English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 04/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

Easter Sunday/Jesus Has Risen
Mark 16/01-08/ When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 03-04/2021

Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/
Resurrection: Life, Faith And Death…Halleluiah, Jesus Has Risen, Indeed He Has RisenظElias Bejjani/March 04/2021
Rahi: Citizens’ Rights Must be Prioritized over Sects
Rahi in his Easter message criticizes those obstructing government formation
Lebanon: Aoun to launch new initiative with Arab countries
President Aoun visits Bkirki, congratulates Maronite Patriarch on Easter: The Patriarch is the first assistant in facilitating the government formation, We are awaiting the Prime Minister-designate's return
Aoun Says Corrupt Politicians Must be Named
Hariri Hospital: 110 Corona infections, 52 critical cases, 2 deaths
Lebanon Observes 3-Day Total Lockdown on Easter
National Liberals: We hope the time of Resurrection will be the beginning of Lebanon's rise
Lebanon to Swap Medical Expertise for Iraqi Oil
LF Chief Contracts Coronavirus
Pope Francis appoints Father Pierre Najm as 'General Head' of the Mariamite Maronite Order
Tyre sit-in to protest the summoning of some activists for investigation
Hawat: Hear the voice of Bkirki, for it is the voice of the people
Coronavirus and financial deterioration strip Lebanon’s Easter of joy

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 03-04/2021

Pope Francis, at Easter vigil, hopes for post-pandemic rebirth
Pope Francis pays surprise visit to Vatican vaccine centre for homeless people
UK regulator says AstraZeneca jab safe after 7 clot deaths
Statement by President Joe Biden on Today’s Attack Outside the Capitol
Iran's foreign ministry rejects 'stepbystep' lifting of sanctions Press TV
Before indirect talks, Iran rejects ‘step-by-step’ lifting of sanctions
France urges Iran to be ‘constructive’ at Vienna’s nuclear talks
Kerry says US ‘hopeful’ it can work with China to tackle climate change
U.S. Lifts Trump Sanctions on Hague Prosecutor, Seeking Cooperation
Majestic Cairo parade as Egyptian mummies move museum
Former head of Jordanian royal court, other senior officials arrested
US says King Abdullah of Jordan is a 'key partner' and has 'full support'
Saudi royal court voices support for Jordan following security related arrests
Blinken Seeks Israel's 'Equal' Treatment of Palestinians
Tunisia, Greece Hold Joint Naval Exercises
At least 10 killed in suicide bomb attack in Somali capital
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 03-04/2021

The European Union: From a Single Market to a Tragic Farce/Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute/April 03/2021
Biden Administration and Iran: Secret Deals and Appeasement Back on the Table?/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/April 03/2021
Political fallout of Europe’s vaccine debacle begins to surface/Dr. John C. Hulsman/Arab News/April 02, 2021
Saudi plans to grow forests in the desert could change the world/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/April 03/2021
Before Fatah commits suicide on the election trail/Ali Sarraf/The Arab Weekly/April 03/2021
 

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 03-04/2021

Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/

Resurrection: Life, Faith And Death…Halleluiah, Jesus Has Risen, Indeed He Has Risen.
Elias Bejjani/March 04/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/38553/elias-bejjani-resurrection-life-faith-and-death/

Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here (Mark 16/05)
Easter Sunday is a holy feast of love, humility, forgiveness, brotherhood, tolerance and repentance. Religiously and consciously we are not supposed to participate by any means in any of the feast prayers or make any offerings or receive the Holy Communion unless we are genuinely replace hatred with love, grudges with forgiveness, rejection of others with tolerance, arrogance with humility, greed with contentment, deception with transparency, and evil with righteousness.
Do not be afraid, “Don’t be amazed”, with these reassuring and soothing words The Angel spoke to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. They had came to the tomb on Sunday morning to mummify and anoint Jesus’ Body as the Jewish tradition required. They thought death had defeated Jesus and ended His life as it does to every human being. On their way, they were sadly thinking and wondering who will roll for them the stone away from the tomb’s entrance so they can get in and perform the mummifying and anointing process. While halfway from the tomb, they saw that the enormous stone had been rolled away. When they entered the tomb they found that Jesus’ body was not there. They found only the shrouds that His body was wrapped with on His burial after the crucifixion.
Saint Mark’s (16/01-13) Gospel describes thoroughly what has happened with these three loyal and faithful women: “When the Sabbath was, past Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. 16:2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back. Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’” They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid. Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.”
Lord Jesus who died on the cross, had risen from the dead on the third day just as He has said while proclaiming His message. He triumphed over death, defeated the forces of darkness, overcame pain, abolished anguish and brought despair to an end. He rose from the tomb to be constantly with those faithful to Him throughout their lives, and to never abandon them. He shall empower forever those who believe in His message and observe His commandments with the spirit of truth, knowledge, wisdom and solidarity with His Father, Almighty God.
Christ is the Way, Christ is the Truth, and Christ is the actual eternal life that we long for. We strongly believe with full conviction that Christ dwells in His Holy Church, and exists in its Mysteries (Sacraments). He is always present in the Holy Eucharist that we receive during every mass. Christ at all times is ready, willing and delighted to help us in our burdens when we call on Him and ask for His mercy. “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew11:28)
The miracle of resurrection is the cornerstone of our Christian faith. This pivotal liturgical fact was strongly stressed by Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, (15/12-26): ” Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain. Yes, we are found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised. For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable. But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming. Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death”.
Through Crucifixion and resurrection, Christ has overcome death, broke its thorn, and granted us His eternal forgiveness from the original sin. With His death and resurrection, death in its traditional earthly human concept has been abolished forever and Sin since then has become the actual death that leads the sinners to Gahanna into the unquenchable fire.
When our bodies die, we sleep in the hope of resurrection. On Jesus’ return on the Day of Judgment, the dead will be the first to rise and escort Him. “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed”, (Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 15 / 51-52).
Easter Sunday is a holy feast of love, humility, forgiveness, brotherhood, tolerance and repentance. Religiously we are not to participate in any of these feast prayers or make any offerings or receive the Holy Communion unless we replace hatred with love, grudges with forgiveness, rejection of others with tolerance, arrogance with humility, greed with contentment, deception with transparency, and evil with righteousness.
If we do not learn how to tame our selfishness, anger, hatred and forgive others for whatever evil deeds they commit against us and reconcile with them, than we do not qualify to be called Jesus’ followers. Our prayers will not be heard or responded to, if we do not practice the grace of forgiveness as did He who was crucified for our salvation.
“If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift”. (Matthew 5/23-24).
Meanwhile our true faith in Jesus and in His Sacrifices won’t be complete unless we adopt in our thinking, deeds and language the pure components of sacrifice, honesty, truth, self respect, meekness and decency. “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for building up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4/29-32)
For our prayers to be looked upon and heard by Almighty God, we are required to reconcile with ourselves and with all others on whom we have inflicted pain and injustice, and treated with an evil manner. To please the Lord we are required to genuinely, heartily and overtly perform all required acts of repentance for all our mischievous conducts and wrongdoings. Mark 11/24-26: “Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions”
Almighty God has endowed us with His love talent, (minas) and expects us to faithfully invest it in helping others who are in need. He expect us to observe all the teaching of His Bible so that He will reward us on the Day of Judgment and put us on His Right Side.
On this Holy Day of Resurrection, we are ought to be aware that Jesus’ Holy blood was shed on the Cross for our sake. Remembrance of His death and resurrection is a Godly consignment that we are entrusted with. It’s up to us either to honour this trust or betray it. In regards to what is committed to us, Saint Paul conveyed to his disciple Timothy the following advice (6/20-21): “Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith”.
Halleluiah! Jesus has risen! Indeed He has risen.

Rahi: Citizens’ Rights Must be Prioritized over Sects
Naharnet/April 03/2021
Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi on Saturday criticized Lebanese leaders for bickering over government shares while the people suffer from poverty and a crippling economic and financial crisis ongoing for more than a year.“The rights of sects must come to an end in front of the citizen’s right for food. We only want peace, not war. Neutralization of Lebanon falls in the interest of everyone, while the international conference can eliminate the piling conflicts (between leaders),” said Rahi during the Easter message. Rahi lashed out at the “merciless” ruling authority, he said: “How distant is the ruling authority from mercy. How painful it is to see them manipulate the fate of the nation, unaware of their erroneous choices while others hold on to (foreign) nations other than Lebanon at the expense of the people,” he added. On claims that some articles of the constitution are “ambiguous” and are to blame for the cabinet formation delay, Rahi said the “Constitution is the solution for the government impasse.” Al-Rahi called for "a government of non-partisan specialists in which no party has a blocking third that meets the aspirations of the Lebanese."He concluded voicing fears for Lebanon’s entity, “It has become evident that we are in front of a scheme aiming to change Lebanon’s entity, system and form,” the Patriarch concluded.

