Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 02-03/2023
Pope names Argentine bishop, author of kissing book, to top Vatican post
(Reuters)/July 02/2023
Pope Francis has named an Argentine theologian and prolific author who decades ago wrote a book on the healing properties of kissing to be the Catholic Church's new doctrinal chief, one of the Vatican's top posts. A Vatican statement on Saturday said Francis had chosen fellow Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez to be the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). The DDF, modern-day successor of the notorious Inquisition which persecuted heretics, is tasked with promoting and safeguarding doctrine on faith and morals. It monitors theological work to make sure it adheres to Church doctrine and issues guidance, clarifications, and corrections. In an apparent reference to the Inquisition, known for torture and executions in Medieval times, Francis said in a letter to Fernandez that in the past the department had used "immoral methods" and itself made doctrinal mistakes.
The powerful post of DDF prefect was held by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for 23 years before he became Pope Benedict in 2005. Fernandez, 60, has written about 300 books and articles and is a past rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, where he was also dean of its theology department. In 1995, as a 33-year-old priest, he wrote a book called "Heal Me With Your Mouth - The Art of Kissing," which was published in English in 2017. He writes in the introduction "that this book was not written based on my own experience, but based on the lives of people who kiss" and that he also wanted to focus on what poets had written about kissing. "The kiss is a meeting of the two in a moment in which there is nothing else besides them, and nothing else matters," Fernandez wrote in the book. The Vatican did not mention the book in the partial list of his publications it issued with the appointment announcement. The prefect of the DDF is traditionally a cardinal, meaning Francis is likely to raise Fernandez to that rank sometime after he takes up his new post in September. Francis succeeds Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria, a Spanish Jesuit, who is at the end of his mandate.

French mayor's wife hurt as rioters attack their home
BBC/02 Jul 2023
Attackers in France tried to set fire to the home of a suburban Paris mayor's home overnight and fired rockets at the official's fleeing wife and children. The incident has caused widespread shock and is being treated as attempted murder. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne described it as intolerable. Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun was not at home, but his wife suffered a broken leg and a child was also hurt. France has seen violent protests after police killed a teenager on Tuesday. The suspects in the incident in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, south of Paris, have not been identified. Mr Jeanbrun said he had been in his office overseeing the situation when the attack on his home occurred at 01:30 (23:30 GMT on Saturday). The attackers used a car to ram through the gates of their home before setting the vehicle on fire so that the blaze would spread to the house, the mayor said in a statement. Then when his wife, Melanie Nowak, tried to flee with the children, aged five and seven, they were attacked with firework rockets. Ms Nowak suffered a broken leg. One of the children was also injured. Mayor Jeanbrun called it "a murder attempt of unspeakable cowardice"."A line has been crossed," he said. "If my priority today is to take care of my family, my determination to protect and serve the Republic is greater than before," he added. The mayor, from the centre-right Les Republicains, has received widespread support from across the French political spectrum. The public prosecutor's office has started an investigation for attempted murder. The attack on Mayor Jeanbrun's home came during the fifth night of violent protests across France over the death of Nahel M, 17, who was shot by police at point-blank range during a traffic stop. Around 45,000 police were deployed in France on Saturday to control the protests and the interior ministry said Saturday night had been quieter, with fewer arrests overall. However there were more than 700 arrests across the country and more than 800 fires were lit by rioters during the course of the night, officials said. Mr Jeanbrun had urged the French government earlier to impose a state of emergency in response to the riots, which President Emmanuel Macron has so far declined to do. The French leader is due to meet with top officials later to discuss the crisis.

France faces 5th night of rioting over teen's killing amid signs of subsiding violence
Associated Press/July 2, 2023
Young rioters clashed with police late Saturday and early Sunday and targeted a mayor's home with a burning car as France faced a fifth night of unrest sparked by the police killing of a teenager, but overall violence appeared to lessen compared to previous nights. Police made 719 arrests nationwide by early Sunday after a mass security deployment aimed at quelling France's worst social upheaval in years. The fast-spreading crisis is posing a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron's leadership and exposing deep-seated discontent in low-income neighborhoods over discrimination and lack of opportunity. The 17-year-old whose death Tuesday spawned the anger, identified by his first name Nahel, was laid to rest Saturday in a Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Nanterre, a Paris suburb where emotion over his loss remains raw. As night fell over the French capital, a small crowd gathered on the Champs-Elysees for a protest over Nahel's death and police violence but met hundreds of officers with batons and shields guarding the iconic avenue and its Cartier and Dior boutiques. In a less-chic neighborhood of northern Paris, protesters set off volleys of firecrackers and lit barricades on fire as police shot back with tear gas and stun grenades.
A burning car hit the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of l'Hay-les-Roses overnight. Several schools, police stations, town halls and stores have been targeted by fires or vandalism in recent days but such a personal attack on a mayor's home is unusual. Skirmishes erupted in the Mediterranean city of Marseille but appeared less intense than the night before, according to the Interior Ministry. A beefed-up police contingent arrested 55 people there. Nationwide arrests were somewhat lower than the night before, which Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin attributed to "the resolute action of security forces."Some 2,800 people have been detained overall since Nahel's death on Tuesday. The mass police deployment has been welcomed by some frightened residents of targeted neighborhoods and shopowners whose stores have been ransacked — but it has further frustrated those who see police behavior as the core of France's current crisis.
The unrest took a toll on Macron's diplomatic standing. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's office said Macron phoned Saturday to request a postponement of what would have been the first state visit by a French president to Germany in 23 years. Macron had been scheduled to fly to Germany on Sunday. Hundreds of French police and firefighters have been injured in the violence that erupted after the killing, though authorities haven't released injury tallies of protesters. In French Guiana, an overseas territory, a 54-year-old died after being hit by a stray bullet.
On Saturday, France's justice minister, Dupond-Moretti, warned that young people who share calls for violence on Snapchat or other apps could face legal prosecution. Macron has blamed social media for fueling violence. The violence comes just over a year before Paris and other French cities are due to host Olympic athletes and millions of visitors for the summer Olympics, whose organizers were closely monitoring the situation as preparations for the competition continue. At a hilltop cemetery in Nanterre, hundreds stood along the road Saturday to pay tribute to Nahel as mourners carried his white casket from a mosque to the burial site. His mother, dressed in white, walked inside the cemetery amid applause and headed toward the grave. Many of the men were young and Arab or Black, coming to mourn a boy who could have been them. This week, Nahel's mother told France 5 television that she was angry at the officer who shot her son at a traffic stop, but not at the police in general. "He saw a little Arab-looking kid. He wanted to take his life," she said. Nahel's family has roots in Algeria. Video of the killing showed two officers at the window of the car, one with his gun pointed at the driver. As the teenager pulled forward, the officer fired once through the windshield. The officer accused of killing Nahel was given a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide. Thirteen people who didn't comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year, and three this year, prompting demands for more accountability. France also saw protests against police violence and racial injustice after George Floyd's killing by police in Minnesota. The reaction to the killing was a potent reminder of the persistent poverty, discrimination and limited job prospects in neighborhoods around France where many residents trace their roots to former French colonies — like where Nahel grew up. "Nahel's story is the lighter that ignited the gas. Hopeless young people were waiting for it. We lack housing and jobs, and when we have (jobs), our wages are too low," said Samba Seck, a 39-year-old transportation worker in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. Clichy was the birthplace of weeks of riots in 2005 that shook France, prompted by the death of two teenagers electrocuted in a power substation while fleeing from police. One of the boys lived in the same housing project as Seck. New violence targeted his town this week. As he spoke, the remains of a burned car stood beneath his apartment building, and the town hall entrance was set alight in rioting Friday. "Young people break everything, but we are already poor, we have nothing," he said. Still, he said he understood the rioters' anger, adding that "young people are afraid to die at the hands of police."

Germany's Scholz says following riots in France 'with concern'
AFP/July 2, 2023
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday he was following riots in France "with concern", a day after President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to his country over the violence. France is a "friendly neighboring country" and Paris and Berlin together "make sure that the European Union, which is so important to our common future, works well", Scholz told broadcaster ARD in an interview. "That is why we are of course looking at (the riots) with concern, and I very much hope, and I am certainly convinced, that the French president will find ways to ensure that this situation improves quickly."The German president's office announced on Saturday that Macron was postponing the scheduled visit he had been due to start on Sunday, over violence across France triggered by the police killing of a teenager. Asked about the potential for the violence to destabilize France and Europe, Scholz responded: "I don't expect France to become unstable.""I very much understand the French president's decision to be in the country now. I would have done the same," he added. The three-day state visit had been seen as an opportunity to reinvigorate the relationship between the two EU giants, with Macron scheduled to cross the breadth of Germany from west to east. It would have marked the first state visit to Germany by a French president since 2000, when Jacques Chirac travelled to Berlin.

