Trump cancels meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

by businessinsider.com -- John Haltiwanger -- The White House on Thursday cancelled the highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a letter to Kim, President Donald Trump wrote, "I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting." Trump said he'd been looking forward to the summit, but the "tremendous anger and open hostility" in the North Korean government's recent statements ultimately inspired the president to cancel the meeting. Trump wrote that he felt "wonderful dialogue" was building up between him and Kim, adding, "ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters." The president said he still hopes to meet the North Korean leader at some point in the future.

"If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write," Trump said. "The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and weath. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history." 'This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.' This letter is emblematic of the massive shift in tone between Trump and Kim, who just months ago were engaged in a heated war of words. Over the course of 2017, the two leaders frequently traded threats and insults from across the globe, sometimes even taking jabs at each other's appearance or mental stability. With that said, the cancellation of the summit could be viewed as a significant failure for Trump from a foreign policy standpoint. The Trump administration had hoped to use the meeting to pressure North Korea to agree to full denuclearization. North Korea initially seemed amenable to this but became more hostile in recent weeks, raising doubts anything susbtantive would come from meeting with Kim.

The North Korea government recently threatened to cancel the summit over joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, while also expressing concern over statements made by White House National Security Adviser John Bolton regarding how the US might approach the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. What's more, the North Korean vice minister of foreign affairs on Thursday referred to Vice President Mike Pence as "stupid." "As a person involved in US affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing from the mouth of the US vice president," Choe Son-hui said in a statement reported by North Korean state news. "Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behaviour of the United States," Choi added. This came not long after Pence suggested the situation with North Korea "may end like Libya," seemingly alluding to the violent death of the infamous Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Trump administration had also pledged to help North Korea bolster its economy in exchange for denuclearization, but such promises apparently weren't enough to alter Pyongyang's tone and save the talks.

Pompeo calls for review of security assistance to Lebanon

by Bryant Harris - Al-Monitor --Mike Pompeo used his first official appearance before Congress as secretary of state to call for a review of US military assistance for Lebanon following Hezbollah’s gains in this month’s elections. Washington has long relied on the Lebanese Armed Forces as a bulwark against the Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary group’s influence in the divided country. But critics of the army’s unwillingness to confront the group, which plays a dominant role in Lebanese politics, are gaining traction as the Donald Trump administration pursues a more aggressive stance against Tehran. “We need a review … to make sure that we’re using American tax dollars right in supporting the groups that can most likely achieve our outcome there,” Pompeo testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today as the Trump administration weighed in on a simmering debate about Lebanon. “That’s the first time the administration openly mentioned some things related to a review of the use of the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces] aid,” Joseph Gebeily, the president of the Lebanese Information Center, a think tank critical of Hezbollah, told Al-Monitor. “The Lebanese Armed Forces have been a very useful partner to the US military. They’ve built a good relationship.”

Some Hezbollah hawks in Congress have long called for curtailing US support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, saying the Hezbollah paramilitary group exerts undue influence on the Lebanese military. “I’ve long been concerned over reports of the LAF-Hezbollah cooperation and US commitment to the LAF,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the House panel on Middle East policy, said earlier this week at a hearing reviewing Hezbollah’s electoral gains. “US law stipulates that no assistance may be made available to the LAF or Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces if they are controlled by a US-designated foreign terrorist organization. Hezbollah certainly [qualifies].” “I hope that this administration, unlike previous administrations from both parties, takes a clear-eyed approach to the LAF [and] reassesses our security assistance to Lebanon,” she added.

