agreement, but maintained that it did not receive government
funding for research and development of the vaccine.
The Pfizer vaccine will not immediately be distributed as it must still be
evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
In the months leading up to the election, Trump repeatedly stated that a vaccine
would be ready by November 3.
In late October, when it became clear that a vaccine was not going to be
imminently available, White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah
told reporters that the president's Election Day deadline had been "arbitrary."
Trump lost the election to President-elect Joe Biden. In response to Pfizer's
big announcement on Monday, Biden declared the development "excellent news" but
urged Americans to continue wearing masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19
before widespread vaccination is possible.
Trump fires Esper as Pentagon chief after election defeat
AP/November 09, 2020
President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, an
unprecedented move by a president struggling to accept election defeat and angry
at a Pentagon leader he believes wasn’t loyal enough.
The decision was widely expected as Trump had grown increasingly unhappy with
Esper over the summer, including sharp differences between them over the use of
the military during the civil unrest in June. But the move could unsettle
international allies and Pentagon leadership and injects another element of
uncertainty to a rocky transition period as Joe Biden prepares to assume the
presidency. Presidents who win reelection often replace Cabinet members,
including the secretary of defense, but losing presidents have kept their
Pentagon chiefs in place until Inauguration Day to preserve stability in the
name of national security. Trump announced the news in a tweet, saying that
“effective immediately” Christopher Miller, the director of the National
Counterterrorism Center, will serve as acting secretary, sidestepping the
department’s No.2-ranking official, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist.
U.S. defense officials said Miller arrived at the Pentagon in the early
afternoon to take over the job, and that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
informed Esper of the firing before Trump announced the move on Twitter. Other
top defense and Pentagon officials, however, were caught by surprise and learned
of the decision through the media. The defense officials spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Trump’s abrupt move to dump Esper triggers questions about what the president
may try to do in the next few months before he leaves office, including
adjustments in the presence of troops overseas or other national security
changes. The decision was quickly condemned by Democratic members of Congress.
“Dismissing politically appointed national security leaders during a transition
is a destabilizing move that will only embolden our adversaries and put our
country at greater risk,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House
Armed Services Committee. “President Trump’s decision to fire Secretary Esper
out of spite is not just childish, it’s also reckless.” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a
member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, said
firing Esper “in the last weeks of a lame duck Presidency serves no purpose and
only demonstrates an instability harmful to American national defense.”
Former military leaders also weighed in. Jim Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral
who served as a senior aide to Republican Donald Rumsfeld when Rumsfeld was
defense secretary, wrote on Twitter that Esper’s firing made no sense. ”Things
are already unstable internationally, and this does not help,” he wrote. “We
need to try and create stability in transition time — hopefully opponents will
not try and take advantage.”
Biden has not said who he would appoint as defense chief, but is widely rumored
to be considering naming the first woman to the post — Michele Flournoy.
Flournoy has served multiple times in the Pentagon, starting in the 1990s and
most recently as the undersecretary of defense for policy from 2009 to 2012. She
is well known on Capitol Hill as a moderate Democrat and is regarded among U.S.
allies and partners as a steady hand who favors strong U.S. military cooperation
abroad.
Miller has most recently served as the director of the National Counterterrorism
Center and before that was a deputy assistant defense secretary and top adviser
to Trump on counterterrorism issues. He has a long background with the military,
having served as an enlisted infantryman in the Army Reserves and after that as
a special forces officer. He also served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
After his retirement from the military, Miller worked as a defense contractor.
Esper’s strained relationship with Trump came close to collapse last summer
during civil unrest that triggered a debate within the administration over the
proper role of the military in combating domestic unrest. Esper’s opposition to
using active duty troops to help quell protests in Washington, D.C., infuriated
Trump, and led to wide speculation that the defense chief was prepared to quit
if faced with such an issue again.
Pfizer, BioNTech Say their COVID-19 Vaccine is More than
90% Effective
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
Pfizer said an early peek at its vaccine data suggests the shots may be 90%
effective at preventing COVID-19, indicating the company is on track later this
month to file an emergency use application with US regulators. Monday's
announcement doesn't mean a vaccine is imminent: This interim analysis, from an
independent data monitoring board, looked at 94 infections recorded so far in a
study that has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in the US and five other countries.
Pfizer Inc. did not provide any more details about those cases, and cautioned
the initial protection rate might change by the time the study ends. Even
revealing such early data is highly unusual. “We’re in a position potentially to
be able to offer some hope,” Dr. Bill Gruber, Pfizer’s senior vice president of
clinical development, told The Associated Press. “We’re very encouraged.”
Authorities have stressed it's unlikely any vaccine will arrive much before the
end of the year, and limited initial supplies will be rationed. The shots made
by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are among 10 possible vaccine
candidates in late-stage testing around the world — four of them so far in huge
studies in the US. Another US company, Moderna Inc., also has said it hopes to
be able to file an application with the Food and Drug Administration later this
month.
Volunteers in the final-stage studies, and the researchers, don't know who
received the real vaccine or a dummy shot. But a week after their second
required dose, Pfizer's study began counting the number who developed COVID-19
symptoms and were confirmed to have the coronavirus.
