English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For 01 August/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/33-36/:”‘No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.’”

Titels For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 31-01 August/2022
Patriarch Al-Rahi’s Sermon Text/Rejection of all fabricated security – judicial pressures, Irreversible insistence to implement his four demands, in a bid to correct the unprecedented encroachments and abuses that Archbishop Al-Hajj and the Patriarchate have been subjected to.
Patriarch Al-Rahi: We cannot accept the closure of the government formation file, and we are afraid that a president will not be elected
Patriarch Al-Rahi: Fears of a huge fall if forces fail to elect a new President of the Republic
Al-Rahi urges state to protect Rmeish residents under Resolution 1701
S. Nasrallah: To See What Message US Envoy Holds, Hezbollah Behind Lebanese State
Hochstein begins Lebanon meetings, Fayyad says he's carrying positive proposal
US on Hochstein visit: Reaching a resolution can only be done through diplomacy
Lebanese Army on its Martyrs’ Day: We pledge to pursue the march no matter the challenges
Ibrahim discusses with Hochstein, Shea demarcation file developments
Army Chief confers with Hochstein, Shea over border demarcation dossier
Lebanon Speaker Nabih Berri says no presidential vote until parliament passes reforms
Hezbollah threatens to attack infrastructure in disputed Mediterranean gasfield
Hezbollah airs footage of Karish barges, warns Israel against 'wasting time'
Hezbollah airs drone footage of Israeli barges in disputed gas field
Hezbollah warns Israel against 'playing with time' over maritime border dispute
Part of Beirut port silos, damaged in 2020 blast, collapses
Lebanese face long 'insulting' queues to buy bread
Lebanon seizes ship carrying 'stolen' Ukrainian grain
Lebanese Army on its Martyrs’ Day: We pledge to pursue the march no matter the challenges
Health Ministry: 2,312 new Corona cases, 3 deaths
The Syrians of Lebanon Are Not the Ones Threatening us with War!/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 31/2022

Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 31-01 August/2022
Israel to accelerate establishment of joint industrial zone with Jordan
Fears rise for young boys missing in UK-funded Syrian jails for Daesh members
Ukraine denies carrying out drone attack on Russian fleet HQ
Global food crisis in focus as Zelenskyy warns Ukraine harvest could be halved
Turkey says first grain cargo could leave Ukraine port Monday
Briton leaves Iraq after antiquities conviction quashed
Arab League chief urges Iraqi parties to avoid escalation
Hundreds camp at Iraqi parliament for second day
Iraq’s Moqtada Al Sadr asks supporters to push for 'radical change'
Chinese booster rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth

Titles For LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 31-01 August/2022
Iran regime fears opposition’s growing strength/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 31/ 2022
Iraq: The Shiite-Shiite Conflict/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 31/2022
Russia softens its attitude on Ukrainian grain corridor/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/July 31/2022
Potential 2024 candidates begin jostling for position/Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/July 31/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 31-01 August/2022
Patriarch Al-Rahi’s Sermon Text/Rejection of all fabricated security – judicial pressures, Irreversible insistence to implement his four demands, in a bid to correct the unprecedented encroachments and abuses that Archbishop Al-Hajj and the Patriarchate have been subjected to.
Patriarch Al-Rahi: We cannot accept the closure of the government formation file, and we are afraid that a president will not be elected
LCCC/July 31/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/110854/%d9%86%d8%b5-%d8%b9%d8%b8%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%b7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b9%d9%8a-%d8%b1%d9%81%d8%b6-%d9%84%d9%83%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b6%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%b7%d8%a7/
The Maronite Patriarch Mar Beshara Al-Rahi indicated that “we cannot accept the closure of the file of forming a new government, as if the government was just a detail in the structure of the Lebanese system. There is no value for assignment unless it entails formation.” He was surprised that “those concerned with forming the government are making fun of this matter, contrary to the constitution and Taif, and what we fear is that if the political forces are unable to form, they will be unable to elect a president for the republic tomorrow.”
In his Sunday mass, Patriarch Al-Rahi regretted the incident that took place two days ago in Rmeish between armed elements affiliated with one of the parties and the people. in their areas.”
Al-Rahi pointed out that “the Lebanese army celebrates its seventy-seventh anniversary tomorrow, and we pray that God protects it from all dangers and strengthens its unity.”
Al- Rahi: In All That Is Related To Bishop El Hagge, matter, we call on those responsible for the incident of Archbishop Musa Al-Hajj and the detention of those who unlawfully detained him, to do the following:
1. That they return his Lebanese passport and phone to him.
2. To hand him the trusts of money and medicines that he was carrying in name to people and institutions, because it is a trust on his neck.
3. To ensure his passage from Naqoura, like all those who preceded him, to his diocese back and forth without arrest or search.
4. To stop calling the Lebanese citizens in occupied Palestine “agents.”
If the official does not comply with these demands, they will cause great evil to our diocese in the Holy Land, as they prevent its bishop from going to it, and make it as if it were vacant, and this is a serious matter for which they will be held accountable.
We ask God that this does not happen. To him alone be all glory, praise and thanksgiving, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever, Amen.

Patriarch Al-Rahi: Fears of a huge fall if forces fail to elect a new President of the Republic
NNA/Jul 31/2022  
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, presided this morning over Sunday Mass service in Diman.
In his religious homily, the Patriarch underlined that “dropping the new government formation issue cannot be accepted as it if were just a detail in the structure of the Lebanese state system, knowing that the Taif Agreement made the Council of Ministers, along with the Presidency of the Republic, the pivotal pillar and the center of the executive authority.”He added: “There is no value for appointing a new prime minister if it is not followed by cabinet formation...We are surprised that those involved in forming the government are belittling this matter, contrary to the Constitution and the Taif Agreement.”
Al-Rahi stressed that “the formation of a new government is a sign of respect for the democratic system, ensuring the completion of the contract of constitutional institutions, the functioning of governance and the separation of powers, and the continuation of legitimacy through a government with full powers in the event of an obstacle, God forbid, with regards to electing a new President of the Republic.”The Patriarch continued to consider that “the existence of a legitimate government gives the state the ability to negotiate with the Arab and international communities, to take decisions and sign treaties,” adding, “What we fear is that if the political forces are unable today to form a government, then tomorrow they will be unable to elect a new president...and hence the huge fall!” “But we hope and pray that it won't happen...” he said. Referring to the incident involving Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj, Patriarch al-Rahi considered that it constitutes a test of the extent of separating between religion and state. “Some were complaining about the interference of sects in the state, while the state attacked a constituent sect and a religious cleric, known for his piety and service to the people, who ought to have been respected by the state by preserving his movement between Lebanon and his parish...Instead, they fabricated an incident, turned it into a case, and organized media campaigns to distort the image of the Archbishop and the Church's humanitarian and national mission...”He added: “We reaffirm that working with an ‘enemy country’ was never part of our culture, our spirit and our dignity. We are the first to respect and defend the laws, so we ask the authority to respect and abide by them. We are the first to respect and defend the judiciary, but we ask judges and judicial officials to respect the sanctity of the judiciary and liberate it from maliciousness and dependence on political and sectarian forces.”
The Patriarch, thus, highlighted the following demands pertaining to Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj’s case:
1. Return his Lebanese passport and mobile phone
2. Hand him back the entrusted money and medicines that he nominally carried to people and institutions
3. Ensure that he crosses from Naqoura, like all those before him, to his diocese back and forth without any arrest or search
4. Stop labeling the Lebanese citizens in occupied Palestine as “agents”
Al-Rahi warned that “if officials do not comply with these demands, they would be causing great harm to our diocese in the Holy Land as they prevent its bishop from visiting it, thus rendering the parish astray, and this is a serious matter for which they will be held accountable.”On the other hand and marking Lebanon’s Army Day, the Patriarch said: “Tomorrow the Lebanese army celebrates its seventy-seventh founding anniversary, and we pray for it so that the Lord may protect it from dangers, develop it, strengthen the bond of its unity, and preserve the well-being of its members. We express our congratulations and best wishes to the Army Commander, officers and soldiers.”

Al-Rahi urges state to protect Rmeish residents under Resolution 1701
Naharnet/Jul 31/2022 
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday voiced regret over the clash in the southern border town of Rmeish between Hezbollah members and town residents."We urge the security agencies to perform their duty of protecting and reassuring our sons, so that they feel that they belong to a state that protects them and guarantees their safety and freedom to work in their land, under U.N. Security Council 1701, which prohibits any armed forces from being present in their area,” al-Rahi added in his Sunday Mass sermon.

