LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 04/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today

Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get
Matthew 07/01-12.: “‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye. ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you. ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 03-04/2020
Lebanon’s Iranian Cancerous Occupation and The Required Solutions/Elias Bejjani/March 03/2020
Focus/Dr.Walid Phares/Face Book/March 03/2020
Indecisive Iranian Stance over French Calls to Help Lebanon
President Aoun discusses with Industry minister ways to support industrialists
Hasan Says Lebanon Hospitals Ready to Contain Coronavirus
Woman 'Heals' as Lebanon Says No Coronavirus Cases Recorded Today
Araji on Coronavirus: Lebanon in Containment Stage
Evacuation of Real Estate Court in Nabatieh over Coronavirus suspicion
Lebanon prosecutor grills bankers over flight of billions of dollars
Lebanese Embassy in Rome Advises Nationals to Avoid Travel to Lebanon
Protests Near Swiss Embassy Demand Refund of ‘Stolen’ Public Money
Report: Lebanon's Banks Say Ready to Cooperate on Rescheduling Debt
Diab chairs meeting for waste management committee, receives Consultative Gathering MPs
Mustaqbal Slams 'Politicized' Response to Planes from Virus-Hit Iran
Jumblat Calls for Closing 'All' Crossings over Virus
'Strong Lebanon' bloc calls for national approach to financial crisis
Akar, interlocutors tackle general situation
Ministry of Health: First diagnosed case in Lebanon have tested negative for coronavirus
Sheikh Akl meets with Ambassador of Pakistan
Army chief meets Indian ambassador
Media and Telecom committee discusses Information Ministry's future plan
Information Minister, Chinese Ambassador discuss media ties, Coronavirus updates
Media uses during Lebanon’s October 17 revolution
Lebanon’s economic collapse spells doom for Mideast Christians
David J. Malloy, Gregory Mansour and Abdallah Elias Zaidan/The New York Post/March 03/2020
Dr.Walid Phares's Comments Of the Piece published by The New York Post
Lebanon crisis: How the US can bypass Hezbollah and help the people/Bilal Saab/The National/March 03/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 03-04/2020
Netanyahu claims Israel election win despite corruption charges
Russia Rejects UN Allegations It Committed War Crimes in Syria
Syrian Regime Warplane Downed in Northwest Syria, Another Turkish Soldier Killed
5+5’ Foreign Ministers Adopt Document on Migration with Practical Provisions
The New Migration Crisis at Europe's Borders
Thousands of Migrants Look for Way Around Shut Greek Border
Libya's Eastern Government Reopens Syria Embassy
Iran’s Khamenei Orders Armed Forces to Help Fight Coronavirus Outbreak
Iran Says to Execute ‘CIA Spy’ Soon
Iran Tries Two French Academics Over Security Charges
Egypt: Presidential Decree to Appoint 4 New Senior Al-Azhar Scholars
Sadr Faces Insults From Opponents, Popular Movements
Trump Says Had 'Very Good Talk' with Taliban Leader
Italy Needs 10 Million Masks to Fight Virus
China Censored Virus News for Weeks, Say Researchers
Dubai Ruler in UK Supreme Court Bid over Children's Welfare Case

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 03-04/2020
U.N. Panel Says Russia Bombed Syrian Civilian Targets, a War Crime/
Nick Cumming-Bruce/The New York Times/March 03/2020
U.N. nuclear watchdog plans alert on Iranian stonewalling - diplomats/Francois Murphy, John Irish/Reuters/March 03/2020
North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Underscores Its Relentless Military/David Maxwell/Mathew Ha/FDD/March 03/2020
A Global Rout Is a Great Time for a Command Economy/Shuli Ren/Bloomberg/March 03/2020
Who Is Preventing Palestinians From Voting/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/March 03/2020
Muslim Brotherhood-Affiliated Canadian Imam Hussein Amer: The Chinese Eat Aborted Human Fetuses; Coronavirus Is Allah's Punishment For Their Treatment Of Uyghur Muslims/MEMRI/March 03/2020
Is Ankara afraid of being invaded/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed /Arab News/March 03/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 03-04/2020
Lebanon’s Iranian Cancerous Occupation and The Required Solutions
سرطان الإحتلال الإيراني للبنان والحلول الدولية المطلوبة
Elias Bejjani/March 03/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81086/elias-bejjani-lebanons-iranian-cancerous-occupation-and-the-required-solutions-%d8%b3%d8%b1%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%ad%d8%aa%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7/
Lebanon’s current problem is the cancerous Hezbollah’s Iranian Occupation that is systematic, and since 1982 has been covertly and overtly devouring Lebanon and everything that is Lebanese in all domains and on all levels.
The Solution is through the UN declaring Lebanon a rogue-failed country and the strict implementation of the three UN Resolutions addressing Lebanon’s
ongoing dilemma of occupation:
The Armistice agreement
The 1559 UN Resolution
The 1701UN Resolution.
All other approaches, no matter what, will only serve the occupying Mullah’s vicious scheme of destroying Lebanon and strengthening its ironic, terrorist grip on the Lebanese.
All Pro-Lebanon’s Freedom demonstrations in any country in the Diaspora that are carried on by the Lebanese MUST call for this only International solution.
Meanwhile, yes, Lebanon and the Lebanese are facing very serious crises, hardships and problems in all life sectors; e.g., poverty, unemployment, corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, politicization of the judiciary, electricity shortage, a scandalous disarray in trash collection, lack of health benefits, education, and numerous social services … and the list goes on and on.
BUT, non of these hardships in any way or at any time will be solved as long as the terrorist Iranian Hezbollah remains occupying the country and terrorizing its people. At the same time, the majority of Lebanese officials, politicians and political parties are actually the enemies of both Lebanon and its citizens.
In this context, President Michael Aoun, His son-in-law, the FM, Jobran Bassil, Amin Gymael and his son Sami, PM, Saad Hariri, Druze leader Walid Jumblat, House Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea, Slieman Frangea and many other politicians, as well as numerous topnotch clergymen from all denominations are all cut from the same garment of oligarchic, narcissism, trojanism, greed, and feudalism in their mentality and education.
They all, with no sense of patriotism, have succumbed to the Hezbollah’s Iranian savage occupation.
They all and each from his status and based on his capacity and influence, have traded Lebanon’s independence, freedom, decision making process and sovereignty with mere personal power and financial gains.
In reality, they have sold their country to the occupier, Hezbollah, and with no shame have accepted the status of Dhimmitudes, puppets, tools, trumpets, cymbals and mouthpieces for the terrorist occupier. They betrayed, and still betraying, the country and their own people.
In this realm, the Lebanese demonstrators who are loudly shouting the Slogan, “All of them” are 100% right and are righteously witnessing for the truth because all of the above political and official prominent figures are practically mere merchants with numbed consciences.
All Of Them definitely means all of them.
It is worth mentioning that the Lebanese constitution is ideal for the nature of the multi-cultural and multi-religious denominational composition of the mosaic of diversified Lebanese society.
The governing disasters that have been targeting and hitting Lebanon since the early seventies has nothing to do with the great and ideal covenantal (unwritten pact) constitution, but with the foreign occupations and the oligarchic Lebanese corrupted officials and politicians.
My fellow patriotic and God fearing Lebanese from all religious denominations and all walks of life in both Lebanon and the Diaspora, stand tall and steadfast like our cedars. Do not lose faith or give up on hope, and never ever forget that our beloved, country, Lebanon is holy.
Yes, Lebanon is holy and has been blessed by Almighty God since he created man and woman and put them on earth.
Pray for our oppressed and occupied country and that Almighty God shall always guard, protect and defend it through His saints and angels.

Focusركزوا على دور حزب الله في لبنان
Dr.Walid Phares/Face Book/March 03/2020
What Hezbollah does or doesn't in Syria, what battle they fight there or not, is a matter for the Syrians to address. Lebanese should focus like a laser on Hezbollah role in Lebanon, and more particularly on ensuring a space from where Hezbollah should evacuate, until it is it time to implement UNSCR 1559.
Even the minimum to achieve in Lebanon, is huge. So, people should focus on the minimum feasible and pull it out. Because in my view, the minimum is feasible if free Lebanese pull together. And more importantly, let those who want to achieve the minimum do their job, and those who blame the whole world for their miseries, take their time blaming. For time is not an endless commodity...

Indecisive Iranian Stance over French Calls to Help Lebanon
Beirut - Khalil Fleihan/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
France held talks with Iran to help Lebanon overcome its economic crisis, however, Tehran said it was assessing the current situation in the country, without giving any clear response over the matter, diplomatic sources in Paris told Asharq Al-Awsat. France is also holding talks with several Arab countries to pave the way for Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab to visit them after Paris heard that some of these states did not welcome the new government, considering that pro-Iranian parties were behind its formation, according to the same sources.Earlier, talks between Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed ways that France could help Lebanon exit its current economic crisis. During the talks, Le Drian assured that his country would not allow Lebanon's economy to collapse, however, he also stressed the need to carry out the required reforms, especially regarding the electricity and corruption issues. As for the French message to the Lebanese people, it called on them to do everything possible to prevent provocative and violent acts to safeguard the citizens' right to demonstrate peacefully.

President Aoun discusses with Industry minister ways to support industrialists
NNA/March 03/2020
President Michel Aoun met Industry Minister, Imad Hoballah, today at Baabda Palace.
Minister Hobbalah briefed the President about contacts which he had made with the Central Bank Governor, which aimed to encourage industrialists and maintain the work of factories. Hobbalah also thanked President Aoun for his continuous support and efforts, for the industry.
Minister Hoballah’s Statement: “I had the honor to meet with His Excellency, the President. The meeting was positive, as expected. His Excellency is well-known for his supportive stances for the industry and industrialists. We discussed the industrial file, and I briefed the President on developments related to the industrial sector, especially regarding liquidity from hard currencies for industrialists, for purchasing the raw materials required for factories to operate, and maintain the function of their machinery. Even if we were surprised by a slight interruption in some place. To remove any confusion about this issue, the amount allocated for transfer abroad, which is worth One Hundred Million Dollars, is no gift, loan or advance payment. It is only a little push to boost the wheel of industry. It is from the funds of industrialists, which are frozen in banks. This constitutes an opportunity for industrialists to purchase raw materials. This is a positive first step, because the annual need is close to 3 Billion Dollars, which is way more than a Hundred Million Dollars. His Excellency affirms that these funds are an economic and social safety valve. If factories are stopped, the dependence on the outside increases, the import increases, the transfer and smuggling of funds increases. Trade, industry, agriculture and retail stores are negatively affected, hence unemployment and poverty increase.
The time has come for machines to spin in factories, and operate the economic cycle, and secure their integration. I hope that banks will stop seizing funds in what resembles a quarantine, or preventive detention. The issue is not similar to Corona epidemic, neither a check without balance. The Central and private banks should liberate depositors’ money. Wrong policies to pay the high interest have brought us here, to what we are currently undergoing. From here, we start with a workshop to rebuild trust between the ordinary depositor, the investor and the bank, and thus with the state and officials.
I briefed the President on some of the procedures which are being done in our Ministry, most important of which is facilitating the grant of industrial licenses and dispensing with some deadly bureaucratic procedures in terms of working as a group with different ministries to reduce the time needed for industrialists to issue licenses.
We also discussed the importance of supporting industrialists and working with several institutions such as IDAL, and the importance of activating the role of economic attaches in Lebanese embassies abroad. This grave crises requires their efforts and a network of relations between Lebanese industrialists, foreign markets and expatriate forces. We also discussed the possibility of securing the state’s commons for farmers’ benefit, at nominal prices to encourage agriculture in various Lebanese regions.
We also tackled the issue of medicine and its manufacture in Lebanon, and His Excellency encouraged us to proceed with this project as soon as possible”.
Questions and Answers: Responding to a question, Hoballah explained that “The required amount, today, is around 3 Billion Dollars, while the Hundred Million is a simple dose which contributes in a slight way, to the launch of the industrial wheel. We have been promised, by the Governor of Central Bank, to secure larger amounts ranging between 300 to 600 Million US Dollars, during the next month if possible. This is his promise, and we are working with his Excellency the President and the Prime Minister, through their full support, to secure greater funds.
We thank them because without this support we wouldn’t be able to get this amount at the moment”.—Presidency Press Office

Hasan Says Lebanon Hospitals Ready to Contain Coronavirus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 03/2020
Lebanon's health minister said Tuesday hospitals were ready to deal with any further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, where 13 cases have been recorded with no deaths. Hamad Hasan said the cases had all either returned from an affected country or were transmitted through "close contact" with a family member or neighbor -- not "local transmission."All 13 people suffering from the COVID-19 illness are being treated at Beirut's Rafik Hariri state hospital, where 140 beds have been designated to isolate and monitor suspected cases, he added. Hasan said measures had also been taken beyond Beirut, naming eight cities across the country where hospital wards had been put aside as Lebanon works to contain the virus nationwide. "We have designated 20 to 40 beds in each facility to follow any unexpected developments as part of a precautionary plan," he said. They include a monitoring area for patients suspected of having caught the coronavirus along with one or two quarantine units, he said. In what he described as a "positive sign," Hassan said the country's first case, a 45-year-old woman who had tested positive for the virus after visiting Qom in virus-hit Iran, had now tested negative. "A second laboratory test will be conducted tomorrow, and she will be discharged and sent home if the negative result is confirmed," his ministry said earlier in a statement. That showed that "there's no need for hysterical panic," Hasan said. On Friday, Lebanon said it would deny entry to non-resident foreigners arriving from China, South Korea, Iran and Italy. Schools, universities and other educational institutions have been closed until March 8. Globally, more than 92,000 people have been infected and more than 3,100 killed since the virus first emerged in China's Hubei province late last year. Of those, the coronavirus has claimed 77 lives in Iran, where thousands of Lebanese Shiite Muslims head each year to visit religious shrines.

