English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 05/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one
John 17/20-23: “‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 04-05/2020

Report: Lebanon Baffled by 2nd Virus Wave, Authorities Divided over Measures
Health Ministry Official Voices Serious Warning over Virus Spread
Protesters Rally outside Sawan House, Vow Escalation over Blast Probe
Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal Met Wazni, to Meet Aoun
BDL Says Up to State to Lift Secrecy Off Its Accounts
Lebanon Central Bank: Govt. Should Be the One to Submit its Accounts to Audit
Lebanon: Government Formation Talks Focus on Names, Portfolios
Pound marginally rises as gov't formation picks up
CLDH - Lebanese Center for Human Rights
The President of the Republic will not challenge the Prevention of...
Lebanon’s last chance quickly fading away
Banque du Liban responds to political pressure by adhering to banking secrecy
Deserted, Blast-Damaged Building Collapses in Beirut

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 04-05/2020

Biden wins Michigan, Wisconsin, now on brink of White House
WHO Says COVID-19 Spread in Europe Accelerating
Could U.S. Election be Decided in the Courts?
Trump Campaign Demands Recount in Wisconsin
Seven Civilians Killed in Syria's Northwest
Egypt closes Rafah crossing after monitoring violations by Hamas
Palestinian Killed after Firing at Israeli Troops in West Bank
UAE-Israel direct flights to start November 26
Iran’s FM Zarif arrives in Venezuela in first leg of Latin America tour
Turkey's earthquake death toll rises to 116, rescuers finish searches
Turkey Fines Social Media Companies over New Law
EU condemns Turkey's gas-exploration mission in waters disputed by Greece and Cyprus
Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results Due this Year, Trial Chief Says
Egypt resumes negotiations on Renaissance Dam, despite Ethiopian obstinacy
Ethiopia PM Orders Riposte After 'Attack' on Army Camp in Restive Tigray

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 04-05/2020

Dealing With Islamic Terrorism In Europe/Yarid Ravid/November 04/2020
Report Warns of Islamic Radicalization in France/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/November 04/2020
Time has come for France to revamp its obsolete model/The Arab Weekly/November 04/2020
In his defence of cartoons, Macron walks a treacherous terrain./The Arab Weekly/November 04/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 04-05/2020

Report: Lebanon Baffled by 2nd Virus Wave, Authorities Divided over Measures
Naharnet/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Facing a relentless surge in cases of coronavirus infections, Lebanese authorities are divided over lengthening a total lockdown widely rejected by economic bodies amid a crunching economic and financial crisis. Head of the Parliamentary Health Committee MP Assem Araji told the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat newspaper on Wednesday that the government is confused in dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic. “The government is confused in dealing with COVID-19 because of a failure to adhere to the decisions taken, which are mainly the responsibility of the ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor, Tourism, Industry and others,” said Araji in remarks to the daily. According to reports differences linger between the ministers of health and interior over the lockdown measures. Araji said during Monday’s meeting of a Coronavirus Follow-up Committee, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan suggested a 4-week lockdown. “But because of divisions within the committee the decision was not taken. Meanwhile the health committee suggested a 14-day lockdown,” he said. The MP noted that the government seems to be trying to postpone a total lockdown decision as much as possible in order to avoid its repercussions, in light of the total rejection of the economic sectors, thus throwing its responsibility on the next government. n Sunday, the Interior Ministry increased a nighttime curfew by four hours, asking people to stay off the streets and shops to close between 9pm local time and 5am. It did not set an end date. The Interior Ministry also put 115 towns and villages in total lockdown for a week because of a high positive infection rate and “high level of danger.” Lebanon, a country of over 5 million, has been witnessing a surge of infection cases, deaths and intensive care unit occupancy over the past weeks that brought the recorded cases to over 80,000. According to health ministry statistics, the number of recorded cases nearly doubled between September and October in the country that is also home to over 1 million refugees. The percentage of positive tests has increased to over 12% for every 100 tests and the average age of those who die from the virus has gone down.

Health Ministry Official Voices Serious Warning over Virus Spread
Naharnet/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Director of Medical Care at the Health Ministry, Dr. Joseph el-Helou voiced alarm on Wednesday saying Lebanese hospitals could be compelled to choose between saving the young or elderly in light of their diminishing capabilities to face COVID-19, MTV station reported on Wednesday. "We will reach a place where we might be compelled to choose between the young and the elderly. We will have to sacrifice the lives of the elderly,” said Helou in dreadful remarks to MTV. “The situation in Lebanon compels the need for a very bold decision to avoid reaching a place where people die on the street because of the virus," he said, urging for a total lockdown. The Lebanese could be facing a “catastrophe in every sense of the word if we do not shut down the country to relieve the medical staff from the great pressure,” emphasized Helou. A large segment of Lebanese fail to commit to preventive and safety measures against coronavirus. “The worst is that wedding parties are still held. Everyone should know that we are in a catastrophic state. Hospitals have become completely unable to receive COVID-19 patients,” concluded Helou. Lebanon, a country of over 5 million, has been witnessing a surge of infection cases, deaths and intensive care unit occupancy over the past weeks that brought the recorded cases to over 80,000. According to health ministry statistics, the number of recorded cases nearly doubled between September and October in the country that is also home to over 1 million refugees. The percentage of positive tests has increased to over 12% for every 100 tests and the average age of those who die from the virus has gone down.

Protesters Rally outside Sawan House, Vow Escalation over Blast Probe
Naharnet/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Protesters on Wednesday gathered in Ashrafieh’s Sassine Square before marching to the nearby house of Judge Fadi Sawan, the lead judicial investigator into the catastrophic blast at Beirut port. The demonstrators demanded that the investigation’s developments be immediately unveiled, stressing that they will not allow the truth to be buried. “Wounded Beirut demands punishment. Three months have passed since the port explosion and you are going around in circles in the investigations,” Nada Agha, a spokeswoman for the protesters, said, addressing authorities. Addressing Sawan, she added: “Is procrastination aimed at acquitting the corrupt ruling authorities from the crime of the explosion while they are responsible for it? Is procrastination aimed at searching for a scapegoat that prevents the incrimination of the real culprits? We came here today to send a warning or else we will engage in a confrontation on the streets with anyone seeking to conceal the truth.” An official spokesman for the families of the victims, Ibrahim Hteit, meanwhile warned that the next protests will be “very harsh.” “We will block the streets until justice is fulfilled,” he pledged. The Aug. 4 explosion, one of the strongest in history, killed around 200 people and wounded over 6,500 while leaving swathes of Beirut in ruins. Around 25 people have been detained in the probe, including top customs and port officials. No incumbent or former political officials have been arrested or charged although some have testified as witnesses.

Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal Met Wazni, to Meet Aoun
Naharnet/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Managing Director at Alvarez and Marsal, James Daniell, will reportedly hold a meeting with President Michel Aoun after holding talks with caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni over the company’s “halted” forensic audit into the central bank accounts, LBCI TV station reported on Wednesday. LBCI said the Aoun-Daniell meeting is expected on Thursday at 10:15 a.m. at Baabda Presidential Palace. Daniell met with Wazni for two hours on Wednesday and reportedly discussed with him a contract signed between the company and the Lebanese state to run a forensic audit into Lebanon’s central bank accounts. The New York based Alvarez believes the central bank has handed over less than half of the documents required to proceed with the audit. In September, Alvarez and Marsal started a forensic audit of the Bank of Lebanon as part of measures towards reforms to lift the country out of its worst economic crisis in decades. It set November 3 as a deadline for the bank to provide it with all information needed for the review, a source at the finance ministry said. But the central bank has handed over less than half of the documents required to proceed with the audit bringing the audit to a halt.It says provisions of the Code of Money and Credit and the Banking Secrecy Law bar it from releasing the rest.
 

BDL Says Up to State to Lift Secrecy Off Its Accounts
Naharnet/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
The Banque du Liban -- Lebanon’s central bank -- announced Wednesday that it is up to the Lebanese state to lift secrecy off its bank accounts, after BDL was accused of failing to hand over all requested documents to global auditing firm Alvarez and Marsal. Commenting on a study by caretaker Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najem, who noted that “bank secrecy stipulated by Lebanese law does not apply to the state’s accounts and BDL’s accounts,” the central bank pointed out that it has fully handed over statements of its accounts to the caretaker finance minister. It added: “As for the state’s accounts, the Lebanese state can request a detailed statement of all its accounts and accordingly turn them over to sides it sees befitting of looking into them, which would spare BDL a violation of secrecy laws, which are binding and whose breach would lead to criminal penalties.”And lamenting that “newspapers, including international ones, and social networking websites have recently published information provided to the Alvarez & Marsal firm through the finance ministry, which represents a violation of the law and of the stipulations of the contract signed between the ministry and the aforementioned firm,” BDL announced that it has handed over all the documents requested by the KPMG and Oliver Wyman auditing firms. It also noted that it has hired two international firms for the auditing of its account since 1994.