S. Nasrallah: To See What Message US Envoy Holds, Hezbollah Behind Lebanese State
Al-Manar English WebsiteظJuly 31, 2022
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Sunday that the Resistance will wait to see what message the US energy envoy Amos Hochstein holds to Lebanon regarding the maritime borders talks, stressing that Hezbollah stands behind the Lebanese State in the issue of negotiations.
During a speech on the third night of Muharram, Sayyed Nasrallah described the oil and gas off Lebanon’s shores as a ‘golden chance’ to cope with the current economic crisis facing the country. “There is a golden chance to save our people from queuing to get bread and oil. Let’s take this risk… this calculated risk,” his eminence addressed mourners in Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh) via video link. Sayyed Nasrallah, meanwhile, slammed those who are relating between maritime talks with Iran’s nuclear affair. “Since they are puppets who serve the interests of the US and Saudi Arabia, they think that Hezbollah is so.”In this context, his eminence stressed that Hezbollah “wants to help the Lebanese people and to provide the Lebanese states with points of strength during the negotiations on the maritime borders” with the Zionist entity. “In the morning, the US envoy will be meeting the Lebanese officials. Let’s see what message he will deliver. We will act according to this message.” The Lebanese Resistance Leader reiterated here, that Hezbollah is not part of the negotiation process, stressing that the Lebanese State is the side responsible to decide on this issue and that Hezbollah stands behind the Lebanese State.
Earlier on Sunday morning, Hezbollah’s Military Media Department released a video including coordinates of the Israeli platforms operating in the Mediterranean, in a clear warning that they are within the reach of the Lebanese Resistance’s missiles. Sunday’s video echoes threats by Sayyed Nasrallah to the Zionist entity against attempts to plunder Lebanon’s gas and oil fields.

Hochstein begins Lebanon meetings, Fayyad says he's carrying positive proposal
Naharnet/Jul 31/2022
U.S. energy mediator Amos Hochstein arrived Sunday in Lebanon carrying a new Israeli proposal regarding the sea border demarcation with Lebanon. He began his talks in Lebanon by meeting with caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. Speaking after the meeting, Fayyad said Hochstein is “carrying a new proposal to the Lebanese officials.”“He told me that it is positive and denied all rumors about joint (gas) extraction between Lebanon and Israel,” Fayyad added. “Hochstein told me that he will negotiate with the World Bank over the conditions for endorsing the electricity plan that Lebanon has devised,” the minister went on to say. MTV meanwhile quoted Hochstein as telling Fayyad that the video released Sunday by Hezbollah will not help the negotiations because Israel will become more intransigent due to its parliamentary elections. The video shows gas production barges in the Karish field and their coordinates. It ends with footage of a rocket with the words "within range" in Arabic and Hebrew. Hezbollah also warned Israel in the video against "wasting time."A senior Israeli meanwhile said that Hochstein would deliver a new Israeli proposal that "includes a solution that would allow the Lebanese to develop the gas reserves in the disputed area while preserving Israel's commercial rights.""The offer that has been relayed is a serious proposal that can transform Lebanon from a country of economic ruin and energy crises to a natural gas-producing country, by enabling it to cultivate this resource," the official said.

US on Hochstein visit: Reaching a resolution can only be done through diplomacy
Naharnet/Jul 31/2022 
The U.S. State Department on Sunday announced that reaching a solution in the sea border talks between Lebanon and Israel can only be reached through “negotiations and diplomacy,” shortly before the arrival of U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials. “Following visits to Paris, Brussels, and Athens to discuss European energy security, Special Presidential Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut July 31 to discuss sustainable solutions to Lebanon’s energy crisis, including the Biden Administration’s commitment to facilitating negotiations between Lebanon and Israel on the maritime boundary,” the State Dept. said in a statement. “Reaching a resolution is both necessary and possible, but can only be done through negotiations and diplomacy,” it stressed. Shortly after the U.S. statement, Hezbollah’s war media department released a video showing the coordinates of the gas platforms in the Israeli-operated offshore gas field Karish. The video also showed missiles and warned Israel that “wasting time is not beneficial

Lebanese Army on its Martyrs’ Day: We pledge to pursue the march no matter the challenges
NNA/Jul 31/2022
Following his visits to the French capital, Paris, Brussels, and the Greek capital, Athens, to discuss energy security, US President Joe Biden's Special Envoy for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, Amos Hochstein, will travel to Lebanon today, the US State Department said in a statement on its website

Ibrahim discusses with Hochstein, Shea demarcation file developments
NNA/Jul 31/2022
Public Security Director-General, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, received in his office this afternoon a US delegation headed by the US Envoy for Global Energy Security, Amos Hochstein, in the presence of US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.
Talks during the meeting centered on developments in the maritime border demarcation file.

Army Chief confers with Hochstein, Shea over border demarcation dossier
NNA/Jul 31/2022
Army Chief, General Joseph Aoun, received at his Yarzeh office this afternoon, the head of the American delegation in the indirect technical negotiations for the demarcation of the maritime borders, Amos Hochstein, accompanied by US Ambassador Dorothy Shea.
Discussions focused on the demarcation of the maritime borders, where Hochstein briefed General Aoun on the latest developments in this dossier.In turn, the Army Commander reiterated "the military institution's commitment to any decision taken by the political authority in this regard," hoping that "the negotiations will reach the desired results for the interest of Lebanon."

Lebanon Speaker Nabih Berri says no presidential vote until parliament passes reforms
The National/Jul 31/2022
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he will not call for a session to elect a new president until the legislature passes reforms sought by the International Monetary Fund as preconditions for a bailout. An IMF deal is regarded as vital to Lebanon's economic recovery from a meltdown that has plunged the country into its most destabilising crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Senior politicians have voiced concern about greater institutional deadlock if no successor is found to President Michel Aoun before his six-year term ends on October 31, especially if a new government has not been installed since elections in May. “I will not call for a presidential election session until after the reform laws required by the IMF have been adopted,” Mr Berri said during media briefing at his Beirut residence on Saturday. He said Parliament should work to pass the reforms before the end of August. Mr Berri, the leader of the Amal party who has been Speaker for nearly three decades, said on Friday that a “miracle” would be needed for a government to be formed soon. He did not elaborate. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was named as prime minister-designate in June but has yet to present a Cabinet line-up for Parliament's approval. His nomination for a fourth term in office was supported by 54 of the 128 members of parliament. Under the constitution, the president issues the decree appointing a prime minister based on binding consultations with MPs, and must co-sign on the formation of any new Cabinet. Lebanon reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $3 billion bailout in April but a full deal is conditional on the passing of bills including capital controls, banking restructuring legislation and the 2022 budget. Lebanon's constitution says the Speaker must convene Parliament “one month at least and two months at most before the expiration of the term of office of the President of the Republic”. Failing that, the chamber meets automatically on the 10th day preceding the term's expiration, the constitution says. Mr Aoun came to power after a 29-month presidential vacuum in which Parliament was unable to agree on electing a president. The stalemate ended with a series of deals that secured victory for Mr Aoun and his powerful Iran-backed ally Hezbollah. Mr Aoun is limited to one term, and major political parties have not announced any agreement on his successor.

Hezbollah threatens to attack infrastructure in disputed Mediterranean gasfield
The National/Jul 31, 2022
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has threatened to launch anti-ship missiles at Israeli-operated gas infrastructure at the Karish gasfield in the Mediterranean. The gasfield has been at the centre of a dispute over the two countries’ maritime borders, with negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese delegations failing to reach a compromise on the disputed stretch of ocean. The threat came a US envoy appointed as a mediator in the talks arrived in Beirut, reportedly with a new proposal to manage the disputed area. Amos Hochstein met with senior government officials including President Michel Aoun and Energy Minister Walid Fayad. "Reaching a resolution is both necessary and possible, but can only be done through negotiations and diplomacy," the US State Department said in a statement ahead of Mr Hochstein's visit. The issue has been highly sensitive in Lebanon, with Mr Aoun warning last month that “any activity or action in the disputed area is considered a provocation and aggressive act.”A drilling vessel was sent to Karish in June, operated by Energean, an Israeli-British venture. Wells could be operational by September. In June, Hezbollah were accused of sending unarmed reconnaissance drones to monitor operations at the site. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib criticised the drone mission, saying any actions “outside the state's framework and diplomatic context,” would create “unnecessary risks.”Last week, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that his country’s government was “incapable of making the right decision that would protect Lebanon and its riches, therefore the resistance must take this decision.”But the latest video represents an explicit threat, portraying a mock attack on the infrastructure using anti-ship missiles that analysts say are supplied by Iran. Hezbollah is thought to possess a number of Chinese-made C-802 anti-ship missiles that have been upgraded by Iran. The group used two of the weapons during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, seriously damaging an Israeli warship and killing four crew members. Lebanon and Israel are locked in US-mediated negotiations to delineate their shared maritime border that would help determine which oil and gas resources belong to which country and pave the way for more exploration. Lebanese officials have said they are optimistic that this round of talks can result in a deal after years of on-and-off indirect negotiations, but Hezbollah has warned it is ready to prevent Israel from extracting hydrocarbons should Lebanon not be allowed to do the same. Sunday's video, which also contains a rare glimpse of Hezbollah weaponry, was broadcast on the group's Al-Manar TV station hours before the US official mediating the maritime dispute, Amos Hochstein, was scheduled to meet Lebanese officials in Beirut.
It was issued by Hezbollah's War Media that the group uses to broadcast footage of military operations and battles, and contains images of ships involved in drilling for and extracting hydrocarbons, along with what appear to be their co-ordinates.The video begins with the words of Mr Nasrallah during a recent speech in which he warned that “playing with time is not useful” on the maritime issue.“The message is a serious threat,” a top Al Manar correspondent said on Twitter. A statement on Saturday by the US State Department said Mr Hochstein's Beirut visit would aim to facilitate talks on the maritime boundary. “Reaching a resolution is both necessary and possible, but can only be done through negotiations and diplomacy,” it said. A senior Israeli official told Reuters that Mr Hochstein would represent a new Israeli proposal that “includes a solution that would allow the Lebanese to develop the gas reserves in the disputed area while preserving Israel's commercial rights”. If this reaches agreement, it would entail “some drilling there” by the Lebanese, the unnamed Israeli official said, without elaborating. “The offer that has been relayed is a serious proposal that can transform Lebanon from a country of economic ruin and energy crises to a natural gas-producing country, by enabling it to cultivate this resource,” the official said.