Woman 'Heals' as Lebanon Says No Coronavirus Cases Recorded Today
Naharnet/March 03/2020
Lebanon’s first coronavirus patient tested negative for the virus on Tuesday as lab tests conducted for all suspected cases over the past 24 hours also indicated that they are not infected, the Health Ministry said. The Ministry added in a statement that the test will be repeated Wednesday for the country’s first patient and that she will be discharged from hospital should she anew test negative. The patient has been identified as 45-year-old Taghrid Saqr. She had arrived on a plane from virus-hit Iran on February 20. The number of recorded cases had surged to 13 on Monday as three more people tested positive for the virus. The Lebanese Red Cross meanwhile transferred a man showing severe flu symptoms from Akkar’s al-Sahleh to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut for coronavirus testing, the National News Agency said. Moreover, Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm and the Higher Judicial Council ordered the suspension of sessions at all courts and judicial departments from March 4 until March 6 in order to equip justice palaces with anti-coronavirus precaution tools.

Araji on Coronavirus: Lebanon in Containment Stage
Naharnet/March 03/2020
Lawmaker Assem Araji on Tuesday lauded the medical team efforts at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, saying they are “the front medical defense line in the country,” against the coronavirus disease. Araji, who spoke to reporters after the Health, Labor, and Social Affairs Parliamentary Committee's meeting, said a department has been initiated at the RHUH to treat coronavirus cases. He said 12 isolation rooms will be prepared. “13 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Lebanon, all of whom have arrived to Lebanon from abroad,” said the lawmaker, noting that despite the fact that Lebanon was still in the containment stage (which involves spotting cases quickly) some government hospitals must be prepared to receive coronavirus cases in case of an outbreak. Araji also confirmed that the coronavirus diagnostic testing was only approved at Rafic Hariri Hospital -- not in laboratories, and that it was free of charge.

Evacuation of Real Estate Court in Nabatieh over Coronavirus suspicion
NNA/March 03/2020
Upon the request of President of the appeal courts in south Lebanon, Judge Asaad Gideon, the Real Estate Court Hall in Nabatieh was evacuated on Tuesday after one of the Internal Security Forces members fell unconscious and registered a rise in temperature.
Accordingly, Gideon contacted the mayor of Nabatieh and requested immediate sterilization of the hall's different departments in order to preserve public safety.

Lebanon prosecutor grills bankers over flight of billions of dollars
The New Arab/March 03/2020
Lebanon is currently facing its worst economic crisis since its civil war .A Lebanese prosecutor on Monday grilled bankers about the flight of around $2 billion in the past months despite strict banking restrictions in the crisis-hit country, judicial sources said. Banks have since September imposed increasingly tight limits on dollar withdrawals and transfers abroad as part of measures to tackle a severe liquidity crisis. But bankers stand accused of sending millions of dollars abroad despite those limitations enacted since mass anti-government protests erupted on 17 October. Lebanese banking association head Salim Sfeir, as well as representatives from 14 banks, appeared before financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim, the sources said. They testified "over the transfer abroad of 2.3 billion dollars during the two months since the start of the popular uprising", they said. They were questioned over "the causes of the transfers abroad of the money of bank owners, which reduced liquidity in the internal financial markets". They were also asked why other depositors were unable to make transfers abroad for trade or to pay tuition fees. Bankers were asked to justify "the inability of depositors to withdraw from their US dollar accounts... while that restriction did not apply to the powerful". Lebanon is currently facing its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. The value of the Lebanese pound has plummeted on the black market, prices have risen, and many businesses have been forced to slash salaries, dismiss staff or close. Lebanon is one of the most indebted countries in the world, with a public debt equivalent to 150 percent of its GDP. The country is now under pressure to pay a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturity on 9 March. Economists warn payment on time would eat away at plummeting foreign currency reserves, while bankers say a default would damage Lebanon's reputation with lenders. Bank of America Merill Lynch in a November report estimated that around 50 percent of Eurobonds were held by local banks, while the central bank had around 11 percent. Foreign investors owned the remainder, or around 39 percent, it said. But these figures may have changed, with local media reporting that local banks have recently sold a chunk of their Eurobonds to foreign lenders. The judicial sources said those summoned on Monday were also asked about those sales, but they did not provide further details on their answers. Representatives of other banks are to be called in later this week.

Lebanese Embassy in Rome Advises Nationals to Avoid Travel to Lebanon
Naharnet/March 03/2020
The Lebanese Embassy in Rome called in a statement on all Lebanese nationals in Italy to exercise caution and follow the general precaution guidelines facing the widespread of COVID-19 disease, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday. NNA said the embassy advised Lebanese residing in Italy to avoid travel to Lebanon at the present time "except when absolutely necessary," in order to avoid the transmission of the virus, which can be deadly to their families, especially the elderly, and those with low immunity. The statement also emphasized that it was advisable to undergo Coronavirus diagnostic testing before traveling to Lebanon if possible. The embassy finally stated that the medical system in Italy was one of the most important medical systems ever. "Dealing with the Coronavirus in Italy has proven to be highly professional as successful treatments have exceeded 90 percent.

Protests Near Swiss Embassy Demand Refund of ‘Stolen’ Public Money
Naharnet/March 03/2020
Lebanese protesters and several MPs staged a sit-in near the Swiss embassy in Beirut demanding the refund of capital flight transferred abroad after the October 17 uprising, as Lebanon grapples with a liquidity crisis unprecedented in its history. They gathered in front of the embassy before meeting with Swiss Ambassador to Lebanon, Monika Schmutz Kirgِz, to deliver a petition they had signed to recover looted state funds. The petition has been signed by the following MPs: Shamil Roukoz, Jean Talouzian, George Oqaiis, Marwan Hamadeh, Fouad Makhzoumi, Michel Moawad, Paula Yaqoubian, Sami Gemayel, Elias Hanaksh, and Nadim Gemayel. The protesters say the names of individuals who transferred funds abroad must be revealed which would greatly assist to “topple the banks cartel.”“Shall concerned parties abroad reveal the names of those who transfered funds, it would be a great step in toppling the banks cartel,” they say. The protesters said: “We are counting on the Supreme Judicial Council, which is trying to accomplish the appointments away from political quotas. Shall courts fail to play their role in protecting the rights of depositors, then the people's courts must be established.” On Monday, Lebanese prosecutor grilled bankers over more than 2 billion dollars in capital flight in past months despite strict banking restrictions in the crisis-hit country. Banks have since September imposed increasingly tight limits on dollar withdrawals and transfers abroad as part of measures to tackle a severe liquidity crisis. But bankers stand accused of having sent millions of dollars abroad despite those limitations since mass anti-government protests erupted on October 17.

Report: Lebanon's Banks Say Ready to Cooperate on Rescheduling Debt
Naharnet/March 03/2020
Lebanon’s banks on Tuesday expressed readiness to cooperate with the government in order to reschedule the state’s debt, a media report said. “But they called on the government to negotiate with the foreign firms,” LBCI TV reported. “The banks believe that it is better to negotiate with the foreign parties instead of not paying,” the TV network added. A delegation from the Association of Banks in Lebanon meanwhile held talks with Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the Grand Serail, after which it announced that ABL backs whichever decision that might be taken by the government. Diab had met with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh ahead of his talks with the ABL delegation. The premier had announced Monday that Lebanon’s final decision on whether or not to pay a $1.2 billion Eurobond debt that matures on March 9 would be taken Friday or Saturday. “The decision will preserve the rights of small and medium depositors as well as Lebanon’s interest,” Diab said. Lebanon is currently facing its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. The value of the Lebanese pound has plummeted on the black market, prices have risen, and many businesses have been forced to slash salaries, dismiss staff or close. Lebanon is one of the most indebted countries in the world, with a public debt equivalent to 150 percent of its GDP. The country is now under pressure to pay a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturity on March 9. Economists warn payment on time would eat away at plummeting foreign currency reserves, while bankers say a default would damage Lebanon's reputation with lenders. Bank of America Merill Lynch in a November report estimated that around 50 percent of Eurobonds were held by local banks, while the central bank had around 11 percent. Foreign investors owned the remainder, or around 39 percent, it said. But these figures may have changed, with local media reporting that local banks have recently sold a chunk of their Eurobonds to foreign lenders.

Diab chairs meeting for waste management committee, receives Consultative Gathering MPs
NNA/March 03/2020
The ministerial committee tasked with solving Lebanon’s waste management dossier on Tuesday held a meeting at the Grand Serail chaired by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, with Ministers of Defense, Interior, Environment, Health, Public Works and Transport, Industry, and Agriculture partaking in the session.
Minister of Environment, Damianos Kattar, later said that attendees tackled the development of a roadmap aiming at solving the waste crisis, adding in this context that a follow-up meeting will be held next week. Separately, the Prime Minister met with members of the Consultative Gathering bloc: MPs Faisal Karami, Abdul Rahim Mrad, Adnan Traboulsi, Kassem Hashem and Walid Sukkarieh, as well as former Minister Hassan Mrad, in the presence of Minister of Telecommunications, Talal Hawat. Discussions featured high on the recent local developments. Speaking after the meeting, Karami expressed the bloc’s full support to Diab’s Cabinet. ------Grand Serail Press Office

Mustaqbal Slams 'Politicized' Response to Planes from Virus-Hit Iran
Naharnet/March 03/2020
Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday criticized what it described as “a major flaw in the measures that accompanied the arrival of the Iranian planes from the cities of Mashhad and Qom to Beirut,” amid the major outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Iran.
“The spread of the disease and the confirmation of new cases against which there had been warnings expose a major flaw in the measures that accompanied the arrival of the Iranian planes from the cities of Mashhad and Qom to Beirut from the very first day,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. “The pandemic has been dealt with lightly and with political backgrounds that are not compatible with the least public safety requirements,” it lamented. The bloc said Lebanese authorities should have “established an airlift to transfer the Lebanese seeking to return home and no to leave things to the chaos which resulted in the spread of the infection from travelers who were not quarantined or who did not abide by the requirements of proper isolation.”Accordingly, al-Mustaqbal called for “a decision that would spare the Lebanese the risk of the coronavirus” whether the threat is coming from “Iran or any other state in the world.”Lebanon has so far confirmed thirteen coronavirus cases. The Health Ministry said the country’s first coronavirus patient – a Lebanese woman who arrived from Iran -- tested negative for the virus on Tuesday as lab tests conducted for all suspected cases over the past 24 hours also indicated that they are not infected.