Because the study hasn't ended, Gruber couldn't say how many in each group had
infections. Doing the math, that would mean almost all the infections counted so
far had to have occurred in people who got the dummy shots. Pfizer doesn’t plan
to stop its study until it records 164 infections among all the volunteers, a
number that the FDA has agreed is enough to tell how well the vaccine is
working. The agency has made clear that any vaccine must be at least 50%
effective. No participant so far has become severely ill, Gruber said. Nor could
he provide a breakdown of how many of the infections had occurred in older
people, who are at highest risk from COVID-19. Participants were tested only if
they developed symptoms, leaving unanswered whether vaccinated people could get
infected but show no symptoms and unknowingly spread the virus.
FDA has required that US vaccine candidates be studied in at least 30,000
people. In addition to adequate numbers of older adults, those studies must also
include other groups at high risk, including minorities and people with chronic
health problems.
And it told companies they must track half their participants for side effects
for at least two months, the time period when problems typically crop up. Pfizer
expects to reach that milestone later this month, but said Monday no serious
safety concerns have been reported.
Because the pandemic is still raging, manufacturers hope to seek permission from
governments around the world for emergency use of their vaccines while
additional testing continues — allowing them to get to market faster than normal
but raising concerns about how much scientists will know about the shots.
The FDA's scientific advisers last month said they worry that allowing emergency
use of a COVID-19 vaccine could damage confidence in the shots and make it
harder to ever find out how well they really work. Those advisers said it's
critical these massive studies are allowed to run to completion.
WHO Chief Looks forward to Working 'Very Closely' with Biden Team
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
The World Health Organization chief welcomed efforts on Monday to strengthen the
Geneva-based body through reform and said that it was looking forward to working
closely with the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden. WHO’s funding
must become more flexible and predictable to end a “major misalignment” between
expectations and available resources, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said, citing reform efforts by France, Germany and the European
Union. “We still have a lot of work left to do, but we believe that we’re on the
right track,” Tedros told health ministers as the annual meeting resumed of the
WHO, which groups 194 countries. US President Donald Trump has frozen US funding
to the WHO and begun a process that would see the United States withdraw from
the body next July, drawing wide international criticism amid the COVID-19
crisis. He accuses the WHO of being “China-centric” in its handling of the
pandemic, which Tedros has repeatedly denied. Biden, who will convene a national
coronavirus task force on Monday, said during campaigning he would rescind
Trump’s decision to abandon the WHO on his first day in office.
Tedros urged the international community to recapture a sense of common purpose,
adding: “In that spirit we congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris and we look forward to working with this
administration very closely.
“We need to reimagine leadership, build on mutual trust and mutual
accountability to end the pandemic and address the fundamental inequalities that
lie at the root of so many of the world’s problems,” he said. An oversight panel
called last week for reforms at the WHO including “predictable and flexible”
funding and setting up a multi-tiered system to warn countries earlier about
disease outbreaks before they escalate.Tedros, speaking from quarantine after
being in contact with an individual with COVID-19 more than a week ago, began
with a minute’s silence, noting that COVID-19 cases approached 50 million with
1.2 million deaths. Speaking shortly before Pfizer Inc said its experimental
COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, Tedros said vaccines being
developed to curb the pandemic should be allocated fairly as “global public
goods, not private commodities”.
UN Agency for Palestinians May Cut Salaries amid Cash
Crunch
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Monday it needs to raise $70 million
by the end of the month or it will not be able to pay the full salaries of
thousands of employees through the end of the year.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, said it has notified its entire
workforce of 28,000 that it will be forced to defer their salaries for the rest
of the year. The agency said most of the workers affected are refugees
themselves and the cuts will impact employees in countries across the Middle
East. “If additional funding is not pledged in the next weeks, UNRWA will be
forced to defer partial salaries to all staff,” said the agency’s
commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini. “I am deeply saddened to know that the
earned salaries of our fearless, resilient social, sanitation and healthcare
workers on the front lines and our teachers working to ensure students’
education continue during this emergency health crisis are at risk.” The agency
said in a statement that its funding had run out on Monday and that the cuts
would be “major.” Tamara Alrifai, a spokeswoman, said it was not immediately
known how severe the cuts would be. UNRWA was established to aid the 700,000
Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding
Israel’s establishment in 1948. It provides education, health care, food and
other assistance to some 5.5 million refugees and their descendants in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Alrifai said those
services would not be affected by the cash crunch. The agency’s finances have
been ravaged by a decision by the Trump administration to slash hundreds of
millions of dollars of aid as well as a crisis in confidence after its previous
commissioner was accused of abusing his authority. President-elect Joe Biden has
said he plans on restoring aid to the Palestinians. Alrifai said that although
the agency was hopeful Biden’s election might lead to a resumption of funding
from the US, the current crisis required an immediate response.
Fighting Rages Around Strategic City in Nagorno-Karabakh,
Armenia Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
Armenia reported heavy fighting around a strategic city in Nagorno-Karabakh on
Monday, a day after Azerbaijan said it had captured it in a major breakthrough
after six weeks of bloodshed. People celebrated in the streets of Azerbaijan's
capital, Baku, on Sunday when President Ilham Aliyev announced his country's
forces had taken Shusha, which sits on a mountain top overlooking
Nagorno-Karabakh's main city, Stepanakert. Armenia denied the mountain enclave's
ethnic Armenian forces had lost control of the city Armenians call Shushi, but
said fighting around it was heavy. "The combat in the vicinity of Shushi goes
on. The Nagorno-Karabakh army units are successfully carrying out their mission,
depriving the enemy of the initiative," said Armenian defense ministry
spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan. Emboldened by Turkish support, Azerbaijan has
since Sept. 27 retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it
lost in a war over the breakaway territory which killed an estimated 30,000 in
the 1990s. Several thousand people are feared killed in the latest flare-up of
the conflict over territory which is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan but populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. Three ceasefires
have failed in the past six weeks and Azerbaijan's superior weaponry and
battlefield gains have reduced its incentive to seek a lasting peace deal.