Hezbollah airs footage of Karish barges, warns Israel against 'wasting time'
Associated Press/Jul 31, 2022
Hezbollah on Sunday aired drone footage of Israeli ships in a disputed gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting the tension at the center of U.S.-mediated maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel. The footage was aired as the U.S. energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, was landing in Beirut to mediate ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel over their sea borders. Lebanon claims the Karish gas field is disputed territory under ongoing maritime border negotiations, whereas Israel says it lies within its internationally recognized economic waters. Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in a statement Friday said Hochstein will inform Lebanon of Israel's response to Lebanon's June proposal, adding that he was optimistic about reaching an agreement soon. There was no immediate response to the video from Israel. The footage aired on the group's al-Manar television showed barges in the Karish gas field and their coordinates. It ended with footage of a rocket with the words "within range" in Arabic and Hebrew. The video also contained a phrase previously voiced by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warning that "wasting time is not beneficial." The Israeli military earlier this month shot down three Hezbollah unarmed drones flying over Karish the gas field in the Mediterranean Sea. caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticized Hezbollah at the time, saying the move could pose risks to the country.
Nasrallah in an interview last week said that the group can locate and strike Karish and any other Israeli gas field. Following his last visit in June, Hochstein told U.S.-funded Al-Hurra television that the Lebanese government took "a very strong step forward" by presenting a more united approach, and anticipated that there could be progress to reach a settlement. Lebanon and Israel, which have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to exploit offshore gas reserves as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Hezbollah airs drone footage of Israeli barges in disputed gas field
Associated Press/Jul 31, 2022
As U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein lands in Beirut to mediate ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel, Lebanese terror group publishes video from reconnaissance drones over Karish gas field and their coordinates
Lebanon's Hezbollah on Sunday aired drone footage of Israeli ships in a disputed gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting the tension at the center of U.S.-mediated maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel.
The footage was aired as the U.S. energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, was landing in Beirut to mediate ongoing talks between Lebanon and Israel over their sea borders. Lebanon claims the Karish gas field is disputed territory under ongoing maritime border negotiations, whereas Israel says it lies within its internationally recognized economic waters. Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib in a statement Friday said Hochstein will inform Lebanon of Israel's response to Lebanon's June proposal, adding that he was optimistic about reaching an agreement soon.
There was no immediate response to the video from Israel. The footage aired on the Iran-backed party and militia's Al-Manar television, showed barges from reconnaissance drones over the Karish gas field and their coordinates. It ended with footage of a rocket with the words "within range" in Arabic and Hebrew. The Israeli military earlier this month shot down three Hezbollah unarmed drones flying over Karish gas fieldin the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticized Hezbollah, saying the move could pose risks to the country.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an interview last week said that the militant group can locate and strike Karish and any other Israeli gas field. Following his last visit in June, Hochstein told U.S.-funded Al-Hurra television that the Lebanese government took "a very strong step forward" by presenting a more united approach, and anticipated that there could be progress to reach a settlement. The two countries, which have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to exploit offshore gas reserves as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Hezbollah warns Israel against 'playing with time' over maritime border dispute
BEIRUT (Reuters)/Sun, July 31, 2022.
- Lebanon's armed Hezbollah group issued a video on Sunday showing vessels involved in the Israeli offshore oil and gas industry and warned against "playing with time", underlining its threat of military escalation amid maritime border demarcation talks.Lebanon and Israel are locked in U.S.-mediated negotiations to delineate their shared maritime border that would help determine which oil and gas resources belong to which country and pave the way for more exploration. Lebanese officials have said they are optimistic that this round of talks can result in a deal after years of on-and-off indirect negotiations, but Hezbollah has warned it is ready to prevent Israel from extracting hydrocarbons should Lebanon not be allowed to do so. Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 and have traded fire on several occasions since but have avoided a large-scale confrontation. Sunday's video, which also contains a rare glimpse of Hezbollah weaponry, was broadcast on the group's Al-Manar TV station hours before the U.S. official mediating the maritime dispute, Amos Hochstein, was scheduled to meet Lebanese officials in Beirut. It was issued by Hezbollah's War Media that the group uses to broadcast footage of military operations and battles, and contains images of ships involved in drilling for and extracting hydrocarbons, along with what appear to be their coordinates. The video begins with the words of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a recent speech in which he warned that "playing with time is not useful" on the maritime issue. "The message is a serous threat," a top Al-Manar correspondent said on Twitter. A statement on Saturday by the U.S. State Department said Hochstein's Beirut visit would aim to facilitate talks on the maritime boundary. "Reaching a resolution is both necessary and possible, but can only be done through negotiations and diplomacy," it said. A senior Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Hochstein would represent a new Israeli proposal that "includes a solution that would allow the Lebanese to develop the gas reserves in the disputed area while preserving Israel's commercial rights". If this reaches agreement, it would entail "some drilling there" by the Lebanese, the Israeli official said without elaborating. "The offer that has been relayed is a serious proposal that can transform Lebanon from a country of economic ruin and energy crises to a natural gas-producing country, by enabling it to cultivate this resource," the official said. (Reporting by Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam in Beirut and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Timour Azhari; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Part of Beirut port silos, damaged in 2020 blast, collapses
AP/July 31, 2022
BEIRUT: A section of Beirut’s massive port grain silos, shredded in the 2020 explosion, collapsed in a huge cloud of dust on Sunday after a weekslong fire, triggered by grains that had fermented and ignited in the summer heat. The northern block of the silos collapsed after what sounded like an explosion, kicking up thick gray dust that enveloped the iconic structure and the port next to a residential area. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured. Assaad Haddad the General Director of the Port Silo, told The Associated Press that “everything is under control” but the situation has not subsided yet. Minutes later, the dust subsided and calm returned. The 50 year-old, 48-meter tall giant silos withstood the force of the explosion two years ago, effectively shielding the western part of Beirut from the blast that killed over 200 people, wounded more than 6,000 and badly damaged entire neighborhoods.
In July, a fire broke out in the northern block of the silos due to fermenting grains. Firefighters and Lebanese Army soldiers were unable to put out the fire which continue smoldering for weeks, releasing odors into nearby cities. The environment and health ministries last week issued instructions to residents living near the port to stay indoors in well-ventilated spaces. Emmanuel Durand, a French civil engineer who volunteered for the government-commissioned team of experts, told the AP that the northern block of the silo has already been tipping since the day of the 2020 blast, but the latest fire had weakened its frail structure, accelerating a possible collapse. When the fermenting grains ignited earlier in July, firefighters and Lebanese soldiers tried to put out the fire with water, but withdrew after the moisture made it worse. The Interior Ministry said over a week later that the fire had spread, after reaching some electric cables nearby. The silos continued smoldering for weeks as the odor of fermented grain seeped into nearby neighborhoods. Residents who had survived the 2020 explosion said the fire and the smell reminded them of their trauma. The environment and health ministries last week instructed residents living near the port to stay indoors in well-ventilated spaces. The Lebanese Red Cross distributed K-N95 masks to those living nearby, and officials ordered firefighters and port workers to stay away from the immediate area near the silos. Emmanuel Durand, a French civil engineer who volunteered for the government-commissioned team of experts, told the AP earlier in July that the northern block of the silo had been slowing tilting over time but that the recent fire accelerated the rate and caused irreversible damage to the already weakened structure. Duran been monitoring the silos from thousands of miles away using data produced by sensors he installed over a year ago, and updating a team of Lebanese government and security officials on the developments in a WhatsApp group. In several reports, he warned that the northern block could collapse at any moment.Last April, the Lebanese government decided to demolish the silos, but  suspended the decision following protests from families of the blast’s victims and survivors. They contend that the silos may contain evidence useful for the judicial probe, and that it should stand as a memorial for the tragic incident. The Lebanese probe has revealed that senior government and security officials knew about the dangerous material stored at the port, though no officials have been convicted thus far. The implicated officials subsequently brought legal challenges against the judge leading the probe, which has left the investigation suspended since December.