Lebanon Central Bank: Govt. Should Be the One to Submit its Accounts to Audit
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
The Lebanese central bank’s refusal to provide full data for a forensic audit may force consultancy Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) to walk away or wait for a new cabinet to salvage the review, a key condition for foreign aid, two sources close to the matter said. Banque du Liban (BDL) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had provided its own accounts to the turnaround specialist hired by Lebanon this year, but that it should be the government that submits full state accounts to the audit. “This would spare the central bank from violating legally binding bank secrecy laws”, it said. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Tuesday the BDL had provided 42% of the information required and criticized it for citing legislation and banking secrecy as a justification. The sources said the central bank was using banking secrecy as an excuse to withhold information needed for the audit, which has been requested by the International Monetary Fund and donors that have been pressing Lebanon to tackle endemic waste and corruption to exit a financial meltdown. Earlier on Wednesday, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni met with James Daniell, a managing director at A&M, and discussed “options regarding the (audit) contract which will be taken within the next 24 hours”, the ministry said. The sources said the options include putting the audit on hold until the formation of a new government that could unlock the information, or cancelling the contract. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, named last month, has been trying to navigate Lebanon’s sectarian politics to form a cabinet to bring in reforms needed to tackle the country’s worst crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war, including banking paralysis, a currency crash and spreading poverty. Lebanon’s plight worsened after it defaulted on its huge foreign currency debt in March following years of financial engineering by the central bank to help fund the government. The finance minister had sought an opinion from the justice ministry on whether banking secrecy applied to the audit, one of the sources said. “Referring to the finance minister’s letter that included the justice ministry opinion that ‘banking secrecy under Lebanese law does not apply to government or central bank accounts’..., the central bank points out that it submitted its own accounts to the finance ministry,” the BDL statement said. Nafez Zouk, lead economist and emerging markets strategist at Oxford Economics, said that the banking secrecy law needed to be amended or temporarily suspended for the audit to happen.

Lebanon: Government Formation Talks Focus on Names, Portfolios
Beirut- Mohammed Shokair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
A recent meeting between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday has ended with an agreement over the formation of an 18-minister cabinet, while talks are now focusing on the names of the new ministers and the distribution of portfolios. Political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun and Hariri could meet anytime soon to continue the discussions over the distribution of ministries by confession and agree on the names of the ministers. According to the sources, a recent statement issued by the Lebanese Presidency - which stressed that government talks were now limited to the president and the prime minister-designate – constituted “a presidential attempt to protect the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, from accusations that he was directly interfering with the formation process. Aoun is also is in dire need to save the last third of his presidential term, after he failed to fulfill the oath speech he delivered before Parliament upon his election in October 2016, the sources underlined. The political sources attributed Aoun’s agreement to resume contact with Hariri to a set of considerations, including the refusal of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai to be dragged into political campaigns that tried to distort the ongoing efforts to form a new government. Former Minister Ghattas Khoury conveyed to the Patriarch a message from Hariri, saying that the latter understands his concerns and would not turn his back on the Christians. Another factor is the call by the Synod, at the end of its meeting chaired by al-Rai, to end the pressures on Hariri that were impeding the formation of the government. The sources also pointed to foreign pressure, particularly from Paris, to revive the initiative launched by French President Emmanuel Macron to save Lebanon and stop its economic and financial collapse. Another point, according to the sources, is Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s approval of Hariri’s demand to form a government of 18 ministers.

Pound marginally rises as gov't formation picks up
The Daily Star/November 04/2020
BEIRUT: The Lebanese pound marginally rose against the dollar Wednesday, trading at around LL7,000 on the black market after President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri reportedly agreed on an 18-member Cabinet of specialists, edging closer towards the formation of a government. Black market traders were selling the dollar for around LL7,050 and buying it for LL6,950. The dollar traded at around LL7,050 Tuesday. Aoun and Hariri’s agreement followed a wave of pessimism after Hariri’s attempts to form a new government had suddenly hit snags over rival factions’ jockeying for public services-related ministries.A political source told The Daily Star Tuesday that the next step to form a government would be for Hariri and Aoun to add the names of potential ministers to their apportioned ministries. Lebanon remains without a fully functioning government, after caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s resignation on Aug. 10 in the aftermath of the Beirut Port explosion.
 

CLDH - Lebanese Center for Human Rights

CLDH/November 04/2020
The Director Youssef Al-Khoury was arrested for 24 hours on charges of inciting sectarian strife due to a post he published on Facebook. CLDH condemns this arrest and any act that may threaten the right of opinion and expression as well as the individual's freedom.
We recall that the detention based on opinions free of incitement to violence is a clear violation of the freedom of opinion and expression according to Article 13 of the Lebanese Constitution.

The President of the Republic will not challenge the Prevention of...
AlKhaleej Today/November 04/2020
The President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, will not challenge the “Reducing Torture” law issued at the end of last September, which required the judge to amend Article 47 of the Criminal Procedure Code to reinforce the guarantees of detainees. Al-Akhbar learned that President Aoun informed the Attorney General in Mount Lebanon, Judge Ghada Aoun, that he would not challenge the law. The aforementioned judge had launched a campaign against the law, along with a number of her colleagues, and issued a petition demanding an appeal, on the pretext that they rejected the imprisonment sentence imposed by the new law against its violators, even if they were judges of the Public Prosecution. In conjunction with this step, judicial sources revealed that the Supreme Judicial Council is in the process of developing notes to demand amendments to the law.
Source: NewsThe management of the “Cedar News” site is not responsible for this news in text and in content, and it only expresses the point of view of its author or source. These were the details of the news The President of the Republic will not challenge the Prevention of... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new. It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at saudi24news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

Lebanon’s last chance quickly fading away
The Arab Weekly/November 04/2020
BEIRUT – Consultations to form a new Lebanese government are facing many pitfalls that many are sceptical Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri can overcome, even as the country urgently needs a new government to address its severely deteriorating economy, which is driving social hardship and unrest. Hariri considered the initiative he proposed, on whose basis he was designated prime minister, to be the last chance to save Lebanon. The dominant political class, however, does not seem to care, given that each of its components is busy trying to improving its position ahead of potential changes that could occur in the region following US elections. Hariri, who leads the Future Movement, proposed the formation of a government of specialists not affiliated with political parties that would implement internationally required reforms and prepare for parliamentary elections. His initiative, however, has been torpedoed since the first day of government formation consultations.
The Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah are accused of trying to impose their agendas on the designated head of government by interfering with the selection process. The current, led by Gebran Bassil, has even gone so far as to demand control over the so-called “obstructing” third in the next government.
As expected, the presidency hastened to deny any interference by Bassil, who is President Michel Aoun’s son-in-law. In a statement on Monday, the presidency said, “the consultations regarding the formation of the government are carried out exclusively, and in accordance with the constitution, between the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun and the President-designate Saad Hariri, and there is no third party in the consultations, especially MP Gebran Bassil, noting that these consultations are still continuing as dictated by the supreme national interest.”
The presidency later announced that the prime minister-designate had met with Aoun at Baabda Palace and discussed with him developments in the government formation process, indicating that there was “positive progress.”Analysts believe that the presidency is trying to maintain a sense of optimism, but that the process is not going well. They believe that it is highly unlikely that a new government will be announced this week, as the concerned parties are still going in a vicious circle, making new demands each day, deepening the crisis. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah previously warned not to be overly optimistic about the birth of a new government. It seems that the Iranian-backed Shia party is waiting for the outcome of US elections on Tuesday to shape its strategy. A victory by incumbent US President Donald Trump will push the party to work even harder to gain a significant presence in the government to ensure it has political cover.
A failing political class
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces party, wrote on Twitter, “Do you see now why the Lebanese Forces stayed away from this business of forming a government? As long as the ruling trio is in power, there is no hope of any salvation … We will continue unabatedly until the restructuring of power,”referring to the Shia duo Hezbollah and Amal Movement, plus the Free Patriotic Movement. Hariri was tapped to form a new government on October 22 after he was nominated in binding parliamentary consultations by 65 out of 120 representatives. The Lebanese Forces parliamentary bloc refused to nominate Hariri for the position, believing that there was no hope for any reform process as long as the dominant political faces remained, and reiterated its calls for early parliamentary elections. Hariri’s designation came nearly one year after his resignation on October 29, 2019, due to popular protests that began earlier that month. He was succeeded by Hassan Diab, who resigned on August 10 following a huge explosion that rocked the port of Beirut. Lebanon is suffering from a severe financial and economic crisis. The country’s currency has been significantly devalued against the dollar, bank deposits are frozen and poverty and unemployment rates have soared. The Lebanese have lost confidence in the country’s political class and expressed anger through massive popular protests. Conditions are expected to worsen given the current political uncertainty. The international community is refusing to provide financial assistance to Lebanon unless it carries out critical economic and political reforms required, foremost of which is neutralising Hezbollah’s political clout.
 

