English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 15/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.june15.22.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father
John 15/15-21: “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. ‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “Servants are not greater than their master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 14-15/2022
Hezbollah Is a mere Iranian occupation army that occupies Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/June 13/2022
There will be no salvation, cure, or resurrection for Lebanon, as long as Hezbollah poisons and ravages the Lebanese minds, and drags them by force to pre-stone times/
Elias Bejjani/14 June/2022
Dispute with Israel at the heart of US envoy talks with Lebanese president
US envoy talks with Aoun, Miqati, Berri on border dispute with Israel
Hochstein says Lebanese proposals 'will enable negotiations to go forward'
Berri says Aoun's stance 'agreed on by all Lebanese'
Reports: Lebanon demands Line 23 and Qana field in Hochstein talks
Miqati to Hochstein: Lebanon needs to start oil drilling, holds on to its rights
'Change' MPs hold onto Line 29 as Lebanon reportedly gives it up
Hochstein tells Fayyad US to facilitate Egypt and Jordan energy deals
Lebanese pound drops again to 30,000
Karami files appeal against Tripoli elections results
Lebanon preparing to offer compromise on maritime spat with Israel, officials say
Hepatitis A Spreads in Northern Lebanon

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 14-15/2022
Jihadi attacks mount in Burkina Faso despite junta’s efforts
Iran says still believes nuclear talks can yield deal
Iran says its actions in contravention of 2015 nuclear deal are ‘reversible’
Iranian Tanker Ship Seized by Greece Has Been Released
Iran Media: Scores Injured in Explosion at Chemical Factory
Argentina Seizes Passports of Grounded Plane's Iranian Crew
Israel Destroyed Several Iranian Arms Convoys in Iraq
Israel Strike Crippling Syria’s Main Airport Hikes Tensions
Biden to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia next month
Biden to visit Israel, West Bank and KSA in July
Russians Control 80% of Contested City in Eastern Ukraine
Kremlin Says Separatist Leaders Would Listen to UK Appeal on Condemned Fighters
Israel's cabinet appears closer to collapse after lawmaker quits
UN Chief: Governments' Inaction on Climate is 'Dangerous'
Venezuela's Maduro visits Kuwait, speaks to crown prince
Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark, together with Greenland, reach historic agreement on long-standing boundary disputes
Canadian Who Drove Van into Toronto Crowds Given Life Sentence
Top US, Chinese National Security Figures Hold 'Candid' Talks
UN: Death Toll from Week of Darfur Clashes Now at Least 125

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 14-15/2022
What Erdoğan Has Wrought?/Eric S. Edelman/The Dispatch/June 15/2022
Boris Johnson Is at the Beginning of the End/Katy Balls/The New York Times/June 14/2022
Facebook’s Greater Threat Is the Law, Not Lawsuits/Parmy Olson/Bloomberg/June 14/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 14-15/2022
Hezbollah Is a mere Iranian occupation army that occupies Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/June 13/2022
Satan's party is the enemy of Lebanon, and an Iranian-sectarian - criminal - oppressive armed and stone age tool of occupation. Its leaders including Nasrallah, are in reality mere slaves and mercenary puppets, that are recruited and trained to serve the mullahs expansionism-sectarianism schemes. This terrorist Iranian armed militia it not Lebanese by any means, and does not represent the Lebanese in any thing..

There will be no salvation, cure, or resurrection for Lebanon, as long as Hezbollah poisons and ravages the Lebanese minds, and drags them by force to pre-stone times.
Elias Bejjani/14 June/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/109361/elias-bejjani-there-will-be-no-salvation-cure-or-resurrection-for-lebanon-as-long-as-hezbollah-poisons-and-ravages-the-lebanese-minds-and-drags-them-by-force-to-pre-stone-times/
The Lebanese Minister of Culture warns Israel: We will leave, crawling towards you
Twitter/June 13/2022
Caretaker Culture Minister Muhammad Wissam Al-Mortada tweeted this morning in response to Israeli threats, saying: “Kochavi threatened massive and devastating bombing if the war with Lebanon broke out. If you do it, and you are answerable and unable to do so, then yes “we will leave”, but to the south, i.e., crawling towards you, and it will not be a short visit.
This above childish tweet is a blatant example of stupidity, ignorance and grandiose delusions. It shows with no shed of doubt, the dire dangers of such an evil mentality, that is based and motivated by illusions, delusions and hallucinations. Such an approach portrays total detachment and alienation from both, reality and capabilities.
Such devastating, and cancerous mentality, life style, and education, are adopted, promoted and imposed on occupied Lebanon and the Lebanese, by the terrorist Hezbollah, and its Iranian Mullahs.
Therefore, there is no resurrection for Lebanon from the yoke of the Iranian occupation, and no cure from the poisons and cancers of Hezbollah, before its entire eradication from all Lebanon, arresting and putting its Trojan leaders on trial, and the implementation of all UN Resolutions related to Lebanon, foremost of which are the 1559, 1701, and 1680, after declaring Lebanon a failed and rogue country, and handing over its governance responsibilities to the United Nations, pursuant to the International Article VII. in bid to rehabilitate the Lebanese to govern themselves.
Meanwhile those who are more dangerous than Hezbollah and from the expansionist, colonial and ideological schemes of its Iranian masters, are the cowardly and traitorous, Lebanese politicians, and in particular the dictators, Iscariots and Trojans, who control, own and run all Lebanese political parties.

Dispute with Israel at the heart of US envoy talks with Lebanese president
The Arab Weekly/June 14/2022
The US envoy mediating between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border met Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday in Beirut for talks on ways of reaching a solution amid rising tensions along the tense boundary. Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser for energy security at the US State Department, arrived in Beirut on Monday following an invitation by the Lebanese government. The invitation came after Israel set up a gas rig at its designated location at the Karish field, which Israel says is part of its UN-recognised exclusive economic zone. Lebanon insists it is in a disputed area. Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant Hezbollah have been exchanging threats, with Hezbollah’s leader last week warning he would strike the gas rig at Karish. The heavily-armed Hezbollah, which has fought several wars with Israel, has repeatedly said in the past that it would use its weapons to protect Lebanon’s economic rights. Days later, Israel’s army Chief Aviv Kochavi threatened Lebanon with “unprecedented bombing” saying that a future war would be very large. The US-mediated indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel have been stalled since last year amid disagreements within Lebanon over the extent of the disputed area. The two countries, which have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometres of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to unleash offshore oil and gas production as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
Last year, the Lebanese delegation in the talks, a mix of army generals and professionals, offered a new map that pushes for an additional 1,430 square kilometres as Lebanese territory. Hochstein did not speak to reporters after his meetings with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Lebanese media reported ahead of Tuesday’s meetings that Aoun would put forward several proposals, including one which shows readiness to give Israel full control of Karish field in return for Lebanon getting the Qana field, part of which stretches deep into the disputed area. During a visit to Lebanon in February, Hochstein handed Lebanese officials a proposal which gives more than half the disputed area to Lebanon. Lebanon did not respond to the suggestion. Asked what the United Nations could do to advance the negotiations, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said the UN can “work with the parties to help them find a solution through dialogues, through discussion, between both sides.”The dispute over the maritime border is more than a decade old. In 2012, Lebanon rejected an American proposal to receive 550 square kilometres, or almost two thirds of the area, while Israel would have been given the remaining third. The offer was known at the time as the “Hoff Line,” after US diplomat Frederick Hoff who was mediating then between the two countries.

US envoy talks with Aoun, Miqati, Berri on border dispute with Israel
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
The U.S. envoy mediating between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border met Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday in Beirut, the president’s office said . The talks focused on ways of reaching a solution amid rising tensions along the tense boundary. The meeting was held in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. Hochstein then headed to the Grand Serail where he met with caretaker PM Najib Miqati. Hochstein did not speak to reporters after his 40-minute meeting with Aoun, nor after his meeting with Miqati. Media reports said that Aoun, during the meeting, verbally informed Hochstein of Lebanon's response to his proposal, urging him for a swift response. The reports added that Hochstein will come back with a response next week, after visiting Israel.During a visit to Lebanon in February, Hochstein handed Lebanese officials a proposal which gives more than half the disputed area to Lebanon. Lebanon did not respond to the proposal. Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, reports said that Aoun would put forward several proposals, including one which shows readiness to give Israel full control of Karish field in return for Lebanon getting the Qana field, part of which stretches deep into the disputed area. Hochstein had arrived Monday afternoon in Beirut for talks with top Lebanese officials over the sea border standoff with Israel and had met with Bou Saab, Gen. Ibrahim, caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad, and Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun. He will also meet today with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Aoun and Miqati had urged Hochstein to visit Beirut to mediate over the border dispute after Israel moved a gas production vessel into an offshore field, a part of which is claimed by Lebanon. Asked what the United Nations could do to advance the negotiations, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, said the U.N. can “work with the parties to help them find a solution through dialogues, through discussion, between both sides.”The dispute over the maritime border is more than a decade old. In 2012, Lebanon rejected an American proposal of getting 550 square kilometers (212 square miles), or almost two thirds of the area, while Israel would have gotten the remaining third. The offer was known at the time as the “Hoff Line,” after U.S. diplomat Frederick Hoff who was mediating then between the two countries.

