English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 09/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For
today
If I had not come and spoken to them,
they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Saint John 15/22-27:”If I had not come and spoken to them, they would
not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me
hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one
else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me
and my Father. It was to fulfil the word that is written in their law, “They
hated me without a cause.” ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you
from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will
testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me
from the beginning.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 08-09/2023
Banning Kuwaiti journalist Fajr
Al-Saeed from entering Lebanon is a reprehensible act of terrorism that
confirms Iran and its terrorist Hezbollah occupy the homeland of the Holy
Cedars/Elias Bejjani/08 June/2023
Report: French FM to visit Qatar for talks on Lebanon's presidential file
Macron returns to former minister to help break Lebanon deadlock
Macron names envoy to find 'consensual and efficient' solution for Lebanon
Macron's move reshuffles cards, opposition sees it as favorable
The Democratic Gathering Bloc endorses Jihad Azour's presidential candidacy
The June 14 showdown: Anticipation and consequences surrounding presidential
session
IMF says Lebanon needs urgent economic reforms to stop deepening crisis
Jihad Azour temporarily steps down from IMF position amid presidential
nomination by various political parties
Navigating the Lebanese file: Potential turning point in France's approach
to Lebanon
Geagea: Presidential vote session may be worse than past ones
Hezbollah MPs will attend June 14 session, vote for Franjieh
Lebanon recalls ambassador from France after rape accusation
Swiss team to visit Lebanon in Salameh probe
Amnesty: Sharp increase of deaths in custody as prisons lack basic
healthcare
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on June 08-09/2023
Four children critically wounded
in knife attack in French Alpine town
Ukraine launches long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia
Zelensky visits area flooded by destroyed dam as 5 dead in Russian-occupied
town
Russian missiles greet Zelensky’s visit to flooded Kherson region
Putin’s Army Bombarded as First Dead Bodies Emerge in Floods
WHO rushes supplies to Ukraine, readies to tackle disease in flood areas
Russia urges top UN court to dismiss Ukraine's case over Crimea, terrorism
funding
GCC, Iraq electrical interconnection project enhances energy security: Saudi
minister
GCC, US ministerial meeting issues joint statement on Ukraine, Syria and
more
UN investigators compiling evidence on chemical weapons use by IS in Iraq
Divide between religious and secular Jews heats up under Netanyahu's rule
US denies report of nearing interim nuclear deal with Iran
Shooting connected to Palestinian criminal groups in northern Israel kills 5
Blinken says he will work on Israel-Saudi-Arabia normalization
Israel demolishes home of Palestinian suspect in Jerusalem attacks
Israel to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara soon –official
US, KSA urge Western nations to repatriate IS jihadists
Republican presidential field largely set: Takeaways on where the contest
stands
Blinken expresses concern over Houthi actions during meeting with Yemeni
leader
Saudi foreign minister: wants US to bid in domestic nuclear program
Global Coalition against ISIS: Confronting the challenge of repatriation
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News &
Editorials published on June 08-09/2023
Manipulating Israeli Public Opinion/Naomi Linder Kahn/Gatestone
Institute/June 08, 2023
The promising new diplomatic trend in the Middle East/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/June 08, 2023
Why it is time for the US to end its strategic ambiguity/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/June 08, 2023
US-China arms control talks would be a heartening development/Dr. Amal
Mudallali/Arab News/June 08, 2023
Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 08-09/2023
Banning Kuwaiti journalist Fajr Al-Saeed
from entering
Elias Bejjani/08 June/2023
We strongly condemn banning the Kuwaiti journalist, Fajr Al-Saeed, from
entering our beloved country,
This reprehensible and shameful ban took place because of Al-Saeed’s bold,
just and patriotic stances criticizing the practices and policies of the
destructive Iranian axis of the so falsely called resistance, and the
terrorist Iranian Hezbollah, which is on the lists of terrorism in dozens of
Arab and international countries.
We assure
In conclusion, the banning decision is shameful, reprehensible, strongly
condemned, and does not by any way represent the free and sovereign people
of
Report: French FM to visit Qatar for talks on
Lebanon's presidential file
Naharnet/June 08, 2023
France has no presidential candidate for Lebanon, French Foreign Minister
Catherine Colonna told her Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib Thursday
in a meeting in Riyadh. "All what France cares about is for a president to
be elected," Colonna told Bou Habib. The French minister had arrived in
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday night, and will on Thursday visit Qatar to discuss
with Qatari officials the Lebanese presidential file, media reports said. On
Wednesday French President Emmanuel Macron named his former foreign minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian as his personal envoy for Lebanon, in a new bid to end
the country's political crisis. Le Drian will be charged with helping to
find a "consensual and efficient" solution to the crisis, said a
presidential official. The official said Le Drian had vast experience in
"crisis management" and would be heading to Lebanon "very soon."
Macron returns to former minister to help break Lebanon deadlock
Reuters/June 08, 2023
Lebanon has had no head of state since President Aoun’s term ended at the
end of October
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron appointed on Wednesday his former
foreign minister as personal envoy to Lebanon just a year after he stepped
down and having previously not been able to make any inroads in the
political deadlock in the country. Macron led international efforts after a
massive explosion that killed more than 200 people in
Macron names envoy to find 'consensual and
efficient' solution for Lebanon
Agence France Presse/June 08, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron has named his former foreign minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian as his personal envoy for Lebanon, in a new bid to end
the country's political crisis, the presidency said. Le Drian will be
charged with helping to find a "consensual and efficient" solution to the
crisis, said a presidential official, asking not to be named. The official
said Le Drian, who served for five years as foreign minister up to 2022, had
vast experience in "crisis management" and would be heading to Lebanon "very
soon." Lebanon is facing a political crisis as factions struggle to agree on
a new president while an economic crisis has seen the living standards of
most Lebanese plummet over the last year. France, the former colonial
master, retains some sway in Lebanon but has to contend with a host of other
powers, notably Saudi Arabia, who are influential among the Sunni community,
and Iran which can count on the Tehran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah.
"The situation remains difficult in Lebanon" with a need to "get out of both
the political crisis and the economic and financial difficulties," the
official said. There is an urgent need "to bring together a form of
consensus" to allow the election of a president of Lebanon, which has been
without a head of state for more than seven months because of the political
deadlock. Macron won praise from observers for heading to Beirut in the
immediate aftermath of the 2020 disastrous port explosion to push Lebanon's
leaders into radical reform. But he now faces pressure to follow up on these
promises.
Former president Michel Aoun's term expired last October with no successor
lined up. Since then, there have been 11 parliamentary votes to try to name
a new president, but bitter divisions have prevented anyone from garnering
enough support to succeed Aoun. Opposition lawmakers on Sunday nominated
Jihad Azour, an International Monetary Fund regional director and former
minister, for president, in a new bid to find a solution.
Macron's move reshuffles cards, opposition sees it as
favorable
Naharnet/June 08, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to name a special envoy for
Lebanon “reflects the French leader’s positive response to the urgent
demands by the Vatican, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and several
Lebanese forces as to changing the nature of the French team tasked with
Lebanon’s presidential file,” a prominent Lebanese opposition leader said.
The decision “practically stands for ending the services of presidential
adviser Patrick Durel, who is considered to be the godfather of the
settlement calling for electing (Suleiman) Franjieh as president in return
for naming Nawaf Salam as premier,” the leader added, in remarks to
al-Akhbar newspaper. The French move means that Paris will have “a new
vision for the dialogue with the Lebanese forces and will shelve the
previous mission, which was focused on convincing everyone with endorsing
the settlement,” the leader said.
The decision “reshuffled the cards anew and perhaps it will open the door to
a new round of dialogue with the Lebanese forces to avoid descent into a
major clash,” the leader went on to say. Macron has named his former foreign
minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as his personal envoy for Lebanon, in a new bid
to end the country's political crisis, the French presidency said on
Wednesday. Le Drian will be charged with helping to find a "consensual and
efficient" solution to the crisis which has intensified after the deadly
2020 Beirut port explosion, said a presidential official, asking not to be
named.
The official said Le Drian, who served for five years as foreign minister up
to 2022, had vast experience in "crisis management" and would be heading to
Lebanon "very soon."There is an urgent need "to bring together a form of
consensus" to allow the election of a president of Lebanon, which has been
without a head of state for more than seven months because of the political
deadlock, the official added.
The Democratic Gathering Bloc endorses Jihad Azour's
presidential candidacy
LBCI/June 08, 2023
The Democratic Gathering Bloc held its meeting in the presence of
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and Deputy Head of the
Bloc, MP Taymour Jumblatt. The meeting was also attended by MPs Marwan
Hamadeh, Akram Chehayeb, Hadi Aboul Hassan, Wael Abou Faour, Faisal Sayegh,
Raji Saad, and former MP Ghazi Aridi. General Secretary of the Progressive
Socialist Party, Zafir Nasser, and Advisor to Jumblatt, Hossam Harb, were
also present. Following the meeting, the Bloc affirmed its support for the
nomination of former Minister Jihad Azour in the presidential elections.
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt was the first to propose
Azour's name, along with a basket of names presented to various political
forces based on consensus and the need to move away from the logic of
confrontation. The Bloc emphasized that its endorsement of Azour does not
imply any alignment, but rather, they were the initiators of his nomination
before any other party adopted it. While reaffirming its commitment to
dialogue and achieving the desired consensus, the Bloc expressed its
surprise at considering Azour as a confrontational candidate. The Bloc urged
all forces to adhere to the logic of genuine dialogue and expedite the
completion of the presidential process, emphasizing that this achievement
remains the key to rebuilding institutions and initiating the reform and
rescue process at various levels.
The June 14 showdown: Anticipation and consequences
surrounding presidential session
LBCI/June 08, 2023
Awaiting the June 14 presidential session, everyone is living in
anticipation, fearing any misstep. The opposition, which endorsed the
candidacy of former minister Jihad Azour with the signatures of 32 MPs,
realizes that the upcoming session will have political consequences. Hence,
it intensified its meetings, with the latest taking place on Wednesday,
where they agreed to focus on communicating with MPs who have not yet
decided or announced it. The opposition refers to this gray area as giving a
pass to Hezbollah at the expense of a candidate outside the alignments.
Among those who relied upon and have not announced their decision are six
Change MPs, whose sources reject labeling them as gray and affirm that they
will take a stance before the June 14 session. Consultations among them are
ongoing, as well as communication with Azour. What delays some from making a
decision is a lack of trust in the convergence between the Free Patriotic
Movement (FPM) and the opposition, likening it to interests. As positions
become more rigid, the Maronite Patriarchate takes a step towards Ain
el-Tineh, where the patriarchal envoy is expected to initiate dialogue.
Bkerke, which does not adopt any particular side, will request the
continuation of opening the doors of parliament until the president's
election, as the Christian consensus cannot be overlooked. The answer will
be that the Parliament Speaker is present, but the essence is understanding,
not challenging. Furthermore, Bkerke will
communicate with all parties and inform the French about the outcome of the
consultations resulting from the continuous communication following the
meeting between the Maronite patriarch and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Will the internal and external efforts open a gap, calm teams, and initiate
a new form of dialogue, whether bilaterally or through intermediaries? The
answer will be revealed after June 14, when the balance of power will be
determined.