Rahi in his Easter message criticizes those obstructing government formation
NNA/April 03, 2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi, strongly criticized Lebanon's politicians who are obstructing the government formation.
Rahi, whose words came during Easter message in Bkirki this morning, said: "What can we say about those who intentionally obstruct the formation of the government and paralyze the state, and they do so to delude the people that the problem is in the constitution, while the constitution is the solution.""It has become clear that we are facing a plan aiming to change Lebanon, its entity, its system, its identity, its form and its traditions. There are parties that adopt a methodology of demolishing the constitutional, financial, banking, military and judicial institutions, one after the other. There are parties that also adopt the methodology of fabricating problems to prevent solutions and settlements," the Patriarch added. "We raise our voice with all the Lebanese about the need to from a government that revitalizes institutions and launches a reform workshop to bring in the promised Arab and international aid," Rahi went on.
The Prelate deemed that holding an international conference for Lebanon is a way to solve the country's pending problems, such as stabilizing its entity, its international borders, renewing the national partnership, strengthening sovereignty and independence, reviving legitimacy, strengthening the army, and implementing international decisions, in addition to solving the issues of the displaced Syrians and the Palestinian refugees. He concluded by saying: "Stop sacrificing Lebanon and the Lebanese for the sake of other peoples, other causes, and other countries. Stop the personal jurisprudence in constitutional interpretations and the heresy of the Charter."

Lebanon: Aoun to launch new initiative with Arab countries
MEMO/April 3, 2021
Antoine Constantine, advisor to Michel Aoun, has announced that the president is preparing for a new initiative that will present great opportunities to the Lebanese people. Constantine confirmed in a tweet that President Aoun is set to establish a joint economic market. The Lebanese official revealed that the initiative would include Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria, stressing that its purpose is to put forward an economic framework compatible with the wider Arab market. Constantine explained that this initiative would open horizons and opportunities for the Lebanese people, while preserving each country's sovereignty and independence, maintaining mutual respect. It is noteworthy that Lebanon enjoys good relations with the aforementioned countries. At the beginning of February, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved a deal to annually supply Lebanon with 500,000 tonnes of fuel.

President Aoun visits Bkirki, congratulates Maronite Patriarch on Easter: The Patriarch is the first assistant in facilitating the government formation, We are awaiting the Prime Minister-designate's return
NNA/April 03, 2021
The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, visited the patriarchal headquarters in Bkerke, at 4:30 pm today, to congratulate the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, on the glorious Easter Occasion. Upon his arrival at the external entrance, he was received by the Patriarchal Vicar, Archbishop Samir Mazloum, Bishop Antoine Awkar and Monsignor Tawfiq Abu Hadeer. The Patriarch, received President Aoun at the inner elevator and escorted him to the grand hall, surrounded by Bishop George Shehan and Tanios El-Khoury, and the Secretary of the Patriarch Father Hadi Daou.
The President of the Republic congratulated the Patriarch, and the Bishops, on the glorious Easter, wishing that Easter would return again while the Lebanese are in better conditions, with the Corona pandemic ending and overcoming all the difficulties.
Discussions covered the measures taken to combat the pandemic with the start of the closure today and until next Tuesday morning.
The President of the Republic expressed his wish to participate in the Easter Mass tomorrow according to the followed tradition, indicating that his inability to do so is related to the procedures followed due to the pandemic.
President Aoun's statement
A meeting took place in the patriarchal wing between President Aoun and Patriarch Al-Rai that lasted about 45 minutes, after which the President of the Republic spoke to journalists and said:
"We came, according to our traditions, out of our love for his Eminence, to congratulate him on the occasion of the Easter. We wish him and the Lebanese people who are his patriarch, an exit from the black tunnel that Lebanon is passing through. We also hope that Easter next year would be better with the efforts of the officials and the Lebanese people as well, because there are no officials if there are no people. The authority is in the hands of the Lebanese people.
Asked about when will be the exit the black tunnel, the President of the Republic replied: "Until the designated Prime Minister returns from abroad."
Asked whether he was optimistic about forming the government next week, the President replied: "Until Prime minister designated returns"
Asked whether he agreed with the steps and endeavors undertaken by Patriarch Al-Rai as part of the process of facilitating the formation of the government, the President answered, "Basically, he is the first assistant."
Asked whether all the obstacles were removed from the formation of the government, he replied: "No obstacles are reproduced, as we remove one, another one emerges."
Asked if he was pessimistic, the President said: "I am always optimistic."
At the end of the visit, the Maronite Patriarch accompanied President Aoun to the door of the inner entrance of the Patriarchal Monument, and bid him farewell with the metropolitans who received him. --- [Presidency Information Office}

Aoun Says Corrupt Politicians Must be Named
Naharnet/April 03, 2021
President Michel Aoun said on Saturday that naming the corrupt in person is the first real step towards fighting corruption in Lebanon. “The first genuine step towards fighting corruption is by naming the corrupt and distinctly referring to them,” said Aoun in remarks on Twitter.Generalizing accusations of corruption without specifying the person in question “only serves the corrupt and misleads the public opinion,” added Aoun.
 

Hariri Hospital: 110 Corona infections, 52 critical cases, 2 deaths
NNA/April 03, 2021 
In its daily report on the latest COVID-19 developments, Rafic Hariri University Hospital indicated the following on Saturday:
- Number of examinations conducted in the hospital's laboratories during the past 24 hours: 337
- Number of patients infected with Coronavirus who are currently in the hospital for follow-up: 110
- Number of suspected Coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours: 21
- Number of recovered patients at the hospital during the past 24 hours: 3
- Total number of recoveries at the hospital since the beginning to-date: 1074
- Number of cases transferred from the intensive care unit to the isolation unit after improvement: 3
- Number of critical cases inside the hospital: 52
- Number of deaths: 2
The report also reminded that the call center for the COVID-19 vaccine service provides citizens and residents with assistance by filling out the registration form for all those wishing to take the vaccine or to follow-up on the registration form previously filled out, by calling the land line number 01-832070 or WhatsApp number 70-056182.

Lebanon Observes 3-Day Total Lockdown on Easter
Naharnet/April 03, 2021
Lebanon began a three-day total lockdown on Saturday in a step to control the spread of coronavirus during the Easter festivities and holiday period.
The measures will include a curfew and urgent movement permissions via the electronic platform while worshipers will have to use the platform to attend Easter mass in churches. Authorities in Lebanon decided to lock the country for three consecutive days during Easter and Eid al-Fitr to avoid a potential rise in coronavirus cases. Lebanon witnessed a sharp increase in cases after the New Year and Christmas holidays compelling authorities to lock the country during Easter and Eid el-Fitr. The lockdown began on Saturday morning April 3rd, including a 24-hour curfew, until the morning of Tuesday, April 6th. Lebanon recorded 2,963 cases and 60 deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 474,925 and 6,346 deaths since the first case was detected in February 2020.

National Liberals: We hope the time of Resurrection will be the beginning of Lebanon's rise
NNA/April 03, 2021
The "National Liberal Party" wished the Lebanese a glorious Easter, and hoped in a statement this evening, "that the time of the Resurrection will be the start of the resurrection of Lebanon from its repression, and the lifting of injustice from the future of all its children."

Lebanon to Swap Medical Expertise for Iraqi Oil
Agence France Presse/April 03, 2021
Officials from Beirut and Baghdad signed a preliminary agreement Friday that would see Lebanon trade its medical expertise for Iraqi fuel supplies, Lebanese state media reported.Lebanon's state-run electricity company faces dire cash shortages as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Oil-rich Iraq, which has seen Covid-19 cases soar in recent weeks, suffers from a chronic lack of drugs and medical care, and decades of war and poor investment have left its hospitals in bad shape.
Caretaker health minister Hamad Hassan and his Iraqi counterpart Hassan al-Tamimi signed "a framework agreement... that includes (the supply of) oil in exchange for medical and hospital services," Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said. Under the accord, inked in Beirut, Lebanon would receive 500,000 tonnes of Iraqi oil annually, or a sixth of its needs, caretaker Lebanese energy minister Raymond Ghajar told AFP. Hassan said the agreement included cooperation in training and hospital administration, with Lebanese experts and specialised teams to be involved in managing new facilities in Iraq.
Lebanon was once dubbed "the hospital of the Arab world", with advanced private facilities and doctors trained in Europe and the United States. But hundreds of medics are now fleeing the country's political and economic crises and even basic medication has gone out of stock.
Power cuts have been common in the country for decades, but Ghajar warned in March that Lebanon would plunge into "total darkness" by the end of the month if no money was secured to buy fuel for power stations.
Lebanon's parliament this week approved $200 million in emergency funding to keep the lights on.

LF Chief Contracts Coronavirus
Naharnet/April 03, 2021
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea tested positive for coronavirus, his media office announced Friday. The statement from his office said Geagea felt unwell over three consecutive days. He underwent a PCR test that turned positive. However, his spouse, Setrida Geagea tested negative.
Lebanon recorded 2,963 cases and 60 deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 474,925 and 6,346 deaths since the first case was detected in February 2020.