Banque du Liban responds to political pressure by adhering to banking secrecy
Arab News/November 04/2020

Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh is using banking and professional secrecy laws to avoid delivering documents to consultancy firm Alvarez and Marsal for its audit of the bank’s accounts. Alvarez and Marsal Managing Director James Daniell met with the Lebanese Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni on Wednesday to discuss the contract signed by the firm and the government to carry out the process, and will meet President Michel Aoun on Thursday. Aoun and the country’s caretaker government, headed by Hassan Diab, are waging a political battle against Salameh to recover seized money, blaming the economic collapse of the country on financial engineering pursued by the governor. Minister of Justice Marie Claude Najm has issued a circular requiring Salameh to provide Alvarez & Marsal with the necessary information and documents to conduct a financial audit, based on “the fact that the banking secrecy stipulated in Lebanese law does not apply to state accounts and the accounts of the Banque du Liban, especially since these funds are non-confidential under the law on the right to access information.”
The bank announced on Wednesday in a statement that it had “handed over all its accounts to the minister of finance” according to due process. “Concerning state accounts, the Lebanese state can request a detailed statement of its entire accounts and subsequently hand it over to the parties it deems appropriate to inform them, which makes the Banque du Liban avoid the violation of the legally binding secrecy laws, and whose violation will entail penal consequences,” it added. The bank said it regretted “the leakage of information and data provided to Alvarez and Marsal on social media, which violates the law and the provisions of the contract signed with the company.” Alvarez and Marsal had informed Lebanese officials that “the documents it received from the Banque du Liban (were) so far insufficient to continue their criminal audit duties.”But Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli has refused to lift banking secrecy over the case, saying it would “harm the country’s economic interests.”In a statement in Parliament, Ferzli said: “We lift banking secrecy when it comes to money laundering and terrorism, not because of indiscriminate accusations.
“What is the purpose of systematically destroying what little confidence remains in the international community in Lebanon, due to banking secrecy, to satisfy this person or that? If banking secrecy is lifted in the future, can you tell me: Where do we get what we live on? From apples and grapes? Think about Lebanon’s best interests.”The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), led by Gebran Bassil, organized a symbolic car rally on Wednesday in Baabda to demand the criminal audit go ahead. Dr. Jassim Ajaka, an economist, told Arab News: “The Banque du Liban, according to the law, does not have the right to disclose any information. The contract signed between Lebanon and the auditing company (Alvarez and Marsal) provides for auditing only the accounts of the bank, and does not include ministries or any other official institutions. “Therefore, what is required is not to pressure the bank’s governance to reveal its information, but to go to Parliament to propose a law to amend banking secrecy, or to refer any request to audit anyone’s accounts to the judiciary or the Audit Bureau, two bodies entitled to lift banking secrecy.”Ajaka added: “What is required is to start with the accounts of the ministries of energy and communications, for example, as the Banque du Liban is the bank of these ministries.”Former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said: “The government’s decision to sign a contract with Alvarez and Marsal for criminal auditing goes beyond the role of the Audit Bureau, which has the task of auditing public accounts. Moreover, there is no authority of the Council of Ministers over the bank, which enjoys complete independence like that enjoyed by central banks in most countries of the world, especially since the accounts of the bank are subject to the Monetary and Credit Law, specifically Article 15 on Banking Secrecy Law in Lebanon.”A source close to Wazni told Arab News that the ideal scenario would be to pause the contract. “The current caretaker government cannot hold a Cabinet session or decide on any action against the Banque du Liban,” the source said. “This means that the suspension will be for a month or two, provided that Lebanon does not pay the cost of this suspension to the company. The source added that canceling the contract before its implementation would require the government to pay Alvarez and Marsal $150,000.

Deserted, Blast-Damaged Building Collapses in Beirut
Naharnet/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
A deserted two-story building collapsed Wednesday in Beirut’s Medawar area due to heavy rains, the National News Agency reported. The collapse did not cause any casualties according to the agency. The building had sustained damage from the August 4 mega-blast at Beirut’s port.The Internal Security Forces had on Tuesday warned citizens to stay away from buildings badly damaged by the blast during the current storm that is lashing Lebanon.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 04-05/2020

Biden wins Michigan, Wisconsin, now on brink of White House
JONATHAN LEMIRE, ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN and ALEXANDRA JAFFE
Associated Press/Wed., November 4, 2020,
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden won the battleground prizes of Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, reclaiming a key part of the “blue wall” that slipped away from Democrats four years ago and dramatically narrowing President Donald Trump's pathway to reelection.
A full day after Election Day, neither candidate had cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. But Biden's victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one state away — any state — from crossing the threshold and becoming president-elect.
Biden, who has received more than 71 million votes, the most in history, was joined by his running mate Kamala Harris at an afternoon news conference and said he now expected to win the presidency, though he stopped short of outright declaring victory.
“I will govern as an American president,” Biden said. ”There will be no red states and blue states when we win. Just the United States of America."
It was a stark contrast to Trump, who early Wednesday morning falsely proclaimed that he had won the election, even though millions of votes remained uncounted and the race was far from over.
The Associated Press called Wisconsin for Biden after election officials in the state said all outstanding ballots had been counted, save for a few hundred in one township and an expected small number of provisional votes.
Trump’s campaign requested a recount, in addition to filing lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Statewide recounts in Wisconsin have historically changed the vote tally by only a few hundred votes; Biden led by 0.624 percentage point out of nearly 3.3 million ballots counted.
For four years, Democrats had been haunted by the crumbling of the blue wall, the trio of Great Lakes states — Pennsylvania is the third — that their candidates had been able to count on every four years. But Trump's populist appeal struck a chord with white working class voters and he captured all three in 2016 by a total of just 77,000 votes.
Both candidates this year fiercely fought for the states, with Biden's everyman political persona resonating in blue collar towns while his campaign also pushed to increase turnout among Black voters in cities like Detroit and Milwaukee.
Pennsylvania remained too early to call Wednesday night.
It was unclear when or how quickly a national winner could be determined after a long, bitter campaign dominated by the coronavirus and its effects on Americans and the national economy. But Biden's possible pathways to the White House were expanding rapidly.
After the victory in Wisconsin and Michigan, he held 264 Electoral College votes, just six away from the presidency. A win in any state, including Nevada with its six votes, would be enough to end Trump’s tenure in the White House.
Trump spent much of Wednesday in the White House residence, huddling with advisers and fuming at media coverage showing his Democratic rival picking up key battlegrounds. Trump falsely claimed victory in several key states and amplified unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Democratic gains as absentee and early votes were tabulated.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the president would formally request a Wisconsin recount, citing “irregularities" in several counties. And the campaign said it was filing suit in Michigan and Pennsylvania to halt ballot counting on grounds that it wasn't given proper access to observe.
At the same time, hundreds of thousands of votes were still to be counted in Pennsylvania, and Trump’s campaign said it was moving to intervene in the existing Supreme Court litigation over counting mail-in ballots there. Yet, the campaign also argued that it was the outstanding votes in Arizona that could reverse the outcome there, showcasing an inherent inconsistency with their arguments.
In other closely watched races, Trump picked up Florida, the largest of the swing states, and held onto Texas and Ohio while Biden kept New Hampshire and Minnesota and flipped Arizona, a state that had reliably voted Republican in recent elections.
The unsettled nature of the presidential race was reflective of a somewhat disappointing night for Democrats, who had hoped to deliver a thorough repudiation of Trump's four years in office while also reclaiming the Senate to have a firm grasp on all of Washington. But the GOP held on to several Senate seats that had been considered vulnerable, including in Iowa, Texas, Maine and Kansas. Democrats lost House seats but were expected to retain control there.
The high-stakes election was held against the backdrop of a historic pandemic that has killed more than 232,000 Americans and wiped away millions of jobs. The candidates spent months pressing dramatically different visions for the nation’s future, including on racial justice, and voters responded in huge numbers, with more than 100 million people casting votes ahead of Election Day.
Trump, in an extraordinary move from the White House, issued premature claims of victory — which he continued on Twitter Wednesday — and said he would take the election to the Supreme Court to stop the counting. It was unclear exactly what legal action he could try to pursue.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discounted the president’s quick claim of victory, saying it would take a while for states to conduct their vote counts. The Kentucky Republican said Wednesday that “claiming you’ve won the election is different from finishing the counting.”
Vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end. In presidential elections, a key point is the date in December when presidential electors met. That’s set by federal law.
Dozens gathered in Detroit Wednesday afternoon, in a square across from the city’s election commission office. Many wore yellow sweatshirts and carried signs reading “Count Every Vote.” Rai Lanier, one of the organizers, said they had planned the gathering so anxious people could come together and channel that energy into hope.
“This is how democracy is supposed to work,” she said
Several states allow mailed-in votes to be accepted as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday. That includes Pennsylvania, where ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can be accepted if they arrive up to three days later.
Trump appeared to suggest those ballots should not be counted, and that he would fight for that outcome at the high court. But legal experts were dubious of Trump's declaration. Trump has appointed three of the high court's nine justices including, most recently, Amy Coney Barrett.
The Trump campaign on Wednesday pushed Republican donors to dig deeper into their pockets to help finance legal challenges. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, during a donor call, spoke plainly: “The fight’s not over. We’re in it.”
The momentum from early voting carried into Election Day, as an energized electorate produced long lines at polling sites throughout the country. Turnout was higher than in 2016 in numerous counties, including all of Florida, nearly every county in North Carolina and more than 100 counties in both Georgia and Texas. That tally seemed sure to increase as more counties reported their turnout figures.
Voters braved worries of the coronavirus, threats of polling place intimidation and expectations of long lines caused by changes to voting systems, but appeared undeterred as turnout appeared it would easily surpass the 139 million ballots cast four years ago.
——-
Jaffe reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Andrew Taylor in Washington, Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento, Calif. and Sophia Tulp in Atlanta contributed reporting.
Find AP’s full election coverage at APNews.com/Election2020.