The Iranian’s state’s brutal murder of Bahá’í women must not be forgotten
Omid Djalili/The Telegraph/July 2, 2023
In the 44-year history of Iran’s “Islamic” Republic, one of the most heinous acts it has ever committed – from a preposterously large number to choose from – took place in the late hours of June 18 1983, when 10 Bahá’í women in Shiraz were hanged on the charge of refusing to renounce their religious beliefs. One after the other, the women were forced to watch each other hang, supposedly to give a final opportunity to recant their faith and save their own lives. Each of them refused. The oldest was Ezzat, 57, who was hanged with her daughter, aged 23. Ezzat’s husband had been executed two days earlier.
Nosrat was 46, her son had been executed two days before. Most of the rest were in their 20s. The youngest, Mona, whose father had been executed three months before, was 17. She asked to go last so that the others would not see her hang. When I initially heard the news, living my normal London life in leafy Kensington, the impact was strangely minimal.
I was also 17, born 20 days after Mona, but it was part of a stream of stories coming out of Iran of mass killings and executions. I was in a constant state of anxiety as a great many who were killed were friends and acquaintances of my parents.
Notable among these were the killings of the Bahá’í administrative body of the National Assembly members in 1980 and of the Tehran Assembly, unceremoniously shot in 1981, all of them known to us. By June 1983, without the internet existing to give us any details to bring the story a little closer, the hanging of the 10 women of Shiraz seemed to become lost in the maelstrom. Iran was constantly on the TV news and my main concern was the social impact it had on me. My school friends were aware but didn’t fully grasp what I was going through owing to my lack of confidence in being able to explain to them an important nuance: that I was part of a persecuted minority; that I was going through the double pain of association with a country full of violent fundamentalists that brought me deep social shame, but who were also murdering members of my own community.
It was two years later, when Mona’s story was captured in the pop song Mona with the Children, that I began to connect. I attended a gathering at the Bahá’í centre in London with Jack Lenz and Doug Cameron, the song’s writer, producer and singer. We got to know Mona as an exceptional young girl, definitely not a religious zealot. She was just a young girl trying to build capacities within children. Her personality connected with me. We watched the video. The impact of the music with the images was overwhelming. And it was impressive to see the US actor Alex Rocco playing a mullah – a far cry from his role as casino owner Moe Greene in The Godfather, who is famously shot in the eye while on a massage table. What was important was that they had created art to keep the women’s memory alive. Even more so now.
Iranian women’s struggle for equality is older than many in the West may think. The 19th-century poet and scholar Táhirih exemplified the power of women to transform society. She was an early adherent of the Bábí movement, a precursor of the Bahá’í faith, and empowered by the teachings of her newly found faith, she rose up to announce a break with the past. She notably caused profound shock when she removed her veil publicly at a conference attended only by men in 1848. In 1852, she was put to death by the Iranian authorities. These words have been attributed to her just before she was executed: “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.”
Today, in the blood, tears and wounds of thousands of young women in Iran seeking equality, we can see echoes of the injustice suffered by the 10 women of Shiraz 40 years ago. The same forces are still at work today deploying torture, mutilation and murder to deny Iranian women fundamental rights. Many died within days of the best-known victim of the wave of femicides, Mahsa Amini, who was beaten by morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly and died in hospital on Sept 16 last year. Then Nika Shahkarami and Sarina Esmailizadeh, both 16, were killed during protests. So many of the dead are young girls: Hadis Najafi, 22, Mahsa Mogoi, 18; the list goes on. The men of Iran also stand in solidarity with their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters and risk their lives. Many men have already been executed just for protesting. I am in awe of their courage. But we are all deeply connected. I am proud to participate in the #OurStoryIsOne project to keep the memory of the 10 Women of Shiraz alive and inspire real change not only in Iran, but also for the whole world. Omid Djalili is an actor, comedian and activist. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.

Israel to buy 25 more F-35 stealth jets in $3 billion deal
JERUSALEM (Reuters)/Sun, July 2, 2023
Israel has approved the purchase of a third squadron of F-35 stealth fighter jets in a deal worth $3 billion, the Ministry of Defense said on Sunday. The additional 25 aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin will bring the number of F-35s in Israel's air force to 75, the ministry said, adding that the deal will be financed through the defense aid package Israel receives from the United States. Israel was the first country outside the United States to acquire the F-35. In May 2018 its air force chief said that Israel was the first to use the plane in combat. The F-35 is also known as the Joint Strike Fighter and in Israel by its Hebrew name “Adir” (Mighty). Lockheed Martin and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney have agreed to involve Israeli defense companies in the production of aircraft components, the Israeli ministry added.

Moscow declares exiled former chief rabbi as ‘foreign agent’
Abbie Cheeseman/The Telegraph/July 2, 2023
Russia has branded Moscow’s former chief rabbi a “foreign agent” after he resigned in protest over the invasion of Ukraine and urged Jews to flee for their safety. Pinchas Goldschmidt told The Telegraph earlier this year that anti-Semitism was on the rise in Russia since the war began and warned that Jews being made scapegoats for local hardship “is going to get worse”. The exiled Rabbi left Moscow in March 2022 and resigned from his post a few months later. He has been living in Israel since. After 30 years in the position in Moscow, he said that pressure had been put on religious leaders to support and “sanctify” the war. The Russian justice ministry has said in a statement that he was designated a “foreign agent” for disseminating “false information about the decisions taken by public authorities” and for opposing the war in Ukraine. “This is the first time since the beginning of the war that a religious leader has been declared a foreign agent and described by the Russian government as a hostile threat,” Rabbi Goldschmidt was quoted as saying in Israel’s Ynet News. “It is very likely that this will mean the start of a new anti-Semitic campaign against the Jewish community in Russia,” he said, adding that he was proud to be on “the right side of history”. The former religious leader again called on Jews to leave Russia “before it is too late”. There has been an exodus of Jews from Russia since the war began last year with more than 43,000 emigrating to Israel alone, according to Israeli government numbers. The designation, which is tantamount to being labelled as a spy or a traitor, has been applied to journalists, human rights organisations, public figures and politicians since the war began amid a crackdown on dissent. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.

Total, Shell accused over Russian gas trade
AFP/July 2, 2023
Energy giants TotalEnergies and Shell on Sunday defended activities linked to Russia after a critical report into their trading in natural gas despite the war in Ukraine. The campaign group Global Witness said TotalEnergies was the third-biggest player in Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) last year and Shell the fourth, behind two Russian companies. The report focused on Britain's Shell, after Global Witness said it had looked previously at TotalEnergies of France. "Russia's LNG exports are helping to finance the country's war in Ukraine and in 2022 were worth an estimated $21 billion," it said. "Few companies have helped this trade more than Shell, and Global Witness estimates that Shell has made hundreds of millions trading Russian LNG last year. "Yet despite the war crimes this trade helps finance, it is legal. Shell, the UK, and the EU should immediately halt it." Both companies said they were tied to ongoing contracts despite pulling out of Russian partnerships after Ukraine was invaded last year. "Shell has stopped buying Russian LNG on the spot market, but still has some long-term contractual commitments," a Shell spokesperson said, insisting that all laws and sanction restrictions were being respected. "There is a dilemma between putting pressure on the Russian government over its atrocities in Ukraine and ensuring stable, secure energy supplies," it said. "It is for governments to decide on the incredibly difficult trade-offs that must be made."In Paris, TotalEnergies emphasized "its duty to contribute to the security of Europe's gas supply from the Yamal LNG plant [in Siberia] under long-term contracts that it must honor as long as European governments do not impose sanctions against Russian gas".

Ukraine says Russian troops advancing in 'fierce fighting'
AFP/July 2, 2023
Russian troops are advancing in four areas of the front line in eastern Ukraine amid "fierce fighting", Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Sunday. "Fierce fighting is going on everywhere," Maliar wrote on social media, adding that Ukrainian troops were also advancing in one area in the east and two areas in the south.

The US is close to approving the supply of ATACMS to Ukraine, a report said. Here's why Kyiv need them to win the 'deep battle.'
Alia Shoaib/Business Insider/July 2, 2023
The US is considering providing their longest-range missiles yet to be sent to Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing American and European officials.
Kyiv has long been asking the US for the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which has a range of about 190 miles and could be used to strike Russian targets far beyond the front lines, including Crimea. The UK has already sent Ukraine long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a similar range to ATACMS, which are said to be striking Russian targets with nearly pinpoint accuracy and has encouraged allies to do the same. Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused Ukraine of using the missiles to strike the Chonhar bridge, a key span connecting the Russian-held Kherson to Crimea, The Telegraph reported. ATACMS is ready to use by Ukraine's military. Unlike the British Storm Shadow missiles, which are dropped using vulnerable aircraft, ATACMS rockets can be fired from launchers previously supplied to Ukraine, including the US High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers or HIMARS. The range of ATACMS missiles, between 100 and 190 miles, depending on the model, is superior to the existing HIMARS, that has been hailed by Ukraine for the damage they can wreak. But After being pummeled last year by HIMARS, Russian forces adapted by moving their command and control nodes out of range, the UK defense minister Ben Wallace told the UK Parliament. "ATACMS is a long-range guided missile that gives operational commanders the immediate firepower to win the deep battle," says its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.
Each missile has a 500-pound blast fragmentation warhead, according to its manufacturer. They could be a vital weapon to disrupt Russia's logistic and transport hubs and destroy supplies to Putin's forces deep in occupied Ukraine, emboldening the ongoing counteroffensive of Zelenskyy's forces. Almost no ammunition depot, logistic center, railway, or concentration of Russian troops would be protected from the ATACMs firepower. Indeed, annexed Crimea, which has massive importance to President Putin, a peninsula that relies on a single span, the Kerch Bridge, to connect it to Russia, would be in the range of the highly sought-after weapon system. ATACMS also has the advantage of being a ballistic rocket missile, with a supersonic speed of Mach 3.5, making it significantly more challenging to intercept. President Joe Biden has so far been hesitant to send the ATACMS, partly out of concern that Ukraine could use them to strike targets inside Russia and further escalate the conflict. Another reason for hesitancy from the Biden administration is considering whether the US has enough to spare. US defense company Lockheed Martin has produced about 4,000 ATACMS over the past two decades, Politico reported, some of which have been sold to allied nations and hundreds of which have been fired by US forces in combat. The Pentagon said on Thursday that it was not aware of any imminent decision to send ATACMS to Ukraine following the Wall Street Journal report, per Reuters.
However, US and European officials say that behind the scenes, the tone in Washington has recently shifted, and there appears to be a greater appetite to send Ukraine more advanced weapons, per the Journal report. European officials are hopeful that the US will change its position, as they did with Abrams tanks and HIMARS, per the Journal. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution last week calling for ATACMS to be sent to Ukraine immediately, and GOP senator James Risch said this week that he thought the possibility of them being sent was "quite high."
There is also growing support among the US public to provide weaponry to Ukraine to defend itself. A two-day poll that was concluded last week depicted a sharp rise in backing for arming Ukraine, with 65% of the respondents approving of the shipments compared with 46% in a May poll, Reuters reported. The Biden administration is also currently considering whether to send Kyiv controversial cluster bombs amid a shortage of artillery ammunition. When asked last week about the timeline for obtaining ATACMS by The War Zone, Ukraine's Chief of the Military Intelligence, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, replied, "Close."

