By Maria Fantappie and Vali Nasr — foreignaffairs.com — US. President Joe Biden’s July trip to the Middle East comes at a delicate moment. There is a last gasp effort underway to revive stalled talks between the United States and Iran on restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from being able to develop a nuclear weapon. Since the last round of talks in Vienna, Tehran has accelerated its program and will soon become a threshold nuclear state. When the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—the UN nuclear watchdog—censured the country for failing to cooperate with inspectors, the Iranian government further curtailed IAEA monitoring of its nuclear program and announced new underground advanced enrichment facilities.

Israel, however, has long promised that it will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, and it is working outside of multilateral institutions to realize that goal. Israel has assassinated Iranian scientists and military officials. It has conducted air attacks on Iranian targets in Syria and expanded its strike capabilities, presumably in preparation for new attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and military facilities. With American backing, the Israelis are also seeking to organize a number of Arab states into a military alliance against Iran. According to The Wall Street Journal, the United States convened a meeting last March with security officials from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to integrate intelligence sharing and air defense systems to combat aerial threats from Iran.

Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdallah Bou Habib

NNA – Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdallah Bou Habib, and Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, held a joint press conference this evening, in which they outlined the discussions that took place during the consultative meeting of the Arab foreign ministers held at Al Habtoor Hotel in Sin El Fil this morning.

Bou Habib began by expressing gratitude for “this wide Arab participation in the meeting, which was successful by all standards, thanks to the cooperation between us and His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Arab League, my brother Ahmed Aboul Gheit and his team.” He added: “I felt from all the ministers and heads of delegations all devotion and solidarity with Lebanon in its crisis, for everyone is eager for its recovery as soon as possible…and all deemed that participating in this meeting, in itself, is a message of support and standing by Lebanon.” Bou Habib went on: “This meeting is hosted by Lebanon in its capacity as the current head of the Arab Ministerial Council, and is dedicated to consulting on developments and challenges facing the region and the world.

by bbc.com — Matt Murphy — Military officials say the drones were launched from Lebanon and were shot down by a combination of fighter jets and ship-mounted missiles. Hezbollah confirmed it had launched the drones in a short statement. Tensions have mounted between Israel and Lebanon over ownership of the Karish gas field. US energy […]

by mtv.com.lb — MTV has learned that President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, proposed to Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati three options to facilitate the formation of the government, which are: Option 1: Expanding the government to 30 ministers, provided that it includes political ministers in order to secure political coverage for the government, which will […]

By Margarita Arredondas — atalayar.com — Delegations from 21 Arab countries are already beginning to arrive in Beirut, which is hosting a summit of Arab League Foreign Ministers on Saturday. The meeting will also be attended by the organisation’s secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt. Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Comoros, Sudan, Somalia, Palestine and Yemen will be represented by their respective Foreign Ministers, while the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Djibouti, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania will be represented by their permanent delegates to the Arab League, as announced by the Lebanese government. Syria, which was expelled from the pan-Arab organisation in 2011, will not participate in the summit. The first to land in the country of cedars was the head of Qatari diplomacy, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rahman Al Thani, who was received by his Lebanese counterpart, Abdullah Bou Habib.

This meeting will serve to prepare for the Arab summit to be held in Algeria in October. A consultative conference is scheduled for 10 a.m., followed by a joint press conference between Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Abdullah Bou Habib, reports Al-Ain. Lebanese diplomats have relayed to the Arab media that the holding of this meeting generates “positive signals”. The sources also assured that no minutes or final decisions will be issued, as the summit will be based on the interventions of the ministers or representatives. A government official told Reuters that Aboul Gheit will meet with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday.

 Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati announced during a dinner banquet in honor of the Arab foreign ministers in the Grand Serail, that Lebanon is committed to implementing all resolutions of the Security Council and the League of Arab States, and expressed its commitment to the policy of disassociation from any Arab dispute and its adherence to preventing abuse of Arab countries or threatening their security. He also appealed to the Arab brothers to embrace Lebanon and its people, especially at this delicate stage in its history.

by arabnews.com — Najia Houssari — BEIRUT: Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport is perhaps the only active official facility in Lebanon these days. Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyeh said Thursday: “Ninety-three flights arrived at Beirut airport on Wednesday, carrying 15,444 passengers coming to spend summer vacation here. “The number of planes arriving in Beirut will increase in the coming days,” Hamiyeh expected. Lebanon is counting on summertime travel to pump hard currency into the economic cycle amid accumulated political and economic crises and their impact on the living situation of the Lebanese people.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who is also PM-designated, warned Thursday during the Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee meeting: “Every delay in coming up with solutions to crises costs Lebanon $25 million a day.” A source at the Middle East Airlines told Arab News: “As a result of the economic crisis, COVID-19 precautionary measures, and the decline in the financial capabilities of the Lebanese, only a few thousand pilgrims will be traveling to perform Hajj this year. Their numbers reached over 25,000 in previous years.” On Wednesday, an MEA flight carrying the first batch of Lebanese pilgrims landed at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. MEA is the only authorized airline in Lebanon to transport pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia. The economic collapse and the national currency’s depreciation made the pilgrimage more difficult for those wishing to go to Makkah.

DOHA/BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Qatar has pledged $60 million to the Lebanese army, state news agency QNA said on Thursday, funding that is earmarked to support the salaries of Lebanese soldiers, two sources briefed on the deal told Reuters. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) said the package was intended “to support members of the army” but did not specifically mention salaries. The Qatari government did not have any immediate comment. Discontent has been brewing in the security forces as Lebanon’s currency has lost more than 90% of its value against the dollar, driving down most soldiers’ wages to less than $100 per month. “The funding is specifically earmarked to support soldiers salaries. It will provide support for a period of time with the goal of stabilizing the situation,” one of the sources said. Aram Nerguizian, a senior military adviser at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said “it is the intention of the LAF to deploy the full amount of the Qatari grant to enable a $100 cost-of-living adjustment per LAF household over the next six-to-seven months.”

The hope is that the Qatari grant would open the door for at least $50 million in U.S. funding as well as other sources of support to bolster the army to the end of the year, Nerguizian said. Lebanon’s financial crisis has gutted public sector salaries and the amount paid to soldiers is barely enough to afford a basic subscription to a generator service that could offset the 22-hour cuts in the state electricity grid. The army’s canteen stopped offering meat to troops in 2020 to save money. The following year, it began offering sightseeing tours in its helicopters to raise funds. To supplement their low salaries, many troops have taken extra jobs and some have quit, raising concerns that the institution – one of few in Lebanon that can rally national pride and create unity across its fractured sectarian communities – could be fraying. At the start of Lebanon’s civil war in the 1970s, fissures along sectarian lines in the army helped fuel a descent into militia rule.

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سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

السُرعةُ التي قَدّمَ فيها الرئيسُ المكلَّفُ ـــ وحسنًا فَعل ـــ إلى رئيسِ الجُمهوريّةِ تشكيلةَ حكومةِ تصريفِ الأعمالِ معدَّلةً قليلًا، قد تُنبئُ بتأخيٍر، لا بتسريعٍ، في تشكيلِ الحكومة، فقرّرَ وضعَ الكُرةِ في ملعبِ الرئيسِ عون من اللحظةِ الأولى. هذه الحكومةُ الحاليّةُ، أكانت قائمةً بكاملِ صلاحيّاتِها أم مستقيلةً تُصرِّفُ الأعمال، ليست جديرةً بالبقاءِ لمواكبةِ رحيلِ العهد، ولا مؤهَّلةً لتَحمُّلِ مسؤوليّةِ الشرعيّةِ في حاِل حَصَلَ شغورٌ رئاسيّ.

