English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 06/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it
Matthew 16/13-20/:'When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah."

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 05-06/2022
At Taif conference, Bukhari warns of 'further descent into the unknown'
Bukhari: We are keen on Lebanon's security, stability & unity
Jumblatt from UNESCO: Taif must be implemented before discussing its amendment, most important thing today is electing a president
Wronecka calls on Lebanese to implement Taif Agreement
Brahimi from UNESCO: Taif Accord preserved Lebanon following the war
Mikati: UNESCO conference reaffirms that Saudi Arabia has not left Lebanon
Hawat: We affirm adherence to the implementation of the Taif, the path to establishing a strong state, army & institutions
Hamieh says Ministry's teams are working to clear waterways in anticipation of weather changes
Abiad launches cholera vaccination campaign from Halba Hospital, says efforts are exerted on preventing the epidemic from settling in Lebanon
Defense Minister follows up with Minister of Finance delay in paying salaries of retired military personnel
'No choice' but cholera water for Lebanon's poor
US-Lebanon sports and diplomacy with LAU and US Embassy Beirut
Scores of Syrian refugees head home from crisis-hit Lebanon
US committed to supporting ‘sturdy, dependable partners’ in Lebanon’s army: Diplomat

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 05-06/2022
Thousands pack Bahrain national stadium for pope's main Mass
As pope visits, leading Muslim cleric urges intra-Muslim dialogue
Iran Revolutionary Guard launches rocket amid more protests
G7 ministers condemn Iran protest crackdown
President Raisi says Iran thwarted U.S. destabilisation
Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time
'We're holding on', says deputy mayor of besieged Ukrainian city
Attackers injure pro-Russia judge who sentenced foreigners to death in Ukraine
From Russia with cash: Georgia booms as Russians flee Putin's war
French far-right party elects new leader to replace Le Pen
N. Korea launches ballistic missiles as US-S. Korea air drills end

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 05-06/2022
The Danger of a "Sleeping" Nuclear Deal: Stronger Russia, China, North Korea, Iran/ Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/November 05/2022
The Legacy of Lebanon’s October Revolution/Ibrahim Karkouti/Fikra Forum-Washington Institute/November 05/2022
Iran’s malign meddling is only going to get worse/Luke Coffey/Arab News/November 05/2022
Arab Brazilians count on Lula to heal divisions, forge closer ties with Middle East nations/Eduardo Campos Lima/Arab News/November 05/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 05-06/2022
At Taif conference, Bukhari warns of 'further descent into the unknown'
Naharnet/November 05/2022
A conference organized by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Taif Accord was held Saturday at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, in the presence of a host of politicians. “This conference reflects the kingdom's keenness on preserving Lebanon's security, stability and unity,” the ambassador, Walid Bukhari, told the attendees. “At this timing, it is important to preserve national accord and France has stressed to us that there won't be any intention or proposal to change the Taif Accord,” Bukhari added. “The alternative to the Taif Accord would be further descent into the unknown,” the ambassador warned. Speaking at the same conference, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said: “Before discussing amending the Taif Accord, we must first implement it and, as the son of Kamal Jumblat, I’m not opposed to the abolition of political sectarianism and the implementation of other reforms.”

Bukhari: We are keen on Lebanon's security, stability & unity
NNA/November 05/2022  
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Al-Bukhari, stressed that "the Taif Accord conference reflects Saudi Arabia's keenness on preserving Lebanon's security, unity, stability and the National Pact." "We rely on the wisdom of the Lebanese leaders and the aspirations of the people who seek to live in stability. We urgently need to embody the formula of coexistence and preserve Lebanon's identity and Arabism," he said. Bukhari affirmed that the wise leadership of the Saudi Kingdom strives to safeguard the security, stability and unity of Lebanon, adding that the most important thing at this time is that we preserve the national accord, which is an embodiment of a stage that Lebanon and its brotherly people have gone through. Accordingly, with the efforts of the League of Arab States from which the Tripartite Committee emerged, under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the support of Martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a way out was possible which reflected the preservation of Lebanon's security and stability. Touching on the French initiative to launch a joint Lebanese dialogue, and following a visit by Ambassador Bukhari to Paris, he underlined that "France assured us that there will be no intention or proposal to change the Taif Agreement." His stances came during a national conference held today at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut at his invitation, marking 33 years since the conclusion of the Taif Accord.

Jumblatt from UNESCO: Taif must be implemented before discussing its amendment, most important thing today is electing a president
NNA/November 05/2022
Progressive Socialist Party Chief Walid Jumblatt stressed today from the "UNESCO" Palace, that "the most important thing today is to elect a president of the republic." He said, "The largest battle now is not with the constitutionally and politically clear presidential powers, but rather the problem lies with electing a president and later forming a credible government that will launch the reforms required to start an economic and financial rescue."Jumblatt added that the Taif Accord is very essential because it contributed to ending the war that Lebanon witnessed over a period of 15 years. However, he considered that before discussing any Taif amendments, we must first implement it to reach the abolition of political sectarianism. "In the various Taif clauses, there is a provision providing for the establishment of the Senate, which has not yet been implemented. This demand was mentioned in the memorandum of the Druze Supreme Committee to former President Amin Gemayel, but we clashed with the Syrian regime with a categorical rejection because the regime does not want to give the Druze in Lebanon an additional privilege that may be reflected on the Druze of Syria," Jumblatt concluded.

Wronecka calls on Lebanese to implement Taif Agreement
NNA/November 05/2022
The United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, called on the Lebanese to "make efforts to implement the historic Taif Agreement in a way that guarantees Lebanon's stability." She pointed out that "the agreement established a new political system that meets the aspirations of the Lebanese through the adoption and implementation of reforms and the consolidation of national belonging."

Brahimi from UNESCO: Taif Accord preserved Lebanon following the war
NNA/November 05/2022  
Politician and diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi stressed Saturday, from the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, that "the first goal of the Taif Accord was to end the war in Lebanon," saluting "everyone who contributed to the completion of this agreement 33 years ago."He underlined the "importance of the Taif Accord, which contributes to preserving Lebanon after the war that ravaged it," noting that "the National Accord Document came with Saudi and Arab efforts and a Lebanese consensus to establish peace."

Makhzoumi says "Taif has always been and will remain the best guarantee for Lebanon's Arabism, protection for coexistence"
NNA/November 05/2022
MP Fouad Makhzoumi tweeted today: "The Taif Agreement, which we consider to be the Lebanese constitution, was and will remain the best guarantee for the Arabism of our country, the protection of the National Pact and coexistence...We renew the call to implement all its provisions and start building a state governed by law, one that enshrines legitimacy and preserves Lebanon's relationship with its Arab surroundings."

Mikati: UNESCO conference reaffirms that Saudi Arabia has not left Lebanon
NNA/November 05/2022  
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati stressed that "the Taif Agreement is very important because it is the cornerstone for ending the civil war in Lebanon nearly 30 years ago," adding that "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did not leave Lebanon and is on its side." "This day's symbolism is very important, and the conference held reaffirms that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not left Lebanon, and the large presence here indicates the confirmation of the contents of the Taif Agreement, which is still the most suitable agreement for Lebanon," Mikati added while attending the "National Conference on the 33rd Anniversary of the Taif Agreement" at UNESCO palace this morning. In response to a question, Mikati said: "We in the government are keen on carrying out our duties, and because the constitution and laws stipulate the conduct of caretaking business, we will do that with honesty, responsibility and a sense of patriotism, and I do not think that any minister will fail in this national role."

Hawat: We affirm adherence to the implementation of the Taif, the path to establishing a strong state, army & institutions
NNA/November 05/2022  
MP Ziad Al-Hawat tweeted this morning on the 33rd anniversary of the birth of the Taif Accord, saying that on this occasion and in light of the crisis of the presidential vacuum and the collapse of institutions, "we affirm adherence to the implementation of the Taif Accord, the way to establishing a strong state with its army and institutions, and Lebanon's exit from its Arab isolation." He added: "We thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its attention and patronization of solutions for the good of Lebanon and the Lebanese."

Hamieh says Ministry's teams are working to clear waterways in anticipation of weather changes
NNA/November 05/2022  
Caretaker Public Works and Transport Minister, Ali Hamieh, said today on Twitter that the Ministry’s contractors and teams are carrying out their continuous and usual work in isolating and clearing up waterways in order to reduce the pressure of the torrents on roads, in anticipation of the approaching weather storm.