Shusha, or Shushi, is bordered by sheer cliffs and could serve as a staging post
for an Azeri assault on Stepanakert, military and political analysts said. Its
population was predominantly made up of Azeris before the 1991-94 war, and it is
culturally significant to both sides.
RUSSIA AND TURKEY LOOK ON
Russia, which held vast influence in the South Caucasus during Soviet times, has
a defense pact with Armenia but also has good relations with Azerbaijan, a gas
and oil-producing state whose pipelines have not been affected by the fighting.
Military analysts say direct Russian military involvement in the conflict is
unlikely unless Armenia itself is deliberately attacked, and that Turkey will
probably not step up its involvement if Azeri advances continue. In the latest
fighting, Azerbaijan's defence ministry denied Armenian reports that its forces
were shelling Stepanakert, and accused Armenian forces of firing at Azeri
positions along the two former Soviet republics' border. Armenia denied this.
Azerbaijan said positions in its Tovuz and Gadabay regions were under fire, and
Armenia reported fighting in various parts of the combat zone.
Human Toll of Incendiary Weapons Documented in New Report
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
A new report released Monday documents the use of incendiary weapons and their
horrific human cost on civilians over the past decade in conflict zones like
Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip, and Syria, with Human Rights Watch and Harvard´s
human rights clinic calling on nations to close loopholes in international law
and stigmatize their use. The report says the weapons, which may include white
phosphorus, inflict excruciating burns and can lead to infection, shock, and
organ failure. Often, medics also do not have adequate resources in war zones to
assist victims with serious burns.
White phosphorus burns until it´s gone. It can burn right down to the bone,
leaving victims in chronic pain and with permanent disabilities and scarring.
The report by Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School´s International Human
Rights Clinic notes that burn victims sometimes need to be intubated in order
for intensive wounds to be treated and dead skin scraped away. They may also
require multiple surgeries and intense physical therapy to regain mobility. In
one incident detailed in the report, an 8-year-old Afghan girl named Razia
sustained burns on up to 45% of her body from a white phosphorus attack outside
of Kabul in 2009. Razia's family had just finished breakfast when two white
phosphorus shells crashed into their mud-brick home in Afghanistan´s
northeastern Kapisa province. Fire and smoke consumed the house, immediately
killing two of Razia´s sisters as they slept side by side. Razia was rushed to a
local Afghan army base, which could do little to help. A car drove the family to
a nearby French base, which also was unable to provide the needed medical
assistance. A medivac helicopter eventually transported the young girl to a
US-run hospital at Bagram Air Base. She ultimately survived with the help of
extensive and painstaking medical care, but the report notes she lives with the
emotional scar of losing two of her sisters and with the physical pain of
excruciating burns over almost half her body. Although it's been 11 years since
the attack, her father says she is embarrassed to be seen in public and is
reluctant to leave the house. US and NATO troops used white phosphorus to
illuminate targets in Afghanistan, but military officials said at the time they
could not be certain whether it was their own round behind that attack. That
same year, Israeli forces launched artillery shells containing white phosphorus
in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip during the 2009 war with Hamas.
The Israeli shells smashed through the roof of the Abu Halima family home, where
14 members of the family, ranging in age from six months to 45 years old, were
seeking refuge from the fighting. Five died in the attack, burned alive in the
fire caused by white phosphorus. Among those killed were three brothers, ages
14, 11, and 10. Other family members were seriously wounded. As recently as
2013, Syrian government forces attacked a building near a school in northern
Aleppo province. When students in Urum al-Kubra hurried outside to see what had
happened, an incendiary bomb landed among a group of them, immediately killing
five, with more dying later from their injuries. The report said the ongoing
human suffering caused by incendiary weapons underscores the need for stronger
international law. It urged countries to take concrete action at next year´s
conference on the Convention on Conventional Weapons to condemn and continue to
raise awareness about the use and harm of such weapons, as well as to block
loopholes in existing protocols.
Merkel, after Biden Victory, Says EU and US Must Work Side
by Side
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday congratulated US President-elect Joe
Biden on his election and called for the European Union and United States to
work “side by side,” but also acknowledged the EU must do more to take care of
its own security.
Merkel held up Biden as an experienced leader who knows Germany and Europe well,
stressing: “We are allies in NATO, we share fundamental values … and interests.”
Eager to move on from President Donald Trump’s critical view of Germany, Merkel
said the United States and Germany, as part of the EU, must work “side by side”
to tackle the coronavirus, global warming, and terrorism and to champion free
trade. Trump previously called Germany “a captive to Russia” for supporting a
Baltic Sea gas pipeline deal with Russia, threatened German auto makers with
high tariffs on cars imported into the United States and criticized Berlin for
not contributing enough to NATO. “We Germans and we Europeans know that we have
to take on more responsibility in this partnership in the 21st century,” Merkel
said. “America is and remains our most important ally. But it expects us, and
rightly so, to make stronger efforts to take care of our security and to stand
up for our convictions in the world,” she added. Merkel also said Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris was an inspiration to many people and that she was
looking forward to working with Harris and Biden.