Russian attacks in Ukraine leave 3 dead as Spain highlights European support for Kyiv
Associated Press/July 2, 2023
Ukrainian officials reported more civilian casualties from Russian shelling in the country's east and south on Saturday, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez began a visit to Kyiv as a show of continuing support from Madrid and the European Union for Ukraine's fight to dislodge invading Russian forces. In an address to Ukraine's parliament that received several standing ovations, Sánchez said, "We'll be with you as long as it takes.""I am here to express the firm determination of the European (Union) and Europe against the illegal and unjustified Russian aggression to Ukraine," he said on the day that Spain took over the six-month rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU. At a later news conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sanchez announced Spain would deliver more heavy weaponry to Ukraine including four Leopard tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as a portable field hospital. He also said Spain will provide an additional 55 million euros to help with reconstruction needs. Elsewhere in Ukraine, regional officials reported that at least three civilians were killed and 17 wounded by Russian shelling on Friday and overnight in the front-line eastern Donetsk region, where fierce battles are raging, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that fierce clashes continued in three areas in Donetsk where it said Russia has massed troops and attempted to advance. It named the outskirts of three cities — Bakhmut, Lyman and Marinka — as front-line hot spots.
Five people including a child were wounded on Friday and overnight in the Kherson region in the south, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Prokudin said that Russian forces launched 82 artillery, drone, mortar shell and rocket attacks on the province, which is cut in two by a stretch of the 1,500-kilometer (930 mile) front line and still reeling from flooding unleashed by the collapse earlier this month of a major Dnipro river dam.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, Russian shelling over the previous day wounded a 57-year-old civilian man, said Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. In the Sumy region farther west, a teenage boy was hurt in a strike from across the Russian border, the local military administration reported. Referring to possible peace talks, Sanchez said that "only Ukraine can set the terms and times for peace negotiations. Other countries and regions are proposing peace plans. Their involvement is much appreciated, but, at the same time, we can't accept them entirely. "This is a war of aggression, with an aggressor and a victim. They cannot be treated equally and ignoring the rules should in no way be rewarded. That is why that is why we support President Zelensky's peace formula," Sánchez added. Zelensky at the news conference expressed frustration about the lack of clarity over Western training for Ukrainian fighter pilots. He said Western allies have not yet set a timetable to train pilots on U.S.-made F-16s despite their expressions of readiness. "I think that some partners are delaying this process, why they do this I have no idea," he said. He also renewed Ukraine's claim that Russia is prepared to cause a potential nuclear catastrophe at the Moscow-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as Ukraine continues to make steady advances along the front line. "Russia is technically ready to provoke a local explosion at the station that could cause an emission of dangerous substances in the air. We are clearly communicating, we discussed the need with our partners so everyone understands why Russia is doing this," he said. The introduction of F-16s to the war could give Ukraine a much needed edge over Russia, which currently enjoys air superiority.

Russia launches the first drone strike on Kyiv in 12 days and all are shot down
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)/July 2, 2023
After a relative lull, Russia launched a drone attack early Sunday on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, officials said. It was the first such attack of the war in 12 days. All of the Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones were detected and shot down, according to Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv city administration. In addition to the city itself, the surrounding Kyiv region was targeted. Kyiv regional Gov. Ruslan Kravchenko reported that one person was wounded by falling debris from a destroyed drone. Officials in the Ukrainian capital didn't provide an exact number of drones that attacked the city. But Ukraine's air force said that across the country, eight Shaheds and three Kalibr cruise missiles were launched by the Russians. Further south, a 13-year-old boy was wounded in overnight shelling of Ukraine’s partially occupied southern Kherson province, said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, spokesman for the Ukrainian administration of the province.The child was wounded when the Russian army shelled the village of Mylove on the banks of the Dnieper River in the Beryslav district, Tolokonnikov said.
“The child was hospitalized, there is no threat to his life,” Tolokonnikov added,” he said on state TV. Shelling of Kherson province continued Sunday morning, wounding four people in the regional capital, also called Kherson. The regional prosecutor’s office said that a residential area of the city was targeted by Russian troops operating in the Russia-occupied part of the Kherson province. “"At least four citizens were wounded, two of them due to a targeted strike on a high-rise building,” the office wrote on Telegram. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military reported that the most intense fighting continued in Ukraine’s industrial east, with attacks focused around Bakhmut, Marinka and Lyman in the country’s Donetsk province, where 46 combat clashes took place. Ukrainian forces were advancing amid a “massive offensive” on the southern and northern flanks of the destroyed city of Bakhmut, Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces spokesman Serhii Cherevaty told Ukrainian state television. But he didn't mention how much progress they made. The details, he said, would be disclosed once Ukrainian forces had analyzed the situation and consolidated their positions. In its regular update Sunday morning, the General Staff said that over the previous 24 hours, Russia had carried out 27 airstrikes, one missile strike and around 80 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, targeting regions in the north, northeast, east and south of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Sunday — the day the country honors its navy — to hear a report from the navy commander, discuss prospects for the development of a naval drone and missile program, as well as present awards to service members. In Russia, local officials reported that air defense systems shot down a drone over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, while the neighboring Kursk region faced shelling attacks. No casualties or damage were reported. Following the drama of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion last week, Russian authorities remained defiant. Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin came out of this situation “having strengthened his position even more both in the country and in the world.”Russian society, he said, “having passed this test, has shown its maturity.” According to Volodin, there was “not a single example of someone supporting the rebellion.”But Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, was believed to have been detained days after the mutiny. It’s not clear whether Surovikin, who has longtime links to Prigozhin, faces any charges or where he is being held, reflecting the opaque world of the Kremlin’s politics and uncertainty after the revolt. Writing on Telegram, Volodin said that the Russian president “did everything to prevent bloodshed and confusion,” including explaining to Wagner fighters “the real state of affairs.” “(Putin) suggested that those who want to defend Russia continue their service with weapons in their hands. As far as I know, many of them agreed to this,” Volodin said. In addition, the speaker of the State Duma said that he had analyzed the “challenges” Russia faced in the past, affirming that if “someone like Putin” had been leading the country in 1917 and 1991, there wouldn't have been a revolution in Russia, and the USSR wouldn't have collapsed. But independent observers and analysts say that Putin may come out politically weakened after first announcing that Wagner would face harsh repercussions, only to later say that the group’s forces wouldn’t face prosecution. Prigozhin was also allowed to leave Russia for Belarus. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Sunday that Poland would send 500 police officers to join 5,000 border guards and 2,000 soldiers already on the country’s border with Belarus. It follows an announcement earlier this week that Poland would strengthen defenses on its eastern border after the relocation of Wagner fighters to Belarus.

Mutiny shows damage Putin has done to Russia, CIA director says
Reuters/02 Jul 2023
U.S. CIA Director William Burns said on Saturday that the armed mutiny by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was a challenge to the Russian state that had shown the corrosive effect of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Putin this week thanked the army and security forces for averting what he said could have turned into a civil war, and has compared the mutiny to the chaos that plunged Russia into two revolutions in 1917. For months, Prigozhin had been openly insulting Putin's most senior military men, using a variety of crude expletives and prison slang that shocked top Russian officials but were left unanswered in public by Putin."It is striking that Prigozhin preceded his actions with a scathing indictment of the Kremlin's mendacious rationale for the invasion of Ukraine and of the Russian military leadership's conduct of the war," Burns said in a lecture to Britain's Ditchley Foundation - a non-profit foundation focused on U.S.-British relations - in Oxfordshire, England. "The impact of those words and those actions will play out for some time - a vivid reminder of the corrosive effect of Putin's war on his own society and his own regime."Burns, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008 and was appointed CIA director in 2021, cast Prigozhin's mutiny as an "armed challenge to the Russian state". He said the mutiny was an "internal Russian affair in which the United States has had and will have no part."Since a deal was struck a week ago to end the mutiny, the Kremlin has sought to project calm, with the 70-year-old Putin discussing tourism development, meeting crowds in Dagestan, and discussing ideas for economic development.
CIA RECRUITMENT
Russia will emerge stronger after the failed mutiny so the West need not worry about stability in the world's biggest nuclear power, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. But Burns said that the war had already been a strategic failure for Russia by laying bare its military weakness and damaging the Russian economy for years to come, while the NATO military alliance was growing bigger and stronger. Burns said Russia's "future as a junior partner and economic colony of China" was being shaped "by Putin's mistakes."He said disaffection in Russia with the war in Ukraine was creating a rare opportunity to recruit spies - and the CIA was not letting it pass. "Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression," Burns said. "That disaffection creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us at the CIA - at our core a human intelligence service. We're not letting it go to waste." The Kremlin said in May that its agencies were tracking Western spy activity after the CIA published a video encouraging Russians to make contact via a secure internet channel. The short video in Russian was accompanied by a text saying the agency wanted to hear from military officers, intelligence specialists, diplomats, scientists and people with information about Russia's economy and its leadership.