Abiad launches cholera vaccination campaign from Halba Hospital, says efforts are exerted on preventing the epidemic from settling in Lebanon
NNA/November 05/2022  
Caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad, on Saturday, launched a vaccination campaign against the cholera epidemic during a tour in the Akkar and North Governorates, which he began this morning from Halba Governmental Hospital where he was received by the Hospital’s Director, Dr. Muhammad Khadrin, and its medical staff. After a meeting and a tour at the Hospital, Minister Abiad held a press conference in which he said: “Today we are in the first line of defense in Halba Governmental Hospital, which was the first to receive cholera cases, and the purpose of the visit today is to reassure our people, as we noticed that the services provided by the hospital are good.”He indicated that stability in the number of cholera cases arriving at the hospital has been detected, which is generally a good indicator. “We are part of the plan developed by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with our partners from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the High Commissioner for Refugees, and we discussed the expansion of government hospitals, so that if there were increases in cases, we would be able to absorb,” Abiad continued to reassure. "We toured the departments that were newly prepared with the right cholera treatment specifications and proper sanitation,” Abiad maintained, asserting that “the new departments are fully prepared in the event of an increase in infections." The Health Minister went on to affirm that "the most important part of today’s tour is the launch of the cholera vaccination campaign,” adding that 13,400 doses have been made available for Lebanon, with the first batch being from France. He saluted everyone for their efforts as a “one team” in order to preserve the health and safety of the Lebanese and the displaced.

Defense Minister follows up with Minister of Finance delay in paying salaries of retired military personnel
NNA/November 05/2022  
Minister of National Defense, Maurice Selim, followed up on the issue of the delay of the Minister of Finance, Youssef Khalil, in paying the salaries of retired soldiers. Khalil explained that "the delay is due to the lack of funds necessary to pay the rights in full and on time, and that this matter will be resolved and that the delay in payment will not exceed ten days," stressing that this delay will not reoccur.

Morocco seizes 2 million captagon pills coming from Lebanon
Agence France Presse/November 05/2022
Moroccan authorities have seized more than two million amphetamine-type captagon pills, foiling an "international trafficking attempt" to West Africa, police said. The pills were found at the Tanger Med industrial port complex on the kingdom's northern coast, the DGSN security service said in a statement. The drugs were "concealed inside a goods container onboard a maritime transport ship" headed from Lebanon to West Africa, it added, without specifying which country. Searches "led to the discovery and seizure of psychotropic substances hidden inside barrels containing consumer products," according to the DGSN, which said authorities seized "2,018,500 captagon tablets." An investigation has been launched in the coastal city of Tangier. Trade of the stimulant has skyrocketed in recent years, mostly originating in Lebanon and Syria, where a multi-billion-dollar industry has made the drug the war-torn country's largest export. Lebanese authorities have recently ramped up efforts to counter captagon production and trafficking after backlash from conservative Gulf nations.

'No choice' but cholera water for Lebanon's poor
Agence France Presse/November 05/2022
Marwa Khaled's teenage son was hospitalized with cholera after drinking polluted water in Lebanon's impoverished north -- yet she still buys the same contaminated water, the only kind she can afford. "People know (the water is contaminated), but they don't have any other choice," said 35-year-old Khaled, standing near her son, who is bedridden at a cholera field hospital. "Everyone will end up with cholera."Last month Lebanon recorded its first cholera case since 1993, in the nearby Syrian refugee camp of Rihaniye -- weeks after an outbreak in Syria, which lies about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. Now the World Health Organization warns the waterborne disease is spreading "rapidly" as Lebanon struggles with crumbling infrastructure, poor sanitation and limited access to clean water following three years of economic meltdown. Over a quarter of the country's more than 400 recorded cases are from Khaled's hometown of Bebnine, where people resort to unsafe water sources as the state fails to provide clean water. The actual number of cases could be much higher, with the health ministry recording more than 2,400 suspected and confirmed infections. The mother-of-six and her family drink contaminated water, trucked to their home from nearby wells and water sources, because they lack access to running water and cannot afford bottled water. Like much of Lebanon's marginalized north, Bebnine suffers from dilapidated infrastructure and government neglect. A quarter of the town's residents are Syrian refugees living in squalid conditions.
"Sewage water"
Only 500 of Bebnine's households are registered with the state water network, in an overcrowded town of 80,000 people, according to engineer Tareq Hammoud of the North Lebanon Water Establishment. But even these do not receive round-the-clock water supply. A branch of the sewage-polluted Nahr al-Bared river flows through the town and has been contaminated with cholera, infecting nearby wells and water sources, field hospital director Nahed Saadeddine said. Around 450 patients attend the hospital for treatments every day, she said. The contaminated stream "provides water for all the crops in the area... There are wells, tanks, and springs pulling water from it, even water filtration sites," Saadeddine told AFP. Cholera is generally contracted from contaminated food or water, and causes diarrhea and vomiting. It can also spread in residential areas lacking proper sewerage and drinking water systems. "The infrastructure must be changed, the wells and water sources improved" to eradicate the disease, Saadeddine said. "We want a long-term solution. Otherwise, we will see a lot more disasters."The disease can kill within hours if left untreated, according to the WHO, but many of those infected will have no or mild symptoms. It can be easily treated with oral rehydration solution, but more severe cases may require intravenous fluids and antibiotics.
'Diapers' -
Some patients at the hospital have contracted the disease more than once, among them Rana Ajaj's nine-year-old daughter.
"Five of us are sick at home. Even after the treatment, we will be sick again from drinking the same water," the 43-year-old said, passing a cup of water to her 17-year-old daughter who lay in bed, while her younger daughter sat close by. In the next bed, 10-year-old Malek Hamad was struggling to drink his medicine, exhausted from losing 15 kilograms (33 pounds) after two weeks of illness. His mother is terrified that her 10 other children may also be infected. Outside the hospital, school supervisor Sabira Ali walked along the banks of the polluted stream, gazing at the water. "Coronavirus didn't scare me as much as cholera," said the 44-year-old who lost two members of her family to cholera last month. Bebnine resident Jamal al-Sabsabi, 25, blamed local authorities for failing to act as disease struck the town. "What is the municipality doing?" he asked. "Sewage water, diapers, waste... everything gets dumped into the stream," al-Sabsabi said, pointing to the murky brook running a few meters (yards) from his home.
"No wonder the disease is spreading."

US-Lebanon sports and diplomacy with LAU and US Embassy Beirut
Naharnet/November 05/2022
The Lebanese American University (LAU) has organized and hosted a cultural exchange sports event titled “USA-Lebanon Sports and Diplomacy,” in collaboration with U.S. Embassy Beirut. Ambassador Dorothy Shea; LAU Chief Academic Officer Dr. George Nasr; President of the Basketball Association Akram Halabi; and other members from LAU, U.S. Embassy Beirut, and the National Basketball Federation attended the event. "This sports and diplomacy event provided an opportunity to showcase the common values between two basketball-loving countries, Lebanon and the United States," the U.S. Embassy and LAU said in a joint statement. During the event, five players -- Wael Arakji, Jad Khalil, Karim Zainoun, Elie Chamoun, and Sergio Darwish -- from the Lebanese National Basketball Team, majority of whom are LAU alumni, participated in collaborative sports drills with a dozen Lebanese youth from the Jr NBA 2022 program and the Jr Girls Lebanese National Basketball Team, Ambassador Shea, and U.S. Marines. LAU Byblos Director of Sports Activities Joe Mojaes moderated an interactive panel with Wael Arakji, Sergio Darwish, Ambassador Shea, and LAU VP of Student Development Dr. Elise Salem. The Lebanese youth discussed with the panelists the importance of sports in diplomacy as sports promote diversity, unity, and collaboration despite political and economic challenges. In her remarks, Ambassador Shea noted: “While having fun, we are simultaneously engaging with diversity and cultural exchange, building leadership skills and discipline, and learning the value of conflict resolution and teamwork. Sports unites us and gives us purpose -- it truly captures the essence of diplomacy.” LAU honored the Lebanese National Basketball Team athlete and LAU alumnus Wael Arakji with the university’s shield as he continuously demonstrates sportsmanship all Lebanese youth aspire to emulate. Upon receiving the award, Arakji remarked: “I am honored, as an LAU alumnus, to be recognized in this way. And I can only hope that more young Lebanese are able to pursue the opportunities for connection that sports provide.”