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Speaker Berri Re-Elected to Post, Ferzli as Deputy Speaker

naharnet.com -- Speaker Nabih Berri has been re-elected for a sixth consecutive term on Wednesday with an overwhelming majority of 98 votes out of the parliament’s 128-seat assembly. Berri, who ran unchallenged, won 98 votes with 29 blank ballots and one that was annulled. The newly elected parliament convened for the first time after the May 6 nationwide balloting. Veteran politician, Elie al-Ferzli was also elected as deputy parliament speaker after winning 80 MP votes. In accordance with the protocol, the Parliament convened under the most senior MP, Michel Murr, who was accompanied to the parliament by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The country's first parliamentary elections in nine years ended years of political stalemate over a new election law and repeated extension of the parliament's terms. The re-election of Berri, an ally of Hizbullah who has held the post since 1992, reflects Lebanon's entrenched sectarian-based political system which has held despite rising discontent. Together, the two parties hold all but one of the 26 Shiite-allocated seats in Lebanon's parliament. Outgoing PM Hariri called him a "national symbol." Michel Murr meanwhile commended Berri for successfully managing the country's sectarian politics over the years, preventing conflict.

After his election, Berri addressed legislators by saying "thank you" six times, in reference to his sixth term. He pledged bills on major legislative issues, notably on potential maritime oil and gas reserves. Lebanon in February signed its first deal to drill in a pair of offshore zones, including one that is disputed between Lebanon and Israel. "Parliament will be a bulwark for the country's sovereign land and maritime borders -- a national response by the state, army, people, and resistance to Israel's aggressions and violations," Berri said. Celebratory gunfire and firecrackers erupted across Beirut and its southern suburbs after Berri was approved. Lebanon's confessional political system divides seats in parliament equally among Muslims and Christians, then further splits them among the various sects. The position of speaker is reserved for a Shiite Muslim, while the other two top positions of prime minister and president go to a Sunni Muslim and a Maronite Christian, respectively. Born in 1938, Berri is a veteran of Lebanon's complex political scene. He rose to power as AMAL Movement leader in the civil war (1957-1990) before transitioning to politics when it ended. He was simultaneously elected member and speaker of parliament in 1992. In his official role he calls and runs Lebanon's parliamentary sessions.

The long delay preceding this month's parliamentary elections was blamed on political divisions, the war in neighboring Syria and an unsatisfactory voting law. President Michel Aoun will on Thursday consult the newly-elected body to name the country's next prime minister. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader, caretaker PM Hariri, is expected to return for another term in that role, his third time as premier. Source

Binding parliamentary consultations to choose a new premier will kick off on Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri said.

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How Elliott Broidy and George Nader spent a year cultivating 2 crown princes to nail $1 billion in business

George Nader poses backstage with President Donald Trump at a Republican fundraiser in Dallas, Texas, October 25, 2017

This is an opinion article and does not necessarily represents khazen.org 

WASHINGTON (AP) by Desmond Butler, Tom LoBianco  — After a year spent carefully cultivating two princes from the Arabian Peninsula, Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, thought he was finally close to nailing more than $1 billion in business. He had ingratiated himself with crown princes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who were seeking to alter US foreign policy and punish Qatar, an archrival in the Gulf that he dubbed "the snake." To do that, the California businessman had helped spearhead a secret campaign to influence the White House and Congress, flooding Washington with political donations. Broidy and his business partner, Lebanese-American George Nader, pitched themselves to the crown princes as a backchannel to the White House, passing the princes' praise — and messaging — straight to the president's ears. Now, in December 2017, Broidy was ready to be rewarded for all his hard work. It was time to cash in. In return for pushing anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of America's government, Broidy and Nader expected huge consulting contracts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to an Associated Press investigation based on interviews with more than two dozen people and hundreds of pages of leaked emails between the two men. The emails reviewed by the AP included work summaries and contracting documents and proposals.

