English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 27/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.june27.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven
Matthew 18/01-05: “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

Titels For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 26-27/2022
Israel approves housing allowance for South Lebanon Army veterans
Lebanese politicians urged to form government
Collapse of a building in Dahr Al-Maghar area in Tripoli, causing a number of casualties
Corona - MoPH: 611 new Corona cases, 1 death
Lebanon’s top Christian cleric urges politicians to form government
Al-Rahi during Caritas Association's Golden Jubiliee Mass in Harissa: To expedite national government formation so that attention is focused on...
Rifi: Promoting homosexuality is inconsistent with the principles of our society
Al-Absi's Press Office denies reports by some media quoting Pope Francis, warns against fabricating Church-related news under penalty of legal...
Raad calls for forming 'feasible government' to face challenges
In Lebanon, civil marriage controversy comes back to the fore
In Lebanon, how to say 'I do' sparks fierce debate
A clear, high-pitched, faith-based and direct stance from Archbishop Elias Odeh in the face of suspicious attempts aimed at the crude and provocative marketing of homosexuality LGPT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) in Lebanon… Homosexual behavior in the Bible is not blessed by God, but is clearly prohibited.

Titles For Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 26-27/2022
Israeli PM Convenes Cabinet before Parliament is Dissolved
Fire at complex containing dangerous materials in Israel's Haifa
Iran Launches Rocket into Space as Nuclear Talks to Resume
Iran tests Zuljanah satellite launcher for second time - TV
Russia strikes Kyiv residential neighborhood ahead of G7 summit
G7 to ban Russian gold imports, choking key market for Putin
Biden: G7 to Ban Russian Gold in Response to Ukraine War
Biden, G-7 leaders will try to prevent millions from starving to death after war in Ukraine dramatically escalated food shortages
Biden urges Western unity on Ukraine amid war fatigue
Russia's Putin to make first foreign trip since launching Ukraine war
Ukraine, Hunger, Inflation: G7 Leaders Navigate Myriad of Crises
Four Explosions Heard in Ukraine Capital Kyiv
Moscow Tightens Economic Grip on Southern Ukraine
Ahead of planned Canada Day protests, federal minister says he hopes lessons have been learned

Titles For LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 26-27/2022
“We Are Your Death”: The Persecution of Christians, May 2022/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute./June 26/2022
A Middle East NATO/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 26/2022
Europe Must Declare a War Economy/Andreas Kluth/Bloomberg/June 26/2022
Hunger Is Getting Worse Since the Pandemic/Amanda Little/Bloomberg/June 26/2022
Iran regime fears the rising power of dissent/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 27, 2022
End of the road looms for Iran nuclear deal/Ellen Laipson/Arab News/June 27, 2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 26-27/2022
Israel approves housing allowance for South Lebanon Army veterans
Associated Press/June 26/2022
Israel on Sunday approved housing allowances for South Lebanon Army (SLA) veterans residing in Israeli territory, providing so-called "historic justice" to former members of the militia, officials said. The decision, passed by the government, would see some 400 former SLA fighters who did not hold commanding ranks receiving a one-off grant of 550,000 shekels (around $161,000) towards buying a home over the next four years, the Israeli army said in a statement. Defense Minister Benny Gantz said he was "proud" of the approval, hailing it as "historic justice to those who fought shoulder to shoulder with us, and were uprooted from their homes and homeland."The army said the grant provides "a solution for the housing shortage of around 400 families that were not properly accommodated upon their arrival in Israel," noting the assistance would be given to SLA widows too, "provided that they reside in Israel." The SLA was formed in 1976 as a splinter from the Lebanese Army, whose ranks were divided a year after the start of the civil war. Initially it was called the Free Lebanon Army. In 2019, a committee comprised of relatives of exiled SLA members estimated that between 2,400 and 2,700 Lebanese still lived in Israel. Many SLA veterans say they feel Israeli authorities have abandoned them in their adopted home, often working in low-paying jobs and unable to return to Lebanon. The Israeli army said the decision had been four years in the making, with a military task force also inaugurating an SLA monument and advancing a museum dedicated to the militia in Israel's north. "We value their contribution to the combat achievements in southern Lebanon," army chief Aviv Kohavi was quoted in the statement as saying. "Over the years we have not forgotten our allies and our moral duty to help them live a worthy and respectful life," he added.

Lebanese politicians urged to form government
Reuters/June 26, 2022
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top Christian cleric urged fractious politicians on Sunday to speed up the formation of a government to allow authorities to prepare for presidential elections due before the end of October. Lebanon’s Najib Mikati was nominated premier for a fourth time on Thursday after securing the support of 54 of parliament’s 128 lawmakers, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah, in consultations convened by President Michel Aoun. But with splits running deep among Lebanon’s ruling elite, it is widely believed Mikati will struggle to form a government, spelling political paralysis that could hamper reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund to unlock aid. “Again I demand speeding up formation of a national government with the country’s pressing need for it and so that the focus can immediately be on preparations to elect a president who saves the country,” Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said at a sermon on Sunday. “We call on all parties to cooperate with the premier designate ...,” he added. Analysts and politicians expect the process of forming a Cabinet to be further complicated by a looming struggle over who will replace Aoun, the Hezbollah-aligned head of state, when his term ends on Oct. 31.

Collapse of a building in Dahr Al-Maghar area in Tripoli, causing a number of casualties
NNA/June 26/2022
Tripoli - A three-storey building in the Dahr Al-Maghar area in Tripoli collapsed this afternoon, resulting in a number of injuries, as members of the Red Cross, Civil Defense and security forces rushed to their rescue, NNA correspondent reported.

Corona - MoPH: 611 new Corona cases, 1 death
NNA/June 26/2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health announced on Sunday the registration of 611 new Corona virus inflections, which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,108,213.
The report added that one death was recorded during the past 24 hours.

Lebanon’s top Christian cleric urges politicians to form government
BEIRUT (Reuters)/June 26/2022
Lebanon's top Christian cleric urged fractious politicians on Sunday to speed up the formation of a government to allow authorities to prepare for presidential elections due before the end of October. Lebanon's Najib Mikati was nominated premier for a fourth time on Thursday after securing the support of 54 of parliament's 128 lawmakers, including the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim party Hezbollah, in consultations convened by President Michel Aoun. But with splits running deep among Lebanon's ruling elite, it is widely believed Mikati will struggle to form a government, spelling political paralysis that could hamper reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock aid. "Again I demand speeding up formation of a national government with the country's pressing need for it and so that the focus can immediately be on preparations to elect a president who saves the country," Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said at a sermon on Sunday. "We call on all parties to cooperate with the premier designate...," he added. Analysts and politicians expect the process of forming a cabinet to be further complicated by a looming struggle over who will replace Aoun, the Hezbollah-aligned head of state, when his term ends on October 31. This could further delay reforms needed to unlock $3 billion in IMF support needed to ease the country's financial crisis. Now in its third year, the financial meltdown has sunk the currency by more than 90%, spread poverty, paralyzed the financial system and frozen depositors out of their savings, in Lebanon's most destabilising crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. (Writing by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Al-Rahi during Caritas Association's Golden Jubiliee Mass in Harissa: To expedite national government formation so that attention is focused on...
NNA/June 26/2022
The "Caritas Lebanon Association" celebrated today its foundation golden jubilee in a Mass service presided over by Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, held at the "Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon" in Harissa, with a crowd of official, spiritual and media figures attending.  In his word on the occasion, the Patriarch said: "Caritas Lebanon accepted the challenge of faith fifty years ago and experienced its unexpected fruits, and here it is growing and expanding in its programs and service to Lebanon...So let us raise our thanksgiving sermon, in quest of more faith..."He added: "As Caritas was in the beginning, so it is now and remains a mirror of organization and good management, whose affairs are administered by real messengers who succeeded in carrying its secretariat," noting that through it, "the Church seeks out those in need and strives to give them a more abundant life."“How we wish that our civil and political officials had enjoyed an ounce of faith and courage towards the challenge required, for then we would not have been in such a state of complete political, economic, financial, daily living and social collapse," al-Rahi underlined. Amidst the previaling delicate circumstances, he called for a speedy formation of a national government so that attention can be focused on the upcoming election of a rescue president of the republic."These four remaining months of the mandate's term should be devoted to reducing the percentage of hatred, revenge, maliciousness and judicial police pursuits that Lebanese society is unfamiliar with," the Patriarch said, adding that "they should be devoted to alleviating the suffering of the people, controlling the security situation, neutralizing Lebanon, and reviving the judicial investigation into the port crime.""The remaining months must be devoted to amending the recovery plan, to continue the border negotiations over oil and gas, and especially to elect a new president of the republic as soon as possible to ensure the unity of the Lebanese entity, and to maintain legitimacy, and to anticipate any attempt to create a presidential vacuum which we reject," he underscored. "It is necessary that the program of the new government includes a clear commitment to these issues," al-Rahi asserted.

Rifi: Promoting homosexuality is inconsistent with the principles of our society
NNA/June 26/2022
MP Major General Ashraf Rifi affirmed, in a statement on Sunday, that "our respect for human rights and public freedoms is sacred and must be adhered to in order to protect the stability of our country and society; however, we do not accept that it transcends the culture, customs and traditions of our society, alongside respecting its obligations and protecting its cohesion."He added: "Therefore, we believe that promoting homosexuality is inconsistent with the principles, history and customs of our society, which we consider to be outside the norm in religious, civil and moral terms, and a situation that must be addressed, not legislated and encouraged.""From here, we advocate the positions of all religious and civil authorities, especially the positions of Dar Al-Fatwa and His Eminence the Mufti of the Republic, who objected to the systematic promotion of this unacceptable behavior." Hamadeh: Hezbollah's ongoing verbal hostility against Saudi Arabia is at the disposal of Lebanese officials, at the outset of a promising tourist...Hamadeh: Hezbollah's ongoing verbal hostility against Saudi Arabia is at the disposal of Lebanese officials, at the outset of a promising tourist...

Al-Absi's Press Office denies reports by some media quoting Pope Francis, warns against fabricating Church-related news under penalty of legal...
NNA/June 26/2022
In an issued statement on Sunday, the media office of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Youssef Al-Absi, categorically denied what was published in some "yellow media" pages, about His Holiness the Pope's "reprimanding of some of the bishops of the sect against what they claimed as corruption..."The statement stressed that the entire word of His Holiness the Pope was published by the Vatican's press office, which was also circulated by the media office of Patriarch Al-Absi. It emphasized that any other published content is a "total fabrication, misleading and slander news."Patriarch Al-Absi's media office, thus, warned against "fabricating, promoting and publishing groundless news related to the Church, under legal and moral responsibility."

Raad calls for forming 'feasible government' to face challenges
Naharnet/June 26/2022
The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, on Sunday called for forming “a government that can be feasibly formed at the moment” to enable the country to confront its multiple challenges. “The country requires several needs that oblige us all to cooperate and close ranks in order to secure them, instead of wasting time and effort on clashing over a certain ministerial portfolio," Raad said. "During the current period we can form a government that may be more productive, but if we waste time that will be bad management," the lawmaker warned. "We must all hurry up in forming a government that can be feasibly formed at the moment, so that it shoulders its responsibility in running the country, seeing as patients cannot wait, the markets that are being controlled by monpolists need an authority that deters them, and the enemy that is still threatening us on land and at sea requires an authority empowered by the equation of strength, defense and victory," Raad went on to say.