Scores of Syrian refugees head home from crisis-hit Lebanon
AP/November 05, 2022
BEIRUT: Scores of Syrian refugees headed home Saturday from eastern Lebanon in the second convoy in less than two weeks as Beirut attempts to organize a mass refugee return to the war-torn country. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the “voluntary return” Saturday included 330 Syrians who left from the eastern Bekaa Valley to Syria’s western Qalamoun region. Qalamoun borders Lebanon and years ago witnessed some of the worst fighting of Syria’s 11-year conflict. On Oct. 26, some 500 refugees returned to Syria, becoming the first group to return home in more than two years. After living in Lebanon for years, many Syrian refugees have decided to go back home after being affected by the country’s historic three-year economic meltdown that pushed three-quarters of Lebanese into poverty. Since the economic crisis began in late 2019, some Lebanese politicians have blamed the refugees for the crisis. Lebanon has given shelter to more than 1 million Syrian refugees but many claim the number is far higher. The UN refugee agency has registered about 825,000 Syrians but stopped counting them in 2015 at the request of Lebanese authorities. Earlier this year, officials touted a plan to return 15,000 refugees a month, which has so far failed to materialize. In 2018, Lebanon began organizing “voluntary return” trips. Syrians would register to go back, then the list would be run by Syrian security officials to see if anyone on it was wanted for arrest or deemed a security threat to Damascus. Those names would be rejected and the original list whittled down to final names. The returnees represent just a tiny fraction of the massive population of refugees who remain in Lebanon as the United Nations maintains that Syria is not safe for mass returns. “The returnees have received guarantees from the Lebanese and Syrian authorities to return,” Lebanon’s caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar told reporters near the Syrian border on Saturday. He added that the international community should encourage such returns and if not then they “should be neutral in this case.”The trips back were halted in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. At that point, some 21,000 refugees had returned to Syria this way, according to Lebanese officials. UNHCR says at least 76,500 Syrian refugees returned voluntarily from Lebanon since 2016, some in government-organized trips and some on their own. Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011 has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

US committed to supporting ‘sturdy, dependable partners’ in Lebanon’s army: Diplomat
Joseph Haboush/Al Arabiya English/November 05/2022
“We regard the Lebanese Armed Forces [LAF] and the Internal Security Forces [ISF] as pillars of more than just immediate law and order,” Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said. A senior US diplomat said Friday that the Biden administration was committed to supporting Lebanon’s army and internal security forces, but warned the country could face a further collapse. “We regard the Lebanese Armed Forces [LAF] and the Internal Security Forces [ISF] as pillars of more than just immediate law and order,” Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said.
Washington has committed close to $3 billion to the LAF since 2006, which has been a critical partner in the fight against terrorism. It is also believed to be an important investment by the West against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which continues, along with Palestinian factions, to be the only group with weapons outside of the state’s control. Leaf praised the LAF and ISF for contributing to assistance in the aftermath of the catastrophic Beirut Port blast in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. “And, of course, they are critical to internal security,” she said during a panel at the Washington-based Wilson Center. The Biden administration has provided in-kind assistance to the LAF and ISF, as well as defense articles and food. They have even gone as far as working to contribute to direct salary payments to Lebanese soldiers. As Lebanon’s currency has lost over 90 percent of its value against the dollar since anti-government protests rocked the country in 2019, the rank-and-file soldier’s monthly salary is worth less than $100 per month. But Leaf voiced frustration with the Lebanese government and its lawmakers for failing to help its soldiers. “We never do direct salary payments… this is an extraordinary thing for extraordinary times, and, of course, it’s not something that a foreign government can or should do indefinitely. “That is the responsibility of the parliament and the cabinet. They need to get to work,” Leaf said. Dubbing the LAF and ISF as “absolutely critical,” she said the US commitment remained. “They are sturdy, dependable partners for us. They’ve done great work for the Lebanese people. So yeah, we’re committed,” the top US diplomat for the Middle East said.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 05-06/2022
Thousands pack Bahrain national stadium for pope's main Mass
Associated Press/November 05/2022
Thousands of Christians from around the Gulf packed Bahrain's sports stadium on Saturday for Pope Francis' big Mass, as he shifted the attention of his four-day visit to ministering to the Catholic community in the overwhelmingly Muslim region. The English-language liturgy was clearly geared toward the South Asian migrant workers who make up the bulk of the Gulf's Catholics, with prayers in Malay, Tagalog and Tamil and a priest offering English translations of the pope's native Spanish homily. Pilgrims wearing identical white caps to shade them from the morning sun waved the yellow and white flags of the Holy See as Francis looped around the Bahrain National Stadium in his popemobile before Mass. A big cheer erupted when he kissed a young girl in a bubble-gum pink dress who was brought to the vehicle. According to the Vatican, local organizers estimated some 30,000 people attended the service. Organizers had said that passes to the event were snapped up within two days of them becoming available, with pilgrims coming from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf countries. "This is actually a very huge honor," said Bijoy Joseph, an Indian living in Saudi Arabia who attended. "This is like a blessing for us to be part of our Holy Father's papal Mass in Bahrain." Francis is on the first-ever papal visit to the island kingdom the size of New York City that lies off the coast of Saudi Arabia. The primary aim was to participate in a government-sponsored interfaith conference to promote Catholic-Muslim dialogue. But for the final two days, he shifted gears to focus on ministering to the Catholic community, a minority in the country of around 1.5 million. Most are workers from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and other South Asian countries, many of whom have left behind their families to work in Bahrain's construction, oil extraction and domestic service industries. In his homily, Francis urged them to do good, and turn the other cheek, "even when evil is done to us." "There will be cases of friction, moments of tension, conflicts and opposing viewpoints, but those who follow the Prince of Peace must always strive for peace. And peace cannot be restored if a harsh word is answered with an even harsher one," he said. "No, we need to 'disarm,' to shatter the chains of evil, to break the spiral of violence, and to put an end to resentment, complaints and self-pity." Sebastian Fernandez, an Indian living in Bahrain, said he was blessed to be able to attend. "It will be a fruitful Mass and we are happy to see our pope," he said. After the Mass, Francis was meeting with young people at the Sacred Heart school, which dates from the 1940s and is affiliated with the church of the same name that was the first Catholic Church built in the Gulf. Francis wraps up his visit Sunday meeting with priests and nuns at the church.

As pope visits, leading Muslim cleric urges intra-Muslim dialogue
Agence France Presse/November 05/2022
One of the world's leading Islamic clerics has called for dialogue between the faith's two main currents to settle sectarian differences, in an address to religious leaders including Pope Francis. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque, a center of Sunni learning, made the rare appeal at the Bahrain Dialogue Forum aimed at promoting religious harmony. The major division in Islam is between Sunni and Shiite, and Tayeb's call came as sectarian divisions in the Middle East have exacerbated regional conflicts including in Yemen and Syria. "I... call on my brothers, Muslim scholars, across the world of every doctrine, sect and school of thought to hold an Islamic dialogue," al-Tayeb said. "Let us together chase away any talk of hate, provocation and excommunication and set aside ancient and modern conflict in all its forms," he added. Al-Tayeb told the forum, organized by the United Arab Emirates-based Muslim Council of Elders, that his words were a "special call to our Shia Muslim brothers". He said the senior scholars at Al-Azhar and the Muslim Council of Elders are ready to host a meeting "so we can sit down together on one roundtable to put aside our differences and strengthen our Islamic unity." The differences have been compounded by a years-long spat between Shiite-dominated Iran and the Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which have held talks in an attempt to improve ties. Al-Tayeb's remarks came one day after Pope Francis, leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, arrived in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on an inter-faith dialogue mission. In 2019, the pontiff signed a Muslim-Christian manifesto for peace in the United Arab Emirates during the first papal visit to the Gulf region, where Islam was born.

