Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 06-07/2023
Israel tightens grip on Ghajar town, isolating Lebanese section
LBCI/July 06, 2023
In a significant development, Israel has tightened its control over the border town of Ghajar, particularly in the northern part, which belongs to Lebanon. The wall and parallel barrier did not appear overnight but have been a long-standing project by Israel since 2000 when the Israeli military checkpoint at the town's eastern entrance was removed. The checkpoint had previously required Israeli citizens to obtain prior permission to enter the town. However, the situation has evolved, and the town has been open to Israeli tourists since one year ago. Despite being a disputed area between Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, Ghajar is now isolated behind this fence and wall, detached from its Lebanese depth and beyond the overall authority of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). This has led to tension between Lebanon and the Israeli side along the northern front. Sources close to Hezbollah described the isolation of the town of Ghajar as "explicit occupation, not a simple violation, and it cannot be overlooked." In response, the sources explained that the party is currently in the initial stage of drawing attention from the government and the people to the dangers of what is happening in the south, allowing room for diplomatic action with UNIFIL. This is similar to what was stated in their statement, which warned of the seriousness of the measures, the complete occupation of the Lebanese section of Ghajar by force, and the imposition of a fait accompli. What will the next step be? The sources stated, "we will not reveal it at this stage."

Lebanon calls on UN and international community to stop Israeli violations
LBCI/July 06, 2023
The Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry condemns the Israeli airstrikes that targeted Lebanese territory near Kfarchouba, considering it a violation of Resolution 1701 and an attack on Lebanese sovereignty. The ministry also calls on the United Nations and the international community to pressure Israel to cease escalating and continuous violations and encroachments on Lebanese territorial waters, airspace, and land. Furthermore, the ministry urges countries that seek to preserve calm and stability, especially in southern Lebanon and the broader Middle East, to be aware of the timing of these Israeli breaches. They coincide with the upcoming request to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which operates in southern Lebanon, submitted to the UN Security Council to disrupt and exacerbate the situation potentially. The ministry reaffirms Lebanon's respect for the implementation of all international resolutions and calls for Israel's immediate and unconditional withdrawal from all Lebanese territories it continues to occupy.

Israel’s attempt to annex Ghajar ignites tension on Lebanese border
Najia Houssari/Arab News/July 06, 2023
BEIRUT: Israel’s attempt to annex the village of Ghajar has sparked tensions along the southern Lebanese border. After hours of intense tension and shelling in the occupied areas of Ghajar, Shebaa Farms, and Kfarchouba, an uneasy calm returned to the region on Thursday afternoon.Peacekeeping force UN Interim Force in Lebanon swiftly called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could escalate the situation further. Retired Gen. Abdul Rahman Chehaitli, who led the Lebanese delegation in the maritime border demarcation negotiations with Israel, and previously dealt with the issue of occupied Ghajar from 2007 to 2013, told Arab News that the escalation was not surprising and warned that it may escalate. Israel, he said, sought to impose a fait accompli, and the shelling from the Lebanese side was likely to be a response to Israel’s recent fencing operation around Ghajar, which aimed at annexing the town.An explosion was heard near Ghajar, causing disruption for Israeli forces, UNIFIL, and the Lebanese army.
A search was conducted on the Lebanese side to locate rocket launchers.
Initially, a UNIFIL source speculated that the explosion might be due to old mine workings. The Israeli army initially denied the possibility of rocket launches from Lebanon, but later confirmed, after investigation, that a shell had been launched from Lebanon. The shelling had been carried out by short-range rocket launchers, which explains why it went undetected. In response, Israel fired approximately 20 shells at the hills of Kfarchouba and Kfarhamam, which it claimed was the rocket-launching area in Lebanese territory. UNIFIL reported that its peacekeepers heard the explosions near Majidieh in the morning and dispatched troops to investigate. They were unable to confirm the source or cause of the explosions at that time, but around noon, shells from Israel hit the Kfarchouba area of Lebanon. Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col, UNIFIL's head of mission and force commander, then contacted the authorities in Lebanon and Israel. The incident occurred at a sensitive time and in an area that had already experienced tensions earlier in the week. This tension was preceded by a Hezbollah statement, which denounced the actions of the Israeli military in the northern section of Ghajar.
This area is recognized by the UN as part of Lebanese territory. Hezbollah emphasized that “it is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, especially the government and the people, to take action to prevent the consolidation of this occupation, cancel the aggressive measures, and work toward liberating this part of our land and returning it to the nation.”Chehaitli said Israel’s fencing off of Ghajar aimed at provoking the issue. He added that Israel was taking advantage of the current situation in Lebanon, where there is no unified state or unified decision-making. He said: “Israel benefits from the confusion in Lebanon to raise the issue of rules of engagement and add new tasks, especially with the upcoming renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate at the end of next month.”Chehaitli pointed out that the recent land grab in Kfarchouba and its surroundings — which has been ongoing for a month — fell within this framework, adding: “Israel aims to change the landscape to impose a new reality.” Israel occupied the Syrian village of Ghajar in 1967, and its Syrian inhabitants — who hold Israeli citizenship — expanded into the northern Lebanese side. The area was previously uninhabited, and two-thirds of the area is Lebanese territory.
During the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate, each UN Security Council statement called for Israel’s withdrawal from the Lebanese side of Ghajar. Chehaitli said: "In 2011, and on more than one occasion, Israel proposed to withdraw from the Lebanese section of Ghajar, while keeping the area devoid of the presence of the Lebanese state, arguing that the town’s residents hold Israeli citizenship, even though they are Syrians. “Israel wants to control the town through Israeli security, a proposal that Lebanon completely rejects.” UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was issued after the Israeli aggression in Lebanon in 2006, called for Israel to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar as its continued occupation constituted a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Rocket launch at Israel from Lebanon draws Israeli cross-border shelling
Reuters/July 6, 2023
Two rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel
Israel responds with cross-border strikes
Incident follows large Israeli incursion in West Bank
- Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Thursday, prompting cross-border strikes by the Israeli military, sources on both sides said.
The incident came amid heightened Israeli-Arab tensions after Israel this week conducted one of its largest military incursions in decades in the occupied West Bank, targeting the Jenin camp, a Palestinian militant stronghold. Three security sources in Lebanon said two rockets were fired toward Israel, one of them landing in Lebanese territory and the second near a disputed area at the border. After initially saying it had no indications of any unusual incidents on its side of the border, the Israeli military said a projectile had exploded there. There was no word of any damage. "In response, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is currently striking the area from which the launch was carried out in Lebanese territory," a military statement said. It added that Israeli communities near the border had not been issued with any special instructions. During major flare-ups, Israel usually orders civilians within range to take cover.
PLUMES OF SMOKE
Reuters witnesses saw plumes of white smoke rising from the hilly south. One resident of Wazzani, the village in southern Lebanon where one of the rockets fell, said artillery fire had hit there from the direction of Israel.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported some 15 shells fired from Israel had landed in Lebanon. There was no claim of responsibility for the original reported rocket fire from Lebanon. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he was following up on the issue with the commander of Lebanon's army.
The sources in Lebanon said the second rocket had landed near the disputed village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border but whose residents profess allegiance to Syria.
Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese group that controls southern Lebanon and has fought several wars with Israel, expressed support for the Palestinian cause during this week's Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. Hezbollah did not comment on the reports of rocket fire.
In a separate statement, the armed group condemned what it called "dangerous measures" taken by Israeli forces in the northern part of Ghajar, which Lebanon considers to be its territory. Hezbollah accused Israel of erecting a wire fence and building a cement wall. Lebanon's foreign ministry on Tuesday said it was concerned by the moves, saying they were creating a "new reality on the ground". There was no immediate response from Israel's military to the Hezbollah accusation. The United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon urged all sides to show restraint and avoid an escalation after the reported exchange of fire on Thursday given the area had "already experienced tensions earlier this week." Israel blamed the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon in April during another flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence. That prompted Israel to hit sites in Lebanon.

Israel strikes Lebanese targets after rockets fired toward Israel
Reuters/Jerusalem Post/July 06/2023
Prime Minister Netanyahu planned to convene the Security Cabinet for the first time in two months in light of the tensions on multiple fronts. Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Thursday, prompting cross-border strikes by the Israeli military, sources on both sides said. Israel's military spokesperson said on Twitter that its army had "found no incident within Israeli territory" but that an explosion had taken place "beyond the border fence." More than 15 projectiles landed on the outskirts of Kfarchouba and Halta villages on the Lebanese borders in an Israeli strike, Lebanon state news agency NNA said. IDF sources said that, initially, they believed the explosions reported around the Lebanon border had occurred on the Lebanese side. Next, the IDF sent units to inspect the area where the explosions had been heard and found pieces of the rockets in Israeli territory. The IDF then had the rockets inspected to determine what kind of weaponry they were and to determine who could have fired it. Their inspection was also aimed at gleaning whether or not the rockets were fired intentionally. By the time the IDF counterattacked, it had determined that the rockets were indeed fired into Israeli territory intentionally and Israeli forces had figured out where the rockets were fired from.
Reactions to the rocket exchange
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to convene the Security Cabinet for the first time in two months in light of the tensions on multiple fronts, between the major raid in Jenin and the exchange of fire with Lebanon. There was no claim of responsibility for the original reported rocket fire from Lebanon. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he was following up on the issue with the commander of Lebanon's army. The United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon urged all sides to show restraint and avoid an escalation after the reported exchange of fire on Thursday given the area had "already experienced tensions earlier this week." The IDF has yet to determine whether Hezbollah or another group fired the rockets and said that it was investigating the issue. Reuters witnesses saw plumes of white smoke emanating from the hilly south. One resident of Wazzani, the village in southern Lebanon where one of the rockets fell, said artillery fire had hit there from the direction of Israel.
Both rockets reportedly landed outside Israel
The sources in Lebanon said one rocket landed near the Lebanese border village of Wazzani and the second near the disputed village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border but whose residents profess allegiance to Syria.
The rocket fire came after Israel concluded one of its largest military operations in years in the West Bank in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin. Hezbollah, the powerful, Iran-backed Lebanese group that controls southern Lebanon and has fought several wars with Israel, expressed support for the Palestinian cause during the Israeli operation.
No comment from Hezbollah about rocket fire
Hezbollah did not comment on the reports of rocket fire. In a separate statement, the armed group condemned what it called "dangerous measures" taken by Israeli forces in the northern part of Ghajar, which Lebanon considers to belong to it. Hezbollah accused Israel of erecting a wire fence and building a cement wall. Lebanon's foreign ministry on Tuesday said it was concerned by the moves, saying they were creating a "new reality on the ground." There was no immediate response from Israel's military to the Hezbollah accusation.
*Lahav Harkov and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.

Israeli forces shell southern Lebanon border village after rocket lands near disputed territory
BEIRUT (AP)/Thu, July 6, 2023
Israeli forces shelled a southern Lebanese border village on Thursday after several explosions were heard in a disputed area where the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel meet. Tensions continue to flare in the border area over two tents erected by the militant group Hezbollah and Israel’s building of a wall around the Lebanese part of a village that Israeli troops captured during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. A Lebanese military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of not being cleared to provide information to journalists said one rocket was fired toward Israel from the border town of Kfar Chouba and that Israeli forces responded with two rocket attacks. The Israeli military confirmed that it had shelled Kfar Chouba. It said later Thursday that it had identified the incoming projectile as an anti-tank missile fired near the town of Ghajar — with some fragments landing in Lebanon and others inside Israeli territory. It was unclear who fired the rocket from Lebanon. The Lebanese army did not immediately comment on the explosions. The U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it could not verify that rocket fire caused the explosion but that the sounds were “consistent with a possible launch.” UNIFIL sent peacekeepers to investigate what happened while the head of the mission speaks to both Lebanese and Israeli authorities to ease the situation. “This incident comes at a sensitive time and in an area that has already experienced tensions earlier this week,” UNIFIL said in a statement. “We urge everyone to exercise restraint and avoid any action that could cause further escalation.”Minutes after the explosions, Iran-backed Hezbollah issued a statement about Israel’s wall in the village of Ghajar. The village is split into Lebanese and Israeli sides along a border known as the blue line that was demarcated after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. “It is not just a routine breach of what the occupation forces are accustomed to from time to time,” the statement said. It did comment on the explosions.
As part of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel is to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar, which has not happened. U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon have called on Israel for years to end its building work in northern Ghajar and to withdraw its troops. Lebanese soldiers in Mays al-Jabal, another border town, obstructed an Israeli bulldozer accompanied by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday that reached over the technical fence to remove plants and trees from the Lebanese side. The tense standoff did not result in any clashes.
The situation also has been heated along Chebaa Farms and around Kfar Chouba. Israel captured those areas from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war, and they are part of Syria’s Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon.
In early June, Israel filed a complaint with the U.N. saying that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters (yards) inside the disputed territory. Israeli media have since reported that Hezbollah removed one of the two tents, but the group did not confirm the action. Later that month, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas to disperse scores of Lebanese protesters who pelted the troops with stones along the border near the disputed territory. Hezbollah also shot down an Israeli drone last month. The group in the past has claimed responsibility for downing Israeli drones, and Israel’s military has said its forces have shot down Hezbollah drones. Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

Mikati contacts army chief, UNIFIL command over situation in the south
National News Agency/6 Jul 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has followed up on the latest situation along the southern border in contacts he held with army chief General Joseph Aoun and the command of the UNIFIL. Mikati is set to meet this afternoon with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, and a UNIFIL delegation chaired by Commander General Aroldo Lazaro. The PM met earlier with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland and an accompanying delegation. He also received Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Nicoletta Bombardiere, with whom he discussed the current general situation and the bilateral ties between the two countries.