Lebanese face long 'insulting' queues to buy bread
Agence France Presse/July 31/2022
In bankrupt Lebanon, Khalil Mansour has to queue for hours every day just to buy bread for his family and some days he can't afford any. In a country which once boasted the nickname "Switzerland of the Middle East" for its thriving banking sector before financial crisis hit in 2019, the chronic shortage of the staple of the Lebanese diet has been hard to take. Lebanon defaulted on its national debt in 2020 and its currency has lost around 90 percent of its black market value. The World Bank has branded the financial crisis one of the worst since the 19th century while the United Nations now considers four out five Lebanese to be living under the poverty line. Faced with demands from international creditors for painful reforms in return for the release of new aid, the embattled government has been forced to end subsidies on most essential goods -- although not so far on wheat.
The price of subsidized bread has gone up, although by less than if there were no subsidy, but bakeries have started rationing the staple. A bag of flat Arabic pitta-like bread now officially sells for 13,000 Lebanese pounds (43 U.S. cents). On the black market it costs more than 30,000. "Last week I went without bread for three days because I cannot afford to pay 30,000," said Mansour, 48. For Mansour and most Lebanese, buying bread means standing for hours in long queues outside bakeries and sometimes, when their turn comes, the bakeries have run out of bread. "Today I queued for three hours, yesterday two-and-a-half. What next?" Mansour said on Friday outside a Beirut bakery. "I have to feed my family. What else can I do?" asked Mansour, who earns the equivalent of $50 a month working in a pastry shop.
'Wild West'
Most bakeries limit the sale of bread to one or two bags per customer, and each bag contains six flatbreads. Subsidized bread is often bought in large quantities and sold again on the black market by unscrupulous dealers. "The queues have become worse over the past two weeks," said bakery owner Mohammed Mehdi. "We are facing huge shortages."The 49-year-old said the bakery business had become like the "Wild West". "Some customers come armed with guns and knives," he complained. Lebanese media carry frequent reports of fights breaking out at bakeries, and even shots fired by customers demanding more bread. In Taalbaya, in eastern Lebanon, a customer stormed a bakery on Tuesday furious he could not buy more bread, one report said. The client shoved an employee then ransacked the bakery, forcing the army to intervene, it added.
"What is happening is an insult... and it is even more difficult than the petrol shortage" that gripped Lebanon last year, Mehdi said.
'Incitement'
Lebanon imports 80 percent of its wheat from war-torn Ukraine, according to industry figures. But the country's capacity to store wheat took a heavy blow when a deadly blast at Beirut port in August 2020 severely damaged the country's main grain silos.
The government and bakeries have traded blame for the bread shortage. Bakeries accuse cash-strapped authorities of failing to provide enough subsidized flour. The economy ministry denies the claim and has accused bakeries of hoarding subsidized flour to use in unsubsidized products such as sweets. Authorities also claim that the presence in Lebanon of more than one million refugees from war-torn Syria is partly to blame for Lebanon's economic collapse. Some Lebanese have even gone as far as accusing Syrian refugees of buying subsidized bread to sell on the black market, fueling resentment against the refugees and demands for them to go home. There have been reports of some bakeries imposing separate queues for Lebanese and Syrians. This has prompted the U.N. refugee agency to voice its concern. "Lebanon is witnessing an increase in tensions and incitement between different communities, leading to localized violence in the streets, including against refugees," the UNHCR warned on Friday.

Lebanon seizes ship carrying 'stolen' Ukrainian grain
Agence France Presse/July 31/2022
Lebanon's State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat has ordered the seizure of a Syrian-flagged ship that docked at a northern port with a cargo of Ukrainian grain Kyiv's embassy in Beirut said was "illegal."Oueidat instructed police to investigate the Laodicea, which docked in Tripoli earlier this week, a judicial official said. Oueidat "ordered the seizure of the ship until the investigation is completed," the official said on condition of anonymity. Lebanese police were also instructed to consult Ukraine's embassy after it claimed that the grain aboard the Syrian-flagged ship was loaded from a region occupied by Russian forces.
Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February, has regularly accused Moscow forces of ransacking its grain warehouses. According to the Lebanese foreign ministry, the "Syrian-flagged ship is carrying barley and flour."Ukrainian ambassador Ihor Ostash told President Michel Aoun on Thursday that "illegal barley from occupied Ukrainian territory" was on board the ship. Preliminary reports indicate that the owner of the shipping company is a Turkish national and the grain belongs to a Syrian merchant, the judicial official said. Part of the cargo was due to be unloaded in Lebanon and the rest shipped to Syria, the official added. A customs official told AFP that the vessel's documents were "all in order and there is no proof that the merchandise was stolen.""The ship traveled through Turkey, and would have been seized by Turkish authorities if the vessel was under sanctions," said the official who declined to be named. According to some media reports, the U.S. sanctioned the Laodicea several years ago as part of measures taken against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The incident came as Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, prepares to resume grain exports following a U.N.-backed deal. Millions of tons of Ukrainian grain are stranded by a Russian naval blockade and Ukrainian mines laid to avert an amphibious landing on the Black Sea coast. The seizure of the Laodicea comes as Lebanon, which is struggling with one of the world's worst financial crises, is also facing a major bread shortage.

Lebanese Army on its Martyrs’ Day: We pledge to pursue the march no matter the challenges
NNA/July 31/2022
The Lebanese Army said today on Twitter: "The Army Martyrs' Day is an occasion in which we remember the bright and honorable legacy of our righteous martyrs in the record of immortality, embodied by our wounded through their dedication and sacrifices in defense of Lebanon and the preservation of its dignity…To them we pay the highest meanings of appreciation and loyalty, and we pledge to them to continue the march, no matter how severe the challenges."

Health Ministry: 2,312 new Corona cases, 3 deaths
NNA/July 31/2022
In its daily report on COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health announced today the registration of 2,312 new Corona virus infections, which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,173,871.
Three deaths were recorded within the past 24 hours, the report added.

The Syrians of Lebanon Are Not the Ones Threatening us with War!
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 31/2022
And so, we are faced with the prospect of a war through which we retrieve our wealth and die. We could die without retrieving our wealth. We could die and others could retrieve the wealth. And we could die without there being any wealth to be retrieved.
In all cases, the specter of generalized death looms in Lebanon. With every sunrise, Hezbollah, through its top brass and talking heads, warns us that this is a very real and serious, indeed likely, prospect.
True, the contradictions commanding the lives of the Lebanese are infinite - economic and political as well as cultural and ethical. Nonetheless, in the face of the prospect of war, confronting generalized death becomes the mother of all contradictions that must be confronted, influencing and shaping all the others.
Let us imagine that we reformed our politics and economy, controlled pollution, achieved gender justice, developed the labor laws governing foreign workers, and then plunged into, or were plunged into, a war! We know, with a swift reexamination of our modern history, that our sense of total powerlessness in the face of wars was established by two instances in which we were lax in confronting it.
After 2000, because of the Lebanese-Syrian security regime, those who had wanted to disarm Hezbollah were defeated. As for the result, it is that we were made to remain in an endless conflict because its objectives are ambiguous, and its decisions are in distant hands.
After that, with the Syrian revolution that later became a war, we were lax again. This time, our laxity was in deterring the Lebanese who had intervened and made several false claims about why they had gotten involved, ranging from the need to protect the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine to keeping the gates of the country closed to ISIS. Unfortunately, many believed these rumors; rather, they defended them with enthusiasm.
Naturally, these two instances of laxity can be explained. Some of the factors have to do with political authority, others with the domestic balance of military power, in addition to regional factors and pressures. However, two degenerations activated these factors and reinforced them: the first time, it became apparent that we had not learned the lesson of the war that exploded in the mid-1970s after omens - the most pivotal of which was the transformation of the country into a battlefield - had begun appearing in the late 1960s.
Hezbollah thus maintained its arsenal in what was perpetuation of that theory, which was not foreign to an old body of literature and convictions prevalent throughout the region about confronting Israel regardless of the costs.
The second time, this degeneration in the majoritarian consciousness of the Sunnis was met with degeneration in the minoritarian consciousness of the Christians, taking the form of complicity in Hezbollah’s war against the majority of the Syrian people.
If theories about resisting imperialism, Zionism, and devils of every kind were at the forefront the first time, theories about an alliance of minorities and countering Sunni Islam, which was presented as countering Islamic extremism, were at the forefront the second time. The fact is that the militarism that dragged us into wars that branched out into other even more horrifying wars was behind the implosions of our modern history.
This kind of “glory” was not achieved by the disputes between the Lebanese - which have always been there - about economic disparities, development, equity between the sects, cultural or generational issues, and others.
If we had been able to build some immunity and develop some form of consensus against militarism that crosses borders, all borders, in 1969 as in 2000 and 2013, we would not have seen the worst and darkest chapters of our history.
This is enough reason to say that opposing war and militarism are not a sectarian matter that forces for change can avoid or leap over. Indeed, it is a national issue at the forefront of any potential for positive change and a requisite for it.
There is no room for neutrality here; otherwise, we would be adding to the times we had been excessively lax and another episode of generalized death to the history of mass death in Lebanon.
Confronting the potential eruption of this war is perhaps searching for forms to take, and some among us may be looking to crystalize them. However, there is no doubt that the war against the Syrians residing in Lebanon is the most degenerate of those forms and the most cowardly.
More precisely, it is a falsification of the actual challenges facing the country and the threats they pose that chooses to run away from them. This is patently obvious in the escalating campaign backed by politicians, media outlets, and religious figures who suggest that it is the Syrians in Lebanon who threaten the brilliant economic, social, and political success that country has achieved! We know that the blend of an economic crisis, broad sense of hopelessness, and a narrow, parochial consciousness is enough to elicit such revolting reactions. We have an abundance of all three today.
However, knowledge alone is not enough, especially since being satisfied with dead knowledge could coexist with all this ignorance about the real source of the danger and an even greater readiness to replace it with another alleged source.
The danger is not here. It is not in a few loaves of bread Syrians have obtained or in some of them breaking the curfew imposed on those who reside in towns ruled by ignorant municipalities. The danger lies over there, where lie the missiles and the rhetoric about missiles, regional strategies, and a sacred cause that does not even promise to pray for us after we die, nor of another world that follows our forced expulsion from this planet.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 31-01 August/2022
Israel to accelerate establishment of joint industrial zone with Jordan
Arab News/July 31, 2022
LONDON: Israel said Sunday it would accelerate the process of setting up a shared industrial zone with Jordan. The decision to accelerate the construction and operation of the Jordan Gateway park was taken to enhance cooperation with Jordan, the government added. The project was first proposed during talks on the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty that was signed in 1994. The final details of the initiative were addressed last week during Lapid’s visit to Amman where he met with King Abdullah II. “Twenty-eight years since the peace agreement with Jordan, we are taking the good neighborly relations between our two countries another step forward,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said. “This is a breakthrough that will contribute greatly to developing and strengthening the region. The final details regarding this initiative were addressed last week during my visit with King Abdullah II in Amman.”Lapid said the initiative would increase employment in both countries, advance economic and diplomatic relations, and enhance the peace and friendship between Jordan and Israel. “This is a joint industrial zone on the border. It will allow Israeli and Jordanian entrepreneurs and businesspeople to communicate directly. It will produce joint initiatives in trade, technology, and local industry.”The decision includes advancing the operation of the Jordan Gateway Park Terminal for pedestrians, which will also be a crossing for entrepreneurs interested in the initiative and the industrial zone on the Jordanian side. The Israel Airports Authority will build and operate the Jordan Gateway Park Terminal, subject to budgetary agreements and the approval of the Knesset Economics Committee. It will include a facility for hosting executives and guests arriving from Jordan for business purposes. The immediate construction of an entrance facility and the necessary structures for operating the park would be evaluated while allocating resources for completion, the government added.