In Lebanon, civil marriage controversy comes back to the fore
The Arab Weekly/June 26/2022
Civil rights activists accuse religious courts of discriminating against women and say that on these key family issues, Lebanese are treated differently depending on their religious affiliation. In Lebanon, an on-again, off-again debate over whether such civil marriages may be held inside the country, and for whom, is contentious and mired in religious and political entanglements. The issue has flared up anew after a few recently elected lawmakers raised their hands in approval when asked on television whether they would support “optional” civil marriage. That infuriated those insisting marriages must remain under religious authorities’ purview.
Civil marriage proponents argue that the cultural battle over how to say “I do” is part of a larger fight about increasing civil and personal rights, eroding the religious power within the country’s sectarian system and, ultimately, chipping away at the sectarian divides ingrained in politics and beyond. “Resentment of the sectarian system has increased demands for a civil one because the sectarian system has been negatively affecting our economic life and leading to covering up of corruption,” said Leila Awada, a lawyer and co-founder of KAFA, a secular, feminist organization lobbying for a personal status law that would include civil marriages for all.
Opponents decry civil marriage as an affront to faith and say it would open the door to legalising a myriad of practices that violate religious rulings and teachings. Backlash against the new lawmakers’ stance came swiftly: One Muslim cleric called it a war on God. The parliamentarians are part of a small group — informally dubbed the “change seekers,” in Arabic — that won election in May, building on a protest movement that challenged traditional parties. They are up against an entrenched sectarian system and a political elite blamed by many for Lebanon’s crises. One’s faith can open and close doors in Lebanon, home to multiple officially recognised religious faiths. The presidency is given to a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker post to a Shiite and premiership to a Sunni, and parliamentary seats are divided based on religious affiliation.
With memories still fresh for many of a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, some fear that disrupting the delicate power-sharing formula could cause chaos. Others accuse political leaders of fueling such worries to maintain power and cementing sectarian loyalties by passing out jobs and favors to members of their faith communities, weakening the state in the process.
When it comes to marriage, divorce and child custody, Lebanon’s faith groups legally govern their own communities’ affairs. Supporters say this protects religious freedom and diversity. Civil rights activists, however, accuse religious courts of discriminating against women and say that on these key family issues, Lebanese are treated differently depending on their religious affiliation.
Those seeking civil marriages generally travel abroad — Cyprus is a favourite spot.
Nader Fawz, 37, also chose a civil marriage even though he and his wife share a religious affiliation.
They opted against leaving the country for their 2020 wedding and instead challenged the status quo by marrying in Lebanon. After striking religious references from their state records, the couple married under an old decree cited to argue for a civil ceremony loophole for religiously unaffiliated people.
“We wanted to say that this right exists in Lebanon … but that the political authorities are stopping it and that the religious authorities are exerting pressure to prevent it so they can maintain their interests,” Fawz said.
Based on some other couples’ experiences, they didn’t expect Lebanese authorities to fully register their marriage and issue them the customary family ID. So they didn’t bother seeking one.
“It’s not this grand revolutionary act,” Fawz said. “But it’s a document of protest in the face of the ruling system.”
Later, they got a civil marriage in Cyprus and eventually relocated there.
Joseph Bechara, the notary who officiated their marriage in Lebanon, said he has conducted dozens of similar ceremonies since 2012. Some got fully registered, but many others were blocked by “executive obstacles.”
Supporters of keeping marriage in the hands of spiritual authorities defend the current personal status system.
“We have an Islamic Shariah that we abide by, and this Shariah is not in any way an obstacle against societal unity,” said Khaldoun Oraymet, a Sunni religious judge.
With the country struggling amid an economic meltdown that has led to shortages of necessities like electricity and prompted many to leave and seek opportunity elsewhere, Oraymet and others have argued that raising the civil marriage issue now is a distraction from more important problems.
“People now need power, water, fuel and a solution for unemployment,” he said.
The Rev. Abdo Abou Kassm, director of the Catholic Centre for Information, agreed, saying, “Does Lebanon’s salvation come through a civil marriage law? Shouldn’t we dig ourselves out of the hole we’re in?”
Awada, the lawyer, said it was exactly because of such crises that change was needed.
Abou Kassm said his church does not accept civil marriages as a replacement for the sacramental Catholic ceremony and would oppose an optional civil marriage law because “we shouldn’t confuse people or put them in a position that could shake their faith.”
If the state were to mandate civil marriages the church would comply with the law, he said, but still urge its followers to have Catholic weddings too.

In Lebanon, how to say 'I do' sparks fierce debate
Associated Press/June 26/2022
Dona-Maria Nammour was looking for a love story. The night she met Mazen Jaber for the first time, they ended up dancing for hours.
But their tale is about more than a meet-cute to happily-ever-after romance. It is also about frictions in their native Lebanon over sectarian politics and civil rights, the role of religion and rival visions for how the crisis-ridden country moves forward.
When the couple decided to get married, they wanted a civil ceremony, not a religious one -- and not only because on paper she's Catholic and he's Druze; they also wanted to leave religious authorities out of their nuptials. "It is the best option for equality between us," Nammour said.
So they traveled to Cyprus to tie the knot. In Lebanon, an on-again, off-again debate over whether such civil marriages may be held inside the country, and for whom, is contentious and mired in religious and political entanglements. The issue has flared up anew after a few recently elected lawmakers raised their hands in approval when asked on television whether they would support "optional" civil marriage. That infuriated those insisting marriages must remain under religious authorities' purview.
Civil marriage proponents argue that the cultural battle over how to say "I do" is part of a larger fight about increasing civil and personal rights, eroding the religious power within the country's sectarian system and, ultimately, chipping away at the sectarian divides ingrained in politics and beyond. "Resentment of the sectarian system has increased demands for a civil one because the sectarian system has been negatively affecting our economic life and leading to covering up of corruption," said Leila Awada, a lawyer and co-founder of KAFA, a secular, feminist organization lobbying for a personal status law that would include civil marriages for all. Opponents decry civil marriage as an affront to faith and say it would open the door to legalizing a myriad of practices that violate religious rulings and teachings. Backlash against the new lawmakers' stance came swiftly: One Muslim cleric called it a war on God. The parliamentarians are part of a small group -- informally dubbed the "change seekers," in Arabic -- that won election in May, building on a protest movement that challenged traditional parties. They are up against an entrenched sectarian system and a political elite blamed by many for Lebanon's crises.
One's faith can open and close doors in Lebanon, home to multiple officially recognized religious faiths. The presidency is given to a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker post to a Shiite and premiership to a Sunni, and parliamentary seats are divided based on religious affiliation. With memories still fresh for many of a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, some fear that disrupting the delicate power-sharing formula could cause chaos. Others accuse political leaders of fueling such worries to maintain power and cementing sectarian loyalties by passing out jobs and favors to members of their faith communities, weakening the state in the process. When it comes to marriage, divorce and child custody, Lebanon's faith groups legally govern their own communities' affairs. Supporters say this protects religious freedom and diversity. Civil rights activists, however, accuse religious courts of discriminating against women and say that on these key family issues, Lebanese are treated differently depending on their religious affiliation.
Those seeking civil marriages generally travel abroad -- Cyprus is a favorite spot.
Nader Fawz, 37, also chose a civil marriage even though he and his wife share a religious affiliation. They opted against leaving the country for their 2020 wedding and instead challenged the status quo by marrying in Lebanon. After striking religious references from their state records, the couple married under an old decree cited to argue for a civil ceremony loophole for religiously unaffiliated people. "We wanted to say that this right exists in Lebanon ... but that the political authorities are stopping it and that the religious authorities are exerting pressure to prevent it so they can maintain their interests," Fawz said. Based on some other couples' experiences, they didn't expect Lebanese authorities to fully register their marriage and issue them the customary family ID. So they didn't bother seeking one. "It's not this grand revolutionary act," Fawz said. "But it's a document of protest in the face of the ruling system."Later, they got a civil marriage in Cyprus and eventually relocated there. Joseph Bechara, the notary who officiated their marriage in Lebanon, said he has conducted dozens of similar ceremonies since 2012. Some got fully registered, but many others were blocked by "executive obstacles."Supporters of keeping marriage in the hands of spiritual authorities defend the current personal status system. "We have an Islamic Shariah that we abide by, and this Shariah is not in any way an obstacle against societal unity," said Khaldoun Oraymet, a Sunni religious judge. With the country struggling amid an economic meltdown that has led to shortages of necessities like electricity and prompted many to leave and seek opportunity elsewhere, Oraymet and others have argued that raising the civil marriage issue now is a distraction from more important problems.
"People now need power, water, fuel and a solution for unemployment," he said.
The Rev. Abdo Abou Kassm, director of the Catholic Center for Information, agreed, saying, "Does Lebanon's salvation come through a civil marriage law? Shouldn't we dig ourselves out of the hole we're in?" Awada, the lawyer, said it was exactly because of such crises that change was needed. Abou Kassm said his church does not accept civil marriages as a replacement for the sacramental Catholic ceremony and would oppose an optional civil marriage law because "we shouldn't confuse people or put them in a position that could shake their faith."If the state were to mandate civil marriages the church would comply with the law, he said, but still urge its followers to have Catholic weddings too. For Nammour and Jaber, a civil marriage was a no-brainer. On paper they belong to different faith groups, and in reality, she identifies as an atheist and he doesn't like to put a label on his beliefs. But it's also about rights "in a patriarchal society that gives men the upper hand," Nammour said, adding they would have opted for a civil marriage regardless of faith backgrounds. Just before the latest controversy erupted, Nammour and Jaber exchanged vows in Cyprus. A cousin of hers doubled as both guest and witness since the trip proved too costly for other family members. Nammour held Jaber's hand, stared into his eyes and promised to share his joys and sorrows for eternity.
"Mabrouk," the wedding officiant said, congratulating the newlyweds in Arabic as they kissed and embraced. Now back in Beirut, Nammour believes the struggle to gain civil marriage rights will be a long one. "Maybe not in our generation's lifetime," said Nammour, who is pregnant with the couple's first child together. "But it will happen."

A clear, high-pitched, faith-based and direct stance from Archbishop Elias Odeh in the face of suspicious attempts aimed at the crude and provocative marketing of homosexuality LGPT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) in Lebanon… Homosexual behavior in the Bible is not blessed by God, but is clearly prohibited.
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/109643/%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d9%81-%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%b6%d8%ad-%d9%88%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d9%88%d8%a5%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%88%d9%85%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b4%d8%b1-%d9%85/
Archbishop Odeh on homosexuality: We respect human freedom, but!
National News Agency/June 26/2022 (Google Translation)
Metropolitan of Beirut and its dependencies for the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Odeh considered in his Sunday Mass homily that “the disciples’ decision to follow Christ was not hasty or spontaneous, but rather a mature fruit of John the Baptist’s preparation for them and their personal experience, so they became fishers of people. When a fish falls into a net and gets out of the water, it flounders, and often finds the strength to tear the net and regain its freedom within the water. She feels that the hunter and his nets are her enemies, wanting to destroy her. In the case of the apostles, and after them the Church, the nets they throw into the sea of ​​the world are not intended to draw people out of their natural environment to constrain and mortify them. Their word fishes us out of the sea of ​​wickedness and the waters of atheism and sin, and locks us in the saving net of the Lord’s commandments, from which we can escape if the ego of this raging current of age overcomes us.”
He said, “We hear these days of meetings that promote homosexuality. And because we are talking about the apostles and their catching humans from the sea of ​​sin and deviation, we say that, with respect for human freedom, we believe that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Therefore, all true love comes from God, and it can only be lived according to the will and commandments of God. God’s love is reflected in the order of creation. The Book of Genesis declares that since Adam created Eve, man created man and woman: “So God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them, and God blessed them and said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:27). The Bible clearly declares that the male is the only complement to the female in love, marriage, and blessed union for participation in the act of creation through procreation, and the female alone completes the male. “Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). But some in our societies seek to market perverted concepts of individual freedom and human rights. Groups that import false convictions and values ​​about what they call “the freedom to live homosexuality” and other sick trends, to change sex, so that the human entity and life in its entirety are enslaved to the logic of perverted lust and sin. These inhumane tendencies strip man of his dignity and value as a person created in the image and likeness of God.”
He added, “Homosexual behavior in the Bible is not blessed by God but clearly prohibited. It came in the Book of Leviticus: “Do not lie with a male as with a woman, for this is an abomination” (18:22). The apostle Paul also explains: “…for when they knew God, they did not glorify Him or thank Him as God, but became foolish in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. And while they claim to be wise, they became ignorant, and replaced the glory of the imperishable God with the likeness of the image of perishable man, birds, beasts, and reptiles. Therefore God also gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Trustworthy. Therefore, God gave them over to the passions of dishonor, because their females replaced the natural use with that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the males, leaving the natural use of the female, were ignited by their lust for one another, males with males committing immorality, and receiving in themselves the recompense of their true error. And just as they did not like to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do what is not proper.” (Romans 1:21-27).”
He pointed out that “the physical structure, physiology, of the male and female are complementary. “Male and female He created them.” This is the best expression of the divine purpose in creation. And every other arrangement is a fall and deflection. A person cannot be identified by their sexual desires or physical passions. What is required is to direct and organize those desires into the moral and spiritual frameworks through which God's purposes can be achieved. Hence the apostle Paul affirms that the marital union is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church: “Men, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of water by the word, that he might prepare it for himself a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle. Or something like that, but be holy and without blemish. Also, men should love their women as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (Eph 5:25-28).
And Odeh added: “As for the love in our faith, it can only be understood on the example of Christ’s unselfish love for humanity. True human love is a love that empties itself, sacrifices itself for the other. True love is self-sacrifice, not consumption of lust. “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me, for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt 16:25). Any kind of sexual activity that is not based on self-giving and selfishness is impure and inevitably becomes self-centered, and therefore impure. In this context, St. Paul wrote: “The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13).
He said, “If a person wants to live his life in Christ, he must conform to God’s will in everything. Just as the believer is called to overcome passions, or the inclination towards sexual activity outside marriage, so the homosexual person is called to overcome the inclination that he has, and every passion towards sexual activity outside the moral frameworks of a man's marriage to a woman. Conflict may be difficult, but with God's grace everything is possible. Often the cross that we must bear is jihad in order to overcome unbridled passions. From pain.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 26-27/2022
Israeli PM Convenes Cabinet before Parliament is Dissolved
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett convened what is likely his last Cabinet meeting as premier on Sunday, with parliament expected to dissolve itself this week, triggering new elections in the fall. Bennett's decision to head to elections puts an end to an ambitious political project that united eight ideologically disparate parties that chose to put aside their differences to oust former leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the current opposition leader, who now has an opening to return to lead the country. The elections, the fifth the country has held in three years, deepen an unprecedented political crisis in Israel, AFP said. At the meeting, Bennett listed a series of accomplishments under his year-old government and thanked his coalition partners, which included dovish parties that support Palestinian statehood, nationalist ones who don't, and for the first time in Israeli history, an Arab political faction. “It was an excellent government that relied, yes, on a complicated coalition. And here in this room there is a group of people that knew how to put aside ideological disagreements, to rise above, and to work for the state of Israel,” he said. As part of the power-sharing agreement that brought Bennett to power, he is set to hand over the premiership to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist former broadcaster, once parliament is dissolved. Elections are expected around the end of October and polls show Netanyahu's Likud party is expected to garner the most seats. But as in most rounds of voting during the current political turmoil, Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, has been unable to muster a majority to form a coalition government, with some of his traditional allies refusing to join him. That could further extend the crisis after the upcoming vote. While Bennett's government helped steady the economy and navigated the last year of the coronavirus pandemic, it was beset by disagreements over the very issues it sought to avoid, particularly Israel's 55-year occupation of the West Bank. Bennett said he decided to put an end to his political experiment because the government was unable to renew regulations that enshrine separate legal systems for Jewish settlers in the territory and Palestinians. Bennett's own nationalist faction, Yamina, was dogged by defectors, legislators who said the prime minister, a former settler leader, had veered too much toward the center in his bid to keep the coalition intact. Bennett, who entered politics a decade ago, hasn't said whether he'll run in the upcoming elections.

