English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 30/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’”
Mark 10/35-45: “James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 29-30/2020
Wald Phares: My USA Government's positions on Lebanon/Dr. Walid Phares/April 29/2020
David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs: Lebanon must prioritize reform to secure assistance/Lauren Holtmeier and Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 29 April 2020
US conditions support to Lebanon on '100%' commitment to reform/The Arab Weekly/April 29/2020
Hariri Hospital: No Covid-19 cases recorded today, one recovery
4 New Virus Cases as Abu Sharaf, Doumit Warn over Gatherings
Read Salameh: No Covert Spending at BDL, We Don't Have to Coordinate Every Memo with Govt./Naharnet/April 29/2020
Over 47 Hurt in Tripoli Night Clashes as Petrol Bombs Hurled at BDL in Sidon
Lebanon's renewed protests shed light on old grievances
Banks targeted in Lebanon's 'night of the Molotov'/Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera/April 29/2020
Lebanon protests spread, PM warns against ‘malicious intentions behind the scenes’
Lebanese ‘Government has names of those burning institutions’: Lebanon’s PM Diab
Rampling visits Aoun, says current circumstances necessitate cooperation among all powers
Diab meets ABL delegation over financial, monetary situation
Govt. Finalizes Financial Plan amid Objections on Lira Gradual Floating
Diab: We Have Full Reports on Sides Inciting Riots
Lebanon: Hunger Protests Besiege Diab’s Government
Arab League Warns of 'Very Critical Situation' in Lebanon
Moucharafieh meets UNHCR’s Girard , WFP delegation
Antoun Nabil Sehnaoui donates toward LAU’s fight against COVID-19
Hezbollah's coronavirus spending leaves its fighters without medical, food support/Mona Alami, Al Arabiya English/April 29/2020
Hezbollah supporter, US fugitive Tareck El Aissami appointed Venezuelan oil minister/Matthew Amlôt, Al Arabiya English/Monday 27 April 2020
Hezbollah’s growing internal challenges result in security breaches/Mona Alami, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 29 April 2020
AUB: Free psychological support for children via phone/TK Maloy/Annahar/April 29/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 29-30/2020
Coronavirus toll tops 130,000 dead in Europe: AFP tally
US to work with UN to extend Iran arms embargo, won’t allow it to buy weapons: Pompeo
Iraq must drop sectarian qouta system to help form new gov't: Pompeo
Iran Shipping Large Quantity Of Crude Oil To Syria/Dalga Khatinoglu/Iran News/April 29/2020
Newly elected Iranian MP booted for presenting fake degree: Iranian media
Responses Vary towards Haftar Accepting Popular Mandate
Iraq: Shiite Blocs Say Sunni-Kurdish Coalitions Should Entrust Kadhimi With Choosing Independent Ministers
LNA Vows to Respond to Turkish Drone Attack on Food Convoy
Assad’s Obduracy Gives Putin a Syria ‘Headache’
PA Slams US Remarks on West Bank Annexation, Says Nothing Left to Negotiations
200,000 Palestinians, Israelis Participate in ‘Cry for Peace’ Initiative
EIB, CEPI sign advisory agreement to accelerate development of vaccines against infectious diseases
Lockdown-Defying Parisians Pose Challenge for Authorities
France's Finance Minister to 'tighten control' on investments in French firms from outside EU
Oil Rebounds above $14 after Massive Sell-Off
India’s virus deaths exceed 1,000 but low toll puzzles experts
Death toll in Peru prison riot over coronavirus demands rises to nine
It's a boy: British PM Johnson and fiancee 'thrilled' by birth of a son
UK has Europe's second-highest COVID-19 death toll, new figures show

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 29-30/2020
Iran dissidents say regime should get ‘not even a penny’ of IMF coronavirus aid, backing US stance/Adam Shaw/Fox News/April 29/2020
Iran military satellite launch requires US action/Behnam Ben Taleblu/Bradley Bowman/Al Arabiya/April 29/2020
A rift emerges among pro-Iranian militias in Iraq/Seith Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/April 29/2020
Afghanistan: America Moving Out, China Moving In - with Help from Iran/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/April 29/2020
The United Nations Human Rights Council Praises Iran/Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/April 29/2020
US Economy May Have Hit the Coronavirus Bottom/Conor Sen/Bloomberg/April 29/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 29-30/2020
Wald Phares: My USA Government's positions on Lebanon
Dr. Walid Phares/April 29/2020
Some asked me about the US position regarding destroying commercial and economic institutions in some areas in Lebanon. I told them that I fully support the statement made by our US ambassador to Beirut. For these institutions are part of the Lebanese economy which we need to protect during the ongoing collapse, until the political and financial crises are over. So that these institutions can be reformed and corruption can be ended in this country.
At the same time I do also support US policy as announced by US Secretary of State and the President of my country, the US, which is calling for the implementation of UNSCR 1559 and the disarming of Hezbollah, implement sanctions on this terror organization and on all those who are facilitating its nefarious activities.

David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs: Lebanon must prioritize reform to secure assistance
Lauren Holtmeier and Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 29 April 2020
Lebanon must prioritize reforms to secure international assistance, US State Department top diplomat for the Middle East told Al Arabiya Wednesday.
Successive governments in the crisis-hit country have failed to make a series of reforms across multiple sectors needed to unlock international financial assistance and now face a collapsing currency and rising unemployment, and its economy has recently taken another hit dealt by coronavirus.
An accumulation of bad financial decisions, inaction, and entrenched corruption and cronyism, were the cause of Lebanon’s crisis, according to David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs.
“What is happening now is the product of more than a decade of difficult choices that weren’t made by the Lebanese government. Bad financial decisions and decisions that weren’t made. Likewise, corruption, patronage politics, a broad range of choices were made or weren’t made,” said Schenker.
Protests in Lebanon that began in October 2019 against government corruption and an ailing economy faded after the new year, in part due to coronavirus lockdowns, but now have made a resurgence, and banks across the country have been burned.
“We will see whether this government can demonstrate that level of commitment,” he said. Schenker noted the government would need to make reforms to the electricity and telecommunications sectors and begin to collect customs and revenues, but at a time when many Lebanese are unemployed, these decisions will be difficult. The new government, headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, came to power as a result of the October protests, and has succeeded in laying out a new economic roadmap, though the plan’s ability to fix the country’s problems is debated.
“It’s incumbent on them to move forward quickly with this [reform package] and to take steps that will put them in a position that international assistance by international financial institutions can step on and provide conditional support,” Schenker said.
But the Iran-backed Hezbollah has heavy influence in the new government, meaning some potential donors opposed to the group may be unlikely to assist the country financially. Hezbollah is a US-Treasury designated terrorist organization.
Speaking on the effect of US sanctions on Hezbollah, Schenker said, “There has been an impact, vis-à-vis, the maximum pressure campaign on Iran that has further denied revenues to Tehran which provides to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah.”
“The United States has provided something like $13-14 million to Lebanon for COVID-19, what has Hezbollah done? They were still flying in aircraft from Tehran after the schools closed in Lebanon, bringing in more COVID-19,” he continued.

US conditions support to Lebanon on '100%' commitment to reform
The Arab Weekly/April 29/2020
Bad financial decisions, inaction and entrenched corruption were the cause of Lebanon's crisis, David Schenker said.
BEIRUT - Social unrest and a financial downfall are tightening the noose on debt-crippled Lebanon, which will have to take credible action to reform if it is to get any foreign assistance to overcome its worst economic and financial crisis in decades. America's Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs David Schenker has reiterated Washington’s conditions for helping Lebanon deal with its dire financial straits that have only been worsened by a shutdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic. "For Lebanon to be in a position to receive assistance from international financial institutions it must prove that it is ready to make difficult choices and decisions to show it is 100% committed to reform," Schenker said in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV . An accumulation of bad financial decisions, inaction and entrenched corruption and cronyism was the cause of Lebanon's crisis, Schenker said.
Al Arabiya’s subsidiary channel, Al Hadath, also interviewed Schenker, who specified reforms to the power sector, customs, telecommunications and tax collection. With the relaxation of confinement measures enforced since March 15, anti-government protests rekindled following a sharp collapse in the value of the Lebanese pound, soaring inflation and spiralling unemployment. The growing unrest has turned violent in recent days and threatens to tip Lebanon into more serious conflict, even as Beirut looks to pass an economic rescue plan and enter talks with foreign creditors after defaulting on hefty debt obligations in March. Lebanon's government, formed in January with the support of the powerful Iran-backed movement Hezbollah, has struggled to make economic reforms demanded by foreign donors. The United States has classified Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

Hariri Hospital: No Covid-19 cases recorded today, one recovery
NNA /April 29/2020
In its daily report on the latest developments of the novel Coronavirus, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital announced on Wednesday that out of 288 laboratory tests conducted today, no new Covid-19 cases have been recorded, as all the tests came out negative. It added that the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases infected with the virus that are currently present in the Hospital's isolation area has reached 4 cases, noting that it has admitted 6 cases suspected to be infected with the virus, who were transferred from other hospitals. Meanwhile, the Hospital indicated that one case has recovered from the virus after the results of the patient’s PCR examinations came out negative in both times, thus bringing the total number of complete recoveries to-date to 124 cases. “All those infected with Coronavirus are receiving the necessary care in the isolation unit and their condition is stable, and there are no critical cases in intensive care,” the Hospital reassured. In conclusion, it stated that more information on the number of Corona infected cases in all Lebanese territories can be found in the daily report issued by the Ministry of Public Health.

4 New Virus Cases as Abu Sharaf, Doumit Warn over Gatherings
Naharnet/April 29/2020
Lebanon recorded four more COVID-19 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, which raises the country's total to 721, the Health Ministry said. The Ministry said one of the four infected individuals is one of the Lebanese expats who returned to the country in recent weeks. The head of the Order of Lebanese Physicians Sharaf Abu Sharaf and the head of the nurses union Mirna Doumit meanwhile held a joint press conference in which they warned over the coronavirus threat emanating from the return of street protests in recent days.“With the beginning of the phase of resuming normal and routine life, we stress that the implementation of the precautionary measures must continue, because non-commitment represents a risk, threatens a new coronavirus outbreak and undermines the plan that has been adopted to preserve the health of citizens,” Abu Sharaf cautioned. “We don't have the ability to resist the pandemic should it return and spread rapidly and in large numbers. That's why we urge everyone to avoid gathering and close human contact. We support freedom of expression on the condition that it does not subject us to health risks and we are hereby speaking scientifically and not politically,” Abu Sharaf added. Doumit for her part urged the Lebanese to show awareness and to “wear masks and gloves and maintain safe distances.”“Should the coronavirus pandemic return in large numbers, we won't be able to save your lives... We ask you to cooperate,” she urged.

Read Salameh: No Covert Spending at BDL, We Don't Have to Coordinate Every Memo with Govt.
Naharnet/April 29/2020
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh responded Wednesday to the latest criticism by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, stressing that there is no covert spending by the central bank, while noting that the law does not oblige Banque du Liban to “coordinate with the government on every circular” that it issues.
“The law does not oblige us to coordinate with the government over every circular that we issue and BDL will continue to cooperate with the government and its premier,” Salameh said in a televised address, days after Diab called on him to "come forward to announce the honest truth to Lebanese."
“We will defend the central bank's independence and our circulars are in line with the laws,” he emphasized.
Commenting on the latest Lebanese lira crash, Salameh said “the issue of controlling the dollar exchange rate is difficult amid the scarcity of dollar banknotes.”
“The issue of the rate at exchange shops is subject to demand and is affected by shocks. But we have not stood idly by and we have sought to stabilize the rate,” he added, referring to memos that he issued in which he instructed money exchange shops to buy and sell the dollar at certain rates without seeing any compliance.
As to banks, Salameh said the central bank has not allowed “the bankruptcy of any bank” in order to “protect depositors.”
Responding to Diab, the governor noted that “of the $5.9 billion that left Lebanon $3.7 billion were used to cover loans and $2.2 billion were withdrawn in the form of cash from clients' accounts.”
“We believe that there is no need for a haircut and talk of a haircut scares depositors and delays the recovery of the banking sector,” he said.
Reassuring the Lebanese that their deposits “still exist in the banking system,” Salameh noted that his past reassurances had been “honest.”
“But I stopped the reassurances after successive and destructive shocks,” he explained. “The banking system has remained resilient despite the closure of banks, the coronavirus crisis and the Eurobond default,” Salameh pointed out.
Defending the central bank, the governor said BDL provided financing to the state's expenditure but it “was not behind the spending.”
“It does not have jurisdiction to monitor how the money is spent,” he noted.
As for his famous “financial engineering operations,” Salameh said he had been obliged to carry them out in order to “gain time and enable the state to reform itself, something that didn't happen.”“BDL has not burdened the state with any deficit. To the contrary, it has achieved a lot of profits and has contributed through gold price gains to alleviate the state's deficit,” he boasted.
He noted that according to the bank's April report, “there is liquidity that exceeds $20 billion in our budget.”
“There are no undisclosed spending decisions at BDL, which publishes its budgets every 15 days, and I handed the PM copies of BDL's accounts on March 9,” he revealed. Decrying that there is “a systematic campaign against the central bank,” Salameh said “someone is trying to mislead the public opinion through false information.”
“The central bank publishes its budgets every 15 days and they include notes for the sake of transparency,” he added. Diab had said Friday that bank deposits plunged $5.7 billion in the first two months of the year despite curbs on withdrawals and a ban on transfers abroad. Lebanon is grappling with a severe lack of liquidity and its worst economic crisis in decades, compounded since mid-March by a lockdown to stem the novel coronavirus.
Banks have gradually restricted dollar withdrawals until halting them altogether last month, and transfers abroad have been banned.
According to official estimates, $2.3 billion were transferred abroad last year after the start of mass protests on October 17 against a political class demonstrators accused of being corrupt and inept.
The Lebanese pound has been pegged to the dollar since 1997, but in recent months it has lost more than half its value on the parallel exchange market.
Diab urged the central bank governor, who has held the post since 1993, to explain his plans and when the exchange rate would stop rising.
Central bank losses from the start of the year to mid-April reached $7 billion, including $3 billion in the past four weeks alone, Diab said.
The premier said a "neutral international company" had been tasked to audit the central bank's books, without giving a name.
Salameh's supporters credit him for stabilizing the Lebanese pound for more than two decades, in the wake of the country's 1975-1990 civil war.
But his detractors accuse him of having contributed to Lebanon's endless borrowing and ballooning sovereign debt, leading to the country's first ever default in March. In recent months, the Lebanese pound has plummeted in value from around 1,500 pounds against the U.S. dollar to almost 4,000 on the parallel market. Economist Jad Chaaban said factors such as Lebanon's sizable informal economy and the coronavirus lockdown that has impeded the influx of dollars in cash have contributed to the crash of the pound.
He also faulted a banking control commission over its monitoring of the exchange rate. Lebanon is one of the most indebted countries in the world, with a debt equivalent to 170 percent of its gross development product.

