English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 25/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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15 آذار/2023

Bible Quotations For today
He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them
John 12/37-43: “Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfil the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them.’ Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 24-25/2023
Video and text: Southern Liberation Day is a heresy, a lie and a falsification of history. It must be cancelled and erased from the memory of Lebanon and the Lebanese./Elias Bejjani/May 25/2021
Hezbollah-linked software engineer gets 12 years in US prison
Qatari team to return to Beirut, Paris may shelve its initiative
Lebanese judiciary bans Salameh from traveling
Salameh attends questioning session over Interpol red notice
Locked doors and legal battles: Riad Salameh's day in court
Hezbollah pressing 'Christian MPs', was 'behind Alain Aoun's stance'
FPM, Atallah say talks ongoing with LF, opposition
Berri wants swift election of president who can talk to Syria, Arab countries
Raad: Lebanese interior doesn't need resistance but rather dialogue and tolerance
Cooperation or consequences: Correspondent banks and Lebanon's gray list placement
Ana Lubnaniya Arabiya: Inspiring women's leadership in Lebanon
Lebanon's tourism renaissance: An 85-90% solvency rate foreseen
Bou Habib wraps up visit to Italy by meeting Italian counterpart
Army Chief discusses general situation with UN's Wronecka
Lebanese Army Commander delivers “Order of the Day” marking Resistance and Liberation day
Makary during launch of activities of "Beirut the Capital of Arab Media 2023": We want this celebration to be a window of hope and a gateway for the...
Berri discusses political developments with MP Frem, meets Caretaker Culture Minister in presence of “Bait Al Musawwar”Association delegation
Japan provides waste collection trucks to municipalities to tackle solid waste management challenges in Baalbeck-Hermel
Bou Saab broaches presidential entitlement with UN’s Wronecka, meets Romanian Ambassador and Representative of International Organization of La...
Salam meets Kuwaiti Crown Prince: Lebanon will eventually return to its beautiful times
Geagea meets UNHCR’s Freijsen, says refugee crisis crossed limits of humanity
Joint statement by RC/HC, UNHCR Representative, and WFP Country Director on the return to disbursement of cash assistance in dual currency

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 24-25/2023
Uphold promise to protect civilians caught in conflict: Guterres
Canada and Saudi Arabia to appoint new ambassadors, end 2018 dispute
Iran names ambassador to Saudi after seven-year gap
Iran nuclear chief says Tehran to cooperate with inspectors on 'new activities'
Israel says it retaliated against shots fired from Syria at military drone
Iranian Nuclear Advances Provoke Israeli Warning of Military Action
Drone attacks overnight in Russian border region
Russia's Wagner boss says more than 20,000 of his troops died in Bakhmut
Who's behind the attack on a Russian region on the border with Ukraine?
Algeria police detain leading opposition figure
Erdogan party split on economic plan as Turkey runoff looms, sources say
Turkish anti-migrant party backs Erdogan's rival in presidential runoff
Japan won't join NATO, but local office considered, PM Kishida says
New Chinese ambassador to US acknowledges challenges in relations
Clashes erupt in Sudan’s capital threatening to shatter cease-fire deal
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launches 2024 GOP presidential campaign to challenge Trump

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 24-25/2023
‘Enigma’ Solved? Egypt’s Persecuted Christians Many Times More than ‘Officially Reported’/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/May 24/2023
How The West Sanctions Enemies: Floods Them with Rewards/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute./May 24, 2023
How DeSantis Is Trying to Lure Older Voters Away From Trump/Alexandra Glorioso and Nicholas Nehamas/The New York Times/May 24/2023
Jeddah Summit… The Summit of Five Minutes/Mohammed al-Hammadi/Asharq Al Awsat/May 24/2023
The New Saudi State Sets Off Into Uncharted Geopolitical Waters/Tony Badran/The Tablet/May 24/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 24-25/2023
Video and text: Southern Liberation Day is a heresy, a lie and a falsification of history. It must be cancelled and erased from the memory of Lebanon and the Lebanese.
Elias Bejjani/May 25/2021
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75168/elias-bejjani-hezbollahs-bogus-liberation-resistance-day-3/
We call on the Lebanese government, the Lebanese Parliament and on all the free and patriotic Lebanese politicians and leaders to cancel the May 25 National Day, because it is not national at all, and also to stop calling Hezbollah a resistance, put an end for its mini-state, cantons and weaponry, and secure a dignified, honorable and safe return for all the Lebanese citizens who have been taking refuge in Israel since May 2000.
Believe it or not, on May 25 each year since 2000 Lebanon has been celebrating the so-called “Liberation & Resistance Day.” Sadly, this celebration commemorates a bogus event, and a phony heroism that did not actually take place. On May 22, 2000 the Israeli Army unilaterally and for solely Israeli domestic reasons withdrew from the security zone of South Lebanon in accordance with UN Resolution 425.
This miscalculated and hasty withdrawal was a fatal Israeli decision that has inspired the Hamas terrorism acts and the on-going havoc in the Palestinian Gaza strip. Since 2000 many Israeli officials and politicians from all parties openly and harshly criticized Barak’s Government (Barak was PM at that time) hasty and unwise decision through which Israel’ abandoned its ally the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and gave Hezbollah all south Lebanon and the entire Lebanon on a plate of sliver. The unilateral Israeli withdrawal created a security vacuum in south Lebanon.
The Syrians who were occupying Lebanon at that time and fully controlling its government, did not allow the Lebanese Army to deploy in the south and fill this vacuum after the Israeli withdrawal. Instead Syria helped the Hezbollah militia to militarily control the whole southern region, and even patrol the Israeli-Lebanese border.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli army’s withdrawal was executed without any military battles, or even minor skirmishes with Hezbollah, or the Lebanese and Syrian armies. At the same numerous reports published in German and in other western media facilities indicated with proves that Israel forged a secret deal with Hezbollah and its masters, the Iranian Mullahs that mutually arranged all details for the withdrawal.
The Syrian regime, in a bid to justify both its on going occupation of Lebanon and the avoidance of disarming Hezbollah, came up with the “Shabaa Farms occupation big lie” and declared Hezbollah a Liberator, alleging it had forced Israel to withdrawal from South Lebanon. Syria, in the same camouflaging and devious context, dictated to both its puppet Lebanese parliament and government to declare May 25th a National Day under the tag of “Liberation & Resistance Day”.
In reality Hezbollah did not force the Israeli withdrawal, and did not play any role in the Liberation of the southern Lebanese region. In fact both Hezbollah and Syria deliberately hindered and delayed the Israeli withdrawal for more than 14 years. Every time the Israelis called on the Lebanese government to engage in a joint, serious effort under the United Nations umbrella to ensure a safe and mutually organized withdrawal of its army from South Lebanon, the Lebanese government refused to cooperate, did not agree to deploy its army in the south, and accused the Israelis of plotting to divide and split the Syrian-Lebanese joint track.
Since then, Hezbollah has been hijacking Lebanon and its people, refusing to disarm and advocating for the annihilation of Israel. This Iranian mullahs’ terrorist army stationed in Lebanon, is viciously hiding behind labels of resistance, liberation and religion. Hezbollah has recklessly jeopardized the Lebanese peoples’ lives, safety, security and livelihood. It has been growing bolder and bolder and mercilessly taking the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people hostages through terrorism, force and organized crime.
Sadly, Hezbollah is systematically devouring Lebanon day after day, and piece by piece, while at the same time marginalizing all its governmental institutions in a bid to topple the Lebanese state and erect in its place a Shiite Muslim regime, a replica of the Iranian Shiite mullahs’ fundamentalist republic.
Meanwhile the free world and Arabic countries are totally silent, indifferent, and idly watching from far away the horrible crime unfolding without taking any practical or tangible measures to put an end to this anti-Lebanese Syria-Iranian scheme that is executed through their spearhead, the Hezbollah armed militia.
Who is to be blamed for Hezbollah’s current odd and bizarre status? Definitely the Syrians who have occupied Lebanon for more than 28 years (1976-2005). During their bloody and criminal occupation, Syria helped the Iranian Hezbollah militia build a state within Lebanon and fully control the Lebanese Shiite community. But also the majority of the Lebanese politicians, leaders, officials and clergymen share the responsibility because they were subservient and acted in a dire Dhimmitude, selfish and cowardly manner.
If these so-called Lebanese leaders had been courageous and patriotic and had not appeased Hezbollah and turned a blind eye to all its vicious and human rights atrocities, intimidation tactics, crimes and expansionism schemes, this Iranian Shiite fundamentalist militia would not have been able to erect its own mini-state in the southern suburb of Beirut, and its numerous mini-cantons in the Bekaa Valley and the South; nor would Hezbollah have been able to build its mighty military power, with 100 thousand militiamen, or stockpile thousand of missiles and force the Iranian “Wilayat Al-Faqih” religious doctrine on the Lebanese Shiite community and confiscate Lebanon's decision making process and freedoms.
Since Hezbollah’s emergence in 1982, these politicians have been serving their own selfish interests and not the interests of the Lebanese people and the nation. They went along with Hezbollah’s schemes, deluding themselves that its militia and weaponry would remain in South Lebanon and would not turn against them. This failure to serve the people of Lebanon allowed Hezbollah to make many Lebanese and most of the Arab-Muslim countries through its terrorism propaganda to blindly swallow its big lie of theatrical, faked resistance and Liberation.
Hezbollah would not have been able to refuse to disarm in 1991, like all the other Lebanese militias in accordance to the “Taef Accord,” which called for the disarmament of all militias. Hezbollah would not have become a state inside the Lebanese state, and a world-wide terrorism Iranian-Syrian tool which turned against them all after its war with Israel in year 2006 and after the UN troops were deployed on the Lebanese – Israeli borders in accordance with the UN Resolution 1701.
On May 7, 2008 Hezbollah invaded Sunni Western Beirut killing and injuring in cold blood hundreds of its civilian citizens, and too attempted to take over by force Mount Lebanon. Hezbollah’s General Secretary Sheik Hassan Nasrallah called that day (May 7, 2008) a great and glorious victory for his resistance, and keeps on threatening the Lebanese that a replicate of that day will take place if they do not succumb and obey his Iranian orders. Hezbollah is a deadly dragon that the Lebanese politicians have been allowing him to feed on sacrifices from the southern Lebanese citizens, especially on those who were living in the “Security Zone” and who fled to Israel in May 2000 after the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon. This dragon who enjoyed devouring his southern sacrifices has now turned on all the Lebanese and if they do not stand for their rights and dignity, he will keep on devouring them all one after the other.
We call on the Lebanese government, the Lebanese Parliament and on all the free and patriotic Lebanese politicians and leaders to cancel the May 25 National Day, because it is not national at all, and also to stop calling Hezbollah a resistance, put an end for its mini-state, cantons and weaponry, and secure a dignified, honorable and safe return for all the Lebanese citizens who have been taking refuge in Israel since May 2000.

Hezbollah-linked software engineer gets 12 years in US prison
Associated Press/May 24, 2023
A New Jersey software developer who prosecutors say once photographed landmarks in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., for possible terrorist attacks has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a federal judge who said it seemed he no longer was a danger.In fact, Judge Paul G. Gardephe noted, Alexei Saab, 46, has become a model prisoner since his 2019 arrest, helping others incarcerated at New York City's federal jails to get high school equivalency certificates, learn English and find relief from psychological problems. Gardephe called Saab's 2005 exit from his relationship with Hezbollah and the "peaceful and productive" life he lived in the New York City area afterward among "inconvenient facts" that made it impossible to grant the government's request that Saab be incarcerated for 20 years.
A jury at a trial last year heard prosecutors portray Saab as a highly trained terrorist who scoped out landmarks in the U.S., France, Turkey and the Czech Republic. Prosecutors said Saab was a sleeper cell waiting to activate if Iran was attacked by the United States.
But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a material support for a terrorist group charge. It convicted him of receiving military-type training from Hezbollah, conspiring to commit marriage fraud and making false statements. It acquitted the Morristown, New Jersey, resident of three other charges.
At sentencing, the judge also noted that Saab cooperated fully with FBI agents when they asked to interview him in 2019. He was interviewed 11 times over four months, and each time was allowed to go home, the judge said. He finally was informed of his rights and arrested after his 12th session. He has been jailed ever since. Gardephe said the "facts and circumstances" suggest Saab was no longer a danger to the community and there was little risk he would commit new crimes. The judge said there were also "inconvenient facts" against defense arguments that Saab serve no more than a decade in prison.
He noted that Saab, born in poverty-ridden Yaroun, Lebanon, and raised by middle-class parents who were public school teachers, did not stop his affiliation with the Hezbollah organization after he came to the United States in 2000. Saab took photographs of and researched weak points in U.S. landmarks and provided the information to "one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world," Gardephe said. Prosecutors said the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and airports, bridges and tunnels were among over 40 locations that Saab surveilled in New York alone. Defense attorney Marlon Kirton wrote in a presentence brief that his client went through a transformation after arriving in America as he "began to experience the feeling of true freedom." He said Saab was 23 years old and "loved how Americans lived passionately and fearlessly" and he decided he wanted that for himself. The lawyer portrayed his client as a victim of Hezbollah. By 2005, he became a U.S. citizen and obtained two master's degrees. He decided that "while he still feared Hezbollah, he felt safe in the United States, knowing that the organization could not touch him," Kirton wrote.