Pope Francis appoints Father Pierre Najm as 'General Head' of the Mariamite Maronite Order
NNA/April 03, 2021
The Catholic Media Center circulated Saturday a statement issued by the Secretariat of the Mariamite Maronite Order, in which it indicated that following the resignation of Abbot Maroun Chidiac from the presidency of the Order, His Holiness Pope Francis, on March 29, 2021, appointed Father Pierre Najm as President-General in his place, in order to complete the remainder of the current mandate, while Bishop Hanna Alwan remains as Pontifical Commissioner in the Order. "The new President-General celebrates the Mass of Thanksgiving in Our Lady of Louaize Church on the day of the new Sunday, April 11, at 11:30 am, after which he will receive well-wishers until 8:00 pm," the statement added.

Tyre sit-in to protest the summoning of some activists for investigation
NNA/April 03, 2021
Activists of Al-Alam Square in Tyre staged today a sit-in outside the Internal Security Forces' unit base in Tyre, to protest against summoning a number of them for interrogation in wake of the clash the occurred in front of a cooperative in the south, after one of its employees leaked information proving that the cooperative was hiding subsidized products.
The protesters accused the cooperative of manipulation by emptying the subsidized products from their bags and packing them in other bags to be sold at higher prices. It is to note that the cooperative administration had filed a lawsuit against a number of protesters who were summoned today to investigate the matter. In turn, the protesters demanded the Ministry of Economy to hold the cooperative administration accountable and shut it down, confirming their determination to prosecute it before the court.

Hawat: Hear the voice of Bkirki, for it is the voice of the people
NNA/April 03, 2021
MP Ziad al-Hawat tweeted today on Bkirki's initiative, saying: "Once again, Bkirki puts matters into perspective to save Lebanon. To all the stalling and obstructing sides, assume your responsibilities towards the people and Lebanon and stop the principle of preventing solutions. Form a mission government to stop the collapse and let us go to early elections and re-establish the ruling power. Hear the voice of Bkirki, because it is the voice of the people!"

Coronavirus and financial deterioration strip Lebanon’s Easter of joy
Najia Houssari/April 03/2021
BEIRUT: With the advent of Easter for the Christian sects that follow the Western calendar, Lebanon entered on Saturday a new round of total lockdown and curfews. The holiday atmosphere is non-existent for the second year running due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In addition, the economic crisis has diminished what was remaining of the holiday celebrations, which have been hampered by anti-virus measures.
The lockdown will continue until Tuesday morning.
On Saturday morning, roads were deserted and shops closed their doors, while supermarkets have committed to using an electronic platform that limits the number of customers allowed inside. Restaurants resorted to providing takeaway and delivery services only.
The Internal Security Forces conducted vehicle and foot patrols and established checkpoints to control violations, stressing the necessity of wearing face masks. The latest decision by the Ministry of the Interior permitted prayers in churches, provided they do not exceed 30 percent of their capacity, and that they commit to social distancing measures. Worshippers need to obtain a prior permit to traveling to church.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Lebanon continues to approach half a million, while the death toll has exceeded 6,200.
The last of the politicians who contracted the virus have been Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces Party, and former Minister Ghassan Hasbani.
Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, director of the Hariri Governmental University Hospital, expressed his fear for an increase in the number of cases during Easter and Ramadan due to family gatherings.
The number of those who have received one dose of the vaccine has reached 149,687 people, with 81,680 receiving two doses.
Tony Bejjani, the owner of a restaurant in Beirut, said: “Easter this year is less than normal, and we have only fasted.”He added: “There are no signs of Easter this year. None of the people I know have gone shopping.
“People do not communicate with each other for fear of contracting COVID-19, nor do they go to mass.” Bejjani added: “People are exhausted economically and psychologically. Our work stopped for two months and 22 days after the New Year’s holiday due to the lockdown, and today we had to close again although the holidays are a good season in which we can make up for some of our losses.
“People are afraid and no one is happy. They are waiting for any opportunity to travel and never return.”
A bank employee with a salary that was relatively fair before the financial crisis said: “There is no joy this holiday. People are forbidden to meet, and if we go to church to pray, only two people are allowed to sit on the same bench.”She said she “resorted for months to making sweets in my home and selling them through social media because the salary has barely been lasting a week with the deterioration of the Lebanese pound.”
She sarcastically said: “People did not buy regular eggs to color them this Easter after their price doubled, and they also stopped buying chocolate eggs.”Lebanon has reached a blockage on the political level in the absence of any progress in mediation to resolve the conflict that has been obstructing the formation of the government for over 160 days.
This was the focus of an Easter message that Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi conveyed to the Lebanese people.
He criticized again the “ruling group and those surrounding it” and said: “They are manipulating the fate of the nation’s entirety, people, land, and dignity.” He added in his harsh message to the politicians: “It has become clear that we are facing a plan that aims to change Lebanon in its entirety, including its system, identity, form, and traditions. There are parties that adopt a methodology of demolishing the constitutional, financial, banking, military, and judicial institutions.
“There are parties that also adopt the methodology of starting problems to prevent solutions and settlements. Let everyone realize that a country’s life is not made of quotas.”As soon as Patriarch Al-Rahi concluded his message, President Michel Aoun tweeted that “fighting corruption is done by naming the corrupt and pointing to them. Generalizing the accusation anonymizes those who are truly corrupt and outrightly misleads the public opinion.”
Aoun’s comment raised many questions in political circles, especially with regard to its timing. It was later announced that Aoun was heading to meet with Patriarch Al-Rahi on the eve of Easter.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 03-04/2021

Pope Francis, at Easter vigil, hopes for post-pandemic rebirth
Reuters/03 April ,2021
Pope Francis, leading an Easter vigil service scaled down due to COVID-19, said on Saturday he hoped the dark times of the pandemic would end and that people could rediscover “the grace of everyday life.” This year has been the second consecutive Easter that all papal services are being attended by only about 200 people in a secondary altar of St. Peter’s Basilica instead of the nearly 10,000 that the largest church in Christendom can hold. The service began two hours earlier than usual so that participants could get home before a 10 p.m. curfew in Rome, which, like the rest of Italy, is under tough lockdown restrictions during the Easter weekend. At the start of the service, the basilica was in darkness except for the flames from candles held by participants to signify the darkness in the world before Jesus. As the pope, cardinals and bishops processed to the altar and a cantor chanted three times, the basilica’s lights were turned on. In his homily, Francis, marking the ninth Easter season of his pontificate, said the festival brought with it the hope for renewal on a personal as well as a global level. “It is always possible to begin anew because there is a new life that God can awaken in us in spite of all our failures,” Francis said. “In these dark months of the pandemic, let us listen to the Risen Lord as he invites us to begin anew and never lose hope.” He said that just as Jesus brought his message “to those struggling to live from day to day,” people today should care for those most in need on the fringes of society. On Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar, the pope will deliver his “Urbi et Orbi”

Pope Francis pays surprise visit to Vatican vaccine centre for homeless people
Sky News/April 03, 2021
Pope Francis visited the Vatican's vaccination centre for the poor and homeless on Good Friday. Francis, 84, surprised doctors, nurses, charity workers and those getting their jabs when he arrived at the pop-up clinic. The makeshift centre has been set up in the Vatican audience hall to give free vaccines to homeless people or those in need. The Holy See bought thousands of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab to vaccinate Vatican employees and their families and are giving out leftovers to people living in poverty. About 800 people have been vaccinated at the clinic so far, with a further 400 doses still to be administered. The pontiff wore a mask for his visit and posed for a picture with staff and recipients. He has already had his coronavirus jab along with former Pope Benedict, 93. Francis has said that getting immunised from COVID-19 is the "ethical choice" unless there are specific medical reasons not to do so.
The pope's visit to the vaccine clinic was set to be followed by the Way of the Cross procession in St Peter's Square, which usually takes place at the Colosseum but has been relocated due to the pandemic. ---

UK regulator says AstraZeneca jab safe after 7 clot deaths
AP/April 03, 2021
LONDON: Britain’s medicines regulator is urging people to continue taking the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, despite revealing that seven people in the UK have died from rare blood clots after getting the jab.The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, said it wasn’t clear if the shots are causing the clots, and that its “rigorous review into the UK reports of rare and specific types of blood clots is ongoing.”Though the agency said late Friday that seven people had died as a result of developing blood clots, it didn’t disclose any information about their ages or health conditions. In total, MHRA said had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events out of 18.1 million AstraZeneca doses administered up to and including March 24. The risk associated with this type of blood clot is “very small,” it added. “The benefits of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca in preventing COVID-19 infection and its complications continue to outweigh any risks and the public should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so,” said Dr. June Raine, the agency’s chief executive. Concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine has already prompted some countries including Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands to restrict its use to older people. The UK, which has rolled out coronavirus vaccines faster than other European nations, is particularly reliant on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed by scientists at the University of Oxford. MHRA’s view about the relative benefits of the vaccine is shared by the European Medicines Agency. It has said a causal link between unusual blood clots in people who have had the vaccine is “not proven, but is possible,” and that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects. The World Health Organization has also urged countries to continue using the jab. Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, said the “extreme rarity” of the blood-clotting events in the context of the millions of jabs administered in the UK makes the decision facing people very straightforward. “Receiving the vaccine is by far the safest choice in terms of minimizing individual risk of serious illness or death,” he said. A more detailed look at the MHRA’s findings show that of the 30 cases, 22 related to cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, which stops blood draining from the brain properly, and eight were connected with other thrombosis events with low platelets.
It said there were no reports of any blood-clotting events around the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which has also been widely rolled out in the UK
 

