Middle East Experience

A senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary….
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Biden presidential win 'will hasten new elections in Israel': senior Netanyahu coalition member

Democrat Joe Biden overtook on Friday incumbent president Donald Trump in the vote count in the last key battleground states which remain undeclared three days after election day.The race for the Oval office is down to the wire, but remains too early to call as votes are still being counted.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to clinch the presidency, but Biden has a considerable lead on Trump, with the Democratic hopeful having gained 264 votes compared to Trump’s 214, according to the AP tally.The remaining undeclared states are Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes), Georgia (16), North Carolina (15) and Nevada (6).Biden needs only one of those four to secure the presidency, while Trump needs has the bigger challenge of needing all four.It could take several more days for the vote count to conclude in some states, allowing a clear winner to emerge. With millions of ballots yet to be tabulated, Biden has already received more than 73 million votes nationally, the most in historyWhere do the candidates stand in each remaining state?Pennsylvania: Biden leads Trump by approximately 9,000 votes. An estimated 95 percent of the vote has been counted.Georgia: Biden leads Trump by approximately 1,000 votes. An estimated 99 percent of the vote has been counted.The state said on Friday it will recount the votes because the margin was too small.North Carolina: Trump leads Biden by approximately 77,000 votes. An estimated 95 percent of the vote has been counted.Up to 116,000 mail ballots left to count, as well as the potential of thousands of provisional ballots.As long as those ballots are postmarked by November 3, state election officials have until November 12 to count them.Nevada: Biden leads Trump by approximately 11,000 votes. An estimated 74 percent of the vote has been counted.But there are outstanding ballots left to be counted in the coming days. Under state law, they can still be accepted so long as they were postmarked by the November 3 Election Day.- With APRead more:US Election: Trump predicts 'lot of litigation' in fight to keep his jobUS Elections: Trump claims ‘if you count the legal votes I easily win’US Elections: Biden says he will win, calls for ‘calm’ as vote counting continuesUS Elections: Biden is one state away from victory, Trump wants to stop the countTrump campaign lawsuits unlikely to impact outcome of US elections: ExpertsTrump or Biden: Who is winning the US election? Here are the results state by state
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US election down to the wire: Where do Trump and Biden stand in last key states?

Both Israel and Lebanon have demanded control of Mediterranean waters which could potentially contain valuable hydrocarbon deposits..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon-Israel maritime border talks hit roadblock

Sources close to Huldai have said that the reason that the reason for the cancellation was that he had been told that this was an event not associated with any political party.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Ron Huldai cancels attendance at Rabin memorial due to Yair Lapid speech

Syrian President Bashar al Assad said billions of dollars of deposits held by his countrymen in Lebanon’s financial sector that were blocked after a major financial crisis were a main cause of Syria’s deepening economic crisis.Lebanese banks, fearing capital flight and grappling with an acute hard currency crunch, have since last year imposed tight controls on withdrawals and transfers abroad, drawing outrage from local and foreign depositors unable to access their savings.Assad said anywhere from $20 billion to $42 billion of Syrian deposits could have been lost in the once vibrant banking sector that held over $170 billion in foreign currency deposits.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“This figure for an economy like Syria is terrifying,” he said“It’s the money they put in Lebanese banks and we paid the price this is the core of the problem that no one talks about,” Assad added, speaking during a tour of a trade fair broadcast on state media.Syrian businessmen say Lebanon’s tight controls on withdrawals have locked hundreds of millions of dollars once used to import basic goods from oil to commodities into Syria.Many Syrian front companies had also long circumvented Western sanctions by using Lebanon’s banking system to import illicit goods into Syria by land, bankers and businessmen say.The U.S. Treasury has blacklisted scores of such firms.Assad said the current economic woes were not caused by the Caesar Act - the toughest U.S. sanctions yet against Damascus which came into force last June.“The crisis began before the Caesar Act and years after long-imposed Western sanctions ... It’s the money (in Lebanese banks) that has been lost,” Assad said.Syrian authorities blame Western sanctions for widespread hardship among ordinary residents, where the currency’s collapse since the start of the year has led to soaring prices and people struggling to afford food and basic supplies.Last month the government faced severe fuel shortages and has been forced to raise bread prices as wheat stocks dwindle, leading to growing disenchantment by a weary population battered by a decade of war.Read more:Government-held areas of Syria raise fuel prices, blaming US sanctionsA collapsing economy and a family feud pile pressure on Syria's AssadMinister: Syria war costs tourism industry $1.5 billionSyria needs up to 200,000 tons of wheat per month to meet shortfall: Minister
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Syria's Assad: Billions locked in troubled Lebanese banks behind economic crisis