Sudan clashes intensify with no mediation in sight
CAIRO (Reuters)/July 2, 2023
Clashes between Sudan's army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified on Sunday, as the war in the country's capital and western regions entered its 12th week with no attempts in sight to bring a peaceful end to the conflict. Air and artillery strikes as well as small arms fire could be heard, particularly in the city of Omdurman, as well as in the capital Khartoum, as the conflict deepens a humanitarian crisis and threatens to draw in other regional interests. The RSF said it brought down an army warplane and a drone in Bahri, in statements to which the army did not immediately respond. "We're terrified, every day the strikes are getting worse," 25-year-old Nahid Salah, living in northern Omdurman, said by phone to Reuters. The RSF has dominated the capital on the ground and has been accused of looting and occupying houses, while the army has focused on air and artillery strikes. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan last week called on young men to join the fight against the RSF and on Sunday the army posted photos it said were of new recruits. The Sudanese Doctors Union accused the RSF on Saturday of raiding the Shuhada hospital, one of the few still operating in the country, and killing a staff member. The RSF denied the accusation. The war has also hit cities in the western Kordofan and Darfur regions, in particular the westernmost city of El Geneina, where the RSF and Arab militias have been accused of ethnic cleansing. The Combating Violence Against Women Unit, a government agency, said on Saturday it had recorded 88 cases of sexual assault, which it said was a fraction of the likely real total, in Khartoum, El Geneina, and Nyala, capital of South Darfur, with victims in most cases accusing the RSF. Talks hosted in Jeddah and sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia were suspended last month, while a mediation attempt by East African countries was criticised by the army as it accused Kenya of bias. Last week, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy on the country's Sovereign Council Malik Agar expressed openness to any mediation attempts by Turkey or Russia, though no official efforts have been announced.

2 People Dead and 28 People Injured in Mass Shooting at Baltimore Block Party
CNN/02 July 2023
An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials said. Nine people were transported from the scene to hospitals and 20 people walked into hospitals in the area. Three of the injured are in critical condition, according to a police statement. The 18-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene and the 20-year-old was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Twelve patients are being treated at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and four patients are being treated at the medical center’s pediatric emergency department, the University of Maryland Medical System spokesman Michael Schwartzberg said in an emailed statement. Police received multiple calls after 12:30 a.m., and arrived to find one woman dead and another nine people suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Baltimore Police Acting Commissioner Richard Worley. There is no information on suspects or a motive at this time, but investigators are “working an extensive crime scene,” Worley said. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott described the incident as a “reckless, cowardly act that happened here and that has permanently altered many lives and cost two people their lives.”Scott said the block party was in celebration of Baltimore’s Brooklyn neighborhood, which he described as a working-class neighborhood filled with immense pride. “It’s an event that happens in Brooklyn every year,” he told CNN’s Victor Blackwell and Amara Walker. “Folks were out there having a celebration and then at some point, gunshots rang out and folks of course were trying to get away, get out of there.” “It is a neighborhood that has had its troubles, but a neighborhood that has seen some folks in that community really determined to see it be successful and see things turn around,” he added. Earlier, Scott said the tragedy “highlights the impacts and the need to deal with the overproliferation of illegal guns on our streets and the ability for those who should not have them to get their hands on them.”Scott and police officials urged anyone with information to come forward and help find those responsible. The mayor also said he is mobilizing every resource available to assist the investigation. His message to the perpetrator was simple: “We will not stop until we find you – and we will find you.”“Until then, I hope with every single breath that you take that you think about the lives that you took and you think about the lives that you impacted here tonight,” he added.

Syria announces that it has responded to an Israeli missile attack, parts of an anti-aircraft missile fall in Israel
NNA/July 02/2023
Syria announced that it responded today to an Israeli missile strike, while the Israeli occupation police stated that the wreckage of a Syrian anti-aircraft missile fell in a remote town without causing any injuries. "Reuters" quoted Syrian official media as saying that the air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in areas in the center of the country and shot down most of them. A statement by the Syrian army said that the missiles hit sites in the vicinity of the city of Homs, causing only material damage. "Reuters" quoted a spokesman for the Israeli occupation army as saying that Israeli warplanes struck targets, including a Syrian air defense battery, from which an anti-aircraft missile was launched towards Israel earlier.

President al-Assad receives a delegation of Heads of Christian Churches in Australia
SANA/July 02/2023
Damascus, SANA - President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday received a delegation of heads of Christian Churches in Australia, that includes Bishops of the Armenian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches.
President al-Assad discussed with members of the delegation the role of the oriental Churches on the moral and ethical level in Australia and other countries of the world towards the Syrian issue and the political and economic war Syria is facing.
The meeting also dealt with the role of the Heads of Churches towards the Syrian community and the rest of Arab communities, residing in Australia, on the level of enhancing the values of family, identity and belonging to the homeland and work for it in the countries of migration. For their part, the Australian Bishops stressed their continued work to break the sanctions imposed on the Syrians and alleviate the impacts of the war and its repercussions on the material and social infrastructures in Syria.They underlined that their existing in Syria is considered as a continuation of their role and duty towards Syria and part of their association with its citizens and people, who are capable to overcome the challenges by themselves. -----