WHO Says COVID-19 Spread in Europe Accelerating
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
The World Health Organization says there has been a "further acceleration" in the speed of COVID-19's spread in Europe, which was responsible for about half of the globe´s new cases reported last week. The UN health agency said in a weekly report published late Tuesday that European countries also recorded a 46% increase in deaths compared with the previous week. Although deaths also rose in the Americas, the rate of increase there was only 2%. In Europe, France, Italy and the UK reported the highest numbers of new cases while Andorra, the Czech Republic, and Belgium reported the highest rate per capita.

Could U.S. Election be Decided in the Courts?
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Democrats and Republicans were gearing up Wednesday for a possible legal showdown to decide the winner of the tight presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Trump declared overnight he was ready to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to dispute the counting of votes, as the results remained unclear in several key states, notably Pennsylvania. Trump's threat raised the specter of the election being ultimately decided, as in 2000, by a high court ruling on how states can tally votes or conduct recounts.
- The pandemic and mailed votes -
The legal problems are mainly tied to the Covid-19 pandemic. Social distancing put a premium on being able to vote by mail.
Each state sets its own voting rules, and many adopted or expanded mail-in vote programs. That required changing rules on how and when mailed ballots would be collected, verified and tabulated. To accommodate millions of mailed ballots, state legislatures and election authorities extended the periods for receiving ballots, due to an overburdened U.S. Postal Service, added time to count the votes, and took other steps to make the process easier. Expecting that more Democrats -- who have by and large adopted a more cautious approach to Covid-19 -- would prefer to vote by mail, Republican groups around the country filed hundreds of lawsuits to block such rule changes, saying they violated existing statutes. Some of those suits could be pursued in the seven key states where the vote count remained extremely narrow Wednesday, in some cases with ballots still arriving in the mail.
"It's clear that both candidates believe they still have a chance to win, so the fight is very much going forward. And the fight may take place in courts," said Ohio State University election law expert Ed Foley.
Possible challenges
As in Florida in 2000, the challenges will focus on what ballots are legitimate. Already before election day, Republicans sued over whether states like Michigan and Pennsylvania can legitimately count ballots after November 3 election day, or count those which arrive by mail after election day.Trump has claimed repeatedly, without offering evidence, that ballots counted after election day, particularly those in key state Pennsylvania, would be "fraudulent." Pennsylvania is particular target because, unlike Michigan and others, it agreed to sequester ballots that arrive by mail after November 3, making them clear targets. Republicans are also challenging oversight of the counting of mailed votes, if ballots have correct postmarks, and policies to allow voters to "cure" their mailed ballots to prevent them from being discarded due to incomplete forms or unclear signatures.
Close counts
All of those issues could give challengers the ability to disqualify individual or whole groups of ballots. In Wisconsin -- where early returns show Biden leading by about 20,000 votes, within the one percent margin needed to request a recount -- Trump's campaign said Wednesday it will demand one.
But experts say neither party is likely to go to court unless the margin between the two candidates is very narrow, as in Florida in 2000, when the election hinged on just 537 votes. Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Iowa, said a candidate won't sue if he or she is trailing significantly in a number of states. "If it comes down to one state," he said, "then I would expect really serious litigation."But if margins turn out to be two or three percentage points -- say a 100,000 vote difference in Pennsylvania -- "that's pretty difficult to be litigating at the end of the day," said Muller. "If you have a lawsuit about ... the loss of about 10,000 votes, it's not going to make a difference if the margin ends up being 100,000," said Foley.
Skittish Supreme Court
Even if asked, the Supreme Court has been cautious over getting involved in voting matters that are decided by state laws.And, after its decision in 2000 handing the election to Republican George W. Bush left many unanswered questions about Florida's ballot counting, the court is aware that its intervention could damage its own standing in society. A case would put the political leanings of the nine justices -- six conservatives and three liberals -- in the spotlight. That light would shine most harshly on the newest member, Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the court only last month, chosen by Trump. Trump said repeatedly that he rushed her appointment in part so she could be in place to hear any election cases, placing an immediate cloud over her. "The Supreme Court doesn't have to intervene," said Muller. "It felt like it needed to in 2000, but it's not necessarily clear they would feel the same way today."

Trump Campaign Demands Recount in Wisconsin
Agence France Presse/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign on Wednesday said it was demanding a recount in Wisconsin, a crucial state where early returns show Democrat Joe Biden with a slender lead. "There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results," campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement. "The president is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so."Wisconsin is one of a handful of states where the fate of the US election now hangs in the balance. With 94 percent of votes counted in the state, Biden led Trump by about 20,000 votes. Although that was just a sliver of the more than 3.2 million votes cast altogether, Trump may have a hard time recovering that many through a typical recount. A recount in Wisconsin during the 2016 presidential election, in which Trump took the state as part of his win against Democrat Hillary Clinton, found only 131 extra votes for Trump. "20,000 is a high hurdle," former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a Republican, tweeted. With Trump and Biden neck and neck across the rest of the country, the deciding states in their contest have come down to Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Seven Civilians Killed in Syria's Northwest
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Four children were among seven civilians killed in Syrian army bombardments of the country's last major opposition bastion on Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The deadliest salvoes hit the town of Ariha, it said, adding that 20 civilians were also wounded across the opposition-held northwestern region of Idlib. "The regime launched sustained artillery and rocket fire in the morning on several parts of Idlib, killing seven civilians, including four children," the monitoring group said. Opposition groups dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance have been steadily losing ground to Russian-backed regimes forces since they launched an offensive to retake Idlib almost a year ago. A truce reached in March has largely halted the bloodshed in the opposition enclave, which is home to some three million people, although there have been sporadic flare-ups. An airstrike attributed to Russia killed around 80 pro-Turkish fighters in a training camp in the region last week.