Hezbollah condemns Israel's wall in Ghajar, calls on state to take action
Associated PressAgence France Presse/6 Jul 2023
Hezbollah issued a statement Thursday about Israel's wall in the village of al-Ghajar. The village is split into Lebanese and Israeli sides along a border, known as the blue line, that was demarcated after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. "It is not just a routine breach of what the occupation forces are accustomed to from time to time," the statement said. Hezbollah called on the Lebanese state to take action to "prevent the consolidation of this occupation" by Israel of al-Ghajar, home to around 3,000 people. It denounced Israel for the erection of "a barbed wire fence and the construction of a concrete wall around the entire locality". As part of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel needs to withdraw from the northern part of al-Ghajar, which has not happened. U.N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon for years have called on Israel to end its building work in northern al-Ghajar and to withdraw its troops. The so-called Blue Line cuts through al-Ghajar, formally placing its northern part in Lebanon and its southern part in the Israeli-occupied and annexed Golan Heights. The residents of al-Ghajar have been granted Israeli citizenship rights, and Israel has recently opened the town, long a military zone, to tourism. Hezbollah charged that Israel had now "completely imposed their force on the Lebanese, occupied parts of the town and submitted it to its administration, in parallel with the opening of the town to tourists". Lebanese soldiers in Mays al-Jabal, another border town, obstructed an Israeli bulldozer accompanied by Israeli soldiers Wednesday that reached over the technical fence to remove plants and trees from the Lebanese side. The tense standoff did not result in any clashes. The situations also has been heated along Shebaa Farms and around Kfarshouba. Israel captured those areas from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war, and they are part of Syria's Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon. In early June, Israel filed a complaint to the U.N. claiming that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters inside the disputed territory. Israeli media had since reported that Hezbollah evacuated one of the two tents, but the group did not confirm the action. Later that month, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas to disperse scores of Lebanese protesters who pelted the troops with stones along the border near the disputed territory. Hezbollah also took down an Israeli drone last month. The group in the past has claimed responsibility for downing Israeli drones, and Israel's military has said its forces have shot down Hezbollah drones. Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.
UNIFIL: Our liaison mechanisms have been fully engaged to prevent further escalation
NNA July 6, 2023
The UNIFIL said, in a statement on Thursday, that “shortly after 8:00 a.m., UNIFIL peacekeepers detected explosions near Al-Majidiya. We could not confirm the origin or cause of the explosions at the time, but sent peacekeepers to investigate as the sounds were consistent with a possible rocket launch.”“Around noon, we detected shelling from Israel to the Kafr Shouba area in Lebanon,” the statement added. “Our Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro, has been in contact with authorities in Lebanon and Israel, and our liaison mechanisms have been fully engaged to prevent further escalation,” said the UNIFIL. “This incident comes at a sensitive time and in an area that has already experienced tensions earlier this week. We urge everyone to exercise restraint and avoid any action that could cause further escalation,” it concluded.

Bkirki lashes out at Mikati over 'arbitrary decisions'
Naharnet July 6, 2023
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi believes that “things are headed for the worse, the presidential vacuum will protract and the dialogue that is being called for is not serious,” Bkirki sources said. “There is a Shiite Duo-backed premier who is acting in an unwise manner, contrary to the previous and current Sunni leaders, and he is behaving as if there is no vacant top Christian post,” the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan in remarks published Thursday. “He is taking arbitrary decisions that undermine the formula (of coexistence) and the (National) Pact and might stir sectarian tensions, that’s why it is Bkirki’s duty to tell Mikati and those behind him that ‘enough is enough,’” the sources said. “This is not the wisdom of statesmen and things are not okay, so stop this farce,” the sources added, addressing Mikati.

Le Drian told dialogue must be limited to presidency as crisis stalls
Naharnet July 6, 2023
Several Lebanese political forces told French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian during his latest visit that any inter-Lebanese dialogue should be limited to the issue of the presidential election, a media report said. “Talk of a dialogue tackling the system’s foundations and the positions and gains of each sect is out of the question, which means that the maximum that can be done is a Doha 2 (agreement),” al-Akhbar newspaper reported. Asharq al-Awsat daily meanwhile said that ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Tammam Salam sensed -- after meeting caretaker PM Najib Mikati on Monday – that Le Drian’s mission is stalling and that he has failed to achieve any breakthrough leading to a “consensual candidate.”
“This means that the presidential vacuum will further protract,” the newspaper added.

A changing tide: Lebanon's Central Bank faces leadership vacuum
LBCI/July 06, 2023
In a clear statement, the four deputies of Lebanon's central bank governor, Riad Salameh, have firmly dismissed any doubts, affirming that neither First Deputy Governor Wassim Mansouri nor the other three deputies are willing to assume the governor's duties after his term ends on July 31.
In their statement, the governor's deputies called for the appointment of a new governor per the Monetary and Credit Law as soon as possible. They warned they would be compelled to take appropriate action in the public interest if this does not happen. Sources within the Banque du Liban (BDL) indicated that the governor's deputies might collectively resign if a new governor is not appointed. The deputies' statement criticized the absence of a comprehensive plan to restore financial and banking stability, as well as the lack of balance in the budget. It emphasized that the concept of caretaker authority should not be extended to the country's highest monetary authority, which is Lebanon's central bank. Furthermore, the BDL sources argued that the Amal-Hezbollah duo's claims of imposing Wassim Mansouri as the first deputy governor are unfounded. They added that Mansouri is still committed to avoiding confrontation with Christians. The sources also questioned what would happen if Mansouri assumed the governor's duties and decided to implement the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) demands. They raised concerns about the feasibility of such a move given the ambiguity surrounding the stance of several political parties regarding reaching an agreement with the IMF. As the end of Governor Riad Salameh's term draws near, none of the political parties participating in the government's meetings currently dare to request an extension for him. It is worth noting that the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Lebanese Forces, and Kataeb Party all oppose any form of extension. This raises the question of what the solution might be. Several scenarios are being discussed, including the possibility of the deputies resigning along with the end of Salameh's term and the failure to appoint a new governor. In that case, the Cabinet, with the majority in attendance, may resort to tasking the outgoing governor and the resigning deputies to continue their duties at the BDL until the election of a new president, the formation of a government, and new appointments are made.

Circular 158 amendments: Implications and challenges for Lebanese depositors
LBCI/July 06, 2023
As each new Circular is issued by Banque du Liban (BDL), all eyes turn to the banks. The reality is that there are no fundamental solutions to the crisis, and everything happening is merely a patchwork attempt to restore people's deposits. However, a slightly positive development emerged with the modification of Circular 158, which aims to alleviate losses on depositors.
One of the latest steps taken was the amendment of Circular 158.
According to this Circular, depositors could withdraw $400 monthly from their accounts and an additional $400 in Lebanese lira at the fixed rate of LBP 15,000 per dollar. Under the new amendment, the Lebanese part will be eliminated, and depositors will be able to withdraw the $400 until the deposits in their accounts are exhausted, as specified in the Circular. Moreover, if a depositor wishes to renew or open a new account, they will be limited to a monthly withdrawal of $300 under the recent amendment. While eliminating the Lebanese part of the Circular means eliminating losses, especially with the market exchange rate surpassing LBP 90,000 per dollar, depositors need to be cautious about the extended deadline for recovering their deposits. For instance, under the previous Circular, one could recover $30,000 in approximately three years. However, with the amendment, if a depositor withdraws $400 per month, it would take over six years. If the withdrawal amount is reduced to $300, it would take over eight years. The predicament is that the $30,000 is losing its value over time. Instead of being able to withdraw and invest profitably or purchase a car or a shop, depositors are left with minimal and interest-free withdrawals. However, there is no other choice. Banks, once they begin implementing the amendments, await logistical preparations, and depositors show little enthusiasm for the changes made to Circular 158, resulting in a modest bank activity level.

RTA's website allows citizens to schedule vehicle transactions in advance
LBCI/July 06, 2023
The Road and Transportation Authority (RTA) and the Vehicle Registration Center announced that citizens can now visit their website, www.tmo.gov.lb, to book appointments for their transactions starting from Thursday for the following week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This applies to the services available at the authority's office in Dekwaneh. As for the centers in Zahle, Sidon, and Nabatieh, all transactions will be processed during the designated days mentioned above, except for ownership transfer and salvage sales. However, the operations at the Tripoli department are currently suspended.

Mikati condemns 'sectarian exploitation' of presidential void, calls for swift election
Naharnet July 6, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called Thursday anew for the election of a president in order to put an end to the "sectarian exploitation" of the presidential vacuum. The Free Patriotic Movement ministers have been boycotting the caretaker cabinet sessions, claiming that cabinet can not convene without a president. The party said in a statement Wednesday that the normalization of the presidential vacuum might expand to first-class positions that have traditionally been occupied by Christians. "This threatens national partnership," the statement said, a day after Mikati accused those opposing cabinet meetings of "seeking to spread vacuum.""Elect a president as soon as possible," the prime minister said, adding that cabinet is not responsible for the presidential vacuum. "Stop the negativity, the obstruction, and the sectarian incitement," he lashed out. Mired in a crippling economic crisis since 2019, Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet for more than a year and without a president for more than eight months. No group has a clear majority in parliament and lawmakers have failed 12 times to elect a new president, amid bitter divisions.

Berri expects Le Drian to visit Lebanon in mid-July after regional tour
Naharnet July 6, 2023
French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian would likely return to Lebanon between July 16 and July 17, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said. The Speaker told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Thursday, that Le Drian's visit might be preceded by a tour of countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and "probably Iran."Al-Akhbar had earlier reported that France is willing to propose adding Iran to the five-nation group on Lebanon -- which comprises the U.S., France, KSA, Qatar and Egypt. It claimed that Le Drian, who visited Lebanon last month, would suggest a dialogue sponsored by France and the five-nation group, after he heard from Lebanese officials that national dialogue attempts have failed. "Le Drian will return with a dialogue proposal," Berri said. "But the dialogue's mechanism and who will lead it are still not clear," he added. And although Berri is not betting on the French role, he said in a meeting that the presidential file is stalled until Le Drian's upcoming visit, al-Akhbar said. Berri also hoped that the Iranian-Saudi reconciliation would positively reflect on Lebanon.

Mikati meets UN’s Wronecka, UNIFIL delegation at Grand Serail in presence of Bou Habib
NNA July 6, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, is currently meeting at the Grand Serail, with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, and a UNIFIL delegation chaired by Commander General Aroldo Lazaro.
The meeting takes place in the presence of Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdallah Bou Habib.

RDCL and IMF meet to address Article IV report issued lately
NNA July 6, 2023
The Business leaders association (RDCL) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held on July 05 a productive meeting to review the Article IV report recently issued. During the deliberations, the RDCL and IMF deep dived the economic indicators, and assessed recommended fiscal/monetary policies. The RDCL agreed with the IMF report’s assessment about the lack of progress by relevant authorities, made in implementing the recommendations and prerequisites needed to recreate trust forward .
RDCL appreciated the mentions in the Article IV report among which the openness of the IMF on the solutions presented by the private sector to restructure the financial sector, the importance of introducing good governance at the central bank level, the reduction of the public sector size, the reforms needed to be done with the SOEs, specifically the ones recommending to transfer the management of these assets to the private sector, the restructuring of the budget, the social security, and the banking sector, the importance of establishing an independent judiciary system and most importantly the fight against corruption and the informal parallel economy that is growing unfortunately at unprecedented levels.
The RDCL mentioned that the private sector and the IMF recommendations are remaining so far on paper, without being implemented by authorities! Meanwhile, the authorities are discussing the budget of 2023 (very late).
The RDCL stressed that the fear of the private sector is an increase in taxes on what remains of the legal private sector and the abiding citizens, before the necessary reforms take place! Therefore the RDCL reiterated their stance on the importance and urgency of reforming the public sector and improving compliance to ensure tax fairness and address the growing informal economy, starting with the upcoming budget. The RDCL insisted that focusing tax increases exclusively on the legal private sector without reforms will destroy what remains of the legal private sector, hence reducing the fiscal plate of the state. The RDCL also stressed that the size of the GDP estimated in the Article IV report, should be assessed further. It called on the Central Administration of Statistics to release official estimates of GDP, as the latest available are only for 2020, and no official data is available since that date.
Discussions were marked by a spirit of cooperation, and the RDCL emphasized the importance of transparent dialogue and mutual understanding to conclude a deal as soon as possible with the IMF, the only door for reinstating trust and kick starting the economy.
The successful meeting between the RDCL and the IMF marks a significant step in the ongoing partnership between the two organizations. Moving forward, the RDCL expressed their commitment to continuing the dialogue and working collaboratively to advocate for the reforms outlined.
The RDCL appreciated the commitment of the IMF to remain dedicated to assisting in achieving reforms to protect the private legal sector and achieve economic objectives and enhancing the well-being of its citizens.

GS’s Baissari bound for Paris
NNA July 6, 2023
The Media Affairs Office of the General Directorate of General Security on Thursday issued the following statement: ’’Acting Director General of General Security, Brigadier General Elias Baissari, left Beirut bound for Paris on an official visit, during which he will meet with a number of French security officials, to follow up on some security matters of common concern. Also, during the meetings, joint programs will be coordinated, whether at the level of training or technical and logistical assistance provided by the French authorities, based on the permanent and continuous cooperation between the Lebanese General Security and the French security institutions.’’