IMF says Lebanon needs urgent economic reforms to stop
deepening crisis
Reuters/June 08, 2023
Lebanon must take urgent action on comprehensive economic reforms to avoid
"irreversible consequences" for its economy, the International Monetary Fund
said on Thursday. IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told reporters that IMF
staff concluded an Article 4 consultation with Lebanese authorities on June
1, and concluded that reforms were urgently needed to arrest the "severe and
deepening crisis" facing the economy. "Lebanon needs urgent action to
implement a comprehensive economic reform program to arrest the severe and
deepening crisis and to allow Lebanon's economy to recover," Kozack said,
adding that the IMF was concerned that delays in implementing key reforms
were keeping the economy severely depressed. "We are concerned about
irreversible consequences for the economy, especially for the poor citizens
of Lebanon and the middle class," she said. Kozack said the IMF remained
engaged and was willing to support Lebanon, but the country would also need
strong financial support from the broader international community to cover
the "very large financial needs" it faces in coming years. Pro-Iranian
Hezbollah, the country's main armed political force, and its Shi'ite ally
Amal, had backed Frangieh, 56, heir of an old Lebanese Christian political
dynasty and an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with strong ties to
the ruling political establishment in Damascus. Opposition deputies said the
consensus around Azour could help him garner the 65 votes needed in a secret
ballot by lawmakers in the 128-member parliament to assume the post reserved
for a Maronite Christian under the country's complex sectarian power sharing
regime.
Jihad Azour temporarily steps down from IMF position
amid presidential nomination by various political parties
LBCI/June 08, 2023
Jihad Azour, a former Lebanese finance minister and current International
Monetary Fund (IMF) official, has temporarily stepped down from his position
to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. Azour, who serves as the
Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, is
currently on leave from the organization while pursuing his presidential
campaign after being nominated by Lebanon’s opposition, independent, and
main Christian parties. The announcement of Azour’s temporary departure was
confirmed by the IMF’s Media Relations Director, who stated that the move
was aimed at ensuring transparency and preventing any potential conflicts of
interest. Azour has been actively involved in leading the Middle East and
Central Asia Department at the IMF since 2017, but has now taken a leave of
absence as he focuses on his bid for the country’s presidency.
Navigating the Lebanese file: Potential turning point
in France's approach to Lebanon
LBCI/June 08, 2023
The transmission of the Lebanese file from the hands of the team composed of
advisors Patrick Durel, Emmanuel Bonne, the head of foreign intelligence
Bernard Emié, and Pierre Dukan signifies the opening of a new chapter in
dealing with the Lebanese file. Since the August 4 explosion, this team has
tried to establish an approach to handling the Lebanese file. However, it is
clear that they have failed to achieve the desired objectives, both from
French and Lebanese perspectives. They have faced multiple setbacks, from
President Macron's promise to form a government at the time to the
presidential election, where France attempted to support Sleiman Frangieh,
who recently met with Patrick Durel at the Élysée Palace. Perhaps this path
was behind the decision to remove the old team and assign Jean-Yves Le Drian
with the Lebanese file. It is common for Le Drian
to engage in the Lebanese arena. He is well-versed in the chaos of domestic
politics and knowledgeable about the role of international officials within
it, having previously served as France's Foreign Minister and Defense
Minister. Nonetheless, Macron's move is noteworthy, as it comes just days
after the Maronite Patriarch visits Paris, which some observers see as the
beginning of a turning point in France's performance in Lebanon.
Geagea: Presidential vote session may be worse than past ones
Naharnet/June 08, 2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said he does not rule out that the 12th
presidential election session might be “worse” than the previous sessions
through blocking the first round’s quorum or boycotting the session
altogether. “The circumstances are appropriate, there is no need for boycott
and we’re before two candidates with clear characteristics who enjoy the
needed conditions and the support of some blocs. That’s why it is necessary
to head to open-ended electoral sessions until the aspired result is
reached,” Geagea said in an interview. He added that “ex-minister Jihad
Azour will not necessarily meet the same fate of MP Michel Mouawad, seeing
as Azour is starting from a broader base.”“That’s why we will cling to his
nomination and this is our natural right, after the opposition intersected
on his name,” Geagea said. “Escalation is unjustified. We heard very
escalatory remarks over the past two days and this is an indication that the
(Axis of) Defiance camp does not want things to spiral out of its control.
It does not believe in the constitution, elections, public order or the
other similar principles. Once this camp sensed that something outside its
expectations and control happened, it directly started its escalation,” the
LF leader added. He also emphasized that Azour’s nomination is not aimed at
prolonging paralysis, noting that it has “pulled the presidential juncture
out of stagnation, which pushed Speaker (Nabih) Berri to call for an
electoral session.”“Democracy requires accepting the other,” Geagea
underscored.
Hezbollah MPs will attend June 14 session, vote for
Franjieh
Naharnet/June 08, 2023
Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc said Thursday that its MPs will attend the
presidential election session on June 14 and will vote for Marada leader
Suleiman Franjieh. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had also affirmed that his
bloc will vote for Franjieh. "Amal and it's allies will all vote for
Franjieh," Berri said in an interview. Local media reports had expected
Franjieh's supporters to boycott the session, cast blank votes, or block the
second round's quorum, after the opposition and the FPM agreed on the
nomination of former Minister Jihad Azour, claiming that he can get more
than 65 votes.
"The MPs might cast blank ballots during the first round and leave before
the second round to strip the session of its quorum," a local media report
said earlier this week. Also this week, Ain el-Tineh sources told al-Jadeed
that the Shiite Duo has the right to thwart quorum, "exactly as the
opposition camp was publicly declaring that it would block quorum to prevent
Franjieh from becoming president." The Shiite Duo has long accused the
opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement of nominating Azour as a maneuver
against Franjieh's nomination. Sources told al-Binaa newspaper, in remarks
published Thursday, that "these parties don't really want Azour. They are
nominating him to thwart Franjieh's nomination before ending their agreement
and finding other candidates."
Lebanon recalls ambassador from France after rape
accusation
Agence France Presse/June 08, 2023
The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it is recalling the Lebanese ambassador
to France, Rami Adwan, after an investigation was opened into allegations of
rape and intentional violence by the envoy. "Following the circumstances
surrounding the case of the Lebanese ambassador to France... it has been
decided to recall ambassador Rami Adwan," the Foreign Ministry said in a
statement. Adwan is being investigated in France following complaints by two
former embassy employees. He has diplomatic immunity but could face trial if
Lebanon agrees to lift it. Lebanon this week sent an investigation team to
the embassy in Paris to question the ambassador and hear statements from
embassy staff. Thursday's Foreign Ministry statement said the decision to
recall Adwan also came "in light of" the dispatch of that team to France. It
said a charge d'affaires was appointed as head of mission on Wednesday. A
first former embassy employee, aged 31, had filed a complaint in June 2022
for a rape she says was committed in May 2020 in the ambassador's private
apartment, sources close to the investigation told AFP earlier, confirming a
report by the Mediapart news site. According to the complaint, she had a
relationship with the ambassador, who carried out "psychological and
physical violence with daily humiliations." The second woman, aged 28, made
a complaint last February after what she said was a series of physical
attacks after she turned down sexual relations.
Swiss team to visit Lebanon in Salameh probe
Agence France Presse/June 08, 2023
A Swiss delegation will visit Lebanon as part of investigations into Central
Bank chief Riad Salameh, a judicial official said Thursday, as European
legal pressure mounts on the top banker. Switzerland was the first European
country to open an investigation into Salameh, who is the subject of a
series of judicial probes at home and abroad into the fortune he has amassed
during some three decades in the job. In January 2021, Lebanon said it had
received a Swiss judicial assistance request as part of a probe into more
than $300 million in fund movements by the central bank chief, as well as
his assistant and his brother.
Lebanon "was informed by the Swiss authorities that a Swiss judicial
delegation will visit Lebanon soon" over Salameh's case, the official told
AFP on Thursday, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak
to the media. The delegation will meet a local judge and might seek to
question individuals over the wealth of Salameh and his entourage as other
European countries have done, the official added. In March 2022, France,
Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million)
in a move linked to a probe into Salameh's wealth.
Judicial authorities in France and Munich in Germany last month issued
arrest warrants for Salameh over accusations including money laundering and
fraud, and Interpol subsequently issued Red Notices targeting him. An
Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but asks
authorities worldwide to provisionally detain people pending possible
extradition or other legal action. European investigators this year have
questioned Salameh in Beirut, also hearing from others including his
assistant Marianne Hoayek, his brother Raja, a Lebanese minister and central
bank audit firms.
Lebanon does not extradite its nationals, but Salameh could go on trial in
Lebanon if local judicial authorities decide the accusations against him are
founded, an official previously told AFP. Following the Red Notices, a local
judge questioned Salameh, confiscated his French and Lebanese passports,
banned him from traveling and released him pending investigation. In
February this year, Lebanon charged Salameh as part of its own
investigation, which it opened after the assistance request from
Switzerland's public prosecutor. Salameh, who denies all accusations against
him, continues to serve as central bank governor. His mandate ends in July.
Activists say the travel ban helps shield him from being brought to justice
abroad -- and from potentially bringing down others in the entrenched
political class, which is widely blamed for endemic corruption in the
crisis-hit country.
Amnesty: Sharp increase of deaths in custody as prisons
lack basic healthcare
Naharnet/June 08, 2023
Deaths in Lebanese prisons have nearly doubled in 2022 compared to 2018,
Amnesty International said in a statement, citing possible factors such as
prison officials’ misconduct or negligence, overcrowding, lack of adequate
resources and impunity for ill-treatment. "The sharp increase in custodial
deaths must be a wake-up call to the Lebanese government that their prisons
need urgent and drastic reform," Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for
the Middle East and North Africa Aya Majzoub said. "They must decongest
prisons, including through utilizing non-custodial measures as alternatives
to pre-trial detention, and must commit additional resources to ensure
people in prison are receiving adequate healthcare and have immediate access
to emergency medical care,” she added. “The economic crisis is no excuse for
prison authorities to deny prisoners access to medication, shift the cost of
paying for hospitalization to the families of prisoners or delay prisoners’
transfers to hospitals. The judiciary should promptly and impartially
investigate every death in custody, and any shortcomings and neglect on the
part of the authorities must be addressed, including, where appropriate,
through prosecution of those responsible.”
An investigation by Amnesty International linked the increase in deaths in
Lebanese prisons to the economic crisis, and to "shortcomings in the
provision of adequate and timely medical care to people in custody,
including in cases where emergency treatment was required." Between
September 2022 and April 2023, Amnesty International interviewed 16 people,
including prisoners and family members of individuals who died in custody. A
prisoner's relative said his brother died in Roumieh on 21 August 2022,
after his health deteriorated and the prison pharmacist dismissed his pains
and the prison guards delayed his hospital transfer, even though his family
provided funds to pay for his treatment. Prisons lack basic healthcare,
Amnesty said. "Overcrowding in prisons has become particularly acute in
recent years. Lebanese prisons are 323% over capacity, and around 80% of
detainees are held pre-trial. The combination of overcrowding and dire
detention conditions has led to the deterioration in the health of the
prison population. Meanwhile, in light of depreciating currency and
skyrocketing inflation, resources for the provision of healthcare have
drastically decreased. "The real value of the Ministry of Interior’s budget
for providing healthcare to people in prison decreased from 7.3 million US
dollars in 2019 to around 628,000 US dollars in 2022. "As a result, prisons
are not adequately staffed, and prison pharmacies lack basic medication such
as painkillers and antibiotics."
Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on June 08-09/2023
Four
children critically wounded in knife attack in French Alpine town
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
The prosecutor leading an investigation into a horrific knife attack in a
French Alpine town says four children aged between 22 months and 3 years
suffered life-threatening wounds and that two adults also were injured.
