Putin Says Power Grid Strikes Were in Response to Crimea Drone Attack

World

November 1st, 5:52am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference after trilateral meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi, Russia October 31, 2022. (Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin said Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and a decision to freeze participation in a Black Sea grain export program were responses to a drone attack on Moscow's fleet in Crimea that he blamed on Ukraine. Putin told a news conference on Monday that Ukrainian drones had used the same marine corridors that grain ships transited under the UN-brokered deal. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack and denies using the grain program's security corridor for military purposes. The United Nations said no grain ships were using the Black Sea route on Saturday when Russia said its vessels in Crimea were attacked. Meanwhile, on the 250th day of a war that has ground on since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian missiles rained down across the country. Explosions boomed out in Kyiv, sending black smoke into the sky. Russian forces shelled infrastructure in at least six Ukrainian regions on Monday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Facebook. "That's not all we could have done," Putin said at the televised news conference, indicating more action could follow. Ukrainian officials said energy infrastructure, including hydro-electric dams, was hit, knocking out power, heat and water supplies. Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region, said on Telegram that about 140,000 residents were without power after the attacks, including about 50,000 residents of Kharkiv city, the second largest city in Ukraine. Ukraine's military said it had shot down 44 of 50 Russian missiles. But strikes left 80% of Kyiv without running water, authorities said. Ukrainian police said 13 people were injured in the latest attacks. For the past three weeks, Russia has attacked Ukrainian civil infrastructure using expensive long-range missiles and cheap Iranian-made "suicide drones" that fly at a target and detonate. Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said 18 targets, mostly energy infrastructure, were hit in missile and drone strikes on 10 Ukrainian regions on Monday. Wheat prices jump Moscow announced the suspension on Saturday of its role in the grain program after accusing Ukraine of using air and maritime drones to target vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol. It suggested one of the drones may have been launched from a civilian vessel chartered to export food from Ukrainian ports. "Ukraine must guarantee that there will be no threats to civilian vessels or to Russian supply vessels," Putin said on Monday, noting that under the terms of the grain deal Russia is responsible for ensuring security. Ukrainian and UN officials said 12 ships carrying grain sailed from Ukrainian ports on Monday despite Moscow's move. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country would continue implementing the program, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye in July and aimed at easing global hunger. "We understand what we offer the world. We offer stability on the food production market," Zelenskiy told a news conference. He earlier said Moscow was "blackmailing the world with hunger". Russia denies that is its aim. The US State Department said on Monday that food prices rose because of uncertainty around the Black Sea grain deal and that Russia's suspension of its participation was having "immediate, harmful" impacts on global food security. The news that Moscow was pulling out of the deal had sent global wheat prices soaring by more than 5% on Monday morning. Nevertheless, the continued flow of grain exports from Ukrainian ports suggested a new world food crisis had been averted for now. Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's largest exporters of food. For three months, the UN-backed deal has guaranteed Ukrainian exports can reach markets, lifting a Russian de facto blockade. The ships that sailed on Monday included one hired by the UN World Food Program to bring 40,000 tons of grain to drought-hit Africa. Also on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow had completed the partial military mobilization announced by Putin in September and no further call-up notices would be issued. Putin announced Russia's first mobilization since World War Two on Sept. 21, one of a series of escalatory measures in response to Ukrainian gains on the battlefield. Defense Minister Shoigu said at the time that some 300,000 additional personnel would be drafted. But the mobilization has proceeded chaotically and thousands have fled Russia to avoid being drafted.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3962826/putin-says-power-grid-strikes-were-response-crimea-drone-attack

The Truth About America’s Economic Recovery

Opinion

November 1st, 5:45am

Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman -

As we approach the midterm elections, most political coverage I see frames the contest as a struggle between Republicans taking advantage of a bad economy and Democrats trying to scare voters about the G.O.P.’s regressive social agenda. Voters do, indeed, perceive a bad economy. But perceptions don’t necessarily match reality. In particular, while political reporting generally takes it for granted that the economy is in bad shape, the data tell a different story. Yes, we have troublingly high inflation. But other indicators paint a much more favorable picture. If inflation can be brought down without a severe recession — which seems like a real possibility — future historians will consider economic policy in the face of the pandemic a remarkable success story. When assessing the state of the economy, what period should we use for comparison? I’ve noted before that Republicans like to compare the current economy with an imaginary version of January 2021, one in which gas was $2 a gallon but less pleasant realities, like sky-high deaths from Covid and deeply depressed employment, are airbrushed from the picture. A much better comparison is with February 2020, just before the pandemic hit with full force. So how does the current economy compare with the eve of the pandemic? First, we’ve had a more or less complete recovery in jobs and production. The unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, is right back where it was before the virus struck. So is the percentage of prime-age adults employed. Gross domestic product is close to what the Congressional Budget Office was projecting prepandemic. This good news shouldn’t be taken for granted. In the early months of the pandemic, there were many predictions that it would lead to “scarring,” persistent damage to jobs and growth. The sluggish recovery from the 2007-9 recession was still fresh in economists’ memories. So the speed with which we’ve returned to full employment is remarkable, so much so that we might dub it the Great Recovery. Still, while workers may have jobs again, hasn’t their purchasing power taken a big hit from inflation? The answer may surprise you. In September, consumer prices were 15 percent higher than they were on the eve of the pandemic. However, average wages were up by 14 percent, almost matching inflation. Wages of nonsupervisory workers, who make up more than 80 percent of the work force, were up 16 percent. So there wasn’t a large hit to real wages overall, although gas and food — which aren’t much affected by policy, but matter a lot to people’s lives — did become less affordable. Obligatory note: There are other measures of both prices and wages, and if you pick and choose you can make the story look a bit worse or a bit better. More important, some Americans are especially exposed to prices that have gone up a lot. On average, however, there hasn’t been a huge hit to living standards. But won’t bringing inflation down require an ugly recession? Maybe, and widespread predictions of recession may be taking a toll on public perceptions. But they are predictions, not an established fact — and many economists don’t agree with those predictions. I won’t rehash that ongoing debate here, except to say that there are plausible arguments to the effect that disinflation will be much easier this time than it was after the 1970s. Despite what I’ve said, however, the public has very negative economic perceptions. Doesn’t that tell us that the economy really is in bad shape? No, it doesn’t. People know how well they, themselves, are doing. Their views about the national economy, however, can diverge sharply from their personal experience. A Federal Reserve survey found that in 2021 there was a huge gap between the rising number of people with a positive view of their own finances and the falling number with a positive view of the economy; perceptions about the local economy, which people can see with their own eyes, were somewhere in between. I suspect that when we get results for 2022 they’ll look similar. To be fair, the resurgence of inflation after decades of quiescence, combined with fears of possible recession, has unnerved many Americans. The point, however, isn’t that the public is wrong to be concerned; it is that negative public views of the economy don’t refute the proposition that the economy is doing well in many though not all dimensions. Now, I’m not suggesting that Democrats spend their final campaigning days telling voters that the economy is actually just fine. It isn’t. But Democrats shouldn’t concede that the overall economy is in bad shape, either. Some very good things have happened on their watch, above all a jobs recovery that has exceeded almost everyone’s expectations. And they have every right to point out that while Republicans may denounce inflation, Republicans have no plan whatsoever to reduce it. The New York Times