TotalEnergies in Lebanon announces winners for the 2023 VIA contest
NNA July 6, 2023
TotalEnergies in Lebanon has announced the three winning entries for the 2023 VIA contest in Lebanon at a ceremony held at Sursock Museum. Themed ‘Pedestrian Safe Mobility’, the second edition of the VIA contest saw an overwhelming participation of over 4,200 students aged 8 to 13 years from 30 schools across Lebanon. More than 400 posters were submitted during the contest period, which ran from 19 February to 31 May 2023.
As part of the VIA contest, trainers from the Lebanese International Road Safety Academy (LIRSA) were mobilized to conduct awareness sessions for students. Dedicated schoolteachers were also trained to equip them with the tools and information to continue conducting their own sessions for students. Participating students were required to work in groups of 3 – 5 each to create posters expressing their creative ideas and showcase their understanding of pedestrian safe mobility. All entries underwent a stringent judging process where they were assessed based on key criteria – creativity and originality, clarity in messaging, and relevance of the poster as a prevention tool.
Seven representatives from the Lebanese International Road Safety Academy (LIRSA), TotalEnergies in Lebanon and organizations such as UNESCO, Montessori World, The Sparks Factory, and the Saint Joseph University of Beirut were part of this year’s judging panel. They include:
- Ms. Eliane Charabaty, Co-Founder of Transpetrol, Founder and CEO of Montessori World
- Mr. Kamel Ibrahim, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Lebanese International Road Safety Academy – LIRSA
- Ms. Marina Ader, Junior Professional Officer – Education sector at UNESCO
- Mr. Roland Baz, HSE & Sustainable Development Manager, TotalEnergies Marketing Lebanon
- Mr. Romain de La Martinière, General Manager, TotalEnergies EP Lebanon
- Professor Wassim Raphael, Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Director of the Master in Management of Road Safety, Saint Joseph University of Beirut
- Ms. Yasmina Audi, Entrepreneur, Founder of Super Mama Arabia and The Sparks Factory
Adrien BÉCHONNET, Managing Director, TotalEnergies Marketing Lebanon & Country Chair, said: “The significant increase in this year’s participation, being four times more compared to 2022, highlighted the growing emphasis amongst schools on the importance of pedestrian road safety. Though the contest is only in its second year, the impact and influence has been far and wide. There’s still much that we need to do on the ground as we continue to equip our children with the knowledge, awareness, and practical skills to navigate their surroundings safely and be responsible pedestrians. We also hope to continue fostering a culture where our children can confidently enjoy the freedom of walking, cycling, and exploring their communities while staying safe. Heartiest congratulations to all the participants. To our top winning team, may you shine as you advance to the regional semi-finals.”
Kamel IBRAHIM, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Lebanese International Road Safety Academy (LIRSA) also said: “We are proud to work with TotalEnergies in Lebanon on VIA contest to promote pedestrian safe mobility in schools. It is heartening to witness organizations stepping up to prioritize the safety of our children on the roads. By collaborating with schools, we are playing a crucial role in educating and empowering young minds to be more responsible on the roads. We fully support TotalEnergies mission and believe that together, we can inspire and empower the next generation to embrace safe and mindful mobility, ensuring their well-being as they journey through life.”
Three winning entries
1st prize: Created by Joe Tabet, Karim Sahili, Katy Zogheib and Lucas Rizk
Supervised by Ms. Myriam Khairallah from the school Collège Notre Dame des Anges, Badaro.
2nd prize: Created by Christa Dib, Lynn Saleh, Rebecca Hobeika, Wendy Zankoul and Yasmeen Chamaa
Supervised by Ms. Fabiola Sayegh from the school Collège de la Sainte Famille Française, Fanar.
3rd prize: Created by Alisar Sharamek, Amar Moussa, Meera Abo Shami and Thuraya Janbain
Supervised by Mr. Abed Al Azeez Thoraya from the school Salah Eddine Educational Center, West Beqaa.
VIA a road safety education program launched globally by TotalEnergies Foundation and the Michelin Foundation. It adopts a participatory approach to learning and aims at improving the safety of young people in the city and on the road. The VIA contest in Lebanon is launched by TotalEnergies in Lebanon in collaboration with the Lebanese International Road Safety Academy (LIRSA) to raise awareness on pedestrian safety among local school students. -- TotalEnergies Marketing Lebanon

Berri broaches latest developments with Ain El-Tineh visitors, meets Iranian Ambassador, Bou Saab
NNA July 6, 2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday received at the second presidency in Ain al-Tineh, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, with whom he discussed the current general situation, the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, and the bilateral relations between the two countries. Speaker Berri also received at Ain El-Tineh Palace with Deputy House Speaker Elias Bou Saab, with whom he reviewed political developments and legislative affairs. Berri later received Tawfik Sultan.

Makhzoumi visits Saudi Ambassador in Yarzeh
NNA July 6, 2023
MP Fouad Makhzoumi, on Thursday, visited Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, at his Yarzeh residence. MP Makhzoumi said in a tweet that the visit came to congratulate Ambassador Bukhari on the blessed Eid Al-Adha. Makhzoumi added: “We discussed the latest developments on the Lebanese arena, politically and economically, and I briefed the Ambassador on the atmosphere of the visit of the delegation of opposition MPs to Berlin, which dealt with the economic and social crisis and the presidential election dossier.’’

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 06-07/2023
Iran's Revolutionary Guards seize commercial ship in Gulf - U.S. Navy
LONDON (Reuters)/Thu, July 6, 2023
Iran's Revolutionary Guards "forcibly seized" a commercial ship in international waters in the Gulf on Thursday and the vessel was possibly involved in smuggling, a U.S. Navy spokesperson said. The U.S. Navy had monitored the situation and decided not to make any further response, U.S. 5th Fleet spokesperson Commander Tim Hawkins said. British maritime security company Ambrey said it was aware of an attempted seizure by Iranian forces of a small Tanzanian flagged tanker, around 59 nautical miles northeast of the Saudi Arabian port city of Dammam. "Iran regularly intercepts smaller tankers it suspects of smuggling oil," the company added in a note. About a fifth of the world's supply of seaborne crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. The U.S. Navy said on Wednesday that it had intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman, in the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the area since 2019. "U.S. forces remain vigilant and ready to protect navigational rights of lawful maritime traffic in the Middle East’s critical waters," Hawkins said. Iran said on Thursday it had a court order to seize one of the tankers sailing in Gulf waters on Wednesday after it collided with an Iranian vessel. The vessel, the Bahamas-flagged Richmond Voyager, was managed by U.S. oil major Chevron. Tehran seized two other tankers in May including the Marshall Islands flagged Advantage Sweet, which had been chartered by Chevron. Since 2021, "Iran has harassed, attacked or seized nearly 20 internationally flagged merchant vessels", the U.S. Navy said this week.

Iran and Sudan look to restore diplomatic ties
Reuters/July 06, 2023
DUBAI: Iran and Sudan said on Thursday they were planning to restore ties after the Iranian foreign minister met his acting Sudanese counterpart for the first time since diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed seven years ago. Sudan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the meeting, on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, had discussed restoring relations “as soon as possible.”Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister, Ali Sadeq, also thanked Iran for supplying humanitarian aid through the Iranian Crescent during the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted: “Our delegation met with the Sudanese foreign minister and discussed how to imminently resume diplomatic ties between Khartoum and Tehran.” “In this meeting, talks were directed at resolving misunderstandings between the two countries and strengthening the political and economic relations between Tehran and Khartoum,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency said. Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 following the storming of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume ties in March under a deal negotiated by China, raising expectations that Tehran and other Arab countries would fully re-establish diplomatic relations. Sudan’s Sadeq was quoted as saying the deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran would enhance security and stability in the region and the Islamic world.

UN probe shows Iran continues crackdowns, executions over protests
The Arab Weekly/July 06/2023
Reporting to the UN Human Rights Council, Sara Hossain, chairwoman of the independent international fact-finding mission, said that ten months on, the Amini family’s “right to truth and justice remains unfulfilled”.Iran is still meting out harsh punishments on people suspected of involvement in mass protests, including “chilling” executions, a United Nations fact-finding mission said Wednesday. Iran was rocked by demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rule for women based on Islamic sharia law. At a special session in November, the UN Human Rights Council voted to create a high-level investigation into the deadly crackdown. Reporting to the council, Sara Hossain, chairwoman of the independent international fact-finding mission, said that ten months on, the Amini family’s “right to truth and justice remains unfulfilled. “The lack of transparency around the investigations into her death is further evidenced by the arrest and continued detention of the two women journalists, Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who first reported on the event,” she added. Iran has said that 22,000 people have been pardoned in connection with the protests, which “suggests that many more were detained or charged”, Hossain said. No official data exists on the nature of the allegations against them, nor on those convicted, detained or charged in connection with the protests, she said. Hossain said pardoned protesters were reportedly made to express remorse, “to effectively admit guilt” in signing written undertakings not to commit “similar crimes” in future. “Harsh punishments continue to be meted out to those involved in the protests, including for exercising rights protected under international human rights law,” she said. “Most chilling, seven men have already been executed following hasty proceedings marred by serious allegations of fair trial violations, including confessions extracted under torture.” The fact-finding mission called on Tehran to stop the executions of individuals sentenced to death in connection with the protests, and urged Iran to release all those detained for peaceful assembly and reporting on the protests. Hossain also urged Tehran to cooperate with the investigation.
Iran blames West. In response, Kazem Gharib Abadi, secretary general of Iran’s high council for human rights, said Western countries fomented the protests and “terrorists entered the scene”.“More than 75 law enforcement forces and people were martyred by the rioters, and over 7,000 law enforcement forces were also injured,” he said. “The policy of Iran vis-à-vis the riots was to use the minimal legal powers,” he insisted, while branding the establishment of the UN investigation “politically-motivated and unacceptable”. He claimed that one social media channel “taught how to make bombs”, and another “created more than 50,000 fake Farsi accounts to act against Iran”, while foreign “anti-Iranian” TV channels “dedicated their capacities to notorious terrorists for interviews”. He also pointed to the recent riots against police violence in France, which he said was “witnessing the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters, widespread arbitrary arrests, and restrictions on the internet and social media”. “It would be prudent for the Human Rights Council to convene a special session to examine the situation in France,” he said.

Attackers cut ponytails from Iranian 10-year-old girls who refuse to wear hijab
Ahmed Vahdat/The Telegraph/July 6, 2023
Iranian girls are having their hair hacked off by unknown assailants, in what police suggested could be punishment for refusing to wear the hijab. Girls as young as 10 have had their ponytails chopped off by assailants who threatened them with a “big knife”. The hijab is mandatory from the age of seven in Iran. The attacks are being carried out by someone who stops girls while driving a car around the streets of Damavand province, according to Arman Melli Online, an Iranian news website, He is said to move from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and reportedly has been carrying bags filled with hair braids, some of them in multiple colours. A spokesman for Tehran’s police chief, Babak Namakshenas, said the attacks were “the result of ignoring the Islamic social codes”.
‘Religious values’
He told the conservative newspaper, Shargh: “We have not received any report or complaint from the public about this issue. However, I advise families that they must make sure that their young daughters do not defy our religious values.”For the past year, Iran has been in the grip of mass protests against the regime which were triggered by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The young woman was allegedly beaten to death by police for incorrectly wearing her hijab. Iranian women remove their headscarves and clash with police following the death of Mahsa Amini, after being arrested by the "morality police" last year
Iranian women remove their headscarves and clash with police following the death of Mahsa Amini, after being arrested by the "morality police" last year - SalamPix/ABACA The protests were brutally suppressed and Iran is now introducing further legislation to tighten rules on wearing the religious garment. The hair-cutting attacks come amid a wider and more serious wave of violence against women in Iran, with three mutilated bodies of women found in the north suburbs of Tehran where kerb crawlers usually frequent. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, this week claimed that women who refuse to wear the hijab are part of an “enemy conspiracy”. He also claimed that such women are being manipulated by the West and “are after mayhem in social order” by “intentionally violating” the dress code”.
UK announces new powers to sanction Iran
His remarks came as the UK announced new powers to sanction the Iranian regime over a spate of plots to kill or kidnap regime critics in Britain, as well as its ongoing military support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, said on Thursday that he was stepping up the Government’s criteria for imposing sanctions on key figures in Iran, such as “decision makers” who are plotting to assassinate or kidnap critics of the regime based in Britain. Some 15 plots to carry out UK-based kidnappings and murders have been detected since 2022, Mr Cleverly added. The new system will ramp up action against Iranian officials behind “the use and spread of weapons or weapons technologies from Iran”, as well as activities “undermining peace, stability and security” in the Middle East.
Artist’s death
There have also been reports of one of Iran’s most famous contemporary painters dying from drinking tainted alcohol, raising questions of a possible poisoning. Khosrow Hasanzadeh’s death on Sunday follows that of two dozen people in recent days in the province of Alborz. They are thought to have died after drinking fake branded whisky or vodka from a local car body shop. Police have denied the state had any role in his death. Born in 1963 in Tehran, Mr Hasanzadeh had exhibited his works in the British Museum and Barbican. He had become a resident of Alborz by the time of his death, a province that has become a hotbed of activism in recent years. While alcohol is outlawed in Iran, bootleggers ply a lucrative trade smuggling it over the border.

Zelensky to meet Erdogan Friday in Istanbul
AFP/July 06, 2023
ISTANBUL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Turkiye on Friday for the first time since Russia’s invasion for talks with counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish presidency said the two leaders could stage a joint press conference after the talks in Istanbul. The meeting is due to focus on an expiring deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea as well as next week’s NATO summit. But analysts expect Zelensky to push Erdogan to give a green light for Sweden’s membership of NATO ahead of the July 11-12 alliance summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Turkiye is blocking Sweden’s candidacy because of a longstanding dispute about Stockholm’s perceived lax attitude toward alleged Kurdish militants living in the Nordic country. Both Zelensky and Erdogan also want to extend a United Nations and Turkiye-brokered deal with Russia under which Ukraine has been allowed to ship grain to global markets during the war. Erdogan has tried to use his good working relations with both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to mediate an end to the war. Turkiye staged two early rounds of peace negotiations and is pushing for more talks. But Western governments worry about NATO member Turkiye’s growing economic ties with Russia and its resistance to the bloc’s expansion.