Over 47 Hurt in Tripoli Night Clashes as Petrol Bombs Hurled at BDL in Sidon
Associated Press/April 29/2020
After a few hours of calm in Tripoli on Tuesday evening, protesters again hit the streets, vandalizing the facade of a bank in the al-Mina district. A demonstration was also held outside the home of former prime minister Najib Miqati, who has been accused of wrongly receiving millions in subsidized housing loans -- charges he denies. Medics said over 47 people were injured in the Tuesday night clashes, including four soldiers. Only five needed hospitalization.One protester had been killed and 60 people, including some 40 soldiers, had been injured during clashes on Monday night. In the capital Beirut, dozens of protesters chanted slogans against the governor of the central bank in the Hamra area on Tuesday night. In the southern city of Sidon, demonstrators threw several Molotov cocktails at the central bank's local headquarters.
Lebanon is mired in its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese pound has lost more than half of its value against the dollar on the black market, hitting record lows of 4,000 pounds to the dollar this week. Economy Minister Raoul Nehme on Tuesday said that prices have risen by 55 percent, while the government estimates that 45 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line. This has unleashed a public outcry against a government that has yet to deliver a long-awaited rescue plan to shore up the country's finances more than three months since it was nominated to address the crisis. On Tuesday evening, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni tweeted that his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire had given his backing to a rescue plan, but had stressed the need for long-overdue structural reforms.
 'Social explosion'
Lebanon's economic crisis has forced large chunks of the population into unemployment. Meanwhile, a kilo of meat -- which used to sell for 18,000 Lebanese pounds ($12 at the official rate) -- now costs 32,000 (around $22), while the price of vegetables has doubled. With no clear government plan to exit the crisis, Lebanon is heading "towards an inevitable social explosion," Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, told AFP. Public anger has been increasingly directed at banks, accused by protesters of helping a corrupt political class drive the country towards bankruptcy.
Lebanese banks, many of them owned by prominent politicians, have since September imposed restrictions on dollar withdrawals and transfers, forcing the public to deal in the nose-diving Lebanese pound..
Since March, banks have stopped dollar withdrawals altogether, further fueling public anger.

Lebanon's renewed protests shed light on old grievances
The National/April 29/2020
The vast majority of demonstrators are peaceful and beginning to feel they are running out of options
In Lebanon, a new wave of protests has taken over the streets of Beirut and extended to cities all over the country. Demonstrators have blocked roads and burnt tyres. In Tripoli, some attacked a bank – the latest in a number of similar incidents in the past week.
Thousands of people defied physical-distancing rules and a nationwide lockdown to participate in protests that have been dubbed the “Monday of Hunger”. The public show of anger has been met with increased force by security forces, leaving one unarmed protester dead.
That people are ready to put their lives and health at stake to convey their grievances shows the extent of their despair. No excuses should be made for the use of violence or attacking property, but the vast majority of demonstrators are peaceful and beginning to feel they are running out of options.
Last October, more than a million Lebanese took to the streets in a peaceful protest against a sectarian ruling elite that has been in power since the end of the country’s civil war 30 years ago. That same elite has now brought the country’s economy to the brink. Shortly after the onset of the protests, an unprecedented financial crisis hit the country. A shortage of US dollars, to which the Lebanese pound is pegged, triggered restrictions on bank withdrawals in foreign currencies. Many fear that their lifelong savings have now been lost.
The Lebanese pound has lost 40 per cent of its value and inflation has compounded already-deteriorating living conditions. People are angry at the banks that have stopped them from taking control of their own money during a crisis, and resentment was compounded by leaked reports of millionaires and other powerful figures pulling their fortunes out of the banking system and skirting them away abroad. People are also angry at politicians, who have failed to resolve this crisis after six months. Members of Parliament appointed Hezbollah-backed Hassan Diab as Prime Minister after the protest movement led his predecessor Saad Hariri to resign. Mr Diab’s cabinet has thus far failed to implement the policies and reforms Lebanon so desperately needs.
Lockdown measures, though undoubtedly necessary for the protection of public health, have only made a terrible economic situation worse. Restriction on movement and businesses have deprived Lebanon’s most vulnerable from their main sources of income. Last week, parliamentarians stopped short of approving an $800 million aid package for the poor as political bickering prematurely ended their session. And instead of acknowledging their mistakes and making way for change, most politicians have resorted to the same, tired tactics.
In a televised speech last week, Mr Diab pointed fingers at Lebanon’s Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, whom he criticised for a lack of transparency and implicitly blamed for the current financial crisis. A report published in The National on April 15 also revealed the efforts of Hezbollah to extend its reach to the Central Bank. Framing the governor, whose mandate was extended in 2016 by President Michel Aoun, a key ally of Hezbollah, as the sole cause of Lebanon's financial woes is not only simplistic. It plays into the hands of Hezbollah.
With no independent banking authority, there is little chance that Lebanon can one day receive the international financial assistance it so desperately needs. And Hezbollah has long opposed seeking help from the International Monetary Fund, as such assistance would come at the price of structural reforms undermining its hold on the country. Lebanon has immense potential for economic growth and social progress. Instead, its people are forced to seek opportunities abroad, or risk being pushed into poverty at home. As crises compound, the ability to reform becomes ever more limited. It is high time that Beirut’s politicians wake up to the call of their people and act.

Banks targeted in Lebanon's 'night of the Molotov'
Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera/April 29/2020
At least a dozen banks torched and vandalised as fiery protests against economic hardships continue across Lebanon.
Beirut, Lebanon - At least a dozen Lebanese banks across the country were torched and vandalised during the second consecutive night of angry protests fuelled by frustration over the national currency's unfettered depreciation.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets from Beirut to southern Sidon along with Nabatieh, the Bekaa Valley, and Tripoli and Akkar in the north.
While it was unclear how many civilians were hurt, 81 security personnel were injured across the country during attempts to contain the riots, including 50 in Tripoli, the military said
The largest and most violent protests took place in the northern city of Tripoli - Lebanon's second-largest, and poorest, city, after protester Fouaz al-Semaan died on Tuesday from wounds sustained while protesting the night before.
The 26-year-old man's sister, Fatima, said the Lebanese army shot him. The military expressed its "regret" over the killing without directly claiming responsibility and said it launched an investigation.
Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday the army's heavy-handed response to the protests had inflamed tensions. It called for a transparent investigation into al-Semaan's death, the results of which it said should be made public.
Protesters in Tripoli began setting banks on fire on Tuesday afternoon after the al-Semaan was laid to rest, and clashes continued into the early hours of Wednesday as they were chased through the streets by soldiers.
In southern Sidon, a branch of the central bank was pelted with at least half a dozen petrol bombs, with cheers going up from the crowd of demonstrators each time a Molotov hit its mark.
Banks were also set on fire in Beirut and the southern city of Nabatieh.
At a Sidon commercial bank, protesters broke in and set a fire. They then gleefully sang "happy birthday" outside.
Protesters are furious over the rapid slide of the Lebanese pound, which has plummeted in value by more than 50 percent in about six months.
They have lashed out at banks throughout the demonstrations because of harsh capital controls that have entirely phased-out withdrawals in foreign currencies, which were previously standard, and even limited withdrawals in the pound.
Poverty, already at about 50 percent earlier this year, worsened during a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown that has been in place since mid-March.
Social Affairs Minsiter Ramzi Mousharafieh estimated 75 percent of the population require aid in a country of about six million - but that aid has been meager and slow to come.
Massive anti-government protests that began in October and paused during the lockdown are now returning angrier and more desperate.
While Lebanese flags and signs with elaborate slogans used to be ubiquitous in mixed crowds of families with children, increasingly it is young men and women who are taking to the streets, rocks and Molotov cocktails in hand.
The Lebanese Red Cross said it had treated 30 injured people in Tripoli on Tuesday and took six to the hospital. Dozens were injured the day before, some by live fire and others by rubber-coated bullets.
The Lebanese army has not yet released figures from Tuesday night, but said 54 soldiers in total had been injured across the country during attempts to unblock roads and quell protests the day before.
Tensions with the army
While the Lebanese military is one of the country's few respected institutions, perceived to be above the sectarian bickering that permeates the rest of the state, attitudes on the streets have been shifting.
Protesters previously handed out roses to soldiers, but there have been no such acts of kindness over the last few days.
"The army are not our brothers," a woman told a local news reporter as she marched through the streets of the capital Beirut. "They are shooting at us to protect the politicians."
In Tripoli on Monday night, people pelted soldiers with rocks and other projectiles as protesters were chased through the streets. The sound of pots and pans being banged rang through narrow alleyways, in a sign of support for the demonstrators that has become popular during Lebanon's uprising.
Earlier Tuesday, protesters smashed the windshield of a military vehicle, leading the soldiers aboard it to bail out as it rolled backwards, hitting a pole before coming to a halt.
A military vehicle was set on fire in Tripoli on Monday night in the middle of Tripoli's al-Nour square, the main scene of clashes that just a few months ago had been filled with jubilant, thousands-strong demonstrations that became famous for loud music spun live by DJs.
On the southern highway near the town of Naameh, protesters threw stones at soldiers, leading them to quickly retreat and shoot live rounds into the air. Twenty-one troops were injured in the violence.
Still, protesters say their issue is not with the army itself, but with the politicians they say it is protecting.
"To Army Commander Joseph Aoun, we say that you should stand with the people, not in our face," a protester told another reporter in southern Sidon.
In Tripoli, soldiers and protesters suddenly became a single front when an unknown gunman, apparently part of the security detail of a local lawmaker, shot at demonstrators from a rooftop, wounding one.
Protesters and soldiers rushed towards the source of the shooting side by side.
"The army and the people have become one hand, glory to the army," a man shouted. "In a single moment, the people have turned back to the army."Nineteen protesters were arrested in Tripoli, as was the man who shot at demonstrators.

Lebanon protests spread, PM warns against ‘malicious intentions behind the scenes’
Reuters/April 29/2020
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis sees “increasingly desperate” Lebanese.
BEIRUT--Violence soared as angry protests fuelled by economic hardship that has been exacerbated by the weeks-long COVID-19 lockdown spread to several Lebanese cities, where banks were set ablaze and protesters clashed with security forces. Protesters in the northern city of Tripoli set banks on fire, smashed their facades and threw stones at security forces, who retorted by firing rubber bullets and tear gas. Several people were injured, including 40 soldiers. One demonstrator succumbed to his wounds in Tripoli, reigniting violence for the second straight day on April 28. The unrest spread to the southern city of Sidon, with protesters chanting “revolution” and hurling petrol bombs at a central bank building before they set its exterior on fire and smashed the fronts of other banks. In Beirut, dozens marched across the city, some wearing medical masks while shouting chants against the financial system and calling for more Lebanese to join. Later, crowds hurled stones at security forces positioned in front of the Central Bank. Prime Minister Hassan Diab urged citizens to refrain from violence and said that “malicious intentions behind the scenes” were “shaking stability.”
“We are faced with a new reality, a reality that the social and living crisis has made worse at record speed, especially with the rise of the US dollar exchange rate to record levels on the black market,” Diab said in a statement. Diab’s government, formed in January with the support of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah, has struggled to enact reforms demanded by foreign donors to release billions of dollars in pledged financing. “People have lost their purchasing power and the state has no plan to do anything. Banks are closed and not giving money to people. I think this government should resign,” Tripoli lawyer Fahed Moukaddem told Reuters.
“This is not a riot, this is expressing (anger) that the dollar has reached 4,000 Lebanese pounds. … How are people going to eat? And this is the holy month of Ramadan,” said Abou Hussein, another Tripoli activist. The mainly Sunni Muslim port city has long been dogged by poverty and unemployment and was the stage for protests against Lebanon’s ruling elite last October. UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said the violence was a warning for Lebanon’s political leaders. “This is the time to provide material support to increasingly desperate, impoverished and hungry majority of Lebanese all around the country,” he wrote in a tweet. A statement from the US Embassy in Beirut said: “The frustration of the Lebanese people over the economic crisis is understandable, and the demands of protesters are justified. But incidents of violence, threats and destruction of property are deeply concerning and must stop.”
The growing unrest threatens to tip Lebanon into more serious conflict even as Beirut looks to pass an economic rescue plan and enter negotiations with foreign creditors after defaulting on its hefty debt obligations in March. The national currency has lost more than 50% of its value, and banks have imposed crippling capital controls amid a liquidity crunch. But it appeared to be in free fall over the past few days, selling as low as 4,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, down from a fixed peg of 1,500 pounds to the dollar in place for 30 years. As the government said it was putting the “final touches” on a rescue plan, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in a phone call to Diab, said Paris was ready to convene an international support group meeting for Lebanon as soon as coronavirus lockdown measures were lifted. Losses in the banking sector are estimated at $83 billion, increasing fears over the fate of people’s bank savings. Scattered anti-government protests resumed on April 26 as authorities began easing the nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus, which has so far infected 717 people and killed 24 in Lebanon.