Fire at complex containing dangerous materials in Israel's Haifa
Naharnet/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
Israeli firefighters were on Sunday battling to control a huge blaze in the northern city of Haifa after a number of buildings containing hazardous materials caught fire overnight in an industrial and logistics complex, Israeli media reports said. Explosions were heard, apparently as the flames detonated the contents of the building. Videos posted to social media showed flames engulfing the structures. It was unclear what had been stored in the buildings, with some of the explosions appearing to produce light-colored flames. No casualties were reported in the fire, but three people were rescued from nearby homes. Firefighters were working to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby structures. Haifa is a key location for Israeli industry, with a number of plants and processing centers linked to the oil and chemical industries. Lebanon’s Hezbollah had in the past threatened to target chemical facilities in the city in the event of a future war.

Iran Launches Rocket into Space as Nuclear Talks to Resume
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
Iranian state television said Sunday that Tehran had launched a solid-fueled rocket into space, drawing a rebuke from Washington ahead of the expected resumption of stalled talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers. It's unclear when or where the rocket was launched, but the announcement came after satellite photos showed preparations at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province, the site of Iran's frequent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit. State-run media aired dramatic footage of the blastoff against the backdrop of heightened tensions over Tehran's nuclear program, which is racing ahead under decreasing international oversight. Iran had previously acknowledged that it planned more tests for the satellite-carrying rocket, which it first launched in February of last year. Ahmad Hosseini, spokesman for Iran's Defense Ministry, said Zuljanah, a 25.5 meter-long rocket, was capable of carrying a satellite of 220 kilograms (485 pounds) that would ultimately gather data in low-earth orbit and promote Iran's space industry. The White House said it was aware of Iran’s announcement and criticized the move as "unhelpful and destabilizing." The launch comes just a day after the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, traveled to Tehran in a push to resuscitate negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program that have stalemated for months. A few significant sticking points remain, including Tehran's demand that Washington lift terrorism sanctions on its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed crushing sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by greatly ramping up its nuclear work and now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. In a further escalation that limits the international community's view into its nuclear program, Iran removed over two dozen International Atomic Energy Agency cameras from its nuclear sites this month. The agency's director called the move a "fatal blow" to the tattered nuclear deal. Tehran's rocket launches have raised alarm in Washington amid the unraveling of the nuclear deal. The US warns the launches defy a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on Iran to steer clear of any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
The White House on Sunday said it was committed to using sanctions and other measures to prevent further advances in Iran’s ballistic missile program. The US intelligence community’s 2022 threat assessment, published in March, claims such a satellite launch vehicle "shortens the timeline" to an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran as it uses "similar technologies." Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. Even as Iran's government has sharpened its focus on space, sending several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launching a monkey into space, the program has seen recent troubles. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a type of satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers. The launch pad used in the preparations for the launch of the Zuljanah rocket remains scarred from an explosion in August 2019 that even drew the attention of then-President Trump. He later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure. Satellite images from February suggested a failed Zuljanah launch earlier this year, though Iran did not acknowledge it. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching a satellite into orbit. The Guard operates its own military infrastructure parallel to Iran’s regular armed forces.

Iran tests Zuljanah satellite launcher for second time - TV
DUBAI (Reuters)/June 26/2022
Iran has carried out a second test of its Zuljanah satellite launcher, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday, in a move likely to irk Washington amid expectations of a resumption of indirect talks between the arch foes to revive a 2015 nuclear pact. The United States fears such long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be used to launch nuclear warheads. Tehran denies the U.S. accusation. "The third development phase of the Zuljanah satellite launcher will be based on a combination of information gained during today's launch," a defence ministry spokesperson told state TV, without clarifying whether the test was successful. The announcement comes as a months-long impasse in the indirect talks between Tehran and Washington is expected to break in the coming days to secure the 2015 pact which curbed Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Last year, the United States voiced concern over the successful launch of the domestically-made satellite launcher for the first time, which Tehran said was aimed at helping achieve its “most powerful rocket engine”. The Zuljanah is a three-stage satellite launcher using a combination of solid and liquid fuels. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Russia strikes Kyiv residential neighborhood ahead of G7 summit
Agence France Presse/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
Explosions rocked a residential neighborhood in Kyiv Sunday morning as G7 leaders gathered in Germany to discuss their backing of Ukraine against Russia's invasion, with a crucial NATO meeting set to follow in days. The first attack on the capital in nearly three weeks was intended to "intimidate Ukrainians... at the approach of the NATO summit", the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko said. "Some of the inhabitants have been evacuated. Two wounded people have been hospitalized," Klitschko said after visiting the apartment building that was hit, adding people remained "under the rubble". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is expected to address both the G7 and NATO gatherings, said cities as far away as Lviv, near the Polish border, had been struck by a wave of attacks on Saturday. "This confirms... that air defense systems -- the modern systems which our partners have -- should not be on (their current) sites or in storage, but in Ukraine," he said in his daily address. Hours after Sunday's attack, Britain announced it would join together with fellow G7 powers Canada, Japan and the United States in banning Russian gold experts to stop oligarchs from buying the precious metal to avoid sanctions aimed at Moscow. The move "will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of (President Vladimir) Putin's war machine," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. At their meeting in the Bavarian Alps, the Western allies will take stock of the effectiveness of sanctions imposed so far against Moscow, consider possible new aid for Kyiv, and begin turning their eye to longer-term reconstruction plans. The European Union this past week offered a strong show of support when it granted Ukraine candidate status, although the path to membership is long.
'Fully occupied'
Sunday's strike in Kyiv comes a day after the mayor of key industrial hub Severodonetsk said the city had been "fully occupied" by Russian troops. As the war enters its fifth month, the city's capture marks an important strategic win for Moscow, which is seeking full control over the east of the country after failing in its early objectives. Severodonetsk was the scene of weeks of running battles before the Ukrainian army began withdrawing its outgunned forces to better defend the neighboring city of Lysychansk. Pro-Moscow separatists on Saturday said Russian troops and their allies had entered Lysychansk, which faces Severodonetsk on high ground across the Donets river. Its capture would give Russia control of Donbas' entire Lugansk region. Far from the primary battleground, meanwhile, Russian missiles were striking targets in northern and western Ukraine. "More than 50 missiles of various types were fired: air, sea and ground-based," Ukraine's air force command said, noting the difficulty of intercepting Russian models such as the Iskander. An AFP team on Saturday saw a 10-storey administrative building in the city center hit by missiles overnight, causing a fire but no casualties.
It had already been bombed, prompting one soldier on the scene to note: "The Russians are finishing what they started."
Pull in Belarus
In Saint Petersburg on Saturday, Putin said Russia would deliver Iskander-M missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Belarus in the coming months, as he received Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. He also offered to upgrade Belarus' warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in comments broadcast on Russian television. Putin has referred to nuclear weapons several times since his country invaded Ukraine on February 24, in what the West has seen as a warning to the West not to intervene. Ukraine said it had come under "massive bombardment" Saturday morning from neighboring Belarus which, although a Russian ally, is not officially involved in the conflict. Twenty rockets "fired from the territory of Belarus and from the air" targeted the village of Desna in the northern Chernigiv region, Ukraine's northern military command said. Belarus has provided logistic support to Moscow since its February 24 invasion, particularly in the first few weeks, and like Russia has been targeted by Western sanctions. "Today's strike is directly linked to Kremlin efforts to pull Belarus as a co-belligerent into the war in Ukraine," the Ukrainian intelligence service said.
'No heating in winter'
As in the southern port of Mariupol before it, the battle for Severodonetsk has devastated the city. On Saturday, Severodonetsk Mayor Striuk said civilians had begun to evacuate the Azot chemical plant, where several hundred people had been hiding from shelling. "These people have spent almost three months of their lives in basements, shelters," he said. "That's tough emotionally and physically."They would now need medical and psychological support, he added. In Russian-occupied Mariupol, meanwhile, residents face the prospect of a desperately cold winter, according to mayoral adviser Petro Andryushenko, who said local committees were being instructed to collect data on the need for firewood and coal. "This is a direct signal and an acknowledgement of the obvious fact -- there will be no heating in winter," he said. The city's Moscow-backed leadership could not even provide heat if they wanted to, given the "huge damage" to the pipeline that supplied the city with natural gas, Andryushenko added.

G7 to ban Russian gold imports, choking key market for Putin
Agence France Presse/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
The United States said Sunday that the G7 group of nations will ban imports of Russian gold with the aim of tightening sanctions screws on Moscow and crippling its war effort in Ukraine. "Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia," President Joe Biden said on Twitter. The measure was initially flagged by Britain as joint action being taken along with fellow G7 members Canada, Japan and the United States. However, the rest of the G7, which is holding a summit in Germany, will also join in with a formal unveiling of the sanction on Tuesday, a senior US official said. "You'll see that on Tuesday. This will be a G7 principal that is articulated," said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. With its economy already under huge pressure from Western sanctions against banks, energy companies, airlines, high-tech and consumer goods, the choking off of the gold market will have a significant impact, according to G7 officials. Given London's central role in the international gold trade, "this measure will have global reach, shutting the commodity out of formal international markets," Britain said. "Gold, after energy, is the second largest export for Russia and a source of significant revenue for (President Vladimir) Putin and Russia," the US official said, adding that the blocking of Moscow's gold sector "will further isolate Russia from the global economy."According to the White House, Russia accounted for about five percent of all gold exports in 2020 and 90 percent of Russia's output went to G7 countries -- mostly to Britain.
- Slow but steady sanctions -
The attempt to clamp down on Russian gold is likely to be the most meaningful economic measure against Moscow announced at the G7's three-day meeting. Officials say that cumulatively all the sanctions are slowly but surely starting to eat deep into Russia's economy and Putin's longterm ability to continue the invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its fifth month. While so far there have been few outward signs of the Kremlin feeling the pressure, the Western campaign is dealing something closer to death by a thousand cuts than any one dramatic blow, the senior US official said. The gold measure is "an ongoing illustration of the types of steps that the G7 can take collectively to isolate Russia and cut it off from the global economy," the official said. "And those impacts only accumulate over time, such that Russia's ability to produce, Russia's ability to wage war are going to decline over time as a result of the collective steps the G7 has taken." Worth 12.6 billion pounds ($15.5 billion) to the Russian economy in 2021, gold is also a refuge commodity in times of turmoil. Russian oligarchs are believed to have rushed to hide their assets from Western sanctions enforcers by converting to the precious metal. The London Bullion Market had already suspended six Russian refineries in action announced on March 7.

