Sudan expels two senior U.N. officials
Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, the world body said Thursday, in what appeared to be...
Friday, 26 December 2014
Hezbollah, Rai spar over presidential election
BEIRUT: Sharp differences emerged Friday during a meeting between a Hezbollah delegation and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai after the party said it was adamant on backing MP Michel Aoun for the presidency, rejecting any alternative candidate, according to Bkirki sources.
The Hezbollah delegation, led by the party’s Political Council chief Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, visited Bkirki, the Maronite patriarch’s seat, north of Beirut, to congratulate Rai on Christmas.
Sources in Bkirki described the meeting, which lasted one and a half hours, as “very important,” saying the talks were dominated by how to resolve the crisis that has left Lebanon without a president for more than seven months.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sayyed said Aoun, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, remained Hezbollah’s sole candidate for president.
“On the presidential election issue, we have announced that we back Gen. Michel Aoun’s candidacy for president,” Sayyed said. “We are convinced of Gen. Aoun’s personality, which is competent and capable of assuming such a responsibility at this time in particular when the Lebanese are facing big challenges and dangers.”
Asked if Hezbollah was ready to accept a compromise candidate to break the deadlock – with the party and its March 8 allies supporting Aoun and the March 14 coalition backing Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea for the presidency – Sayyed said: “Until now, our candidate for the presidency is Gen. Michel Aoun.”
In response to Hezbollah’s unyielding support for Aoun, Rai cited during the meeting three priorities which he said could help break the presidential deadlock: Either all candidates, including Aoun and Geagea, go down to Parliament to seek lawmakers’ support, or let Aoun and Geagea withdraw from the presidency race, or let the FPM and LF leaders agree on a consensus candidate, a source who participated in the Bkirki meeting told The Daily Star.
When Rai asked the Hezbollah delegation to try to convince Aoun to go down to Parliament for the election session, the delegation dithered, saying: “It is not ready to make any endeavor with Aoun unless he himself wanted to do it,” the source said.
Hezbollah’s response to Rai, according to the source, was: “As long as Gen. Aoun is a candidate for the presidency, we support him and we are not looking for another candidate.”
The boycott by Aoun’s bloc and Hezbollah and most its March 8 allies has been blamed for thwarting a quorum of 17 Parliament sessions to elect a president.
Aoun has offered recently to go to Parliament to face off against Geagea if the contest was confined to them only.
Rai recalled that he had met separately in the past few weeks with the four top Maronite leaders – Aoun, Geagea, Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Frangieh – in an attempt to reach an agreement to end the presidential stalemate.
“The patriarch called on Aoun to attend the voting session in Parliament because through voting only we can see the support he enjoys,” the source said.
Rai told the Hezbollah delegation that if Aoun won the votes of 57 to 60 lawmakers during the election session, he pledged to seek to obtain the votes of additional lawmakers in order to secure a majority for the FPM leader, the source added.
The meeting was also attended by Maronite Bishop Samir Mazloum and Hares Chehab, two members of a joint dialogue committee between Hezbollah and Bkirki.
Speaking to reporters, Sayyed also denied there was a break in Hezbollah’s ties with the Maronite Church following Rai’s controversial trip to the Holy Land in Jerusalem earlier this year.
“The relationship between us is bigger than to be cut. It is our responsibility to discuss and consult with each other even if we differed on a specific issue. God willing, we will not reach a boycott or a break in ties,” Sayyed said.
He added that he briefed Rai on the dialogue which kicked off this week between Hezbollah and the Future Movement in a bid to defuse sectarian tensions in the country fueled by the war in Syria.
Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said the time has come for the March 8 and March 14 parties to drop their presidential candidates in favor of a consensus candidate.
Machnouk, a leading figure in the Future Movement, said the dialogue with Hezbollah would not touch on divisive issues such as the party’s military intervention in Syria and the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“The dialogue will not be over the name of the president or the president’s political tendency. Rather, it will discuss the possibility of an agreement on a president who has a consensual character,” he said in an interview with Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel.
Machnouk along with Nader Hariri, chief of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s staff, and MP Samir Jisr represented the Future Movement during the first session of dialogue held at Speaker Nabih Berri’s residence in Ain al-Tineh Tuesday.
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Rifi promises to show true image of Tripoli
BEIRUT: Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi underlined the importance of Christian-Muslim coexistence in Tripoli during a tour he conducted Friday with a number of Christian religious figures to mark the occasion of Christmas.
“We are working together in coordination with Muslim-Christian spiritual figures in order to show the true image of Tripoli,” Rifi said following a meeting with Edward Daher, Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Tripoli and the north.
Rifi explained that Tripoli was regaining its status as the city of coexistence.
“We in Tripoli, we were raised as one family.