Hochstein says Lebanese proposals 'will enable negotiations to go forward'
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
U.S. energy mediator Amos Hochstein has confirmed that what he heard from Lebanese officials in his meetings with them on Tuesday will enable the sea border negotiations with Israel to “go forward.”“The good news is that I heard a lot more unanimity, a lot more unity of message (and) serious preparation for the visit,” Hochstein said in an interview with al-Hurra TV.“They shared some ideas of how to continue the negotiations, the basis for which to continue the negotiations and to take it a step forward,” he added. Hochstein also noted that he sensed a “clear understanding” that the economic crisis in Lebanon “needs to be solved,” adding that “resolving the maritime dispute is really a critical and important step to resolving this economic crisis and to beginning the pathway towards recovery and growth.”“Therefore, this was a very serious attempt to look at options of moving forward with the idea that we need to be in a position of compromise and creative thinking,” the U.S. envoy went on to say. Asked whether he presented any new suggestions to Lebanese officials, Hochstein said he visited Lebanon to listen to the reaction to the “proposals and points” he had raised in his previous visit to Lebanon. As for Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s so-called “Karish for Qana” equation, the U.S. envoy said: “I think the Lebanese government has taken a very strong step forward today by presenting a more united approach… I don’t think it’s about slogans, it’s about what kind of compromise can we reach that the Israelis can agree to and not feel that it is being pushed into something against their interest, while still preserving the most important part of Lebanon’s interests.” “It’s not about one formula or another, it’s about what works,” Hochstein clarified.

Berri says Aoun's stance 'agreed on by all Lebanese'
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Tuesday that what U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein heard from President Michel Aoun regarding sea border demarcation is “agreed on by all Lebanese,” adding that Lebanon is “keen on preserving stability.”
Berri voiced his remarks in a 70-minute meeting with Hochstein in Ain el-Tineh. “The framework agreement remains the best mechanism for indirect negotiations based on its texts, which call for maintaining meetings until reaching the desired results, which in turn would lead to demarcating the border without infringing on Lebanon’s right to drilling,” the Speaker added. “What’s happening now violates the agreement from one side and also deprives Lebanon of its rights, at a time the Israeli entity is allowed to extract and aggress, which jeopardizes peace in the region and aggravates the situations,” Berri warned. He also emphasized that while Lebanon is “keen on extracting its resources, it is also keen on preserving stability.”Aoun on Tuesday presented to Hochstein suggestions related to the disputed maritime border with Israel, the Presidency said.
A Lebanese official who attended the meetings told The Associated Press that they focused on the disputed area of the Mediterranean and that the additional area Lebanon was pushing for -- known in Lebanon as Line 29 -- was shelved. Lebanese media reported ahead of Tuesday's meetings that Aoun would put forward several proposals, including one which shows readiness to give Israel full control of Karish field in return for Lebanon getting the Qana field, part of which stretches deep into the disputed area. The anonymous official said Lebanon wants to get full control of the Qana field and has reservations about Israel working in the Karish field without a final agreement with Lebanon. The Presidency said Aoun gave Hochstein a response to his February proposal to forward it "to the Israeli side." Aoun told the U.S. envoy he hopes that he would return soon to Lebanon with Israel's answers. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet criticized the Lebanese leadership, saying on Tuesday that instead of using gas "for the benefit of its citizens, that same leadership is busy fighting with internal and external disputes."The dispute over the maritime border is more than a decade old. In 2012, Lebanon rejected an American proposal of getting 550 square kilometers, or almost two thirds of the area, while Israel would have gotten the remaining third. The offer was known at the time as the "Hoff Line," after U.S. diplomat Frederick Hoff who was mediating then between the two countries.

Reports: Lebanon demands Line 23 and Qana field in Hochstein talks
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein received Tuesday Lebanon’s response to his proposal regarding the demarcation of the sea border with Israel, Al-Jazeera TV reported.
“The response did not include any demand for Line 29, which includes the Karish field,” Al-Jazeera said. Instead, Lebanon demanded getting “Line 23 and the Qana field in the disputed area,” the TV network added. “The Lebanese response demanded the resumption of indirect technical negotiations with Israel and Lebanon asked that gas and oil extraction from the Karish field stop until the end of the negotiations,” Al-Jazeera went on to say. Three Lebanese officials with knowledge of the negotiations meanwhile told Reuters that Lebanon was preparing to offer a “compromise” to Hochstein to resolve the border dispute with Israel.A Lebanese official meanwhile confirmed to AFP that Lebanon's proposal on Tuesday held back on demands for territory where Israel plans to imminently extract gas. Beirut's proposal however included a claim for all of the separate Qana field that it had initially only sought part of, the official close to the negotiations added. Lebanese authorities last week had requested Hochstein visit after a gas production vessel arrived in Israel to launch extraction operations in the Karish offshore field, drawing condemnation from Lebanon, which had laid claim to parts of it.
But in meetings Tuesday with Hochstein, Lebanon's top leaders pushed for the country's maritime border to exclude Karish and include the whole of the nearby Qana field instead, the official close to the negotiations told AFP. "We want the entire Qana field," the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue. Lebanon had initially demanded 860 square kilometers of territory in the disputed maritime area, including part of Qana. It then asked for an additional 1,430 square kilometers, also taking in part of Karish. In Tuesday's offer, Lebanon "proposed increasing its initial demand for 860 square kilometers... to about 1,200 square kilometers," the official said, taking in all of Qana but none of Karish. Hochstein will submit the new offer to Israel then relay its response to Lebanon.Hochstein reportedly held positive talks with Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab and General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim on Monday. On Tuesday he met with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker PM Najib Miqati, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, a number of "change MPs" and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.

Miqati to Hochstein: Lebanon needs to start oil drilling, holds on to its rights
Associated Press/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed to U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein on Tuesday that "Lebanon's higher interest requires starting oil drilling without giving up Lebanon's right to all its resources."Hochstein, a senior adviser for energy security at the U.S. State Department, had arrived in Beirut on Monday following an invitation by the Lebanese government. The invitation came after Israel set up a gas rig at its designated location at the Karish field, which Israel says is part of its U.N.-recognized exclusive economic zone. Lebanon insists it is in a disputed area. Hochstein who had earlier on Tuesday met with President Michel Aoun, did not speak to reporters after his meetings with both Aoun and Miqati. Miqati said he informed Hochstein of "Lebanon's unified stance over the maritime border demarcation file," and of Lebanon's keenness on maintaining the U.S. mediation. The meeting was held in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and Presidency Director-General Antoine Choucair.

'Change' MPs hold onto Line 29 as Lebanon reportedly gives it up
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
U.S. envoy mediating between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border will meet on Tuesday with a delegation of "Change" MPs at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar. The MPs will convey to Amos Hochstein that Lebanon has the right to Line 29, MP Ibrahim Mneimneh said. The lawmakers had protested Saturday in southern Lebanon against Israel moving a gas production vessel into an offshore field partly claimed by Beirut. "Amending Decree 6433 is a national duty and we have legal proofs that Lebanon has the right to the Line 29," MP Melhem Khalaf had said last week on behalf of the reformist MPs. With no official statements about the Lebanese response that was given today to Hochstein, media outlets said the response did not include any demand for Line 29.

Hochstein tells Fayyad US to facilitate Egypt and Jordan energy deals
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
U.S. energy mediator Amos Hochstein stressed to caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad in their meeting on Monday that Washington still supports Lebanon’s bid to import gas and electricity from Egypt and Jordan, media reports said on Tuesday.
Hochstein asked that Lebanon sign the agreement with Egypt and promised that the U.S. would send the letter of guarantees that would exempt Cairo from the Caesar Act sanctions, al-Akhbar newspaper reported. The U.S. envoy also said that Washington would mediate with the World Bank to secure funding, the daily added. Moreover, Hochstein promised Fayyad to “mediate with the Iraqi side to renew the contract of supplying Lebanon with fuel oil for its power plants.”The newspaper added that Lebanon will finalize the agreement with Egypt by Sunday, or “within ten days at the latest.”

Lebanese pound drops again to 30,000
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
The Lebanese pound hit a new low against the U.S. dollar on the black market Tuesday, crashing below 30,000 to the greenback. The exchange rate, which is unofficial but applies to most transactions, had dropped from a record high of LBP 38,000 to LBP 27,300, last month, after Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh issued a statement saying banks would resume exchange operations at the Sayrafa platform rate to “all the holders of Lebanese pounds, be them citizens or institutions, who want to exchange them for U.S. dollars.”For decades, the Lebanese pound was pegged to the dollar at 1,500, meaning that it has lost around 95 percent of its value in two years. A financial crisis widely blamed on government corruption and mismanagement has caused the worst economic crisis in Lebanon's history. The cost of a full tank of petrol now far exceeds the minimum monthly wage, mains electricity comes on barely two hours a day and unaffordable school fees are driving increased student dropouts.
Four out of five Lebanese are now considered poor by the World Bank.

Karami files appeal against Tripoli elections results
Naharnet/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Ex-MP Faisal Karami, one of many pro-Syria politicians who lost their seats in the May parliamentary elections, announced Tuesday that he has filed an appeal against the results of the elections before the Constitutional Council.
“These elections were marred by major flaws, several violations, frenzied financial spending and the biggest operation of buying consciences that Lebanon has witnessed, not to mention the incitement in the media and the unprecedented campaigns,” Karami said at a press conference. He also decried the “excessive primitiveness” in the counting of votes. “We have faced injustice and theft and here we are resorting to the constitutional judiciary, represented in the Constitutional Council, asking it and its president and esteemed members to lift injustice against the aggrieved and to return the right to its owners,” Karami went on to say, noting that his file is “complete and strong.”Al-Jadeed TV had earlier reported that Karami’s lawyer Wadih Akl had filed an appeal against “the parliamentary membership of each of the MPs Rami Fanj, Ehab Matar and Firas al-Salloum, because according to the proportional law, appeals must be filed against individuals.”