Iran's Oil Industry Will Not Yield to US Sanctions, Minister Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 9 November, 2020
Iran's oil industry will not succumb to sanctions imposed by the United States,
the oil minister said on Monday in comments carried by the ministry's SHANA news
agency. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have soared since President
Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 from Iran's nuclear accord with six powers and
reimposed US sanctions that have squeezed the Islamic Republic's economy.
"Neither are we afraid of sanctions nor does it affect our work, it only
strengthens our determination to serve our people," Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh
said. As part of the Trump administration's increasing economic pressure on
Iran, Washington last month imposed sanctions on Iran's Oil Ministry alongside
other entities. Zanganeh was blacklisted by the US Treasury Department. "These
sanctions are a kind of revenge," the minister said. "There is nothing left for
the United States to sanction ... the only thing left is probably our services
section, like our staff working at the kitchen." US President-elect Joe Biden, a
Democrat who was vice president under President Barack Obama when Iran's nuclear
deal was reached, has pledged to rejoin the accord if Iran returns to compliance
with it.
In retaliation for Washington's "maximum pressure" policy, Tehran has gradually
reduced its commitments to the accord. But Iran has said those steps were
reversible if Tehran's interests were respected. Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani said on Sunday the next US administration should use the opportunity to
compensate for Trump's mistakes.
UN opens Libya peace talks in Tunisian capital with eye on
elections
Reuters/Monday 09 November 2020
The United Nations opened talks on Libya’s future in Tunisia on Monday aimed at
ending nearly a decade of chaos and bloodshed by arranging elections, but
obstacles remain despite progress in cementing last month’s ceasefire. Acting UN
Libya envoy Stephanie Williams has described it as the best opportunity in six
years to end the turmoil and warfare that have plagued the North African oil
exporting country since 2011. But she warned at Monday’s opening ceremony
attended by Tunisian President Kais Saied: “The road will not be paved with
roses and it will not be easy.”
The talks, held among 75 participants chosen by the United Nations to represent
an array of political viewpoints, regional interests and social groups, come as
the main warring sides discuss how to implement a truce they agreed in Geneva.
Libya has been split since 2014 between rival factions in the west, held by the
Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), and the east, home to Khalifa
Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). However, both sides are made up of
sometimes unstable coalitions with their own interests, and contain figures who
might seek to sabotage any agreement they regard as a threat.
They are also backed by foreign powers with their own concerns that have
invested heavily to build up military strength on the ground and strike deals
with their local partners. Turkey supports the GNA, helping it this summer to
turn back an LNA assault on Tripoli backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia
and Egypt. After frontlines solidified near the central coastal city of Sirte,
both sides began UN mediated ceasefire talks. Williams said they had made new
progress in implementing the nationwide ceasefire they agreed last month and had
set up a headquarters in Sirte to hash out details.
She wants the Tunisia political talks to set a roadmap for elections as soon as
possible and establish a single, unified authority across the country that can
manage the process. Those taking part have pledged not to accept any role in a
new transitional government, she said. Nearly a decade after central authority
collapsed, repeated bouts of warfare have sapped state resources, damaged the
water and power networks and worsened a financial crisis, making life wretched
for millions. As Libya sweltered in August and cases of the coronavirus began to
rise, protests broke out on both sides of the frontlines over dire living
conditions and corruption. “It is necessary to set dates for the elections so
that the Libyan people will have the ballot box after the sounds of bullets are
silenced,” Saied said.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 09-10/2020
Three Leaders, One Catastrophic Consciousness
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2020
Pakistani journalist and writer Kunwar Khuldune Shahid took his rage out on
three leaders of the Islamic world: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the
Republic of Turkey; Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan; and Mahathir
Muhammad, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In his column for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Khuldune mostly focused on the
three leaders’ active role in justifying the latest terrorist attacks on France
and their unanimous endorsement of an argument circulating widely in the Islamic
world: the publication of offensive anti-Muslim cartoons is allowed, while
Holocaust denial is forbidden.
The criticism, phrased differently but raised with the same acrimony by each of
the three men, would hold water if France had allowed the publication of
material offensive to Islam and banned the publication of material offensive to
Judaism and Christianity. As for comparing this with the Holocaust, politeness
does not hinder one from saying that this criticism is foolish and ignorant.
Here, about the Holocaust, we are not talking about words, images, drawings, an
opinion, or a stance. We are talking about six million victims, whose names and
pictures are documented, about their living relatives and some Holocaust
survivors, very few of whom are still alive. Obviously, these kinds of arguments
precede the three politicians, and the obsession with denying the Holocaust or
downplaying its scale has been manifested uninterruptedly since the late
forties, in books and speeches, religious and secular, and Arab and Islamic.
But three leaders who rule over tens of millions ignoring this distinction, here
is precisely where the catastrophe lays. Leaders expressing this kind of
consciousness adds yet another reason for the backwardness of the consciousness
prevalent at the popular level. As for the world’s reactions to such stances,
they range from ridicule to horror to taking offense.
In any case, these kinds of ludicrous comparisons are not new either: between
1962 and 1965, the Second Vatican Council, under Paul VI’s leadership, decided
to exonerate Jews from collective responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ. Sharp denunciations of this exoneration by Arab and Islamic figures
ensued, and its “historical accuracy” was questioned although Jesus had never
been crucified in the first place per the critics’ Islamic exegesis.
There is, then, an unacceptable degree of ignorance on the leaders’ part. Adding
to the gravity of this ignorance, the three of them are described as having
spawned an “economic boom” and sometimes a “renaissance”.