Biden: G7 to Ban Russian Gold in Response to Ukraine War
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
President Joe Biden said Sunday that the United States and other Group of Seven leading economies will ban imports of gold from Russia, the latest in a series of sanctions that the club of democracies hopes will further isolate Russia economically over its invasion of Ukraine. A formal announcement was expected Tuesday as the leaders meet for their annual summit. Biden and his counterparts will huddle on the summit's opening day Sunday to discuss how to secure energy supplies and tackle inflation, aiming to keep the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from splintering the global coalition working to punish Moscow. Hours before the summit was set to open, Russia launched missile strikes against the Ukrainian capital Sunday, striking at least two residential buildings, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. They were the first such strikes by Russia in three weeks. Senior Biden administration officials said gold is Moscow's second largest export after energy. Banning imports would make it more difficult for Russia to participate in global markets, they said.
Biden's Twitter feed said Russia "rakes in tens of billions of dollars" from the sale of its gold. In recent years, gold has been the top Russian export after energy - reaching almost $19 billion or about 5% of global gold exports, in 2020, according to the White House. Of Russian gold exports, 90% was consigned to G7 countries. Of these Russian exports, over 90%, or nearly $17 billion, was exported to the UK. The United States imported less than $200 million in gold from Russia in 2019, and under $1 million in 2020 and 2021. The UK also was expected to announce Sunday that it will ban Russian gold imports, followed by a formal announcement Tuesday involving all G7 countries, according to the Biden administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details before the announcement.
Biden arrived in Germany’s picturesque Bavarian alps early Sunday morning to join his counterparts for the annual meeting of the world's leading democratic economies, where the reverberations from the brutal war in Ukraine will be front and center in the discussion. He and the allies aim to present a united front in support of Ukraine as the conflict enters its fourth month.
Biden will open the visit by meeting with the summit’s host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, before spending the afternoon in both formal and informal settings with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union.
John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Saturday that the summit will address problems such as inflation and other "challenges in the global economy as a result of Mr. Putin’s war - but also how to continue to hold Mr. Putin accountable" and subject to "constant consequences.""There will be some muscle movements," Kirby said from Air Force One as Biden flew to Germany. Among the issues to be discussed are price caps on energy which are meant to limit Russian oil and gas profits that Moscow can put to use in its war effort. The idea has been championed by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. A senior German official, speaking on condition of anonymity consistent with department rules, said the US idea of price caps was being discussed intensely, in terms of how it would work exactly and how it would fit with the US, EU, British, Canadian and Japanese sanctions regimes.Officials were also set to discuss how to maintain commitments to addressing climate change while also solving critical energy supply needs as a result of the war.
"There’s no watering down of climate commitments," Kirby said. Biden is also set on Sunday to formally launch a global infrastructure partnership meant to counter China’s influence in the developing world, which he had named "Build Back Better World" and introduced at last year’s G7 summit.
Kirby said Biden and other leaders would announce the first projects to benefit from what the US sees as an "alternative to infrastructure models that sell debt traps to low- and middle-income partner countries, and advance US economic competitiveness and our national security."After Germany wraps up on Tuesday, Biden will travel to Madrid to meet with the leaders of the 30 members of NATO to align strategy on the war in Ukraine.

Biden, G-7 leaders will try to prevent millions from starving to death after war in Ukraine dramatically escalated food shortages
Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY/June 26/2022
Facing increased needs and not enough food, nations are grappling with the far-reaching impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — an agriculture-rich nation often called the breadbasket of the world. Millions of people could starve to death. Countries and regions could become destabilized as food shortages led to riots, protests and increased migration, experts warn. Against this backdrop, President Joe Biden meets with G-7 leaders in Germany over the next few days to tackle what was already projected to be record levels of food insecurity in the world – caused by rising costs, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, civil wars – now deepened by the war in Ukraine. The World Food Program had to stop providing daily school meals to 178,000 South Sudanese children this month alone. In Syria, food support for refugees was reduced to 1,000 calories per day, less than half the recommended daily intake. In Yemen, rations that can include wheat flour, peas and vegetable oil have been cut by about half for 8 million people since January. Now more ration cuts are imminent, the world’s largest humanitarian organization recently warned. Up to 50 million people in 45 countries are on the brink of famine as the costs of food, fuel and fertilizer have gone up and grains grown in Ukraine that typically feed millions of people can’t be exported.
“This year’s food access issues could become next year’s global food shortage,” António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, said in a video message Friday to G-7 leaders. “No country will be immune to the social and economic repercussions of such a catastrophe.”A woman fries potatoes in the low-income Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian hostilities in Ukraine are preventing grain from leaving the “breadbasket of the world" and making food more expensive across the globe, raising the specter of shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries. A woman fries potatoes in the low-income Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Russian hostilities in Ukraine are preventing grain from leaving the “breadbasket of the world" and making food more expensive across the globe, raising the specter of shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries. "It's very much on President Biden's mind," White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Saturday's flight to Germany.
Other nations are expected to follow the financial lead of the United States, which committed $5 billion for global food security in the approximately $40 billion package of Ukraine-related assistance approved in May. “That I would say is the biggest piece of the jigsaw puzzle that needs to be put in place in the short term,” said Mark Lowcock, a former under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the United Nations. What to expect: Biden to meet with G-7 leaders in Europe amid global economic crisis, conflict with Russia. But as difficult as it may be to raise as much money as humanitarian groups say they need, it could be even harder to figure how to get millions of tons of grain out of Ukraine without ceding to Russia’s demand that sanctions be lifted. “At the end of the day, the Russians hold most of the cards here,” said Christopher Skaluba, director of the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. “And they haven't been willing to really deal on humanitarian grounds.”
Black Sea ports crucial to crisis
Exploiting how crucial agriculture is to Ukraine’s economy, Russia is blocking access to the Black Sea ports typically used to export 60 million tons of grain a year. Russians have also intentionally bombed grain elevators and other agricultural infrastructure, according to Ukrainians, and have stolen some of the country’s grain. The U.S. and its allies are exploring using trains and trucks to get wheat out. But those options are more cumbersome and costly – and can’t handle the volume.
“The only substantial option for the export of grain is through the Ukrainian Black Sea ports,” Anders Åslund, a senior fellow at the Stockholm Free World Forum, recently wrote. “There is no viable alternative.”
Nations could cut sanctions to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to co-operate but leaders are trying to increase the pressure as the war threatens to grind on indefinitely. “Our measures will only tighten the screws and restrict revenue Mr. Putin needs to fund this war,” Kirby said Thursday about additional sanctions expected to be announced during the G-7. The new phase of Russia's war in Ukraine: 'Two heavyweights that are just slugging it out'
NATO countries are reluctant to use their military force to provide safe passage for grain-laden ships out of the Black Sea because that could lead to a direct confrontation with Russian forces that would escalate the war, according to Leah Scheunemann, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. She said the best option is using the United Nations to arrange for merchant vessels from neutral states to get the grain, after guaranteeing Russia that the ships are not armed. Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said Friday he has been in “intense contact” with Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, the United States, the European Union and others on the issue. A sunken Ukrainian warship is seen near the pier with the grain storage in the background at an area of the Mariupol Sea Port which has recently started its work after a heavy fighting in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 12, 2022. A sunken Ukrainian warship is seen near the pier with the grain storage in the background at an area of the Mariupol Sea Port which has recently started its work after a heavy fighting in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 12, 2022.
Kirby said Thursday that the United States welcomes efforts by Turkey to broker an agreement.
“But I think it just remains to be seen whether that’s going to be viable,” he said. “Putin is weaponizing food, literally, and this is a prime example of that.”
Åslund has urged the G-7 to undertake a massive public diplomacy campaign so key nations in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia understand why there’s a food shortage and that the obvious solution is opening shipping from the Odesa port.
“This effort will force Moscow to pay a greater political price for the blockade,” Åslund wrote. Countries like Spain, Portugal and Italy, which faced the brunt of the migrant crisis that started in 2015, could also be energized to find a solution to prevent a further rise of immigration into Europe from North Africa, Scheunemann said. Testifying before Congress last month, World Food Program executive director David Beasley noted that the global price of wheat has surpassed the previous high, which was set right before the Arab Spring Some have argued the high cost of food contributed to the uprisings and protests in the Arab world in the early 2010s that threatened regional stability in the Middle East.
Why Ukraine's wheat is so vital
The war in Ukraine is so devastating to food prices because Ukraine and Russia supply about one-quarter of the world’s wheat. About half of the wheat distributed by the World Food Program has come from Ukraine.
'People are starving and thirsty': As the US sends aid to Ukraine, some say it's not flowing fast enough. The countries most affected in the short term include Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen and other countries in the Middle East and Africa that rely heavily on food imported from Russia and Ukraine. Over the next few years, 13 million people could become food insecure because of the ripple effects of war, according to the U.N.
Fertilizer costs have reached record high levels, increasing the cost of production and reducing yields if farmers cut back. “Russia is a very large exporter of fertilizers, and they haven't been exporting it,” said Joe Glauber, a senior research fellow for the International Food Policy Research Institute, an agricultural research center headquartered in Washington. “Because of that, fertilizer prices have risen globally.”US aid to Ukraine could hit $53B: Here's what it covers, how it compares and who pays for it. A farmer holds livestock manure that he will use to fertilize crops, due to the increased cost of fertilizer that he says he now can't afford to purchase, in Kiambu, near Nairobi, in Kenya Thursday, March 31, 2022. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley, more than half its sunflower oil and are big suppliers of corn. Russia is the top global fertilizer producer. A farmer holds livestock manure that he will use to fertilize crops, due to the increased cost of fertilizer that he says he now can't afford to purchase, in Kiambu, near Nairobi, in Kenya Thursday, March 31, 2022. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley, more than half its sunflower oil and are big suppliers of corn. Russia is the top global fertilizer producer. Exacerbating the problem, more than 20 countries – including India and Indonesia –reacted to the shortages and rising cost of grains by banning exports of their own crops, further driving up the global price. The Biden administration and others are trying to get countries with bans to “rethink that position,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during recent meetings at the U.N. India and Indonesia are among the non-G-7 countries that were invited to participate in the upcoming meetings.
`Unprecedented situation'
“This is absolutely just an unprecedented situation,” said Steve Taravella, a spokesman for the World Food Program, which has less than half of the $22.2 billion it estimates it needs to feed a record 152 million people this year.
A shopkeeper sells wheat flour in the Hamar-Weyne market in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia on May 26, 2022. "Africa is actually taken hostage" in Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid catastrophically rising food prices, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the African Union during a closed-door address on Monday, June 20, 2022. A shopkeeper sells wheat flour in the Hamar-Weyne market in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia on May 26, 2022. "Africa is actually taken hostage" in Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid catastrophically rising food prices, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the African Union during a closed-door address on Monday, June 20, 2022. While the organization has had to cut rations before when demand outstripped resources, Taravella said the World Food Program has never before faced cuts in so many countries at the same time.
The group’s message for G-7 leaders? Act now or the unprecedented levels of hunger will continue to rise. Last month, the finance and development ministers of the G-7 countries came together behind efforts to address food shortages in both the short and longer-term. Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expects Biden and other leaders will, at a minimum, reinforce those commitments and tie them into a coherent approach. Still, she’s waiting to see whether nations will put up enough funding to pay for the plan. “The steps that they’ve said that they will be taking are sufficient and comprehensive,” she said, “but I just haven’t seen the financing behind that yet.” Meanwhile, in the western Syrian city of Hama, one mother told World Food Program workers that she wouldn’t have had children if she had known “my life would end up like this.”“I would," she said, "have saved them all this suffering."
*This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why food shortages will be high on Biden's agenda at G-7 meeting