We grew up on the same streets, we lived in one building and unified schools and this confirms that we’re a united family that will not be divided by black clouds that overshadowed the city,” Rifi stressed after visiting the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
He added that the dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future movement, whose first round took place Tuesday, aims at decreasing tensions in Lebanon.
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Fliti: No response on hostage proposal yet
BEIRUT: The government has yet to respond to demands presented by jihadis in return for freeing 25 Lebanese servicemen held hostage, an unofficial mediator said Friday, while Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called for the government to end the captives’ ordeal at any cost.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Arsal’s deputy mayor Ahmad Fliti refused to give any details on the proposal he relayed to the government earlier this week.
Fliti was appointed by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour to negotiate the captives’ release with ISIS and the Nusra Front.
“I brought them this offer and we are still waiting for the government’s response,” he said.
Hussein Youssef, the spokesperson for the families of the kidnapped servicemen, was also tight-lipped on the proposal’s content.
“We hope that something positive will emerge in the coming few days,” he said.
“The issue is getting more complicated every time something is leaked to the media,” he added.
After receiving reassurances that the government would respond to the offer, the families reopened Tuesday a critical road downtown that they had blocked for more than two months.
The families said they have entered a “phase of silence” regarding developments in negotiations, noting that they have been asked by the government to keep all information from the media.
After meeting a delegation of the families Friday, Geagea said the government must find a solution to secure the release of captured servicemen at any cost.
“Whatever the cost, the approach, or the swap is, the government should find a solution for this case today, before tomorrow, because we have all become captives,” Geagea told reporters from his residence in Maarab, north Lebanon, where the meeting took place.
“The time has come for ending the captivity of the kidnapped and all of Lebanon,” he said.
A delegation from the hostages’ families have visited several officials in recent weeks as part of their efforts to help secure the release of their loved ones.
The 25 soldiers and policemen have been held since August, when militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front briefly invaded the northeastern town of Arsal.
The jihadi groups have demanded freeing Syrian and Lebanese Islamist prisoners in exchange for the release of the servicemen.
While most political parties have backed in principle a prisoner swap, some of them have reservations about the list of prisoners, including those held on terror charges.
On Thursday, the families visited Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri at his residence in Arsal.
A former mediator, Hujeiri secured the release of four soldiers and a policeman in August.
He promised the delegation to carry on with efforts to win the freedom of the remaining captives although he was not officially tasked to do so by the Nusra Front.
Hujeiri has also been credited with helping postpone the killing of several captive servicemen.BEIRUT: The government has yet to respond to demands presented by jihadis in return for freeing 25 Lebanese servicemen held hostage, an unofficial mediator said Friday, while Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called for the government to end the captives’ ordeal at any cost.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Arsal’s deputy mayor Ahmad Fliti refused to give any details on the proposal he relayed to the government earlier this week.
Fliti was appointed by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour to negotiate the captives’ release with ISIS and the Nusra Front.
“I brought them this offer and we are still waiting for the government’s response,” he said.
Hussein Youssef, the spokesperson for the families of the kidnapped servicemen, was also tight-lipped on the proposal’s content.
“We hope that something positive will emerge in the coming few days,” he said.
“The issue is getting more complicated every time something is leaked to the media,” he added.
After receiving reassurances that the government would respond to the offer, the families reopened Tuesday a critical road downtown that they had blocked for more than two months.
The families said they have entered a “phase of silence” regarding developments in negotiations, noting that they have been asked by the government to keep all information from the media.
After meeting a delegation of the families Friday, Geagea said the government must find a solution to secure the release of captured servicemen at any cost.
“Whatever the cost, the approach, or the swap is, the government should find a solution for this case today, before tomorrow, because we have all become captives,” Geagea told reporters from his residence in Maarab, north Lebanon, where the meeting took place.
“The time has come for ending the captivity of the kidnapped and all of Lebanon,” he said.
A delegation from the hostages’ families have visited several officials in recent weeks as part of their efforts to help secure the release of their loved ones.
The 25 soldiers and policemen have been held since August, when militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front briefly invaded the northeastern town of Arsal.
The jihadi groups have demanded freeing Syrian and Lebanese Islamist prisoners in exchange for the release of the servicemen.
While most political parties have backed in principle a prisoner swap, some of them have reservations about the list of prisoners, including those held on terror charges.
On Thursday, the families visited Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri at his residence in Arsal.
A former mediator, Hujeiri secured the release of four soldiers and a policeman in August.
He promised the delegation to carry on with efforts to win the freedom of the remaining captives although he was not officially tasked to do so by the Nusra Front.
Hujeiri has also been credited with helping postpone the killing of several captive servicemen.