Fears rise for young boys missing in UK-funded Syrian jails for Daesh members
Arab News/July 31, 2022
LONDON: As many as 750 boys, some as young as nine, are being held in prisons for people linked to Daesh in northeast Syria. None of the boys, including at least one UK national and several other Westerners, have ever been charged with a crime. In some cases, they have been held in the prisons, funded partly by the UK, for over three years, without education, family visits, proper food, or even natural sunlight. The prisons are run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which captured the boys along with 10,000 Daesh members and their families. The SDF has refused NGO requests to evacuate wounded and ill boys from its facilities on security grounds. Earlier this month, an Australian teenager, Yusuf Dahab, died from wounds sustained during a Daesh raid in January on a prison in the Ghwayran neighborhood of Hassakeh, 40 miles from the Turkish border, while others were believed to have died during or soon after the incident. Tuberculosis is rife, and many boys struggle with serious injuries, some sustained in the January raid and there is limited access to medical treatment.
In February, UNICEF’s representative in Syria, Bo Viktor Nylund, told the New York Times after a tour of the area that the boys in the prisons lacked food and medicine.
But the most pressing concern is that the whereabouts and conditions of some boys, dubbed “Cubs of the Caliphate” by their captors, are unknown. Fionnuala Ni Aolain, the UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, told the Daily Telegraph: “There are at least 100 children missing. Either children who were killed during the attack or moved out of the prison to locations where they have not been identified. Under international law, we would call that enforced disappearance. “I believe there are a number of children with serious and potentially life-threatening injuries who remain in that prison, and I believe that some of those children are ... from Western states,” she added. The SDF told the New York Times in February that 121 of its personnel were killed in the January raid but did not give details about the number of casualties among inmates.
Most of the boys are from Iraq and Syria. But at least 150 are foreign nationals — which poses a legal headache for the SDF and the governments of those foreign nationals, most of whom have no wish to repatriate them — leading to countries like the UK paying to maintain the prison system in northern Syria.
US Lt. Gen. Paul Calvert, a senior commander in the coalition against Daesh, suggested last year that the UK alone gave around $20 million to the SDF for the prison system. Experts have warned that funding the SDF’s prison system likely violates international law. UN officials wrote to the UK government in February, saying its actions facilitated “mass arbitrary detention,” which was “incompatible” with the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights. The UK responded that it was “particularly concerned about the condition of minors — including reports of possible casualties or injuries resulting from the recent attack on Ghwayran, a lack of access to healthcare, the prevalence of TB and possible malnutrition.”But it denied that funding the prisons entailed legal liability. “We are planning to scale up humanitarian assistance for minors in detention in 2022,” it added.
Letta Tayler, associate director and counterterrorism lead at Human Rights Watch, told the Telegraph: “The silence on the numbers raises yet more questions as to why dozens of governments are allowing an under-financed, embattled, non-state actor to manage a population of tens of thousands foreign (Daesh) suspects and family members, none of whom have ever been before a court, much less charged with a crime. “The UK’s funding of facilities holding detainees indefinitely in life-threatening conditions with no due process whatsoever raises serious legal questions,” she added.
The death of Dahab gained prominence after voice notes left by the teenager asking for help were revealed by his family in Australia in the aftermath of the raid. “I got injured in my head and my hand,” he said. “I lost a lot of blood. There’s no doctors here, there’s no one who can help me.”He added that 15 to 20 children had been killed in the raid, saying: “I’m very scared. I need help.”Dahab’s family announced his death on July 18. Since then, neither the SDF nor the Australian government has confirmed his death. “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is seeking to confirm reports an Australian male has died in Syria,” an Australian government spokesperson told the Telegraph. Tayler said: “Yusuf could be one of many boys who have met or are about to meet this same fate. How many more lives will it take before governments take responsibility for their nationals held unlawfully in life-threatening conditions in northeast Syria, the majority of them children?”

Ukraine denies carrying out drone attack on Russian fleet HQ
Agence France Presse/Jul 31, 2022
Ukraine on Sunday denied carrying out a drone attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea, that Russian officials said wounded six personnel. Sergiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the coastal Odessa military region, dismissed claims that Ukraine was behind the attack as "sheer provocation." "Our liberation of Crimea from the occupiers will be carried out in another way and much more effectively," he wrote on Telegram.

Global food crisis in focus as Zelenskyy warns Ukraine harvest could be halved
The National/Jul 31, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine's harvest could be half its usual amount this year due to the Russian invasion. “Ukrainian harvest this year is under the threat to be twice less,” the Ukrainian president wrote in English on Twitter. “Our main goal — to prevent global food crisis caused by Russian invasion. Still grains find a way to be delivered alternatively,” he said. Ukraine is one of the world's most fertile countries and a standstill in the Black Sea has led to soaring food prices and fears that millions will go hungry worldwide. Russia and Ukraine signed a deal earlier this month to reopen grain and fertiliser exports that have been blocked by the five-month war. However, optimism over the deal was tarnished less than 24 hours later when Russian missiles hit the port of Odesa, raising doubts about Moscow's commitment to the plan. The agreement, brokered by Turkey and the UN on July 22, provides for safe passage for ships carrying grain out of three southern Ukrainian ports. The vessels are due to sail this week and in a bid to safeguard their passage they have been offered up to $50 million in insurance by brokers in London. Insurance market Lloyd's of London, underwriter Ascot and broker Marsh said the scheme would help to ease mounting pressure on global food supplies caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Chris McGill, head of cargo at Ascot, said the new financing was a “bespoke, mission-focused facility” that would help ships to sail through safe corridors from designated Ukrainian ports. Lloyd's chief of markets Patrick Tiernan said it would “add essential protection” to the deal announced by Turkey and the UN and help address market uncertainty over grain supplies.