Lebanese ‘Government has names of those burning institutions’: Lebanon’s PM Diab
Lauren Holtmeier and Leen Alfaisal, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 29 April 2020
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Wednesday the government has the names of people who are burning institutions and they will be prosecuted. Banks have been targeted in a spate of burnings as protesters have returned to the streets in Lebanon as the economy deteriorates further and inflation continues to rise. “We have comprehensive reports about the entities which are encouraging riot, and we have the names of all the people who are burning institutions and shops and destroying public and private property, and they will be transferred for prosecution,” Diab said in a speech.
While concentrated in the northern city of Tripoli, protests have also occured in the capital Beirut and Saida in the south, with financial institutions being lit on fire. "It's not strange for people to protest and raise their voices, but what's strange is that there are people who are trying to agitate the situation, ride the current wave, distort the image of the protests, and burn the country," the Lebanese Prime Minister said, according to Lebanese TV NBN. He said the government will reveal the names of people stirring trouble in the country. “There are people who are aiming to stir strife between the people and the army,” he said. “There’s systematic intention of destructing the state’s institutions.”Tense moments have occurred between protesters and security forces, and the latter group’s rubber bullets have been met with rocks from civilians during protests. “They are also stealing honest people’s chants and intending to burn and destroy the streets. They want chaos and are aiming for it because it’s protecting them and benefiting them,” he added. One protester died in Tripoli after being injured during riots Monday night. His sister said that he died due to gunshot wounds inflicted by security forces. High-level officials in Lebanon have over the last week exchanged a series of barbs about who is responsible for the ongoing crisis. Today, Diab said, “Right now we are keen to solve the financial, societal, and living crises.”

Rampling visits Aoun, says current circumstances necessitate cooperation among all powers
NNA/April 29/2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Wednesday welcomed at Baabda Palace British Ambassador to Lebanon, Chris Rampling. On emerging, Rampling said that his meeting with Aoun had been an occasion to hold a tour de horizon on the current situation in Lebanon, especially in light of the most recent developments. The UK diplomat offered his heartfelt condolences on the death of Fawaz Al-Samman in Tripoli protests. “The current situation in Lebanon necessitates full cooperation among all the political forces in the service of Lebanon's best interest,” Rampling added.

Diab meets ABL delegation over financial, monetary situation
NNA/April 29/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Wednesday received a delegation of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, headed by its Chairman Salim Sfeir, and in the presence of members Nadim Kassar, Antoine Habib, and Roger Dagher, as well as the Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Alain Biffani, and PM Advisors Khodr Taleb and George Chalhoub. Discussions featured high on the financial and monetary situation, the banking sector, and the recent developments in the country. PM informed the delegation that the Cabinet will examine the financial plan this week and will inform the ABL about it upon its approval. The delegation also said the ABL will submit a plan for economic and financial solutions to the government within the upcoming two weeks. The delegation strongly condemned the attacks on private and public properties, especially the banks headquarters and branches, stating that those acts are completely unacceptable and unjustified, and calling upon the Prime Minister to put an end to them as soon as possible.—PM Press Office

Govt. Finalizes Financial Plan amid Objections on Lira Gradual Floating
Naharnet/April 29/2020
The government on Wednesday put the final touches on its long-awaited financial and monetary plan which is expected to be approved later in a session held in Baabda. “The plan has received positive feedback abroad,” LBCI TV reported.
It said “the issue of floating the lira exchange rate in a gradual manner has not yet been resolved due to objections by some ministers,” noting that “it will be resolved tomorrow.” Some ministers meanwhile asked Diab about his response to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh's televised address and the premier told them that he prefers to take his time.

Diab: We Have Full Reports on Sides Inciting Riots
Naharnet/April 29/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced Wednesday that authorities have “full reports about the sides that are inciting riots,” in the wake of days of violent protests that have rocked the country. “The rioting that is taking place and the attempt to pit the people against the army are indications of a malicious plan,” said Diab during a cabinet session at the Grand Serail. “What's strange is that there is a side, or sides, that are trying to incite, ride the wave, distort the popular protests and burn the country. What's happening is not innocent and some are seeking strife between the army and the people,” the premier added. Claiming that “some are stealing the scream of honest people and some are deliberately burning and destroying the streets,” Diab pointed out that some parties believe that chaos would “protect and benefit them.” He added that the government has “full reports about the sides inciting riots” and that security agencies have “the names of all individuals who are torching institutions and shops and destroying public and private property.”“They will be referred to the judiciary,” he said. Diab also warned that “should those sides continue their incitement, we will call things by their name.”
“Currently we are keen on addressing the financial and social crises,” he said.

Lebanon: Hunger Protests Besiege Diab’s Government
Beirut - Nazir Rida/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
Hunger protests that broke across Lebanon have put pressure on Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government. The past few days witnessed overnight demonstrations and the blocking of roads in Beirut and the North, as well as direct confrontation with the army. The new developments raised fears over the deteriorating security situation, in a country grappling to face the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and the unprecedented economic crisis. Clashes resumed in Tripoli on Tuesday evening, following the funeral of young Fawaz As-Samman, who was killed during the confrontations with the army the previous night. The city witnessed street demonstrations, while a number of angry protesters set fire to some bank branches, prompting the army to launch tear gas to disperse them. With the growing tension that strengthened in downtown Beirut, in protest against the deteriorating living conditions, widespread unemployment and weak purchasing power, Prime Minister Hassan Diab described the developments and the attacks on private property as “malicious intentions to shake security.”“We are working to meet the demands of the people regarding fighting corruption,” he said. “What happened in some areas, including attacks on private property and targeting the army, are malicious intentions behind the scenes to destabilize security.” Sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat warned of the deteriorating security situation. “The security reports indicate fears of a worsening security situation, due to the exacerbation of hunger, destitution and need…This might increase violence in the absence of any political and economic solutions,” the sources said. Meanwhile, Former Justice Minister Major General Ashraf Rifi said: “We have started a different stage now. The hungry and the innocent are increasing in number, and they are now moving to demand solutions to their living reality.” He told Asharq Al-Awsat that there was no prospect for a solution except by securing a decent life, resolving economic crises, and curbing the Iranian influence in Lebanon. “As long as Lebanon remains within the Iranian axis, its situation will worsen, given that the crisis is the result of the country’s detachment of its Arab and historical ties,” Rifi said. “Joining the Iranian project will not help us, because Tehran is unable to feed its people.”

Arab League Warns of 'Very Critical Situation' in Lebanon
Naharnet/April 29/2020
The Arab League on Wednesday warned that the situation is "very critical" in Lebanon, urging security forces to "act responsibly" and protesters to "shun violence.""The rapid developments in the Lebanese arena and the dangerous escalation on the Lebanese streets between protesters and the Lebanese Army, specefically in Tripoli, are extremely alarming and unnerving," Arab League Assistant Secretary General Hussam Zaki said. "The situation in Lebanon is very critical, especially on the streets, and it could quickly slide into the danger zone," Zaki cautioned. "We are especially pinning hope on the wisdom of the Army Command and the security agencies, which must act with their usual professionalism and responsibility to prevent the country from descending into the unknown," he went on to say. Zaki also called on the government to "quickly take practical and prompt steps for economic reform and to fulfill the legitimate demands of the Lebanese people." "We have indications that this has become imminent," he added. And urging Lebanese leaders to "preserve national unity and civil peace," Zaki called on them not to ignite the street. "There is a need to maintain the peaceful nature of the protests and to shun the violence which would further complicate and aggravate things," he added.

Moucharafieh meets UNHCR’s Girard , WFP delegation
NNA/April 29/2020
Minister of Social Affairs and Tourism, Professor Ramzi Moucharafieh, on Wednesday met with the Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon, Mireille Girard, with talks reportedly touching on the situation of the displaced Syrians, in general, and UNHCR’s response plan for the displaced in the face of "Covid-19" pandemic, in particular. On the other hand, Minister Moucharafieh met with a delegation of the World Food Program headed by the Country Director and Representative of WFP office in Lebanon, Abdallah Al-Wardat, with discussions touching on WFP’s aids provided to the Lebanese citizens and how to increase them in light of the dire socio and daily living conditions.

Antoun Nabil Sehnaoui donates toward LAU’s fight against COVID-19
NNA/April 29/2020
In a press release by the Lebanese American University (LAU), it said: "LAU has received a considerable donation from Antoun Nabil Sehnaoui, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), toward the LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Commending the university’s endeavors, Sehnaoui remarked that its most recent initiatives, since the COVID-19 outbreak, underscored its commitment in equal measure to help the community and to raise the bar in higher education in Lebanon and the Middle East. His support for LAU, he said, stems from his belief that LAU deserves every assistance to achieve its mission. LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra expressed his appreciation for this humanitarian gesture, which he said, reflects Sehnaoui’ssensitivity and goodwill. “He was touched when he heard about the great efforts the LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital had exerted to respond quickly to the health crisis, by equipping wards to receive coronavirus patients on two new floors specially designed for this purpose and providing the necessary care to everyone who needs it,” said Dr. Jabbra. “He was also deeply moved by LAU’s drive to bolster the national campaign to increase the number of dailyPCR tests, especially in remote areas, through its dedicated LAU Mobile Clinic.”Dr. Jabbra explained that Sehnaoui’s donation will go towardpurchasing PCR tests, PPEs and other necessary equipment and supplies for the hospital and mobile clinic. Sehnaoui’s admiration for everything that LAU has achieved, its academic mission to educate the new generation and its passion for serving Lebanon and its people, especially the youth, dates back years. In 2017, he pledged funding for an 8,500 square meter three-story athletics center, the Antoun Nabil Sehnaoui-SGBL Athletics Center on Byblos campus. On behalf of the university, Dr. Jabbra thanked Sehnaoui for his unwavering support and his inspiring acts of generosity for the good and welfare of the Lebanese."

Hezbollah's coronavirus spending leaves its fighters without medical, food support
Mona Alami, Al Arabiya English/April 29/2020
Hezbollah has publicly displayed its work on the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus in Lebanon, but the group’s militants who fight on frontlines elsewhere say they are now receiving less support from the organization.
The organization’s finances have been stretched thin for months due in part to US sanctions on Hezbollah and the group’s patron Iran, and it is now reflecting in the support provided to its fighting force.
Relying on a corps of volunteers and doctors, Hezbollah boasted new medical facilities specifically equipped to receive coronavirus patients in regions under its control. Some likened Hezbollah’s efforts to a public relations campaign.
The paramilitary group has mobilized two testing centers and a fleet of ambulances and has redesigned an entire hospital equipped with ventilators for coronavirus patients. The organization has also rolled out a call center and three quarantine centers with 170 beds that can be scaled up to 1,000 beds, according to Reuters.But despite its robust network, sources close and inside the party admit there is a significant decline in Hezbollah’s overall services, including its medical services provided to its members, and connections to high-ranking members are now needed to receive extra food aid.
“Fighters are complaining that there is more bureaucracy and red tape, which is making access to basic healthcare more complicated,” said a source close to Hezbollah and speaking on condition of anonymity. The source said the party is increasingly reliant on Lebanese social healthcare for costly surgeries.
Abou Hadi, a Hezbollah fighter, said there has been a significant impact on all the services provided by the group. He participated in numerous rounds of fighting on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria and was wounded several times. Now he explains that the party has cut many of the subsidies it used to provide.
“I earn $600, but I used to receive at least double that amount in dental care, gas subsidies, food supplies, and many others. A lot of the financial support we used to get has now been slashed,” he explained.
Hezbollah used to pay a bonus to fighters deployed in Syria, but has since limited its deployment due declining fighting and also because of significant budget cuts.
Corruption, which already plagued certain aspects of the organization, is now becoming common within lower ranks as many are vying for scarce resources.
“To get extra financial support or food aid, you need to be close to certain commanders. It’s all about wasta now. That never happened before, the organization used to operate in a fair manner and took good care of its fighters. That is not the case anymore,” says Abou Hadi.
The depreciation of the Lebanese pound is making matters worse, as Hezbollah fighters are now struggling to make ends meet, a problem that as members of the group, they never had to deal with before.
Hezbollah’s fighters have largely borne the cost of increased sanctions, but the leadership continues to invest in medical equipment and facilities.
A non-governmental organization medical source who collaborates with Hezbollah hospitals underlines that “the organization has brand new hospitals with good care standards, maintained by professional healthcare providers.”
According to a study by Middle East Policy Center, Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Unit operates at least three hospitals, 12 health centers, 20 infirmaries, and 20 dental clinics. The Islamic Health unit is also involved in a number of initiatives, such as offering free health insurance, mental care and prescription-drug coverage. Hezbollah’s Foundation for the Wounded provides aid to civilians who have been injured during the conflict with Israel.