Where’s Wagner? Belarus president says Prigozhin is in Russia
AP/July 06, 2023
MINSK: Russia’s mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps where they had stayed before an abortive mutiny, the president of Belarus said Thursday. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal for Prigozhin to his rebellion on June 24 in exchange for security guarantees for himself and his soldiers and permission to move to Belarus. After saying last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus, Lukashenko told international reporters Thursday that the mercenary chief is in St. Petersburg and Wagner troops still were at their camps. He did not specify the location of the camps, but Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine before their revolt. The rebellion saw them quickly sweep over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and capture military headquarters there before marching on the Russian capital in what Prigozhin described as a “march of justice” to oust the Russian defense minister and the General Staff chief. Prigozhin claimed his troops had come within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of Moscow when he ordered them to stop the advance under the deal brokered by Lukashenko. The abortive rebellion represented the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power and exposed the Kremlin’s weakness. Lukashenko’s statement followed Russian media reports that claimed that Prigozhin was spotted in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. His presence was seen as part of agreements that allowed him to finalize his affairs there.

Zelensky discusses in Bulgaria the delivery of weapons and Ukraine's Atlantic hopes
AFP/July 06, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bulgaria on Thursday to discuss his country's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and expedite the acquisition of weapons from the country, which is a major producer of ammunition. Zelensky departed in the afternoon and is expected to arrive in Prague before heading to Istanbul on Friday. Together with the newly appointed Bulgarian Prime Minister, Nikolay Denkov, who has publicly expressed support for Kyiv, Zelensky stated, "We are grateful for Bulgaria's support." Among the topics discussed during the brief visit were "defense support, Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO, the NATO Summit, and security guarantees," according to Zelensky's statement on Telegram. A "joint statement" supporting Kyiv's accession to NATO was signed ahead of the Vilnius Summit scheduled for July 11-12.
Zelensky stated that he came to Sofia to address the "weapon shortage." He reiterated that the slow delivery operations delayed Kyiv's counteroffensive, allowing Moscow to bolster its defenses in the occupied areas, particularly through mine planting. He emphasized that "the enthusiasm of our partners must remain as it is," otherwise "we lose the initiative on the battlefield." Zelensky responded to Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who strongly opposed sending military aid due to fear of escalation, by stating that it is about "self-defense" to prevent the war from spreading to the rest of Europe. Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and NATO but has historically maintained close cultural and historical ties with Moscow. It is deeply divided on the issue of military support. However, in practice, weapons factories dating back to the communist era have been operating at full capacity since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Bulgarian defense industry exports reached approximately four billion euros, according to estimates, which is three times higher than the previous record set in 2017. So far, deliveries have been made through third countries, a solution adopted by former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov at the beginning of the conflict. Recently, Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podoliak stated on Bulgarian television channel "Nova," "Most of what we received in the early days of the conflict came from our Bulgarian partners." On the Russian side, the Kremlin criticized this visit, viewing it as an attempt by Kyiv to "drag more countries" into the conflict in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated to journalists, "Many countries have already become directly or indirectly involved in this conflict. This issue will be discussed with Bulgaria."
Sofia and Kyiv also agreed to cooperate in the energy sector, and Bulgaria offered to sell two nuclear reactors to Ukraine that it had previously requested from Russia in a now abandoned project. After Prague, Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday, marking his first visit to Turkey since the start of the war. According to the pro-government Turkish newspaper "Sabah," the two presidents will discuss the Ukrainian grain exports agreement concluded in July 2022 under the auspices of the United Nations and Ankara. Russia does not see a "reason" to extend it beyond the expiration of its reactors on July 17.

'No doubt' there will be a US-Russia war if Ukraine falls, Pence says: Live updates
John Bacon and Jorge L. Ortiz/USA TODAY/July 6, 2023
Providing Ukraine with the military support needed to turn back the Russian invasion is crucial if the U.S. wants to avoid going to war against Russia, former vice president and current presidential hopeful Mike Pence says.
Pence, speaking on the Hugh Hewitt Show, said Russia's military operation in Ukraine "is not just warfare. It’s evil," adding that he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is facing sharp divisions inside Russia. Pence promised that, if elected, he would ensure Ukraine received whatever aid was required to win.
"I have no doubt that if Vladimir Putin overran Ukraine, it would not be too long, Hugh, before the Russian military crossed a border where we would have to send our fighting men and women to fight against them," Pence said. He said he was a supporter of Ronald Reagan's doctrine that "if you’re willing to fight the enemies of the United States on your soil, we’ll give you the means to fight them there so our men and women in uniform don’t have to fight them."
Developments:
∎ Delivery of Russian tactical nuclear warheads to Belarus has begun and will be completed by year's end, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said, confirming statements made by Putin last month. Putin said Russia retains control over the warheads.
∎ Equipment contributions by allies and Russia's battlefield losses have allowed Ukraine to match or overtake the the number of tanks available to the Kremlin's forces while reducing a large pre-war disadvantage in artillery and systems that launch multiple rockets, though by a smaller amount, Bloomberg reported.
∎ The warring sides exchanged 45 prisoners of war each, among them Ukrainian soldiers involved in last year's dogged but unsuccessful defense of Mariupol and its Azovstal steel plant. Ukraine also got back two children who had been deported to Russia.
∎ Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina upset 28th-seed Elise Mertens of Belgium on Thursday to move into the third round a the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London.
Wagner group leader may be back in Russia
Yevgeny Prigozhin is not in Belarus even though the terms of a deal ending last month's coup essentially called for the Wagner Group leader's deportation to Russia's neighbor, Lukashenko said Thursday. Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin had arrived in Minsk.
Thousands of Wagner fighters have left Russia for camps in Belarus since the brief rebellion was put down at the end of June. "As for Prigozhin, he is in St. Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus," Lukashenko said Thursday. "Maybe he went to Moscow in the morning."
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm the whereabouts of Prigozhin but said the agreement on Prigozhin's departure to Belarus remained in force. "We have neither the ability nor the desire to ... follow his movements," Peskov said.
Russian missiles blast Lviv apartment building, killing 5
Russian cruise missiles slammed into an apartment building in the western Ukraine city of Lviv on Thursday, killing five people, injuring dozens and signaling that no region of the battered country was safe from attack. The bulk of the war has been fought in the south and east, closer to Russia's border. Lviv, a city of about 750,000 that has served as a refuge for many Ukrainians fleeing the unrelenting bombing, is less than 50 miles from Poland and had been relatively safe from Russia's military. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, who called for two days of mourning, said 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of the strike were damaged. "The whole city is without light," he tweeted. "We are waiting for additional information from energy experts. There may be interruptions with water supply." President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Bulgaria rallying support for his country, tweeted that "there will definitely be a response to the enemy. A strong one."
Zelenskyy lashes out at Bulgarian president
Zelenskyy drew support from Bulgaria's prime minister but had stern words for the nation's president during a brief visit to Sofia on Thursday. Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov pledged to supply weapons to Ukraine and to support NATO membership. But President Rumen Radev, who serves in a mostly ceremonial role, suggested that diplomacy, not more guns, was needed to end the war. That drew a rebuke from Zelenskyy, who suggested that Radev would change his position if his country were invaded − and that Bulgaria's military would be unable to stave off Russian aggression on its own.
Top Russian news agency chief dumped after coup coverage. The head of Russia's most powerful state-run news agency has been ousted in favor of a former press aide of Putin. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin dismissed Sergei Mikhailov after 11 years as director of Tass, BBC Russian reported. Mikhailov had modernized the news ageny while retaining its identity as a mouthpiece for the government. But Tass coverage of insurrection leader Yevgeny Prigozhin may have helped build the Wagner Group leader's popularity in Russia. The new Tass director, Andrey Kondrashov, was the press secretary for Putin’s campaign headquarters in 2018 and has produced documentaries glorifying the annexation of Crimea and Putin’s life. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War says Kondrashov’s appointment might indicate the Kremlin is unhappy with the media coverage of the Wagner Group’s armed rebellion and "highlights the continued importance of loyalty to Putin over professional achievement."
NBC says ex-US officials discussed Ukraine with Russia
A group of former senior U.S. national security officials have held secret talks with Russia's top diplomat and other Russian leaders in an attempt to lay groundwork for negotiations aimed at ending the war, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two current government officials and four former officials the news outlet did not name. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in New York with members of the group for several hours in April, NBC said. The meetings reportedly were conducted with the knowledge but not the authority of the Biden administration, and those who met with Lavrov briefed the White House National Security Council afterward, according to the report. The White House has repeatedly said Ukraine must determine when and if any peace talks take place. Among those involved in the talks were former diplomat Richard Haass, Europe expert Charles Kupchan and Russia expert Thomas Graham, both former White House and State Department officials. The three did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Russia is on the edge of civil war, Ukraine spy chief claims
Harriet Sinclair·Trending News Reporter/Yahoo News UK/ July 6, 2023
Russia is on the brink of civil war, according to Ukraine spy chief Major-General Kyrylo Budanov, who described Russian society as being "torn into two pieces". In an interview with The Times, Budanov said the recent rebellion by Wagner mercenaries that saw Yevgeny Prigozhin and his followers launch an ultimately unsuccessful march on Moscow had left Russia's president Vladimir Putin weakened – and the country ripe for civil war. “That’s what we see now: that Russian society is torn into two pieces,” the director of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate explained in an interview with The Times. He said spyware technology used by Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) showed during the mutiny that support for Prigozhin was seen in 17 of Russia's 46 regions, compared with support for Putin in 21. “The situation is indicating exactly what our service has been talking about: that the Russian Federation is on the edge of the civil war. There needs to be a small internal ‘affair’, and the internal conflict will be intensified.” His comments came as both Russia and Ukraine warned of a potential attack by opposition forces on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had told French president Emmanuel Macron that "the occupation troops are preparing dangerous provocations at the Zaporizhzhia", while Russia claimed Ukraine was planning to shell the plant. "Under cover of darkness overnight on 5th July, the Ukrainian military will try to attack the Zaporizhzhia station using long-range precision equipment and kamikaze attack drones," said Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Russian nuclear network Rosenergoatom. However, an inspection by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts found no signs of explosives at the plant, and there has been no shelling on the building. Indeed, Budanov appeared to concur that the threat to the plant was passing. “We are doing certain actions in this area, both public and not public,” he told The Times, “and I think now that the danger of an artificial technogenic catastrophe is quietly going down.”Budanov is not the first person to predict the collapse of Russia's regime, with Ben Hodges, a former general of the US Army in Europe, suggesting in September 2022 that Russia could fall in the next five years. "We may be looking at the collapse of the Russian Federation as it is over the next four or five years," he said. "We were not prepared for the collapse of the Soviet Union [in 1991]. We need to be prepared for this possibility. "The military has been exposed, the massive amounts of corruption I think are going to become increasingly intolerable for Russian citizens," he said. Budanov concluded that should Putin's star fall, the war in Ukraine would be unlikely to be continued by another leader. “Why would Russia do it again? Nobody there, nobody in the main cities of Russia, would like to continue a war with Ukraine,” he said.

The US will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package: AP sources
WASHINGTON (AP)/Thu, July 6, 2023
The Biden administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send thousands as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the decision. The decision comes despite widespread concerns that the controversial bombs can cause civilian casualties. The Pentagon will provide munitions that have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will be far fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths.
U.S. officials said Thursday they expect the military aid to Ukraine will be announced on Friday. Long sought by Ukraine, cluster bombs are weapons that open in the air, releasing submunitions, or “bomblets,” that are dispersed over a large area and are intended to wreak destruction on multiple targets at once. The officials and others familiar with the decision were not authorized to publicly discuss the move before the official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ukrainian officials have asked for the weapons to aid their campaign to push through lines of Russian troops and make gains in the ongoing counteroffensive. Russian forces are already using cluster munitions on the battlefield and in populated civilian areas, U.S. officials have said. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, some cluster munitions leave behind “bomblets’’ that have a high rate of failure to explode — up to 40% in some cases. U.S. officials said Thursday that the rate of unexploded ordnance for the munitions that will be going to Ukraine is less than 3% and therefore will mean fewer threats left behind to civilians. At Pentagon briefing Thursday, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said he had no announcement to make about cluster munitions. He said the Defense Department has “multiple variants” of the munitions and “the ones that we are considering providing would not include older variants with (unexploding) rates that are higher than 2.35%.”
Ryder would not say whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has reached out to NATO counterparts to address some of their concerns on the use of cluster munitions. Ryder said the U.S. is aware of reports that indicate some munitions have higher unexploding rates.
If the decision was made to provide the munitions to Ukraine, he said the U.S. "would be carefully selecting rounds with lower dud rates, for which we have recent testing data.”Asked how the cluster munitions, if approved, would help Ukraine, Ryder said they can be loaded with specific charges that can penetrate armor or fragmentary munitions that can hit multiple personnel — “a capability that would be useful in any type of offensive operations.“ Ryder said the Russians have been using cluster munitions that have a very high dud rate.
Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of Ukraine’s parliament who has been advocating that Washington send more weapons, noted that Ukrainian forces have had to disable mines from much of the territory they are winning back from Russia. As part of that process, Ukrainians will also be able to catch any unexploded ordnance from cluster munitions.
“We will have to de-mine anyway, but it’s better to have this capability,” Ustinova said. She credited Congress for pushing the administration over several months to change its position on the munitions.
Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the move was long overdue. “Now is the time for the U.S. and its allies to provide Ukraine with the systems it needs from cluster munitions to F-16s to ATACMS in order to aid their critical counteroffensive. Any further delay will cost the lives of countless Ukrainians and prolong this brutal war,” said McCaul, R-Texas. The Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, would give Ukraine the ability to strike Russian targets from as far as about 180 miles (300 kilometers). Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week that the U.S. has been thinking about providing the cluster munitions “for a long time.”“The Ukrainians have asked for it, other European countries have provided some of that, the Russians are using it,” Milley said during a speech at the National Press Club. Cluster bombs can be fired by artillery that the U.S. has provided to Ukraine, and the Pentagon has a large stockpile of them. The last large-scale American use of cluster bombs was during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to the Pentagon. But U.S. forces considered them a key weapon during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, according to Human Rights Watch. In the first three years of that conflict, it is estimated the U.S.-led coalition dropped more than 1,500 cluster bombs in Afghanistan.
Proponents of banning cluster bombs say they kill indiscriminately and endanger civilians long after their use. Groups have raised alarms about Russia’s use of the munitions in Ukraine. A convention banning the use of cluster bombs has been joined by more than 120 countries who agreed not to use, produce, transfer or stockpile the weapons and to clear them after they’ve been used. The United States, Russia and Ukraine are among the countries that have not signed on. It is not clear how America’s NATO allies would view the U.S. providing cluster bombs to Ukraine and whether the issue might prove divisive for their largely united support of Kyiv. More than two-thirds of the 30 countries in the alliance are signatories of the 2010 convention on cluster munitions. Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense focusing on Russia and Ukraine, recently testified to Congress that the Pentagon has assessed that such munitions would help Kyiv press through Russia’s dug-in positions.