Lebanon preparing to offer compromise on maritime spat with Israel, officials say
Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily/Reuters/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Lebanon is preparing to offer a compromise to U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein to resolve a dispute with Israel over maritime gas resources, three Lebanese officials with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters. Hochstein landed in Beirut on Monday at the invitation of the Lebanese government, which had objected to the arrival of a vessel operated by London-based Energean (ENOG.L) off the Mediterranean coast on June 5 to develop a gas field known as Karish. Israel says Karish is part of its exclusive economic zone, but Lebanon says the field is in contested waters and should not be developed until the two countries conclude their indirect talks to delineate their maritime borders. Those talks fizzled out last year after Lebanon pushed its claim in the disputed zone from a boundary known as "Line 23" further south to "Line 29," adding around 1,400 square km (540 square miles) to its claim, including part of Karish. To overcome the impasse, Hochstein proposed a field-swap that would create an S-shaped boundary instead of a straight line, but Lebanon did not officially agree to the proposal, official sources said. Lebanon has insisted on renewing the indirect talks, but has not yet publicly announced whether it would stick to Line 29 as a starting position for those negotiations. The U.S. consider Line 29 a "non-starter," according to sources. Three Lebanese officials with knowledge of the internal process to finalise a government stance said that Lebanon would drop claims to Line 29. The sources said President Michel Aoun would meet Hochstein on Tuesday morning and propose "Line 23, plus a little more."One of the officials specified that Aoun's position would be a claim to Line 23 in addition to 300 km sq that includes the Qana field, but not Karish. Aoun would demand that indirect talks resume as soon as possible and that Israel stop all works at Karish until negotiations are concluded, two of the officials said. MP Mark Daou, who visited Aoun on Monday as part of a group of independent parliamentarians, said the president told the lawmakers he "cannot insist on Line 29" as a starting point. "President Aoun told us that Lebanon does not have the technical foundations on which to construct a case for Line 29 because previous governments had failed to produce formal documentation to maintain this position," Daou told Reuters. Alain Aoun, a lawmaker from the Free Patriotic Movement which was founded by the president, said Lebanon would be making a counter-offer to Hochstein's proposal but did not give details. Hochstein met with caretaker energy minister Walid Fayad and deputy speaker of parliament Elias Bou Saab on Monday but made no public comments.

Hepatitis A Spreads in Northern Lebanon
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Northern Lebanon is grappling with an outbreak of Hepatitis A, or jaundice, that has infected 174 people, according to official figures. The Health Ministry is probing the cause of the outbreak. The infections were first reported in the northern city of Tripoli, said local media, blaming the outbreak on polluted drinking water, which has not been confirmed by concerned authorities. The Health Ministry announced on Monday that it has been following up on the outbreak since it first emerged and that it was still probing its causes. It revealed that it will issue a daily bulletin on the outbreak, similar to how it tackled the coronavirus pandemic. Head of the Doctors Syndicate Youssef Bakhash warned of the rapid spread of Hepatitis A, saying it is highly contagious.
He blamed the outbreak of a shortage of drinking water and poor hygiene and sewage systems. He praised the Health Ministry for cooperating with the concerned authorities and probing the outbreak and the source of pollution. The probe found that the public water network was not polluted, he revealed, adding that 118 infections were confirmed in less than a week. Bakhash urged people to follow proper hygiene practices, such as washing hands after using the toilet and before preparing or eating food and using trusted sources of water for drinking or washing fruits and vegetables.
He urged the need to provide the necessary vaccine against the disease and to carry out an inoculation campaign targeting vulnerable segments of society to curb its spread. The campaign should first target the elderly and those suffering from chronic health problems. The early detection of the disease should be a priority because it will help isolate patients and prevent the spread of the infection.President of the Order of Pharmacists, Joe Salloum said that subsidized vaccines are unavailable in Lebanon, calling the need to declare a health emergency not just in Tripoli, but the entire country.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 14-15/2022
Jihadi attacks mount in Burkina Faso despite junta’s efforts
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso/AP/14 June 2022
The mutinous soldiers who ousted Burkina Faso’s democratically elected president early this year vowed they would do a better job at stopping the jihadi violence rocking the country. Five months later, however, attacks are increasing and patience with the junta appears to be waning. Many in Burkina Faso supported the military takeover in January, frustrated with the previous government’s inability to stem Islamic extremist violence that has killed thousands and displaced at least 2 million. Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who led the coup and was later installed as interim president, vowed to restore security. But violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State increased nearly 7% during the junta’s first three months of rule compared with the three months prior, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. “Beyond the immeasurable suffering, the effects of the violence and conflict — which show no signs of abating — are likely to lead to renewed popular discontent,” said Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at ACLED. The latest attack happened in northern Burkina Faso over the weekend when suspected extremists killed at least 55 people, authorities said Monday. Nearly 5,000 people have died in the last two years in Burkina Faso and conflict experts say there will be far-reaching consequences if the violence continues to worsen. “The decline in Burkina Faso will absolutely fuel the spread of jihadist activity in the Gulf of Guinea states — Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo — where there already is jihadist recruitment and violence,” said Michael Shurkin, director of global programs at 14 North Strategies, a consultancy based in Dakar, Senegal.Damiba has asked citizens to give him until September to see improvement. He’s promoted younger officers with field experience and created a central coordination unit for military operations. His government also has supported local dialogues with jihadis to try to convince the fighters to put down their arms and return to their homes. Yet violence is intensifying. Since April at least 30 security forces have been killed and two foreigners kidnapped: an American nun and a Polish citizen. Last week, 11 gendarmes were killed by jihadis in Seno province in the Sahel, said the army in a statement. The government is losing control of swaths of land, particularly in the Center North and Sahel regions, as jihadis have increased their use of roadside bombs and use more sophisticated weapons. Government soldiers say they lack equipment and must resort to stealing guns and ammunition from jihadis they kill. Seeing so many of their colleagues die also has taken its toll, the soldiers say.
“Our situation is very difficult. Sometimes the enemy kills us because we’re regularly exhausted,” said a soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to speak to journalists. Jihadis are changing strategy. They are targeting water sources, destroying 32 facilities this year which has reduced access to nearly 300,000 people, said a group of aid organizations operating in the country. “The conflict is now putting at risk the very thing no one can live without: clean water,” said Rebecca Bouchet-Petersen, country director for Solidarity International in Burkina Faso. Most of the destruction of water sources has been around Djibo in the arid Sahel region, which hosts the largest number of displaced people in the country and has been under siege for months. Last month local leaders in Djibo tried to negotiate an end to the blockade with the top jihadi in the country, Jafar Dicko, according to government officials. It was the first time the government gave logistical support for local dialogues, which have been ongoing for years. While the talks partially succeeded in allowing freer movement in and out of Djibo, community leaders say it’s a small improvement. ”I think it’s when the government negotiates that we’ll see more significant results,” said Boubacari Dicko, the Emir of Djibo who led the talks.
But it’s unclear if Damiba’s government is prepared to take that step. The previous government was publicly against such negotiations, although it did hold some in secret around the November 2020 presidential election. There’s also growing discontent about Damiba’s crackdown on civic freedoms. The junta has restricted political demonstrations that could “disturb public order or mobilize security forces who will be more useful for combat.”Yet locals in hard-hit parts of Burkina Faso see few alternatives to the junta and say they’re willing to give it a little more time. In August last year, 45-year-old Awa Komi tried to return to her village to farm because her family had no food, but fled when jihadis started killing people, she said. In a makeshift displacement camp in the northern town of Ouahigouya where she now lives, she’s hoping Damiba will restore security so she can go home.
“He said things would change in five months,” the outspoken mother of 11 said, pumping her fist for emphasis. “If it’s not better in five months, we, the women, will kick him out.”

Iran says still believes nuclear talks can yield deal
Agence France Presse/14 June 2022
Iran on Tuesday said it still believes that negotiations can succeed to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, despite a recent rebuke from the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Tehran last week condemned as "unconstructive" a move by the International Atomic Energy Agency to censure the country for failure to cooperate over its nuclear program. It also disconnected some of its cameras at nuclear sites, a move the IAEA warned could deal a "fatal blow" to negotiations to revive the nuclear deal. "We believe negotiations and diplomacy are the best ways to reach the final point of the agreement," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Tehran. Talks began in April last year to bring the United States back into that landmark agreement, after then president Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 and left it hanging by a thread. The negotiations also aim to lift sanctions on Iran and bring it back into compliance with nuclear commitments it made to world powers as part of the deal. But the ever-delicate dialogue has been stalled since March. The IAEA's Board of Governors on Wednesday adopted a resolution censuring Iran for failing to adequately explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three sites which Tehran had not declared as having hosted nuclear activities. Amir-Abdollahian said that prior to the IAEA's move, Tehran had put forward a new initiative that the US had accepted, adding that Washington nonetheless moved to submit the resolution censuring Iran. But the Islamic republic would not abandon negotiations, he said, adding that "contacts in the diplomatic fields will continue" through the European Union. Iran "will not distance itself from... diplomacy and negotiations to reach a good, strong and lasting agreement," Amir-Abdollahian noted. The deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something Tehran has always denied wanting to do. But the U.S. withdrawal in 2018 prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments under the pact. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Monday said all the measures the country has taken to scale back on its obligations under the accord are "reversible."

Iran says its actions in contravention of 2015 nuclear deal are ‘reversible’
AFP/14 June 2022
Spokesman argues a new accord could turn back clock on Tehran’s accelerated nuclear development, as IAEA slams non-cooperation
TEHRAN — Iran said Monday that all measures it has taken to roll back its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers are “reversible.” “If the agreement is finalized in Vienna tomorrow, all the measures carried out by Iran are technically reversible,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters. Iran said on Wednesday it had disconnected some UN nuclear watchdog cameras monitoring its nuclear site. The move came as a resolution was adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors censuring the Islamic Republic for its lack of cooperation.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Thursday his agency had been informed that 27 cameras were being removed, leaving about 40 still in place. Iran meanwhile says the disconnected cameras were not part of a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. Iran “is fully honoring its commitments under the safeguards agreement,” Khatibzadeh said, adding that the country has only “stopped some of the voluntary measures.”“All of the safeguard cameras of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in place; all of the measures it has been undertaking under the supervision of the IAEA are in place,” he added. The talks in the Austrian capital, which began in April last year, aim to return the US to the nuclear deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and to ensure Tehran’s full compliance with its commitments under the agreement. The deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon — something Tehran has always denied wanting to do.But the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reimposed severe economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments. Khatibzadeh said the on-off dialogue in Vienna can yield results if the US “puts aside the delusion of using leverage” and “accepts to fully meet its commitments under the JCPOA and UN resolution 2231,” which supports the deal. “What we are focusing on is that this agreement becomes operational and is signed, and this is possible if the US changes its approach and manner,” he added. “Unfortunately the US is extending the talks and wants to resolve some bilateral issues through the Vienna negotiations, which is impossible.