Jumblat Calls for Closing 'All' Crossings over Virus
Naharnet/March 03/2020
Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday said Lebanon must shut down all crossings into the country to prevent further spread of the coronavirus disease. “All crossings of death be it land, sea and air crossings into Lebanon must be closed,” said Jumblat in a tweet, stressing the necessity to set various quarantine centers for patients to receive care to facilitate treatment. “Quarantine centers must be distributed to facilitate treatment,” he said. Lebanon, which recorded 13 cases of the COVID-19 disease, receives cases at Beirut’s state Rafik Hariri University Hospital. Officials have been weighing the possibility of setting quarantine centers in Lebanon’s five constituencies. Lebanon on Monday barred a Syrian bus from entering the country after suspecting that a girl on it is infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus, as an Iranian plane carrying 178 passengers landed at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

'Strong Lebanon' bloc calls for national approach to financial crisis
NNA/March 03/2020
The "Strong Lebanon" parliamentary bloc on Tuesday highlighted the necessity to approach the current financial situation in the country within a national framework considering its impact on the entire Lebanese people as well on Lebanon's future for years to come. The bloc, which convened in a weekly meeting, called to government for technical follow-up on the financial issue, stressing on the obligation to protect the money of depositors and the finances of the state. On the large money transfers abroad, the bloc indicated that it would follow up on this affair through the official and legal channels to unveil the truth. On a different note, the bloc invited those taking aim at the electricity plan to provide alternatives.

Akar, interlocutors tackle general situation
NNA/March 03/2020
Vice Prime Minister, National Defense Minister Zeina Akar Adra, received this Tuesday in her office at the Ministry the Ambassador of Uruguay to Lebanon, Luis Ricardo Nario Fagundez, with talks reportedly touching on the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Minister Akar then met with the ambassadors of Canada Emmanuelle Lamoureux, Switzerland Monica Schmutz Kirgoz, and Norway Leni Stenseth. Talks reportedly touched on the Country's general situation in light of current challenges. On the other hand, Akar welcomed in her office UN Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peace building Affairs and Peace Operations, Khaled Khiari, and Head of the UNIFIL mission, General Commander Stefano del Col, accompanied by a delegation. Al Khiari confirmed the UN's continued support to Lebanon. The work of UNIFIL in south Lebanon featured high on their talks. Among the Minister's itinerant visitors for today had been Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bachir Khodor, with the general situation topping their discussions.

Ministry of Health: First diagnosed case in Lebanon have tested negative for coronavirus
NNA/March 03/2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced in a statement on Tuesday that the first case that was diagnosed with coronavirus in Lebanon had tested negative for the disease. The statement added that the patient would be retested tomorrow. It also indicated that all suspected cases over the last 24 hours had tested negative for coronavirus.

Sheikh Akl meets with Ambassador of Pakistan
NNA/March 03/2020
Druze Sheikh Akl, Naim Hassan, on Tuesday met at the House of the Druze Community in Beirut, Ambassador of Pakistan to Lebanon, Najeeb Durrani, with whom he discussed the bilateral relations and the means to strengthen joint cooperation between the two sides.
Ambassador Durrani extended an invitation to Sheikh Akl to visit Pakistan, as per a statement by the Druze Community House. Sheikh Akl welcomed the ambassador of Pakistan, hailing all efforts aimed at establishing peace in the whole world, especially among Muslims, and rejecting all forms of discrimination, violence and reprisal, statement added. The senior Sheikh also stressed that "the Druze community has always been and will always remain with the "open" Islam and against terrorism, as per statement. Speaking in the wake of the meeting, Ambassador Durrani said the visit was an occasion to exchange views related to the Druze community, in particular, and Islam, in general, and Pakistan's role for the sake of achieving peace.

Army chief meets Indian ambassador
NNA/March 03/2020
Army Commander, Joseph Aoun, on Tuesday received at his Yarzeh office the Indian Ambassador to Lebanon, Shail Ajaz Khan, accompanied by the Indian Military Attaché Surya Pratap Singh Rawat. Discussions reportedly touched on cooperation relations between the armies of both countries.

Media and Telecom committee discusses Information Ministry's future plan
NNA/March 03/2020
The House committee of Media and Telecommunications convened at the Parliament on Tuesday under the chairmanship of MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, in the presence of Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad. The committee reportedly discussed the Information Ministry’s future media plan. MP Hajj Hassan is scheduled to hold a press conference at 10:00 am tomorrow (Wednesday) to tackle this project.

Information Minister, Chinese Ambassador discuss media ties, Coronavirus updates
NNA/March 03/2020
Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Tuesday welcomed at her ministerial office Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon, Wang Kejian, with whom she discussed media relations, as well as the novel Coronavirus outbreak. For his part, the Chinese diplomat briefed Minister Abdel Samad on the latest Coronavirus developments in China, sharing with her some positive attempts to control the virus, and the possibility of treating it. "We discussed the role of the media in times of crisis, and the need to publish true and accurate news. We also touched on the substantial role of the media in communication between the government and the people, in coordination with various state apparatuses," the Chinese diplomat explained. The meeting had also been an occasion to broach the fruitful media cooperation between Lebanon and China. "I assured Minister Abdel Samad that the Chinese side is ready for more cooperation, whether with the Ministry of Information or with the informal media, because this cooperation is very beneficial for both Lebanon and China," Kejian added.

Media uses during Lebanon’s October 17 revolution
Annahar/March 03/2020
Television stations were revealed to be the most trusted source of news for the Lebanese population, followed by WhatsApp and Facebook respectively.
BEIRUT: The Institute of Media Research and Training (IMRT) at the Lebanese American University (LAU) unveiled Monday a study on media use and trust during the October 17 revolution as part of the School of Arts and Sciences’ seminar series launch.
The study, executed at a time when protests gripped the country, aimed to explore which media platforms the Lebanese public sought for at the time, as well as the main media platforms they used to share news about the protests.
“This study measures selective exposure during protests. When studies abroad study selective exposure, they don’t apply to us; they don’t have protests going on, an economic collapse, closures, a war next door or diseases ravaging their countries,” said Jad Melki, Ph.D. Director of IMRT and Chairperson of the Department of Communication Arts. “These are very unique situations that make our study unique.”
The study surveyed 1000 participants and unveiled multiple patterns. Television stations were revealed to be the most trusted source of news for the Lebanese population, followed by WhatsApp and Facebook respectively. Amongst the TV channels, Al-Jadeed and LBCI were found to be the most followed and trusted, followed by MTV. The least trusted news channels included OTV, al-Manar, and NBN. “The survey was distributed to all the different Lebanese governorates in a balanced manner to represent the Lebanese population,” said Claudia Kozman, Ph.D., Research Director at IMRT and Assistant Professor of journalism at LAU, noting that they used the random stratified sampling procedure. The same survey conducted in Lebanon was sent to countries such as Chile, France, Iraq, Hong Kong and Iran.
“This study is part of a big study being done all over the world, which we started in Lebanon,” explained Kozman. “This is a base for comparative research, which would help the theory we are testing; selective exposure and the psychological theory behind it, which is cognitive dissonance.”
Also unveiling the study were the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Cathia Jenainati, and editor of Al Adab journal, Samah Idriss. “Throughout this semester, there will be multiple research seminars that are open to the public,” Jenainati said. “What we are hoping to do is not only get people to hear what we have to say, but also welcome feedback on our research and ways in which the community wants us to undertake it in a local and regional context.”
The research was funded by LAU’s School of Arts and Sciences (SoAS) and the Office of Graduate Studies and Research (GSR).

Lebanon’s economic collapse spells doom for Mideast Christians
David J. Malloy, Gregory Mansour and Abdallah Elias Zaidan/The New York Post/March 03/2020
Last month, the US Senate confirmed America’s new ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea. She will need all the help she can get. Although the ambassador is well-respected for her regional expertise, she is dealing with a country on the verge of economic “implosion,” according to the World Bank, and one mired in formidable humanitarian and security challenges. Lebanon’s Christian community, the largest in the Middle East (excluding Egypt), is at risk.
She should have the help of a special envoy who can bolster and broaden her outreach.
Ambassador Shea takes up her post just as that small Mediterranean country is poised to hit rock bottom in a downward economic spiral brought on by entrenched governmental mismanagement. For years, the government has failed to meet international goals for reducing deficit spending. It even passed up generous aid by Cedre, a multilateral donors’ conference for Lebanon, rather than adopt reforms.
March 9 marks the first of several deadlines over the next quarter, when Beirut is obligated to repay billions of dollars in Eurobonds. A sovereign default, which seems likely, could result in the collapse of Lebanon’s banking system, wiping out depositors’ savings and bankrupting businesses and government services.
The United Nations’ top official in Lebanon warns that thousands of Lebanese could be driven out by economic despair. Many Christians are not waiting for the state to fail, according to Lebanese sources. The exodus has already begun.
All 18 of the country’s religious communities are feeling economic pain. Forty percent of the population is living in poverty, according to the government’s own statistics, and that number could soon reach 50 to 70 percent.
Lebanon’s hundreds of Christian charities are depleting their reserves to serve the needy, irrespective of religion. Hunger is now reported in all parts of Lebanon, as some are no longer able to provide the basic needs for their families. In some places, schoolchildren tell teachers, they haven’t eaten in days. Nationwide, there are critical shortages of medicine, and hospitals are curtailing treatments and have ended nonessential surgeries.
Meanwhile, unprecedented protests, drawn from all of Lebanon’s religious groups, have been going on for four months. While these protests are mostly peaceful, as unemployment increases, violence undoubtedly will too. As we write, there are media reports of protesters’ tents being targeted in drive-by shootings. There is a risk of complete chaos if the state fails.
Christians in the region have been leaving their native countries in strides. Will Lebanon’s faithful be the next ancient Church to face a mass exodus?
As original citizens of Lebanon, Christians play an essential role there. The late Pope St. John Paul II noted the unique conviviality between Christians and Muslims there. “Lebanon,” he said, “is more than a country; it is a message.” For example, Lebanon is the only Middle Eastern country where Christians fill high-level positions in government, including the presidency.
Over the last century, the country has been a haven for several Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs and untold numbers of persecuted Christians. Without a secure Christian presence in Lebanon, we fear, the region’s remnant Christian communities would lose heart and leave. A continuous, 2,000-year history of Christians in the region known as the Cradle of Christianity could end in this generation.
A mass Christian exodus from the Middle East would be a catastrophe
To help avert these looming catastrophes, the new ambassador will have to quickly address Lebanon’s fiscal crisis, before its damaged economy reaches the point of no return. She will need to take into account the US government’s continuing concerns about the influence in the government of Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist group by the US since 1997 and is barred from receiving US aid.
Other immediate challenges are presented by the political demands of the protesters, the dire need for humanitarian aid and the necessity of establishing a stable economic footing for Lebanon going forward. For all these reasons, we urge President Trump to appoint a special envoy to Lebanon to help Shea.
This envoy should be an American friend of Lebanon, empowered to report to the highest levels of the US government, work with countries of good will to support Lebanon and have strong personal connections to the Lebanese, including those within the diaspora.
The envoy’s urgent tasks should be to loosen the grip of any corrupt politician by identifying specific officials to target for Global Magnitsky Act and other personalized sanctions, help build a consensus among the reformists and recruit entrepreneurs and investors internationally who can help restore Lebanon as a sovereign and prosperous democracy.
To do less risks a massive humanitarian crisis, potential conflict and a defeat for Lebanon’s unique religious pluralism. It would jeopardize priority US security interests — and all that is most noble and good in Lebanon.
*Most Rev. David J. Malloy, bishop of Rockford, is chairman of the International Justice and Peace Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Most Rev. Gregory Mansour is bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn. Most Rev. Abdallah Elias Zaidan is bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles.

Dr.Walid Phares's Comments Of The Above Piece From The New York Post
March 03/2020/Face Book/March 03/2020
Great wishes, but the urgency is a piece of freedom
Good piece, good recommendations. But 30 or 15 years late. At best 6 months late. In my view, any new step is better than the current situation in Lebanon and I applaud the Bishops who authored this article for their initiative.
However, from modest experience over 30 years and more, the immediate priority are not the medium and long term reforms in Lebanon, nor the needed fight against massive corruption. All that is part of the path to a new Lebanon.
The immediate need is a space where Lebanese can meet, rally, demonstrate, organize, think, and prepare for all the reforms and changes needed. A space free from militia, intimidation and terror. That is the basic condition to have a launching pad for anything else.
And that need a push by Lebanese and their friends worldwide to create a space of freedom inside Lebanon, where Hezbollah doesn't have the ability to crush any movement. As simple as that. Short of this, there will be amazing articles, beautiful words, conferences, receptions and declarations in Washington and around the word, but nothing tangible in Lebanon. For what I've learned in my long experience is that there is no overnight magic solution, but a down to earth, realistic step by step path.

