Happy 53rd Birthday, President Obama!

Today, President Obama is celebrating his 53rd birthday. In honor of the occasion, we put together our top 10 photos from the past year -- because we thought that means more than our "top 53."

Check out some of our favorites from the past year below:

1. Just hanging out.

"Bo was just hanging out in the Outer Oval Office when the President walked in to begin his day. Each morning, the President always enters through this door rather than the direct outside door to the Oval Office." November 6, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Border Action Spurs Rick Perry From Also-Ran To 2016 Contender

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hide captionTexas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to local party activists on July 19, in Algona, Iowa. Though his 2012 presidential bid crashed, Perry is now drawing mention as a 2016 contender.

Charlie Neibergall/AP

Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to local party activists on July 19, in Algona, Iowa. Though his 2012 presidential bid crashed, Perry is now drawing mention as a 2016 contender.

Charlie Neibergall/AP

Texas Gov. Rick Perry got some good news last week. In a FOX News poll, Perry moved from an also-ran in the contest for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination to a tie for first place with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

This is undoubtedly a reaction to Perry's decision 10 days ago to send 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the border in response to the deluge of Central American children that have been showing up there.

Nothing motivates the base of the GOP like the issue of illegal immigration. Even if the immigrants are children fleeing violence and chaos in Central America, this is no longer George W. Bush's Republican Party — not nationally, and not in Texas either.

In the 1990s, the GOP in Texas watched their colleagues in California self-destruct and lose control of the state in part because of their tone on immigration at a time of Hispanic population growth. The Bush family decided Texas Republicans would go a different route, campaign aggressively in the barrio, earnestly speak bad Spanish and just generally show they cared about Hispanic voters in Texas.

It worked. George W. Bush racked up as much as 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in Texas.

It was hard to be a Texas Republican politician during this period and not absorb some of that political lesson. It sure wasn't Pete Wilson — the former California GOP governor and one-time presidential prospect — serving back-to-back terms in the White House, now was it?

And so in the 2012 GOP presidential race, when Perry was criticized by competitor Michele Bachmann for allowing the children of undocumented immigrants who grew up in Texas to get in-state tuition rates at the state's public universities, Perry responded at a Florida debate like the good Texas Republican he was: "If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they have been brought there by no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart," he said.

In 2001, when Perry signed the Texas DREAM Act, it was supported and passed into law by state politicians in both parties: educate the ambitious Texas children, simple as that.

But by 2012, those sentiments were a sign among Tea Party Republicans that you were "squishy" on illegal immigration — someone who was too focused on amnesty and not enough on closing the nation's borders to law breakers.

Democrats like to gleefully point to Perry's "Oops" debacle during the GOP presidential debate in Michigan as the moment the nomination slipped from his grasp. But that was just the final nail in the coffin. Perry had doomed his campaign two months earlier in Florida by turning his back on his political base's most passionate issue.

Up until that moment, the Texas governor had enjoyed a reputation as a politically astute politician. Which he'd been — he was just behind on his party's immigration politics. But now he's learned his lesson and his deployment of National Guard troops to the border proves it.

If the governor's move has been a hit with Republicans nationwide, it's been a much tougher sell along the border. Neither the Texas National Guard nor the Texas Department of Public Safety requested the deployment. County sheriffs along the border complain they were never consulted and urged Perry to send them the money to hire more deputies — which they say would do more to stem the flow than the $12 million per month the state will pay to deploy troops who can't make arrests.

And the business community in the Rio Grande Valley isn't thrilled either because they believe sending troops makes their region seem dangerous and out of control, which they insist is nowhere near the truth and will drive away potential business.

In fact, the vast majority of children from Central America are under the mistaken impression that, because their home countries have become violent, dangerous places, they will be welcomed in America. Most are just walking or wading across the river and searching for border guards to turn themselves in.

But in his speech announcing the troop deployment Gov. Perry said less about the children and focused instead on what he described as an unprecedented wave of criminals and drug cartels that were invading Texas.

The Texas National Guard's officers have admitted there's some confusion about exactly what they'll do along the border. In 1997, an American high school student guarding his family's goats on the American side of the border with an old rifle was killed by Marines who'd been deployed to guard the border. The boy was Hispanic and the unfortunate Marine squad who stalked and then shot the 17-year-old was just doing what they'd been trained to do — which, of course, was not law enforcement.

That horrible mistake ended that Marine deployment, and the incident was indelibly etched in the Texas military psyche.

But no matter what the National Guard troops end up doing along the border, a jump by Perry in the FOX News presidential poll from almost last into a tie for first is a big step forward for the Texas governor's political hopes.

Although a guardsman has yet to step foot on the Rio Grande, for Perry's as-yet-unannounced presidential ambitions, the deployment may have already accomplished its mission.

Lebanon mourns soldiers who died in Arsal

BEIRUT: Distraught family members and hundreds of friends, colleagues and supporters bid farewell Monday to the Army’s 40-year-old Lt. Col. Noureddine Jamal, killed in clashes with Islamist militants in Arsal. A crowd of around 500 people, many in uniform, accompanied the last trip of Jamal’s body, which rested in a white coffin covered with a Lebanese flag. He was laid to rest in the Beirut cemetery of Bashoura.

The funeral march started near Beirut Arab University in Al-Tariq al-Jadideh, where the lieutenant’s casket arrived from the Army’s Military Hospital.

The crowd then walked to the Khashoggi Mosque in Qasqas, where prayers were held for Jamal. Outside, angry and grieving friends shot their guns into the air near the mosque, while his colleagues from the Army carried the coffin to the ambulance.

At the funeral, Army representatives called for national solidarity in a difficult time.

“The important issue is maintaining the unity of Lebanon,” said Brig. Gen. Antoine Halabi in remarks made during the service.