Hannibal Qaddafi moved to hospital in ‘critical condition’ in Lebanon — TV
Reuters/July 02, 2023
CAIRO: Hannibal Qaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, has been moved from a Lebanese prison to hospital in “critical condition,” Dubai-based Al-Hadath TV reported on Sunday. Qaddafi went on hunger strike last month in protest at his incarceration without trial since 2015.Citing unidentified sources, Al-Hadath said he had suffered a sharp drop in his blood sugar level. Qaddafi has been charged in Lebanon with concealing information about the fate of Imam Musa Al-Sadr, a Lebanese Shiite Muslim cleric who disappeared while on a trip to Libya in 1978. Muammar Qaddafi was captured and killed by rebels in 2011.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 02-03/2023
What Is the Sin Committed by Christians?’: The Persecution of Christians, May 2023
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/July 02/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/119701/119701/
“Is it because we’re Christians that we’re being attacked, and the Muslim-controlled state and federal governments do not care to protect us?” — A Christian, reported by Morning Star News, June 1, 2023, Nigeria.
[A] Muslim bulldozer driver at a construction site, killed his supervisor, a Christian, by crushing him to death. — copticsolidarity.org, May 18, 2023, Egypt.
Both sides [in the civil war in Sudan] are led by Islamists, “trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom….” — Morning Star News, May 24, 2023, Sudan.
“Sudan has been governed by sharia (Islamic law) since 1983, and is one of only a few countries in modern times where the death penalty for apostasy has been carried out.” In one such case from 1994, “two Christians from a tribal group that had converted from Islam in the early 1970s were executed by crucifixion.” — barnabasaid.org, May 23, 2023, Sudan.
“I answered him that [the Bible] is a holy book. He… beat me that night and told me that he was punishing me for leaving Islam, and that he will automatically be rewarded in Jannah [paradise] by Allah…. He took me on his vehicle and dumped me inside Queen Elizabeth National Park to be eaten by wild animals.” — Morning Star News, May 30, 2023, Uganda.
“When I was little, Muslim children would spit on the Christian cross and kiss the Islamic crescent moon in front of us. We, the Christian children in the village, were called slaves and cockroaches…. The hatred towards our [Christian] communities may be less visible now, but it is still there. This is because Muslims know that the authorities are behind them…. [O]ne boy taught other Muslim children to say ‘kill the infidels.'” — palnws.be, June 28 2023, Turkey.
A Baby Jesus in a 400-year-old painting had his throat slit with a knife. — Journalistenwatch.com, June 2, 2023, Germany.
“[T]he extent of attacks on Christian symbols in Central Europe [is significant but suppressed].” — Journalistenwatch.com, June 2, 2023, Germany.
The heads of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus were decapitated from a statue standing in Ajaccio, the capital of the French island which in recent years has taken in Muslim migrants. — corsematin.com, May 23, 2023, Corsica.
The heads of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus were decapitated from a statue standing at the the seafront in Ajaccio, the capital of the French island of Corsica, which in recent years has taken in Muslim migrants.
The following are among the murders and abuses inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of May 2023. Note: Because there were so many incidents of persecution in Pakistan, a separate article was dedicated to it here.
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Nigeria: Muslim terrorists of the Fulani variety slaughtered 43 Christians during raids on two villages in Nasarawa State. A local Christian described the jihad on Takalafiya village, on the night of May 12-13, as the Christians slept:
“Most of the victims killed during the attack are women, children and the aged, as most of them were unable to escape as the armed Muslim terrorists and herdsmen shot randomly at anyone they sighted during the ambush on the village.”
A pastor and his wife were among those murdered. The village church was also torched.
Another Christian, discussing the same raid, said:
“My elder brother was critically injured and is lying between life and death. The question is, what is the sin committed by Christians in Takalafiya and Gwanja communities? Is it because we’re Christians that we’re being attacked, and the Muslim-controlled state and federal governments do not care to protect us?”
Two days later, during the night of May 15, Fulani terrorists armed with AK-47s and machetes murdered another 50 Christians, including another pastor, while assaulting villages in Plateau State. The attacks were again launched in the middle of the night, when Christian villagers were asleep. Most of those murdered were again women and children.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Between May 12-14, militants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — an Islamic terror group connected to the Islamic State — burned to death at least eight Christians during a series of raids. The report adds that “Violent persecution continues to rise in the region, and assaults like this are shocking but sadly not surprising.” A local pastor added that “The ADF is killing God’s people.”
Burkina Faso: On May 25, Islamic terrorists murdered seven people, including a pastor. A local church leader related:
“The terrorists encircled the village, shooting in the air to create panic. Then, they entered a compound where they killed two people. A third person who was there fled and got to the pastor’s compound. The jihadists followed him to the church leader’s compound… [T]hey went in and shot the young man and pastor dead, in front of his wife.”
Uganda: A Christian student was slaughtered for “sharing Christ with Muslims,” according to a May 1 report. Jeremiah Mwanga, 24, a student at a Christian school, was killed in his dorm room by a Muslim student. According to a friend of his:
“Jeremiah complained about messages from one of the students threatening to kill him for misleading Muslims by preaching to them the gospel of Christ as well as converting them to the Christian faith in the school. He requested prayers from the Christian Union fellowship.”
Then, on the night of Apr. 14, the same friend heard cries on the school premises:
“After 30 minutes I rushed to the scene of incident and found out that it was Jeremiah’s room. Inside the room was a pool of blood.”
Jeremiah had already been rushed to a nearby medical clinic. His friend immediately set out after him:
“Reaching the clinic, I was told by the medical personnel that… he was pronounced dead upon arrival. I found him lying in the hospital bed, dead.”
A search through Jeremiah’s phone revealed that the death threats were made from a Muslim who also attended the school.
Egypt: On May 15, a Muslim bulldozer driver at a construction site killed his supervisor, a Christian, by crushing him to death. According to the report:
“[The Muslim worker] shoved engineer Fadi Nabil Mikhail, the site supervisor, with the bucket (ram) of his loader several times before crushing him…. The workers at the site heard the victim’s screams, and saw him lying on the ground next to the loader, drowning in his blood…. [He] succumbed to his fatal wounds by the time the ambulance arrived.”
Before a court, the Muslim, whose name is withheld, admitted that he “intentionally and with premeditation” murdered his victim, because he had “felt annoyed when the victim gave him some orders,” and so “I hit him with the loader’s ram twice on his head.” Citing eyewitness, however, the report states that they “did not mention such a justification, but indicated instead that the killer felt some grudges against Christians.” Moreover, “nobody saw a dispute taking place between him and between the victim in the past or prior to the incident.” Despite this, last reported, prosecution was inclined to believe that the murderer “may be suffering from a mental illness,” and, therefore, referred him to a “mental health facility to examine and report on his condition.”
United Kingdom: On May 1, a Muslim man who had been randomly slicing at people’s faces in the streets of London, stabbed a female Christian charity worker in the neck, killing her:
“Mohamed Nur, 33, was charged on Friday for the murder of 31-year-old Johanita Kossiwa Dogbey [the Christian aid worker] and for three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after allegedly attacking a man and two other women in separate incidents just two days prior to the murder.
“On Tuesday, the London court heard how Nur, dressed in dark clothing, had approached Ms. Dogbey from behind as she walked alone…
“She had been returning home after buying a birthday gift for her mother in the city center.
“Using a makeshift blade, Nur allegedly stabbed his victim in the neck, causing her to bleed out and die at the scene of her injuries.
“Prosecutor Julian Evans told the court it was a ‘completely unprovoked attack’ on Ms. Dogbey, insisting ‘there is no suggestion she and the defendant were known to one another.’
“The court heard how Nur had also allegedly attacked three other victims late on the evening of April 29, just two days before Ms. Dogbey’s murder. Again, without provocation or warning, two women and a man were attacked by a man with a bladed article [made from a piece of broken mirror] in Brixton…”
Spain: On May 14, a Muslim migrant from Morocco attacked a van transporting a conservative Christian group, injuring one woman. The man hurled objects at the van and the woman — hitting her in the back with a heavy “porcelain figure.” It took four policemen to subdue him, and all four received injuries. During his tirade to the Christian party — which included threats of “ripping off” and putting their heads “in bags,” and “burying them” — he accused them of trying to “take away our aid,” an apparent reference to the welfare and upkeep of migrants. Prior to this incident, the Muslim migrant had been detained, including for “attempted murder.”
Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches
Sudan: On Sunday, May 14, militants stormed the St. George Coptic church in Omdurman during mass. According to Reuters, “The gunmen sprayed bullets at a priest, nuns, and sextons, wounding five of them.” They called the worshippers inside “infidels,” “sons of dogs,” and told them to convert to Islam:
“During the attack, the assailants led the priest to his house at gunpoint and menaced him with a dagger, before seizing a safe that held gold and cash and stealing a car… They also vandalised the church offices and a sanctuary for Bishop Sarabamon, the top Coptic Church leader in Sudan, who was present during the attack and beaten with a chair and sticks… The church had an annex with elders and orphan girls, some of whom were hidden as the attack was unfolding.”