Lebanon crisis: How the US can bypass Hezbollah and help the people
Bilal Saab/The National/March 03/2020
The Americans can provide targeted economic assistance through an international fund while keeping the pressure on the political class to implement reforms
As Lebanon nears a breaking point due to its acute financial crisis, the Trump administration faces a policy dilemma: should it financially support a corrupt ruling faction that is allied with Hezbollah – Iran’s friend and Washington’s nemesis – or should it hold off on aid and watch the country fall apart?
Both options are problematic but there is a better alternative.
The US can prevent Lebanon’s collapse while keeping the pressure on Hezbollah and its allies to implement serious reforms. It can do this by co-ordinating with Gulf and European governments on modest, conditional and targeted economic assistance from which the more vulnerable members of Lebanese society would primarily benefit. Such aid, which would be deposited in an international fund, would provide food and medicine but also launch various small and medium-sized businesses that would be overseen strictly by local non-governmental organisations under the watchful eye of international bodies.
These immediately impactful local community development projects will not fix the economy, which suffers from a combination of structural maladies, but they will help those Lebanese who are most in need.
Supporters of Hezbollah hold photos of slain Iranian general Qassem Suleimani as they listen to a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. EPA
While limited, this is the best approach for Washington to take in the short term given that a more comprehensive solution – the Lebanese committing to a wholesale and credible reform programme – is not on the cards any time soon. That is because there are deep societal and political divisions in the country, as well as disagreements over the nature of the crisis and the way forward. Some people desire a new social contract that is not based on sectarianism, while others want to preserve the status quo and stick to reform.
Then there is Hezbollah, the dominant political force in the country that is opposed to meaningful change, thus blocking any road to recovery.
Any reform process that seeks to stem corruption and promote good governance would weaken Hezbollah’s cross-sectarian patronage system – and thus its grip over politics. It would also limit its access to arms and illegal sources of revenue reaching them through the Lebanese-Syrian borders, the national airport and its seaports. That is why, even though it has no problem with the International Monetary Fund providing technical advice to the Lebanese government, it has zero interest in any assistance package that would impose transparency and accountability measures.
As long as Hezbollah has the ability to veto any international reform package that it does not like, Lebanon as a whole is stuck in an economic rut and rapidly losing its balance.
To protect its interests in Lebanon and the region, Washington should therefore recognise these realities and try to work around them. While it might be eminently reasonable and understandable for the US to tie economic assistance – either directly or through the IMF – to Beirut’s implementation of structural reforms, it will not stave off state collapse.
Lebanon’s descent into chaos, which is only a matter of time in the absence of international assistance, is no laughing matter. It will also hurt US interests.
Let us start with Hezbollah. If the group presents problems for the US now, imagine how much worse those would be if Lebanon becomes a failed state. History offers useful lessons.
Hezbollah came into being in 1982 in the throes of a vicious civil war and an Israeli occupation. With every existential challenge that it has faced since, including its destructive confrontation with Israel in 2006 and the ongoing Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011, it has only grown stronger. Hezbollah stands to gain the most from anarchy in Lebanon because no local actor would be able to challenge its military supremacy and political dominance.
Should Hezbollah further spread its wings in Lebanon, it is likely to draw the opposition of Sunni extremists from all over the region. That is a recipe for a return of ISIS, which will use the country as a base for operations against US interests and its allies. It has done it in Syria and there is no reason why it would not be able to do it in Lebanon. Facing sectarian conflict, the Lebanese army would either take cover or disintegrate, prompting many in Washington to intensify their calls for terminating US military assistance. This in turn would invite further Russian involvement in Lebanon, with Moscow keen to do business with the Lebanese army through multiple offers of arms and money. In the context of great-power competition, this would amount to a setback for Washington.
Then there is Iran. If Hezbollah’s fortunes in Lebanon and the region improve, so will those of Iran. The Trump administration is doing everything it can to weaken Tehran and force it to come to the negotiating table. But if Iran is allowed to control Lebanon unchallenged, it will gain an important lifeline and thus be able to more effectively counter US policy.
Given their size and depth, none of Lebanon’s problems will be solved any time soon. The country as a whole requires much healing. But the US has every reason to maintain its strategic position in the country and the Eastern Mediterranean as well as helping its people confront their old sectarian demons and make the hard choices.
*Bilal Y Saab is senior fellow and director of the Defence and Security Programme at the Middle East Institute

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 03-04/2020
Netanyahu claims Israel election win despite corruption charges
The New Arab & agencies
Monday's election left the veteran right-winger in prime position to form a government and end a year of political deadlock, after similar votes in April and September proved inconclusive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged victorious on Tuesday after Israel's third election in a year despite a looming corruption trial, dismaying the Palestinians who were angered by his hardline campaign pledges.
Monday's election left the veteran right-winger in prime position to form a government and end a year of political deadlock, after similar votes in April and September proved inconclusive.
The central election committee said it had counted 90 percent of the vote, with breakdowns of the result in the media showing Netanyahu's Likud Party with 36 seats in Israel's 120-member parliament.
That would mark the party's best-ever result under Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister and its first to be indicted in office.
Netanyahu's bloc, which includes ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, is likely still one or two votes short of a majority, but his party spokesman said it was confident of luring defectors.
Likud's main challenger, the centrist Blue and White Party, was projected to win 32 seats. Counting its centre-left allies as well as the mainly Arab Joint List alliance, the anti-Netanyahu camp was expected to control 54 to 55 seats.
While there remains no guarantee that Netanyahu can form a coalition, he hailed Monday's election as a "giant" success. "This is the most important victory of my life," he told supporters in Tel Aviv where people danced, sang and shouted "Bibi, king of Israel", using the premier's nickname. Netanyahu campaigned on his tough position towards the Palestinians and on expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
He also pledged to annex the Jordan Valley, a key part of the West Bank that Palestinian see as crucial for their future state, if he won.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the exit polls showed that "settlement, annexation and apartheid had won".
Trial casts shadow
Blue and White's leader, ex-military chief Benny Gantz, admitted "disappointment" with the result. But he stressed that regardless of the final tally Netanyahu is still due to go on trial on 17 March after being charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. "In two weeks, he will be in court," Gantz said. While Netanyahu will likely be tapped by President Reuven Rivlin to form a government, he has no immediate path to a 61-seat majority.
The projections indicate that the secular, nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu Party won six or seven seats and may again be able to play kingmaker, the same position it was in following the April and September votes.
Party leader Avigdor Lieberman served as defence minister in a previous Netanyahu government and his support would easily put Likud over the crucial 61-seat line. But after the September vote Lieberman said he would only join a government of national unity - ruling out cooperation with the ultra-Orthodox parties allied to Netanyahu and the Arab camp that backed Gantz. "There is no choice but to wait for the final results and only then conduct a situation assessment," Lieberman said after the exit polls were released.
'Strong national government'
In a statement, Likud said Netanyahu had spoken to all the heads of right-wing parties and "agreed to form a strong national government for Israel as soon as possible". Netanyahu will now begin talks with a number of opposition MPs and parties in a bid to encourage defections, though the process could take weeks. Likud party spokesman Jonathan Urich told Israeli Army Radio Tuesday they had already reached out to a number of lawmakers.
"I believe that soon enough we'll find the missing seats from the other bloc," he said. "People on the other side understand it's the right thing to do."Bolstered by US support, Netanyahu campaigned on building thousands more homes in Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory, even though they are considered illegal by the international community. In January, US President Donald Trump unveiled a controversial peace plan approving Israel's annexation of settlements and swathes of land in the West Bank, sparking Palestinian outrage. Gantz, a security hawk, was also supportive of the Trump plan, sparking criticism from the left that he did not offer a real alternative to Netanyahu.
The vote was held amid the coronavirus outbreak, with special polling stations set up for thousands of Israelis under quarantine who were met by election staff in full protective suits and masks.

Russia Rejects UN Allegations It Committed War Crimes in Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected allegations by the United Nations that Russia may have committed war crimes in Syria last year, saying the UN investigators were in no position to know what is happening on the ground. "We strongly reject these accusations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "It's obvious that one commission can not have reliable information of what is happening on the ground." A report released on Monday by a UN commission found that Russia - the Syrian government's main ally against rebels and militants - conducted airstrikes on a popular market and a camp for displaced people that killed dozens of civilians in July and August."In both incidents, the Russian Air Force did not direct the attacks at a specific military objective, amounting to the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas," the report said. Peskov said the report failed to take into account attacks by militant groups which meant that at the very least the judgments of the commission were one-sided. "We absolutely do not agree with these statements," he said. The UN report blamed Russia for an airstrike in the city of Maarat al-Numan on July 22 when at least 43 civilians were killed. Two residential buildings and 25 shops were destroyed after at least two Russian planes left Hmeimim airbase and circled the area, it said. "We have reasonable grounds to believe that these were Russian planes with Russian pilots," said U.N. commission panel member Hanny Megally. France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused the Syrian government and Russia of probably carrying out war crimes in their offensive in northwestern Syrian and said Paris would document them. "The offensive by the Syrian government is made possible by Russian air support and marked by systematic violations of human rights," Le Drian told lawmakers. "It's for this reason that I say... that we consider today that these violations are possibly liable to being considered war crimes and we will document them." Monday's report covered the period from July 2019 to mid-January 2020. Since December, around one million people have been displaced from Syria's northwestern Idlib region as the fighting has escalated, in what the UN says may be the worst humanitarian crisis in nine years of war. Russia's Defence Ministry said statements by Turkey and other Western countries regarding the flow of refugees and a humanitarian crisis in the region were groundless, the Interfax news agency reported.

Syrian Regime Warplane Downed in Northwest Syria, Another Turkish Soldier Killed
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
The Turkish Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a warplane of the Syrian regime forces had been shot down in the course of a Turkish-led military offensive launched in northwest Syria to push back forces loyal to Bashar Assad. The ministry described the downed jet as an L-39 warplane. The Syrian state news agency SANA separately reported that a Syrian warplane had been targeted by Turkish forces. Earlier, Ankara said Syrian regime shelling killed one Turkish soldier and wounded another in northwest Syria, days after serious clashes between the two sides appeared to signal a new stage in the nine-year war.
The soldier's death, announced late Monday by the Defense Ministry, raises to 55 the number of Turkish losses this month in direct clashes between Turkish troops and Russian-backed Syrian forces. The death toll includes 33 Turkish soldiers killed Thursday in a single airstrike.
The Syrian regime’s monthslong offensive into northwest Syria's Idlib province, the last opposition-held area in the country, has sparked one of the war's worst humanitarian crises. Almost one million Syrian civilians have fled north toward the sealed Turkish border. Turkey has sent thousands of troops into Idlib to support the opposition fighters holed up there, but hasn't been able to roll back the government's advance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he hopes to broker a ceasefire in Syria later this week when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Tensions in Idlib rose following the Syrian strike that killed the 33 Turkish soldiers in Idlib. Turkey responded with drone attacks and shelling that killed more than 90 Syrian regime troops and allied militants. The Turkish air force also shot down two regime warplanes after Syria's air defenses shot down one of its drones. The Syrian pilots ejected safely. Outraged by the assault against its forces in Syria, Turkey has opened its western borders for thousands of migrants and refugees wanting to cross into Europe. It is Ankara's latest bid to pressure the European Union to help handle the fallout from the disastrous Syrian war. Thousands of migrants have since tried to cross into Greece by land and sea. Greek authorities have made clear their side of the border is shut and have turned to arresting dozens of those who managed to find a way through the frontier.