Iran Revolutionary Guard launches rocket amid more protests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/November 05/2022
Iran's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Saturday launched a new satellite-carrying rocket, state TV reported, seeking to demonstrate the hard-line force's prowess even as anti-government protests rage across the country. Iranian state TV said the Guard successfully launched the solid-fueled rocket  what it called a Ghaem-100 satellite carrier — and aired dramatic footage of the rocket blasting off from a desert launch pad into a cloudy sky. The report did not reveal the location, which resembled Iran's northeastern Shahroud Desert. The state-run IRNA news agency reported that the carrier would be able to put a satellite weighing 80 kg (176 pounds) into orbit some 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Earth. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guard's aerospace division, said he hoped the Guard would soon use the rocket to put a new satellite, named Nahid, into orbit.
Iran says its satellite program, like its nuclear activities, is aimed at scientific research and other civilian applications. The United States and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles. Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the U.S. The Guard operates its own space program and military infrastructure parallel to Iran’s regular armed forces and answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The program has seen recent troubles, however. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, another satellite-carrying rocket. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 killed three researchers, authorities said at the time. A launchpad rocket explosion later that year drew the attention of former President Donald Trump. The Guard's announcement came in the seventh week of protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained after allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.
The protests embroiling the country first focused on the state-mandated headscarf, or hijab, but swiftly morphed into one of the biggest challenges to the government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Protesters chant for overthrowing the clerical rule and the death of Khamenei. Security forces, including paramilitary volunteers with the Revolutionary Guard, have violently cracked down on the demonstrations, killing over 300 people, including 41 children, according to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights. On Saturday, student unions in Iran reported protests in at least six major universities across the country. Universities have been hubs for unrest, fueling the protest movement despite the crackdown. Anger over Iran's sickly economy, suffocated by U.S. sanctions and years of mismanagement, has also driven people into the streets. Talks to revive Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, which granted Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for strict curbs on its atomic program, hit a deadlock months ago. On Saturday, Iran's currency, the rial, plunged to its lowest value ever against the dollar. Iran’s currency was trading at 360,000 rials to the dollar, compared to 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord. The southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province was gripped by unrest on Friday, drawing a lethal response from security forces. Advocacy group HalVash claimed security forces killed at least 16 people. Iran's prominent Sunni cleric Mowlavi Abdolhamid Esmailzehi on Saturday condemned the violence in Sistan and Baluchestan as another “bloody disaster,” saying that security forces opened fire on protesters who were only "chanting slogans and throwing stones” outside the governor's office. The judiciary of Sistan and Baluchestan announced Saturday that 620 people had been arrested in the province during the unrest, with 45 people sentenced so far on charges of damaging public property and encouraging youth on social media to join protests.

G7 ministers condemn Iran protest crackdown
Arab News/November 05, 2022
JEDDAH: Foreign ministers from the G7 group of nations on Friday denounced the Tehran regime’s deadly crackdown on the wave of protests sweeping Iran. “We condemn the brutal and disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters,” the ministers said after talks in Germany. “We advocate the right of all Iranians to access information, and we deplore the Iranian government’s erosion of civil space, and independent journalism, its targeting of human rights defenders, including by shutting down the internet and social media,” they said. The G7 also criticized Tehran’s “destabilizing activities in and around the Middle East,” such as the supply of weapons, including drones, “to state and non-state actors.” Ministers said: “Such proliferation is destabilizing for the region and escalates already high tensions.”Nationwide demonstrations erupted throughout Iran after the Sept. 16 death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, a Kurdish woman who had been detained for wearing her hijab in an “insufficiently modest” manner. Protesters, many of them women, have defiantly removed their headscarves, cut their hair in public, and called for the removal of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Security forces have responded with a brutal crackdown in which more than 500 people have been killed and at least 25,000 arrested, according to dissident groups. The protests continued on Friday in the cities of Zahedan, Khash and Saravan in Sistan-Baluchistan, an impoverished province near the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan that has been a hotbed of unrest. Several people were injured in clashes when protesters attacked a government building in Khash and torched several vehicles, and security forces opened fire. Video footage online showed a burned bank and damaged storefronts in Khash after the unrest, with dark smoke billowing from a building. A senior cleric in Zahedan urged Iran’s rulers to hold a referendum to find out what Iranian people wanted.“You should resolve your problem with this nation which once gave you your legitimacy,” Molavi Abdolhamid said during Friday prayers. “The majority of people are dissatisfied now. If you disagree, then hold a referendum with international observers.” Elsewhere in Iran, there were state-sponsored rallies on Friday marking the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days. State television showed anti-American demonstrations attended by tens of thousands of people across the country on the “National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance,” while songs called for “Death to America.” However, anti-regime protests are one of the biggest challenges to the authority of the 1979 revolution, with many young Iranians overcoming the fear that has stifled dissent.

President Raisi says Iran thwarted U.S. destabilisation
DUBAI (Reuters)/November 05/2022
President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran's cities were "safe and sound" after what he called a failed attempt by the United States to repeat the 2011 Arab uprisings in the Islamic Republic, Iranian media reported on Saturday as protests continued for a 50th day. Iran's clerical leadership has struggled to suppress demonstrations which erupted in September after the death of young Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini who had been detained by morality police for flouting strict laws on women's dress. Hundreds of people, mostly protesters, have been killed according to activists in one of the most serious waves of unrest to sweep the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution which overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah. As Iranian authorities marked the anniversary this week of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by radical students, President Joe Biden backed the protesters, saying: "We're gonna free Iran. They're gonna free themselves pretty soon."Students and women have led many of the current protests, with women throwing off and burning veils in defiance of the strict dress codes and students chanting down officials on university campuses, according to unverified video footage.
"The Americans and other enemies sought to destabilise Iran by implementing the same plans as in Libya and Syria, but they failed," Raisi was quoted by Iranian news agencies as telling a group of students on Friday. A popular uprising in Libya led to a NATO intervention in 2011 and the overthrow and killing of the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi by rebel fighters. In Syria, mass demonstrations against Iran's ally President Bashar al-Assad were confronted with force and the country spiralled into a conflict which continues 11 years on. By contrast, Iranian cities were now "safe and sound", Raisi said, promising retribution for the unrest the country had seen.
SLOGANS, CRACKDOWN
The activist HRANA news agency said 314 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Friday, including 47 minors. Some 38 members of the security forces had also been killed. At least 14,170 people have been arrested, including 392 students, in protests in 136 cities and towns, and 134 universities, it said.
Some of the worst bloodshed has been in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, where many of the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim country's Sunni minority live. Senior Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid said the response to Friday's protests in the southeastern city of Khash had been tougher than elsewhere in the country. "Should live ammunition be the response to slogans and stone throwing? One wonders ... why protesting people of this province are mercilessly massacred?" the cleric asked in a statement on his website. Amnesty International said up to 10 people may have been killed after security forces opened fire on protesters who threw stones and were reported to have attacked a government building. Students in a dozen universities in Tehran and in Karaj, west of the capital, in the northern city of Rasht, and Mashhad in the northeast protested on Saturday, chanting slogans such as "Woman, Life, Freedom," according to videos posted by HRANA. Rights group Hengaw posted a video which it said was from Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan province, with protesters starting fires to block a main street late on Saturday. There were also protests in the cities of Bukan, Saqez, and Marivan in the northwest. A social media video said to be from the southwestern city of Ahvaz showed a young man torching a statue of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in 2020 in Iraq.
Reuters could not verify the videos.
The crisis has dragged Iran's currency to new lows. The U.S. dollar was selling for 362,100 rials on the unofficial market on Saturday, after losing nearly 12% of its value since the protests started, according to foreign exchange website Bonbast.com.
In an apparent effort to curb the currency's fall, the government on Saturday authorised online sales by currency dealers, to make it easier for people to buy hard currency. The Intelligence Ministry said it had blocked the bank accounts of 2,300 people accused of involvement in the currency black market and that they may face legal action, state media reported.

Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time
Associated Press/November 05/2022
Iran's foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow's war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv.
The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets. "We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war," Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran. Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. Just earlier this week, Iran's Ambassador to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations "totally unfounded" and reiterated Iran's position of neutrality in the war. The U.S. and its Western allies on the Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine. Even so, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has vaguely boasted of providing drones to the world's top powers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has extolled the efficacy of the drones and mocked Western hand-wringing over their danger. During state-backed demonstrations to mark the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover on Friday, crowds waved placards of the triangle-shaped drones as a point of national pride. As he acknowledged the shipment, Amirabdollahian claimed on Saturday that Iran was oblivious to the use of its drones in Ukraine. He said Iran remained committed to stopping the conflict. "If (Ukraine) has any documents in their possession that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, they should provide them to us," he said. "If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue."

'We're holding on', says deputy mayor of besieged Ukrainian city
BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters)/November 05/2022
Residents of the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut are living in dire conditions, with civilians killed and wounded daily, the deputy mayor said on Saturday, as fighting between Russian troops and Ukraine's forces rages around the city. Bakhmut has been an important target for Russia's military in its slow advance through the Donetsk region, one of the territories the Kremlin claims to have annexed after what Kyiv and the West say were sham referendums in September. Kyiv's military says the area is the site of some of the heaviest fighting with Russian forces, and deputy mayor Oleksandr Marchenko told Reuters that Russia's troops were "trying to storm the city from several directions". Reuters could not independently confirm his account of the battlefield situation. "With every day it's becoming harder and harder to survive in this city," Marchenko said from inside an empty government building as mortar fire boomed nearby. He said more than 120 civilians have been killed in Bakhmut since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion. "There are districts where we don't know the exact number of people killed because active fighting is ongoing there or the settlements are temporarily occupied (by Russian forces)," he added. Ukrainian troops are "firmly holding the frontline", Marchenko said, while describing a deteriorating humanitarian situation facing the city, where the population has fallen from its pre-war level of about 80,000 to as low as 12,000 today.
It has already been without electricity, gas and running water for nearly two months. Marchenko said local citizens still venture out to shop, collect humanitarian aid or gather water despite being urged to evacuate. He added that the winter would be most difficult for the elderly and infirm. "We're holding on and hoping that the armed forces of Ukraine will be able to repel the enemy further from the city," he said.