The first government Mahathir Muhammad formed in Malaysia (1981-1987) did indeed
oversee accelerated industrialization and significant economic growth, and it
can take credit for the might of his country’s infrastructure. These
accomplishments ensured Mahathir’s subsequent return to power.
Ten years before his 2018 electoral victory, Imran Khan established a
technological institute called the “Namal Institute”, and in 2005 it partnered
with Bradford University in Britain. During his term, Pakistan made major
business-friendliness strides, according to the World Bank which listed In 2019,
Pakistan was listed among the ten countries most responsive to economic reforms.
While he is currently overseeing an economic collapse, the first few years of
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s prime ministerial term, which began in 2003, were
different: Turkey recovered from the 2001 financial crisis, accelerated its
negotiations to join the European Union, and made massive investments in
infrastructure (roads, airports, and high-speed trains).
How can this propensity for instrumental modernization be reconciled with the
“ideas” expressed above? How are we to read this schizophrenia?
The answer is probably of two segments: the first is that the three are
neoliberals, not very receptive to changing society and introducing new
convictions that link its factions on a rational and modern basis.
Secondly, what is more important and precedes neoliberalism or any other Western
ideological doctrine is that the three, though in divergent ways and to
different extents, are Islamists. In this case, their Islamism means adopting
the old axiom: we import science and technology from the West while pushing back
against its ideas. This postulation concludes: its science and technology are
its secret, and we should arm ourselves with both in order to fight and defeat
it. Among the fruits of the merge of these factors is the phrase Mahathir
Mohammad recently tweeted in response to crime in Paris: “Muslims have to punish
the French (…) Muslims have the right to be angry and to kill millions of French
people for the massacres of the past.’’ Approaching the world materially and
disregarding its ideas are certainly reasons for criminality: the world doesn’t
approach us but to kill us, and we do not approach it but to kill it.
Biden’s America in a World That Has Changed
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2020
Winning is a big reward and a heavy burden. A big reward because it relieves you
of feelings of loss and defeat; and a heavy burden because the obvious question
arises about what you will do with this victory and how you will make a safe
landing.
Joe Biden has the right to blame his luck for the timing of his victory. He had
long wanted to win the big prize. He tried twice to get close to it, but the
voters sided with others. He did not abandon the race. Dreaming of power is a
chronic disease. Biden’s personal life has never been easy. Fate obstructed his
path and hit him at more than one turn. His first wife and daughter. Then his
son. He has enough personal pains to despair, but he maintained ordinary hope
without being overly stubborn.
In Congress, as in the administration, he was good at coexistence, respecting
his role in the second row, without being constantly preoccupied with the owner
of the first position. In Congress, in committees, and in his role as Vice
President, he had to deal with files, facts, policies, interactions, and
mischief. He worked actively without being the man who hits the table with his
fist. He maintained patience, hoping that his hour would come. Here it was,
while he was three steps away from 80.
For nearly five decades and through his position in Congress or the
administration, Biden witnessed the succession of eras, the divergence of
policies, the American divisions at home, and fluctuations abroad.
He saw America leaving Vietnam drenched with defeat, then launch an arms race to
drain the Soviet Union. He saw it trying to spill the blood of the Red Army on
the rocks of Afghanistan. He witnessed America’s demographic, cultural,
economic, and technological transformations, as well as its variability with the
outside world.
Biden watched the Berlin Wall collapse and the Soviet Union disappear. He heard
the world talk about the “only superpower”, and saw NATO move its “revolutions”
and pawns toward the borders of the Russian Federation, which emerged as an
orphan from the Soviet rubble. Biden was engaged in partisan and political work
when the Middle East was writhing in the wake of Iranian explosions and
confrontational adventures, and when Al Qaeda moved the war into American soil,
which prompted the most powerful military machine in history to embark on a
disciplinary campaign that eliminated the regimes of Taliban and Saddam Hussein.
After this long wait, amid the internal and external changes, Biden has no right
to complain about his luck in recent years. Had Hillary Clinton win the
elections four years ago, Biden would not have been preparing to move to the
White House. We know that gifts of fortune are not enough and that a person must
take advantage of opportunities when they arise. In this context, Biden knew how
to act. He has created a moderate position for himself that was approved by the
different currents within the Democratic Party. He chose the midpoint or the
nearest point to it, presenting himself as the person who is able to ensure the
convergence of various energies to deprive Donald Trump of extending his stay in
the White House.
Biden succeeded in suggesting that he was the best option for his party, which
had to choose between walking with him or spending another difficult four years
under Trump. The truth is that Biden received an unexpected gift, without having
any role in it. The Coronavirus pandemic has swept the world and surprised
everyone, without exception. Only weeks later, it became clear that the epidemic
was more dangerous than people initially thought, and the world drowned in a
series of human and economic losses, in which the United States had a
considerable share.
The development was totally catastrophic for the master of the White House.
Trump had hoped to provide the voters with economic figures that show that
America has regained its rights, prosperity, and greatness; but Covid-19 plunged
the economy, the country, and the people into loss, depression, and despair.
Difficulties facing Trump were compounded by the failure of laboratories to
quickly develop a vaccine that would get the world out of the grip of the
Coronavirus. People criticized his approach in dealing with the pandemic even
when it forced him to stay in the hospital bed for some time.
America and the world were dragged into a harsh and long duel between Trump and
Biden. Two men from two competing parties, two different dictionaries, two
contrasting styles. Trump emerged as a storm that blew over America, while Biden
seemed a patient heir to Washington’s traditions and institutions. He can make
mistakes and correct them without being tempted by blatant and no-return
options.
