LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 11/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.july11.19.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 05/43-48:”‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. ”But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on July 10-11/2019
No Salvation or reform under Hezbollah’s Oppression & Occupation
Hezbollah Demands Lebanese Stance on US Sanctioning of Party MPs
Lebanon’s Cabinet Sessions Remain Stalled Pending Results of Aoun-Hariri Contacts
Aoun Regrets U.S. Hizbullah Sanctions, Hariri Says Won't Affect Parliament, Govt.
U.S. sanctions on Hezbollah are 'assault' on Lebanon says lawmaker
Berri Deplores US Sanctions Against Hizbullah MPs
Hizbullah Slams U.S. Sanctions on MPs as 'Humiliation' for Lebanese
Rahi meets Australian minister of Lebanese origin
Hariri meets former Prime Ministers
Hariri: The sanctions took a new course but will not affect our work in Parliament or government
Hariri to EU ambassadors: Lebanon will do the necessary to fulfill its commitments to the international community and reassure the donor countries
Press release following European Union Ambassadors' meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri
Report: Washington, Paris Eager on Lebanon’s Stability
Report: US, France Regret ‘Freeze’ of Demarcation Talks between Lebanon, Israel
Gharib Visits Rahi: Adamant on Referring Qabrshmoun Case to Judicial Council
Deryan Hails Ibrahim’s Efforts in Qabrshmoun Case: Wise Politicians Will Resolve the Issue
Daoud tours Aley city with Arab ambassadors to promote summer tourism
Austerity Is Not the Answer

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 10-11/2019
Trump accuses Iran of secret nuclear enrichment and warns of ‘substantial’ new sanctions
French Envoy in Iran Talks as Trump Threatens to Up Sanctions
Iran Warns Britain of 'Repercussions' over Ship Seizure
US, Russia Agree to Weaken Iran, Fight Qaeda in Syria
Iran Says It Welcomes France’s Efforts to Save Nuclear De
Rouhani Says Britain to Face ‘Consequences’ for Impounding Iranian Tanker
Regime Air Strikes Hit Syria Hospital, Kill 7 Civilians
Attacks against Syrians in Turkey Raise Fears of Escalation
EU Dispatches Envoy to Sudan, Khartoum Calls for Removing Debts
Constitutional Vacuum’ in Algeria at End of Interim President’s Term
2 Qatar Warplanes Collide during Training
Palestine: Egyptian Delegation to Visit West Bank End of Week
Ramallah, Washington Exchange Messages to ‘Smooth Things over’
Syria Says 'Progress' towards Talks on Post-War Constitution
Sources: New Chemical Weapons Team to Launch 1st Syria Probe
Iraqi Region Demands Separation from Basra
Britain's US Ambassador Resigns after Trump Spat
Trump Gives Warm Welcome to Qatar amid Persian Gulf Disputes

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 10-11/2019
No Salvation or reform under Hezbollah’s Oppression & Occupation/Elias Bejjani/July 10/19
Austerity Is Not the Answer/Lydia Assouad/Carnegie Middle East Centre/July 10/2019
That Giant Asteroid of Gold Won’t Make Us Richer/Noah Smith/Bloomberg View/July 10/2019
Our World Torn Between The 'Social,' The 'Societal'/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/July 10/2019
Despite Russia’s efforts, the Syrian army is as inept as ever/Neil Hauer/Arab News/July 10/2019
India must save Himalayan glaciers to avert ecological crisis/Chandrahas Choudhury/Arab News/July 10/2019
Iran sets up command center at Abu Kamal for attacks on US targets and Israel/DEBKAfile/July 10/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on July 10-11/2019
No Salvation or reform under Hezbollah’s Oppression & Occupation
Elias Bejjani/July 10/19
الياس بجاني: لا خلاص ولا اصلاح ولا مصلحين بظل احتلال حزب الله للبنان
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/74240/elias-bejjani-no-reform-under-hezbollahs-oppression-occupation-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%a8%d8%ac%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d8%b5%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a7/
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three key Hezbollah political and security figures on its sanctions blacklist.
Specifically, OFAC designated Hezbollah Members of Parliament Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hassan Raad, and Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa, for acting for or on behalf of Hezbollah.
These three Hezbollah prominent individuals were designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.
Hopefully, all the western free and democratic countries, as well as all the Arab States will as soon as possible follow the USA’s courageous decision and designate Hezbollah as an entire entity on their terrorism lists.
Hezbollah, the Iranian military and terrorist proxy is 100% a devastating cancer that is evilly and systematically devouring Lebanon and all that is Lebanese.
Therefore no reform from any kind will take place or be possible as long as this terrorist Iranian army occupies Lebanon, confiscates both its independence and sovereignty, and totally controls by force and intimidation, its decision making process in all domains and on all levels.
In the same context there will be no just and fair reforms or actual liberation from the Iranian occupation as long as the current corrupted and derailed politicians are in power.
In the same realm, the ex 14th of March (coalition) parties and politicians who dismantled the coalition and surrendered to Hezbollah via a humiliating bargain must not be trusted or supported any more.
The surrendering bargain that they forged with Hezbollah, the occupier and its local proxies sold the country and its sovereignty with thirty pieces of silver.
Lebanon is in bad and urgent need for honest, transparent, courageous and patriotic politicians whose main aim is to serve the country and the Lebanese people and not their own selfish agendas.
Therefore, Sadly all the ongoing current reform efforts will go in vain.
In summary, there will be No curing solutions what so ever for any Lebanese current crisis under the auspices of the Iranian occupation and under the umbrella of the current politicians and officials.
Psalm 127/01/(Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.)

Hezbollah Demands Lebanese Stance on US Sanctioning of Party MPs
Washington, Beirut - Heba El Koudsy and Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Hezbollah demanded on Tuesday the Lebanese parliament and government to issue an official stance over the United States’ sanctioning of three of its top officials, including two lawmakers. In what was the first response to Washington’s move, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said: “Above all else, the American sanctions are an insult to the Lebanese people.”He also deemed them a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, which requires a response from the parliament and government. Earlier on Tuesday, the US Treasury named MPs Amin Sherri and Mohammad Raad to a terror-related blacklist, saying that Hezbollah uses its parliamentary power to advance its violent activities. It was the first time the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had designated a member of Lebanon’s parliament under a sanctions list that targets those accused by Washington of providing support to terrorist organizations. Washington has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group. OFAC said it also designated Wafiq Safa, who is in charge of Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit responsible for coordinating with Lebanese security agencies. "Hezbollah uses its operatives in Lebanon's parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group's financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran's malign activities," said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence." It is time we believe for other nations around the world to recognize that there is no distinction between Hezbollah's political and military wing," a senior administration official who insisted on anonymity told journalists.
Raad, 64, is the head of the parliamentary bloc of the party and an MP since 1992.
Sherri, 62, is a 17-year Hezbollah veteran of parliament representing Beirut.
Safa, the Treasury said, maintains the group's ties to financiers and helps arrange the smuggling of weapons and drugs.
The action by the US Treasury bars US citizens from dealing with the three individuals and blocks any assets they may hold in the United States. It also limits their ability to access the US financial system.
The newest sanctions brought to 50 the number of Hezbollah individuals and entities blacklisted by the Treasury since 2017.

Lebanon’s Cabinet Sessions Remain Stalled Pending Results of Aoun-Hariri Contacts
Beirut - Khalil Fleihan/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri agreed on not holding a cabinet session this week pending a solution to a crisis that emerged over demands to refer to the Judicial Council the killing of two aides of State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib in the Druze area of Aley earlier this month. Contacts between Aoun and Hariri on Tuesday focused on handing over all suspects from the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the Lebanese Democratic Party (LDP), both involved in the deadly shootout. “The general atmosphere signals a possible solution,” sources familiar with the issue told Asharq Al-Awsat. The PM dispatched his political adviser, ex-minister Ghattas Khoury, to learn from the President the clear position of LDP leader MP Talal Arslan from the latest developments. Gharib is a member of the LDP. Hariri is hoping that Aoun would convince Arslan to relinquish his demand to refer the deadly shooting to the Judicial Council, the country’s top judicial court, during the next cabinet session. However, Arslan seems to be sticking to his stance. Cabinet sessions have been stalled since the June 30 Aley shooting, which has widened the rift among several political parties. PSP chief ex-MP Walid Jumblatt said Tuesday that “Lebanon’s interest lies above all considerations.”He added that his party was ready to accept any procedures in the deadly shooting.

Aoun Regrets U.S. Hizbullah Sanctions, Hariri Says Won't Affect Parliament, Govt.
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 10/2019
President Michel Aoun decried on Wednesday new U.S. sanctions targeting two Hizbullah lawmakers, as Prime Minister Saad Hariri sought to reassure the public that the fragile economy won't be affected. Aoun said the U.S. decision to target lawmakers was regrettable, adding that his government will pursue the matter with American officials. The president said the decision contradicts previous U.S. positions vouching for the commitment of Lebanon and its banking sector to international agreements combating money laundering, funding terrorism and other criminal activities.
Hariri meanwhile said that the sanctions took a "new course" when they hit elected lawmakers but urged that the issue not be exaggerated to avoid aggravating already tense domestic relations. "This will not affect parliament or the work that we do both in parliament and in the Council of Ministers," Hariri said during a function in Beirut. "It is important that we preserve the banking sector and the Lebanese economy, and God willing, this crisis will pass sooner or later." "The most important thing that we must work on at present is to secure the needs of the Lebanese citizens and provide them with a good economic situation because they are fed up with political rhetoric and slogans," Hariri added. The country's top leaders were reacting a day after the U.S. Treasury Department said it is targeting two Hizbullah lawmakers and a party security official suspected of using their positions to further the aims of the Iran-backed group as well as bolster Tehran's "malign activities." The new sanctions were the first time Washington targeted lawmakers currently seated in Lebanon's parliament -- a jab at the militant group's growing political role which seemed to have struck a nerve at a time when the country is dealing with a major economic slump. The widening dragnet also comes as the U.S. increases its pressure on Tehran, levying new sanctions on Iran and raising tensions across the region. Hizbullah has been under increasing financial sanctions from the United States. But Treasury officials said the latest designation, naming lawmakers Mohammed Raad who leads the group's parliamentary bloc and Amin Sherri, makes clear that there is no dividing line between Hizbullah's political and militant wings. Hizbullah and its allies won a majority in 2018 elections and the group has three Cabinet seats, the largest number it has ever controlled. The group, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the 1980s, is among the most effective armed groups in the region and has fought several wars with neighboring Israel. Lebanon is still technically at war with Israel. Hizbullah has also sent thousands of its fighters to Syria to fight alongside the troops of President Bashar Assad. Lebanese groups are sharply divided over Hizbullah's growing regional clout but the local rivals have worked together to preserve a delicately balanced political system.