Attackers injure pro-Russia judge who sentenced foreigners to death in Ukraine
(Reuters)/November 05/2022
Ukrainian attackers shot and seriously injured a judge in an eastern Russian-controlled region of Ukraine who sentenced three foreigners to death in June, a pro-Moscow official said on Saturday. Denis Pushilin, the administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said Alexander Nikulin had been injured late on Friday in the town of Vuhlehirsk to the north east of the city of Donetsk. "The Ukrainian regime continues to display its vile terrorist methods," Pushilin wrote on Telegram. Doctors assessed Nikulin to be in a serious but stable condition, he added. In June, Nikulin passed death sentences on two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine, ruling they had tried to overthrow local authorities. The three men, who Pushilin described as "Nazi war criminals", were released in September as part of a major prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia. A number of Russian-installed officials have been killed and injured in recent months in apparent assassination attempts.

From Russia with cash: Georgia booms as Russians flee Putin's war
Jake Cordell/TBILISI (Reuters)/November 05/2022
As war chokes Europe, a small nation wedged beneath Russia is enjoying an unexpected economic boom. Georgia is on course to become one of the world's fastest-growing economies this year following a dramatic influx of more than 100,000 Russians since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin's mobilisation drive to drum up war recruits. As much of the globe teeters towards recession, this country of 3.7 million people bordering the Black Sea is expected to record a vigorous 10% growth in economic output for 2022 amid a consumption-led boom, according to international institutions.
That would see the modest $19 billion economy, well known in the region for its mountains, forests and wine valleys, outpace supercharged emerging markets such as Vietnam and oil exporters such as Kuwait buoyed by high crude prices. "On the economic side, Georgia is doing very well," Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, CEO of the country's largest bank TBC, told Reuters in an interview at its Tbilisi headquarters. "There's some kind of boom," he added. "All industries are doing very well from micros up to corporates. I can't think of any industry which this year has problems."
At least 112,000 Russians have emigrated to Georgia this year, border-crossing statistics show. A first large wave of 43,000 arrived after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and Putin moved to quash opposition to the war at home, according to the Georgia government, with a second wave coming after Putin announced the nationwide mobilisation drive in late September.
Georgia's economic boom - whether short-lived or not - has confounded many experts who saw dire consequences from the war for the ex-Soviet republic, whose economic fortunes are closely tied to its larger neighbour through exports and tourists.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), for example, predicted in March the Ukraine conflict would deal a major blow to the Georgian economy. Likewise the World Bank forecast in April that the country's growth for 2022 would drop to 2.5% from an initial 5.5%.
"Despite all expectations that we had ... that this war on Ukraine will have significant negative implications on the Georgian economy, so far we don't see materialization of these risks," said Dimitar Bogov, the EBRD's lead economist for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. "On the contrary, we see the Georgian economy growing quite well this year, double digits."Yet the stellar growth is not benefiting everyone, with the arrival of tens of thousands of Russians, many tech professionals with plenty of cash, driving up prices and squeezing some Georgians out of parts of the economy such as the housing rental market and education. Business leaders also worry that the country could face a hard landing should the war end and Russians return home.
TO GEORGIA WITH $1 BILLION
Georgia itself fought a short war with Russia in 2008 over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, territories controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Now, though, Georgia's economy is reaping the benefits of its proximity to the superpower - the two share a land border crossing - and a liberal immigration policy which lets Russians and people from many other countries live, work and set up businesses in the country without needing a visa. Furthermore, those fleeing Russia's war are accompanied by a wave of money. Between April and September, Russians transferred more than $1 billion to Georgia via banks or money-transfer services, five times higher than during the same months of 2021, according to the Georgian central bank. That inflow has helped push the Georgian Lari to its strongest level in three years. Roughly half of the Russian arrivals are from the tech sector, according to TBC's CEO Butskhrikidze and local media outlets, chiming with surveys and estimates from industry figures in Russia that pointed to an exodus of tens of thousands of highly-mobile IT workers after the invasion of Ukraine. "These are high-end people, rich people ... coming to Georgia with some business ideas and increasing consumption drastically," said Davit Keshelava, senior researcher at the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET). "We expected the war to have a lot of negative impacts," he added. "But it turned out quite different. It turned out to be positive."
NO ROOMS IN TBILISI
Nowhere is the impact of the new arrivals more evident than in the capital's housing rental market, where increased demand is aggravating tensions. Rent in Tbilisi is up 75% this year, according to an analysis by TBC bank, and some low-earners and students are finding themselves at the centre of what activists say is a growing housing crisis. Georgian Nana Shonia, 19, agreed a two-year deal for a city centre apartment at $150 a month, just weeks before Russia invaded. In July, her landlord kicked her out, forcing her to move to a rough neighbourhood on the edge of the city. "It used to take me 10 minutes to get to work. Now it's a minimum of 40, I have to take a bus and the metro and often get stuck in traffic jams," she said, attributing the change in market dynamics to the surge of newcomers. Helen Jose, a 21-year-old medical student from India, has been crashing at her friend's for a month after her rent doubled over the summer break. "Before it was very easy to find an apartment. But so many of my friends have been told to leave, because there are Russians willing to pay more than us," she said. University figures have also reported significant numbers of students delaying their studies in Tbilisi because they can't afford accommodation in the city, Keshelava at ISET said.
'THE CRISIS COULD HIT'
TBC's Butskhrikidze said he saw potential in the new arrivals to fill skills gaps in the Georgian economy. "They are very young, technology-educated and have knowledge - for us and for other Georgian companies this is quite a useful opportunity," he said. "A key challenge for us is technology. And unfortunately on that side we are competing with high-tech companies in the United States and Europe," he added. "To have a quick win, these migrants are very helpful." Nonetheless, economists and businesses remain concerned about longer-term negative effects from the war, and what might happen should the Russians return home. "We don't build our future plans on the newcomers," said Shio Khetsuriani, the CEO of Archi, one of Georgia's largest real-estate development companies. Even with rental prices surging, Khetsuriani says development companies are not keen to over-invest in the housing market, especially with prices for materials and equipment increasing. While landlords may be cashing in on surging rents, profit margins for apartment sales have barely shifted, he said. Economists also caution the boom may not last, and are encouraging the Georgian government to use healthy tax revenues to pay down debt and build up foreign currency reserves while they can. "We have to be aware that all these factors that are driving growth this year are temporary, and it does not guarantee sustainable growth in the following years, so therefore caution is needed," said Bogov at the EBRD. "Uncertainty is still there and the crisis could hit Georgia with some delay."

French far-right party elects new leader to replace Le Pen
AP/November 05/2022
PARIS: Jordan Bardella was elected Saturday to replace Marine Le Pen as president of France’s leading far-right party, a symbolic changing of the guard that comes at a crucial time for the resurgent National Rally. Bardella, an ambitious 27-year-old and outspoken member of the European Parliament, won an internal party vote with 85 percent support, according to results announced at a party congress in Paris. He becomes the first person to lead the anti-immigration party who doesn’t have the Le Pen name since it was founded a half-century ago. The National Rally is seeking to capitalize on a breakthrough showing in legislative elections this year and growing support for far-right parties elsewhere in Europe, notably in neighboring Italy. It’s also facing broad public anger over a racist comment this week by a National Rally member in parliament that cast doubt on years of efforts to soften the party’s image.
Marine Le Pen has said she wants to focus on leading the party’s 89 lawmakers in the National Assembly. She’s still expected to wield significant power in party leadership, and run again for the presidency in 2027. Bardella had been the interim president of the National Rally since Le Pen entered the presidential race last year. He beat out rival Louis Aliot, 53, the mayor of Perpignan and a senior official of the National Rally for two decades. Alliot, who is a fervent supporter of Le Pen’s rise and a former romantic partner of hers, won 15 percent of the party vote. Le Pen lost to Emmanuel Macron on her third bid for the presidency this year, but won 44 percent of the national vote, her highest score yet. Two months later, her party won its most seats to date in the lower house of parliament. Le Pen has gone to great lengths to remove the stigma of racism and antisemitism that clung to the far-right party, to soften its image and to broaden her audience. She has notably distanced herself from her now ostracized father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who co-founded the party then called the National Front. “Bardella is part of a generation of young, very young, people who engaged themselves behind Marine Le Pen in the 2010s and who probably wouldn’t have joined the National Rally during Jean-Marie Le Pen’s era,” political scientist Jean-Yves Camus told The Associated Press. Bardella supports the anti-immigration and protectionist line of the party. “Progress today is called localism. It’s called defending borders. It’s called protectionism,” he told the AP in 2019, ahead of European elections, rejecting what he called “massive immigration.” On the other hand, Aliot, vice president of the party, argued that the National Rally needs to reshape itself to make it more palatable to the mainstream right. According to Camus, the party vote won’t question Le Pen’s leadership. “The first impact of this election is that Le Pen won’t have to deal with the party and can focus on the most important thing, leading the party’s lawmakers in the National Assembly,” he explained. For the past few months, 40,000 members of the party voted online to elect the new head of the party.