Qatari team to return to Beirut, Paris may shelve its initiative
Naharnet/May 24, 2023
A Qatari delegation will return to Lebanon in the next few days to continue its presidential initiative, a media report said on Wednesday. “It will meet with a number of parliamentary blocs, especially from the opposition, as part of the efforts aimed at unifying their ranks and agreeing on a common presidential candidate,” ad-Diyar newspaper reported. “It has become known that Doha will back Army chief General Joseph Aoun’s election as president,” the daily added. Al-Liwaa newspaper meanwhile reported that France has informed Lebanese parties that its presidential initiative “will not last for long.”
“Paris might declare a negative stance before mid-June in the absence of a fundamental and constructive breakthrough,” the daily said. “There will be a focus on determining the final stances of the MPs who label themselves as not belonging to any camp, on the hope that that might lead to a presidential breakthrough through which some parties can be convinced to reconsider their stances,” al-Liwaa added.

Lebanese judiciary bans Salameh from traveling
LBCI/May 24, 2023
The Lebanese judiciary has decided on Thursday, after interrogating the Governor of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh, to impose a travel ban on him, according to a judicial official cited by the Agence France-Presse. This step comes after the authorities received a red notice from Interpol based on a French arrest warrant. The official stated that the Public Prosecutor, Judge Imad Qabalan, decided, after interrogating Salameh, to "place him under investigation, prohibit him from traveling, and confiscate his Lebanese and French passports." Additionally, the official said that he "sent a report including the minutes of the session to France and requested Judge Aude Buresi to provide him with the French investigation file." Furthermore, the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon has requested the Lebanese judiciary not to hand him over to the French judiciary and to put him on trial in Lebanon.

Salameh attends questioning session over Interpol red notice
Associated Press/May 24, 2023
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh arrived Wednesday at the Justice Palace to appear before Attorney General Judge Imad Qabalan over an Interpol red notice issued against him in France over corruption charges. The Lebanese Judiciary also received an arrest warrant from Germany, and cabinet on Friday will decide whether or not to dismiss Salameh from his post. Caretaker Minister of Justice Henry Khoury said he was surprised how the government tried to evade its responsibilities during a consultative ministerial meeting over Salameh last week. He said Salameh must be dismissed and criticized the government for "throwing the ball into the judiciary's court." He said Lebanon will not hand Salameh over to France, as Lebanon does not hand its citizens to foreign countries, therefore the case will be overseen in Lebanon. Free Patriotic Movement MP George Atallah also blamed caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil for not dismissing Salameh. Khalil has clearly announced that he is against the dismissal of Salameh. "Politicians who are involved in Salameh's actions are fearing for their fate," Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said, as he urged Salameh to expose all the culprits.
Salameh has repeatedly denied all corruption allegations, saying he made his wealth from his years working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, inherited properties, and investments. Salameh has held his post for almost 30 years and intends to step down after his current term ends in July. He said he would only resign if convicted of a crime. Ideally a new governor would be appointed immediately should Salameh resign or be removed. But if no consensus could be immediately reached on a candidate, the central bank’s first vice-governor Wassim Mansouri would automatically take over as a temporary replacement, a step that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he refuses.

Locked doors and legal battles: Riad Salameh's day in court
LBCI/May 24, 2023
An hour before the arrival of Lebanon's central bank governor, Riad Salameh, at the Palace of Justice in Beirut, the entrance to the Public Prosecution was closed. Journalists were kept several meters away, and security personnel surrounded the underground parking of the Palace of Justice. After completing the security procedures, the governor arrived and took the elevator to the fourth floor. Afterward, the elevator was locked. At precisely 3 o'clock, the governor appeared without legal representation before the Public Prosecutor, Judge Imad Qabalan. In the session that lasted an hour and 20 minutes, he was asked if he agreed with the content of the French arrest warrant issued against him. Salameh answered by denying all accusations made against him.

Hezbollah pressing 'Christian MPs', was 'behind Alain Aoun's stance'
Naharnet/May 24, 2023
Hezbollah is seeking to secure one-half-plus-one of parliament’s votes for its candidate Suleiman Franjieh through “intensifying individual meetings with Christian MPs,” a parliamentary source said. “It is trying to create a Christian bloc that would vote for Franjieh when a presidential election session is scheduled,” the source told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Wednesday. “Invitations are being addressed to Christian MPs who are either independent or belong to the Change and Strong Lebanon blocs. A separate meeting is being held with each MP and the positivities of his voting for Franjieh are being explained, amid promises that he would be supported financially, electorally and developmentally in (the) 2026 (elections) in the areas where Hezbollah has a presence,” the source added. The source, however, noted that the reported meetings have failed to produce any relevant results. Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has meanwhile thwarted “an attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate the ranks of the FPM, after MP Alain Aoun voiced a stance against the presidential nomination of ex-minister Jihad Azour although the opposition’s components had agreed to that nomination,” the newspaper quoted parliamentary sources as saying. “Hezbollah was behind Alain Aoun’s stance, which confused Bassil and pushed him to move towards Bkirki by dispatching MP George Atallah and to task MP Nada al-Bustani with joining the opposition’s talks in Paris with the International Monetary Fund, in an indirect message to Hezbollah that the FPM is still coordinating with the opposition in the presidential file,” the sources added.

FPM, Atallah say talks ongoing with LF, opposition
Naharnet/May 24, 2023
MP George Atallah of the Free Patriotic Movement has noted that presidential negotiations between the Lebanese Forces and the FPM “have not stopped,” contrary to the latest statements and reports. “There is a common concern between the two parties and the two leaderships are following up on this communication,” Atallah told LBCI television. “We have reached a good place and agreed on many issues but other matters need clarification,” he added. The FPM’s political commission for its part reiterated the Movement’s call for “a president who would gather rather than divide” and who would be “reformist in his behavior and platform.”“In this regard, the FPM stresses the continuation of the ongoing dialogue with the opposition blocs, without backing down from anything that it has so far agreed on, with the aim of reaching a non-provocative candidate who would not challenge anyone,” the commission added.

Berri wants swift election of president who can talk to Syria, Arab countries
Naharnet/May 24, 2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday that Parliament's doors are not closed to legislative and electoral sessions. "We hope that a president will be elected as soon as possible, which can only happen when parliamentary blocs show a sincere will to reach an agreement and overcome obstacles," Berri added. The Speaker said the president must be committed to the Taif agreement, to implementing administrative decentralization, to the independence of the judiciary and to the fight against corruption. "He must be capable of restoring trust between Lebanon and the Arab countries, to build dialogue with Syria in order to resolve the refugees' crisis and to accomplish the Syrian-Lebanese border demarcation," Berri said, adding that the president must believe that Israel is an enemy.

Raad: Lebanese interior doesn't need resistance but rather dialogue and tolerance
Naharnet/May 24, 2023
Hezbollah’s top lawmaker Mohammed Raad has said that his party’s latest military drill was aimed at telling Israel that Lebanon’s presidential crisis will not divert Hezbollah’s attention from confronting Israel’s “aggression against our sovereignty.”“Some said that this was addressed to the Lebanese interior, knowing that the Lebanese interior does not need resistance, but rather dialogue, understanding and the rhetoric of tolerance among the sons of the same country,” Raad added. As for the presidency, the lawmaker said that Hezbollah “has the right to vote” for whomever it wants.
“We considered that there is a natural candidate who can be a bridge between us and our political rivals and between us and all other parties. He has his regional and international friendships and he has no rivalries with anyone, even with those who killed his family,” Raad added, referring to the candidate Suleiman Franjieh. “We have decided to support our presidential candidate, not to impose him on anyone, and we're saying that we have chosen to back this man to be a president for us, you and all Lebanese,” the Hezbollah legislator said. He added: “If you don’t like our candidate, tell us who your candidate is. At first he was a substitute for someone lost, and after 11 electoral session he stopped being your candidate, and now perhaps the blank ballot has become your candidate.”“We’re awaiting them to agree on a candidate so that we speed up the presidential vote,” Raad went on to say.

Cooperation or consequences: Correspondent banks and Lebanon's gray list placement
LBCI/May 24, 2023
Neither the Central Bank of Lebanon nor the commercial banks have received any negative updates from correspondent banks regarding the international arrest warrant against Governor Riad Salameh or Lebanon's placement on the gray list by the Financial Action Task Force. However, this does not mean these correspondent banks will remain idle in light of the negative financial and monetary assessments and measures affecting Lebanon. Before issuing the international arrest warrant against Salameh and the gray list issue, one correspondent bank suspended its dealings with three Lebanese banks because these banks had not moved their accounts for an extended period. Banking sources stated that the information they received abroad, particularly from the United States, does not indicate any US recommendation for JP Morgan and Citibank to cease dealings with the central and Lebanese banks. This as the continued operation of these banks, even at the minimum level, allows for external monitoring of any money laundering operations, and ceasing to work with Lebanese banks would make money laundering operations easier.In this context, banking sources also expected that when Lebanon will be placed on the gray list, it would be categorized under the cooperative category, providing an opportunity within a specific timeframe to address its financial and monetary situation. The danger lies in the failure to address these issues, which would lead Lebanon to be listed as a non-cooperative, resulting in correspondent banks suspending their dealings.

Ana Lubnaniya Arabiya: Inspiring women's leadership in Lebanon
LBCI/May 24, 2023
Madiha Raslan is a Lebanese businesswoman who believed in her country and worked to establish its status as a gateway to women and their role in more than one field. Businesswomen from the Middle East and North Africa came to Beirut with the aim of exchanging experiences and knowledge, enhancing cooperation between them, and searching for new investment opportunities.
A goal was set by a number of women to enhance the role of pioneering women between Lebanon and the Arab countries. From here, an inclusive meeting was held in the capital, Beirut, for Arab women, as part of a conference, "Ana Lubnaniya Arabiya." In every corner of this conference, you will find a space for acquaintance between pioneering women in various fields. Additionally, to talk about the role and influence of women and to promote the declaration of Beirut as the "Capital of Arab Media," there was a distinguished participation of Arab and Lebanese female media figures and influencers in the conference. "Ana Lubnaniya Arabiya," which was held this year in Beirut despite all the difficult circumstances, will continue for three days, during which the "She Leads" academic program will be launched with the aim of providing businesswomen with new skills and technical tools that enable them to expand the scope of their businesses and investments.

Lebanon's tourism renaissance: An 85-90% solvency rate foreseen
LBCI/May 24, 2023
After a 3-day tour in Lebanon, during which tourism industry professionals based in the UAE visited its most beautiful sites and tourist attractions, today, the trip was to Beiteddine, Deir al-Qamar, and its conclusion was caught on the waterfront of the capital: Raouche Rock. This tour is part of a program organized by Middle East Airlines in cooperation with Concord Travel with the aim of selling Lebanese tourism abroad. How? Officials from international companies are invited to organize travel trips, and they visit the most beautiful sites and hotels in Lebanon. Based on "once you visit, you will stay forever," after the visit of representatives of international tourism companies to Lebanon, the country is being added to tourist destinations with a special package for Lebanon in front of customers who want to go on a tourist trip. After hosting companies from Egypt, Turkey, and Abu Dhabi, we will be waiting for a group from Spain to experience Lebanon and "take it" to the world. This is how we are waiting for a promising summer season this year. In numbers, and according to the President of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents in Lebanon, Jean Abboud, more than one and a half million visitors are expected to arrive in Lebanon, with a solvency rate of between 85 percent and 90 percent, with the airlines coming to Lebanon.

Bou Habib wraps up visit to Italy by meeting Italian counterpart
LBCI/May 24, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib concluded his visit to Italy after a meeting with his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, who expressed his country's support for Lebanon and the desire to enhance Lebanese-Italian bilateral cooperation in all fields. He also emphasized "the importance of consolidating regional stability through assisting in a sustainable resolution to the refugee crisis in consultation with European counterparts, as well as the significance of regional cooperation in addressing refugee issues and assisting countries facing similar burdens, including Lebanon, in finding collective solutions to displacement." A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that "this understanding and supportive Italian stance towards Lebanon reflects its importance, especially within the framework of a diplomatic campaign to rally support for Lebanon's position regarding the necessity of finding a sustainable solution and roadmap to address the displacement crisis through regional and international cooperation."

Army Chief discusses general situation with UN's Wronecka
NNA/May 24, 2023
Lebanese Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, on Wednesday received at his Yarzeh office, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, and discussed the general situation in Lebanon and the region.

Lebanese Army Commander delivers “Order of the Day” marking Resistance and Liberation day
NNA/May 24, 2023
On the occasion of the Resistance and Liberation Day, the LAF Commander, General Joseph Aoun, addressed the following Order of the Day to the troops:
Fellow troops,
The Resistance and Liberation Day is upon us bearing the true meaning of dignity and strength. On this day we proudly remember the historic victory achieved by the Lebanese over the Israeli enemy, as they liberated most of the occupied lands in the south and returned them to the embrace of the motherland. Following a long path of struggle and steadfastness, a glorious page in Lebanon’s history was written, setting a rare example for all people.
Fellow troops,
Your steadfastness and insistence on performing your duty towards the homeland is a source of pride and hope. In carrying your missions, you are protecting Lebanon from its enemies, especially the Israeli enemy and terrorism, and upholding security, while showing the utmost professionalism, dedication, vigilance, and full commitment to moral values, and safeguarding human rights. Over the past years in particular, the Lebanese have realized your willpower, your commitment to your oath and loyalty to the blood of the martyrs and the wounded, despite the difficult circumstances and the magnitude of responsibility.
We remain committed to carry out our obligations, especially on the southern borders, in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, and in accordance with Resolution 1701 and its provisions. We assert our right to resist the Israeli enemy and its greed and violations of Lebanese sovereignty, and to reclaim all our lands.
Fellow troops,
Preserving Lebanon's security and stability, defending it, and controlling its borders remains the absolute priority of the military establishment. This stability is a prerequisite for the advancement of the economy and the functioning of institutions, and it would not have been achieved without your sacrifice. With each mission you undertake daily, this achievement is renewed, and with every drop of blood for your country, it is entrenched through the trust of the Lebanese people and the international community in you. Remain loyal to your oath, duty, and the supreme national interest. With your resilience and faith, our country shall overcome all challenges.