US releases video of Russian fighter jets harrassing American drones over Syria
Associated Press/Thu, July 6, 2023
Russian fighter jets flew dangerously close to several U.S. drone aircraft over Syria on Wednesday, setting off flares and forcing the MQ-9 Reapers to take evasive maneuvers, the Air Force said. U.S. Air Forces Central released a video of the encounter, showing a Russian SU-35 fighter closing in on a Reaper, and later showed a number of the so-called parachute flares moving into the drone's flight path. The flares are attached to parachutes. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, commander of 9th Air Force in the Middle East, said three of the U.S. drones were operating over Syria after 10:30 a.m. local time, on a mission against the Islamic State group which was not detailed, when three of the Russian aircraft "began harassing the drones." In a statement, Grynkewich said one of the Russian pilots moved their aircraft in front of a drone and engaged the SU-35's afterburner, which greatly increases its speed and air pressure. The jet blast from the afterburner can potentially damage the Reaper's electronics, and Grynkewich said it reduced the drone operator's ability to safely operate the aircraft. "Russian military aircraft engaged in unsafe and unprofessional behavior while interacting with U.S. aircraft in Syria," he said, adding that the actions threaten the safety of the U.S. and Russian forces. "We urge Russian forces in Syria to cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the standards of behavior expected of a professional air force so we can resume our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS." Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that Russia's violation of ongoing efforts to clear the airspace over Syria "increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation." About 900 U.S. forces are deployed to Syria to work with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces battling the Islamic State militants there. No other details about the drone operation were provided, and it's not clear where over Syria the incidents took place.

French justice working overtime, thousands of teens arrested
Associated Press/Thu, July 6, 2023
At 19, he was the oldest of the group of teens accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails at the police station of their suburban hometown. "Why?" the judge asked Riad, who was taken into custody after he was identified in video surveillance images of the group from June 29, the second night of nationwide unrest following the police shooting of another suburban teenager outside Paris. "For justice for Nahel," Riad said. Slumped and slightly disheveled after five nights in jail, he said he didn't know about the peaceful march organized by Nahel Merzouk's family. He explained the cellphone photo of him holding a Molotov cocktail was "for social media. To give an image."In all, more than 3,600 people have been detained in the unrest across France since the death of Nahel on June 27, with an average age of 17, according to the Interior Ministry. The violence, which left more than 800 law enforcement officers injured, has largely subsided in recent days. French courts are working overtime to process the arrests, including opening their doors through the weekend, with fast-track hearings around an hour long and same-day sentencing. The prosecutor noted that Riad had learned where to acquire incendiary devices on Snapchat, the social network which the French government has singled out along with TikTok as fueling the unrest. Riad's lawyer noted his record was clean, and he was blamed for no significant damage or any injuries. By the end of Tuesday, Riad's sentence was fixed: three years, with a minimum of 18 months behind bars, barred from his hometown of Alfortville for the duration of the term. He collapsed on the stand: "I'm not ready to go to prison. I'm really not ready." He threw a furtive kiss at his mother as he was led away.Outside the packed courtroom, a pair of girls asked someone exiting what sentence he'd received. "Three years? That's insane!" one exclaimed.
But the mood in France is stern after unrest that officials estimate caused 1 billion euros (more than $1 billion) in damage. The killing of 17-year-old Nahel came during a June 27 traffic stop. The shooting, which was captured on video, immediately stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people — nearly all minorities, and overwhelmingly French-born — in housing projects and disadvantaged suburbs. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti issued an order on Friday that demanded a " strong, firm and systematic" judicial response. Hearings began the next day, as the unrest continued into the night.
"This is not hasty justice. The message I want to send is that justice is functioning normally in the face of an exceptional situation," said Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, the president of the tribunal in Bobigny. "You have many first-time offenders — people who are not deep in delinquency, many minors in school who don't (engage in) habitual criminal activity," Ghaleh-Marzban said. Despite that, the inclination to convict with jail time appeared to prevail.
In Lyon, France's second-largest metropolitan area by population, the prosecutor said Thursday that of 26 adults who have appeared before the fast-track courts so far, 22 were convicted and sentenced to jail, three requested more time to prepare a defense, and only one was acquitted. According to BFM television on Thursday, 76% of people in the fast-track trials were placed in detention. The U.N. rights office said the unrest showed it was time for France to reckon with its history of racism in policing, rather than just lash out in punishment, saying the government needed to ensure the use of force "always respects the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, nondiscrimination, precaution and accountability." Many French lawmakers demand the maximum penalty — and fast. Olivier Marleix, a lawmaker from the conservative Republicans party, called for all cases involving the unrest to be handled within 100 days. "Not to punish this would be an injury to all our law enforcement. Not to punish this would be a failure to understand the gravity of the threat to France," he said Tuesday in the National Assembly.
The officer accused in the death of 17-year-old Nahel, meanwhile, is charged with voluntary homicide but has yet to appear in a courtroom or even have a court date set. Rayan, an 18-year-old man detained with a group of about 30 young people throwing fuel on his local police station, was accused of filming a 14-second video of incendiaries being hurled at the building in Kremlin-Bicetre. In the footage, he cries out "Light them up!"It was the first time he'd ever been arrested. He was taken to Fleury-Merogis prison, the European Union's largest, and he wept on the stand on Tuesday. Prosecutors, who accused him of tripping a police officer while fleeing, asked for a 30-month sentence and for him to be barred from his hometown. "I'm a good person. I've never had a problem with police. I have a family, I work," he said, burying his face in his hands. "I don't even know what I'm doing here."His brief hearing ended with a 10-month suspended sentence. His parents picked him up the same night from prison to take him home.

Two Canadian women and three children on way home from detention camps in Syria
The Canadian Press/Thu, July 6, 2023
OTTAWA — Two women and three children who were temporarily missing in Syria after failing to board a repatriation flight to Canada in April are finally on their way home. They were among a group of 19 people Canada agreed to bring home from Kurdish-operated prison camps in northeastern Syria in January. The Canadian citizens had been held for years at displaced persons camps in a region now controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The other 14 arrived in April. The five who are now en route had failed to show up for the flight, with neither their lawyers nor the Canadian government seemingly aware of what had happened to them for several days. One of their lawyers later said that the women and children had been detained by Kurdish guards who would not allow them to travel and board the plane at that time. Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who advocated for the repatriation of the 19 Canadians in Federal Court, said the return of the final five is very good news. "I have spoken to their families here in Canada and they are over the moon, delighted and just overjoyed," he said. In a statement, Global Affairs Canada extended its gratitude to authorities in the region for co-operating under difficult security circumstances, and thanked the United States for its assistance in repatriating the Canadians. "Due to privacy considerations, we cannot provide information about the repatriated individuals, and for operational security reasons, we cannot share details of the repatriation," the statement said. The federal government arrested and sought peace bonds against three of the four women who returned in April.
"It wouldn't be a surprise if they sought peace bonds against either one or both of these two women," said Greenspon. In its statement, Global Affairs Canada said it is a serious offence for anyone who leaves Canada to knowingly support a terrorist group. "Those who engage in these activities will face the full force of Canadian law."The federal government is currently in talks with lawyers representing the three women arrested in April over peace bond conditions. In May, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a ruling from the Federal Court that held four Canadian men held in Syrian camps were also entitled to Ottawa's help to return home. Greenspon said the matter will be pursued at the Supreme Court of Canada. A small group of civil society members that includes Sen. Kim Pate is expected to travel to northeastern Syria in late August to visit the four men in the hopes of helping to repatriate them. Greenspon said the fact that five Canadians are on their way home this week will bolster the delegation's efforts. The group is also set to include Alex Neve, former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, and Scott Heatherington, a retired Canadian diplomat. Another Canadian mother of six who is struggling to leave Syria and was dealt a setback when her tent was damaged by fire is not in the group returning home. Greenspon said the federal government will not help the Quebec woman return to Canada because officials believe she poses a security risk, and that position has not changed since the fire was reported in late June. He said he expects to take legal action in response to the federal government's decision to grant repatriation to her six children, but not to her. She was physically and mentally distraught when they spoke a few days ago, he said. "She is in very, very poor condition."

Israeli court acquits officer of killing autistic Palestinian Iyad Hallak
Agence France Presse/Thu, July 6, 2023
An Israeli court on Thursday acquitted a police officer of recklessly killing an unarmed Palestinian man with autism in Jerusalem's Old City. Iyad Hallak, 32, was shot dead in May 2020 while walking in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, after officers mistook him for an armed assailant.The Jerusalem district court said the defendant was "acquitted" of "reckless homicide". The officer standing trial "made an honest mistake thinking he was dealing with an armed terrorist who posed a real danger", the court said, noting he had expressed "remorse" for his error. Hallak had aroused the suspicion of officers as he milled close to a border police position near Jerusalem's Old City, the court said in its decision. The officers approached him and yelled at him to stop, causing Hallak to run away, the court added. The defendant joined the chase and another officer shot towards the Palestinian's legs but missed, the court found. Hallak then entered an alley, where the defendant shot and hit him in the leg. Hallak then stood up and pointed at a woman he knew who had rushed to the scene, prompting the defendant to fatally shoot him in the chest. Hallak's family had said he had the mental age of an eight-year-old, and witnesses said Hallak panicked after being shouted at by police. The officer had been charged in June 2021, with the justice ministry having said the previous October that he had not followed police rules for opening fire, and that Hallak had "posed no danger to police or civilians at the scene". At the time, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called Hallak's death a "war crime" and an "execution", while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a "tragedy".His funeral drew thousands of mourners, while online the hashtag #PalestinianLivesMatter echoed the fury of mass protests against police violence and racism in the United States.

Israel's PM says missing citizen in Iraq held by Iran-backed militia
Associated Press/Thu, July 6, 2023
A dual Israeli-Russian academic who has been missing in Iraq for months is being held by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the office of Israel's prime minister said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Elizabeth Tsurkov, who disappeared in late March, is still alive "and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being." Netanyahu said Tsurkov is being held by the Shiite group Kataeb Hezbollah or Hezbollah Brigades, a powerful Iran-backed group that the U.S. government listed as a terrorist organization in 2009. The group's leader and founder Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was killed in an American airstrike near Baghdad's international airport in January 2020 along with Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force and the architect of its regional military alliances. Tsurkov, whose work focuses on the Middle East, and specifically war-torn Syria, is an expert on regional affairs and has been widely quoted over the years by international media. Tsurkov last tweeted on March 21. She is a fellow at the Washington-based think tank New Lines Institute. Her colleague Hassan Hassan, editor in chief of New Lines Magazine, said co-workers were notified of her kidnapping in Iraq on March 29. Hassan told The Associated Press that some of her colleagues had been in touch with her just days before she went missing. "We could not believe the news, knowing what Iraq is like for any scholar or researcher in recent years," he said. "But there is hope that she will be released through negotiations."Hassan said they they have reached out to American and foreign officials, including at Princeton University where Tsurkov is pursuing her doctorate, for assistance. He added that they "called on the United States government to be involved in securing her release, despite her not being a U.S. national." Netanyahu said Tsurkov is an academic who visited Iraq on her Russian passport, "at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University." Tsurkov could not have used her Israeli passport to enter Iraq as the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.
A senior official from Kataeb Hezbollah declined to comment on the matter. Iran emerged as a major power broker in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, supporting Shiite groups and militias that have enjoyed wide influence in the country ever since. There has been no official comment from Iraq since Tsurkov went missing. Days after her disappearance, a local website reported that an Iranian citizen who was involved in her kidnapping was detained by Iraqi authorities. It said the woman was kidnapped from Baghdad's central neighborhood of Karradah and that Iran's embassy in the Iraqi capital was pressing for the man's release and to have him deported to Iran. Some Iraqi activists posted a copy of a passport of an Iranian man at the time, claiming that he was involved in the kidnapping. Netanyahu's office said Tsurkov's case is being handled by the "relevant parties in the State of Israel out of concern for Elizabeth Tsurkov's security and well-being."Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing the country's hostile rhetoric, support for militant groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and its suspected nuclear program. Iran denies Western allegations that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb. Days before Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Soleimani were killed, U.S. military strikes in Iraq and Syria killed 25 Kataeb Hezbollah members. The U.S. said at the time that the December 2019 strike was a retaliation for a rocket attack days earleir that killed an American contractor at an Iraqi military base that it blamed on the group.