Statement by President Joe Biden on Today’s Attack Outside the Capitol
NNA/April 03, 2021
Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life. We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans’ family, and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it. I have been receiving ongoing briefings from my Homeland Security Advisor, and will be getting further updates as the investigation proceeds. I want to express the nation’s gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and others who quickly responded to this attack. As we mourn the loss of yet another courageous Capitol Police officer, I have ordered that the White House flags be lowered to half-staff. --- White House

Iran's foreign ministry rejects 'stepbystep' lifting of sanctions Press TV
Reuters/April 03, 2021
Iran's foreign ministry rejects any "step-by-step" lifting of sanctions imposed against it, Press TV reported on Saturday. "The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all U.S. sanctions," the state broadcaster's website quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying. U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said on Friday that the focus of talks next week in Vienna on reviving the nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers in 2015 will focus on "the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance" with that agreement. ---

Before indirect talks, Iran rejects ‘step-by-step’ lifting of sanctions
The Arab Weekly/April 03/2021
BRUSSELS/ TEHRAN--A few days ahead of the indirect talks with world powers over its nuclear program, Iran rejected Saturday any “step-by-step” lifting of sanctions imposed against it by the US. “The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all US sanctions,” the state broadcaster PRESS TV’s website quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying. As Tehran and Washington prepare to enter indirect talks in Vienna next week, the US advocates a step-by-step approach to the lifting of the sanctions in a process that goes hand in hand with Iran’s positions on nuclear enrichment and other activities.US State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said on Friday that the focus of talks next week in Vienna on reviving the nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers in 2015 will focus on “the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance” with that agreement. The United States and Iran will open indirect talks next week in Vienna as the European Union spearheads efforts to bring President Joe Biden’s administration back into a nuclear accord. Administration officials played down expectations for next week’s talks. State Department spokesperson Ned Price called the resumption of negotiations, scheduled for Tuesday in Vienna, “a healthy step forward.” But Price added, “These remain early days, and we don’t anticipate an immediate breakthrough as there will be difficult discussions ahead.”
“This is a first step,” Biden Iran envoy Rob Malley tweeted. He said diplomats were now “on the right path.” Participants in the accord over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions — including China, France, Germany, Russia, and Britain — will meet in-person on Tuesday in the Austrian capital, the European Union said after a video conference. The United States will not take part directly but, for the first time since former leader Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018, a US delegation will be present. The European Union said its mediator will hold “separate contacts” with the United States in Vienna. The painstakingly negotiated 2015 accord saw Iran granted relief from international sanctions in exchange for accepting limits on its nuclear programme aimed at easing fears it could acquire an atomic weapon. Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement on condition Iran first returns to respecting commitments it abandoned in retaliation for Trump pulling out and reimposing swingeing sanctions.
Tehran says Washington has to end the sanctions before it will make any moves to get back in line, and is refusing to hold direct negotiations with the US. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted the aim of the talks was to “rapidly finalise sanction-lifting and nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions, followed by Iran ceasing remedial measures”. “No Iran-US meeting. Unnecessary,” he wrote on Twitter. The deputy State Department spokeswoman, Jalina Porter, said sanctions relief steps will be “up for discussion” but declined to elaborate further.
‘Substantial work ahead’
EU diplomat Enrique Mora described Friday’s virtual meeting that he chaired as “positive”, but warned there was much left to do to revive the deal. “Substantial work ahead for a key opportunity to bring JCPOA back to life,” he tweeted, using the acronym for the nuclear deal’s formal name. A senior EU official said Brussels — which acts as coordinator — hoped to see a final agreement on a US return to the deal within the next two months. The official said two groups of experts from the remaining participant countries would work simultaneously, with one focused on US sanctions and the other on rolling back Iran’s breaches. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was “good that all the relevant actors would meet in Vienna next week”. “We have no time to waste. A treaty that is fully respected once again would be a plus for security throughout the region,” he said. Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov said “the impression is that we are on the right track but the way ahead will not be easy and will require intensive efforts. The stakeholders seem to be ready for that”.“Possible US return to JCPOA apparently will require Washington’s full compliance with the nuclear deal,” he wrote on Twitter.
Other priorities
In 2018, Trump dramatically withdrew from the pact and reimposed crippling economic sanctions on Tehran. The following year, Tehran announced it would start breaking limits agreed on nuclear activity. The remaining participants in the deal have scrambled in recent years to salvage it from total collapse as Tehran has made good on its threat, while insisting it is not seeking a nuclear weapon. Some analysts have seen Biden’s hesitation at immediately removing sanctions as a way to pressure Iran — or a way to preserve political capital for other priorities as the nuclear deal remains fiercely opposed by Trump’s Republican Party. Republicans quickly pounced on news of the Vienna meeting. Senator Tom Cotton, who has called in the past for attacking Iran, tweeted that the Biden administration was “so desperate to get back to a broken deal that they’re giving up all their leverage and offering concession after humiliating concession.”But some observers saw the Vienna meeting as a way to break the logjam and return to an accord with which UN inspectors say Iran was complying before Trump trashed it. “Proximity talks are a creative solution to overcoming the current impasse,” said Suzanne DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
 

France urges Iran to be ‘constructive’ at Vienna’s nuclear talks
AFP/03 April/2021
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Saturday called on Tehran to be “constructive” during talks with world powers next week in Vienna. The European Union is pushing to bring US President Joe Biden’s administration back into the nuclear accord to limit Tehran’s ambitions.
The United States will not take part directly in the discussions also involving China, Germany, Russia, and Britain. But for the first time since former leader Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran agreement in 2018, a US delegation will be present. The 2015 nuclear accord saw Iran granted relief from international sanctions in exchange for accepting limits on its program aimed at easing fears it could acquire atomic weapons. Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement on condition Iran first returns to respecting commitments it abandoned in retaliation for Trump pulling out and reimposing singeing sanctions.
Le Drian spoke to Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Saturday and “welcomed the coming resumption in Vienna of discussions on the nuclear dossier.” He also “encouraged Iran to be constructive in the discussions ... to identify in the coming weeks what needs to be done for a full return to respecting the agreement,” Le Drian said in a statement. “France will take part in a pragmatic and at the same time demanding way.” “I called on Iran to refrain from any further violation of its current commitments in the nuclear field likely to damage the dynamics of a resumption of discussions,” he added. Tehran says Washington has to end sanctions before it will make any moves to get back in line and has refused to hold direct negotiations with the US. US State Department spokesman Ned Price called the Vienna talks a “healthy step forward” and Washington “remains open” to a direct encounter with Tehran.

Kerry says US ‘hopeful’ it can work with China to tackle climate change
Reuters/03 April ,2021
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said the United States was hopeful it could work with China to tackle climate change, despite longstanding disagreements that have affected the bilateral relationship. “Our hope is that we’re going to be able to deal with yes, China,” Kerry told reporters during a visit to the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi on Saturday. “President Biden has made it clear and I’ve made it clear: none of the other issues we have with China – and there are issues – is held hostage to or is engaged in a trade for what we need to do on climate.” Sino-US relations have been strained in recent years by disagreements about trade, China’s treatment of its Uighur minority, as well as China’s actions in Taiwan and Hong Kong. China has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060 while US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce a new target for reducing emissions at a global climate summit on April 22. Kerry will take part in a climate dialogue for the Middle East and North Africa hosted by Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The UAE said the dialogue would focus on national and regional preparations ahead of a United Nations climate summit to be held in Glasgow in November. Kerry said the countries would discuss how to reduce a reliance on coal, as well as how to “raise ambitions” on climate change ahead of November’s conference. “I think the next generations are screaming at us to fulfill our promise,” he added.