Egypt closes Rafah crossing after monitoring violations by Hamas

Arab News/November 04/2020
Egyptian authorities have closed the Rafah Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip after monitoring violations by Hamas. The border was shut to goods and vehicles, and those stranded will continue to be deported until Thursday morning. The move came two days after the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt announced that the Egyptian authorities had informed it to resume work at the Rafah crossing in both directions for the travel and return of citizens for the four days from Monday to Thursday, provided that travelers carried a certificate proving that they had tested negative for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). “On Tuesday morning, several buses carrying passengers from the Gaza Strip left through the Rafah land crossing, on the first day of opening it exceptionally in both directions, while the returnees’ buses arrived,” a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Interior said. Groups that had fulfilled the rules and conditions of departure would be allowed to do so, most prominently patients who needed treatment in Egypt and abroad, university students, and holders of residency in foreign countries. The border closure also comes just days after a Hamas delegation left Cairo, where it had held a series of meetings with Egyptian officials about Palestinian reconciliation, ways to end the division and achieve national partnership, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and efforts to alleviate the suffering of its residents.

Palestinian Killed after Firing at Israeli Troops in West Bank
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
A Palestinian who shot at Israeli troops near Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday was killed by soldiers who returned fire, Israel's army said. "Troops who were at a military post adjacent to the southern exit of the city of Nablus spotted an assailant driving out of the city armed with a pistol who fired at them, and responded with fire ... The assailant has been neutralized," a statement said. There were no Israeli casualties in the incident. An army spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the suspect was killed.

UAE-Israel direct flights to start November 26
Emily Judd, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 04 November 2020
Direct flights between the UAE and Israel will start on November 26 through Flydubai, the Dubai-based airline announced Wednesday. Flydubai will operate 14 flights per week between Dubai and Tel Aviv, which can be booked on the company’s website and are available in business and economy fares.
There are two daily flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv scheduled, and two daily flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai. A one-way trip is estimated to take around three hours. Flydubai is the only airline at the moment offering direct commercial flights from the UAE to Israel. Last month, the UAE and Israel signed an air transportation agreement that allows for 28 passenger flights per week from the UAE to Tel Aviv, as well as an unlimited amount of flights to the Israeli southern city of Eilat. UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri and Israeli Minister of Transport Israel Katz signed the agreement and discussed cooperation in the field of civil aviation. “The agreement is an important step towards creating positive and beneficial relations between the two countries, following the signing of the Abrahamic Peace Accord that aims to establish the foundations of peace, achieve development and create opportunities for economic and social development in the region,” Al Marri said. On October 19, the first ever passenger flight from the UAE to Israel landed near Tel Aviv, with only flight crew on board. The flight was operated by Etihad Airways, which became the first Gulf airline to operate a civilian flight to Israel. The UAE and Israel first announced a historic bilateral agreement on August 13. The country’s signed the Abraham Accords at the White House a month later. Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that UAE and Israeli citizens will be allowed to travel between countries without visas.

Iran’s FM Zarif arrives in Venezuela in first leg of Latin America tour
Reuters/Wednesday 04 November 2020
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has arrived in Venezuela for the start of a tour of Latin America, Venezuela’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, amid intense efforts by Washington to limit Iran’s influence in the western hemisphere. Zarif is also scheduled to visit Cuba and to attend the inauguration of Bolivian president-elect Luis Arce, who has said he will strengthen ties with Iran. He was “received by Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza upon his arrival to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where he will carry out an intense work agenda at the highest level,” Venezuela’s foreign ministry wrote on Twitter. Tehran has become a crucial ally for Caracas as the United States tightens sanctions meant to force President Nicolas Maduro from power. Iran has sent two flotillas of fuel tankers to Venezuela this year to help resolve debilitating gasoline shortages in the South American nation, spurred by a collapse in its refining network as well as the sanctions, which have complicated fuel imports from more traditional trade partners.

Turkey's earthquake death toll rises to 116, rescuers finish searches
The Associated Press/Wednesday 04 November 2020
The death toll in last week’s Aegean Sea earthquake rose to 116 on Wednesday as rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir finished searching buildings that collapsed in the quake. All but two of the victims were killed in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. Two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos, which lies south of the epicenter of Friday’s earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake’s magnitude at 7.0, although other agencies recorded it as less severe. Mehmet Gulluoglu, head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, said search and rescue operations had been completed at 17 buildings that fell in Izmir. The rescue operation has been roaring at full tilt since Friday, pulling 107 survivors from the rubble. Of the 1,035 people injured in the quake, 137 remained hospitalized on Wednesday, the agency added. Following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged not to give up until the final person was recovered. Rescuers’ spirits were raised Tuesday when they pulled a 3-year-old girl from the wreckage of her family home 91 hours after the quake. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens. Some 1,700 aftershocks followed, 45 of which were greater than 4.0 magnitude. In Izmir, the quake reduced buildings to rubble or saw floors pancake in on themselves. Authorities have detained nine people, including contractors, for questioning over the collapse of six of the buildings.
Turkey has a mix of older buildings and new buildings make of cheap or illegal construction that do not withstand earthquakes well. Regulations have been tightened to strengthen or demolish older buildings, and urban renewal is underway in Turkish cities, but experts say it is not happening fast enough. The country sits on top of two major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.

Turkey Fines Social Media Companies over New Law
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Turkey on Wednesday fined Facebook, Twitter and three other social media companies for failing to appoint a country representative under a controversial law which came into force last month. The legislation, passed in July, requires platforms with more than one million users to appoint representatives in Turkey that could implement court orders to remove contentious content or face heavy fines. Turkey has ordered Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube and TikTok to pay 10 million lira ($1.2 million, 1.0 million euro) fines for failing to comply, Deputy Transport and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan tweeted. If the networks fail to open local offices by the start of December, they will be fined an additional 30 million lira, AFP reported. Failure to comply by early January would result in an advertising ban. Should the social media companies still ignore Turkish law three months after the advertising ban, they will see bandwidth reductions of 50 percent and then by as much as 90 percent in the fifth and final stage. Digital rights expert Yaman Akdeniz said any bandwidth reduction would start in April and reach 90 percent by May, making the platforms effectively inaccessible. Akdeniz tweeted on Tuesday that only the private Russian social media firm VK had appointed a Turkish representative to date. Under the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turks have faced increasing prosecution over their social media posts, especially those accused of insulting the president.
 

EU condemns Turkey's gas-exploration mission in waters disputed by Greece and Cyprus
AFP/Wednesday 04 November 2020
The European Union on Wednesday condemned as "deeply regrettable" an announcement by Turkey that it was extending the mission of a gas-exploration ship in waters disputed by Greece and Cyprus. "The latest Navtex announcements and the continued conduct of seismic survey activities by Turkey, which is affecting Greek and Cypriot maritime zones, are deeply regrettable –- especially in view of ongoing constructive attempts at all levels to create space for dialogue," the spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement."This is yet another course of action that, unfortunately, continues to create more tensions and distrust in the region instead of contributing to lasting solutions," the statement said. It called for "dialogue in good faith and abstention from unilateral actions" to defuse a tense situation in the east Mediterranean that is undermining EU-Turkey relations. Forays by Turkey's exploration ship in waters claimed by Greece has infuriated Athens. EU leaders are to decide in a December summit whether to impose sanctions over Turkey's activity. The European Commission has already drawn up a list of potential targets for economic sanctions which could deal a blow to Turkey's tourism and transport sectors, European diplomats told AFP.

Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results Due this Year, Trial Chief Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford could present late-stage trial results before the year end but it is unclear if it will be rolled out before Christmas, the chief trial investigator for the vaccine said on Wednesday. "I'm optimistic that we could reach that point before the end of this year," Oxford Vaccine Trial Chief Investigator Andrew Pollard said of presenting trial results this year. Pollard said working out whether or not the vaccine worked would likely come this year he said, after which the data would have to be carefully reviewed by regulators and then a political decision made on who should get the vaccine. "Our bit - we are getting closer to but we are not there yet," Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said. Asked if he expected the vaccine would start to be deployed before Christmas, he said: "There is a small chance of that being possible but I just don't know."
"Our trials are only one of many that are going on around the world, a number of which may well report before the end of the year, and so those steps will need to be happening for multiple different products," he said.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be one of the first from big pharma to be submitted for regulatory approval, along with Pfizer and BioNTech's candidate. A vaccine that works is seen as a game-changer in the battle against the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 1.2 million people, shuttered swathes of the global economy and turned normal life upside down for billions of people. If it works, a vaccine would allow the world to return to some measure of normality after the tumult of the pandemic. Pollard said the US Food and Drug Administration had set the bar for a vaccine being at least 50% effective - a level that would have a transformative impact on the pandemic. "But to be able scientifically able to test 50% is a lot harder - you need a lot more cases to occur in the trials," he said. "So I think we are all hoping the vaccine will be more effective than that which means we will have an answer sooner." "What the actual level of efficacy is unknown at the moment - no one has unblinded their trials and looked at the data so far."

