Source: Arabic
An asteroid, with a diameter the size of Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world, will pass near Earth tomorrow, Tuesday, which may “pose a danger,” according to the USA Today website.
No danger, but newly-discovered asteroid 2022 RM4 will pass less than 6 lunar distances on November 1. Possibly as wide as 740 meters, it will brighten to mag 14.3, well within reach of backyard telescopes. @unistellar
This is very close for an asteroid this size. #2022RM4 pic.twitter.com/Z8khblg3Gq— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) October 5, 2022
The asteroid, called “2022 RM4”, is 330-740 meters long, which is slightly less than the length of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It will pass near the Earth at a speed of regarding 52,500 miles per hour (84,000 kilometers per hour), nearly 68 times the speed of sound.
It is mentioned that the actual distance between the Earth and the asteroid is six times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, which is a very close distance by cosmic standards. The asteroid will reach approximately 1.43 million miles from Earth when it reaches its closest point on Tuesday.
The asteroid will get close enough to Earth, and it will be large enough for astronomers to photograph with a telescope.
“Asteroid 2022 RM4” was discovered by astronomers through the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System in Haleakala, Hawaii, on September 12. A NASA laboratory classifies it as a “near-Earth object (…) and a potentially dangerous asteroid.”
The question that worries everyone, will that giant asteroid hit the Earth?
In answering this question, NASA denied the possibility of that asteroid hitting the Earth, and estimated the trajectories of all near-Earth objects over the next 100 years, and determined that the planet did not face a known danger from a horrific asteroid collision, according to the American newspaper.
SourceLondon Arabs
The severity of the political differences over the completion of the constitutional benefits (the prime minister and the presidency) indicates that Lebanon entered a period of institutional vacuum, just days before the end of President Michel Aoun’s term, and in light of a caretaker government that seems to be largely restricted in running the affairs of the presidency, which deepens problems The Lebanese.
The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, considered on Tuesday that the caretaker government cannot assume the powers of the presidency in the event of a vacancy, because it lacks its legitimacy.
Bassil said, “Whoever thinks that the caretaker government will assume the powers of the presidency is mistaken. This is a violation of the constitution, and it is a constitutional body that has lost its legitimacy and charter.”
And he declared that the caretaker prime minister “wants to challenge a government that takes the powers of the president of the republic and takes the country to sedition, just as someone who wants a defiant president. This is a constitutional massacre that we will not allow and we will confront with all our might.”
In the event of a vacuum, presidential powers are transferred to the government headed by Najib Mikati. However, Prime Minister Mikati’s government has limited its role to conducting business since the parliamentary elections in May.
Analysts say this means it is unable to make big decisions that include international agreements. This might complicate finalizing a draft agreement with the International Monetary Fund to provide much-needed aid, assuming ruling politicians eventually implement the long-awaited reforms needed to seal the deal.
Observers believe that Bassil takes the release of the constitutional institutions as a card to obtain political gains, as he still considers himself a natural candidate to succeed Aoun in Baabda Palace, despite the lack of enthusiasm by his allies (Hezbollah – Amal Movement) to recommend him.
They affirm that the election of a new president for Lebanon is mainly linked to the formation of a new government in which the Free Patriotic Movement will have a balanced representation, despite the decline in its electoral results and its popularity within its Christian environment, which is rejected by Mikati, who remained open to modifications in the proposed government structure, which President Aoun rejected at the time. former.
The current’s relationship with the prime minister-designate has worsened since the latter presented a government formation to President Aoun two months ago, which included reducing his share in the government cabinet, in line with the decline the party witnessed during the legislative elections held on the fifteenth of last May.
According to the government formation presented, Mikati withdrew the Energy Ministry from the Free Patriotic Movement, which the latter considered prejudice once morest him.
The Ministry of Energy is not the only cause of the heated dispute between Mikati and Bassil, which in turn extended to the presidency, since President Aoun, whose term ends on the 31st of next October, is the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, and will return to his presidency following the end of his term.
Sources pointed out that the problem is still when President Aoun demands to keep the Ministry of Energy from his share and that of the Free Patriotic Movement or to replace the Ministry of Interior with it, which Mikati rejects, who gave it to a Sunni figure in the 24 ministers he presented to Aoun, and kept the Ministry of Interior with the Sunni sect. .