U.S. sanctions on Hezbollah are 'assault' on Lebanon says lawmaker
Ynetnews/Reuters/July 10/2019
Lebanese parliament speaker lashes out on the American government for putting two Hezbollah members of Lebanon's parliament as well as one security agencies coordinator on its sanctions blacklist, claiming it's an attack on the entire country
New U.S. sanctions against Hezbollah, including two Lebanese lawmakers, amount to an assault on the country and its parliament, Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on three top officials from Iran-backed Hezbollah on Tuesday: Amin Sherri and Muhammad Raad, members of Lebanon's parliament, as well as Wafiq Sada, who coordinates with Lebanon's security agencies. It marks the first time the U.S. Treasury has designated a Lebanese MP under a sanctions list targeting those accused of supporting terrorist organizations. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions were part of efforts to counter Hezbollah's "corrupting influence" in Lebanon. Washington classifies Hezbollah, a heavily armed Shi'ite political and military movement that wields major influence in Lebanon, as a terrorist group. "It is an assault on the parliament and as a result an assault on all of Lebanon," Berri, a Shi'ite ally of Hezbollah, said in a statement.
Lebanon's dollar-denominated sovereign bonds fell and the cost of insuring exposure to its debt rose on Wednesday after the sanctions.
Meanwhile, 5-year credit default swaps (CDS) jumped 17 basis points (bps) from Tuesday's close to 925 bps, according to IHS Markit. CDS last traded at these levels in January, when fears of a potential debt restructuring rattled Lebanon investors. "These sanctions are unwarranted and do not serve financial stability," Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior Berri aide, said on Tuesday night in a TV interview. "Lebanon and its banks are committed to all the legislation and there is no justification at all for escalating these sanctions."Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad told Lebanese al-Jadeed TV the move was "an insult to the Lebanese people" and a blow to the country's sovereignty.

Berri Deplores US Sanctions Against Hizbullah MPs
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 10/2019
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri deplored on Wednesday the fresh US sanctions targeting two Hizbullah lawmakers saying "they are an aggression against the whole country." “This is a flagrant assault against the Lebanese parliament and most certainly against Lebanon entirely," a statement released by the Parliament Presidency said. "On behalf of the Lebanese parliament, we wonder whether the US democracy has assumed the role of ‘presuming’ and ‘imposing’ sanctions against world democracies. We call on the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union to take the necessary measures regarding the "irrational behavior," added the statement. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury placed two Hizbullah members of Lebanon's parliament on its sanctions blacklist -- the first time Washington has taken aim at the Iran-allied group's elected politicians. The Treasury named the head of Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad and Beirut MP Mohammed Sherri to a terror-related blacklist, saying that Hizbullah uses its parliamentary power to advance its alleged violent activities. Also placed on the blacklist was Wafiq Safa, a top Hizbullah security official. It's the first time the U.S. has targeted lawmakers currently seated in Lebanon's parliament. Hizbullah and its allies won a majority in 2018 elections and the group has three Cabinet seats, the largest number it has ever controlled.

Hizbullah Slams U.S. Sanctions on MPs as 'Humiliation' for Lebanese
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
A Hizbullah lawmaker on Tuesday slammed the U.S. move to place two of the group's parliamentarians on its sanctions blacklist as "humiliation" for Lebanon. The U.S. decision "is a humiliation for the Lebanese people," Ali Fayyad told Lebanon's MTV news channel, according to its website, and called on parliament and the government to issue a formal condemnation.

Rahi meets Australian minister of Lebanese origin
NNA -Wed 10 Jul 2019
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi welcomed this evening in Diman Australian Minister of Lebanese origin, Marilyn Keyrouz, in the presence of the Maronite Parish Archbishop of Australia, Antoine Torbey. Talks reportedly touched on the present conditions of the Lebanese community members in Australia, with Minister Keyrouz relaying to the Patriarch the Lebanese community's support for his national positions. Keyrouz also underlined the Lebanese expatriates' affinity towards their mother country Lebanon.

Hariri meets former Prime Ministers
NNA - Wed 10 Jul 2019
Prime Minister Saad Hariri welcomed at the Grand Serail this Wednesday former Premiers Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam. Former PM Najib Mikati was absent due to prior commitments in Tripoli.

Hariri: The sanctions took a new course but will not affect our work in Parliament or government
NNA - Wed 10 Jul 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri said today that there are two groups of people in Lebanon, the first is optimistic while the second is pessimistic. He said: “It is true that there are pressures and challenges on the economic and financial levels, but on the other hand, there is the adoption of the budget with its reforms and the low budget deficit, the implementation of the electricity plan and the Capital investment program, the development of the productive sectors, the implementation of the McKinsey plan, and starting the oil and gas drilling operations later this year. This is what I bet on and what will hopefully defeat all negative expectations.”
Asked to comment on the recent US sanctions against “Hezbollah” members of Parliament, Hariri said: “These sanctions are like the other existing sanctions, but there is no doubt that they took a new course by being imposed on MPs. But this will not affect parliament or the work that we do both in Parliament and the Council of Ministers. It is a new development and we will deal with it as we see fit and will issue a stance about it.
Hariri took these stances while sponsoring this afternoon, a ceremony honoring the former President of the Association of Banks in Lebanon Dr. Joseph Torbey, at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
Hariri said: “I am glad that we are gathered today to honor Dr. Joseph Torbey, one of the pillars of the Lebanese and Arab banking sector. In honoring him, we honor the entire banking sector, which always proved its solidity. It was the main pillar of the Lebanese economy despite the difficult circumstances and maintained the commitment to international standards and regulations, as testify all states and international organizations.
This was achieved thanks to the wisdom and leadership of distinguished Lebanese bankers such as Dr. Joseph Torbey, who believed in Lebanon, its economy and its youth. They were always supportive of the country's development projects and accompanied the process of rebuilding Lebanon launched by martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.”
He added: “I am proud of my special relationship with Dr. Torbey on the personal level, and if we wanted to list his achievements during his national and professional career, we would need a whole day and perhaps more.
In addition to his successful leadership of Credit Libanais Group, he was elected five times as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Banks in Lebanon and for two successive terms as President of the Union of Arab Banks. He also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Union of Arab Banks, as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Arab Bankers. This is a clear indication that Torbey has the confidence of the Lebanese and Arab banking sector by excellence. Choosing him unanimously as the Arab Banking figures for the year 2019 is an affirmation of this confidence.”
Hariri continued: “What I would like to tell Dr. Torbey today is that Lebanon still needs him, his role, his experience and his wisdom. This ceremony is only one page in his unceasing national career that I wish every young man and woman in Lebanon would follow.
On this occasion, I would like also to wish Dr. Salim Sfeir all success in taking over the presidency of the Association of Banks. I would like to tell him that we are by his side and we are determined to keep the banking sector strong and maintain its success and strength.
I also want to seize this opportunity to talk to you frankly. There are two groups of people in the country today, the first is pessimistic and the second is optimistic. I personally go through periods during which I am pessimistic, but then I calm down and return to the constants. It is true that there are pressures and challenges on the economic and financial levels, and the level of the deficit and the public debt. Here I would like to commend the efforts of the Central Bank Governor Riad Salame, who puts before him one priority: preserving the monetary stability.
But on the other hand, there is the adoption of the budget with its reforms and the low budget deficit, the implementation of the electricity plan and the Capital investment program, the development of the productive sectors, the implementation of the McKinsey plan, and starting the oil and gas drilling operations later this year. This is what I bet on and what will hopefully defeat all negative expectations.”
He concluded: “We in the country sometimes look at things negatively, especially that some media and politicians have no other work but to destroy the Lebanese economic scene. It is true that we are facing challenges, but this does not mean that we, as Lebanese, who succeeded in the whole world, are unable to advance our country. We have the ability, the potential, the youth and the banking sector to do this and all that is required to reform this path and I rely on God and on you to achieve this.”
Sanctions
Asked to comment on the recent US sanctions against “Hezbollah” members of Parliament, Hariri said: “These sanctions are like the other existing sanctions, but there is no doubt that they took a new course by being imposed on MPs. However, this will not affect parliament or the work that we do both in Parliament and in the Council of Ministers. It is a new development and we will deal with it as we see fit and will issue a stance about it. It is important that we preserve the banking sector and the Lebanese economy, and God willing, this crisis will pass sooner or later. We hope that this issue will not be exaggerated because it already exists and there is no need for analysis that will only lead to the aggravation of the political situation. There is no doubt that Parliament does not approve of this matter. It is its own master and represents the will of the people. But the sanctions are something else. We must deal with the challenges and not create crises for ourselves. The most important thing that we must work on at present is to secure the needs of the Lebanese citizens and provide them with a good economic situation because they are fed up of political rhetoric and slogans. The things that we should care about are the citizen, the economy, the development, the education and the environment. This is what citizens want. If we continue to sell them words in politics, then we will all loose. We must work and focus on this”.

Hariri to EU ambassadors: Lebanon will do the necessary to fulfill its commitments to the international community and reassure the donor countries
NNA - Wed 10 Jul 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this afternoon at the Grand Serail the ambassadors of the European Union member states and the Head of the EU delegation to Lebanon ambassador Christina Lassen.
At the beginning of the meeting, Hariri welcomed the fact that this meeting is held on a regular basis, especially that it is devoted to discuss various topics of interest to Lebanon. He renewed Lebanon's commitment to implement all the items it pledged during the CEDRE conference, to reduce the deficit, implement reforms or fight corruption.
He said: “We are moving in the right direction, but it takes time because what we are doing is not easy at all. Lebanon is facing great economic pressures and challenges in light of the great events taking place in the region around us. But despite all the difficulties, we were able to approve the 2019 budget in the Council of Ministers as a first positive step and it will be approved by Parliament next week. We also approved the electricity plan and started implementing it. We are seeking, in cooperation with Parliament, to approve all the laws that guarantee transparency in the implementation of the CEDRE decisions, and which will be comfort the donors and investors regarding the proposed projects, especially in the CEDRE Plan. The digital government is also being worked on.”Hariri said that cooperation between him, the Speaker and the President continues, to improve the economic situation. He hoped to start studying the 2020 budget by the end of August, adding “we know that what we are doing is not enough, but we will continue to work.” On the issue of displaced, Hariri said: “Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, Lebanon hosted a large number of displaced people that exceeded its capacity, but this reality soon appeared to be a factor of pressure on the economy and led to tensions between them and the host communities, especially that the money sent by your countries to support Lebanon in hosting them is still insufficient. Lebanon has treated and is still treating the displaced Syrians with humanity and has not forced any of them to return to his country.”
He continued: “The incidents that Lebanon witnessed last week are regrettable, of course, but Lebanon is a country that has its specificity. Today, I am working in cooperation with Presidents Berri and Aoun to alleviate the escalation, and I hope that things will return to normal starting next week. But the important thing is to focus on improving the economic situation and to follow up on what is going on around us in light of the talk about the deal of the century, and settling the Palestinians in Lebanon, which cannot happen in a country such as Lebanon, which has a specificity.”
Hariri concluded: “What happened last year at the CEDRE Conference is a partnership between us and the international community and we will work on strengthening it. Lebanon will do all that is necessary to fulfill its commitments to the international community and to reassure the donor countries”.For its part, the EU delegation to Lebanon issued a about the meeting. It said: “The Ambassadors of the European Union and EU Member States were received today by H.E. Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The ambassadors and the Prime Minister exchanged views on the political and economic situation as well as EU-Lebanon relations. The ambassadors reaffirmed the strong and enduring partnership between the European Union and Lebanon and Europe's concern for the security and stability of the country. They expressed hope that recent political disagreements can be overcome at the soonest in order to continue the Government's important agenda. They further emphasized the need to continue with the implementation of agreed fiscal and structural reforms, notably the context of following up to the CEDRE conference, and with a view to jointly supporting Lebanon's stability and prosperity. The ambassadors also raised the current situation of refugees in Lebanon”.