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3962816/paul-krugman/truth-about-america%E2%80%99s-economic-recovery

Iran Charges 1,000 Over Unrest in Tehran

Iran

October 31st, 10:44am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A protestor holds a portrait of Iranian Mahsa Amini, who died in custody in September after her arrest by morality police in Tehran, during a rally in support of the demonstrators in Iran, at the Place de la Republique in Paris, on October 29, 2022. (AFP)

Iran will hold public trials of about 1,000 people charged in Tehran over unrest, a semi-official news agency said on Monday, as authorities step up efforts to crush more than six weeks of protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in police custody. One of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical leaders since the 1979 revolution, the protests have continued despite increasingly severe warning. The Revolutionary Guards on Saturday bluntly told protesters to stay off the streets. Iranian leaders have described the protests as a plot by enemies of the country, including the United States and Israel. Protesters from all walks of life have taken part, with students and women playing a prominent part, waving and burning headscarves. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing the chief justice of Tehran province, said the trials of about 1,000 people "who have carried out acts of sabotage in recent events, including assaulting or martyring security guards, (and) setting fire to public property" would take place in a Revolutionary Court. The trials would take place in public this week, it said. Iranian authorities have been waging a deadly crackdown to quell the unrest. The activist HRANA news agency said on Saturday 283 protesters had been killed in the unrest, including 44 minors. Some 34 members of the security forces were also killed. Amini died in the custody of Iran's morality police on Sept. 16 after being detained for "inappropriate attire".

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3961551/iran-charges-1000-over-unrest-tehran

US Efforts to Impose Sanctions on Algeria Stir Debate

Arab World

October 31st, 9:23am

Algiers - Asharq Al-Awsat

US Ambassador to Algeria Elizabeth Moore Aubin. (US Embassy in Algeria)

US Ambassador to Algeria Elizabeth Moore Aubin commented Sunday on a request presented last month by several US Congressmen demanding that Washington sanction Algiers for extensively trading arms with Russia, saying that part of her diplomatic job is to explain US law to Algerian officials. “Algeria’s officials will then make sovereign decisions for this country,” she stressed in an interview with Interlignes. Asked whether sanctions against Algeria were possible, Moore Aubin said: “I can’t answer a hypothetical question.” This is the first time a US government official comments on the request by 27 Congressmen last month to impose sanctions on Algeria for concluding arms deals with Russia. Asked whether Washington was ready to sell arms to Algeria, Moore Aubin replied that the US government enjoys a robust commercial relationship with Algeria that includes direct commercial sales to Algeria’s military. She added that her country is always open to discuss with Algeria other means of purchasing arms, including foreign military sales. Late last month, a number of US Congressmen, led by Republican Lisa McClain, addressed a letter to Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, voicing their concerns over the recent reports over the ever-growing ties between Russia and Algeria. The letter noted military arms deals struck between Russia and Algeria, stressing that last year alone, Algiers finalized an arms purchase with Moscow that totaled over $7 billion and it agreed to purchase advanced Russian fighter aircraft, including Sukhoi 57. The co-signers of the letter stressed that this military transfer has made Algeria the third largest recipient of Russian arms in the world. They called for implementing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that Congress passed in 2017. “This legislation directs the US President to impose sanctions on individuals who knowingly, engages in a significant transaction with a person that is part of, or operates for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the Russian government,” the co-signers wrote in their letter. They added that the recent Algeria-Russia arms purchase would clearly be categorized as “a significant transaction” under CAATSA, adding that no sanctions have been drafted by the State Department against Algeria. The Algerian government has not commented on the Congressmen’s request. However, the leftist Workers’ Party deemed the demand as a violation of Algeria’s sovereignty. First secretary of the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS) Youcef Aouchiche called on Algerian authorities to show the utmost decree of responsibility and to agree on a collective response to the request.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3961391/us-efforts-impose-sanctions-algeria-stir-debate

Egypt's Pound Sinks Further Against Dollar After Flexibility Pledge

Business

October 31st, 6:45am

Asharq Al-Awsat

An employee counts Egyptian pounds at a foreign exchange office in central Cairo, Egypt, March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

Egypt's pound fell about 3% to 23.8 against the dollar as trading resumed on Sunday, Refinitiv data showed, after authorities committed to a flexible exchange rate under an International Monetary Fund support deal. The pound slid about 14.5% to 23.1 against the dollar on Thursday after they pledged a "durably flexible" exchange rate in conjunction with a staff-level agreement for a $3 billion IMF extended fund facility. Egypt's currency has been held steady or allowed to depreciate only gradually following previous sharp devaluations in 2016 and this March. It has weakened about 34% against the dollar so far this year. In a note on Thursday, JP Morgan said it considered the pound to be fairly priced, and that it expected a gradual adjustment to 23.5 to the dollar by the end of the year, Reuters reported "We expect USD/EGP to remain under pressure in the coming days as it finds a clearing level, but we view (Thursday's) adjustment as sufficient to close most of the external imbalances," the note said. Egypt has been struggling to cope with the impact of the war in Ukraine, which led to rapid outflows of portfolio investments, a hike in the commodity import bill and a drop in tourism revenues.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3961101/egypts-pound-sinks-further-against-dollar-after-flexibility-pledge