Palestinian militant kills Israeli soldier in West Bank, a day after Israel's military raid in area
JERUSALEM (AP)/Thu, July 6, 2023
A Hamas militant on Thursday opened fire near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, killing an Israeli soldier, a day after Israeli forces withdrew from the largest military operation in the West Bank in two decades. The Palestinian attacker was shot and killed by Israeli forces, the army said.
The shooting came on the heels of the Israeli withdrawal from the nearby Jenin refugee camp after a two-day offensive meant to crack down on Palestinian militants. The operation destroyed the camp’s narrow roads and alleyways, sent thousands of people fleeing their homes and killed 12 Palestinians. One Israeli soldier also was killed. Thursday's shooting near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim raised questions about the effectiveness of the Israeli raid, which came after nearly a year and a half of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed in the area. It also could prompt calls from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government for additional military incursions. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a firebrand settler leader, lives in the area of the shooting. Smotrich also oversees planning of settlements in the West Bank. The Hamas militant group claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was a “natural response” to the Jenin incursion. It said the 19-year-old attacker, Ahmed-Yassin Ghaidan, had targeted Smotrich's settlement. “The enemy will know that its massacre in Jenin only increased our people’s insistence on resistance and adherence to its approach until liberation,” the group said. The army said that the shooter opened fire on Israeli forces that had stopped his vehicle for an inspection. The man drove away and was shot dead after a brief chase. Late Thursday, the army identified the soldier as Staff Sgt. Shilo Yosef Amir. The West Bank has seen a more than yearlong spike in violence that has created a challenge for Netanyahu’s far-right government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who have called for tougher action against Palestinian militants only to see the fighting worsen. Over 140 Palestinians have been killed this year in the West Bank, and Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis have killed at least 25 people.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits China as part of efforts to soothe strained relations
AP/July 06, 2023
BEIJING: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing on Thursday for meetings with Chinese leaders as part of efforts to revive relations that are strained by disputes about security, technology and other irritants. Yellen planned to focus on stabilizing the global economy and challenging Chinese support of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, Treasury officials in Washington told reporters ahead of the trip. The secretary was due to meet with Chinese officials, American businesspeople and members of the public, according to Treasury officials. They gave no details, but said Yellen wouldn’t meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Yellen follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Xi last month in the highest-level US visit to Beijing in five years. The two agreed to stabilize relations but failed to agree on improving communications between their militaries. Yellen earlier warned against economic decoupling, or disconnecting US and Chinese industry and markets. Businesspeople have warned the world might split into separate markets, slowing innovation and economic growth, as both governments tighten controls on trade in technology and other goods deemed sensitive. Yellen said earlier the two governments “can and need to find a way to live together” in spite of their strained relations over geopolitics and economic development. The most recent flareup came after President Joe Biden referred to Xi as dictator. The Chinese protested, but Biden said his blunt statements about China are “just not something I’m going to change very much.” Relations have been strained by disputes over technology, security, China’s assertive policy abroad and conflicting claims to the South China Sea and other territory. Washington has tightened restrictions imposed by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, on Chinese access to processor chips and other US technology on security grounds. Ties became especially testy after a Chinese surveillance balloon flew over the United States in February and was shot down. This week, Beijing responded to US technology controls by announced unspecified curbs on exports of gallium and germanium, two metals used in making semiconductors, solar panels, missiles and radar.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 06-07/2023
IRGC Quds Force commander Qaani says Jenin proves Israel can be beaten - analysis
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/July 06/2023
IRGC commander says the US is declining in the region and Iran has benefited, praises Syria’s return to Arab League and China’s rise
Iran’s Quds Force commander, Esmael Qaani, said that the battle in Jenin this week shows that Palestinian young men are able to confront Israel’s army, even when Israel deploys its best units. He made the comments in a statement that was posted on pro-regime Tasnim News online on Wednesday.
"Today, we are witnessing that the Zionist regime brought all its forces to the field in the Jenin camp, but the Palestinian youth hit him in the mouth." He claims that Palestinians are able to carry out numerous operations against Israel.
Qaani took over the Quds Force, a part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020 after the US killed Qasem Soleimani with a drone strike. He made the comments during the opening of a project in Iran and initially he slammed the US and praised the late commander Soleimani.
Then he turned his attention to Israel. "The children of Palestine have never been as powerful and strong as today, and on the other hand, the criminal Israelis have never been like today." He implied Israel was divided internally by protests, while Palestinians are unified. Iran’s goal in the last years has been to entrench in Syria and then unify various Iranian-backed groups against Israel, including militias in Iraq and Syria, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
The changing world order allegedly favors Iran
Qaani pointed out that Iran is not only able to back the Palestinians, but also said that Syria has returned to the Arab League, basically asserting that Iran has been successful in diplomacy in the region, and in threatening Israel via proxies.
"Resistance has shown itself in the political, security, and economic arenas. These are the lessons that the Islamic Republic has learned within itself and is teaching to other countries, so the enemies are upset about this issue, and then they become so helpless that they die,” he said, according to Tasnim News.
He said that Iran-backed “resistance,” which is a euphemism for the IRGC and various terror groups, are transforming the region and that the US is declining. He marked 9/11 as an example of the beginning of an era of US decline after the US entered various wars in the region. “Today, the transfer of power from the West to Asia has been operationalized and is happening, if it were not for America's failures in various fields, these conditions would not have arisen, this Islamic revolution is the most effective factor that has shaped these events.” He then praised China and said that the US was declining.
Iran is seeking to be part of a China-led world order, working with Russia and groups like BRICS and the SCO, hoping to integrate with China’s economy. Towards that end Iran is seeking to swallow Iraq, like an anaconda, making Iraq’s economy dependent on Tehran and siphoning off resources. Iran is pleased that the US occupied Iraq after 2003 and that Iran jumped into the vacuum this created.
“Compare the situation in Iraq today with the time when the Americans occupied Iraq. At first, when they occupied Iraq, they ruled as a military commander, and after a while, due to pressure, they replaced him [the military commander] with a political person, but now see what a government, parliament, and system. It prevails in Iraq, this is due to the strength of the culture of the Islamic Revolution and resistance,” Qaani said.

Five Scenarios on Whether Tehran’s Nuclear Ambition Can Be Stopped
Saeed Ghasseminejad/ The National Interest/July 06/2023
There are a number of potential scenarios in which the Islamic Republic would not possess a nuclear bomb—mainly either because the regime no longer exists or because it has agreed to dismantle the nuclear program.
Whispers of an agreement between Washington and Tehran are coalescing into something more substantial. While the fine details remain shrouded in mystery, the broad outline suggests that Tehran will receive financial incentives and a dissolution of laxly imposed U.S. sanctions on oil exports. In return, Tehran would halt uranium enrichment beyond 60 percent, which is just short of weapons-grade.
This potential arrangement constitutes a desperate bid by the United States and its allies to stymie the Islamic Republic’s nuclear progression, prompting the crucial question: can Tehran be prevented from becoming a nuclear power?
There are five potential scenarios in which the Islamic Republic would not possess a nuclear bomb—mainly either because the regime no longer exists or because it has agreed to dismantle the nuclear program.
The first scenario entails a decision by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to refrain from developing a bomb for religious or moral reasons. Tehran often cites an elusive nuclear fatwa as proof of its disinterest in nuclear weapons. Consistently, U.S. intelligence agencies report that Tehran has not yet decided to build a nuclear bomb.
This scenario, however, appears extremely unlikely. Tehran’s current uranium enrichment levels have no civilian purpose, suggesting Iran seeks a bomb. Moreover, even if a nuclear fatwa exists, its validity can be revoked at any moment. Khamenei has not weathered nearly two decades of severe sanctions merely to produce nuclear electricity. He regards the nuclear umbrella as a final insurance policy for the regime’s survival.
The second scenario is predicated on coaxing Khamenei with financial and political incentives to forsake the pursuit of nuclear weapons. This approach has long been, and remains, the West’s favored strategy. Advocates of this method point to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as its paramount achievement. However, it should be transparent to all, including the agreement’s supporters, that the accord failed to stifle Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. At best, it merely postponed the problem. The problem with delaying tactics is they invariably reach an endpoint.
Despite offering Tehran an attractive package of political and economic incentives, the Biden administration has been unsuccessful in persuading Tehran to recommit to the nuclear deal. Biden’s failure to enforce sanctions and unite allies against Tehran has emboldened the regime and diminished Washington’s leverage. As the nuclear deal demonstrated, financial and political rewards seem unlikely to convince Tehran to surrender its nuclear aspirations and dismantle the program.
The third scenario could arise if a potent mix of political, economic, diplomatic, covert, and military pressure threatens the regime’s survival, forcing it to abandon its nuclear program to prevent collapse. The United States has intermittently adopted this strategy, often in conjunction with financial and political incentives to the regime. Yet the pressure campaign has never been comprehensive or absolute, focusing mainly on economic and diplomatic pressure and covert ops without even fully utilizing these instruments.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, the United States has squandered much of its diplomatic and economic influence over Tehran by failing to uphold sanctions and by alienating regional allies. Instead, Tehran has managed to improve its relations with countries in the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia. The regime’s mismanagement of the economy and its gamble in supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine still offer a fertile ground to pursue a pressure strategy, but critics can argue that Tehran’s nuclear progress and Washington’s loss of leverage cast a shadow of doubt on whether enough pressure can be produced in the short term to force Khamenei to retreat.
The fourth scenario entails the collapse of the Iranian regime. The regime’s various structural deficiencies have rendered it unstable. Its foreign interventionism invites the risk of war and foreign invasion, while its incompetence and authoritarianism render it vulnerable to revolution and, assuming increased internal factional competition for limited resources, coups d’état. The regime’s collapse would solve the nuclear issue, provided the succeeding political order is not anti-American.
The problem with this scenario, aside from its lack of timeliness in derailing Khamenei’s nuclear ambitions, is the significant cost and potential consequences of a regime collapse. Revolutions are unpredictable and challenging to orchestrate, coups d’état typically lack high success rates, and there is little appetite in the West for inciting regime change in Iran via military invasion, particularly after two decades of being engaged in Afghanistan and neighboring Iraq. Moreover, the collapse of Iran’s political regime could be enormously destabilizing for the region, and the succeeding government may not necessarily be aligned with U.S. or allied interests. It is for this reason that Washington and its allies have demonstrated little interest in capitalizing on Tehran’s weaknesses.
The fifth and final scenario envisages a military strike targeting Tehran’s nuclear program. If successful, such a strike could delay the program’s development for years.
Critics, however, argue that these strikes would not fully eliminate the program. They contend that, in the aftermath, Tehran would cease cooperation and resume and accelerate its efforts toward developing a nuclear bomb. At the same time, it would retaliate against adversaries with missile attacks and terrorist operations. This would mean that a single military strike would not be enough over time.
In the long run, the best strategy is to put maximum pressure on the regime and provide maximum support to the Iranian people to bring down the regime. In the short run, reviving the maximum pressure while preparing for a military strike as a last resort remains the only realistic option.
*Dr. Saeed Ghasseminejad is a senior Iran and financial economics advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), specializing in Iran’s economy and financial markets, sanctions, and illicit finance. Follow him on Twitter @SGhasseminejad. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