Makary during launch of activities of "Beirut the Capital of Arab Media 2023": We want this celebration to be a window of hope and a gateway for the...
NNA/May 24, 2023
Lebanon’s Ministry of Information on Tuesday evening launched the activities of "Beirut the Capital of Arab Media 2023" at the Middle East Aviation Center in Beirut, under the auspices of Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, represented by Caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Makary. The opening ceremony of this event was attended by Caretaker Ministers of Tourism, Walid Nassar, Public Works and Transport, Dr. Ali Hamieh, Finance Dr. Youssef Al-Khalil, Tele-Communications Eng. Johnny Corm, and National Education Abbas Al-Halabi, in addition to MPs Qabalan Qabalan, Fadi Alameh, Michel Moussa, Ibrahim Al-Mousawi, and MP Tony Franjieh. The opening ceremony was also attended by a number of Arab and foreign ambassadors, representatives of diplomatic missions operating in Lebanon, Information Ministry’s Director General, Dr. Hassan Falha, National News Agency (NNA) Director, Ziad Harfouche, Radio Lebanon Director, Mohammed Gharib, Director of Studies, Khoder Majid, Information Ministry’s Studies' Department Head, Khodr Majed, in addition to scores of media and cultural figures.
In his delivered speech, the Assistant Secretary of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, said: “It is a great honor to attend this evening to represent the League of Arab States at the “Beirut Capital of Arab Media 2023” ceremony, under the slogan “Here’s Beirut”... That picturesque cosmic middle city that carries the fragrant of history and human civilization, which has proven in all circumstances to be a symbol of pride and challenge, defying difficulties and misfortunes.”Ambassador Khattabi also indicated: "I am confident that Beirut, the heart of Lebanon, will remain faithful to its ancient identity, the roots of the cedar tree, and a space for pluralism, love and harmony." Afterwards, a short movie entitled, "Here’s Beirut", prepared and directed by "Phenomena", was screened during the opening ceremony.
In his inaugural speech, Caretaker Minister Makary said: “Beirut, ‘the capital of Arab media for 2023,’ a well-deserved title! Beirut is the capital of Arab media for all years. Here is "freedom of the press", Here is “Free press”, and here is success, distinction, brilliance, openness and creativity!.”
Makary added: "Beirut, the capital of Arab media," is not only an occasion for demonstrating our leadership, nor an occasion for demonstrating our culture only. "Beirut, Capital of Arab Media" is an occasion to manifest our Arabism and purify it from its impurities. Therefore, I launch an appeal to all our Arab brothers, to render this year a year of media openness between our Arab capitals, be a year in which we can demonstrate our living culture, with its motto ‘a culture that unites us, not ignorance that separates us’.”The Minister concluded: "We want this celebration to be a window of hope, and a gateway for the return of Lebanese-Arab relations to their natural course. Here is Beirut, Here is ‘the mother of journalism,’ ‘the mother of culture,’ ‘the mother of laws,’ and ‘the mother of legislations’.”Later, 11 media professionals from various local media outlets read out the articles of the "Beirut Document", which stated: "It aims to define the Lebanese vision for the function of the media, its role and objectives, and to recall professional postulates based on the "Beirut Capital of Arab Media 2023" event, and based on the principle of belief in public freedoms. We hope that this document will be a local road map based on the principles and ethics of journalistic and media work." It is to note that the idea of choosing “a capital for Arab media” was launched by the Council of Arab Information Ministers during its 47th regular session back in 2016, with the aim of shedding light on national media work within member states.

Berri discusses political developments with MP Frem, meets Caretaker Culture Minister in presence of “Bait Al Musawwar”Association delegation
NNA/May 24, 2023
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday received at the Second Presidency in Ain El-Tineh, MP Neemat Frem, with whom he discussed the current general situation, political developments, and the presidential election entitlement. On emerging, MP Frem said; “We touched on important issues, the most important of which being the issue of the Presidency of the Republic, at this delicate stage that the country is going through.” On the other hand, Speaker Berri received in Ain El-Tineh, Caretaker Minister of Culture, Judge Mohammad Wissam Al-Mortada, who visited him with a delegation representing the “Bait Al Musawwar”Association. On the other hand, Berri received a phone call from Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Bahar, congratulating him on the occasion of the Victory and Liberation Day.

Japan provides waste collection trucks to municipalities to tackle solid waste management challenges in Baalbeck-Hermel
NNA/May 24, 2023
Through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), Japan provided three waste collection trucks through the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) to help four municipalities in Baalbek-Hermel tackle solid waste management challenges. This assistance will enable more than 41,000 residents to live in better public health conditions. On May 23 2023, Ambassador MAGOSHI attended a ceremony that celebrated the hand-over of three waste collection vehicles, in the presence of Governor of Baalbek-Hermel, H.E. Mr. Bashir Khodr and General Manager of LOST, Dr. Rami Lakkis. al anthems of Japan and Lebanon, followed by congratulatory remarks from Ambassador MAGOSHI, Mr. Khodr and Dr. Lakkis. In his speech, Ambassador MAGOSHI highlighted Japan’s contribution to sustainable and effective solutions for waste management in Lebanon, and mentioned that people’s efforts and participation are fundamental for the continued success of this project. In return, Mr. Khodr thanked Japan for its generous support to municipalities in Baalbeck-Hermel, and appealed for urgent support towards increased needs in waste management in the region. As for Dr. Lakkis, he expressed sincere gratitude for Japan’s support to vital sectors in Lebanon during critical times, and praised its unwavering commitment to diligently working to improve conditions of vulnerable populations, hoping for the continuation of the partnership with Japan.

Bou Saab broaches presidential entitlement with UN’s Wronecka, meets Romanian Ambassador and Representative of International Organization of La...
NNA/May 24, 2023
Deputy House Speaker, Elias Bou Saab, on Wednesday received in his office at the Parliament, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, and discussed the presidential entitlement and the displaced Syrians’ dossier. Bou Saab later received Romanian Ambassador to Lebanon, Radu Catalin Mardare, and the Representative of the International Organization of La Francophonie in the Middle East, Lévon Amirjanyan.
Talks touched on the latest developments on the local arena.

Salam meets Kuwaiti Crown Prince: Lebanon will eventually return to its beautiful times
NNA/May 24, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Economy, Amin Salam, on Wednesday met with Kuwaiti Crown Prince, Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. In the wake of the meeting, Salam said, “I met His Highness, the Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness stressed the paramount importance of the young leaders’ role in building a promising future and good relations with their counterparts in the Gulf countries.”In turn, The Kuwaiti Crown Prince expressed hope and confidence that "Lebanon will eventually return to its beautiful times.” “For my part, I affirmed our full commitment and determination to work to restore Lebanon to become the beacon of the East, and Beirut the capital of the Arabs,” Salam added.

Geagea meets UNHCR’s Freijsen, says refugee crisis crossed limits of humanity
NNA/May 24, 2023
“Lebanese Forces” party leader, Samir Geagea, on Wednesday welcomed at his Maarab residence the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Lebanon, Ivo Freijsen, with whom he discussed the most recent developments, especially the Syrian refugee dossier.
"Lebanon and the Lebanese have shown the highest levels of humanity since the beginning of the Syrian crisis,” Geagea said, explaining that "the refugee crisis has crossed the limits of humanity and can no longer be resolved through donations. It has become necessary to address it seriously in order to avoid its exacerbation, since easing of the tension we’re witnessing today begins with quick and practical steps.”

Joint statement by RC/HC, UNHCR Representative, and WFP Country Director on the return to disbursement of cash assistance in dual currency
NNA/May 24, 2023
Following close consultations with relevant counterparts, government stakeholders and the Central Bank in recent months, the United Nations and partners have now returned to the previous modality of disbursing cash assistance to refugees in dual currency. Given the operational challenges including the rapid depreciation of the local currency, increased fluctuations of the exchange rate, and the strain on the financial provider in supplying large volumes of cash in Lebanese Pounds, it has become impossible for the United Nations and partners to continue to disburse cash assistance only in Lebanese Pounds. By the end of 2022, most assistance programmes in the country, including the Government’s National Poverty Targeting Programme supporting vulnerable Lebanese people, had shifted to USD or dual currency, allowing recipients to redeem their cash assistance either in USD or LBP. Dual currency payments for refugees are thus in line with this general approach. Cash-based interventions are used to provide protection, assistance, and services to the most vulnerable people across Lebanon. It helps Lebanese and refugees meet a variety of basic needs and contributes to the local economy by purchasing directly from local markets and shops. Cash assistance provided to vulnerable people across the country has always been based on assessments of needs that take into account the socio-economic realities and coping mechanisms.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 24-25/2023
Uphold promise to protect civilians caught in conflict: Guterres
Agencies/May 24, 2023
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged upholding promise to protect civilians caught in conflict. "Civilians have suffered the deadly effects of armed conflict for too long. It is time we live up to our promise to protect them," Guterres told the UN Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The world is failing to live up to its commitment to protect civilians during wartime, the top UN official said, urging greater respect for international humanitarian law. Last year, civilians accounted for 94 percent of victims of explosive weapons deployed in populated areas, he said. More than 117 million people worldwide also faced acute hunger in 2022, primarily because of war and insecurity, which he described as "an outrage." Guterres pointed to recent action towards alleviating the impact of conflict on civilians. For example, some warring parties have taken steps to protect children and allow humanitarians to access people in need. Addressing food security, he mentioned measures such as the Black Sea Initiative to export grain from Ukraine amid the ongoing war, as well as a memorandum of understanding on bringing Russian food and fertilizer to global markets. Last November, states adopted a political declaration on restricting or refraining from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, which he urged all countries to join. The council also adopted a resolution the following month which aims to prevent UN sanctions from harming civilians and obstructing humanitarian action.
"These modest steps are welcome. But the terrible truth is that the world is failing to live up to its commitments to protect civilians; commitments enshrined in international humanitarian law," said Guterres, referring to the Geneva Conventions. "We need action and accountability to ensure it is respected. That depends on political will," he added. The secretary-general urged the international community to intensify efforts to prevent conflict, protect civilians, preserve peace and find political solutions to war. "Where war continues, all countries must comply with international humanitarian law and members of this council have a particular responsibility," he said. Additionally, countries that export weapons should refuse to do business with any party that fails to comply with international humanitarian law, said the UN chief. -

Canada and Saudi Arabia to appoint new ambassadors, end 2018 dispute
LBCI/May 24, 2023
Canada and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore full diplomatic ties and appoint new ambassadors, both countries said on Wednesday, ending the fallout from a 2018 dispute that damaged relations and trade.
The decision follows discussions held between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Bangkok in November last year, according to statements from Canada and Saudi Arabia. "Punitive trade measures will be lifted," said a Canadian government source familiar with the agreement who was not authorized to speak on the record. "Empty chairs at the end of the day don't push our interests forward, and they don't push things like human rights forward," the source added. The 2018 row pre-dated the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi later that year, which Canada and all Western countries condemned. It started when Canada's embassy in Riyadh published a tweet in Arabic urging the immediate release of women's rights activists held by Saudi Arabia.

Iran names ambassador to Saudi after seven-year gap
Agence France Presse/May 24, 2023
Iran has named an ambassador to Saudi Arabia, state media reported Wednesday, sealing a thaw in relations more than seven years after the regional rivals severed ties. The new envoy, Alireza Enayati, previously served as Iran's ambassador to Kuwait, assistant to the foreign minister and director general of Gulf affairs at the foreign ministry, the English-language Iran Daily said. There was no immediate confirmation of his appointment from the foreign ministry of the Islamic republic. The Middle East heavyweights, after years of discord, signed a surprise reconciliation agreement in China on March 10.
Saudi Arabia had severed relations with Iran in 2016, after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the second city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over the kingdom's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
The two governments held several rounds of dialogue in Iraq and Oman before signing the reconciliation agreement. They had backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the Middle East for years before mending fences.
In Yemen, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition in support of the internationally recognised government, while Iran backed the Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and large areas of the north.

Iran nuclear chief says Tehran to cooperate with inspectors on 'new activities'
Associated Press/May 24, 2023
The head of Iran's nuclear program insisted Wednesday that his government would cooperate with international inspectors on any "new activities." His statement followed an exclusive Associated Press report about Tehran's new underground tunnel system near a nuclear enrichment facility.
The AP outlined this week how deep inside a mountain, the new tunnels near the Natanz facility are likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites. The report sparked wider conversation across the Middle East about the construction, with Israel's national security adviser saying Tuesday the site would not be immune from attack even if its depth put it out of range of American airstrikes. Speaking to journalists Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting, Mohammad Eslami of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran sought to describe the interest in the site as a case of Israel feeling pressured. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is working under the IAEA safeguards, and whenever wants to start new activities, it will coordinate with the IAEA, and acts accordingly," Eslami said, using an acronym for the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA did not respond to questions from the AP about the construction at Natanz, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. Satellite photographs of the piles of dirt from the digging and experts who spoke to the AP suggest the new tunnels will be between between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet) deep. Such underground facilities led the U.S. to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60 meters (200 feet) of earth before detonating, according to the American military. U.S. officials reportedly have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed. It is not clear that such a one-two punch would damage a facility as deep as the one at Natanz. With such bombs potentially off the table, the U.S. and its allies are left with fewer options to target the site. If diplomacy remains stalled as it has for months over Iran's tattered nuclear deal, sabotage attacks may resume. Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program.