The AP has previously reported that Broidy and Nader sought to get an anti-Qatar bill through Congress while obscuring the source of the money behind their influence campaign. A new cache of emails obtained by the AP reveals an ambitious, secretive lobbying effort to isolate Qatar and undermine the Pentagon's longstanding relationship with the Gulf country. A lawyer for Broidy, Chris Clark, contended the AP's reporting "is based on fraudulent and fabricated documents obtained from entities with a known agenda to harm Mr. Broidy." "To be clear, Mr. Nader is a US citizen, and there is no evidence suggesting that he directed Mr. Broidy's actions, let alone that he did so on behalf of a foreign entity," Clark said. The AP conducted an exhaustive review of the emails and documents, checking their content with dozens of sources, and determined that they tracked closely with real events, including efforts to cultivate the princes and lobby Congress and the White House. The cache also reveals a previously unreported meeting with the president and provides the most detailed account yet of the work of two Washington insiders who have been entangled in the turmoil surrounding the two criminal investigations closest to Trump. Lobbying in pursuit of personal gain is nothing new in Washington — Trump himself, in fact, turned the incestuous culture into a rallying cry when he promised to "drain the swamp." "I will Make Our Government Honest Again -- believe me," Trump tweeted before the election. "But first, I'm going to have to #DrainTheSwamp in DC." Broidy's campaign to alter US policy in the Middle East and reap a fortune for himself shows that one of the president's top money men found the swamp as navigable as ever with Trump in office.

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Hezbollah Demands New 'Service' Portfolios in Next Lebanese Cabinet

by albawaba.com -- Observers have raised several questions regarding Hezbollah’s change of policy in light of regional and international developments. Hezbollah opponents link this change to rising sanctions against the party and its leaders, while supporters say the party’s decision is merely internal and linked to the fight against widespread corruption in all state institutions. The party needs “services portfolios” to meet popular demands in impoverished areas such as Ras Baalbek and Hermel in the Bekaa Valley.

Lebanese Forces newly elected deputy Wehbi Qatisha described Hezbollah’s ministerial demands as efforts to avoid the sanctions enforced on its leaders and its ally Iran. “Instead of increasing its demands, Hezbollah should facilitate the cabinet formation,” he said. However, member of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Walid Succariyeh said that in the past, the party was mainly focusing on its resistance to Israel and on fighting terrorism. “Now, the party needs to effectively start participating in the internal political process by receiving main portfolios,” he said. Hezbollah is demanding a services portfolio such as the energy or the public works Ministries to silence voices that emerged before the parliamentary elections, particularly in the Bekaa area, to demand more development projects. However, Qatisha rejected Hezbollah’s justifications, saying that while it claims fighting terrorism, the party was securing the departure of extremists from the Lebanese border to Syria in air-conditioned buses, in reference to a deal brokered by the party in August last year to evacuate ISIS militants from their enclave on the Syria-Lebanon border. According to Qatisha, the party’s “strong” participation in the new cabinet would complicate internal matters, unless it decides to change its policy and work for Lebanon’s interest instead of Iran.

Noor Gharzeddine's Lebanese American Film ARE YOU GLAD I'M HERE Selected for Brooklyn Film Festival

by broadwayworld.com - Noor Gharzeddine's debut feature is a must see, exploring gender roles and domestic violence through a cultural lens. This gripping and tender feature was written by Samuel Cyrenius Anderson. A month into its festival run, Are You Glad I'm Here has already shown at ATLANTA Film Festival, Riverrun International Film Festival and is about to screen at Brooklyn Film Festival. A millennial American girl befriends a Lebanese housewife and disrupts her ordered life; one night they become accidental partners-in-crime. Noor Fay Gharzeddine is a Lebanese-American filmmaker born and raised in New York City. Her films study unlikely relationships developed in strange environments. She is fascinated with blending hyper-realism and absurdity, tragedy and comedy. Noor has a BA in Film and Electronic Arts from Bard College, where she had the privilege of studying under influential filmmakers such as Kelly Reichardt, Ben Coonley and Peter Hutton. She is currently developing a scripted comedy and writing her next film.< The film stars the award-winning actress Marwa Khalil who is known for her work in Single, Married, Divorced and newcomer Tess Harrison. The cinematography was created by the talented Ziad Chahoud and the film's original score was composed by Simon Taufique. The film will screen at Brooklyn Film Festival on June 9th at 8pm and June 10th at 8:30pm, making this the festival closing night film. More festivals will be announced very soon.