How China Is Fighting the Chip War With America

Opinion

October 31st, 6:27am

Keyu Jin

Keyu Jin -

President Biden’s early-October decision to impose sweeping export controls aimed at blocking China’s access to advanced semiconductors was eerily timed — a few days before the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th national congress. The Chinese response to American truculence, flying in the face of the party, is defiance. The Communist Party congress, which concluded last weekend, exuded a sense of national urgency, prioritized security over the economy and focused on looming threats: a tectonic shift in geopolitics, a technology war and an enduring pandemic. During his speech to the party congress, Xi Jinping, who was granted his third term as the top leader of the country, mentioned “technology” 40 times, promised to “win the battle in key core technologies” and emphasized innovation and technological self-sufficiency. China has been working over the years to catch up with the United States in advanced technologies, and Beijing established an ambitious Made in China 2025 program in 2015 to refocus its industries to compete in automation, microchips and self-driving cars. Competition and conflict with the United States have led to the rise of techno-nationalism in China. President Donald Trump’s sanctions on Chinese tech corporations such as Huawei fueled the first wave of techno-nationalism in the country. President Biden’s export controls and addition of other Chinese companies to a list of sanctioned entities has renewed Chinese determination to close the gap in its technological prowess with America. And for the first time, the Communist Party congress has added a category to its top priorities: “ke jiao xing guo,” which means a great power underpinned by technology, science and education. Science and technology are now at the core of China’s development, and self-reliance has become a national imperative. A day after Mr. Biden’s export controls, the local government of Shenzhen, China’s prominent technology hub, hammered out an ambitious plan to accelerate breakthroughs of its semiconductors industry, supported by a gamut of detailed financial incentives, preferential tax policies, research and development subsidies and talent programs for enterprises in the entire ecosystem. The heavy blow dealt to many semiconductors companies — chip designers, the huge factories in which chips are made and foundries — could extend to other industries that rely on advanced chips, including autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence. Thirty percent of the revenue of American semiconductor companies comes from sales to China, which imported more than $400 billion worth of chips in 2021. China will have to rely on domestic chip producers now, which are expected to meet about 70 percent of its market demand by 2025. To meet this challenge, China is turning to its strongest form of techno-nationalism, the juguo tizhi, or “whole of the nation” approach, whereby all national resources are mobilized to achieve a strategic objective. It was used in the past to reap Olympic gold medals but is now also designated for core technologies like quantum information and biotech. China is placing large bets without expecting immediate returns. A torrent of resources has already flowed into leading-edge sectors: China invested as much as $11 billion in quantum computing between 2009 and 2011, compared with $3 billion by the United States. The government-led Big Fund in semiconductors has channeled almost a trillion renminbi (around $137 billion at current exchange rates) of private and public funding into the industry. Even the central bank has introduced special low-interest loans on the order of 200 billion renminbi (almost $30 billion) for high-tech firms. Hundreds of national labs, which carry out the most advanced research, are being rolled out to boost basic research. More are sure to come amid a technology war. Would China’s state-led approach that worked really well for its industrialization prove equally effective for its innovation? The state can roll out infrastructure and coordinate supply chains, but can it pick out winners in technology? So far, the state-led approach on technological innovation has been successful but also incredibly costly. China is now neck and neck on quantum with America and leading in some areas. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, the foundry and largest chip maker in China, started shipping seven-nanometer chips despite American sanctions; Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation, the state-owned memory chip producer, was on track to supply parts to be used in Apple iPhones before the embargo. Both benefited from billions of dollars of state funding and support. The latest plan announced last month is to give the juguo system a new twist — a measured, smarter approach that leverages the power of the private sector and market mechanisms. While the state will continue to play the key role of mobilizing large amounts of funding for long, complex and uncertain investments, it will be left to the market and enterprises to determine what technologies are made, how to make them and where the resources flow. Provincial governments, such as in Shenzhen, make sure that no barriers are too great for promising entrepreneurs: pushing regulators for a fast track to I.P.O., state financing and even jobs for their spouses. But setting limits to their involvement — such as caps on the equity stake they can take or the extent of financial subsidy — is aimed at reducing waste, corruption and overlaps. Behind the mastery of critical technologies are markets, money and talent. Chinese markets are ready for a big innovation drive: Consumers are more sophisticated and demand higher quality. Only companies with better technologies can win. But talent and basic research remain China’s weak points. The China Semiconductor Industry Association estimated that there will be a gap of 300,000 experts in the industry by 2025. Last year, the industry that saw the largest surge in wages was semiconductors. Basic research, the bedrock of cutting-edge technologies, is notably lagging. And China is rapidly increasing the state budget for science. That might save China from being totally incapacitated when severed from international technologies, but it is not so helpful in making advanced chips for end-consumer products where cost competitiveness and volume are vital. In these areas, China may be 10 years or more behind the United States. Techno-nationalism may speed up the rate of convergence, but it is unlikely to close the distance with a fast-moving train. Core technologies take time to develop — years of cumulative learning and knowledge. China is now putting its juguo system to the test. It is not only a race for technological supremacy but also the ultimate competition between two radically different systems. The New York Times

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3961051/keyu-jin/how-china-fighting-chip-war-america