When Biden opens the world map at the White House, he will discover that he is
the president of an America that has changed in a world of transformations.
Trump’s impact on US politics was not ephemeral. The votes he won against Biden
are proof. It is not easy to remove the “Trump effect” that many talk about,
especially as it revealed deep rifts within American society.
America has changed, so did the world. How will Biden deal with the “Chinese
rise” or the “Chinese threat” that worried Trump? How will he deal with Vladimir
Putin, who goes to the elections and returns with medals, not wounds? How will
he manage his relations with Europe, which was weakened by the pandemic and
afflicted by the “British betrayal”?
How will he deal with the Middle East, the destabilization policies, the nuclear
dreams, and mercenaries’ excursions between near and far fires? The Middle East
has changed too. The Iranian penetrations do not show a sign of stability, but
rather confrontation projects. The Turkish role is greater than the ability of
the region and its neighborhood to bear. The Arab-Israeli scene has witnessed
fundamental changes in the recent period. The GCC countries have learned lessons
from their previous experiences with policies and administrations.
The world is different from the window of the White House. Interests have a
crucial say in any calm reading of future relationships. We must wait to see the
features of a post-Trump America.
Don’t Freak out about Covid-19 Reinfection Stories
Faye Flam/Bloomberg/November 09/2020
The most attention-grabbing scare stories about the pandemic often revolve
around individual cases — someone who got the disease twice; a young, fit person
who died; an older person who was likely infectious for more than two months.
The fear is that these phenomena could be widespread, but scientists who study
infectious disease say it’s normal to see extreme variability in the human
reaction to any virus.
Early in the pandemic, people often described the disease based on their
experience or someone they knew. Some said it was just the sniffles because
that’s what they experienced. Others said it was worst thing that ever hit them.
They’re both right. But the over-generalization of these experiences can feed
into the political polarization of the disease. It shouldn’t. In the big
picture, Covid-19 neither the Black Death or the sniffles.
“There’s a vast diversity of immune responses as well as responses to
infection,” says Dan Barouch, a vaccine researcher at Harvard Medical School.
That’s the case with other pathogens from influenza to tuberculosis to HIV.
“Sometimes it’s because of different genetics, and sometimes it’s from a
different strain of the virus,” he says. “In some cases, it might be due to
different viral doses or other immune parameters, or demographic variables —
sometimes it comes down to chance.”
He said he’s not alarmed that there are a few documented cases of reinfection.
Even if there are vastly more than the dozen or so reported reinfections, this
would still represent a tiny sliver of the tens of millions of cases that have
occurred worldwide.
One of the most striking examples, described in a case study in The Lancet, was
a 25-year-old man in Nevada who was infected once in late March and later in
May. Genetic analysis of the virus showed it was not a lingering effect of the
same infection. While other cases of reinfection were milder the second time,
this one was more severe.
It’s not all that surprising, says immunologist Florian Krammer of the Icahn
School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. The concentration of antibodies in different
people infected with the virus follows something close to a bell curve, he says.
There’s a typical response, but plenty of variation out at the edges. Sometimes
people with more severe infections make more antibodies, but sometimes they see
sky-high antibody concentrations in people who never get symptoms.
As millions of people become infected, it’s not surprising that a few get a new
infection only a short time later, he says. In the Nevada case, the patient
produced antibodies the second time, but possibly not the first. In another case
out of Hong Kong, doctors measured a low antibody concentration after the first
infection, and the patient had only a mild case the second time.
Another recent alarming case study described a 71-year-old woman with leukemia
who never developed symptoms and never produced measurable antibodies, but
appeared to remain infected and possibly infectious for more than 70 days — much
longer than the eight days most patients are thought to be contagious.
Despite these exceptions, the experts I consulted still think most people will
be immune for at least a few months after getting infected. And they expect that
vaccines will work.
The immune system is complex, and offers more defenses than only antibodies.
Antibodies are produced during an initial infection, says Krammer, but another
component called memory B cells circulate in the body for years, retaining the
ability to recognize the same virus and trigger a new immune response if it
comes back.
Genes also play an intriguing role. Rheumatologist Arthur Krieg, founder of
Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, says a people with a defect in a gene called TLR7 can
develop particularly severe cases of Covid-19. That gene regulates an
all-purpose virus fighter called interferon, which is released quickly after
exposure to pathogens.
According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the
TLR7 gene is on the X chromosome, and that makes the problem much more common in
males. (Females have two copies of the X chromosome, so are more likely to end
up with at least one normal version of the gene.) In one case described in the
article, two brothers in their early 20s were sick enough to need mechanical
ventilation to survive. In another, a 32-year old man and his 29-year-old
brother were hospitalized, and the younger brother eventually died.
Another factor is experience with prior infections, says Krieg. There are four
coronaviruses circulating in the population and causing common colds. He says
exposure to these may influence the way people respond to Covid-19. Indeed, a
new paper released Friday in Science shows that more than 5 percent of a sample
of 302 people and more than 40 percent of a smaller group of children under 16
carried some immunity to the new coronavirus left over from these other
infections.
In a study published in September in Science, a team led by Harvard geneticist
Stephen Elledge showed people who got sick enough with Covid-19 to go to the
hospital were much more likely to be infected with common herpes viruses CMV and
HSV-1. These viruses are never completely cleared from the body. The researchers
couldn’t tell whether these other viruses are making Covid-19 worse, or whether
these people are more susceptible to viruses.