Hezbollah supporter, US fugitive Tareck El Aissami appointed Venezuelan oil minister
Matthew Amlôt, Al Arabiya English/Monday 27 April 2020
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro named Tareck El Aissami, a suspected Hezbollah supporter and US fugitive, as oil minister on Monday.
Alongside El Aissami, Asdrúbal Chávez, a cousin of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, was appointed as head of state-run oil giant PDVSA. The appointments were published in the official gazette and announced on state television. The government has yet to comment.
Both positions were occupied until now by Gen. Manuel Quevedo, who during his 28-month tenure watched as oil production in the country, which sits on the world’s largest petroleum reserves, collapsed by 65 percent.
The shakeup comes amid crashing global oil prices and follows a two-decade collapse of crude production at Venezuela’s state-run oil firm, which today pumps an amount equal to 19 percent of levels seen when the late President Chávez took power in 1999. Critics blame rampant corruption and mismanagement. Venezuelans in recent weeks have experienced critical gasoline shortages and mile-long gas lines lasting days even in the capital of Caracas, which is usually spared the worst of the shortages seen across the nation.
In a bid to meet domestic gasoline demand, Venezuela has turned to Iran, receiving the first of several shipments of a key chemical catalyst needed to convert the South American nation’s crude to fuel.
Venezuelan opposition groups have long accused El Aissami of repressing dissent, participating in drug trafficking rings, and supporting Iranian proxy group Hezbollah.
El Aissami is also alleged to have provided Hezbollah affiliates with Venezuelan passports and IDs during his tenure at Venezuela’s Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace.
The former vice president of Venezuela, El Aissami, 45, is a Venezuelan of Syrian and Lebanese descent, and has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and features on the US custom’s top 10 most-wanted list as a specially designated narcotics trafficker.
El Aissami was indicted for the second time by a US federal court last month for being part of the alleged narcoterrorist conspiracy alongside Maduro. Authorities offered a $10 million bounty for information leading to El Aissami’s arrest and $15 million for Maduro’s arrest.
Venezuela is home to the world’s largest oil reserves, but a political, economic, and social crisis has brought ruin on its citizens. The US and a coalition of nearly 60 countries have pressed on Maduro to stand down, with many recognizing opposition politician Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Around 4.5 million Venezuelans have fled the country, crossing into neighboring states, including Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, while the country’s public services, such as electricity and running water, fail.
*With AP, Reuters

Hezbollah’s growing internal challenges result in security breaches
Mona Alami, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 29 April 2020
Security incidents that Hezbollah has suffered from in recent weeks in Lebanon and Syria are the result of the group’s reduced intelligence operations in Lebanon, members of the group say.
Forced to up its presence across the region and spread thin, Hezbollah has scaled back its operations on home soil and close-knit internal cohesion is eroding as a result. In early April, a Hezbollah fighter was found shot dead and stabbed in a car in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah hailed Mohammed Ali Younes, who was responsible for tracking collaborators with Israel, as a “martyr,” alleging that he was killed in the line of duty. On April 15, a civilian vehicle belonging to Hezbollah fighters was destroyed by an Israeli drone just inside Syria across the country’s border with Lebanon. That these breaches occurred is no coincidence, as members of the organization say that the party has reduced its intelligence footprint within Lebanon, due to operational and financial constraints.
“Hezbollah has shut many of its secret outposts it had across Lebanon. Some of these were mainly tasked with intelligence gathering operations,” says Hassan, a Hezbollah fighter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Hassan joined the organization in his teens, during Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon.
While Hezbollah fighters emphasize that the latest attack is part of the tit-for-tat conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, they admit that the party’s internal intelligence capabilities have been affected by the financial crisis the organization is facing. Hezbollah’s sources of funding have dried up with growing US sanctions targeting its front companies and middlemen. A couple Lebanese banks have closed, including Jammal Trust Bank in 2019, after they were accused of facilitating financial transactions for the Iran-backed group. Resources funneled to Hezbollah via Iran have also been on the decline due to US sanctions on the Islamic Republic that is subsequently facing one of its worst economic crises in decades. Already last year Hezbollah had merged many of its institutions, froze hiring, and closed around 1,000 offices and apartments throughout Lebanon, expert Hanin Ghaddar reported.
Read more: Hezbollah's coronavirus spending leaves its fighters without medical, food supportز Additionally, sources close to Hezbollah say that many of the highly trained commanders are deployed regionally, away from Lebanon, making security breaches on home soil more likely.
“Some are in Syria, others are in Iraq, some are in Yemen. This is effecting deployment on the Lebanese front,” says one source close to Hezbollah.
The turning point for Hezbollah was the US killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps top commander Qassem Soleimani who was in charge of extraterritorial and clandestine operations, said Hezbollah expert Lokman Slim.
This forced the organization to send dozens of cadres to Iraq to shore up the Iranian faction within the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units.
“With so many cadres deployed on so many different fronts, the organization’s command and control is now divided, which will have repercussions on its internal cohesion,” he adds.
The party, built to provide resistance against the Israeli occupation in Lebanon was respected across Lebanon, specifically within its popular sectarian base. But Hezbollah is plagued with corruption, which fighters say leaves the organization more exposed to security breaches.
“There are competing groups within the party, each has its own followers and side dealings,” says Hassan. “This is affecting the cohesion of the group within Lebanon. Because of its superior military power, Hezbollah has grown so much regionally that it has stretched itself thin.”

AUB: Free psychological support for children via phone
TK Maloy/Annahar/April 29/2020
This parallels the increasing use of phone and online mediums being used increasingly around the world for therapy and mental health treatment.
BEIRUT: Psychologists from Queen Mary University of London, American University of Beirut (AUB), Médecins du Monde, and Johns Hopkins University, have created a free online resource for mental health services now looking to deliver psychological therapy remotely to children amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, AUB announced Tuesday.
This service will draw “guidance on researchers’ experience adapting an existing psychological treatment to phone delivery for Syrian refugee children living in Lebanon, which they are currently investigating as part of a clinical research study,” according to the school.
Dr. Tania Bosqui, assistant professor in clinical psychology at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (AUB), said “the intervention was part of a research project to improve access to services for vulnerable children and adolescents (…) AUB was at the forefront of conducting assessments and interviews with children over the phone, and we have gained significant experience in what works.”
The school noted that therapists were able to continue delivering treatment despite the major shocks that hit Lebanon, including providing services continuously throughout the road closures in October and November last year.
This parallels the increasing use of phone and online mediums being used increasingly around the world for therapy and mental health treatment.
Dr. Michael Pluess, professor of psychology at Queen Mary, said: “Initially we had some reservations around how successful remote delivery of an existing treatment would be, however, we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well the remote treatment program has worked so far with Syrian refugee children in Lebanon.”
Adding, “Whilst we’re still waiting for the complete results of our study, we’ve developed this guide to support the many practitioners that now need to deliver psychological treatment via phone or other remote technologies.”
According to Dr. Bosqui, it can take some time to get used to phone delivery, “however, clinicians, young people, and their parents usually start to feel comfortable using the phone once small adaptations have been made, and it can improve the ease of access considerably.”
While some existing psychological therapies have been specifically developed for phone delivery, most of the current mental health treatments for children have been designed for face-to-face and in-person delivery.
The therapy resource covers topics such as developing safety protocols and managing risk over the phone, adapting therapy to maintain child engagement, and tips to manage specific practical and treatment-related challenges that can arise during therapy, according to AUB.
*Dr. Fiona McEwen, the postdoctoral researcher at Queen Mary, said: “Through the delivery of our research project, we’ve already learned a great deal in terms of what does and doesn’t work when it comes to delivering treatment remotely.”
AUB has not yet announced an inauguration date for the service.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 29-30/2020
Coronavirus toll tops 130,000 dead in Europe: AFP tally
NNA/April 29/2020
More than 130,000 people have died in Europe from the coronavirus, three-quarters of them in Italy, Spain, France and Britain, according to an AFP tally from official sources at 1300 GMT Wednesday.
With a total of 130,002 people dead for 1,433,753 infected, Europe is the continent hardest hit by the pandemic which has killed 217,727 people in the world. Italy has lost 27,359 lives, Spain 24,275, France 23,660 and Britain 21,678.--AFP

US to work with UN to extend Iran arms embargo, won’t allow it to buy weapons: Pompeo
Reuters, Washington/Wednesday 29 April 2020
The United States will not allow Iran to purchase conventional arms after a UN prohibition on this expires in October, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. “We’re not going to let that happen,” Pompeo told reporters at a news briefing. “We will work with the UN Security Council to extend that prohibition on those arms sales and then in the event we can’t get anyone else to act, the United States is evaluating every possibility about how we might do that.”
The United States in 2018 withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal that sought to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. As part of that deal, a UN arms embargo on Iran expires in October. A US-drafted resolution to extend the embargo has been given to Britain, France and Germany, all parties to the nuclear deal, a US official confirmed, but UN diplomats said it has not been shared with the remaining 11 UN Security Council members, including Russia and China. Russia and China, which hold vetoes on the council and are parties to the nuclear deal, are believed to be eager to sell armaments to Iran. “The failures of the Iran nuclear deal are legion. One of them is now upon us. ... where China, Russia, and other countries from around the world can all sell significant conventional weapon systems to the Iranians in October, Pompeo said. “We are urging our E3 partners to take action. This is within their capacity to do,” he added, referring to Britain, France and Germany, each of which has the ability to force the “snapback” of all UN sanctions on Iran – including the conventional arms embargo – lifted under the nuclear deal.

Iraq must drop sectarian qouta system to help form new gov't: Pompeo
Reuters, Washington/Wednesday 29 April 2020
Iraqi leaders must put aside a sectarian quota system and make compromises to help the formation of a government and help the bilateral relationship between Washington and Baghdad, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, Iraq’s president named intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi as prime minister-designate, the third person tapped to lead Iraq in just 10 weeks as it struggles to replace a government that fell last year after months of deadly protests.

Iran Shipping Large Quantity Of Crude Oil To Syria
Dalga Khatinoglu/Iran News/April 29/2020
Tanker tracking sources say Iran’s oil exports to Syria have increased substantially in recent weeks and currently several cargoes have reached the Baniyas port in Syria. Tanker Trackers reported on Tuesday April 28 that several Iranian vessels are near port in Syria and the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reports that these tankers are carrying 6.8 million barrels of oil. Since full U.S. sanctions were imposed on Iran in May 2019, Syria has been receiving an average of around 2 million barrels of crude monthly from Iran, and now more than three times is being delivered at once.
In January and February, Iran’s biggest oil customer, China reduced its imports and with this large cargo arriving in Syria, that country has become the largest oil importer from Iran. There can be several reasons why this is happening. Excess oil stocks in the midst of sanctions and a global oil glut is forcing Iran to ship and perhaps store the oil in a friendly country. Another reason is that Bashar Assad’s government and Hezbollah can be conduits to sell the oil on the black market. One place Hezbollah can manage to do this is Lebanon, where it has sway over the government.
Although loading of Iranian crude remains low according to monitoring companies, but China’s customs reported a huge increase in imports of Iranian oil in March, reaching 608,000 barrels per day. The extra oil registered by Chinese customs can be from around 20 million barrels stored in China or from Iranian tankers floating on the high seas loaded with unsold oil. As the coronavirus epidemic subsides in China, economic activities in the country rise and so does demand for oil. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Iran may be able to export 340,000 barrels a day in 2020; a far cry from a peak of 2.5 million before U.S. sanctions. This will result in billions of dollars of budget deficit and more shortages of foreign currency. OPEC reports Iran’s daily production at 2 million barrels. With domestic consumption of 1.8 million, Iran has around 200,000 barrels to export. But Iran has more than 100 million barrels of unsold oil in storage.

Newly elected Iranian MP booted for presenting fake degree: Iranian media
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 29 April 2020
A newly elected Iranian lawmaker will be banned from Parliament for presenting a fake university degree, the spokesman of Iran’s election watchdog said on Wednesday. Sina Kamalkhani was elected in February to represent the city of Tafresh in Parliament. “Due to the fact that the institution from which Kamalkhani received his degree is invalid, his degree is also invalid, and he cannot enter the Parliament,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Abbasali Kadkhodaei as saying on Wednesday. The votes of the Tafresh constituency have been annulled as a result, Kadkhodaei said, adding that someone else will be re-elected from the Tafresh constituency for Parliament. The Guardian Council will further assess Kamalkhani’s situation at its next meeting and make a final decision then, he said. Kamalkhani had denied in recent days that his academic credentials were forged. He claims to have a master’s degree in sociology. Fake university degrees amongst Iranian officials have led to several political scandals in recent years. Former Interior Minister Ali Kordan was impeached in 2008 by the Parliament after a doctorate he claimed to hold turned out to be fraudulent.