Press release following European Union Ambassadors' meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri
NNA - Wed 10 Jul 2019
The Ambassadors of the European Union and EU Member States were received today by H.E. Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The ambassadors and the Prime Minister exchanged views on the political and economic situation as well as EU-Lebanon relations. The ambassadors reaffirmed the strong and enduring partnership between the European Union and Lebanon and Europe's concern for the security and stability of the country. They expressed hope that recent political disagreements can be overcome at the soonest in order to continue the Government's important agenda. They further emphasized the need to continue with the implementation of agreed fiscal and structural reforms, notably the context of following up to the CEDRE conference, and with a view to jointly supporting Lebanon's stability and prosperity. The ambassadors also raised the current situation of refugees in Lebanon.

Report: Washington, Paris Eager on Lebanon’s Stability
Naharnet/July 10/2019
The ambassadors of European Union countries reportedly discussed in their monthly meeting the latest developments in Lebanon, and reached a result that the deadly Qabrshmoun incident has “external dimensions,” and that their countries must act to prevent the aggravation of the situation in Lebanon, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday. According to the daily, the ambassadors “expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of national responsibility, which marked the statements and positions of a number of officials and political figures in Lebanon. They were surprised at how a country on the brink of the abyss was still acting in that way and did not give priority to national and economic issues.”Al-Joumhouria also said that according to information, the “United States and France have through diplomatic and military channels, informed Syria, Iran and Israel that Lebanon should not be destabilized because Lebanese stability garners an international consensus that includes Russia and China as well. The Lebanese arena must not be used as a “mailbox” for conflicting forces in the region.”

Report: US, France Regret ‘Freeze’ of Demarcation Talks between Lebanon, Israel
Naharnet/July 10/2019
France and the United States have reportedly expressed regret over the freezing of US-mediated negotiations between Lebanon and Israel over the demarcation of land and maritime border that would have an impact on offshore oil and gas exploration, al-Joumhouria daily said on Wednesday. International sources accompanying the negotiations sponsored by US State Department official David Satterfield said “the Lebanese side, specifically Hizbullah, has decided to stop the negotiations due to an Iranian-Syrian intervention linked to the new tension between America, Israel and Iran.”In May, Israel had agreed to move forward with the US-mediated talks with Lebanon on maritime borders. Last year, Lebanon signed its first contract to drill for oil and gas in its waters, including for a block disputed by its southern neighbour Israel, with which it has fought several wars. A consortium composed of energy giants Total, Eni and Novatek was awarded two of Lebanon's 10 exploration blocks last year. It is set to start drilling in block 4 in December, and later in the disputed block 9. Last year, Total said it was aware of the border dispute in less than eight percent of block 9 and said it would drill away from that area. In April, Lebanon invited international consortia to bid for five more blocks, which include two also adjacent to Israel's waters. Israel also produces natural gas from reserves off its coast in the Mediterranean. Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war, although the last Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after two decades of occupation.

Gharib Visits Rahi: Adamant on Referring Qabrshmoun Case to Judicial Council
Naharnet/July 10/2019
Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib on Wednesday relayed after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi the latter's denunciation of Qabrshmoun incident, stressing commitment to the Christian-Druze reconciliation and coexistence in the Mountain region, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.“Rahi warned that once the state's role is weakened, disappointing events and consequences will take over the country," Gharib said after his meeting with Rai. "We affirmed our commitment to the truth and on referring Qabrshmoun incident to the Judicial Council, especially that this issue poses a threat to the state's security," said Gharib. The Minister later visited Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh at the latter’s residence in Bnashii.

Deryan Hails Ibrahim’s Efforts in Qabrshmoun Case: Wise Politicians Will Resolve the Issue
General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim met on Wednesday with Grand Sunni Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abdulatif Deryan in Dar al-Fatwa where talks reportedly tackled the repercussions of the Qabrshmoun incident. Ibrahim did not wish to make any statement to reporters after leaving the meeting with the Mufti but only said: “Progress has been made and our tour and meetings (with officials) prove that progress.”For his part, Deryan hailed the “outstanding efforts” exerted by Ibrahim to resolve the repercussions arising after the deadly incident in the Aley town of Qabrshmoun. He said: “Despite the differences in opinion, politicians are the sons of one country and have enough wisdom to address the issue no matter how difficult.”“Tasking Major General Ibrahim in this and other national cases is evidence of the awareness and sense of responsibility of President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who bears the burdens of national responsibility at this delicate stage, which requires more calm and patience,”concluded Deryan.

Daoud tours Aley city with Arab ambassadors to promote summer tourism
NNA - Wed 10 Jul 2019
Culture Minister, Mohammed Daoud Daoud, on Wednesday toured Aley City with Arab Ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Egypt, the Sultanate of Oman, and Saudi Chargé d'Affaires.
The tour aims to promote summer tourism. In his delivered word, Minister Daoud stressed Lebanon as a country well-known for its tourism, hospitality and generosity, saying Lebanon has always been proud of its belonging to the Arab fold. Daoud thanked the ambassadors for their initiative, noting that it has showed the interest of their countries in Lebanon.