The prosecutor said the attacker's motives remain unknown but do not appear
to be terrorism-related. The suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian, was detained
following the Thursday morning attack in Annecy. French Prime Minister
Elisabeth Borne said the man has refugee status in Sweden.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
PARIS (AP)
As bystanders screamed for help, a man with a knife stabbed several very
young children, including at least one in a stroller, and also assaulted
adults at a lakeside park in the French Alps on Thursday. The savagery left
at least two children and one adult with life-threatening injuries,
authorities said. A suspect, identified by police as a 31-year-old Syrian
asylum-seeker, was detained. Video appearing to show the attack in and
around a children's play park in the Alpine and lakeside town of Annecy was
posted on social media. The footage showed a man in dark glasses and with a
blue scarf covering his head brandishing a knife, as people screamed for
help. The man appeared to shout "on name of Jesus Christ" as he waved his
knife in the air, while people nearby could be heard screaming: "Police!
Police!" He slashed at a man carrying rucksacks who tried to approach him.
Inside the enclosed play park, a panicked woman frantically pushed a
stroller as the attacker approached, yelling "Help! Help!" and ramming the
stroller into the barriers around the site in her terror. She tried to fend
off the attacker but couldn't keep him from leaning over the stroller and
stabbing downward repeatedly. Afterward, the man strolled almost casually
out of the park, letting himself out through a gate, with the man carrying
two rucksacks still chasing after him. French President Emmanuel Macron
described the assault as an "attack of absolute cowardice." Of the victims,
he said "children and an adult are between life and death."
"The nation is in shock," Macron tweeted.
Local police said the four child victims all were under age 5. A British
child was among the injured, said U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
French national police said two of the children, both around 3, suffered
life-threatening injuries, as did one adult. A witness who spoke to French
broadcaster BFMTV said he saw the attacker jumping on an elderly man, and
stabbing him repeatedly. The witness said he yelled at police to act."I
screamed, screamed at them to intervene," he said. An ice cream seller who
works in the waterside park said he'd seen the attacker there several days
earlier, looking out at the lake ringed by mountains. Local police said a
second adult also was injured and was being treated with the others in a
hospital. They gave no other details about the victim, and the discrepancy
in the number of adult victims wasn't immediately explained. Eleanor
Vincent, an American author vacationing in Annecy, told The Associated Press
of her shock at seeing an emergency helicopter descending to the picturesque
park. "As soon as I heard the sirens and saw police running, I knew
something horrible was happening. I am in shock. It's a park where they take
children out to walk," Vincent said. Crowds stood in "absolute silence,"
dumbfounded as the tragedy unfolded, she said. "As a parent who has lost a
child, I know what these parents are experiencing. It's a horror beyond
belief," Vincent added. In Paris, lawmakers interrupted a debate to hold a
moment of silence for the victims. The assembly president, Yaël Braun-Pivet,
said: "There are some very young children who are in critical condition, and
I invite you to respect a minute of silence for them, for their families,
and so that, we hope, the consequences of this very grave attack do not lead
to the nation grieving."
Ukraine launches long-awaited counteroffensive against
Russia
Naharnet/June 08, 2023
The Ukrainian military’s long-anticipated counteroffensive against occupying
Russian forces has begun, opening a phase in the war aimed at restoring
Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and retaining Western support in the war,
four members of Ukraine’s armed forces said. Ukraine’s troops intensified
their attacks on the front line in the country’s southeast, the four sources
told the Washington Post. The Ukrainian troops include specialized attack
units armed with Western weapons and trained in NATO tactics. The attacks on
the country’s southeast mark a significant push into Russian-occupied
territory.
Russian military bloggers also reported heavy fighting in the Zaporizhzhia
region, a part of the front line that has long been seen as a likely
location of the new Ukrainian campaign. By cutting south through the flat
fields of Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv’s forces could aim to sever the so-called land
bridge between mainland Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula, cutting
off crucial Russian supply lines. It could also attempt to liberate the city
of Melitopol, which Russia has established as the region’s occupied capital,
and Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located.
Zelensky visits area flooded by destroyed dam as 5 dead
in Russian-occupied town
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the flood-hit region of
Kherson on Thursday to evaluate response to damage caused by a dam breach.
The Ukrainian leader wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping
assess efforts to evacuate civilians, provide them with drinking water and
other support, and try to stanch vast environmental damage.
Zelenskyy also raised the prospect of
funding allocations to help compensate residents and businesses driven from
their homes and offices by rising waters.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed mayor
of Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied town 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the
collapsed Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, reported on Russian state TV
Thursday that five of seven local residents who had been declared missing
following the dam breach have died. The two remaining people have been found
and efforts were being made to evacuate them, Vladimir Leontyev added. At
least 4,000 people have been evacuated from both the Russian and
Ukrainian-controlled sides of the Dnieper river, which has become part of
the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the more than
15-month-old war, officials said.
The true scale of the disaster is yet to emerge
in an area that was home to more than 60,000 people.
Russian missiles greet Zelensky’s
visit to flooded Kherson region
Colin Freeman/The Telegraph/Thu, June 8, 2023
With its Soviet-era tower blocks besieged by oily waters from the blown-up
Kakhovka dam, the Ukrainian city of Kherson is like a vision of Venice gone
badly wrong. The sound of shelling is never far away, and instead of
gondolas ferrying tourists, flotillas of rescue boats cruise around rescuing
those still stuck in their apartments.On Thursday, though, even a
humanitarian mission aimed mainly at rescuing pensioners and stranded pets
found itself directly in the firing line of the war. As rescue boats in the
central Korabel district pulled up at a makeshift quayside at the
half-submerged Extravaganza beauty parlour, the sound of gently lapping
water was suddenly replaced by the high-pitched whistle of incoming mortar
fire. The salvo of missiles at lunchtime was blamed on Russian forces on the
Kremlin-controlled east side of the River Dnipro, and seem to have been in
response to a flying visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to watch the
rescue missions in Korabel. While the Ukrainian leader’s trip was not
publicised until after he had left, the missiles started just shortly after
details of his trip had been posted by his office online. At least eight
people were later reported injured.
“This is supposed to be an evacuation mission, but the Russians are
attacking it,” fumed Olha Khlebnykova, 54, a rescue worker from the northern
city of Kharkiv, as she sheltered with The Telegraph in a tower block
stairwell. “Kharkiv used to get shelled a lot but now Kherson is even worse.
I just hope the volunteers who are out on the boats right now are OK.”
The volunteers were not OK. Among them was a
badly-shaken local boat owner who gave his name only as “Sergei”, who
normally used his vessel just for pleasure cruising on the Dnipro river. He
said he had volunteered for what he thought would just be a quick mission to
ferry a friend from a flooded apartment block, partly for the
once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive his boat up and down Kherson’s streets.
Instead, he had sailed into what felt like a mini-Dunkirk. “One of the bombs
landed right near us as we were sailing along,” he said. “It hit the roof of
an apartment block just 50 metres from us, the noise was
terrifying.”Thursday’s shelling was a sign that despite the devastating
damage caused by Monday’s explosions at the Kakhovka dam, which lies 40
miles upstream from Kherson, both Russia and Ukraine are intent on
maintaining hostilities. The salvoes from the Russian side of the Dnipro
were met with outgoing Ukrainian fire, with Kremlin officials later accusing
Ukrainian forces of targeting evacuees fleeing flooded towns on the
Russian-occupied east bank.
Ukrainian officials, who have accused Russia of deliberately sabotaging the
dam, said last night that more than 600 square kilometres of land were now
affected by flooding, with around 40,000 people recommended for evacuation.
Having already endured eight months of Russian occupation last year,
however, many Kherson residents are not easily moved on. Among those staying
put is pensioner Alexander Orel, 67, whose house on the banks of the River
Dnipro has been right in the crossfire between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Twice in the last six months, his back garden has been hit by Russian
phosphorous incendiary bombs, setting it ablaze. Now it lies completely
submerged, the Dnipro having surged by nearly four metres in the hours
immediately after the dam burst. “We heard about the dam burst on the news
so we were ready for it, although it was very scary watching the water rise
so high and quickly,” he said, as he waded in shorts through knee-deep water
sluicing round what was normally a vegetable patch. “But our neighbour’s
house is empty further up the road so we’re staying there – this is our
homeland, so why should we leave it?”
As he spoke, the roar of the river beside him showed just how dramatic the
scale of the dam burst has been. Normally, at this time of the summer, the
Dnipro is quiet and slow flowing: right now, it is more like the Amazon in
rainy reason. The floodwaters flow at around 25mph, forming foaming rapids
over patches of submerged woodland and dragging entire trees downriver.
Along the riverbank, eels, frogs and snakes swim around in abundance, forced
from their usual habitats by the strong currents. Further upriver, entire
shoals of fish have been found dead on the riverbanks, and around Kherson,
there are fears that the floodwaters may wash up more grisly discoveries.
One resident said on a local Facebook page that he had found the corpse of
an unidentified victim of the war unearthed by the floodwater.
Despite the havoc, in parts of Kherson unaffected
by the floods, life goes on much as normal, with cafes and shops remaining
open. On Thursday, residents were also hoping that the floods had finally
reached their high tide mark.
“Since this morning the water hasn’t got any higher, and
we hope it may be going down now a little,” said Artur Sherbina, who lives
in a nine-storey tower block next to a flooded harbour. His neighbours had
marked that morning’s high-tide point with an old soup can, from where the
waters had now retreated by around a foot.
Most residents who have requested evacuation have now
been moved out, although as a nation of pet lovers, Ukrainians have taken on
the rescue of dogs and cats with equal dedication. Teams of animal rescue
experts, including many foreign volunteers, are everywhere, scouring
neighbourhoods for chained-up dogs and plucking distressed cats from roofs
and window ledges. Among
those rescued by a team led by Tom Bates, of the UK’s K9 animal rescue, was
a white kitten who was scooped up like a goldfish in a large net. As the
team were gently decanting the sodden feline into a plastic cat-carrier box,
however, a bang of artillery fire startled it, causing it to race off down
the road. “I don’t think
we’ll worry too much,” said Mr Bates. “He’s back on dry land, which is where
he belongs.” Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism.
Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our
US-exclusive offer.
Putin’s Army Bombarded as First
Dead Bodies Emerge in Floods
Shannon Vavra/The Daily Beast/Thu, June 8, 2023
Kyiv officials said Thursday its forces are moving in full swing with
offensive operations against Russian forces, including in Bakhmut and
Zaporizhzhia, after weeks of speculations about whether the long-awaited
Ukrainian counteroffensive has begun.
“What is happening now? We are continuing the defense
that we started on February 24, 2022,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister,
said Thursday of the Bakhmut offensives. “A defensive operation includes
everything, including counteroffensive actions. Therefore, in some
directions we are moving to offensive actions.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense
said in a statement that Ukrainian forces also ran a counteroffensive
operation in Zaporizhzhia from four directions early Thursday morning. “The
enemy made an attempt to break through Russia's defense,” the ministry said
in a statement. A Ukrainian spokesperson later confirmed Kyiv had conducted
operations in the region.
Ukraine’s military has not yet gone so far as to use the
word “counteroffensive,” but one senior officer and one soldier near the
front lines told NBC the counteroffensive has begun.
The continued operations from Ukraine coincide
with work to respond to the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam earlier
this week, as Ukraine works to evacuate tens of thousands from flooded
neighborhoods. The first flood-related deaths were reported Thursday by the
Russian-appointed mayor of Nova Kakhovk, Vladimir Leontyev, who alleged five
bodies have surfaced from the waters of the submerged town. The 2023 Blitz
Most Feared by Putin May Have Finally Begun. Meanwhile, four people working
for Ukraine’s armed forces confirmed to The Washington Post that Ukraine was
intensifying attacks on the front lines. Attacks have particularly
intensified in southern Ukraine in the last 24 hours, according to U.S.
officials who spoke with The New York Times. Ukraine’s Air Force also
launched 23 strikes on locations with Russian troops and four strikes on
enemy anti-aircraft missile systems in the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s military
said. The current fighting in Ukraine is a “highly complex operational
picture,” according to a new British intelligence community assessment
released Thursday. “Heavy fighting continues along multiple sectors of the
front. In most areas Ukraine holds the initiative,” the assessment states.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian and U.S. officials
acknowledged that a series of counteroffensives had begun. On Wednesday,
Ukrainian forces hit four Russian command posts, nine locations with Russian
troops and military equipment, as well as two enemy anti-aircraft missile
systems, five Russian ammunition depots, and an enemy radar station, the
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement. Russia is
likely still working on returning to an offensive “as soon as possible,”
according to British intelligence.