It’s Better to Mine the World’s Rainforests Than Farm Them

Opinion

October 31st, 6:11am

David Fickling

David Fickling -

As if the world’s rainforests didn’t have enough problems to contend with, even the transition to zero-carbon power is threatening to level them. Industrial mining ate up 3,265 square kilometers (1,260 square miles) of tropical forest between 2002 and 2019, according to a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Some 80% of that total happened in just four countries: Indonesia, Brazil, Ghana and Suriname. With the COP27 climate conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh next week expected to increase the focus on the climate needs of developing countries, that’s raised concerns that there isn’t enough land to manage a shift away from fossil fuels. Much of the world’s reserves of nickel, an essential metal for making electric-vehicle batteries, lie under the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Some 6,732 sq km of Indonesian forest has been granted to nickel mining concessions, a coalition of environmental groups wrote in a July letter to Tesla Inc. An “honest and comprehensive evaluation of the entire life cycle of clean energy” cars would show a “negative societal and environmental impact” on land, Michael Heberling, an academic at Michigan’s Baker College, noted this year. Mining certainly involves destruction of the land that surrounds it. Even where minerals are extracted from underground rather than surface mines, the tailings, processing facilities and transport infrastructure that surround them consume many hectares of countryside. Still, the challenges of preserving the world’s ecosystems are so vast that we risk looking only at one small part of the elephant, rather than the whole beast. Almost every economic activity carries some sort of environmental cost. The question isn’t about finding activities that are cost-free, but identifying the ones that maximize the associated social and economic benefits. At the outset, it’s worth considering that the sheer amounts of commodities that we use each year vary greatly: about 8.2 billion tons of coal and 4.2 billion tons of oil; 1.2 billion tons of corn and 780 million tons of wheat; 25 million tons of copper and 2.7 million tons of nickel; 3,000 tons of gold and 180 tons of platinum. That doesn’t give the whole story, though. Nickel ores contain about a thousand times more metal per ton than gold ores, so the far smaller output of the gold industry results in a roughly similar volume of waste rock. Then there’s the question of surface disturbance: commodities extracted from open-cut mines such as iron ore have a far bigger footprint than those like platinum that are mostly mined from deep underground. Oil and gas tapped from the ocean floor don’t take up a single hectare of land, except for what’s used for onshore transport and processing. Looked at in terms of land intensity — the number of hectares needed to supply humanity’s needs — it’s clear that minerals are still a highly efficient use of space. All the world’s mines cover just 101,583 square kilometers, according to a study this year based on satellite observations — a smaller area than we use to grow oats, and equivalent to less than 0.2% of the world’s agricultural land. Another consideration is how often the commodity gets re-used. The 50kg of nickel in an electric car battery will get used again and again over the tens of thousands of kilometers the vehicle is driven, and then may well be recycled for other uses when the vehicle is scrapped. The 50 liters of gasoline in your fuel tank, on the other hand, will need to be refilled several thousand times before the car is taken to the junkyard. Farmland, for all the vast areas that it consumes, can produce the same volumes year after year, even increasing over time with improvements in agricultural yields. Energy is an important and related consideration. If your electric car is charged up with power produced by burning coal, it’s likely to have a far more substantial land footprint than with electricity from nuclear, wind or gas — both because coal is profligate in terms of its demands for land, and because its supplies must be constantly renewed by digging yet more coal. Solar power, for all its advantages in terms of carbon emissions, also chews up a great deal of land. A final consideration is to think about the cost of land use as well as its benefits. All land is not created equal. Some 60% of the world’s carbon biomass is stored in forests, with another 22% in grasslands and savannah. Keeping that carbon locked up in living tissues rather than venting it into the atmosphere is a burden that falls particularly hard on lower-income tropical countries, which have some of the largest reserves of forest and some of the greatest needs to consume land as an input into economic growth. That’s where the rest of the world has a part to play. Economic development requires not just land, but labor, capital, and productivity improvements. Most emerging countries have no shortage of labor, but the capital required to develop land efficiently and drive their economies up the productivity value chain is far too scarce. Pledges that rich nations made a decade ago to provide $100 billion in annual investments to the rest of the world to decarbonize and adapt to the effects of climate change have still not been met. If wealthy countries want the tropical forest lands that have already been cleared to be used more efficiently — and, where possible, returned to their natural state — then they’re going to need more, not less capital-intensive activity. Mining isn’t devoid of environmental impacts. But it’s a lot better than most of the alternatives. Bloomberg

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3960991/david-fickling/it%E2%80%99s-better-mine-world%E2%80%99s-rainforests-farm-them

Houthis Threaten to Launch Terrorist Attacks in Response to Security Council Condemnation

Arab World

October 30th, 11:45am

Aden - Ali Rabih

Houthi militants in Sanaa display drones believed to be of Iranian origin (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militia responded to a UN Security Council statement condemning its attack on the al-Dabba port in Hadramout by threatening to expand its attacks and warning that it could resort to any option to target local energy facilities and maritime trade. The militias have targeted two oil ports on the Arabian Sea in the Hadramout and Shabwa governorates. The attacks drew Arab and international condemnation amid the militias' efforts to force the legitimate government to pay the militants' salaries in its control areas and share crude oil sales proceeds. The Security Council statement described the Houthi attack on the oil port in Hadramout as "terrorist," saying it is a severe threat to peace and stability in Yemen. In response, the Houthi foreign ministry issued a statement accusing the Security Council of attempting to manipulate the facts and adopting double standards. The militias tried to evade the consequences of their actions and legitimize them by claiming they aimed to protect Yemeni wealth. They said the attacks "were not an aggressive or offensive message" in international waters or shipping lanes, but instead a warning inside Yemeni territorial waters. The statement threatened to repeat the attacks on a larger scale, saying that all options are open for a broader range of strict measures. The Houthi statement renewed the group's demands, which the Security Council described as "extremist," regarding the payment of the salaries of its militants and the lifting of UN restrictions on the sea and air ports under its control to smuggle Iranian weapons. It called on the Council to issue a new binding resolution to prepare the negotiations for a peaceful political settlement to reach a comprehensive peace. Meanwhile, Yemenis await the results of the efforts of UN envoy Hans Grundberg in the coming days after the militias rejected his proposal to extend and expand the armistice. The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and the legitimate government approved the proposal for humanitarian purposes. There are fears that the Houthi intransigence would reignite the clashes on various fronts after a relative calm throughout the six months of the truce that began on April 2, and the militias refused to extend it for the third time on October 2. The Yemeni government welcomed the recent Security Council condemnation, pointing to "the urgent need to deter the Iranian-back terrorist Houthi militias and their actions that threaten regional and international peace and security." The Yemeni statement underlined "the necessity to punish the perpetrators of the attacks and support the Yemeni government's decision to include the Houthi militias on the list of terrorist organizations."

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3959906/houthis-threaten-launch-terrorist-attacks-response-security-council

Lebanon: Rai Accuses Officials of Creating Post-Aoun Political 'Vacuum'

Arab World

October 30th, 10:45am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai meets with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Maronite Patriach Beshara al-Rai accused the Lebanese authorities of creating a political vacuum by leaving the presidency unfilled with outgoing president Michel Aoun's term ending on Monday. Al-Rai said in his Sunday sermon that officials had "left this supreme and essential presidency in a vacuum, either deliberately, or out of stupidity or selfishness." He described the presidency as a “cornerstone” for the unity of the state. The “presidential vacuum in Lebanon is not a fate but rather a conspiracy,” al-Rai cautioned. Aoun left the presidential palace in Baabda on Sunday, a day ahead of the official end of his six-year term but without a successor. Aoun leaves the fragile country in an unprecedented situation where the presidency is vacant at the same time as the cabinet operates in a caretaker capacity.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3959846/lebanon-rai-accuses-officials-creating-post-aoun-political-vacuum