Austerity Is Not the Answer
ليديا أسود: التقشف ليس الحل لعلاج الإقتصاد اللبناني
Lydia Assouad/Carnegie Middle East Centre/July 10/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/76535/%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d8%a3%d8%b3%d9%88%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%b4%d9%81-%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84-%d9%84%d8%b9%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ac-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%82%d8%aa/
As Lebanon grapples with its public debt, it is avoiding the most effective means of securing greater revenue.
Lebanon’s public debt reached an extremely high 150 percent of GDP in 2018, pushing the country to the verge of a major economic and financial crisis. To alleviate the problem, the government recently adopted austerity measures in its budget for 2019*. This is unfortunate given that the current economic situation is characterized by a greatly deteriorated state infrastructure, rampant poverty, and one of the highest levels of inequality in the world.
To tackle the debt crisis, the government has announced a wide range of budgetary measures. These include cuts in public-sector wages, salaries, and pensions; an increase in taxes on imported products and the exit tax from Beirut airport; additional fees on special license plates, tinted car windows, as well as permits to carry firearms; and funding cuts for nongovernmental organizations.
The new measures are marginal, incoherent, and will very probably be inefficient. Most importantly, the burden of the new measures will fall disproportionally on the most vulnerable economically and is likely to further worsen their standard of living. Reforms targeting the more affluent—such as the proposed fee on tinted car windows, often associated with those who are well connected—are more symbolic than geared to significantly decreasing the deficit. Indeed, the richest, who are primarily responsible for the country’s indebtedness, are not really being asked by the state to participate in reducing the debt.
What are the alternatives? Choosing policies to reduce the public debt isn’t straightforward and depends on each country’s institutions, history, and economic situation. Given the Lebanese economy’s characteristics—high poverty, inequality, and the absence of a state—there are more suitable alternatives to proposed austerity measures.
A new, simpler, more progressive tax on income and wealth could be a major step toward effective debt reduction. The current tax base is small and tax avoidance and evasion are easy. An initial measure could be to replace the current schedular system of personal income tax—which taxes each source of income separately—with a general tax on all sources of income, in particular all types of profits. This would simplify the system and make tax collection easier. Besides, the system currently in force is regressive, as taxing each source of an individual’s income separately brings in less revenue than applying the rate to total income earned.
This reform should be accompanied by an increase in the top marginal tax rates, which are extremely low by international standards. In this regard, the fiscal measures in the new budget, which include increases in the top marginal tax rates on wages and parts of business profits to 25 percent, are a step in the right direction, but still insufficient. Furthermore, an increase in Lebanon’s corporate tax, among the lowest in the world, would easily augment public revenue.
Turning to wealth, another effective way to pay for the public debt would be to implement an exceptional tax on private capital, in particular on real estate. For example, in rich countries such as the United States, France, or China, private capital represents on average 600 percent of national income. A flat tax of 15 percent on private capital would therefore yield almost a year’s worth of national income (90 percent, to be exact). In Lebanon, it is difficult to estimate the value of total private capital. However, looking at the Forbes data on billionaires’ wealth—the only source available for the country and many other countries—Lebanese billionaires seem to be doing fine. Their wealth represented on average 20 percent of national income between 2005 and 2016, as opposed to 2 percent in China, 5 percent in France, and 10 percent in the United States.
The fact that Lebanese billionaires’ wealth represents a higher share of total national income than in these three countries not only suggests that wealth is extremely concentrated in Lebanon, but also that the total amount of private capital as a share of national income is probably near or even higher than in France, the U.S., or China, where it is close to 600 percent of national income. In other words, we can assume that it represents between 400–700 percent of national income, which is not surprising given the dynamism of the banking and real estate sectors. If we do the same computations as before, imposing a flat tax on wealth in Lebanon could yield 60–110 percent of national income, that is between 30–60 percent of the total debt (the computations can be made using data available at the World Inequality Database).
Major fiscal reform has several key advantages. For the moment, the Lebanese tax system does a poor job of raising revenues. In recent years, tax revenue represented on average 15 percent of GDP, as opposed to 34 percent in countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Taxes on income and wealth represent less than 6 percent of total GDP. Thus, there is significant scope for raising taxes and revenue. This reform would make everyone contribute equally to the debt reduction effort and prevent any further increase in inequality and poverty, which could lead to a major social and political crisis. It should therefore be a key priority for the Lebanese government.
*The Lebanese budget mentioned in the story is for 2019, not 2020. Diwan has corrected the error.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 10-11/2019
Trump accuses Iran of secret nuclear enrichment and warns of ‘substantial’ new sanctions
News agencies/Arab News/July 11/2019
WASHINGTON/VIENNA: President Donald Trump accused Iran on Wednesday of secretly enriching uranium for a long time and said US sanctions would be increased “substantially” soon, as the UN nuclear watchdog held an emergency meeting on Tehran’s breach of a nuclear deal. Washington used the session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors to accuse Iran of extortion after it inched past the deal’s limit on enrichment levels, while still offering to hold talks with Tehran. Iran says it is reacting to harsh US economic sanctions imposed on Tehran since Trump pulled out of world powers’ 2015 nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic last year, and says all its steps were reversible if Washington returned to the deal. Iran has long been secretly ‘enriching,’ in total violation of the terrible 150 Billion Dollar deal made by John Kerry and the Obama Administration,” Trump said on Twitter.“Remember, that deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!“While Iran was found to have had covert enrichment sites long before the nuclear accord, the deal also imposed the most intrusive nuclear supervision on Iran of any country, and there has been no serious suggestion Iran is secretly enriching now.
The deal confines enrichment in Iran to its Natanz site, which was itself exposed in 2003. Any clandestine enrichment elsewhere would be a grave breach of the deal. It was not immediately clear from Trump’s comments whether he was referring to previous, long-known activities or making a new allegation. The US statement, made just hours before Trump’s tweet, made no mention of either secret enrichment or an imminent tightening of sanctions. Iran’s IAEA ambassador said in a German newspaper interview published on Wednesday that Tehran intended to preserve the nuclear deal with major powers if all other signatories honored their commitments under it.“Everything can be reversed within a single hour — if all of our partners in the treaty would just fulfill their obligations in the same way,” Gharib Abadi was quoted by the weekly Die Zeit as saying.
In the past two weeks Iran has breached two limits pivotal to the 2015 deal, which aimed to extended the time Iran would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, if it chose to do so, to a year from around 2-3 months.
President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the Islamic Republic’s moves were permissible under the deal, rebuffing a warning by European powers to continue compliance.
The Trump administration says it is open to negotiations with Iran on a more far-reaching agreement on nuclear and security issues. But Iran says it must first be able to export as much oil as it did before the US withdrawal. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have risen sharply, culminating in a plan for US air strikes on Iran last month that were called off at the last minute. “There is no credible reason for Iran to expand its nuclear program, and there is no way to read this as anything other than a crude and transparent attempt to extort payments from the international community,” said a Trump administration statement issued at the closed-door session of the IAEA board in Vienna. “We call on Iran to reverse its recent nuclear steps and cease any plans for further advancements in the future. The United States has made clear that we are open to negotiation without preconditions, and that we are offering Iran the possibility of a full normalization of relations.”Iran says it will continue to breach the deal’s caps one by one until it receives the economic windfall — trade and investment deals with the wider world — promised under terms of the agreement.
In a separate closed-door meeting with member states on Wednesday, IAEA inspectors confirmed that Iran was now enriching uranium to 4.5% purity, above the 3.67% limit set by its deal. This would be Iran’s second breach of the deal in as many weeks, diplomats familiar with the figures said. However, that is still far below the 20% to which Iran refined uranium before the deal, and the roughly 90% needed to yield bomb-grade nuclear fuel.
“The latest steps indicate that Tehran’s leadership has made a decision to move onto the offensive to create leverage vis-a-vis the international community and bring about a solution to its constraints,” a Western intelligence source told Reuters. Washington is set on isolating Iran to force it to negotiate stricter limits on its nuclear program and, for the first time, to address calls to curb its ballistic missile program and its role around the conflict-ridden Middle East. Diplomats from several countries on the IAEA board said that while fiery exchanges between the Iranian and US envoys were likely at the meeting at agency headquarters, they did not expect the board to take any concrete action. While Iran has breached the terms of the deal which the IAEA is policing, the IAEA is not a party to the deal and Iran has not violated the Safeguards Agreement binding it to the agency. Britain, France and Germany are considering their next move, torn between the urge to show their displeasure at Iran’s breach of the deal and wanting to keep alive a pact that signatories in 2015 touted as vital to preventing wider war in the Middle East.

French Envoy in Iran Talks as Trump Threatens to Up Sanctions
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic adviser met with Iran's president Wednesday winding up a day of talks in Tehran aimed at saving a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and easing tensions between Tehran and Washington. But as Emmanuel Bonne pressed the high-level talks, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to warn that U.S. sanctions against Iran would soon be "increased substantially", charging Tehran had "long been secretly 'enriching'" uranium. The 2015 accord between Iran and world powers, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), promised sanctions relief, economic benefits and an end to international isolation in return for stringent curbs on the Islamic republic's nuclear program. But Tehran says it has lost patience with perceived inaction by European countries more than a year after Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the agreement and imposed punishing sanctions. In his meeting with Bonne, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran had "completely kept the path of diplomacy and talks open", according to a statement from his office. He called on other parties to the deal to "completely implement their commitments" to keep it alive. Bonne also met Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his deputy Abbas Araghchi. His mission was "to try and open the discussion space to avoid an uncontrolled escalation, or even an accident", according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Before meeting with Bonne, Zarif said "negotiations are never possible under pressure", in reference to U.S. sanctions against Iran. Pointing to the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, he added that the Europeans "must solve that problem."
- 'Very critical phase' -
The European parties to the deal along with the EU's diplomatic chief on Tuesday called on Tehran to reverse its breaches of the agreement. Iran "must act accordingly by... returning to full JCPOA compliance without delay", said a statement from the European Union and foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain. Bonne arrived in Tehran after Iran announced on Monday it had surpassed 4.5 percent uranium enrichment -- above the 3.67 percent limit under the accord, though still far below the 90 percent necessary for military purposes. Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Iran surpassed 300 kilograms of enriched uranium reserves, another limit that was imposed by the deal. At the request of the US, the International Atomic Energy Agency was to hold a special meeting on Iran's nuclear program at its Vienna headquarters on Wednesday. A source at the French presidency said "we are in a very critical phase. The Iranians are taking measures that are in violation (of the agreement) but (they) are very calibrated". "Donald Trump is a dealmaker," the source added. "The Iranians exaggerate, but not too much, and Trump is exerting maximum pressure but he is doing this so that he can get a deal." After Washington withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, it reimposed stinging sanctions on Tehran, hitting the banking and oil sectors hard. As the Iranian economy went into free fall, Iran demanded that the other parties -- especially France, Germany and Britain -- deliver promised economic benefits and help it bypass the US sanctions.
Iran ends 'strategic patience'
However, it became clear that this was no simple task, and Iran -- whose economy depends heavily on oil exports -- changed tack and indicated it would reshape its policy of "strategic patience". In May, a year after Trump's withdrawal, Rouhani said Iran would roll back its commitments under the deal in stages every 60 days in an effort to force the other parties to deliver on their side of the bargain. As tensions rose, the US dispatched a naval carrier, bombers and extra troops to the region to counter perceived threats from Iran. Last month, Trump said he had called off a retaliatory military strike against Iran at the last minute after the Islamic republic shot down a US drone that it said had crossed into its airspace, a claim denied by Washington. Trump re-upped the pressure Wednesday, claiming "Iran has long been secretly 'enriching'" uranium in violation of the accord. "Remember, that deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!" Despite the heightened rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran, Macron is pursuing his diplomatic track. On Saturday, he held an hour-long conversation with Rouhani in which he said he wanted to "explore the conditions for a resumption of dialogue between all parties."The White House confirmed that Macron and Trump had also discussed the standoff.

Iran Warns Britain of 'Repercussions' over Ship Seizure
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
Iran's president says Britain will face "repercussions" over the seizure of Iranian supertanker. Hassan Rouhani was quoted by the official IRNA news agency Wednesday as calling the seizure "mean and wrong" during a Cabinet meeting. He warns London: "You are an initiator of insecurity and you will understand its repercussions," without elaborating. Last week, authorities in Gibraltar intercepted an Iranian supertanker that was believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Tehran's crude oil to war-ravaged Syria. The tanker's detention comes at a particularly sensitive time as tensions between the U.S. and Iran grow over the unraveling of a 2015 nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump withdrew from last year.

US, Russia Agree to Weaken Iran, Fight Qaeda in Syria
London - Ibrahim Hamidi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Recent negotiations between Washington and Moscow have produced “silent agreements,” allowing the US army to launch strikes against al-Qaeda-affiliates in northwestern Syria and Russia to take “calm steps” to contain Iran’s presence in the country. In May, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Russia and presented President Vladimir Putin with an eight-point plan that urges the need to implement UN Security Council resolution 2254, fight terrorism and ISIS and weaken Iran’s influence in Syria. In June, the two parties explored opportunities for assistance during an unprecedented trilateral meeting between the national security advisers of the US, Russia and Israel in Jerusalem. US Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey also met with Russian officials. Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Jeffrey linked the US “success” in Syria with achieving several targets in the war-torn country, including the withdrawal of Iran, fighting terrorism and stopping the threats of remnants of the terror group. He informed the Russians that Washington “is aware of the complicated environment in which Putin is currently operating,” adding that his country is ready to help.
During the Jerusalem meeting, Russian officials listened to American and Israeli demands that Iran withdraw from Syria. Soon after, Israel launched its “fiercest airstrikes since May” against Iranian targets in Syria. Noticeably, Russia did not activate its S-300 defense system and made do with criticizing the strikes through the media. This was followed by regime leader Bashar Assad replacing security chiefs at the directorates of air intelligence, political security, criminal security and state security. The shake-up included the removal of Jamil Hassan, who headed the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate since 2009 and was dubbed the “godfather” of barrel bombs. The progress between Washington and Moscow was also witnessed in the fight against terrorism. The first “fruits” of this agreement was the American strike against a meeting of Qaeda-affiliated leaders near Aleppo in Syria earlier this month. This was the first such American strike in the region in over two years.

Iran Says It Welcomes France’s Efforts to Save Nuclear Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that Tehran welcomes French efforts to save the 2015 nuclear deal. This came as French President Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomatic adviser visited Iran for talks to help ease the crisis, Reuters reported. Iran threatened on Monday to restart deactivated centrifuges and increase its enrichment of uranium to 20%. Tehran has been pushing the European signatories to the accord to protect Iran from US sanctions, which Washington re-imposed after leaving the pact last year. According to Reuters, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi “welcomed France’s role in reducing tension and implementing the accord.” “The French are part of efforts ... to keep the nuclear deal alive,” Mousavi was quoted as saying during the visit by Emmanuel Bonne.

