President Obama Awards the Medal of Honor to Corporal William "Kyle" Carpenter

President Barack Obama awards the Medal of Honor to Corporal William "Kyle" Carpenter, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. June 19, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

At the White House this afternoon, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Corporal William "Kyle" Carpenter, a retired United States Marine. Corporal Carpenter received the medal for his courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

By all accounts, Kyle shouldn't be alive today. On November 21, 2010, Kyle's platoon woke up to the sound of AK-47 fire. As their compound began taking fire, Kyle and Lance Corporal Nicholas Eufrazio took cover up on a roof, low on their backs behind a circle of sandbags. And then a grenade landed nearby, its pin already pulled.

read more

The President Makes a Statement on the Situation in Iraq

Today, after a meeting with his national security team, President Obama delivered a statement from the White House Press Briefing Room on the situation in Iraq and the U.S. response. Watch his remarks below:

Watch on YouTube

read more

“Making” in America, Changing the World: An Immigrant Maker’s Story

Yesterday, at the first-ever White House Maker Faire, truly remarkable “Makers” showed off how access to new technologies like 3D printers, laser cutters, and desktop machine tools are enabling more Americans to design and build just about anything. The President also announced new steps the Administration and its partners are taking to ensure that more Americans, young and old, have access to these tools and techniques for launching businesses; learning vital skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); and leading a grassroots renaissance in American manufacturing.

Even though these remarkable innovators are making in America, they weren’t all born here. Many Makers immigrated to the United States, bringing with them the passion and creativity to invent new technologies and boost the American economy.

We caught up with one of these remarkable immigrant Makers, Manu Prakash, an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University, and the creator of the Foldscope, an origami-based paper microscope that costs less than $1. As we focus this week on the urgency and importance of immigration reform, Manu’s story is just one example of how America benefits from attracting the best and brightest talent from around the world.

read more

Ramadan media propaganda offends Muslims: Qabbani

BEIRUT: Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani condemned marketing propaganda for “creating deplorable links between Ramadan and recent entertainment programs,” in a statement Thursday.

“[The links] offended religious feeling and distorted the image of Ramadan, which occupies a high position of respect for Muslims,” said Qabbani, who opposed using religious occasions to promote media content.

According to the grand mufti, promotions across television and radio stations obliterate pure spirituality and transform Ramadan into a month of entertainment.

Qabbani called on competent authorities to “put an end to the media’s debauchery, which contradicts religious values and feelings.”

He also urged public and private institutions to respect religious feelings during the holy month, asking them to abstain from cheap advertising, and revoke any inappropriate content when released.

“If these institutions remain silent and indifferent, they [become] true partners in the abuse toward Muslims’ feelings,” he concluded.

The Abra Municipality in the coastal city of Sidon released a memo Wednesday, urging citizens to respect practicing Muslims during Ramadan and abstain from eating in public.

In his memo, Mayor Walid Nicolas al-Mchantaf stressed the importance of showing consideration during the holy month and refraining from dining at restaurants and cafes during the fasting period.

Lebanon informs U.N. of Syrian refugee restrictions

BEIRUT: Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas Thursday said he informed the U.N. of Lebanon’s decision to restrict the entry of Syrian refugees to those escaping clashes.

“I informed the United Nations of the decisions made at a ministerial committee that we will only welcome refugees coming from regions where battles are raging near the Lebanese border,” Derbas told The Daily Star.

“This is our right, and the U.N. understood our position and sympathized with it.”

Earlier this month, the committee chaired by Prime Minister Tammam Salam made several decisions to address the overwhelming influx of refugees into Lebanon, including restricting entry, dropping refugee status from those who return to Syria and lobbying for the establishment of refugee camps either in Syria or in no man’s land along the porous border.

Derbas said that 64 percent of refugees who were coming into Lebanon were from Aleppo, Idlib, Deir al-Zor and Qamishli.

“We will of course allow a humanitarian and a necessary entry ... but we cannot have the entire Syrian population in Lebanon,” he said.

Asked whether such measures have already decreased the number of refugees coming in, the minister said the decisions were fairly recent.

Lebanon currently hosts over 1.5 million Syrian refugees who have fled the crisis in the neighboring country, along with around 40 thousand Palestinian refugees who have also fled clashes.

The refugee crisis in Lebanon, which already hosts some 500,000 Palestinian refugees, has taken toll on the economy and host communities, as well as the security of the country.

Bkirki: Rai restores hope for exiled Lebanese in Israel

BEIRUT: Bkirki is adamant about keeping the situation of the Lebanese who fled to Israel at the end the occupation on the agenda, saying that the visit of seat of the Maronite Patriarch to the Holy Land restored hope for an end to their ordeal.

“The visit of the patriarch to the Holy Land has never been done on a pastoral level, and it was aimed at checking on a community living in enforced isolation from their brethren, and their churches in the region,” the Gathering of Maronite Bishops said in a statement following a meeting chaired by Rai.

“[Rai’s] visit also gave hope to a resolution over the issue of the Lebanese exiled in Israel, [showing] that the spirit of reconciliation between the country's citizens is possible and so is the ability to turn the page on the war, similar to the Mount Lebanon reconciliation process.”

Rai’s visit to Israel caused controversy in Lebanon, especially among Hezbollah officials and southern Lebanese. His subsequent meeting with the Lebanese who had fled the country after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in 2000 provoked further ire.

Hezbollah and many residents in south Lebanon consider those who fled as “traitors,” in light of their cooperation with Israel during the 22-year occupation of the region. Those who have returned to Lebanon received light sentences, but a number of them emigrated to the West or remained in Israel.

The gathering also criticized MPs who have been boycotting Parliament sessions to elect a new president, saying such a move placed the country at a “great risk,” given worrying developments in the region.

“The stance by some parliamentarians to refrain from entering the Parliament and cast their ballot in the presidential election ... is unacceptable and places the country at great risk, particularly amid the regional developments that threaten to change the map of the Middle East and dismantle the states, which will have repercussions on Lebanon,” it said.

“The absence of a president ... represents an absence of a state, and it is a danger to the unity of the country as well as its security ad economy.”

The bishops deplored events in Iraq and Syria and “what innocent people are suffering from, Christians and non-Christians alike, as a result of the conflicts.”

They demanded the return of the two kidnapped bishops and all detained priests.

“The fathers call on the people of the East to break the cycle of violence that is threatening their fate, and work on resolving the conflicts in peaceful ways until they reach a comprehensive reconciliation. Everyone should recognize the rights of others and build their societies on equal citizenship.”

Tripoli gathering: Iraq a 'revolution of oppressed'

BEIRUT: The National Islamic Gathering in Lebanon said Thursday that the conflict in Iraq was “a revolution of the oppressed," condemning Tehran’s influence in the war-torn country.

The meeting convened at Tripoli MP Mohammad Kabbara’s residence, where they released a statement concerning the conflict overtaking Iraq.

The attendees slammed “the tyrannical practices” of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and referred to him as “the prime minister of Tehran in Baghdad.”

The participants called the Iraqi crisis “a revolution of oppressed people against an oppressor,” calling on all rebel groups to reject sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia sects.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) took over the city of Mosul and has been on a lightning offensive against Baghdad, building on growing discontent among Iraqi Sunnis against the Shiite-led government of Maliki.

Sunni tribal groups and elements from the former Baathist regime have joined the growing insurgency, as Shiite militias have volunteered to assist the government forces.

They also called on “Syrian brethren to unite their forces and arms against Assad’s oppressive and criminal regime,” warning of the dangers of waiting on foreign assistance.

“Foreign [support] does not help the oppressed [in] protecting their rights, but intervenes to secure its interests at the cost of the oppressed,” the statement said.

The memo advised Sunnis in Lebanon to exercise patience and self-control, urging citizens to avoid inter-sect conflict.

The attendees said the Arab Spring had been transformed into a playground for sectarian tensions, adding that such conflicts aimed to damage the parts of Lebanon that fall outside of Tehran’s influence.

“In spite of the persecution, neglect, and conspiracies targeting the Sunni sect ... we must remember that patience is the key to salvation” they said.

Saudi envoy rejects intervention in Lebanon election

BEIRUT: Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon confirmed that his country was standing by its position against any intervention in the Lebanese presidential election.

“The kingdom does not support any presidential candidate,” Ali Awad Asiri told local TV station OTV, adding that Riyadh supported a Lebanon-made president.

His remarks appeared to be in response to a report by the local newspaper Al-Akhbar, in which it cited Future Movement sources as saying that chances of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun of becoming a president were “below zero” since Saudi Arabia had the right to veto.