N. Korea launches ballistic missiles as US-S. Korea air drills end
Agence France Presse/November 05/2022
North Korea fired four ballistic missiles on Saturday, the South Korean military said, the latest in Pyongyang's testing blitz this week as Washington and Seoul concluded their biggest-ever air force drills. The flurry of North Korean launches included an intercontinental ballistic missile and one that landed near the South's territorial waters. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said it was "effectively a territorial invasion". The launches came as hundreds of US and South Korean warplanes -- including B-1B heavy bombers -- participated in the Vigilant Storm exercise, which Pyongyang described as "aggressive and provocative". "The South Korean military detected four short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea from Tongrim, North Pyongan Province, to the West Sea at around 11:32 a.m. to 11:59 a.m. today," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Saturday, using another name for the Yellow Sea. Their "flight distance was detected at about 130 km (80 miles), an altitude of about 20 km, and a speed of about Mach 5", they added. Mach 5 is equivalent to five times the speed of sound. The United States and South Korea have warned that these launches could culminate in a nuclear test by North Korea, and extended their air force drills to Saturday in response. Vigilant Storm was originally scheduled to run from Monday to Friday. Pyongyang ramped up missile launches in response to the drills. Such exercises have long provoked strong reactions from North Korea, which sees them as rehearsals for an invasion.
'Significant threat' -
Vigilant Storm concluded on Saturday, with the U.S. Air Force deploying two B-1B long-range heavy bombers on the final day in a ramped-up show of force. This was the first time B-1Bs have flown to the Korean peninsula since December 2017. The South Korean JCS said it demonstrated the "capability and readiness to firmly respond to any provocations from North Korea." Pyongyang has especially condemned past deployments of U.S. strategic weapons such as B-1Bs and aircraft carrier strike groups in times of high tension. While the supersonic B-1B "Lancer" aircraft no longer carries nuclear weapons, it is described by the U.S. Air Force as "the backbone of America's long-range bomber force". The USAF lists the Lancer's weapons payload as 34 tons (75,000 pounds), which can include cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs. The B-1B's range can be extended by in-air refueling, giving it the ability to strike anywhere in the world. Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean studies scholar, told AFP that given the B-1B's status as a strategic US asset, its deployment will be seen as a "significant threat" by North Korea. The B-1B deployment came a day after South Korea scrambled fighter jets in response to what it said was the mobilization of around 180 North Korean warplanes. Experts say Pyongyang is particularly sensitive about these drills because its air force is one of the weakest links in its military, lacking high-tech jets and properly trained pilots. Compared with North Korea's ageing fleet, Vigilant Storm has seen some of the most advanced U.S. and South Korean warplanes in action, including F-35 stealth fighters. At the United Nations Security Council on Friday, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield dismissed criticism of Vigilant Storm as North Korean "propaganda", saying it posed no threat to other countries. She assailed China and Russia during the emergency session, accusing them of having "enabled" North Korea. Moscow and Beijing have in turn blamed Washington for the escalation, and the meeting ended without a joint statement from the Security Council.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 05-06/2022
The Danger of a "Sleeping" Nuclear Deal: Stronger Russia, China, North Korea, Iran
 Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/November 05/2022
In spite of US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley's recently having said that the White House is not going to "waste our time" on the nuclear deal "if nothing's going to happen," he nevertheless stressed that the Biden administration is still committed to employing diplomacy, presumably to revive it at a later date.
Pelosi might recall that although a "deal" would professedly "prevent" Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the reality is quite different. Iran is acquiring nuclear weapons -- rapidly -- with a deal or without one. Any "deal" appears simply a bribe to the Iranian regime please just not to use their nuclear weapons on the Biden administration's watch.
Pelosi might also recall that the nuclear deal will reward Russia by allowing it to cash in on a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely have a stake in the $10 billion contract.
Pelosi might even further recall that it was the nuclear deal that allowed the brutal regime of Iran freely and legally to export weapons to Russia, in the first place.
Any nuclear deal with Iran will not make the world a "safer place". It will provide the Iranian regime with billions of dollars, help it to send more advanced weaponry to Russia to inflict even more damage on Ukrainians, pave the way for the ruling mullahs to legally obtain nuclear weapons, and strengthen America's other adversaries, Russia, China and North Korea.
Now, why would the Biden administration want to do that?
Iran is acquiring nuclear weapons -- rapidly -- with a deal or without one. Any "deal" appears simply a bribe to the Iranian regime please just not to use their nuclear weapons on the Biden administration's watch. (Image source: iStock)
The Biden administration is sitting idly by as the Iranian regime ratchets up, and keeps getting away with, both its attacks on its own fed-up populace, and its delivery of weapons to Russia -- assisted, it seems, by China and North Korea.
In spite of US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley's recently having said that the White House is not going to "waste our time" on the nuclear deal "if nothing's going to happen," he nevertheless stressed that the Biden administration is still committed to employing diplomacy, presumably to revive it at a later date.
Some other officials such as the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi appear to be still in favor of reviving the nuclear deal. She said on October 25, 2022 that the United States has been "trying for a while now to have a nuclear agreement with Iran so that we can make the world a safer place."
Pelosi might recall that although a "deal" would professedly "prevent" Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the reality is quite different. Iran is acquiring nuclear weapons -- rapidly -- with a deal or without one. Any "deal" appears simply a bribe to the Iranian regime please just not to use their nuclear weapons on the Biden administration's watch.
Pelosi might also recall that the nuclear deal will reward Russia by allowing it to cash in on a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely have a stake in the $10 billion contract.
Pelosi might even further recall that it was the nuclear deal that allowed the brutal regime of Iran freely and legally to export weapons to Russia, in the first place.
To clarify: among the many concessions that the Obama-Biden administration gave to the ruling mullahs of Iran, was one setting a date , October 18, 2020, when the arms embargo on Iran would be lifted. The Obama administration agreed to add this provision. Before that, the arms embargo on Iran had encompassed a wide range of weapons, including large-caliber artillery, drones, combat aircraft, battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, attack helicopters, some missiles and missile launchers, and warships.
This dangerous provision in the Obama-Biden administration's nuclear deal remains mind-boggling. Some Democrats and Republicans were, in fact, stunned by the move. "It blows my mind that the administration would agree to lift the arms and missile bans," John Boehner then speaker of the US House of Representatives said out at the time. Senator Ben Cardin, the then leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, echoed the message: "It's hard for us to accept it, so we just want to take a look at it," he said.
On June 30, 2020, then US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged the United Nations Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Iran, saying:
"Don't just take it from me or the United States. listen to countries in the region, from Israel, the Gulf, countries in the Middle East who are most exposed to Iran's predations are speaking with a single voice: extend the arms embargo".
The Security Council, was, unsurprisingly, reluctant to do so, and Iran's ruling mullahs celebrated their reward from the nuclear deal as the arms embargo against the Islamic Republic was lifted on October 18, 2020.
Pelosi, who thinks that the new nuclear deal with Iran will "make the world a safer place," is most likely aware that the Biden administration is permitting Russia to be the sole country to oversee compliance with the nuclear deal, and to keep Iran's highly enriched uranium -- able to return it to Iran if the mullahs request it, or perhaps use it fungibly with its own uranium stockpile.
In fact, this provision triggered 50 bipartisan US lawmakers to write to Biden:
"[W]e strongly urge your Administration not to permit Russia to be the recipient of Iran's enriched uranium nor to have the right to conduct nuclear work with the Islamic Republic, including a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. We should not let war criminal Vladimir Putin be the guarantor of the deal or the keeper of massive amounts of Iran's enriched uranium. Iran supports the illegal war in Ukraine and has been supplying Russia with drones used to kill Ukrainians."
Any nuclear deal with Iran will not make the world a "safer place". It will provide the Iranian regime with billions of dollars, help it to send more advanced weaponry to Russia to inflict even more damage on Ukrainians, pave the way for the ruling mullahs to legally obtain nuclear weapons, and strengthen America's other adversaries, Russia, China and North Korea.
Now, why would the Biden administration want to do that?
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19079/iran-sleeping-nuclear-deal