Iranian Tanker Ship Seized by Greece Has Been Released
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) said on Tuesday the Iranian-flagged Lana tanker ship seized in April by Greece is no longer impounded and its oil cargo will be returned to its owner, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency.
"With the swift and authoritative action of Iran, the Greek government finally issued an order and we are now witnessing the lifting of the ship's seizure and the return of its cargo to its owner," the PMO told Mehr. The ship, previously called Pegas and renamed Lana in March, had reported an engine problem in April. It was headed to the southern Peloponnese peninsula to offload its cargo on to another tanker but rough seas forced it to moor just off Karystos where it was seized, according to the Athens News Agency. A Greek court overturned an earlier ruling last week that allowed the confiscation by the United States of part of the Iranian-flagged tanker's Iranian oil cargo off the Greek coast, three sources familiar with the matter said. The incident led to an angry response from Iran, with Iranian forces last month seizing two Greek tankers in the Gulf after Tehran warned it would take "punitive action" against Athens.

Iran Media: Scores Injured in Explosion at Chemical Factory
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
An explosion at a chemical factory in southern Iran injured scores of people, most of them lightly, the country's state TV reported Tuesday. The report said a leak from an ammonium tank caused the blast on Monday evening in the southern city of Firouzabad in Fars province, located about 770 kilometers (480 miles) south of the capital, Tehran. Firemen were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, the report added.According to the chief of the provincial health department, Vahid Hosseini, out of 133 injured who were taken to local hospitals, mostly factory workers, 114 were later released after treatment. Authorities on Tuesday reopened a nearby major road that they had closed after the explosion. The factory went online in 2020. Iran occasionally reports incidents of fires or explosions at industrial sites affecting the country's infrastructure that are mainly blamed on technical failures. Years of economic sanctions by the West have blocked Iran’s access to original spare parts and new equipment. Sensitive military and nuclear sites in Iran have also been the target of attacks over the past years, which Iran has blamed on Israel. In February, a fire broke out at a warehouse full of engine oil and flammable materials at a base belonging to the Revolutionary Guard in the western province of Kemranshah, damaging a shed but causing no casualties. A day earlier, unconfirmed reports proliferated online about several explosions heard in northern Kermanshah, a strategic location in Iran with various missile and military sites. The reports come as Iran remains on edge about its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations in Vienna to revive the accord have stalled for months. The 2015 deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the accord and re-imposed crushing sanctions.

Argentina Seizes Passports of Grounded Plane's Iranian Crew
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Five Iranian crew of a cargo plane grounded in Argentina since last week have had their passports temporarily seized pending a probe into possible links to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, officials said Monday. A judge on Monday ordered their travel documents held for an additional 72 hours after Security Minister Anibal Fernandez said information had been received from "foreign organizations" that some among the crew may be linked to companies with ties to the Guards, AFP reported. The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, is on a US blacklist of foreign "terrorist organizations." A routine check found "things that were not logical," Fernandez told Perfil radio on Monday. "They had declared a crew that was smaller than the one that traveled," he said, adding the matter was "still under investigation."He said the five Iranians were in a hotel. Officials originally said their passports had been taken but would be returned if they left the country on a scheduled flight while investigations continued into the plane's origins. The Venezuelan Boeing 747 cargo plane reportedly carrying car parts first landed in Cordoba, Argentina on Monday last week, then tried to travel to neighboring Uruguay, but was denied entry and returned to Ezeiza outside Buenos Aires. The crew also included 14 Venezuelans, who were free to go. Neighboring Paraguay had warned of the aircraft's presence in the area, Paraguayan interior minister Federico Gonzalez said."The other intelligence services in the region were alerted and, as a result, Argentina and other countries took action," he said.
'Propaganda'
Iran said Monday that Argentina's move was part of a "propaganda" campaign against Tehran amid tensions with Western countries over negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal. The grounding of the cargo plane came days before Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Tehran on Saturday for the allies, both subject to US sanctions, to sign a 20-year cooperation pact. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters the grounding of the plane was part of efforts seeking to "cause a feeling of insecurity." "These recent weeks are filled with propaganda, are full of psychological operations, these wars of words that want to infiltrate the minds and composure of the people," said Khatibzadeh. "This news is one of those."The plane was sold by Iran's Mahan Air to a Venezuelan company last year, he said. Mahan Air is accused by the United States of links with Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Monday's court ruling to hold the crew's passports came after a successful bid by the DAIA organization that represents Argentina's Jewish community to be listed as a plaintiff in the investigation. Interpol has arrest warrants out for former Iranian leaders suspected of involvement in an attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people and injured hundreds. It remains the deadliest terror attack in the country with South America's largest Jewish population. The grounding of the plane came as a resolution was adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors to censure Iran.
Talks in Vienna, under way since April last year, aim to return the US to a nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that it left in 2018. The deal had given Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something Tehran has always denied wanting to do. Iran said Monday that all measures it has taken to roll back on its commitments under the deal are "reversible".

Israel Destroyed Several Iranian Arms Convoys in Iraq
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Israel has carried out numerous strikes against truck convoys smuggling Iranian weapons to the Hezbollah party in Lebanon, revealed an Israeli source.
Israel would target the convoys as they were making their way from Iraq to Syria and carry out the strike in either country. The announcement was made after Israel last week struck Damascus' old international airport, causing "significant" damage to infrastructure and rendered the main runway unserviceable until further notice. The airport is located south of the capital Damascus where Syrian opposition activists say Iran-backed militiamen are active and have arms depots. Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. Israel has for years been closely monitoring the transport of weapons to Hezbollah, continued the source. At first, Israel used to target the weapons depots in Lebanon or Syria, but the military command has since ordered that the convoys be destroyed before they reach their destination, it continued.
Several Iranian convoys would make their way to Lebanon through Iraq and Syria and Israeli commandos would lie in wait to ambush them. Some convoys were destroyed in Iraq, others in Syria and some at the Lebanese border. Security sources in Tel Aviv revealed that the Iranians then significantly reduced the transfer of weapons by land and have resorted to transporting them through air military cargo or even by sea. Israeli strikes on Syria would often target these shipments as soon as they are unloaded at Syrian army depots. Iran has recently started to deliver these shipments through passenger flights to Damascus' old airport. The shipments carry less quantities of weapons, but the arms are more sophisticated than before, according to Israel's Channel 12. Israeli military officials had previously expressed their concern over the delivery of such sophisticated weapons, including modern drones and precision-guided missiles, to Lebanon. Israel has therefore, intensified its operations against Iran because it believes such arms would create a strategic imbalance in the region. Israel estimates that its latest attacks have destroyed 70 percent of arms shipments smuggled from Iran to Syria and Lebanon. The 30 percent that have reached their destination "pose a major threat," warned Israeli military officials. Channel 12 reported that Israel had informed Russia of its intended strike on Damascus airport last week to avoid a clash. Israeli media on Monday said last week's strike was not only a message to the Iranians - that Israel is watching them - but also a strong one to Bashar al-Assad's regime that it will pay a heavy price if it continues to allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria.

Israel Strike Crippling Syria’s Main Airport Hikes Tensions
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Israel marked a major escalation in its years-long campaign of airstrikes in Syria, carrying out an attack last week that shut down the country’s main civilian airport in Damascus as Israel steps up efforts to stop Iranian weapons shipments to Hezbollah. Commercial flights were still halted at Damascus International Airport five days after Friday’s pre-dawn airstrikes smashed into its runways, leaving multiple craters, and damaged the air control tower and other buildings. The strikes further ratchet up tensions in the confrontation between Israel on one side and Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah on the other. Iran has accused Israel of assassinating several high-ranking Revolutionary Guard members, while Hezbollah has threatened to strike a gas rig Israel is setting up in Mediterranean Sea area that Lebanon also claims as its waters. The escalation comes as Russia, the top ally of Iran and Syria, is preoccupied with its war in Ukraine. Russia has naval and air bases in Syria and troops deployed there, backing Damascus in Syria’s long war. With the strikes, Israel is sending the message that it "won’t let Iran fill the vacuum (left by) Russia in Syria while it is busy with Ukraine," said Ibrahim Hamidi, a Syrian journalist and senior diplomatic editor for Syrian affairs at the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
For years, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes in Syria, saying it is determined to prevent Iran’s entrenchment near its northern border and the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah, which is funded and armed by Tehran. The strikes have largely hit bases of Iranian-allied militias, including Hezbollah, as well as convoys said to be carrying arms to Hezbollah. Friday’s strikes were the most extensive against a civilian target and, by shutting the airport down, had the widest impact. As in the past, Israel did not claim responsibility for the strikes. The airport had remained operational even during the worst days of Syria’s 11-year war. It has both a civilian and a military section and satellite photos showed the runways on both sides with at least three craters each. Along with the runways, the strikes hit or damaged airport halls and a radar tower and an arms shipment that was in the civilian side of the airport, said Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria. Military positions south of Damascus were also hit.
Despite the escalation, Syria and Hezbollah both remained relatively muted about the attack. Syrian state media said Israeli strikes wounded one person and caused "significant" damage to infrastructure and rendered the main civilian runway unserviceable until further notice. Flights were rerouted to Aleppo’s airport while repairs were underway. Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous visited the airport Sunday to inspect repairs. Photos posted by SANA showed a bulldozer working on what appeared to be the runway while another showed damage inside one of the airport’s rooms with glass blown out, chairs unhinged from their place and electric cables dangling from the ceiling. Israeli media reported that the aim of the latest attack was to prevent the flow of equipment used in precision-guided missiles to Hezbollah. Military affairs analyst Yossi Yehoshua wrote in Israel’s daily Yedioth Ahronoth that the Iranians have tried to ramp up aerial operations, first using cargo planes and hiding the weapons in hangars at Damascus International Airport. He claimed that now Iran and Hezbollah were using civilian flights to Damascus and Beirut to smuggle advanced military materiel to Hezbollah.
"Materiel consists of relatively small parts that look innocuous enough" and are easy to hide inside checked baggage on a civilian flight, Yehoshua wrote.
Amos Harel, senior military correspondent for Israel’s daily Haaretz, wrote that Iran has sought ways around Israeli disruptions and recently some of the best systems have been smuggled in hand luggage on commercial flights. He added that the action suggests Israel perhaps feels it can take far-reaching military steps now, while international attention is focused on Ukraine. Past Israeli strikes have largely gone without retaliation from the Syrians. Israeli airstrikes in Syria are usually coordinated with Moscow through a "deconfliction mechanism" to avoid direct confrontation with Russian forces in Syria. In a rare public rebuke, Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced Friday’s airstrikes as "provocative" and a "violation of the basic norms of international law." A Lebanese journalist who covers Arab-Israeli affairs, Sateh Noureddine, wrote that Israel’s move to knock out Damascus’ airport signals "a plan to impose a complete air blockade on Iran while also striking at Hezbollah, depriving it of a vital air link with its only military supply center." The strikes could be a first step toward a possible Israel-Hezbollah war, Noureddine warned, writing in the Lebanese news site Al-Modon, where he is editor-in-chief.
Hezbollah and Israel have had a series of confrontations, including a full-scale war in 2006. Tensions between the two enemies have been escalating over a maritime border dispute between Lebanon and Israel, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening last week to strike the Israeli gas rig being set up.
In February, Nasrallah said the group has been manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn thousands of missiles in their possession into precision-guided munitions. A Lebanese military analyst who closely follows affairs in Syria and Lebanon said Syrian officials have been unusually "tight-lipped" since the strike, given its significance. "There is silence in Syria at all levels and the real scope of the strike is unknown," he said, asking that his name not be made public in order to discuss the Syrian reaction. "The timing of the strike and link with to regional developments is puzzling," he said.