Presidential election ruled out for foreseeable future
Despite the latest flurry of political activity by foreign officials who visited Beirut earlier this month in a bid to help break the 7-month-old presidential deadlock, all indications from diplomatic circles in Lebanon suggest that no president will be elected for the foreseeable future because the issue is linked to regional developments, according to ministerial sources.
“Holding the presidential election any time from now until next spring seems to be difficult,” said a Lebanese minister who plays a prominent role within the movement to which he belongs. “Conducting the polls in 2015 is possible, but regional developments definitely hold the key to the presidency.”
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani was the most recent foreign official to visit Beirut. His visit last week followed trips by French, Russian, British and European Union officials who held talks on the presidential crisis.
Although long-awaited talks between the Future Movement and Hezbollah kicked off this week, raising hopes for easing sectarian tensions in the country, this optimism cannot conceal worrisome scenarios that await Lebanon in the next stage, especially since the two rival parties are linking their internal political decisions to a host of regional factors.
Observers in Washington following up on the Lebanon file have voiced fears that the Future-Hezbollah talks might not conclude with a happy ending.
They say the dialogue is merely an attempt by the Lebanese parties to fill the vacuum and kill time until regional and international solutions among influential powers ripen in the coming months,
Lebanese visitors to the U.S. capital quoted these people as saying that the exaggerated talk about a thaw in strained Saudi-Iranian ties is not based on facts, while the situation on the ground in more than one region suggest that matters have yet to reach a point where one can speak about imposing conditions or concluding compromises reflecting the regional balance of power.
The same sources say Larijani’s trips to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were viewed only as “a morale booster” for Iran’s allies in the region, especially as there are political, security and military developments pointing to imminent strategic changes in favor of redrawing the lines of regional confrontation.
Russia and Iran, key allies of Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad, do not seem to be on the same wavelength with regard to a solution to the Syrian crisis and Assad’s fate, the sources said.
Meanwhile, priority is still given to the election of a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25, if state institutions in Lebanon are to function properly.
The views of Lebanese and Arab visitors to the Vatican conformed to a large extent with Vatican officials’ vision on the Lebanese presidential vote and the role of the Christians in this respect, The Daily Star has learned.
A veteran diplomat in Paris said that the highest echelon in the Vatican’s circles did not hesitate to express to visitors who inquire about the presidential polls its ire with Lebanese politicians, particularly the Christians, for failing to assume their national responsibilities by electing a new head of state.
In the view of these Vatican circles, if it is not possible to fulfill some personal [presidential] aspirations, Christian parties must at least agree on a consensus candidate instead of each party standing its ground, thus prolonging the obstruction [of the presidential vote], the diplomat said.
He added that the Vatican, which was closely watching the international efforts to set the stage for holding the presidential election on the basis of consensus, had told French presidential envoy Jean-François Girault before he visited Iran and Lebanon that it was ready to accompany the French moves with practical steps but only after Girault had won a pledge from Tehran to support the election of a consensus president.
According to political sources, a senior Lebanese official who participated in international meetings held in New York heard a high-ranking Vatican official respond to a question about the Vatican’s reluctance to exert pressure on the Christian parties over the presidential vote by saying, “We have assigned the mission to Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, who takes the appropriate stance because he is familiar with all details, is in contact with Christian leaders and acts under direct instructions from the Vatican.”
That explains Rai’s tough stance on the presidential election deadlock which is based on the strength of the Vatican’s authorization.
Lebanese Army kills three gunmen on Syria border
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Neither Geagea nor Aoun can be president: Machnouk
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Zahle municipality revokes permit for controversial cement factory
BEIRUT: The controversial cement factory being built in Zahle by the brother of MP Nicolas Fattoush will most probably not be completed, the city's mayor told The Daily Star Friday, saying that the municipality has revoked its construction permit after a public outcry against the project.
“We made the decision to revoke the permit a week ago, and we have notified all the relevant authorities,” Zahle Mayor Joseph Maalouf told The Daily Star.
The original decision to allow for the construction of the cement factory owned by businessman Pierre Fattoush was made on Oct. 31. But local citizens and influential politicians have since put pressure on the municipality to revoke its decision over environmental and health concerns.
The mayor said that his decision to revoke the permit has reached Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan, who has a final say on the matter.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea had warned Friday the Fattoush family against building the factory, saying the project would have a severely negative effect on the health of Zahle’s residents.
Geagea called on Hajj Hasan to revoke the license and stop the plan.
Zahle’s officials and lcoal leaders also expressed their opposition to the project Friday.
Former Zahle MP Elias Skaff, who is Nicolas Fattoush’s political rival, is also against the construction of the factory, and held a demonstration last week against the plan.
In a statement released Friday, Skaff thanked those who came out to the protest, and made special mention of Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, who he said helped organize the event.