Turkey says first grain cargo could leave Ukraine port Monday
AFP/July 31, 2022
ANKARA: A spokesman for the Turkish presidency said there was a “high probability” that a first ship carrying Ukrainian grain could leave Ukraine’s port of Odessa on Monday. That is despite Russian missiles hitting the city in the wake of the July 22 agreement on shipping grain between Russia, Turkey, the UN and Ukraine. “There is a strong possibility that a first ship could leave tomorrow morning if everything is sorted out by this evening,” Ibrahim Kalin said in an interview with Kanal 7 television Sunday. But Kalin said there were still “one or two subjects to be settled in the negotiations with the Russians.”“Preparations have reached a point to allow the ships to leave the port of Odessa. The ships have been loaded, they are ready to leave, but we need good logistical coordination,” he said. The resumption of exports was also discussed in talks between the Turkish and Ukrainian defense ministers, Ankara said Sunday. “It is planned to begin transport as soon as possible,” the Turkish ministry said in a statement. The Joint Coordination Center, charged with controlling Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, was officially inaugurated Wednesday in Istanbul in line with the deal. The deal to lift the blockade — the first significant text involving both sides since the conflict began — is aimed at easing a global food crisis that has seen prices soar in some of the world’s poorest countries. The coordination center is responsible for registering and tracking merchant ships taking part in the convoys, monitoring them via the web and satellite, and inspecting the ships as they are loaded at Ukrainian ports and when they arrive at Turkish ports.

Briton leaves Iraq after antiquities conviction quashed
AP/July 31, 2022
LONDON: A retired British geologist jailed in Iraq for antiquities smuggling has been freed and has left the country, his family said Sunday. Jim Fitton, 66, was sentenced in June to 15 years in an Iraqi prison. A Baghdad appeals court overturned the conviction and last week ordered his release.
Fitton has now been reunited with family in Malaysia, where he lives. Son-in-law Sam Tasker said Fitton arrived at Kuala Lumpur airport on Friday, and the family was “absolutely over the moon.” Fitton missed the wedding of his daughter Leila and Tasker in May while he was imprisoned. Fitton was arrested in March at Baghdad Airport and charged under antiquities laws that carried the possibility of a death sentence. His case drew international attention after he was convicted of picking up shards of pottery and other fragments from an ancient site in southern Iraq while on an organized geology and archaeology tour. Fitton told the court that he had no criminal intent, and some of the pieces he picked up from an unguarded site were no larger than a fingernail. Volker Waldmann, who was arrested alongside Fitton, was also accused of stealing antiquities but was aquitted at trial. Many feared the incident would deter tourists from visiting Iraq, where the government hopes to grow the nascent tourism sector. Frustrated by perceived inaction on the part of the British government, Fitton’s family started a petition that garnered more than 350,000 signatures. Tasker said the public support was “evidence that the actions of the many can move the needle in situations like this, you spurred us on when we were struggling to find hope.”“We as a family will never again doubt the kindness of strangers,” he said.

Arab League chief urges Iraqi parties to avoid escalation
Arab News/July 31, 2022
CAIRO: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has appealed to all Iraqi parties to avoid further escalation in the country’s political crisis. He urged all Iraqi parties to prioritize the national interest, and said dialogue is the only way to solve the political crisis. Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr occupied Parliament on Saturday with no plan to leave, deepening a months-long political standoff. Following the failure of last October’s elections to produce a Cabinet, the Shiite cleric’s supporters have entered the legislative chamber twice in recent days. They oppose Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, the candidate for prime minister from a competing Shiite bloc that supports Iran.

Hundreds camp at Iraqi parliament for second day
AFP/July 31, 2022
BAGHDAD: Hundreds of followers of powerful Iraqi Shiite preacher Moqtada Sadr camped at the country’s parliament Sunday for a second day, protesting against corruption and political mismanagement. Despite tear gas, water cannon and baking temperatures that touched 47 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit), they stormed the complex on Saturday after pulling down heavy concrete barricades on roads leading to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone of diplomatic and government buildings. The health ministry said at least 100 protesters and 25 security personnel were hurt in the confrontation. Nearly 10 months after October elections, Iraq is still without a new government despite intense negotiations between factions. Analysts have said Sadr, a mercurial cleric who once led a militia against US and Iraqi government forces, is using street protests to signal that his views must be taken into account in any government formation. Both the United Nations and European Union warned about escalating tensions. The immediate trigger for the occupation was the decision by a rival Shiite bloc, which is pro-Iran, to pick former cabinet minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani for the prime minister’s post.
On Sunday morning, the demonstrators marked the Muslim month of Muharram, a traditional Shiite celebration, with religious chants and collective meals. “We were hoping for the best but we got the worst. The politicians currently in parliament have brought us nothing,” said one of the protesters, Abdelwahab Al-Jaafari, 45, a day laborer with nine children. Volunteers distributed soup, hard-boiled eggs, bread and water to the protesters.
Some had spent the night inside the air-conditioned building — which dates from dictator Saddam Hussein’s era — with blankets spread out on the marble floors.Others took to the gardens, on plastic mats under palm trees.
In multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, government formation has involved complex negotiations since a 2003 US-led invasion toppled Hussein. Sadr’s bloc emerged from elections in October as the biggest parliamentary faction, but still far short of a majority.
In June, his 73 lawmakers quit in a bid to break a logjam over the establishment of a new government. That led to a pro-Iran bloc becoming the largest in parliament, but still there was no agreement on naming a new prime minister, president or cabinet.
The occupation that began on Saturday was the second time within a week that Sadr’s supporters had forced their way into the legislative chamber.
They left on Sadr’s orders last Wednesday after about two hours inside. The protests are the latest challenge for a country trying to overcome decades of war and now facing the impact of climate change. Despite oil wealth and elevated global crude prices, Iraq remains hobbled by corruption, unemployment and other woes, which sparked a youth-led protest movement in 2019. As a result of past deals, the Sadrists also have representatives at the highest levels of government ministries and have been accused by their opponents of being as corrupt as other political forces. But protesters see in Sadr an opposition figure and champion of the anti-corruption fight. One of them, Oum Hussein, 42, said the sit-in sought a government of “people with integrity who serve the country.”She accused Sadr’s opponents of choosing for a new government figures “known for corruption.”Sudani is the prime ministerial choice of the Coordination Framework alliance which includes lawmakers from the party of Sadr’s longtime foe, ex-prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki.It also represents the pro-Iran former paramilitary group Hashed Al-Shaabi, now integrated into the regular forces. On Sunday, a spokesperson for the European Union expressed concern about “the ongoing protests and their potential escalation.”The EU called for “constructive political dialogue.”United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged “peaceful and inclusive dialogue” to form an effective national government, his spokesperson said.
Iraqi Kurdish authorities in the country’s north offered to host talks in their capital Irbil.

Iraq’s Moqtada Al Sadr asks supporters to push for 'radical change'
Sinan Mahmoud/The National/Jul 31/ 2022
World and regional powers have expressed their concerns over the political escalation in Iraq after the seizure of the parliament building by mercurial Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s supporters, pushing a months-long struggle to form the next government into uncharted territory.
On Sunday evening, Mr Al Sadr called on his followers to push for a complete overhaul of the political system, including a new constitution, rising up to expel the country's elites whom he condemned as corrupt.
The brinkmanship has rattled his political opponents, some of whom command well-armed militia groups linked to Iran. This has led to fears of renewed civil war, since Mr Al Sadr also commands large numbers of armed supporters.
For the second time in less than a week, Mr Al Sadr flexed his muscles, ordering thousands of his followers back to the heavily fortified government complex on Saturday. Despite security forces using tear gas and water cannons, the crowds tore down concrete blast walls protecting the site. Once inside the sprawling complex known as the Green Zone — home to key government buildings including the cabinet office, parliament, foreign embassies and residences of senior politicians, they announced an open-ended sit-in.
At least 125 people — 100 protesters and 25 security personnel, were wounded, according to the Health Ministry. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “is following with concern the ongoing protests in Iraq”, calling for self-restraint.
In a statement, Mr Guterres said that “freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights that must be respected at all times”. He appealed to “all relevant actors to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, avoid any further violence, and ensure the protection of peaceful protesters and state institutions”. He called for a “peaceful and inclusive dialogue” to form “an effective national government that will be able to deliver on long-standing demands for reform, without further delay”. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, also appealed to all Iraqi political forces to work quickly to stop the escalation and start a sincere political dialogue.Mr Aboul Gheit warned that “getting things out of control will not be in the interest of Iraq or in the interest of any party”.
Others echoed the same concerns.The EU delegation to Iraq called on all parties to “exercise restraint to prevent further violence” and urged the rivals to “solve issues through a constructive political dialogue within the constitutional framework”. The UAE president's diplomatic adviser, Dr Anwar Gargash, said “Iraq’s stability means stability to the region and a boost to its security”.“We are looking forward to a prosperous and stable Iraq capable of solving its internal issues through dialogue and consensus in order to retain its vital role at the Arab and regional levels,” Mr Gargash added.
'Fighting back'
Emerging as a clear winner in October's national election with 73 seats in the 329-seat parliament, Mr Al Sadr sought to form a majority government with Sunni and Kurdish allies, sidelining his Iran-backed rivals, the Co-ordination Framework.
But the CF — an umbrella group that consists of influential Tehran-allied militias and political parties — with some smaller parties not directly aligned to Tehran derailed Mr Al Sadr’s efforts through different means. A series of legal challenges and parliament session boycotts to block candidates put forward by Mr Al Sadr's allies for the role of president, a vital step in government formation, combined with alleged intimidation tactics, forced him to order his MPs to resign last month. That has given the CF the lead to form the government. In the past week, Mr Al Sadr voiced a series of angry objections when the CF nominated Shiite politician Mohammed Shia Al Sudani for the role of prime minister.
He has called Mr Al Sudani a “shadow” of his rival, former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki, one of the senior CF leaders. The years-long antagonism between the two men has been one of the reasons behind the delay in forming a new government, more than 10 months since national elections were held.
As the CF pushed to hold a parliament session on Thursday to choose a new president — who in turn has to task the largest political bloc to nominate a prime minister, Mr Al Sadr's followers briefly occupied parliament. Mr Al Sadr said the move was a “warning”.
As the parliament planned to hold a session on Saturday, the Sadrists once again entered, prompting the parliament speaker to suspend all sessions until further notice.
In his tweet on Sunday, Mr Al Sadr praised what he called a “spontaneous and peaceful revolution that liberated the Green Zone", describing it a “golden opportunity” for change.
“This is a great opportunity to fundamentally change the political system and the constitution,” he said, urging Iraqis not to miss it in order to "eliminate the darkness, corruption, exclusivity in power, loyalty to the outside, [sectarian-based] quotas, and sectarianism that have perched upon Iraq”.
The quickly unfolding events have raised the stakes and deepened the struggle for influence between Mr Al Sadr and his Iran-backed rivals.“The coming period will be a one of escalation,” Hadi Jalo chairman of the Political Decision think tank in Baghdad, told The National.
“Al Sadr’s message is, 'I also can hamper your efforts to form the government,'” Mr Jalo said. “The Sadrist Movement is now fighting back and has succeeded in putting everything on hold now,” he added.
Saturday’s move took Mr Al Sadr’s rivals by surprise, showing division among its leaders. Mr Al Maliki and Qais Al Khazaali, who commands the militia Asaib Ahl Al Haq — both prominent rivals to Mr Al Sadr, insisted on issuing a statement that called for counter-protests, two legislators said.
But other senior leaders — Hadi Al Amiri, Haider Al Abadi and Ammar Al Hakim, issued more conciliatory statements, refusing escalation and calling for dialogue. Hours later, CF called off the protests. Mr Al Sadr has not responded to their calls for dialogue and instead ordered his supporters to continue their sit-in inside the parliament. This has raised questions as to what Mr Al Sadr's ultimate aim may be. “Since it’s hard to go back to parliament, Mr Al Sadr may now aim at dissolving the legislative body, keeping the caretaker government and holding early elections,” Mr Jalo said. Few hours after Mr Al Sadr's statement, the CF called for "peaceful" demonstration outside the Green Zone on Monday afternoon.

Chinese booster rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth
Agence France Presse/July 31/ 2022
A Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled return to Earth on Saturday, leading U.S. officials to chide Beijing for not sharing information about the potentially hazardous object's descent. U.S. Space Command "can confirm the People's Republic of China (PRC) Long March 5B (CZ-5B) re-entered over the Indian Ocean at approx 10:45 am MDT on 7/30," the U.S. military unit said on Twitter. "We refer you to the #PRC for further details on the reentry’s technical aspects such as potential debris dispersal+ impact location," it said. In a statement posted to its official WeChat profile, the China Manned Space Agency later gave coordinates for an impact area in the Sulu Sea, about 35 miles (57 kilometers) off the east coast of the Philippines' Palawan Island. "Most of its devices were ablated and destroyed during re-entry," the agency said of the booster rocket, which was used last Sunday to launch the second of three modules China needed to complete its new Tiangong space station. Malaysia's space agency said it detected rocket debris burning up on re-entry before falling in the Sulu Sea northeast of the island of Borneo. "The debris of the rocket caught fire while entering the Earth's airspace and the movement of the burning debris also crossed Malaysian airspace and could be detected in several areas including crossing the airspace around the state of Sarawak," it said.
- NASA criticism -
NASA administrator Bill Nelson criticized Beijing on Twitter, saying the failure to share details of the rocket's descent was irresponsible and risky. "All spacefaring nations should follow established best practices, and do their part to share this type of information in advance," Nelson wrote, "to allow reliable predictions of potential debris impact risk, especially for heavy-lift vehicles, like the Long March 5B, which carry a significant risk of loss of life and property."He added: "Doing so is critical to the responsible use of space and to ensure the safety of people here on Earth."The Tiangong space station is one of the crown jewels of Beijing's ambitious space program, which has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and made China only the third nation to put humans in orbit. The new module, propelled by the Long March 5B, successfully docked with Tiangong's core module on Monday and the three astronauts who had been living in the main compartment since June successfully entered the new lab. When China launched its first Tiangong module in April 2021, there was a similar frenzy around the possibility of damage caused by an unpredictable booster reentry. Objects generate immense amounts of heat and friction when they enter the atmosphere, which can cause them to burn up and disintegrate. But larger ones such as the Long March-5B may not be destroyed entirely. In 2020, debris from another Chinese rocket fell on villages in the Ivory Coast, causing structural damage but no injuries or deaths.
China has poured billions of dollars into space flight and exploration as it seeks to build a program that reflects its stature as a rising global power.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 31-01 August/2022
Iran regime fears opposition’s growing strength
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 31/ 2022
The Iranian authorities are becoming increasingly concerned about the rising power of the resistance against the regime both inside the country and abroad.
For example, Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption Task Force in July busted a network of Iranian regime agents and infiltrators who were actively surveilling and preparing for terrorist attacks on the Iranian resistance. Some members of the regime’s terrorist ring were detained and put under official investigation.
It is worth noting that, every summer, the organized Iranian resistance movement holds its annual gathering in an attempt to showcase a better future for Iran and to tell Western governments to end their appeasement of Tehran and instead side with the Iranian people as they call for a free, secular, pluralistic, democratic and non-nuclear Iran, living in harmony and cooperation with its neighbors and the free world.
The huge Free Iran World Summit 2022 was scheduled to convene at the Ashraf 3 camp in Albania — home to principal opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran — on July 23-24. However, a credible terrorist threat to the event, targeting the oppositional group’s leadership, was identified, meaning the rally had to be canceled. Hundreds of dignitaries from around the world were due to attend and show their support for the Iranian resistance.
The Iranian regime has used its diplomatic presence in Europe to plot terrorist bomb and assassination attacks against dissidents on the continent for decades.
Back in 2018, the regime used an active diplomat, who was in charge of its intelligence operations against dissidents in Europe, to carry explosives on a passenger plane from Tehran to Vienna and then transfer them to accomplices, who were tasked with bombing that year’s Free Iran summit near Paris. Assadollah Assadi was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Belgian court for his role in this potentially lethal terrorist plot. He is now the subject of a shameful treaty between Belgium and Iran’s hostage-taking regime that may see him released.
As well as planning such attacks, Tehran is simultaneously illegally detaining Western citizens as a form of hostage-taking in a mafia-like bid to extort concessions from weak European governments like Belgium and force them to free its captured diplomat terrorists. It is also impeding the Iranian resistance and checking the opposition’s political and diplomatic progress in Europe.
Tehran has used its diplomatic presence in Europe to plot terrorist bomb and assassination attacks against dissidents for decades.
At about the same time as the Albania event was targeted, the Iranian Foreign Ministry published a list of 61 current and former US officials who it had blacklisted due to their “deliberate support” for the NCRI. The list included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sens. Ted Cruz and Cory Booker.
But it is critical to point out that change is inevitable, as events in Iran and the region likely show. President Joe Biden’s earnest efforts to revive a dying agreement on Iran’s nuclear weapons program have been met with a change of tactics in Tehran. The resulting intransigence and running down of the clock have led even the most ardent advocates of the deal to admit it is likely doomed.
The Iranian people, however, are not waiting for outside actors and they have organized a nationwide network of resistance units to protest and revolt against the regime’s tyranny. They are rebelling against their leaders’ violent suppression of the people’s rights and the plunder of their national wealth for use in proxy wars and on nuclear weapons development.
As social protests take root in cities and towns across the nation and as these resistance units challenge the regime’s authority at every chance — in the marketplace, universities, offices, schools and factories, as well as in cyberspace — the mullahs become ever more desperate to strike at the oppositional group, which is the engine of resistance and political alternative to their religious fascism.
In another defeat for the Iranian regime, Hamid Nouri, one of the accessories to mass murder during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran and a former aide to President Ebrahim Raisi, who himself has been implicated as a member of the death committee, was in July convicted by a Swedish court under the principle of universal jurisdiction and sentenced to life in prison.
As the US and Europe grapple with the reality that the theocratic establishment will not abandon its nuclear ambitions and that appeasement has never worked, new global geopolitical imperatives offer further reasons to seek change in Iran.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.