Responses Vary towards Haftar Accepting Popular Mandate
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
Reactions worldwide have varied towards Libya’s eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar decision to end the Skhirat agreement and declare himself ruler of the African country by virtue of a popular mandate. The Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Presidential Council, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, said that Haftar’s announcement resembled a farce and a new coup. It also said the move was meant to cover for the Libyan National Army’s defeat in Tripoli. "It's a farce and the latest in a long series of coups d'etat," the GNA said in a statement on Tuesday. Washington regretted Haftar's "unilateral declaration", calling for dialogue between the two sides and a "humanitarian" truce in light of the new coronavirus. "The United States regrets ... commander Haftar's suggestion that changes to Libya's political structure can be imposed by unilateral declaration," a statement on its embassy's Twitter account said.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday that his country rejected the GNA's refusal to engage with Haftar as well as the latter's unilateral move to usurp power. "We did not support the recent statement by Sarraj, who refused to talk to Marshal Haftar, and we do not support the statement that now Marshal Haftar will decide unilaterally the way for the Libyan people to live," said Lavrov. "Neither of these factors helps to find a stable compromise, without which it is impossible to get out of this crisis."The European Union stressed that Haftar's statements "do not provide a solution to the situation in the country." It added that "unilateral actions and declarations cannot bring the country out of the conflict and return it to the path of peace", and "it cannot be accepted." The German Foreign Ministry also considered that "the conflict in Libya cannot be resolved militarily or through unilateral declarations, but rather through a political process with the participation of all regions and groups of the people."

Iraq: Shiite Blocs Say Sunni-Kurdish Coalitions Should Entrust Kadhimi With Choosing Independent Ministers
Baghdad- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
Iraq's Shiite blocs said that Sunni-Kurdish coalitions should entrust Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi with choosing independent ministers.
While there are no differences over the number of ministries to be allocated to each bloc, the problem is almost confined to the distribution of sovereign portfolios. The premier-designate has so far enjoyed the support of the different political components, except for some reservations not yet formulated by the Shiite parties. However, disputes emerged when he presented his lineup without consulting the political blocs. In this context, MP Dr. Naim Al-Aboudi, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Shiites were not against giving Kadhimi the freedom to choose his ministers, but they were awaiting a Sunni-Kurdish mandate in this regard. Shiite blocs continue their meetings under great pressure due to the deterioration of the economic crisis and the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. While the discussions between Kadhimi, the Kurds, and the Sunnis are proceeding smoothly, the Shiite blocs saw in this understanding flexibility by the premier towards those blocs, and criticized what they considered as double standards in the process of appointing the ministers. “Kadhimi gave in to the demands of the Sunnis and the Kurds regarding the ministerial portfolios, but ignored the Shiite blocs, which aroused their anger,” Hakim al-Zamili, head of the Security and Defense Committee in the former Iraqi parliament, told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The person in charge of forming a government must choose a strong professional lineup to meet the economic, security, and health challenges… Therefore, he needs the support of the blocs and parties to succeed,” he said. In contrast, MP Yehya al-Muhammadi, member of the largest Sunni bloc, said that the Sunni position “is based on giving the Prime Minister-designate enough flexibility in choosing the cabinet.”“If this government does not pass, then based on the current circumstances, we will face a real catastrophe,” he warned.

LNA Vows to Respond to Turkish Drone Attack on Food Convoy
Cairo - Khalid Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
Libya’s National Army (LNA) has accused Turkey of killing at least five civilians and their companions of expatriate workers in the country’s west. A Turkish drone struck a food truck convoy late Monday near the district of Mizda, 184 kilometers south of Tripoli. A counter-attack will be certainly launched in retaliation to the attack, LNA Spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari pledged in a statement on Tuesday. Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) has claimed responsibility for the attack, however denying targeting civilians. It said the attack targeted “trucks carrying equipment and ammunition for the LNA’s operation against Tripoli.” For his part, Mismari stressed that the attack came against Libyans and Arabs, pointing out that after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to face LNA’s forces, he resorted to bombing food convoys, open areas far from fighting fronts and safe cities and towns. Meanwhile, spokesman for the GNA said on Tuesday that their air force bombed two trucks carrying logistical equipment and ammunition on their way to supply LNA forces south Tripoli. He also indicated that the forces launched five strikes on Monday evening, during which they targeted military vehicles and LNA elements at al-Watiya airbase, 125 km (80 miles) west of Tripoli. In turn, pro-Sarraj media announced on Tuesday that the LNA forces have bombed civilian homes in the city of Maslata with more than 65 Grad rockets, causing casualties and damage to residential neighborhoods in the city. Meanwhile, LNA forces continued shelling Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport, which they say is used by Turkish soldiers as a headquarters for the operations launched by pro-Sarraj militias.

Assad’s Obduracy Gives Putin a Syria ‘Headache’
Moscow, Ankara - Raed Jaber, Saeed Abdulrazzak/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
Sources in Moscow revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is having hard times in dealing with President Bashar Al-Assad's stubbornness over several issues, at a time when Moscow started an active move on two diplomatic and military tracks related to Syria.
For the diplomatic track, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Syrian affairs Sergei Vershinin contacted United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the two sides discussed Syria’s prospects for a political settlement, the situation on the ground and the issue of humanitarian aid. The talks came on the eve of a regular UN Security Council session on Syria. The Russian move carried several messages to the Syrian government and to Turkey, as state media quoted Russian air force officers saying that Moscow had begun operating military helicopters in areas where Turkey launched operations in Idlib. Putin is insisting that Assad show more flexibility in talks with the Syrian opposition on a political settlement to end the nearly decade-long conflict, said four people familiar with Kremlin deliberations on the matter according to Bloomberg.
“The Kremlin needs to get rid of the Syrian headache,” said Alexander Shumilin, a former Russian diplomat who runs the state-financed Europe-Middle East Center in Moscow. “The problem is with one person -- Assad -- and his entourage.” Putin’s irritation and Assad’s obduracy highlight Russia’s dilemma because both sides know there’s no alternative to the Syrian leader in reaching a deal. While Putin used his successful 2015 intervention in Syria to restore Russia’s Soviet-era influence as a major player in the Middle East, Assad has maneuvered between Moscow and his other main military backer, Iran, to retain his grip on power. Assad has also leveraged Russia’s military and diplomatic strength against Turkey’s efforts to expand its presence in remaining rebel-held areas of northern Syria as he seeks to regain control over the whole country with Putin’s support.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin is unhappy with Assad for refusing to compromise with Syria’s opposition in negotiating a political settlement. Russia has pressured Assad behind the scenes for several years, without success, to agree to at least some token political concessions to win United Nations endorsement of his expected re-election in 2021. The openly voiced criticism of its ally marked a sharp change of approach.

PA Slams US Remarks on West Bank Annexation, Says Nothing Left to Negotiations
Ramallah/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has rejected the US approval of Israel’s annexation of much of the West Bank, describing the US request for the new Israeli unity government to negotiate with Palestinians over this matter as a “mockery" and stressing that there is nothing left to negotiate over.
The US approval to annex the Jordan Valley and impose Israel’s civil laws on the illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as the previous US recognition of annexing Jerusalem reflects the US biased decisions in favor of the occupation state to the detriment of Palestinians.
“What negotiations is the US administration talking about after issuing unilateral decisions that are in favor of the occupying power and by force?” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said. “This is a flagrant coup against the international terms of reference of the peace process, mainly the principles of land for peace, the two-state solution and the UN resolutions, which were replaced by the US administration’s so-called 'Deal of the Century’,” the statement read. Last week, all members of the UN Security Council rejected this plan and the annexation step announced by the occupying power.
Remarks by the US State Department’s spokesperson are considered “an extension of the US bias to the Israeli occupation and its colonial expansionist policies in the Palestinian state’s territories,” the statement stressed. It affirmed that the US stance expands on remarks made to reporters on Wednesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said annexation was ultimately “an Israeli decision.”“As we have made it consistently clear, we are prepared to recognize Israeli actions to extend Israeli sovereignty and the application of Israeli law to areas of the West Bank that the vision foresees as being part of the State of Israel," a State Department spokesperson said on Monday. The step would be “in the context of the Government of Israel agreeing to negotiate with the Palestinians along the lines set forth in President Trump's Vision,” she added.

200,000 Palestinians, Israelis Participate in ‘Cry for Peace’ Initiative
Tel Aviv- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 29 April, 2020
Some 200,000 people have joined a virtual joint Palestinian-Israeli Memorial Day ceremony, the Parents Circle Families Forum announced on Tuesday. The Forum, which joins a group of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families who work together for reconciliation and peace, said this great number of participants boosts peace hopes and stresses the importance of multiplying efforts to achieve peace. It was founded in 1995 as an Israeli association, then it became a joint body with the Palestinians. Today, it includes 600 bereaved families of the two peoples. Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, who lead this activity, say that “despite the many disadvantages of the coronavirus outbreak, yet it has made us resort to the virtual world.”They both stressed that the number of participants and interaction with the virtual event was unexpected. “Palestinians and Israelis joint fight against the coronavirus outbreak seems to have made them realize how precious life is and how much we must preserve it in peace,” they noted. The event was held at the initiative of the Israeli-Palestinian organization Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle forum and without an in-person audience for the first time since its inception in 2006 due to the coronavirus. It was live-streamed from studios in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. UN Special Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov also participated in the ceremony this year. He began by thanking all participants and organizers of the event, describing them as an inspiration for all. Both Palestinians and Israelis desperately need leaders who would do the same as you, Mladenov noted. “There are radicals on all sides, there are people who want to burn all bridges between Israelis and Palestinians, and who want to see the divide harden. What you are doing is going against that. What you are doing is really the work of humanity. And that is to turn grief into hope, and to turn hope into a future for all of us.”

EIB, CEPI sign advisory agreement to accelerate development of vaccines against infectious diseases
NNA/April 29/2020
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global organisation established to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s bank, today signed a landmark advisory agreement to collaborate on the development of innovative financing schemes to support vaccines development across the globe.
Under this partnership delivered through the InnovFin Advisory programme, the EIB will provide strategic financial advice and support to CEPI and its members (private and public companies and research institutes) on potential financing solutions from the EIB Group and/or external financing options, preparing to deploy large-scale vaccine development projects, making such solutions more readily available around the world. Alongside this signature was the announcement of a European Union-led global Pledging Conference to raise an initial €7.5 billion to end this pandemic, which will begin on 4 May 2020.
By joining forces, the EIB and CEPI will also explore ways to improve the overall financing ecosystem for investments in pandemic preparedness. This may include in due course, the development of a new financing mechanism that would mobilise additional public and private capital. The EIB and CEPI’s cooperation will help to accelerate and facilitate access to funding for a number of vaccine development projects which will benefit from the EIB’s InnovFin Advisory support.
CEPI and the EIB, through InnovFin Advisory - a programme supported by the European Commission to advise companies to structure their R&I projects in order to improve their access to finance - will work together on identifying relevant vaccine development projects. The EIB will provide CEPI and its members with extensive knowledge sharing and support to navigate the financing schemes that exist within and beyond the EIB, in order to bring vaccine projects to life. The Bank offers numerous options for companies looking for funding such as corporate loans, project finance and venture debt. In addition, this collaboration will help to identify potential funding gaps related to vaccine projects, and to explore the need for potential new financial instruments to address such gaps.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: “Vaccine development is vital in the fight against global infections, including the current coronavirus pandemic. We are pleased to join forces with CEPI to jointly identify vaccine initiatives and suitable funding solutions to get these projects off the ground. The Bank offers numerous options for companies looking for funding to develop the next generation of vaccines in the search for solutions to global disease outbreaks.”
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. Working with the WHO, CEPI has so far initiated nine partnerships to advance COVID-19 vaccine candidates into clinical testing as quickly as possible.Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer at CEPI commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic presents the world with an unprecedented challenge. Developing a vaccine that is available to all is going to be the world’s best exit strategy from this crisis, protecting lives and allowing societies to return to normal. I am very pleased to be partnering with the EIB which will help us in our work to develop a vaccine against this deadly disease.”
The EIB is building a pipeline of potential investments in vaccine, treatments and diagnostics for the fight against COVID-19, leveraging on global partnerships with organisations including the European Commission, the WHO, CEPI and others partners, also with the objective to achieve sufficient manufacturing capacity. All this effort is complemented by what the EIB is doing in health and pandemic preparedness both inside and outside EU.--EIB

Lockdown-Defying Parisians Pose Challenge for Authorities
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/2020
After six weeks of being stuck in their homes, a growing number of Parisians appear unable to wait for the May 11 lifting of the nationwide lockdown, venturing out even as officials warn of a new surge in COVID-19 cases if people let down their guard too early. The city's parks may be closed, but spring sunshine drew throngs of strollers to canals and other promenades over the weekend, despite strict social distancing decrees. Joggers packed sidewalks and paths of public lawns that could not be blocked off, in particular at the forested Boulogne and Vincennes parks at opposite ends of the city, before the daytime jogging ban came into effect. And social media was abuzz with a video of a few dozen people dancing in a Montmartre square to the tune of Dalida's "Laissez-moi Danser" (Let me Dance) on Saturday night. Police showed up nearly immediately to disperse the crowd, and the DJ reportedly promised to no longer blast songs from his window. But a police source told AFP that no tickets were handed out for breaching the confinement rules, which can see people without a valid reason to be out fined 135 euros ($146). "Overall, Parisians are being civic-minded," said Pierre-Yves Bournazel, a city council member for the 18th arrondissement where the impromptu disco took place. "But if we want to avoid new contagions, we're going to have to respect the measures in place," he said. Overall, police have carried out more than 1.1 million checks in Paris alone since the lockdown was imposed on March 17, issuing around 69,000 fines, officials said Saturday. But as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe prepares to lay out post-confinement plans Tuesday, more Parisians could be tempted to get out of cramped apartments before May 11, when some stores and schools are set to reopen.
- 'It's not easy' -
Mickael, one of the hundreds of Parisians along the Ourcq canal, told AFP that "from a humane perspective, it's not easy staying cooped up in a house all day long. Humans aren't designed to live like that, isolated like that." Eric, wearing a bandanna over his mouth and nose, admitted that he had been going out every day "to walk around the block and get some exercise." "You can put a cross for fitness, so there you go," he said, referring to one of the seven allowed reasons for leaving on the self-signed document everyone must carry when going out. Emmanuel Latil, one of the dozens of public safety officers deployed across Paris, spent the weekend urging people hanging out in the Bois de Vincennes on the eastern edge of the city. "The security ribbons forbidding access were torn down, so people didn't realise they weren't allowed in," he said. He later told two women in the park: "Be careful. I can see you've touched the benches, so wash your hands well before touching your faces."