'America's Darkest Secret': Sex Trafficking, Child Abuse and the Biden Administration
Uzay Bulut./Gatestone Institute/July 6, 2023
Currently, at least 85,000 children are believed to be missing.
"Whether intentional or not, it can be argued that the US Government has become the middleman in a large scale, multi-billion-dollar, child trafficking operation run by bad actors seeking to profit off the lives of children.... Realizing that we were not offering children the American dream, but instead putting them into modern-day slavery with wicked overlords was a terrible revelation.... They threatened me with an investigation. They... took my badge. It is a terrible thing when you blow the whistle to try to save children and you're retaliated against for trying to help. The HHS [The United States Department of Health and Human Services] did everything they could to keep all of this silent." — Tara Lee Rodas, testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, April 26, 2023.
"Over the last two years, this country has become an international hub for child trafficking. And the US government is behind it. Under Biden, hundreds of thousands of children have come into this country illegally. Once they get here, most are sold for sex, used for cheap labor, or forced to join gangs." — Rachel Campos-Duffy, Fox News, April 26, 2023.
"In April 2021, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott learned of allegations of abuse of unaccompanied minors in a federal facility in San Antonio, he said, 'The Biden administration is presiding over the abuse of children.' He also called on the administration to shut these facilities down. Instead, the administration has only expanded them without communicating with state or local authorities. Local communities are not told how long the minors will be there, or where they will go when released and with no concern of the impact to local citizens. I am requesting that Congress launch a full investigation into the federal agencies responsible for approving the contracts for these facilities." — Sheena Rodriguez, president of the Alliance for a Safe Texas, testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, April 26, 2023.
"The mass migration crisis instigated by the Biden administration's misguided immigration policies has caused incalculable harm.... These migrants were enticed by these policies to... cross the border illegally, led by criminal smuggling and trafficking organizations, and enabled by government agencies and contractors.... The Biden administration has implemented policies that incentivize the illegal entry of unaccompanied alien children on a massive scale, to the profit of criminal smugglers and traffickers, even with full knowledge of the risks that such policies will endanger the safety and well-being of the migrant children. Some supporters of these policies have defended them on the belief that they are aiding the reunification of families, providing a safe haven from difficult living environments in their home countries, and even benefiting US employers. On the contrary, I submit that there is no possible rationalization for policies that have facilitated the abuse and exploitation of child migrants on such a large scale for so many years. There is no possible humanitarian or economic motive that could justify or make up for the damage that has been done to the victims by the smugglers, traffickers, abusive sponsors, and even family members who participated in these dreadful arrangements." — Jessica M. Vaughan, director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, April 26, 2023.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described what is happening as "effectively the largest human smuggling operation in American history."
"This is criminal... The FBI needs to be involved. They need to go find every single one of these kids — 85,000 or more — who are lost. The FBI needs to find them. We need to have an investigation by the FBI into the Homeland Security Department, into HHS to figure out who is facilitating these smuggling rings, are they deliberately not doing their job, are they deliberately or negligently turning these kids over to smugglers? We need to find out. The FBI needs to get on it and launch a full-scale investigation right now." — Senator Josh Hawley (R- MO), Fox News, April 26, 2023.
"To solve the problem, Congress must change the immigration laws and rein in the executive policies that are incentivizing the mass illegal migration of both adults and minors." What is needed is "more opportunity for state and local governments to investigate and penalize human trafficking and the illegal migration, human smuggling, identity fraud, and illegal employment." — Jessica M. Vaughan, testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, April 26, 2023.
The criminal practice of trafficking and abusing hundreds of thousands of migrant children who cross the southern border is now, thanks to the open-border policy of the Biden Administration, apparently "normal" inside the US. Pictured: A Texas National Guardswoman speaks to three unaccompanied children who arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande after crossing the US-Mexico border in Roma, Texas on July 9, 2021. (Photo by Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)
The criminal practice of trafficking and abusing hundreds of thousands of migrant children who cross the southern border is now, thanks to the open-border policy of the Biden Administration, apparently "normal" inside the US:
"According to Customs and Border Protection, since January 2021 when Biden took the oath of office, there have been 5,118,661 encounters with illegal immigrants along the southern border."
These numbers do not include reports that "at least 1.2 million illegal immigrants," or "gotaways," who "were confirmed to have unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border."
"The actual number of illegal immigrants... [is] unknown. It could be double the number of known gotaways, it could be three times worse, or more. We just don't know...."
Currently, at least 85,000 children are believed to be missing.
According to Customs and Border Protection statistics,
"[T]he number of UACs [Unaccompanied Alien Children] who arrive at the border has swelled from 33,239 in fiscal year 2020 to more than 146,000 in fiscal year 2021 and 152,000 in fiscal year 2022. So far in fiscal year 2023, there have been more than 70,000 encounters of unaccompanied children."
Many of those children are raped, used for forced labor, and forced to undertake brutal jobs ostensibly to "work off" their debt by the criminal cartels who reportedly now control the Mexican side of the border and brought the children in.
According to Tara Lee Rodas, a Health and Human Services whistleblower, in testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement on April 26:
"Whether intentional or not, it can be argued that the US Government has become the middleman in a large scale, multi-billion-dollar, child trafficking operation run by bad actors seeking to profit off the lives of children."
She described the practice as "modern-day slavery".
"Today, children will work overnight shifts at slaughterhouses, factories, restaurants to pay their debts to smugglers and traffickers. Today, children will be sold for sex. Today, children will call a hotline to report the are being abused, neglected, and trafficked.....
"I must confess; I knew nothing about their suffering until 2021 when I volunteered to help the Biden Administration with the crisis at the Southern Border. As part of Operation Artemis, I was deployed to the Pomona Fairplex Emergency Intake Site in California to help the HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] Office of Refugee Resettlement reunite children with sponsors in the US.
"I thought I was going to help place children in loving homes. Instead, I discovered that children are being trafficked through a sophisticated network that begins with being recruited in home country, smuggled to the US border, and ends when ORR [Office of Refugee Resettlement] delivers a child to a Sponsors – some sponsors are criminals and traffickers and members of Transnational Criminal Organizations. Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income - this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking.
".... I want to see the children protected, so I want to tell you some what I witnessed at the Pomona Fairplex:
I saw vulnerable indigenous children from Guatemala who speak Mayan dialects and can't speak Spanish. That means they can't ask for help in English and they can't ask for help in Spanish. These children become captive to their Sponsors.
I've sat with Case Managers as they cried retelling horrific things that were done to children on the journey.
I saw apartment buildings where 20, 30 & 40 unaccompanied children have been released.
I saw sponsors trying to simultaneously sponsor children from multiple ORR sites.
I saw sponsors using multiple addresses to obtain sponsorships of children.
I saw numerous cases of children in debt bondage and the child knew they had to stay with the sponsor until the debt was paid.
"Realizing that we were not offering children the American dream, but instead putting them into modern-day slavery with wicked overlords was a terrible revelation."
Rodas added that after she went public, her bosses retaliated against her.
"They threatened me with an investigation. They walked me off the emergency intake site in Texas and took my badge. It is a terrible thing when you blow the whistle to try to save children and you're retaliated against for trying to help. The HHS [The United States Department of Health and Human Services] did everything they could to keep all of this silent."
In another testimony, Jessica M. Vaughan, an expert on immigration, said:
"Numerous investigative journalism reports published over the years in the Washington Times, Reuters, and the New York Times, Project Veritas, and others, that provide graphic details of the experiences of UACs during and after their illegal crossing and placement with sponsors in the United States, including domestic servitude, sexual abuse, forced labor, labor exploitation, and illegal employment in manufacturing, landscaping, and other inappropriate and dangerous jobs."
Rachel Campos-Duffy reported on April 26 on the crimes committed against migrant children:
"Over the last two years, this country has become an international hub for child trafficking. And the US government is behind it. Under Biden, hundreds of thousands of children have come into this country illegally. Once they get here, most are sold for sex, used for cheap labor, or forced to join gangs. Nobody deserves this. Especially not children."
Campos-Duffy called the mass trafficking, abuse, and exploitation of migrant children "America's darkest secret."
Sheena Rodriguez, president of the Alliance for a Safe Texas, presented eyewitness testimony regarding what is happening to children at the southern border:
"In April 2021, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott learned of allegations of abuse of unaccompanied minors in a federal facility in San Antonio, he said, 'The Biden administration is presiding over the abuse of children.' He also called on the administration to shut these facilities down. Instead, the administration has only expanded them without communicating with state or local authorities. Local communities are not told how long the minors will be there, or where they will go when released and with no concern of the impact to local citizens. I am requesting that Congress launch a full investigation into the federal agencies responsible for approving the contracts for these facilities."
Among the several examples Rodriguez gave:
"I have also been a witness to several incidents where children were intentionally put in harm's way by adults who forced the children into the deadly currents of the Rio Grande instead of walking through a legal port of entry feet above from their crossing point in the river...
"I also met teenage boys between the ages of 14 to 17, who claimed cartel operatives often transported children through Mexico and held them at bodegas or warehouses where armed cartel members stood guard. Many were told they were going to stay with sponsors in America, with several claims that the teens had never met or personally communicated with their supposed sponsors.
"Since January 2021, there have been over 356,000 UACs...encountered at the southern border, a majority of which have been released into the U.S.: more than 10,000 of which have been released in my respective area of north Texas.
"The Biden administration has admitted they do not keep track of their whereabouts when they are released into the U.S. With the use of taxpayer dollars, tens of thousands of children are simply missing."
Jessica M. Vaughan also offered detailed testimony,
"The mass migration crisis instigated by the Biden administration's misguided immigration policies has caused incalculable harm to American communities, to the integrity of our immigration system, and, tragically, to many of the migrants themselves. These migrants were enticed by these policies to put themselves in risky situations to cross the border illegally, led by criminal smuggling and trafficking organizations, and enabled by government agencies and contractors that have looked the other way at the abuse and exploitation that frequently occurs en route and after resettlement. The most vulnerable group that has been endangered by the Biden policies are the more than 300,000 minors who have arrived on his watch (out of 660,000 total since 2012). They have been carelessly funneled through the custody of U.S. government agencies and contractors, and handed off to very lightly vetted sponsors (who are usually also here illegally) in our communities without regard to their safety and well-being...
"Several major investigative reports conducted by branches of the U.S. government and news media outlets have documented how U.S. policies and practices have facilitated not only this mass migration episode, but also the resulting exploitation and abuse of the participants, which has been present since the onset of this episode. These studies and reports have exposed numerous incidents of abuse, fraud, and trafficking for the purposes of commercial sex and forced labor.
"The Florida Grand Jury observed:
"'Some 'children' are not children at all, but full-grown predatory adults; some are already gang members or criminal actors; others are coerced into prostitution or sexual slavery; some are recycled to be used as human visas by criminal organizations' some are consigned to relatives who funnel them into sweatshops to pay off the debt accumulated by their trek to this country; some flee their sponsors and return to their country of origin; some are abandoned by their so-called families and become wards of the dependency system, the criminal justice system, or disappear altogether.'"
Vaughan gave examples of how children are exploited by gang members for sex and other criminal purposes, such as:
"In the Virginia MS-13 sex trafficking case, after running away from a group home in Fairfax, Va, the teen victims were horribly beaten to initiate them into the gang, and then repeatedly forced to engage in prostitution both to members of the gang and outsiders. From one court document:
'MINOR 2 was sex trafficked by numerous MS-13 gang members and associates shortly after she and MINOR 3 ran away from Shelter Care on August 27, 2018. According to MINOR 2, MINOR 3 informed her that she would engage in sex in exchange for money, food, and other things that MINOR 2 needed'." ....
"The Biden administration has implemented policies that incentivize the illegal entry of unaccompanied alien children on a massive scale, to the profit of criminal smugglers and traffickers, even with full knowledge of the risks that such policies will endanger the safety and well-being of the migrant children. Some supporters of these policies have defended them on the belief that they are aiding the reunification of families, providing a safe haven from difficult living environments in their home countries, and even benefiting US employers. On the contrary, I submit that there is no possible rationalization for policies that have facilitated the abuse and exploitation of child migrants on such a large scale for so many years. There is no possible humanitarian or economic motive that could justify or make up for the damage that has been done to the victims by the smugglers, traffickers, abusive sponsors, and even family members who participated in these dreadful arrangements."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis describes what is happening as "effectively the largest human smuggling operation in American history."
Senator Josh Hawley referred to the Biden policy "the biggest child smuggling ring and the biggest child labor ring in American history." He told Fox News not only that the FBI needs to be involved in finding the 85,000 migrant children that the federal government has lost track of, but that the FBI should investigate the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) over their handling of migrant children.
"This is criminal... The FBI needs to be involved. They need to go find every single one of these kids — 85,000 or more — who are lost. The FBI needs to find them. We need to have an investigation by the FBI into the Homeland Security Department, into HHS to figure out who is facilitating these smuggling rings, are they deliberately not doing their job, are they deliberately or negligently turning these kids over to smugglers? We need to find out. The FBI needs to get on it and launch a full-scale investigation right now."
"There is no question," Vaughan said, "that that the system for processing minors who cross illegally is dysfunctional, and has been for some time, and needs to be fixed.
"To solve the problem, Congress must change the immigration laws and rein in the executive policies that are incentivizing the mass illegal migration of both adults and minors" What is needed is "more opportunity for state and local governments to investigate and penalize human trafficking and the illegal migration, human smuggling, identity fraud, and illegal employment."
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, a research fellow for the Philos Project, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Like It Or Not, Identity Matters – But Which Ones?
Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez/Sudan | MEMRI Daily Brief No. 497/July 6, 2023
The videos are bloodcurdling. This used to be their land and now we have replaced them. The videos are accompanied by reports of the killing and expulsions of thousands. The videos are from Sudan, from Darfur to be precise. "Dar Masalit (land of the Masalit) is now for the Arabs."[1]The media content is from Darfur Arab tribesmen identified with or allied with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), currently fighting a brutal war against the Sudanese Army or SAF.[2] SAF itself is no stranger to ethnic conflict going back decades and seems to have returned to targeted killings of people from the "wrong" ethnic or tribal background in recent weeks.
But if you were an outsider looking at them, there is not a huge difference between the Masalit and other "African" tribes and their "Arab" adversaries. Both are generally Black, both are usually Muslims, both even tend to speak Arabic. In Sudan and in Darfur, it is all too often tribal or ethnic identity that triumphs, tied to a tribal consciousness connected to a sense of place and connection to people and past generations. Such consciousness has often been manipulated by state power or political actors.
If the "wrong" identity could lead to loss of life in Sudan, in America it could have led to the loss of opportunity. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that discrimination – "affirmative action" – on the basis of race in university admissions was unconstitutional. The case, against Harvard University, was by students of Asian origin, and recent polling has confirmed that a majority of the American people – including Republicans, Democrats and independents – are opposed to race-based affirmative action in university admissions.[3]
The fact that the high court and the American people were in accord about this issue did not stop a wave of rage against the ruling from left-wing and racial activists, joined by the Biden administration which said that "we cannot let this decision be the last word." Only a few weeks earlier, the Biden White House had displayed the "Progress Pride" flag (the traditional Gay Pride flag but with added strips to represent the Trans community as well as "minority or marginalized communities") in a place of honor between the national flag.[4]
While some favored identities (sexual and racial ones) in America seem to have gained official support at the highest level, others have not. Obviously, the Asians suing Harvard were not one of the favored. And in the still-majority-white United States, "white" seems to have become a frequently used (at least by elites) pejorative – "white privilege," "white fragility" – and even "whiteness" itself is a negative term, according to the federally funded National Museum of African American History and Culture.[5] Identity matters in the United States, but some identities matter more than others.
Perhaps it is not surprising that the last decade has seen a major decline in the percentage of Americans being proud of being Americans, according to Gallup in 2022.[6] The biggest declines come from those who identify as Democrats or independents, but declines were seen in every category.
And while Sudanese were being killed on the basis of identity, and Americans were either favored or discriminated against on the basis of identity, in France people were rioting on the basis of identity. The police shooting of a young juvenile delinquent of Algerian origin has triggered the worst wave of violence and looting seen in France since 2005.
The identities at play in France were complex. Most of the rioters, arsonists and looters arrested, two-thirds of them, were of migrant (Arab or African) origin. But in addition to ethnic, racial and religious elements, there were gang culture and anti-system strands. France's leading far-left party encouraged the street rage, and migrants were joined by black-garbed Antifa/anarchist groups as well, who had their own targets, such as a Catholic bookstore.[7] Most French polled wanted to see the Army deployed on the street to quell the violence.[8]
In addition to videos of looting and nihilistic destruction, of brandishing automatic weapons, there are others of French youth of migrant origin expressing their loathing of France, openly stating that their loyalty is to Algeria or Morocco and that they are only in France for the EU passport and for social welfare payments. These are youth who have been conditioned by the system – national education, courts, politics, migration and social policies – to embrace their grievance-laden ethnic identities at the expense of a national one.
In the small Loire town of Montargis (population 14,300), hundreds of hooded "protestors" outnumbered a local police force of 35 men. Eighty stores were torched and looted, almost a quarter of the picturesque downtown. One local noted, "It is surreal. It looks like the city was bombed."[9] Elsewhere, libraries and mayor's offices were burned, in addition to the looting of hundreds of stores.
Seen from a distance, the rhetoric is startling. While some, especially on the left, seek to portray the violence as civil rights protests by Frenchmen who feel marginalized by society, the discourse in Arabic language media has tied the violence to payback for France's supposed sins against the Third World, against Algeria or Africa or the Arabs. If that is true, then the demonstrators are not actually French at all, they are imported fifth columnists or invaders, seeking to exact revenge against France (for how do you take revenge on yourself?) for misdeeds perpetuated "back home," even though those rioting are born in France and are French citizens. This is next-level alienation.
These snapshots all happened at the same time, in June 2023, in Sudan, the United States, and France. If the events in Sudan represents an old type of atavistic violence, the tension in America and France is rooted in more recent challenges – the question of identities in Western nation states in a post-modern world. Although America is a country with high immigration rates (Hispanics, not Blacks, are the largest "minority" now), much of the tension is rooted in that old binary narrative – white oppressors versus Black oppressed – even though the plaintiffs at Harvard were Asians.
That binary narrative of Black versus white seems set to be shattered as American society becomes even more diverse and the newer minorities seek a greater share of the diversity sweepstakes. Increasingly, the "oppressed" will fight it out amongst themselves, as recently happened when immigrant and Muslim families faced off against LGBT activists and their Antifa allies in California and Maryland.[10] It is hard to see how the old "center" can hold in an increasingly racialized and fissiparous national narrative. State power seems to be harnessed towards more division rather than unity and harmony.
Sudan's terrible ethnic violence seems "old fashioned" in its naked brutality. In America and France, two other factors come into play. The exaltation of some – racial, ethnic or sexual – identities is coupled with the suppression of others. For some ("whites" usually, although these categories are not at all set in stone), their destiny in the eyes of ruling elites is to be transformed into deracinated ciphers with vacated identities – homo economicus – mere consumers and subjects defined by their malleability and blankness. There is no guarantee that the disfavored groups will willingly go into the abyss. Rather they will create and embrace their own narratives and grievances, real or fabricated.
Meanwhile, various select groups are to be permanently coddled, favored by state action, seemingly permanently favored while still permanently aggrieved. Such a Manichean scenario seems a recipe for permanent instability, with blatant social engineering through state action, with the result being that some identities, including the national one, are to be disfavored while others are to be simultaneously exalted. This is an interesting spin on the powers of modernity, seeking to erase some identities – for example, "dechristianizing" society while guarding against "Islamophobia" – while preserving others like precious treasures in amber. A national identity is deconstructed and vilified while other, rival identities rise.
So, citizens are to be simultaneously rooted in some identities and rootless in others. Some might see this as reasonable, overdue even, state action in the service of tolerance and diversity, others might see it as a type of madness.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
[1] Sudanwar.substack.com/p/all-the-dogs-are-gone-dar-masalit, June 14, 2023.
[2] Theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/30/calls-for-sanctions-against-sudan-amid-genocide-warnings-in-darfur, June 30, 2023.
[3] Fivethirtyeight.com/features/american-opinion-affirmative-action, June 29, 2023.
[4] Reuters.com/article/factcheck-flag-code-pride-idUSL1N38C1RP, June 20, 2023.
[5] Nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/whiteness#:~:text=Whiteness%20%28and%20its%20accepted%20normality%29%20also%20exist%20as,these%20attitudes%20communicate%20hostile%2C%20derogatory%2C%20or%20harmful%20messages.
[6] News.gallup.com/poll/394202/record-low-extremely-proud-american.aspx, June 29, 2022.
[7] lesalonbeige.fr/lextreme-gauche-profite-des-emeutes-pour-aller-casser/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lextreme-gauche-profite-des-emeutes-pour-aller-casser, July 4, 2023.
[8] Europeanconservative.com/articles/analysis/french-riots-a-tale-of-the-riot-of-2023, July 3, 2023.
[9] Fdesouche.com/2023/07/04/montargis-ville-paisible-de-15-000-habitants-dans-le-loiret-navait-jamais-vu-une-telle-violence-reportage-france-2, July 4, 2023.
[10] Spectator.com.au/2023/06/on-the-ground-with-the-muslim-montgomery-county-parents-protesting-the-school-boards-lgbt-curriculum, June 29, 2023.