Biden urges Western unity on Ukraine amid war fatigue
ELMAU, Germany (AP)/June 26/2022
President Joe Biden and western allies opened a three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday intent on keeping economic fallout from the war in Ukraine from fracturing the global coalition working to punish Russia’s aggression. Britain’s Boris Johnson warned the leaders not to give in to “fatigue” even as Russia lobbed new missiles at Kyiv. The leaders were set to announce new bans on imports of Russian gold, the latest in a series of sanctions the club of democracies hopes will further isolate Russia economically. They also were looking at possible price caps on energy meant to limit Russian oil and gas profits that Moscow can pump into its war effort. Russia, in a pre-summit show of force, launched its first missile strikes against the Ukrainian capital in three weeks, striking at least two residential buildings, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Biden condemned Russia’s actions as “more of their barbarism,” and stressed the need for allies to remain firm even as the economic reverberations from the war take an economic toll around the globe.
“We have to stay together, because Putin has been counting on, from the beginning, that somehow NATO and the G-7 would splinter, but we haven’t and we’re not going to,” Biden said during a pre-summit meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who holds the G-7′s rotating presidency and is hosting the gathering. As the G-7 leaders sat down for their opening session of the summit on Sunday, they took a light-hearted jab at Putin. Johnson could be heard asking whether he should keep his jacket on, adding, “We all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chimed in to add: “A bare-chested horseback ride.”The poke by Trudeau was a reference to the Kremlin releasing several photos over the years in which the Russian leader is shirtless.
Biden and his counterparts were using the gathering to discuss how to secure energy supplies and tackle inflation triggered by the war’s fallout. The leaders also were coming together in a new global infrastructure partnership meant to provide an alternative to Russian and Chinese investment in the developing world. Scholz told Biden that the “good message” is that “we all made it to stay united, which Putin never expected,” a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sent his military across the border into Ukraine in late February.
“We can’t let this aggression take the form it has and get away with it,” added Biden. Scholz, who has faced criticism at home and abroad for perceived reluctance to send Ukraine heavy weapons, said that “Germany and the U.S. will always act together when it comes to questions of Ukraine’s security.”
Johnson, for his part, urged fellow leaders not to give in to “fatigue.” He has expressed concern that divisions may emerge in the pro-Ukraine alliance as the four-month-old war grinds on.
Asked whether he thought France and Germany were doing enough, Johnson praised the “huge strides” made by Germany to arm Ukraine and cut imports of Russian gas. He did not mention France. Biden and Scholz agreed on the need for a negotiated end to the Ukraine war, but did not get into specifics on how to achieve it, said a senior Biden administration official, who requested anonymity to reveal details of a private conversation. However, they did not have an extensive discussion about oil price caps or inflation, said the official, who requested anonymity to reveal details of a private conversation. Other leaders echoed Biden’s praise of coalition unity. The head of the European Union’s council of governments said the 27-member bloc maintains “unwavering unity” in backing Ukraine against Russia’s invasion with money and political support, but that “Ukraine needs more and we are committed to providing more.”European Council President Charles Michel said EU governments were ready to supply “more military support, more financial means, and more political support” to enable Ukraine to defend itself and “curb Russia’s ability to wage war.”The EU has imposed six rounds of sanctions against Russia, the latest one being a ban on 90% of Russian crude oil imports by the end of the year. The measure is aimed at a pillar of the Kremlin’s finances, its oil and gas revenues.
Biden and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, plus the EU, spent Sunday in both formal and informal settings discussing the war’s effects on the global economy, including inflation, and on infrastructure.
Biden, who arrived in Germany early Sunday, said G-7 nations, including the United States, will ban imports of gold from Russia. A formal announcement was expected Tuesday as the leaders hold their annual summit. Senior Biden administration officials said gold is Moscow’s second biggest export after energy, and that banning such imports would make it more difficult for Russia to participate in global markets. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details before the announcement. Johnson said the ban will “directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine.”
“Putin is squandering his dwindling resources on this pointless and barbaric war. He is bankrolling his ego at the expense of both the Ukrainian and Russian people,” Johnson said. “We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding.”Gold, in recent years, has been the top Russian export after energy — reaching almost $19 billion or about 5% of global gold exports, in 2020, according to the White House.
Of Russian gold exports, 90% was consigned to G-7 countries. More than 90% of those exports, or nearly $17 billion, was exported to the UK. The United States imported less than $200 million in gold from Russia in 2019, and under $1 million in 2020 and 2021. As for the idea of price caps on energy, Michel said, “we want to go into the details, we want to fine-tune ... to make sure we have a clear common understanding of what are the direct effects and what could be the collateral consequences” if such a step were to be taken by the group. Leaders were also set to discuss how to maintain commitments addressing climate change while also solving critical energy supply needs brought on by the war. “There’s no watering down of climate commitments,” John Kirby, a spokesman for Biden’s National Security Council, said Saturday as the president flew to Germany. Biden is also set to formally launch a global infrastructure partnership designed to counter China’s influence in the developing world. He had named it “Build Back Better World” and introduced the program at last year’s G-7 summit. Biden and other leaders will announce the first projects to benefit from what the U.S. sees as an “alternative to infrastructure models that sell debt traps to low- and middle-income partner countries,” Kirby said. The projects are also supposed to help advance U.S. economic competitiveness and our national security,” he said. After the G-7 summit concludes on Tuesday, Biden will travel to Madrid for a summit of the leaders of the 30 members of NATO to align strategy on the war in Ukraine. *Superville reported from Telfs, Austria and Moulson from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Geir Moulson in Elmau, Germany, contributed to this report.
*Zeke Miller, Darlene Superville And Geir Moulson, The Associated Press

Russia's Putin to make first foreign trip since launching Ukraine war
LONDON (Reuters)/June 26/2022
Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, Russian state television reported on Sunday, in what would be the Russian leader's first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine. Russia's Feb. 24 invasion has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and led to severe financial sanctions from the West, which Putin says are a reason to build stronger trade ties with other powers such as China, India and Iran. Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin correspondent of the Rossiya 1 state television station, said Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo for talks in Moscow. In Dushanbe, Putin will meet Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, a close Russian ally and the longest-serving ruler of a former Soviet state. In Ashgabat, he will attend a summit of Caspian nations including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Zarubin said. Putin's last known trip outside Russia was a visit to the Beijing in early February, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled a "no limits" friendship treaty hours before both attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games.Russia says it sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 to degrade its neighbour's military capabilities, keep it from being used by the West to threaten Russia, root out nationalists and defend Russian-speakers in eastern regions. Ukraine calls the invasion an imperial-style land grab. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Peter Graff)

Ukraine, Hunger, Inflation: G7 Leaders Navigate Myriad of Crises
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
G7 leaders including US President Joe Biden gather on Sunday in southern Germany, seeking emphatic backing for Ukraine against Russia's invasion while grappling with the intensifying global fallout of the war. From soaring inflation to a looming food crisis and energy shortages, the conflict in Ukraine, now in its fifth month, has mired the world in a series of crises. As the leaders of the Group of Seven most industrialized nations meet at the Bavarian alpine resort Elmau Castle, they will also be confronted with the looming threat of recession as well as pressures over climate change.
On the eve of the gathering, thousands of protesters marched in Munich, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, warning leaders against rolling back on climate commitments amid tensions on the energy market as Russia slashes supplies to Europe. Striking a confident tone, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is hosting the summit, said: "We can make important decisions... if we act as one and with determination."
- 'Don't give up' -
Scholz and his counterparts have been locked in months of emergency action since Russia sent in troops to Ukraine on February 24.
While Western allies have hammered the Russian economy with unprecedented sanctions, President Vladimir Putin's troops have been digging in their heels for a drawn-out war. Ahead of the talks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged allies not to waver in their support. "Ukraine can win and it will win. But they need our backing to do so. Now is not the time to give up on Ukraine," he said, as Britain announced another $525 million in guarantees for World Bank lending later this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make the same plea when he joins in via video-link on Monday. John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman at the White House, said the G7 will be seeking to hold Russia accountable and to increase the costs and consequences of the war on Putin and his economy. At the same time, they will be seeking to minimize "as much as possible the effect of these rising oil prices and the way (Putin) has weaponized energy".The fallout on the economy will be at the center of the G7's opening session. Just six months back, the global economy had been poised for a huge post-pandemic recovery but it was now staring down the barrel of a recession."Core problems that are on the top of mind for all of us" include "rising prices, supply chain disruptions all exacerbated by this war in Ukraine", said Kirby.
Systemic rival
Scarred by a reliance on Russian energy that has hampered several European nations including Germany and Italy from going all out to punish Putin's Russia, the West was also warily looking at China -- which it views as a systemic rival.
The G7 leaders, who will head to Madrid right after the summit in Bavaria for a gathering of NATO powers, will also begin addressing the challenges posed by China. "The impact that China's coercive economic practices, use of forced labor, intellectual theft -- all those are front and center for the G7, and I think you're going to see China very much at the forefront as the G7 goes on," said Kirby. To this end, Scholz has invited the leaders of Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa to the alpine summit. While Argentina and Indonesia voted at a crucial UN vote to condemn Russia, the other three abstained. But all are being directly hit by a looming hunger crisis sparked by the holdup in grain and wheat exports from Ukraine, and India for instance has imposed restrictions on wheat exports. "We need to keep lines of trade open for products and avoid excessive stockpiling," noted Kirby.
Domestic woes
For many of the G7 leaders, the crises facing the world also provide a distraction from domestic woes. French President Emmanuel Macron has been weakened at home after his movement failed to obtain an absolute majority at legislative elections a week ago. Johnson's Conservatives meanwhile suffered crushing defeats in two by-elections and a staunch ally stepped down after a slew of scandals. Biden was faced with greater divisions in the US political landscape after the Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion, at a time when he was already struggling to deal with galloping inflation sparked by sky-high oil prices.

Four Explosions Heard in Ukraine Capital Kyiv
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
Four explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Sunday, with AFP journalists reporting a residential complex near the center of the city had been hit, causing a fire and cloud of gray smoke. The blasts occurred around 6:30 am (0330 GMT), half an hour after air raid sirens sounded in the capital, which has not come under Russian bombardment for nearly three weeks, said AFP. There was no immediate information on casualties. An AFP colleague living in the same residential complex heard a loud buzz preceding the explosions. "Several explosions in the Shevchenkivsky district," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. "Ambulances and rescuers are on site. In two buildings, the rescue and evacuation of residents is underway," he added. Thick smoke was seen in the affected residential area, which was cordoned off by police. At the end of April, a Ukrainian journalist from Radio Liberty was killed in her apartment by a Russian strike on Kyiv during a visit by UN chief Antonio Guterres.

Moscow Tightens Economic Grip on Southern Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 26 June, 2022
Little appears to have changed for Alexei Andrusenko, the head of a foundry in Ukraine's southern city of Berdyansk, who is happy to have kept all his staff since Moscow took control of the city. Andrusenko and his 50 or so employees continue showing up to work every morning to the grey building in the outskirts of the port city on the shores of the Sea of Azov. But now the factory's produce -- once sold to Ukrainian or international steel groups -- will likely be bound for Russia and Kremlin ally Belarus, AFP said. Since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 and captured territories in the south of the pro-Western country, Moscow has sought to strengthen their economic ties. "We have no other supply chain," Andrusenko told AFP during a press trip organized by the Russian army. He also raised concerns about the depleting stocks of their raw materials that previously came from neighboring Mariupol, another key Ukrainian city on the shores of the Sea of Azov. Andrusenko says they are "interested" in working with the Alchevsk steelworks, a large factory with over 10,000 employees that since 2014 has been under the control of pro-Russian separatists of eastern Ukraine's Lugansk region. Before Russia sent troops to Ukraine, these deals would never have been possible. "The most important thing is to build the right supply chain and to be able to work," Andrusenko said.
Port '100 percent ready' -
The southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been largely under Russia's control since the first weeks of Moscow's military campaign, and are now being forcefully integrated into Russia's economy. The main economic asset of Berdyansk is its port, which has remained mostly intact unlike that of Mariupol, the scene of a devastating siege. In late March, an attack attributed to Ukrainian forces reportedly sank a Russian warship in Berdyansk waters, but today the port is "almost 100 percent ready" to ship grain, says Alexander Saulenko, the Moscow-installed head of Berdyansk. Ukraine has accused Russia and its allies of stealing its wheat, contributing to a global food shortage caused by grain exports blocked in Ukrainian ports. According to Saulenko, grain will soon be shipped out from the port, since silos will need to be freed up for the new harvest. "We have prospects for contracts with Turkey. Russia is an agricultural country, it has enough grain of its own so it would be more profitable to trade elsewhere," Saulenko said. But the most tangible influence of Moscow on the local economy is the introduction of Russia's national currency since last month. "Now you can buy everything in both rubles and hryvna," Ukraine's currency, the pro-Russian official added. According to him, Berdyansk received some 90 million rubles ($1.7 million) from Russia, but state employees are still paid in hryvna and it is impossible to withdraw cash rubles from ATMs.
Ties with Russia 'resuming' -
Neighbouring Melitopol, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Berdyansk that came under Russian control on March 1, also uses the Russian ruble that is delivered from Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. "It's a two-currency zone.... The ruble is delivered thanks to the open road to Crimea. Commercial ties with Russia, interrupted after 2014, are resuming," says Melitopol's pro-Russian mayor, Galina Danilchenko. "People are happy to accept the ruble... I don't see any problems," she added, but for reporters on the press trip it was difficult to speak freely with the city's residents. Back at the Berdyansk foundry, 41-year-old worker Sergey Grigoryev says he just hopes to get paid his salary. "In cash, not to my card, because you can't withdraw from it. In hryvnas or in rubles -- I don't care".