The push from Ukraine comes as Russian fighting has
faltered in recent months. Despite reported plans to seize all of Donbas by
March, Russia has only seized approximately three territories. Russia has
flailed since the beginning of the war with logistics, supplies, and
infighting issues, many of which remained Thursday, according to the
Ukrainian military. For Russians deployed to the Volgograd region, they
received the wrong kinds of boots. Instead of being provided uniforms,
Russian contractors have been forced to buy their own uniforms at their own
expense, Ukraine’s military said Thursday. Russia has also had “significant
problems” supplying troops with food, Ukraine claimed.
While Russia is floundering, Ukrainian officials
continued to call Thursday for more western nations to boost their military
assistance packages for in order to hasten a Ukrainian victory. Ukrainian MP
Maria Ionova told The Daily Beast Thursday work is ongoing to supply the
military with the weaponry necessary to defeat Russia. “We have to do
everything with our allies to provide all necessary weapons for our Armed
Forces,” Ukrainian MP Maria Ionova told The Daily Beast.
WHO rushes supplies to
Ukraine, readies to tackle disease in flood areas
Reuters/June 08, 2023
The World Health Organization has rushed emergency supplies to flood-hit
parts of Ukraine and are preparing to respond to an array of health risks
including trauma, drowning and waterborne diseases like cholera, officials
said on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for the bursting of
the Soviet-era Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which sent waters cascading
across the war zone of southern Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday,
forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes. "The impact of the region's
water supply sanitation systems and public health services cannot be
underestimated," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a
press briefing. "The WHO has rushed in to support the authorities and health
care workers in preventive measures against waterborne diseases and to
improve disease surveillance." Asked specifically about cholera, WHO
technical officer Teresa Zakaria said that the risk of an outbreak was
present since the pathogen exists in the environment. She said that the WHO
was working with Ukraine's health ministry to put mechanisms in place to
ensure that vaccines can be imported if needed. "We are trying to address
quite a wide range of health risks actually associated with the floods,
starting from trauma to drowning, to waterborne diseases but also all the
way to the potential implications of disruption to chronic treatment," she
added. The huge Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River separates Russian and
Ukrainian forces and people have been affected on both sides of its banks.
WHO's Emergencies Director Mike Ryan said the WHO has offered assistance to
Russian-controlled areas but that its operational presence was "primarily"
on the Ukrainian side.
He said Russian authorities had given them
assurances that people living in areas it occupies were being "well
monitored, well cared for, well fed (and) well supported". "We will be
delighted to be able to access those areas and be able to monitor health as
we would in most situations wish to do," he said, adding it would be for the
Ukrainian and Russian authorities to agree how that could be achieved.
Russia urges top UN court to dismiss Ukraine's case over Crimea, terrorism
funding
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
Russia urged judges at the United Nations' highest court on Thursday to
throw out a case brought by Ukraine against Moscow over the 2014 annexation
of the Crimean Peninsula and the arming of rebels in eastern Ukraine before
Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
"We appear before you today in order to demonstrate that Ukraine's
application must be dismissed because it is without any legal foundation.
Nor does it have any factual evidence to back it," Russian Ambassador to the
Netherlands Alexander Shulgin told judges at the International Court of
Justice.
Shulgin also used the hearing to accuse Ukraine of responsibility for the
destruction of the Kakhovka dam. Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the
facility, which Moscow's forces controlled, while Russia said Ukraine
bombarded it. "The Kyiv regime not only launched massive artillery attacks
against the dam in the night of June 6, but it also deliberately forced the
water level of the Kakhovka reservoir to a critical level by opening the
valves" of the hydroelectric plant, Shulgin said. Lawyers for Ukraine said
as hearings in the case opened Tuesday that Russia bankrolled a "campaign of
intimidation and terror" by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and
sought to replace Crimea's multiethnic community with "discriminatory
Russian nationalism."
Ukraine filed the case in 2017, asking the
world court to order Moscow to pay reparations for attacks and crimes such
as the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by a Russian missile
fired from territory controlled by Moscow-backed rebels on July 17, 2014,
killing all 298 passengers and crew.
The Ukrainian government alleges that
Russia breached two treaties: the International Convention for the
Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Addressing the
terrorism funding allegation, Michael Swainston, a British lawyer
representing Russia, said Ukraine's legal team failed to establish that
actions by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine could be considered
terrorism. "It is imperative to distinguish between terrorists who
deliberately target civilians and soldiers who foresee that civilians will
be killed as collateral damage while striking a military target," Swainston
said. "The former is a war crime, while the latter represents lawful
conduct. And of course, soldiers also make mistakes." He also disputed that
the downing of MH17 could be considered an act of terrorism and sought to
undermine findings by a Dutch court that last year convicted two Russians
and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian of multiple murders for their roles in downing
the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight. The Hague District Court ruled after
months of hearings and years of international investigations that the Boeing
777 was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile system brought into
Ukraine from a Russian military base and later returned to the base. "There
was no Russian Buk. No Buk came from Russia. No crew for a Buk came from
Russia," Swainston said, calling evidence that the Dutch court relied on in
its verdicts "unsourced digital nonsense."Another member of the Russian
legal team, Kirill Udovichenko, told the court that it was "undisputed" that
the conflict in Ukraine had "led to a loss of civilian life. However, none
of these tragic events create a plausible case for terrorism or terrorism
financing" as defined in the convention. After the hearings scheduled to
wrap up next week, judges will take months to reach a decision in the case.
The court's rulings are final and legally binding.
GCC, Iraq electrical interconnection project enhances energy security: Saudi
minister
Arab News/June 08, 2023
RIYADH: The electrical interconnection project between Saudi Arabia and Iraq
will support the Iraqi electrical grid, according to Saudi Arabia’s Energy
Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. In an interview with Al-Arabiya, the
prince said the connection was a dream that had become a reality and would
achieve tangible economic benefits and enhance energy security. Speaking on
the sidelines of the OPEC+ meeting in Vienna, he said: “We have no complexes
about speculation in the oil market,” and the decision to cut oil production
was a “precautionary” one. “Everyone agreed to cut production and we did not
force anyone,” he said. The prince said the oil market needed reassurances
and measures to prevent fluctuations. “We have no interest in the
fluctuation of the oil market, whether in the short or long term,” he said.
The aim was to give the oil market clear data for stability and there were
independent bodies that would work with the OPEC+ countries to evaluate
their production in 2024, he said. “The task of the independent bodies is to
ensure the reliability of data for the oil market,” he said, adding that
those parties would end the previous controversy over production data in
OPEC+. The minister said they had discussed with Russia the issue of its
production and requested it clarify its data. “Moscow’s decision not to
publish production data leaves doubts about its volume,” he said.
“Independent parties contacted Russia about its production and got the
numbers, and we have strengthened transparency with Russia over its oil
production numbers.”
GCC, US ministerial meeting issues joint statement on
Ukraine, Syria and more
Arab News/June 08, 2023
RIYADH: The GCC Council members and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
issued a joint statement on achieving political and economic stability in
the region after a meeting in Riyadh on Thursday. The committee highlighted
the importance and promise of infrastructure projects to promote regional
integration and interconnectivity, contributing to regional stability and
prosperity.
Navigational rights and freedoms were also
discussed and the security of vessels traveling through the region was
highlighted. The ministers reiterated the importance of confronting
terrorism and violent extremism worldwide and welcomed the Global Coalition
to Defeat ISIS ministerial meeting, held today in Riyadh. Saudi foreign
minister Faisal bin Farhan said the Kingdom would chair the focus group on
African affairs to confront Daesh. Bin Farhan encouraged the establishment
of a focus group to combat the organization of ISIS Khorsasan in Afghanistan
and limit the spread of the terrorist organization in the area. Secretary
Blinken reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the security of the
region, recognizing the region’s vital role in the global economy and
international trade. The GCC Council and the United States confirmed their
commitment to freedom of navigation and maritime security in the region and
to counter illegal actions at sea that might threaten shipping lanes,
international trade and oil installations in the GCC. The two sides
reaffirmed their support for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons and renewed their call for Iran to fully cooperate with the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
On Yemen the committee expressed their
appreciation for the efforts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UN.
They also expressed their hope to see a
Yemeni political process resulting in a lasting end to the conflict.
Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the committee pointed towards
reaching a lasting state of peace in the Middle East in accordance with the
two-state solution and the 1967 borders and emphasized Jordan’s role in this
situation. The committee reaffirmed its commitment to reaching a political
solution to the Syrian crisis that is in line with UN Security Council
Resolution 2254 issued in 2015, the ministers welcomed Arab efforts to
resolve the crisis. For Iraq, the ministers discussed the importance of
civilian-led efforts, including economic reforms to ensure Iraq’s people
benefitted from the country’s natural resources, stabilization to ensure
communities can recover from conflict and Daesh violence, measures to
prevent the financing of terrorism, and efforts to counter Daesh narratives,
which complement ongoing work to enhance the Government of Iraq’s
counterterrorism capabilities.
On the war in Ukraine, the ministers reaffirmed
the importance of respecting the principle of sovereignty and international
law, including the UN Charter and the obligation to refrain from the threat
or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence
of any state. Support for refugees and displaced people affected by the war
in Ukraine was also emphasized.
Another round of the GCC-US integrated air and
missile defense and maritime security working groups was agreed to be held
later this year.
UN investigators compiling evidence on chemical weapons
use by IS in Iraq
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
U.N. investigators are compiling evidence on the development and use of
chemical weapons by Islamic State extremists in Iraq after they seized about
a third of the country in 2014, and are advancing work on the militant
group's gender-based violence and crimes against children, Sunni and Shiite
Muslims, Christians and Yazidis, the head of the investigative team said
Wednesday.
Christian Ritscher told the U.N. Security
Council that survivors of a March 2016 chemical attack against Taza
Khurmatu, a mainly Shia Turkmen town south of Kirkuk in northeast Iraq, were
still deeply impacted when he visited earlier this year. He said he has
prioritized the investigation of chemical weapons used by the Islamic State,
also known as ISIL. "ISIL weaponized several chemical agents and deployed
these as chemical rockets and mortars, as well as improvised explosive
devices, in the vicinity of Taza Khurmatu" which hit residential
neighborhoods and agricultural fields, Ritscher said.
The attack against Taza Khurmatu was
believed to be the first use of chemical weapons by ISIL, according to the
U.N. investigators. They have said more than 6,000 residents were treated
for injuries and two children died within days of exposure while many
survivors continue to suffer chronic and ongoing effects.
Ritscher said his team's investigation
"has provided specialized insight and analysis on the munitions, remnants
and materials that were recovered" in Taza Khurmatu. "Significant volumes of
battlefield evidence, including ISIL payroll records and correspondence,
were discovered, allowing the team to identify persons of interest and
establish links to potential senior ISIL members," he said. Islamic State
fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled caliphate in a large
swath of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was formally
declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year bloody battle that
left tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins. However, its sleeper cells
continue to stage attacks in different parts of Iraq. The U.N. Investigative
Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes committed by the Islamic State
group, known as UNITAD, which Ritscher heads, was established by the
Security Council in 2017 to collect evidence so perpetrators of crimes by
the Islamic State can be held accountable at trials. It has worked closely
with Iraqi judicial officials.
