Middle East Experience

Experts say the terrorism label will complicate efforts to secure a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea that could rupture at any moment and unleash another humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Houthi terror designation could set off Yemen’s oil tanker 'time bomb'

Top stories on #TheRoundUp this Monday: All you need to know about Saudi and @beINSPORTS Foreign minister @mba_althani_ says it’s time GCC talks with Iran Bahrain continues to provoke Airplane Will we need vaccine certificates to fly? #Qatar #DohaNews #TheRoundUp..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: The Round Up 19 Jan 2021 – Doha News

Tunisia is bracing for protests after hundreds were arrested in four nights of street clashes between riot police and disaffected youths..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Tunisia seeks to stem wave of night-time street riots

Biden is not expected to immediately prioritize jump-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which have been frozen for six years.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Officials from 17 European nations met with Israel over settlements

Around 10 pregnant women are in serious condition • Schneider Children’s Hospital rabbi: ‘These babies did nothing wrong’
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Health Ministry approves vaccination for pregnant women

Ultra-Orthodox cities have been the sites of some of the most severe COVID-19 outbreaks in the country
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: COVID-19: Ultra-Orthodox cities have lowest number of enforcement fines

The designation of Yemen's Houthi forces as a foreign terrorist organization has been met with criticism from both the House and the Senate.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Congressional Democrats and Republicans rebuke Trump admin over Houthi terror designation

A resolution urging US Vice President Mike Pence to start the Constitution's 25th Amendment removing President Donald Trump from office over the deadly Capitol attack advanced on Wednesday in a procedural vote in the House of Representatives.The resolution calls on Pence "to immediately use his powers under section 4 of the 25th Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments in the Cabinet to declare what is obvious to a horrified nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties of his office."It also asks Pence to "transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House notice that he will be immediately assuming the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Pence had sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refusing to invoke the 25th Amendment.He said: "I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution. Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation.""I urge you and every member of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment. Work with us to lower the temperature and unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States."Pelosi has already announced the names of the Democratic lawmakers who will serve as impeachment managers, responsible for presenting a case to the Senate in an impeachment trial.Already scheduled to leave office next week, Trump is on the verge of becoming the only president in history to be twice impeached. His incendiary rhetoric at a rally ahead of the Capitol uprising is now in the impeachment charge against him, even as the falsehoods he spread about election fraud are still being championed by some Republicans.Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who ranks third in House GOP leadership, said on Tuesday she will vote to impeach Trump. She was one of several Republicans who advocated for removing Trump from power."The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President," Cheney said in a statement."The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," she added.Trump took no responsibility for his part in instigating the mob of supporters who stormed the Capitol building when lawmakers were addressing the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. The violence led to the deaths of five people.Trump had encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol. At a time when his supporters were clashing with Capitol police and security officers, who used tear gas and some even drew their guns point-blank, Trump praised his supporters and only told them on Twitter to "stay peaceful."Hours after the mob of his supporters stormed the building, smashed windows, occupied offices, fought with police, and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers called on him to ask his supporters to deescalate the violence, Trump finally told his "very special" supporters to "go home" in a one-minute video he posted on Twitter.Yet, in his first appearance in public since the Capitol siege and only eight days away from the end of his presidency, Trump said: "People thought that what I said was totally appropriate," in response to a question about personal responsibility regarding the January 6 attack on the US Capitol."They've analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence and everybody... thought it was totally appropriate," he said at Joint Base Andrews, before heading to Texas to sign his signature wall on the border with Mexico.Trump went on to call preparations in Congress to impeach him "absolutely ridiculous."He said the move to impeach him was causing "tremendous anger" and that it was a "continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics."Read more:Republican lawmakers support impeachment of US President Trump after Capitol riotUS President Trump says move to impeach after Capitol riot 'absolutely ridiculous'Trump takes no responsibility for US Capitol riot: All I said was totally appropriateUS VP Pence rules out invoking 25th Amendment on Trump
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Resolution to urge Pence to remove Trump, become Acting President advances in House