While there was some early thought that severity depended on how much virus you
were exposed to — the so-called viral load — the experts said that was just a
hypothesis. Disease severity may be more strongly influenced by factors that
determine how easily the virus grows in your body once you’re infected — being
exhausted or run down, for example. Environmental factors could also come into
play; Krieg pointed to research led by Yale Immunologist Akiko Iwasaki showing
that dry air might make the virus grow more readily in the nasal passages.
The variability in human response to the virus means there will likely be
variability in the effectiveness of vaccines, he says, and that’s a good reason
to try to gain public trust and get everyone on board. If enough people take a
vaccine, the world could achieve herd immunity, even if the vaccine only worked
in, say 70% of people. But if too few people get the vaccines, then even
vaccinated people might not be safe, if they’re unlucky enough to be especially
susceptible to the virus. And if that happens, we’ll all be living with Covid-19
for a long time to come.
New concern about Turkey’s intent as Libyan talks start in Tunis
Jemai Guesmi/The Arab Weekly/November 09/2020
TUNIS –Meetings of the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum between the
Libyan parties begin today, Monday, in Tunis.
This new round of talks is supposed to carry on with the outcomes of the
previous UN-sponsored political and military dialogue platforms previously held
in Berlin, Germany, Cairo (Egypt), Bouznika (Morocco), Geneva (Switzerland), and
Ghadames (Libya).
Libyan sources participating in this forum said that the Libyan meetings, which
will be opened today by Tunisian President Kais Saied, will focus on creating a
consensual, unified and temporary executive authority to manage the country’s
affairs during a limited transitional period, and on developing understandings
on a constitutional and legal basis to hold general elections as soon as
possible.
These sources did not rule out that the participants in these meetings would
sign a pledge not to run for any political or executive office during the
transitional period, in accordance with the understandings about the criteria
for selecting officials for the sovereign state positions reached during the
second round of the Bouznika meetings in Morocco.
At the same time, however, the sources feared that the Tunis meetings would
confront political differences and manoeuvres that would end the current
cautious optimism. They justified their fears by what they described as the
state of hysteria that is currently afflicting Islamist organisations and the
leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated militias, all of whom have recently
escalated their rhetoric in an effort to sway the balance of power in their
favour during the Tunis meetings.
Observers described this fear as legitimate for several considerations, perhaps
the most important of which is the growing doubts about the commitment of the
pro-Turkish militias to the outcomes of the military agreement reached by the 5
+ 5 Joint Military Committee, which are supposed to be translated into a
political agreement during the Tunis meetings. This escalation was evident in
the wake of the Turkish moves aimed at inciting its proxies in Libya not to
comply with the outcome of the Tunis meetings. It has even come to the point of
leaking information about an upcoming visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to Tripoli within the next two days.
This visit, which was revealed by Turkish media, citing diplomatic sources,
contributed to increasing concern over Turkey’s efforts to spoil the atmosphere
of optimism surrounding the Tunis meetings, by rearranging the cards to meet its
interests and preserve its influence in Libya.
Libyan political activist Abdul Hakim Fannoush supports this reading. “If this
visit is confirmed, it will come within the framework of declaring Erdogan’s
hegemony and continuing his rule over the western region of Libya. Through it,
he wants to say ‘I’m still here and I run this region… and any settlement cannot
be completed without my consent and taking into account Turkey’s interests and
its vision for the region’,” Fannoush told The Arab Weekly by phone.
He further pointed out that Erdogan had previously hinted at his rejection of
the agreement reached by the 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee, describing it as a
“fragile truce”. He also hinted at his rejection of any agreement that might
take place in Tunis. “Consequently, there is no reason why Erdogan should give
up his hegemony over western Libya unless a different position is imposed on
Turkey by the United States and the European Union,” Fannoush added. The Tunis
meetings are held amid movements occurring on the ground that have resulted in
changes in the maps of alliances and the balance of power, plus the major
political change in the United States, represented by the election of a new
president who does not hide his differences with Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. The latter had already taken steps aimed at disrupting the Tunis
meetings. With respect to Biden, however, it is too early to predict his future
policy towards Turkey, although he had previously called Erdogan a “tyrant” and
threatened him with having to “pay a heavy tribute” one day.
Over the past four years, Turkey has transformed into a regional power and
expanded in the Mediterranean region, which presents new challenges to the White
House, especially as Washington needs strong allies in a region that still
suffers from major security problems.
Former Tunisian Foreign Minister, Mongi Hamdi, believes that the recent
developments in the United States will certainly have positive effects on the
course of the Libyan crisis, which, with the Tunis meetings, would almost have
reached the final stage. The results of these meetings are supposed to top all
of the other dialogue tracks with the much-sought after political settlement in
Libya.
Hamdi told The Arab Weekly that Joe Biden’s arrival at the White House “will
consolidate the push towards the success of the peace process in Libya, which
means that Turkey has no choice but to adhere to the will of the international
community which is also keen on the success of the peaceful political process in
Libya.”
Tunisia, which has regained its role in the Libyan file, has high hopes for
these meetings that will see the participation for the first time of the
supporters of the regime of the late Colonel Muammar Gadhafi.
Tunisian Foreign Minister, Othman Jerandi, announced that more than 75
representatives of the political and social spectrum of the Libyan society will
be participating in the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Tunis,
which represents “an important and decisive step” in the process of the
political settlement of the Libyan crisis.