A UNITAD report in May 2021 said the Islamic
State group "tested biological and chemical agents and conducted experiments
on prisoners ... causing death," and an initial investigation was launched.
Ritscher assured the Security Council that "there is no shortage of evidence
on ISIL crimes in Iraq, as ISIL was a large-scale bureaucracy that
documented and maintained a state-like administrative system." He said his
team has led efforts that have so far digitized 8 million pages of ISIL
documents held by Iraqi authorities, including Kurdish officials, and as a
next step UNITAD is establishing a central archive "that will be the unified
repository of all digitized evidence against ISIL." Ritscher said UNITAD is
also prioritizing "persons of interest" living in other countries and is
currently supporting criminal proceedings against alleged members and
supporters of ISIL in 17 countries.
Divide between religious and secular Jews heats up
under Netanyahu's rule
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
The sound of children and music echoed down a narrow basement hallway in
Israel as they scrambled in a pool of balls, climbed on a jungle gym,
munched popcorn and laughed.
The atmosphere changed suddenly on that
Saturday last month, as at least a dozen religious men appeared and blocked
the entrance, accusing the indoor playground of desecrating the Jewish
sabbath by opening for business. Angry parents confronted them, scuffles
broke out and in an instant, the center in this mixed city had become a
flashpoint symbol of a larger battle between secular and religious Jews in
Israel.
"I think it represents what's going on in the country," said Tzipi Brayer
Sharabi, a 38-year-old mother who says she was attacked and thrown to the
ground during the May 20 incident. "I want my kids to live how they choose
to live. I don't want somebody to tell them how they should eat, how they
should dress, what they should do on Shabbat."
Similar incidents have long upset the
tenuous balance between the communities. But with ultra-Orthodox parties now
wielding unprecedented power in Israel's new government — and playing a key
role in a contentious plan to overhaul the legal system — they are
aggravating concerns among secular Israelis that the character and future of
their country is under threat.
Thanks to its supercharged political clout, the
h aredi community has gained massive budgets that critics say will entrench
its isolated way of life and weaken Israel's economic prospects as the
ultra-Orthodox population balloons.
"We have two kids. They have 10 kids.
They're going to be the majority here, eventually," said Brayer Sharabi, a
secular Israeli whose elbow was broken in the scuffle. "What's going to
happen to this place once they have the majority?"
Israel's ultra-Orthodox, known as haredim, make up 13% of the country's 9.7
million population. The cloistered community has long been at odds with the
secular majority, clashing over military conscription, their integration
into the workforce and the basic tenets that guide their lives. Haredi Jews
in Israel also are growing faster than any other group, at about 4%
annually.
The many differences between religious and
secular Jews have chafed the country throughout its 75 years. Under Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the sense has sharpened among
secular Israelis that their lifestyle may have an expiration date.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, brushes off such criticism, saying the ultra-Orthodox
are Israeli citizens who deserve funding and that he is working to integrate
them into the workforce.
The ultra-Orthodox mostly live in separate
towns and city neighborhoods, and unlike most secular Jews, most are not
conscripted in the military under a decades-old system of exemptions that
allows them to study religious texts instead. Many continue religious study
well into adulthood and do not work, living off government stipends and
grating on the nerves of the country's tax-paying middle class.
Ultra-Orthodox schools widely do not teach a core curriculum of math or
English. Experts say this gives them few skills to enter the work world,
creating a recipe for poverty and increased dependence on government
assistance as the population grows.
The ultra-Orthodox say their children nonetheless deserve robust state
funding for education, and that their otherwise insular communities protect
a centuries-old way of life. Their leaders also say they contribute to the
economy by paying significant sums of sales tax on consumer purchases for
their large families.
Yinon Azulai, a lawmaker with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, last month in a
parliament speech denounced what he called "the wild incitement raging these
days and running in the streets of baseless hatred for the ultra-Orthodox
community" after a popular TV host called the community "blood suckers."
"I don't intend to apologize for being haredi," he said on the Knesset
floor.
Gilad Malach, director of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program at the Israel
Democracy Institute, a think tank, said that the large budget was part of a
broader trend showing the community is not integrating with the country's
larger society. "The last few years we have more and more signs that this
process is not strong enough," he said. "People ask themselves, what is the
direction that (the) Israeli state goes?"Dan Ben-David, an economist who has
long criticized what he says is preferential treatment for the
ultra-Orthodox, said the generous subsidies and political power provide a
glimpse of Israel's future.
"Not a day goes by where we're not inundated with a clear picture of what's
life going to be like" under an ultra-Orthodox majority, said Ben-David,
president of Tel Aviv University's Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic
Research. "The level of tension is much higher."The tens of millions of
dollars in financial handouts passed in the recent budget last month have
enraged secular Israelis.
Weekly protests against the legal overhaul have
sometimes adopted anti-religious themes, especially ahead of a court-ordered
July 31 deadline for Netanyahu to submit a new law to address the issue of
ultra-Orthodox enlistment. It is not clear whether a proposed bill would
pass legal muster. It does not seek to draft more ultra-Orthodox men into
the military, but instead would cajole them into joining the workforce
earlier.
The mayhem at the play center in Harish, a
mixed secular and religious town, made news reports as other signs of unease
simmered.
In May, when singer Noa Kirel won third place
in the Eurovision Song Contest, Israelis widely celebrated. But a powerful
ultra-Orthodox member of Netanyahu's coalition, Moshe Gafni, brought up her
name and referenced her revealing performance costume during a budget
debate.
"I would also donate some clothes to her, so she can have some," Gafni, the
Finance Committee chairman, said. Kirel was quoted in Israeli media saying
that everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Last month, outrage and threats of a
boycott ensued when photos appeared on social media of purple stickers
covering the faces of women on drugstore products at a leading pharmacy in
the haredi city of Bnei Brak. Some ultra-Orthodox consider images of women
to be immodest, and haredi media often erase the images of women from news
photos. The pharmacy later stopped covering up women's photos.Ultra-Orthodox
Jews boycotted a bakery after one of its executives, a former government
minister, supported the protests against the judiciary overhaul. Just a few
years ago, Harish had been promoted as a model of coexistence between its
secular and religious residents. Now that seems like wishful thinking as a
country long used to conflict with its outside neighbors finds itself
grappling with unprecedented internal divisions.
"It's between Jews, that's the irony,"
said Brayer Sharabi's husband, Avshalom, 39, in an interview outside the
play center. "What's happening now, feels new."
US denies report of nearing
interim nuclear deal with Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuters)Thu, June 8, 2023
The White House on Thursday denied a report that the United States and Iran
were nearing an interim deal under which Iran would curb its nuclear program
in return for sanctions relief."This report is false and misleading," said a
spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, referring to an
article on the Middle East Eye website. "Any reports of an interim deal are
false."The report cited two unnamed sources as saying Iran and the United
States were "nearing a temporary deal that would swap some sanctions relief
for reducing Iranian uranium enrichment activities."It also cited the
sources as saying "the two sides have reached an agreement on a temporary
deal to take to their respective superiors." The report said Iran would
commit to cease enriching uranium to purity of 60% or above and would
continue cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog in return for being
allowed to export up to 1 million barrels of oil per day and gaining access
"to its income and other frozen funds abroad."
Shooting connected to
Palestinian criminal groups in northern Israel kills 5
JERUSALEM (AP)/Thu, June 8, 2023
Five people were killed in a shooting Thursday in an Arab town in northern
Israel, police said, the latest in a wave of criminal violence tearing
through the country's Palestinian communities.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper said a gunman
arrived at a car wash in the town of Yafa an-Naseriyye, near the city of
Nazareth, and opened fire. Police said they believed the shooting was
connected to a dispute between organized crime families. Shortly afterward,
a shooting in a nearby Arab town left a 30-year-old man and 3-year-old girl
seriously wounded, police said. The circumstances of that shooting and the
identities of the two wounded were not immediately known. Israel's
Palestinian sector has long suffered from poverty, discrimination, crime and
neglect by the national government.
Israel's far-right national security
minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, promised to crack down on crime in Israel's
Palestinian sector when he took office late last year. But the violence has
only worsened, with nearly 100 people killed this year.
In a statement at the crime scene,
Ben-Gvir said years of neglect had turned Israel's Arab sector into the
“wild west.” He also blamed a manpower shortage in the national police force
and vowing to halt the crime wave, called for the establishment of a
controversial “national guard” that he has proposed.
Ben-Gvir says the force is meant to fill
in gaps in areas where police are spread thin, including in crime-ridden
Arab communities. Critics say that Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist with a
history of violent rhetoric against Palestinians, will use the force as a
personal militia. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “shocked” by
Thursday's killings. “We are determined to stop this chain of murders,” he
said. He vowed to enlist Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency — whose
main task is to monitor the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip — in the
effort. Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab party Raam, accused the
government, and especially Ben-Gvir, of failing the country's Palestinians.
“To bring into the ministry of national
security (of) Itamar Ben-Gvir, who doesn't know what his powers are, in no
normal country would they allow such a minister to continue,” he told
Israel’s Army Radio station.
Merav Michaeli, leader of the
opposition Labor Party, also blamed Ben-Gvir for the growing violence. “This
is exactly the opposite of what the boss promised,” she said. “The worst
police minister in history. A disgraceful government. Go home.” Thursday's
shooting is separate from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has seen
more than yearlong surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and east
Jerusalem. That fighting has picked up since Israel’s new far-right
government took office in late December.
Nearly 120 Palestinians have been killed
in the two areas this year, with nearly half of them members of armed
militant groups, according to an AP tally. The military says the number of
militants is much higher. Meanwhile, Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis
have killed at least 21 people.
Blinken says he will
work on Israel-Saudi-Arabia normalization
Aziz El Yaakoubi and Humeyra Pamuk/RIYADH (Reuters)/Thu, June
8, 2023
Washington will press ahead with efforts to normalize diplomatic ties
between its main Middle East allies Saudi Arabia and Israel, Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
But he declined to say whether the
United States would back Riyadh's nuclear ambitions. At a joint news
conference, Blinken's Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said he
hoped an agreement could be reached for the United States to aid his
country's bid to generate nuclear power.
Neither addressed whether U.S. support
for Saudi Arabia's civilian nuclear program could be given in exchange for
normalization with Israel, a deal that has been floated by Riyadh. Blinken,
who was in the kingdom as part of a U.S. push to defuse rows that have
touched on oil prices, human rights and Riyadh's opening to Iran, said
normalizing relations between Israel and its neighbors to make way for a
more integrated Middle East was a priority for the United States. "We
discussed it here, and we will continue to work at it, to advance it, in the
days, weeks and months ahead," he said as he concluded his three-day visit.
Saudi Arabia, a Middle East powerhouse and home to Islam's two holiest
shrines, has resisted heavy U.S. pressure to end generations-old
non-recognition of Israel as have Gulf Arab neighbors the United Arab
Emirates and Bahrain. Speaking alongside Blinken, Prince Faisal agreed that
normalization would bring benefits, but said those would be limited if there
was not a pathway toward a two-state solution between Israelis and
Palestinians.
A source familiar with the matter said Riyadh wants U.S. support for its
civilian nuclear program in exchange for normalization with Israel. The Wall
Street Journal reported in March that the nuclear help, as well as security
guarantees, were among the concessions sought by Riyadh.