They point out that disrupting the formation of the new Lebanese government and maintaining the current caretaker government serve Aoun’s agendas, given that the current enjoys ministerial weight in it that enables him to disrupt the government’s tasks if it is entrusted with the tasks of managing presidential affairs.
Bassil demands in advance to know the position of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance regarding lifting the cover and protection for the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, to dismiss him.
It also calls for the commitment of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance to facilitate the termination of the judicial investigation into the crime of the explosion of the currently frozen port of Beirut, due to the lawsuits filed by some of the persons prosecuted by the investigative judge once morest the latter, and which are pending in the accusatory panel at the Court of Cassation.
Bassil insists on the presence of politicians in the government, which reflects his desire to be a minister in it in order for the prime minister to participate in obtaining the powers of the presidency when a presidential vacuum arises, and thus he has a role in choosing the next president through his influence on government decisions and his influence over them if this prolonged The vacuum, as long as he cannot be elected, is due to the US sanctions imposed on him since November 2020.
It seems that Hezbollah is not in a hurry to reach a political settlement, except for some efforts led by its ally, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, to bring the positions closer.
Hezbollah has not yet announced its presidential candidate, despite the failure of the Lebanese parliament four times to elect a new president, while its moves behind the scenes do not seem serious to accelerate the formation of the new government.
Observers say that Hezbollah prefers not to resolve its presidential and governmental orientations than to expedite them without a clear international and regional approach to dealing with the Lebanese crisis.
Cholera continues to spread silently in the Lebanese regions, from Akkar to Arsal, especially in the geographical areas where displacement and hosting communities overlap; There, the number of injuries rises daily, the latest of which is a child, the death of a child no more than five months old. But the greatest fear of the disease is the possible and rapid spread of the disease, in light of the lack of funding solutions in the field of providing clean water and treating polluted water, especially in northern Lebanon.
No one would have heard people’s cries and their pain had it not been for “the moose reaching the throats of officials”, and the announcement of the expected cases of cholera, according to experts and doctors.
After Lebanon eliminated the disease In 1993, the flagrant pollution, the neglect of officials in their national duties, the mixing of drinking water and domestic service with sewage… and the total absence of any refinery plant in the Akkar governorate (created) an “ideal” environment for the rejuvenation of the disease.
It is also not surprising that the solutions offered are “prosthetic”, although we do not have the luxury of time, and it is feared that the epidemic will be difficult to contain when it spreads.
in the frame, Caretaker Minister of Health Firas Al-Abyad admitted that “there is no time to repair the water and sewage networks. Therefore, we distribute disinfectants for water, work to secure the cholera vaccine, and prepare the health system with tests, isolation of cases, primary care, and preparation of hospitals.”
Of course, the political forces participating in power, and successive governments that were talking regarding achievements in infrastructure, and even development institutions, were selling us illusions, and no one is holding them accountable!
Yesterday, 5 new cases of cholera were recorded, and other regions joined the list of areas that the epidemic entered, bringing the total of cases to 34 so far. But doctors and experts expect the number of infections to rise, and they fear the spread, especially since the injuries are spread in overcrowded areas, where the minimum health standards are lacking.
It also seems remarkable that 38% of the injuries belong to the age group between 0 and 4 years, followed by the age group between 45-65 with 24%, which makes the two groups the most vulnerable social groups, and vulnerable to complications of severe dehydration.
It draws the attention of officials that the injuries are no longer confined to one geographical area, but rather come from geographically dispersed villages and towns, including refugee camps; This fact reveals that the disease is witnessing a widespread outbreak.
Director of Al-Rassi Governmental Hospital, Dr. Mahmoud Khadrin, confirms to Al-Nahar that “there are 20 cases that are being followed up in the hospital, between suspects and confirmed, and they are of different ages. But two of the cases are in intensive care, while the other cases are in stable conditions, with the record that the hospital has arrived To its maximum capacity, the Ministry of Health has designated a government hospital in Benin and Tripoli to receive the new cases.”
The town of Muhammarah – Al-Abdah has joined the list of areas where cholera has infiltrated, with two cases recorded so far, according to the report of the Ministry of Health. “Day”.
In his opinion, “what is happening today is media talk and theorizing, and the reality on the ground lacks a clear plan or strategy to address the problem. I have not been notified from any official body concerned of any action plan that will be adopted to confront cholera. Only the media follows the issue.”