Ahead of planned Canada Day protests, federal minister says he hopes lessons have been learned
CBC/June 26/2022
The federal public safety minister said he wants people to celebrate Canada Day, but with protests planned for the upcoming holiday weekend in Ottawa, Marco Mendicino says he's hoping the mistakes of last winter won't be repeated. "I think Canadians should celebrate Canada Day. We've been through a marathon of the pandemic and there's reason for hope and optimism," he said in an interview last week. "I do think it is troubling that some are fanning flames … we don't want a replay of last winter and we don't want people engaging in illegal behaviour or violence that is disruptive to the community here in Ottawa or anywhere else."Protest groups have said they plan to hold ongoing demonstrations throughout the summer, starting on June 30 and building toward Labour Day. The Ottawa Police Service said they're aware of upcoming protests and are "planning accordingly."The capital city's police force continues to face criticism about how it handled the anti-COVID-19 restriction protests last winter that gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks after protesters — some calling for the overthrow of the federal government — were able to park trucks and other vehicles on main arteries around Parliament Hill. This week the sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons said he was "flabbergasted" by police inaction at the time. Protesters were eventually pushed out of the downtown core after the federal government took the never-before-used step of invoking the Emergencies Act. In the end more than 100 people were arrested, leaving a multi-million dollar policing bill. "I think it's important that we take some lessons from last winter," said Mendicino. "We'll continue to give [police] the tools and the support that is necessary to ensure that there's public safety as we celebrate Canada Day." 'We did what a responsible government would do:' Mendicino Mendicino ended the spring sitting of Parliament, now on a summer hiatus, under intense questioning about how the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was made. The legislation authorized a ban on travel to protest zones, allowed banks to freeze the accounts of some of those involved in the protests and allowed officials to commandeer tow trucks. It also enabled the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences as required.
The minister told a parliamentary committee investigating the issue that the government acted on "the advice of non-partisan professional law enforcement."
Under questioning, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell testified that they did not ask the government to invoke the act, although they have said the new powers served as a deterrent. Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen has called for Mendicino to resign, accusing him of "lying to and misleading Canadians about the Emergencies Act." Mendicino said his government was talking to law enforcement daily, sometimes hourly. "We did what a responsible government would do, which is remain in contact with law enforcement for the purposes of making the decisions that were necessary to restore public safety," he said. At the time of invocation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued its use was necessary to address "serious challenges to law enforcement's ability to effectively enforce the law."But that reasoning has been questioned by the opposition and other critics who have asked whether other measures, including policing tactics, could have been used. Mendicino pointed to testimony Lucki gave where she spoke about the ability to direct tow trucks to help move vehicles clogging Ottawa's streets. "Other powers that were granted under the Emergencies Act were done with the benefit of the advice which we proactively sought from law enforcement prior to invoking the Emergencies Act. That's the way the system is supposed to work," he said. "It made enormous sense for the government to be in conversation with police, identifying where gaps in existing authorities lay, and then filling those gaps with unique, exceptional time-limited and targeted powers."
Mendocino added that Lucki has "corroborated that" in her testimony.
'I'll never apologize for doing what is necessary:' Mendicino. Outside of the parliamentary committee, an independent inquiry will also soon begin digging into the reasons behind the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act for the first time. "We hope we don't ever have to use those rare powers again," said Mendicino. "But I'll never apologize for doing what is necessary to protect Canadians and invoking the Emergencies Act was the right thing to do." The upcoming protests are scheduled to kick off when James Topp, a veteran marching across Canada against vaccine mandates, plans to end his cross-country journey at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa. Last week the federal government lifted the vaccine mandate requirement for federal employees and for passengers wishing to board a plane or train in Canada. Earlier this week Topp and other organizers met with Conservative MPs near Parliament Hill where he said the protest has become something bigger. "Their issue is not so much with mandates anymore, it's their satisfaction with the federal government," Topp said. "There is a divide in this country I have never seen or experienced before — I've only ever seen it in a war zone."
Cypress Hills-Grasslands MP Jeremy Patzer said politicians of all stripes should listen to what the group has to say. "I'm not willing to demonize or accept this narrative that people that have views that other people don't agree with, that they should be demonized for holding those views," he told CBC.  Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 26-27/2022
ريموند إبراهيم/معهد كايتستون: قائمة بحوادث اضطهاد المسيحيين في العالم خلال شهر أيار/2022…نحن موتكم
“We Are Your Death”: The Persecution of Christians, May 2022
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute./June 26/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/109626/%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%8a%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a8%d8%ad-2/
In the video, the Christians appear on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs. A man holding a knife stands behind them. The terrorists claim that the murder of these 20 Christians is “payback” for ISIS leaders killed three months earlier in Syria by the U.S…. [A] 2015 video [Muslim terrorists slaughtering 21 Christians in Libya] received six times less media coverage than the killing of a gorilla about the same time. The video of the Nigerian Christian also barely made a peep in the Western media — as if the ritual slaughter of Christians is now so normal, it does not merit a report. — saharareporters.com, May 12, 2022, Nigeria.
The same day the video was released, a Muslim mob beat, stoned and then burned the body of Deborah Emmanuel, a Christian college student who earlier had refused the sexual advances of a Muslim man. — Ganzi Magwi, Twitter, May 12, 2022, Nigeria.
“We know and have evidence of how some of these allegations of blasphemy are false and just for blackmail or settling scores with perceived enemies or well-mannered young girls who have refused sexual advances by the opposite sex from another religion. We are also aware of how fanatics have in the past raised lies in the name of blasphemy.” — The Rev. Joseph John Hayab, Morning Star News, May 23, 2022, Nigeria.
Anooshavan Avedian, a 60-year-old Iranian-Armenian Christian, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for teaching other Christians in his house church what Judge Imam Afshari called “educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam.” — articeeighteen.com, May 5, 2022, Iran.
A married Muslim couple who converted to Christianity face a 100-lashes punishment on the bizarre charge of “adultery.” — Morning Star News, May 3, 2022, Sudan.
Picture Enclosed background/On Sunday, May 8, 2022, a Muslim man barged into the Cathedral of Metz (pictured) in France and began to scream repeatedly “Allahu akbar!” After arriving, police found a knife in his possession. (Image source: Immanuel Giel/Wikimedia Commons)
The following are among the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of May 2022:
Murder and Mayhem in Nigeria:
On May 12, the Islamic State in Nigeria released a video of its members slaughtering 20 Christians. The ISIS terrorists were dressed in black, which covered everything but their eyes. In the video, the Christians appear on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs. A man holding a knife stands behind them. The terrorists claim that the murder of these 20 Christians is “payback” for ISIS leaders killed three months earlier in Syria by the U.S. Although the scene is reminiscent of the 2015 video of another pack of Muslim terrorists slaughtering 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, it received far less media coverage. The 2015 video of the Copts had received six times less media coverage than the killing of a gorilla about the same time. The video of the Nigerian Christians also barely made a peep in the Western media — as if the ritual slaughter of Christians is now so normal, it does not merit a report.
The same day the video was released, a Muslim mob beat, stoned and then burned the body of Deborah Emmanuel, a Christian college student who earlier had refused the sexual advances of a Muslim man. He retaliated by loudly proclaiming that she had blasphemed Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. According to Pastor David Ayuba Azzaman, a local acquainted with the incident:
“Deborah Emmanuel was complaining in a class WhatsApp group chat, kicking against how they discriminate against Christians in the school in areas of assignments and test in favor of the Muslims. This is what they used as a yardstick to say she insulted Muhammad. She didn’t insult prophet Muhammad, but it was discovered that she turned down a Muslim proposal to date her. That led to him accusing her of insulting prophet Muhammad.”
A brief video clip shows a massive fire against a wall, where she was likely driven before being stoned to death, with Muslims jumping around her burning body and crying, “Allahu Akbar” [“Allah is greatest!”]. One man, dressed in traditional Muslim attire, triumphantly keeps talking while waving a box of matches—apparently used to burn the Christian woman. After viewing other, more graphic videos of Deborah’s stoning and immolation, the Rev. Kelvin Ugwu said,
“I can’t bring myself to share the videos of how they stoned and beat this young lady to death and subsequently burned her body. It is very, very traumatizing… Why does this keep happening? What is the content of the insult she was accused of? How was it investigated? What part of our constitution allows this? Why are we silent about this evil? Why are Muslim elites silent about this? When are we going to have this conversation to put an end to this evil?”
Local media reported that Muslim anger had been further raised after Deborah said in another WhatsApp chat group that she had passed her exams thanks to Christ, “and when she was pressured to retract the statement and apologize, she declined.”
Far from being repentant, several Islamic clerics defended the actions of her murderers. In one video, Bello Yabo, a sheikh, says,
“A young person [Deborah] in Sokoto insulted Allah’s prophet yesterday. In Sokoto we kill such. We don’t tolerate such idiocy in Sokoto… Here we kill. When you touch the prophet we become mad people…. Anyone who touches the prophet, no punishment— Just kill! Even if the person repents or recants, forgiveness is God’s business. We must kill such…. Like Shehu Usman Dan Fodio [a nineteenth century Nigerian “caliph”], we are Mujahedeen (holy warriors) and Jihadists. No compromise. Allah curse whoever touches the prophet. Those of you who displayed your wrath, Allah bless you. Kill and disperse!”
Separately, on May 20, rioting Muslims searching for another Christian woman rumored to have blasphemed against Muhammad set numerous Christian homes and shops ablaze and injured approximately 20 people. “A Muslim claimed he saw a comment written by one Rhoda Jatau, 40, a Christian woman, insulting Muhammad,” an area resident said. “This information the Muslim man passed to Muslims in the town made them set fire on houses and shops belonging to Christians.” But the Rev. Joseph John Hayab said that Muslims were using blasphemy as a pretext to attack and abuse Christians:
“We know and have evidence of how some of these allegations of blasphemy are false and just for blackmail or settling scores with perceived enemies or well-mannered young girls who have refused sexual advances by the opposite sex from another religion. We are also aware of how fanatics have in the past raised lies in the name of blasphemy. We wonder if the recent sermons we are getting from some Islamic clerics on what the Holy Koran says about what should be done if anyone is accused of blasphemy is unpopular among followers?”
Attacks on Apostates, Blasphemers, and Preachers
Uganda: Knife-wielding Muslims crying the jihadist slogan, “Allahu Akbar!” [“Allah is greatest!”],” intercepted a church leader and sliced him up after he left an open-air evangelistic event where for four days he had debated with Muslims. Several Muslims had converted to Christianity during the debates. In the attack, Bishop Amon Sadiiki received serious wounds to his head, torso, and legs, and might have died if others had not intervened and driven away the assailants.
Iran: Anooshavan Avedian, a 60-year-old Iranian-Armenian Christian, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for teaching other Christians in his house church what Judge Imam Afshari called “educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam.” Two other members of his house church, Abbas Soori, 45, and Maryam Mohammadi, 46—both Muslim converts to Christianity—were fined the equivalent of $2,000 USD and given a 10-year “deprivation of social rights” upon their release. All three were originally arrested in the summer of 2020, when about 30 agents raided Avedian’s home, where 18 Christians, including Avedian’s family, had gathered to pray and worship. Bibles and communication devices were confiscated and all in attendance were required to fill forms of personal information and forced to sign commitments to avoid fellowship with Christians and churches. Some were sent to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison where they were “subjected to psychological torture during several intense interrogation sessions.” According to the report:
“[Judge Iman Afshari has been building a reputation in recent years by issuing some of the harshest sentences against Christians…. He was also the judge in the case of Fariba Dalir, a 51-year-old Christian woman convert who recently began a two-year prison sentence as a result of a conviction on similar charges…. The Christians’ defence was met with disrespectful remarks towards their character, and insults to their faith.”
For Iran, all house churches are “enemy groups” of a “Zionist cult,” as the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran once wrote to the UN.
Pakistan: Charged with “blasphemy” nearly a year ago, Shagufta Kiran, a Christian wife and mother, remains in prison awaiting her trial. She is accused of disseminating content deemed “insulting” to Islam that was sent to her via a WhatsApp group. “My wife and I lived happily with our children,” said her husband, Rafiq Masih. “The accusation of blasphemy has caused our lives to take a bad turn: Now I am very worried about the present and the future.” Once news of her crime was voiced abroad, her husband and children had to flee their home and take shelter in an undisclosed location. Shagufta’s 15-year-old son, said he was not even allowed to hold his mother’s hand when he recently visited her in prison:
“They keep her in a small cell and there is a separation barrier between prisoners and visitors. It is heartbreaking to see her locked up like that. Living without a mother is like living in a body without a soul.”
Her young daughter said:
“We feel no excitement about celebrating any feast without our mother. We are worried about her fate, and pray that the court frees her and that she can come back to us.”
Discussing her case, Joseph Jansen, president of Voice for Justice, said, “[Pakistan’s] blasphemy laws and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 are misused to curb freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion, as evinced in several cases, including Shagufta Kiran’s. Existing laws do not guarantee ‘the presumption of innocence, the proportionality of punishments, etc.'” whereas “the accuser enjoys impunity despite fabricating evidence.”
Sudan: A married Muslim couple who converted to Christianity face a 100-lashes punishment on the bizarre charge of “adultery.” According to the report,
“Hamouda Tia Kafi, 34, and Nada Hamad Shukralah, 25, were Muslims when they married in 2016, but when Kafi put his faith in Christ in 2018, his wife’s family sought and won a sharia court decision to dissolve their marriage… The sharia court annulled the marriage on the basis of Kafi’s conversion as apostasy was a crime punishable by death at the time. In 2020, following the end of President Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist regime in 2019, Sudan decriminalized apostasy, and in 2021 Shukralah [the wife] converted to Christianity and returned with their two children to her husband. Following Shukralah’s conversion and return to her husband, her brother charged them with adultery under Article 146 of Sudan’s 1991 criminal law based on the sharia court’s annulment of their marriage…. Police arrested the couple on Aug. 17 and detained them for four days before they received bail…. [Moreover,] the couple, members of a Baptist church, are facing growing threats from hardline Muslims, in particular Shukralah’s brother.”
Last reported, the married couple with children face a public flogging with100 lashes for their “adultery.” Although Sudan has always been at the top of the list of worst nations to persecute Christians, it was removed from the U.S. State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern”—meaning nations that tolerate or engage in egregious violations of religious freedom—in December 2019.
Hate for and Abuse of Christians
Pakistan: On May 20, Muhammad Yasir, a 45-year-old Muslim, abducted Saba Masih, a 15-year-old Christian girl, as she and her sister were walking to work. He subsequently forced her to marry him and convert to Islam. Her family immediately called the police, but they failed to act. According to the girl’s father, Muhammad is a neighbor and “has already been married thrice”:
“The police are not cooperating with us. The investigating officer keeps telling us that Saba has converted to Islam and contracted marriage with [Muhammad] Yasir, but he has not shown us any document as yet. We are pleading with police to at least recover the girl and arrange our meeting with her so that we can ascertain the facts ourselves, but he doesn’t listen to us.”
Saba’s mother had severely injured her knee, and her two daughters were taking her place as a domestic servant. Continues the father:
“I was forced to take my children, four daughters and two sons, out of school due to poverty, and my wife and elder daughters are working as household helps to supplement our family income. We are already suffering from poverty, and now our daughter has also gone missing.”
Saba is among at least three Christian girls to be kidnapped in Faisalabad city since July 2021. Then, 14-year-old Chashman Masih was kidnapped from her school. The following day, her family received images by phone of an Islamic conversion letter and Islamic wedding certificate claiming that she had willfully converted to Islam and married a Muslim man. On May 25, an Anglican Church leader, Azad Marshall, tweeted:
“Kidnapping of our youth must end; today we see a new level of hate when a young girl with hearing and speech impairment was conned and kidnapped in broad daylight. The police must act, the judiciary must send a message. We are being forced to watch as humans are violated.”
In a subsequent tweet, Marshall added, “Social indifference to predators who use religion to pursue and target minorities and the vulnerable, continuing to saw away at all of our futures. The violation of Saba Masih in Faisalabad is another reminder of just how grim the situation is.”
India: A video of a young Muslim child threatening to kill all Christians and Hindus surfaced, reigniting concerns that Muslim children are being indoctrinating to hate the other. The video was from the march of the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic organization. In it, a small child chants the following words, while the marchers repeat them:
“Be ready for your death rituals if you won’t live in our land quietly. Be ready with rice flakes to fill your mouth if you won’t live quietly (For Hindus). Be ready to burn amber in your home if you won’t live quietly (For Christians). Because we are coming, we are your death. We won’t go to Pakistan or Bangladesh, you have to live here as we say, or else we know how to make you live quietly, we will kill you even if we are attacked. We take pride in being a martyr, we salute them. If you won’t live quietly… Be prepared for your death.”
The May 24 report continues:
“It was not a random rant by a child. It was a song, a hateful verse that has been taught to the kid which he then sings and waits for people to join him in the sloganeering. The crowd around the kid seems familiar with the song because they know when to chant the appropriate slogans.”
Yemen: A remote nation that has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, little news concerning Yemen’s tiny Christian population ever surfaces. A May 25 report, however, offers useful information on the Christians of Yemen, who amount for about one percent of the Muslim nation’s population, or about 40,000 people:
“Most Christians are converts from Islam and must practice their faith in secret, meeting in small groups in homes or outdoors. Whereas Yemen is an Islamic country with apostasy and blasphemy laws in place, Christians are subject to a wide range of persecution, including exclusion of family and social life, loss of employment, physical and mental abuse, imprisonment, rape, forced marriages, and death. The degree and source of persecution varies between regions. Tribalism is strong and often the most severe persecution comes from one’s tribe or clan. In the northwestern third where Shiite Houthis exert authority, Christians are at the greatest risk due to strict adherence to Sharia law and heavy policing. In addition, those living in the south where there is a strong al-Queda presence also are at high risk… [Throughout the covid pandemic] Christians have been denied access to emergency humanitarian and medical aid, which typically is distributed by local Muslim leaders and mosques. Without necessary goods and services, their circumstances are especially dire. Due to the warring factions, lawlessness, and government dysfunction, Christians and other minorities are increasingly targeted with little hope of protection and justice.”
Death and Destruction at Churches
Uganda: On May 5, Muslims set fire to a church; two Christians were killed from the blaze inside Holy Healing Ministry International Church. “The fire weakened the church structure and forced it to collapse,” said Pastor George Kato. “I managed to escape with other remaining few members, but two elderly members were trapped inside, and the fire burned them beyond recognition.” As the pastor emerged from the burning building, he “saw three Muslims dressed in long Islamic attire taking off. I couldn’t identify them.” He also saw cans of gasoline near the door. According to the report, “Hardline area Muslims accusing the Christians of being too loud in their worship services and prayer meetings had told them many times to remove the church building.”
In another incident in Uganda, on May 6, “Muslims furious that an Islamic sheikh and his wife put their faith in Christ destroyed a pastor’s house and church building.” While inside his church, which also served as his home, Pastor Wilberforce Naaya said he and other Christians saw a Muslim mob in the distance:
“They were carrying machetes, clubs, sticks and marching towards our church building while chanting ‘Allah akbar! Allah akbar! Allah akbar! [Allah is the greatest]’ slogan. We quickly left the church, because we knew we were in danger for having a sheikh pray with us and quickly rang the police.”
A Christian neighbor and eyewitness continues:
“[S]ome of my Muslim neighbors were not happy about the conversion of the sheikh and the wife to Christianity. Some were even saying that they were going to report the incident in the mosque, since it was a Friday prayer day for the Muslims.”
An hour after fleeing the approaching Muslim mob, the pastor and others saw smoke rising from the church building. “We knew that the Muslims had started burning it,” he said.
Nigeria: On May 14, Muslims attacked and looted three churches—two Catholic, one Protestant—and other Christian-owned stores. These attacks came in response to the arrest of two Muslim men involved in the stoning and burning to death of Deborah Emmanuel, who was a regular attendee of the Protestant church. Discussing this, a local Christian woman said, “It is the failure of the security agencies and the government to rise to such criminalities in the past that gave birth to terrorists and bandits. And as long as the state fails to bring these beasts and criminals amidst us to book, so long will the society continue to be their killing field.”
Pakistan: Fourteen armed Muslim men raided a Christian school, Global Passion School, which offers free education to Christian youths. The men began by hurling chairs at a group of youths gathered in prayer. Then, according to the school principal, Simon Peter Kaleem, who was among those beat and tortured:
“They attacked the security guard and demanded 100,000 rupees [US$536] in extortion money every month, threatening that if their demand was not met they would forcibly stop Christian worship and the school’s operations. They misbehaved with the female staff and issued death threats if we failed to make payment in two days. They also damaged staff cars and motorcycles parked in the building, causing an estimated total loss of 350,000 rupees… Many of our religious and political leaders, while visiting other countries, say that minorities and Christians are safe in Pakistan. After what happened to us today, I will never say that. Our security guard can’t even walk now. Our community is threatened to keep silent. A few among the neighboring Muslim community have always tried to stop us from praying…. We want to be treated equally. Please pray for us.”
This is the third attack on a church institution in Pakistan’s Punjab province alone this year. According to the report,
“In March, police in Lahore arrested a Muslim youth who climbed onto the rooftop of One in Christ Church and sat on the cement cross chanting “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the greatest) while trying to pull it down. In January, police charged four people with blasphemy for ransacking St. Camillus Church in a village in Okara district in Punjab province. According to parishioners, the raiders tied up the Christian watchman and threw pictures of the Holy Family, Eucharist, Bibles and the Ark of the Covenant on the floor.”
France: On Sunday, May 8, a Muslim man barged into the Cathedral of Metz and began to scream repeatedly “Allahu akbar!” After arriving, police found a knife in his possession.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18651/persecution-of-christians-may

