DAILY SCOPE: Yemeni Ansarullah Ups Defense, Attack Strategies

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES:

AS-SAFIR:

Al-Assad: No Political Solution before Halt of Internal Meddling

AL-AKHBAR:

Yemen: Stage of Strategic Choices

AN-NAHAR:

Cabinet Tomorrow either before Production or Explosion

Street Game Expands and Chaos Starts to Prevail

THE DAILYSTAR:

Fresh Violence Jolts Beirut, Cabinet in Disarray

Cabinet Broke Rules, Strategic Principles in Resolving Trash Crisis --- AS-SAFIR

Environmental sources told As-Safir newspaper that the council of ministers lost a lot of time betting on the tender bids that were incomplete since the very beginning. Also, the sources said that the government broke rules and strategic principles, and stressed that the state did not specify the techniques allowed in treating and separating the wastes.

The sources further noted that it is essential to find an emergency plan that merges between the strategic plan and the current plan to resolve the issue of wastes that has been accumulating since almost a month.

"The waste crisis clearly indicates who is responsible for it," Hizbullah said in a statement, adding: "The extent of the popular explosion to demand a solution in all Lebanon proves the size of the environmental, social and moral disaster resulting from the ill-management of such an issue by successive governments."

The statement was referring to the weekend protests led by the "You Stink" civil society campaign for the waste management crisis.

"The trash crisis is one of the faces of the accumulating and rampant corruption throughout the last two decades," the statement added. "We hoped that this sensitive issue would have been addressed positively, but unfortunately we were shocked by the scandal of the proposed prices of tenders" for waste management.

Since the weekend, Lebanon has been plagued with the waste disposal crisis, with people bursting across the streets of the capital after being fed up with political corruption.

Army to Protect Freedom of Expression --- AL-JOMHOURIA

A military source told al-Jomhouria newspaper that "guaranteeing rights and freedom of expression is a duty to be fulfilled by the army, especially when it comes to just needs."

According to the paper, the source stressed that "the army should protect freedoms and protect public property as well, as any damage inflicted upon these properties is considered a loss for citizens in first place.

The source underscored that "civil peace and national unity as well as protecting the borders of the country are red lines that the army protects and will not allow anyone to trespass no matter how many sacrifices this could cost."

Riot police fought demonstrators in the streets of downtown Beirut for two nights on Saturday and Sunday last week, after the protesters rallied over government corruption and the ongoing waste crisis that erupted following the closure of the Naameh landfill. Police used gas canisters, rubber bullets, and water hoses to separate the demonstrators.

The violence came hours after Salam hinted he might step down following violent protests Saturday.

The "You Stink" online group has been holding protests against the trash crisis that erupted when the Naameh landfill south of Beirut was closed on July 17. Since the closure of the landfill, arbitrary garbage dumps began to emerge after various municipalities refused to allow the disposal of waste from Beirut and Mount Lebanon in their areas.

Ansarullah to Adopt New Strategies in Fighting Saudi Aggression --- AL-AKHBAR

According to al-Akhbar newspaper, Ansarullah sources said that the Muscat talks have reached a political impasse, which will push the army and the popular committees towards adopting new strategies in confronting the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen, especially amid expectations that Saudi Arabia will escalate its attacks on the impoverished Gulf country.

According to the source, Ansarullah and the popular committees are preparing to make major and essential changes in their strategies of confronting Saudi attacks and attacking Saudi military posts in an attempt to put the Saudi aggression under control.

Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by the Saudi-led coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them being civilians.

Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to fugitive president Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.

However, the Yemeni army, backed by popular committees and tribesmen has been responding to the aggression by targeting several Saudi border military posts and cleansing several areas across the country, especially the country's south, from Hadi and al-Qaeda-linked militias.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team