The controversial project started out as a local issue but received national attention about two weeks ago when more than a dozen gunmen loyal to Pierre Fattoush assaulted an Al-Jadeed reporter and a cameraman as they were wrapping up a report about the plant.
On Friday, Al-Jadeed reported that one of the attackers was also behind the shooting of a man from the area of Shmestar, near Zahle.
The report said the attacker, from the Khouri family, was one of three people who shot a man in his testicles and then kicked him after he fell to the floor.
The victim is currently being hospitalized at AUBMC, and his condition is “extremely risky,” the report said.
The Year in Review: The Top Ten Moments with Vice President Biden
2014 is coming to a close, and, looking back, it’s certainly been a busy year for Vice President Joe Biden -- both online and off.
So this year, we thought we’d share some of our favorite digital moments with the Vice President from 2014. From starting an official Instagram account to posting his first White House selfie with President Obama, here in no particular order are 10 of the best moments from 2014 -- and, of course, stay tuned for more to come in the new year.
1. Being Biden: The Vice President meets a powerlifter.
State sovereignty key to economic prosperity: Siniora
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Lebanon's anti-Christmas sheikh sparks online ridicule
BEIRUT: A statement released by a south Lebanon sheikh urging Muslims not to observe Christmas celebrations has sparked an avalanche of online ridicule.
Sheikh Husssam al-Ilani called on Muslims Thursday to understand that Christmas and New Year’s Eve are exclusively Christian holidays, urging Muslim parents not to buy their children Christmas gifts.
The sheikh said the Muslims erecting Christmas trees were making a “mistake,” and that their actions were not helping achieve national unity.
Hundreds of Internet users responded to the Sidon sheikh's message with a mix of sarcasm and anger.
"There is a place for people like this Sheikh. Its called Islamic State AKA Hell," wrote one Twitter user with the handle @rizkrawad.
“This article is hilarious,” Hrag Vartanian wrote on The Daily Star Facebook page under the posted story. “I kind of want to send the imam a Xmas present. I just might ...”
Most Muslim users said the sheikh did not represent their views, with many urging him to leave the country.
“I am from the south of Lebanon, this person or mad man does not define us,” wrote Fadia Hammoud. “Since my youngest age we celebrate xmass and easter and I still do with my kids.”
Another Facebook commenter, Sami Taleb, wrote, “This Muslim tells the Shaikh: Lighten up!” referring to himself.
Christian users also slammed Ilani’s message, accusing him of trying to create divisions. Several people said his call would be like a priest asking Christians not to enjoy an iftar meal with their Muslim friends during Ramadan.
“We have always celebrated holidays together Mr Sheikh, and this is what makes us proud as Lebanese, if you dislike it, just move elsewhere,” Charles Manih wrote.
Joe Challita echoed Manih's statement, saying all his Muslim friends have Christmas trees and celebrate Christmas.
“That’s what makes Lebanon unique through our coexistence, open mindedness and the democracy to do as you wish!”
For some, the sheikh's words were not surprising.
“Yea that's why I left religion, cuz of people like you,” Fatima Sadek said in response to someone defending Ilani. “Seriously you leave all the problems of the world and you focus on the silliest of things."
“This sheikh can leave the country if he does not like how people celebrate the holidays.”
Lebanon Army commander, MP Aoun meet in apparent mending of ties
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Lebanon minister optimistic over winter tourism
BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Michel Pharoun appeared cautiously optimistic about holiday season tourism, saying airport traffic was acceptable, and noting an increase in the number of travelers compared to 2013.
“Tourism is acceptable during the holiday season and there is a 10 to 20 percent increase compared to last year,” Pharoun said during a tour of Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.
While hoping for snowfall this year to invigorate winter tourism, the minister said he expected more tourists from various nationalities to come to Lebanon for the holiday season.
He noted that there was a large number of Egyptian, Jordanian, Iraqi and European tourists, as well as visitors from the Gulf.
Lebanon’s tourism sector, which accounts for around 20 percent of the country’s GDP, has been hit hard since the outbreak of the neighboring Syria crisis, especially after a spate of Syria-related car bombings rocked the country last year and earlier this year. Border clashes, cross-border rocket attacks and internal political deadlocks also affected tourism.
“Despite the inability to elect a new president, the government is doing what it can. ... Political dialogue between Future and Hezbollah led to political stability,” he said, adding that security forces including the Lebanese Army on the border were working to strengthen security.
While inspecting the tourist center at the airport, Pharoun said it should expand its services to better accommodate the increasing number of travelers.
“When we talk about stability and securing the airport road, we should also discuss the need to expand services at the airport after the number of travelers exceeded 6 million, which is the original capacity,” he said.
“We also need to bring down the ticket prices after fuel prices had declined by 40 percent,” said Pharoun, who also toured shopping centers in Beirut, Kesrouan, Metn and Jbeil.
