Good morning,
Beirut
Heavy machine gunfire rang out in a Christian neighbourhood of Beirut Thursday threatening to plunge the Country into civil strife that echoes the Lebanese civil war.
The reasons for the strife are clear, although those directly behind the shootings which claimed the lives of 6 people and wounded a dozen, are more murky.
At the heart of the violence, is a judicial probe into last years Beirut port blast which killed 200 people and left the City in pieces. The Judge has focused his investigation on the The Iran-backed Hezbollah, whose supporters were gathering yesterday, to demand his removal.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah and allied senior Lebanese politicians have been assailing Judge Bitar for weeks, accusing him of singling out politicians for questioning, most of them allied with Hezbollah. None of Hezbollah’s officials have so far been charged in the 14-month-old investigation.
The United States and France said Lebanon's judiciary must be allowed to investigate the port blast in an independent and impartial manner.
"The Lebanese people deserve no less and the victims and families of those lost in the port blast deserve no less," U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said during a visit to Beirut.
Russia/Ukraine War
The U.S. Acting Ambassador to the OSCE (TheOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) has accused Russia of driving the violence in Ukraines 8 yr war, and admitted the situation is deteriorating after Russia closed several border check point to the OSCE Cease fire Monitoring Mission.
On this Back Story podcast, Courtney Austrian describes how Russia daily violates the cease fire while pretending to monitor it.
And, in part two 'Cold War Correspondents' a book by Dina Fainberg, on Correspondents- Soviet and American reporters on the ideological front lines.
The full podcast audio link is here:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/9367344
You can watch the video of the interview with Austrian -
The Queen and Climate
A private conversation the Queen had while attending the Welsh Parliament, has caused a stir because the Monarch was overheard calling out Nations which talk about climate change, but do nothing as the COP26 climate conference approaches in Glasgow at the end of this month.
In the clip, exchange captured on a cell phone camera she was heard saying “I’ve been hearing all about Cop…I still don’t know who’s coming.”
In a separate clip, the Queen appears to say it is “irritating” when “they talk, but they don’t do”.
The Queen is referring to the fact Countries including China, Russia and India are being criticized for not doing more to curb climate change and China is expected to miss the conference. Chinese President Xi Jinping is informed the British P.M. he will not attend.
Other News…
-Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for a non Covid infection and is reported to be “on the mend”.
-The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol will move to hold former Trump advisor Steve Bannon in criminal contempt over his refusal to comply with a subpoena.
-Adele’s new music single came out last night. Since midnight it has 10 million listens/views!
That’s a quick look at our Friday News. Have a good weekend everyone!
(Help spread the word on Back Story Newsletter by sharing it).
Dana
https://www.reuters.com/world/deadly-shooting-rocks-beirut-tensions-over-blast-probe-erupt-2021-10-14/
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/queen-irritated-by-lack-of-action-on-climate-crisis-40950477.html