Middle East Experience

The top US military officer told Congress on Tuesday that he knew former President Donald Trump wasn’t planning to attack China and that it was his job to reassure the Chinese of that fact in phone calls that have triggered outrage from some lawmakers.Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a full-throated defense of two calls he made to his Chinese counterpart, saying he was responding to “concerning intelligence” that China was worried about a US attack.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“I know, I am certain, that President Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese and it was my directed responsibility to convey presidential orders and intent,” Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. “My task at that time was to de-escalate. My message again was consistent: Stay calm, steady, and de-escalate. We are not going to attack you.”Milley has been at the center of a firestorm amid reports he made two calls to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to assure him that the United States was not going to suddenly go to war with or attack China. Details of the calls were first aired in excerpts from the recently released book “Peril” by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.Some US lawmakers have said Milley overstepped his authority, and they have called for President Joe Biden to fire him. Trump blasted Milley as treasonous, called him “a complete nutjob” and said Milley “never told me about calls being made to China.”In his most extensive comments to date on the matter, Milley said that the calls on Oct. 30 and Jan. 8 were fully coordinated with the defense secretaries at the time as well as other US national security agencies.The calls came during Trump’s turbulent last months in office as he challenged the results of the 2020 election. The second call came two days after Jan. 6, when a violent mob attacked the US Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s White House victory.Milley said the October call was made at the direction of then-Defense chief Mark Esper and the second was done at the request of the Chinese and coordinated with then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller’s office.Milley also addressed a call he received from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He said Pelosi “called me to inquire about the president’s ability to launch nuclear weapons. I sought to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process.”He said he assured her that while the president is the sole nuclear launch authority, “he doesn’t launch them alone.” He said that as chairman he is part of the launch decision process.“There are processes, protocols, and procedures in place and I repeatedly assured her there is no chance of an illegal, unauthorized, or accidental launch,” Milley said.He said that after the call was over, he had a short meeting with staff to go over the process. He also said he informed Miller of the call at the time.“At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority, or insert myself in the chain of command, but I am expected, I am required, to give my advice and ensure that the president is fully informed,” Milley said.Read more: Top US general under fire after book reveals secret calls with China last year
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Top US military officer defends China call at end of Trump presidency

Over 80,000 plants and trees have been installed..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Expo 2020 Dubai: Stunning Singapore pavilion showcases how to build cities in sync with Nature

The UN special envoy for Syria announced Tuesday that invitations have been issued for a sixth meeting of the committee charged with producing a new constitution for war-torn Syria in October.After the failure of the five previous meetings of Syrian government, opposition and civil society representatives, Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council: “We should all now expect the constitutional committee to begin to work seriously on a process of drafting — not just preparing — a constitutional reform.”For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Pedersen said the 45-member drafting committee will meet in Geneva starting Oct. 18, and the co-chairs from the government and opposition will for the first time meet with him the day before to prepare the session.The last round of talks ended in January without progress. Pedersen said that after eight months of talks he was pleased to announce an agreement on “methodology” for a sixth round. It’s based on three pillars: respect for rules of procedure, the submission of texts of “basic constitutional principles” ahead of the meeting, and regular meetings with him before and during the meeting.Syria’s nearly 10-year conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war 23 million population, including more than 5 million refugees mostly in neighboring countries.At a Russia-hosted Syrian peace conference in January 2018, an agreement was reached to form a 150-member committee to draft a new constitution. It took until September 2019 before a committee was formed.Read more: Russia raids kill 11 pro-Turkish fighters in Syria: Monitor
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UN: New meeting this month to draft Syria constitution

Lebanon registered 543 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon records 10 more COVID-19 deaths, 543 new cases

When it comes to COVID-19, there is no happy ending – even in Israel.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Dear world: Bennett misled you on Israel’s COVID-19 success at UN - analysis

Iran must return to talks with world powers over its 2015 nuclear deal to avoid an escalation, a French presidency official said on Tuesday, adding that there was no need to set new conditions because the parameters for an accord were clear.The official told reporters that world powers negotiating with Iran needed to remain united and that China especially needed to “express itself and act in a more determined way.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Meanwhile, Iran on Tuesday rejected a US call to grant UN inspectors access to a nuclear site, saying Washington was not qualified to demand inspections without condemning a sabotage attack on the facility, Iranian state media reported.“Countries that did not condemn terrorist acts against Iran’s nuclear site are not qualified to comment on inspections there,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said during a visit to Moscow, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.Read more:UAE diplomat slams Iran, ‘external’ interference in Arab region at UNGAEU urges Iran to allow UN nuclear watchdog access to TESA Karaj siteIran fails to fully honor agreement on monitoring equipment: IAEA
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran must return to nuclear talks to avoid escalation: France

Divorce is up, fertility rates are down and many from Iran’s younger generation are postponing weddings and searching for ways to leave the country in the face of economic and political stagnation..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: ‘I Can’t Imagine a Good Future’: Young Iranians Increasingly Want Out

Israel, the prime minister said repeatedly, is a "lighthouse in a stormy sea” • “Like the Midas touch, Iran's regime has the ‘Mullah-touch.’ Every place Iran touches, fails,” he quipped.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bennett at the UN: Hating Israel doesn’t make you ‘woke’

Borne out of horrendous history, today, Germany is one of Israel’s strongest allies, and much of the credit for that on the German side can go to outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: What challenges will Germany's next leader face? - editorial

At least five were injured as 60 Israeli settlers and 30 Palestinians threw rocks in the South Hebron Hills.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israelis throw rocks, Palestinians respond in West Bank clash