Rouhani Says Britain to Face ‘Consequences’ for Impounding Iranian Tanker
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
President Hassan Rouhani warned Britain on Wednesday that it would face “consequences” for impounding an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar last week. "You (Britain) are the initiator of insecurity and you will realize the consequences later," Rouhani was quoted by Tasnim as saying after a cabinet meeting. Iran made similar threats on Tuesday. “Capture of the Iranian oil tanker based on fabricated excuses ... will not be unanswered and when necessary Tehran will give appropriate answer,” said Iranian armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri. Royal Marines impounded the tanker in Gibraltar on Thursday on suspicion it was carrying oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Iran denies the vessel was headed to Syria, where the regime of Bashar Assad is an ally of Tehran. The tanker was not headed to Syria, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday, without specifying the final destination of the vessel. The vessel was likely carrying just over 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, the data firm Refinitv said. Tracking data showed it made a slow trip around the southern tip of Africa before reaching the Mediterranean, it said. European Union sanctions against war-torn Syria have been in force since late 2011. The 28-member bloc has imposed sanctions on Syrian officials including government ministers over their role in the "violent repression" of civilians. The tanker's detention comes just days after Iran announced it would exceed the uranium enrichment limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran took the action in response to Washington abandoning the deal last year and hitting Iran's crucial oil exports and financial transactions with biting sanctions.

Regime Air Strikes Hit Syria Hospital, Kill 7 Civilians
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
Regime air strikes on an opposition bastion in northwestern Syria Wednesday killed seven civilians including children and knocked a hospital out of service, a monitor and a doctor said. The raids are the latest in an uptick in government and Russian bombardment since late April on the jihadist-administered region of Idlib despite a months-old truce deal. Regime air strikes killed seven civilians including three children in the town of Jisr al-Shughur, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources inside the country. Three civilians died after the hospital was hit, while four were killed elsewhere in the town, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Rescue workers known as the White Helmets said missiles targeted the hospital and residential neighbourhoods in Jisr al-Shughur. A doctor there said the health facility had been knocked out of service after the generators were hit, and the wounded had been transferred to another hospital for treatment. "We have no more generators to operate the hospital. It's the only one for Jisr al-Shughur and neighbouring villages," Bassam al-Khattab told AFP. An AFP correspondent saw three destroyed generators and a damaged ambulance covered in debris. Idlib, home to some three million people, has since January been administered by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. But other jihadist and rebel groups are also present in the area. More than 550 civilians have been killed in regime and Russian air strikes on northwest Syria since the end of April, the Observatory says.The United Nations says 25 health facilities in the region have been hit, despite a September deal between Russia and rebel backer Turkey to avert a massive regime offensive there. Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.

Attacks against Syrians in Turkey Raise Fears of Escalation
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
Ahmad Yassine was working in his barbershop in Istanbul's working-class district of Kucukcekmece when he saw an angry crowd gather. Then they attacked his business and others owned by Syrians. "They threw stones, the window was completely shattered. There was three of us inside, we were scared," the young man who fled from Aleppo six years ago told AFP. "We were not able to leave before midnight, one in the morning," he added. The most recent violence against Syrians in Kucukcekmece 10 days ago has raised fears of an escalation in an already volatile climate. Xenophobic language has been unleashed, particularly during the campaigns for local elections. Turkey is home to the largest number of refugees in the world, having welcomed over 3.5 million Syrians -- including 500,000 in Istanbul -- who were forced to flee their country. But this welcome, which Ankara hoped would be temporary, has been extended as the economic situation in Turkey has significantly worsened. And so the hosts' hospitality has been put to the test. A study by Istanbul's Kadir Has University last week showed that the share of Turks unhappy with the presence of Syrians rose from 54.5 percent in 2017 to 67.7 percent in 2019. Turks and Syrians live together in an often precarious situation. The violence began in Kucukcekmece because of a rumour -- denied by police -- that a young Syrian boy had verbally harassed a young girl. The aftermath of the violence is still visible: shop windows have been patched up temporarily with tape and signs hang from their wires. Mohammad Amari, a 27-year-old Syrian who fled Damascus seven months ago, discovered the day after that the bakery where he worked had been ransacked. "They broke the shop window using stones and bats," he said.
'Scapegoats' -
While the incident in Kucukcekmece is not isolated, there has never been violence of this magnitude, according to residents. Police had to use tear gas grenades and water cannon to disperse the crowd. Although he is Turkish, Esat Sevim's restaurant was also vandalised. His crime? Employing Syrians. "If one finds a dead cat in the street, there will be someone who says that a Syrian killed it," he said. "We must stop scapegoating them."With the economy slowing down, double-digit inflation and high unemployment, Syrians are often targeted. Even if he does not condone the violence, Murat, a worker who lives in Kucukcekmece, wants Syrians to return home because "our youth cannot find work anymore". Politicians have also been accused of heightening tensions during the local election campaigns, before the March 31 vote and the rerun Istanbul mayoral election on June 23. The newly elected Istanbul mayor from the secular opposition party, Ekrem Imamoglu, was criticised for focusing on the number of shop signs in Arabic in some districts. "This is Turkey, this is Istanbul," he said last week.
During the campaign, the hostility towards Syrians came to a head-on social media, with the hashtag, #SyriansGetOut.
Hunting signs
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government -- who welcomed Syrians in the name of "Muslim solidarity" -- now seeks to take a tougher line after accusations of softness. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Saturday said no more Syrians would be able to register as residents in Istanbul. And the Istanbul governor's office last week ordered 700 Syrian traders to remove their signs in Arabic and replace them with the Turkish language. But most Turks with whom AFP spoke in Kucukcekmece sought to downplay the recent incidents and called for solidarity. Ahmet, a Turkish fruit and vegetable seller in the area where the shops were attacked, stepped in to protect a Syrian-owned shop by posing as the owner during the violence. "If they don't want Syrians, let them set up a petition and go see our president. But it is useless to cause destruction and to vandalise," he said. Given the current climate and the recent violence however, Yassine fears things will get worse. "This time, they only attacked with stones," he said. "But who knows if one day they will not attack me with weapons?"

EU Dispatches Envoy to Sudan, Khartoum Calls for Removing Debts
New York, Brussels - Ali Barada and Abdullah Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto will visit Sudan to convey the European Union’s support for the power-sharing agreement struck between the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change. A statement issued in Brussels by the EU office for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said that Haavisto was tasked by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to reach out on both the situation in the country and on how the international community can accompany Sudan on its transition path. “The Minister’s visit to Sudan, as well as Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, follows the recent announcement of an agreement between the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change on a civilian-led transition in Sudan,” the statement read. “The European Union remains fully engaged on the situation in Sudan, standing by the Sudanese parties who reached an agreement, as well as calling on regional and international actors to play a constructive role in this context. Thanks to his experience in the region, in particular in Sudan with both the EU and the UN, Minister Haavisto will explore how the EU can best support Sudan in its path towards democracy, respect for human rights and stability,” Mogherini said, according to the statement. Meanwhile, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said he was encouraged by the agreement and urged all parties to “continue to resolve any outstanding issues through dialogue.”Speaking at the UN Human Right Council on Tuesday, Gilmour said he hoped that the new agreement “creates new momentum for the protection of human rights in Sudan and that in the coming weeks we will be able to travel to Sudan to continue discussions on the opening of a fully mandated office.” He added that the UN Human Rights Office “stands ready and looks forward to assist Sudan to strengthen the protection of the human rights in a context of transition to civilian rule.” Separately, the Sudanese government's representative to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called on the international community to exempt his country from foreign debts and remove sanctions after the power-sharing deal was reached last week. According to the German news agency, Osama Hamida asserted that his country, in the wake of the “glorious revolution” led by the people, was heading towards a new future, adding that it was time to end the sanctions imposed on Sudan “and exempt it from external debts.”

Constitutional Vacuum’ in Algeria at End of Interim President’s Term
Algiers - Boualem Goumrassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah’s three-month term ended on Tuesday, during which he couldn’t carry out the only constitutional role he was assigned to. Bensalah was set to organize presidential elections to replace the resigning president, as stipulated by the country’s constitution. He set July 4 to hold the elections, but it was canceled later by the Constitutional Council due to lack of candidates. The Council said it had received only two candidacies, deemed invalid. It did not set a new date for the polls, asking Bensalah to organize a vote at a later date. According to legal experts, the country has been witnessing a “constitutional vacuum” since Tuesday, saying Bensalah’s rule after the end of his term has become illegitimate. Former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down on April 2 under pressure from a pro-democracy protest movement that won the army’s backing, led by Gaed Salah. Algeria’s parliament named the upper house speaker, Bensalah, as the interim leader on April 9, replacing Bouteflika. Meanwhile, three activists who have been recently arrested, face harsh measures on charges of trying to weaken the army after slamming Salah during last Friday’s demonstrations. On Monday night, security forces in Tlemcen (500 km west of the capital Algiers) arrested the activists, who were questioned by the prosecution Tuesday morning and charged with “contributing to weakening the army’s morale” and “insulting authorities.”According to lawyers who attended the interrogation session, the activists were informed that the intelligence agency had taken pictures of them raising banners and chanting anti-Salah slogans during Friday’s protests in Tlemcen. The charges against them were made following university panel discussions on the protest, and the army’s role in politics, a judicial source said. The source added that they were severely criticized by the army and its commander. The army has been dealing harshly with demonstrators who criticize its leader, not hesitating to jail them. Dozens of demonstrators have also been arrested on other charges, mainly for “threatening national unity” by brandishing the Berber flag during protests.

2 Qatar Warplanes Collide during Training
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
Qatar said on Wednesday that two warplanes have collided on a training mission. The Defense Ministry did not identify the types of aircraft involved in the incident. It said the pilots were safe after ejecting, without elaborating.