Israel says it retaliated against shots fired from Syria at military drone
Reuters/May 24, 2023
JERUSALEM: Israel retaliated against shots from fired Syria at a surveillance drone, the Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday. “IDF Machine Gun fire was directed toward the originating area of the shots in Syria,” a statement from the military said. “The drone successfully completed its mission and no damage was caused.” Israel has for years been carrying out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran’s influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar Assad in the civil war that started in 2011.

Israel passes budget with controversial cash for ultra-Orthodox
Agence France Presse/May 24, 2023
Israeli lawmakers passed an annual budget Wednesday with controversial allocations for ultra-Orthodox Jews, in a concession to a religious party in the governing coalition that drew protests from the opposition. Thousands of Israelis marched through Jerusalem on Tuesday to protest the government's plans to hand more cash to the ultra-Orthodox minority, accusing the coalition of "looting" state funds. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the state would grant married ultra-Orthodox Jewish men engaged in religious study rather than work a total of 250 million shekels ($67.5 million). The grant was part of an agreement with United Torah Judaism, one of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, to ensure its support for the budget. The 2023-2024 budget was ultimately passed early Wednesday with the support of all 64 coalition lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament.
"We won the elections, we passed the budget, we'll continue for four more years," Netanyahu wrote on Facebook. The premier spent recent weeks cutting deals with his ultra-Orthodox and extreme-right coalition partners, to meet a May 29 deadline to pass the budget or face fresh elections.
The cash handouts to the ultra-Orthodox have sparked anger as Israelis of all backgrounds contend with soaring prices and increased interest rates. Opposition chief Yair Lapid described the budget as "destructive".
Asher Blass, a professor of economics at Ashkelon Academic College, said Israel needed more "growth engines" rather than "transfer payments" to ultra-Orthodox institutions that effectively discourage higher education. Speaking ahead of the parliamentary vote, he told AFP "the trajectory is not good" but Israel has seen worse budget deficits. In February, the Bank of Israel estimated the deficit would be close to one percent of gross domestic product in 2023 and 2024.

Iranian Nuclear Advances Provoke Israeli Warning of Military Action
FDD/May 24/2023
Latest Developments
The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF’s) chief of staff said on May 23 that Israel may take “action” against Iran’s nuclear facilities due to “possible negative developments on the horizon.” Israel has “abilities and others have abilities,” said Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi at a conference in Herzliya, likely referring to the United States. “We have the ability to hit Iran. We are not indifferent to what Iran is trying to build around us, and it is difficult for Iran to be indifferent to the line we are taking.”
Halevi’s statement comes a day after the Associated Press reported that Iran is building a new nuclear facility near the Natanz nuclear site so deep in the earth that U.S. weaponry may be unable to reach it. Still, National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi told the Herzliya conference that “there is no place that can’t be reached.” The Institute for Science and International Security published satellite imagery of the site in January 2022 and reported that Western officials are concerned that the site could one day house a uranium enrichment facility.
Expert Analysis
“It’s not every day that the highest-ranking Israeli military officer delivers a public speech on the development of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. IDF Chief of Staff Halevi is making it clear that Israel will attack Tehran’s nuclear weapons program if it continues to advance.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO
“While orchestrating terrorist attacks against Israelis in their homes, the Islamic Republic of Iran is simultaneously progressing toward a nuclear weapons capability. It is easy to see why Israel is undertaking a comprehensive campaign to ensure it has the military means necessary to prevent the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism from acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapon.” — Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power
“More tunneling to hide nuclear facilities signals that Tehran has not given up on its quest for the bomb and has something to hide. While Iran’s decision to bury atomic infrastructure underground is not new, the depths this tunneling is reaching aims to make its program impervious to attack. But American changes to the explosive composition of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb over the last few years should give the clerics cause for concern. In America, there’s always a bigger bomb.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD Senior Fellow
Iran Nears the Nuclear Threshold
The latest developments come three months after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) detected uranium particles enriched to 83.7 percent purity — but observed no corresponding stockpile of uranium — at the Fordow underground facility. Uranium enriched to at least 90 percent is considered atomic weapons-grade.
Israel has previously said that uranium enrichment above 60 percent purity could trigger Israeli military action. Iran’s persistent nuclear development, however, suggests that Israeli and Western warnings have not deterred the clerical regime. Still, Halevi’s statement may indicate that Israel will no longer tolerate any new nuclear advances by Tehran. Once Iran enriches enough uranium for a nuclear device, it would be extremely difficult for the IAEA to detect any weaponization activities.
Iran’s Atomic Advances
Most of Iran’s nuclear advances have proceeded after President Biden entered office in January 2021, suggesting that the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign successfully deterred Tehran from significant development of its nuclear program. In January 2021, Iran resumed 20 percent enrichment at Fordow for the first time since the JCPOA’s finalization. Tehran enriched uranium to 60 percent purity in April 2021. The same year, Iran also produced uranium metal, a material used in nuclear weapon cores. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, Iran installed thousands of fast advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment.

Drone attacks overnight in Russian border region
Agence France Presse/May 24, 2023
The governor of a southern Russian region bordering Ukraine said Wednesday that the territory was targeted overnight by numerous drones following an armed incursion from Ukraine. "The night was not entirely calm. There were a large number of drone attacks. Air defense systems handled most of them," the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov said on social media. "The most important thing is that there are no casualties," he added. The statement came a day after Moscow announced it had deployed jets and artillery to destroy the armed group that penetrated its border from Ukraine and the Kremlin ordered its military to prevent any repeat attack. Members of two anti-Kremlin groups, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, claimed responsibility while Kyiv denied official involvement. On Wednesday, the Kremlin implied it was not worried about the latest bout of violence on Russian territory. "Our military, border guards and appropriate services are doing their work," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to security services. The region of Belgorod has been targeted by attacks since Moscow launched its offensive last year. But the two days of skirmishes this week were the most significant attack on Russian soil since. Gladkov said the nighttime drone barrage had damaged several private homes, offices and vehicles but that the full extent of the damage was still being assessed. He added that a gas pipeline was damaged in the Graivoron district and that "a small fire" was burning. Gladkov said that several settlements that lost power as a result of fighting between the armed group and Russia's forces, would be reconnected by the end of Wednesday. "Nine people are hospitalised: three are in intensive care in a serious condition and six people are already in wards," he added.

Russia's Wagner boss says more than 20,000 of his troops died in Bakhmut
Associated Press/May 24, 2023
The head of the Russian private army Wagner says his force lost more than 20,000 fighters in the drawn-out battle for Bakhmut, with about 20% of the 50,000 Russian convicts he recruited to fight in the 15-month war dying in the eastern Ukrainian city.
The figure was in stark contrast with claims from Moscow that it lost just over 6,000 troops in the war, and is higher than the official estimate of the Soviet losses in the Afghanistan war of 15,000 troops between 1979-89. Ukraine hasn't said how many of its soldiers have died since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Analysts believe the nine-month fight for Bakhmut alone have cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, among them convicts who reportedly received little training before being sent to the front. Russia's invasion goal of "demilitarizing" Ukraine has backfired because Kyiv's military has become stronger with the supply of weapons and training by its Western allies, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview published late Tuesday with Konstantin Dolgov, a pro-Kremlin political strategist. Prigozhin also said the Kremlin's forces have killed civilians during the war, something Moscow has repeatedly and vehemently denied. Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is known for his bluster -- often spiced with obscenities -- and has previously made unverifiable claims, some of which he later backtracked on. Earlier this month, his spokespeople published a video of him shouting, swearing and pointing at about 30 uniformed bodies lying on the ground, saying they were Wagner fighters who died in a single day. He claimed the Russian Defense Ministry had starved his men of ammunition and threatened to give up the fight for Bakhmut. He also said in Tuesday's interview it was possible that Kyiv's anticipated counteroffensive in coming weeks, given continued Western support, might push Russian forces out of southern and eastern Ukraine as well as annexed Crimea.
"A pessimistic scenario: the Ukrainians are given missiles, they prepare troops, of course they will continue their offensive, try to counterattack," he said. "They will attack Crimea, they will try to blow up the Crimean bridge (to the Russian mainland), cut off (our) supply lines. Therefore, we need to prepare for a hard war."The Ukrainian General Staff said Wednesday that "heavy fighting" is continuing inside Bakhmut, days after Russia said that it completely captured the devastated city. Bakhmut lies in Donetsk province, one of four provinces Russia illegally annexed last fall and only partially controls.
The head of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Kyiv's forces "are continuing their defensive operation" in Bakhmut, and have attained unspecified "successes" on the city's outskirts. He gave no further details.
Ukrainian officials have insisted the battle for Bakhmut isn't over. A Ukrainian commander in Bakhmut told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Ukrainians have a plan to push the Russians out of all occupied territory. "But now we don't need to fight in Bakhmut, we need to surround it from flanks and block it," Yevhen Mezhevikin said. "Then we should 'sweep' it. This is more appropriate, and that's what we are doing now." Elsewhere, Russian forces shot down "a large number" of drones in Russia's southern Belgorod region, a local official said Wednesday, a day after Moscow announced that its forces crushed a cross-border raid in the area from Ukraine. The drones were intercepted overnight over the province, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram post. He said that no one had been hurt, but unspecified administrative buildings, residential buildings and cars were damaged.
Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Russia said the previous day that it beat back one of war's most serious cross-border attacks, with the Defense Ministry saying that more than 70 attackers were killed in a battle in the Belgorod region that lasted around 24 hours. It made no mention of any Russian casualties. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that local troops, airstrikes and artillery routed the attackers. Twelve local civilians were wounded in the attack, officials said, and an older woman died during an evacuation. Details of the incident in the rural region, lying about 80 kilometers (45 miles) north of the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and far from the front lines of the almost 15-month war, are unclear.
Moscow blamed the incursion that began Monday on Ukrainian military saboteurs. Kyiv described it as an uprising against the Kremlin by Russian partisans. It was impossible to reconcile the two versions, to say with certainty who was behind the attack or to ascertain its aims. The region is a Russian military hub holding fuel and ammunition depots. Moscow officials declined to say how many attackers were involved in the assault or comment on why efforts to put down the attackers took so long. The Belgorod region, like the neighboring Bryansk region and other border areas, has witnessed sporadic spillover from the war, which Russia started by invading Ukraine in February 2022. At least three civilians died and 18 others were wounded in Ukraine on Tuesday and overnight, the Ukrainian presidential office reported Wednesday, including in the southern Kherson region where two elderly people died in air strikes.

Who's behind the attack on a Russian region on the border with Ukraine?
Associated Press/May 24, 2023
Russia alleges that dozens of Ukrainian militants crossed into one of its border towns in its Belgorod region, striking targets and forcing an evacuation, before over 70 of the attackers were killed or pushed back by what the authorities termed a counterterrorism operation. Ukraine denied any involvement in the skirmishes Monday and Tuesday, instead blaming two Russian groups that claim to be volunteers fighting alongside Kyiv's forces in an uprising against the government of President Vladimir Putin. While neither version could be independently verified, whatever happened appears to have sent Moscow scrambling to respond to one of the most serious border incursions since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said an elderly woman died in the chaotic evacuation, and 12 people were wounded in the attack and shelling. As fighting there apparently continued Tuesday morning, he urged residents not to return to their homes, and only in late afternoon declared the operation was over. A look at what's known about the attack and the murky groups who say they carried it out:
WHO'S CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY?
Two groups — the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps – claimed responsibility for the attack and announced an ambitious goal of "liberating" the Belgorod region. Little is known about them beyond what they say about themselves, and it's not clear how they are.
The website of the Freedom of Russia Legion says it was formed last spring "out of Russians' desire to fight against Putin's armed gang" and is "officially recognized" by Kyiv's military. "We are fighting in full cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and under the leadership of the Ukrainian command," the website says. The website said it fought last summer in "small battle groups," and now was involved in the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. The Russian Volunteer Corps' page in the messaging app Telegram used to say it was a formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It now describes itself as merely fighting on the Ukrainian side. In August 2022, an announcement posted there said: "We, Russian volunteers living in Ukraine, decided to take up arms and create a military formation, the Russian Volunteer Corps, in order to together with our Ukrainian comrades defend their homeland which gave us shelter, and then continue the fight against the criminal Putin regime and his henchmen."Other posts claimed the group was fighting in southeastern Ukraine, or as volunteers serving elsewhere in the country, including in Kyiv's suburbs of Bucha and Irpin. In March, the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for an incursion in Russia's Bryansk region, another border area. Media reports at the time identified some of its members as Russian nationalists.In a post Tuesday, the Russian Volunteer Corps described its political views as "right-wing conservative and traditionalist."
WHAT DOES UKRAINE SAY?
Ukrainian officials have never confirmed any ties with either group. The government in Kyiv denied involvement in this week's Belgorod incident, calling it an act by disgruntled Russians. When they did talk about it, officials were vague. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said "patriots of Russia" and "people who actually rebelled against Putin's regime" were behind the attack. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak blamed "underground guerrilla groups" that are "composed of Russian citizens." In remarks to the news outlet Suspilne, Ukraine intelligence official Andrii Yusov said it was the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion. Andrii Cherniak, another intelligence representative pointed to the fact that the two groups claimed responsibility. "This is the consequence of aggressive politics of Putin's regime and Russia's invasion of Ukraine," he told The Associated Press.
WHAT DOES RUSSIA SAY?
Russia calls it an incursion by saboteurs deployed by Kyiv, with officials and state media using various epithets ranging from "militants" to "terrorists."Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Belgorod attack was a diversion, meant "to draw attention away" from Russia's victory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured over the weekend after months of bloody fighting. Asked Tuesday about claims that the invaders were ethnic Russians, Peskov insisted that "these are Ukrainian militants from Ukraine." "There are lots of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, but these are still Ukrainian militants," Peskov said. Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said more than 70 "Ukrainian terrorists" were killed in Russia's operation. He also referred to the attackers as "nationalists."Russian state TV reported the invaders were from Ukraine's armed forces. One report alleged the attackers used U.S. military equipment despite Washington's assurances its weapons won't be used for attacks on Russia.
WHAT'S THE TRUTH?
It's hard to know. Analysts and commentators say both Russia and Ukraine would likely benefit from its own version of the events. The British Defense Ministry tweeted Tuesday that "Russia will almost certainly use these incidents to support the official narrative that it is the victim in the war."Russian state media coverage appears to support this notion, with its allegations that U.S. weapons were used in the attack and the general tone of some reports that overlaid video from the region with tense, dramatic music. For Kyiv, it's beneficial "to take up the position of an observer and not admit its involvement," said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. "The fact is that the war is happening on Russian territory, the Kremlin is being clearly indicated that Russians are not the only ones who can employ hybrid (warfare) methods," Zhdanov told AP. The involvement of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion should serve as signs that "there are forces inside Russia who can resist Putin's regime," he said. At the same time, the Belgorod attack "showed Russia's helplessness," Zhdanov said. "Russia turned out to be completely unprepared -– neither its security forces, nor border guards, nor special services were prepared for hostilities on their own turf. The myth that Russia keeps its border locked has been busted," he added. Some Russian voices echoed that sentiment. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military contractor, used the incident as yet another chance to bash the Russian Defense Ministry for not adequately protecting the border. Alexander Kots, military correspondent with the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, also raised questions on his Telegram page. "What's with our technical equipment of the border, surveillance systems, motion detection systems?" he asked. "What's with mining of the potentially dangerous areas? What's with anti-tank equipment? Why did an enemy armored group breach deep into our territory?" These are the questions "to which there are no answers," Kots said. "To be more accurate, there are, but they're very unpleasant."