Prince Faisal said Saudi Arabia would prefer to have the U.S. as a bidder
for the program, although he did not say if the nuclear ambitions were a
precondition for normalization. Talks on civilian nuclear cooperation have
stalled with Riyadh refusing to agree to limits on nuclear enrichment and
reprocessing designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
"We have differences of opinion but we
are working on finding mechanisms for us to be able to work together,"
Prince Faisal said, adding that there were other bidders and the kingdom
intended to move forward with the program.
NO 'GIFT'
Blinken was the second top U.S. official to visit Saudi Arabia in less than
a month, following a May 7 trip by White House national security adviser
Jake Sullivan. However, Blinken's meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin
Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, and Gulf Cooperation Council foreign
ministers were relegated to the inside pages of Al-Watan and Okaz, the two
major newspapers in Saudi Arabia.
Blinken and the crown prince, widely known as
MbS, had "open, candid" talks for an hour and 40 minutes, a U.S. official
said, covering topics including the conflict in neighboring Yemen, the war
in Sudan, Israel, and human rights.
Aziz Alghashian, a Saudi analyst
specializing in Gulf-Israel ties, said Riyadh would not budge on
normalization for reasons including Israel's hardline nationalist-religious
government and displeasure with U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.
"This is not the American administration that Saudis would want to gift a
Saudi-Israeli normalization to," Alghashian said.
"It's going to be a massive achievement,
it's going to be under an American umbrella, and they don't want the Biden
administration to take any credit for that," he said. Riyadh has also
leveraged its growing relationships with Russia and China as the Biden
administration has pushed back against some Saudi demands including lifting
restrictions on arms sales and help with sensitive high-tech industries.
U.S.-Saudi relations have deteriorated since the 2018 murder of dissident
journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, inside the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul. They worsened after the Biden administration took office in early
2021 and released a U.S. intelligence assessment that MbS approved
Khashoggi's killing, which the crown prince denied. Other rows have simmered
over the Saudi intervention in Yemen's devastating conflict, China ties and
oil prices.
Israel demolishes home of Palestinian suspect in Jerusalem attacks
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
The Israeli army said on Thursday that it demolished the West Bank home of a
Palestinian involved in twin bombings in Jerusalem that killed two and
wounded at least 18 others in November. Israeli authorities arrested Islam
Faroukh in December on suspicion of carrying out the bombings, part of a
more than year-long surge in violence in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The army released video footage showing troops closing off the area and
carrying out small controlled explosions, destroying an apartment in the
occupied West Bank city of Ramallah early on Tuesday. The army said people
threw rocks and fire bombs at troops, who returned fire. The Palestinian
Health Ministry reported one Palestinian was moderately wounded by Israeli
gunfire and treated at a local hospital. Israel demolishes the homes of
attackers in an attempt to deter others, a tactic critics say amounts to
collective punishment. The attack in November came after months of
relentless violence in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has been
conducting near-nightly raids in response to Palestinian attacks against
Israelis. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with
east Jerusalem and Gaza. The Palestinians seek the territories for their
hoped-for independent state.
Israel to recognize
Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara soon –official
LBCI/June 08, 2023
Israel will soon announce its support for Morocco's claim of sovereignty
over the disputed Western Sahara region, Israeli parliament speaker Amir
Ohana said on Thursday during a visit to Rabat. The Algerian-backed
Polisario Front demands an independent state in Western Sahara. In 2020,
then-US President Donald Trump recognized Morocco's claim to the territory
in return for its partial upgrade of relations with Israel.
"I am fully aware of the importance of
the recognition of the Moroccan Sahara ... Israel should move towards the
goal of recognizing the Moroccan Sahara just as our closest ally the US
did," Ohana told reporters after talks with his Moroccan counterpart. "There
are currently serious discussions between our governments on that matter and
I believe that Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu will be announcing this
decision in the near future," he said.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that
Israel was considering backing Morocco on Western Sahara and that the issue
was being discussed within the Israeli National Security Council (NSC).
Morocco's conflict with the Polisario was frozen in 1991 with a UN-backed
ceasefire that included a plan for a referendum to resolve the territory's
status. But rules for the referendum were never agreed and the UN Security
Council stopped referring to it as an option in its resolutions, instead
calling on parties to show compromise and work towards a "mutually
acceptable solution". A diplomatic source told Reuters that Israeli
recognition of Moroccan rule over Western Sahara could lead to a full
upgrade of Israeli-Moroccan ties. This would entail the countries'
respective missions, now designated as liaison offices, becoming embassies
with a free-trade pact possible down the line. Winning support for its stand
on Western Sahara is the ultimate goal of Moroccan diplomacy, which was
boosted by Trump's recognition and the ensuing support of Western powers,
such as former colonial power Spain, for Rabat's plan of autonomy for the
territory.
US, KSA urge Western nations to repatriate IS jihadists
Agence France Presse/June 08, 2023
Riyadh and Washington urged Western governments Thursday to repatriate
citizens who joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, where
thousands still languish in prisons or camps. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince
Faisal bin Farhan said it was "disheartening and absolutely unacceptable"
that some wealthy countries had not brought their nationals home. "To those
countries, you must step up, you must take your responsibility," he told a
meeting of the international anti-IS coalition that was attended by U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The "caliphate", which IS proclaimed
across swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, was declared defeated in 2019
following counter-offensives in both Iraq and Syria. Thousands of jihadists
and their family members continue to be held in detention centers and
informal camps where US commanders have warned they could fuel an IS
revival. Despite repeated calls for their repatriation, foreign governments
have allowed only a trickle to return home, fearing security threats and
domestic political backlash. Blinken applauded countries, including Canada,
that have brought home their nationals from Syria, urging other nations to
follow suit. "Repatriation is critical" to reduce populations of large
informal camps such as Syria's Al-Hol, which houses 10,000 foreigners,
including IS relatives, he said. "Failure to repatriate foreign fighters
risks that they may again take up arms," he told coalition partners,
pledging $148.7 million for stabilization efforts for Iraq and Syria. The
anti-IS coalition was formed in 2014 following the jihadists' lightning
advance that saw reports of atrocities multiply as they overran non-Muslim
as well as Muslim areas. Despite its territorial defeat, IS militants
continue to conduct attacks against civilians and security forces in both
Iraq and Syria. The United Nations estimates that IS still has 5,000 to
7,000 loyalists across the two countries, roughly half of whom are fighters.
In April, the US-led coalition reported a significant drop in IS attacks in
both Iraq and Syria since the start of the year. IS attacks in Iraq dropped
by 68 percent through April, while Syria saw a 55 percent decrease during
the same period, the coalition said.
Republican presidential field largely set: Takeaways on
where the contest stands
Associated Press/June 08, 2023
After a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party's 2024
presidential field is all but set. A handful of stragglers may jump in
later, but as of now there are at least 10 high-profile Republican
candidates officially seeking their party's nomination. And with the
announcement phase of the primary campaign largely over, several leading
Republican contenders will gather in North Carolina this weekend to begin a
more aggressive sorting period.
It will be a long road to the GOP's national convention in Milwaukee next
summer when Republican delegates across the country gather to finalize their
nominee to run against President Joe Biden. Surprises are guaranteed.
Fortunes will change. But as of now, every Republican White House hopeful is
looking up at former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed
frontrunner in the crowded contest. Here are some takeaways on where the
Republican contest stands:
IT'S A LARGE FIELD AFTER ALL
Trump launched his campaign nearly seven months ago in an effort to scare
off potential challengers. It didn't work. As of now, the former president
is running in a field that features no fewer than nine high-profile
challengers. They include Mike Pence, a former vice president; four current
or former governors: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Gov. Doug
Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa
Hutchinson; Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and
also a former South Carolina governor; U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South
Carolina; biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy; and conservative talk show
host Larry Elder, an unsuccessful candidate for California governor. While
big, the 2024 field could have been much bigger. The party's 2016 class
featured 17 candidates that filled two debate stages. Several Republicans
who had taken steps to prepare for a run in 2024 ultimately bowed out. They
include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, New Hampshire Gov. Chris
Sununu, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Arkansas
Sen. Tom Cotton. Meanwhile, a handful of higher-profile Republicans are
still considering a run, including former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Miami
Mayor Francis Suarez and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
IT'S TRUMP AND EVERYONE ELSE
Make no mistake: This is Trump's race to lose.
The former president is dominating early primary polls, despite his
extraordinary legal troubles, his continued lies about the 2020 election
that fueled the Jan. 6 insurrection, and serious concerns among GOP
officials about his ability to win the general election. Trump nonetheless
maintains a strong grip on a significant portion of the Republican base that
has yet to fall in love with an alternative.
DeSantis is Trump's strongest rival on paper, but the Florida governor has
yet to outline a clear path to victory. The Florida governor is trying to
out-Trump Trump by taking a harder line on immigration, abortion and other
policies that tear at the nation's divides, while embracing the former
president's combative style and mannerisms. Meanwhile, Trump's team is
thrilled about the sheer quantity of candidates in the race, which create a
math problem that benefits Trump. It looks like 2016 all over again, when
Trump won the New Hampshire primary with only 35% of the vote because the
other candidates chopped up the rest of the vote. Trump's Republican critics
warned against this exact scenario over the last year, but for now, they
seem incapable of stopping it.
NO CLEAR STRATEGY TO TAKE DOWN TRUMP
Math aside, Trump's Republican rivals have yet to figure out a consistent
strategy to take him down. That's not to say they haven't begun to try.
Pence told Iowa voters this week that Trump "demanded I choose between him
and the Constitution," a reference to Trump's oft-repeated — and false —
insistence that Pence had the authority to overturn the 2020 election. Pence
called Trump's words "reckless" and said the former president endangered his
family. DeSantis, like others, has dropped many indirect jabs at Trump,
focused largely on the former president's inability to serve more than one
term and the GOP's "culture of losing" under his leadership since 2016.
DeSantis' team also thinks they have an opportunity to out-flank Trump from
the right on conservative priorities like abortion and immigration. DeSantis
shrugged off Trump's large polling advantage when asked this week in
Arizona: "You don't do a poll a year out and say that's how the election
runs out," he said. Christie may be the most vocal Trump critic in the race,
although he hasn't held office in more than five years. "I'm going out there
to take out Donald Trump," the former New Jersey governor told New Hampshire
voters this week. "But here's why: I want to win, and I don't want him to
win. ... There is one lane to the Republican nomination and he's in front of
it."Expect to see anti-Trump strategies continue to evolve this weekend in
North Carolina.
A DIVERSE FIELD
The 2024 Republican field equals the GOP's 2016 class as the most racially
diverse in the party's long history. At least four candidates of color are
seeking the presidency this year: Scott and Elder are Black, while Haley and
Ramaswamy are of Indian descent. For Haley and Scott in particular, race
plays a central role in their pitch to voters, although all four deny the
existence of systemic racism and largely oppose federal policies designed to
help people based on the color of their skin. Republican officials are
hopeful that the diverse field will help the party continue its modest
progress with Black voters and Latinos. Both groups still overwhelmingly
support Democrats, but even small cracks in the Democratic coalition could
be significant in 2024. There is just one woman in Republican field. But
there is strong diversity in the ages of the candidates: Trump is the oldest
at 76, while Ramaswamy is the youngest at 37. DeSantis is just 44, while
Haley and Scott are in their 50s. The rest of the candidates are in their
60s and 70s.
RIGHT ON POLICY
With few exceptions, the Republican field has embraced hardline conservative
policies on issues like abortion, immigration, gun violence and LGBTQ
rights.
All of the candidates oppose abortion rights to some extent, although there
are differences in the degree of their opposition and their rhetoric on the
procedure. Pence and Scott have openly endorsed national abortion bans,
while Trump and DeSantis have avoided taking a firm position on a federal
ban so far. That said, DeSantis this spring signed into Florida law a ban on
abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, one of the nation's most restrictive
policies.