A Middle East NATO
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 26/2022
Jordan’s King Abdullah II announced his support for the establishment of a NATO-like alliance in the Middle East. He stressed that he supports the formation of a military alliance in the Middle East, similar to NATO, comprised of “like-minded countries”. “I’d like to see more countries in the area come into that mix,” he told CNBC. “I would be one of the first people that would endorse a Middle East NATO,” he added. The vision of such a military alliance must be very clear, and its role should be well defined, he stressed, according to CNBC. “The mission statement has to be very, very clear. Otherwise, it confuses everybody,” he said. This is the first statement by a major Arab official over the possible formation of a Middle East NATO. The question here is: Are his statements the first interpretation of the announcement of the “Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defense Act” (DEFEND Act) that was made in Washington some two weeks ago?
The Act, which was proposed by both Democrats and Republicans, calls for merging regional defenses to counter Iranian attacks. It asks that the Defense Department draft a strategy to work and coordinate with several countries.
Among these countries are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and others. The bill stated that the Pentagon must “identify an architecture and develop an acquisition approach for certain countries in the Middle East to implement an integrated air and missile defense capability to protect the people, infrastructure, and territory of such countries from cruise and ballistic missiles, manned and unmanned aerial systems, and rocket attacks from Iran.”
The bill also speaks of attacks carried out by extremist Iran-backed groups in the region. Another question arises: Is the bill a preemptive American step, ahead of the upcoming Jeddah summit between Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan, to pave the way for the idea of a Middle East version of NATO? Are the Jordanian monarch’s statements a sort of open discussion over what could possibly be a strategic Saudi-Gulf alliance, even an Arab one, with the US? If so, then we are faced with a new real change to the rules of the game in the region.
King Abdullah also spoke of Iran’s role in the region. “Nobody wants war, nobody wants conflict,” he said. But it remains to be seen whether countries in the Middle East can work toward a vision where “prosperity is the name of the game.”
We all know that there can be no prosperity as Iran seeks to acquire a nuclear weapon, continues to destroy four of our Arab countries, does not hesitate in targeting the security of the region and targets the Jordanian-Syrian border through the Hezbollah militias and others. Therefore, a deterrence force is necessary to confront Iran’s recklessness that may lead the region to war. If the Jordanian ruler’s statements are about the new regional defense system, then our region is headed on the right path and towards real strategic change.

Europe Must Declare a War Economy
Andreas Kluth/Bloomberg/June 26/2022
The next step in the conflict between the West and Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to be a European boycott on Russian coal, oil and natural gas. It may instead be a gas embargo by Putin on Europe. It comes to much the same.
The countries of the European Union must accept what some of them — notably Germany and Austria — spent years denying. It’s that in the eyes of an amoral despot such as Putin, everything is a weapon of war. That includes nuclear and chemical arms, but also wheat, disinformation and, not least, energy.
For decades, Putin has done his best to make European countries as dependent as possible on Siberian hydrocarbons to create vulnerabilities in the West. Now he’s exploiting those weaknesses.
Since April, the Kremlin has been shutting off Russian flows of natural gas to a growing list of EU countries Putin deems hostile — first Poland and Bulgaria, then Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark. He’s now throttling the gas flowing through Nord Stream, a pipeline linking Russia to Germany. Downstream recipients, like Italy, are also affected. The International Energy Agency, based in Paris, warns that Putin could turn the gas tap completely off within months.
He probably will, just because he can. In the first 100 days of the war, Russia has made as much as ever from selling fossil fuels, sanctions be damned. One reason is that non-Western countries such as China and India are stepping in for the EU as buyers. Another is that soaring energy prices are making up for reduced volumes to Europe. As is his wont, Putin shrouds his aggression in subterfuge. Sometimes he blames the buyers — for not paying in rubles, for example, even though that isn’t stipulated in the contracts — or “technical” problems. The interruptions at Nord Stream allegedly have to do with missing components. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has called these Russian excuses what they are: “lies.” Putin’s objective is clear. It’s to make countries such as Germany deplete their storage tanks so they will be only partially filled when the cold season arrives in fall and winter. Putin loves the soaring energy prices these shortages are causing, which are hurting Western consumers, causing social tension and may yet test the EU’s resolve.
He’d be especially thrilled if his energy blockade forces parts of European industry to shut down. That may happen. Several German industrial companies, in sectors from chemicals to steel and glass, have already warned that they may have to curb production if energy gets dearer or scarcer.
Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark have already activated emergency plans. Germany this week escalated from the first of three stages (“early warning”) to the second (“alarm”). In the third stage (“emergency”), the government seizes complete control over allocating natural gas in the country. Germany and other parts of Europe are heading for rationing — in effect, a war economy. Austria has already had to restart a mothballed power plant running on coal (which is much dirtier as a fuel than gas). Germany is also firing up its coal generators. That’s bitter for a country that had instead been planning to exit coal power altogether. It’s especially wrenching for the Greens, who are running the combined energy and commerce ministry and have to implement this policy U-turn.
Germany’s predicament is blowback for the cumulative policy mistakes of decades. Not only have successive governments — including all four mainstream parties at various times — naively made themselves dependent on Russian pipeline gas. They also rashly exited from nuclear power generation — the last three fission-based plants are slated to be turned off in December. In effect, previous German governments volunteered to become Putin’s energy hostage.
That makes the country’s debate now all the more racking. The center-right parties in opposition and government want to keep the three remaining nuclear plants running. The center-left Social Democrats and Greens — for whom opposition to nuclear energy has been a generational totem — are still resisting.
Such debates are proof that reality still hasn’t fully sunk in. The late psychiatrist Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross believed that people must cycle through five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Germans, in particular, appear stuck in the first four.
Acceptance means preparing now for the economic war against Putin to come. It means getting fossil fuels from other countries, fracking gas out of the ground underneath and importing more of it in liquid form by ship. It also means splitting atoms, putting up wind turbines, and all the rest.
But above all, acceptance means cutting back. All Europeans must stop being the grasshopper in Aesop’s fable, who spent the summer making music and frolicking, but then had nothing in winter. They must instead become the fable’s ants — forbearing, abstaining, conserving, saving. Western Europeans have been lucky so far not to be in a shooting war as Ukrainians are. But they’re already combatants in the economic war against Putin. It’s time for sacrifice.