What is remarkable, according to Othman, is that “the injured continue their lives normally and normally without any isolation or special procedures. There is no action plan to raise awareness, follow up on the injured, or direct them to know how to deal with this disease. The population of Muhammarah is approximately 20,000, not to mention the Nahr al-Bared camp. which has a population of approximately 40,000.
Regarding the quality of water consumed in the area, Othman points out that “the economic crisis has prompted people to abandon buying clean water, so they turned to the water channels that pass near their residence to save. But the problem is that these canals suffer from many problems, and there are many violations of them, which lead to It means that it is unsafe and polluted water.”
Osman warns of The country is on a healthy “hand of a demon”, and the indicators are not reassuring, and what increases these fears is the application of the #Corona experience to the cholera epidemic. The policy of the ostrich and lack of intimidation may lead to a disaster and a frightening spread. It is true that infections are still limited, but the rapid spread of this infection brings us back to the bad scenario with the beginning of the Corona virus.
Rafic Hariri Governmental Hospital is preparing to receive cholera patients who need medical care, and it will be among the nine hospitals that the Ministry of Health seeks to equip in preparation for facing the additional numbers that the country may witness in the coming weeks.
Bacterial disease specialist Dr. Pierre Abi Hanna explains that “in developed countries that have safe water and good sanitation, some cases of cholera will not be a cause for concern and fear, because they are able to control it. But we are in Lebanon, especially in refugee camps and overcrowded places, and with the reduction of The amount of clean water that reaches homes from international organizations, and the absence of refining plants, we can talk regarding the overlap of sewage and drinking water, and thus the re-spread of the cholera epidemic.”
Regarding the cases that require hospitalization, Abi Hanna asserts that “80 percent of cholera cases are without symptoms, while some suffer from mild symptoms; The disruption of the main organs of the body within a few hours, which may cause death. Therefore, we ask people who suffer from severe diarrhea, dry skin, great thirst … and have health problems to go to the hospital and not delay in seeking medical care.”
He explains that “the treatment of cholera is by giving the patient the amount of fluid he lost as soon as possible, through oral serums, if the disease situation is not advanced, provided that it is under the supervision of a specialist to determine the amount that the patient needs to compensate for this deficiency. But the patient may sometimes be unable to take it.” The serum is administered orally, so it is resorted to administering the serum intravenously.
Abi Hanna points out that “some types of antibiotics help reduce symptoms by 50 percent, and we are waiting for the transplant results from the Ministry of Health to know which type of antibiotics can be used to treat cholera patients.”
As for the oral vaccine, Abi Hanna asserts that it “is able to reduce the risk of infection and reduce the risk of symptoms in case of infection. Therefore, its benefits are many, including limiting the spread of the epidemic, so it must be given in places where cholera can spread.” However, as it has been said, we are witnessing a global shortage of cholera vaccine, but the Ministry of Health is seeking to secure an oral vaccine that may help control the epidemic.”
Speaker Berri’s call coincided with the initiative of the parliamentary blocs to coordinate among themselves to discuss more than one scenario to deal with his call, but on the basis of the necessity of their participation in the session by securing a quorum for the session to be convened by a two-thirds majority of parliament members, without meaning that the quorum will be secured to elect the president unless the competing blocs agree To limit the race to the presidency to two candidates, and this is still difficult to achieve, unless the last-minute consultations carried an uncalculated surprise that prevented the session from being limited to securing a quorum for its convening, and extended towards a confrontation that would not allow any party to resolve the battle for the benefit of its candidate.
Therefore, by inviting Berri to the election session, he preserves the right to send one invitation following another to elect the president on the one hand, and at the same time passes a message abroad that he will not give in to the bets that are intended to carry over the achievement of the presidential elections until following the end of Aoun’s term, which will lead the country into a vacancy. presidential.
Berri’s invitation was satisfied with the Arab and foreign ambassadors accredited to Lebanon, and this was also expressed by the US ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, when she told him when she met him yesterday, that it is a pleasant surprise, as it meets the insistence of the international community to complete the presidential elections on time. On the eve of the session Today, it seems that uncertainty is controlling the general course of the position of the parliamentary blocs, which were forced to hastily rearrange their ranks, starting with unifying their position, and this applies to the majorities in the opposition and the parliamentary blocs competing with them in light of their ability to unify their position.
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Berri’s call dictated the opposition’s majorities to move immediately in parallel with the high level of coordination between the blocs affiliated with the loyalist axis, while Hezbollah communicated with the leadership of the Free Patriotic Movement in the context of an exchange of views.
According to the information, a meeting was held yesterday at the Kataeb Central House, which included its head Sami Gemayel and Elias Hankash, the “Forces of Change” bloc, Waddah Al-Sadek, Mark Daou, Yassin Yassin, Rami Feng, and the “Renewal” bloc, Michel Moawad and Ashraf Rifi. And regarding the independent Ghassan Skaf. The attendees continued with the deputy head of the “Lebanese Forces” party, George Adwan, and MPs Fouad Makhzoumi, Salim Al-Sayegh, Neamat Afram, and Adib Abdel Masih, because they are outside Lebanon.
More than one scenario was proposed in the meeting, following the attendees ruled out a proposal made by Gemayel to be absent from the session, and the deputies saw it as an embarrassment to them at the local and external levels in light of the international community’s insistence on electing the president on time and the attendees’ support for the completion of the presidential elections before the end of Aoun’s presidential term .
Then the meeting raised the necessity of attending the session to secure its convening, provided that they would discuss with the other forces in the opposition in the next step in the event it was decided to open the door to electing the president. The “forces of change” tend to adopt the candidacy of former MP Salah Hanin, who won the Maronite seat in the Baabda constituency in alliance with the “Progressive Socialist Party”.
The meeting ended in the hope of communicating later with the allied blocs, specifically the “Forces” and “Democratic Gathering”, which held a meeting last night, in the presence of “Progressive” President Walid Jumblatt, who cut short his private visit to Paris and returned with MP Wael Abu Faour, who is communicating with a deputy. Forces » Melhem Riachy.
On the other hand, a meeting was held yesterday followingnoon in the context of consultations to elicit opinions on unifying the position in today’s session. Representatives Ghassan Skaf, Nabil Badr, Imad Al-Hout (Islamic Group), Jamil Abboud, a member of the Avram bloc, Abdel Rahman Al-Bizri, Bilal Hashimi, Walid Al-Baarini, on behalf of the “Parliamentary Etidal” bloc.
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Al-Baarini, who attended part of the meeting, told his colleagues that the MPs, members of the Moderation Bloc, Muhammad Suleiman, Saji` Attia, Ahmed Rostom, Abdul Aziz Al-Samad, Ahmed Al-Khair, Karim Kabbara, tend to vote with a blank sheet of paper if the competition is limited to a leader. The Marada,” Suleiman Franjieh and MP Michel Moawad, under the pretext of disassociating themselves from engaging themselves in a battle in the town of Zgharta in the northern region.
But the surprise in the meeting was the decision of MPs Al-Hout and Badr to vote also with a white paper, and this constitutes a weighty parliamentary bloc that calls for neutrality between Franjieh and Moawad, while Al-Bizri informed the audience that he and his colleagues Osama Saad and Charbel Massad will make their unified decision in conjunction with their attendance at the session.
On the other side, Berri’s invitation constituted an embarrassment to the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, because he would be forced to reveal his decision in the session, and whether he would support Franjieh or if he had another candidate, although he was hesitant that his candidate would vote with a blank sheet of paper if he did not change his position. In response to the request of Hezbollah, which prefers not to reveal its papers except at the appropriate time, even though it does not show a willingness to engage in efforts to agree on a president, because it looks forward to electing someone who is comfortable with it and who provides him with guarantees.
The question remains; Does Hezbollah deal with the election of the president from a purely local angle, or does it link its decision to the region, specifically to its ally Iran, which is seeking to keep its cards to improve its conditions and not release the presidential election without a price? The government, while it is still betting on overcoming the obstacles that prevent it from being floated, is behaving as if it will see the light no matter how long it takes.
Today’s session will be open to several scenarios, including securing its holding without entering the election of the president in the event that it is not possible to secure a two-thirds majority for the withdrawal of the required number of deputies to break the quorum. Noting that the name of the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, was not among the candidates whose names were discussed yesterday because his candidacy needs a constitutional amendment.