inclusion

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 9 (UPI) — Lebanese officials engaged Thursday in intensive diplomatic contacts to confirm the country’s inclusion in the Pakistan-mediated U.S.-Iran cease-fire and refusing to let Tehran negotiate on their behalf.

The initiative comes a day after Israel carried out large-scale air strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon.-

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called on his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, during a telephone call to emphasize that the cease-fire achieved between the United States and Iran on Wednesday “must include Lebanon to prevent a recurrence of the Israeli aggressions.”

Sharif condemned the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon and affirmed that Pakistan “is working to ensure peace and stability” in the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Western and Arab officials he had contacted to give his country “an opportunity — just as was given to the United States and Iran — to reach a cease-fire and move toward negotiations.”

Speaking during a Cabinet meeting, Aoun, who last month proposed direct talks with Israel starting with a truce, also called for exerting the necessary pressure to ensure that “Lebanon becomes part of the cease-fire agreement, allowing us to proceed with negotiations.”

Israel has rejected the proposal for direct talks and inclusion of Lebanon in the two-week cease-fire, which is said to call for a cessation of hostilities across multiple fronts, Lebanon among them, while pledging to continue strikes against Hezbollah.

Aoun refused “anyone [who] negotiates on our behalf,” a clear reference to Iran, which threatened to withdraw from the temporary cease-fire with the United States if Israel continues to attack Lebanon.

“We have the ability and the means to negotiate ourselves, and therefore we do not want anyone to negotiate for us. This is something we do not accept,” Aoun said.

In separate comments, Aoun said the only solution is to achieve a cease-fire, followed by direct negotiations with Israel.

Ali Fayyad, A Hezbollah member in Parliament, called on the Lebanese government to “insist on a cease-fire as a prerequisite before moving to any subsequent step.”

Fayyad reiterated his group’s rejection of any direct negotiations with Israel, requesting Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, cessation of Israeli attacks and return of the displaced to their villages and towns.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that his country “will never abandon its Lebanese brothers and sisters” after Israel’s Wednesday strikes on residential areas in Beirut and other Lebanese areas killed more than 200 people and injured over 1,000.

Pezeshkian said the Israeli attacks “blatantly violate the initial cease-fire” and that “such actions signal deception and non-compliance, rendering negotiations meaningless. Our hands remain on the trigger.”

While Pakistan has confirmed that Lebanon is included in the cease-fire it mediated, Israel and the United States have claimed otherwise.

The Lebanese Cabinet decided to file an urgent complaint to the U.N. Security Council regarding the “dangerous escalation” of Israeli attacks that resulted in a large number of civilian casualties and came “in defiance of all international and regional efforts to halt the war in the region.”

It also called on the Army and security forces to immediately take action to strengthen the state’s full authority over Beirut, ensuring that weapons are restricted to legitimate forces and the laws are strictly enforced.

The measure specifically targets Hezbollah, which has refused to fully disarm after its war with Israel that began Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Gaza — a conflict that was supposed to end with the Nov. 27, 2024, cease-fire, which Israel ignored, continuing its strikes against the militant group.

It also came after Israel hit buildings, apartments and hotel rooms in Beirut where Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps allegedly were hiding, risking civilian lives.

While Hezbollah announced Thursday that it resumed firing missiles and rockets on settlements in northern Israel for its violation of the truce with Iran, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the group was “desperate for a cease-fire.”

Katz was quoted by Israeli English-language websites as saying that 200 Hezbollah members were killed in Wednesday’s attacks, bringing the number of “those eliminated” during the new round of fighting since last March to 1,400.

“Hezbollah is stunned by the scale of the blow,” he said.

The Israeli Army said that among those targeted Wednesday in an air strike on a residential building in Beirut was Ali Youssef Harshi, the personal secretary and nephew of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem.

It said that Maher Qasem Hamdan, whom it described as the commander of the Hezbollah-affiliated “Lebanese Resistance Brigades,” and seven others also died in a strike on the port city of Sidon in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Israel sparked a new wave of panic by issuing evacuation orders for residents in Beirut’s southern suburbs and surrounding areas, forcing thousands, including already displaced people, to flee in haste.

Early Thursday, rescue teams continued searching in two targeted buildings, one of which collapsed, while many families tried to locate loved ones who have been unaccounted for since Wednesday.

According to medical sources at the government-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital, about 95 bodies, some mutilated, were brought to the hospital and were awaiting identification by their families.

While the health ministry reported Wednesday night 112 killed and 837 injured, the General Directorate of Civil Defense said 254 people were killed and 1,165 wounded, adding that the toll in Beirut reached 92 dead and 742 injured.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the US-Iran ceasefire as “very good news,” saying it appears to be holding, but warned the situation in Lebanon remains critical and must be fully included in any regional truce. He also praised Iran’s readiness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON — Buried in the fine print of the massive deficit-reduction bill is–of all things–a brand new social program.

The new program will cost $1 billion over the next five years–somewhat less than the Clinton Adminstration had requested, but still a substantial sum in this era of tight budgets.

Supporters, including Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, insisted that some provisions in the new program actually would save the government money in the long run. Even many of the program’s supporters questioned that assertion, however, although they insisted that the money is worth spending in any case.

The family preservation and support program–along with expanded spending for childhood immunization, tuberculosis prevention, food stamps, “empowerment zones” intended to help inner cities and the earned income tax credit for low-income workers–represents the flip side of the massive budget cutting and tax-raising efforts of the bill. All told, those social programs–aimed in large part at helping families with children–will receive an additional $29 billion from the bill.

“The President’s long-term investments for kids and families have been very well supported by this bill,” said Shalala.

The social-program funds not only were key to keeping some of President Clinton’s policy initiatives alive, they were crucial to winning support for the budget in the heavily Democratic House, where liberal Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus had threatened to vote against the budget bill unless it contained money to back up at least part of Clinton’s promise to “invest” in programs for the poor.

“There are a number of important features in this bill that represented the basis for many liberal and progressive Democrats to feel they could support the overall budget,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).

The survival of the family preservation program, which at several points during the long budget negotiations seemed likely to die, would mark the end of a long legislative road. The program would give money to the states for early intervention and support programs for troubled families. It has passed the House three times and was approved by both chambers last year as part of another piece of legislation ultimately vetoed by then-President George Bush.

Supporters of the program argued that, by intervening early, social workers can help troubled families before their situations deteriorate so much that the state has to place children in costly foster care programs.

Skeptics, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), argued that the ability of social workers to accomplish those goals has never been proven. At one point during budget talks, Moynihan derided the program as “welfare for social workers,” several participants said.

But other legislators argued that, even if the program does not save money by avoiding foster-care placements, it will provide badly needed help for children. “This creates early intervention to keep children from being abused,” said Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), who was the program’s chief sponsor in the House.

The program “has been pared down a good deal, but at least we got it,” Matsui said.

The birth of this new program is an object lesson in how legislators and Administration officials can use the arcane rules of the budget-cutting process to advance other items on the legislative agenda.

Over the years, Waxman has become a master at that art. This time around, he engineered a new $200-million program to expand the number of tuberculosis patients who can receive federal Medicaid benefits over the next five years. He also played a key role in winning money for the Administration’s proposed child immunization program, which would receive $585 million under the budget bill.

Although immunization has been a high priority for Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Waxman and other supporters of the program had to overcome opposition not only from congressional conservatives but from some White House officials who were willing to accept much lower dollar amounts for the program as they sought to hit their deficit-cutting goals, according to Administration and congressional sources.

Under the tuberculosis program, people who are poor but not otherwise eligible for Medicaid–primarily single men without children–and who have active tuberculosis can receive government-supplied out-patient services if the state they live in decides to participate. Public health officials said they hope that the additional money will reduce the rapid spread of the disease by targeting a group of people who often do not receive care.

The immunization program has two major components. The first part will provide $500 million over the next five years to pay for vaccinations for 2.6 million children whose families lack insurance. The money also will cover the 6.5 million children now covered under Medicaid, relieving the states of a financial burden.

The second part of the bill, which has drawn howls of outrage from drug manufacturers, would allow all states to buy vaccines in bulk at the price manufacturers provide to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–something 11 states now do. The CDC has negotiated steep discounts from the prices that drug companies charge private pediatricians.

The BHA’s research into underrepresented groups in racing highlighted “negative experiences, barriers to progression (which are often hidden), inconsistent support, and a lack of trust in reporting systems”.

A study which focused on the Urban Equestrian Academy – a social enterprise aimed at providing people from inner-city and diverse backgrounds access to horses and equestrian – found that all 20 participants had reported experiencing racism.

In the same study, all participants said that race had impacted their career progression.

One participant shared that they had thought about suicide “on a few occasions because of the way I was treated”.

Meanwhile, 40% (67) of respondents in a separate survey said they had experienced, witnessed, or had reported to them inappropriate or poor behaviour because of ethnicity or cultural background.

Some reported verbal abuse including aggressive racist language such as “dirty refugee” and “better off if you had been bombed”.

“The strategy is rooted in evidence and shaped by the lived experiences of people working in racing today, and we offer a huge thank you to those who have taken the time and shown the courage to share these with us,” the BHA’s head of diversity and inclusion, Rose Grissell, said.

“Many have positive experiences, but not everyone does, and acknowledging that is an important step in supporting positive progress.

“Our aim is to make inclusion part of everyday practice, not an optional extra.”

The BHA’s new equality, diversity and inclusion strategy includes the following proposals:

BHA chief executive Brant Dunshea said the new strategy was about ensuring the “long-term health and success” of horse racing.

“To attract talent, fans and investment, we must ensure that everyone who works in or engages with racing feels safe, respected and able to thrive,” he said.

“British racing is at its best when it is open, welcoming and reflective of the society around us.”