Iraq: The Shiite-Shiite Conflict
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/July 31/2022
The current developments in Iraq are an inter-Shiite struggle for power. This is at the heart of the crisis at hand and fears are real that a miscalculation could lead to a bloody clash that would spell disaster.
We are confronted today with a Shiite Iraqi side that enjoys the parliamentary majority that was won through elections. It is confronted with another Shiite bloc that does not acknowledge these results and does not understand the language of negotiations. All it wants is power.
The Sadrists, the holders of the majority, and their allies are attempting to practice their rights according to the rules of the game and protests and sit-ins after they exhausted all negotiations to form a government and elect a president.
The other side had met these efforts with more intransigence.
The other side wants power, even if it has to resort to force. It is led by Nouri al-Maliki, who recently made an appearance from his home. He was seen holding a weapon even though he was not in imminent danger. Perhaps, one would then interpret the image that he would not shy away from turning to force if needed.
The side eyeing power is the pro-Iran Coordination Framework. It will not only expose Iraq to major confrontation and humanitarian tragedy, but some believe that it may deal a deafening blow to Iran’s agenda in Iraq.
Some experts in Baghdad insist that Iran is at a loss with what to do in Iraq and lacks a clear vision. I have my own reservations over this view because Iran does not practice politics in Iraq, but rather it acts like a thug and bully there.
So, no one can guarantee that Iran would resort to violence that target specific figures to change the rules of the game, just as it did in Lebanon when it assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, marking a pivotal moment in the country.
Amid this inter-Shiite conflict there remain some sides that have yet to make their stance clear. They are the army and security agencies that have been developed with new equipment and improved with recruits.
Should the crisis persist and God forbid, develop even further, especially with reports that Maliki is expected to deliver a speech – and nothing rational could ever come of him – and the Framework intent on taking to the streets, then all eyes will be turned to the army and security forces that will find themselves obligated to take a stand.
We are not asking for a coup or return to military rule, but rather that a decision be taken to protect what remains of the Iraqi state, because the whole of Iraq will be impacted should this inter-Shiite struggle for power devolve into violence.
No sect will be spared from this conflict. No matter what Iran loses, the greatest loser in this scenario will be the Iraqi state and social peace.
The truth is today’s crisis has been in the making for a while. We hope that it will be confronted with reason and wisdom because anything other than that will spell a new tragedy in Iraq and the region.

Russia softens its attitude on Ukrainian grain corridor
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/July 31/2022
Before a breakthrough was achieved in July to open a grain corridor from Ukraine, Russia had been dragging its feet over allowing shipments of Ukrainian grain to international markets. It first objected to making a deal because sea mines had been laid outside the Ukrainian harbors. After painstaking efforts, a deal was signed in Istanbul in the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey received merited applause for its role in securing the deal. Without an open communication line between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, this agreement could not have been reached easily.
Several points have to be underlined in this context. First, Russia did not resist the pressure of the international community that direly needed grain. Blocking the deal would have damaged Moscow’s image due to it being such an important humanitarian issue. On the other hand, Russia did not agree to this deal only for unselfish purposes. In exchange for its consent, it drew advantages from the softening of economic sanctions imposed on it by the US and EU. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko has since said that, if the obstacles on Russia’s grain exports are not removed entirely, the Istanbul deal will be doomed to collapse.
Second, the flexibility demonstrated by Russia on this subject may set a good precedent. If the war drags on, we may need similar shows of flexibility. The Kremlin refused to make a direct deal with Ukraine, so two identical agreements were signed: One between Turkey, Russia and the UN and another between Turkey, Ukraine and the UN. So, both parties maintained their political positions, but the controversy was eliminated.
The two warring countries are, after all, the main but indirect actors in the same deal; therefore, they have to interact in one way or another. For instance, Ukraine has said it will need about 10 days to get the ports ready. This exercise will also require some sort of coordination between the Russian and Ukrainian authorities. Therefore, we may hope that similar cases of coordination might lead to a relative slackening of the rigid attitudes between them.
Third, Russia and Ukraine produce roughly a third of the world’s total grain output. Many Middle Eastern countries rely on these two countries’ agricultural products. The financial scope of the deal is estimated to be about $10 billion. The agreement will transform Ukrainian agricultural products into cash at a time when the country needs every penny. Furthermore, if the grain is not exported, there will be no space to store this year’s harvest.
The arrival on the market of such a huge volume of grain will ease prices and this will have a positive effect all over the world.
Estimates of the quantity of the grain to be exported vary between 22 and 28 million tons, which is enough to supply basic food to many countries that are short of bread. If the grain corridor was to remain blocked, prices would go up even further and the main sufferers would again be the relatively poor countries. On the other hand, the arrival on the market of such a huge volume of grain will ease prices and this will have a positive effect all over the world.
Fourth, the deal brought to the forefront the importance of an international convention signed in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1936. This convention authorizes Turkey to block, in case of war, the passage through the Turkish Straits of any navy ships. But an agreement has now been reached between Russia and Ukraine providing for the inspection of merchant ships. The ships will be inspected in Istanbul to find out if they are carrying weapons on their way back to Ukraine.
This question has reopened in Turkey a debate on whether the Montreux Convention is an important document. Officials from Turkey’s ruling AKP party, including the speaker of the parliament, have made statements to the effect that this multilateral convention could be abrogated if necessary. The AKP probably opened this debate with a view to belittling founding father Kemal Ataturk’s achievement. Only last year, a group of 103 retired admirals issued a statement bringing the importance of the Montreux Convention to the attention of Turkey’s domestic audience. The government immediately initiated a public prosecution against these admirals “for having conspired against the state security and the constitutional order.”
Fifth, until recently, Turkey’s name was more frequently mentioned in negative contexts in the international arena. The balanced role that it is now trying to play has brought some success. It has also brought together the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Antalya and delegations of the two countries for ceasefire negotiations in Istanbul. These two initiatives did not lead to a breakthrough, but it was worth trying. Unlike the first two attempts, the grain corridor deal is likely to hold.
One can only hope that this deal opens the way for other similar initiatives in the future.
• Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling AK Party.

Potential 2024 candidates begin jostling for position
Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/July 31/2022
America’s 2020 presidential election continues to make headlines in the domestic and global media due to the uproar surrounding it and the failure of the majority of former President Donald Trump’s supporters to recognize its impartiality, followed by the attack on Capitol Hill and its never-ending repercussions.
The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol will hold a new round of hearings in September, while the US Department of Justice continues to investigate whether Trump took steps to overturn the election result. All these efforts are aimed at preventing the former president from holding public office in the future.
Although there are still several months until the midterm elections are held, both parties have already begun to discuss their potential 2024 presidential candidates. It is unusual to publicly discuss this sensitive issue at this time. However, the circumstances the US is facing and the Biden administration’s failure to face fundamental challenges, from the shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the overt Chinese threat, have put the Democratic Party in a critical position.
Due to President Joe Biden’s embarrassingly low approval rating, liberal US media outlets have not been shy to point out that, if he decided to run for a second term, the White House would likely return to the Republicans.
A Newsweek report published on July 23 said that, despite the evidence and testimony presented in the congressional hearings, Trump is still favored to defeat Biden in a 2024 rematch if both politicians ultimately become their respective party’s nominees. The million-dollar question is whether or not they will be nominated.
Several names are circulating in both circles. Although it would be logical to consider Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible candidate to run against Biden in the Democratic primary, no political strategist would dare mention her name due to her abysmal job performance.
Politicians like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Sen. Amy Klobuchar could be considered. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost the party’s nomination to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, might try his luck again.
Last week, 78-year-old political activist Jerome Segal announced that he had decided to pursue the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination for 2024, focusing his campaign on job security and peace in the Middle East — two issues the Biden administration has so far failed to deal with.
On the other side, Republicans seem to be hesitant when it comes to Trump, who has been hinting that he will announce his presidential campaign after the midterms.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would be the perfect presidential candidate. He would be hard to beat due to his job performance in his state. He is young, determined and well supported by several high-ranking Republican politicians. In a recent survey conducted by Suffolk University and USA Today, DeSantis surpassed Trump in hypothetical presidential primary polling that combined first and second choices among possible candidates.
Liberal US media outlets have not been shy to point out that, if Biden decided to run for a second term, the White House would likely return to the Republicans.
Former Vice President Mike Pence potentially has his eyes on a bid to lead his party in 2024. He has been attending conservative events to endorse several midterm Republican candidates. At a conference of students in Washington last week, Pence distanced himself from his former boss by outlining his vision for the conservative movement. “Now, some people may choose to focus on the past, but elections are about the future. And I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America,” Pence told his audience.
Other names have also surfaced as potential runners, like former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Regardless of all these names, the two sides’ goal remains finding the best candidate to win the critical 2024 presidential race. The US has never been more ready for change and, if it were up to the American people, they would vote for a new president today.
*Dalia Al-Aqidi is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy. Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi
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