U.S. Lifts Trump Sanctions on Hague Prosecutor, Seeking Cooperation
Agence France Presse/April 03, 2021
US President Joe Biden on Friday revoked sanctions imposed by Donald Trump on the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court as the new administration seeks a more cooperative approach, resolving an intense disagreement with European allies. Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo last year denounced the "kangaroo court" in The Hague and imposed both financial sanctions and a US visa ban on its Gambian-born chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. Pompeo acted after she launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by US military personnel in Afghanistan. The court in The Hague further annoyed the United States by opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories by Israel, a US ally which rejects the authority of the court. Biden said the United States still has concerns with the ICC. But "the threat and imposition of financial sanctions against the Court, its personnel, and those who assist it are not an effective or appropriate strategy," he said in a statement. Pompeo's successor, Antony Blinken, said the United States continued to "disagree strongly" with the moves on Afghanistan and Israel. "We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions," Blinken said in a statement. Biden revoked an executive order by Trump on the sanctions, also lifting sanctions against senior ICC official Phakiso Mochochoko and visa bans on other court staff. Bensouda is leaving her job in June and will be replaced by British human rights lawyer Karim Khan, who now can open his work without the burden of looming sanctions.
'Start of a new phase' -
Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, the head of the Association of States Parties to the ICC, voiced hope that the decision "signals the start of a new phase of our common undertaking to fight against impunity" for war crimes. France, which like other European allies had been aghast by the last administration's move, hailed the reversal and pledged support for the ICC. "This decision is excellent news for all who are committed to the fight against impunity, for multilateralism and for an international order founded on the rule of law," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. Blinken said he was encouraged by reforms being undertaken by the court, which has also come under scrutiny over internal matters including judges' salaries. He noted that the United States has supported specific international judicial initiatives to provide accountability for war crimes or crimes against humanity including in the Balkans, Cambodia and Rwanda.
"Our support for the rule of law, access to justice and accountability for mass atrocities are important US national security interests that are protected and advanced by engaging with the rest of the world to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow," Blinken said.
'Restoration of US ideals'
Blinken announced the decision days before the administration needed to respond to a lawsuit against Trump's executive order filed by the Open Society Justice Initiative, which promotes human rights and democracy. James Goldston, executive director of the initiative, welcomed Biden's action as a "restoration of US ideals.""The United States has a long history of using sanctions to punish human rights abusers, but never before was this tool used to punish an independent court that seeks justice for victims of atrocities," he said. Human Rights Watch praised Biden for ending "this unprecedented and downright warped use of sanctions" and turning the page on Trump's "assault on the global rule of law." Trump in his final weeks in office granted clemency to three US troops convicted of crimes in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with one of the men later meeting him. Critics said Trump's intervention undercut his argument in the ICC sanctions -- that the United States had its own judiciary capable of ensuring accountability. While Democratic administrations have been more supportive of the ICC, the United States remains out of the Rome Statute that established the tribunal with little prospect of it joining amid intense opposition from the Republicans. The US Congress in 2002 even passed a law authorizing military force to free any US personnel held by the court, theoretically giving the president authority to invade NATO ally The Netherlands.

Majestic Cairo parade as Egyptian mummies move museum
Reuters/April 03, 2021
The convoy will transport 18 kings and four queensfrom the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat
Authorities are shutting down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt’s rich collections of antiquities CAIRO: A grand parade will convey 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in specially designed capsules across the capital Cairo on Saturday to a new museum home where they can be displayed in greater splendour. The convoy will transport 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, about 5km (3 miles) to the south-east.
Authorities are shutting down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt’s rich collections of antiquities when tourism has almost entirely stalled because of COVID-19 related restrictions. Each mummy will be placed in a special capsule filled with nitrogen to ensure protection, and the capsules will be carried on carts designed to cradle them and provide stability, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said. “We chose the Civilization Museum because we want, for the first time, to display the mummies in a civilized manner, an educated manner, and not for amusement as they were in the Egyptian Museum,” he said. Archaeologists discovered the mummies in two batches at the complex of mortuary temples of Deir Al Bahari in Luxor and at the nearby Valley of the Kings from 1871. The oldest is that of Seqenenre Tao, the last king of the 17th Dynasty, who reigned in the 16th century BC and is thought to have met a violent death.The parade will also include the mummies of Ramses II, Seti I, and Ahmose-Nefertari. Fustat was the site of Egypt’s capital under the Umayyad dynasty after the Arab conquest. “By doing it like this, with great pomp and circumstance, the mummies are getting their due,” said Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo. “These are the kings of Egypt, these are the pharaohs. And so, it is a way of showing respect.”

Former head of Jordanian royal court, other senior officials arrested

Jordan News Agency/April 03, 2021
LONDON: Jordanian citizens Hasan bin Zaid and Bassem Awadallah, who is a former head of the Jordanian Royal Court, have been arrested, Jordan News Agency reported. The arrests were made after close security follow-ups and “for security reasons,” the agency reported. Jordan’s Al-Mamlaka TV contradicted reports on Saturday in some publications, including the Washington Post, that Prince Hamza was one of the people detained.

US says King Abdullah of Jordan is a 'key partner' and has 'full support'
Reuters/04 April ,2021
The US State Department said on Saturday that King Abdullah is a “key partner” of the US and “has our full support” amid reports that his half-brother Prince Hamza had been questioned - possibly in relation to an alleged plot to destabilize the country. In an email, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials. King Abdullah is a key partner of the US, and he has our full support.”The Jordanian military said on Saturday that Hamza bin Hussein, former crown prince, was asked to halt actions used to target the country’s “security and stability.” People familiar with the affair told Reuters it could have been related to a plot to destabilize the country.

Saudi royal court voices support for Jordan following security related arrests
Reuters/04 April ,2021
The Saudi royal court voiced its support for Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday, state media reported, after Jordanian security forces arrested a former adviser to the monarch and others on “security related” grounds. “The kingdom affirms its full support, with all its capabilities, to all decisions and measures taken by King Abdullah and His Highness Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, the Crown Prince, to maintain security and stability,” said a statement from the Saudi royal court.

Blinken Seeks Israel's 'Equal' Treatment of Palestinians
Agence France Presse/April 03, 2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Friday on Israel to ensure "equal" treatment of the Palestinians as the new US administration cautiously steps up efforts for a two-state solution. In a telephone call with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, Blinken "emphasized the administration's belief that Israelis and Palestinians should enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity and democracy," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Blinken also committed to "strengthening all aspects of the US-Israel partnership" and voiced support for the Jewish state's agreements over the past year to normalize relations with four more Arab nations. The call comes amid another spell of political uncertainty in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party securing the most votes but failing to secure a majority in the fourth election in two years. President Joe Biden, while stressing his support for Israel, has also signalled he will back away from the unwavering support of the right-wing Netanyahu by his predecessor Donald Trump. The administration has stepped up humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and in recent days made clear that it believes that Israel's control of the West Bank is "occupation." "We believe when it comes to settlement activity that Israel should refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and that undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution," Price said Thursday. Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo broke precedent by saying he did not consider Israeli construction on land seized in 1967 to be illegal and he visited a settlement in the West Bank last year. Blinken has nonetheless made clear that the administration will not roll back some of Trump's signature moves, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Tunisia, Greece Hold Joint Naval Exercises
Agence France Presse/April 03, 2021
Tunisia and Greece launched joint military exercises this week in the Mediterranean to boost their coordination against illegal maritime activity including smuggling and irregular migration, the Tunisian defence ministry said Saturday. "This exercise aims to develop cooperation between Tunisia and Greece in the fight against all dangers at sea, including illegal immigration (and) smuggling," Defence Ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekri told AFP. Another goal was to develop maritime surveillance and search-and-rescue operations, he said, adding that the exercises were held in international waters near the Tunisian coast. Tunisia participated in the exercise with a special naval force and a patrol boat, while the Greek navy dispatched the frigate Salamis, the ministry had said in a statement Friday, without providing further details. Tunisia, gripped by political and economic crises, sees migrants leave its coast every day in desperate bids to reach Europe. The number of migrants attempting the journey peaked last year at its highest level since 2011, when an uprising toppled the North African country's autocratic ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisian authorities have repeatedly called for more cooperation between Mediterranean states to combat irregular migration.
 

At least 10 killed in suicide bomb attack in Somali capital
Reuters/03 April ,2021
At least 10 people were killed on Saturday when a suicide bomber struck makeshift kiosks in the Somali capital, hitting hours after al-Shabaab extremist militants attacked two National Army bases outside the city, the government said.“A suicide bomber blew up himself under trees where poor mothers sold tea, milk and (narcotic leaf) khat,” Information Ministry spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Omar told Reuters, adding that more people were wounded in the attack. There was no immediate comment from the al-Shabaab, which had earlier claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Bariire and Awdhigle army bases. The army said earlier that there had been casualties on both sides in those attacks, but it was now in control. The bases, located about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, were struck by two explosions, witnesses said. A third explosion targeted a convoy of troops rushing to the bases from the capital after the attack, they added. Militants from al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, have waged years of attacks and levied tolls on trade in a campaign to introduce strict religious law. Saturday’s attacks come amid heightened fears that the group could seek to exploit vulnerabilities created by failure to hold a parliamentary and presidential election, which was due in February. Hussein Nur, a military officer, said the army lost “several” soldiers in the attack on the bases, without giving a precise number. The army sent in reinforcements from other stations, who killed an unidentified number of attackers in the ensuing fight, he told Reuters. The army had taken control of both bases and the surrounding area and “We are pursuing the militants in the surrounding jungle,” he said. Al-Shabaab said it had launched a vehicle-borne suicide bomb attack on the Bariire base while simultaneously attacking the nearby Awdhigle base with a car bomb and fighters, to prevent troops stationed there from reinforcing Bariire. “We overran Bariire base, burnt three military vehicles and took two vehicles,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s spokesman for military operations, told Reuters, referring to a brief occupation of Bariire.
A third vehicle-borne explosive device hit a convoy of government troops racing from Mogadishu with reinforcements, he said. He also said there had been casualties on both sides in the attacks.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 03-04/2021