The Legacy of Lebanon’s October Revolution
Ibrahim Karkouti/Fikra Forum-Washington Institute/November 05/2022
Although the results of the October 2019 protests and the May 2022 elections brought hope to many Lebanese desperate for change, entrenched political deadlock and disfunction is as bad as ever.
Several weeks ago, Lebanese marked the three-year anniversary of Lebanon’s October 2019 revolution, which arose out of a popular anger at political leaders’ systemic mismanagement of the country. Nevertheless, Lebanon’s current social and economic situation is still grim, continuing to deteriorate even further over the past three years while Beirut careens into yet another political deadlock.
Current president Michel Aoun’s presidential term is officially over, and the former president has vacated his official residence. After multiple parliamentary sessions devoted to electing his successor, Lebanon’s MPs are still a long way off from agreeing on Aoun’s replacement—the majority of ballots remained blank after the most recent round of voting—further highlighting the division and dysfunction of Lebanon’s parliament.
The deadlock of these past weeks has once again emphasized Lebanon’s systemic political dysfunction and its impact on the lives of ordinary Lebanese. While the results of Lebanon’s May elections were initially touted as providing some glimmer of hope for reform, Lebanon’s domestic political situation is nevertheless being dictated by its traditional political parties and rivalries, a position the Lebanese people can ill afford.
Initially, there was some hope in the country’s new independent MPs as a political manifestation of the popular protests of 2019. Of those elected during last May’s elections, thirteen independent MPs gained seats in the 128-seat legislature, marking a departure from previous elections such as the ones in 2018 in which only one independent gained a seat. However, the success of these independents was boosted by the expatriate vote, understood to have largely voted for independent candidates and with a participation rate that tripled compared to the previous elections cycle. Meanwhile, the vast majority of MPs remained under the control of establishment parties, while the ‘Change’ bloc of independents was too small and increasingly fractured to have much real legislative impact. Over the last several weeks, the ‘Change’ bloc has broken down under internal disagreements. MPs Michel Douaihy and Waddah Sadek have now officially left the bloc, while those who remain have struggled to work with other MPs or coordinate internally to stay politically relevant.
The traditional parties that continue to occupy the majority of Lebanon’s parliament are a more apt reflection of the current government. It is remarkable that Lebanon’s parliament includes those whom the judiciary charged in the crime of the port explosion, as well three former energy ministers who utterly failed to improve this sector. Many Lebanese live without electricity and depend mainly on generators—which many can no longer afford given the exponential rise in the price of fuel—or in some cases on solar energy for those who can manage it. Lebanon’s faltering water sanitation system has likewise helped the rapid spread of cholera—a disease nonexistent in Lebanon for the past three decades—from similarly dire circumstances in Syria.
Meanwhile, these establishment parties are playing an insidious role in repainting the history of the 2019 revolution in order to avoid blame for Lebanon’s crumbling infrastructure. While the Lebanese people desperately need the return of the spirit that drove the 2019 revolution more than ever, Lebanon’s entrenched players have sought to convince their electorates to blame the movement for the country’s current economic and social ills through several avenues. The well-healed media institutions of the Lebanese “deep state,” are hard at work demonizing the 2019 revolution and its results. Early on in the protests, photoshopped images or simply a lack of coverage led protesters to put out their own forms of media reporting. However, new media organizations such as Thawra TV that emerged in the aftermath of the revolution have a limited reach—dwarfed by the audiences of Lebanon’s media institutions owned by the entrenched parties.
These television channels and newspapers are blaming the revolution for the country’s faltering economy, ignoring the failed monetary policies of Lebanese governments and downplaying the arbitrary measures of the Central Bank that seized people’s savings and depleted Lebanon’s foreign currency reserves. During the revolution, Lebanese politicians and their affiliates and supporters attacked protestors who blocked roads. They claimed that protestors were furthering the economic collapse by forcing school closures and disrupting traffic and daily life. Voices can also be found labeling the October protests as “intellectual terrorism,” and using “intellectual intimidation, demonization, and treason of every opponent of its opinions.”
Today, the same narrative is again used against depositors who have begun forcibly holding up banks to obtain their own money, which most Lebanese can no longer access. While these protesters are often desperate and seeking money for the medical care or basic needs of loved ones, state and private-owned media have repeatedly blamed angry protestors for bank closures, rather than the corrupt and dysfunctional banking system.
At the social level, entrenched political forces have mobilized houses of worship and civil associations to attack the new members of parliament. Attacks include, for example, accusations of immorality and depravity due to the independent MPs’ support of voluntary civil marriage—an institution Lebanon lacks that should be the fundamental right of any Lebanese citizen according to the constitution.
A muted popular response to these independent MPs, along with the impact of establishment narratives against the 2019 revolution, raises the question of whether Lebanese popular will can once again solidify to protest the incessant continuation of Lebanon’s corrupt system, or whether it will buy the narrative presented by Lebanon’s establishment parties. If the Lebanese choose the latter, this system, dominated by merchants of war and those who feed off of sectarianism, will continue to drive policies within the government that impoverish and humiliate the Lebanese people.
The critical political and economic situations in the United States, Europe, and other Arab nations have further reduced international attention on Lebanon, including both the cascading repercussions of the invasion of Ukraine and the continued stagnation of any efforts to insulate the region from proxy or direct wars with Iran. Many Lebanese are now all too aware that its crises fail to rank among the priorities of major powers. This means that the country has little hope of external salvation—any change will only emerge from the reemergence of the kind of popular pressure Lebanese were able to exert in 2019.
The 2019 Revolution ultimately pointed to the solution of Lebanon’s core issue—when Lebanese join together to put aside sectarianism and internal decisions while holding its government truly accountable, the country has some sense of hope for change. However, the return and spread of such a movement would require that more Lebanese recognize that the interest of their country does not lie in the survival of entrenched political parties. Until traditional parties can no longer rely on their core supporters to get the same results election after election plus support during the rest of the year as the country slides into chaos, Lebanese will have to share in the blame for their country’s ongoing demise.