The attack comes in the context of a civil war that erupted a month earlier between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary, Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Both sides are led by Islamists “trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom,” and both blamed each other for the attack on the church, though it is more likely that RSF is responsible: they had attacked several other churches in May.
Discussing the plight of Christians, who make up between 3-5% of population of Sudan, one report notes:
“Sudan has been governed by sharia (Islamic law) since 1983, and is one of only a few countries in modern times where the death penalty for apostasy has been carried out.”
In one such case from 1994, “two Christians from a tribal group that had converted from Islam in the early 1970s were executed by crucifixion.”
“Recent reforms introduced by a transitional government led to hopes that these days had passed, but in 2022 four Christian converts were charged with apostasy, despite the apostasy law having been formally abolished two years earlier. Thankfully the case against the four men was dismissed. The recent violence has laid bare the Islamist attitudes that prevail in Sudan. No wonder that many believers have fled for refuge in neighbouring countries such as Egypt and South Sudan.”
Nigeria: On Sunday, May 7, Muslim terrorists stormed a Baptist church during service and abducted 40 Christians, though some escaped. According to the Rev. John Hayab:
“The worshippers were in the Sunday service in the Church when around 9:30 am they heard gunshots very close to the Church. The gunmen attacked the Church and went away with 40 worshippers. Along the way, somehow 15 of the kidnapped persons returned remaining [sic] the rest [of the] 25 who are presently in captivity without any word from their abductors.”
Sweden: An Islamic terror attack targeting a church at a time when it would have been packed was thwarted, according to a May 23 report:
“Two Syrian brothers plotted to bomb a church. No details were given on the exact target of the attack. Both brothers are now in custody. The target was an unspecified church in Sweden, where people would have been gathered at the time of the planned attack. Investigators did not disclose further details. The two Syrians, who arrived in Germany separately in 2015, are in custody in Hamburg.”
France: On Sunday, May 28, several “unidentified” people broke into and vandalized the Saint-Laurent church in Cugnaux, which has a large Muslim presence. They defaced a crucifix, overturned candles onto the ground, and damaged picture frames — before lighting the church on fire. A passerby called the fire department, which arrived swiftly and put out the flames. In response, Albert Sanchez, the mayor of Cugnaux said,
“To guarantee living together in Cugnaux, it is crucial that we collectively oppose hatred and intolerance, by promoting dialogue and understanding between the different religious and cultural communities of our city. Diversity is our strength and our pride, so let’s stand together and mobilize so that Cugnaux remains united, resilient and determined to face intolerance and violence.”
Separately, in France, on May 4, parishioners were shocked to find “Long live Islam and peace,” as well as Arabic writing, spray painted on the wall of their church in Lieusaint in Seine-et-Marne. The Grand Mosque of Lieusaint condemned the vandalism “in the strongest terms” and expressed its “total outrage” — while also saying that it doubted Muslims had made the inscriptions. The report adds:
“This is not the first time this church has been vandalized… Several statues had been damaged and knocked over, but police had not been able to arrest the perpetrators.”
Indonesia: On May 19, Muslim mobs stopped Christians from worshipping in two cities in Sumatra Island: in Riau, Muslims “stopped Bethel Indonesia Church’s worship service,” and in Binjai, at least 40 Muslims “disrupted Christians as they worshipped in a café”.
Muslim Attacks on Apostates to Christianity
Uganda: Angered at his wife’s conversion to Christianity, a Muslim man starved her before trying to feed her to wild animals. On May 10, Sharifa Muhando, 27, the married mother of a 2-year-old boy, fell asleep in her room after having read the Bible and prayed. “Unfortunately I left the door open,” she said from her hospital bed.
“My husband came back from his place of work and called me, and I didn’t respond because I was deep in sleep. He opened the door and found me with my Bible and a notebook on my chest. He shouted, ‘Allah Akbar [Allah is the greatest]! I was terrified after seeing him; he asked me what the matter was. I answered him that this is a holy book. He got annoyed and beat me that night and told me that he was punishing me for leaving Islam, and that he will automatically be rewarded in Jannah [paradise] by Allah.”
During the following two days, he prevented her from eating — along with confinement, a standard sharia punishment for apostate women — and threatened to murder her. Then, on May 17, he took her to nearby Queen Elizabeth National Park:
“My husband said he had received a dream from Allah of taking me somewhere. He took me on his vehicle and dumped me inside Queen Elizabeth National Park to be eaten by wild animals.”
Christians from the church she had secretly been attending happened to drive by and recognize the woman in time. They rescued and took her to a nearby hospital. According to her pastor:
“Sharifa’s health was in a bad state, and she has been undergoing treatment while suffering from injuries—her spleen especially was affected, as her husband hit her with a blunt object, and she has pain around the neck. The doctors are also treating her for starvation and trauma-related symptoms.”
Separately, in Uganda on May 2, Muslims beat a convert to Christianity unconscious. Shaquru Ndifuna, 33, was formerly an Islamic teacher who became Christian following an open-air evangelistic event earlier this year. Rumor of his conversion spread and local Muslims, led by a mosque cleric, confronted him. “They questioned me about my absence as a teacher at Noor Mosque,” Shaquru said from his hospital bed.
“I tried to explain to them about my other commitments elsewhere. One of them mentioned about me having become a Christian, but I did not respond. Afterwards the three Muslim leaders left.”
Then, on the evening of May 2, four Muslims enetered his house.
“They forcefully entered into the house, shouting about me having blasphemed the Islamic religion and trying to force me to confess that Jesus is not the Son of God, and that Allah is the only God to be worshipped and Muhammad is His prophet. I refused to renounce Jesus as the Son of God. They started beating me up.”
Thinking him dead, the Muslims left. Meanwhile, his wife — who, along with their three children, had hidden in a room during the assault — called a family friend for assistance. The friend came and drove Shaquru to a nearby clinic, where he was treated for several injuries, including a deep cut to his forehead, a fractured hand, and neck injuries from strangulation. His vision has also been impaired, he has difficulty breathing, and cannot swallow food, relying on a drip of intravenous fluids. “Please take care of my children, I am not sure whether I will survive,” Shaquru said from the hospital. “The Muslims who injured me were trying to force me to return to Islam, but I refused.”
Muslim Hate for Christianity and Christians
Turkey: On May 13, an article devoted to examining the lives of Christian minorities in the Muslim nation was published. It interviewed a Christian man living there, who said:
“When I was little, Muslim children would spit on the Christian cross and kiss the Islamic crescent moon in front of us. We, the Christian children in the village, were called slaves and cockroaches…. The hatred towards our [Christian] communities may be less visible now, but it is still there. This is because Muslims know that the authorities are behind them. For example, in another town not far from here, Christian high school students were regularly pelted with stones. One was even injured and had to be treated in hospital. When adults, Muslims and Christians, have a dispute among themselves, Muslim children take it out on Christian children…. [S]everal Muslim boys carried knives and were able to intimidate Christian students…. [O]ne boy taught other Muslim children to say ‘kill the infidels.’ Such things are still threatened…. When a Christian is invited to dine with Muslims, the plate is cleaned with sand afterwards. That symbolizes death or the grave. Essentially, this is saying that that Christian is dead to them. Only after it has been cleaned with sand is it washed with soap and water…. The Armenian Genocide was not a one-time event if you ask me, because it happened systematically.”
Germany: A Baby Jesus in a 400-year-old painting had his throat slit with a knife. This was one among many centuries-old Christian paintings — including the even older “Christ as Man of Sorrows,” made in 1435 — that were slashed and scratched in Hamburg’s main churches, St. Petri and St. Jacobi, between May 26-31. Citing “Islamic hatred for Christian values,” the report says:
“Church desecrations have been increasing in the best Germany we have ever had for years. Saints are spat on, crosses desecrated, people urinate in holy water fonts. This was the case in Nordhausen, Thuringia, where a 25-year-old Afghan ‘refugee’ smashed a crucifix that had been rescued from the rubble after the bombing of Nordhausen in World War II. Just one case out of thousands in which churches with an affinity to Islam remain silent…. [T]he extent of attacks on Christian symbols in Central Europe [is significant but suppressed]. Churches, chapels, cemeteries, even summit crosses [attacked] by Muslims are on the increase.”
Corsica: The heads of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus were decapitated from a statue standing in Ajaccio, the capital of the French island which in recent years has taken in Muslim migrants. According to the May 29 report, “This is yet another act of vandalism perpetrated on religious symbols in just a few months in Corsica.” In April alone, an altar and another statuette of Mary were vandalized, while a large cross on the Saint-Jean pass was also “decapitated.”
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
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.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19752/persecution-of-christians-may
© 2023 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.