الأمرُ لا يَتعلّقُ برئيسِها وبمستوى وزرائِها، وبينَهم من يَتَّسِمُ بالجِديّةِ والنشاطِ والأخلاق، إنّما بتركيبتِها السياسيّةِ الجانِـحةِ نحوَ محورِ الممانعةِ رغمَ اعتدالِ رئيسِها. لذا تحتاجُ البلادُ “حكومةَ احتياطٍ” جديدةً بوزرائِها وتوازناتِـها الوطنيّةِ وتداولِ حقائبِها، لا رَتْقَ هذه الحكومةِ وترميمَها. لسنا من مُستَخْدِمي الحكوماتِ المستعمَلة. لو لم نكُن في ظرفٍ انتقاليٍّ ومصيريٍّ في آنٍ معًا، لهانَتِ الأمور. لكنَّ كلَّ يومٍ يحمِلُ تطوراتٍ وأحداثًا تؤثّرُ على مصيرِ وِحدةِ لبنان.

إذا كنّا عاجزين عن تأليفِ حكومةٍ جديدةٍ وعن تكوينِ أكثريّةٍ نيابيّةٍ ثابتةٍ، وعن انتخابِ رئيسِ جُمهوريّة، ماذا يبقى إِذَن من النظامِ الديمقراطيِّ ووِحدةِ الكيانِ اللبنانيّ وصيغةِ التعايشِ والدولةِ المركزيّة؟ “قِفا نبكِ من ذِكرى حبيبٍ ومنزِلِ”. محاولةُ تعويمِ الحكومةِ المستقيلةِ دليلٌ جديدٌ نُعطيه لأنفسِنا وللعالمِ يُــثبِتُ أنَّ لبنانَ الحاليَّ تحوّلَ دولةً فاشِلة. نحن نعيشُ أزمةَ وجودٍ وشَراكةٍ أكثرَ من أزمةِ نظامٍ وإصلاحات. لقد تعاقبَ الشعبُ والمنظومةُ الحاكمةُ والقِوى السياسيّةُ على هدرِ جميعِ الفرصِ المنقِذةِ التي تَوفّرَت للبنان: من القراراتِ الدُوليّةِ و”إعلانِ بعبدا”، مرورًا “بالثورةِ” والإصلاحات، إلى الانتخاباتِ النيابيّةِ والمبادراتِ العربيّةِ والدُوليّة. بُنيانٌ عَصيٌّ على الإِنقاذِ من دونِ إعادةِ هندَستِه. الوِحدةُ اللبنانيّةُ صارت كانتونًا خاصًّا متعدِّدَ الطوائفِ وعابرَ المناطق يَختصرُ لبنانَ الكبير.

By Joe Bukuras — catholicnewsagency.com — A woman was praying alone in the perpetual adoration chapel early Tuesday morning when the wave of anti-Catholic vandalism and violence sweeping the U.S. struck St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington. Hearing a commotion outside, the woman ventured into the hallway. There, she confronted a masked intruder standing outside the parish center, smashing the glass front door. The person screamed profanities at the woman, who ran back into the chapel. Terrified, she locked the door behind her and called the pastor, Father Gary Zender, while hiding behind a piano. “She called me on my office number just pleading for help to come and get her and rescue her,” Zender told CNA. “She was scared to death.” A surveillance camera captured the frightening incident on video.

The footage shows a masked person with long hair striding up to the door carrying a large rock and pink backpack. The person hurls the rock at the front door, three times, then kicks the door four times, shattering the glass. The person then removes a can of black spray paint from the backpack and begins to write graffiti on the building’s exterior. Next, the assailant makes obscene gestures toward the door, smashes the glass again with the can of spray paint and pushes the door. Then the person appears to scream at someone inside the building before continuing to spray-paint the building’s exterior and sidewalk. Graffiti legible in photos provided by the police reads “woman haters,” “groomers rapists,” and “the church is child abuse,” among other words. You can watch the surveillance footage in the video below. The attacker, who entered the church property around 9:30 a.m., also smashed a different glass door at the parish hall and defaced a statue of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, Zender said. He estimated the damage at $10,000.

by naharnet.com — The line-up submitted by PM-designate Najib Mikati to President Michel Aoun on Wednesday contained changes to five to six ministerial portfolios from the current government, including the energy portfolio, TV networks said. “Mikati proposed a specialist who is not close to the Free Patriotic Movement for the energy and water portfolio,” MTV […]