Iran’s malign meddling is only going to get worse
Luke Coffey/Arab News/November 05/2022
Day after day major protests continue to rock cities across Iran. Even though the regime in Tehran has its hands full dealing with these daily demonstrations, it has not stopped exporting instability and terrorism around the region. If anything, Iran has stepped up its nefarious activities abroad since the nationwide protests started almost 50 days ago. A quick glance at the past week alone offers three examples.
First, it was reported last week that Saudi officials had told their American counterparts that Iran was planning to launch an air attack against targets in Saudi Arabia and in northern Iraq, including US military bases in the region. Of course, Iranian drone and missile attacks are nothing new. In fact, there have been numerous attacks, both by Iran and their proxies, across the region against targets in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. So an attack targeting Saudi Arabia, northern Iraq, and US troops would be straight out of the Iranian playbook.
However, what makes this latest threat different is that Iranian officials have been stepping up their rhetoric toward Saudi Arabia — including direct threats to the Kingdom. Tehran has blamed Saudi Arabia, the US, and Israel for the protests across Iran. In particular, Tehran has been outspoken about a Farsi-language satellite news channel based in London called Iran International, which is thought to be the most watched independent news channel in Iran. Many in Tehran believe that the news channel receives funding from neighboring Arab countries — although this has never been confirmed. The impact of Iran International is taken so seriously that the commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, threatened Saudi Arabia by saying during a military exercise: “This is our last warning, because you are interfering in our internal affairs through these media.”
Second, the government of Azerbaijan said last week that it had broken up an Iranian-trained terrorist cell. This is a major escalation considering that relations between Baku and Tehran have been tense in recent months. According to the official announcement from the Azerbaijani government, 19 of its citizens were recruited by “Iranian special services” and brought to Syria and Iran to receive training. The long-term goal was for these trained fighters to create instability inside Azerbaijan.
This comes at a difficult time in Iranian-Azerbaijani relations. In recent weeks, Iran conducted confrontational military exercises along its northern border with Azerbaijan. In response, Azerbaijan held its own military exercise with its special forces near the border with Iran. Iran has long been suspicious of Azerbaijan’s close relationship with Israel. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has concerns about the cozy relationship between Iran and Armenia. There has also been a notable change in rhetoric coming from both Tehran and Baku. Statements and criticism that would have normally been reserved for private channels are now being made public.
Finally, Iran’s export of instability extends beyond the Middle East and into eastern Europe. In recent weeks, hundreds of Iranian built Shahed-136 “suicide drones” have been used to target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Although Ukrainians have been successful at shooting down many of them, the drones that were able to hit their targets have done significant damage. Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv is experiencing rolling blackouts. At one point last week it was estimated that 40 percent of Ukrainians were without electricity.
Not only is Iran preparing to send hundreds of more drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, but there are plans for Tehran to top up Moscow’s stockpiles with the Fateh-110 missile, a short-range ballistic missile with a range of 300 kilometers. It has been used extensively by Iran and its proxies throughout the Middle East. Iranian-supplied missiles such as the Fateh-110 won’t be a game changer in Ukraine, but they will make life much harder and more dangerous for Ukrainians as winter approaches.
So what is motivating Iran to pursue these aggressive policies in the region and beyond? In simple terms the answer is easy: Tehran’s provocations in the Middle East are a way for the regime to divert attention from its troubles at home. Meanwhile, the proliferation of Iranian drones and missiles in the Middle East and Ukraine kills two birds with one stone for Iran. On the one hand, it will thinly stretch US and regional air defense systems. It could even force policymakers to choose between prioritizing an increase in air defense in eastern Europe or prioritizing it the Middle East. On the other hand, cash-starved Iran benefits from Russia’s purchase of these weapons at a time when Tehran is facing economic problems at home.
While the protests across Iran are not yet existential to the regime, it is also true they are not close to being over. As the situation becomes more difficult at home for the regime, expect even more malign activity elsewhere.
Today Iran is affecting stability in the Gulf and Ukraine. Who knows where it will be tomorrow? It is time for the US and its partners to start responding decisively to the growing Iranian threat, which is only going to get worse before it gets better.
• Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Twitter: @LukeDCoffey

Arab Brazilians count on Lula to heal divisions, forge closer ties with Middle East nations
Eduardo Campos Lima/Arab News/November 05/2022
SAO PAULO: On Oct. 30, Brazilians elected former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after a highly polarized campaign against incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. The divide in the South American country was reflected in the outcome: Lula received 50.9 percent of votes while Bolsonaro got 49.1 percent.
The large Brazilian-Arab community, estimated at more than 10 million people, was also divided.
Lula received 50.9 percent of votes. (AFP)
This could be seen, for example, in Foz do Iguacu, a city on the border with Paraguay and Argentina where thousands of Arab Brazilians live. In August, part of the community organized a dinner with Lula, but as soon as the invitation was publicized on social media, Arab supporters of Bolsonaro began to protest. The dinner ended up being canceled.
That kind of controversy has been quite common in Brazil’s politically charged atmosphere over the past few months, and it has been no different with the Arab community, analysts say.
The first aspect to consider is that the community does not constitute an organized group of influence, said Tufy Kairuz, a researcher with a PhD in history from York University in Canada. “Lebanese and Syrian immigrants began to arrive in Brazil at the end of the 19th century. Europeans in Brazil were usually Mediterranean, so Arabs were always considered to be white here. They adapted well,” Kairuz told Arab News, adding that as white, Christian people and members of an economic elite, Arab Brazilians tend to vote like the non-Arab Brazilian elite. That is why many in the community voted for Bolsonaro, said Murched Omar Taha, president of the Institute for Arab Culture. “Many Arab Brazilians are businessmen, and businessmen are among the segments who in general supported Bolsonaro,” Taha told Arab News. At the same time, he said, among Brazilian Arabs there are many intellectuals, educators and artists — groups that tended to vote for Lula. Mamede Jarouche, the son of Lebanese immigrants and a professor of Arab literature at the University of Sao Paulo, said a large part of the Arab community is completely integrated in Brazilian society, so Arab heritage does not play a role when it comes to voting. “Descendants of the first waves of immigrants usually don’t feel much connected to their roots,” Jarouche told Arab News. Bolsonaro received 49.1 percent of the vote. (AFP)
He added, however, that first- or second-generation Brazilian Arabs tend to follow Middle Eastern politics and feel closer to the Arab world. “Most of the Muslim people who are concerned with the Palestinian cause oppose Bolsonaro,” he said.
Since the 2018 presidential campaign, Bolsonaro had pledged to move the Brazilian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was greatly supported by the Brazilian-Israeli community, and the idea of the embassy move was discussed with it.
THE IRAN FACTOR
A March 11, 2021 report by the Arab News Research and Studies Unit examined Brazil’s role as an important strategic trade partner for Iran in Latin America.
The report’s author Hamdan Al-Shehri noted that relations between Iran and Brazil have passed through several distinct phases in recent decades, sometimes reflecting general shifts in the latter’s foreign policy, at other times resembling an ill-defined relationship based primarily on mutual trade interests.
He said: “The dynamic of the relationship has also been influenced by the personalities of successive leaders of both states, their ideological leanings, and their perceptions of the West.”As president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “placed a high value on the relationship with Iran because he wanted to move the focus of his foreign policy away from the countries of North America and Europe and toward the developing nations of Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.”
By contrast, Al-Shehri added: “The warmth went missing from the relationship after Dilma Rousseff became president of Brazil between 2011 and 2016.
“The election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018 did little to improve ties. The right-wing president aligned himself closely with former US President Donald Trump, becoming one of the few world leaders to openly back the elimination on Jan. 3, 2020, of Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ extraterritorial Quds Force.”
As opposed to its diplomatic accomplishments, Iran, currently being rocked by anti-government protests, has had limited success in winning over the publics of Latin America.
According to 2015 poll data from the Pew Research Center, involving 45,435 respondents across 40 countries, some 79 percent of Brazilians said they held a negative view of Iran, while just 11 percent looked upon the country favorably.
Al-Shehri said: “Relationships with Latin American nations remain primarily the Iranian regime’s way of countering the impact of international sanctions and diversifying its means of survival.
“Through these connections, Iran hopes to project the image of a global power, overcome diplomatic isolation, win support for its nuclear program, and potentially respond to US pressure from close proximity.”
He pointed out that the Brazil-Iran trade surplus in 2018 reached $2.2 billion in favor of the former.
“Regardless of who is in power, economic and commercial interests have and will remain a consistent driver of bilateral ties between the two countries, particularly in oil, gas, mineral exploration, and agriculture,” he added.
But “he had to give up on that idea after he suffered great pressure from Arab nations, which are important commercial partners for Brazil,” Taha said.
Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of halal meat and poultry. The agribusiness sector, which massively supported Bolsonaro, also pressured him not to move the embassy to Jerusalem, Taha added, “but if he had four more years, maybe he’d do it.”
Bolsonaro’s pro-Israel rhetoric, which displeased many Brazilian Arabs, was amplified by his evangelical allies.
His wife Michelle is a member of a Baptist church and is usually seen wearing the colors of the Israeli flag. On Oct. 30, she was photographed voting with a T-shirt with the Israeli flag.
“As a sheikh, I thought she lacked sensitivity and common sense. It was really a provocation,” Jihad Hammadeh told Arab News, adding that the photos immediately went viral.
“Many people who hadn’t decided yet ended up voting for Lula after that. Many felt it as an insult.”
Hammadeh said many Brazilian Arabs remember that Lula had close relations with Arab countries and played a central role in supporting the Palestinians. In 2010, shortly before leaving the presidency, he recognized Palestine as a sovereign state.
Domestically, Lula has also showed more openness toward Muslims than Bolsonaro has, said Hammadeh.
“When the president himself opens the doors for you and establishes a dialogue, you feel more comfortable,” he added.
Domestically, Lula has also showed more openness toward Muslims than Bolsonaro has, said Jihad Hammadeh. (AFP)
“In Bolsonaro’s administration, we didn’t have the same closeness with the president than we used to have with Lula.”
Kairuz, the researcher, predicts that in his second term, Lula will work to strengthen Brazil’s ties with Arab and Muslim nations. “Lula has a solid reputation in these countries,” he said.
“That’s why many of them, immediately after the election result was publicized on Oct. 30, sent messages to congratulate him.”
On Nov. 1, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a cable to Lula in which he “expressed sincere felicitations to the president-elect, wishing him every success and the government and friendly people of Brazil steady progress and prosperity.”