5+5’ Foreign Ministers Adopt Document on Migration with Practical Provisions
Marrakesh - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Western Mediterranean countries called for further cooperation aiming for successful, innovative and responsible measures that are mutually beneficial in the areas of migration and movement, according to the declaration of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the “5+5” Dialogue on Migration in the Western Mediterranean. The two-day conference held in Marrakesh concluded on Monday with the adoption of a Consensual Declaration with practical provisions. The foreign ministers of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia, Spain, France, Italy, Malta and Portugal reiterated their common will to continue working for a comprehensive, consultative and balanced approach to dialogue in addressing the problem of migration, based on shared responsibility and solidarity. The Declaration covered five broad lines namely: cooperation in the field of migration and development, urging the facilitation of legal migration, the establishment of links between migration and development, the fight against illegal immigration and the integration policy of legal migrants. The ministers stressed the need to establish a comprehensive and integrated national policy according to an ambitious and realistic approach. They called for encouraging the creation of strong cooperation between national research centers, and training on migrations to better understand migration and change negative perceptions about it. The ministers highlighted the importance of facilitating visa issuance, expressing their commitment to intensify dialogue and cooperation in order to simplify its procedures. The ministers urged relevant national departments to exchange information about possible labor market opportunities and conclude bilateral agreements on labor migration. They reaffirmed their will to address the deep issues of migration between countries of origin, transit and reception, in accordance with a spirit of fairness, shared responsibility and active solidarity. They also stressed the importance of working to benefit the sustainable development of countries of origin and transit, given their impact on migrations. Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita recalled that even if migration is a matter of sovereign national policies, coordination and cooperation are a necessity for a good management of this phenomenon. The conference was attended by ministers and secretaries of state and various partners, including the European Union, the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The conference showed the need for an effective migration management, Bourita added, lauding Morocco for its practical guidance to this ministerial conference. The Western Mediterranean Forum, or 5+5 Dialogue, was officially launched in Italy's Rome in 1990 as an informal sub-regional forum of countries geographically situated on the western rim of the Euro-Mediterranean littoral.

The New Migration Crisis at Europe's Borders
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Facing a wave of nearly a million people fleeing fighting in northern Syria, Turkey has thrown open its borders with Greece to thousands of refugees and other migrants trying to enter Europe, and has threatened to send “millions” more. Greece responded by closing the land border, rushing in military and police reinforcements, and tried to stop migrant boats attempting the short but perilous crossing from the Turkish coast to its eastern islands. Human rights organizations have called for urgent action to stop the situation from deteriorating further, warning of an unfolding humanitarian crisis. The Associated Press presents a look at the situation at the border, and at whether this the beginning of another migration crisis for Europe. Who are the migrants gathered at the Greek border? Turkey hosts 4 million refugees, some 3.6 million of them from Syria. Previously, their movement inside Turkey was strictly regulated and under a 2016 deal with the European Union, Turkey tightened border controls. Since Ankara announced last week that it would not impede those seeking to enter Europe, thousands of Afghans, Iranians, Syrians, Pakistanis and others from Africa and Asia have rushed to try their luck. Although the push ostensibly stems from the conflict to Turkey’s south, Greek officials say very few of the recent arrivals are Syrians. Most of those arrested Monday were Afghans, Pakistanis and Moroccans. Figures from January, before the intensified fighting in Syria, show 35 percent of those who entered Greece from Turkey were Afghans. Syrians accounted for 14 percent.
How many have crossed into Greece?
By late Monday, Greek authorities had arrested and charged 183 people with illegal entry after crossing the land border with Turkey. Some 24,000 attempts to pass have been thwarted since Saturday. Nearly 1,000 arrived on the Greek islands in the 24 hours up to Monday morning. According to the UN’s International Organization of Migration, 13,000 had gathered at the 212-kilometer (132-mile) border by Saturday evening. Turkey, meanwhile, says that more than 100,000 refugees have left its territory but there is no evidence to support this claim. Uneasy NATO allies Greece and Turkey are historic regional rivals who came close to war three times in the past half-century, and even before this crisis relations were tense over undersea exploration rights.
Why has Erdogan opened the gates?
Turkey has long complained about the lack of support it receives for shouldering the burden of caring for the world’s largest refugee population. Despite the promise of 6 billion euros to pay for services for Syrians, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to renegotiate the deal with the EU. He says Turkey has spent $40 billion to date on hosting refugees. Ankara also seeks support for its policy in Syria, where it opposes Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad and Kurdish fighters linked to the PKK, which has fought a 35-year insurgency inside Turkey. Erdogan wants to use some territory seized from the Kurds in October to resettle refugees from Turkey but the plan has met with little international support.
Could this be 2015 all over again?
In 2015 a million refugees reached Europe, crossing mainly from Turkey to Greece, and to a lesser degree from countries such as Libya to Italy. Although Erdogan said Monday that “millions” would soon be waiting to cross the Greek border, EU border states such as Greece and Bulgaria have quickly mobilized police, border guards and the military to deal with the scenario and seem better prepared to halt large-scale land crossings than in 2015.
Sea crossings, however, are much harder to stop. With the Turkish coast guard doing nothing to halt migrant boats heading for the Greek islands, once the flimsy, overcrowded vessels are inside Greek waters they can’t be turned back. Very often, their occupants need to be rescued from sinking or crippled boats. Late last year arrivals in Greece were at their highest level since 2016, even before Turkey removed its border controls, and the EU fears a repeat of the crisis that triggered divisions among member states.
What does this mean for Greece?
Even before the current crisis, Greece was struggling to cope with tens of thousands of migrants who had entered from Turkey. Most want to continue to more prosperous EU countries such as Germany, but are stuck in Greece following border shutdowns in countries further along their route. Island migrant camps are many times above capacity – more than 20,000 people are on Lesbos alone – and living conditions there are dire. Under the EU-Turkey deal, new arrivals must stay on the islands until their asylum bids are processed, but the lengthy asylum process has led to a big backlog. Island residents are running out of patience after five years of bearing the brunt of Europe’s migrant influx, and Greek government efforts last week to build new detention camps on Lesbos and Chios provoked riots on the islands.

Thousands of Migrants Look for Way Around Shut Greek Border
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020 - 09:15
Thousands of migrants searched for ways to cross Greece's land border on Tuesday, days after Turkey declared its borders with Europe open in an attempt to force the EU into helping it handle the growing fallout from Syria's war. Many of those hoping to enter Greece were trying their luck by wading or rowing across the Evros River that runs along most of the length of the Turkish frontier. Greek authorities said they thwarted an attempt by about 1,000 people overnight to make their way across the Evros wetland area, at the southern end of the border.
They said that in the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday morning, they had prevented a total of 5,183 people from entering Greece, and arrested 45 people, mostly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco, and Bangladesh. Greece has made clear its borders are shut. It has sent military and police reinforcements to the area, which have used tear gas and water cannon to repel mass attempts by migrants to cross into the country. Authorities have also set up cordons of police and army checks on and near the border, arresting those who managed to make it through.
On Tuesday morning, two men - one from Mali and one from Afghanistan - were seen being arrested by Greek authorities shortly after crossing the border, and being loaded into a van with about 20 more people, from Somalia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Iraq.
Turkey announced Thursday it was easing restrictions on those wishing to cross into Europe, leading a wave of migrants to mass along its western frontier. The vast majority appeared to be Afghans, along with people from a wide variety of countries, including Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, and Syria. Turkey's announcement upended its previous policy of containing refugees and other migrants under an agreement with the European Union. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, has demanded more support from Europe. He says his country is facing an imminent and dramatic new influx of refugees from the war in Syria, where growing clashes between Turkish and Syrian troops have raised alarm. Migrants have also been trying to reach Greece by making the short but often perilous sea crossing to islands from the nearby Turkish coast. A young boy died on Monday after the dinghy he was in capsized off the coast of the island of Lesbos. The other 47 people in the boat were rescued. On Monday night, Greek authorities said they had stopped more than 24,000 attempted illegal crossings at the land border with Turkey since early Saturday, and arrested 183 people - very few of whom were Syrians.

Libya's Eastern Government Reopens Syria Embassy
Cairo, Damascus – Khaled Mahmoud and Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed with a delegation from the interim government in eastern Libya developments in Syria and Libya. According to Damascus, Monday’s talks focused on the battle that the two countries are fighting against terrorism and foreign interference.
This took place on the eve of the reopening of the Libyan embassy in the Syrian capital. A memorandum of understanding was signed for the reopening of diplomatic and consular missions, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported. According SANA, the two sides discussed activating bilateral cooperation in all fields, which constitutes resuming diplomatic representation between the two countries, and the revitalization of relations and ties that unite the two peoples in a way that is mutually beneficial. On another note, the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj in the capital, Tripoli, confirmed its intention to launch what it described as a major attack to expel the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, from the city. The announcement was made as LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari accused the GNA of recruiting prisoners to fight among its forces in exchange for their freedom. He said terrorist, fuel smuggler, Osama Juwaili, was recruiting prisoners and convicts in criminal cases, including murder and theft, to fight against LNA forces. Separately, commander of the LNA’s operations in the west, Major General al-Mabrouk Al-Ghazwi, announced the shooting down of six Turkish drones that were used against LNA forces.

Iran’s Khamenei Orders Armed Forces to Help Fight Coronavirus Outbreak
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Supreme leader Ali Khamenei put Iran on war footing Tuesday against the new coronavirus by ordering its armed forces to assist health officials in combating the outbreak — the deadliest outside of China — that authorities say has killed 77 people. Khamenei's decision was announced after state media broadcast images of the 80-year-old leader planting a tree wearing disposable gloves ahead of Iran's upcoming arbor day, showing how concern about the virus now reaches up to the top of the country's theocracy. "Whatever helps public health and prevents the spread of the disease is good and what helps to spread it is sin,” Khamenei said. After downplaying the coronavirus as recently as last week, Iranian authorities said Tuesday they had plans to potentially mobilize 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to confront the virus. There are now over 2,530 cases of the new coronavirus across the Middle East. Of those outside Iran in the region, most link back to the country. Yet experts worry Iran’s percentage of deaths to infections, now around 3.3%, is much higher than other countries, suggesting the number of infections in Iran may be far greater than current figures show. Iran stands alone in how the virus has affected its government, even compared to hard-hit China, the epicenter of the outbreak.  The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi on Monday makes him the highest-ranking official within Iran’s leadership to be killed by the virus. State media referred to him as a confidant of Khamenei. The virus earlier killed Hadi Khosroshahi, Iran’s former ambassador to the Vatican, as well as a recently elected member of parliament. Those sick include Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, better known as “Sister Mary,” the English-speaking spokeswoman for the students who seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and sparked the 444-day hostage crisis, state media reported. Also sick is Iraj Harirchi, the head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who tried to downplay the virus before falling ill.
An activist group also said Tuesday that Wikipedia's Farsi-language website appeared to be disrupted in Iran after a close confidant to the supreme leader died of the new coronavirus. The advocacy group NetBlocks linked the death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi to the disruption, though Iranian officials and its state media did not immediately acknowledge it. Authorities face increasing criticism from the Iranian public over the outbreak amid concerns the number of cases from the virus may be higher than currently reported. NetBlocks described the disruption to accessing Farsi Wikipedia as being nationwide, saying its technical testing suggests the online encyclopedia is being blocked by the same mechanism used to block Twitter and Facebook. Those social media websites have been banned since Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election and Green Movement protests.
Some Iranians said they couldn't access Wikipedia's Farsi website since Monday night. Others said they could, including through the site's mobile-friendly pages. “The new restrictions come as Iran faces a growing crisis following the loss of senior state figures to coronavirus and a spate of criticism and misinformation have spread through social media,” NetBlocks said in its analysis. The Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees the volunteer-edited encyclopedia, did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment. NetBlocks previously reported internet disruptions affecting Iran in recent days and users across the country have reported problems. The disruption raises fears of Iran potentially shutting off the internet entirely again, as it did for a week during economic protests in November. Iran separately has created its own so-called “halal” net of government-approved websites.

Iran Says to Execute ‘CIA Spy’ Soon
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
A website linked to Iran’s judiciary carried a statement on Tuesday saying a man convicted of reportedly spying for the CIA would be executed soon. The video statement from spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, marked “live” on the screen, was similar to a statement he gave on February 4. It was not clear if Esmaili would address the topic at a press conference on Tuesday. Last month, Reuters cited Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili as saying that a man has been sentenced to death in Iran "for spying for the CIA and attempting to pass on information about Iran's nuclear programme." "Amir Rahimpour who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present part of Iran's nuclear information to the American service had been tried and sentenced to death and recently the supreme court upheld his sentence and you will see it carried out soon," the statement read, according to Reuters. Last summer, Tehran announced it had broken up a CIA spy ring of 17 people and that some had been sentenced to death. However, after Iran’s announcement, US President Trump tweeted: “The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth.”In January, a US drone strike killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, prompting Tehran to retaliate with a ballistic missile strike on Iraqi bases housing US troops.

Iran Tries Two French Academics Over Security Charges
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Two French academics jailed in Iran for over half a year on national security charges went on trial Tuesday in a case that has raised tensions between Tehran and Paris, their Paris-based support group said. Fariba Adelkhah and Roland Marchal were detained in June on charges of conspiring against national security that rights groups and fellow academics have denounced as outrageous. Their support group and the French foreign ministry have sounded the alarm over their health -- 60-year-old Adelkhah went on hunger strike for 49 days and 64-year-old Marchal's health is said to be deteriorating -- with the coronavirus outbreak only adding to the concern. "A closed-door 'trial' took place this morning in Tehran," the support group said, denouncing a "masquerade of justice". Adelkhah appeared to be present, it said, although Marchal was not in attendance for reasons that are currently unclear. It added that Adelkhah did not appear to have her lawyer present at the hearing and neither were any French diplomats present. The hearing was adjourned to a later date, it said. The support group said holding them in jail was particularly dangerous given the intensity of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, which has killed 77 people nationwide according to a new toll. "The Iranian authorities are deliberately putting in danger the lives of our two colleagues -- already weakened -- by keeping them in an overcrowded jail while the country is hit by a serious coronavirus epidemic whose scale is being played down and which is not under control," it said. Persian-language media and activists outside of Iran have claimed the scale of the outbreak is far higher than admitted by the authorities but that has been vehemently denied by Tehran. Iran does not recognize Adelkhah's dual French-Iranian nationality and has lashed out at Paris for what it has described as "interference" in the cases. Adelkhah and Marchal, both researchers at Sciences Po University in Paris, are not the only academics being held by Tehran which has been accused by the West of arbitrarily detaining foreigners as bargaining chips. Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert of the University of Melbourne is serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty of espionage. Tehran is still holding several other foreigners in high-profile cases, including British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father, Mohammad Bagher Namazi.

Egypt: Presidential Decree to Appoint 4 New Senior Al-Azhar Scholars
Cairo - Walid Abdul Rahman/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a decree appointing four new members to al-Azhar Council of Senior Scholars. Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb announced a “special program to train foreign imams” saying they are being trained to deal with terrorist rhetoric. The Council of Senior Scholars was restructured in 2012 to carry out several specializations, most prominently the representation of jurisprudential and legal opinion on the global Muslim issues. The Council consists of almost forty members of the greatest scholars of Al-Azhar from all the four schools of jurisprudence. The presidential decree included: professor of Criticism and Literature at the Faculty of Arabic Language al-Said al-Sayed Obada, professor of Interpretation at the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion and Advocacy Hassan Ahmed Gabr, professor of Rhetoric and Criticism at al-Azhar’s Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies for Girls Mahmoud Tawfik, and professor of Emerging Comparative Jurisprudence at the Faculty of Sharia and Law Mohamed Hosni. Meanwhile, Sheikh Tayyib received President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka and the accompanying delegation in Cairo.
Tayyib affirmed that Azhar is responsible for spreading the values of tolerance, dialogue, and acceptance, adding that the institution always communicates with all major religious institutions in Europe. He stressed that the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed with Pope Francis is a milestone in relations between Christianity and Islam but also represents a message with a strong impact on the international scene. The Document was signed in UAE in February last year and adopted “a culture of dialogue as the path, cooperation as the code of conduct, and reciprocal understanding as the method and standard.”They also “resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. These tragic realities are the consequence of a deviation from religious teachings. They result from political manipulation of religions and interpretations made by religious groups.” Sobotka praised Egypt's effective role in combating terrorism, extremism, and illegal migration, adding that Egypt is a pillar of stability in the Middle East and a beacon for moderate Islam. He called on the international community to stand together to eliminate these phenomena. He expressed Austria’s keenness to benefit from the Egyptian experience in reforming religious discourse and from the experience of al-Azhar.

Sadr Faces Insults From Opponents, Popular Movements
Baghdad- Fadhel al-Nashmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 3 March, 2020
Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s political rivals, critics, and opponents from popular protests say Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi’s withdrawing his candidacy is a personal failure for Sadr, who strongly supported him. Some activists believe Allawi’s inability to form the government was due to the lack of agreement with political quota parties and their blocs. While others say popular movement groups were the main reason behind rejecting his candidacy, thereby they contributed to thwarting Sadr’s support for Allawi. Sadr’s supporting tweet for Allawi’s move on Sunday has further pushed his opponents to insult him. He hailed his withdrawal saying it was made “for the love of Iraq,” and accused “corrupt” politicians of “holding the country hostage.” Most analyses tend to indicate that the steps and positions taken didn’t serve Sadr and his bloc’s interests and have mainly resulted in him losing support from civilians, intellectuals, and journalists. Before Allawi’s withdrawal, Sadr took several positions to win the support of these sectors, including his alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party in the 2018’s parliamentary elections. He seemed as an open and religious leader who is against the political forces and Iran’s corruption, who wants to carry out reforms, and who seeks to amend the defects of the political regime. Despite that, and besides losing the support of most of the civil and cultural movements, many believe that he is also losing the popular movement groups’ support. His followers were involved more than once in stabbing and killing incidents against demonstrators and sit-in protesters in the Sadrayn Square in Najaf last month. Observers have interpreted the contradictory positions taken by Sadr over the past few months. Some say they are greatly affected by his long and relative residence in Iran in recent months, and others say they were greatly affected by the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guardian Corps’ Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani early January. Meanwhile, other observers believe his stances were strongly affected by the repercussions of October's uprising and its profound social and political transformations.

Trump Says Had 'Very Good Talk' with Taliban Leader
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 03/2020
Donald Trump said Tuesday he had held a "very good talk" with the leader of the Taliban, soon after the militants confirmed a call between the U.S. president and fighter-turned-negotiator Mullah Baradar.
"Actually (I) had a very good talk with the leader of the Taliban," Trump told reporters at the White House. Trump didn't refer by name to Baradar, but the head of the group's political wing has been leading talks ahead of the signing of an accord between the US and the Taliban in Doha on Saturday that Washington hopes will mark the beginning of the end of its longest war.

Italy Needs 10 Million Masks to Fight Virus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 03/2020
Italy, which does not make face masks, is getting 800,000 of them from South Africa but needs at least 10 million more, a top Italian civil protection official told AFP on Tuesday. "We received 400,000 from South Africa (on Monday) and will receive as many" on Wednesday, Civil Protection Department director Luigi D'Angelo said in a telephone interview. He said the supplies are being delivered to Rome's Fiumicino airport and then distributed across Italy, which has recorded 79 deaths and more than 2,500 virus cases since February 22 -- the most in Europe by far. D'Angelo said Italy needed "eight million surgical masks", which should be used either by those suffering from the virus or those who have been in contact with sick people. Italy will also need "several million FFP2 and FFP3 masks to be used by health operators who are in direct contact with patients," the civil protection agency chief said.
The white FFP2 and FFP3 masks offer much more protection than regular surgical masks -- usually green and seen widely on the streets. No mask should worn for more than six hours, D'Angelo stressed. Italian hospitals had initial supplies but the rapid spread of the epidemic has put the health system under strain, D'Angelo explained. He said some hospitals were "running out of supplies", adding that Italy's worst affected region, Lombardy, was using up 200,000 masks a day. Lombardy has recorded 55 deaths and 1,520 cases in all, officials said Tuesday. Italy has also approached other mask-manufacturing countries, including Romania, Switzerland and the Netherlands, D'Angelo said. The civil protection service recommends home quarantine for people with slight symptoms or those without any but who have been in contact with infected patients. But "this requires having your own bedroom and bathroom," he stressed. His agency has already set up military-style barracks near Rome and Turin, and will set up more near Milan to help quarantine people, he said.
Prison and hospital tents
Civil protection authorities are also setting set up tents in front of some hospitals to make sure suspected cases do not come into contact with other patients, D'Angelo said. "We have set up 330-350 pre-sorting tents in front of hospitals emergency (departments) and 130 in front of prisons to keep them from turning into hotbeds of the epidemic," he said. This is primarily aimed at avoiding the experience Italy had with the so-called "patient one", who involuntarily spread the virus on its initial arrival in the country. He had been treated for severe pneumonia in hospital without being separated from other patients. D'Angelo added that the military has been supplied with additional beds and medical staff.

China Censored Virus News for Weeks, Say Researchers
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 03/2020
China began censoring online discussions on the new coronavirus weeks before officially acknowledging the scope of the disease, according to a report published Tuesday. Although Chinese authorities did not publicly acknowledge the severity of the virus until January 20, censorship began as early as December 31, said researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. Even general terms such as "unknown Wuhan pneumonia" and "Wuhan Health Commission" were deemed taboo in the early weeks of the epidemic, said the report. More than 3,100 people have died and over 90,000 have been infected worldwide by the virus. Citizen Lab said its research showed at least one social media platform in China was blocking some virus content three weeks before the government confirmed it was spreading between people. That "strongly suggests that social media companies came under government pressure to censor information at early stages of the outbreak," the report said. In China it is common for social media companies to scrub content considered politically sensitive, including protests and government criticism. From the end of December to mid-February, Citizen Lab found more than 500 blocked keywords and phrases on WeChat -- which has over one billion active monthly users -- as well as on live-streaming platform YY.Some censored terms referred to information that was later made official, such as the fact that the virus was contagious. The two apps also censored a broad range of keywords, including factual information. For instance, messages that included the words "pneumonia", "disease control and prevention", "virus", and "medical journal" were censored when Citizen Lab tested WeChat on February 14. "What makes this case unique is the potential public health harm blocking this information may have," said Lotus Ruan, researcher at Citizen Lab, commenting on the broad scope of censorship. Doing so can "limit (the) public's ability to be informed and protect themselves," she told AFP. Though the death of a whistleblowing doctor prompted rare calls for political reform in February, Beijing has doubled down on censorship. In early February China's cyberspace authority said it would "supervise" the country's largest social media firms on virus-related content. And Chinese President Xi Jinping called for even tighter control over online discussion to ensure "positive energy" and social stability. "So far Beijing seems to draw the wrong conclusion from the crisis, that it needs to repress more, not less," said Lokman Tsui, a communications professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dubai Ruler in UK Supreme Court Bid over Children's Welfare Case
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 03/2020
Dubai's ruler is challenging a London court decision to publish judgments relating to a legal battle with his estranged wife over their children's welfare, the Supreme Court said Tuesday. Britain's highest court said it had received "an application for permission to appeal" from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum in the case. "This application arises out of proceedings relating to the welfare of two children, principally the arrangements for contact with their father," the court said in a statement. "Their parents are the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and his former wife. "The issue that the Supreme Court is asked to decide is whether two judgments given by the president of the Family Division (of the High Court) in those proceedings should be published."The application will be heard by three judges. No date was given for the hearing. Sheikh Mohammed, 70, applied to the High Court for the summary return to Dubai of his two children with Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, who is the half-sister of Jordan's King Abdullah II. She applied for them to be made wards of the court and one of the children to be made subject to a forced marriage protection order. Princess Haya, an Olympic equestrian competitor who is reportedly Sheikh Mohammed's sixth wife, applied for a separate non-molestation order for herself. A forced marriage protection order can be used to help someone who is being forced into marriage or who has been subjected to one, according to the British government. They can be sought by the person in question, a relevant third party or anyone else with the permission of the court. The orders can stop a person from being taken out of Britain for a marriage to which they have not consented. Three judges at the Court of Appeal last week dismissed Sheikh Mohammed's claim that judge Andrew McFarlane should not publish two rulings in the case, which was heard in private. McFarlane presides over the family division of the High Court of England and Wales. Appeal court judge Nicholas Underhill said Princess Haya and several media organisations opposed a further challenge to the decision to the Supreme Court by the sheikh, who is the founder of the successful Godolphin horse racing stable. But he gave him until Tuesday to apply for permission to take the appeal to Britain's apex court. Underhill said the appeal "raises questions both about what is in the best interests of the children and about how to balance that, if necessary, against the right of the press to report matters of public interest". Reporting restrictions on McFarlane's rulings remain in place until the Supreme Court gives its judgment.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 03-04/2020
U.N. Panel Says Russia Bombed Syrian Civilian Targets, a War Crime
The panel condemned tactics they said the Syrian government and its allies were still using in the northwest province of Idlib.
Nick Cumming-Bruce/The New York Times/March 03/2020
GENEVA — United Nations investigators said on Monday that Russia had committed war crimes in Syria by carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian targets in 2019, condemning tactics they said the Syrian government and its allies were still using in the northwest province of Idlib.
The investigators also said that Syrian rebels allied with Turkey had carried out war crimes during the invasion of Kurdish areas in northern Syria, and that Al Qaeda-linked rebels had inflicted scores of civilian casualties in rocket attacks on government-held areas.
Their accusations were made in the latest report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria, the Geneva-based panel that has been monitoring the nearly decade-old conflict in Syria.
The investigators said Russian aircraft had carried out a “double tap” attack on a market last July 22, killing at least 43 civilians, and an airstrike on a camp for displaced civilians in August that killed at least 20 people.
In both airstrikes, “the Russian Air Force did not direct the attacks at a specific military objective, amounting to the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas,” the three-person panel said, citing eyewitness accounts, video footage and intercepted communications with pilots conducting the strikes. The findings of the commission, which will present its report to the United Nations Human Rights Council next week, provided an authoritative and independent assessment of Russian conduct in the Syria conflict that corroborated reporting by human rights groups and media, including The New York Times. here was no immediate Russian response to the commission’s findings. Russia has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have indiscriminately attacked civilians.
The report focused on events between July and January but members of the panel made clear they believe pro-government forces have continued to commit war crimes in the offensive underway in northwestern Syria, which has driven nearly a million people from homes toward the Turkish border of Idlib.
The panel said the offensive had been punctuated by intensive bombardment inflicting “unprecedented levels of suffering and pain.”Besides attacks on civilian targets, which are protected under international law, the commission also observed a “crime of intentionally terrorizing the population” in order to force civilians to move. “We are seeing that picture emerging very clearly, for example, in Idlib,” Hanny Megally, a member of the panel, told reporters in Geneva.
The commission said Turkey should investigate whether it was responsible for an airstrike in October on a convoy of vehicles carrying around 400 people days after a Turkish military assault on Kurdish areas of northern Syria. The attack killed 11 people and wounded 74, and although Turkey has denied any involvement, human rights groups attributed the strike to Turkish aircraft. The commission said it was continuing to investigate the incident. It said it believed a Syrian rebel force allied with Turkey, the Syrian National Army, had committed the war crimes of murder and pillage, citing the killings of the Syrian Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf and her driver, who were dragged from their vehicle and executed.Turkish commanders could bear criminal responsibility for those deaths if the fighters responsible were found to have been under their effective command and control, the panel said.
***Nick Cumming-Bruce reports from Geneva, covering the United Nations, human rights and international humanitarian organizations. Previously he was the Southeast Asia reporter for The Guardian for 20 years and the Bangkok bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal Asia.