Egypt resumes negotiations on Renaissance Dam, despite Ethiopian obstinacy
Arab News/November 04/2020
CAIRO: Despite continued Ethiopian intransigence, Egypt resumed negotiations on the filling and operating of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Wednesday. “The three countries agreed that each would present its views during the meeting of the Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian irrigation ministers, scheduled to be held Nov. 4, 2020,” spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said. On Nov. 2, Sudan demanded the necessity of abandoning the previous “unproductive” method in the negotiation process on the Renaissance Dam between itself, Egypt and Ethiopia, with the aim of speeding up the process of reaching an agreement. The Sudanese negotiating team suggested moving forward with negotiations according to a specific timetable and a clear list of outputs to be submitted to the African Union (AU) Commission. Negotiations had resumed under the auspices of the AU after they were paused in August, and after statements from US President Donald Trump, who claimed Egypt might blow up the dam.

Ethiopia PM Orders Riposte After 'Attack' on Army Camp in Restive Tigray
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 4 November, 2020
Ethiopia on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in Tigray after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he ordered a military response to a deadly attack by the ruling party of the restive region on a camp housing federal troops. A statement from Abiy's office said the government made the declaration "recognizing that illegal and violent activities" in Tigray, a region locked in a long-running dispute with Addis Ababa, were threatening national sovereignty, constitutional order, and peace and security. It followed an announcement by Abiy on social media that the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) "has attacked a military camp" in the northern region, and "tried to loot" military assets. The attack resulted in "many martyrs, injuries and property damage", Abiy said later in a five-minute address on state television. "Our defense forces... have been ordered to carry out their mission to save the country. The final point of the red line has been crossed. Force is being used as the last measure to save the people and the country," he said in an earlier post on Facebook and Twitter. It was not immediately clear what form the federal military response might take, or what the state of emergency declaration will entail.
But analysts and diplomats have been warning for weeks that the standoff between the federal government and the TPLF could spill over into violence. "This war is the worst possible outcome of the tensions that have been brewing," said William Davison, an analyst with International Crisis Group. "Given Tigray's relatively strong security position, the conflict may well be protracted and disastrous," he said, adding it could send "shockwaves" into the wider Horn of Africa region. Internet monitoring group Netblocks reported that internet appeared to have been cut in Tigray as of one am (2200 GMT Tuesday).
Abiy said on state TV that "traitorous forces" had turned on the military in the regional capital, Mekele, and the town of Dansha in western Tigray. The assault on Dansha was "repelled" by security forces from Amhara region, which borders Tigray to the south, he added.
A separate statement from Abiy's office accused the TPLF of dressing its soldiers in uniforms resembling those of the army of neighboring Eritrea to "implicate the Eritrean government in false claims of aggression against the people of Tigray." Tigray's government said on regional state media that leadership and rank-and-file soldiers from the military's Northern Command, based in Mekele, "have decided to stand with the Tigray people and the regional government". The statement also said Tigray had closed its airspace. It was not possible to immediately corroborate the two sides' statements.
A widening rift -
The TPLF dominated politics in Africa's second most populous country for nearly three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018 on the strength of anti-government protests. Under Abiy, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, Tigrayan leaders have complained of being unfairly targeted in corruption prosecutions, removed from top positions and broadly scapegoated for the country's woes. Ethiopia was due to hold national elections in August, but the country's poll body ruled in March that all voting would need to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers then voted to extend officials' mandates -- which would have expired in early October -- but Tigrayan leaders rejected this and went ahead with regional elections in September that Abiy's government deemed illegal. Now each side sees the other as illegitimate, and federal lawmakers have ruled Abiy's government should cut off contact with -- and funding to -- Tigray's leadership. In recent days tensions have also risen over who controls federal military assets in Tigray. The region is home to a large portion of federal military personnel and equipment, a legacy of Ethiopia's brutal 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea, its northern neighbor. The International Crisis Group, citing former Tigrayan officers, said in a report last week that Tigray "comprises more than half of the armed forces' total personnel and mechanized divisions". Last week Tigray blocked a general appointed by Abiy from assuming a new posting, saying Abiy no longer had the authority to make such moves.
'Playing with fire'-
Tigrayan officials have said in recent days they would not initiate a military conflict. "We will never be the first to shoot nor the first to blink," Getachew Reda, a senior TPLF member, told AFP last week. On Tuesday night, hours before Abiy's announcement, Wondimu Asamnew, another senior Tigrayan official, told AFP the federal government was massing troops on Tigray's southern border -- a claim that could not be independently verified. "I think when it comes to military mobilization, it's not child's play. It can trigger all-out war... what they are doing is playing with fire," Wondimu said. "A small spark can ignite the whole region. So I think we are on the alert and I can assure you we are capable of defending ourselves."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 04-05/2020
Dealing With Islamic Terrorism In Europe
Yarid Ravid/November 04/2020
Excerpt from Yarid Ravid  Book "Window to the backyard" that was published in 2016
Muslim immigrants who have settled and established themselves in a large number of European countries and in the USA. These Muslims left their failing fatherlands in the Middle East and in Africa, and settled in Europe and in the US, where they were welcomed with open arms. Instead of grasping the golden opportunity granted them with both hands and building themselves and their children a promising new future, those same Muslims preferred to ensconce themselves in the Islamic ghettoes they quickly established. They have preferred to preserve their fundamentalist habits and laws, to perpetuate the failure they brought with them from their countries of origin, and spin dreams of turning those western countries into Islamic clones, where Sharia law will take over the laws of their host countries.
Note the recent spate of violence in Sweden, the beheaded British soldier in London, the murder of a French soldier by Islamic fundamentalists in Paris, the murderous bombing attacks at the 2013 Boston marathon, and more recently, the murder of the staff of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. These are all indications that the US and Europe are going to pay dearly for their irresponsible immigration policy. The mass demonstration in Paris against terrorism has not left a lasting impression on terrorists, and were I in the shoes of the Paris Police commissioner, I would increase the protection of the Eiffel tower. Add to this the daily beheadings of western citizens, and mass executions of Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis, the rape of women and girls which are carried out by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq, who have been knocking on the doors of Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
And please take note, this is only the beginning. ISIL will not be satisfied with the takeover of the Muslim countries, for their far-reaching goal is that Islam rule the world. I suggest to the readers not to observe this phenomenon through the eyes of Western cultural thought, but to try thinking the way these ISIL members think and act. In their view, the dimension of time has no value. For them the struggle may continue a year, half a century, or ten generations. The death toll among their people has no importance. The place of every dead jihadist will be filled by another three new volunteers. This is a culture that sanctifies death, and which promises its people who die in battle 72 virgins. Its people are driven not only by religious fervor, but also, especially the younger men, by strong sexual impulses. These people live in conservative communities which restrict any contact and connection between the genders, and the thought of 72 virgins and the promise this holds gives them impetus to fight. Of all the factors mentioned above, we would be wise to remember that in such organizations there have always been people who make a fortune and get rich on the backs of the fighters. These people have a vested interest in encouraging and fueling the continued fighting.
Most of the young Muslims living in western countries who volunteered to join ISIL are people consumed by anger and bitterness resulting from their failure to integrate into western society. They perceive a return to their religion and their war against the “infidels” as a kind of revenge. For many years, the state of Israel faced and fought alone against the murderous Arab terrorism, without any real backing from western countries, which were careful to take an ambiguous stand toward rampant Arab terrorism. This attitude originates in a notion that as long as this terrorism does not hurt them, but harms only Israel and the Jews, they can suffice in condemning terrorism, immediately balancing their condemnation with statements regarding Israel’s responsibility for the terrorism because it is ostensibly an occupying power. The West, headed by the American hypocritical liberals, is not yet free from its illusions, and continues to spread the ridiculous notion that events such as the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, or the attempted takeover of the Muslim world by ISIL and the desire to impose an Islamic caliphate on the world, are a result of the (so called) Israeli occupation. Lo and behold, the fools believe that this guarantees that Israel will give the Palestinians independence, and world peace will come. And I tell them, if you want to live and preserve your heritage and way of life, you must quickly disillusion yourselves and understand that the world is in a deep cultural and physical world war, and that the West should mobilize in full force and fight. Statements, declarations and aerial attacks will not resolve the problems. There is no room for compromise. As someone who has dealt with Arab and Islamic terrorism his entire adult life, I firmly state: there can be no compromise with terrorists. If you don't eliminate terrorism, terrorism will destroy you. At the same time, I would recommend that you reconsider your reckless immigration policy if you want to live.