The UN mission in Libya had set the tone for the forum by indicating, in a
statement, that it is being held based on the outcomes of the Berlin Conference
on Libya, which the UN Security Council approved in its resolutions 2510 and
2542, stressing at the same time that it aims to achieve a unified vision for
the restoration of Libya’s sovereignty and democratic legitimacy for the Libyan
institutions.
Why Biden must continue Trump’s legacy of deregulation
Omar Al-Ubaydli/Al Arabiya/November 09/2020
The Trump administration has faced many criticisms, but the polarized nature of
the mainstream media means that some of the former US president’s more effective
policies have not been given adequate coverage.
One of those has been his efforts to deregulate, and president-elect Joe Biden
will do well to pick up the baton, for two reasons.
First, deregulation can boost the economy if the regulations being removed were
either poorly conceived in the first place, or have become defunct with time.
Global indicators such as the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index try to
capture how easy it is to conduct commerce, and they show that many countries –
including the US – suffer from stifling levels of regulation that impede
innovation, restrict job creation, and lower labor force participation, due to
poor design or ineffective cost-benefit analysis at the time of implementation.
Second, relying on an authoritative central government to use legislation to
regulate economic activity can undermine efforts by local actors to develop more
effective solutions that are tailored to their circumstances, and that reflect
the unique information that direct stakeholders possess. Through a series of
detailed ethnographic studies, economic Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom showed that
many “commons” problems, such as environmental protection and resource
conservation, are handled remarkably well by those directly affected if they
work together. If their efforts are nullified or made partially redundant by
central government, then social cohesion and enterprise at the local level may
retreat over time, in the same way that a child’s capacities will diminish if
their parents do everything for them.
In the context of the US, in 2018, Trump gave an indication of how federal
regulation has grown uncontrollably during the last 60 years, when he printed
out the 1960 and 2018 versions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which
is the document detailing the federal regulations that individuals and
organizations must comply with in the US. The visual disparity was stark, and
the numbers reflect it: in 1949, The CFR was 20,000 pages long; now, it is
around 150,000. The difficult task of complying with this monstrosity is
rendered Herculean when one notes that one also has to adhere to state
regulations, which are a separate, sizeable series of documents.
Pre-Trump, Ronald Reagan was the only president to feature deregulation so
prominently in his manifesto, but even he couldn’t stop the growth of this legal
hydra, merely slowing it down. Trump has had some significant success in that
regard, helped by Executive Order 13771, which stipulated that for every new
regulation, there had to be at least two new acts of deregulation.
It is tempting to think that regulations are the work of sage technocrats
overseen by democratically-elected steward, and they should generally be a good
thing. There are indeed many examples of intelligent and effective regulation in
the domains of the environment, finance, labor, human rights, and so on.
However, there are also many opposing examples, some of which have been exposed
by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is the federal agency
overseeing the pharmaceutical sector, has actively stifled many innovative
efforts that attempt to tackle the pandemic. This includes a testing project in
Seattle that had received the backing of many local actors and had received
funding from Bill Gates. Pooled testing, which has been used in many countries
to more rapidly test large populations, was banned by the FDA up until the
middle of June, long after much of the damage had already been done.
There are two broad solutions to the problem of regulations that are either
poorly designed at inception, or become so over time. The first is the
establishment and empowerment of an agency assigned the exclusive task of
deregulating, which is the method used by Trump. The second is the addition of
sunset clauses on new regulations, meaning that they automatically expire after
a certain number of years, and legislatures have to vote again on them to ensure
their continuation.
Unfortunately, politicians and civil servants across the world, including in the
US, are often very resistant to such measures. The reasons lie in the economic
analysis of government decision making, known as public choice theory.
First, regulations grant regulators power, and in general, human beings don’t
like to surrender power. This need not represent Machiavellian tendencies –
bureaucracies like to expand their power as a way of guaranteeing funding and
jobs, not because they want to oppress the general population. But as a general
rule, nobody likes to have their authority stripped away, or, equivalently,
people love to be granted authority, such as the US security apparatus in the
wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Relatedly, public choice theorists have also developed the “toll-road” model of
regulation, whereby a corrupt politician creates arbitrary regulations that
stifle commercial activity, with the aim of using their right to grant
exemptions as a way of securing explicit and tacit bribes. In this sense, those
willing to pay the “toll” will be able to circumvent the regulation. While this
kind of malevolent activity does not represent the typical regulation, a closer
look at the exemptions that Congress grants to many regulations does raise
suspicions of quid-pro-quo, and helps explain why deregulatory efforts would be
perceived as attempts to upset the gravy train.
Second, the regulatory process is often perverted by small, organized groups
that can lobby to advance their special interests at the expense of the general
population. One of the reasons why American schools have been so slow to reopen
during the pandemic, despite many other forms of economic activity having
resumed, is the power of teachers’ unions, which hold heavy sway in the US
political system. Whether in education, health, security, or finance, the US
political system is littered with examples of corrupt regulation.
Third, many of the benefits of deregulation take time to materialize, and
therefore receive little attention from politicians fixated on the election
cycle. This is why Raegan had much more success in halting the growth of
regulation during his first term compared to his second.
Biden is seeking to unify a polarized population. While deregulation goes
against the DNA of many Democrat politicians, the reality is that the regulatory
process has been corrupted for decades, and a centrist or center-left agenda is
entirely consistent with wanting to repair the errors of previous
administrations. One way of reaching out to disgruntled Trump supporters, both
at the grassroots and governmental levels, would be to acknowledge that Trump’s
desire to deregulate was commendable.
*Omar Al-Ubaydli (@omareconomics) is a researcher at Derasat, Bahrain.