The European Union: From a Single Market to a Tragic Farce
Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute/April 03/2021
Five hundred years from now, when historians look back on the COVID era, they will say that America's "Operation Warp Speed," under President Donald J. Trump, was a triumph of science and logistics.
Many liberals have a short memory, but the EU has not always been the big, remote machine it has become.
The principle of equality of states and the principle of equality of citizens cannot be reconciled in the current EU setting of institutions, says Germany's Federal Constitutional Court.
Of course, EU institutions are dressed up with flowery language — such as "making the EU more democratic" — aimed at making people believe that EU institutions... are increasingly democratic and only waiting to become fully democratic.
This evolution consisted, first of all, in subverting European institutions to make them accomplish, in addition to their economic aims, missions that were foreign to them, such as a "common foreign policy" that was never anything than words. How could you have a foreign policy common to the UK, Austria and Portugal?
EU elites are weak, cowardly and pusillanimous because they know they do not represent anyone, in the true democratic sense of the word – they are not democratically elected, they are not transparent and they are not accountable to anyone. They are ultimately the playthings of governments that never agree with each other – but that do have the legitimacy of being truly democratic: elected, transparent, and accountable. There is also no mechanism for citizens to unelect anyone, should they wish to do so.
The European Union's vaccine management is a metonym for the EU: a tragic farce in the hands of ideologues as obtuse as they are inefficient. Pictured: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference, following a meeting about draft legislation on a common EU Covid-19 vaccination certificate, in Brussels on March 17, 2021.
Concerning the European Union, opinions are divided between those who consider it useless and costly, and those who believe it to be the future of Europe and a model for the human race.
What is the reality?
Before today's EU emerged, the construction of a European union was, at first, a tremendous success.
Many liberals have a short memory, but the EU has not always been the big, remote machine it has become. In the era of the more modestly named "European Communities" – entailing, for example, cooperation amongst multiple countries' economies; or within their coal, steel and nuclear industries – Europe achieved four freedoms of movement: those of people, capital, services and goods. Despite its flaws, shortcomings and innumerable imperfections (nothing human is perfect), this common – or single – market made a massive and substantial contribution to the freedom and prosperity of Europeans.
It is impossible not to consider as progress that a French citizen can move freely in Italy or that a Spanish entrepreneur has the right freely to offer services to citizens of the Netherlands. The original European common market was in every way in line with Jean Monnet's constructive concept of "peace through prosperity."
The problem was that the ideologues of all creeds could not be satisfied with this Europe as a mere tool, one that was essentially economic in nature. No, it was necessary to add a political Europe, a social Europe, a Europe of defense, a European foreign policy, an ecological Europe and even a geopolitical Europe.
This evolution consisted, first of all, in subverting European institutions to make them accomplish, in addition to their economic aims, missions that were foreign to them, such as a "common foreign policy" that was never anything than words. How could you have a foreign policy common to the UK, Austria and Portugal?
Next, the institutions and procedures were, and continue to be, constantly adapted, renovated and revolutionized to serve extra-economic ends — such as "peace", "combat social exclusion", "promote scientific and technological progress", "security and justice" — even at the expense of economic ones.
Today, the economic purpose of the European construction has been officially reduced — through treaties – to the bare essentials, aiming at "a sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability" and given over to the demands of political, social and environmentalist Europe. Such demands begin, for example, with the European Green Deal that aims to turn Europe into the first "climate-neutral" continent by reducing Europe's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to "net zero" by 2050, even if the economic consequences to Europeans are unsustainable. According to IndustriAll, the federation of European industrial trade unions, there is a great risk that the European Green Deal will put entire industrial sectors on their knees, slashing millions of jobs in energy-intensive industries, without any assurances that workers in affected industries will have a future.
Thus, the EU, which in the past offered a counterbalance to the anti-economic fury of its member states, is now the permanent amplification of this fury.
No resolution concerning gender or environmentalism adopted by the German or French parliaments can compete with the increasingly extreme proclamations adopted on these subjects, as on others, by EU institutions. For example, the mainstreaming of the most extreme version of the gender theory — the idea that "male" and "female" are cultural, not biological, concepts — is now the official policy of the EU.
What allows these European institutions to go further and further down the path of ideology is that they escape democratic sanction, since the EU remains first and foremost an intergovernmental organization. Germany's Federal Constitutional Court diagnosed a "structural democratic deficit" in the construction of the European Union, in that the decision-making processes in the EU remain largely those of an international organization. The decision-making is based on the principle of the equality of member-states. The principle of equality of states and the principle of equality of citizens cannot be reconciled in the EU's current set of institutions, the Court said. Of course, EU institutions are dressed up with flowery language — such as "making the EU more democratic" according the Lisbon Treaty — aimed at making people believe that EU institutions, although imperfect, are increasingly democratic and only waiting to become fully democratic.
Nothing could be further from the truth; as an intergovernmental organization, the EU is not, never has been and never will be a democracy. An international organization is a compact between governments; to add an elected "European Parliament" to the scheme, with very limited capabilities, does not alter the intergovernmental preoccupations of such an organization.
What percentage of European citizens is capable of naming even one Member of European Parliament, European Commissioner or European Court of Justice judge? Americans feel American before being from Wyoming or Arkansas; while Italians, Spaniards, Swedes, Poles and Slovenes identify with their country before feeling European (in the generic sense of the word, not referring to the EU).
For historic reasons, Germany abides as much and often as possible by the EU rules and institutions. As was noted by Ulrich Speck:
"The country has built its political identity and its political system on the concept of being the opposite of the Nazi state. Germans today see the Nazi regime, among other things, as a radicalized form of classical power politics—something that they consider themselves lucky to have left behind."
In other words, many Germans see the EU as the ultimate antidote to the hegemonic tendencies of their past. While they managed the first part — the mitigation — of the recent pandemic relatively well, they decided to rely on the EU for vaccine management. There is logic in this approach: first, we are stronger together in negotiating with "Big Pharma," and, also, isn't this an opportunity to prove to Europeans that this EU that they do not like is at least useful?
Not content with being useless and costly, as in the case of vaccinations against COVID-19, the EU has shown itself to be horribly, comically and tragically ineffective. AstraZeneca, for instance, simply "informed" the bloc that it would not be able to supply the number of vaccines the EU had hoped — and paid for —by the end of March. EU leaders were "furious" that the company appears to be fulfilling its deliveries for the UK market and not theirs. The result of the EU's inability to uphold the commitments made to it by vaccine manufacturers is without appeal or recourse:
Five hundred years from now, when historians look back on the COVID era, they will say that America's "Operation Warp Speed," under President Donald J. Trump, was a triumph of science and logistics.
While it took five years to develop a vaccine against Ebola — the previous world record — it took less than a year in the West to develop several vaccines against COVID, mainly under pressure and with funding from United States taxpayers. Soon the U.S. government realized that the challenge was also logistical; it is all well and good to develop a vaccine, but it also has to be produced in large quantities and then distributed.
At the request of the US government, entire factories were built in a matter of months to produce the vaccine (which had not yet been developed at the time), in an effort whose breadth and scale were not unlike the U.S. industrial war effort of 1941. When it came time to distribute the vaccine, the U.S. government used the best tool at its disposal: the U.S. military. In the end, the U.S. mass vaccination program is being carried out in an unprecedented time frame; President Biden said at the beginning of March that the U.S. will have enough vaccines to inoculate every American by the end of May — two months earlier than previously expected.
Compared to the United States, the EU's failure is total. While in Europe, the challenge was only to produce and distribute the vaccine, the EU failed miserably on both counts. The European vaccination program now lags far behind the U.S. program and even farther behind those of Israel and post-Brexit Britain.
According to current data, the return to normal in Europe will be one year behind that of America and the United Kingdom. This year represents a cruel multitude of deficits, bankruptcies and personal disasters. It portends, in relative terms, a massive economic regression awaiting the EU, compared to the rest of the world.
The EU's vaccine management is a metonym for the EU: a tragic farce in the hands of ideologues as obtuse as they are inefficient. EU elites are weak, cowardly and pusillanimous because they know they do not represent anyone, in the true democratic sense of the word – they are not democratically elected, they are not transparent and they are not accountable to anyone. They are ultimately the playthings of governments that never agree with each other – but that do have the legitimacy of being truly democratic: elected, transparent, and accountable. There is also no mechanism for citizens to unelect anyone, should they wish to do so.
Common wisdom would dictate reducing the EU back to a single market, one territory without any internal borders or other regulatory obstacles to the free movement of goods and services. The ideological hubris that animates European institutions and their ideological sponsors will push them in the opposite direction – that of ever-greater centralization – at the expense of the European people and their vital interests.
*Drieu Godefridi, a classical-liberal Belgian author, is the founder of the l'Institut Hayek in Brussels. He has a PhD in Philosophy from the Sorbonne in Paris and also heads investments in European companies.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Biden Administration and Iran: Secret Deals and Appeasement Back on the Table?
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/April 03/2021

Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute: Biden Administration and Iran: Secret Deals and Appeasement Back on the Table/مجيد رافيزادا من معهد جيتستون: إدارة بايدن وإيران... صفقات واسترضاءات سرية تعود إلى الطاولة؟ - Elias Bejjani News
"The Biden administration appears to be using loopholes when dealing with the Iranian regime. I am again asking direct, yes or no questions on the United States' involvement in facilitating a South Korean ransom payment to Iran. If the Biden administration is involved in transferring funds to Iran, Congress and the American people must be informed. Biden administration officials continue to deflect and refuse to answer questions from members of Congress regarding this issue." — Congressman Bryan Steil (R-WI), letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, March 25, 2021.
When President Biden was vice president during the Obama administration, the administration was all too eager to grant concessions to the Iranian regime and, it turns out, made multiple secret deals with the mullahs..... These secret deals meant that when sanctions against Iranian banks were lifted and permission given to the leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to resume conducting business, there was no longer any mechanism to check or stop Iran's illegal activities such as advancing its ballistic missile program.
The Obama administration also helped swiftly to lift all four rounds of UN sanctions against Iran -- sanctions it had taken decades to put in place. Iran's military sites also were exempted from inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency; other inspections were only to be at the times and places of Iran's choosing -- if ever.
Another concession, usually overlooked, is that Iran never even signed the JCPOA deal -- what sort of deal, then, is that?
Appeasement policies, secret deals and generous concessions to predatory regimes do not work, as history has repeatedly shown. They only empower and embolden leaders whose record reveals that they have no intention of honoring whatever they agreed to in the first place, and for whom commitments have been mainly a means of buying time to accomplish the goals they really want.
The Biden administration is ratcheting up its appeasement policies towards the Iranian regime in an apparent effort to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Appeasement policies, secret deals and generous concessions to predatory regimes do not work, as history has repeatedly shown.
The Biden administration is ratcheting up its appeasement policies towards the Iranian regime in an apparent effort to revive the 2015 nuclear deal -- which by the way, Iran never signed.
US President Joe Biden made his intention to return to the nuclear deal public before he took office; after, he appointed as Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman -- a key negotiator in the talks which led to the nuclear deal in 2015 during the Obama administration. Biden actually publicized Sherman's professed accomplishment:
"She has successfully rallied the world to strengthen democracy and confront some of the biggest national security challenges of our time, including leading the U.S. negotiating team for the Iran Deal".
The administration proceeded to revoke the designation of the Houthis, an Iran-backed terror group, as an officially-designated terrorist organization.
Republican foreign policy leaders in Congress are now requesting from the Secretary of State Antony Blinken answers to questions about the secret talks held with South Korea that resulted in South Korea giving the Iranian regime $1 billion in ransom money. The letter was "led" by Congressman Bryan Steil (WI), Congressman Greg Steube (FL) and Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Banks (IN). Steil pointed out:
"The Biden administration appears to be using loopholes when dealing with the Iranian regime. I am again asking direct, yes or no questions on the United States' involvement in facilitating a South Korean ransom payment to Iran. If the Biden administration is involved in transferring funds to Iran, Congress and the American people must be informed. Biden administration officials continue to deflect and refuse to answer questions from members of Congress regarding this issue. I want answers. Congress must be informed of the administration's actions".
In January, the Iranian regime, apparently as part of an extortion maneuver, had seized a South Korean ship in the Gulf and demanded ransom for its release. Congressman Banks stated:
"The Biden administration has to stop stonewalling and must come clean regarding whether they facilitated sanctions relief for the thugs in Tehran. I'm glad to co-lead this letter with my colleagues Rep. Bryan Steil and Rep. Greg Steube. The RSC will continue to investigate until we get to the bottom of what is going on".
Secret talks to appease the Iranian regime should not come as surprise. When President Biden was vice president during the Obama administration, the administration was all too eager to grant concessions to the Iranian regime and, it turns out, made multiple secret deals with the mullahs. One of the secret deals consisted of allowing the Iranian regime to have access to US dollars by sidestepping sanctions. "The Obama administration misled the American people and Congress because they were desperate to get a deal with Iran", said Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), who chaired the Senate panel conducting the investigation at the time.
The Obama administration also secretly agreed to remove sanctions on several Iranian banks, including Bank Sepah and Sepah International. These banks had long been sanctioned by the United Nations due to their illegal activities in financing missile development and skirting UN Security Council resolutions regarding the arms embargo. These secret deals meant that when sanctions against Iranian banks were lifted and permission given to the leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to resume conducting business, there was no longer any mechanism to check or stop Iran's illegal activities such as advancing its ballistic missile program.
When, in return for Iran releasing hostages, the Obama administration released Iranian-born prisoners, some of whom were threats to the US national security, it shocked many and infuriated some of the officials at the Justice Department -- as did shipping $400 million in cash to Tehran as ostensibly a "not quid-pro-quo" ransom for the hostages. In addition, according to a report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, the Obama administration agreed "'in secret' to allow Iran to evade some restrictions" in the last year of the nuclear agreement. David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector, stated that "The exemptions or loopholes are happening in secret, and it appears that they favor Iran." These are only few examples of the secret deals conducted with the Iranian regime to appease it.
In addition to the secret deals, Iran also received dangerous and unprecedented concessions from the Obama administration for the Islamic Republic's 2015 "nuclear deal," the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The major concession was that the deal paved the way for Iran legally to become a full-blown nuclear state. The sunset clauses, which enshrined that commitment, had set a firm expiration date for restricting Iran's nuclear program, after which the country's leaders would be free to have, legitimately, as many nuclear weapons as they like. The Obama administration also helped swiftly to lift all four rounds of UN sanctions against Iran -- sanctions it had taken decades to put in place. Iran's military sites also were exempted from inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency; other inspections were only to be at the times and places of Iran's choosing -- if ever. Iran then rejoined the global financial system with full legitimacy -- plus billions of dollars flowing into the treasury of the IRGC and its expanding militias across the Middle East.
Another concession, usually overlooked, is that Iran never even signed the JCPOA deal -- what sort of deal, then, is that?
Appeasement policies, secret deals and generous concessions to predatory regimes do not work, as history has repeatedly shown. They only empower and embolden leaders whose record reveals that they have no intention of honoring whatever they agreed to in the first place, and for whom commitments have been mainly a means of buying time to accomplish the goals they really want.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US foreign policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Political fallout of Europe’s vaccine debacle begins to surface
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Arab News/April 02, 2021
One of my favorite political risk adages comes from the 1936 screwball comedy “My Man Godfrey,” when William Powell relates why his character has gone to seed. Tellingly, he explains: “It’s surprising how fast you can go downhill when you begin to feel sorry for yourself.” By that wise standard — given that their basic lack of competence has been found out by the vaccine rollout debacle — Europe’s elites are very far down the plughole. In perhaps the understatement of the year, French President Emmanuel Macron mournfully put it this week: “We were not quick enough.”The political risk fallout due to this titanic self-inflicted political wound is just beginning to surface. It will form the backdrop to increasingly unstable European politics well into the medium term, as political risk has dramatically increased in the continent’s big two political players: Germany and France. For Macron, the debacle puts his re-election in genuine peril. And, for the long-ruling center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its dominance of German politics can no longer be taken for granted.
All of this naturally flows from the glaring policy failures exhibited by European elites over these fraught last few months. Presently, both pillars of the European establishment find themselves under genuine siege. Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said perhaps more than she knew when she recently stated that grappling with the pandemic amounts to the “great litmus test” of the EU’s capabilities. It is a test that the bloc is demonstrably failing.
The political risk consequences of this historical failure have not been long in coming. At the end of March, German polls found the long-ruling CDU had its lead over the center-left Greens slashed from a more-than-comfortable 20 points to a miserly two points (the CDU-Christian Social Union alliance has 25 percent support, the Greens 23 percent). Frustrations over the bungled response to the pandemic entirely explain this sudden political earthquake.
The new head of the CDU, the deeply uncharismatic Armin Laschet, has seen support for his leadership plummet, even as he has managed to embroil himself in a public spat over coronavirus disease policy with the still-popular Merkel. An online survey found that nearly three-quarters of those polled do not regard Laschet as the right person to succeed Merkel, including a decisive 73 percent of CDU voters.
Frustrations over the bungled response to the pandemic entirely explain this sudden political earthquake.
Given that Laschet was only confirmed as CDU leader by a hand-picked 1,000 party functionaries — a barely democratic process Merkel and the party establishment insisted on so they could control the outcome — Laschet’s lack of political legitimacy leaves him vulnerable at precisely this moment of political crisis. The CDU/CSU will formally decide on their chancellor candidate during the months of April and May, ahead of the September parliamentary elections. Given the rollout debacle and the political crisis that it has spawned for the CDU, it is no longer a sure thing that Laschet is effortlessly given the CDU/CSU election mantle, as had been expected. With the Greens breathing down the neck of the CDU — and with a traffic light coalition of the Greens, the reds (the center-left SPD) and the yellows (the center-right FDP) suddenly a possible alternative to continued CDU rule — sleepy German politics has just awakened.
Also due to the political risk brought on by the vaccine rollout debacle, Macron is no longer the shoo-in for re-election the complacent European commentariat has for so long assumed. An early March Harris Interactive poll found him only six percentage points ahead of his likely challenger, the populist far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, in terms of second-round voting preferences, 53 to 47 percent.
Strikingly, Macron’s decline in the polls is entirely due to left-wing French voters no longer being prepared to unenthusiastically vote for him in order to keep a mainstream candidate in power at the expense of the far right. The “Republican Front,” which until now has kept both the far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter from the presidency in successive elections since 2002, is effectively dying. Given the frustrating months ahead for France with a lengthened lockdown, and all the social and economic costs that portends, politically Macron is clearly as vulnerable to Le Pen as he has ever been.
Of course, there is a long way to go until the German elections in September of this year and even further to the French presidential contest of April-May 2022. It is also true that, by the autumn, barring any other unforeseen events, almost all adults in Germany and France ought to have been vaccinated at last. There is also little doubt that a global economic sugar rush of repressed demand will be unleashed as the world opens up. Both these structural factors bode very well for the European establishment being able to overcome its horrendous pandemic mistakes and to continue to govern. However, given the massive policy errors of the past few months, it would take only one more major mistake in either France or Germany for the European establishment as we know it to unravel. Political risk is on in Europe in a way it has not been in decades.
• Dr. John C. Hulsman is the president and managing partner of John C. Hulsman Enterprises, a prominent global political risk consulting firm. He is also senior columnist for City AM, the newspaper of the City of London. He can be contacted via chartwellspeakers.com.