France's Finance Minister to 'tighten control' on investments in French firms from outside EU
NNA/April 29/2020
Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire has promised tougher measures to control foreign funding for a period until at least the end of 2020, as the EU is battling with a severe coronavirus-induced economic fallout. Speaking on La Chaîne Info, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has vowed to "tighten control" on investments flowing into local firms from outside the European bloc until at least the end of this year. Le Maire announced lowering the threshold of foreign investments to domestically operating firms to 10 percent, from the current 25 percent. "Biotechnology companies, for example those working on a vaccine against COVID-19, will also be included in this decree on foreign investments in France," the minister pointed out. Separately, he touched upon the issues France's Airbus is currently facing, going on to note that Air France KLM "should continue to be a good customer of Airbus."
Airbus reported 481 million euros in losses in the first quarter, put thousands of workers on furlough and sought billions in loans to survive the coronavirus crisis, with its CEO Guillaume Faury saying that Wednesday the aviation industry's unprecedented - "the gravest ever" troubles - caused by air travel brought by the coronavirus to a halt, are still at an "early stage.'' Faury admitted it would take a long time to persuade customers to get back on planes even after the crisis ends. The corona spread has caused an overwhelming healthcare crunch resulting in a massive economic downturn, with businesses and industries brought to a halt for at least a month, amid across-the-board lockdowns and self-isolation measures needed to prevent the novel virus from spiralling out of hand. France, Italy, and Spain - the most corona-hit states in the EU - and several other countries have suggested EU nations could jointly source money to reverse the downturn and help stimulate a rebound. The sums, as it was proposed, were to be paid back later. Nevertheless, these so-called "coronabonds" have been flatly rejected by Germany, the Netherlands, and a number of other states. ----Sputnik

Oil Rebounds above $14 after Massive Sell-Off
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/2020
U.S. oil prices rebounded above $14 a barrel Wednesday, a day after a sell-off sparked by a major fund selling its short-term holdings of the commodity amid virus-triggered storage concerns.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, for June delivery jumped 14.5 percent to $14.13 a barrel in Asian morning trade.
It had plunged by more than 21 percent at one point Tuesday after the United States Oil Fund -- a major U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) -- started selling its short-term contracts of the commodity.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading 3.27 percent higher at $21.13 a barrel.
Traders "are bargain hunting after a couple of days of massive sell-offs", OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley told AFP.
ANZ Bank said in a note that the market was hit by volatility Tuesday "as ETFs and index funds moved contract positions amid renewed concerns of negative prices" in short-term holdings.
The Oil Fund had sold its contracts due to expire in June to move into longer-dated holdings amid fears about storage space running out in the short term.
Following the U.S. ETF's move, Standard & Poor's also told clients to sell their stakes in the June contracts and move them into July, ANZ said.
S&P operates the GSCI commodity index, which is tracked by pension funds and other big investors.
Other indices, including the Bloomberg Commodity Index, took similar steps.
Oil prices have fallen to historic lows this month, with WTI crashing deep below zero for the first time as governments worldwide shut down businesses and air travel grinds to a halt due to the virus.
An agreement by top crude-producing nations to cut output by 10 million barrels a day from May 1 has done little to calm the market.
The production cuts "will probably take weeks to show up in the physical market, hence we are still stuck with the inventories issues that will continue to curb any semblance of bullish appetite", said AxiCorp global market strategist Stephen Innes.

India’s virus deaths exceed 1,000 but low toll puzzles experts
NNA/April 29/2020
India’s confirmed coronavirus death toll passed 1,000 on Wednesday following its highest daily increase but the numbers remain low compared with Europe and the United States in a phenomenon that is puzzling experts. With massive slums and a shaky healthcare system, there were fears India would be ravaged by the pandemic that has killed more than 214,000 people worldwide. The latest daily toll of 73 deaths was India’s highest, offering a warning that the giant South Asian nation was not yet in the clear. A lack of testing and many other factors mean that India’s official toll of 1,007 deaths could be far below the real number of coronavirus victims. “We see low numbers but we do not know how to validate those numbers or rates,” virologist T Jacob John told AFP. “Governments desire under-reporting and… we are flying blind for true rates and numbers.” India appears so far to have been spared the devastation seen in New York, Milan and other hard-hit parts of the world, where hospitals have been overwhelmed by cases of coronavirus. Experts have offered a number of theories and factors, but there is no definitive explanation yet. “It might well be true that the trajectory of the Indian epidemic is very different for reasons that we do not understand… but those are all theories right now,” Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, told AFP. One possible factor is that India imposed a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people on March 25, when there were 606 confirmed cases and 10 deaths, and it has been rigidly enforced. The government says the number of infections could have reached 100,000 without it. There are also other issues that could also have kept the risk low – including a young population and the possible positive effects of the BCG tuberculosis vaccine, said John. Another factor could be decades of widespread dengue fever providing communities with some “innate immunity”, he speculated. Still, experts caution that no-one has an accurate picture of the pandemic in remote rural villages and deep in slums. Even in normal times, accurately recording deaths or causes in India can be a difficult task, where many poor people fall sick and die without entering a hospital or seeing a doctor. Just under half of the country’s estimated 10 million annual deaths are not recorded, according to Jha, who leads the Million Death Study that regularly surveys Indian households on the issue. He said authorities could use his study’s framework to survey households and get a sense of the pandemic’s spread beyond the small testing regime, or find answers to why the coronavirus is not devastating communities.“A survey likes this, if it showed lower death rates than expected and was able to get at the cause, would be important,” he said.
“India needs to count the dead, quickly.” -- AFP

Death toll in Peru prison riot over coronavirus demands rises to nine
NNA/April 29/2020
Nine inmates have died after a prison riot in Peru over demands for better sanitary measures and coronavirus medical care, the country’s prison authority said on Tuesday, The protest by inmates, who were also calling for pardons, began Monday afternoon at the Miguel Castro Castro prison, located in the San Juan de Lurigancho district, according to the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE). Prisoners managed to “climb to the roofs with the aim of preventing access by (security forces) by throwing stones and other blunt objects at them,” the INPE said in a statement, adding the inmates attempted to escape but were not successful. The riot was controlled with the aid of about 200 security officials later in the day. The cause of the nine deaths was not shared by officials. Peru approved a decree last week that allows President Martin Vizcarra to grant humanitarian pardons to prisoners in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country’s jails, which are currently at more than double capacity. The INPE has reported 609 cases of coronavirus in prisons, and 113 cases among prison workers. Thirteen inmates have died from the virus.
Peru has 28,699 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the second highest number in Latin America, and 782 deaths, according to the health ministry. -- REUTERS

It's a boy: British PM Johnson and fiancee 'thrilled' by birth of a son
NNA/April 29/2020 
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's fiancee, Carrie Symonds, gave birth to a baby boy Wednesday at a London hospital, slightly earlier than had been expected.Both mother and child are doing well, a spokeswoman said. Symonds had been expected to give birth in the early summer. "The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds are thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning," a spokeswoman said. "Both mother and baby are doing very well. "The PM and Ms Symonds would like to thank the fantastic NHS maternity team."Johnson returned to work Monday, a month after testing positive for COVID-19 which he said had threatened his life. Symonds also had symptoms of the virus but recovered swiftly.--Reuters

UK has Europe's second-highest COVID-19 death toll, new figures show
NNA/April 29/2020 
The United Kingdom now has Europe’s second-highest official death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to new figures on Wednesday that cover fatalities in all settings, including in nursing homes. Some 26,097 people died across the United Kingdom after testing positive for COVID-19 as of April 28 at 1600 GMT, Public Health England (PHE) said. That means the United Kingdom has had more COVID-19 deaths than France or Spain have reported. “These more complete data will give us a fuller and more up to date picture of deaths in England and will inform the government’s approach as we continue to protect the public,” Yvonne Doyle, medical director at PHE, said. Such a high UK death toll increases the pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government which is facing criticism from opposition parties for being too slow to impose a lockdown and too slow to introduce mass testing.
In mid-March, the government’s chief scientific adviser said keeping the UK death toll below 20,000 would be a “good outcome”. Although international comparisons are difficult, the new figures confirm Britain’s place among the European countries worst hit hardest by the pandemic.
Italy, which has the world’s second-highest death toll after the United States, said on Wednesday that 27,682 people had died after testing positive for coronavirus. Like Britain, its figures are based on deaths following positive coronavirus tests in all settings. Spain reported 24,275 deaths from the coronavirus at the last count, less than Britain’s new toll published on Wednesday. Still, Spain’s population is around 20 million smaller so it has a higher prevalence of deaths per capita. -- REUTERS

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 29-30/2020
Iran dissidents say regime should get ‘not even a penny’ of IMF coronavirus aid, backing US stance
Adam Shaw/Fox News/April 29/2020
Iranian dissidents are urging the international community not to give Tehran $5 billion in International Monetary Fund aid in response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying it would only serve to fund a “machinery of suppression” in Iran.
“Not even a penny should be given to the regime,” Ali Safavi, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said during a webinar for reporters. “$5 billion must be prevented from getting to the regime because the mullahs would use this money ... to basically oil their machinery of suppression within Iran and export of terrorism to the region.”The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the Trump administration is planning on blocking the $5 billion request amid concerns that the anti-American regime still has billion-dollar accounts available to it.
Senior officials told the Journal that the loan would allow Tehran to divert the money to its economy – which has been stunted by sanctions imposed as part of the U.S. maximum pressure campaign – or to finance extremist militant groups in the Middle East.
Iranian “officials have a long history of diverting funds allocated for humanitarian goods into their own pockets and to their terrorist proxies,” one of the administration officials told the outlet. That reported stance has brought opposition from Democrats in Congress.
“I am disappointed to see reports that your administration intends to block Iran from receiving $5 billion in humanitarian aid from the IMF to combat the coronavirus pandemic,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to President Trump. “Providing these funds to Iran would help it respond more effectively to the disease and mitigate the risk of further destabilization in the region.”She argued that the U.S. should make its support “contingent upon IMF oversight on how Iran spreads the funds” to assuage concerns about the money being used for other purposes.
“It is in our national interest, and in the interest of international security, to help Iran contain this disease,” she said.
But the NCRI, an umbrella of Iranian resistance groups opposed to the regime, backed the position reportedly held by the administration.
“Iran’s wealth is much more than many other countries. Therefore, our country’s persistent problem has been the rule of kings and clerics and not shortages," the NCRI's President-elect Maryam Rajavi said in a speech on Sunday. “This regime itself can afford to pay the wages of workers and salaries of government employees for at least the duration of the lockdown period and provide the people with free equipment and medications needed to fight the coronavirus to enable them to get through this period.”
The group also released a report that outlines four agencies under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that control tens of billions of dollars in assets — and as much as 60 percent of the country’s wealth. One of those agencies, the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, controls $95 billion in wealth by itself, the group said. Meanwhile, the regime has continued destabilizing activities in the region. Trump recently warned that the Iranians had been planning an attack on U.S. forces in Iraq.
“The problems facing the Iranian people have nothing to do with lack of resources. Even reports in Iran’s state-controlled media make it clear that if Khamenei were to allocate to coronavirus relief just 10% of the assets he controls, then all...the Iranian people’s urgent needs could be met,” the report concludes.
“The decision not to do so is profoundly political. In choosing between preserving his regime and saving people’s lives, Khamenei has chosen the former,” it says. Iran is one of the countries hardest hit by the crisis, and the regime has been dogged by accusations that it covered up when the virus came to the country and the nature of the response. While official figures say about 5,800 people have died in Iran from the virus, the NCRI believes the figure could be as high as 36,000. President Trump slapped a travel ban on the regime in the early days of the crisis, and has resisted calls so far to loosen sanctions placed on the country in the wake of the U.S. departure from the Iranian nuclear deal.
*Adam Shaw is a reporter covering U.S. and European politics for Fox News.