Algeria police detain leading opposition figure
Agence France Presse/May 24, 2023
Algerian opposition figure Karim Tabbou has been taken into custody for unknown reasons, reports said Wednesday, with his brother saying plainclothes police officers had detained him at his home. Tabbou, 48, was one of the most recognisable faces during mass rallies, led by the Hirak pro-democracy movement, that began in February 2019. The protests demanded a sweeping overhaul of the ruling system in place since the North African country's independence from France in 1962. Tabbou "was arrested in Dely Ibrahim", a suburb of the capital Algiers, "by plainclothes police", his brother Djaffar said in a Facebook post late Tuesday, citing lawyer Toufik Belala. The brother added that Tabbou had not been informed of when he would appear before prosecutors or the charges he might face. Tabbou's lawyer Belala was unavailable for comment. Tabbou leads a small, unregistered opposition party, the Democratic and Social Union (UDS). He was sentenced in March 2020 to one year in jail for "undermining national security" over his criticism of the army's involvement in politics. After his release from prison, he was detained again in April 2022 for 24 hours for unknown reasons. The Hirak protests had forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down. Demonstrations continued in a push for deep reforms but the movement waned when the coronavirus pandemic struck. Dozens are still detained in Algeria over links to Hirak or human rights activism, according to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees.

Erdogan party split on economic plan as Turkey runoff looms, sources say
LBCI/May 24, 2023
Days before Turkey's runoff presidential election, there is disagreement and uncertainty within Tayyip Erdogan's government over whether to stick with what some call an unsustainable economic program or to abandon it, insiders say. According to interviews with nine sources, either government officials or others with direct knowledge of the matter, an informal group of ruling-party members have gathered in recent weeks to discuss how it might adopt a new policy of gradual interest rate hikes and a targeted lending program.
Erdogan is not directly involved in the talks, which include some AK Party members who are outside the administration but held senior positions in the past, four of the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss the private meetings. On the other side are officials and cabinet members who publicly state they want to stick with the current program of boosting exports and economic growth via rate cuts and heavily-managed forex, credit and debt markets. Given Erdogan led after the initial vote, much is at stake for the major emerging market economy that has been gripped by a cost-of-living crisis and series of currency crashes. With foreign reserves tumbling, some analysts say Turkey could face another economic crash as soon as this year that sends inflation soaring again and strains its balance of payments - unless the government changes course.

Turkish anti-migrant party backs Erdogan's rival in presidential runoff
Associated Press/May 24, 2023
A hard-line, anti-migrant party on Wednesday threw its weight behind the opposition candidate who is running against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in this weekend's runoff presidential race. Umit Ozdag, the leader of the far-right Victory Party, announced his support for main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who will be facing off against Erdogan on Sunday. He said he decided to back Kilicdaroglu after the two reached a consensus on the need to repatriate millions of migrants within a year. Kilicdaroglu "has stated very clearly that refugees should return to their homeland and that this is the policy he will implement," Ozdag told reporters following several rounds of talks with Kilicdaroglu. "Therefore, as the Victory Party, we decided to support Mr. Kilicdaroglu in the second round of the presidential election." Ozdag added that the two agreed on "a model that is in line with international laws and upholds human rights, that would ensure the security of Syrians in Syria but lift the heavy burden on Turkey's economy and that would make our streets safe again." Ozdag's announcement came just days after Sinan Ogan, the third-placed contender in the first round of the presidential election on May 14, endorsed Erdogan in the upcoming runoff. Ogan was the joint candidate of an alliance of small conservative parties, led by Ozdag's Victory Party. According to a seven-point protocol signed between Kilicdaroglu and Ozdag, the two also agreed on the need to maintain an "effective and determined" fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and other groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists. The two said they would uphold the country's secular traditions and fight corruption. Erdogan received 49.5% of the votes in the first round of the presidential race — just short of the majority needed for an outright victory — compared to Kilicdaroglu's 44.9%. Ogan received 5.2%. Erdogan's ruling party and its nationalist and Islamist allies also retained a majority in the 600-seat parliament — a development that increases Erdogan's chances of reelection because voters are likely to vote for him to avoid a splintered government, analysts say. In an apparent attempt to woo nationalist voters in the runoff, Kilicdaroglu had hardened his tone last week, vowing to send back refugees and ruling out any peace negotiations with Kurdish militants if he is elected. Kilicdaroglu had previously said he planned to repatriate Syrians within two years, by creating economic and safety conditions conducive to their return. Kilicdaroglu, 74, is the joint candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, which has pledged to reverse Turkey's authoritarian drift under Erdogan and return the country to a parliamentary democracy with increased checks and balances. Turkey is home to the world's largest refugee community, including 3.7 million Syrians. Anti-migrant sentiment is running high in the country amid economic turmoil, including high inflation, and the issue of the repatriation of migrants has become a main campaign issue.

Japan won't join NATO, but local office considered, PM Kishida says
Reuters/May 24, 2023
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday said the country had no plans to become a NATO member but acknowledged the security alliance's plan to open a liaison office in Japan. Kishida's comments came after the Japanese ambassador to the United States earlier this month said that the U.S.-led military pact was planning a Tokyo office, the first in Asia, to facilitate consultations in the region. "I am not aware of any decision made" at NATO regarding the establishment of the office, Kishida told a Wednesday parliament session, adding his country was not planning to join NATO as a member or semi-member state.--

New Chinese ambassador to US acknowledges challenges in relations
Reuters/May 24, 2023
China's new ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng, said on Tuesday that he will seek to enhance China-U.S. cooperation, but that relations face serious challenges. "I have come here to safeguard China's interest. This is my sacred responsibility," Xie told reporters after landing at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. "I'm also the envoy of Chinese people, so I've come here to enhance China-U.S. exchanges and cooperation," said Xie, who has garnered a reputation for often blunt rebukes of U.S. actions as ties between the strategic rivals have deteriorated over issues ranging from Taiwan to trade. Xie, 59, who most recently served as a vice foreign minister charged with overseeing policy toward the U.S., fills the post as, many analysts say, relations between the world's two largest economies are in the worst state since they were formally established in 1979. Relations face "serious difficulties and challenges," Xie said in remarks before departing the airport and boarding a van. Chinese officials said he would drive to Washington. A fluent English speaker who was previously posted twice to China's Washington embassy, Xie lodged China's formal denunciation in February for Washington "obstinately" shooting down what it suspected was a Chinese spy balloon after its flight over the United States spurred a diplomatic crisis. Beijing has argued it was a civilian airship. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. welcomed Xie's arrival. "We look forward to working with the ambassador designate and his team," Miller said. "We remain committed, as we said on a number of occasions, to maintain channels of communication with the PRC (People's Republic of China) to responsibly manage competition."-