Halabi lauded Jamal’s courage and dedication to his military duty. “It’s a time of sacrifice,” he said, “This is what our officers and soldiers believed in while facing spiteful terrorist groups who tried with barbarism and brutality in dear Arsal to spread sedition and chaos across the country.”

Several politicians and public figures, including Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, the Future Movement’s Secretary-General Ahmad Hariri and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri sent representatives to the funeral.

After the conclusion of the service, mourners then walked their lost colonel to Bashoura cemetery near Downtown Beirut.

Jamal, who hailed from Al-Tariq al-Jadideh, enrolled in the Army in 1990, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 2012. His brother, the retired Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Jamal, is an adviser to Future Movement leader Saad Hariri.

Posters bearing Jamal’s smiling face have already been strung across main roads in Al-Tariq al-Jadideh.

The lieutenant, who is survived by his wife and three children, was formerly a member of the prominent Lebanese football team Al-Ansar, which released a statement mourning him and calling on fans to participate in his funeral.

After the funeral, members of the Lebanese security forces gathered outside Jamal’s family home in Al-Tariq al-Jadideh. Two posters showing Jamal in uniform had been tacked on either side of the elevator leading to his family’s apartment.

Inside, family members dressed in black greeted mourners. A male relative asked The Daily Star to return at a later time to allow the family time to grieve privately. The family will receive condolences at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure center Tuesday afternoon, he added.

Jamal was one of 11 troops mourned by the Lebanese Army over the weekend. He was killed in the Army’s clashes with extremist militants in Arsal. Twenty-two members of the security forces are still missing in action.

In addition to Jamal, funerals for Lance Cpl. Nader Yussef, 33, and Lance Cpl. Omar Nhaili, 23, were also held, and hundreds of people gathered in their home city Akkar in north Lebanon.

Yussef – who leaves behind a wife and a child – and Nhaili were carried to a funeral attended by friends and colleagues, and by representatives of the Army chief, the defense minister and the Future Movement.

Zahle also mourned two of its sons: Lance Cpl. Ibrahim Al-Amouri, 30, born in Qobb Elias, and Lance Cpl. Walid Majdalani, 27, born in the village of Kfar Zabad.

Likewise, two soldiers from the Baalbek area were killed in Arsal’s clashes. Lance Cpl. Jaafar Nasreddine, 28, from Al-Ain, and soldier Hussein Hamieh, 20, from Taraya.

Three young Army recruits were also killed by the Syrian militants, with the oldest, Hassan Mehieddine from Fakiha in Baalbek, who was less than 22 years old.

Khaldoun Raouf Hammoud, 19, from Aqabeh in Rashaya and Mohammad Ali Al-Ijl, 21, from Akkar, were also killed by militants in Arsal.

Civilians flee Arsal as Army fights on

LABWEH, Lebanon: The man pointed to an Army barracks just a couple of kilometers from his house that had been taken over by militants the day before, as artillery fire echoed from the mountain.

“If you have faith in God, then nothing else matters,” he said, when asked if he feared being so close to the battle raging over the hill.

The Lebanese Army tightened the noose on militants linked to the Nusra Front and other rebel groups in the embattled town of Arsal, as over 3,000 families fled the town in search of a refuge from the fighting, during a three-hour truce Monday morning.

“I don’t know where they came from,” said Hala, a Lebanese refugee who fled Arsal Thursday morning with her husband and two young children, as their car idled on the road leading away from Arsal and toward the nearest town of Labweh. “They suddenly emerged and surrounded the town.”

As she held her daughter, she said rockets had landed close to their house as the fighting raged the night before. Nobody had dared leave their home with militants in the streets. “They were shooting at cars, nobody dared go out of their houses,” she said. “May God not forgive them.”

In the morning, the family drove down to an intersection, where gunmen with covered faces ushered them out with the other displaced families.

“We don’t know where they are from, nobody dared speak to them,” she said. “Whoever talks to them gets shot at.”

Her husband, Khaled, said the fighting had died down that morning as the families departed the besieged town. All they could hear was sporadic gunfire.

Artillery shells sounded throughout the day, bombing unseen militant targets. The Lebanese Army sealed off the only road from Labweh into Arsal, barring journalists from even approaching the last two checkpoints before Arsal. By early afternoon military vehicles lined the road along with the Civil Defense and the Lebanese Red Cross, as well as soldiers and other fighters.

Some of the artillery fire came from Labweh, where the Army set up firing ranges. Other shots appeared to emerge from the mountains, likely targeting militants trying to enter or leave Arsal. The boom of the shells erupted throughout the day sporadically.

In the distance, columns of smoke rose from an area immediately next to a mosque inside Arsal and overlooking a refugee settlement in the area. The mosque was located near an Army barracks and gas station.

A soldier stationed near Arsal told The Daily Star that the attack targeted militants who were filling the gas tanks of captured military vehicles, setting them on fire.

Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers streamed toward Arsal during the day, reinforcements for what residents said may be a decisive assault on the town to retake it from militants.

Ramez Amhaz, the mayor of Labweh, a town close to Hezbollah, said he expected the Army to enter Arsal and resolve the crisis. He said there is full backing for a decisive resolution.

“What truce? Are we going to kid each other?” he asked, adding that nearly 30 Lebanese soldiers had been kidnapped by militants he described as belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Al-Qaeda splinter group with a presence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

But Amhaz conceded that a possible solution to the crisis may involve allowing the militants to leave Arsal and pursuing them later.

“If they stay among the families, the families and the state will pay a price,” he said. “It is better for us if they get out than for Arsal’s people to be harmed.”

Amhaz said that Hezbollah was not actively participating in the fighting, although rumors suggested that the party had a role to play in shelling militants who attempted to use mountain roads to enter or leave the town.

“The state is fighting,” Amhaz said. “ Hezbollah is a support.”

He said the party is providing logistical and other aid to the Army.