Iran military satellite launch requires US action
Behnam Ben Taleblu/Bradley Bowman/Al Arabiya/April 29/2020
[This article was published in Al Arabiya English on April 28, 2020. The version below contains the original and complete set of hyperlinks to sources referenced in the piece.]
The Islamic Republic of Iran is at it again. In addition to resuming its longstanding maritime belligerence that instigated the latest war of words with President Trump, Tehran recently launched its first-ever military satellite. This historic development represents a significant change in Iran’s narrative about its interest in space, as well as another step toward potentially developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could target the United States and all of Europe. Iranian outlets have heralded the launch of the satellite – dubbed the “Noor” or light – a success, claiming that the satellite sent a signal back to earth from 425 kilometers (km) away. US Space Command has tracked the satellite, which is assumed to be in orbit. Wednesday’s apparent success follows a string of recent setbacks for Iranian space launch vehicles (SLVs). Just this February, in an attempt to celebrate the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Iran tried but failed to put a new satellite into low-earth orbit. Ironically, the satellite was named the “Zafar,” or victory.
The SLV behind the latest launch, called the “Qased” or messenger, appears to be new. Iran’s Mashregh News Agency reported that the Qased has three stages and uses both solid- and liquid-propellant. Older Iranian SLVs rely on North Korean missile technology, specifically Nodong engines, which use liquid-propellant. Video from the Qased’s launch appears to indicate a liquid-propelled engine, at least for its first-stage.
The Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force (IRGC-AF), Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, confirmed this assessment in a recent interview. While claiming that the Qased’s use of liquid-propellant in the first-stage was a temporary, cost-saving measure using a missile they had in “storage,” Hajizadeh said Tehran will transition to all solid-propellant SLVs in the future.
If true, this growing technical sophistication should set-off alarm bells in Washington and allied capitals. A domestically manufactured, multi-stage, solid-propellant SLV would be a game-changer for Tehran and can make longer-range ballistic missiles possible.
The semi-official Tasnim News Agency, whom Hajizadeh gave an interview to after the recent satellite launch, noted that the Salman, a solid-propellant motor first showcased this February, is used in the Qased SLV. The Salman motor represents an advancement in Iranian rocketry due to both a composite casing, making it lighter, as well as its stated ability to guide rockets through directional changes in the nozzle, otherwise known as thrust vectoring. The Salman is likely the first of many solid-propellant advances by Tehran.
Tasnim further reported the Qased was launched from an IRGC space launch base in Shahroud, the same city where a solid-propellant engine testing facility was discovered in the desert in 2018. Shahroud is in Iran’s Semnan province, where Iran’s Imam Khomeini Space Center is also located. This marked the first satellite launch from Shahroud. The US government has long expressed concern that Tehran’s SLV program could facilitate its development of an ICBM. In February 2016, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper summarized the assessment of the US intelligence community that Iran’s SLV program provides it with the “means” to develop an ICBM. In 2017, the US National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) concluded that “progress in Iran’s space program could shorten a pathway to an ICBM because space launch vehicles (SLV) use inherently similar technologies.” These concerns were echoed again the US military’s 2019 Missile Defense Review.
But there is one more reason to worry. Last week’s satellite launch was conducted entirely by the IRGC-AF, which has operational control of Iran’s vast ballistic missile arsenal. Unlike its predecessors, the new SLV and accompanying satellite did not bear any of the logos of the Iranian Space Agency. Nor did it bear the logos of any of Iran’s defense ministry subsidiaries, like Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), or Iran Electronics Institute (IEI). This indicates that production and procurement related to the SLV was entirely outside recognized government channels.
In short, the Qased was part of a secret program now public. Iran’s willingness to place this effort in the hands of the IRGC – designated a terrorist organization by the US – should end any credible assertions that Iran’s interest in space is purely civilian. For too long, the US ignored North Korea’s development of satellite launchers and long-range ballistic missiles. As a result, the Pentagon has been playing catch-up, rushing to field sufficient homeland missile defense capabilities. Washington should not make the same mistake when it comes to Iran. Admittedly, Tehran is likely years away from fielding an ICBM capability. But it also takes years to fund, test, and field missile defense systems—and there is no time to waste.
The first step in defending the US homeland against a potential Iranian ICBM is ensuring that the Pentagon has sufficient radar capability.
Existing radars in Greenland and the United Kingdom are important, but an additional persistent discrimination radar would be needed to address the growing threat from Iran. A radar similar to the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) in Alaska could help identify ballistic missiles early in flight. It could also distinguish between decoys and actual threats, and help assess whether attempts to intercept the threat were successful. This would enable more efficient management of the finite number of US interceptors.
The location for this radar will likely need to be in a foreign country, requiring Washington to roll-up its sleeves in the quest for an agreement with a host nation. If the Iranian missile threat matures further, the US could then start construction at the new radar site.
In the meantime, if a Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii (HDR-H) is deployed, then the Pentagon could move its Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) Radar to the Atlantic. This would buy time for construction of a new persistent radar focused on Iran.
But sufficient radar capability, of course, is not enough; the Pentagon must also have the means to intercept and destroy the incoming ballistic missile.
That’s why the Department of Defense should expeditiously push forward with the development of a Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI), which will be needed as missile threats to the homeland proliferate. In fact, the US Missile Defense Agency published on Friday a classified request for proposals from industry for the NGI. The Pentagon is also wise to conduct a flight test soon to determine whether the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA (SM-3 IIA), originally designed to intercept medium- and intermediate-range missiles, could also intercept ICBMs. If that test is successful, SM-3IIAs could provide additional layered homeland missile defense—first from Aegis ships and then from Aegis Ashore sites in the US.
Finally, another ground-based midcourse defense (GMD) site in the continental United States (CONUS) would provide much-needed additional capability against a prospective Iranian ICBM. An additional CONUS GMD site would significantly enhance Washington’s ability to intercept an incoming ICBM from Iran, assess whether it was destroyed, and then shoot again if necessary. If an Iranian ICBM were headed toward New York City or Washington, D.C., Americans would want two chances—not just one—to shoot it down.
Tehran’s launch of a military satellite does not guarantee that the regime will pursue an ICBM to target the United States. But if Tehran does decide to do so, Wednesday’s launch will give it a running start. Washington would be wise to start getting ready.
*Behnam Ben Taleblu is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Bradley Bowman is Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.

A rift emerges among pro-Iranian militias in Iraq
Seith Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/April 29/2020
Different units are increasingly divided between those who want to play a role in Iran’s regional strategy and those who want to be a more local Iraqi force.
Iraq’s politics may be getting even more divided after the acting Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, sought to affirm his office’s control over key Iraqi paramilitary groups. The powerful Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units have been maneuvering to dominate Iraq since the ISIS war, but they are increasingly divided between those who want to play a role in Iran’s regional strategy and those who want to be a more local Iraqi force.
A letter from the Prime Minister’s office emerged last week in which four brigades of the PMU, some 15,000 men, could be moved from the control of the PMU to the Prime Minister’s office. This would effectively remove them from control by key pro-Iranian influence such as a man named Abu Fadak, who replaced Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis after the US killed MUhandis and IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani in January.
be a popular mobilization of young men to fight ISIS. Some of the units that joined were historic Iraqi militias that are aligned with Iran. These included Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and the Badr Organization. Leaders of these groups such as Muhandis and Hadi al-Amiri of Badr had fought alongside Iraq against the Saddam Hussein regime in the 1980s. Muhandis was a wanted terrorist. Qais Khazali of AAH was once detained by the US at Camp Cropper.
The PMU that emerged in the fall of 2014 was also made up of territorial brigades linked to kay Shi’ite shrines which were also linked to Sistani. These included fighters from Najaf, Karbala and other cities. After ISIS was largely defeated in 2017 the PMU’s future was uncertain. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wanted to make it an official force and saw it as the hope of the future of Iraq. Others wanted the units to go home and have just the Iraqi army as Iraq’s main military force. Iran wanted the PMU to become Iraq’s version of the IRGC, a kind of Hezbollah-IRGC in Iraq. Iran was thus happy to see the increasing role of Muhandis as deputy of the PMU.
Iraqi politics changed in the fall of 2019 when protests broke out in Shi’ite areas of southern Iraq. The protesters targeted Iranian consulates and offices of Badr and other groups. In response pro-Iranian elements of the PMU sent the Khorasani militia members of the PMU to kill protesters. Other groups, such as Khazali’s AAH also killed protesters. This caused Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign. Behind the scenes Muhandis ordered his militia to conduct rocket attacks on US forces in Iraq, resulting in the deaths of US-led Coalition members. The US responded with air strikes. Hadi al-Amiri maneuvered to work with Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of Iraq’s largest party, to remove US forces from Iraq.
All of this put the PMU in an awkward place. Because it was an official force it was not supposed to act independently and target Americans who were working with Iraqi Security Forces. Sistani was also concerned that his units were being drawn into suppression of protests. Iran was scrambling at the same time to fill the void left by Muhandis and Soleimani, sending Hezbollah members to try to unify the PMU. Iran appeared to stumble in March as internally the Sistani factions of the PMU rejected the role of Muhandis’ successor Abu Fadak and also were not kind to Soleimani’s replacement, Esmail Ghaani during a visit in early April. They approached the Prime Minister and Defense Ministry to suggest moving their units and minority groups out of the PMU.
At the same time Iraqi politics was in turmoil as no new prime minister could be found. Amiri and Sadr worked to torpedo two prime minister candidates in February and March. April arrived with yet another new man trying to become Prime Minister. Abdul Mahdi, who had tried to rein in the PMU in the summer of 2019, decided he was acquiesce to the push to move several brigades away from the PMU’s control. He has now written a letter seeking to move the Imam Ali Combat Division, the Liwa al-Akbar unit, the Al-Abbas Combat Division and the Liwa Ansar al-Majaya under the PMO’s control. These units are mostly territorial brigades linked to Najaf and Karbala and varies shrines. This could split the PMU into two groups: The minority units and Sistani’s supporters and those linked to the IRGC and Iran.
The pro-Iran units include Badr, Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Saraya Khorasani, Kataib Imam Ali, and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. What is at stake is a large budget and access to some 150,000 fighters. This is a lot of men with combat experience fighting ISIS. The PMU also controls checkpoints, and areas along the Syrian border. It has economic interests as well.
The current crisis within the existing Iraqi crises appears to indicate a rift between the hard core members who want Iraq to be a springboard for Iranian activities in the region and those who want to focus on more local issues. For instance Iran has transferred ballistic missiles to Iraq. Iran seeks to move weapons to Syria via Iraq. All this has provoked tensions with the US and also tensions with Israel in a regional context. The question for the PMU is whether it is becoming a state within a state, with its own prisons, businesses, checkpoints, and munitions warehouses, or whether it will actually integrate into the security forces. It receives handsome salaries from the government which is a way to sponge up state resources. This is in line with Iran’s overall goal to use Iraq as its “near abroad” and make Iraq dependent on Iran. Already Iraq is dependent on Iran for electricity, even though Iraq ostensibly has massive amounts of oil and should be wealthy. With oil prices low the Iraqi government budget is imperiled. This will cause the PMU to exert more control. But the drive for control may have also created this internal rift.
Iraq lacks a new Prime Minister. It has disputes with the Kurdistan autonomous region. ISIS is rising again. The US is leaving many Iraqi bases and Coalition forces have returned home due to the coronavirus virus. The latest shakeup in the PMU is yet one more fragmentation. Iraq’s divided and multi-layered security forces increasing lack accountability, as some of the PMU were involved in killing protesters and firing rockets at US forces, and that means Iraq will have increasing trouble exerting government authority or systematic policies.