Biden to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia next month
CNN/June 14/2022
President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia next month, the White House announced Tuesday, a foreign policy trade-off that completes the reversal of his campaign pledge to make the kingdom a "pariah." The trip, set for mid-July, will also include Biden's first stop in Israel as President as well as a visit to the Palestinian West Bank. It will culminate with a major gathering of regional leaders in Jeddah, the Saudi port city, where Biden is expected to engage in some capacity with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Officials have said Biden approved the trip after some initial reluctance at the prospect of backing off his promise to make Saudi Arabia pay a price for its role in the grisly 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden to visit Israel, West Bank and KSA in July
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden will make history next month with a direct flight between Israel and Saudi Arabia where he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, abandoning efforts to ostracize the oil kingdom's de facto leader over the murder of a dissident. The White House ended weeks of speculation Tuesday, announcing that Biden will travel to Israel, the Palestinian West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13-16. This will be Biden's first trip to the Middle East as president and in addition to meetings with individual leaders in all three places, he will attend a regional Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi Arabia. There is widespread expectation that Biden hopes to secure a boost in Saudi oil production, in an attempt to tame spiraling fuel costs and inflation at home ahead of midterm congressional elections in which his Democratic party risks a drubbing. Whatever the outcome, his meeting with the crown prince, often referred to as MBS, will mark a controversial policy shift. As a presidential candidate, Biden said the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi -- a Saudi-born US resident known for writing critical articles about Saudi rulers in The Washington Post -- had made the country a "pariah."U.S. intelligence findings released by the Biden administration identified MBS as the mastermind of the operation. While the White House confirmed that "energy security" will be a topic in Saudi Arabia, officials stressed that the whole trip has broader diplomatic aims. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized that "this visit to the Middle East region culminates months of diplomacy," as opposed to being driven by recent domestic political concerns. Biden will engage with nearly a dozen leaders during the brief yet intense journey, demonstrating "the return of American leadership," a senior U.S. official told reporters.
Re-establishing Palestinian links -
The tour starts with meeting Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Israel, a country Biden first visited nearly 50 years ago as a young senator. There will be emphasis on the lavish US support for Israel's armed forces, including the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, at a time of tension over the ongoing failure to resurrect an international pact curtailing Iran's nuclear development. "While in Israel, the president will likely visit an area where these defensive systems are utilized, as well as discuss new innovations between our countries that use laser technologies to defeat missiles and other airborne threats," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The president will reaffirm the ironclad commitment to Israel's security." Biden will meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, likely in Bethlehem, the U.S. official said.Biden will stress "his lifelong commitment to a two state solution" for Palestinians and Israelis and restore U.S. ties with Palestinians that were "nearly severed" under his predecessor Donald Trump.
History and controversy -
The part of the trip that will make history -- and generate the most chatter -- comes at the end. Biden's flight from Israel to Jeddah will be the first by a U.S. president from Israel to an Arab state that does not recognize the country. In 2017, Trump made the journey in reverse. Once there, Biden will attend the Gulf Cooperation Council with leaders from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as being joined by the leaders of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, the U.S. official said. A priority for Biden will be maintaining the recently extended truce in Yemen, as well as deterring Iran, "advancing human rights, and ensuring global energy and food security," the official said. Biden will also join a virtual summit of the so-called I2-U2 diplomatic group of India, Israel, the UAE and the United States, with focus on "the food security crisis" sparked by Russia's invasion of major agricultural exporter Ukraine. However, the most closely watched meeting will be between Biden and MBS. "We can expect the president to see the crown prince," the U.S. official said, while rejecting the notion that Biden was retreating from his principles. "U.S. policy demanded recalibration of relations" after the Khashoggi murder, "not a rupture," the official said. The official pointed out that Saudi Arabia has been a strategic U.S. partner for eight decades and is home to some 70,000 Americans. The visit, according to the official, is "the smart thing to do at the right time and offers opportunity for significant gains for the United States, for Saudi Arabia, for the Middle East region."

Russians Control 80% of Contested City in Eastern Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Russian troops control about 80% of the fiercely contested eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainian authorities are still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday. Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now is "simply not possible" due to the relentless shelling and fighting. Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of "the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using," he said. "There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents," he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian forces have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city. About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk compared to its pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the city's Azot chemical plant, which is being relentlessly pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai. In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said. A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col-Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces. He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for establishing an evacuation corridor leading to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine's key port on the Sea of Azov that has been taken over by the Russians. Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine's eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. "The situation is difficult," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a news conference Tuesday with Danish media. "Our task is to fight back."Jan Egeland, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid organizations supplying food to civilians in the Donbas, said fighting in the past few weeks has made regular food distributions impossible. Now, he said, the remaining non-combatants in the city "are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge."

Kremlin Says Separatist Leaders Would Listen to UK Appeal on Condemned Fighters
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was "sure" that pro-Russian separatist leaders in the Donbas would be willing to listen to an appeal from Britain over the fate of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call that London had not contacted Moscow about the issue. A court in the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine last week sentenced Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun to death, saying they were guilty of "mercenary activities". Their families deny the trio, who were contracted by the Ukrainian armed forces, were mercenaries. Russia alone recognizes the independence of the DPR.

Israel's cabinet appears closer to collapse after lawmaker quits
The Arab Weekly/June 14/2022
Israel's fragile governing coalition appeared closer to collapse on Monday after reports that a lawmaker from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's right-wing party said he was "no longer part" of the government. The development came as Bennett's ideologically diverse coalition, which includes hard right, liberal and Arab parties, has staggered ever closer to implosion, a year after it ended Benjamin Netanyahu's record 12-year rule. "I have informed the prime minister that based on the current situation, I am no longer part of the coalition," Nir Orbach of the hard-right Yamina party said in a statement published by several Israeli media outlets. No comment was immediately available from Orbach, whose statement said "extremist and anti-Zionist" members of parliament had taken the coalition "in problematic directions". His statement said he wanted to avoid another election and he would not vote to dissolve parliament, although his departure left Bennett's coalition two short of a majority, with 59 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament). Netanyahu, now leader of the opposition and vowing a comeback although he is on trial for alleged corruption, said the government was holding "one of the longest funerals in history."Following weeks of bickering between the partners, the clearest sign of the coalition's weakness came last week when a bill extending Israeli civil law rights to settlers in the occupied West Bank was defeated in parliament. The defeat has brought closer the prospect of a fifth election in three years, although the bill is likely to be returned to the Knesset (parliament) for a second attempt before the end of the month. The settlers law, which would normally enjoy broad support in parliament and has been repeatedly renewed over the past five decades, fell victim to the increasingly bitter climate between the government and opposition. "You are not fighting for our country but for your own seat," Netanyahu told Bennett, once one of his closest aides, during a debate in parliament. Bennett, a former commando and tech millionaire who launched into national politics in 2013, said his government had boosted economic growth, cut unemployment and eliminated the deficit for the first time in 14 years. "We are fighting for the government these days," he told the Knesset. "We are fighting because the choice is between chaos and stability."