With at least five Republicans joining their push to impeach President Donald Trump over the storming of the US Capitol, Democrats in the House of Representatives stood poised for a history-making vote to try to remove the president from office.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.With eight days remaining in Trump’s term, the House will vote on Wednesday on an article of impeachment accusing the Republican of inciting insurrection in a speech to his followers last week before a mob of them stormed the Capitol, leaving five dead.That would trigger a trial in the still Republican-controlled Senate, although it was unclear whether enough time or political appetite remained to expel Trump.Democrats moved forward on an impeachment vote after a effort to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution to remove Trump was rejected by Pence on Tuesday evening.“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Despite the letter, the House passed a resolution formally calling on Pence to act. The final vote was 223-205 in favor.While that was occurring, Trump’s iron grip on his party was showing further signs of slipping as at least four Republicans, including a member of the House leadership, said they would vote for his second impeachment - a prospect no president before Trump has faced.Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, said: “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the US of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack” on the Capitol on Jan. 6, Cheney, the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, said in a statement, adding: “I will vote to impeach the president.”Three other Republican House members, John Katko, Adam Kinzinger and Fred Upton said they would also vote for impeachment.Republican leaders in the House did not urge their members to vote against impeaching Trump, saying it was a matter of individual conscience.‘Demonstrated no remorse’In his first public appearance since last Wednesday’s riot, Trump showed no contrition on Tuesday for his speech, in which he repeated his false claim that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was illegitimate. Biden will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20.“What I said was totally appropriate,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday in his first public foray since the assault on the Capitol.At a meeting to set the rules for Wednesday’s impeachment vote, Democratic Representative David Cicilline told the House Rules Committee that the impeachment drive had the support of 217 lawmakers - enough to impeach Trump.Cicilline, who helped craft the impeachment measure, said Trump “has had almost a week to do the right thing. He has refused to resign, he has failed to take responsibility, he has demonstrated no remorse.”House Republicans who opposed the impeachment drive argued Democrats were going too far, as Trump was on the verge of leaving office.“This is scary where this goes, because this is about more than about impeaching the president of the US. This is about canceling the president and canceling all the people you guys disagree with,” said Republican Representative Jim Jordan, a leading Trump ally when the president was impeached in 2019 after encouraging the government of Ukraine to dig up political dirt on Biden.The New York Times reported that the Republican majority leader of the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, was said to be pleased about the Democratic impeachment push, suggesting Trump’s party was looking to move on from him after the attack on Congress.McConnell believes the impeachment effort will make it easier to purge Trump from the party, the Times said.If Trump is impeached by the House, he would have a trial in the Senate to determine his guilt. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is needed to convict him, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100-member chamber would have to vote for conviction.“I don’t think you would have a hard time finding 17 Republicans to convict” with a tightly drawn article of impeachment, a former Senate Republican leadership aide told Reuters. “I think for McConnell, there’s a very strong impulse for this (the Capitol assault) not to define the party.”Pelosi on Tuesday named nine impeachment “managers,” who would present the House’s case for impeachment during a Senate trial, but it remained unclear how swiftly such a trial would take place if the House votes to impeach.McConnell has said no trial could begin until the chamber returns from its recess on Jan. 19.But Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is set to become the majority leader after two Democrats from Georgia are seated and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sworn in, told reporters the Senate could be recalled to handle the matter.Democrats could also use an impeachment trial to push through a vote blocking Trump from running for office again.Rather than a two-thirds vote, a simple Senate majority is needed to disqualify Trump from future office. There is disagreement among legal experts as to whether a conviction on an impeachment charge would be needed before a disqualification vote. A different part of the Constitution, the 14th Amendment, also provides a procedure for disqualifying Trump from future office with a simple majority of both chambers.Trump has said he plans to run again in 2024.Read more:Resolution to urge Pence to remove Trump, become Acting President advances in HouseRepublican lawmakers support impeachment of US President Trump after Capitol riotUS President Trump says move to impeach after Capitol riot 'absolutely ridiculous'
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US House panel approves rules for second President Trump impeachment debate

Indonesian authorities have retrieved one of two black boxes, the Flight Data Recorder, from a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 that crashed into the Java Sea on Saturday.This is how the black box readout process works.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.What are black boxes?They are not actually black but high-visibility orange. Experts disagree how the nickname originated but it has become synonymous with the quest for answers when planes crash.Many historians attribute their invention to Australian scientist David Warren in the 1950s. They are mandatory.The aim is not to establish legal liability, but to identify causes and help prevent future accidents.How have they evolved?The earliest devices recorded limited data on wire or foil. Models like those typically found on the 1980s-designed Boeing 737-50 use magnetic tape. Modern ones use computer chips.The recordings are housed inside crash-survivable containers able to withstand 3,400 times the force of gravity on impact.The disappearance in 2014 of Malaysian Airlines MH370 triggered debate about whether data should be streamed instead.Airbus and France’s BEA are testing an alternative design in a floatable panel embedded in the aircraft’s fuselage. Bolts would retract and the device would fall away when the plane is about to crash on water, avoiding a deep-sea search.How big are they?They weigh about 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) and contain four main parts:* a chassis or interface designed to fix the device and facilitate recording and playback* an underwater locator beacon* the core housing or ‘Crash-Survivable Memory Unit’ made of stainless steel or titanium* inside there, the recordings on chips or older formats.There are two recorders: a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) for pilot voices or cockpit sounds, and a Flight Data Recorder (FDR).How will the recorders be handled?After a crash over the sea, the recorder is placed back in water to prevent damage from contact with air while being transported.Once dry, technicians peel away protective material and carefully clean and retrieve the recordings, which are copied.Lab experts sometimes use “spectral analysis,” a way of examining sounds that can pick out barely audible alarms or the first fleeting crack of an explosion. Indonesian investigators say the Sriwijaya jet appeared to be intact when it hit water.How much information is available?The FDR contains about 25 hours of data on eight tracks and the CVR has 30 minutes of conversation, according to the final report on a similar model of Boeing 737 which crashed in 2008.Later models have two hours of cockpit recordings.In many countries, only the main investigator and a handful of people are allowed to hear the raw cockpit tapes.Where will the data be read?Indonesian officials leading the probe have said they plan to perform the readout at their facilities. If recorders are badly damaged, the operation is occasionally delegated to an overseas agency like France’s BEA or the device’s manufacturer.Photographs of the Sriwijaya data recorder arriving at a port on Tuesday appeared to show its crash-resistant container intact.How long will the results take?Indonesia has said it will take 2-5 days to inspect and download recordings. Their analysis can take much longer.Interim reports are published after a month but are often sparse. Deeper investigations take a year or more to complete.Experts say air accidents are usually caused by a cocktail of factors.Read more:Indonesia plane crash: Authorities hopes to retrieve black boxes of crashed jet Indonesia plane crash: Divers sift debris, seabed mud for black boxesIndonesian divers spot parts of plane wreckage in Java Sea
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Indonesia plane crash: How will found black box of crashed jet be handled?