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Excerpts: Egyptian-American judge elected in Ohio.Insights re Astana
Excerpts: Egyptian-American judge elected in Ohio.Insights re Astana talks.
Egypt extends participation in Arab coalition. Online shopping in China is
dominant January 23, 2017
+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 23 Jan.’17:”Egyptian-American Judge elected to
Common Pleas Court in Ohio”,by Staff Writer
SUBJECT: Egyptian-American judge elected in Ohio
QUOTE:”An Egyptian American Judge has been elected to the Common Pleas Court
in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US after heavy competition.”
FULL TEXT:Judge Sherrie Mikhail Miday was born on October 12, 1976 in
Cleveland two years after her parents immigrated from Cairo.She studied at
John Carroll University, graduating in 1998, before going on to study for
her doctorate in legal studies from Case Western Reserve University in
2001.She is the daughter of Father Mikhail Edward Mikhail of St Mark Coptic
Orthodox Church, who began the ministry in 1975.
Mother of three. Miday worked as a lawyer in a Cleveland legal office for
six years, qualifying her to then run for the post of judge.She worked as a
prosecutor for three years and another three as the assistant to a judge,
before eventually running for office.d a lot of criticism and racist
comments in the build up to be elected because of her Egyptian background.
“I was called an “Arab terrorist”, accused of bringing Sharia law into the
courtroom. My Arab-American supporters’ last names were associated with
ISIS,” she told the Arab American Institute.Referring to the previous time
she ran for office, she added: “The general response from the Arab-American
community was to brush it off, not complain, as these bigoted attacks are
not new. The message was keep your head down and do your best to win. Even
though I lost, we ran a strong campaign. I was proud.”
+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 23 Jan.’17:”Astana Talks:Why Iran and Russia
differ on Syria?, by Heshmat Alavi
SUBJECT: Insights re Astana talks
QUOTE:”. The Astana peace talks, set to begin on Monday[23 Jan], will be the
first time a delegation composed exclusively of rebel groups will negotiate
with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)”
By Heshmat Alavi Monday, 23 January 2017
FULL TEXT:With a new administration under Donald Trump taking the helm in
Washington, Iran has shown its concerns by opposing any participation by the
United States in upcoming Syrian peace talks scheduled for today in Astana,
the capital of Kazakhstan.
“We have not invited them, and we are against their presence,” Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on January 17, according to Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
This is Iran trying to keep a straight face for its dwindling social base
back home, knowing they have lost hegemony in the Syria dossier to Russia,
and yet refusing to admit such a strategic setback. Zarif’s remarks,
however, went against pledges made by Russia and Turkey, who have recently
taken the initiative out of Iran’s hands in Syria, of inviting the new Trump
administration to the Astana talks. US officials have also signaled
Washington will be taking part in the new effort.
This latest development points to a major conflict over one of the many
definite flashpoints to come between Washington and Tehran over the Middle
East. This goes parallel to the highly possible strong approach Team Trump
is on the track of adopting, making a significant U-turn in comparison to
the Obama administration and their immensely flawed appeasement policy.
In fact, it also proves how Moscow never considered Tehran a strategic
partner. It is quite obvious Kremlin would prefer a strong relationship and
a real “reset” with the White House, and not the mullahs and what little
they have to offer. While Iran considers Syria its 35th province, it has
never been the case for Moscow.
“If the enemy attacks us and seeks to take Syria or Khuzestan [oil-rich
southwestern Iranian province], our priority would be to keep Syria, because
if we keep Syria, we can take back Khuzestan. But if we lose Syria, we would
lose Tehran,” said senior Iranian cleric and former IRGC intelligence chief
Mehdi Taeb in describing the utter importance of Syria for Iran.
Russia’s objectives
Russia, however, has a variety of objectives in its return to the Middle
East after 40 years. With crippling sanctions imposed by the US and Europe
over the row in Ukraine and Crimea, Moscow is considering to not only gain a
foothold in a strategic corner of the globe, but to also obtain a bargaining
chip for future deals with Brussels and Washington.