Palestine: Egyptian Delegation to Visit West Bank End of Week
Ramallah - Kifah Ziboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
An Egyptian security delegation arrives in Ramallah and Gaza this weekend to discuss the stalemate in the reconciliation, according to a Fatah official. Fatah Revolutionary Council Secretary Majed al-Fatiani said the Egyptian delegation, which arrives in Ramallah, will carry the implementation mechanism of the 2017 agreement, unanimously approved by all Palestinian factions. Fatiani linked Cairo’s efforts with Hamas serious willingness to implement the agreement according to a timetable, adding that efforts are still being exerted with the movement to return to the Palestinian reconciliation and implement the 2017 agreement. Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook met in Cairo with Egyptian officials, while the Egyptian security delegation met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Egyptian officials are pushing for an internal reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas as well as a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas. Fatah asking for handing over all the ministries and bodies in Gaza Strip, including the crossings, while Hamas rejects that and asserts its adherence to the 2011 agreement which calls for the formation of a unity government, which puts the two movements at odds.
Hamas and Israel also disagree over the truce agreement.
After its meeting with Netanyahu, the Egyptian delegation postponed, as expected, its visit to Ramallah and Gaza to pressure Hamas into accepting the proposal sent by the delegation to the movement, according to i24News. Hamas refuses to accept the proposal, arguing it is “unsatisfactory”. Qatari funds sent to Gaza are a point of disagreement and Hamas wants to increase the sum to include its employees, but Israel rejects and wants the money to be used for infrastructure. Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas, and Israel are once again in disagreement over the projects in the Strip, including the plans for a field hospital with 16 health departments in the area close to Beit Hanoun, to the north of Gaza Strip, under full Israeli control. Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said an international medical team would supervise the hospital, pointing it will ensure a great improvement for patients in Gaza, especially cancer patients.
The Palestinian government said it doesn’t oppose the hospital as long as it's done in coordination with it. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced that no one coordinated with the government about the hospital, to be funded by a private US institution and with Israeli approval on the northern border of Gaza. He explained that the PA doesn’t know the funding institution or its affiliations, however, it is willing to discuss the project. He asserted that the Minister of Health is ready to discuss all the details, stressing that any activity in the enclave should serve the Palestinian interest and facilitate people’s lives in light of the worsening situation there. Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila said the field hospital to-be-built would be part of the “deal of the century”, adding that no one coordinated with the Ministry of Health in this regard. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement that the government's attempts to interfere with the establishment of the hospital comes in the framework of continuing attempts to pressure Gazans and exacerbate their crises. He added that “the disgraceful policy” of Shtayyeh’s government confirms the Prime Minister abandoned his responsibilities towards Gaza and its people.

Ramallah, Washington Exchange Messages to ‘Smooth Things over’
Ramallah - Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
The Palestinian leadership is now rethinking everything about the Deal of the Century and has sent signals to the White House in this regard, according to an Israeli report. A senior official in Ramallah revealed that the Palestinian Authority and Washington have been exchanging messages to smooth things over and end PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ boycott against the Trump administration, Israel Hayom reported. According to the official, a senior PA delegation led by head of the PA General Intelligence Service Majed Faraj is expected to fly to Washington soon to hold talks with White House officials. Representatives for Abbas and US President Donald Trump have recently engaged in secret talks to hash out the details of the meeting. “These discussions are strictly feelers although both sides have shown a positive approach and made progress toward possibly renewing relations,” the PA official told Israel Hayom. The shift in stance is due to the PA’s dissatisfaction with Arab countries that attended the US-sponsored economic summit in Bahrain last month despite pleas from Abbas to boycott it, said the newspaper. According to the official, Ramallah viewed their participation as “a betrayal of the Palestinian cause,” saying one of the goals of the summit was to pressure Abbas to end his boycott and it appears it was successful. Another reason is that Ramallah expects the diplomatic aspect of the American peace plan to be unveiled following the snap September 17 election in Israel and the Palestinians want to have stabilized their relationship with Trump and his envoys by then. The third reason, however, is the PA's poor economic situation that Ramallah is keen on addressing through renewed US financial aid. Reports about secret messages emerged in wake of accusations between Palestinians and Americans over the boycott of the Manama "Peace to Prosperity" economic workshop. The meeting was aimed at revitalizing the economy in the Palestinian territories. Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner accused the PA of failing to help its people after boycotting the conference. The Palestinians responded that they were not prepared to talk about the economic aspects of the American peace proposal before addressing political solutions.

Syria Says 'Progress' towards Talks on Post-War Constitution
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
Damascus on Wednesday for the first time announced "great progress" towards forming a body to agree on a post-war constitution, as the U.N. envoy to Syria visited. "Great progress was made towards reaching an agreement for a committee to discuss the constitution," the foreign ministry said after U.N. envoy Geir Pedersen met its head Walid Muallem. Pedersen, a seasoned Norwegian diplomat who took over the job in January, arrived in Damascus on Tuesday hoping to push ahead with stalling efforts to end the eight-year civil war. His predecessor, Staffan de Mistura, stepped down after a four-year tenure that ended with an abortive push to form the constitutional committee. The regime wants to amend the existing constitution, while the opposition have called for a new one. The committee is to be made up of 150 members, 50 chosen by the regime, the same number by the opposition, and another 50 selected by the U.N. envoy. Pro-government newspaper Al-Watan on Tuesday reported that a body could start work at early as September if Damascus agreed to Pedersen's list. Numerous rounds of U.N.-led peace talks have failed to end a war that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since its started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests. In recent years, a parallel negotiations track led by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey has taken precedence.With key military backing from Russia, regime forces have retaken large parts of Syria from rebels and jihadists since 2015, and now control around 60 percent of the country.

Sources: New Chemical Weapons Team to Launch 1st Syria Probe
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 10 July, 2019
A new team established by the global chemical weapons watchdog to attribute blame for the use of banned munitions in Syria will investigate nine alleged attacks during the country's civil war, including in the town of Douma, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was created in 1997 as a technical body to enforce a global non-proliferation treaty. It had until now only been authorized to say whether chemical attacks occurred, not who perpetrated them. Last June, the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) was established by the OPCW's member states during a special session, a move that has brought deeper political division to the UN-back agency. Now it has identified the locations of its first investigations to be conducted in the coming three years. The British-led proposal creating the 10-member team was supported by the United States and European Union, but opposed by Russia, Iran, Syria and their allies. Syria has refused to issue visas to the team's members or to provide it with documentation, OPCW chief Fernando Arias said in comments to member states published last month. There were reports of dozens of fatalities on April 7, 2018, after an attack on Douma, at the time held by the opposition but besieged by pro-regime forces. US President Donald Trump blamed the attack on Syrian forces and launched missile strikes on Syrian government targets a week later with the backing of France and Britain. As part of a deal brokered with Russia, Damascus vowed to completely destroy its chemical weapons capabilities, but attacks with banned munitions have been widespread and systematic during the civil war, which began in 2011. A United Nations-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) carried out the task of assigning blame for chemical weapons attacks, but Russia vetoed a resolution to extend its mandate beyond November 2017. The new team at the OPCW is focusing on sites of chemical attacks where culprits have not yet been identified by the JIM, dating back as far back as 2015. The JIM concluded in a series of reports since then that the Syrian military used both nerve agent sarin and chlorine as weapons, while ISIS used sulphur mustard gas on the battlefield.

Iraqi Region Demands Separation from Basra
Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al Awsat/July 10/2019
The local council of Zubair district, west of Basra province, has voted unanimously to request turning the district into a province.Council members believe the move aims at improving services and infrastructure and increasing the district’s powers.However, a council member ruled out a decision in favor of the request, saying it comes as part of confusion taking place in general in Basra and the desire of some parties to obtain additional privileges. Basra, the third largest province after Baghdad and Nineveh and the richest in terms of oil wealth, has been suffering for many years from lack of services, unemployment and poor infrastructure. These circumstances have prompted citizens to demonstrate on a regular basis, especially with the beginning of summer and the rise in temperatures. Poverty has also led to growing demands to either turn the district into a province or separate from Basra and become an independent province as is the case with the latest step taken by the district’s local council. Authorities in Zubair stressed in a statement during a conference held on Monday for this purpose, the need to raise the district’s administrative level into a province upon popular demands and in line of Iraq’s laws. A number of elders and dignitaries from the district participated in the conference. The statement revealed that the local council made on Saturday an official request to the local and central governments, within the legal context, to raise the level of services, and improve construction projects and infrastructure. “The population in Zubair district has exceeded one million people, and needs to develop,” the statement said. Demands to turn the district into a province comes as part of the growing state of confusion and lack of prioritization in the country in general and Basra in particular, member of Basra Provincial Council Juma al-Zuwaini told Asharq Al-Awsat, saying the latest step taken by Zubair district will most likely fail. He also accused the Basra Council of acting according to a partisan and sectarian agenda, noting that the problem lies in mismanagement and corruption and not in the administrative transfer of the region from a district to a province. Zuwaini explained that Basra Province’s Council has the power to turn the administrative units into districts, but the transition into a province is the prerogative of the federal government.

Britain's US Ambassador Resigns after Trump Spat
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 10/2019
Britain's ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch said on Wednesday he was resigning after drawing US President Donald Trump's ire for criticising his administration in leaked confidential cables to London. "The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like," Darroch wrote in his resignation letter. "I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador."

Trump Gives Warm Welcome to Qatar amid Persian Gulf Disputes
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 10/2019
President Donald Trump gave a warm White House welcome Tuesday to the leader of Qatar amid a bitter rift between the tiny, energy-rich nation and its fellow American allies in the Persian Gulf and rising tensions with Iran. Trump clasped hands with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and called him a friend while recognizing the country's extensive military partnership with the U.S. and billions of dollars in purchases from American companies. "They are investing very heavily in our country," Trump said. "They're creating lots of jobs. They're buying tremendous amounts of military equipment, including planes."Five commercial agreements were signed. Qatar Airways is buying five Boeing 777 Freighters and large-cabin aircraft from Gulfstream Aerospace and plans to use General Electric Co. jet engines to power its Boeing aircraft. The White House also said the Qatari defense ministry will buy a missile defense system from Raytheon. In addition, Chevron Phillips Chemical and Qatar Petroleum have agreed to jointly develop a $8 billion petrochemical plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The price tags on the other deals — including some that have been previously announced — were not disclosed, but those familiar with the transactions said they totaled tens of billions of dollars. The emir's visit comes at a time when Trump is facing critical decisions in the Mideast. Four Arab nations that are friendly with the United States — Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — have boycotted Qatar, claiming it supports extremist groups in the region. The countries have stopped Qatar Airways flights from using their airspace, closed off the small country's sole land border with Saudi Arabia and blocked its ships from using their ports.
In the past, Trump also has accused Doha of funding terror groups. Qatar denies the charges and at a Monday night dinner for the Qatari delegation, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin praised the emir for his help in combatting terrorist financing. The four Arab nations aligned against Qatar also have pointed to Doha's close relationship with Iran. Qatar restored full diplomatic ties to Iran amid the dispute. Efforts by the U.S. and Western powers to mend the split largely have gone nowhere. Meanwhile, Iran, which is chaffing under U.S. economic sanctions, has begun enriching uranium in violation of a 2015 nuclear deal. The deal has been unraveling since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement. Finding ways to counter Iran will be a priority when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with the emir on Wednesday.
Qatar is home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command. The sprawling Al Udeid Air Base is home to some 10,000 American troops. Last month, nearly a dozen Air Force F-22 stealth fighters were deployed there in response to intelligence reports of heightened Iranian threats against American forces in the region. The F-22 Raptors were sent to the base, which is a hub for U.S. air operations in the Middle East. "They built one of the great military bases I would say anywhere in the world," Trump said. "It's just been expanded with runways and everything else."Qatar, which has one of the world's highest per capita incomes due to its natural gas reserves, has worked to open up other avenues of income to offset the impact of the boycott. "We have a lot of investments in the U.S.," the emir said. "We trust the economy here. We do a lot on infrastructure and we're planning to do more investment." Qatar also has paid millions of dollars to Washington lobbyists to help burnish its image and makes lavish gifts to top U.S. universities, including Georgetown University and Texas A&M. The Education Department is investigating the gifts.