Thousands of Joe Biden supporters marched Wednesday evening in New York to demand every vote in the tight presidential election be counted, as some Donald Trump supporters protested in Detroit demanding a halt to ballot counting in the key state of Michigan.New York demonstrators were peaceful and spanned generations, with marchers heading from Fifth Avenue towards Washington Square Park in the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In New York’s Democratic stronghold demonstrators were hopeful but wary of calling it for their candidate Biden just yet.“We need to count every vote in this election,” said Sarah Boyagian, part of the Protect The Results Coalition behind the demonstration organized under tight police supervision.“Donald Trump has claimed the election before every vote is counted and we are sending the message that that is not acceptable,” the 29-year-old told AFP.John Fraser, 47, said he’s “worried Trump is going to void the vote.”“I am not sure Biden has won, we have to wait until all votes are counted,” said the software developer, adding: “I am worried that democracy is hanging by a thread right now.”The Detroit protest outside a ballot processing center were far more tense, according to an AFP photographer and clips on social media.Cries of “stop the count!” rang out in the city in Michigan -- where US media declared Biden the victor -- as Trump’s campaign announced a lawsuit to try and suspend the vote count, claiming its team was denied proper access to observe vote counting.Social media clips showed protestors with fists raised prevented from entering the center by police.With Michigan’s 16 electoral votes, Biden now has a total of 264 -- six shy of the magic number of 270 needed to win the US presidency, according to US network projections.Read more: Trump or Biden: Who is winning the US election? Here are the polls state by stateUS Election 2020: Biden pulls ahead of Trump in Electoral College and popular vote
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US Election: Trump, Biden supporters take to streets as tensions rise ahead of result

Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete tally of the ballots in the still-undecided election took to the streets in cities across the US“Stop the count!” the Trump supporters chanted in Detroit. ““Stop the steal!” they said in Phoenix.The protests came as the president insisted without evidence that there were major problems with the voting and the ballot counting, especially with mail-in votes, and as Republicans filed suit in various states over the election.Wearing Trump gear, the Phoenix protesters filled much of the parking lot at the Maricopa County election center, and members of the crowd chanted, “Fox News sucks!” in anger over the network declaring Joe Biden the winner in Arizona.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican and staunch Trump supporter, joined the crowd, declaring: “We’re not going to let this election be stolen. Period.”However, observers from both major political parties were inside the election center as ballots were processed and counted, and the procedure was live-streamed online at all times.Several sheriff’s deputies blocked the entrance to the building. And the vote-counting went on into the night, Maricopa County Elections Department spokeswoman Megan Gilbertson said.Two top county officials - one a Democrat, the other a Republican - issued a statement expressing concern about how misinformation had spread about the integrity of the election process.“Everyone should want all the votes to be counted, whether they were mailed or cast in person,” said the statement signed by Clint Hickman, the GOP chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, and Democratic Supervisor Steve Gallardo. “An accurate vote takes time. ... This is evidence of democracy, not fraud.”Every vote countsMeanwhile, from New York City to Seattle, thousands of demonstrators turned out to demand that every vote be tallied.In Portland, Oregon, which has been a scene of regular protests for months, Gov. Kate Brown called out the National Guard as demonstrators engaged in what authorities said was widespread violence downtown, including smashing windows. Protesters in Portland were demonstrating about a range of issues, including police brutality and the counting of the vote.“It’s important to trust the process, and the system that has ensured free and fair elections in this country through the decades, even in times of great crisis,” Brown said in a statement. “We are all in this together.”Richard March came to an anti-Trump demonstration in Portland despite a heart condition that makes him vulnerable to COVID-19.“To cast doubt on this election has terrible consequences for our democracy,” he said. “I think we are a very polarized society now - and I’m worried about what’s going to come in the next days and weeks and months.”In New York, hundreds of people paraded past boarded-up luxury stores on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, and in Chicago, demonstrators marched through downtown and along a street across the river from Trump Tower.Similar protests - sometimes about the election, sometimes about racial inequality - took place in at least a half-dozen cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and San Diego.The confrontation in Detroit started shortly before The Associated Press declared that Biden had won Michigan.Video shot by local media showed angry people gathered outside the TCF Center and inside the lobby, with police officers lined up to keep them from entering the vote-counting area. They chanted, “Stop the count!” and “Stop the vote!”Read more: US Election: Trump, Biden supporters take to streets as tensions rise ahead of resultMichigan vote fearsEarlier, the Republican campaign filed suit in a bid to halt the count, demanding Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state allow in more inspectors.Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, insisted both parties and the public had been given access to the tallying, “using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately.”Michigan has been on edge for months over fears of political violence. Anti-government protesters openly carried guns into the state Capitol during protests over coronavirus restrictions in the spring, and six men were arrested last month on charges of plotting to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen WhitmerOn Election Night, scattered protests broke after voting ended, stretching from Washington, D.C., to Seattle, but there was no widespread unrest or significant violence.The prolonged task of counting this year’s deluge of mail-in votes raised fears that the lack of clarity in the presidential race could spark unrest.Read more:US Election 2020: Biden pulls ahead of Trump in Electoral College and popular voteTrump or Biden: Who is winning the US election? Here are the polls state by stateUS Elections 2020: Will loser of the election accept the result?
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US Election: Trump fans chant ‘Stop the count!’ at vote centers in Michigan, Arizona

The Palestinians describe Bilal Rawajba's death as an "extrajudicial execution."
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Palestinian who fired at Israeli troops fatally shot, IDF says

As Lebanon suffers from its worst economic crisis in decades, the Lebanese are growing concerned as the central bank warns that its reserves will soon deplete, forcing it to lift subsidies off basic commodities.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Lebanese brace for lifting of subsidies as conditions deteriorate

The Kurdistan Regional Government condemned an apparent Kurdistan Workers Party attack on peshmerga soldiers in Dahuk province; the KRG and the PKK had a turf dispute earlier this year.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq accuses PKK of attacks