Report Warns of Islamic Radicalization in France
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/November 04/2020
The commission found the consequences of radicalization alarming, particularly the "dissemination of behaviors that... directly affect freedom of conscience, equality between men and women, and the rights of homosexual persons".
"Under the guise of Islamophobia, political Islam was able to thrive by making people believe it could be nonviolent ". — Mohammed Sifaoui, journalist.
The report concludes that there is a risk of political infiltration from extremists in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, especially in municipal councils.
The report sets forth 44 proposals in a multi-pronged effort to deal with radicalism.
A report published in July by a commission of inquiry of the French Senate, the upper house of the French Parliament, has found that "Islamist radicalization" is a "reality" in France. Pictured: The Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, where the French Senate is located.
A report published in July by a commission of inquiry of the French Senate, the upper house of the French Parliament, has found that "Islamist radicalization" is a "reality" in France. The commission of inquiry, made up of approximately thirty senators, interviewed a large number of researchers, politicians and other experts on the subject.
The commission found the consequences of radicalization alarming, particularly the "dissemination of behaviors that... directly affect freedom of conscience, equality between men and women, and the rights of homosexual persons".
"[T]his religious revival, for some, is accompanied by a desire to affirm their belief in the public space, in the company, in the school, and of recognition by institutions and public services, which conflicts with the laws of the Republic and secularism".
"Radical Islamism", states the report, "is polymorphic, insinuating itself into all aspects of social life and tending to impose a new social norm...."
"Above all, we are witnessing the constitution in certain neighborhoods of an Islamist ecosystem made up of shops, food, clothing, as well as drinking establishments based on a halal standard... Reinforced by propaganda using the learning of Koranic Arabic, the dissemination of extremist literature in specialized bookstores and on market stalls, the desire to impose radical Islam is also based on a discourse... on the internet and social networks... It is a matter, through social and ideological pressure, of enclosing the lives of inhabitants of these neighborhoods, to disqualify any other perspective, to separate from their fellow citizens..."
The report also mentions the role of mosques in the growth of Islamist radicalization:
"France has large mosques, capable of accommodating more than a thousand faithful during Friday prayers... The construction of religious buildings is a vector in its own right of the assertion of Islam in French society. Capable of raising the capital necessary for these constructions, Islam is, contrary to popular belief, a 'rich' religion".
The report quotes former Prefect Michel Aubouin, who said that, "the construction of each mosque has cost an average of over 2 million euros", so that all of these religious buildings represent "financial capital of several billion euros".
In addition, according to the report:
"A growing fringe of Muslims are also observing all the theological precepts: daily prayers, wearing the veil, the necessary distance between men and women, respect for food prohibitions, so many rules that Islam places in the public space".
All this, according to the report, means that French society must face "a reality, sometimes disputed and too long underestimated: French society must now face the challenge of 'Islamism' as an ideology". Aubouin is further quoted as saying, "It may anger my former colleagues, I will answer you sincerely: there is a form of myopia and a great ignorance of political Islam."
The report, on page 51, goes on to describe what it sees as the political ambitions of extremists:
"The Islamists... are now trying to get into the political game by using democratic institutions to promote their societal project, despite their lack of representativeness; at the same time, the will of successive governments to institutionalize an Islam of France gives them the opportunity to become legitimate and privileged interlocutors of power".
The report quotes, among many others, Alexandre del Valle and Emmanuel Razavi, authors of the book The Project: The Strategy of Conquest and Infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood in France and in the World (2019).
"According to the authors, 'the re-Islamization of France is a symbol for the Muslim Brotherhood.' If the Islamists manage to achieve it in the universal homeland of human rights, then the project will have succeeded. 'They want to bring down the Republic'".
The report quotes another expert, Mohammed Sifaoui: "Under the guise of Islamophobia, political Islam was able to thrive by making people believe it could be nonviolent". As the report points out:
"The religious communitarianism of the Muslim Brotherhood in French society... is not about living in the margin, but [about] penetrating all fields of social and political life, especially since the Brotherhood is part of a long-term logic".
As Naëm Bestandji, one of the founders of the group "Ni putes ni soumises" ("Neither whores nor submissives"), who was also interviewed for the report, points out:
"Islamism is fundamentalism. The political project... does not fit into the temporality of our policies, but over several generations... They are not opposed to society, they want to invest in it: unions, schools, associations, etc., to make their values ​​prevail..."
According to Bestandji, this precept also holds true for electoral politics:
"The Islamists have chosen two methods: create their own lists or infiltrate the lists of other parties... They are not in a timeframe of three to four years, but they consider that the fertility intrinsic to the Muslim community is an exponential factor for the electoral mass, until the day when they reach critical mass and can constitute a political party".
Nadia Remadna, president of the organization "Brigade of Mothers", who was also interviewed for the report, spoke along the same lines: "The Islamists constitute an army which prepares the field. They work with young people and are in a long-term dynamic."
The report concludes that there is a risk of political infiltration from extremists in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, especially in municipal councils.
The report sets forth 44 proposals in a multi-pronged effort to deal with radicalism. These include measures to combat the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as introducing a ban against Youssef al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the organization, and other Muslim Brotherhood ideologues; boosting intelligence in order the better to detect Islamist radicalism, and improved training of elected and local officials on secularism and radical Islam. The report also suggests proceeding more systematically, such as dissolving associations that disseminate incitement, discrimination, hatred, and violence. The senators are also calling for religious associations to be transparent about their resources, especially those coming from abroad. Any association wishing to benefit from grants from local communities would also have to commit to "signing a charter including respect for the values ​​of the Republic".
At the same time, France's new Prime Minister, Jean Castex, recently said that he would be "uncompromising" in the defense of France's official secularism, and promised to fight "radical Islamism in all its forms" as "an absolute priority".
Senator LR Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio said in July, "all of France, except the West, is affected by radical Islam... We have to act now or never".
*Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Time has come for France to revamp its obsolete model
The Arab Weekly/November 04/2020
As France is going through a crisis, some analysts do not consider it the right time to assess the reasons for the country’s failure to deal with the integration of immigrants and diversity. However, a proper reflection today will allow France to better manage the crisis and get out of the current predicament with a better system. The law on “separation of church and state” was voted in in 1905, but France’s path to a secular system started during the Age of Enlightenment and solidified during the years that followed the French Revolution in the 19th century. Back then, the concept was mostly about severing ties between the church and state. In the 20th century, as immigration to France boomed, French policy and opinion makers assumed – naively enough – that the secular system would guarantee a smooth integration of enough non-Christian immigrants. What France is going through today proves the opposite.
The key to understanding the failure of the secularists’ “Fata Morgana” is the fact that Islam is not like any other religion. Islam is a social code and a religion. Even the most moderate interpretation of Islam finds it difficult to alter this precept. Dealing with Islam as France dealt with the church one century ago is a colossal mistake.
Instead of adapting to the new reality — demographic change to the advantage of non-Christians — France has continued with the same rigid and extreme interpretation of the famous “laicity.” French social and political figures ignored the fact that the bulk of the newcomers were forcefully brought to France during the industrialisation period and later after the first world war, or actually came voluntarily to France in pursuit of prosperity (job opportunities), certainly not because they were attracted by France’s values of liberty and equality. Therefore, they entered the job market but did not integrate into society.
As the ratio of immigrants from French colonies or former colonies was significant, it is no surprise that they came with underlying grievances against the model itself. Although they were able to hold jobs, they nevertheless found themselves at odds with the society. This resulted in ghettoised communities, religious schools, youth clubs, associative groups and (until recently) control-free mosques.
While non-Christian immigrants were implicitly given the space to “manage their own affairs,” state institutions continued dealing with Christianity based on the 1905 law, creating a double standard. As such, we have seen the same municipalities that use public funds to offer Iftar meals at the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan prohibit nativity scenes from being set up during Christmas season because they “infringe on the principles of laicity.” This has created a sense of entitlement among some non-Christian communities. The perception today that the French government is after these same communities is fuelling the frustration of Muslims in France. They don’t understand why the way secularism was applied to society has suddenly changed. Why is it that what was allowed twenty years ago has suddenly become incompatible with France’s secular vocation?
In parallel with secularism “à la carte,” the French system ignored its own flaws in terms of integration, instead engaging in a series of reactive measures (bans and otherwise) that deepened the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is therefore not surprising to see this chain of events lead to a high level of communal tension and open the door for terrorism-inclined individuals or groups to thrive. The natural backlash has been the radicalisation of non-Muslims against Islam and the exertion of pressure on politicians to take further restrictive measures.
What France is going through today requires it to take a step back and think about both short-term mitigation and more long-term structural remedies. First and foremost, it is essential to avoid falling in the trap of generalisations. As Islam is going through a significant existential crisis at the global level, many Muslims living in Europe, North America or other similar countries are amenable to considering a social compromise, whereby they would accept adjusting to the reality of living in non-Muslim majority societies. A generic judgement of all Muslims would certainly alienate those on the side of accommodation and push them to radicalisation.One should not forget that, at the end of the day, most of the victims (casualties of violence, refugees, displaced populations…) of terrorist groups in the Middle East are Muslims (Sunnis, more specifically). So, differentiating between radical elements and movements, on the one hand, and peaceful innocent Muslims, on the other, is essential.
It is also essential to break the vicious circle of actions and reactions. So far, France has failed to come up with a holistic strategy that can address the gloomy legacy of the last seven decades, mend the social contract between French Muslims and the state, design a selective immigration programme that pre-assesses candidates’ abilities to integrate into a Western society, strike a balance between protecting freedom of expression and preserving communal peace and, last but not least, adjust the paradigm of secularism. This last element is fundamental. France’s laicity should stop legitimising a witch-hunt against the church and adjust to the fact that more than 60% of its population identifies with a religion. Among them, around 90% identify as Christians. Therefore, the “raison d’etre” of secularism in this case should not be to demonise religion but to make sure that it remains within the realm of private life or, more accurately, protect the public space from any and all religious characterisations. There is no defence or justification whatsoever for the horrible acts committed against innocents in France and elsewhere. These cannot by any stretch of the imagination reflect on all Muslims, but they do highlight the need to look at the issue of Muslim immigrants from the prism of the mutation that this religion is going through worldwide. France’s values are inherently connected to human dignity and should be preserved. But France should get rid of the obsolete model of “laicity” and come up with a new innovative notion that recognises the country’s Christian roots while providing enough space for atheists, agnostics and people of all other religions to privately practice their beliefs without blaspheming others or violating the existing constitution and laws. This is not an easy task but it remains an imperative endeavour.