Afghanistan: America Moving Out, China Moving In - with Help from Iran
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/April 29/2020
Both the United Kingdom and the U.S. State Department have complained to China about the free flow of Chinese weapons to Iran, which then wind up with the Taliban. These include surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery shells, and land mines.
China's $3 billion copper mine investment... in Afghanistan's Logar Province remains under the Taliban's protection. Other Chinese corporations that have initiated investment projects in Afghanistan include the Zinjin Mining Company, the Jiangxi Copper Corporation, and China National Petroleum Corporation.
Beijing and Washington are driving different bargains with the Taliban. China, supported by pro-Taliban elements in Pakistan, apparently hopes to enlist the Taliban to prevent Uighur and Eastern Turkistan Independence Movement (ETIM) fighters from using Afghanistan to launch attacks on the Chinese Province of Xinjiang. The U.S., for its part, wants the Taliban's assurance that it will oppose Al-Qaeda and Islamic State operations on Afghan soil as a prerequisite for a near total troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The question is, just what is the likelihood of that?
The Trump administration has made clear that it wants to end the forward-positioning of U.S. troops on what it regards as a seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, and the Taliban wholeheartedly agrees. China, in the meantime, has continued to profit from its bilateral commerce and investment in the region, and now appears willing to play a future military role in the area. China has already established a military base in Tajikistan near the Chinese border with Afghanistan....
During the tumultuous two decades of American military presence in Afghanistan, China has been quietly increasing its influence there. China is now the foremost foreign source of investment in Afghanistan. Pictured: Afghanistan's National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib (left) meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on January 10, 2019. (Photo by Andy Wong/AFP via Getty Images)
During the tumultuous two decades of American military presence in Afghanistan, China has been quietly increasing its influence there.
While the Trump Administration is distracted by the coronavirus and its economic fallout, China is now poised to inherit the great power role once played by Britain, Russia and the U.S.
Beijing has deftly maintained low-key but friendly relations with the Taliban since the Islamic movement assumed power in Kabul in 1996. Only China and Pakistan kept their ties with the Taliban when American and Northern Alliance forces drove the terrorist group from power in the autumn of 2001.
China is now the foremost foreign source of investment in Afghanistan. China, for instance, has gained access to three separate oil fields in the Afghan provinces of Sari-i-pul and Faryab and has also invested heavily in extracting copper and iron ore from Afghanistan.
China, however, seems to be hedging its bets. It remains a supplier of weapons to the Taliban through the third-party services of Iran. Both the United Kingdom and the U.S. State Department have complained to China about the free flow of Chinese weapons to Iran, which then wind up with the Taliban. These include surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, artillery shells and land mines. In fact, as early as 2007, British Royal Marines intercepted a ten-ton cache of Chinese weapons left for the Taliban by the Iranians in Herat Province, Afghanistan, which borders on Iran.
China and the U.S. have the same interest in assuring that Afghanistan does not host international Islamic terrorist groups. Nevertheless, Beijing and Washington are driving different bargains with the Taliban. China, supported by pro-Taliban elements in Pakistan, apparently hopes to enlist the Taliban to prevent Uighur and Eastern Turkestan Independence Movement (ETIM) fighters from using Afghanistan to launch attacks on the Chinese Province of Xinjiang. The U.S., for its part, wants the Taliban's assurance that it will oppose Al-Qaeda and Islamic State operations on Afghan soil as a prerequisite for a near-total troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The question is, just what is the likelihood of that?
China developed early ties to Afghan jihadists by sending them weapons to fight the Russians after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979. The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan also established close ties with the Taliban in 2000, during a meeting in Kandahar, Afghanistan with the group's leader, Mullah Omar. The Taliban, in turn, pledged to protect Chinese investment projects in Afghanistan. China's $3 billion copper mine investment at Mes Aynak in Afghanistan's Logar Province remains under the Taliban's protection. Other Chinese corporations that have initiated investment projects in Afghanistan include the Zinjin Mining Company, the Jiangxi Copper Corporation, and China National Petroleum Corporation. China, in addition, is also probably covetous of Afghanistan's estimated $1 trillion dollar stash of unexploited rare earth elements, which include cerium, lithium, neodymium, and lanthanum.
China currently likes to present itself in the role of a regional peacemaker. It has been urging Afghanistan and Beijing's close ally, Pakistan, to improve their bilateral relations by cooperating with Beijing's "One Belt One Road" (OBOR) initiative. This tactic also suits Pakistan's objective of slowing down any plans its adversary, India, might have to expand its influence in Afghanistan. China would also doubtlessly like to tamp down any violence that might obstruct its new Silk Road initiative -- a trade corridor from China across South and Central Asia into Europe, mostly done through infrastructure investments. Chinese diplomats do not fail to mention ancient Afghanistan's partnership with Chinese merchants in the prosperous "Lapis Lazuli" route , which helped transport semi-precious Afghan stones to Russia and the Caucasus. If regional peace were possible, China would likely help finance a high-speed Afghanistan-Iran railway project in a similar manner to its support for the "CASA 1000" initiative, which, when fully operative, would export excess electric power from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to South Asia.
The Trump administration has made clear that it wants to end the forward-positioning of U.S. troops on what it regards as a seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, and the Taliban wholeheartedly agrees. China, in the meantime, continues to profit from its bilateral commerce and investment in the region, and now appears willing to play a future military role in the area. China has already established a military base in Tajikistan near the Chinese border with Afghanistan, along the Wakhan Corridor. It is in Chinese military bases in the Wakhan region that China is planning to train Afghan mountaineer special forces to do battle with Muslim Uighurs.
China has benefited economically from its investment in Afghanistan while simultaneously striking political and military deals with the Taliban. Until now, China has had a free ride. It is doubtless hoping to do more of the same.
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The United Nations Human Rights Council Praises Iran
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/April 29/2020
One of the worst examples we can identify as a conscious distortion of reality is the way in which the UN Human Rights Council, in its February-March 2020 five-year report on the Islamic Republic of Iran, lavished praise on the despotic regime.
Other extreme forms of punishment used in Iran are equally appalling: Execution by stoning, Execution by hanging, Execution by firing squad, Execution by beheading, Execution by throwing from a height, Amputation, Blinding, Flogging. – United Against Nuclear Iran
Yet many people who boycott Israel refuse to boycott Iran. The irony is mind-boggling.
One of the worst examples we can identify as a conscious distortion of reality is the way in which the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in its February-March 2020 five-year report on the Islamic Republic of Iran, lavished praise on the despotic regime. Pictured: Mohammad-Javad Larijani, representing Iran, during a discussion on a report of the Special Rapporteur on Iran's human rights situation, at the UNHRC in Geneva on March 12, 2018. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
There are times when even the most steeled among us are shocked by things others say or do. For example, people who insist against overwhelming evidence that Hitler and the Nazis were good people or that the Führer never intended to kill the Jews. Individuals who, again against a massive body of evidence, deny where the coronavirus began; or, though their numbers are relatively small, the percentages of Muslims who apparently still support the Islamic State (ISIS).
One of the worst examples we can identify as a conscious distortion of reality is the way in which the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in its February-March 2020 five-year report on the Islamic Republic of Iran, lavished praise on the despotic regime. A majority (85%) of the countries contributing to this travesty of the truth made a mockery of human rights values by treating the Islamic Republic as a shining example of those values in action -- something, as we shall see, it has never been. According to UN Watch:
"This includes 49 countries that glowingly praised the theocratic regime, and another 46 that expressed some praise for Iran's alleged achievements."
The same authority cites several comments (with videos) from a range of supportive countries. Russia says: "We highly rate Iran's cooperation with human rights treaty bodies and openness for dialogue as part of the UPR (Universal Periodic Review)."
China also chimed in:
"We commend Iran's efforts to eradicate poverty, enhance social security, protect the rights of vulnerable groups & hopes Iran will continue to drive economic & social development to provide a solid basis for the enjoyment of all human rights."
Venezuela's comment is briefer but no different, taking the Iranian regime's claims at face value:
"We welcome the answers provided by the government [of Iran] during the review in which it confirmed the country's steadfast commitment to protecting human rights."
These statements might be fair were they directed at many of the Western democracies which usually display a commitment to human rights values. The large-scale human rights abuses of Iran's theocracy, however, have been on display for more than forty years, with little respite. It is hard to know where to start.
Iran has for many years carried out the second-highest number of executions in the world, after the vastly more populous China. Both countries have been putting to death political dissidents and members of ethnic and religious minorities for decades.
The regime's on-going abuse of women is also well documented, and ranges from restrictions on marriage, divorce and child custody to enforced wearing of the hijab, long imprisonment, floggings, and even frequent executions.
Iran's political dissidents in prison are treated harshly; freedom of expression and criticism of the regime are severely curtailed. Non-violent political opponents are often executed. The same is true of homosexuals. For 40 years, the Iranian government has made systematic use of torture in its prisons. Other extreme forms of punishment used in Iran are equally appalling:
Execution by stoning
Execution by hanging
Execution by firing squad
Execution by beheading
Execution by throwing from a height
Amputation
Blinding
Flogging
Last year, Iran executed seven children while another 90 children remained on death row Ironically, the UN special investigator on human rights in the country, Jeva'id Rehman, reported on the 2019 executions. That should not have been a secret from the UNHRC and is members. Under the regime, the death penalty can apply to girls as young as nine and boys of fifteen. Worse, the Iranian regime has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which forbids such treatment.
The regime also persecutes its ethnic and religious minorities. The ethnic groups consist of Azeris (16%), Kurds (10%), Lur (6%), Baluch and Arabs (both 2%), Turkmen and other Turkic tribes (2%), and other nomadic peoples comprising about 1% of the total population. Other minorities include Armenians and Assyrians, as well as an Afro-Iranian minority.
More grievous than the mistreatment of ethnic groups is the Iranian regime's persecution of its several religious minorities. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote in its 2017 report:
"Since 1999, the State Department has designated Iran as a 'country of particular concern,' or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), most recently in October 2016. USCIRF again recommends in 2017 that Iran be designated a CPC."
It also stated that: "During the past year, the government of Iran engaged in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused. Severe violations targeting religious minorities—especially Baha'is, Christian converts, and Sunni Muslims—continued unabated. Sufi Muslims and dissenting Shi'a Muslims also faced harassment, arrests, and imprisonment. Since President Hassan Rouhani was elected in 2013, the number of individuals from religious minority communities who are in prison because of their beliefs has increased."
In fact, severe persecution of religious communities, most notoriously the indigenous Baha'is, the country's largest religious minority, started in Iran with the foundation of Ayatollah Khomeini's clerical government in 1979. Baha'is have been executed, even for teaching children's morality lessons (dars-e akhlaq) -- more than 200 hanged or shot in the 1980s. Additionally, all their holy places have been demolished; many homes of individual believers have been destroyed; entire cemeteries have been bulldozed and corpses disinterred, including a major one in the city of Shiraz; ordinary Baha'is and leaders elected to national and local bodies have been imprisoned for long sentences in large numbers; Baha'i children are monitored in schools and young Baha'is are denied places in universities.
The hatred for Baha'is alone verges on the unhinged, yet the UNHRC sees no human rights failures in the country. What makes this situation strikingly worse is that, since its foundation in 2006, the UNHRC has condemned Israel more than all countries in the world combined. This, even though Israel has one of the world's finest human rights records. Israel does not use execution except for treason and crimes against humanity, and has only once done so. Israel, instead, protects women's rights; all its religious minorities (especially the Baha'is, who have their holiest shrines and world centre there), and is the only country in the Middle East with full freedom for homosexuals. Yet many people who boycott Israel refuse to boycott Iran. The irony is mind-boggling.
*Denis MacEoin has PhD (Cambridge 1979) in Persian/Iranian Studies and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

US Economy May Have Hit the Coronavirus Bottom
Conor Sen/Bloomberg/April 29/2020
As the calendar turns to May, we're likely to see a slow return of growth for some types of economic activity that were wiped out by the coronavirus shutdowns in March and April. That's the good news. The bad news is, as we've seen in the oil industry this week, much of the economy remains tremendously oversupplied for likely levels of demand for the foreseeable future. That tug of war, and potential ripple effects, is likely to define the path forward for the economy during the next several months.
It's easy to be fairly certain that some types of economic activity have already bottomed. After all, activity can't drop below zero. OpenTable data shows that online restaurant reservation are down 100% because of the mandatory shuttering of sit-down dining. Early to mid-April may end up representing the trough for the parts of our day-to-day lives that were most affected by the shutdowns. Grocery stores and restaurant takeout, for example, may well see a modest uptick in traffic as they make safety-related changes and customers getting more comfortable with wearing masks and abiding by social-distancing guidelines.
And even before any shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, there are tentative signs of slow improvement in some areas. Motor-vehicle gasoline demand increased last week for the first time since the shutdowns, with people perhaps looking to get out of the house a little bit, even if non-essential businesses remain closed. Daily data from the Transportation Security Administration showed slight week-over-week growth in the number of air travelers passing through security checkpoints as of last Saturday. Overall spending at restaurants has declined less on a year-over-year basis during the past few weeks, perhaps as customers get more comfortable with takeout, curbside pickup and delivery options. A homebuilder survey from John Burns Real Estate Consulting showed two sequential weeks of improving sentiment. This week's data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed the first sequential increase in mortgage-purchase applications since the shutdowns began. Just as economic activity was slowing even before states adopted lockdowns, it's not surprising that economic activity is recovering a little before those orders are lifted.
As shelter-in-place orders gradually are eased during the next month, many type of businesses should get a bit more of a lift. People will spend a little more time driving and using gasoline in May than they did in April. Air travel will pick up a slightly. More restaurant meals will be consumed, either onsite or via pickup or delivery. Las Vegas casinos would like to reopen in mid-to-late May, meaning more people will stay in hotels there than in April.
There's also the tailwind from the fiscal stimulus, with tens of millions of Americans receiving relief checks last week. Although processing backlogs remain, millions of laid off and furloughed workers are receiving enhanced unemployment benefits backdated to when their employment ended. And businesses are receiving hundreds of billions of dollars through the Paycheck Protection Program.
That's the good news. The bad news is that, as seen most prominently in the oil market this week, many areas of the economy have staggering overcapacity, even if demand does pickup during the next few months. Shuttering that excess capacity and adjusting cost structures for a lower revenue base will have significant negative effects on economic growth.
It's easy to imagine what a major retrenchment in activity and investment in US oil and gas production might look like. From the fourth quarter of 2014 through the second quarter of 2016, fixed investment in mining exploration, shafts and wells fell 65%, which led to a lot of concentrated economic pain in states such as Texas and North Dakota; we could be in for several quarters or more of something similar.
Airlines, meanwhile, are likely to continue to slash capacity for the summer months. Barring a more rapid recovery in air travel demand than is likely, they eventually will need to cut headcount or raise more capital.
Things are equally dire for state and local governments, which are reeling from the decline in tax revenues; they will have to make hard choices regarding their fiscal 2021 budgets. Barring new legislation for aid from Congress, this will all weigh heavily on economic growth in at least the second and third quarters of the year. But at least after a month of news that's been uniformly negative, the economic picture in May should be more mixed; some regions and industries will emerge from comas while others suffer from new shocks as capacity gets cut. Reopening the economy alone won't be enough to relieve policy makers of their responsibility to do more, particularly as it relates to decimated state and municipal budgets. How much more is needed will be a function of the progression of the virus and the shape of the recovery. The worst of the storm may have passed but the tedious process of rebuilding is only beginning.