The minister also spoke about the food safety scandal that has sent shock waves across the country, saying the issue should be dealt with starting at the airport.
“The issue of food safety starts at the airport, the port, the farms and traders and then restaurants that we consider are performing well in this regard,” he said.
Pharoun was among those who criticized Health Minister Wael Abu Faour for publicly naming and shaming restaurants serving contaminated food, arguing that such a move could serve a blow to the country’s tourism sector.
Abu Faour has said that such claims are baseless.
Hollywood's Acceptance Of White Privilege Revealed By Sony Hack
Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman. Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman.
Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
It is, perhaps, the worst nightmare for those of us constantly trying to get a white dominated Hollywood to widen its doors of opportunity for people of color: all those executives who say the right things in public and give to the right causes, just might think something much less admirable about diversity behind closed doors.
This seems the surface lesson of the emails unearthed by hackers into Sony's computer records. I haven't seen the stolen emails or any of the other data hacked from Sony's computers. My thoughts are based on what I've read and heard about emails whose content Sony has not disputed.
And many of those reports detail racially insensitive — okay, Shonda Rhimes, you're right — let's just call them racist — jokes between studio executive Amy Pascal and movie producer Scott Rudin. Their reported emails read like they were cribbed from an old Larry Sanders Show episode, with the pair sounding like caricatures of clueless, racially oblivious fat cats.
Small wonder Pascal reached out to the media's highest-profile advocates on issues involving racism, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson "to discuss a healing process," as she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Rev. Al Sharpton, left, and Marc Morial president of the National Urban League, speak to reporters after they met with Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, on Dec. 18. Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Mark Lennihan/AP
Rev. Al Sharpton, left, and Marc Morial president of the National Urban League, speak to reporters after they met with Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, on Dec. 18.
Mark Lennihan/AP
After meeting with Pascal, Sharpton said, "The climate and environment of Hollywood only confirms the type of language that was used in those emails." At a post-meeting press conference, a coalition of civil rights groups pledged to work with her and Sony. Sharpton also tweeted that the emails "show a cultural blindness," though he didn't call for Pascal to step down.
What these emails really reveal is how little Hollywood is willing to challenge the basic structures, practices and thinking which make it such a white-dominated industry. This seems to happen even when there's evidence that breaking down those walls will actually make better films and more money.
Consider the Golden Globe award nominees. Last year, thanks to films like 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Captain Phillips and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, there were a wealth of non-white actors, actresses, directors and screenwriters nominated for top awards in film.
This year, there are eight non-white Golden Globe nominees in major acting and directing categories across TV and movies. Films prominently featuring black people like Belle, Beyond the Lights, Top 5 and Dear White People were overlooked; Selma, the feature film on Martin Luther King Jr., got two of the three nominations for non-white people in film.
It's as if the lessons of last year — where diverse casts, writers and directors produced some of the most exciting work of the season — went unheeded when studio big shots like Pascal and Rudin were deciding what gets made and doesn't in 2014. (In a year where Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in both Belle and Beyond the Lights, how she didn't get nominated for something is beyond me.)
In the Globes' television nominees, there is even less excuse. ABC's Black-ish garnered a load of rave reviews and good ratings, but was shut out of the Globes nominations. There were two well-deserved nominations for The CW's Jane the Virgin, a Latino-centered comedy that was also well-reviewed and beloved by critics. But the absence of Black-ish left a sense that only one minority-centered comedy could make the cut, despite the fact that both shows were among the fall's best new comedies.
Viola Davis snagged a Globe nomination as TV's best dramatic actress for her role on ABC's How to Get Away With Murder. Last year, Kerry Washington was nominated for her work on ABC's Scandal; Washington's lack of nomination this year also leads to questions about whether only one black woman can nab such an honor in a given year.
It all reminds me of something I noticed when The Hollywood Reporter featured a powerful essay from comic Chris Rock on how white people and white culture dominate Hollywood. It was published in the run up to the release of Rock's film, Top Five.
He talks about how Los Angeles is filled with Latinos but somehow none of them wind up in powerful positions at Hollywood studios; how black comic Kevin Hart is pressured to cross over, even though he draws more than ten times the audience of white Daily Show host Jon Stewart at standup concerts; and how black women almost never get meaningful roles in non-black oriented films.
But in the same issue, there is a roundtable of six actors from films which the magazine thinks will contend for an Oscar. All of them are white. Weeks earlier, the magazine had a roundtable with seven actresses from similarly well-regarded films. All of them were white, despite powerful performances in films mentioned above, like Selma and Beyond the Lights, Belle, Black or White, Dear White People and even Annie.
When I asked The Hollywood Reporter editor Janice Min about this, she said the films this year with non-white stars either weren't considered serious Oscar contenders or, like Selma, weren't available for screening when the magazine made its roundtable choices.
