English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 26/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
He has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all
Letter to the Ephesians01/15-23/:”I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason. I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 25-26/2021
Elias Bejjani/Video-Text: Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness/Elias Bejjani/December 25/2021
Pope Urges Dialogue in Lebanon and Other Troubled Nations
2017 new corona cases, 15 deaths, 433 Omicron mutant cases since December 3
President Aoun: I hope that the Lebanese will return to better conditions
Rahi supports president's commitment to holding parliamentary elections on their constitutional date
Lebanon's Rai Issues Elections Plea
Report: Aoun Tells al-Rahi 'Something Bigger than State' Causing Deadlock
Lebanese President Says Country Needs ‘6-7 Years’ to Exit Crisis
Miqati Meets Italian Minister, Says Determined to Reunite Govt.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 25-26/2021
Israel Approves Supplemental Defense Budget to Confront Iran’s Threat
Iran Diplomats Get Saudi Visas for OIC Posts
Iran Says It Fired 16 Ballistic Missiles during Annual Drill
US Stresses Commitment to Confronting 'Iranian Threat' in Yemen
Yemeni Rebel Attack on Southern Saudi Arabia Kills 2 People
US Embassy in Riyadh Strongly Condemns Horrific Attack on Jazan
Egypt, Kuwait Agree to Bolster Parliamentary Ties
The Gulf between Two Summits... A New Era and Confident Steps towards the Future
COVID Puts a Damper on Christmas Eve Again Around the World
Nasa’s James Webb telescope successfully launched into space
James Webb Space Telescope will peer 13.5 billion years back in time

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 25-26/2021
Is the United States Losing the War for Global Talent?/Virginia Postrel/Bloomberg/December 25/2021
Don’t Despair About US Democracy. Fix It./Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg/December 25/2021
Ireland: Still No Room at the Inn/Not a Welcoming Environment for Jews/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/December 25, 2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 24-25/2021
Elias Bejjani/Video-Text: Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness
ذكرى الميلاد هي فرصة مقدسة للصلاة والتأمل والإنفتاح على الغير والمسامحة
Elias Bejjani/December 25/2021
#Elias_Bejjani_Christmas_Wishes
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81746/elias-bejjani-christmas-and-the-obligations-of-the-righteous-%d8%b0%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d9%88%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%a8/
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 02/11)
Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 02/14)
The holy birth of Jesus Christ bears numerous blessed vital values and principles including love, giving, redemption, modesty and forgiveness.
Christmas is a role model of love because God, our Father Himself is love.
Accordingly and in a bid to cleanse us from our original sin He came down from heaven, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. (John15/12)
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John15/13)
Christmas is way of giving …God gave us Himself because He is a caring, generous, forgiving and loving and father.
Christmas embodies all principles of genuine redemption. Jesus Christ redeemed us and for our sake He joyfully was crucified, and tolerated all kinds of torture, humiliation and pain
Christmas is a dignified image of modesty ..Jesus Christ accepted to be born into a manger and to live his life on earth in an extremely simple and humble manner.
Let us continuously remind our selves that when our day comes that could be at any moment, we shall not be able to take any thing that is earthly with us for the Day of judgment except our work and acts, be righteous or evil.
Christmas is a holy act of forgiveness ….God, and because He is a loving and forgiving has Sent His Son Jesus Christ redeem to free us from the bondage of the original sin that Adam and Eve committed.
Christmas requires that we all genuinely pray and pray for those who are hurt, lonely, deserted by their beloved ones, feel betrayed, are enduring pain silently pain, suffer anguish, deprived from happiness, warmth and joy .
Christmas is ought to teach us that it is the duty of every believer to practice his/her faith not only verbally and via routine rituals, but and most importantly through actual deeds of righteousness….
Christmas’ spirit is not only rituals of decorations, festivities, gifts and joyful celebrations…But deeds in all ways and means by helping those who need help in all field and domains.
Christmas’s spirit is a calls to honour and actually abide by all Bible teachings and values.
In this realm we have a Biblical obligation to open our hearts and with love extend our hand to all those who are in need, and we are able to help him remembering always that Almighty God showered on us all sorts of graces and capabilities so we can share them with others.
Christmas is a time to hold to the Ten Commandments, foremost of which is “Honour your father and your mother”.
Christmas is a good time for us to attentively hear and positively respond to our conscience, which is the voice of God within us.
Christmas should revive in our minds and hearts the importance of fighting all kinds temptations so we do not become slaves to earthly wealth, or power of authority.
Christmas for us as patriotic and faithful Lebanese is a time to pray for the safe and dignified return of our Southern people who were forced to take refuge in Israel since the year 2000.
Christmas for each and every loving and caring Lebanese is a holy opportunity for calling loudly on all the Lebanese politicians and clergymen, as well as on the UN for the release of the thousands of Lebanese citizens who are arbitrarily and unjustly imprisoned in Syrian prisons.
Most importantly Christmas is a time for praying and working for the liberation of our dear homeland Lebanon, from the Iranian occupation.
No one should never ever lose sight for a moment or keep a blind eye on the sacrifices of our heroic righteous martyrs who willing sacrificed themselves for our homeland, identity, existence, and dignity. Our prayers goes for them on this Holy Day and for peace in each and every country, especially in the chaotic and troubled Middle East.
May God Bless you all and shower upon you, your families, friends, and beloved ones all graces of joy, health, love, forgiveness, meekness and hope.

Pope Urges Dialogue in Lebanon and Other Troubled Nations
Associated Press/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Pope Francis prayed Saturday for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, using his Christmas Day address to urge health care for all, vaccines for the poor and for dialogue to prevail in resolving the world's conflicts.
Amid a record-setting rise in COVID-19 cases in Italy this week, only a few thousand people flocked to a rain-soaked St. Peter's Square for Francis' annual "Urbi et Orbi" ("To the city and the world") Christmas address. Normally, the square would be packed with tens of thousands of holiday well-wishers. At least they could gather this year. Italy's 2020 holiday lockdown forced Francis to deliver a televised address from inside the Apostolic Palace to prevent crowds from forming in the square. Although Italy this week counted more than 50,000 cases in a single day for the first time, the government has not ordered another lockdown. The pope's Christmas Day speech gives him an opportunity to draw a global audience's attention to conflicts big and small. This year was no different. Francis lamented ongoing conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, newly flaring tensions in Ukraine and Ethiopia, and an "unprecedented crisis" in Lebanon. "We have become so used to them (conflicts) that immense tragedies are now being passed over in silence; we risk not hearing the cry of pain and distress of so many of our brothers and sisters," he said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica as Swiss Guards stood at attention in the square below. Francis warned of the pandemic tendency to withdraw and isolate, urging instead dialogue to try to resolve the world conflicts. He prayed in particular for those most affected by the virus, including women and children who have suffered increased abuse during lockdowns.
"Son of God, comfort the victims of violence against women, which has increased in this time of pandemic. Offer hope to young children and adolescents suffering from bullying and abuse," he said. He prayed for "consolation and warmth" for older adults who are alone, as well as for health care workers who "generously devote themselves" to caring for the sick. "Grant health to the infirm and inspire all men and women of good will to seek the best ways possible to overcome the current health crisis and its effects," he said. "Open hearts to ensure that necessary medical care - and vaccines in particular - are provided to those peoples who need them most." Francis delivered his speech hours after celebrating a "Midnight Mass" service for some 2,000 people, a fraction of the basilica's capacity. The service actually began at 7:30 p.m., a nod to the 85-year-old pope's endurance and a hold-over from last year, when the service had to end before Italy's nationwide COVID-19 curfew. For the second day in a row, Italy on Friday set a daily pandemic record with 50,599 new cases. Another 141 people died, bringing Italy's official death toll in the pandemic to 136,386. With the arrival of the omicron variant in Italy, the Vatican secretary of state this week imposed a new vaccine mandate on Vatican staff, extending it to all employees except those who have recovered from COVID-19. Previously, only employees who dealt with the public directly had to be vaccinated, such as the staff of the Vatican Museums and the Swiss Guards. Other Vatican employees could access their offices with regular testing. Now, there is no test-out exemption.