The Most Serious Cracks Emerged Within Russia’s Society and Putin is Torn Between the Dire Cost of Either Defeat or Victory.
Raghida Dergham/The National/July 02/2023
The Russian war on Ukraine has truly become a stumbling block that threatens to lead the Russian Federation towards disintegration and collapse. The mutiny of the chief of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin has exposed more than just the cracks in the walls of the Kremlin, seat of President Vladimir Putin. It has exposed serious divisions within Russian society itself. It has revealed the Russians’ frustration with their country’s involvement in the Ukrainian war, their anger towards the dismal performance of their military, and their fear of a second wave of mobilization for a war that would only increase in brutality, if Russia is to secure any chance of victory, even a pyrrhic one. What will Putin do in the face of the military’s determination to remove the ‘white gloves’ to avert an inevitable defeat in Ukraine? Furthermore, how will the United States respond to the fractures within the Russian system and society? Will it be daunted by the prospect of instability and chaos, or will it remain indifferent, knowing that the final collapse of the Russian empire would be profoundly and inherently advantageous for Europe?
For President Putin, July 12, 2023, will serve as a painful reminder of the grave error he committed on December 17, 2021, when he issued a warning to NATO member states, demanding written security guarantees that would explicitly include a commitment against expanding NATO membership and a promise to prevent Ukraine's accession to the alliance. On that day, when the upcoming NATO summit convenes in Vilnius, Lithuania, Finland will have already joined the alliance, to be followed eventually by Sweden. Additionally, Ukraine will have made significant strides in solidifying its official relationship with NATO, a course of action that cannot be reversed.
In practical terms, this signifies the invalidation of the ultimatum Vladimir Putin had directed at NATO, following which he decided to wage in February 2022, implicating Russia in a its current quagmire. Some argue that it was the West, particularly the United States, which lured Vladimir Putin to the war through provocation. To a large extent, this assertion holds true, as late US President Ronald Reagan had assured Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO's membership would not expand, in exchange for Gorbachev's consent to dissolve the Warsaw Pact and the Eastern Bloc. Nevertheless, these commitments were verbal rather than written guarantees.
Vladimir Putin's aim was to exact revenge for the deceptive promises and historical sins; however, in doing so, he made a grave historical blunder himself. His actions expedited the expansion of NATO, and he inadvertently paved the way for Ukraine's official integration into the alliance, right within Russia's backyard. This outcome resulted from a war that Putin still refuses to acknowledge explicitly, still referring to it as a "special military operation."
What actions will the Russian president take vis-à-vis the impending decisions of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, which will cement Ukraine's deeper integration into the alliance? Will he heed the call of the Russian military, which insists that he must make a political decision and grant them the green light for widescale military operations involving ruthless tactics, including the targeting of civilians and the comprehensive destruction of cities, as demanded by the nature of contemporary warfare? How will Putin address the predicament in which the military institution claims Russia has found itself? Will he accept a significant defeat for Russia or radically alter the military equation by adopting what they refer to as the American model in Iraq, namely, a strategy of total annihilation with little regard for the scale and consequences of civilian casualties?
The answer is complicated. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny served to highlight the public frustration with Russia's performance in its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Prigozhin is not an agent of the United States, but a loyal operative of Russia and its leadership. It is not true that he attempted a military coup to overthrow President Putin; his goal was to compel the Russian presidency to reconsider its military decisions in the Ukrainian war and to push for the removal of the Russian Defence Minister and the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. His rebellion unveiled the prevailing mood within Russian society, and this is the most dangerous aspect.
Next week will mark 500 days since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine, with military losses surpassing those of the Soviet Union in the Afghan war. The Russian people have become restless and are astonished by how the Russian army, one of the largest in the world, has become incapacitated, disorganized, and is facing a humiliating defeat. This is a nation caught off guard by a war that was not anticipated, a war that exposed structural weaknesses within its governing system and military institution. While they are on the verge of outrage, they are not intent yet on overthrowing their president. What they want is a change in the military leadership and a different approach to conducting the special military operation.
There will be consequences of the Wagner Group's withdrawal from the battlefield in Ukraine, as they were the fiercest fighters – they lost over 20,000 fighters since the war began, with 13,000 casualties in the battle of Bakhmut alone. Prigozhin was at the forefront of the military personnel who demanded that the military institution and the Russian president remove their white gloves and engage in what they call a real war. The fundamental question now is: Will Putin do it, or will he continue to be afraid of the consequences?
Vladimir Putin played a game of chicken with the West, on the assumption that the latter would not dare to ignore his infamous ultimatum and would acquiesce to his conditions. However, the opposite occurred. The West disregarded Putin's warning and treated it with contempt. This infuriated Putin, leading him to make the error of falling into a trap that was set for him and one he set for himself.
The West is currently betting on Putin's unwillingness to use the nuclear option and on his hesitation to be as ruthless as the war requires in order to avoid defeat. When Wagner was sill on the scene, they could hide their losses and atrocities, hiding behind their nature as an irregular force rather than a state army. But the Russian army cannot hide or disappear to if it wants to liberate or occupy a city especially since liberation or occupation requires brutality and savagery under the watchful eyes of the world.
Vladimir Putin realizes that the United States and all NATO member states will be on his heels if he takes the advice of the military and issues orders for a crushing victory regardless of the human cost. He realizes that victory requires the destruction of entire cities and the killing of tens of thousands of civilians. He realizes, but he fears. He understands the cost of avoiding defeat and fears the price of victory.
In their warning to the Russian president, the Americans have vowed to take measures to sever Russia’s communications and place it under a suffocating isolation if Vladimir Putin chooses to discard the ‘white gloves’ as the military leadership desires. The message from the Americans is clear: if you destroy cities, we will impose a deadly siege and cut off your internet and mobile phone services—a siege that every Russian citizen will feel. This is in addition to measures that will paralyze financial transactions, and imports and exports.
The equation is exceedingly difficult for Vladimir Putin. If he wants victory in the Ukrainian war, he must give the green light to the Russian army. However, by granting a green light to avoid defeat at any cost, he would be risking turning Russia into a rogue, besieged, and isolated nation. What does the Russian people want Vladimir Putin to do? Perhaps the president knows, but he fears acknowledging what he dreads: the other undesirable option admitting to his historical blunder and making painful concessions to Ukraine, and accepting NATO's expanded membership, which can now strategically encircle Russia without facing retaliation. This alternative, the alternative of "count your losses," i.e., withdrawal, before incurring further losses, is almost inconceivable.
Realistically, the prospect of diplomatic negotiations to end the Russian-Ukrainian war has become untenable, as Russia's terms have become outdated - the prevention of NATO expansion and Ukraine from aligning with this alliance. Moreover, the Russian military does not want the political establishment to engage in a negotiation process along the lines of the "Minsk" formula. The military is adamant about securing a military victory prior to any negotiations, insisting on a negotiation framework that upholds Russian superiority. The military refuses to read the writing on the wall, which suggests that the Ukrainian war is leading to the imminent collapse of the Russian empire. Its view is that rescuing Russia from impending ruin is only achievable by prevailing in the Ukrainian conflict.
Not long ago, the Russian people enjoyed a sense of security and relished freedoms that had been withheld from them under the Soviet regime. They could travel and enjoy a life of relative wellbeing. A kind of social contract existed between the people and Vladimir Putin, despite their discontent with his dictatorial inclinations, in exchange for economic prosperity and the opportunity to engage with the world. Today, however, this social contract has suffered a rupture, and Russian society now demands corrective measures.
When the mutiny of the Wagner chief started, the US administration interpreted the situation as an attempted coup and a project of sowing chaos in a nuclear armed nation. The administration had serious concerns about this mix of instability, nuclear power, and chaos. The continued presence of President Vladimir Putin in power seemed to be a safeguard, not only in the eyes of certain Americans but also from the perspective of many who observed the developments of the past week with profound astonishment. Indeed, they considered the outbreak of chaos in Russia to be a more detrimental outcome than Putin remaining in power.
Ultimately, the events of last week indicate that Russia will never return to the status quo ante, prior to the Ukrainian war. Vladimir Putin did not derive any advantages from these developments or from the disintegration of Russia's institutional and social foundations. We are therefore at the beginning of seeing the consequences of these events, and it is premature to assert that instability has spared Russia. As long as the Russian war in Ukraine persists, Putin will find himself in a predicament, Russia will remain in a precarious situation, and the Russian empire will inexorably slip towards an uncertain destiny.