Israel Vulnerable to Online Threats Ahead of Vote, Experts Say

World

October 30th, 8:48am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Israeli authorities have been preparing to combat direct attacks on voting infrastructure, including hacking efforts targeting the Central Elections Committee's servers and websites Fred TANNEAU AFP/File

Days ahead of its general election, Israel is on alert for possible cyberattacks or influence campaigns from foreign rivals, notably Iran, aimed at sowing further tensions within its bitterly divided population, AFP reported. Election day on Tuesday is a "desirable target for influence campaigns", Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel's office said before Israel holds its fifth vote in less than four years, as its era of unprecedented political deadlock grinds on. The ministry and the National Cyber Directorate have been preparing to combat direct attacks on the voting infrastructure, including hacking efforts targeting the Central Elections Committee's servers and websites. But those concerns are secondary, partly because Israelis vote by paper ballot. More serious are online campaigns aimed at undermining confidence in Israel's democratic process, officials and experts said. Elections committee chair Isaac Amit warned of efforts to "delegitimize the results", thereby "harming the democracy... causing schisms and suspicion". For Ofir Barel, a researcher at Tel Aviv University, there is evidence of Iranian efforts "to try to influence Israeli society by spreading lies with political content". "We see in many instances fake Iranian accounts that can come in large groups of hundreds and either spread divisive and inciting messages, or spread lies to harm the image of a certain politician," said Barel, of the university's Workshop for Science, Technology and Security. He noted that Israel has grown more vulnerable to such attacks given its entrenched political divisions, with the electorate having returned inconclusive results in four straight elections and much of the nation split between supporters of hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents. "The aim is not to harm a specific politician but to encourage polarization and chaos in Israeli politics, which is already complicated due to the political gridlock," Barel told AFP. The Israel Internet Association wrote a letter to Facebook's parent company Meta last month warning of "the lack of sufficient preparation of the popular social networks ahead of the Israel elections". The group said it had "research-based doubts" about Meta's community standards enforcement in Israel, citing lack of Hebrew monitoring capacity as a possible cause. Civil society groups were also stepping up efforts against inflammatory political content online, including Fake Reporter, which has exposed 100 Facebook profiles targeting Netanyahu supporters, as well as broader efforts to incite hatred.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3959666/israel-vulnerable-online-threats-ahead-vote-experts-say

Iraqi Wells Threaten Race to the Bottom

Varieties

October 30th, 7:47am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Experts warn of frantic competition among Iraqi farmers for ever more scarce water, exacerbating a long-term problem Qassem al-KAABI AFP

Iraq has long drilled the desert for oil, but now climate stress, drought and reduced river flows are forcing it to dig ever deeper for a more precious resource: water. Iraq is one of the world's five countries most impacted by key effects of the climate crisis, according the United Nations. Compounding the water stress, upstream dams, mainly in Turkey, have vastly reduced the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates, the once mighty rivers that gave birth to Mesopotamian civilization. One of Iraq's millions of hardscrabble farmers bearing the brunt of this ecological crisis is Jabar al-Fatlawi, 50, a father of five with a rough beard and wearing a white robe. Like his father before him, he has grown wheat and rice in the southern province of Najaf -- but not this year, he said, blaming the "severe water shortage". To help him keep alive at least his date palms and livestock, he has paid local authorities to dig a well on his dusty patch of land near the town of Al-Mishkhab. Fatlawi watched as a noisy drill churned up the ground and eventually hit the water table far below, sending up a jet of muddy water that will allow him to battle on, for now. As Iraq endures its worst drought since 1930, and frequent sandstorms turn the sky orange, he hopes the precious water will allow him to at least grow dill, onions and radishes. His well is one of hundreds recently drilled in Iraq -- at ever greater depth as the groundwater table below keeps dropping. Fatlawi said he had once dug his own, small-scale well, before the government declared it illegal. At any rate, he recalled, "sometimes the water was bitter, sometimes it was salty". The short-term solution for farmers like Fatlawi exacerbates a long-term problem as frantic competition heats up for ever more scarce water, experts warn. Another southern farmer, Hussein Badiwi, 60, said he had been planting barley and grass for livestock on the edge of the Najaf desert for 10 years. Like his neighbors, he relies exclusively on water drilling and said the area had seen "a drop in the water level because of the multitude of wells". "Before, we used to dig 50 meters (165 feet) and we had water," Badiwi said, AFP reported. "Now we have to go down more than 100 meters." Iraq, a country of 42 million, is seeing a race to the bottom for the precious groundwater. Iraq's ministry of water resources warned during the blistering summer that "excessive groundwater use has led to many problems" and called for "the preservation of this wealth". To tackle the crisis, authorities have shuttered hundreds of illegal wells. But they have also drilled some 500 new ones in this year's first half, with plans for more in at least six provinces ahead of what the ministry predicts will be "another year of drought" in 2023. Najaf's head of water resources, Jamil al-Assadi, said fees to drill wells had been reduced by half, and many new ones had been sunk into areas formerly irrigated by rivers and canals. The water is intended for "livestock, irrigating orchards and limited plantations", but insufficient and too salty for wheat fields or rice paddies, he said. In exchange, "the farmers must use modern irrigation methods" rather than the wasteful flooding of fields they have practiced since ancient times.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3959566/iraqi-wells-threaten-race-bottom