The entire Republican field also opposes new limits on gun ownership,
including an assault weapons ban. Most blame the nation's gun violence
epidemic on mental health issues. DeSantis this spring enacted a new law
that allows Florida residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit.
The Republican field has also embraced the party's recent focus on the LGBTQ
community. Haley mocked and misgendered transgender women on the campaign
trail in recent weeks. Trump and DeSantis have decried gender-affirming
surgeries for minors as child abuse. And Scott co-sponsored a Senate bill
that would cut funding for elementary or middle schools that change a
student's pronouns without first obtaining parental consent.
There appears to be some disagreement on Social Security and Medicare,
however. DeSantis, as a member of Congress, voted for a resolution that
would have raised the age to qualify for Medicare and Social Security to 70.
He seems to have moved away from that position since becoming the Florida
governor. But Trump has seized on his rival's past position, while vowing to
preserve the popular programs.
UNCERTAINTY LOOMS
The Republican field may be settling, but major surprises in the months
ahead are virtually guaranteed. Trump's legal problems may loom largest. The
former president is already facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business
records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury
allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters. Federal prosecutors
are also currently using grand juries in Washington and Florida as part of
their investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents.
And prosecutors in Georgia are investigating whether Trump broke the law
while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. At the same time, DeSantis
has only begun to be vetted on the national stage. Opponents in both parties
are poring through his background for any sign of damaging information.
Republican colleagues openly question his interpersonal skills. And he's
quick to tangle with the media in unscripted moments on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, major uncertainty hangs over upcoming presidential debates, which
are scheduled to begin in late August. Trump, who holds a big lead in early
polls, has raised the possibility of skipping the debates altogether.
DeSantis has lashed out at mainstream media outlets that would play a role
in hosting the televised events. And it's unclear whether lower-tier
candidates could meet the relatively modest polling and fundraising
thresholds.
Blinken expresses concern over
Houthi actions during meeting with Yemeni leader
Arab News/June 08, 2023
RIYADH: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern on Thursday
with actions by the Houthi militia that are cutting Yemenis off from
resources and impeding the flow of goods inside of Yemen.
During a meeting in Riyadh with the president of
the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Al-Alimi, Blinken said
parties to the conflict in the country must “come together to reach a new,
more comprehensive agreement to end the war.”The secretary of state welcomed
the Presidential Leadership Council’s continued support for UN-led peace
efforts and for measures to bring immediate relief to Yemenis. He also
reiterated that a UN-led peace process will give Yemenis the opportunity to
address critical questions facing the country, durably resolve the conflict,
and chart a brighter future for Yemen.
Blinken also met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr. Fuad
Hussein at the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh Ministerial in the Saudi
capital, the US State Department said. The two sides reviewed bilateral
relations and “reaffirmed the principles in the US-Iraq Strategic Framework
Agreement,” Spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. He “encouraged”
the Iraqi government on its efforts to become energy independent and to
increase innovation in its energy sector, and underscored US support for
Iraq and Turkiye to quickly find a way to re-open the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline.
Blinken also reiterated the US remains committed to assisting the government
to achieve a secure, stable, and sovereign future, including the enduring
defeat of Daesh.
Saudi foreign minister: wants US
to bid in domestic nuclear program
Reuters/June 08, 2023
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Thursday the kingdom would prefer to
have the US as one of the bidders for its civilian nuclear program.Prince
Faisal bin Farhan was commenting in a joint press conference with US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "We have differences of opinion but we
are working on finding
mechanisms for us to be able to work together," he said.
Global Coalition against ISIS:
Confronting the challenge of repatriation
LBCI/June 08, 2023
The camp "Roj" for Syrian refugees stands out as it houses individuals from
more than sixty nationalities with ties to ISIS. Thousands of them are also
held in the Al-Hawl camp and Iraqi prisons. During the ministerial meeting
of the global coalition against ISIS in Riyadh, the issue of repatriating
jihadists to their home countries was prominent. The meeting was attended by
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from around the
world. However, Saudi Arabia and the United States emphasized the importance
of Western countries in repatriating their citizens who fought alongside
ISIS and their families detained in Syria and Iraq. This global coalition,
consisting of 86 countries, was formed in 2014 with the commitment to
confront and dismantle ISIS networks on various fronts. Will countries take
action and reclaim their citizens after the calls made during the global
coalition meeting against ISIS? Notably, only a few countries, such as
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kosovo, have repatriated their citizens. Other
countries, especially European ones, have only repatriated a limited number
of women and children.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 08-09/2023
Manipulating Israeli Public Opinion
Naomi Linder Kahn/Gatestone Institute/June 08, 2023
The results of the survey indicate that the Israeli public has far greater
trust in the Knesset -- by dozens of percentage points -- than it does in
Israel's judiciary, from the Supreme Court down to the legal advisors and
counselors who answer to the Supreme Court. As almost always, the different
answers are the result of differences built into the questions. The wording
of the question posed in the Israel Democracy Institute survey referred to
the "level of trust in the Knesset" while the "Direct Polls Trust Index"
survey examined trust "in the members of the Knesset you elected." [T]he
purposefully phrased IDI survey was crafted to justify weakening the powers
of the legislative branch and granting excessive powers to the judicial
branch. The way [the IDI's] question was worded regarding the public's trust
in the Knesset ensured that the results would create the totally false
impression that the public does not trust the members of the Knesset and
favors the judges of the Supreme Court. The relevant question, which is more
closely reflected in the wording of the Direct Polls survey, is the level of
the public's trust in the members of the Knesset chosen by them, and the
results show that an absolute majority of the public trusts its elected
representatives -- a fact that points to an extremely healthy parliamentary
democracy. These campaigns to undemocratically overturn the result of a free
and fair election would surely have caught the eye of George Orwell --
especially as they were all conducted under the rallying cry of "protecting
democracy." The results of a recent survey indicate that the Israeli public
has far greater trust in the Knesset -- by dozens of percentage points --
than it does in
Against the backdrop of controversy surrounding reform of Israel's judicial
system, the survey was conducted in early May 2023 by Direct Polls Ltd., an
independent Israeli polling company, to examine the degree of public trust
in Israel's state institutions -- the Knesset (parliament), the Supreme
Court, the president, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The results of
the survey indicate that the Israeli public has far greater trust in the
Knesset -- by dozens of percentage points -- than it does in
"It should be clear to anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of
politics -- Israeli or otherwise -- that there is no expectation that
conservative voters will trust representatives of left-wing parties, or vice
versa. Voters trust the representatives they elected, the men and women they
chose as their messengers. In a democracy, citizens elect people to
represent them and their values in the legislature, and entrust them with a
mandate to speak for them in matters that touch upon essential or even
existential questions on the public agenda. These representatives are
expected to voice the opinions of their electorate, to move legislation and
public policy forward without sacrificing the core principles and ideals of
the people who elected them. That is what democracy is all about. Other
survey results were equally skewed as a result of manipulative phrasing of
the questions: The Direct Polls survey indicates that the Supreme Court is
trusted by only 50% of the public: only 16% of Likud voters expressed trust
in the judiciary, and less than 5% of voters for the Religious Zionist and
ultra-Orthodox parties, compared those who voted for opposition parties with
over 80% expressing trust. On the other hand, the purposefully phrased IDI
survey was crafted to justify weakening the powers of the Knesset and
granting excessive powers to the judicial branch. Not surprisingly, the IDI
survey results supported their stated anti-judicial-reform position, and
were published under the title "Only a Minority of Israelis Support the
Proposed Judicial Overhaul." Mark Twain's "lies, damn lies and statistics"
assessment of the IDI's survey results is unmistakable.
The way its question was worded regarding the public's trust in the Knesset
ensured that the results would create the totally false impression that the
public does not trust the members of the Knesset and favors the judges of
the Supreme Court. The relevant question, which is more closely reflected in
the wording of the Direct Polls survey, is the level of the public's trust
in the members of the Knesset chosen by them, and the results show that an
absolute majority of the public trusts its elected representatives -- a fact
that points to an extremely healthy parliamentary democracy. Additional
points of comparison between the two surveys are no less instructive --
particularly regarding questions that were worded neutrally. Thus, regarding
public trust in
*Naomi Linder Kahn is Director of the International Division of Regavim, a
public Israeli think tank and watchdog nonprofit dedicated to protecting
Israeli sovereignty.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.
The promising new diplomatic trend in the Middle East
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/June 08, 2023
The latest developments in the Middle East reveal a new trend: The region has
been changing into a more stable and prosperous place due to the fact that
diplomacy has taken a front seat. This significant shift ought to be supported
by the major world powers and the wider international community.
Between 2000 and 2020, the Middle East witnessed several major conflicts,
increased instability and widespread insecurity. The US invasion of Iraq
triggered years of domestic war in Iraq between terror groups and sectarian
militias. This caused tensions between other states and nonstate actors in the
region. The civil war in Syria also turned many groups against each other.
These events tipped the fragile balance of power between countries in the Middle
East. In such a conflict-driven era, military options appeared to be the only
path to winning the battles. But as the evidence of the last two decades shows,
militarization, political polemics and support for proxy groups not only do not
resolve tensions, but they also further destabilize the region and make it more
insecure for everyone.
But this trend began changing after the Gulf nations took a powerful leading
role in attempting to stabilize the region and bring peace and security through
diplomacy and dialogue. This diplomatic mission was firmly supported and
advanced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who prioritized bringing
peace to the Middle East, enhancing regional security and bringing about a
peaceful environment in which everyone could prosper.
It is important to point out that diplomatic initiatives and de-escalation
strategies tend to succeed when they are accompanied by strong incentives, which
are offered to the involved parties. These incentives can be political and/or
economic.
One of the latest examples was the decision of the Gulf nations — particularly
Saudi Arabia — to give diplomacy a chance when it comes to ties with the Iranian
government. Although China brokered the recent Saudi-Iran agreement, the
significant role that the Kingdom played should not be disregarded.
The Gulf nations took a powerful leading role in attempting to stabilize the
region and bring peace and security.
Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, pointed to this fact when noting: “By paying so much
attention to China, Americans risk missing the most important part of this
agreement: the changing regional role of Saudi Arabia. A week of smoothly
integrated diplomacy not only showed Saudi Arabia to be a skillful diplomatic
actor, but also a creative one. The popular image of Saudi Arabia in the United
States is that of a largely passive consumer of US-provided security. With the
agreement, Saudi Arabia cast off the passivity of many decades, and demonstrated
it is a diplomatic force to be reckoned with.”
Another diplomatic move was initiated toward Syria last month. The Arab League
readmitted Damascus, ending its decade-plus suspension. According to the Saudi
Foreign Ministry, the objectives of the move were laid out by the Arab League’s
foreign ministers, who “consulted and exchanged views on the efforts made to
reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that ends its repercussions and
preserves Syria’s unity, security, stability, and Arab identity; returns it to
its Arab surroundings, to achieve the good of its brotherly people.”
The international community has already witnessed some of the positive
consequences of these latest diplomatic moves. According to The Wall Street
Journal, the Iranian government has agreed to stop arming the Houthis. Security
in the region has also been enhanced, as tensions between Tehran and the other
Gulf states appear to have eased. Following the Saudi-Iran rapprochement, the
Iranian government is improving its ties with states such as Bahrain.
The Gulf nations’ emphasis on diplomacy and conflict mitigation, along with
de-escalation, has even been seen beyond the region. For example, Saudi Arabia
and the UAE last year played a major intermediary role in facilitating an
exchange of prisoners between the US and Russia. In a joint statement, the Saudi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its UAE counterpart announced the success of
efforts that led to the release and exchange of two prisoners, one of which was
US basketball star Brittney Griner.