UN Chief: Governments' Inaction on Climate is 'Dangerous'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Tuesday of a “dangerous disconnect” between what scientists and citizens are demanding to curb climate change, and what governments are actually doing about it. Guterres said global greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by 45% this decade, but are currently forecast to increase by 14%, The Associated Press said. “We are witnessing a historic and dangerous disconnect: science and citizens are demanding ambitious and transformative climate action,” he said at a climate conference in Austria. “Meanwhile many governments are dragging their feet. This inaction has grave consequences.”Guterres said Russia's war in Ukraine risked worsening the crisis, because major economies were “doubling down on fossil fuels” that are to blame for much of the emissions stoking global warming. “New funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional,” he said in a video message to the Austrian World Summit, initiated by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It will only further feed the scourge of war, pollution and climate catastrophe.” Guterres urged countries to instead end all coal use by 2040, with rich nations doing so by 2030, and focus on replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind power. “Renewables are the peace plan of the 21st century,” he said. Schwarzenegger, who has long campaigned against environmental pollution, said the war in Ukraine was another reason to stop using fossil fuels. He cited research showing that Europe paid Russia tens of billions of dollars for energy imports in the first two months of the year. “No matter how you look at it, we have blood on our hands because we are financing the war,” said Schwarzenegger. “We must do whatever it takes to eliminate our addiction to fossil fuels,” he added. “We must be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Failure is no option here.”

Venezuela's Maduro visits Kuwait, speaks to crown prince
Associated Press/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has visited Kuwait and spoken to the small, oil-rich nation's crown prince, state media reported. "We are on this necessary tour to reactivate ties of work, cooperation, commonality, solidarity, brotherhood," Maduro said from Kuwait in a televised conversation with his collaborators in Caracas. Maduro spoke with Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber at Kuwait International Airport alongside Maduro's delegation, including his wife, Cilia Flores, state-run KUNA news agency reported, without detailing their discussions. Venezuela's state-run broadcaster VTV noted Kuwait and Venezuela both were part of the original members of the oil cartel OPEC. Maduro's Twitter account said the president wanted to expand on those ties. Maduro's visit comes after he traveled to Tehran, Iran, for meetings over the weekend, including with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Maduro is on a Eurasia tour after President Joe Biden decided not to invite him to the Summit of the Americas, which began Thursday. His earlier stops included Algeria and Turkey.

Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark, together with Greenland, reach historic agreement on long-standing boundary disputes
June 14, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Today, Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, and Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, along with Múte B. Egede, Prime Minister of Greenland, signed an agreement in Ottawa resolving outstanding boundary issues over Tartupaluk (Hans Island); the maritime boundary on the continental shelf within 200 nautical miles, including the Lincoln Sea; and the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Labrador Sea.
Inuit of Nunavut and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) were consulted during the negotiations for this agreement. It maintains the traditional, symbolic and historic significance of Tartupaluk both to Inuit in Kalaallit Nunaat, in particular in Avanersuaq, and to Inuit in Nunavut and will ensure the continued access to and freedom of movement on the entirety of the island.
This agreement is a significant historic milestone in the relationship between friends and neighbours and is the culmination of years of discussions. The efforts deployed to reach this outcome demonstrate their leadership in the region and commitment to resolve disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law.
The land boundary on Tartupaluk reflects the strong historic and cultural relations between communities in Canada and Greenland. It paves the way for stronger cooperation and the establishment of an even closer partnership between them.
Quotes
“The Arctic is a beacon for international cooperation, where the rule of law prevails. As global security is being threatened, it’s more important than ever for democracies like Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark to work together alongside Indigenous peoples, to resolve our differences in accordance with international law.”
- Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
“This truly is a historic day. We have discussed the sovereignty of Tartupaluk for more than 50 years. After intensified negotiations over the past few years, we have now reached a solution. Our efforts demonstrate our firm common commitment to resolve international disputes peacefully. I hope that our negotiation and the spirit of this agreement may inspire others. This is much needed at a time when respect for the international rules-based order is under pressure.”
- Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
“The boundary on Tartupaluk will mark the very close ties between our countries, people and culture. It will signal the beginning of a closer partnership and cooperation between us in areas of shared interest and of particular benefit to Inuit and local people living in Avanersuaq, Kalaallit Nunaat, and Nunavut, Canada.”
- Múte B. Egede, Prime Minister of Greenland

Canadian Who Drove Van into Toronto Crowds Given Life Sentence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
A Canadian man who in 2018 rammed his rental van into a crowd of pedestrians in downtown Toronto, killing 11 people, was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. Alek Minassian, who was 25 at the time of the attack, was found guilty by a Canadian judge just over a year ago, in March 2021, AFP said. On April 23, 2018, Minassian drove a white rental van at full speed down streets and sidewalks in the Canadian metropolis, aiming at passers-by for a little more than a mile. Ten people were killed and 16 injured in the attack -- but the death toll rose to 11 at the end of October 2021 when an injured woman who had spent more than three years in hospital also succumbed to her injuries. It was the worst attack in Toronto's history. The sentence came less than three weeks after Canada's Supreme Court struck down cumulative sentences for murderers, a provision of the criminal code dating back to 2011 which authorized judges to impose extremely long prison sentences on killers who caused numerous deaths. The Court concluded that a prison sentence which "greatly exceeds the life expectancy of any human person is degrading by its absurdity and, therefore, contrary to human dignity". "I'm definitely not satisfied," Elwood Delaney, whose grandmother died in the attack, told reporters. Minassian "sat there, showed no emotion, barely looked up at anybody reading an impact statement," adding, "I hold a lot of anger towards that man."

Top US, Chinese National Security Figures Hold 'Candid' Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
The top Chinese and US security advisers have held lengthy talks, with both sides describing them as "candid" following days of acrimonious exchanges over Taiwan and other flashpoint issues. Readouts of the meeting in Luxembourg on Monday were toned down compared with last week, when China's defense minister warned his country would not "hesitate to start a war" over Taiwan, while the US defense secretary blasted Beijing's "provocative, destabilizing" military activity. But US security advisor Jake Sullivan and top diplomat Yang Jiechi did not indicate any compromise on their core points of disagreement, especially Taiwan. China considers the self-ruled island a part of its territory, to be seized by force one day if necessary, AFP said. "The Taiwan question concerns the political foundation of China-US relations which, unless handled properly, will have a subversive impact," Yang was quoted as saying by China's official Xinhua news agency. "The United States should not have any misjudgments or illusions (about Taiwan)." A senior White House official said Sullivan reiterated the US policy of recognizing Chinese sovereignty but expressed "concerns about Beijing's coercive and aggressive actions across the Taiwan Strait".
Tensions over Taiwan have escalated in recent months due to increasing Chinese military aircraft incursions into the island's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). US President Joe Biden, during a visit to Japan last month, appeared to break decades of US policy when, in response to a question, he said Washington would defend Taiwan militarily if it was attacked by China. The White House has since insisted its policy of "strategic ambiguity" over whether or not it would intervene had not changed. The Sullivan-Yang meeting, which followed up on a May 18 phone call, lasted about four and a half hours, the White House official told reporters. Xinhua said the talks were "candid, in-depth, and constructive" while the White House statement described them as "candid, substantive, and productive".
Red lines
The US-China relationship has deteriorated in recent years, with the two powers locking horns on several issues, from international trade and security to human rights in China and -- most recently -- the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Monday, Sullivan "underscored the importance of keeping open lines of communication to manage competition between our two countries", according to the White House. Yang also agreed on maintaining dialogue, Xinhua said, but made clear that Beijing was not going to shift its red lines. "For some time... the US side has been insisting on further containing and suppressing China in an all-round way," he said, according to Xinhua. But "China firmly opposes using competition to define bilateral ties."The Xinhua readout said Yang "also stated China's solemn position on issues concerning Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet, the South China Sea, as well as human rights and religion".
China's treatment of Tibetans, Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the ongoing crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong have faced growing international condemnation. But Beijing has bristled at any criticism, saying it will not tolerate interference in its internal affairs. It has also faced a growing chorus of warnings from the United States and Western allies over its naval ambitions in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely. There are competing claims from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. US-China relations entered tense new territory under the previous president Donald Trump, who triggered a trade war in response to what he described as China's abusive trade practices. Biden has said he is considering lifting some tariffs in an attempt to defuse roaring inflation at home.