Hunger Is Getting Worse Since the Pandemic
Amanda Little/Bloomberg/June 26/2022
Covid-19 made hunger a critical concern as millions of Americans lost their jobs, families were homebound and supply chains were disrupted. Now inflation and war are making it worse.
Ensuring that people had enough food to feed their families wasn't a partisan issue during the pandemic, when Congress approved relief measures to boost aid. And it shouldn't be a partisan issue now, as economic and environmental pressures far beyond the control of any individual make food insecurity an enduring and defining crisis of our time.
One in 6 Americans relied on food banks to survive last year — 53 million people, compared with 40 million before the pandemic. Now, even as the pandemic ebbs, the number of hungry Americans is rising again. Grocery prices have jumped 12% in the past year — the sharpest increase since 1979. Some of the nation’s largest food-relief organizations, such as the Atlanta Community Food Bank, have recently reported spikes in demand as significant as those in the early months of 2020.
The threat is greatest for families dependent on food-relief programs such as the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as the emergency allotments granted during the pandemic begin to expire. Children are particularly vulnerable as schools close for the summer and millions of low-income students face months without free lunches.
The combined pressures of escalating inflation, still-brittle supply chains, curtailed grain imports due the Russia-Ukraine war, and intensifying impacts of climate change are prolonging and compounding food insecurity across the world. Yet in the US, hunger is still written off by many conservative lawmakers as a personal failing that the government has no obligation to remedy now that the pandemic is no longer a public priority.
The reality is, as the economy falters and more people find it difficult to obtain food for their families, more funding is needed, not less. Lawmakers must approve emergency spending on food relief programs like SNAP and provide additional support for local food webs and food banks. Roughly 41 million Americans are currently enrolled in SNAP, with average monthly benefits of $233 a person. In 2020, the congressional pandemic relief packages allowed states to issue additional emergency food-stamp allotments of at least $95 per person — allotments that are now phasing out. Congress can — and should — immediately change the end date of these emergency allotments with a freestanding relief extension.
Congress must also expand the funds available to food banks and pantries through the Emergency Food Assistance Program; members of Feeding America, a nationwide network of 200 food banks, have requested an allocation of $450 million in annual funding and $200 million for distribution costs to meet the growing needs of hunger-relief organizations.
Most urgently, Congress must also extend USDA waivers, due to expire June 30, that provide free meals to public school students and help them continue to access those meals through the summer. Lawmakers should immediately pass the Keep Kids Fed Act, which was introduced this week by a bipartisan group of senators — legislation that would extend these waivers. The House Agriculture Committee is also considering proposals to extend SNAP and expand funding for food banks — policies that should also be swiftly approved in support of American families.
Yet as SNAP funding is being debated in Washington, some Republicans are trying to do just the opposite. In a recent Agriculture Committee hearing, GOP legislators proposed to rein in SNAP spending and to require stricter eligibility rules as a way to force people back into the workforce. “I remain concerned pandemic aid is set to become endemic aid," said Glenn Thompson, the Republican leader of the House Agriculture Committee.
SNAP antagonism is not new — Republicans proposed drastic changes to SNAP in both the 2014 and 2018 farm bills — yet their logic has become even more grievously flawed and outdated.
Reduced SNAP benefits won’t force the unemployed back into the workforce for the glaring reason that a prerequisite for SNAP eligibility is employment (barring extenuating circumstances, such as if the recipient is disabled or caring for children under 6). Today, hunger in America is afflicting the employed and unemployed alike, and SNAP opponents are failing to recognize that the necessity for food aid has superseded the pandemic.
Economic instability, supply chain disruptions and curtailed grain imports are here to stay for the foreseeable future. News headlines in recent weeks have hammered home how climate change is diminishing crop yields and contributing to the rise in food prices. This month alone, wildfires have devastated farms throughout Europe, drought has continued to cripple food producers in the American West, and India has lost millions of acres of grain production due to record-breaking heat.
Some attention has been paid to severe and growing food insecurity overseas — in particular, in drought-ravaged regions of the Middle East, Southeastern African and South Asia, where hunger has escalated into full-blown famine. International aid is in such short supply that the Biden administration chose to completely exhaust the USAID funding allocated for global food aid. It was a necessary use of resources, but also a harrowing sign of the times.
Despite all this, I’m optimistic about our food future: Solutions abound in sustainable, regenerative and climate-smart agriculture, and food recovery and hunger relief strategies are becoming increasingly sophisticated. While lawmakers create better safety nets, investors can play a key role in driving funding into these crucial areas of innovation. Philanthropists and citizens can focus on donating to and volunteering in local food banks and pantries, and supporting local and regional food webs.
But the solutions will not prevail without a shift in consciousness: Acceptance that a rising tide of hunger in America is not a passing problem but an enduring reality. Establishing immediate and long-term solutions must become a moral imperative that crosses party lines.

Iran regime fears the rising power of dissent
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 27, 2022
When the Iranian people revolted in 1979, many of them thought they would establish a democratic system of governance. The revolution in Iran was never intended to create a theocratic dictatorship ahead of an inclusive and secular government.
The revolution also appeared to be a repudiation of the previous political establishment’s self-serving economic policies and brutal repression of dissent. Most of the factions and oppositional groups actively involved in the revolution, such as the National Council of Resistance of Iran, envisioned a democratic future for the country.
But despite the support of the vast majority of Iranian citizens, they were not ultimately able to prevent Ayatollah Khomeini from co-opting the revolution to establish a system of absolute clerical rule, with himself at its head as the supreme leader. Now, Khomeini’s successor, Ali Khamenei, seems to be overseeing efforts to stave off a renewed push for democratic governance by insisting that opposition to the theocratic dictatorship is tantamount to endorsement of the previous political establishment that was rejected by virtually all Iranians more than four decades ago.
The series of uprisings seen around the country in recent years have revealed the depth of popular support for regime change. For example, at the end of 2017, a protest began in the city of Mashhad over the state of the Iranian economy, before spreading rapidly and also taking on an increasingly political tone. By early January 2018, the movement had encompassed a huge number of cities and towns, with each of them providing an outlet for unusually provocative slogans. The chants included “Death to the dictator,” “Hard-liners, reformers game over,” and “Our enemy is right here.” At the height of that uprising, Khamenei delivered a speech that acknowledged that the NCRI had played a leading role in promoting such slogans and facilitating the protests.
Fear of such organized resistance motivated the regime to meet the next major uprising with repression greater than anything the country had seen since the 1980s, when the system was still struggling to solidify its power structure. With protests erupting spontaneously in nearly 200 localities in November 2019, authorities opened fire on crowds of protesters, killing more than 1,500, before initiating a campaign of systematic torture that was later detailed in an Amnesty International report title “Trampling Humanity.”
Today, with the public reeling from social crises like food price increases, the patterns of public unrest are arguably more unmistakable than ever.
Amnesty stated that the Iranian authorities: “Waged a campaign of mass repression that led to the arrest of more than 7,000 men, women and children. Amnesty International has investigated the actions of the Iranian authorities since then and concluded that they have committed further widespread patterns of serious human rights violations. Given the gravity of the violations perpetrated and the systematic impunity prevailing in Iran, Amnesty International is renewing its call on member states of the UN Human Rights Council to mandate a UN-led inquiry into the violations committed with a view to ensuring accountability and guarantees of non-repetition.”
In the period between the two uprisings, Tehran also set its sights directly on the organized resistance. In June 2018, an Iranian diplomat, acting on orders from the regime’s Supreme National Security Council, provided two Iranian-Belgian operatives with a powerful explosive device and directed them to detonate it as near as possible to the Paris stage where Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s designated leader of a future transitional government, would be speaking to a gathering of about 100,000 Iranian expatriates.
The 2018 bomb plot was thwarted by European law enforcement, but it went a long way toward revealing the depth of Tehran’s concern about the dissent and organized opposition. In the ensuing four years, however, the regime has sought to downplay that concern in public.
Several uprisings have emerged since the regime’s mass killings of November 2019, one of which began only two months later. Today, with the public reeling from social crises like food price increases, the patterns of public unrest are arguably more unmistakable than ever. The reality is that there is a viable alternative calling for fair elections, secular governance and safeguards for the rights of all citizens. Iran’s solution is looking forward not backward, and Iranians are the first to have recognized this reality.
Tehran would have its adversaries believe that the outcome of regime change would be either a return to the previous political establishment or a descent into factional feuding. But if the international community were to pay attention, it would no doubt recognize that the geographically and demographically diverse participants are all calling for freedom and democracy.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

End of the road looms for Iran nuclear deal
Ellen Laipson/Arab News/June 27, 2022
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi this week warned that Iran’s latest moves on its nuclear program could strike the “fatal blow” to efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement. That agreement, signed by Iran and the permanent five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, was upended when then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out in 2018. Despite his campaign pledges in 2020, President Joe Biden has not found a way to return the US to formal participation, while the Iranian actions of recent months make it increasingly unlikely that the deal can be restored to its original purpose — restraining Iran’s nuclear activities and providing sanctions relief.
For months, talks to revive the agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear developments, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, have lurched between minor diplomatic progress to sustained impasses. But the mood has darkened with Iran’s decision to turn off 27 cameras installed to monitor enrichment activity under the terms of the 2015 agreement. This has led to diminished confidence at the IAEA in Vienna that the international community can bring this process to a successful close.
This discouraging prospect will prompt a range of responses, from those who always found the agreement just a delaying tactic to an inevitable confrontation with Iran to those who will anguish about what could have been done differently to keep the JCPOA alive. There are three areas that can help us understand how we reached this point: US policy, Iran’s calculations and the changing geopolitical environment.
Many in the US are already questioning why the Biden administration did not have a better strategy to get the US back into the JCPOA. Unlike the Paris climate accord, where the president simply declared that Trump’s policy was voided, the Biden team seemed to feel compelled to push for a better deal than the original agreement and to agonize over how sanctions relief would occur.
Pressure from both Republicans and Democrats, who were long skeptical of the agreement, led to a prolonged policy formulation, with new coordination with European allies on nuclear and non-nuclear concerns that could be seen as complicating the basic diplomatic task related to the JCPOA. Speculation that the desire to reduce US commitments in the Middle East, and later the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also moved the Iran problem off the front burner do not ring true but seem to be part of the narrative outside the US.
There is diminished confidence at the IAEA in Vienna that the international community can bring this process to a successful close.
In recent testimony, the administration’s lead on the Iran agreement, Robert Malley, also acknowledged, with good reason, that the Trump policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran was so counterproductive that the Biden team had a very steep hill to climb and the simple hope of flipping the switch back to full US participation was not an option.
It is even harder to determine the Iranian side of the story. Do Iran’s leaders want to kill the agreement or do they think their defiance will simply win them more concessions in negotiations? Given the power concentrated with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his deep mistrust of international institutions, Iran may have hoped for concessions on sanctions but would be willing to live with the demise of the JCPOA. Whether that means a race to the finish line of a fully deployable nuclear weapon or something shy of that remains to be seen.
Does Iran view the regional environment as favoring its interests? And would such a judgment be a key factor in its behavior on the nuclear file?
One key change in the region is the consolidation of parts of the Arab-Israel relationship, albeit without the Palestinians. The normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan is certainly a net loss for Tehran, given that the Iranian threat more than any other factor drove the countries to rethink their relationships. Iran’s security establishment would be wise to take seriously the new security cooperation among its adversaries. But wily Iranians also find a silver lining: In explaining the Abraham Accords, Iranian pundits see a unifying fear of America’s withdrawal from the region. That is Iran’s grand strategy, so if these agreements lead to less American influence because regional states are assuming more responsibility, Iran still wins.
In the cases of Tehran’s clients in Beirut, Baghdad, Damascus and Sanaa, it is a very messy and mixed picture. Lebanon’s collapse as a viable state and the decline of Hezbollah’s voting power are not good for Iran, but Iran probably finds use of Lebanese territory as a platform for drones and missiles as sufficient for its interests. Likewise, Syria’s survival is good enough for Iran, but its relations with Arabs and Kurds are never easy.
Iraq, even before completing government formation, has taken the strange step of legislating any contact with Israel as treasonous, presumably a mostly symbolic effort for power broker Muqtada Al-Sadr to not be outflanked by more pro-Iranian Shiite factions. It is a peculiarly counterproductive move in terms of Iraq’s larger desires to be integrated in the region, to be less reliant on Iran and to sustain productive security cooperation with Western countries.
So, the new geopolitics of the region may persuade Tehran that it can live without the JCPOA, while working with Russia and China to block any new punitive measures and taking small victories in its client states. For the rest of the region, and for Western powers, a world without the JCPOA is a more dangerous one. Improved cooperation among those states that fear Iran may be a positive development, but not sufficient to achieve regional security.
• Ellen Laipson is director of the international security program at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University in Virginia. She is a former vice chair of the US’ National Intelligence Council. ©Syndication Bureau