Last year, the magazine had similar a roundtable including three non-white actresses. But because they couldn't stretch their rules to consider the one film featuring black people which has serious awards season buzz, they missed out on including Golden Globe nominee David Oyelowo, star of Selma, in their actor panel.
Clockwise from far left, Patricia Arquette, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Amy Adams, Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore and Hilary Swank on November 28 cover of The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter hide caption
itoggle caption The Hollywood Reporter
This seems a prime example of how even institutions that take a close look at Hollywood's issues with race can also reinforce those problems by sticking with old habits and established practices.
Pascal has pushed back against those who suggest the leaked emails should cost her the chairman's job at Sony, saying the messages "are not an accurate reflection of who I am."
I believe her. But I also believe these messages are an accurate reflection of Hollywood's attitudes about diversity, where assumptions are made without proof and even the president can find himself at the butt end of a racist joke between the most powerful people in town.
The best way bigshots like Pascal and Rudin can prove they aren't the people depicted in these emails is to challenge the status quo and insist on results. Break down any rule or practice that hinders bringing more diversity to executive suites, producing and directing ranks, and casting offices.
Yes, there are some people of color who are doing well in Hollywood, particularly Latino filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Inarritu, Jorge Gutierrez and Alfonso Cuaron. But they still seem like notable exceptions.
It's time to ensure that the meeting with Sharpton isn't job-saving window dressing, but a real step toward making Hollywood's releases look more like America.
Because, frankly, if they had been doing a great job breaking down barriers in the first place, then Pascal wouldn't have to call Sharpton and Jackson to assure the world she's not a racist.
Want To Solve The World's Most Heated Disagreements? Bring Your Wallet
A woman shouts slogans as she attends a pro-Palestinian rally July 25 in Berlin. About 1,200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Berlin amid high tensions over Israel's actions in Gaza, while some 700 protesters took part in two counter-demonstrations. Markus Schreiber/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Markus Schreiber/AP
A woman shouts slogans as she attends a pro-Palestinian rally July 25 in Berlin. About 1,200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Berlin amid high tensions over Israel's actions in Gaza, while some 700 protesters took part in two counter-demonstrations.
Markus Schreiber/AP
Pro-Israel demonstrators shout slogans July 25 while protesting against a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin. About 1,200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Berlin amid high tensions over Israel's actions in Gaza, while some 700 protesters took part in two counter-demonstrations. Markus Schreiber/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Markus Schreiber/AP
Pro-Israel demonstrators shout slogans July 25 while protesting against a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin. About 1,200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Berlin amid high tensions over Israel's actions in Gaza, while some 700 protesters took part in two counter-demonstrations.
Markus Schreiber/AP
Conflict between Palestinians and Israelis or Republicans and Democrats appears intractable in part because of one fundamental bias: We misunderstand the other group's motives.
When Republicans attack Democrats, Democrats think they're motivated by hate, but Republicans believe they're motivated by love and "in-group" loyalty. And vice versa, of course.
Everybody and everything has a price — including empathy. That's according to a study published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this year.
The research explains why negotiation and compromise sometimes is so difficult, but the also shows that simply getting paid can make people more empathetic.
By rewarding accuracy with cash, "people think more carefully and critically about their beliefs" and come to different conclusions, says study co-author Jeremy Ginges, an assistant professor of psychology at The New School.
While financial incentives could be seen as inappropriate or even "insulting" in some contexts, the idea that creative interventions can change bias, improve both parties' willingness to negotiate and encourage optimism for good outcomes is a very significant finding, says Ginges.
To identify the bias the study surveyed 661 Democrats and Republicans in the United States, and 995 Israelis and 1,266 Palestinians. The latter study asked participants:
Do Israelis bomb Gaza because of:
a) love for Israel, or
b) hate for Palestinians?
The vast majority of Palestinians believe the latter — on a scale of 1 to 4, where 4 is "certainly yes," they registered 3.38, on average. At the same time, Palestinians believe the central motivation for rocket attacks on Israel was a love of Palestine (3.34). Results for Israelis on the questions went strongly the other way, and U.S. Republicans and Democrats felt similarly about the motivations of their own group and their opponents.
But what to do? First, Ginges and co-authors Adam Waytz and Liane Young tried a soft push: They asked Republicans and Democrats to put themselves in the other's shoes. That had no effect, says Ginges. But when offered $12 for being more accurate, righties and lefties alike took a look in the mirror and found empathy. The bias was flipped on its head — subjects were more likely to think the other group was motivated by "in-group" love rather than "out-group" hate.
So throwing money at intractable disagreements works?