“But Hezbollah is not taking part in the battle,” he added. “There are no martyrs from Hezbollah.”

Amhaz said the militants attacked Arsal after reports emerged of an imminent offensive involving the Lebanese military and Hezbollah to strike at rebels hiding in the mountainous regions surrounding Arsal, who fled there after the Syrian regime, backed by fighters from Hezbollah, evicted the rebels from border villages in the Qalamoun region.

“They took people as human shields to defend themselves,” he said.

But Amhaz told The Daily Star that the gunmen who leave Arsal will eventually be pursued. He also said they allowed civilians to leave the area as a result of demands by Arsal’s residents.

Amhaz also revealed that militants from the Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, had smuggled out 21 ISF officers kidnapped by the group from Arsal to an unknown location.

Amhaz also said that the Army had set up four artillery positions in Labweh.

But by nightfall it was clear that Hezbollah had entered the fight. As darkness descended on Labweh, rockets streamed toward Arsal, pinpoints of yellow and red light crashing into targets beyond the mountain peaks, as the Army’s artillery echoed through the night. Journalists huddled on rooftops filmed the surreal scene from their vantage point, the boom of the rockets on impact arriving seconds after the flash.

In addition to the Army, the Lebanese Red Cross also set up a makeshift headquarters in the town’s municipality.

A Red Cross official told The Daily Star that 10 teams comprising 50 paramedics were present to treat the wounded from the Army, while all Red Cross stations in the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon and Beirut were on alert.

So far, all the wounded and dead handled by the Lebanese Red Cross were from the Army. The organization has not had access to any wounded civilians.

“We cannot go based on our safety policies and procedures,” the official said. “We are waiting until they evacuate them or tell us we can come and retrieve the wounded.”

The official declined to elaborate on the nature of the wounds sustained by the soldiers. But a local paramedic said they had sustained sniper wounds and some had been defaced – he said one of the soldiers who arrived for treatment appeared to have his eyes gouged by a militant.

Civilians flee Arsal as Army fights on

LABWEH, Lebanon: The man pointed to an Army barracks just a couple of kilometers from his house that had been taken over by militants the day before, as artillery fire echoed from the mountain.

“If you have faith in God, then nothing else matters,” he said, when asked if he feared being so close to the battle raging over the hill.

The Lebanese Army tightened the noose on militants linked to the Nusra Front and other rebel groups in the embattled town of Arsal, as over 3,000 families fled the town in search of a refuge from the fighting, during a three-hour truce Monday morning.

“I don’t know where they came from,” said Hala, a Lebanese refugee who fled Arsal Thursday morning with her husband and two young children, as their car idled on the road leading away from Arsal and toward the nearest town of Labweh. “They suddenly emerged and surrounded the town.”

As she held her daughter, she said rockets had landed close to their house as the fighting raged the night before. Nobody had dared leave their home with militants in the streets. “They were shooting at cars, nobody dared go out of their houses,” she said. “May God not forgive them.”

In the morning, the family drove down to an intersection, where gunmen with covered faces ushered them out with the other displaced families.

“We don’t know where they are from, nobody dared speak to them,” she said. “Whoever talks to them gets shot at.”

Her husband, Khaled, said the fighting had died down that morning as the families departed the besieged town. All they could hear was sporadic gunfire.

Artillery shells sounded throughout the day, bombing unseen militant targets. The Lebanese Army sealed off the only road from Labweh into Arsal, barring journalists from even approaching the last two checkpoints before Arsal. By early afternoon military vehicles lined the road along with the Civil Defense and the Lebanese Red Cross, as well as soldiers and other fighters.

Some of the artillery fire came from Labweh, where the Army set up firing ranges. Other shots appeared to emerge from the mountains, likely targeting militants trying to enter or leave Arsal. The boom of the shells erupted throughout the day sporadically.

In the distance, columns of smoke rose from an area immediately next to a mosque inside Arsal and overlooking a refugee settlement in the area. The mosque was located near an Army barracks and gas station.

A soldier stationed near Arsal told The Daily Star that the attack targeted militants who were filling the gas tanks of captured military vehicles, setting them on fire.

Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers streamed toward Arsal during the day, reinforcements for what residents said may be a decisive assault on the town to retake it from militants.

Ramez Amhaz, the mayor of Labweh, a town close to Hezbollah, said he expected the Army to enter Arsal and resolve the crisis. He said there is full backing for a decisive resolution.

“What truce? Are we going to kid each other?” he asked, adding that nearly 30 Lebanese soldiers had been kidnapped by militants he described as belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Al-Qaeda splinter group with a presence in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

But Amhaz conceded that a possible solution to the crisis may involve allowing the militants to leave Arsal and pursuing them later.

“If they stay among the families, the families and the state will pay a price,” he said. “It is better for us if they get out than for Arsal’s people to be harmed.”

Amhaz said that Hezbollah was not actively participating in the fighting, although rumors suggested that the party had a role to play in shelling militants who attempted to use mountain roads to enter or leave the town.

“The state is fighting,” Amhaz said. “ Hezbollah is a support.”

He said the party is providing logistical and other aid to the Army.

“But Hezbollah is not taking part in the battle,” he added. “There are no martyrs from Hezbollah.”

Amhaz said the militants attacked Arsal after reports emerged of an imminent offensive involving the Lebanese military and Hezbollah to strike at rebels hiding in the mountainous regions surrounding Arsal, who fled there after the Syrian regime, backed by fighters from Hezbollah, evicted the rebels from border villages in the Qalamoun region.

“They took people as human shields to defend themselves,” he said.

But Amhaz told The Daily Star that the gunmen who leave Arsal will eventually be pursued. He also said they allowed civilians to leave the area as a result of demands by Arsal’s residents.

Amhaz also revealed that militants from the Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, had smuggled out 21 ISF officers kidnapped by the group from Arsal to an unknown location.

Amhaz also said that the Army had set up four artillery positions in Labweh.

But by nightfall it was clear that Hezbollah had entered the fight. As darkness descended on Labweh, rockets streamed toward Arsal, pinpoints of yellow and red light crashing into targets beyond the mountain peaks, as the Army’s artillery echoed through the night. Journalists huddled on rooftops filmed the surreal scene from their vantage point, the boom of the rockets on impact arriving seconds after the flash.

In addition to the Army, the Lebanese Red Cross also set up a makeshift headquarters in the town’s municipality.

A Red Cross official told The Daily Star that 10 teams comprising 50 paramedics were present to treat the wounded from the Army, while all Red Cross stations in the Bekaa Valley, Mount Lebanon and Beirut were on alert.

So far, all the wounded and dead handled by the Lebanese Red Cross were from the Army. The organization has not had access to any wounded civilians.

“We cannot go based on our safety policies and procedures,” the official said. “We are waiting until they evacuate them or tell us we can come and retrieve the wounded.”

The official declined to elaborate on the nature of the wounds sustained by the soldiers. But a local paramedic said they had sustained sniper wounds and some had been defaced – he said one of the soldiers who arrived for treatment appeared to have his eyes gouged by a militant.

Government unanimously throws weight behind the military

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam asserted Monday that there would be no political settlement with militants from Syria battling the Lebanese Army in Arsal, stressing that the rival political parties represented in the Cabinet vow unanimous support for the military.

“Lebanon is subjected to an aggression against its sovereignty and security perpetrated by takfiri groups, implementing a suspicious, systematic conspiracy aimed at undermining state capacities and institutions,” Salam told reporters at the end of an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Arsal, on the eastern border with Syria.

Salam underlined that the Cabinet, in which rival political groups are represented, stands unanimously behind the Army in its combat against the militants.

“There will be no political solutions with the takfiri militants who want to transfer the fighting into Lebanon,” Salam said.

“The Army has the full support of the government with all its political components, which stands as one in support of its sacred mission,” Salam added.

So far 14 soldiers have been killed and 86 wounded in three days of fierce fighting between the Army and militants in Arsal, after the latter overran several checkpoints, a military center and a police station over the weekend.

Salam said the government had decided to mobilize all its security institutions and official bodies to defend the country against attempts to undermine its security and turn it into a field for foreign conflicts.

Salam underscored that the “only proposed solution” stipulates the complete withdrawal of Syrian militants from Arsal and its surroundings, the release of all detained Lebanese security and military personnel and the re-establishment of state control over Arsal.

“We assert that there will be no leniency with the killer terrorists. No conciliation with those who have violated the land and harmed its people,” Salam added.

Addressing Arsal residents, the prime minister said: “We assure you that your suffering will not last long and that your state will not let you down or leave you to become the prey of chaos and terrorism.”

Militants are refusing to release the 29 military and security personnel they are holding captive in Arsal, unless the Army frees Imad Jomaa, a senior rebel commander whose arrest triggered the fighting in the border village, political sources told The Daily Star earlier Monday.

The Army however are refusing any negotiations with the militants unless the captured men are released, stalling a non-military solution to the conflict. Despite these setbacks, a committee of Sunni scholars is continuing efforts to negotiate a political settlement with the militants.

Political sources told The Daily Star that ministers have two different approaches on how to deal with the violence in Arsal.

One view, backed by ministers from March 8, called for firm military action to stamp out the militants from the Sunni town that is largely supportive of the Syrian rebellion.

In contrast, the March 14 parties, while supportive of the Army against the militants, were reluctant about resorting to an excessive use of force that could “push things to a point of no return,” the sources said.

March 14 had argued that a “political settlement” would reduce the risk of slipping into more dangerous military confrontations.

According to the sources, March 14 was opposed to having a dialogue with the rebels, but wanted the Army to avoid engaging the militants in Arsal, and would prefer to have the troops enter the town after the withdrawal of the gunmen.

The sources said the committee of Sunni scholars, which has initiated negotiations to reach an agreement between Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi and the militants, is acting under the supervision and direction of the prime minister and the Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi and Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk.

But there is no indication that the committee will reach a settlement soon, the sources added.

Politicians support Army, some with caveats

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s political leaders Monday emphasized their undying support for the Lebanese Army, currently battling Islamist militants who crossed from Syria, but at least one politician accused the Army of collusion with Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri came out strongly in favor of the Army’s operations in Arsal, calling on it to liberate the northeastern Bekaa Valley town from the Islamist groups that had taken it hostage.

“There is no place for the takfiri and terrorist organizations, and there will be no leniency with its destructive mission, which is alien to the people of moderation and tolerance,” Hariri said in an interview with Al-Hayat newspaper.

The former premier said the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces were red lines for the Future Movement, which did not tolerate takfiri groups.

“Is this how the favor is returned to the people of Arsal, who hosted their brethren seeking refuge from Syria and didn’t hold back any support they could give them?” Hariri asked. “Have they been rewarded by being turned into hostages because they said no to these groups?”

Three days of fighting in Arsal has taken the lives of 14 soldiers, with 22 missing. At least 12 civilians have also been killed, along with some 50 militants. Sixteen national police have also been kidnapped.

But Akkar MP and Future Movement member Khaled Daher struck a different note, accusing the Lebanese Army of shelling Arsal alongside “Hezbollah militias.”

“If the shelling does not stop we will take to the streets all over Lebanon, because anyone who shells Arsal is a war criminal and an accomplice of the Syrian and Iranian regimes who seeks to become president [by spilling] the blood of Sunnis,” Daher said in an apparent reference to Army Chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi. “I say to my people and to Sunnis, we are with the Army if the Army is with us, and not under Hezbollah’s control.”

Head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt said the battle for Arsal was a matter of destiny, and offered veiled criticism for voices such as Daher’s.

“What is needed is for us to remain on high alert and recognize that the battle in Lebanon has become an existential battle, and too big to be merely a battle of interests,” Jumblatt said in a statement.

Jumblatt said that politicians who blame Hezbollah for the current situation and “are creating a political front to attack the Army” should recognize that such behavior jeopardizes what he described as the “foundations of the Lebanese entity,” which rest on moderation and diversity.

The PSP leader praised Hariri’s support for the Army especially in this critical phase of history, indirectly criticizing other members of the Future Movement.

“Some of the voices are irresponsible and place the Army and Lebanon at great risk instead of searching for means to strengthen the atmosphere of unity among the Lebanese,” he said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea also spoke about the clashes in the northeastern town, announcing his party’s “full backing of the Lebanese Army in its fight against the foreign, terrorist militants.”

Offering his condolences to the families of soldiers who were killed in the fighting, Geagea asked the government to request that the U.N. Security Council expand the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

“We call on the Cabinet to immediately ask the Security Council to expand the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, particularly article 12 that would allow the council to deploy international troops [along the border],” he said in a statement.

“It would help Lebanon strengthen its sovereignty on all of its territory and protect civilians at risk of violence,” Geagea said.

Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek, a senior Hezbollah official, pledged to support the Lebanese Army in its battle against Islamist militants in northeast Lebanon, saying the party and citizens were ready to defend the country.

“We will not leave the Army alone and we all back the Army, whose blood is mixed with citizens confronting the Israeli aggression and in defense of Lebanon and its independence,” he said.

“Whoever threatens to divide the Army and defect from it, we say that neither Lebanon or Bekaa is Mosul,” he continued, referring to Iraq’s northern city, which has been overrun by militants with the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria. “We will not allow for our mosques or churches to be destroyed and we will defend them with all our might, we will not hesitate to do so.”

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil appealed for immediate military support for the Army at the opening of an emergency meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.

“ Lebanon appeals to you to stand by its side and asks for immediate [military] assistance for its Army in order to confront takfiri terrorism,” he said.

Outgoing Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Asiri also expressed solidarity with the Army during farewell visits he made to Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri and former President Michel Sleiman.

“I have expressed sympathy with Lebanon in the face of [security] challenges, and wish for stability and well-being, as well as unity of all political forces, in order to be able to deal with the latest developments,” Asiri said after visiting Salam.

Asked to comment on the three-day fighting in Arsal, Asiri said: “May God protect Lebanon.”

The European Union’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Angelina Eichhorst, discussed the situation in Arsal during a meeting with Kahwagi.

“The EU denounces the death, injury and abduction of civilians, military and security forces, which cannot be justified and require a strong and united response,” Eichhorst said.

“The EU calls for the release of those who have been abducted,” the envoy added.

Tobias Ellwood, Britain’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, also blasted the attack on the military.

“I urge a swift end to the fighting that started over the weekend. I send my condolences to the Lebanese government and the families of the victims of this violence,” Ellwood said in a statement.

“The United Kingdom remains as determined as ever to back stability in Lebanon and is committed to assisting the Lebanese Armed Forces in enhancing security in the border regions,” he added.

Meanwhile, acting U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Ross Mountain deplored the attack on the Army, reiterating that the U.N. was committed to the country’s security and military.

Top media brass agree to support Army with united front

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s media leaders met Monday in Beirut to agree on a unified way to express support for the Lebanese Army, as fighting between militants and the military entered its fourth day.

The original purpose of the meeting among Lebanon’s print, audio and visual news outlets – held at Future TV’s headquarters at the invitation of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri – was to discuss how to show solidarity with the Christians of Mosul who have been persecuted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

However, in light of ongoing events in northeastern Lebanon, a decision was made to prioritize creating common coverage of the Lebanese Army’s struggle with Islamist gunmen and of the Iraqi issue, which is also a result of Muslim extremists.

“The media has always had a split language because of political affiliations,” said LBC Chairman and CEO Pierre Daher.

But there is now an urgent need to “unite the media’s language in a way politicians can’t, because if Arsal falls today, then none of us can go back and sleep in our houses,” he added. “The Iraqi war has come to Lebanon.”

Head of the News Department at MTV Ghayath Yazbeck said media outlets “need to go on an internal journey to filter out differences so we can unite over large national issues”

“When we think about Mosul the general sentiment is that terrorism is a common enemy, and then came Arsal, which was also kidnapped by takfiri extremists,” said Hussein Wajh, a director at Future TV.

He stressed the need for media outlets to “stand united behind the Army with common messages and common headlines in the face of existential threats.”

Al-Jadeed news director Mariam al-Bassam said the priority was showing united support for the Army, adding that she “couldn’t mention terrorism in Mosul and not talk about terrorism in Arsal or Syria.”

Those gathered agreed that media outlets should marginalize voices that defame or doubt the Army, with director of NBN’s news department Qassem Soueid suggesting the adoption of a united logo or slogan in support of the military.

“We can even organize a common talk show for all news outlets in one studio and agree on guests and topics to be discussed concerning the Army and the incidents in Arsal,” he added.

Director General of Al-Manar Ibrahim Farhat agreed on the need to come up with a common logo or slogan, pointing to the necessity of “prioritizing the Army.”

The media representatives also agreed on the formation of a small committee to discuss means of supporting the Army and security forces, as well as methods of highlighting their struggle on a national level.

Muslim scholars delegation arrives in Arsal amid heavy security

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Army issues video of regained headquarters

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army released a video Monday showing it had regained total control of one of its headquarters in the town of Arsal, after it was briefly seized by Islamist militants.

The video showed Army vehicles positioned in Arsal’s Vocational School, which is located in the vicinity of one of its posts in the town.

The Army regained control Sunday of the position, which falls at the entrance of the town, after fierce clashes with the gunmen.

The 42 seconds footage displayed the bodies of six fighters killed during the battles. Over 20 other men could be seen handcuffed and sitting on the floor, with their heads turned toward the wall.

Mobiles, IDs and assault rifles that were confiscated from the fighters were also displayed.

Clashes broke out between the Lebanese Army and Islamist fighters on Saturday when Syrian rebels stormed Army positions in Arsal.

The attack came shortly after the Army arrested a senior official from the Fajr al-Islam battalion, which pledged allegiance to ISIS in June.

Three days of fighting in Arsal has taken the lives of 14 soldiers, with still 22 missing. At least 12 civilians have also been killed, along with some 50 militants. Sixteen national police have also been kidnapped.

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Jim Brady, Press Secretary Turned Gun Control Activist, Dies At 73

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Jim Brady, the White House press secretary who was shot in the head by a gunman trying to assassinate President Reagan, has died at age 73. NPR's Brian Naylor reports on a man whose later life was dedicated to changing gun laws.

Bassil holds talks with Rouhani in Tehran

Bassil holds talks with Rouhani in Tehran

Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil held talks Monday with Iran's President Hasan Rouhani on the sidelines of an...

Youngsters introduced to identifying invasives

PRESQUE ISLE, Mich. -- Lafarge North America partnered with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and Huron Pines Conservation Group to bring 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Campers to the Presque Isle Quarry to be introduced to identifying invasive species, the issues these plants present and how to map problem areas through first-hand experiences.

The 13- to 15-year-old campers from Camp Chickagami visited the quarry in small groups last week. Heather Rawlings, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, led the group effort in identifying non-native phragmites and other invasive species. Campers used GPS and tape measures to plot out specific areas that will be targeted this fall with herbicide, according to The Alpena News ( http://bit.ly/1m2y7zM ).

"The invasive phragmites creates a massive jungle and pushes the favorable species that would be helpful for the insects, waterfowl and other animals that move through the area," Ivan Wirgau, quarry chemical quality analyst and environmental control manager, said. "It's quite prevalent out there and we want to get in and manage it, inventory it and treat it this fall."

He said that along with the Wildlife Habitat Council this project is a part of their public outreach.

"As a company we want people to know we are doing positive things for the environment because we care about it," Wirgau said.

The program with the campers is not all Lafarge is participating with.

"To continue to keep this program it is an ongoing thing so you have to continually update it with photographs and monitoring along with partners," Wirgau said.

He said another ongoing project is nesting boxes that are now being monitored in conjunction with Cornell University.

Wirgau and Vicki McCoy, who soon will be joining Lafarge as an environment/quality/chemical technician, joined the campers during their learning experience.

"They are getting their hands on. I always like to impress upon the education and work experiences. An all-encompassing experience," Wirgau said.

Rawlings led a 20 minute warmup lesson on mapping the phragmites and other invasive species before the campers began.

"Invasive species are aggressive and have some biological advances that allow them to take over an area and colonize rapidly and to really knock out our native species," Rawlings said.

The coastline is particularly important to target as it is a sensitive environment, she said.

The students interacted with Rawlings during the lesson. "People spread Purple Loosestrife because it was pretty and it would do well in gardens," said Battle Creek camper Caroline Rorhus.

Two Ph.D. students from the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University accompanied the campers, camp counselors and AmeriCorps volunteers.

Camp counselor and Harrisville High School senior Morgan Stewart said this is her second year involved with the camp but her first year as a counselor.

"I'm having fun but I think I like being a counselor better. I can see what they are getting out of it and I like the new perspective," Stewart said.

After the lesson on Wednesday, the campers divided into three groups and did all of the hands-on work while being observed.

After the two-hour mapping, the campers packed up the equipment with smiles on their faces and headed to camp for a well-earned lunch.

This is the first year that the campers have worked with invasive species, Plant Manager Allan Idalski said.

"We've had the 4-H camp from Chickagami on tours and fossil digs from many years. I've been doing the tour since I've been here since 2005 and I know it was going on before that," he said. "My vision is to engage and support the community surrounding us in any way, shape or form. At the end of the day these are our neighbors. I live 10 minutes from here and I want to be a good neighbor and so does Lafarge. We look to be that good neighbor and support."

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Information from: The Alpena News, http://bit.ly/1njQno6

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by The Alpena News.

HSBC reports 5.4 percent drop in 1st-half profits

LONDON -- Banking group HSBC says first-half profit fell 5.4 percent to $9.46 billion amid continuing concerns about economic growth around the world and rising geopolitical tensions.

Chairman Douglas Flint says that now is not the time to attempt to bolster revenues because world economies are still recovering from the 2008 economic crisis.

Flint told investors in a statement Monday that with "residual concerns over the sustainability of economic growth in many major markets and with heightened geopolitical tensions apparent, the board supported management's view that this was not the time to expand risk appetite to offset the effect of lower revenues."

HSBC Holdings PLC, which has operations in 74 countries, also says it is being challenged by increasing regulation.

Job fair set Tuesday in Vicksburg

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- A job fair Tuesday in Vicksburg will include almost 50 public and private sector employers.

The Vicksburg Post reports (http://bit.ly/1qxKnuU ) casinos, food service, health care and law enforcement are among companies and organizations that will participate in the session at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

The event starts at 9 a.m. Applications will be taken and some job offers made until 2 p.m.

The Governor's Job Fair Network of Mississippi organizes the fair. Officials say last year's event drew 1,100 applicants to meet with about 60 employers.

Wal-Mart's website to personalize shopping

NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart is making changes to its website to personalize the online shopping experience of each customer.

The company is rolling out a feature that will enable its website to show shoppers more products that they may like, based on their previous purchases. It also will customize Wal-Mart's home page based on where each shopper lives, showing local weather and events, as well as the customer's search and purchase histories.

So if a new mom just bought a stroller or crib on Walmart.com, the revamped website might recommend diapers and car seats, too.

The move to personalize websites for shoppers has become a top priority for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart as they play catch up with Amazon.com, which pioneered customizing content for shoppers.

Replant after wildfire or let nature take over?

GROVELAND, Calif. -- Nearly a year since a historic wildfire charred a huge swath of California's High Sierra, debate rages over what to do with millions of dead trees left in its wake: truck them to lumber mills or let nature to take its course?

One side argues that the blackened dead trees and new growth beneath them already sprouting to life create vital habitat for dwindling birds such as spotted owls and black-backed woodpeckers. Others say time is running out on a golden opportunity to salvage timber to pay for replanting and restoring the forest.

It's a classic standoff between environmentalists and supporters of the timber industry, which contends dead trees and brush pose a new fire hazard.

The U.S. Forest Service is expected to unveil its final decision in the coming weeks on how much of the land burned by the wildfire, known as the Rim Fire, can be logged.

"It's not always possible to please everybody," said Robert Bonnie, the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture's Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment. He oversees the Forest Service.

Bonnie declined to say how many trees the Forest Service will allow loggers to haul away in the plan being drafted, but he said the goal is to balance the forest's health with the needs of the local community. "We try and do our best with the science we have," he said.

The blaze ignited on Aug. 17, 2013, when a hunter lost control of his campfire. For two months, flames raced across 400 square miles of the Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite National Park's backcountry and private timber land. It ranks as California's third-largest wildfire and the largest in the Sierra Nevada's recorded history.

Loggers have already begun removing a small portion of dead trees along roads so motorists aren't hurt by falling timber. A much more aggressive logging project is under consideration, targeting nearly 50 square miles of forest land.

Environmentalists said they are alarmed by the prospect of logging.

"For us, post-fire logging is the last and worst thing you should ever do in a forest," said Chad Hanson, a forest ecologist and founder of the John Muir Project, an environmentalist group. "The scientific community is so strongly against this."

Intense fires create snag forests that are three times as rare as living, old-growth forests, he said. Wood-boring beetles lay eggs in the dead trees, spawning larvae that become food for the woodpeckers. Flowering plants and shrubs sprouting on the forest floor attract small, flying insects for bats and other animals that the spotted owl swoops in to eat, Hanson said.

Bird species have come back strongly in the burned areas that could be logged, Hanson said. In a recent visit, he pointed to conifer seedlings two to three inches tall sprouting up as a result of the fire. He worries that heavy logging tractors dragging out dead trees will destroy the seedlings.

Hanson questioned the Forest Service's motives for proposing logging. "When they call it a recovery effort, they're talking a recovery of revenue, not a recovery of the forest," he said.

The national forests are not wildlife preserves, countered Steve Brink of the California Forestry Association, who represents the timber industry. National forests are set aside for many uses, including timber production, he said.

Selling the trees will pay for restoring the forest, creating jobs in a region of California where logging once flourished, Brink said. Removing the burned trees will allow for the forests to be reopened more quickly for public use, he said, noting that the natural regeneration could take a century or two and, in the meantime, shrub brush would dominate.

The dead trees will fall across each other on top of the shrubs, creating prime fire conditions, said Brink, taking a position that environmentalists say has no scientific foundation.

The dead trees can be logged for about two years after a fire and then they disintegrate, losing value as timber, Brink said. He fears that environmentalists will file lawsuits to run out the clock if the Forest Service's decision doesn't suit them, he said.

In July, wildlife advocates sued the Forest Service, arguing that officials have failed to protect spotted owls and black-backed woodpeckers from logging of burned trees in other parts of the Sierra.

"They know if they can stall the process, the brush wins, deterioration will take over — and they win," Brink said.

Parts of Yosemite National Park backcountry that burned in the Rim Fire reopened in April with a warning that visitors should be careful of falling trees. The trees that fell across roads were removed, but logging is not allowed in the park, Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said.

Craig Pedro, the administrator of Tuolumne County, said he is worried about logging trucks flooding the roads and causing traffic hazards. But community leaders are united behind anything that brings the forest back to life sooner rather than later, Pedro said.

The local economy depends on people coming to fish in the streams, hunt deer and pick mushrooms, he said, adding that much of the forest is still closed with no end in sight.

Germany nixes Russia military simulator deal

BERLIN -- The German government has revoked permission for a company to deliver a field exercise simulator to the Russian military — permanently blocking a deal it had already put on ice.

The Economy Ministry said Monday that it had withdrawn defense and auto parts company Rheinmetall AG's export permit for the facility. The government put the deal on hold when Russia annexed Crimea in March.

The move goes beyond an arms embargo approved by the European Union last week that doesn't apply to existing contracts. German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has been critical of France's insistence on going ahead with the delivery of two warships to Russia.

Germany's government said in April that it wasn't authorizing any exports of military goods to Russia and 69 export applications were on hold.

State sells bonds to repay Isaac repairs

BATON ROUGE, La. -- State regulators say bonds to raise money to repay Entergy Corp. for repairs after Hurricane Isaac have been sold.

The slow-moving hurricane caused flooding throughout south Louisiana when it struck in August 2012.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/1uPddgZ) that about 787,000 Entergy customers in Louisiana, mostly in the New Orleans area, reported outages.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission says the sale of about $315 million in bonds that will be repaid through a surcharge on monthly bills of Entergy's roughly 1 million customers across the state.

As Ballot Deadline Looms, A Muddied Debate Over Colo. Fracking

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hide captionJust off Interstate Highway 25, Drill Rig 1548 of Encana Natural Gas stands near homes in the town of Frederick in Weld County, Colorado.

milehightraveler/iStockPhoto

Just off Interstate Highway 25, Drill Rig 1548 of Encana Natural Gas stands near homes in the town of Frederick in Weld County, Colorado.

milehightraveler/iStockPhoto

"Hello. Are you registered to vote in Colorado?"

It's a refrain many in the state have grown to loathe this summer – heard outside their favorite grocery store or shopping mall as signature gatherers race toward an August 4 deadline to put four energy-related measures on the November ballot.

With two of those measures backed by environmentalists, and the other two by industry-supported groups, all of the energy talk is leading to confusion among potential voters.

Among the hassled Colorado shoppers is Veronica Canto, a registered independent from Denver. On one day, she was approached by signature gatherers three separate times while visiting the downtown 16^th Street Mall.

"They come up and out of nowhere. You're like, uh, man," says Canto, who works in education and says she hasn't had a lot of time to research oil and gas development.

"The only reason I thought about fracking today, for like the two minutes after, maybe, they left, was because they had asked me," she says.

Gov. John Hickenlooper had hoped to pass legislation that would stave off some of the ballot measures, but those efforts stalled mid-July. And lately, many Coloradans who don't normally think about energy are being deluged with messages by groups with very different agendas.

Sometimes, voters don't know what the petition they're signing actually stands for.

"You have both sides of the fracking issue, and they're putting out their talking points and they're spending lots of money, trying to persuade the electorate to their views," explains Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University. "And all that conflicting information can really muddy the issue for voters."

A few blocks away on the 16^th Street Mall, signature gatherer Jessica Cerise is at work for the pro-environment group Coloradans for Safe and Clean Energy.

Fired up, Patrick Klimper signs her petitions - backing a measure that would increase setbacks between wells and homes from 500 to 2,000 feet, and a second one aimed at giving communities that ban fracking more legal protections in court.

"All I know is that we need to get rid of fracking, that's the big thing. I just think it's not great for the environment," he says.

So far voters in five Colorado communities have placed restrictions on fracking. But this July, a district court judge struck down one of those measures.

Inside a Denver high-rise office building, signature gatherer Telbe Storbeck talks to workers at the commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley.

Storbeck explains his measure is supported by an industry-backed group called Protecting Colorado. The measure he's promoting would prevent communities that ban fracking from accepting state oil and gas tax dollars.

"So it takes away that – so it's this fairness issue," he explains.

Most workers gathered in this conference room see their jobs in real estate linked to the energy industry – including Managing Director Steward Mosko.

"We're as close to being activists in these types of things as possible. We have to be because it affects our livelihood," he says.

Mosko signed the first initiative, and a second one that would require future ballot issues to have fiscal impact statements.

But back at the 16^th Street Mall, Canto says her interactions with signature gatherers were unhelpful.

"I would say that even reading the information that they had and having them speak to me – they're both just as confusing as each other," she says.

Canto says she hasn't made up her mind yet on the topic. She intends to weigh both sides of the issue, judging how it will affect her life. All she knows now is that she won't be turning to signature gatherers for help.

A Tax Bill Killed By The Push And Pull Of Politics On The Hill

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hide captionSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks to reporters after a Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol last Tuesday.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks to reporters after a Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol last Tuesday.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

A few months back, Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, brought a bill to the floor that basically offered tax incentives to businesses and individuals. Those incentives are called tax extenders.

They include big stuff and small stuff — tax breaks for wind farms, tax breaks for school teachers who buy their own supplies. Tax breaks for rum producers in Puerto Rico, people who make movies, race track owners, even some breaks for people who bike to work. In other words, something for every lawmaker to take home.

This should have been a slam dunk. And at first, it was. Ninety-six senators gathered in the chamber shortly after Wyden's speech and all voted in favor of moving the bill forward. But two days later this bill, with 96 out of 100 supporters, was stopped cold. To anyone watching, it might have looked like some special kind of insanity.

But Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow with the tax policy center at the Urban Institute, says look closer.

"This is all fairly well planned," he says. "This isn't World War I, where we kind of accidentally stumbled into a catastrophe."

He says he does understand how frustrating it is for Americans to watch this process: "It's either frustrating or amusing. If you actually watch this on C-Span and you don't get the joke, it has to be very frustrating."

That leads to things like a rally outside the Capitol on a recent afternoon of Republicans who were upset with Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid for not bringing House bills to a vote.

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hide captionIn this April 26, 2014, file photo, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, addresses a crowd during the Utah Republican Party nominating convention, in Sandy, Utah.

Rick Bowmer/AP

In this April 26, 2014, file photo, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, addresses a crowd during the Utah Republican Party nominating convention, in Sandy, Utah.

Rick Bowmer/AP

But underneath the seeming randomness of one day supporting a bill and the next day killing it, is a careful and precise game of politics, and neither party — on this bill or most others — knows for sure how it's going to play out.

For the tax extenders, the writing on the wall came several hours after that first vote when Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, essentially threw down the Obamacare card, bringing up the law's much-maligned tax on medical devices.

"And yet the leadership of this body won't allow it to be brought up free-standing or on some bill that has some chance of passage through both houses of Congress," Hatch said.

Hatch called for a vote on whether to scrap the medical device tax by putting it onto a bill that has some chance of passage, in this case, the tax extenders bill. Pressure from Republicans carried into the next day. Majority Leader Reid finally came to the floor and said he wouldn't do it.

Behind the scenes, staffers say Reid couldn't afford to let the medical device tax get a vote. He has several Democratic senators in tough re-election races in states with medical device companies. No contested Democrats wants to take a position on something like that in an election year. Reid had a choice to make and it was an easy one. His priority is to protect the Democratic majority in the Senate, even at the expense of a popular tax bill. Even at the expense of C-Span viewers shaking their heads at what could seem like kindergartners on a playground.

So, tax extenders died a quick death. But most people on the Hill say it will be back — just not until after elections.