Clashes erupt in Sudan’s capital threatening to shatter cease-fire deal
Reuters/May 24, 2023
DUBAI: Clashes between rival military factions broke out on Wednesday in Sudan’s capital, residents said, threatening to shatter a fragile cease-fire designed to allow for the delivery of aid and lay the ground for a more lasting truce. The cease-fire deal, which is being monitored by Saudi Arabia and the United States as well as the warring parties, comes after five weeks of intensive warfare in the capital Khartoum and outbursts of violence in other areas of the country, including the western region of Darfur. The fighting pits Sudan’s army against the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has escalated a humanitarian crisis, forcing over 1.3 million people to flee their homes and threatening to destabilize the wider region. The cease-fire had brought a relative lull in fighting in Khartoum on Tuesday, although little sign of a rapid scale-up in humanitarian relief. Witnesses reported clashes in several areas of the capital on Wednesday afternoon. West of central Khartoum columns of black smoke could be seen rising into the air, and there was shelling near an army camp in southern Khartoum, they said. In Bahri, one of the three cities around the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers that make up Sudan’s greater capital, the sound of clashes and artillery fire could be heard. Witnesses in Omdurman, the third city, reported that an army fighter plane had been shot down, and videos posted on social media appeared to show the incident. The footage could not immediately be verified. Earlier, residents reported artillery fire near the Wadi Sayidna military base on the outskirts of Omdurman. The cease-fire was agreed to on Saturday following talks in Jeddah mediated by Saudi Arabia and the United States. Previous cease-fire announcements have failed to stop the fighting. Saudi Arabia and the United States late on Tuesday said members of a cease-fire monitoring mechanism that includes representatives of the army and the RSF had undertaken to engage their chains of command about reported truce violations.
“Terrified”
In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State, days of clashes between the army and the RSF had left most of the main market burned down, two residents said.“We’re in a very difficult situation. We feel emotionally broken and terrified,” said resident Malak Ibrahim, adding that her family hadn’t had water for the past two weeks. Activists in Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur State, said RSF-backed militias had surrounded the city and started looting homes and businesses. Zalingei and West Darfur State capital El Geneina, where hundreds have been killed since last month, both appeared to be cut off from phone networks. The conflict in Sudan erupted as plans for an internationally backed political transition toward elections under a civilian government were set to be finalized, bringing sustained air strikes and ground fighting to the capital for the first time. Many residents are struggling to survive as they face prolonged water and power cuts, a collapse of health services and widespread lawlessness and looting. The United Nations human rights chief called the situation in Sudan “heartbreaking” and said there were “very deeply troubling” accounts of sexual violence in Khartoum and Darfur with at least 25 cases reported so far and the real number likely much higher.
Refugees
Aid workers said many of the supplies and staff arriving at Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast have been awaiting security permits and guarantees. Sudan was facing severe humanitarian pressures even before the conflict broke out on April 15. More than 1 million people have now been displaced within Sudan and 319,000 have fled Sudan to neighboring countries, some of which are similarly impoverished and have a history of internal conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration. Many have crossed into Chad and Egypt in the last few days, Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, said on Wednesday. “Donor contributions to the refugee response plan remain scarce. We need more resources, urgently, to support countries hosting refugees,” he said on Twitter. The UN says that the number of people requiring aid within Sudan has jumped to 25 million, more than half the population.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launches 2024 GOP presidential campaign to challenge Trump
AP/May 24, 2023
MIAMI: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis entered the 2024 presidential race on Wednesday, stepping into a crowded Republican primary contest that will test both his national appeal as an outspoken cultural conservative and the GOP’s willingness to move on from former President Donald Trump.
The 44-year-old Republican revealed his decision in a Federal Election Commission filing before an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. It marks a new chapter in his extraordinary rise from little-known congressman to two-term governor to a leading figure in the nation’s bitter fights over race, gender, abortion and other divisive issues. DeSantis is considered to be Trump’s strongest Republican rival even as the governor faces questions about his far-right policies, his campaign-trail personality and his lack of relationships across the Republican ecosystem. Still, he has generated significant interest among GOP primary voters by casting himself as a younger and more electable version of the embattled former president. DeSantis’ audio-only announcement was to be streamed on Twitter Spaces beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. He was expected to meet with donors at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Miami before the evening announcement and appearances on conservative programs, including Fox News and Mark Levin’s radio show. DeSantis’ entry into the Republican field has been rumored for months and he is considered one of the party’s strongest candidates in the quest to retake the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden. The 80-year-old incumbent, Republicans say, has pushed the nation too far left while failing to address inflation, immigration and crime.
The Republican nominee will face Biden on the general election ballot in November 2024.
He joins a field that also includes former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Former Vice President Mike Pence is also considered a likely presidential candidate but has not yet announced a bid. DeSantis begins his campaign in a top tier of two alongside Trump based on early public polling, fundraising and campaign infrastructure. The two GOP powerhouses have much in common. DeSantis, who likely would not have become the Florida governor without Trump’s endorsement, has adopted the former president’s fiery personality, his populist policies and even some of his rhetoric and mannerisms. Yet DeSantis has one thing Trump does not: a credible claim that he may be more electable than Trump, who faces multiple legal threats and presided over Republican losses in three consecutive national elections. On Tuesday, a New York judge tentatively scheduled Trump’s criminal trial to begin March 25, which falls in the heart of the presidential primary season. Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records at his family company, the Trump Organization.
DeSantis, just six months ago, won his reelection in Florida by a stunning 19 percentage points — even as Republicans in many other states struggled. He also scored several major policy victories during the Republican-controlled Legislature’s spring session. Aware of DeSantis’ draw, Trump has been almost singularly focused on undermining his political appeal for months. Trump and his team believe that DeSantis may be Trump’s only legitimate threat for the nomination. Hours before the announcement, Trump argued in a social media post that “Ron DeSanctus” cannot win the general election or the GOP primary because of his previous votes in Congress on Social Security and Medicare. “He was, and is, a disciple of horrible RINO Paul Ryan, and others too many to mention,” Trump wrote. “Also, he desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet. A disloyal person!”
Trump allies dispatched a truck outside DeSantis’ planned donor meeting at the Four Seasons running an attack ad describing him as “a swamp creature.” The Democratic National Committee sent another truck warning of DeSantis’ “extreme MAGA agenda.”
The kitchen-sink attacks and nicknames won’t be DeSantis’ only hurdle. He is a political heavyweight in Florida and a regular on Fox News, but allies acknowledge that most primary voters in other states don’t know him well. A Florida native with family roots in the Midwest, DeSantis studied at Yale University, where he played baseball. He would go on to Harvard Law School and become a Navy Judge Advocate General officer, a position that took him to Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He ran for Congress in 2012 and won an Orlando-area district, becoming a founding member of the far-right Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill. Despite his lengthy resume, friends and foes alike note that DeSantis struggles to display the campaign-trail charisma and quick-on-your-feet thinking that often defines successful candidates at the national level. He has gone to great lengths to avoid unscripted public appearances and media scrutiny while governor, which is difficult, if not impossible, as a presidential contender.
Would-be supporters also worry that DeSantis has refused to invest in relationships with party leaders or fellow elected officials, raising questions about his ability to build the coalition he will ultimately need to beat Trump. By contrast, the more personable Trump has already scooped up an army of endorsements in key states, including Florida. Beyond the primary, DeSantis’ greatest longer-term challenge may rest with the far-right policies he enacted as governor as an unapologetic leader in what he calls his war on “woke.”
The Florida governor sent dozens of immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast to draw attention to the influx of Latin American immigrants trying to cross the US-Mexico border. He signed and then expanded the Parental Rights in Education bill — known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in Florida public schools for all grades. More recently, he signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize they’re pregnant. And he single-handedly removed an elected prosecutor who vowed not to charge people under Florida’s new abortion restrictions or doctors who provide gender-affirming care. DeSantis also signed a law this year allowing Florida residents to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. He pushed new measures that experts warn would weaken press freedoms. He also took control of a liberal arts college that he believed was indoctrinating students with leftist ideology. The governor’s highest-profile political fight, however, has come against the beloved Florida-based entertainment giant Disney, which publicly opposed his “Don’t Say Gay” law. In retaliation, DeSantis seized control of Disney World’s governing body and installed loyalists who are threatening to take over park planning, among other extraordinary measures.
DeSantis himself has threatened to build a state prison on park property.
The dispute has drawn condemnation from business leaders and his Republican rivals, who said the moves are at odds with small-government conservatism. DeSantis delayed his announcement until Florida’s legislative session was over. But for much of the year, he has been courting primary voters in key states and using an allied super political action committee to build out a large political organization that is essentially a campaign in waiting and already claims at least $30 million in the bank. More than any of his opponents, except perhaps Trump, DeSantis is positioned to hit the ground running thanks to the super PAC’s monthslong efforts to install campaign infrastructure across Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, which will host the first four contests on the GOP’s primary calendar early next year. DeSantis gave no hint as to his plans during a meeting of the state clemency board Wednesday morning in Tallahassee, where he granted several pardons to former prisoners charged mostly with drug-related crimes decades ago. “You are what the country needs,” one man said after getting his pardon. A smiling DeSantis chuckled and thanked him.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 24-25/2023
‘Enigma’ Solved? Egypt’s Persecuted Christians Many Times More than ‘Officially Reported’
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/May 24/2023
Christians of all denominations account for about 14% of Egypt’s entire population, or roughly 15 million of the nation’s 105 million.
Based on various records and certificates—baptismal, marriage, death, etc.—these figures were recently provided by Coptic Pope Tawadros II. That he has often been accused of being a dhimmi-like, “yes man” to President Sisi makes his accounting that much more objective.
Ultimately, these statistics further underscore the extreme discrimination experienced by Egypt’s Christians, the overwhelming majority of whom are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
For starters, they explain why the Egyptian government has repeatedly tried to downplay Egypt’s Christian population. In 2015, for example, the Wall Street Journal reported that “The Egyptian government estimates about 5 million Copts.”
Similarly, citing official Egyptian statistics, a researcher once wrote that “the best available census and survey data indicate that Christians now number roughly 5% of the Egyptian population, or about 4 million people.”
Unlike in the West, where the smaller a minority is—think lgbt-peoples, or Muslims—the more the majority is expected to accommodate it, for Islamic nations, such as Egypt, the smaller a minority, the more the majority feels justified in mistreating it. Hence Egypt’s official position that its Christians are a teeny tiny minority.
Now we know, or have been reminded again, that Christians are three times more than habitually reported by the government of Egypt—and therefore are suffering, one can say, three times as much (at least based on population).
Perhaps the best way to underscore what is happening is by analogy. As more thoroughly discussed here, if Christians are 14% of Egypt’s population, that places them in a nearly identical position to Blacks in America, who are reportedly 13.6% of the population.
Unlike Egypt’s Christians, however, whose upward mobility is severely limited, African Americans hold all sorts of public and official offices—including the highest, president (Obama) and vice president (Harris)—well beyond their respective percentage and minority status. On the other hand, and as documented here, although the most indigenous demographic to Egypt, Christians hold 0% of Egypt’s most important and prestigious positions, and between 0-2% of virtually every other decent job.
The analogy can be expanded well beyond the situation of Blacks in America. In contrast with Egypt—the most native population of which is excluded—Muslim, Hindu, and other non-Western peoples occupy top posts all throughout the Western world, especially in the UK, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere.
Even by Egypt’s own poor standards, and despite all his lip service and token gestures to Christians, since he came to power in 2014, President Sisi has not included a single Copt in his cabinets, even though there were usually two, and occasionally three, under the Egyptian presidencies of the preceding four decades.
Another example: Last December, Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments announced a new record: an additional 1,200 new mosques were opened in 2022. In response, Egyptian-born Magdi Khalil, an author and public debater who specializes in minority rights, stressed Egypt’s double standards by revealing that there are about 120,000 mosques, and more than one million prayer halls in Egypt, though only about 5,200 churches. Plugging in these newly released numbers—15 million Christians and 90 million Muslims in Egypt—means that there is one mosque or prayer hall for every 80 Muslims, but only one church for every 2,885 Christians. In short, there are roughly three times more Christians in Egypt than the government admits to—and little wonder, since that ultimately exposes the enormity of the discrimination they experience.

How The West Sanctions Enemies: Floods Them with Rewards
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute./May 24, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tirelessly struggles to harm Western interests. He should be punished and sanctioned for doing that. Instead, the UN, under U.S. direction, rewarded Turkey by appointing a close Erdoğan confidant to a critical Afghan post, and the Biden administration rewarded Erdoğan by requesting Congressional authorization to sell critical fighter jet parts to Turkey.
In an effort to help Putin evade sanctions, Turkey agreed to pay 25% of its natural gas bill to Russia in rubles. In return, to help Erdoğan find a way out of a punishing economic crisis, Putin deferred repayment Turkey's $20 billion gas debts to Russia until 2024.
By contrast, Turkey's relations with the West have seen one bottom after another.
Erdoğan's request for the extradition [from Sweden and Finland] of "terrorists" does not fit into the judicial system of any democratic country: he insists that everyone who opposes his rule is a "terrorist" -- therefore more than half of 85 million Turkish citizens are terrorists.
On April 17, the Biden administration officially notified Congress about the planned sale to Turkey of critical avionics software upgrades for its current fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft. "Turkey is a longstanding and valued NATO ally," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. "The Biden administration supports Turkey's efforts to bring the avionics of its F-16 fleet up to standard."
Anything for a sale?
Perhaps the Turkish foreign minister was right to call Biden "charlatan."
On April 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Moscow's burgeoning energy and wider economic ties with Ankara as he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took part virtually in a ceremony inaugurating Turkey's first nuclear power plant. "This is a flagship project," Putin said. Pictured: An aerial photograph taken on April 26, 2023 showing the construction of the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin Province. (Photo by Ozan Kose//AFP via Getty Images)
Some Western governments, in particular the U.S. administration, have a bizarre way of sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin's staunchest allies: by flooding them with rewards. Take, for instance, Putin's not-so-secret Trojan Horse in NATO, Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tirelessly struggles to harm Western interests. He should be punished and sanctioned for doing that. Instead, the UN, under U.S. direction, rewarded Turkey by appointing a close Erdoğan confidant to a critical Afghan post, and the Biden administration rewarded Erdoğan by requesting Congressional authorization to sell critical fighter jet parts to Turkey.
On April 26, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, an Erdoğan confidant and senior Turkish diplomat who previously served as Turkey's permanent representative at the UN, was appointed as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's special coordinator for Afghanistan. According to a press release by the UN, Guterres announced the appointment of Sinirlioğlu as the Special Coordinator, Independent Assessment Mandated by Security Council Resolution 2679 (2023).
Earlier, in September, Putin promised to make Turkey an "energy hub" by transporting Russian gas to Europe. Turkey has been buying nearly half its natural gas from Russia, and paying several billion dollars for it every year.
In an effort to help Putin evade sanctions, Turkey agreed to pay 25% of its natural gas bill to Russia in rubles. In return, to help Erdoğan find a way out of a punishing economic crisis, Putin deferred repayment Turkey's $20 billion gas debts to Russia until 2024. That was a genuine gesture to the Turkish president, who has been plagued by a deep economic crisis ahead of critical presidential and parliamentary elections this month.
Last year, Russia's state-run Rosatom, the company building Turkey's first nuclear power plant, wired to its Turkish subsidiary, Akkuyu, around $5 billion, the first in a series of such transfers. Russian cash has helped plug the growing hole in Turkey's foreign currency reserves, at a time when Erdoğan needs foreign money to boost the country's ailing economy. Some analysts see the Rosatom-Akkuyu-dollar bonds triangle as a Turkish-Russian scheme to open a "parking space" for Russian funds in Turkey. The increase in Turkish central bank's foreign and gold reserves — $108.1 billion on August 4, 2022 from $98.9 billion on July 26, 2022 — might have been, at least partially, the result of Russian money flowing to Turkey.
On April 27, Putin hailed Moscow's burgeoning energy and wider economic ties with Ankara as he and Erdoğan took part virtually in a ceremony inaugurating Turkey's first nuclear power plant. "This is a flagship project," Putin said via video-link. "It brings both mutual economic benefits and, of course, helps to strengthen the multi-faceted partnership between our two states."
By contrast, Turkey's relations with the West have seen one bottom after another.
In early April, the USS San Juan, a Los Angeles-class submarine, docked at Limassol in the Republic of Cyprus. The government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a tiny breakaway statelet that only Turkey recognizes, predictably condemned the move. Turkey's Foreign Ministry promptly issued a statement expressing "strong support" for the TRNC's condemnation.
Following the tragic earthquakes that devastated Turkey in February, killing more than 50,000 people, the U.S. offered humanitarian assistance, dispatching the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. Turkey issued a statement dismissing the prospect of the U.S. carrier docking in Turkey. "We will not allow it," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said.
Just a day before the inauguration of the Russian-built nuclear plant in Turkey, Çavuşoğlu announced that a summit between Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, also known as the dictator in Damascus, could take place as early as May. He said that the presidents of Russia and Iran would also join the summit. Russia and Iran: the masterminds behind the Turkish-Syrian reconciliation.
At times one does not see if Çavuşoğlu is the Turkish foreign minister or the Russian one. On April 24, Çavuşoğlu called U.S. President Joe Biden a "charlatan" over his April 24 statement marking the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Çavuşoğlu deemed Biden's remark as an "attempt by political charlatans to distort history."
Erdoğan's allegiance, however, is not to Russia and Iran alone. On April 13, the U.S. Commerce Department said it has imposed new export controls on 28 companies based in China, Turkey and other countries for supplying Russia's military and defense industries with U.S.-origin items, which it deemed violated America's sanctions regime.
Earlier in April, Turkey targeted the military leader of the key U.S. partner in the war against ISIS in Syria, with a drone strike in Sulimaniyeh in northern Iraq. Mazloum Abdi, the leader of the predominantly Kurdish group Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was traveling to the northern Iraqi city when the drone carried out an attack near the airport. The attack took place near an SDF convoy that included U.S. military personnel.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan keeps on blocking Sweden's accession into NATO, to Putin's presumed delight (Turkey, a NATO member, has veto power over accession of new members). Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO. Erdoğan, however, has blocked the NATO bids, and demanded that steps be taken against "terrorists": dozens of suspects whom Erdoğan links to outlawed Kurdish militants and a failed 2016 coup attempt against himself. Erdoğan also asked Sweden and Finland countries to drop both a formal and informal arms embargo against Turkey that they had imposed before their NATO bid.
Problematically, Erdoğan's request for the extradition of "terrorists" does not fit into the judicial system of any democratic country: he insists that everyone who opposes his rule is a "terrorist" -- therefore more than half of 85 million Turkish citizens are terrorists.
Against this backdrop, the West, particularly the Biden administration, has chosen a bizarre way of reciprocity: sending "flowers and gifts" to Putin's man in Ankara, Erdoğan.
Not good enough to please Erdoğan? Fine. Just send more.
On April 17, the Biden administration officially notified Congress about the planned sale to Turkey of critical avionics software upgrades for its current fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft. "Turkey is a longstanding and valued NATO ally," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. "The Biden administration supports Turkey's efforts to bring the avionics of its F-16 fleet up to standard."
Anything for a sale?
Perhaps the Turkish foreign minister was right to call Biden a "charlatan."
*Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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How DeSantis Is Trying to Lure Older Voters Away From Trump
Alexandra Glorioso and Nicholas Nehamas/The New York Times/May 24/2023
As a 44-year-old, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida might be an unlikely candidate to wrest his party’s older voters away from Donald J. Trump, a 76-year-old baby boomer.
But he is trying anyway. As Mr. DeSantis closes in on the official rollout of a 2024 campaign for president, he is seeking to make early inroads with this large, politically influential group of voters, and doing so by appealing to their pocketbook concerns. He has focused especially on his efforts to lower prescription drug costs in Florida, including pushing the federal government for permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada. This month, he signed a bill that he says will bring down costs by regulating drug industry middlemen.
“We think that health care is too expensive,” Mr. DeSantis said as he signed the bill in Palm Beach County. “Prescription drugs are too expensive.”
“In our health care system,” he went on, “you see a lot of bureaucracy, red tape.”The attempts to highlight drug costs come as Mr. Trump, who would be Mr. DeSantis’s main Republican rival, has attacked him for having supported plans to restructure Social Security and Medicare — programs that are sacrosanct to many older Americans. (Mr. Trump himself has expressed similar sentiments in the past.)
More than 60 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters are over 50 years old, according to the Pew Research Center. Older voters also powered Mr. DeSantis’s overwhelming re-election victory last year. He won 6 in 10 votes from those over 65.
The issue of prescription drugs, the prices of which have surged in recent years, reflects one of Mr. DeSantis’s advantages in a primary: the ability to promote a lengthy list of laws he has signed this year.
But talking about drug costs also illustrates the potential messaging challenges that Mr. DeSantis could face as a candidate. The governor, who considers himself a policy expert, has sometimes struggled when trying to make the topic accessible for voters. Drug costs are far drier and more complicated than the red meat he has fed to his base on conservative causes like defunding diversity programs at state schools, banning gender-transition care for minors and restricting the ability of undocumented immigrants to find work and gain access to social services.
And because he is signing so many new bills — including 37 in a single day — even some attentive Floridians are unaware of his latest attempt to bring down drug costs.
Al Salvi, 61, is the kind of voter who would seem likely to know about the new law. Mr. Salvi, a cancer survivor who traveled to Tallahassee from South Florida to testify about three bills during this year’s lawmaking session. In 2019, he appeared with Mr. DeSantis at an event promoting the initiative to import prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. But he hadn’t heard about the law targeting pharmacy benefit managers.
“The hell is that?” Mr. Salvi said in an interview. “Every time I go to the pharmacy, I see a pharmacist. I’ve never seen a pharmacy benefit manager.”
“The problem with the messaging,” he added, “is that people are not going to understand it, because they’ve got to know how the supply chain works.”
When Mr. DeSantis publicly discusses the issue, he can sometimes come off as opaque. He tends to talk briefly about how he believes that benefit managers hurt both consumers and neighborhood pharmacies, before diving into detailed explanations of practices that he disparages, using technical terms like “arbitrage opportunity” and “vertically integrated entities.” He often refers to pharmacy benefit managers by the acronym “P.B.M.s.” The governor’s office says that if voters don’t know about the policy changes, it is the news media’s fault.
Those who study the issue say they believe Mr. DeSantis’s plan could have a real impact on drug prices and transparency, particularly in comparison with Mr. Trump’s efforts, who ultimately dropped the issue for most of his term.
Under Florida’s new law, a state advocate will field consumer and pharmacy complaints against the drug middlemen. And state regulators will have broad enforcement authority, including the ability to dole out hefty fines and even revoke a pharmacy benefit manager’s right to operate in Florida.
The state will also be able to inspect contracts by benefit managers, who are involved in nearly every step of drug pricing. The three largest middlemen, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx, own a majority of the market.
“The oversight should help shine a light into the black box of drug prices,” said State Senator Jason Brodeur, an Orlando-area Republican who sponsored the bill.
President Biden, for his part, is popular with older voters and has pushed his own plans to cut drug prices. But his administration has blocked Florida and other states from bringing in Canadian drugs, leading Mr. DeSantis to sue the Food and Drug Administration last year. Florida passed its bill allowing for the import of Canadian drugs four years ago.
For now, Mr. DeSantis still appears to be workshopping his messaging on prescription drugs.