Saudi plans to grow forests in the desert could change the world
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/April 03/2021
For any country that relies upon hydrocarbons to provide 99 percent of its energy, you might imagine that announcing an ambitiously huge entry into the renewables space would be daunting.
Not for Saudi Arabia. With average annual sun hours in excess of 3,000, miles upon miles of untouched shoreline and a landmass the size of Western Europe, the potential is immense.
For decades the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum was OPEC’s poster boy, leading the way on the pricing of crude and helping to keep cars moving, ships sailing and the global economy ticking over. The oil crisis of 1973 underscored the Kingdom’s linchpin status as a leading global producer.
It is therefore not too surprising that market watchers were perplexed in May 2019 when the ministry (the very headquarters of which is designed to resemble an oil barrel) was renamed the Ministry of Energy.
Though regional decision-makers have long opined about the virtues of their desert landscapes as potential hubs for solar energy, the paradigm shift required for this to happen has always seemed unattainable — until now.
The Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, which were announced this week, aim to unite countries in the region facing similar environmental challenges. The plans include the world’s largest afforestation project, which aims to restore about 40 million hectares of degraded land.
Given that the initiative involves planting a staggering 10 billion trees in the Kingdom alone, and an ambition for the country to generate 50 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030, it has attracted a great deal of international attention.
The UN and the UK (the latter of which this year presides over the UN’s COP26 Climate Change Conference, which will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November) welcomed the Saudi announcement as being both timely, given the global climate-change agenda, and positive, given that environmental matters had all but been neglected regionally.
While environmental damage in the region has long been ignored, the efforts now being made to reverse this trend are commendable.
Oil transformed the lives of the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. It provided centuries of economic development in just a few decades, lifting people out of poverty and sickness. This miracle has had disastrous environmental consequences, however, most pertinently the huge population growth the region has experienced, which has accelerated climate change.
As a shallow body of water within a hot desert, the Arabian Gulf region is obviously at risk from the effects of rising sea temperatures. Countries along the Gulf and the Red Sea have low-lying coastal developments that are highly vulnerable to sea-level rises.
Desalination projects to provide water for large population centers have disrupted the natural ecology of the region and are incredibly energy inefficient. The increased use of machinery, the growth of heavy industry and the tarmacking of seasonal waterways has led to desertification, dust storms and air pollution, which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman highlighted in his announcement this week. With regional summer temperatures now sometimes as high as 60 degrees Celsius, the traditional existence of human life without air conditioning is a distant memory.
With global peak oil demand either having passed or due to take place in the next few years, the time to focus on alternative sources of energy is now. Hydrocarbons have played an incredibly important part in keeping the Kingdom and its neighbors cool and watered but their abundance has led to grossly inefficient practices.
Despite the opportunity to exploit its mountainous regions for wind power, the most realistic prospect for the Kingdom will be solar energy. This will have to be large in scale and constantly updated to remain an efficient and reliable source. Given that currently only Iceland and Norway, which have markedly cooler climates, source more than 50 percent of their primary energy from renewables, the scale of the challenge facing the Kingdom over the next nine years is daunting.
While environmental damage in the region has long been ignored, the efforts now being made to reverse this trend are commendable. Though it is unlikely Arabia will ever again be the historical land of 42 lakes that it was before the Arab exodus from the region, efforts to preserve and improve its topography will go some way to stabilizing rising temperatures.
• Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator, and an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid

Before Fatah commits suicide on the election trail
Ali Sarraf/The Arab Weekly/April 03/2021
Faced with the reality of the continued disintegration of the Fatah movement, President Mahmoud Abbas can make three final decisions: Keep the door open for nominations to reorganise the electoral lists; postpone the date of the elections by one month and, last of all, resign.
The Fatah movement which President Abbas has torn asunder with his arrogance can then reunite.
Neither the reformist movement led by Mohamed Dahlan nor Nasser Qudwa nor Marwan Barghouti will hesitate to accept that call for unity.
An urgent meeting of all the movement’s leaders, in which President Abbas hands over the mandate, is his best option, both for himself and for Fatah, instead of committing suicide on the election trail.
It is clear to everyone, including President Abbas himself, that the Fatah’s official election list is likely to face a crushing defeat, if the present fragmentation remains as it is today.
Fatah is not just a party, it is not just a legacy, nor just an authority, it is the only organisation that can consider itself an inclusive Palestinian tent which accommodates different ideas, currents and political and intellectual visions.
It is this reality that Abbas tried to destroy, in order to create an organisation that resembles himself, rather than his own people.
The problem is that he could be punished not just by the terrible defeat awaiting the Fatah list in the legislative elections, but for what this defeat could mean for the movement’s leaders.
Some of those leaders are not hiding their unhappiness about the reality of the situation. It is likely that the discontent will turn into an open clash and may even end up with a clamour for his dismissal.
President Abbas does not need to reach such an end.
Quietly withdrawing now would not only maintain his status, but also preserve his dignity. All those who were arrogant in their exercise of power and preferred to be stubborn till the end finished up being beheaded.
This will not happen in the literal sense of course, as the Palestinians are not of this type, However, it can happen in all other symbolic ways.
Those who love President Abbas are the ones who should be giving him this kind of advice. If he heeds that advice, people could eventually fin reason to defend him, his policies and options; and he could preserve his place in the record of his people’s struggle.
Those looking at the history of Fatah would look at him with greater sympathy. They will forgive him for his mistakes and find some explanation for his failure. This option will only be possible if Abbas steps down early enough, so proving he is capable of self-sacrifice for the good of the movement he has led and for the sake of preserving its place among the Palestinians. The issue is not simply about a race between Fatah lists competing in the scheduled elections.
It is because such divisions mean that Fatah no longer knows what it stands for nor what it wants. It does not know, therefore, what the future will look like. Any political movement that finds itself in this predicament ends up in an historic defeat, the effects of which may extend for more than a generation. In the difficult circumstances that the Palestinians face under occupation, committing mistakes or adopting failed policies may express a level of inability to deal with reality. However, it must not turn into a disaster or a planned self-destruction.
One of the most important reasons for this failure is that President Abbas imposed on Fatah certain choices that have proved to be harmful and could not achieve real progress. A large part of this outcome emanated from his fear of other opinions, his wariness of criticism and his evasion of responsibility. The Fatah Central Committee meetings turned into a radio station broadcasting the president’s speeches. They were no longer a venue to discuss options and alternatives or to devise strategies that fitted the reality of the situation and anticipated what could be done.
Dahlan, Qudwa and Barghouti are forces for change and reform that should be listened to.
They represent currents and visions. The Fatah movement cannot be itself anymore if it cannot benefit from them.
Even without the elections these currents are drawing large support across the generations. What makes it imperative that President Abbas resigns is that he is no longer able to contain these currents, to coexist with them, or even to reach an understanding with those who represent them.
Moreover, Abbas does not have the support of all of his central committee.
Futhermore, he is not the type of person who can accept other options or policies dictated by the urgent need of reform, by changes on the ground and by the pressures of occupation.
This means that he has effectively painted himself into a corner. He has left himself no wiggle room to start change and reform.
Resignation is not necessarily the end. It could be the first step in a new process. Mahmoud Abbas will always be Mahmoud Abbas.
No one will deny him anything and his voice will not necessarily fade away.
Renewal is required by itself in the face of crises. A person cannot lead his people into a closed tunnel and insist that he can come through without reversing course.This is collective suicide. New approaches out of any crisis require new leadership. Just as the Israelis are fed up with the authority of Benyamin Netanyahu, even though he embodies their right-wing outlook better than others, so the Palestinians have the right to be fed up with the authority of President Abbas not the least because he can no longer be like anyone but himself. Change is a must.
It is better for President Abbas to realise this before it is imposed on him.