In his defence of cartoons, Macron walks a treacherous terrain.
The Arab Weekly/November 04/2020
The Elysee Palace is not the only place in France which views the reaction to the brutal Islamist attacks on French soil by countries such as Turkey, Iran and Pakistan as perverse and wounding. The majority of French people share the dismay of their president, including the many French citizens who are Muslim. Anger at what is widely seen as foreign interference in French affairs and the lack of appreciation in places such as Turkey of the shock of France having a teacher beheaded in the street is all the greater as many French people note that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has nothing to say about the brutal persecution of Muslim Uyghurs in China. Accusing France of being systematically Islamophobic is wrong. Intermarriage between French citizens who are Muslim and who are not is frequent, increasing numbers of people of North African origin are joining the middle class and becoming senior managers, indeed ministers. Yet the level of unemployment among the unqualified category of the population is shocking. It equals 35% of those between the ages of 16 and 24 overall, a percentage that is multiplied by two among those whose parents are Muslim immigrants. Discrimination in employment gives the lie to the two last words “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité,” which are inscribed on the front of every town hall in France. People who are marginalised and discriminated against become petty criminals. Islamist terrorism is but the latest manifestation of what has become a parallel society. It is not for no reason that the poor suburbs of Paris are called “the lost territories of the republic.”
Until now, France has been largely united in its response to Islamist terrorism. That unity is beginning to fracture as a growing number of French people from all walks of life tire of “the war against radical Islamism” decreed by the government, which carries the risk of being interpreted as a war against Islam. Macron’s recent declaration that “fear will change sides” leaves many French people, including those on the moderate right, deeply apprehensive. This malaise is not reflected in the media, which is shamelessly hunting with the wolves.
In 2012, three years before the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, the satirical paper which was the first in France to publish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, one of France’s most respected cartoonists, George Wolinski, who was Jewish and who died in the 2015 attack on the same paper, wondered if “we were unconscious and stupid and took an unnecessary risk. For years, for decades even, we have provoked and one day provocation would turn against us.”
The journalist Delfeil de Ton remarked that such cartoons played straight into “the stupid arguments of clash of civilisations” and sought to set the attacks in the broader framework of conflicts French troops engaged in across the Muslim world. “Why,” he asked, “was a republic so proud of being secular involved in conflicts where both sides ‘brandish the scimitar in one hand, the Coran on the other?”.
It is worth remembering that when the Danish daily Jyllands Posten became the first European newspaper to publish cartoons depicting the prophet, less than three months after the terrorist attacks on the London underground in 2005, French President Jacques Chirac and US President Bill Clinton condemned what they saw as an abuse of the freedom of speech and of the respect towards religious feelings. The French philosopher and former conservative education minister Luc Ferry was clear when he said that “one is not obliged to show cartons which are quasi-pornographic to teach freedom of expression.” How can the ministry of education consider such cartoons “pedagogical”?
That said, political cartoons have a historical pedigree in France that they do not have in other western democracies. Over the years, the Catholic church has not been spared. If the cartoons of the prophet were photographs, they would be considered pornographic. To portray Mohammed naked on all fours in the position his followers use to pray is calculated to shock millions of Muslim, irrespective of whether they are encouraged by populist leaders like Erdogan or not.
The question of whether it is judicious to treat these cartoons as the litmus test of freedom of expression is another matter. France has its own definition of secularism which differs markedly from that of most other Western countries, but the question worth asking is whether the militant spirit of “laicité” defended by many in the political class is in keeping with the 1905 law which separated church from state. Nowhere do we hear the voice of those French Muslims for whom the recent string of murders is abhorrent and have only contempt for the insults which the Turkish president hurls at Macron but feel insulted by the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Extremist views confront each other in the media to the virtual exclusion of any expression of more nuanced debate. Some of France’s greatest academic thinkers on Islam and Middle East history are nowhere to be seen.
Macron defends freedom of speech and the right to blasphemy. But the 1881 law on press freedom is also very clear in its condemnation of defamation. The president describes Islam as “a religion which is undergoing a crisis everywhere in the world,” an uncomfortable truth many Muslims are not free to discuss because they live in countries where freedom of expression does not exist or where they have to abide by the undeclared rules of societies that are not comfortable questioning the status of the faith.
However well-intentioned, his remark begs a question. Do Western leaders hold the moral high ground which would allow them to make such pronouncements? Despite their lofty justifications, the military interventions of Western powers in the Middle East and North Africa, notably in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, have ended in abysmal failure. In the North African country where France took the lead, intervention has led to chaos. The ill-conceived Libya campaign has very much contributed to the destablisation of the Sahel, leading to further French military interventions. In such a context, Macron’s remarks sound clumsy.
Let us be clear: Islamophobia does not “characterise” French society. France treats its citizens infinitely better than countries such as Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Its historians and politicians — notably Macron where France’s painful history in Algeria is concerned — are no longer shy to confront past colonial history. Can the same be said of Erdogan, who refuses to recognise the genocide of Armenians? The demagoguery of a man who puts tens of thousands of his own citizens behind bars and treats his Kurdish citizens with brutality is clear for all to see.
Navigating these treacherous waters is no easy matter. Macron knows full well that the political forces which applauded the cartoons of the prophet when they were first published were on the extreme right – led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has been succeeded by his daughter Marine. Something is seriously amiss, surely, when cartoonists who claim to be on the extreme left find themselves the darlings of the extreme right. The French president has his eye on the next presidential election but by endorsing some of the language of the extreme right, he risks losing his soul. Underestimating the treacherous echo chamber which thrives on the complex links which tie Islamist terrorist attacks on French soil to the unresolved issues of social integration in France and unresolved crisis in the Middle East risks bringing more grief to France.