U.N. nuclear watchdog plans alert on Iranian stonewalling - diplomats
Francois Murphy, John Irish/Reuters/March 03/2020
VIENNA/PARIS (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic watchdog policing Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers plans to issue an imminent rebuke to Tehran for failing to provide access to one or more sites that are of interest to it, several diplomats who follow the agency said on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency overseeing the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, which lifted international sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities, issues quarterly updates on Iran’s atomic program to its member states.
The next of those quarterly reports is due on Tuesday but, in a first for the IAEA since the deal was put in place, the agency plans to issue a separate report on the same day, calling Iran out for its lack of cooperation in general and its failure to provide access in particular, diplomats said.
“The general message is: There’s a new sheriff in town,” a diplomat from a country on the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors said, referring to new IAEA chief Rafael Grossi of Argentina, who was elected in October with the support of countries including the United States and Brazil.
Grossi took over following the death in office of long-serving IAEA chief Yukiya Amano of Japan, who pressured Iran to provide swifter access to sites of interest to the agency, while avoiding confronting the Islamic Republic publicly, diplomats say.
Under Amano, the IAEA at first resisted public pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit a site he cited in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, calling it a “secret atomic warehouse” mentioned in a trove of data seized by Israeli intelligence agents. Tehran has said the site is a carpet-cleaning facility.
But the IAEA inspected the site in February of last year, diplomats say, and gathered environmental samples that showed traces of uranium that Iran has yet to fully explain.
Now the agency is seeking access to one or more sites mentioned in that trove, which Israel refers to as the “atomic archive” of information on Iran’s former nuclear weapons program.
A spokesman for the IAEA declined immediate comment.
U.S intelligence agencies and the IAEA both believe Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program that it halted long before the 2015 nuclear deal. That deal is aimed at keeping Tehran at least a year away from obtaining enough fissile material for an atom bomb if it sought one.
Iran denies ever having had a nuclear weapons program and says it would never seek to obtain an atom bomb.
It has, however, breached the deal’s restrictions on its atomic activities one after the other in response to Washington’s withdrawal from the deal in May 2018 and its reimposition of sanctions that have choked off the Islamic Republic’s vital oil exports.
“The second report will be on Safeguards issues linked to sites that the IAEA did not get access to. We know of two cases, but we don’t know whether the IAEA will put both in (the report),” said a European diplomat, adding it was unclear what recommendations the agency would make.
Other diplomats said there would be at least one site mentioned in the report, possibly two, and that there was a connection to the archive.
None of the six diplomats who said they expected a second report provided details of the site or sites the reports would likely mention.
NO SUDDEN MOVES
Iran’s breaches of the deal’s nuclear limits on items including the purity to which it enriches uranium and its stock of enriched uranium are eroding the accord, but it says they can quickly be reversed if U.S. sanctions are lifted.
The Trump administration says its “maximum pressure” campaign will force Iran to negotiate a more sweeping deal than the strictly nuclear agreement.
Washington wants a broader deal, covering issues such as Iran’s ballistic missile program and its role in Middle Eastern conflicts like those in Syria and Yemen. It also wants to ban Iran from enriching uranium altogether. Tehran says it will not negotiate unless U.S. sanctions are lifted.
Tuesday’s main IAEA quarterly report is likely to show a jump in Iran’s stock of enriched uranium as Tehran continues to breach key limits of the steadily eroding nuclear deal, diplomats say.
But while Iran breached the deal’s atomic restrictions in the second half of last year, it has refrained from making any large, sudden moves this year, even after the U.S. assassination of its powerful military leader Qassem Soleimani in January, diplomats say.
The level to which it is enriching uranium, for example, remains roughly the same as in the last quarterly report, diplomats say - 4.5% or less, above the deal’s 3.67% limit but still far below the 20% Tehran achieved before the deal and the roughly 90% that is weapons-grade.
*Reporting by Francois Murphy and John Irish; Writing by Francois Murphy; Editing by Peter Cooney
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

North Korea’s Latest Missile Test Underscores Its Relentless Military
David Maxwell/Mathew Ha/FDD/March 03/2020
North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday. Pyongyang’s latest provocation shows that North Korea remains far more interested in expanding its military capabilities than in pursuing a diplomatic resolution of its conflict with the United States.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the North Korean military, or Korean People’s Army (KPA), launched the missiles from transporter-erector-launcher vehicles located near North Korea’s eastern coast. The missiles flew approximately 240 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 35 kilometers. This test occurred only a few days after the United States and South Korea announced they will postpone joint military exercises due to coronavirus concerns.
An unnamed South Korean JCS officer suggested this missile launch was the continuation of a North Korean joint strike drill that began last Friday. The KPA is currently conducting its annual Winter Training Cycle, which will last until the end of this month. In February 2019, General Robert Abrams, the commander of United Nations Command, U.S.-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command, and U.S. Forces Korea, told Congress that the Winter Training Cycle involves “a force of over one million engaged in individual and unit-level training throughout the country.”
On the day of this missile launch, South Korean Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo assessed that Pyongyang continues to pursue weapons development and capability enhancements amid the current diplomatic deadlock. Since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s failure to secure concessions from President Donald Trump at their Hanoi Summit, the North Korean regime has conducted 13 ballistic missile and rocket tests.
Additionally, Pyongyang’s persistent testing likely aims to coerce its adversaries into emergency negotiations in order to extort concessions in exchange for de-escalating tensions. The testing is likely also aimed at bolstering Kim’s domestic standing, particularly in light of his failure at Hanoi. By projecting strength and resolve, Kim aims to placate his military and the regime’s elite.
This latest missile test should be a wake-up call for Washington and Seoul regarding North Korea’s intent to develop more advanced weapons. While the United States and South Korea have cancelled, suspended, downgraded, and now postponed multiple joint military exercises over the last 18 months, there has been no reciprocity or reduction in hostile activity, tensions, or the overall threat posed by Pyongyang.
The United States and South Korea therefore should again readjust their combined military training regimen to ensure the highest state of readiness. While the alliance’s decision to postpone exercises for March was justified in light of the recent coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. and South Korean military leadership must also prioritize the readiness of their combined forces and return to a robust combined training program to effectively deter North Korean aggression.
*David Maxwell, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army and a retired Special Forces colonel, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Mathew Ha is a research analyst. Both contribute to FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). For more analysis from David, Mathew, and CMPP, please subscribe HERE. Follow David and Mathew on Twitter @davidmaxwell161 and @matjunsuk. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CMPP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

A Global Rout Is a Great Time for a Command Economy
Shuli Ren/Bloomberg/March 03/2020
In times of distress, a centralized financial system can go a long way. Global investors, bruised by an ugly week of asset selloffs, can perhaps consider buying the dip — but only in China.
In the past, if the US sneezed, emerging markets would soon be in the emergency room. Not this time. While the S&P 500 Index is heading for its worst week since the global financial crisis, China has been relatively Zen-like, despite being the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. The ChiNext index, in particular, is still up 16% this year, even after this week’s heavy selling.
When things get tough, stock prices become a tug of war between liquidity and fundamentals. The outlook for profits is bad, but if the central bank cuts interest rates and puts listed companies on life support, stocks may well brush off this black swan event.
This is where China is right now. There will be a bloodbath for corporate earnings, given that much of China remains at a standstill. Only one-third of small and medium-size businesses have had their workers return, according to a government briefing Wednesday. China’s top medical expert doesn’t see the virus being contained until the end of April.
Enter the command economy. Whatever reforms Beijing has vowed to enact to give markets a bigger role, China’s financial system remains highly centralized and command-driven. Authorities are now forcing banks to lend and buy corporate bonds at yields that make no sense to private investors. For equity holders, this translates into lower risk premiums.
Take corporate bonds. While the US market practically froze up this week, Beijing is encouraging companies to issue so-called “virus control” bonds. The issuance criteria are low: Companies need only devote 10% of the proceeds to virus control; the rest could be all for refinancing. The interest rate is also low, with the average coupon only 3%, even lower than the People’s Bank of China’s benchmark one-year medium-term lending rate.
It’s no surprise that these virus control bonds have been mopped up by banks, which are often called upon to perform national service. Already, more than 120 companies have gone to the market, raising more than 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) since the beginning of February. These are essentially large financial subsidies from the state.
Or consider bank loans. In China, the loan prime rate, or what banks offer their best corporate clients, is in theory a consensus figure derived from the central bank’s policy rate and the risk premium determined by lenders. Yet miraculously, the loan prime rate has been moving in lockstep with the policy rate since the coronavirus outbreak. In other words, bankers don’t see a spike in credit risk at all. That shouts window guidance to outsiders.
Meanwhile, investors are looking to President Xi Jinping to reopen the sluice gates as promised in his vaguely worded speeches. This month, Xi repeatedly vowed to meet China’s economic growth targets, despite the virus. The only way for that to happen is to shower the economy with helicopter money. Inadvertently, Xi is now on the hook for a stock rally.
What Beijing is trying to do is to keep its “scale” companies, which are often publicly traded, afloat until it can contain the virus. The reasoning is that the ultimate demand is there: Chinese consumers will still want to buy cars, apartments and 5G phones, once they can roam about freely on the streets again. The government just needs to ensure that until then, China Inc. doesn’t get any margin calls.
In China, earnings never mattered that much anyhow. Look at the historical performance of the ChiNext. The two recent rallies, in 2015, were triggered by a sharp slump in the 10-year government bond yield. The benchmark yield is now back at its 2016 low. Liquidity has always been what matters.
So as long as Beijing doesn’t blink and keeps the money flowing, China’s stock market will be a relatively safe haven.