Lessons to Britain’s Conservatives

Opinion

October 30th, 5:41am

Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd -

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never. That was Winston Churchill’s famous mantra. Liz Truss, another Tory prime minister trying to lead a battered Britain, couldn’t follow that bulldog advice. She wilted fast. She lasted only 44 days before resigning. The Storm didn’t even have time to Gather. The photo of Queen Elizabeth shaking hands with Truss at Balmoral Castle, as Truss took over as head of the government, is epic in its symbolism. Liz squared. The longest-reigning monarch meets the shortest-serving prime minister. It was such a swift fall that Truss was anointed by a queen and resigned to a king. In years of yore, I would have felt sheepish about a woman self-immolating so quickly. When I covered Geraldine Ferraro’s run for the vice presidency and Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, it felt as though their fates were tied to gender. If they failed, many women told me in interviews, there was an X through the whole X chromosome, a blot on the female copybook. If not those women then, they would say, what woman ever? Although when Sarah Palin flamed out in 2008, coming across as comically inept, it did not reflect poorly on women in general. That was an important step for women. Truss took that step for Britain: Many consider the third woman to dwell at No. 10 incompetent and hopeless, perhaps the worst P.M. in history. She was a bad communicator, a poor speaker and weak on camera. She didn’t understand that you couldn’t simply borrow money from the future. She managed to be a radical ideologue and a lightweight at the same time. (Blimey, sounds very Trumpy.) But no one believes Truss blew up on the launchpad because she’s a woman. She turned out to be a stooge for a reckless, unprincipled Boris Johnson, who was no doubt scheming to see if he could snatch back the reins. Gavin Barwell, the chief of staff for Theresa May when she was prime minister, predicted that Johnson — who’s been trying to write a book on Shakespeare for years — would haunt Truss like Banquo’s ghost. “The moment she gets into political difficulty,” Barwell told The Times’s Mark Landler, “there’s going to be a bring-back-Boris movement.” And here we are at that moment. “It’s incredibly funny if you’re not English,” Henry Porter, a British writer, told me. “It’s humiliating if you are. Boris is Boris Karloff, the monster who comes alive again, after you thought he was buried.” Many think Johnson planned this from the start. By backing Truss, he was able to defeat Rishi Sunak, the ally who stabbed him in the back, “Julius Caesar”-style. Johnson threw his support behind Truss, knowing that she would be so mediocre that he’d look good in comparison. Just like Donald Trump, Johnson may think if he gets back into office he can squash the investigation into his chicanery. He’s enmeshed in an inquiry into whether he misled Parliament about his Downing Street get-downs during the pandemic. The outcome was foggy, as Johnson rushed back from a vacation in the Caribbean. In some vote estimates, Sunak was ahead but Johnson was winning support, as well. James Duddridge, an M.P. who backs Johnson, told the British press: “I’ve been in contact with the boss via WhatsApp. He’s going to fly back. He said: ‘I’m flying back. We are going to do this. I’m up for it.’” Tory lawmakers are split. Half are morally outraged by Boris, and the rest are worried that without the riveting spectacle of Boris, they’ll lose their seats in two years. Many Tories believe, amid rising electric bills, power shortages and inflation, that Sunak — whose wealthy wife was accused of avoiding paying 20 million pounds in taxes until the press upbraided her — would be wiped out by Labor in two years. So it depends on whether the self-preservation group is bigger than the disgusted-with-BoJo group. British conservatives are becoming as shameless as American conservatives, willing to put up with any outrage to keep their posh offices and perks. The “good chap” principle in England, the tradition that sometimes you have to leave office for the greater good, seems passé. “One of the glories of the traditional Conservative Party used to be its readiness to place country before party,” Peter Oborne, a British journalist, wrote in this paper recently. Winston Churchill set this standard before stepping down as prime minister in 1955: “The first duty of a member of Parliament is to do what he thinks in his faithful and disinterested judgment is right and necessary for the honor and safety of Great Britain.” Mr. Oborne asserted that “today’s Conservatives, by contrast, cling to power for power’s sake,” and that “their obstinacy is ensuring the ruination of Britain.” The New York Times

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3959451/maureen-dowd/lessons-britain%E2%80%99s-conservatives

Russia Says US Lowers ‘Nuclear Threshold’ by Deploying New Nuclear Bombs in Europe

World

October 29th, 7:42am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Ukrainian artillery unit member walks as he get prepared to fire towards Kherson on October 28, 2022, outside of Kherson region, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. (AFP)

Russia said on Saturday that the accelerated deployment of modernized US B61 tactical nuclear weapons at NATO bases in Europe would lower the "nuclear threshold" and that Russia would take the move into account in its military planning. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered the gravest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the two Cold War superpowers came closest to nuclear war. Russia has around 2,000 working tactical nuclear weapons while the United States has around 200 such weapons, half of which are at bases in Italy, Germany, Türkiye, Belgium and the Netherlands. Politico reported that the United States told a closed NATO meeting that it would accelerate the deployment of a modernized version of the B61, the B61-12, with the new weapons arriving at European bases in December, several months earlier than planned. "We cannot ignore the plans to modernize nuclear weapons, those free-fall bombs that are in Europe," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told state RIA news agency. The 12-ft B61-12 gravity bomb carries a lower yield nuclear warhead than many earlier versions but is more accurate and can penetrate below ground, according to research by the Federation of American Scientists. "The United States is modernizing them, increasing their accuracy and reducing the power of the nuclear charge, that is, they turn these weapons into 'battlefield weapons', thereby reducing the nuclear threshold," Grushko said.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3957936/russia-says-us-lowers-%E2%80%98nuclear-threshold%E2%80%99-deploying-new-nuclear-bombs-europe

Biden to Travel to Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia for November Summits

World

October 29th, 6:44am

Asharq Al-Awsat

28 October 2022, US, Philadelphia: US President Joe Biden speaks during the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's 3rd Annual Independence Dinner. (dpa)

US President Joe Biden will travel to Egypt to participate in the COP27 United Nations climate change summit on Nov. 11, where he will call on the world to act "in this decisive decade", the White House said on Friday. Biden will then travel to Cambodia from Nov. 12-13 to participate in the annual US-ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit, the White House said in a statement. After that, Biden will visit Indonesia Nov. 13-16 to participate in a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 major economies, it added. Israeli President Isaac Herzog first disclosed Biden's visit to Egypt during a meeting with the US president in the Oval Office on Wednesday. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would use COP27 to "build on the significant work the United States has undertaken to advance the global climate fight and help the most vulnerable build resilience to climate impacts." In Cambodia, Biden will reaffirm the United States' enduring commitment to Southeast Asia, while underscoring the importance of US-ASEAN cooperation in ensuring security and prosperity in the region, Jean-Pierre said. In Bali, Indonesia, Biden will work with G20 partners to address key challenges such as climate change, the global impact of Putin's war on Ukraine, including on energy and food security and affordability, and a range of other priorities important to the global economic recovery, the White House said. Vice President Kamala Harris would also travel to Asia and North Africa, following the president's visit, the White House said. Harris will travel to Bangkok to attend the Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting, underscoring Washington's commitment to economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. She will also travel to Manila, where she will meet with government leaders and civil society representatives, the White House said.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3957851/biden-travel-egypt-cambodia-and-indonesia-november-summits

Aoun Signals Possibility of Approving Govt Resignation, Plunging Lebanon Deeper into Vacuum