A lack of dialogue and diplomatic relations between countries can have
unintended consequences, such as exacerbating mistrust and causing
misunderstandings, tensions, conflict or even wars. And some diplomatic attempts
may work for a period of time and then fail. For diplomatic initiatives to last
and be sustainable, they should help not only those on the state level who
negotiated and made the deals, but also — and more importantly — ordinary
people. When ordinary citizens witness the benefits of diplomacy, de-escalation
and conflict mitigation, rapprochements are more likely to be sustained and
successful.
This is why it is critical for the wealthier countries in the Middle East to
invest in other countries in the region. The economic benefits of having good
relationships and diplomatic ties with other countries, particularly neighbors,
are countless. For example, stable nations can attract more investments and
visitors, significantly contributing to their economic development and providing
revenue for ordinary people, along with small, medium and large businesses
alike.
In a nutshell, diplomacy is the key to de-escalation, enhancing Middle Eastern
stability and security and making the region safer and more prosperous for all
nations. Economic and political incentives are the core pillars of successful,
effective and sustainable diplomatic initiatives.
Why it is time for the US to end its strategic ambiguity
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/June 08, 2023
Friction points between the US and China are increasing. The most alarming is
that warships from the two countries were involved in a near-collision in the
South China Sea on Saturday. Moreover, there are signals indicating a
transformation in the dynamics of international foreign policy, with the spheres
of influence of both countries being reshaped. However, all this should not be
solely framed as part of the great power competition. Another important factor
within this new dynamic is the rise of regional powers.
From Asia to the Middle East and even in South America, we are noticing a new
positioning of countries and attempts to solve regional problems and advance
their national objectives swiftly. Many analysts are now framing this great
power competition as a new cold war, but the rise of regional powers is not
similar to the nonalignment movement of the Cold War era. Also, the dynamics
between the US and China are not the same as with the Soviet bloc. First, there
is no ideological confrontation that is apparent at this stage. Second, the US
and China have ongoing trade relations and still have positive diplomatic
relations — even if they are deteriorating.
And so, as the West debates decoupling or de-risking with China, this situation
is supporting regional powers as they push forward with their own plans and take
responsibility for their future. We are noticing that countries come up with a
solution to a conflict and then solicit the support of international powers to
bring it forward. Moreover, most countries, including Israel, have been
balancing their interests between the two superpowers. As long as the US and
China stay in this gray zone, this will continue.
This change is apparent within the bloc of Western friends. Many of them
question the future of the US’ guardianship of global stability. This is
particularly important in regions or countries where the US is no longer the
leading trade partner, specifically where it has lost this spot to China. How
will the world navigate this new dynamic? This has also led to an increase in
criticisms of the US, especially from African heads of state.
The US has become precise in its ambiguity and predictable in its
unpredictability. And so it needs a new approach
When the headlines warn of an end to the dollar as the world’s reserve currency
of choice, when the BRICS group becomes a larger economic bloc than the G7 and
other signs, it becomes a valid question. Moreover, will we witness the birth of
a new system or will the current institutions be transformed to accommodate this
change?
As the criticisms increase, we should ask ourselves what is the state of the
world today? Since the Second World War, extreme poverty has been steadily
declining worldwide. Child mortality rates have dramatically decreased. Life
expectancy has increased globally. Education has improved. Violence — including
armed conflicts, war and homicides — has declined over time. This is still true
despite the war in Ukraine. This progress was mostly made, whether people want
to admit it or not, thanks to the global role of the US. And so, could this also
come to an end if the US loses ground internationally?
It is symbolic that these structural changes are happening as Henry Kissinger
celebrates his 100th birthday. Indeed, one of Kissinger’s best-known concepts is
“strategic ambiguity.” In short, this is the use of deliberate ambiguity or
uncertainty in the actions and intentions of a superpower, which can serve as a
tool for maintaining stability and preventing adversaries from accurately
predicting their next move. This concept acknowledges unpredictability as a
privilege of superpowers, which can confuse foes and friends alike. But today,
the US has become precise in its ambiguity and predictable in its
unpredictability. And so it needs a new approach.
It should support and back these regional powers to become more independent in
deciding their own fate
This is why the US needs to reengage with its partners and flip the existing
modus operandi. In short, it should support and back these regional powers to
become more independent in deciding their own fate. It should also avoid basing
this international approach with a greater agenda for humanity. It should, in
fact, only help these countries achieve what the US promises its own citizens in
the pursuit of happiness. It is a strong enough message. The empowerment of
regional powers to carve their own future is the best way to build strong and
long-lasting partnerships in this new era. I would say that, to a certain
extent, we are seeing this nascent new formula emerge between the US and India.
Although my bet is that India will also one day become a major power, maybe even
surpassing China.
One cannot deny that, even if the international order and decision-making
mechanisms that regulate global affairs have maintained greater stability, they
are not reflective of this changing world. And so, will these institutions
change to accommodate the new status of China and the rise of regional powers or
will we witness a second system? When looking at the world map today, we can
imagine a worst-case scenario where the world is once again divided in half,
with a frontier at the border between Ukraine and Russia.
This is why it is important for the US to reengage with its partnership network
in a straightforward manner and to abandon its strategic ambiguity with them.
Regional powers in the Middle East and elsewhere have evolved, matured and taken
on greater responsibility for their fate. The US should support this
transformation and build the new alliances that will keep the world safe for
another 100 years.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of Barbicane, a space-focused investment
syndication platform. He is the CEO of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan
Al-Arabi.
US-China arms control talks would be a heartening
development
Dr. Amal Mudallali/Arab News/June 08, 2023
The Americans and the Chinese faced off last weekend at the Shangri-La Dialogue
security conference in Singapore. They accused each other of “bullying” and of
having a “Cold War mentality,” letting the growing tension in the
Chinese-American relationship spill over from the waters of the Taiwan Strait to
the halls of the conference.
These are not two ships passing in the night, they are ships crossing each
other’s path in an attempt to establish each their own red lines.
As the defense officials of both countries were exchanging rhetorical volleys,
there were reports of an “unsafe” Chinese naval maneuver, according to the
American military. It stated that a Chinese ship had cut across the path of an
American destroyer as it passed through the international waters of the Taiwan
Straits, forcing it to slow down to avoid a collision.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu
shook hands at the conference but did not have a meeting, as the Chinese side
turned down a White House request, according to the American side. This was not
the first time the Chinese had refused an American request for a meeting or a
chance to communicate.
Austin stressed in the meeting the “necessity” of dialogue with China, saying it
is not a “reward.” He also expressed his concern that Beijing “has been
unwilling to engage more seriously on better mechanisms for crisis management
between our two militaries.”
While Austin touted expanded military partnerships in the region, the Chinese
defense minister, who is under US sanctions, called the formation of new
security partnerships in the region “small cliques.”
Li said Western “freedom of navigation” patrols in the Taiwan Straits are a
“provocation,” differentiating between what he called “innocent passage” in the
straits and attempts “to try to use those freedoms of navigation to exercise
hegemony of navigation.”
The lack of communication between the two powers is hampering efforts to reduce
the risks to global security and stability
Despite reports of a secret visit by CIA Director Bill Burns to China last week,
the lack of communication between the two powers is hampering efforts to reduce
the risks to global security and stability, including a potential nuclear
conflict.
In a speech to the Arms Control Association annual meeting last week, National
Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who was fresh from a meeting with Chinese
diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna, outlined the US strategy to deal with the post-Cold
War world order, especially the nuclear and arms control challenges. The US is
eager to bring China to the table to engage on the future of nuclear stability
and arms control because it says it is not interested in a new cold war or an
arms race.
Sullivan said there were “deep” and “substantial” cracks in the post-Cold War
nuclear foundation and that the US was trying to fashion a new strategy to
“prevent an arms race” and “reduce the risk of misperception and escalation.”
Experts say that the US is finding out that, in this new world, it has to deal
with a three-way nuclear race and competition along with Russia and China. This
is at a time when the old arms control architecture that the US built at the
height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union is crumbling, with just one leg
remaining — the New Start treaty. Any new arms control regime, the US believes,
has to include China to be effective.
But China, which has always been outside the arms control process of the Cold
War era, does not see eye to eye with the US on this subject, or on any aspect
of new American-Chinese engagement, including what the agenda of any potential
dialogue with the US should include.
The US wants to decouple the arms control agenda from the wider Chinese-American
relationship, as it did with the Russians during the Cold War.
Sullivan lamented the erosion of “an era where nations could compartmentalize
the issues of strategic stability” and “leaders chose transparency even during
times of tension.” This was the “foundation of nuclear stability and security
that we’ve depended on for decades.” But this foundation is eroding at a time
when new strategies are needed to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict, the US
national security adviser added.
While he pointed to Russia as the source of “major cracks” in this foundation,
it is China that seems to be more frustrating to the US, as Sullivan noted that
Washington has seen “a change in approach” from Beijing.
“Unlike Russia,” he said, China has “thus far opted not to come to the table for
substantive dialogue on arms control. It has declined to share the size and
scope of its nuclear forces, or to provide launch notifications. And it has not
shown much interest in discussions regarding the changes it is making to its
nuclear forces.”
The US wants to decouple the arms control agenda from the wider Chinese-American
relationship, as it did with the Russians during the Cold War
Sullivan added: “Simply put, we have not yet seen a willingness from (China) to
compartmentalize strategic stability from broader issues in the relationship.
And that compartmentalization, as I noted before, has been the bedrock of
nuclear security — indeed strategic stability — for decades.”
Even when proposing to negotiate with Russia on the future of New Start ahead of
its expiration in 2026, Sullivan warned that any limits the US agrees to with
the Russians “will of course be impacted by the size and scale of China’s
nuclear buildup.”
The US is “ready to engage China without preconditions, helping ensure that
competition is managed and that competition does not veer into conflict,” he
added.
While Washington hoped that China would be willing to engage on “strategic
nuclear issues,” Chinese experts pointed to a lack of understanding on the US
side, of both China and the Chinese decision-making process, leading to more
tension in the relationship.
At the Arms Control Association conference, Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in the
Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said
that there has been a change in the country’s nuclear policy that reflects the
changing China. He identified two factors that are driving China’s policy, “fear
and ambition.” These are “two sides of the same coin,” he explained, adding that
the US is “not understanding the fear part.”
The American experts at the conference remarked that this fear factor is a
mirror image of the fear in Washington, which makes a conversation between the
two powers all the more critical.
While the Federation of American Scientists puts the number of nuclear warheads
that China possesses at more than 400, Sullivan said that, by 2035, China is “on
track to have as many as 1,500 nuclear warheads, one of the largest peacetime
nuclear buildups in history.” The New Start treaty limits America and Russia to
the deployment of 1,550 nuclear warheads each. The New York Times observed that,
“if Beijing hits that number, America’s two biggest nuclear adversaries would
have a combined force of over 3,000 strategic weapons, which can reach the
United States.” This must be what keeps American officials awake at night.
The problem between the US and China is also that of approach. Tong said China
prefers a multilateral approach, which has more chance of succeeding, adding
that China “is holding the dialogue on arms control hostage to progress on the
political dialogue and the relationship (with Washington).”
The meeting with Wang in Vienna must have had an impact, because Sullivan gave a
nod to multilateralism when he announced that the US was “willing to engage in
new multilateral arms control efforts, including through the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council, the P5.” He said the US was under “no
illusions” that it would be easy to agree the necessary risk reduction and arms
control measures, but it does “believe it is possible.”
There would be nothing more heartening to the world than seeing the P5 working
together to reduce nuclear risk and reach a robust new arms control regime. If
they do it at the UN, it would be even better because multilateralism matters.
• Dr. Amal Mudallali is an American policy and international relations analyst.