2017 new corona cases, 15 deaths, 433 Omicron mutant cases since December 3
NNA/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced that laboratory tests have recorded 433 Omicron mutations since December 3rd until today.
The Ministry also announced the registration of 2017 new infections with the Coronavirus, and 15 deaths.

President Aoun: I hope that the Lebanese will return to better conditions
NNA/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, hoped, after a closed meeting with the Maronite Patriarch, Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, in Bkerki, before joining the Christmas morning mass, that the Lebanese would be back into better conditions, and refrained from making an address provided that he will talk to the Lebanese next Monday.
For his part, Patriarch Al-Rahi hoped that President Aoun, with people of good will and good intentions who are loyal to Lebanon and its people, would find ways to liberate the state from being taken hostage, and the people from the oppressors. The Patriarch stressed that the Lebanese people have the right to get out of their existential confusion, and the state to mobilize its institutions and rise from its collapsing reality that officials have brought over the years to this day by giving preference to their interests over the constitutional rights, calling to resume council of ministers sessions so that the matter does not turn into a precedent and restrict the work of governments.
Patriarch Al-Rahi considered that monopolizing the fate of the Council of Ministers with a sectarian position constitutes a violation of the constitution, a violation of the Taif Agreement, and a distortion of the National Charter and the concept of consensus. Patriarch Rahi told President Aoun: "You, Mr. President, have spent the most part of your life in defending Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, which must be saved with new initiatives, including Lebanon's neutrality. That is why we support you Mr. President, so that Lebanon regain its balance and its position in the world. We support you to lift the legitimate cover for anyone who harms the unity of the state and national partnership, the democratic system, the role of the Lebanese army and the work of the judiciary, and prevents the implementation of the constitution and international resolutions. We strongly support your commitment to holding parliamentary elections.”
Arrival and meeting:
President Aoun arrived at the patriarchal edifice around 9:10 am this morning, where he was received by Archbishops Hanna Alwan and Paul Sayah at the entrance. Then he was received at the entrance by Patriarch Al-Rahi and Bishops Peter Karam and Antoine Awkar, in addition to Bishops Sayah and Alwan. After taking memorial photos, President Aoun and Patriarch Al-Rahi moved to the patriarch's office, where they held a closed meeting that lasted around half an hour, during which they discussed the latest developments, the crisis of the cabinet cease of meeting, and ways to address the financial and economic situation in the country. After the meeting, President Aoun left the patriarch's office and went to the journalists who were present greeting them on Christmas occasion, wishing that God would bring back to the Lebanese goodness and better conditions. The President of the Republic moved afterwords to the church, where he attended the Christmas mass, which was presided by Patriarch Al-Rahi and assisted by his general deputies. The mass was served by the choir of the Antonine Musical School led by Father Fadi Tawk. Attending to mass were Minister of Justice Henry Khoury, Papal Ambassador Monsignor Joseph Spiteri and MPs: Gibran Bassil, Roger Azar, Farid Bustani, Simon Abi Ramia, Cesar Abi Khalil, Farid Heikal Al-Khazen, former Minister Marwan Charbel, President of the Maronite League Neamatallah Abi Nasr, Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, Police Commander, Brigadier Marwan Salilati, Director of Intelligence in the Army, Brigadier General Tony Kahwagi, Judge Jean Fahd, Director General of Civil Defense Brigadier Raymond Khattar, Ambassador Khalil Karam, senior civil, military and judges, and a crowd of believers.
Patriarch's service:
After reading the Holy Gospel, Patriarch Al-Rahi gave a sermon welcoming President Aoun and the audience saying:
“Today a savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
Mr. President,
1. By your generous initiative, you wanted to preserve the virtuous tradition of celebrating Christmas in the Church of the Patriarchal, to pray together and seek the grace of spiritual and national salvation, political, economic, social and living from the Divine Savior Jesus Christ, whose birthday we commemorate because Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This celebration, which annually brings together the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic and the Maronite Patriarchate, confirms that the mission and duty of these two signatories is one, which is to preserve Lebanon's entity, independence, sovereignty, and identity, and to prevent it from being dissolved in any ideological, religious and geographical projects.
2. On behalf of my brothers, the metropolitans, the papal ambassador, the fathers, the dignitaries and this group of believers, I am pleased to congratulate you (Mr. president) on Eid, and through your Excellency the Lebanese people, I congratulate all those present, and all those who participate with us through social media. Best wishes to you and them all.
Our thoughts go to our Lebanese brothers who suffer poverty, hunger and deprivation of the simplest means of life such as food, medicine and warm from the harsh cold. We call upon the officials in the state to stop the crime of torturing and oppressing them, while political action aims to secure the common good from which is the good of all, and the development of the country. what good news are those who disrupt the country's progress bringing to our people at the time of the great joy? Unfortunately, they have abused the oppressed the people and wrapped them in the guise of sadness and pain instead of the joy of Eid. We do not know their goals. We hope that you, Mr. President, with people of good will and good intentions who are loyal to Lebanon and its people, will be able to find ways to liberate the state from its obstructers and the people from the oppressors.
3. At the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to mankind” (Luke 2:14). Singing the glory of God because he restored to man the splendor of his humanity, so his glory was manifested in him, according to what Saint Irenaeus says: “The glory of God is the living man.” This is the new humanism that entered the world two thousand years ago. Let each person return to himself and see if the image and glory of God are manifested in him through his way of living, his actions, and his attitudes. The rule is truth, goodness and beauty that stems from God.
4. The angels sing "Peace on Earth." Because if a person lives in peace with God and with himself, he will live in peace with all of creation.
5. And they sang "the good hope of mankind." This hope gives meaning to human life. What people lack the most, whether they are rich or poor, are not only means of subsistence, but reasons for living, that is, hope, which gives meaning to their lives, strength for their steadfastness, and a confident outlook to the future.
6. Lebanese people should get out of their existential confusion, and the state should mobilize its institutions and rise from its collapsed that officials have brought it to over the years to this day by giving preference to their whims, interests and various loyalties over the interests of Lebanon and the people. From this standpoint, we call upon the government not to submit to political tyranny at the expense of the constitutional will. It is its duty to resume the council of ministers sessions so that the matter does not turn into a routine and restrict the work of governments, taking hostage the fate of the Council of Ministers with a sectarian position constitutes a violation of the constitution, a violation of the Taif Agreement, and a distortion of the National Pact and the concept of consensus. There is a big difference between consensus on national issues and the deliberate imposition of unilateral will on the constitutional institutions and on all the Lebanese. National responsibility imposes a separation between political interactions and the work of the Council of Ministers and the work of the judiciary and administrations in general.
7. The presence of a government without a cabinet meeting is a strange phenomena that permits singling out administrative decisions without the approval of the government as a whole. There are those who want to make people accustomed to the absence of the constitutional authorities and other institutions of the system in order to create another Lebanon that does not resemble it, its structures, its environment, its history or its civilization.
Mr. President, you have spent the best part of your life defending Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, and it must be saved with new initiatives, including the adoption of Lebanon's neutrality.
That is why we support you, Mr. President, in order for Lebanon to regain its balance and its position in the Arab world and among nations. We support you to lift the legitimate cover for anyone who harms the unity of the state and the national partnership, the democratic system, the role of the Lebanese army and the work of the judiciary, and prevents the implementation of the constitution and international resolutions. And
You have sensed the extent of the damage that this existing reality has inflicted on your covenant, which you, upon your election, wanted, a covenant of reform, change, and consolidation of the prestige of the state.
In this context, we strongly support your commitment to holding the parliamentary elections on the constitutional date.
It is a sad reality that the government was absent, while the Secretary-General of the United Nations was visiting Lebanon, and at a time when the IMF was negotiating with us. And it is also a harmful reality that the UNIFIL are attacked in the south while the Secretary-General was visiting Lebanon.There is no doubt that this attack hurt you, Mr. President, because it appeared to be an attack on the state's prestige and credibility as well.
8. We pray to the divine child, who became a human being to save us, asking that the memory of his birth be a true rebirth in the heart of every human being, making him a new creation, so that we would have a more humane society and a better homeland. So we sing with the angels: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to the children of man”, now and forever.
Christ is born, Hallelujah!" At the end of the mass, President Aoun left after congratulating Patriarch Al-Rahi and the Bishops. --- Presidency Press Office

Rahi supports president's commitment to holding parliamentary elections on their constitutional date
NNA/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, presided over Christmas Mass service in Bkerke, in presence of President of the Republic, Michel Aoun.
In his sermon, Al-Rahi said that “the Lebanese suffer poverty, hunger and deprivation from the most basic issues of life,” calling on state officials to stop the crime of torturing and oppressing them, while political action aims to secure the common good. “Lebanon must be saved with new initiatives, including the adoption of the project of Lebanon's neutrality, so we support you in order for Lebanon to restore its balance and its position in the Arab world and among nations, and to lift the cover of legitimacy from anyone who harms the unity of the state and national partnership,” the prelate told the President.
Al-Rahi criticized those who obstruct the holding of cabinet sessions, saying: “There are those who want to make people get used to the absence of constitutional authorities and other state organizations in order to create another Lebanon that does not resemble itself. The country must be saved by adopting the project of Lebanon's neutrality.”
“We call on the government not to succumb to political tyranny at the expense of the constitutional will,” the Patriarch added. He considered that national responsibility imposes a separation between political interactions and the work of the Council of Ministers and the work of the judiciary and public administrations, describing the existence of a government without a Council of Ministers as a strange phenomenon that permits exclusivity in administrative decisions. Finally, Al-Rahi supported the president's commitment to holding the parliamentary elections on their constitutional date, considering that these elections are a guarantee that the presidential elections will take place on time, and they are also an opportunity for change through the system.

Lebanon's Rai Issues Elections Plea
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai, stressed the importance of the country holding legislative elections next year as he delivered his Christmas sermon on Saturday.Al-Rai also called for the government to convene, saying that failing to do so sets a precedent that may hinder the function of future governments. Lebanon's cabinet, which is focused on restarting talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock much-needed foreign aid, has not met since Oct. 12, due to a dispute over a probe into last year's deadly Beirut port blast. "We support your commitment to holding the legislative elections," said Al-Rai, directing his speech to President Michel Aoun who was attending the sermon. "The elections are the guarantee that presidential elections will be held on time and it is an opportunity for change." Parliament had voted for the legislative election to take place on March 27 but Aoun has said he would only sign a decree for them to take place in May. Al-Rai also offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the port blast which killed more than 200 people in August last year. "Our thoughts today are with the families of the port blast victims who are in pain because the judiciary is hindered and the fate of investigation is uncertain," he said. The explosion was caused by a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely for years with the knowledge of top officials, but more than a year on, no one has been held accountable. Hezbollah and its allies have pushed to remove the lead investigator of the explosion, accusing him of political bias.

Report: Aoun Tells al-Rahi 'Something Bigger than State' Causing Deadlock
Naharnet/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
President Michel Aoun on Saturday told Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi that “there is something bigger than the state’s decisions that is restricting the course of things,” MTV reported. Aoun’s remarks came in response to “admonishment” by al-Rahi, who said that “we did not believe that the government was formed,” the TV network said. “How can we leave it today unable to convene?” the patriarch asked the president during a Bkirki meeting that preceded Christmas Day Mass. Leaving the meeting to take part in the mass, Aoun declined to make a statement and told reporters that he will speak on Monday during a televised address. Baabda sources told MTV that Aoun will focus on the general situation, especially Cabinet’s failure to convene and the port blast investigations.“Things have reached the climax (of deterioration) and President Aoun will be decisive on Monday,” the sources added.

Lebanese President Says Country Needs ‘6-7 Years’ to Exit Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Friday the country needs "six to seven years" to emerge from crisis. Lebanon's economy has been in freefall since 2019, when a mountain of debt and political gridlock drove the nation into its deepest crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. "We need six to seven years to get out of this crisis," Aoun said in a televised interview.

Miqati Meets Italian Minister, Says Determined to Reunite Govt.
Naharnet/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks Friday with visiting Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini, who was accompanied by a delegation and by his country’s ambassador to Lebanon. During the meeting, Miqati thanked Italy for its “permanent support for Lebanon and its support for it at all levels,” and also for its “contribution to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the sacrifices of its troops for the sake of stability and security in the South.” He also reiterated “Lebanon’s commitment to U.N. Security Council 1701 and all U.N. resolutions.”The Italian minister for his part said Lebanon is “very important” for Italy, adding that the country can “fully count on Italy’s support in the issue of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and all relevant international institutions.” “As for our support for the army, it is full support, and we pledge to speed up the measures needed to deliver this assistance,” the minister added. Separately, Miqati extended Christmas greetings to the Lebanese people and said he is “determined to resolve all obstacles in order to reunify the government and continue the steps that we started to put Lebanon on the track of recovery and rescue.”

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 25-26/2021
Israel Approves Supplemental Defense Budget to Confront Iran’s Threat
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
The Israeli Knesset Finance Committee approved Thursday a supplemental defense budget totaling nearly 7.4 billion shekels ($2.4 billion). The items included in the new funding are classified, but the move comes amid reports that Israel was preparing contingency plans to act militarily against Iran as a last resort if diplomatic efforts fail to curtail its nuclear program. Parliamentary sources said it comes in light of preparations to launch a new round of military exercises that simulate an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The supplemental budget was approved following an eight-hour meeting in the Knesset as part of the ongoing process to allocate funds for 2021. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz did not include this budget in the 58 billion shekel ($17.8 billion) defense budget approved earlier for 2022, the sources revealed. They added that the army asked for additional 9 billion shekels, yet the finance ministry reduced the amount to only 7.4 billion shekels. The army said two billion shekels of this amount will be allocated to compensate for the weapons and ammunition used in the war on the Gaza Strip in May and one billion shekels will be allocated to raise the allowances for the disabled in the army. The rest of the amount will be added to the previously approved defense budget to prepare for a possible attack against Iran, intensify attacks in Syria and for army reinforcements. Israel has the ability to carry out a successful strike on Iran’s nuclear sites as early as tomorrow, the country’s incoming Air Force commander said in an interview published on the Ynet news website on Friday. Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar will take over as head of the Israeli Air Force from Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin in April 2022. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will “be all” for a no-holds-barred war with Israel, Bar stressed.
“He has been waiting for 30 years for that order [from Tehran], and there is no chance he will be absent from such a conflict, with all the force at his disposal. Israel must be prepared.” “The third war on Lebanon cannot be compared to the first war, in 1982, or the second war, in 2006,” he threatened.
Although Iran has doubled the party’s strength several times over the past years, significantly increased its offensive and defensive capabilities and developed its electronic and cyber warfare technologies, it cannot predict the extent of the strength of the Israeli army, Bar warned. They must be aware that Israel wants a clear and real victory in the shortest time and with minimal losses, he added.

Iran Diplomats Get Saudi Visas for OIC Posts
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Three Iranian diplomats have received visas from rival Saudi Arabia allowing them to take up posts at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, officials said Friday. Shiite-majority Iran and the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both members of the pan-Islamic body, have held several rounds of talks since April aimed at improving relations. In 2016, the kingdom's execution of revered Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr saw protesters attack Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. Riyadh responded at the time by cutting ties with Tehran, while OIC foreign ministers condemned the violence. Riyadh and Tehran support opposite sides in several conflict zones across the region, but Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and officials in Saudi Arabia confirmed visas had been approved for the diplomats. "Saudi Arabia has agreed to grant visas to three Iranian diplomats as part of a routine procedure for representatives of a member state of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)," a Saudi foreign ministry official said Friday. Amir-Abdollahian, at a joint press conference in Tehran on Thursday with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, said Baghdad had supported the move. "Thanks to the efforts of Fuad Hussein and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, we will participate in the next round of talks between Tehran and Riyadh in Baghdad," he said. "I thank the Iraqi government for its efforts to help resolve misunderstandings and restore Tehran-Riyadh relations to normal," Amir-Abdollahian added. "We are ready to send technical delegations to restore relations to normal," he said. The Jeddah-based OIC has 57 members and describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.

Iran Says It Fired 16 Ballistic Missiles during Annual Drill
Associated Press/December 25/2021
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired more than a dozen surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday. The report said the Guard fired 16 missiles during an ongoing major military exercise across the country's south. It said the name of missiles were Emad, Ghadr, Sejjil, Zalzal, Dezful and Zolfaghar and that their range is from 350 to 2000 kilometers (220 to 1250 miles). The short-range and medium-range missiles, Iran has said, can reach U.S. bases in the region as well as archenemy Israel. It said the missiles successfully hit one target at the same time as 10 drones simultaneously hit their targets. State TV showed missiles launching in the desert. Iran had displayed and test fired the missiles in the past. Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces, said the planned drill was an answer to Israel's recent "massive but pointless threats" to Iran. Bagheri said, "This was a tiny part of hundreds of missiles that can hit any hostile target simultaneously." Israel has long seen Iran's nuclear program as a threat and seeks a harder line by the U.S. and international community. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.During the second day of the drill on Tuesday, Iran launched cruise missiles, too. The Guard in the past has said it has cruise missiles with ranges of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). It also has missiles that range up to 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles). From time to time, Iran holds military exercises, saying they are aimed at improving the readiness of its forces and testing new weapons. The five-day annual exercise that began on Monday came days after the breakup of talks to revive Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Iran has accelerated its nuclear advances as negotiations to return to the accord struggle to make headway. The talks will resume on Monday. Former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal and re-imposed crushing sanctions on Iran in 2018 . Tehran has since started enriching uranium up to 60% purity - a short technical step from the 90% needed to make an atomic bomb.

US Stresses Commitment to Confronting 'Iranian Threat' in Yemen
Washington - Muath Alamri/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
The United States stressed its commitment to confronting Iranian threats in Yemen, describing its activity as malicious and accusing Tehran of prolonging the conflict in Yemen. A State Department spokesman told Asharq Al-Awsat that US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, was working with United Nations envoy, Hans Grundberg, to secure a ceasefire in Yemen. Resolving the conflict and providing relief to the Yemeni people are top priorities of the US foreign policy, he added. Lenderking is focusing on three priorities in his mission: Tackling urgent humanitarian and economic issues, kicking off the political process and benefiting from the unprecedented international consensus on Yemen. Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Ned Price said President Joe Biden's administration is committed to confronting the Iranian threat in Yemen. Price issued a statement shortly after the US Navy seized upwards of 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition from a vessel originating from Iran and headed to Yemen. "This ship was on a route historically used to illegally smuggle weapons to the Houthis in Yemen," said Price. "The smuggling of arms from Iran to the Houthis represents a flagrant violation of the UN targeted arms embargo and is yet another example of how malign Iranian activity is prolonging the war in Yemen," he remarked. "Iran’s support for armed groups throughout the region threatens international and regional security, our forces, our diplomatic personnel and citizens in the region, as well as our partners in the region and elsewhere," he added. "This Administration is committed to countering this threat from Iran. The US seized dozens of anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of assault rifles, and hundreds of machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers from similar vessels in both May and February of this year," he continued. "The illegal flow of weapons to Yemen is enabling the brutal Houthi offensive against Marib, increasing the suffering of civilians. Further fighting – whether in Marib or elsewhere – will only bring more suffering. The Yemeni parties must reach a political settlement together to end the war," urged Price.

Yemeni Rebel Attack on Southern Saudi Arabia Kills 2 People
Associated Press/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
A Yemeni rebel attack on Saudi Arabia's southern border town of Jizan killed two people and wounded seven more late Friday, Saudi state-run media reported. Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a projectile that killed a Saudi citizen and Yemeni resident in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Six of the wounded are Saudis and one is a Bangladeshi national, Saudi media said. Shrapnel also smashed into nearby cars and shops. The fatal cross-border attack marks an escalation in Yemen's long-running civil war. Saudi-led military coalition airstrikes struck Sanaa earlier on Friday, hitting a military camp near the city center, Saudi media reported. Houthi media said the strikes had hit a populated neighborhood, damaging homes. On Saturday, Yemeni Brig. Gen. Yehia Sarie, a Houthi spokesman, said the rebels fired three ballistic missiles on Jizan, targeting what he described as "vital and sensitive" sites there. He provided no further details. Yemen's war erupted in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country's north. Months later, the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition intervened to oust the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government. The war has settled into a stalemate and spawned the world's worst humanitarian disaster. Throughout the conflict, the Houthis have increasingly staged drone attacks and fired missiles across the border at airports, oil facilities and military installations within the kingdom. Those assaults have rarely caused substantial damage, but over the years have wounded dozens and rattled global oil markets. Within Yemen, the Saudi-led bombing campaign has drawn international criticism for hitting non-military targets such as hospitals and wedding parties in the Arab world's most impoverished nation. Yemen's civil war has killed some 130,000 people, including thousands of civilians. Earlier this week the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, reported that attacks by the Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia have more than doubled this year from last year. Based on an analysis of thousands of Houthi attacks between 2016 and 2021, it said Houthi attacks on the kingdom averaged 78 a month this year, compared to 38 a month last year. The cross-border assaults provide a broader view of the regional proxy war between Tehran and Riyadh. Although the regional powerhouses recently have engaged in Bagdad-brokered talks to cool down tensions, a political settlement in Yemen remains elusive.

US Embassy in Riyadh Strongly Condemns Horrific Attack on Jazan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
The US embassy in Riyadh strongly condemned on Saturday the horrific attack launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen against the Kingdom's Jazan region. A Saudi citizen and a Yemeni resident were killed while seven civilians were injured in the rocket attack on Friday. The embassy added that the Houthi attacks only prolong the conflict in Yemen and the suffering of its people. They also put at risk the lives of over 70,000 American residents in Saudi Arabia. The mission called on the Houthis to cease their reckless attacks on civilians and join United Nations-sponsored diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict and achieving peace for the Yemeni people.

Egypt, Kuwait Agree to Bolster Parliamentary Ties
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
Egypt and Kuwait agreed to continue bolstering bilateral parliamentary ties regionally and internationally. Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim received the Egyptian Ambassador to Kuwait Osama Shaltout on Friday. According to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the meeting touched on the distinguished and historical bilateral ties, and the aspiration to continue working to enhance areas of joint cooperation. Ghanim underlined the deep and special ties that unite Kuwait and Egypt’s leadership and people, the statement added. In September, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Kuwait Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah in Cairo, during which he stressed that the security of the Gulf region is an inseparable part of Egypt’s security. The Kuwaiti FM delivered a written message from Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Egyptian presidential Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radhi said in a statement. In the letter, Kuwait’s Emir “expressed the Kuwaiti government and people’s pride of the strong historical ties, relations uniting both countries and its people in various fields,” he added. It also expressed Kuwait’s appreciation for the strategic Egyptian role in protecting Arab national security and defending the Arab nation’s causes, as well as Egypt’s tireless efforts to consolidate security, stability and development at the regional and international levels.
Sisi extended his greeting to the Emir and stressed the special and rooted bilateral relations and coordination regarding issues of mutual concerns at international and regional forums.

The Gulf between Two Summits... A New Era and Confident Steps towards the Future
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 25 December, 2021
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows (L to R) Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Dr. Nayef al-Hajraf, Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal al-Jaber al-Ahmad Al Sabah, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Oman's Deputy Prime Minister Fahd bin Mahmud al-Said, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the UAE's Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum posing for a family photo during the GCC summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh on December 14, 2021. (AFP)
Riyadh - Abdulhadi Habtor The Gulf scene in 2021 was bookended by the AlUla summit, held on January 5, and the Riyadh Summit, on December 14. Both summits appear to have kicked off a new era of consensus and cooperation between Gulf countries as they march confidently towards the future. Since AlUla's hosting the reconciliation summit, the Gulf scene witnessed several positive changes after disputes were resolved. Many Gulf countries launched a new phase of consensus and prioritizing interests and shunning disputes. Chairman of the Gulf Research Center, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Sager said since the AlUla summit, the Gulf has witnessed several positive changes. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said: "The reconciliation paved the way for establishing normal relations between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and ending the dispute between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt with Qatar." "We were always banking on this because the fraternal ties between the GCC countries are eternal and strategic," he added, saying they extend to ties of blood, language, religion and geography without any natural barriers.
Uniting efforts and confronting threats
The AlUla summit helped establish an atmosphere of reconciliation and cooperation in the Gulf, continued bin Sager. This positive climate was capped by a visit at the beginning of the year by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah to Doha where he met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Two weeks later, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, and Sheikh Tamim held a telephone call.In July, Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq visited Saudi Arabia where he met with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz in Neom city. Their talks elevated Saudi-Omani relations to a new level
Crown Prince's Gulf tour
On December 6, Crown Prince Mohammed kicked off a tour of the Gulf, starting from Oman, then the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. All statements issued during each of his stops underscored the importance of the AlUla Declaration that called for implementing King Salman's vision that was approved by the the Supreme Council of the GCC during its 36th session in December 2015. Crown Prince Mohammed's tour also focused on the abundant economic capabilities and significant opportunities to bolster the strategic partnership and increase joint investments. Bin Sager said the tour paved the way for the beginning of a new era of relations between the Gulf countries based on cooperation and looking towards the future and prioritizing interests. He noted that Crown Prince Mohammed's tour was preceded by an intense period of talks and visits by Gulf leaders, including his meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in Jeddah on May 5. Five days later, the Saudi Crown Prince received Sheikh Tamim in Jeddah. On June 1, Crown Prince Mohammed received his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Mishaal al-Jaber al-Ahmad Al Sabah. On June 19, he again received the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. On October 25, he met with Sheikh Tamim on the sidelines of the Middle East Green summit and a day later, he visited the crown prince of Bahrain. Soon after came the Saudi Crown Prince's Gulf tour, which will pave the way to a new era in the GCC.
Riyadh Summit... sincere intentions and big hopes
The Gulf tour gave Crown Prince Mohammed momentum ahead of the 42nd GCC summit that was held in Riyadh on December 14. It also offered momentum to the summit itself. It gave massive hope to the peoples of the Gulf that the summit will achieve strong results that would bolster joint work in the GCC.Saudi FM Prince Faisal had stressed that the most important challenge facing the countries of the region is guaranteeing that the development, stability and prosperity of their people is achieved. This cannot happen without security, stability and protecting the region against threats. He called for solidarity and cooperation between the countries of the region to confront the challenges, most significant of which is foreign meddling in the internal affairs of others and some destabilizing activities.Bin Sager said the Gulf countries succeeded in overcoming several challenges in past decades. As the Gulf countries enter their fifth decade, they are capable of forging ahead in achieving all the aspirations of their people. He expressed his optimism over the Riyadh Summit outcomes that expressed all the main stances that prioritize the security, stability and prosperity of the people.
Egyptian presence at both summits
The AlUla summit highlighted the major role played by Egypt and the strategic ties it enjoys with the Gulf countries.Egypt was one of the signatories of the AlUla Declaration, cementing the fraternal bonds Cairo enjoys with the GCC, whose charter says that coordination and cooperation between council members serve the higher interests of the Arab nation. At the Riyadh Summit, an announcement was made on the establishment of a Gulf-Egyptian coordination council aimed at bolstering coordination between both sides to confront challenges and unite visions of the future. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said the announcement highlights the close ties that bind Egypt with the Gulf.

COVID Puts a Damper on Christmas Eve Again Around the World
Associated Press/December 25/2021
From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus put a damper on Christmas Eve for a second year, forcing churches to cancel or scale back services and disrupting travel plans and family gatherings.
Drummers and bagpipers marched through Bethlehem to smaller than usual crowds after new Israeli travel restrictions meant to slow the highly contagious omicron variant kept international tourists away from the town where Jesus is said to have been born. In Germany, a line wound halfway around Cologne's massive cathedral, not for midnight Mass but for vaccinations. The offer of shots was an expression of "care for one's neighbor" that was consistent with the message of Christmas, cathedral provost Guido Assmann told the DPA news agency. Around the world, people weary from nearly two years of lockdowns and other restrictions searched for ways to safely enjoy holiday rituals. "We can't let the virus take our lives from us when we're healthy," said Rosalia Lopes, a retired Portuguese government worker who was doing some last-minute shopping in the coastal town of Cascais.
She said she and her family were exhausted by the pandemic and determined to go ahead with their celebrations with the help of vaccines and booster shots, rapid home tests and mask-wearing in public. She planned a traditional Portuguese Christmas Eve dinner of baked cod.
In New York City, where omicron has spread widely, people waited in long lines to get tested, many doing so as a precaution before traveling to reunite with family. Brianna Sultan and her daughter Ava, 8, spent Friday in one of those long lines waiting for a test after they got word of another infection at school. "It's a terrible way to be spending Christmas Eve," Sultan said after more than two hours in line and as the chill deepened into the evening in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. "It's terrible that we can't see our families because this COVID strain is coming back up again."
Holiday travel was dealt a blow when major airlines canceled hundreds of flights amid staffing shortages largely tied to omicron.
Sadia Reins arrived in New York City from Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday to be with with her 75-year-old mother. Reins said the two haven't spent Christmas together in two years, and despite the risks in traveling during the outbreak, she couldn't bear to be apart from her mother again this year.
"We're going to cry," she said, adding: "We talk on the phone all the time, but it's not the same as looking at someone."In Britain, where the coronavirus variant is ripping through the population, some houses of worship hoped to press on.
At St. Paul's Old Ford, an Anglican church in East London, priests planned to hold services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But to protect parishioners, the church called off its Nativity play.
"You might have to cancel the service, but you can't cancel Christmas,'' said the Rev. April Keech, an associate priest. "You can't stop love. Love still stands."
Numerous churches in the U.S. canceled in-person services, including Washington National Cathedral in the nation's capital and historic Old South Church in Boston. Others planned outdoor celebrations or a mix of online and in-person worship. In Rome, a maskless Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve Mass before an estimated 2,000 people in St. Peter's Basilica, where admission was limited and worshippers had to wear masks.
While the number of faithful was far more than the 200 allowed in last year, it was a fraction of the 20,000 the basilica can seat. Before the pandemic, St. Peter's was routinely packed for midnight Mass.
In Germany, churchgoers faced a thicket of health restrictions and limits on attendance. Some had to show proof of vaccination or testing.
Frankfurt's cathedral, which can hold 1,200 people, offered only 137 socially distanced spaces, all of which were booked days in advance. Singing was allowed only through masks. People in the Netherlands tried to make the best of the holiday, despite living under one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe. All nonessential shops were closed, including bars and restaurants, and home visits were limited to two people per day, four on Christmas. "We are just meeting with some small groups of family for the next few days," Marloes Jansen, who was waiting in line to buy the traditional Dutch kerststol, a Christmas bread with fruits and nuts. A glitch in a computerized appointment system prevented scores of people from scheduling COVID-19 tests and undermined the government's efforts to administer booster shots in a country already lagging far behind its neighbors.
In France, some visited loved ones in the hospital. In the Mediterranean city of Marseille, the intensive care unit at La Timone Hospital has been taking in more and more COVID-19 patients in recent days.
Amelie Khayat has been paying daily visits to her husband, Ludo, 41, who is recovering from spending 24 days in a coma and on a breathing machine. They touched their heads together as she sat on his bed, and now that he is strong enough to stand, he got up to give her a farewell hug, as a medical worker put final decorations on the ICU Christmas tree. Parisians lined up at chocolate shops, farmers' markets and testing centers. France has posted record numbers of daily COVID-19 infections, and hospitalizations have been rising, but the government has held off on imposing curfews or closings during the holidays.
"It does affect our enthusiasm to celebrate Christmas. It does makes us a bit sad. But at least we are sure not to contaminate or get contaminated. We will all do the test in our family," said Fabienne Maksimovic, 55, as she waited in line at a pharmacy in Paris to get tested. In Antwerp, Belgium, Christmas trees hung upside down from windows in a protest against the closing of cultural venues. In Bethlehem, the scene was much more festive than it was a year ago, when musicians marched through empty streets. This year, hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square as bagpipe-and-drum units streamed through.
Before the pandemic, Bethlehem would host thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world. The lack of visitors has hit the city's hotels, restaurants and gift shops especially hard.

Nasa’s James Webb telescope successfully launched into space
James Webb Space Telescope will peer 13.5 billion years back in time
The National/December 25, 2021
With rainclouds overhead, Nasa’s newest next-generation space observatory, the James Webb Space telescope, successfully launched on Saturday from South America. The $10 billion instrument is two decades in the making and will help answer questions about our solar system and look deeper into the universe in an unprecedented way. As the rocket carrying the telescope took off, Nasa spokesman Rob Navias said: “Lift-off, from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself, James Webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the universe.”“Over 10,000 people have worked on this telescope. All the hopes and dreams of those individuals and tens of thousands of scientists will benefit from this data,” Thomas Zurbuchen, Nasa associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said ahead of the launch. Developed by Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, the telescope eventually settle into an orbit over 1.6 million kilometres away – about four times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. The telescope, which has faced several delays amid the coronavirus pandemic, is named after Nasa’s 1960s chief, and was described by the space agency as “the most complex space science observatory ever built”. It is being billed as the successor to the Hubble space telescope, which orbits the Earth about 550 kilometres away. “Webb will peer more than 13.5 billion years back into cosmic history to a time when the first luminous objects were evolving,” Nasa said. “It’s the first observatory capable of exploring the very earliest galaxies, and could transform our understanding of the universe ... Webb will also study the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars, and observe moons, planets, comets and other objects within our own solar system.” “This data will reveal the molecules and elements that exist on distant planets and could unlock clues to the origins of our planet and life as we know it.” Webb is about 100 times more sensitive than Hubble and is expected to revolutionise astronomers' understanding of the universe and our place in it. Its instruments also make it ideal to look for potentially life-supporting atmospheres around numerous newly documented exoplanets – celestial bodies orbiting distant stars – and to observe worlds nearer to home, such as Mars and Saturn's icy moon Titan. From launching the first Arab mission to the Moon to looking into the early universe using the world’s most powerful telescope – the new year is going to be a busy one for space exploration. The National looks at some of the most exciting missions scheduled for 2022. The telescope will mainly view the cosmos on the infrared spectrum, allowing it to gaze through clouds of gas and dust where stars are being born, while Hubble has typically operated on optical and ultraviolet wavelengths. The Webb had been due to lift off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on December 24, but local weather pushed that date back to Christmas Day.It follows a postponement from an earlier December 22 targeted launch window that was delayed by electronic communications difficulties between the launch vehicle and its payload, Nasa said.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 25-26/2021
Is the United States Losing the War for Global Talent?
Virginia Postrel/Bloomberg/December 25/2021
A Q&A with author Rajika Bhandari on why outdated immigration policies are harming America’s ability to attract and retain foreign students.
Virginia Postrel: You came to the United States as a graduate student in psychology in 1992 and have worked for many years at the Institute for International Education and other international education jobs. Your new book, America Calling, is a memoir of your own experience and a report on the general condition of international students in the United States. How does your current student experience differ from when you came?
Radika Bandari, author, “American Call: International Students in Possible Countries”: Students approach foreign credential ideas in a completely different way. They see it from the perspective of a very savvy consumer. Should I go to America? Is it the highest return on investment for my family’s money? Or am I going to the UK or another country? Students are getting information in an unprecedented way.
However, there are many things that haven’t changed. First and foremost, there are permanent challenges surrounding immigration. This dominates the existence of international student life in the United States and is never fully understood by most who do not need to experience it.
Another thing that remains the same is that international students, especially those from a society and culture that is dramatically different from the United States, are not completely prepared for a very different academic culture. The idea of a college classroom as a very open and democratic environment. The idea of being truly independent in your learning. The idea that you can and should ask the professor because you are actually evaluated for your ability to express your thoughts clearly and think critically. This can be a real shock to many students from very traditional Asian cultures where there is a strict hierarchy in the classroom. God forbids you to ask the professor.
VP: What is the current breakdown of graduate and undergraduate students?
RB: Until about 10 years ago, international students in the United States were dominated by students coming to the United States to earn a master’s or doctoral degree. Then there was this great influx of young Chinese students at the undergraduate level, with the significant growth of China’s middle class. We’ve seen more undergraduates come to the United States over the past few years, but some of this year’s statistics show that the gap is narrowing again.
One of the reasons is that most foreign undergraduates were full-paying students. They really fund the profits of US institutions. But they are also the ones whose families were really financially affected by the pandemic. In many countries, the middle class itself is shrinking. Many families are now rethinking whether they can afford to pay for their children’s education abroad.
VP: What do Americans do not understand about the experience of international students?
RB: From technology to academia to medicine, people often don’t understand how important international students have been to the history of success in the United States since the 1960s. One of the co-founders of Moderna was an international student. The new CEO of Twitter was an international student. Many Americans know that these individuals are immigrants, but it is not well understood what the journey was and why education was a really important aspect of the journey.
VP: There is a kind of pantomime established by all concerned, where students study abroad in the United States and then return to their home countries. That is the basis of student visas. It was your intention when you came. How unrealistic is that model?
RB: That question is at the heart of why I wrote this book. In the United States, there is growing dissatisfaction with the desire to have a frank conversation about the path from higher education to skilled talent and how countries are expanding their talent pools.
In almost every developed country (see UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and many others), the path from education to immigration has been ubiquitous for a very long time. Not so in the United States. According to statistics, 70-80% of international students continue to stay in the United States after studying. Nevertheless, the flow of international students is seen within this “exchange” framework, as you mentioned earlier. But it’s not a replacement. Much more students are coming than they are going. The number of participants in the exchange program, like the flagship Fulbright program, is very small. Most students who come here are personally motivated students who fund their way.
One of the biggest challenges is that F-1 international student visas continue to be called “single intent visas”. This means that a 17-year-old undergraduate must stand in front of a consulate employee in his home country. “Yes, I’m sure I’ll be back in four years,” he says. How can I find out? We don’t ask 17-year-olds in the United States to know exactly what to decide in four years. I think most students are honest and say what they think is right for them. That was true to me. But you evolve and change.
VP: So what kind of reforms do you propose for the system?
RB: First, remove the single-purpose requirement for student visas. Another problem is that through the Optional Practical Training Program, the applied work opportunities that international students have after studying are incredibly at a loss. The program was not created by law. So it’s like having a sword hanging on every international student. After studying, will I be able to continue working for the past year? What will happen?
More generally, you need to smooth the path from becoming a student to joining the workforce. The current limits and backlog are very important. It’s a matter of seeing the talent that the United States is losing, that is, the talent trained in the United States.
VP: How does the US immigration system shape the experience of international students while they are here? How do you experience different things from similar American students who may be in the same program?
RB: There is a sense of this uncertain uncertainty that dominates your entire time in the United States. There are numerous immigration rules that must be observed, for example, the amount of course work required for each semester. Most American students, especially graduate students, are free to take a break from the semester. “I will continue to enroll, but I will work for the World Bank for two years.” International students do not have that freedom. You are an international student. Everything you do in your learning program complies with immigration rules.
Ironically, in this book, many say they have the stereotype that “international students are excellent, get a PhD in just five or six years, and are very smart.” It’s not smart. There is no choice. There is no choice but to continue the march and meet these requirements. Otherwise, you will soon lose your status and have to return to your country.
This sense of uncertainty floats above you as you follow that path. It’s an endless process of waiting and not knowing. You are applying for a work permit for Optional Practical Training and are waiting because you do not know when it will pass. You can then apply for an H1-B work permit. And it comes with its own uncertainty. It dominates the entire existence of international students in a way that American students don’t even have to think about.
VP: How does that compare to your experience in Canada?
RB: Canadian policy is much more friendly to international students because of the clear understanding that education is the path to career and workforce.
VP: Many people who want to limit but do not want to eliminate immigrants want to bias immigrants to highly educated individuals who bring a lot of human capital. But I’m worried about some of the potential side effects of that model. Part of the implicit American social contract (not always respected) is that we respect each other as individuals, especially in the context of work. We respect the people who work. We do not look down on them because it is a low-paying job or requires less education. The work itself deserves respect. Is accepting many privileged people from a hierarchical society like India at risk of eroding the egalitarian relationships of everyday American life? Do people from the elite of a highly stratified society bring their views with them and inject them into everyday life in America?
RB: That’s a great question. And I don’t put myself any further. I think there is something special about entering a new society as a student. Because you are like a sponge, an era when your values, ideas and beliefs are still being shaped. As such, that experience can have profound and transformative implications for people. And that definitely influenced me.
I think you’ve come up with many of the ideas you’ve just presented from a very rigorously structured society that transcends classes. I had my own prejudices and beliefs about race, color, and dignity of labor. Being in the United States forced me to face my own prejudices, evolve, open up my thoughts, and hopefully change to be a better person.
That is one of the things I have been telling students these days. When they ask me, I want to come to America and study, how can I succeed? One of my challenges to them is to really think about opening ourselves about how society can actually change you.
VP: How did studying and living in the United States help you to better understand India?
RB: When you leave home and are long enough away, it really gives you a sense of its objectivity and the feeling that outsiders are looking into it — you really know society, but you’re still a step away. is separated. For me, those learnings were mainly about sexism and my position in the world as a young woman. Looking at my hometown and my society, I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted for myself, but what I wanted something different.
VP: This book certainly has a negative experience, but it made me feel good about the country. It was a positive view of America. It wasn’t a beautiful fairy tale, but if you want to come and stay here, there must be something good in this country.
RB: I’m really happy to hear you say so. What attracts people to the United States? I say in the book that it was the country that gave the world Indiana Jones. I wasn’t trying to look down, but say that there is this idea of freedom embodied in various ways, such as freedom of thought, freedom of pursuit of aspirations, freedom of reinventing oneself.
VP: You have a great example of your surprise when you see someone in the United States who had braces as an adult. You see it as a sign of reinventing yourself. RB: As soon as a student arrives here, he encounters that freedom, which manifests itself in many ways. They are forced to think in ways they have never experienced before. And I think that’s what really attracts people here. Despite all the challenges the country has faced in the last four or five years, it still exists.

Don’t Despair About US Democracy. Fix It.
Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg/December 25/2021
Last week, I promised a bit of optimism about US democracy given the very real threats the republic is facing. I’ll repeat that no one should dismiss those threats. But the defeat of democracy is hardly a done deal.
To begin with, imperfect democracy survived 2020, and as serious as the setbacks have been (and yes, the loss of the Voting Rights Act is a big deal), it’s still possible to overstate the overall retreat that’s happened. We haven’t returned to 1960 or 1910 or 1860, and it isn’t particularly close. Nor is the movement all in the same direction.
For one example, the diversity of elected and unelected government officials in the US isn’t just better than it was in 1960 or 1970; it’s significantly better than it was 20 years ago and continues to improve. For another, many of the efforts to make it more difficult to vote are in turn rollbacks of laws passed in the last 25 years to make it easier. I’ll give you one more: The Bright Line Watch survey finds that both Democratic and Republican voters underestimate the other party’s support for democracy.
That can be dangerous, since it can lead to pre-emptive attacks on the system to prevent the other side from acting first. But it also means that we’re not dealing with a system in which deep antidemocratic sentiment is entrenched among the rank and file.
It’s not just voters. If the biggest threat is antidemocratic sentiment among Republican party actors, and particularly former President Donald Trump and his allies, then we also have to remember that Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election was unsuccessful in large part because Republicans refused to go along. In state after state, election officials insisted on reporting the real results. Republican-majority legislatures refused to send alternate slates of electors to Congress.
Vice President Mike Pence declined to participate in Trump’s plotting. To be sure: We can never be certain whether those who refused to go along might’ve chosen otherwise had the election been just a little closer. But it’s also possible that most of the Republicans in the House and Senate who voted against the lawful results on Jan. 6 were merely making a symbolic statement, and would’ve backed off if they thought they could actually overturn the results.
There’s another point to be made here about Republicans who resisted Trump last winter. For the most part, folks such as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger were squarely in the mainstream of their party right up until Trump pushed them to betray their oaths of office. (Kemp was mostly known nationally for efforts to make it harder to vote.) But they and other Republicans seemed to see a clear line between shifting the law to their benefit and ignoring the law altogether. It’s possible that while some Trump-aligned Republicans are ready to do anything for him, others believe in the rule of law and, once in office, will see things differently than they do now. That may not be entirely comforting.
But US history offers many examples of marginal shifts in the rules of the game to favor one party or group or person. As long as it doesn’t go too far, the result can be a muddling-through kind of democracy. The point of all this is that despair is the wrong reaction to the current situation.
The risks are real, but they’re only risks, and there are entirely plausible off-ramps. Moreover, moving farther away from a healthy republic will require making choices, on the individual and collective levels, not just ambling along.
That means decisions can be made differently; political action can still still change the results. It’s true that if we muddle through with the same institutions, the same risks could recur. That’s the nature of politics. People choose, and may choose poorly. But as long as the republic still stands, citizens still have the opportunity to decide wisely, and to opt for a system that keeps future collective choice meaningful.