Other studies give a cautious "yes." While this study may be the first to test financial incentives on conflict-motivation bias, it's not the first to measure how cash rewards affect empathy. After showing that women were more empathetic, a University of Oregon study published in 2001 was able to even the playing field by offering both men and women monetary rewards. So, men just need more incentive to empathize.
Naturally, further research is needed: "We want to identify which incentives work best and when," says Ginges.
Offering your spacey boyfriend money to listen to you, paying senators to compromise or compensating Palestinians and Israelis for coming to the negotiating table may sound crass — but it might work where nothing else has.
Ain al-Hilweh security force hands suspected pharmacy robbers to Army
SIDON, Lebanon: A gang of suspected thieves alleged to be behind a pharmacy robbery in the southern city of Sidon earlier this week has been detained by the elite Palestinian security force in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp and handed over to the Lebanese Army.
The military intelligence now holds the four fugitives, who were identified as Syrian nationals Samir Ahmad, Bashir Ahmad and Mohammad Abbousi, and Lebanese national Abdel-Rahman Sheghri.
“Those fugitives or robbers cannot mess with the camp’s security or the security of the surroundings,” Maj. Gen. Sobhi Abu Arab, the head of the Higher Palestinian Security Committee that governs the elite security force, said after transferring the suspects to the Army Friday.
The elite forces’ chief Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Shayeb was also present for the transfer, which was performed at an Army checkpoint near the upper entrance to the camp.
“One of the robbers had escaped into the camp while he originally lived outside it. We arrested him and brought the second from the nearby Taamir neighborhood into the camp for interrogation,” he said. “We coordinated with the Lebanese Army Intelligence at every step.”
An amount of money and a quantity of drugs that were found with on the suspects were also submitted to the military.
The elite force has been responsible for the Palestinian camp’s security since July 2014, and combines representatives of all factions.
It was formed to end the clashes and tensions that had erupted frequently between different armed groups, and to end instability in an area where Lebanese security forces are not present.
Shayeb said his forces regularly “arrest, interrogate and punish” criminals in the camp, but this case needed to be handed over to the Lebanese authorities because it included an assault on an off-camp establishment.
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Lebanon to impose night-time motorcycle ban across the country
BEIRUT: Lebanon will begin enforcing a night-time ban on motorcycles across the country at the start of the new year, the Interior Ministry announced Friday, citing security concerns.
A ministry statement said that bikers will be forbidden from riding between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. every day to avoid security incidents. The decision will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.
Motorcycles will remain banned in Sidon all times of the day, the statement added, in line with a years-old ban in the southern city.
The ministry had issued a similar decision in June which was limited to Beirut, but the curfew was never imposed.
The decree announced Friday states that motorcycles belonging to any government institution or diplomatic delegation are exempt from the ban. It also allows bikers working for certain private companies, restaurants, media, photographers and paper distribution companies to ride at night, as long as they carry their credentials.
For those who do not fit under any of those categories, the ministry could issue special permits for them if they file a report proving that they require one.
The decree may spark a new round of protests by bikers who complained earlier this year that the state was infringing upon their right to ride, and rejected the notion that motorcycle riders were responsible for crime.
In 2009, then-Interior Minister Ziad Baroud issued a decree banning all motorcycles from riding in Beirut and its suburbs between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m., unless they held a state-issued permit to justify their need to use a bike after the curfew.
His decision came after a group of men on bikes stabbed to death one person and injured four others in the Beirut suburb of Ain al-Rummaneh.
However, in 2011 Ziad’s successor Marwan Charbel changed the law, allowing anyone to secure a permit to ride at any time of the day.
That decision was then scrapped altogether two years later, allowing anyone to ride at any time of the day without a permit.
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Geagea warns Fattoush against constructing Zahle cement plant
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea Friday warned businessman Pierre Fattoush, brother of MP Nicolas Fattoush, against building a cement plant in the eastern city of Zahle, saying the factory would pose a danger to public health.
“The plant will undoubtedly pose a significant threat to the city and its environs both at the environmental and health levels with the incidence of cancer and pulmonary diseases possibly to increase,” Geagea told a news conference.
“The entry of a large number of trucks each day could also lead to pollution in the city,” he stressed.
Geagea threw his weight behind Zahle residents who have voiced their opposition to the construction of the plant.
The LF leader urged Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan to withdraw the license for building the plant.
“Pierre Fattoush’s project has adverse health effects and Zahle residents are against it and we cannot but stand with them.”
“We have heard threats,” Geagea said. “I hope those issuing threats would stop doing so and remain within the law.”
Less than two weeks ago, more than a dozen gunmen loyal to Pierre Fattoush assaulted an Al-Jadeed reporter and a cameraman as they were wrapping up a report about the controversial plant.
The project has been criticized by Zahle residents as well as local officials, including former Zahle MP Elias Skaff, Nicolas Fattoush's key political foe.