Arab World

October 29th, 5:55am

Beirut - Youssef Diab

A picture shows a view of the Lebanese Parliament convened for the 4th session to elect a new President in Beirut on October 24, 2022. (AFP)

Outgoing Lebanese President Michel Aoun stirred debate on Thursday when he said he may approve the resignation of the government should a new one not be formed, days before his term as president ends. The government usually assumes the duties of the president in case of a presidential vacuum. Aoun’s term ends on Monday and it is unlikely that a successor will be elected on time. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been unable to form a government, months since his appointment, due to disputes with Aoun. Among the disputes, was a debate over whether the caretaker government can assume the role of the executive authority during presidential vacuum. The cabinet has been acting in a caretaker capacity since parliamentary elections that were held in May. Aoun on Friday accused Mikati and his team of “lacking the will to form a government.” He charged that Mikati has met the demands of all parties, movements and political blocs, except for the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) that was founded by Aoun and is now headed by his son-in-law MP Gebran Bassil. The FPM has been arguing that the caretaker government did not receive the new parliament’s vote of confidence, but rather the old one, therefore, rendering it “unconstitutional.” Commenting on the legality of his move to accept the resignation of the caretaker government in the absence of a replacement, Aoun remarked that the issue is not addressed in any constitutional texts, but it is simply related to political norms. Norms, he said, can be violated. Lawyer and former minister Rashid Derbas criticized Aoun’s warning, saying that the caretaker government had not even submitted its resignation for him to even consider approving or rejecting it. The government is considered resigned as soon as the new parliament is formed. The president has no power over this resignation, he added. Moreover, he said Aoun may deliberately create vacuum before leaving his post. Lebanon will be plunged in presidential and government vacuum on November 1. Derbas said the solution to the vacuum lies in the constitution and its grants the government the right to assume the duties of president in case of a vacuum. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Derbas said the caretaker government has constitutional authority to replace the president, but there are some privileges that are solely reserved to the president even if the government is constitutional and enjoys the parliament’s support. Derbas said Mikati was not responsible for obstructing the formation of a new government and therefore, not responsible for leading the country to vacuum. Rather he pinned the blame on the FPM and its allies. He also blamed them for the presidential vacuum, saying they have been submitting blank votes during the elections. Lebanon has held four rounds of presidential elections, none of which succeeded in electing a new head of state. Meanwhile, Bassil warned against the government assuming the role of the president. “We cannot have an unconstitutional and illegal government leading the country during vacuum,” he said after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai at Bkirki. “The idea of placing the country in the hands of a caretaker government is disastrous and will lead to constitutional and all forms of chaos,” he added. Moreover, he noted that Mikati would be signaling that he does not want to form a new government if he agrees for his caretaker cabinet to assume the duties of the president.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3957731/aoun-signals-possibility-approving-govt-resignation-plunging-lebanon-deeper

Musk Seeks to Soothe Critics with Twitter Content Panel

Technology

October 29th, 5:42am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Elon Musk's photo is seen through a Twitter logo in this illustration taken October 28, 2022. (Reuters)

Twitter formally became the private property of Elon Musk on Friday, steering the social media giant down an uncertain path under the stewardship of one of its most vocal critics. Scrutiny quickly turned to how the platform will operate under a self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist who some users fear will turn Twitter into a global stage for hate speech and disinformation. In a nod to such concerns, Musk's first policy act was to tweet that he will form a "content moderation council" embracing "widely diverse viewpoints." "No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes," he said. Musk's sealing of the on-again, off-again $44 billion deal ended a months-long soap opera of corporate chicanery, involving insults, threats and lawsuits. "The bird is free," tweeted the billionaire Tesla founder and space pioneer in reference to the company's logo. "Let the good times roll." The deal drew contrasting reactions, with former US president Donald Trump cheering the change of leadership on a platform that had banned him, while activists warned of a surge in harassment and misinformation. European politicians were quick to signal to Musk that the continent had regulations for social media companies. "In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules," tweeted Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner. Musk had vowed to dial back content moderation and was expected to clear the way for Trump to return to the platform. The then-president was blocked over concerns he would ignite more violence like the 2021 deadly attack on the US Capitol to overturn his election loss. Taking to his own Truth Social platform, Trump said he was "very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands" -- but gave no commitment to rejoin if allowed. Far-right users were quick to rejoice at Musk's ownership, posting comments such as "masks don't work" and other taunts, under the belief that moderation rules would now be relaxed. - 'A huge responsibility' - Yale University philosophy professor Jason Stanley, who has characterized Trump's rise as a sign of mounting fascism in the United States, said he would alter his approach to posting. "For the moment I am staying on Twitter. But I am going to try to be much more careful about what I say now that Elon Musk is in charge. Cascading hate speech targeting can destroy your week," he said. Right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro said he gained 40,000 Twitter followers Friday, while the actor Mark Hamill, a liberal, said he had lost almost 6,000 followers over the last three days. Musk reportedly fired Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and other senior officials -- though the company did not reply to a request for comment and Agrawal still listed himself as CEO on his Twitter profile. But Ned Segal, Twitter's chief financial officer since 2017, announced his departure. "At its best, (Twitter) democratizes communication and knowledge, ensuring accountability and equal distribution of info," Segal said. "It's a huge responsibility for everyone that shares in the work. I wish them strength, wisdom and foresight." Musk, who is using a combination of his own money, funds from wealthy investors and bank loans to finance the deal, has conceded he is overpaying for a company that has regularly posted eye-watering losses. - How to monetize? - Twitter says it has 238 million daily users -- dwarfed by the likes of Facebook's nearly two billion -- and has not been able to monetize in the same way as its rivals. However, it holds an outsized influence on public debate because it is the favored platform for many companies, politicians, journalists and other public figures. Though he has vowed that Twitter will not become a "free-for-all hellscape," Musk reportedly plans deep staff cuts that would gut teams that oversee content, said AFP. Despite Musk posting a letter to advertisers saying he wants Twitter to be a forum where rival viewpoints can be debated in a "healthy manner", US auto giant General Motors said Friday it has "temporarily paused" paid ads on the platform. "We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership," said a GM spokesman. Media watchdog Media Matters for America sounded the alarm over the future of a Musk-led Twitter, particularly the impact on imminent US midterm elections. The platform "is now on a glide path to becoming a supercharged engine of radicalization" and a "fever swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories, partisan chicanery, and operationalized harassment," the organization's head Angelo Carusone said. The closure of the deal marked the finale of a long back-and-forth between the billionaire and the social network that had culminated in a Twitter lawsuit seeking to hold Musk to the transaction agreement.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3957716/musk-seeks-soothe-critics-twitter-content-panel