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 10-11/2019
That Giant Asteroid of Gold Won’t Make Us Richer
Noah Smith/Bloomberg View/July 10/2019
Rejoice, people of Earth! News outlets are reporting that NASA is planning to visit an asteroid made of gold and other precious metals! At current prices, the minerals contained in asteroid 16 Psyche are said to be worth $700 quintillion -- enough to give everyone on the planet $93 billion.
OK, now for the bad news: This isn’t going to happen. Yes, 16 Psyche and other asteroids will probably be mined for their metals. But once those metals start hitting the market in large quantities, they’re unlikely to be precious for much longer. As any introductory economics student knows, price is a function of relative scarcity -- flood the market with gold, and it will go from being a rarity to being a common decoration. Supply goes up, price goes down.
But in fact, there’s a more fundamental reason why a giant golden asteroid wouldn’t make the world fabulously rich. It’s because wealth mostly doesn’t come from big hunks of metal. It comes from the ability to create things that satisfy human desires.
A steel factory represents real wealth, because you can use it to make parts for cars, buildings and so on. A house does too, because you can live in it or rent it out. The skills and knowledge in your head are also a form of wealth, even though they’re not counted in the official statistics. Even a sandwich is wealth, at least until it goes bad.
But a giant asteroid full of gold only adds a little to real wealth. The metal would have various industrial applications and make nice jewelry and dental fillings, but it wouldn’t spark a new industrial revolution, or dramatically bring down the cost of goods and services, or in general make human life much better or more comfortable. Gold doesn’t command high prices just because it’s rare -- plenty of rare things have little to no market value. It’s because it’s rare relative to people’s demand for it. And because a golden asteroid wouldn’t increase the world’s total demand for gold, there’s no way it could create quadrillions of dollars of new real wealth.
Something a bit like a golden asteroid happened once before. In about 1500, Spain conquered South and Central America and discovered large deposits of gold and silver. It then shipped these metals back to Europe and used them to pay for government expenditures (mostly wars). Because gold and silver were used for money at that time, a drop in the value of gold and silver meant a drop in the value of money -- in other words, inflation.
Gold no longer is used as money, nor is the value of modern money pegged to the value of gold or any other metal. Thus, the arrival of a giant golden asteroid would probably not cause consumer prices to go up, and would instead simply cause gold prices to crash to almost zero.
So a giant asteroid wouldn’t make us all billionaires. But whatever space-mining company managed to claim the space rock would still probably be able to make a substantial fortune for itself. It would have to follow the playbook of the diamond company De Beers.
Diamonds used to be exceedingly rare, until large deposits were discovered in the 1800s in South Africa. The British businessman and colonial government official Cecil Rhodes consolidated all South African diamond mining under the De Beers company, an effective monopoly which later was controlled by the Oppenheimer family. Over the years, De Beers managed to defend this monopoly against challenges from various upstarts, by hoarding diamonds when prices were low and flooding the market to destroy competitors.
A monopoly allows a company to limit supply to keep prices high. But De Beers needed more than that in order to prevent diamonds from eventually becoming commoditized -- and so it turned to marketing, launching one of the most effective advertising campaigns ever with the slogan, "A Diamond Is Forever." This convinced couples all around the world that diamond engagement rings were an indispensable symbol of marital commitment. That symbolism represents real value.
Owners of a golden asteroid could conceivably try to pull a similar trick, launching advertising campaigns to get people to start using gold for more things -- building materials, perhaps, or clothing. But it seems unlikely that they could persuade the world to pay a premium for the sheer volume of gold coming from an asteroid like 16 Psyche -- especially if a rival company showed up with another golden space rock.
The impossibility of extracting untold riches from 16 Psyche teaches two important lessons about how wealth really works. First, it shows that a great deal of wealth exists only on paper -- when you try to sell your assets, the price goes down. Liquidity -- the ability to sell an asset for cash -- is an important factor that tends to be forgotten when calculating net worth.
And second, this example shows that real wealth doesn’t actually come from golden hoards. It comes from the productive activities of human beings creating things that other human beings desire. De Beers’ fabulous fortunes ultimately came not from its control over a certain type of dazzling rock, but from its ability to convince the world that this rock could be used to communicate love and devotion.
If you want to get rich, don’t think about how to seize scarce resources. Think about how to use resources in an innovative way to make something people truly want or need.

Our World Torn Between The 'Social,' The 'Societal'…
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/July 10/2019
With the fall of the Soviet Union and its camp, freedom achieved a great victory. The powerful totalitarian empires fell apart on the footsteps on their Nazi predecessor, which had collapsed in World War II.
However, the collateral damage caused by this victory seemed to be huge: the most important was the atrophy of the social issue.
With the end of communism, the ruling elites of the conquering capitalist and democratic countries acted as if they were folding the entire issue. This is reminiscent of the revenge that goes beyond communism to poverty itself: a reversal of the post-World War II approach, manifested in the welfare state, and in the adoption of the Keynesian economy, which overshadows spending and spurs demand to encircle recession and unemployment.
One reason for this trend was to curb the rise of the Communist parties in Italy and France. But the collapse of the Soviet challenge and the decline of the power of the communist parties in Europe made capitalism relax and regain some of its original instincts: its behavior prevailed over social imprinting. Stock markets and tax havens have become the religion of a world without religion, according to a famous expression by young Karl Marx.
The awfulness of the transformations was exacerbated by an unsatisfactory encounter between the astonishingly unprecedented wealth that globalization began to produce on the eve of the Soviet collapse and the rise of monetary neoliberalism promoted by Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in Britain.
Not only was there an additional imbalance in the distribution of wealth; it was accompanied by a gradual reversal of the prevailing value system that made money expel the other values.
The impact of the new situation has been reflected on universities, culture and the attitudes of the youth and the children, but also on the cohesion of societies, especially with the erosion of some old productive and industrial sectors, as well as the disintegration of institutions by deporting the labor force to where wages are lower. We have returned to the reality of the two nations: the rich nation and the poor nation.
The leaders who came from the “center-left”, after the collapse of communism, moved to the “left of the right”: Bill Clinton in the United States. Tony Blair in Britain. Gerhard Schroeder in Germany. Lionel Jospin in France…
The remnants of the old working classes, which used to guarantee the popularity of the Socialist parties, expressed their solidarity with these transformations. Industrial workers decreased in proportion against the paid labor force. Unions have shrunk or fell apart systematically. Labor strikes were therefore marred.
The Third Industrial Revolution changed the productive structure of its societies: the third sector dominated the industry. Services expanded at the expense of traditional production sectors. The inflation of the middle class weakened the sensitivity to economic inflation and the overall conflict. Knowledge has removed the muscle.
The social relapse did not mean a reversal of social criticism. But the latter moved on to other topics, adopted by the “community”: environmentalists, feminists, homosexuals, and human rights advocates. Many of them were organized into associations and societies that multiplied and raised these concerns in the name of the “civil society”. The “activists” eclipsed the “fighters.”
The rise of the “societal” was that of noble values led by middle urban classes, with a liberal orientation and cosmopolitan destination. Their slogans are more "humanitarian" than "class-based": in 1997, they achieved their greatest international victory when the American Judy Williams received the Nobel Prize for organizing a campaign five years earlier to ban anti-personnel mines. When they approach the economic issue, they emphasize the principle of the “right”: the right to work, to housing and to human dignity.
The issue is therefore about the victory of the righteous, the just and the logical. The cultural and intellectual argument and its most prominent tools of social communication platforms have become the upper hand.
The preconceptions of this class-to-intellectual shift emerged early, six decades ago, in the United States: the enemy is the "confiscation" rather than the "exploitation."
White-collar workers, teachers, students, and secretaries came as the new proletariat. After that, this noble sensitivity expanded and transcended the races, ethnicities, and religions to include sympathy with all the human and inhuman beings on the planet.
The duality of wealth and poverty did not disappear, but it is now less visible. Misery is no longer a result of production, but a product of a site outside production. It is the result of exclusion, not integration. Its weak visibility has widened the gap separating its victims from the urban and cosmopolitan environment that influenced the industry of public opinion, political parties and the media of the broad spectrum.
In fact, the current dilemma can be described as follows: socialism, during its rule, did not care about the “societal”. Trade union leaders, for example, were male, and the environment they represented was not immune to racism and xenophobia. Populist and rightist parties’ adoption of labor rules traditionally supported by the Communists has proved this fact. This was one of the signs of "social" poverty and stagnation, and one of the reasons that facilitated its subsequent transgression. Now the "societal" shows the same lack of sensitivity to the "social". Its exclusiveness is pushing the socialists into the arms of populist movements and exacerbating the divisions within the "people".
Today, there are those who say that the environmental issue is the most qualified to bridge this distance. Who knows?!