UN: Death Toll from Week of Darfur Clashes Now at Least 125
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 14 June, 2022
The death toll from tribal clashes over the past week in Sudan’s Darfur region has reached at least 125, the United Nations said Tuesday. The violence, the latest in the war-wracked region, erupted following a land dispute between Arab and African tribes in the town of Kulbus in West Darfur province.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the dead included over 100 from the African Gimir tribe and 25 Arabs. It said the clashes injured more than 130 others, mostly Africans. OCHA said at least 25 villages in the Kulbus area were attacked, looted, and burned and that at least 50,000 people were forced to flee their homes in West Darfur and neighboring North Darfur province, where the clashes spread. The fighting was the latest bout of tribal violence in Darfur. It came as Sudan remains mired in a wider crisis following an October military coup - a takeover that upended Sudan’s transition to democracy after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the government in the capital of Khartoum of discrimination. Bashir’s government was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic tribes and unleashing militias known as the janjaweed on civilians there - a charge it denied. Bashir, who has been in prison in Khartoum since he was ousted from power in 2019, was indicted over a decade ago by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Darfur.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 14-15/2022
What Erdoğan Has Wrought?
Eric S. Edelman/The Dispatch/June 15/2022
Seeking concessions to support Finland and Sweden joining NATO has done damage to Turkey’s standing in Europe and its long-term security interests.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued to hold Finland and Sweden’s potential membership in NATO hostage to his stated demands. He wants concessions from the two aspirants on issues connected to Kurdish terrorism and has an unstated agenda of distracting Turks from his catastrophic economic mismanagement, pleasing his Russian “competimate” Vladimir Putin, and making himself the center of attention at the forthcoming Madrid Summit of the North Atlantic alliance later this month, as well as greasing the skids for the potential sale of advanced U.S. F-16 aircraft to Turkey.
In the wake of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, moving swiftly to incorporate Finland and Sweden into NATO is imperative for the geopolitical and military benefits it brings to European security. It is almost certain that a reluctant President Joe Biden will have to get involved, and it is equally likely that, at the end of the day, Erdoğan’s objections will be assuaged and the NATO enlargement process will move forward. But the damage that Erdoğan has done to Turkey’s standing in Europe and its long-term geopolitical interests (as opposed to his short-term domestic political interests) will be profound.
The damage is thrown into sharp relief by a recent domestic political crisis in Sweden and an extraordinary interview granted by Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö, one of Europe’s few statesmen of any vision or stature. The combination of the two demonstrate both the bad faith of Erdoğan, the unintended consequences of his recent hostage-taking diplomacy, and the potentially long-lasting aftereffects of the Turkish strongman’s strong arm diplomatic tactics.
Sweden’s path to NATO candidacy was not as direct as Finland’s, where the debate on NATO membership had been much more advanced for years. Moreover, the political situation in Sweden was more fraught since the Social Democratic government had a very narrow margin in the parliament, the country is facing elections in the fall, and the broad political consensus that existed in Finland was not in place—in fact the governing Social Democratic Party was divided over NATO membership. The Finns coordinated very carefully with the Swedes after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, mindful that while public opinion had rapidly and radically transformed in Finland, the change in Sweden, also profound, was not on the same order of magnitude.
The recent Swedish government crisis had almost nothing to do with Turkey’s demands on NATO accession, but rather originated in efforts by opposition parties to force a vote of no-confidence on the minister of justice and interior because of rising gang violence in Sweden. The no-confidence motion fell one vote short and that vote was Left Party member Amineh Kakabaveh, a Swede of Kurdish origin, whose support keeps the Social Democratic government in office. The price she has extracted for her vote in this instance, however, was a commitment that the Swedish government would not cave in to Erdoğan’s demands that Stockholm turn over various Kurds that Turkey has accused of terrorism. Some observers are already suggesting that this episode comes close to “derailing” Finland and Sweden’s applications for the moment. Although that judgment seems premature, the entire episode demonstrates that Erdoğan’s extortionate diplomacy could lead him to miscalculate in ways that lead to a train wreck at the NATO summit.
Which brings us to President Niinistö’s interview in Ilta-Sanomat. Niinistö walks through in detail the extensive consultations undertaken by the always careful and thorough Finns as well as the more tentative Swedes before announcing their application for NATO membership. He specifies that the contacts went beyond the April 4 phone call between Niinistö and Erdoğan that had previously been reported and included exchanges between the foreign ministers and at lower levels of the ministries as well. The assurances of Turkish support for a Nordic round of enlargement were repeated in Brussels to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Niinistö made clear that although Finland is willing to address Turkish concerns about terrorism (and indeed pointed to the fact that Finnish anti-terrorism legislation is consistent with European standards) and even the arms embargo (although not as a “condition” for membership), extradition of individuals will have to be dealt with through normal legal channels (the same position that the U.S. has taken with regard to Turkish demands for the extradition of cleric Fetullah Gulen for allegedly plotting the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey). Despite his typically laconic manner of expression, Niinistö’s anger at Turkish duplicity drips through the interview noting that had the Turks indicated they would raise an objection, Finland and Sweden wouldn’t have applied since being in a security limbo is the worst possible position for them.
The irony in all of this is that Finland and Sweden have been for the past 25 years among Turkey’s strongest advocates and supporters in Europe. In the late 1990s President William Jefferson Clinton nominated me to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Finland. When I arrived in the summer of 1998 I found my Finnish diplomatic colleagues at the Foreign Ministry and in the office of the president and prime minister (who both have responsibilities for the conduct of Finland’s foreign relations) hard at work preparing to assume the rotating presidency of the European Union which they had only recently joined in 1995 The extremely thorough, hardworking, and talented Finnish diplomatic leaders had concluded from their studies of past EU presidencies that an unexpected issue would always crop up during the presidency and dominate it. Although they recognized that it was impossible to predict just what that issue might be, they decided that the possibility of renewed crisis or negotiations over Cyprus might be such an issue and set to work preparing themselves to handle it if it emerged as an issue during their presidency. This entailed lots of diplomatic contact with Greece and Turkey, needless to say.
As the Finns settled into their first EU presidency, however, what greeted them was not geopolitical tremors but real, no-shit earthquakes of significant magnitude in first Turkey and then Greece in the late summer of 1999. The geological phenomena led in short order to massive efforts at humanitarian relief in the Eastern Mediterranean that brought, in its wake, a rapid and unexpected improvement in the Greek-Turkish relationship. The Finns’ hard work and anticipatory diplomacy put them in an excellent position to capitalize on this. Although there was no Cyprus crisis for them to resolve, they suddenly found themselves in a position to put the question of Turkish accession to the European Union on the agenda at the December 1999 Helsinki EU Summit.
EU membership had been a longstanding goal of Turkish statecraft dating back to the initial application by Turkey in 1959 for associate membership in what was then called the European Economic Community. Anchoring Turkey in the economic structures of Europe to complement its important role as a NATO ally had also been a key bipartisan objective of U.S. European policy through the administrations of nine different U.S. presidents, from Eisenhower to Clinton. Hence, I was actively involved, as U.S. ambassador, on the margins of the EU Summit that December in helping the Finns work out a formula acceptable to the Turks. Despite intensive efforts with my then colleagues in Ankara, Ambassador Mark Parris and his deputy, Jim Jeffrey, it ultimately took a phone call from Air Force One by President Clinton to the then-Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to get the Turks to take yes for an answer to something that they had been seeking for 40 years—the prospect of opening accession talks to join Europe. Finland’s early preparation and assiduous efforts paid off and Turkey’s potential candidacy was now clearly on the EU agenda.
Five years later I found myself in Ankara as George W. Bush’s ambassador to the Republic of Turkey when the EU faced the decision of whether to actually open accession talks with Turkey on all of the chapters of the Acquis Communitaire—the steps that Turkey would need to take to adapt its economic, social and political institutions to enable it to actually undertake the responsibilities of membership in the EU.
The Finns had remained strong supporters of Turkish candidacy. Former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Marti Ahtisaari became chairman of an independent commission on Turkey (supported by funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation) that lobbied for Turkey’s candidacy before the December 2004 Brussels EU Summit. Sweden also had emerged as a key supporter. My Swedish counterpart in Ankara, Ann Dismorr, was a particularly active advocate and sympathetically described Turkey’s reform efforts in her 2005 book Turkey Decoded. Working with her, British Ambassador Peter Westmacott (later Her Majesty’s Ambassador to France and the U.S.) as well as other American colleagues, we pushed for the EU to open the process to Turkey. At the end the invitation was offered—albeit with some caveats that were hard for Turkey to swallow. Once again Western leaders—in this case, Tony Blair, Gerhard Schröder and Jacques Chirac—had to cajole Erdoğan for hours into taking yes for an answer. It should have been a moment of triumph for Turkey, but Erdoğan’s reaction betrayed at best ambivalent feelings about the prospect of firmly grounding Turkey in European institutions.
In short order, European leaders like Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel emerged who were much less sympathetic to Turkey, and Turks have long since written off the EU accession process as Erdoğan’s increasing authoritarianism has taken Turkey farther and farther away from European standards of democracy and rule of law. But even without an active EU accession process, alienating traditional supporters in Europe is foolish and short-sighted by any standard. The anger and hostility this has engendered in Northern Europe (and not just in Sweden and Finland) is palpable and will not be forgotten for a long time. Moreover, Erdogan’s insistence on using the Nordic candidacies for bargaining purposes will reinforce every existing bad stereotype that regards Turks not as Europeans but as Middle Easterners more interested in haggling in the souk than in policy outcomes. It is a high bill to pay for the autocrat’s several minutes in the sun at Madrid and his pathetic efforts to demonstrate his relevance and importance to Turkish voters in the run-up to elections in 2023 at the expense of Europe’s larger security needs as it faces the biggest war on the continent since 1945.
*Eric S. Edelman is a former U.S. ambassador to both Finland (1998-2001) and Turkey (2003-2005) and was undersecretary of defense for policy (2005-2009). FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.