Jeddah Summit… The Summit of Five Minutes
Mohammed al-Hammadi/Asharq Al Awsat/May 24/2023
The style and manner of the 32nd Arab Summit were those of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. With its emphasis on work and achievement, it became successful. Everyone who attended or watched the Jeddah Summit recognized that there was something very different about it.
Besides the solid organization and the work that went into laying the groundwork for it, the most prominent of this summit’s distinguishing features was the length and content of the speeches. Each head of state was given only five minutes to deliver his remarks, and this decision made the difference...
Indeed, for the first time, most of the speeches were clear to everyone listening. This is a sharp contrast to previous summits, when the last thing the speakers thought about was time, making their speeches long-winded, repetitive, and incoherent, and leaving everyone watching (and even those in attendance) disinclined to follow them! This time, a limit was set. Most speakers abided by it, making these five minutes golden. As for Crown Prince Mohammed’s speech, it was pithy and clear. Despite being no more than three minutes and 35 seconds long, it covered the central ideas and key issues on the minds of both those at the summit and the Arab street.
In his speech, the Crown Prince assured “neighboring countries and friends in the West and the East” that “we are moving forward for peace, goodness, cooperation and construction in a way that achieves our peoples’ interests and safeguards our nation’s rights. We will not allow our region to turn into fields of conflict. It is enough for us to turn the page of the past by remembering the painful years of conflicts the region lived through, as they caused suffering for its people and faltered the development process.”
He also stressed that “the Arab world has the cultural and civilization underpinnings, the human capital and natural resources, it needs to take an advanced and leading position and to achieve a comprehensive renaissance for our states and our people.”
Moreover, his speech focused on the core issues, stressing the need to support and stabilize Syria, the centrality of the Palestinian cause, the importance of dialogue for resolving the Sudanese crisis, the need to find a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis, and to support efforts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine politically...
Crown Prince Mohammed wanted to grant the summit a global dimension as well. The Russian-Ukrainian war thus took its place at the summit through the attendance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Arab world thereby sent a message to the West and the world reaffirming that it has not taken sides in the conflict and that it wants peace and an end to this war. Crown Prince Mohammed managed to bring opposites together through outstanding diplomacy. Facing Zelensky was Bashar al-Assad, who chose to remove his translation headphones during the Ukrainian president’s speech and whose country has unequivocally sided with Russia against Ukraine! As for the Arabs, they shared two important sentiments. First, they were all keen on taking part and ensuring the success of the summit. Second, feel the same sense of urgency regarding the need to resolve the crises of the region, especially its Arab crises and the return of Syria. As for the 12 articles of the Jeddah Declaration, they addressed several issues, both recurrent and newly emerging. The most important of them are: stressing opposition to foreign meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries, emphasizing respect for the values and cultures of others, as well as the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states; reaffirming the centrality of the Palestinian cause and protecting Jerusalem from attempts to change its identity; reiterating rejection of support for armed groups and militias that are not accountable to state institutions; supporting international and regional efforts aimed at reaching a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis; helping the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen establish security and stability, fortifying Arab efforts to help Syria resolve its crisis; recognizing the meetings between the Sudanese factions in Saudi Arabia - a step that can be built upon in ending the crisis; and rejecting any meddling in Sudanese affairs, as this would fuel the conflict.
Finally, this summit was distinguished by its distance from politics and its proximity to economics and the daily lives of Arab citizens... The Jeddah Declaration called for the promotion of research into sustainability and economic development. It also advocated embracing new paths and ideas in the field of sustainable development and called for shedding light on the importance of sustainable development initiatives in the Arab region. The declaration also affirmed that Arab citizens have the right to sustainable development, security, stability, and peace. It also stated that this can only be achieved through a collaborative joint effort to curb crime and corruption on all levels, as well as channeling our energies and capabilities to building a future founded on creativity, innovation and keeping up with global developments, in order to ensure the security and well-being of our citizens...
These are the things that Arab citizens wanted to hear. Now they want to see these words translated into action on the ground.