Russia seeks to maintain its hold on Syria as a Middle East ally and a
profitable market for its export of military weapons. This, however, does
not spell into maintaining Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in power. The
arrangements Moscow is looking for can be reached in talks with the West.
Tehran, on the other hand, is trekking a completely different trail and
continuing its original path of establishing a disastrous “Shiite crescent”
across the region. Meaning Iran simply cannot have an overhaul take place in
Syria, while this is exactly what the Western-backed Syrian opposition
seeks.
Iran has invested heavily in Syria and its conglomerate of Shiite
militias–far more powerful than what is left of Assad’s army–are taking
orders from Tehran, not Damascus. Syria is the cornerstone and the backbone
of Iran’s Middle East strategy, stretching from Iraq to Lebanon and even
Yemen.
As a result, with Russia pursuing a main objective of obtaining more
concessions from the US and Europe on various issues including Ukraine, the
possibility of Moscow and Washington reaching an agreement over Syria vastly
in contrast to Tehran’s interests should not at all be considered
farfetched.
This lays the ground for a dangerous potential, from Iran’s perspective, of
Russia and the US coming to terms over Syria’s future. Moscow is in pursuit
of a fast solution for Syria and sees Washington involvement in the Astana
talks in line with such an objective.
And this is why Zarif, Iran’s top diplomat, seems to have shown such a harsh
reaction, as if Iran is being thrown under the bus by Russia. The dispute
between Moscow and Tehran over Syria and its future are serious, to say the
least. As I explained in a recent Gatestone piece:
“Iran may have enjoyed tactical gains in Aleppo. However, Russia apparently
has separate, long-term interests in complete dissimilarity from those of
Tehran. Russia has conducted secret direct talks with the Syrian opposition.
To add insult to injury, Iran – viewing the Obama presidency as a golden
era – is also concerned about the incoming presidency of Donald Trump and
his administration, who seem to have strong views against Tehran.”
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do
not reflect Al Arabiya English’s point-of-view.
_________________________
Heshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on
Iran, ranging from human rights violations, social crackdown, the regime’s
support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the
controversial
+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 23 Jan.’17:”Egypt extends participation in Arab
coalition”,by Staff Writer
SUBJECT: Egypt extends participation in Arab coalition
FULL TEXT:Egypt’s National Defense Council on Sunday [22 Jan]extended the
military’s participation in an Arab coalition operation in Yemen, the
presidency said in a statement.
“The National Defense Council agreed during the meeting to extend the
participation of the required elements from the Egyptian armed forces in a
combat operation outside the nation’s border to defend Egyptian and Arab
national security in the Gulf, Red Sea, and Bab al-Mandab areas,” the
statement said, according to Reuters.
The presidency did not specify how long the extension would be for
+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon) 23 Jan.’17:”China’s Online Population Reaches
731 Million”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Online shopping in China dominant
QUOTE:”China’s internet users …equals the entire population of Europe”
FULL TEXT:”The number of internet users in China — already the world’s
highest — reached 731 million in December, authorities said, as e-commerce
drives consumer demand across the Asian giant.
Total internet users rose 6.2 percent from the end of December 2015 and
equals the entire population of Europe, the government-linked China Internet
Network Information Center (CNNIC) said in a statement Sunday[22Jan] on its
website.
E-commerce is a vital part of the government’s efforts to China into a
consumer demand-driven economy, although Beijing also imposes strict
controls on online content, barring citizens from accessing major websites
including Facebook and Google.
The government is pushing a so-called “internet plus” project that aims to
expand the role of online technology in the economy.
The number of people who go online through cellphones has reached 695
million, or 95.1 percent, as computers lose their appeal, according to the
CNNIC.
Online consumption has become an increasingly important part of the economy,
the statement said, adding that its contribution to GDP growth is gradually
increasing.
As of December 12, the number of people in China who used online payments
had reached 475 million, up 14.0 percent year on year, according to the
CNNIC.
In one example of the growing power of China’s online shoppers, consumers
spent $17.8 billion in e-commerce giant Alibaba’s biggest online shopping
promotion on November 11 last year, more than twice the five-day desktop
sales from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday in the US last year.
========
Sue Lerner – Associate, IMRA
Source: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=72086