Despite Russia’s efforts, the Syrian army is as inept as ever
Neil Hauer/Arab News/July 10/2019
On a countrywide scale, Syria’s battlefields and areas of control have been largely stable for a year or more. Territory is roughly divided between the regime of President Bashar Assad and US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, with a Turkish-held zone north and west of Aleppo and a broader rebel-controlled territory centered on Idlib governorate rounding out the picture.
But that does not mean that conflict, or significant military offensives, have ceased. For the past two months, Syrian regime forces have expended substantial energy on trying to seize opposition-held enclaves in north Hama province, along with the remaining rebel enclave in northeast Latakia. In this, they have been supported by Russian airpower, which began a sustained bombing campaign in south Idlib and north Hama in late April, systematically targeting hospitals and medical infrastructure alongside rebel military positions.
Despite 10 weeks of sustained bombardment, however, the results have been dismal. Time and again, pro-regime forces have been thrown back, particularly around the rebel stronghold of Kabaneh in Latakia, where more than a dozen assaults have produced nothing but corpses. The same is largely true of Hama, with government militias managing only small advances and even surrendering some territory to rebel forces.
None of this is encouraging for Moscow. At the forefront of the regime offensive are the Tiger Forces, whose close relationship with Russia has been well noted — the unit’s commander, Suheil Al-Hassan, was even greeted personally by Vladimir Putin during the latter’s visit to Syria in December 2017. The 5th Corps, which has undergone extensive training by Russian contractors and advisers, has also been heavily involved. The two units have suffered hundreds of casualties, to the point where young men conscripted from core regime areas as reinforcements have refused to deploy to the front. There are now reports that Russia is increasingly displeased with Al-Hassan, who has failed to deliver despite the substantial resources at his disposal.
For Russia, the debacle has produced two clear lessons. Firstly, it has revealed, with stark clarity, the limits of Moscow’s battlefield influence in Syria. Previous major offensives, in which pro-government troops recaptured much of the country from rebel and Daesh forces, had featured Russian airpower supplementing additional ground forces supplied by Iran.
The Kremlin remains effectively dependent upon Iranian-led forces to conduct successful military operations.
None of these militias has participated in the current offensive. The only clear way for Moscow to provide its own infantry support is via its private military contractor, Wagner, whose close involvement in campaigns in eastern Syria, in particular two years ago, was crucial to recapturing the city of Deir Ezzor and others. This, too, is fraught with potential problems: Wagner lost dozens of men serving as frontline combat troops in that campaign and the group has since redeployed much of its strength to Africa and elsewhere.
Secondly, the failed Hama/Latakia campaign has shown that the Syrian army — if one can apply such a name to the various militias and semi-autonomous armed formations loosely subordinate to Damascus — is unlikely to ever resemble a competent fighting force.
In many ways, this was predictable. The main purposes of most Arab armies in the post-independence period have been to guard against coups and hold parades. Preparing for actual military conflict is a definite last. This has been demonstrated again and again, most notably by Kenneth Pollack’s seminal book “Arabs at War,” which chronicles a host of failures by Arab state militaries over a period of decades. In Syria, in particular, commanders have focused on looting what they can and carving out smuggling and protection rackets, something Russian forces have only been able to halt with their presence on the spot.
All of this will be cold comfort to Moscow. The Kremlin had hoped to use the Tiger Forces and 5th Corps as a force multiplier in Syria, investing heavily in their training over the past several years with the idea of creating a reliable and effective semi-proxy force on the ground. Moscow went as far as to engineer the replacement of commanders in other major Syrian formations, including the 4th Armored Division and Republican Guard, with officers who were seen as more pro-Russian. Despite this, Moscow has found itself in an environment where, not only does its influence pale in comparison to that of its erstwhile ally, Iran, but where the Kremlin remains effectively dependent upon Iranian-led forces to conduct successful military operations.
Meanwhile, the continued unprofessionalism of Syrian forces has brought Russia into conflict with its other major partner in Syria: Turkey. Pro-regime forces have had to walk a tightrope as they try to advance territorially while avoiding the dozen fortified Turkish observation posts scattered across the greater Idlib frontlines. They have not succeeded: Turkish positions were hit by pro-regime artillery fire at least three times in June, resulting in the death of at least one Turkish serviceman. Increasingly, Ankara bristles at what it considers to be Russia’s undermining of the understanding between the two sides, with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stating on July 4 that Moscow must “control the actions” of pro-regime forces and halt their shelling of Turkish positions.
So, nearly four years after taking the decision to intervene in Syria, Moscow finds itself without sufficient influence to unilaterally shape battlefield conditions in the country. Russia’s efforts to develop Syrian formations that are both effective and pro-Russian have thus far been a dismal failure, even when working alongside the supposed creme de la creme of the Syrian “army” in the Tiger Forces. The last two months have been a harsh reminder that the support of its partners, especially Iran, is crucial for Russia to experience any significant success in Syria.
*/Neil Hauer is a security analyst based in Tbilisi, Georgia. His work focuses on the Syrian conflict, particularly Russia’s role; politics and minorities in the South Caucasus; and violence and politics in the North Caucasus, particularly Chechnya and Ingushetia. Copyright: Syndication Bureau

India must save Himalayan glaciers to avert ecological crisis
Chandrahas Choudhury/Arab News/July 10/2019
Only a small percentage of India’s 1.3 billion people have ever physically been up into the Himalayas — the colossal, ice-covered mountain range running across the north of the country and defining many of its borders with Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar and China. But, imaginatively and materially, the Himalayas are a vivid reality for most Indians.
Several hundred million Indians experience the Himalayas daily, not as ice and rock, but as water: As the mountain source of the great rivers and their tributaries, most importantly the Ganga and the Yamuna, which water India’s fertile agricultural plains and their settlements. In the religious domain, the mountains are revered as timeless, mysterious and sacred, the mythical home of great Hindu gods such as Shiva, and of forbidding peaks like Kanchenjunga and Mount Kailash that are revered by people of several faiths.
Paradoxically — it is a sign of how different the scale of geological time is from time on a human scale — what Indians think of as the most permanent feature of their subcontinent is actually the youngest of the world’s major mountain ranges, formed approximately 55 million years ago by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian continental plates. It is the Himalayas that are responsible for some of the most distinctive features of India’s climate, such as its monsoon system.
Without the Himalayas, there would be no Indian civilization as we know it. Any disruption of the natural course of the ecological cycle far from human eyes up in the Himalayas would have earth-shaking consequences for the rest of India. And, in recent decades, worrying evidence has emerged from geologists that climate change is indeed causing disruptions in a world always experienced as timeless and permanent.
The clues to a potentially catastrophic change in the equilibrium of Himalayan ecology come in the form of the rapid melting of one of the most important (and mobile) components in Himalayan geography: Its glaciers.
Glaciers are giant expanses of compressed snow and ice (the bottom-most layers of which can be several centuries old) that dot the mountain ranges, creeping ever downward from the force of gravity and their own mass; contracting slightly in the summer and adding millions of liters of meltwater to the river systems that irrigate India.
About 10 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by glaciers, but most of it is at the poles. Outside of the Arctic and Antarctic, the most extensive glacier cover in the world is in the Himalayas (which is why it is sometimes called “the third pole”).
Glaciers cover about 17 percent of the Himalayas and some glaciologists estimate that glacier meltwater comprises about 10 percent of the water flow of the Ganga. In the Anthropocene age — the period, usually anchored to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution some 250 years ago, in which human beings have acquired the capability to alter the course of nature’s cycle — glaciers are an important indicator of the health and integrity of the mountains.
A landscape that took millions of years to form could disintegrate in just a few centuries because of the deleterious effects of human practices
And, in recent decades, glaciers have been speaking up — by retreating at ever faster rates as the climate warms up in one of the planet’s coldest regions. A major scientific paper published last month in the journal Science Advances by a team of scientists led by Joshua Maurer of Columbia University shows that, not only have Himalayan glaciers been melting steadily in the last four decades, the pace of melting has actually doubled in this century to about a foot-and-a-half of vertical ice a year.
The implications of this information for India’s water and economic security are grave. In the short-term, of course, increased glacial melting would result in larger volumes of water being released into the rivers of a country where water is becoming a scarce and contested resource. This could also be accompanied by what are called glacial lake outbursts, threatening human settlements in the Himalayan foothills.
Over the longer term, though, glacial melt at current levels would deprive India of its most permanent reserves of freshwater — and there would be no way of reversing this process. Further, as the levels of water stably released by glaciers into the Himalayan ecosystem over thousands of years is disrupted, many species of rare flora and fauna endemic to the Himalayas will die out or be driven down into the increasingly water-starved plains. A landscape that took millions of years to form could disintegrate in just a few centuries because of the deleterious effects of human practices.
It’s a big, big story, but one that’s hard to translate into human terms or to work into an action plan in a society where the population has tripled in the last 70 years and that requires more water and burns more energy and fossil fuels than ever before. Already, recent studies show that the Himalayas are warming three times faster than other regions of the earth: At about 0.06 degrees Celsius annually, compared to the global average of 0.02 C. Climate change and the role of glaciers as an index of a warming world need to be part of the education of every Indian schoolchild if the country is to hold off an ecological crisis a century from now.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made no secret of his wish to leave a great legacy. In his first term, he focused debate on cleanliness with his “Swachh Bharat” (Clean India) campaign and made Indians go through some hard times financially with his sudden program of demonetization. A month into his second term, he should try not to reset India’s economy, but its ecology on a path of greater sustainability.
**Chandrahas Choudhury is a writer based in New Delhi. His work also appears in Bloomberg View and Foreign Policy. Twitter: @Hashestweets

Iran sets up command center at Abu Kamal for attacks on US targets and Israel
موقع دبيكا/ايران اقامت مراكز قيادية لجيشها في منطقة أبو كمال السورية لمهاجمة اهداف أميركية وإسرائيلية
DEBKAfile/July 10/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/76552/%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d8%af%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%83%d8%a7-%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%85%d8%aa-%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%83%d8%b2-%d9%82%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d9%84%d8%ac/
The small east Syrian town of Abu Kamal near the Iraqi border is under close US military and Israeli surveillance.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that, according to the best intelligence estimates, Iran has set up its headquarters at Abu Kamal for attacks on US forces in eastern Syria and targets inside Israel, as part of its payback for the tight US sanctions on its oil sales.
Incoming data reveals the establishment of special training facilities there for the pro-Iranian forces assigned to these attacks, the presence of their command posts and the weapons arsenal building up for their use.
Some of the commanders have taken over former schools, while weapons are stowed in former hospital buildings.
The Iranians have also erected a communications tower in the town center for links among the various units and facilities.
Our sources also report the delivery at Abu Kamal of Iranian surface missiles – medium and short range, as well as anti-air rockets. They have been deployed at different parts of the town and in outlying villages.
The positioning of these weapons indicates that the Iranians expect American units in Syria and Iraq to attack their Abu Kamal forward headquarters together with the IDF – either preemptively or as punishment after their offensive.
Hence, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s warning on Tuesday from the F-35 squadron that these Israeli Air Force stealth warplanes can reach any point in the Middle East, not just Iran but Syria as well.
According to the information reaching DEBKAfile, Abu Kamal presently houses, in addition to Syrian and Iranian forces, five Shiite militias in the service of the Islamic Republic: Led by the Lebanese Hizballah, they are the Iraqi Hezballah and Al-Nujaba, the Afghan Al-Fatemiyoun and the Pakistani Zainebiyoun.