Sudani Kicks Off Duties as Iraq PM with Fight Against Corruption

Arab World

October 29th, 4:36am

Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat

A handout picture released by Iraq's prime minister's office shows the new Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani arriving for the official handover ceremony at the Republican Palace, the government's seat, in Baghdad's green zone. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani kicked off on Friday his duties after his government earned the parliament’s vote of confidence on Thursday. A majority of the 253 lawmakers present voted to appoint 21 ministers, with two posts — the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Environment Ministry — remaining undecided. Despite those two unresolved appointments, the approved Cabinet lineup constitutes a quorum. The Cabinet is the first since 2005 that does not include seats for the bloc of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Iraq held early elections more than a year ago in response to mass anti-government protests that began in October 2019 in Baghdad and across southern Iraq. Protesters called for the overhaul of the political system established after the 2003 US-led invasion. Following the election, which gave a plurality to the alliance led by Sadr, political infighting delayed the forming of a government for more than a year. This was driven largely by a political rivalry between Sadr and Iran-backed former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Sadr’s bloc withdrew from the parliament amid the stalemate. In July, following the nomination of Sudani for prime minister by Iran-backed parties, followers of Sadr stormed the heavily fortified Green Zone and the Iraqi parliament. The following month, street fights between followers of Sadr and members of the rival Popular Mobilization Forces left at least 30 people dead and dozens more injured. Following the clashes, Sadr withdrew his followers from the parliament. After their withdrawal, Sadr’s rivals in the Coordination Framework group led by Maliki were able to form an alliance with Kurdish and Sunnis parties on forming a government. On Oct. 13, Iraqi lawmakers elected former minister Abdul Latif Rashid president, following a barrage of rocket attacks earlier in the day, in a first step toward naming a new government. The lead-up to Thursday’s vote was marked by anxiety about more potential violence, but the streets of the capital remained quiet. Independent lawmaker Raed al-Maliki said he anticipates that Sadr will wait to observe the public's reception of the new government before reacting. “I expect that street protests will begin if this government doesn’t succeed,” he said, noting that the new Cabinet will face “major challenges in terms of reforms, combating corruption, climate change and unemployment.” Along with the Cabinet post appointments, parliament approved a program that includes amending the elections law within three months of the ministers being sworn in, with early elections to be held within a year after that. The document also calls for measures to fight corruption, speed up reconstruction of areas damaged by armed conflict and return the displaced to their homes. It also calls for the elimination of “uncontrolled weapons” held by non-state actors. Sudani said ahead of the vote that the new government will combat “the epidemic of corruption that has affected all aspects of life ... and has been the cause of many economic problems, weakening the state’s authority, increasing poverty, unemployment, and poor public services.” He also promised the Cabinet will work to build the capabilities of local governments and to “find sustainable solutions to the outstanding issues with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government through a true partnership based on rights and duties.” Former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, speaking after the vote, defended his own government’s record and urged all political blocs to “support every endeavor of the new government on the path of stability and growth and defending democracy and human rights.” On Friday in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the formation of a new Iraqi government, taking note that women hold three of the 21 ministerial positions, and expressed hope that the remaining two Cabinet posts will be filled swiftly, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The secretary-general urges the new government to deliver on the longstanding demands of the people of Iraq for reform, accountability and a better future,” Dujarric said.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3957691/sudani-kicks-duties-iraq-pm-fight-against-corruption

Meteorite that Smashed into Mars Shook Planet, NASA Says

Varieties

October 28th, 8:48am

Asharq Al-Awsat

NASA said the meteor that smashed into Mars on December 24, 2021, left a crater 492-feet wide - NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/AFP

Scientists who study Mars on Thursday revealed the remarkable Christmas gift they received from the planet last year. On December 24, 2021, a meteorite hit Mars' surface, triggering magnitude 4 tremors, which were detected by NASA's InSight spacecraft -- which landed on the planet four years ago -- some 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) away. The true origin of this so-called marsquake was only confirmed when the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was able to take a picture of the newly formed crater created by the hit when it flew over the impact site less than 24 hours later, AFP said. The image is impressive, showing blocks of ice that were spewed up onto the planet's surface around the 492-foot (150-meter) wide and 70-foot (21-meter) deep hole. The crater is the largest ever observed since the MRO began its Mars orbit 16 years ago. And though meteorite impacts on Mars are not rare, "we never thought we'd see anything that big," Ingrid Daubar, who works on the InSight and MRO missions, told reporters at a press conference Thursday. Researchers estimate that the meteorite itself would have measured between 16 to 39 feet across. An object of that size would have disintegrated in Earth's atmosphere before falling to the ground here. "It is simply the biggest meteorite impact on the ground that we have heard since science has been done with seismographs or seismometers," said planetology professor Philippe Lognonne, who participated in two studies related to the observation published in the journal Science Thursday. NASA released an audio recording of the collision, which was made by speeding up the vibrations collected by the seismometer. - 'Useful' ice presence - The valuable information gathered in studying the crash will contribute to deeper knowledge of Mars' interior and the history of how the planet was created, scientists said. The presence of ice, in particular, is "surprising," said Daubar, who also co-authored the two studies. "This is the warmest spot on Mars, the closest to the equator, we've ever seen water ice," she said. In addition to the information this discovery offers about the Martian climate, the presence of water at this latitude -- and not just near the poles -- could prove "really useful" for future human visitors to Mars, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division Lori Glaze said. "We'd want to land the astronauts as near to the equator as possible," she said, to take advantage of warmer temperatures. "That ice could be converted into water, oxygen or hydrogen," Glaze said. The impact was powerful enough to generate seismic waves both down to the planet's core and across its crust horizontally, making it possible to study Mars' internal structure -- revealing that the crust on which InSight sits is less dense than the crust the waves traveled over from the crater site. The end of InSight's mission -- which recorded more than 1,300 marsquakes in total -- could come in the next couple of months, according to Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, due to the expected accumulation of dust on the lander's solar power panel. It's "sad," he said, while celebrating that the probe worked "marvelously" for four years.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3956266/meteorite-smashed-mars-shook-planet-nasa-says