طوني بدران/موقع ذي تابليت/الدولة السعودية الجديدة تنطلق في أطر جيوسياسية مجهولة
The New Saudi State Sets Off Into Uncharted Geopolitical Waters
Tony Badran/The Tablet/May 24/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/118502/118502/
Far from being uncooperative, Saudi Arabia under MBS is playing precisely the regional role that Obama and Biden have long demanded—only more so.
A huge Saudi flag flies over the approach to Diriyah, the first capital of the al-Saud dynasty and the site of one of five massive national development projects that are remaking the socioeconomic and even the physical geography of Saudi Arabia. Local pride in these strenuous nationalist enterprises is palpable. But alongside the excitement and self-confidence in the country’s internal trajectory, there is a parallel sense of geopolitical anxiety and bafflement. Reemerging as a global actor after decades of relative isolation, Saudi Arabia has thrown open the shutters to find that the world outside its windows has changed.
Ever since Barack Obama upended America’s stance in the Middle East, realigning the United States with Iran and consigning the Cold War American security structure to the dustbin, regional allies have been scrambling—first to understand what hit them, and then to try and make accommodations to survive the chaos unleashed by the American empire. After the better part of a century founded on the rock of a mutually beneficial, rational alliance with the United States, Saudi Arabia now finds itself without a geopolitical anchor or compass, but with no choice other than to chart a new course.
Syria was the fulcrum on which the American reorganization of the region, contrary to the interests and wishes of the Saudis and other traditional U.S. allies in the region, turned. First Obama recognized the war-torn country as an Iranian “equity” and worked with Russia to block the moves of Tehran’s rivals in the Syrian theater, thereby pitting U.S. policy against that of the Saudis, the Gulf states, and Turkey. With Russia parked on its border with tacit U.S. cover, Turkey had to adjust its relationship with the Russians while dealing with Kurdish separatists inside Syria who now operated with open American backing. Similarly, Israel now had to factor Russian interests into its calculation in order to interdict Iranian troops and weapons moving from Syrian airfields and ports to threaten Israel from the Golan and Lebanon.
The Saudis are projecting onto China the rationale and the rationalism of their old arrangement with the United States, which they always hoped would continue.
On the eve of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran—that is, at the moment of peak Iranian expansion and triumphalism in the region—the Saudis were confronted with a threat that came closer to home: Iranian backing for the Houthi war in Yemen. In fighting the Houthis, the Saudis were acting not only out of self-interest by protecting their own borders and national security, but also protecting a key energy chokehold from coming under the thumb of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. They were acting, in other words, as a pillar of the post-World War II American alliance system, according to the common playbook that both the Saudis and the Americans had faithfully been using for the better part of the previous century.
American opposition to the Saudi military operation against the Iranian-backed Houthis, however, turned out to be just as vehement as it was with regard to the intervention of U.S. regional allies in Syria, if not more so. As the civil war in Yemen dragged on, the Saudis found themselves facing Iranian cruise missiles and drones, some launched from Iranian territory, that targeted Saudi airports and oil facilities. Left unchecked, such attacks clearly posed an existential threat to the Saudi state, thereby providing a potent reminder of the fact that the country on which the Saudis had historically relied on for protection against such threats—the United States—was now positioning itself as having interests on both sides of the conflict.
After the Iranians attacked strategic oil installations in September 2019, then-President Donald Trump did offer retaliatory options to the Saudis, who instead opted to absorb the hit, fearing a wider escalation to which American commitment would be sketchy at best. Sure enough, while Trump stood by the Saudis as Democrats introduced anti-Saudi resolutions in the Senate and as members of his own party criticized the kingdom, he then lost reelection. One of the very first actions the incoming Biden administration took—within days of taking office, in fact—was to remove the Houthis from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
No one in Riyadh should have been surprised. Hostility toward and contempt for Saudi Arabia was a hallmark of Joe Biden’s campaign platform, and a reflection of the prevailing attitude among Democrats that also resonated with some Republicans, a portion of whom continued to see the Saudis as a fount of radicalization and as the “cause” of 9/11. In March 2022, the Iranians pushed further, via the Houthis, targeting Saudi Aramco installations in Jeddah.
It’s not difficult, then, to understand why, facing a resurgent Iran, and absent any clear U.S. backing, Saudi Arabia wants to close the book on Yemen. The post-World War II arrangement with America, while by no means over, is broken, as American policy toward Iran remains on the realignment path set by Obama. An inward-focused Saudi Arabia needs a period of quiet and stability in order to proceed with its massive domestic restructuring venture, Vision 2030.
The Saudis, in other words, are playing for time. A war that regularly results in missile attacks inside the kingdom is not something that the Saudi leadership can afford or is likely to win. Their goal is therefore some form of an agreement with Iran that will allow the Saudis to focus elsewhere. To achieve that goal, the Saudis turned to China.
On Tablet’s recent visit to the country, shortly after the Chinese-brokered deal was sealed, our Saudi interlocutors made the point that they did not view China as a security guarantor that could replace the United States. Still, Saudi Arabia needed to buy time, as one well-placed Saudi analyst explained, and an agreement under Chinese auspices could well achieve that objective.
Explanations from Saudis we spoke with of how such an agreement would buy them the time they need often sounded like exercises in solipsistic rationalism: The Chinese are not ideological, they care about the secure flow of oil. The Iranians are dependent on them. It stands to reason, therefore, that Iran will not wish to upset China, and that the latter will therefore be able to uphold the agreement.
The Saudis are clearly projecting onto China the rationale and the rationalism of their old arrangement with the United States, which they always hoped would continue. Yet that former arrangement was backed by America’s overwhelming regional military power on air, sea, and land, which neither the Chinese nor their Russian proxies come anywhere close to wielding.
Nevertheless, it is unclear that the Chinese will need to police Saudi Arabia’s own Iran deal anytime soon. With its position in Yemen secure, Iran can afford to lay back, pocket its gains, and watch as Saudi Arabia and others pour resources into rebuilding the war-torn country, which is now dominated by its proxy. And with America set on its realignment path, the vulnerabilities of Iran’s Gulf neighbors remain, should the need to exploit them arise down the road.
Since the Chinese-brokered deal was signed, there has also been a rapid change in the Saudi posture toward another Iranian satrapy: Syria. The kingdom has agreed to readmit the Assad regime into the Arab League, as part of a broader process of normalizing relations with Damascus.
What is curious about both the reconciliation agreement with Iran and the Saudi policy shift in Syria is how this behavior conformed to what Team Obama-Biden has been pushing Saudi Arabia to do for the past decade. Indeed, the administration could not contain its giddiness at the reconciliation with Iran, regardless of its Chinese sponsorship. As far as it was concerned, Saudi Arabia needed, as Obama had long demanded, to “adapt to change,” and learn to “share the neighborhood” with—or “integrate,” in the updated parlance—Iran. And now, behold, it was doing so.
The same went for Syria. Senior administration officials, like the National Security Council’s Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, have been encouraging the Arab states to reach out to Assad, especially after the recent earthquake that hit northern Syria. The Saudis accommodated a request they previously would have scorned.
I asked some of our Saudi hosts whether this marked a return to an older, pre-Mohammed bin Salman approach, when the kingdom would throw good money after bad, including into hostile Iranian holdings, in line with the parameters that Team Obama-Biden have set for the kingdom—now within a new political and security architecture centered around the U.S.-Iran relationship. In three separate encounters, my interlocutors were dismissive of this possibility. They pointed to the kingdom’s policy in Egypt, where the Saudis have dropped the old blank-check approach, and now require clear deliverables and reforms. No more free money. And that’s in Egypt, a close ally. Never mind Syria or the Levant more broadly, which has been written off as an Iranian sphere of influence.
A recent news report citing pro-Syrian sources claimed that the Saudis had offered to pay off Assad to curb the trade of a cheap amphetamine pill popular in the Gulf. That story, and its sourcing, appears to reflect Assad’s wish, and his typical extortionist posture, more than anything else. A senior Saudi official quickly denied the report as pure fiction. It remains to be seen whether this Saudi financial posture toward the Levant in particular endures, especially when the Biden administration presses the Saudis to pay up.
One area in which the United States has already been almost pathologically enthusiastic about pressuring Riyadh into underwriting Iran’s regional empire is Lebanon. For three years now, Biden administration officials have not relented in trying to get the Saudis to resume signing checks to fund the “regional integration” project, including by underwriting structurally pro-Iranian pass-along projects like funding the Lebanese Armed Forces or infrastructure projects. The Lebanese, like Assad, are salivating over the possibility of renewed Saudi funding. The French, who are deeply invested in Lebanon, are also working hard to convince the Saudis to spend money. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that the administration will use the pretext of combating drug smuggling from Lebanon, for example, to renew pressure on the Saudis to underwrite the Lebanese security sector—a priority pet project of the Biden team.
The Saudi position remains one of disinterest. The Saudi view has been that Lebanon is an Iranian holding; there are no Saudi stakes there. This view seems to be sticking, for now at least.
One possible explanation for Saudi steadfastness on the Lebanese question struck me while we were in Jeddah. All around the so-called Yacht Club and Marina, a series of brand new swanky restaurants and shops have been built, with the apparent effect of making Beirut redundant. They were all bopping, full of music and young people smoking hookah. Who needs to relive memories of old-time Beirut, long accessible through a Hezbollah-controlled airport and a highway peppered with placards of Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah, when Saudis have their own version, complete with functioning electricity and minus the smell of burning garbage? It makes sense that old emotional attachments don’t quite resonate anymore, especially for a younger generation that never actually experienced Beirut as anything other than a hostile hellhole.
One particularly interesting, well-connected Saudi insider I spoke with contrasted what he dubbed the arc of misery—from Lebanon in the west to Syria, Iraq, and all the way to Iran in the east—with what he described as the arc of stability running from north to south: Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia. What distinguishes these three countries is that, unlike the Levant, they are real states. Turkey and Saudi Arabia have the added advantage of also being geographically large states. Even as the Saudis have balked at doing so elsewhere, in March they deposited $5 billion in Turkey’s central bank.
So what about Israel? After winning the most recent election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a historic interview with the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya news channel, in which he repeated what has become his mantra: Peace with Saudi Arabia is the prize he’s after. Much has happened since then, including an American pressure campaign against Netanyahu—who is yet to even be invited to Washington. U.S. pressure has been amplified by Iranian low-intensity warfare against Israel through Palestinian instruments. In turn, the U.S. pressure campaign has made a formal partnership with Israel a less attractive proposition for the Saudis.
Perhaps the most realistic answer I received in the kingdom to questions about the likelihood of any formal Saudi-Israel alliance was that, while contacts and cooperation with Israel will continue, it’s perhaps best that they remain short of an official agreement for now. This response, while not reflecting any official position, had a ring of truth to it. After all, what would be the point of an American-sponsored deal with Israel, if the United States continues to realign with Iran and is preemptively broadcasting its acceptance of Iran having nukes so long as they’re not “fielded”?
This feeling is expressed with the bitterness of a scorned wife, who sees her husband throw away their hard-earned savings for an infatuation with a floozy psycho.
Unless Israel demonstrates the independent ability and will to wipe out the Iranian nuclear threat, then it is simply an extension of U.S. regional policy, which officially tolerates and even facilitates Iran’s nuclear program. Israel cannot deliver for Saudi Arabia what it wants from America when Washington is set on realignment with Iran.
And how will all the rationalist analysis about Chinese behavior stand up if Iran does get the bomb? My interlocutors had no clear answer, other than to acknowledge this eventuality as the elephant in the room, or to fall back on well-known official positions that all bets would then be off, and that the kingdom would acquire its own nuclear program.
Ultimately, the Saudis’ deepest geopolitical wish is for a time machine that brings back an America that no longer exists to run the region through its traditional allies in the pursuit of sane goals like power, profit, and stability. This feeling is expressed with the bitterness of a scorned wife, who, after decades of marriage, sees her husband throw away their hard-earned savings for an infatuation with a floozy psycho, leaving her with the children.
As a consequence, Saudi Arabia is quite naturally focusing inward on the Saudi national project, while politely ignoring the occasional awkward moments when her American ex-husband shows up outside her window to hurl curses or demand that she bake his favorite apple pie. If America no longer wants its alliance system, what can we do? We’ll step aside. We’ll look for a modus vivendi in Yemen, but we’ll hand that deal to an eager and willing Chinese broker. The Levant belongs to Iran now. It’s not our business. Our future is elsewhere. (The Palestinians were never even mentioned.)
From facilitating Russia’s return to the Levant, to increasing China’s stake in Iran and now with the Saudis, the regional trajectory has remained the same since 2013, when Barack Obama inverted the American alliance structure in pursuit of a deal with Iran. What we saw in Riyadh and Jeddah was another legacy of Obama’s realignment: a Saudi state that can no longer stake its future on American support and must set out on its own as a midlevel geopolitical player to make the best alliances it can, in order to secure its future. After a brief and tenuous interlude during the Trump years, Obama’s vision for the Middle East appears to have won out—at America’s expense.
*Tony Badran is Tablet magazine’s Levant analyst and a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He tweets @AcrossTheBay. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/new-saudi-state-sets-off-uncharted-geopolitical-waters-tony-badran

Climate scientists make their case but will the world listen?
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/May 24, 2023
The news that humanity will be pushed out of its so-called climate niche, in which our world has flourished, progressed and developed for millennia, is too alarming for policymakers everywhere to simply gloss over. It cannot be blamed on excessive scientific reading and analysis of data or simply discarded as a scaremongering effort by anti-fossil fuel lobbies. They cannot even claim that there are much more pressing geostrategic life and death issues to worry about. Instead, they must give credence and urgency to the need to deal with climate change, which all of us in the Global North and Global South alike are noticing every day.Despite all the international action plans to reduce emissions and transition to a less polluting socioeconomic formula, it seems that our world is likely to surpass the key limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — as set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement — within the next five years. The World Meteorological Organization, in its latest report published last week, revealed that there is a 66 percent likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year. This would mean 2 billion people experiencing average annual temperatures above 29 C by 2030, a level that very few communities have experienced in the past.
This would only mean more frequent severe and extreme weather, such as hurricanes, cyclones, heat waves, droughts and wildfires. These would likely affect the stability of ecosystems and the food available to us, as well as displacing an even larger number of people from their native lands, with all that that could mean for peace and stability in the world.
We have already amplified the intensity and duration of weather extremes felt around the world and the damage caused as a result
The UN weather agency’s latest series of revelations offered a recap and reminder as it opened its 19th congress in Geneva, which assembles all 193 of its member states. It is pressing the message that the current provisions and policies dealing with global warming are likely to expose humanity to life-threatening extreme heat by the century’s end, as the planet is on track to be 2.7 C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. This will push more than 2 billion people outside their climate comfort zone, with chunks of the population in countries like India, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan facing deadly heat levels if this scenario were to materialize. If the world was able to cap global warming at 1.5 C, it would reduce the number of those at risk to below half a billion.Scientists have maintained that, even with the 1.2 C of warming seen to date, we have already amplified the intensity and duration of weather extremes felt around the world and the damage caused as a result.
The threshold for “dangerous heat” used in the new findings is a mean annual temperature of 29 C. Across history, human communities have been densest around two distinct mean annual temperatures — 13 C in temperate zones and 27 C in more tropical areas. Higher temperatures beyond those thresholds, scientists believe, could strongly be linked to greater mortality, reduced labor productivity and poorer crop yields. All this would likely come along with more armed conflicts and the spread of more infectious diseases.
I do not want to be a doom and gloom ambassador, but the facts around us are difficult to ignore. Punching the word “climate” into a search engine returned the following headlines: “Half the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs are drying up,” “1 billion people in 43 countries are threatened by cholera,” “Glaciers are melting at dramatic speed, making saving them a lost cause,” “The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are shriveling,” “Centuries-old oasis in Morocco threatened with extinction due to climate change,” and “From Somalia to Pakistan, the world’s poorest are facing the harshest impacts of climate change.”
Amid the divisions and competition among the powerful actors leading our world, our planet and species look increasingly vulnerable
Despite all this, the world continues to brush aside the negative news, instead preferring to consume today and deal with the problem of sourcing our staples, water and other essentials tomorrow. This is, of course, an accepted form of human instinct that seeks to shield itself from the negative and keep going even when faced with such colossal levels of adversity. But this should not make us complacent or ready to favor the avoidance of global warming concerns and deny that the climate is the highest-ranking priority, even before national security, throughout the state system of today.
The world is surely not standing idle in its public and private efforts to mitigate the potential damage caused by a warming planet. Countries and corporations are meeting, talking and pledging, and some are executing ambitious plans to curb emissions, while others are banking on technology such as carbon capture or a less-damaging fossil fuel that can be used in cars and aviation. Even food production, personal and public transport, heating and cooling and other areas that we take for granted are trying to adapt to mitigate the threats humanity will face from the drastic impacts of emissions, but clearly all that is not enough.
The latest report from the World Meteorological Organization is a poignant reminder that maybe what has already been achieved and what is planned to be done in the future is not enough. What is needed is a global effort — by the rich and the poor, the West and the East, the conservative right and the radical left, and the believers in conspiracy theories, to mention just a few — to pause geostrategic discord and point-scoring in the interest of finding and implementing the roadmap necessary to transition to a cleaner and saner existence. But amid the divisions and competition among the powerful actors leading our world, our planet and species look increasingly vulnerable.
*Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist, media consultant and trainer with more than 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.