The War In Ukraine – The Beginning Of The End?
Yigal Carmon/Russia, Ukraine | MEMRI Daily Brief No. 498/July 6, 2023
Recently, there have been visible clashes between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top American leaders. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, while generally supportive, has spoken about the slowness of the Ukrainian counterattack, and Zelenskyy, for his part, has complained that Ukraine’s Western allies have been “dragging their feet” with regard to their promise to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.[1] Zelenskyy also recently.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February 2022, ahead of talks in Belarus shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It was then leaked to the Washington Post – apparently by the U.S. State Department – that a month earlier, CIA Director Willian Burns had secretly visited Kyiv, met with Zelenskyy and with Ukraine’s military leaders, discussed military plans (is this his area of expertise?), and said that negotiations with Russia will begin by the end of the year as Ukraine regains of some of its territory (although whether this happens or not is not entirely in Ukraine’s control). Soon after, Zelenskyy rushed to declare that there will be no peace talks until Russia withdraws from all of Ukraine’s territory.[2]
Critically, the leak about Burns’ visit indicates that America’s intention for negotiations to be held at the end of the year is not conditional upon Ukrainian achievements in the battlefield.[3] It appears that for the U.S., whether Ukraine reconquers territories captured by Russia may be overshadowed by the fact that there are several crucial issues on the horizon that will divert America’s attention sooner or later. Hence, the U.S. may be aiming to free itself up for these issues. This is supported by reports that some former U.S. officials have even held secret talks with the Russians in order to lay the groundwork for ending the war.[4]
In addition, the U.S. may be trying to simultaneously resolve the conflict in a way that can be spun as a victory of American resolve in the upcoming 2024 presidential elections. Moreover, swiftly resolving the Ukraine issue at the end of the year, especially if a ceasefire is achieved, would help the West avoid an embarrassing failure of its economic sanctions campaign against Russia. In particular, the European Union may be forced to ease sanctions on Russia’s most important agricultural bank, Rosselkhozbank, in order to keep the Black Sea Grain Initiative flowing past its July 17th deadline.[5] Russian (and Ukrainian) grain exports are essential in feeding the world, and food scarcity in places like Africa will only increase pressure on Europe over time as waves of new migrants flood towards the Mediterranean. Easing the sanctions on Rosselkhozbank makes humanitarian and political sense, but it would undermine the point of the sanctions and may end up backfiring against the West if the conflict continues.[6]
There are two major issues that will inevitably demand America’s focus sooner or later:
The first is the issue of China and Taiwan, which is liable to erupt into a violent conflict at any time. Notably, as MEMRI’s Russia analyst Dr. Vladislav Inozemtsev noted in March of this year, China – which is Russia’s closest and most essential ally – is watching events in Ukraine closely in order to gauge the West’s behavior (Russia will also likely coordinate with China in ending the war in Ukraine).[7]
The second issue is the very real danger of war in the Middle East. A direct clash between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran becomes increasingly likely as Iran races towards the nuclear bomb. Such a war would involve Iran's missile-armed militia proxies in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and the ensuing regional "World War" involving ballistic missiles, drones, and Israeli airpower could very well drag the U.S. in as well. Unfortunately, this is not an unlikely scenario, and a hot war between Iran (which is Russia’s and China’s most important ally in the region) and Israel (which is America's best armed ally) could be the next stage in the competition between the great powers. Such a war could indeed unfold before tensions erupt in the Taiwan Strait – and even before the Ukraine-Russia negotiations that the U.S. expects/hopes for by the end of the year.
*Yigal Carmon is President of MEMRI
[1] Bbc.com/news/world-europe-66075786m, July 2, 2023.
[2] Dnyuz.com/2023/07/02/zelensky-declares-no-peace-talks-with-putin-until-russia-leaves-crimea-and-donbas-1991-borders-restored/, July 2, 2023. It is noteworthy that Zelenskyy did not say anything about negotiations until the details of Burns’ visit were leaked to the public.
[3] Currently, it appears that the war will continue as long as Ukraine does not run out of men and Russia does not run out of will or artillery shells. According to the “officials” cited by the Washington Post, if the Ukrainians’ military strategy succeeds, they would be able to either cut off Crimea from Russia or keep it under steady artillery bombardment. If that’s where the war ends, that would leave Russia with essentially the same territories it had already taken before the war began (Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk). Western war hawks might not want to see the war end this way, but in reality this would constitute an admission of Russian futility and would at least bring an end to a bloody and destructive conflict. It is important to note that even in the best case, diplomatic talks by the end of the year would still mean a lot of killing and fighting as both sides maneuver for an advantage ahead of a potential ceasefire. This is especially true if either side senses any weakness or possibility of a breakthrough against the other side.
[4] Nbcnews.com/news/world/former-us-officials-secret-ukraine-talks-russians-war-ukraine-rcna92610, July 6, 2023.
[5] Pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/07/3/7409581/, July 3, 2023.
[6] It would also reward Russia’s ruling elite, including the bank’s board chairman Dmitry Patrushev and Russia’s Agriculture Minister Nikolai Patrushev.
[7] Memri.org/reports/russia-would-listen-only-china-political-settlement-ukraine-crisis, March 15, 2023.

The dangers of conflict in Sudan should not be underestimated
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 06, 2023
The risks and threats that a protracted and heightened conflict in Sudan can pose, not only for this African nation but also for the Horn of Africa region and beyond, should not be underestimated.
First of all, it is important to point out that increased violence and conflict in Sudan can provide a ripe environment for terror groups to emerge, mobilize, recruit, grow and gain power.
The modus operandi of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda is generally anchored in efforts to further destabilize a country or region and create chaos, providing a good space that the terror groups can exploit and prosper in. We have witnessed this phenomenon in the Middle East, where some terror groups have attempted to use conflict in order to divide communities, pursue a sectarian agenda, capitalize on people’s fears and sow discord between Shiite and Sunni communities in order to gain power and control.
A second problem is that terrorist groups might be capable of finding some state or nonstate allies that are willing to provide finances, military assistance and advice, intelligence and training. This further increases the threat they pose in the region and on the global level.
Through the prism of the realist school of thought in political science, whenever a conflict erupts in a country, states react in one of a number of ways. Some may view the conflict and instability from the perspective of political opportunism. As a result, they may support some specific groups and intervene directly or indirectly through financial, military, advisory, intelligence or political support to shift the balance of power and use the conflict for their own geopolitical, strategic and geoeconomic interests.
Terrorist groups can push to take over or have a significant say in any new political establishments in the country
Some other countries will attempt to resolve the conflict diplomatically, such as Saudi Arabia’s initiative in Sudan — the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan. Other states may only try to prevent the spillover of the conflict into their own territory.
After gaining power and momentum, terrorist groups can push to take over or have a significant say in any new political establishments in the country. Other possible objectives include establishing supremacy, the advancement of hegemonic ambitions, achieving specific ideological and foreign policy objectives, and exporting their ideology to other countries. In addition, some terror groups are used for asymmetrical warfare.
Having found a safe harbor, terror groups can also create complex networks in order to facilitate their operations in more than one country, as well as to use cyberterrorism to conduct attacks on various governmental, nongovernmental and private sector entities. They will also likely attempt to find more allies, regardless of their religious nature, as long as the allies share the group’s ideology and objectives. Examples include some terror groups that were operating not only in Iraq, but also in Syria and other countries.
The other vital issue is that the number of terror and militia groups will continue to increase as conflicts escalate. The world witnessed in the last decade how the protracted conflicts in Syria and Iraq led to the rise and prominence of terrorist groups such as Daesh, which made remarkable advances and controlled a significant amount of territory.
Sudan, in particular, is in a very vulnerable position when it comes to being exploited by terror groups
Sudan, in particular, is in a very vulnerable position when it comes to being exploited by terror groups due to the country’s socioeconomic status, its lack of powerful security apparatuses, its widespread poverty and its location and geography.
In addition, Sudan also lacks effective counterterrorism strategies, such as the productive policies that are implemented in the Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. As a 2020 report by the Rand Organization explained: “Sudan’s location makes it a potential gateway for linking hubs of militant activity in north, central, and east Africa. This is particularly true given that movement across the country’s borders is not difficult. Most land crossings are highly informal, or, due to their sheer length, unmonitored. Where official posts do exist, they are generally poorly staffed and underequipped, relying mostly on paper ledgers to record the details of those who enter and exit the country. Militant groups could exploit these dynamics to establish rear bases that are used to support and facilitate the movement of operatives across various theaters of conflict.”
Besides terrorism, a second threat is linked to the humanitarian facet of the Sudan conflict, which includes the deprivation and hunger it has inflicted on people of all ages.
The third important issue and risk is the massive displacement that such conflicts cause. The escalation of the conflict in Sudan is already having severe repercussions not only for the Sudanese people, but also for the stability and security of several other nations in the region.
In a nutshell, the threats that the Sudan conflict can create should not be underestimated. One of the biggest threats is that it could create a ripe environment for terror groups to gain power and inflict damage not only on Sudan but also beyond its borders. This is why it is crucial for the international community to immediately act in order to find a permanent resolution to the crisis in Sudan. The longer a conflict continues, the more difficult it becomes to chart a path that will bring peace, stability and security back to the affected nation.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh