President Barack Obama welcomes the Jackie Robinson West All Stars to the Oval Office, Nov. 6, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Earlier this afternoon, the Jackie Robinson West All Stars -- the U.S. champions in this year's Little League World Series -- stopped by the White House for a visit with the President and the First Lady.
Earlier this afternoon, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing for his heroic acts of bravery while serving as an artillery commander during the Civil War.
On July 3, 1863, Lieutenant Cushing went above and beyond the call of duty when fighting against Confederate forces. Even after being struck twice, he refused to abandon his command. As a result, his gallant efforts helped open wide gaps in the Union’s line of command.
The Medal of Honor is typically awarded within a few years of the action, but as the President noted, “sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the passage of time.” At today's ceremony, the President was joined by more than two dozen of Lieutenant Cushing's family members. Helen Loring Ensign, a cousin twice removed of the Lieutenant, accepted the award on his behalf.
BEIRUT: Eight Christian ministers refused Thursday to sign a draft law extending the Lebanese Parliament’s term, in a symbolic gesture that will not impede the controversial move.
The decision to not endorse the bill means it will pass by default in five days, making the extension of the legislature’s term a fait accompli, ministerial sources told The Daily Star.
“The draft law will go into effect Tuesday, when it is published in the Official Gazette, at the end of the five-day constitutional period which is usually granted to the president to endorse emergency legislation,” one of the sources said.
The Cabinet assumed the powers of the presidency in ratifying legislation after the end of former President Michel Sleiman’s term, with the condition that decrees have to be endorsed unanimously by ministers.
The president normally has five days to reject an emergency bill, otherwise it passes by default.
A total of nine ministers refused to endorse the decree, including those in Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc and the Kataeb Party, along with Minister of the Displaced Alice Shabtini, Sports Minister Abdul-Muttaleb al-Hinawi and Deputy Prime-Minister and Defense Samir Moqbel, who were appointed to the Cabinet as part of Sleiman’s share.
But once the draft bill is passed, it can be challenged, the sources added.
Aoun’s parliamentary bloc, which had boycotted the extension vote, said it would challenge the bill.
The European Union expressed its “regret” at the postponement of the parliamentary elections, calling for the swift passage of a new electoral law and the election of a president.
“The European Union regrets that Lebanese citizens will not be able to exercise their right to vote, and that elections will be postponed once again,” the EU mission in Lebanon said in a joint statement with the bloc’s top diplomats in the country. “The European Union calls on the government of Lebanon and all political parties to make best use of the extension, to speedily advance on a new electoral law as well as on other pressing legislation.”
In meetings Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri revealed fresh details of the new electoral law that would be debated by a committee chaired by him later this month.
Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying the draft law would stipulate that half of all MPs would be elected under a winner-takes-all system, while the other half would be elected using proportional representation.
Berri said the plan had been tabled by him in 2013 and was backed by MP Walid Jumblatt and therefore has broader potential backing.
He added that any new election law must adhere to the Taif Accord by adopting the governorate as an electoral district and should have a fixed female quota.
He also said legislative activity would continue in Parliament following the extension.
Discussions in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting also covered the contracts of mobile phone operators, oil prospecting tenders and progress in government efforts to free the captive Army and police personnel.
The sources said Prime Minister Tammam Salam briefed the Cabinet on progress in the bid to win the release of 27 servicemen who have been held by jihadist groups from Syria for more than three months.
Speaking after the end of the Cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige quoted the prime minister as saying that the hostage case “was difficult and complicated and that there was some progress, which we hope can reach positive results.”
The government also agreed to postpone discussions on the tender to manage and operate the two state-owned cellular networks.
BEIRUT: Eight Christian ministers refused Thursday to sign a draft law extending the Lebanese Parliament’s term, in a symbolic gesture that will not impede the controversial move.
The decision to not endorse the bill means it will pass by default in five days, making the extension of the legislature’s term a fait accompli, ministerial sources told The Daily Star.
“The draft law will go into effect Tuesday, when it is published in the Official Gazette, at the end of the five-day constitutional period which is usually granted to the president to endorse emergency legislation,” one of the sources said.
The Cabinet assumed the powers of the presidency in ratifying legislation after the end of former President Michel Sleiman’s term, with the condition that decrees have to be endorsed unanimously by ministers.
The president normally has five days to reject an emergency bill, otherwise it passes by default.
A total of nine ministers refused to endorse the decree, including those in Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc and the Kataeb Party, along with Minister of the Displaced Alice Shabtini, Sports Minister Abdul-Muttaleb al-Hinawi and Deputy Prime-Minister and Defense Samir Moqbel, who were appointed to the Cabinet as part of Sleiman’s share.
But once the draft bill is passed, it can be challenged, the sources added.
Aoun’s parliamentary bloc, which had boycotted the extension vote, said it would challenge the bill.
The European Union expressed its “regret” at the postponement of the parliamentary elections, calling for the swift passage of a new electoral law and the election of a president.
“The European Union regrets that Lebanese citizens will not be able to exercise their right to vote, and that elections will be postponed once again,” the EU mission in Lebanon said in a joint statement with the bloc’s top diplomats in the country. “The European Union calls on the government of Lebanon and all political parties to make best use of the extension, to speedily advance on a new electoral law as well as on other pressing legislation.”
In meetings Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri revealed fresh details of the new electoral law that would be debated by a committee chaired by him later this month.
Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying the draft law would stipulate that half of all MPs would be elected under a winner-takes-all system, while the other half would be elected using proportional representation.
Berri said the plan had been tabled by him in 2013 and was backed by MP Walid Jumblatt and therefore has broader potential backing.
He added that any new election law must adhere to the Taif Accord by adopting the governorate as an electoral district and should have a fixed female quota.
He also said legislative activity would continue in Parliament following the extension.
Discussions in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting also covered the contracts of mobile phone operators, oil prospecting tenders and progress in government efforts to free the captive Army and police personnel.
The sources said Prime Minister Tammam Salam briefed the Cabinet on progress in the bid to win the release of 27 servicemen who have been held by jihadist groups from Syria for more than three months.
Speaking after the end of the Cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige quoted the prime minister as saying that the hostage case “was difficult and complicated and that there was some progress, which we hope can reach positive results.”
The government also agreed to postpone discussions on the tender to manage and operate the two state-owned cellular networks.
BEIRUT: Israel and Islamist militants seek to ignite civil war in Lebanon, General Security head Abbas Ibrahim wrote in an editorial published Thursday, though he added that Lebanon’s victory was inevitable. “Independence Day arrives while Lebanon battles against the odds ... in an ordeal not destined to end until [Lebanon’s] inevitable victory in the battle for existence and identity in the face of organized terrorism is achieved,” Ibrahim said in the article for the November issue of General Security Magazine. Independence Day falls on Nov. 22.
He added that terrorist groups were seeking to strike at Lebanon through sparking sectarian strife, and set the stage for a civil war by targeting the military institution and other security agencies.
“Zionism is just as dangerous as takfiri terrorism,” he said.
Ibrahim said that takfiri groups – in a clear reference to ISIS and the Nusra Front – in addition to Israel, had similar objectives, and that each party “is trying to strengthen the other’s status.”
“It is no secret to anyone that their [Israelis and takfiris] relationship is overt and implicit,” he wrote.
Ibrahim reiterated that Israel and “takfiri” terrorism still posed the most dangerous threat to Lebanon, and added that confronting them was possible, as long as Lebanon freed itself from the “foreign actors that make some people depend on them directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally.”
Ibrahim highlighted that all Lebanese championed coexistence and moderation, which provided them with immunity against falling again into the trap of civil war.
Lebanon has been on the offensive against militants since ISIS and Nusra Front jihadists briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August. They are still holding 27 Lebanese soldiers and policemen.
The Lebanese Army cracked down on Islamist militants in and around the northern city of Tripoli last month.
The Army has arrested more than 300 militants across Lebanon in recent weeks.
Ibrahim said that the protection of Lebanon was the responsibility of all Lebanese.
“Military and security institutions are on the front lines and are in need of backing and a favorable environment, and here lies the role of the people,” Ibrahim wrote.
“The defenders of the nation are also in need of moral support that helps them to assume their patriotic duties during difficult circumstances with commitment,” Ibrahim said.
He wrote that cooperation between the Army and the people produced dynamism that was needed during difficult times.
BEIRUT: In a new sign of Hezbollah’s attempts at rapprochement, the party’s deputy chief Naim Qassem Thursday called on Lebanese political leaders to stand together to shield Lebanon from regional instability. “There is a great opportunity for Lebanon amid the political and security fire raging in the region, which, if seized by political leaders, will protect the country and serve the interests of all,” Qassem said, according to remarks provided by Hezbollah’s media office.
Qassem underscored the need to improve socio-economic and political conditions in impoverished north Lebanon, saying that the Army’s military operation in Tripoli last month had spared the area from the harassment of jihadists.
“It is the right of north Lebanon and its capital city, Tripoli ... to be relieved from the nuisance of jihadists,” Qassem said.
“Now that the Lebanese Army has succeeded in reinstating security, there must be a comprehensive resolution to all the political and social problems [in the north] in order to deprive opportunists of any possible pretext [to undermine security],” Qassem said.
Hezbollah’s moves toward rapprochement with political rivals, notably the Future Movement, came in the wake of the Army’s clampdown on Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist militants in Tripoli and other parts of north Lebanon in late October.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah earlier this week offered rare praise for the Future Movement for standing with the Lebanese Army against the militants in the north. Nasrallah also called for a new era of dialogue between political rivals and offered to cooperate with the Future Movement to protect Lebanon from regional turmoil.
Future Movement leader Saad Hariri has also expressed his readiness to cooperate with all political factions, including Hezbollah.
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army said it arrested 23 suspects including three Syrians with alleged links to terrorist groups and five gunmen over their involvement in last month’s clashes in Tripoli, as part of the military’s crackdown on terror suspects.
The Army said in a statement that it arrested Lebanese Ahmad Mahmoud Darwish in the village of Bhenin in the Minyeh-Dinnieh district over his involvement in gun attacks against its soldiers.
Soldiers also arrested Thursday in the Mhammara village of Akkar four Lebanese for shooting at Army personnel, according to another military statement. One of the men was in possession of a rifle, a hand grenade, ammunition and military gear.
The men are suspected of involvement in the October clashes between Lebanese troops and militants in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city.
Also Thursday, the Army said in a statement that it arrested three Syrians suspected of belonging to terrorist groups and 13 other Syrians for entering the country illegally. The arrests came during an Army raid on several locations in the Masnaat area, which also includes an official border crossing between Lebanon and Syria.
The Army said it arrested Mohammad Ghazi Ish, who was driving a motorcycle without legal papers, and Chadi Mahmoud Shami, who was accompanying him. It said they were suspected of tossing a stun grenade in Baddawi Thursday at dawn.
In Arsal, a soldier was wounded when two masked men opened fire at him while he was heading to his post.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s military prosecutor charged 17 Syrian militant suspects, including 12 already in custody, with involvement in August’s clashes with the Army and for belonging to ISIS and the Nusra Front, a judicial source said.
Judge Saqr Saqr charged the 17 with engaging in armed clashes with soldiers in the northeastern town of Arsal in August.
A week ago, Hezbollah issued a military alert in south Lebanon and Western Bekaa regions warning of a possible limited Israeli attack there that could pave the way for an offensive by jihadist groups based in the town of Shebaa and others coming in from southern Syria, a source familiar with the issue revealed.
For that reason, Hezbollah combat units were deployed in areas close to Khiam and Kfar Shuba, while members of a leftist party and Palestinian units from the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine’s General Command led by Palestinian Lt. Col. Riyad G. also spread out in Kfar Shuba.
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party also deployed in Mimas, while Hezbollah’s “Redwan” units were deployed in Mashghara, Sohmor, Yohmor, Qlaya and Zlaya.
Simultaneously, Hezbollah’s engineering units were working on setting up explosive-laden traps in case of an Israeli infiltration.
According to German intelligence security reports, Israel has recruited agents in Shebaa and Arqoub. A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Star that these agents are thought to be cooperating with terrorist cells related to takfiri organizations in the two Palestinian camps of Shatila and Burj al-Barajneh in Beirut.
The cells are composed of hundreds of militants who sneaked into Lebanon among Palestinian refugees from the Damascus camp of Yarmouk and are waiting to be given the green light to attack Hezbollah posts and institutions in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Attacks had been planned in Tripoli and Arsal, and there was even the possibility that Beirut might be attacked, according to the source. But the Lebanese Army succeeded in thwarting these plots, and remains completely ready to confront any extremists in whichever region.
The source said that Israel had allowed the militants to control the border crossing and other areas in Syria’s Qunaitra by helping them logistically and providing intelligence. Israel also permitted them to sneak toward southern Lebanese towns, with the support of extremist cells formed by Mossad in Arqoub towns and in Shebaa and Rashaya, according to the source. The members of these groups are reported to have entered Lebanon through the border crossings of Al-Ghajar and Syria’s Beit Jinn.
The United States apparently warned Israel not to start anything with Hezbollah after it emerged that the party had taken receipt of drones from Iran, according to the same source.
The party recently started to use the drones in Arsal and on its outskirts with great success in its fight against the Nusra Front and ISIS.
In the event of a confrontation breaking out between Hezbollah and Israel, it is likely the party’s fighters would manage to get further into Israel than the border settlements and perhaps even reach Tel Aviv, a Western intelligence source warned.
However, a Western diplomatic source in Beirut, commenting on the information, said he had ruled out an outbreak of chaos on Lebanese-Israeli borders.
Now that the Republicans control the House and Senate, they've got their eyes on the Affordable Care Act. Which parts will President Obama veto and which parts will he inevitably have to give up? Melissa Block talks to Mary Agnes Carey, a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News.
Melissa Block talks to New York Times reporter Coral Davenport about the impact of a GOP majority Congress on environmental policies.
House Speaker John Boehner will be a key player if the White House and the new Congress are going to get anything meaningful done.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Thursday. Boehner warned President Obama not to go it alone on immigration reform. Cliff Owen/AP hide caption
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Thursday. Boehner warned President Obama not to go it alone on immigration reform.
House Speaker John Boehner said approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline and the repeal key parts of Obamacare are among the Republicans' top priorities now that the GOP controls both houses of Congress.
"Obamacare is hurting our economy, it's hurting middle class workers and it's hurting the ability to create more jobs," Boehner said, adding that Republicans want to replace it with "common sense reforms."
Among those reforms, he said, would be eliminating the individual mandate that requires employers to provide health insurance for their employees.
Boehner said those changes to Obamacare would pass in the House but he wasn't sure if the Republicans in the Senate could surmount a 60-vote threshold to clear a filibuster.
He acknowledged that the president was unlikely to sign such changes, despite the election results.
"My job is to listen to the American public," he said. "And they've made it clear that they don't want Obamacare.
"The president said 'I listened to what happened on Tuesday.' I say 'really?'" the speaker said.
Boehner, facing reporters for his first post-election news conference, ticked off a list of items at or near the top of the GOP agenda. They also include: reducing the nation's debt, overhauling the tax code and reforming the legal and regulatory systems.
The speaker also warned that if President Obama takes unilateral action on immigration, he risks losing a revolt by GOP lawmakers and the possibility of a comprehensive deal.
"I believe if the president acts on his own, he risks poisoning the well," Boehner said. "If you play with matches, you will get burnt."
Boehner said immigration had been a "political football" for the past decade or so. "It's time to do something about it," he said.
The United States has allocated considerable resources to the Ebola response — more than any other country — but the President has made clear that we cannot take on this challenge alone. That’s why you’ve seen this Administration reach out to leaders across the globe to build an international coalition that has grown by the day. But beyond the important role that countries large and small play, we’ve been heartened to see the outpouring of support from the private and non-profit sectors.
Hundreds of millions of dollars from individuals, companies, and non-profits have complemented the more than $1.5 billion in contributions from countries around the globe. Just today, in fact, we learned of significant new commitments from two American technology companies: Google and Facebook.
Google today announced that both the company and the Larry Page Family Foundation will each make significant contributions to the Ebola response. For its part, Facebook will leverage the power of its 1.3 billion-strong global network to solicit donations for organizations on the front lines of this fight.
Beyond their monetary contributions, both companies are donating much-needed technology — from communications tools to medical supplies — to enable those on the front lines in the affected countries to mount a more effective response. Facebook’s announcement builds on prior Ebola contributions by the company and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel has dedicated his monthly salary to the Lebanese Army, the Al-Markazia news agency reported...
The trial of a top editor of Al-Jadeed for contempt of court was delayed to the spring of 2015, a judge at the Special...
Israel and Islamist militants are seeking to ignite civil war in Lebanon, General Security head Abbas Ibrahim said in...
BEIRUT: Police said Thursday that they arrested two men suspected of pickpocketing and impersonating security personnel in the district of Mount Lebanon.
Investigation into recent pickpocketing incidents in the area led to the arrest of two Lebanese men, both 23, the Internal Security Forces said in a statement.
A police unit chased the men who were on board a white Kia Rio and arrested them.
Police officers seized the Kia, which was used in the pickpocketing incidents, along with another vehicle that the two had also been used.
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BEIRUT: Israel and Islamist militants are seeking to ignite civil war in Lebanon, General Security head Abbas Ibrahim wrote in an editorial published Thursday.
"Independence Day arrives while Lebanon battles the odds ... in an ordeal not destined to end until [Lebanon’s] inevitable victory in the battle for existence and identity in the face of organized terrorism, which is seeking to ... strike at its elements of existence through inciting [sectarian] strife and setting the stage for a civil war by targeting the military institution and other security agencies,” Ibrahim said in the article for the November issue of General Security Magazine.
“Zionism is equally as dangerous [a threat] as takfiri terrorism,” he said.
Without naming them, Ibrahim said takfiri groups – clearly indicating ISIS and the Nusra Front – in addition to Israel have similar objectives, while each party “is trying to strengthen its status.”
“It is no secret to anyone that their [Israelis and takfiris] relationship is overt and implicit.”
He reiterated that Israel and “takfiri” terrorism still posed the most dangerous threat to Lebanon, adding that confronting them was possible if Lebanon freed itself from the “agendas that make some people depend on them directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally."
Lebanon has been on the offensive against militants since ISIS and Nusra Front jihadists briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August. As they retreated, the militants took more than 30 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage.
They are still holding most of the servicemen near the Lebanon-Syria border after having released seven and killed three.
The Lebanese Army also cracked down on Islamist militants in and around the northern city of Tripoli last month.
The Army has arrested more than 300 militants across Lebanon in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, President Obama addressed the nation regarding his party's defeat on Election Day. Obama isn't the first president to acknowledge he shares in responsibility for the loss.
President Obama congratulated Republican Senator Mitch McConnell on becoming the likely Senate majority leader. Obama and McConnell promised to look for ways to work together, despite differences.
The GOP takeover of the U.S. Senate was the big headline. But it also increased the number of state legislative chambers it controls, and added 3 new GOP governorships, bringing that total to 33.
Republicans will control both houses of Congress, giving energy firms allies on Capitol Hill. Among the issues lawmakers may take up: the Keystone XL pipeline and lifting the ban on crude exports.
President Obama and presumed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell talked about finding common ground, the day after Republicans won control of the Senate and picked up seats in the House.
Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell is in line to go from the Senate's minority leader to majority leader. He will have a majority smaller than the one Democrat Harry Reid has enjoyed.
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BEIRUT: The Future Movement is studying Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s call for dialogue in the wake of the presidential vacuum gripping Lebanon, MP Mohammad Hajjar said.
The Future bloc MP pointed to a recent initiative announced by Future Movement leader Saad Hariri that called for national talks on the presidential election.
“If this is what Nasrallah’s call [for dialogue] meant, then this corresponds with what we have said,” Hajjar said in remarks published Thursday by the local daily Al-Liwaa.
“But if the issue goes beyond that, then this is another issue that requires explanation,” he said.
In separate comments to a local radio station Thursday, Hajjar said Hariri has “stressed in his latest initiative the need to have a new head of state.”
Hariri, he added, also underlined the need “to launch national talks on the presidential election in light of the ongoing power vacuum.”
Commenting on Parliament’s extension till 2017, Hajjar said that the Future Movement has “tied the extension to the presidential election and to a new electoral law.”
Lawmakers Wednesday voted for Parliament’s extension by more than two and a half years.
Policital analysts told The Daily Star the extension will not help accelerate the election of a new president, an issue that largely depends on a Saudi-Iranian consensus which seems to be far-fetched, given renewed tensions between the two regional heavyweights.
They also predicted a prolonged deadlock as long as Riyadh and Tehran remained at loggerheads over a host of regional conflicts, namely in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
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HERMEL, Lebanon: Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded a Lebanese Army soldier Thursday in the northeastern border town of Arsal, security sources and the military said.
Security sources told The Daily Star Adjutant Ahmad Awdeh suffered gunshot wounds to the back in the 5:30 a.m. attack.
They said Awdeh had just left home heading for duty when two gunmen on a red dirt bike opened fire on him.
They said Awdeh was taken to Rayan hospital in Baalbek, some 35 kilometers from Arsal, where he is said to be in stable condition.
In related news, a man nicknamed Abu Madariss tossed a hand grenade only meters away from a Lebanese Army position in the Mankoubeen neighborhood of the northern city of Tripoli.
They said soldiers returned fire. No casualties were reported from the dawn attack, security sources said.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army said it arrested late Wednesday six Lebanese men and a Syrian for suspected links with terrorist organizations.
A military statement said the suspects had images of terrorists on their cell phones, in addition to conversations inciting attacks on the Army with orders to monitor Army patrol movement.
The Army has intensified its crackdown on militants across the country after soldiers have repeatedly come under attack in recent weeks.
There has been rising tension between Lebanon’s Sunni community and the Lebanese Army. While the Army says it is targeting terrorists, regardless of their sect, some Sunnis have criticized the military for only focusing on Sunni militants, while looking the other way at Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian war.