Ireland: Still No Room at the Inn/Not a Welcoming Environment for Jews
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/December 25, 2021
Ostensibly, the BDS movement's goal is to shift world opinion to declare that Jewish settlements in the historically-named areas of Judea and Samaria are supposedly illegal seizures of Palestinian Arab land. In truth, the principal and outspoken objective of Palestinian organizers of the BDS movement is the destruction of Israel.
In Ireland, Jew-hatred does not well up from the general public but seems clearly driven from the top down. These Goebbels-like attacks on Israel include salvos from several Sinn Fein members of parliament. One of them, Martin Browne, represents Tipperary and claims, falsely, that Israel created ISIS. Another, Matt Carthy representing Cavan-Monahan, has stated that Israel is the worst human rights offender on earth -- presumably dwarfing China, North Korea, Venezuela and Iran.
There is understandably some sympathetic sentiment among the Irish people for the plight of Palestinians, as there is also among Israelis, saddened to see people suffer unnecessarily under a brutal and corrupt Palestinian leadership, which has full autonomy over much the territory under dispute. The Palestinians long ago agreed, in the Oslo Accords of 1993, to settle those disputes by direct negotiation, not by external fiat.
All Israelis -- about 20% of whom are Muslims, along with Christians and Druze -- have identical rights under the law. Israeli Arabs can vote, have political parties and prominent job opportunities, and are members of Israel's parliament. The one exception is that Arabs are not required to serve in the Israeli military; in the event of possible conflicts with Arab states, Israelis did not want brother fighting brother.
Even more shocking was that fully a third of Irish members of parliament of voted to expel Israeli diplomats from Ireland.
The Irish Parliament, on the night of May 25, 2021, staged a "legal Kristallnacht" against the nation of Israel. Following an avalanche of vituperative anti-Israel and anti-Semitic diatribes by members of the lower house of Parliament, its members voted unanimously to discuss a motion on whether or not Ireland should support BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) legislation to try to strangle Israel economically. Pictured: Ireland's parliament building in Dublin.
The Irish Parliament, on the night of May 25, 2021, staged a "legal Kristallnacht" against the nation of Israel. Following an avalanche of vituperative anti-Israel and anti-Semitic diatribes by members of the Dáil Éireann (lower house of Parliament), its members voted unanimously to discuss a motion on whether or not Ireland should support BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) legislation to try to strangle Israel economically. Ostensibly, the BDS movement's goal is to shift world opinion to declare that Jewish settlements in the historically-named areas of Judea and Samaria are supposedly illegal seizures of Palestinian Arab land. In truth, the principal and outspoken objective of Palestinian organizers of the BDS movement is the destruction of Israel.
Disturbingly, the May 25 motion was fully supported by at least two of Ireland's leading NGOs sponsored by the Irish Catholic Church: Sadaka and Trócaire. Pro-BDS Sadaka, in particular, makes no pretense about being bitterly opposed to Israel. Even more shocking was that fully a third of Irish members of parliament of voted to expel Israeli diplomats from Ireland. Sein Fein ("Ourselves Alone"), a democratic socialist party and that won the most votes in Ireland's 2020 parliamentary elections, has been spearheading the increasingly anti-Israel orientation of Ireland's foreign policy.
Ireland, by virtue that it stands alone in its official state-to-state condemnatory initiatives against Israel's policies "in the territories," is, according to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, perceived as supposedly the most anti-Israeli state in the European Union. Other EU states may often be critical of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians -- for instance Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg. When Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn hosted a convocation of several EU states who were considering granting diplomatic recognition to a supposed "state of Palestine," Sweden, Belgium, and Ireland were a few of the states that sent representatives to this meeting.
Unfortunately, there has been virtually no push-back from Ireland's general public or civil society institutions. This lack of support for Israel is distressing, as much of the pro-Palestinian rhetoric and criticism of Israel is not only unjust but has been morphed into blatant anti-Semitism by some political and cultural Irish public figures. One legislator, Catherine Connolly, raised the anti-Semitic theme of "Jewish Supremacy" analogous to the world Jewish conspiracy trope found in the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an anti-Semitic document. The chairman of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, Maurice Cohen, pointed out that Connolly's performance strayed into classical anti-Semitic language.
There is understandably some sympathetic sentiment among the Irish people for the plight of Palestinians, as there is also among Israelis, saddened to see people suffer unnecessarily under a brutal and corrupt Palestinian leadership, which has full autonomy over much the territory under dispute. The Palestinians long ago agreed, in the Oslo Accords of 1993, to settle those disputes by direct negotiation, not by external fiat. One Palestinian shopkeeper in Dublin suggests that there is a shared feeling with the Irish of having fought against colonialism and oppression. Yet there is little evidence that the bulk of the Irish citizenry support this prejudicial assault on Israel, much less, the poisonous anti-Jewish rhetoric.
All Israelis -- about 20% of whom are Muslims, along with Christians and Druze -- have identical rights under the law. Israeli Arabs can vote, have political parties and prominent job opportunities, and are members of Israel's parliament. Confusion likely arises because the people known as Palestinians are not Israelis. They are Arabs who fled what is now Israel when armies of five Arab countries -- Egypt, Syria, Trans-Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq -- attacked Israel on May 15, 1948, the day the British Mandate over Palestine ended. These countries were hoping to destroy the new state of Israel in its crib. When, after Israel's unexpected victory, the Arabs who had fled wished to return, they were refused as fifth-columnists: people who had shown sympathy or support for the enemy. The Arabs who had fled suddenly found themselves without a home, displaced. These are the people who later called themselves Palestinians. The Arabs who stayed in Israel during the war are full-fledged Israeli citizens, and have exactly the same rights and legal protection as Jews, although there is always room for improvement in everyone's standard of living. The one exception is that Arabs are not required to serve in the Israeli military; in the event of possible conflicts with Arab states, Israelis did not want brother fighting brother. Many Israeli Arabs have nevertheless been voluntarily joining the military in record numbers, often despite harsh criticism from other Arabs.
In Ireland, Jew-hatred does not well up from the general public but seems clearly driven from the top down. These Goebbels-like attacks on Israel include salvos from several Sinn Fein members of parliament. One of them, Martin Browne, represents Tipperary and claims, falsely, that Israel created ISIS. Another, Matt Carthy representing Cavan-Monahan, has stated that Israel is the worst human rights offender on earth -- presumably dwarfing China, North Korea, Venezuela and Iran.
Others include People Before Profit Party members Gino Kenny and Brid Smith, representing districts in Dublin, who have called for the expulsion from Ireland of Israel's Ambassador. Leading Irish novelist Sally Rooney refused an offer by Israeli publisher Modan to translate her latest book into Hebrew, expressing support for the BDS movement.
The behind-the-scenes launch pad for much of this anti-Semitic rhetoric might be the outsized influence enjoyed by Ireland's Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) The ICC is the religious, political, and financial wellspring of Islam in Ireland. Another impetus for the appearance of Jew-hate in the Irish parliament is the full-time activism of pro-Palestinian propagandists on Ireland's college campuses. This campus activism is spearheaded by Palestinian students who have granted scholarships to study in Ireland [1] These students and sympathetic teachers recruit Irish natives [2] to form chapters of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) that operate on and off college grounds. The chairwoman of the IPSC is Fatin al Tamimi, a Palestinian who emigrated to Ireland three decades ago. There are IPSC chapters in most of Ireland's large cities. Then there are the faculty-assisted Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters on the campus of several universities. SJP university chapters are in Dublin's Trinity College, the National University of Ireland (NUI) of Maynooth in County Kildare, and County Galway's NUI chapter in Galway City,[3] all of which support the BDS movement, as does the Union of Students in Ireland.
There also exists an apparent tacit alliance of convenience between pro-Palestinian politicians, academics and Sinn Fein leftists with right wing, racist Holocaust deniers and proponents of anti-Semitic tropes such as Rothschild financial manipulators and Christ-killers.[4]
There are about 2,500 Jews in Ireland, with census reports indicating that from 2011 to 2016, the Jewish population rose by nearly 30%. Although the number of Irish Jews may be on the rise, the political influence of Irish Jewry is waning. The last elected Jew in Ireland the former Irish Attorney General Alan Shatter was drummed out of office in 2014 following the Irish media's broadcast of unsubstantiated charges of political corruption against him. Although Shatter has been subsequently exonerated, his case lends evidence that anti-Semitism is alive and well in Ireland. The exhaustive examination of the just released report compiled by David Collier, entitled "Ireland Antisemitism Report," details classic examples of widespread Jew-hatred among politicians, academics and Palestinian students on the grounds of several Irish universities.
Under the rubric of developing a "social justice" foreign policy profile for Ireland, some of Ireland's anti-Israel critics may have helped ignite a vicious anti-Semitic campaign that is poisoning what was once a most welcoming Irish society for Jews.
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
[1] "Ireland Anti-Semitism Report" by David Collier. October 2021. P.54.
[2] Ibid. p. 54 and p.57.
[3] Ibid, p. 56,60, and 62
[4] Ibid. p.66.
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