Who Is Preventing Palestinians From Voting?
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/March 03/2020
The absence of parliamentary life for the Palestinians has, in fact, been highly convenient for Abbas, who continues to demonstrate zero tolerance towards his political rivals and critics.
While Palestinian members of parliament have been deprived of salaries and stripped of parliamentary immunity, as well as denied freedom of expression and the opportunity to exercise their parliamentary work, Arab members of the Knesset in Israel are free to say whatever they wish about the Israeli government and its policies without giving a single thought to possible repercussions. For now, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will have to continue accepting the reality of living under the unelected and totalitarian leaders of the PA and Hamas. For the Palestinians, each Israeli election serves as a sad reminder of the catastrophic failure of Palestinian leaders and the complete absence of democracy under the PA and Hamas.
The international community, meanwhile, continues to ignore that the Palestinians are being denied the chance to hold elections. Denouncing Israel can be a full-time job, one that leaves little room for remembering that, for 14 years, Palestinians have been deprived of their right to touch a ballot.
The Palestinians are the only people in the Middle East who do not have a functioning parliament. The last Palestinian election took place in 2006, when Palestinians voted for the Palestinian Legislative Council. In 2018, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas decided to dissolve the PLC and said he would hold elections within six months, which he did not do.
Yesterday, March 2, Israeli voters headed to the ballot boxes for the tenth time since the signing of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians in 1993. The Palestinians, by contrast, have since had only four elections -- two for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency and two for the Palestinian parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
The last Palestinian election took place in 2006, when Palestinians voted for the PLC. Hamas, the Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, won 44.4% of the vote (74 seats), while PA President Mahmoud Abbas's rival Fatah faction won 41.4% of the vote (45 seats). The PLC has 132 seats.
One year after the PLC election, Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip after overthrowing Abbas's PA regime. The Hamas coup led to a split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has effectively paralyzed the Palestinian parliament ever since.
The Palestinians are the only people in the Middle East who do not have a functioning parliament. In 2018, Abbas decided to dissolve the PLC and said he would hold elections within six months. Abbas's move drew sharp criticism from many Palestinians, who accused him of seeking to tighten his grip on the PA and its institutions.
The 84-year-old Abbas has not fulfilled his promise to hold a parliamentary election "within six months." Who needs a parliament when you have a president who recently entered the 16th year of his four-year-term in office? Who needs pesky parliament members who may pester their president and government by asking uncomfortable questions or -- even worse -- criticizing the performance of the Palestinian leadership?
The absence of parliamentary life for the Palestinians has, in fact, been highly convenient for Abbas, who continues to demonstrate zero tolerance towards his political rivals and critics.
Just this week, Abbas ordered his security forces in the West Bank to arrest another Palestinian journalist, Ayman Kawarik, for posting critical comments on Facebook. Kawarik is far from the first Palestinian journalist to land in Abbas's prisons for expressing his views. No one ever speaks critically of the Palestinian leadership.This crackdown on critics, then, is how Abbas accommodates less-than-flattering comments from Palestinian journalists. His capacity to tolerate criticism from members of the (long-defunct) parliament is equally absent.
Even though the Palestinian parliament has not been functioning since 2007, Abbas has responded to opinions from particular parliament members by stripping them of their immunity or cutting their salaries.
In 2016, Abbas stripped five members of parliament of their parliamentary immunity: Jamal Tirawi, Shami al-Shami, Najat Abu Bakr, Nasser Juma'ah and Mohammed Dahlan. A year later Abbas also decided to stop paying salaries to several members of parliament, including some belonging to his own Fatah faction. While Palestinian members of parliament have been deprived of salaries and stripped of parliamentary immunity, as well as denied freedom of expression and the opportunity to exercise their parliamentary work, Arab members of the Knesset in Israel are free to say whatever they wish about the Israeli government and its policies without giving a single thought to possible repercussions.
Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi, for example, has been a vehement and vocal critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government's policies. Because Tibi and his Arab colleagues in the Knesset live in Israel, they can run in parliamentary elections and voice their views without any fear of retribution. If the Arab Knesset members were living under the Abbas regime, the likely scenarios would be arrest or worse.
The Palestinian members of parliament can only envy their Arab colleagues in Israel for the basic existence of free elections – and for the exceptional freedom that Arab citizens of Israel enjoy. Under PA rule, Tibi and his colleagues would not have lasted very long.
In September 2019, Abbas -- this time during a speech before the United Nations General Assembly -- once again vowed to hold long-overdue general elections in the West Bank .
So far, however, no elections have taken place. Predictably, Abbas is laying the blame for his own playful behavior at Israel's feet: there can be no elections unless Israel allows the vote to take place in Jerusalem. Although Israel has not said it would ban Arabs in Jerusalem from participating in the Palestinian election, Abbas -- together with the European Union -- has been trying to make it look as if Israel is deliberately obstructing the planned vote. He has also previously accused Hamas of the same thing: obstructing the election.
Abbas, it would seem, does not want new elections, not for the presidency and not for the parliament. He would doubtless prefer to continue running the PA as his private fiefdom. Why should Abbas, who was elected in January 2005, bother himself with a new presidential election that would require him to devote time and energy to campaigning? Abbas, moreover, does not seem about to give any Palestinian the pleasure of challenging him in some election. As far as he is concerned, has he not won the right to be president for life?
Notably, Abbas is not about to repeat his mistake of 2006, when Hamas won the parliamentary election. A Hamas-dominated parliament would only be a torment for his aides and him.
As Israeli voters headed to the ballot boxes, Abbas continued to talk about his desire to give his people the opportunity to elect their parliament members and president. Try to find even one Palestinian who believes him.
For now, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will have to continue accepting the reality of living under the unelected and totalitarian leaders of the PA and Hamas. For the Palestinians, each Israeli election serves as a sad reminder of the catastrophic failure of Palestinian leaders and the complete absence of democracy under the PA and Hamas. The international community, meanwhile, continues to ignore that the Palestinians are being denied the chance to hold elections. Denouncing Israel can be a full-time job, one that leaves little room for remembering that, for 14 years, Palestinians have been deprived of their right to touch a ballot.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
*Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on Twitter
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Muslim Brotherhood-Affiliated Canadian Imam Hussein Amer: The Chinese Eat Aborted Human Fetuses; Coronavirus Is Allah's Punishment For Their Treatment Of Uyghur Muslims
MEMRI/March 03/2020
Canadian Imam Hussein Amer said in a Friday, January 31, 2020 sermon that the coronavirus spread because of a bat soup that was eaten in China, and he criticized the Chinese for eating "everything in the world that moves." He claimed that the Chinese even eat aborted human fetuses and that families abort and sell the remains of female fetuses because they prefer having male children. Imam Amer also said that the coronavirus is Allah's revenge against the Chinese for how they treat the Uyghur Muslims, and he expressed hope that the effects of the coronavirus will cause China to wake up and see the human side of its treatment of the Uyghurs. Imam Amer belongs to the Muslims Association of Canada, which describes itself as an organization that has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood and in the beliefs of the Brotherhood's founder, Hassan Al-Banna. Imam Amer posted the sermon on his personal YouTube account.
"In China They Believe That They Can Eat Anything... I Would Have Said That This Excludes Eating Human Beings, But It Turns Out That They Even Eat Fetuses"
Hussein Amer: "Those who have spoken about this subject have said that the reason for infection with [coronavirus] is that the virus was transferred from one animal to another animal, and then to human beings. They claim that the virus came from bats. The soup that they drink... Of course, in China they believe that they can eat anything in the world that moves. I would have said that this excludes eating human beings, but it turns out that they even eat fetuses. By Allah, this is freakish. They eat fetuses – aborted babies...
"Since there is a limit to how many children [a family] can have, in families in which the woman gets pregnant with a girl, they abort the baby because they want a boy, and then this aborted baby is sold and eaten!
"They eat everything that moves. They eat anything, even if it is harmful, beneficial, or poisonous, or if it is an animal, an insect, or a worm. They eat everything."
"When The Uyghur Muslims Are Gripped With Fear With Every Step They Take, Whether [Fear] Of Being Arrested, Of Being Killed, Of Being Exiled... Can It Not Be A Punishment From Allah?"
"Over the past week, there has been an argument about whether what is taking place in China is revenge from Allah [for how they treat] the Uyghur Muslims, or if this is a normal thing that could take place in any country...
"When you pull the hijab off of the head of an Uyghur Muslim woman, and when you violate her honor and attack her until she is on the verge of death... Don't you see, as I see, that people in China are now wearing masks that make it so you can barely see anything? When the Uyghur Muslims are gripped with fear with every step they take, whether [fear] of being arrested, of being killed, of being exiled, or of being separated from their children – do you see this now? Do you see this fear now? When you confine people – the reports say it is only one million people – to 're-education centers' – don't you agree with me about this entire blockade that is being enforced against [China]? Can it not be a punishment from Allah? This is possible. This is conceivable."
"May This Deter Them And Cause Them To Wake Up And See The Human Side Of What They Are Doing To The Uyghur Muslims"
"The blockade we are all talking about, and the economic ban on China... May this deter them and cause them to wake up and see the human side of what they are doing to the Uyghur Muslims."

Is Ankara afraid of being invaded?
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed /Arab News/March 03/2020
The Syrian war, which began nine years ago, marks the first time that Turkey’s air force and artillery has targeted Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias.
Turkish F-16 fighter jets or drones would not have entered Syrian airspace — where Syrian, Iranian and Russian defenses are stacked — had Ankara not felt confident that they were under the protection of American forces there.
Furthermore, Russia, which gave Israeli fighter jets the freedom to bomb Iranian and Hezbollah positions in the vicinity of Damascus, did not intercept the Turkish air force, which shot down the Syrian regime’s Russian-built Sukhoi Su-24 jet fighters, or Turkish drones that targeted the regime’s armored vehicles.
From his side, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced his intention to travel to Moscow for a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, whose spokesperson has said that Russia does not want to expand the war zone.
What has worried Erdogan is the move north by Iranian and Syrian forces, which suggests that, not satisfied with expelling armed factions and recovering the rest of northern Syria, they intend to invade Turkish territory. Ankara has, thus, responded to the perceived threat by reiterating its obligation to defend its borders and citizens.
As for why Damascus and Tehran seem to want to expand the conflict zone northwards and, perhaps, invade southern Turkey, is based on the same justification Turkey gave for its invasion of the Syrian north last year; i.e. to establish a “safe zone” inside the Syrian territories, under the pretext of preventing the Kurds from attacking Turkey. The Damascus regime’s and Iranian forces might then decide to cross the border on the pretext of pushing armed groups, including Syrian and foreign fighters, out of Syria; thereby weakening Turkey and getting rid of millions of Syrians who oppose the regime.
Erdogan is now paying the price of his delay in military intervention, and for getting closer to the Iranians and Russians at the expense of the Syrian opposition.
Ankara has discovered that all the agreements on Syria it reached with Iran and Russia in Sochi over the past two years has come at the expense of its own interests, and finds itself losing out. This is why it has fallen back on its alliance with the US and asked Washington for support.
The US opposes the recent agreements about Syria and has criticized the Turkish position. Indeed, Washington demands that the Syrian opposition be given a role in the country’s government, and that Iranian forces and their militias be expelled from Syria. Perhaps, this explains the resumption of fighting in Daraa, in southwestern Syria, near Jordan, after nearly two years of peace. This could distract the Syrian regime, which has moved most of its forces to the north.
Erdogan is now paying the price of his delay in military intervention, and for getting closer to the Iranians and Russians at the expense of the Syrian opposition. A cursory look at the map shows that most of the fighting is within a few miles of the Turkish border.
In the past few weeks, the Syrian regime’s forces and their allies have launched aggressive and destructive operations in Idlib province and its surroundings. The Turks did nothing but issue denunciations; and as a result, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee toward Turkey.
Ankara does not have time for further prevarication. If it does not act to defend Idlib and Syrians in the areas adjacent to its territory, the fighting will spread; and millions more people will be displaced and pushed across the border and into Turkish cities.
*Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran columnist. He is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel, and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat. Twitter: @aalrashed