Geagea said the LF has formed a “legal team” to challenge the plant's construction, adding that a civil body drawn from locals from Zahle would also be established to “to initiate popular action.”
“We will not stop until the project stops and I will hold contacts to facilitate halting the project,” Geagea promised.
Lebanese Army kills 2 gunmen on Syria border
Eight injured in Sidon car crash
Eight people were injured Thursday when a van collided with a car at a main intersection in the southern city of Sidon.
Most Federal Workers Get Day After Christmas Off
Thanks to an executive order signed by President Obama, most federal workers are also off on Friday. The cost for the extra day off is $660 million.
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A Split View On Obamacare's Past And Future
Kevin Counihan (left) runs HealthCare.gov, and Michael Cannon, of the Cato Institute, is a prominent critic of Obamacare. Courtesy of Chion Wolf/WNPR; Courtesy of the Cato Institute hide caption
itoggle caption Courtesy of Chion Wolf/WNPR; Courtesy of the Cato Institute
Kevin Counihan (left) runs HealthCare.gov, and Michael Cannon, of the Cato Institute, is a prominent critic of Obamacare.
Courtesy of Chion Wolf/WNPR; Courtesy of the Cato Institute
Kevin Counihan and Michael Cannon look at the Affordable Care Act and see very different things.
Cannon is part of the brain trust behind a Supreme Court case that could result in the repeal of a part of the exchanges he says is illegal.
Counihan's job is to make the exchanges work.
Millions of people got insurance through the exchanges since they went into operation in October of 2013 (millions also got coverage through Medicaid). But the year ended with doubt. Republicans, largely opposed to the Affordable Care Act, won both houses of Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear a case that could derail the exchanges altogether.
Counihan
Kevin Counihan began 2014 running Connecticut's health exchange, one of the most successful state. He was tapped in August to leave Connecticut and run the federal insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov. He says that serving consumers is a top priority. The good news for him is that bar is pretty low. At its launch in 2013, HealthCare.gov began by failing. Now, things are looking up.
"A year ago, when somebody would come on HealthCare.gov they would have to walk through 76 screens in order to complete their application. That's been reduced now to 16," says Counihan.
He points to other successes, too. There are more insurers in the marketplace. People renewing could have a fairly easy time of it, since their applications have 90 percent of their information already entered. And millions of people got in touch before Dec. 15, which was the deadline for those who wanted coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
"We had an extraordinary weekend," says Counihan, referring to Dec. 13 and 14. Call centers fielded 1.6 million calls, he said with over 1 million calls on Dec. 15. "And the next day, that Tuesday, the 16th, at our morning stand-up meeting, the first thing we asked was, 'What are the service issues?' No consumers had called in with service issues," he says.
Counihan says he hasn't had time to worry about the broader existential threats to the Affordable Care Act. He's just focused on making it run.
"The basic premise is that having more people insured than fewer is better for both the people and the country because it provides the best way to improve people's lives and also to better control health care costs," he says. "I think it could be described really as probably the most significant social program in 50 years — since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid."
Cannon
That's one way of looking at it. Here's another, from Cannon: "It's amazing what you can accomplish when you're willing to break the law."
Cannon is the director of health policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute and has long opposed the Affordable Care Act.
As he sees it, the Obamacare train may be running on time, but it never should have left the station to begin with. He says the subsidies are only meant for state-based exchanges. Meaning, the subsidies the government is paying to consumers who buy their insurance through HealthCare.gov are not in the law. By paying those subsidies, he says, Obama is breaking that law.
Cannon concedes that millions of people have gotten subsidies. And there's no avoiding the fact that the exchanges are up and running, and there are more insurers in the market creating competition. But he says it's all flawed.
"None of this would have happened if not for those illegal subsidies the president is offering in the 36 states with federal exchanges. There would be no exchanges, there would be no competition, there would be no insurers participating. None of this would have happened if the president were following the law. There would be no successes if the president had followed the law."
Cannon has spent the last few years arguing that the subsidies are a problem. Soon the Supreme Court will hear the case.
"By mid 2015, the Supreme Court could rule that the administration has been breaking the law and, at that point, some five million people who the administration has enrolled in health insurance through HealthCare.gov will see their premiums quadruple, see their tax liabilities increase by thousands, they could see their plans disappear," he says.
While that may be disruptive, Cannon says it wouldn't be nearly as bad as letting the subsidies continue. That, he says, would give Obama and all future presidents permission to govern beyond the limits of the law.
But Cannon cautions against getting too caught up in how the justices will rule. Even if Obama wins the legal argument, with Republicans in charge of Congress, the political fights will continue.
This story is part of a reporting partnership with NPR, WNPR and Kaiser Health News.
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