Boris Johnson Is at the Beginning of the End
Katy Balls/The New York Times/June 14/2022
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s moment of reckoning has arrived at last.
After months of speculation and scandal that have soured his premiership, Mr. Johnson was forced on Monday to face a no-confidence vote, instigated by his increasingly restive and unhappy party. On a dramatic day in Parliament he eked out a victory, taking 211 votes to 148. It was, he said in a defiant response, a victory that meant “we can focus on the stuff that really matters.”
That’s optimistic. Technically, Mr. Johnson ought to be safe from another challenge to his leadership for a year. But the truth is bleaker: In British politics, there is no such thing as victory in a confidence vote. Instead, it tends to mark the beginning of the end, the start of a leader’s slow death. Theresa May announced her resignation less than six months after winning hers (by a bigger margin), while Margaret Thatcher lasted just 48 hours. John Major managed to stay in office after winning his. The result was electoral annihilation.
Mr. Johnson’s supporters insist that he is the exception to the rule, that he isn’t, as one minister put it on TV, a “dead man walking.” There was a time when the bulk of Conservative lawmakers would have believed the claim. No longer. Rejected by many in his party and facing a public backlash, Mr. Johnson is now badly, perhaps fatally, wounded. The likelihood that he leads the party into the next election has plummeted.
It’s a remarkable decline. In the Conservative Party, Mr. Johnson has long been the man who defies the rules of political gravity. In his time in public office, he has survived personal scandals that would have sunk most careers and pulled off electoral victories that eluded his predecessors. He won the mayoralty — twice — in Labour-voting London, led the Leave campaign to victory in the Brexit referendum and in 2019 secured the largest Tory majority since the days of Mrs. Thatcher.
Lately, though, he appears to be worryingly mortal. His approval ratings have steadily fallen: According to a recent poll, 59 percent of British adults want him to leave office. In a sign of national disapproval, Mr. Johnson was greeted with boos and jeers at the Platinum Jubilee service on Friday. It’s not that a Conservative politician being booed is rare; in fact, it’s quite common. It’s that such a thing is not supposed to happen to him. That is no small issue for a prime minister whose relationship with his party has always been transactional. Conservatives backed him primarily not because they liked him or owed him loyalty or thought he shared their vision. They backed him because they believed he was a winner. Now that this no longer seems to be the case — the Conservatives, suffering from Mr. Johnson’s nosediving popularity, are polling seven percentage points behind the opposition Labor Party — lawmakers are revising their opinions.
The biggest factor in Mr. Johnson’s fall from grace, of course, is Partygate. In a scandal that shook British politics, he and members of his staff were accused of repeatedly breaching lockdown rules. The breaches led to a police investigation, during which he became the first sitting prime minister to be fined by the police, and a drawn-out independent inquiry, which unearthed lurid details of partying at Downing Street. He became vulnerable to one of the most dangerous charges in British politics: hypocrisy. The public was incensed.
It doesn’t help that Mr. Johnson has shown little in the way of contrition. The prime minister is well known for his dislike of apologies. Even in the hours before the vote, as his team desperately tried to shore up support, he hardly struck a chastened tone. In a signed letter to colleagues, he grudgingly admitted that “some of that criticism has perhaps been fair” — before quickly adding, “some less so.”
But his bombast, often so effective, has at last misfired. Lawmakers from different wings of the party have united against him: Figures who never liked him have joined ranks with dedicated Brexiteers unhappy at his cavalier attitude and devout Christians upset by what they regard as his amorality. The depth and breadth of internal opposition mean it cannot be dismissed as the work of those who dislike Brexit or are nursing personal grudges.
Yet the fraying of Mr. Johnson’s relationship with his party long predates the past few months. Conservative lawmakers have felt that their voices were not being listened to pretty much since he won power so comprehensively in 2019. Things really took a turn for the worse at the end of 2021, when he told his party to back a legislator suspended for a breach of lobbying rules, only to suddenly reverse course. For many younger lawmakers, it proved that Mr. Johnson did not know what he was doing and that he could not be trusted.
Nevertheless, Mr. Johnson’s staff members are hopeful that he can rebuild his authority. A new team of aides was brought in this year to stave off rebellion. Along with the war in Ukraine, which allowed him to play the statesman, this reorganization bought the prime minister time. But as efforts to renew trust have become less energetic, a bleak electoral reality has seeped into view.
The problem for Mr. Johnson is that there isn’t much good news coming down the line. After the government’s failure so far to flesh out the pledge to “level up” the country and its decision to raise taxes, few are enthused by his domestic agenda. This disquiet is compounded by the cost of living crisis, as inflation continues to rise.
What’s more, elections this month in two contrasting seats — Wakefield, a northern constituency recently prized from Labor, and Tiverton and Honiton, a traditionally Conservative constituency in the southwest — could prove damaging. If they go against the Conservatives, as seems possible, it would amount to a major blow. Then there’s the small matter of a House of Commons investigation into whether Mr. Johnson misled Parliament, usually a resigning offense.
While Mr. Johnson may be safe, in theory, for another 12 months, no one really thinks that is the case. The rules governing the Conservative Party are opaque and can be changed in an afternoon. The sense among senior Tories is that if a majority turns against Mr. Johnson, he will be gone before the year is out.
The prime minister, of course, has defied the odds multiple times. But as Mr. Johnson attempts to move on from a painful, authority-draining vote, it’s hard to escape the feeling that this cat is on his ninth and final life.

Facebook’s Greater Threat Is the Law, Not Lawsuits
Parmy Olson/Bloomberg/June 14/2022
Meta Platforms Inc. has become a lightning rod for legal challenges in the US, from the FTC’s antitrust case to shareholder lawsuits alleging the company misled investors. Last week, eight complaints were filed against the company across the US, including allegations that young people who frequently visited Instagram and Facebook went on to commit suicide and experience eating disorders. (Facebook has not commented on the litigation, and has denied allegations in the FTC and shareholder complaints.)
The allegations echo the concerns of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, whose leak last year of thousands of internal documents showed that Meta was aware of the psychological harms its algorithms caused users, such as, for instance, that Instagram made body issues worse for one in three teen girls.
While the lawsuits strike at the heart of Meta’s noxious social impact and could help educate the public on the details, they likely won’t force significant change at Facebook. That’s because Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 shields Facebook and other internet companies from liability for much of what their users post. Unless US law changes — and there are no signs this is happening soon — Meta’s lawyers can continue to use that defense.
But that won’t be the case in Europe. Two new laws coming down the pipe promise to change how Meta’s algorithms show content to its 3 billion users. The UK’s Online Safety Bill, which could come into force next year, and the European Union’s Digital Services Act, likely coming into force in 2024, are both aimed at preventing psychological harms from social platforms. They’ll force large internet companies to share information about their algorithms to regulators, who will assess how “risky” they are.
Mark Scott, chief technology correspondent with Politico and a close follower of those laws, answered questions about how they’d work, as well as what the limitations are, on Twitter Spaces with me last Wednesday. Our discussion is edited below.
Parmy Olson: What are the main differences between the upcoming UK and EU laws on online content?
Mark Scott: The EU law is tackling legal but nasty content, like trolling, disinformation and misinformation, and trying to balance that with freedom of speech. Instead of banning [that content] outright, the EU will ask platforms to keep tabs on it, conduct internal risk assessments and provide better data access for outside researchers.
The UK law will be maybe 80% similar, with the same ban on harmful content and requirement for risk assessments, it but will go one step further: Facebook, Twitter and others will also be legally required to have a “duty of care” to their users, meaning they will have to take action against harmful but legal material.
Parmy: So to be clear, the EU law won’t require technology companies to take action against the harmful content itself?
Mark: Exactly. What they’re requiring is to flag it. They won’t require the platforms to ban it outright.
Parmy: Would you say the UK approach is more aggressive?
Mark: It’s more aggressive in terms of actions required by companies. [The UK] has also floated potential criminal sentences for tech executives who don’t follow these rules.
Parmy: What will risk assessments mean in practice? Will engineers from Facebook have regular meetings to share their code with representatives from [UK communications regulator] Ofcom or EU officials?
Mark: They will have to show their homework to the regulators and to the wider world. So journalists or civil society groups can also look and say, “OK, a powerful, left-leaning politician in a European country is gaining mass traction. Why is that? What is the risk assessment the company has done to ensure [the politician’s] content doesn’t get blown out of proportion in a way that might harm democracy?” It’s that type of boring but important work that this going to be focused on.
Parmy: Who will do the auditing?
Mark: The risk assessments will be done both internally and with independent auditors, like the Price Waterhouse Coopers and Accentures of this world, or more niche, independent auditors who can say, “Facebook, this is your risk assessment, and we approve.” And then that will be overseen by the regulators. The UK regulator Ofcom is hiring around 400 or 500 more people to do this heavy lifting.
Parmy: What will social-media companies actually do differently, though? Because they already put out regular “transparency reports” and they have made efforts to clean up their platforms — YouTube has demonetized problematic influencers and the QAnon conspiracy theory isn’t showing up in Facebook Newsfeeds anymore.
Will the risk assessments lead tech companies to take down more problem content as it comes up? Will they get faster at it? Or will they make sweeping changes to their recommendation engines?
Mark: You’re right, the companies have taken significant steps to remove the worst of the worst. But the problem is that we have to take the company’s word for it. When Francis Haugen made internal Facebook documents public, she showed things that we never knew about the system before, such as the algorithmic amplification of harmful material in certain countries. So both the UK and the EU want to codify some of the existing practices from these companies, but also make them more public. To say to YouTube, “You’re doing X, Y, and Z to stop this material from spreading. Show me, don’t tell me.”
Parmy: So essentially what these laws will do is create more Francis Haugens, except instead of creating more whistleblowers you have auditors coming in and just getting the same kind of information. Would Facebook, YouTube and Twitter make the resultant changes globally, like they did with Europe’s GDPR privacy rules, or just for European users?
Mark: I think the companies will likely say they are making this global.
Parmy: You talked about tech platforms showing their homework with these risk assessments. Do you think they’ll honestly share what kind of risks their algorithms could cause?
Mark: That’s a very valid point. It'll come down to the power and expertise of the regulators to enforce this. It’s also going to be a lot of trial and error. It took about four years to ease out the bumps for Europe’s GDPR privacy rules to take action. I think as the regulators get a better understanding of how these companies work internally, they’ll know where to look better. I think initially, it won’t be very good.
Parmy: Which law will do a better job of enforcement?
Mark: The UK bill is going to get watered down between now and next year, when it will hopefully come into play. This means the UK regulator will have these quasi-defined powers, and then the rug will be pulled out from underneath them for political reasons. The Brits have been very wishy-washy in terms of how they’re going to define “legal but harmful” [content that must be taken down]. The Brits have also made exceptions for politicians, but as we’ve seen most recently in the United States, some politicians are the ones purveying some of the worst mistruths to the public. So there are some big holes that need to be filled.
Parmy: What do these laws get right, and what do they get wrong?
Mark: The idea of focusing on risk assessments is I think the best way to go. Where they’ve gone wrong is the over-optimistic sense that they can actually fix the problem. Disinformation and politically divisive material was around way before social media. The idea that you can create some sort of bespoke social-media law to fix that problem without fixing the underlying cultural and societal issues that go back decades, if not centuries, is a bit myopic. I think [British and EU] politicians have been very quick and eager to say, “Look at us, we're fixing it.” Whereas I don’t think they’ve been clear on what they’re fixing and what result they're looking for.
Parmy: Is framing these laws as being about risk assessments a clever way to protect free speech, or disingenuous?
Mark: I don’t have a clear answer for you. But I think the way of targeting risk assessments, and mitigating those risks as much as possible, that’s the way to go. We’re not gonna get rid of this, but we can at least be honest and say, “This is where we see problems and this is how we’re gonna fix them.” The specificity is missing, which provides a lot of gray space where legal fights can continue, but I also think that’s going to come in the next five years as the legal cases get fought, and we’ll get a better sense of exactly how these rules will work.