What Is the Sin Committed by Christians?’: The Persecution of Christians, May 2023
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/July 02/2023
ما هي الخطيئة التي يرتكبها المسيحيون؟: قائمة بأحداث اضطهاد المسيحيين خلال شهر آيار/2023
ريمون إبراهيم/معهد جيتستون
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/119701/119701/
“Is it because we’re Christians that we’re being attacked, and the Muslim-controlled state and federal governments do not care to protect us?” — A Christian, reported by Morning Star News, June 1, 2023, Nigeria.
[A] Muslim bulldozer driver at a construction site, killed his supervisor, a Christian, by crushing him to death. — copticsolidarity.org, May 18, 2023, Egypt.
Both sides [in the civil war in Sudan] are led by Islamists, “trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom….” — Morning Star News, May 24, 2023, Sudan.
“Sudan has been governed by sharia (Islamic law) since 1983, and is one of only a few countries in modern times where the death penalty for apostasy has been carried out.” In one such case from 1994, “two Christians from a tribal group that had converted from Islam in the early 1970s were executed by crucifixion.” — barnabasaid.org, May 23, 2023, Sudan.

Syria’s recovery likely to be very long and difficult
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 02, 2023
It is unrealistic to argue that Syria’s socioeconomic recovery will be smooth and swift. There are several reasons and obstacles that point to the premise that there is going to be a long road ahead for Syria as it seeks to implement a meaningful and substantial recovery that will benefit the majority of the Syrian people.As a result of recent developments, some scholars, policy analysts and politicians may have set their expectations too high when it comes to Syria’s socioeconomic recovery. It is accurate to say that Damascus has been seeing some positive changes recently. For example, the Arab League in May readmitted the country, ending its decade-long suspension. Secondly, Syria’s bilateral relationships with the Gulf states have been improving as well. Other positive developments to point out include the phone call between UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Syrian President Bashar Assad on bilateral ties between the two nations. In addition, Saudi Arabia has made the important decision to resume the work of its diplomatic mission in Syria.
While Syria’s readmission to the Arab League and the latest diplomatic rapprochements between Damascus and the Gulf states are indeed steps in the right direction, a lot of work remains to be done if the Syrian government truly desires to lead its nation into peace and prosperity.
First of all, the conflict in Syria has not yet fully ended. Some parts of the country remain very unstable and insecure.
This is particularly true of the southern areas of Syria, including the city of Deraa, which was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising and is also considered one of the most strategic places in the country. Deraa is close to the border with Jordan, as well as Syria’s Golan Heights region of Quneitra. There is also a major route from Deraa to the capital Damascus. Four members of Syria’s internal security forces were last week killed in an armed ambush by militants in the town of Muzayrib, which is located 11 km to the northwest of Deraa. During June, several people, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed by “unidentified assailants.”
One reason for the rising violence in southern Syria is drug smuggling. There has been a surge in drug trading and smuggling recently. A report published last year by the Center for Operational Analysis and Research stated of southern Syria: “While violence has plagued the region since its recapture by government forces in 2018, such violence is evolving as it becomes increasingly tied to the uptick in the drug trade, which is likely to overlap with related illicit activities that have a long track record in Syria: extortion, kidnapping for ransom, human trafficking, mercenarism, and arms trafficking. Syria’s drug trade will not go anywhere soon, and while coverage to date has focused on the impacts that will be felt in destination markets far afield, its cost in blood is likely to be borne most heavily by Syrians in Syria, especially in the south.”
A lot of work remains to be done if the Syrian government truly desires to lead its nation into peace and prosperity.
In addition, Daesh has not completely vanished from Syria and operates in scattered areas such as Deraa and the Syrian desert. In order to generate revenue, the terror group attempts to operate in places where there are vital resources such as oil. Daesh’s activities have also been seen recently in the northeastern city of Hasakeh, as well as Deir Ezzor. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that Daesh has lost significant influence in Syria, since at one point it was controlling nearly a third of the country’s territory. But years of offensives by the antiterrorism coalition have inflicted significant damage on its power in Syria.In addition to heightened insecurity and the drug smuggling issue, it is critical to note that Syria’s path to recovery is multifaceted and complex. For one thing, the economy is crippled after years of conflict, which has inflicted an unimaginable degree of devastation. Syria’s gross domestic product has shrunk by more than half and its currency has lost a significant portion of its value, leading the World Bank to rank it as a low-income country. Syria is facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Several factors have contributed to this problem. For example, the internal conflict, which began more than 12 years ago, has had a negative impact on the nation’s economy.
We should be realistic about the recovery of a nation that has endured such a long civil war. Civil wars can inflict devastating damage on infrastructure and, more importantly, disrupt production and manufacturing processes. For example, Syria’s currency, which was trading at about 47 pounds to the US dollar just before the unrest erupted in 2011, recently hit an all-time low and $1 is now worth about 9,000 Syrian pounds. Inflation also hit 139 percent in 2022. This placed it fourth in the world in terms of highest inflation rates, only ranking behind Venezuela, Sudan and Lebanon, according to World Population Review.
In a nutshell, in spite of the fact that Syria has recently been experiencing positive developments, such as being readmitted into the Arab League and improving its ties with the Gulf nations, Damascus’ route to full socioeconomic recovery is going to be extremely difficult and will most likely take a very long time.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Prigozhin’s mutiny will have consequences both inside and outside Russia
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/July 02, 2023
Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin last week initiated a quasi-rebellion, but fortunately it was short-lived. President Vladimir Putin’s quick reactions prevented the collision of two armies both formed of Russian fighters. However, though the crisis was short-lived, its consequences may remain on the agenda for a relatively long period.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko mediated between Russia and Prigozhin. This serious incident could have spiraled further out of control if Prigozhin had not decided to order his mercenaries to stop their march toward Moscow.
The most important aspect of the crisis is that it proved the validity of several questions that were previously known by everyone but not voiced publicly. They include a plethora of problems caused by the Ukrainian war, the strained relations between Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Prigozhin, and the economic problems that have been exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
When a powerhouse grows out of proportion, it has to be duly dealt with. In Wagner’s case, there were multiple reasons for the rivalry. One of them was a personal feud between Prigozhin and Shoigu.
Prigozhin frequently used belittling and insulting language toward Shoigu, especially after the Ukrainian war started to go wrong and many Russian mercenaries were killed. Another reason for the strained relations was that Wagner was not supplied with sufficient weapons or ammunition. This negatively affected Wagner’s performance in its fight with the Ukrainian army.
Now that the heat of the crisis is over, we will have to see what the future holds for both Russia and Prigozhin. It is highly unlikely that Putin will forget or forgive Prigozhin. They know each other well enough to take their respective positions for the future. The Russian army has much better potential to deal with Wagner than the other way round. However, Prigozhin’s acceptance of a move to Belarus will not be the end of the story.
A few days after the crisis ended, Lukashenko said he and Prigozhin spent the first half-hour of their conversation swearing at each other. In order to prevent a potential attempt on Prigozhin’s life, he was being accommodated in a hotel room with no windows. Everyone knows what this means in Russia.
In similar cases, Putin’s opponents have been eliminated one way or another. His hands can easily extend to a friendly country like Belarus. Prigozhin’s settling in Belarus will probably only be a provisional arrangement. The final arrangement will be what Putin decides.
Global markets were not greatly affected by the Putin-Prigozhin clash. However, the international oil market was an exception. It was affected more by the crisis because Russia is an important player in the oil market. The value of the Russian ruble went down less than expected because Prigozhin spread his capital across as many areas as possible, so that if one of his businesses sinks, the other will continue to float.
Now that the heat of the crisis is over, we will have to see what the future holds for both Russia and Prigozhin.
In the period of good relations between Putin and Prigozhin, Wagner benefited greatly from attractive contracts in various fields. Now that this period is over, Prigozhin cannot be expected to benefit from such favors.
He was Putin’s favored caterer and this helped him to finance the operations of the Wagner Group, first in the Donbas, Ukraine, then in many regions in Africa and the Middle East. In 2018, Wagner attacked US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. The US forces retaliated and killed about 100 of the mercenaries. In August 2022, the Wagner Group was using billboards to recruit new members in Russia. The following month, Prigozhin was reported to be recruiting Russian convicts to fight in Ukraine. He also admitted for the first time that Wagner mercenaries were involved in fights with Arab countries, as well as African and Latin American states.
In order to praise the Wagner forces, Prigozhin said last October that his forces were making progress in the fight against Ukraine. And during the fall of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Prigozhin used his performance in Ukraine to reap monetary and political advantages as a result of his mercenaries capturing the city on behalf of the Russian government.
Last week’s move by Prigozhin will have consequences both inside and outside Russia. Domestically, those who were active on Prigozhin’s side will be hunted down one way or another. And Putin will grow more sensitive about similar incidents. Security measures will be tightened. Anti-government protests will be more closely controlled and more severely punished. Additional measures will be taken to prevent similar incidents.
The concept of mercenary armies may be redesigned and their size may be limited. Further lessons will be drawn from America’s Blackwater mercenaries.
Prigozhin’s dirty linen and possibly even that of Putin may be leaked to the media and we will learn about another set of clandestine and unlawful affairs.
Lukashenko and Putin will cooperate more closely in order to decide Prigozhin’s future.
Hiring mercenaries is a practice that dates back to antiquity. For example, Nicomedes I, the king of Bithynia from 278 B.C. to 255 B.C., was disputing the throne with his brother. He hired 20,000 Galatian mercenaries, split them into two armies and one crossed to Anatolia through the Bosphorus, the other through the Dardanelles.
The area of security is regarded as sacrosanct in almost every country. Today, many intelligence organizations use paramilitary services to carry out certain specific services. They are integrated into state organizations to carry out their mission. This favoritism provides them a status that others envy, allowing them to be exempt from certain rules.
In Russia, Prigozhin overplayed his closeness to Putin. The money that was not supposed to be used in the security bureaucracy was used by paramilitary services. Sometimes, the companies that work as subcontractors in such services consider themselves to be above any sort of auditing. Many members of such companies use their status to quickly climb up the commercial hierarchy.
We may also presume that the intelligence services of the Euro-Atlantic community may have facilitated Prigozhin’s misguided decisions.
• Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkiye and founding member of the ruling AK Party.
Twitter: @yakis_yasar

Macron under pressure as French riots expose divided republic
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/July 02, 2023
As France’s millions of Muslims were preparing for the climax of the Islamic calendar last week, a French police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old boy of Algerian origin in the western Parisian suburb of Nanterre. Protests broke out immediately and they have since descended into nightly riots, with thousands of people arrested. The embattled French President Emmanuel Macron was forced to leave the EU summit in Brussels early to try and restore order in a country that has again been rocked by protests. Despite the mobilization of 40,000 officers, the French authorities are unable to paper over the fault lines that divide their republic.
After successive pension reform protests this year and debilitating labor reform protests previously, France is again on fire. Only weeks after the last nationwide demonstrations, cars have been set on fire and banks and police stations firebombed in an outpouring of disgruntlement and anger at what France’s marginalized see as an act of institutional racism. Amid damage to at least 500 buildings and the starting of almost 4,000 fires, this explosion of social anger has the authorities on edge. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said “all options” were under consideration, including the declaration of a state of emergency. Nighttime public transport has been suspended and there has been a heavy police presence on the streets as the government seeks to prevent any more nights of rage.
The young man who was killed has been identified as Nahel Merzouk. He failed to stop his car and then ran a red light, but his violations did not warrant the shot to the chest that led to his premature death. His killing is symptomatic of a worrying police trend in France, which was warned by the UN Human Rights Council just in May for “excessive use of force.” The regularity of civil disturbance has made the French law enforcement authorities regularly use rubber bullets and stun grenades — a practice that is rare or banned entirely elsewhere in Europe.
Tuesday’s incident was sadly reminiscent of the 2005 deaths of two young North African men, who were electrocuted while being pursued by police. Though the scale of the subsequent riots has not been repeated, other incidents, such as the assault on music producer Michel Zecler in 2020, have illustrated that, almost four decades after the fatal beating of French-Algerian student Malik Oussekine, France’s police continue to disproportionately inflict violence according to race. Following the amendment of the law provisioning the use of firearms in 2017, officers can now open fire in a set of wide (and often vague) circumstances. This law was linked to 13 deaths following traffic stops in 2022 alone.
According to the French government’s own numbers, Black and Arab men are 20 times more likely to be stopped by the police than others. This reality highlights the plight of France’s many dejected, forgotten and disenfranchised youths. “Egalite,” or equality, is the third pillar of the French state, but the country is only becoming more unequal. Such inequalities are self-perpetuating in a system where a staggering 30 percent of household spending comes from unemployment and family benefits.
In seeking to use force to meet anger over police violence, Macron risks further exacerbating the problem.
France’s poverty problem is not helped by a rigidly stratified higher education system and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, which is caused by poor skills, labor market rigidities, employment protection legislation and high employer costs. In such a system, clashes between the residents of French suburbs and the police are not uncommon.
Despite the detention of the officer involved in last week’s incident on charges of voluntary homicide, the protests show no signs of calming. Macron has strongly condemned the killing but he remains firmly behind the police, whose support and unions he cannot afford to lose, given the civil tumult of recent years. In making clear that he is willing to adopt security measures “without taboos,” he has hinted at the implementation of a more draconian approach.
Failing to provide a different voice to his hard-line interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, this approach will not address the wider challenges of racism and social inequality, but will instead complicate them. The disproportionate use of identity checks and the imposition of fines on specific ethnic groups has time and time again been identified as a cause for social tensions and, in seeking to use force to meet anger over police violence, he risks further exacerbating the problem.
France is a fractured nation, in which urban elites do not experience the hardships of the low-income, ghettoized communities with poor prospects. In 2021, some 12,500 offences of a “racist, xenophobic or anti-religious nature” were officially recorded by the French Ministry of the Interior. This represented an increase of 13 percent in crimes and offences, and 26 percent in fines. Only when the state’s issue of racism is tackled will isolated incidents be less likely to erupt into violent rioting.
Despite rushing back to Brussels to reassure European allies and attending an Elton John performance while France’s major cities were in a state of chaos, this week’s protests are the last thing Macron needs. Although the economy is showing signs of recovery, interest rate hikes and inflation are exposing some cracks. Having only just muddled through last year’s elections, the president is greatly limited without a majority in parliament. Months of protests have typified his second term and, with these now turning violent, the coming four years could be a troubling period for a France that is saddled with ballooning public debt. In the short term, Macron can only engage in meaningful reconciliation and engagement with the disenchanted sectors of French society. Despite the implementation of a national plan to tackle racism, the country has become more intolerant and the spectacular rise of the far right in the last elections was testament to this.
• Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the GCC.
Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid