Grenades rattle Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon

SIDON, Lebanon: On the eve of the anniversary of the founding of the Fatah Movement, an anonymous perpetrator lodged late Tuesday two hand grenades in the southern refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, as tensions soar between rival factions of the camp.

According to a security source, the two grenades were lodged near the Souq al-Khodar neighborhood of the camp.

The attack led to no casualties.

Ain al-Hilweh’s elite security force beefed up security measures around the area and launched an investigation in an attempt to reveal to the identity of the perpetrator.

Security sources said that Tuesday’s blasts marked the latest incident related to soaring tensions between old allies who have become rivals in the camp.

The relationship between Fatah and former leader of the Palestinian Armed Struggle (PAS) Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Issa, better known by his nom de guerre “Lino,” has been deteriorating since the latter was dismissed over remarks made about the movement.

Tensions were renewed recently when Lino said that in an effort to demonstrate he was still a “son of the movement” he was going to hold his own military show in Ain al-Hilweh Wednesday to mark the group’s founding, at the same time as the Fatah Movement.

Meanwhile, the Fatah Movement is calling for a unified military show, rejecting any separate commemoration organized by Lino.

Lino is said to be loyal to former top Fatah official in Gaza Mohammad Dahlan, who was also expelled from the party over graft charges.

Dahlan is a longtime rival of Abbas, whose supporters accused him of orchestrating Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s murder.

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New alleged ISIS demands impossible: security source

BEIRUT: A new set of alleged demands to free servicemen held by ISIS relayed by an unofficial mediator Tuesday are “impossible” to meet if they are indeed authentic, a security source told The Daily Star.

The demands, which include establishing a safe zone from the outskirts of Arsal to Tfail for Syrian refugees, were relayed by informal mediator Sheikh Wissam al-Masri, whose status as an intermediary was questioned by the families of the captives.

“They basically want their own state,” the source said, casting doubt on the willingness of refugees to reside in the zone even if it were established.

“Meeting these demands is impossible,” the source said.

Amid a wave of skepticism and frustration from the families of 25 Lebanese hostages held by the Nusra Front and ISIS, the rumored mediator, Masri, who claims to be negotiating with ISIS, publicly announced Tuesday the demands allegedly relayed to him by the jihadi group.

The sheikh’s very public – and at times theatrical – delivery of the demands ran contrary to the government’s policy of secrecy over the hostage issue.

Masri announced three demands at a news conference in Riad al-Solh Square that he claims were conveyed to him during a meeting earlier Tuesday on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal where the militant group is ensconced.

They included the establishment of a weapons-free safe zone for Syrian refugees, stretching from the border region of Wadi Hmayyed, down through the outskirts of the village of Tfail. The second demand was for the formation of a hospital to treat refugees wounded in battles with Hezbollah.

The third called for the release of all “Muslim female detainees imprisoned in Lebanese jails on charges related to the Syrian crisis,” Masri said.

He did not clarify the nature of the charges or whether ISIS was demanding the general release of all Muslim or Syrian female detainees.

Midway through the conference, Masri said a member of his entourage had informed him that ISIS had announced its willingness to stop executing captives under certain conditions. One of the conditions required the Lebanese Army to open a passage to Wadi Hmayyed, Masri later told The Daily Star, adding that ISIS was not calling for the removal of checkpoints, but was demanding that the military open roads to the outskirts. The sheikh said the militants would break their vow if measures were taken against the town of Arsal.

Masri also said the militants were demanding the release of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s ex-wife Saja al-Dulaimi, and Ola al-Oqaily, the wife of ISIS commander Anas Sharkas.

The pledge to halt executions for the time being was also contingent on the continuance of negotiations, he added, warning that any “wrongdoings” could lead to the killing of more soldiers.

The families of the captives were unsettled by the lack of official confirmation from ISIS that it had tasked Masri to conduct talks.

“I told him that I want an official document stamped by ISIS indicating they had appointed him for the negotiations,” said Omar Haidar, a spokesperson for the families.

The spokesperson told The Daily Star he got confirmation from unidentified sources that Masri had in fact gone to the outskirts Tuesday.

“But that doesn’t mean he met with the mediators. We don’t really know who he met,” Haidar said, expressing his frustration over the state of confusion that has plagued the case.

Haidar also opposed the alleged demands by ISIS, specifically that Lebanon create safe zone for refugees. “We reject this unacceptable demand,” Haidar said. “It would mean that even the Army can’t enter the area.”

Haidar said that the last time he had been contacted by the captors, they told him that Arsal Deputy Mayor Ahmad Fliti, who was endorsed by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, had been appointed, along with several other figures, to mediate talks with ISIS.

“I just called Fliti before the conference and he was shocked that Masri went to the outskirts,” the spokesperson said, quoting the deputy mayor as saying that he had not received any information from ISIS concerning Masri.

“Under what authority and in whose name is he making this trip?” Haidar quoted Fliti as saying.

Fliti refused to comment when contacted by The Daily Star, citing the confidentiality of the file in line with the government’s no-talk policy.

Hussein Youssef, another spokesperson for the families of the captive servicemen, echoed Haidar’s remarks. “Honestly, we don’t trust anyone anymore, we’ve become a ball that everyone throws around.”

Youssef said an official statement from the militant groups was needed to proceed with negotiations. “We are still waiting on that,” he added. “Then we can start working as hard as we can to meet the demands.”

Separately, the National News Agency said the Lebanese Army pounded gatherings of militants on the outskirts of Arsal Tuesday evening.

Future urges FPM, Hezbollah to end boycott

BEIRUT: The parliamentary Future bloc implicitly called Tuesday on MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah to end their boycott so that Parliament can convene to elect a president and overcome the 7-month-old “dangerous presidential vacuum.”

The bloc also defended its dialogue with Hezbollah, stressing it should be accompanied by “practical steps” to reduce sectarian tensions in the country and restore the state’s role in extending its authority and sovereignty over all Lebanese territory.

Speaker Nabih Berri, meanwhile, said the Future-Hezbollah dialogue was aimed, among other things, at creating “a fertile ground” to benefit from any regional understanding, in a clear reference to a possible Saudi-Iranian rapprochement that would reflect positively on the presidential deadlock.

In New Year greetings to the Lebanese, the Future bloc hoped that 2015 would carry with it “different developments” that would help overcome the current crisis that has left Lebanon without a president for more than seven months, paralyzed Parliament legislation and is threatening to impede the government’s work.

“The bloc hopes that the obstructers [of the presidential vote] will act to enable the Lebanese Parliament to elect a new president for the country in order to overcome the dangerous and harmful presidential vacuum and restore balance to Lebanese constitutional institutions,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The statement was apparently referring to lawmakers from Aoun’s bloc and Hezbollah’s bloc and its March 8 allies who have been blamed for thwarting a quorum for Parliament electoral sessions with their consistent boycott. They have demanded an agreement beforehand with their March 14 rivals on a consensus candidate for the presidency.Parliament has repeatedly failed since April due to a lack of quorum to pick a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25.

The bloc’s statement came a day after Berri called for a new Parliament session to elect a president on Jan. 7 amid signs that the session was destined to fail like the previous 17 abortive attempts as the rival March 8 and March 14 parties remain at odds over who should be a consensus candidate to fill the country’s top Christian post.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam as well as Future MPs and rival politicians have voiced hopes that the first dialogue session that kicked off last week between senior officials from the Future Movement and Hezbollah would help break the presidential stalemate.

A second round of talks between the two rival influential parties is expected to be held on Jan. 5 at Berri’s residence in Ain al-Tineh.

Referring to the talks with Hezbollah, the bloc said: “The dialogue should be accompanied by practical steps on the ground that would end all breaches against sanctity of the law, state sovereignty and citizens’ dignity and boost confidence among the Lebanese.”

“These steps should stress the need for stability and adherence to coexistence in the country in a way that would help strengthen the state authority and its institutions and enable it to spread its sovereignty and authority over all Lebanese soil,” the statement said.

Stressing that dialogue was the only way to resolve outstanding problems between the rival Lebanese factions, the bloc hoped that talks with Hezbollah would produce “practical steps” to reduce sectarian tensions in the country exacerbated by the war in Syria.

“The need has become urgent to restore security and stability in Lebanon on the basis of respecting the state and boosting its sovereignty,” it added.

Berri, the sponsor of the Future-Hezbollah talks, said the second dialogue session would be held at the beginning of the New Year with one specific item agreed by the two sides in the agenda. He did not disclose details of this item.

“Some have propagated that the Hezbollah-Future dialogue is an indirect dialogue between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Berri was quoted by visitors as saying.

“If this was interpreted as such, that’s fine. I don’t deny this accusation, even though I do not represent the two countries in my dialogue initiative, but I was driven in the first place by internal Lebanese considerations,” he added.

Berri, according to visitors, voiced satisfaction with the local and foreign reactions to the Future-Hezbollah talks, saying he had received a message of support for this dialogue from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in addition to “positive stances” expressed by the U.S., Saudi and Iranian ambassadors in Beirut.

The speaker said among the goals of the dialogue was to set the stage for “a fertile ground” to benefit from any possible deal by regional powers.

“The U.S.-Iranian dialogue would eventually lead to results. This would reflect positively on the issue of Saudi-Iranian relations once Riyadh has been given necessary assurances,” he said.

“The Hezbollah-Future dialogue constituted an incentive for the Maronites to launch a dialogue between them,” Berri said, referring to attempts to arrange a rare meeting between the two Maronite rivals, Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.

For his part, Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Asiri said unity among rival Christian parties would help end the presidential impasse within two months. “Once the Christians are united and if an honest political will exists, all matters [over the presidential crisis] will be solved,” Asiri told MTV station.

Lebanon in 2015: cause for optimism or pessimism?

BEIRUT: After months of uncertainty and turmoil, 2014 is finally nearing its end, and few will be sorry to see it go. From suicide bombings to a 7-month-old presidential vacuum, the second extension of Parliament’s mandate to political divisions preventing state institutions from functioning properly, Lebanon has been through the wringer this year.But what does 2015 hold? The Daily Star spoke to nine analysts and experts to find out what they think is in store for Lebanon come the new year.

A presidential election is a distinct possibility at some point next year, most agreed, although all said it was heavily linked to the regional situation, including the war in Syria, relations between geopolitical rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, and talks to resolve suspicions over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear infrastructure.

“It remains hard to tell right now,” admitted Imad Salamey, a professor in political science at the Lebanese American University.

“Given some of the rapprochement that’s taking place between various contending regional players, particularly Iran, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, and considering some positive signs coming out of the Iranian nuclear negotiations, and given we are about to see some talks between Future and Hezbollah, it’s very possible within five or six months we arrive at a solution to this issue.”

“The Iranian nuclear [talks] deadline in March will tell us a lot.”

The self-imposed deadline for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear capabilities is currently set for March 1.

“We are waiting for an agreement between Iran and p5+1,” agreed Hisham Jaber, the head of the Middle East Center for Studies and Public Affair, referring to the five members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. “I do believe if there is a breakthrough in the region, we will have a president. The president in Lebanon is not elected in Lebanon, it’s a regional and international issue. We cannot deny this, otherwise we would have one already.”

This opinion was echoed by many.

“I don’t think there will be any chance of an agreement on a president before the Iran nuclear negotiations,” said Mario Abou Zeid, a research analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

He also pointed to the likelihood of a package deal covering several issues if the presidential file came unstuck: “If an agreement is reached on a president, definitely there will be an agreement on the electoral law and the makeup of the Cabinet.”

The recently launched dialogue between rivals the Future Movement and Hezbollah is a positive step, most agreed, and one that might “usher in a new momentum” on the political scene, said Randa Slim, a Lebanese-American political analyst at the Middle East Institute.

“That will lead to an agreement on a package deal that will include a new electoral law and a new consensus presidential candidate.”

Not everyone thought that a presidential election would come along with long-awaited electoral reform, however, with some saying that the idea of inviting such massive structural change was ludicrous at a time of such instability.

“It’s the No. 1 reform to be undertaken, but it requires a wide agreement ... and more time, a different mood than we have now,” said Sami Nader, a professor of economics and international relations at the Universite St. Joseph and the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs think tank.

“If they agree on an electoral law, that means they have to go to elections despite already extending their terms twice. They are not ready for elections ... Why? Because they are so busy with what’s inside Syria, they don’t have the capacity to manage elections here.”

What all the analysts did agree on, however, was that the two current presidential candidates, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, backed by March 14, and Free Patriotic Movement head Michel Aoun, supported by March 8, are far too controversial to be elected.

“We can rule out Mr. Geagea and Mr. Aoun for sure, because Lebanon needs a consensus figure,” said LAU’s Salamey.

Instead, most pointed to Army chief Jean Kahwagi, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, or, less likely, former Minister Jean Obeid as presidential possibles.

“In view of the threat posed by radical Islamic groups throughout the region, I am willing to bet that the next president will be Jean Kahwagi,” said Hilal Khashan, professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut. “Having said that, I do not think we will have a new president in 2015.”

If a president is elected, the current Cabinet would automatically be dissolved, putting the post of prime minister – the highest political Sunni post in the country – back up for grabs. So who might be in the running to take it?

“This is complicated, but my guess is that, if indeed we do have a political breakthrough ... Hezbollah would be content to give March 14 this post,” said Faysal Itani, a fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “Provided they respect certain ‘red lines’ about Hezbollah’s militia, etc.”

While a third of the analysts name-checked Future leader and former premier Saad Hariri as a front runner, the majority thought his appointment was unlikely at the moment.

“It’s not likely under the circumstances,” Itani said. “Our friendly neighbors would probably kill him. But there are plenty of Sunnis lying around. [Interior Minister] Nouhad al-Machnouk comes to mind.”

Another clear candidate for the premiership was current Prime Minister Tammam Salam, whom analysts praised as both uncontroversial and inoffensive.

“I think probably Tammam Salam or Machnouk [will become premier],” said Kamel Wazne, a Beirut-based political analyst. “Hariri is distant possibility because I don’t think he wants it. It will be him or someone he designates.”

Analysts were also quizzed on the likelihood of a range of other developments taking place in 2015, including: a new campaign of suicide bombings; Hezbollah ending its military involvement in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad; the Special Tribunal for Lebanon finishing its work investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; a significant military confrontation with Israel; and some sort of movement on the stagnating efforts to tap Lebanon’s offshore oil reserves.

Predictions were largely mixed, but two results stood out clearly.

All agreed that Lebanon would probably see a return of suicide bombings, and all but one thought it was nigh-on impossible that Hezbollah would withdraw its troops from Syria in 2015.

“The chances of Hezbollah ending its involvement in Syria is so low, it doesn’t even register on the scale,” said Phillip Smyth, a researcher at the University of Maryland and author of the blog Hizballah Cavalcade.

“The fighting is continuing, Hezbollah is digging in its heels, and the group has been in the process of the building of local surrogates.”

A sunny picture of Lebanon’s future indeed.

Lebanon in 2015: cause for optimism or pessimism?

BEIRUT: After months of uncertainty and turmoil, 2014 is finally nearing its end, and few will be sorry to see it go. From suicide bombings to a 7-month-old presidential vacuum, the second extension of Parliament’s mandate to political divisions preventing state institutions from functioning properly, Lebanon has been through the wringer this year.But what does 2015 hold? The Daily Star spoke to nine analysts and experts to find out what they think is in store for Lebanon come the new year.

A presidential election is a distinct possibility at some point next year, most agreed, although all said it was heavily linked to the regional situation, including the war in Syria, relations between geopolitical rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, and talks to resolve suspicions over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear infrastructure.

“It remains hard to tell right now,” admitted Imad Salamey, a professor in political science at the Lebanese American University.

“Given some of the rapprochement that’s taking place between various contending regional players, particularly Iran, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, and considering some positive signs coming out of the Iranian nuclear negotiations, and given we are about to see some talks between Future and Hezbollah, it’s very possible within five or six months we arrive at a solution to this issue.”

“The Iranian nuclear [talks] deadline in March will tell us a lot.”

The self-imposed deadline for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear capabilities is currently set for March 1.

“We are waiting for an agreement between Iran and p5+1,” agreed Hisham Jaber, the head of the Middle East Center for Studies and Public Affair, referring to the five members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. “I do believe if there is a breakthrough in the region, we will have a president. The president in Lebanon is not elected in Lebanon, it’s a regional and international issue. We cannot deny this, otherwise we would have one already.”

This opinion was echoed by many.

“I don’t think there will be any chance of an agreement on a president before the Iran nuclear negotiations,” said Mario Abou Zeid, a research analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

He also pointed to the likelihood of a package deal covering several issues if the presidential file came unstuck: “If an agreement is reached on a president, definitely there will be an agreement on the electoral law and the makeup of the Cabinet.”

The recently launched dialogue between rivals the Future Movement and Hezbollah is a positive step, most agreed, and one that might “usher in a new momentum” on the political scene, said Randa Slim, a Lebanese-American political analyst at the Middle East Institute.

“That will lead to an agreement on a package deal that will include a new electoral law and a new consensus presidential candidate.”

Not everyone thought that a presidential election would come along with long-awaited electoral reform, however, with some saying that the idea of inviting such massive structural change was ludicrous at a time of such instability.

“It’s the No. 1 reform to be undertaken, but it requires a wide agreement ... and more time, a different mood than we have now,” said Sami Nader, a professor of economics and international relations at the Universite St. Joseph and the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs think tank.

“If they agree on an electoral law, that means they have to go to elections despite already extending their terms twice. They are not ready for elections ... Why? Because they are so busy with what’s inside Syria, they don’t have the capacity to manage elections here.”

What all the analysts did agree on, however, was that the two current presidential candidates, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, backed by March 14, and Free Patriotic Movement head Michel Aoun, supported by March 8, are far too controversial to be elected.

“We can rule out Mr. Geagea and Mr. Aoun for sure, because Lebanon needs a consensus figure,” said LAU’s Salamey.

Instead, most pointed to Army chief Jean Kahwagi, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, or, less likely, former Minister Jean Obeid as presidential possibles.

“In view of the threat posed by radical Islamic groups throughout the region, I am willing to bet that the next president will be Jean Kahwagi,” said Hilal Khashan, professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut. “Having said that, I do not think we will have a new president in 2015.”

If a president is elected, the current Cabinet would automatically be dissolved, putting the post of prime minister – the highest political Sunni post in the country – back up for grabs. So who might be in the running to take it?

“This is complicated, but my guess is that, if indeed we do have a political breakthrough ... Hezbollah would be content to give March 14 this post,” said Faysal Itani, a fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “Provided they respect certain ‘red lines’ about Hezbollah’s militia, etc.”

While a third of the analysts name-checked Future leader and former premier Saad Hariri as a front runner, the majority thought his appointment was unlikely at the moment.

“It’s not likely under the circumstances,” Itani said. “Our friendly neighbors would probably kill him. But there are plenty of Sunnis lying around. [Interior Minister] Nouhad al-Machnouk comes to mind.”

Another clear candidate for the premiership was current Prime Minister Tammam Salam, whom analysts praised as both uncontroversial and inoffensive.

“I think probably Tammam Salam or Machnouk [will become premier],” said Kamel Wazne, a Beirut-based political analyst. “Hariri is distant possibility because I don’t think he wants it. It will be him or someone he designates.”

Analysts were also quizzed on the likelihood of a range of other developments taking place in 2015, including: a new campaign of suicide bombings; Hezbollah ending its military involvement in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad; the Special Tribunal for Lebanon finishing its work investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; a significant military confrontation with Israel; and some sort of movement on the stagnating efforts to tap Lebanon’s offshore oil reserves.

Predictions were largely mixed, but two results stood out clearly.

All agreed that Lebanon would probably see a return of suicide bombings, and all but one thought it was nigh-on impossible that Hezbollah would withdraw its troops from Syria in 2015.

“The chances of Hezbollah ending its involvement in Syria is so low, it doesn’t even register on the scale,” said Phillip Smyth, a researcher at the University of Maryland and author of the blog Hizballah Cavalcade.

“The fighting is continuing, Hezbollah is digging in its heels, and the group has been in the process of the building of local surrogates.”

A sunny picture of Lebanon’s future indeed.

Abu Faour exposes deplorable conditions at port grain silos

BEIRUT: Pathology experts sounded alarm bells Tuesday after an inspection of grain silos at Beirut’s port conducted by ministers found supplies were being stored in poor conditions. After weeks of warning citizens about contaminated meat and poultry in Lebanon’s restaurants and shopping markets, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour brought the issue of wheat storage into the limelight.

“Lebanese are sharing wheat with rats and pigeons,” Abu Faour announced at the end of the tour, accompanied by Alain Hakim and Akram Chehayeb, the ministers of economy and agriculture respectively.

Although the director of grain silos at the port, Moussa Khoury, expressed support for the health minister’s campaign, he complained that the inspection was restricted to the areas surrounding the silos and not inside the storage unit itself.

The presence of rats in the vicinity of the silos was enough to raise red flags, experts warned.

“Rats carry dangerous diseases,” stressed Alexander Abdelnour, chairperson of the department of experimental pathology, microbiology and immunology at the American University of Beirut.

Abdelnour told The Daily Star that there are a number of bacteria carried by rats. “It’s a problem if it [the presence of rats] is true,” he added.

Abdelnour said certain microbes carried by rats can cause health problems for people including infections such as leptospira leading to leptospirosis, which can cause bleeding from the lungs. “Leptospira is a spiral-shaped bacterium that can lead to kidney and lung problems if a person catches it,” he said.

Rat urine contains leptospira, Abdelnour explained.

Fleas too can carry bacteria, such as Yersinia pestis, from rats and implant it in foods, he added.

According to Abu Faour, who spoke at a joint news conference at the port with both the agriculture and economy ministers, a fence cordoning off silos at the port was not enough to ward off infestation.

“We found a number of rats and rodents, some of them dead,” he said.

“The presence of a huge number of birds also allows for the transmission of spores,” he said at the port. “There are also pigeons, some of them dead, around the silos.”

“I suggest they take these dead rats and examine them to see if they carry microbes,” Abdelnour said.

The health minister also said cargo containers and maintenance rooms should be examined for possible water leakages, which can cause mold to thrive.

Abu Faour also said trucks transporting grains to and from silos “were not in good condition.”

He has since referred the case to judicial authorities.

Abu Faour acknowledged that grain silos at the port were under new management set up only seven months ago. The new port manager was appointed five months ago.

The minister added that he did not “hold any party responsible” for the disorder at the port, but noted that the filthy conditions had been accumulating for years.

But Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb was quick to blame the poor conditions on the government’s “historic neglect” of Beirut port.

Chehayeb also expressed concern over the facility’s working conditions, noting that the 4,000 truck drivers who come and go from the port did not have access to a single bathroom.

Abu Faour and Chehayeb could not access the silos because they were trapped in an elevator at the facility for 15 minutes.

Despite the minister’s report, the grain silos’ manager maintained that wheat storage at his port complied with health and safety standards, and said that grain at the port was transported from silos using approved equipment. Khoury, the manager, also said the grain was sterilized before being transferred to the mill.

Tuesday’s move was the latest in a series of actions undertaken by Abu Faour as part of his wildly popular food safety campaign.

Abu Faour and inspectors from the ministry have since last month been inspecting food and transportation facilities around the country, highlighting safety violations publicly.

NYE partygoers to get free taxi rides in anti-drunk driving push

BEIRUT: A nationwide campaign aiming to prevent road accidents on New Year’s Eve was unveiled Tuesday by the Internal Security Forces Traffic Management Center, in association with the Interior Ministry. The new program provides partygoers a safe option to get home by offering free taxi services to those who have had too much to drink.

In addition to TMC, the program was coordinated by telecommunications company alfa and a syndicate of taxi drivers.

“The program is oriented toward making the New Year’s Eve safer,” Michel Moutran, head of public relations at TMC, told The Daily Star.

The service can be accessed by calling TMC’s hotline at 1720. An operator will connect the call to emergency services such as the Red Cross or the ISF or send a taxi.

People can also call taxis on behalf of friends who are too inebriated to drive home.

Breathalyzer tests will be in increased use over New Year’s Eve, Moutran added.

Speaking at a news conference, alfa CEO Marwan Hayek said the International Telecommunications Union was developing new technologies to help avoid collisions in the future.

“[We are working on] automated media technologies, communication technologies and GPS as well as radar in the cars,” Hayek said.

“We [also] realized that a large portion of traffic accidents are caused by irresponsible usage of cell phones while driving and it is therefore necessary for us to engage in spreading awareness about road safety,” he added.

The company addressed the issue of using cell phones while driving during a campaign earlier this year.

Road safety is often a topic of debate in Lebanon.

Hayek said 800 people die each year from traffic accidents in the country, and experts attribute a large number to drunk driving, although there are no reliable statistics available.

The ISF has partnered up with road safety non-governmental organizations YASA and Kunhadi to help prevent drunken driving fatalities this New Year’s Eve.

Their campaigns, which involve social media, mainly target 18- to 25-year-olds – the group most likely to drive while under the influence of alcohol.

Kunhadi is also offering free taxi services for partygoers. It has teamed up with nightclubs to offer free taxi rides for patrons they suspect may try to drive home inebriated.

Nightclub employees will attempt to spot potential drunk drivers and they will arrange for taxis that are either paid for by Kunhadi or have their cost split between the club and the NGO.

The ISF also recently announced measures to begin enforcing the country’s traffic laws more vigilantly. They will hope to replicate last year’s success on New Year’s Eve, when there was not a single recorded drunk driving accident.

ISF Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous will carry out a field tour of preparations for New Year’s Eve starting at the barracks of late Col. Wissam al-Hasan in Dbayeh.

NYE partygoers to get free taxi rides in anti-drunk driving push

BEIRUT: A nationwide campaign aiming to prevent road accidents on New Year’s Eve was unveiled Tuesday by the Internal Security Forces Traffic Management Center, in association with the Interior Ministry. The new program provides partygoers a safe option to get home by offering free taxi services to those who have had too much to drink.

In addition to TMC, the program was coordinated by telecommunications company alfa and a syndicate of taxi drivers.

“The program is oriented toward making the New Year’s Eve safer,” Michel Moutran, head of public relations at TMC, told The Daily Star.

The service can be accessed by calling TMC’s hotline at 1720. An operator will connect the call to emergency services such as the Red Cross or the ISF or send a taxi.

People can also call taxis on behalf of friends who are too inebriated to drive home.

Breathalyzer tests will be in increased use over New Year’s Eve, Moutran added.

Speaking at a news conference, alfa CEO Marwan Hayek said the International Telecommunications Union was developing new technologies to help avoid collisions in the future.

“[We are working on] automated media technologies, communication technologies and GPS as well as radar in the cars,” Hayek said.

“We [also] realized that a large portion of traffic accidents are caused by irresponsible usage of cell phones while driving and it is therefore necessary for us to engage in spreading awareness about road safety,” he added.

The company addressed the issue of using cell phones while driving during a campaign earlier this year.

Road safety is often a topic of debate in Lebanon.

Hayek said 800 people die each year from traffic accidents in the country, and experts attribute a large number to drunk driving, although there are no reliable statistics available.

The ISF has partnered up with road safety non-governmental organizations YASA and Kunhadi to help prevent drunken driving fatalities this New Year’s Eve.

Their campaigns, which involve social media, mainly target 18- to 25-year-olds – the group most likely to drive while under the influence of alcohol.

Kunhadi is also offering free taxi services for partygoers. It has teamed up with nightclubs to offer free taxi rides for patrons they suspect may try to drive home inebriated.

Nightclub employees will attempt to spot potential drunk drivers and they will arrange for taxis that are either paid for by Kunhadi or have their cost split between the club and the NGO.

The ISF also recently announced measures to begin enforcing the country’s traffic laws more vigilantly. They will hope to replicate last year’s success on New Year’s Eve, when there was not a single recorded drunk driving accident.

ISF Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous will carry out a field tour of preparations for New Year’s Eve starting at the barracks of late Col. Wissam al-Hasan in Dbayeh.

U.S. thinkers see strength in Lebanon’s political system

Decades of Civil War and turmoil in Lebanon have “vaccinated” the country against future turmoil, according to an analysis by two of America’s most eminent thinkers on global risk.

The notion that past bouts of chaos can serve as an indicator of future stability is the central theme of an essay by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Gregory Treverton in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, the influential magazine of the Council on Foreign Relations. Taleb is a Lebanese-American who turned from Wall Street trader to best-selling author and celebrity philosopher.

Treverton last September became chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, a post that includes coordinating intelligence forecasts from America’s 16 spy agencies.

To bolster their argument that volatility signals stability, and vice versa, the two look at how Syria and Lebanon were perceived at the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011. “Many pundits argued that Syria’s sturdy police state, which exercised tight control over the country’s people and economy, would survive the Arab Spring undisturbed,” they write. “Compared with its neighbor Lebanon, Syria looked positively stable. Civil War had torn through Lebanon throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, and the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 had plunged the country into yet more chaos.”

Yet today Syria is in shambles, they write, while Lebanon has withstood the influx of refugees from the Syrian civil war and related pressures from the turmoil next door. “Surprising as it may seem, the per capita death rate from violence in Lebanon in 2013 was lower than that of Washington D.C.” (The essay, adapted from a report by the RAND institution for which Treverton used to work, was written before Islamist gunmen and Lebanese troops clashed in northern Lebanon).

Why did seemingly stable Syria begin to fall apart while “always-in-turmoil Lebanon” proved more robust than pundits predicted? Syria’s calm facade concealed deep structural vulnerabilities. “Lebanon’s chaos, paradoxically, signaled strength. Fifteen years of civil war had served to decentralize the state and bring about a more balanced sectarian power-sharing structure.” A free-market economy made Lebanon less vulnerable to disruption than Syria with its rigid Soviet-style system.

But the biggest difference between the two neighbors, according to Taleb and Treverton, was that Syria had no recent record of recovering from turmoil. Lebanon did, and “countries that have survived past bouts of chaos tend to be vaccinated against future ones.” In that thinking, the best indicator of a country’s future stability is not past stability but volatility in the recent past.

In looking at Lebanon, Taleb draws from experience: He was 15 when the Civil War reached his family’s home at Amioun and the Lebanese paradise suddenly evaporated, as he phrased it in the foreword of The Black Swan, the 2007 book that made him an international celebrity. The book deals with the role unexpected major events play in world affairs. It has been translated into 33 languages and was credited by some with predicting the banking and economic crisis of 2008.

Expanding their Syria-Lebanon argument to the rest of the world, the two authors identify other countries at risk. Saudi Arabia tops the list, exhibiting signs of being very fragile.

“Saudi Arabia is an easy call: It is extremely dependent on oil, has no political variability and is highly centralized. Its oil wealth and powerful government have papered over the splits between is ethnoreligious units, with the Shiite minority living where the oil is.”

For similar reasons, Bahrain should be considered “extremely fragile,” write the pair. Also on the list of endangered Middle Eastern countries: Egypt. Its recovery from the chaos of the revolution has been largely cosmetic and the government is still highly centralized and bureaucratic.

Outside the Middle East, Venezuela and Russia face trouble in the future.

Both have oil-based economies, highly centralized political systems and no record of having survived massive shocks. In contrast, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand survived the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, drew lessons from it and adjusted their institutions and practices.

In western Europe, Taleb and Treverton view one country as particularly robust, for reasons that echo their view of Lebanon. “Italy, paradoxically, shows no sign of fragility,” they write.

It is decentralized and has bounced back from perennial political crises that gave the country 14 prime ministers in the past 25 years.

Bernd Debusmann is a former Reuters world affairs columnist. This article was written exclusively for The Daily Star.

Boehner's Upcoming Congress Already Has Personnel Challenges

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

The 114th Congress has yet to convene but already members of the new majority have personnel issues to confront.

Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

First Black Republican Congresswoman Wants To Be Known For More

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

Earlier this fall, voters in Utah elected the first black Republican woman to the House of Representatives. Mia Love is a Haitian American who previously served as the mayor of Saratoga Springs, near Provo, Utah.

Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

2014 Brought Lasting Action On Climate Change Policy

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Smoke is seen rising from a power plant near Hengshui in China's Hebei province. In November, President Obama announced a landmark carbon-cutting deal with China — the world's leading producer of greenhouse gases. And the Chinese government has announced plans to cap the use of coal within five years. Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images

Smoke is seen rising from a power plant near Hengshui in China's Hebei province. In November, President Obama announced a landmark carbon-cutting deal with China — the world's leading producer of greenhouse gases. And the Chinese government has announced plans to cap the use of coal within five years.

Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images

Some of the stories that gripped our attention in 2014 will probably be forgotten in a few years — if not a few weeks. But there's one story that President Obama argues we'll be living with for decades to come.

"There's one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other. And that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate," he said in September, addressing the United Nations Climate Change Summit.

Even as Obama struggled with other big challenges this year, climate was one area where he managed to get some traction.

As the threat of a changing climate became more obvious and immediate, governments here and around the world began to respond. In June, the EPA unveiled new rules governing power plants — the number one source of greenhouse gases in the U.S.

“ "It's almost a jihad against fossil energy, but particularly focusing on coal. ... This is the electricity generation that you depend on for your air conditioning in the summer and your heat in the winter."

- Luke Popovich

"2014 is the year in which a lot of these initiatives took form and became public ... So this has been a big year," says David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He says those long-awaited rules are the centerpiece of the president's effort to fight climate change.

The administration has also taken steps to boost energy efficiency and promote cleaner sources of electricity that don't produce carbon pollution. None of that sits well with the coal mining industry that Luke Popovich represents. He's Vice President of the National Mining Association.

"It's almost a jihad against fossil energy, but particularly focusing on coal. ... This is the electricity generation that you depend on for your air conditioning in the summer and your heat in the winter," Popovich says.

Obama's plan does call for significant cuts in greenhouse gases — cuts the president calls "ambitious but achievable." And he's not just focused on U.S. pollution. In November, Obama announced a landmark carbon-cutting deal with China — the world's leading producer of greenhouse gases.

"This is a major milestone in the U.S.-China relationship. And it shows what's possible when we work together on an urgent global challenge," Obama said.

The U.S.-China deal provided a jump-start for international climate talks, expected to culminate in Paris this coming year.

Critics complain that while the U.S. is already cutting its carbon pollution, China's emissions are allowed to keep growing until 2030. China is already making big investments in clean energy, though. And the Chinese government has announced plans to cap the use of coal within five years. Doniger of the NRDC says China's choking smog problem gives it a big incentive to clean up its power plants. What's more, he says, the Chinese government is genuinely worried by increasingly dry weather in the northern part of the country and rising sea levels in the east.

"They understand climate change is real. And when their scientists tell them it's real, they don't have a bunch of ideologues who tell them it's a hoax," Doniger says.

Obama's climate agenda is about to face new political headwinds, though. His announcement in China came just eight days after the midterm elections, which gave Republicans control of not only the U.S. Senate but also two-thirds of state legislative chambers. States are responsible for implementing the new EPA rules. And the National Mining Association's Popovich says that could be next climate battleground if some try to delay or thwart the administration's policy on power plants.

"It's going to come down to governors in two, three dozen states saying, 'you have to tear this up and start over again. We can't expose our citizens to these kinds of cost increases for so little benefit,'" he says.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is not backing down. She points to polls showing most Americans want the government to cut greenhouse gases, even if that means they have to pay a bit more for electricity.

"I feel very confident that the American people want EPA to continue to protect them and their family and most importantly their kids....They are worried about climate change. And they want us to do something. So I'll hopefully let democracy work," she told reporters in November.

One unexpected wrinkle in climate policy stems from the steep drop in oil prices. With gasoline now averaging less than $2.40 a gallon nationwide, demand for SUVs and pickup trucks has picked up, potentially undermining some of the gains of the administration's tougher fuel economy standards.

And there's one more way this year has marked a climate milestone. If the numbers from November and December follow the trend of the first ten months, 2014 will go down as the hottest year on record.

The More Radical Your Politics, the More Bodacious Your Physique, Study Says

The farther left or right you lean politically, the more active you are, a new study conducted throughout Europe has found. Adrian Bauman of the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health led a team that surveyed residents of 32 European countries, finding that those who identify as liberal or conservative are more active and engage in more strenuous activity per week than those who consider themselves political centrists. Mental and physical apathy, it turns out, could be related.

Participants surveyed in the study were asked to asked to rate their political orientation on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very liberal and 10 being very conservative. They were then asked to record how many minutes per week they engaged in "vigorous" physical activity, "moderate" physical activity, walking, and sitting. Those with defined political preferences participated in, on average, about an hour more physical activity and 30 minutes more vigorous physical activity per week than those in the middle.

“Busy people at both ends of the political spectrum do not seem to have as much time for idleness,” wrote Bauman in the report, which was published by The BMJ.

If a person's apathetic nature can apparently extend across several aspects of their life, it makes sense that the conviction of the more fervently minded among can also manifest itself in both thought and action. But to those with a more blasé attitude toward the goings on in Washington, don't get any bright ideas. We're pretty sure that simply adopting a particular set of political beliefs does not translate into physical fitness.

“Centrists and the politically uncommitted may be at greater risk of non-communicable diseases because of their inertia,” continued Bauman. “The politically uncommitted and centrists could consider adopting a stronger political stance for their health.”

...On the other hand, maybe it's worth a shot.

[H/T: Huffington Post]

Watch: What Your Dog Does When You Leave the House

For centuries, dog owners have pondered the same unanswerable question: Just what is it that my trusty canine does when I'm not at home? Based on the way your loyal pup desperately follows you to the door (and is eagerly sitting by it when you walk in), it seems like every minute is spent awaiting your return. But that can't just be it. Surely he must spend at least some of that time hunting down a nice pair of shoes to chew on and sampling the water from every cup we've accidentally left out? At the very least he must make himself comfy in the normally off-limits bed, right?

To finally answer this burning question, one man attached a Go-Pro video camera to his beloved pet, and left the house. The results are quite moving and, at the same time, exactly what we always figured — and posssibly dreaded. Poor guy.

Originally published by Good Housekeeping

More Reasons to Love Your Pets:

• Watch This Bulldog Adorably Play a Childhood Game

• 10 Reasons Your Pet Makes Your Life Amazing

• This Dedicated Dog Hitched a Ride to the ER

Fact Checking Obama's Assessment On Race

President Obama made headlines with his recent comments on race relations. In a Morning Edition interview, NPR's Steve Inskeep asked the president if he thinks America has become more racially divided during his administration.

"No, I actually think that it's probably in its day-to-day interactions less racially divided," Obama replied, later saying that this year's much-publicized racial incidents have made people feel more divided than they are. (You can read the full transcript here.)

It's not easy to measure just how divided America is, but pollsters have tried for decades.

Race

Here's Why Obama Said The U.S. Is 'Less Racially Divided'

There's one question Gallup has asked since 1963: "Do you think that relations between blacks and whites will always be a problem for the United States, or that a solution will eventually be worked out?"

The answer has stayed relatively the same since 2008 for about 60 percent of white Americans. They're optimistic — just like half of African-Americans who responded in 2008 and 2013.

Gallup's Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport says even though sentiments don't seem to have shifted during the Obama administration, there remains a significant gap between how whites and blacks perceive race and equality.

"Blacks see a world that has barriers, structural barriers and discrimination. Whites, much less so," Newport explains.

A Different Poll, A Different Answer

"Whites are more optimistic about race relations than blacks are," says Jocelyn Kiley, associate director of research at the Pew Research Center. Since 2007, that pollster has surveyed Americans with this question: "In general, how well do you think blacks and whites get along with each other these days?"

Almost 70 percent of respondents said "very well" or "pretty well" when asked this year, more than a week after protests began in Ferguson, Mo. But that share was seven points lower compared to a 2009 survey.

Still, polls – even those that account for Latinos, Asian-Americans and Native Americans — won't give you the final answer on race relations.

A recent poll by The New York Times and CBS News says they've stayed about the same since Obama became president, while a Bloomberg Politics poll says they've gotten worse under the first black president.

'Beyond The Opinion'

"We need to get beyond the opinion, beyond the ideas and really ask, 'How is race really working in terms of allocating power and resources in our society?' " says Ian Haney López, author of Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class.

He says a more objective way of measuring race relations is to look at how segregated we are as a country through institutions like neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. Haney López, who also teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley, adds that special attention should be paid to the racial makeup of our most elite institutions, including Congress and Fortune 500 companies.

Examining these socioeconomic indicators can tell you a contradicting story about the status of African-Americans today, according to Peniel Joseph, founding director of Tufts University's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.

"From a privileged perspective, things are, yes, dramatically different, "Joseph says. "Those same [black] folks in 1964, even with a Harvard degree, many, many doors of opportunity would be closed. But 50 years later, Obama's the president of the United States. But many, many African-Americans don't have the same access."

Access that, Joseph says, is key to truly understanding race relations today.

Getting Higher Quality at Lower Costs: The Biggest Health Story You May Have Missed This Year

While 2014 is ending with evidence of the dramatic gains in health coverage, a more subtle revolution is occurring in how health care is delivered. Using new authorities created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in partnership with health care providers, payers, and patients, we have made significant advances in getting better care at lower costs by changing the incentives for the way care is given and putting more information in the hands of health care providers and patients.

Before the ACA, most of the health care system had incentives to do more -- more tests, more procedures, more visits to the doctor meant more money for hospitals and physicians. Now, through a series of innovative approaches, these incentives are changing and health care providers are being paid based on the quality and efficiency -- not quantity -- of the care they give. This practice, known as “value based purchasing,” and other efforts under the ACA to create systems where doctors help coordinate care for patients to avoid hospital readmissions and get patients the care they need on sooner. These systems also are putting in place safeguards to avoid simple mistakes that that have caused many Americans to pick up infections or to suffer other medical complications when they went into a hospital for care in the past.

read more

Rep. Scalise: Speech At White Supremacist Gathering 'A Mistake I Regret'

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House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

itoggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Updated at 2:14 p.m. ET

Rep. Steve Scalise, the recently elected House majority whip, has acknowledged that he spoke at a gathering of white supremacists more than a decade ago, calling it "a mistake" that he regrets.

"Twelve years ago, I spoke to many different Louisiana groups as a state representative, trying to build support for legislation that focused on cutting wasteful state spending, eliminating government corruption, and stopping tax hikes," Scalise, R-La., said in a statement. "One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn.

"It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold."

The remarks were the first acknowledgment by the newly elected House majority whip of his presence at the gathering. He previously said he didn't remember speaking before a convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization in 2002. But, if he did, he said, he was not aware of the kind of positions the group took.

House Speaker John Boehner, in a statement, defended Scalise.

"More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate," Boehner said in a statement.

Boehner said Scalise has his full confidence as the GOP whip.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which classifies EURO as a white nationalist group, the organization was founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

In an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Scalise, whose position makes him the third highest-ranking Republican in the House, said that at the time of his speech, he had no idea the group was associated with Duke, and had he known, he never would have appeared before them.

Scalise said that at the time, he was campaigning against the Stelly tax plan, which increased income tax in Louisiana.

He told the Times-Picayune:

"I don't have any records from back in 2002, but when people called and asked me to speak to groups, I went and spoke to groups. It was myself and [former state Sen.] James David Cain who were opposed to the Stelly tax plan.

"I was the only legislator from the New Orleans area who was opposed to the plan publicly, so I was asked to speak all around the New Orleans region. I would go and speak about how this tax plan was bad."

At the time, Scalise said, he didn't have a scheduler or the benefit of Google.

He went on:

"If I knew today what they were about, I wouldn't go. My staff, they are able to vet organizations. We turn down requests from organizations we don't approve of.

"Now, I still go speak to people who don't think like me. I'll go speak to liberal groups a lot. But a group like this? I would not go to speak to. They don't share my values.

"You can talk to [New Orleans U.S. Rep.] Cedric Richmond. ... He knows what kind of person I am.

"It's insulting and offensive for anybody to insinuate that I would affiliate with a group like that."

The Washington Post spoke to David Duke on Monday night. He said Scalise was asked to speak by "two of Duke's longtime associates."

The Post adds:

"Scalise 'says he didn't realize what the conference was. I don't know if he did or did not,' Duke said. He also said Scalise should not be forced to resign, saying Scalise was merely taking an opportunity to meet with 'constituents.'

" 'What politician would ever pass up an opportunity to talk to his constituents?' Duke said. 'It sounds like they are just playing politics.' "

It's worth noting that in 1999, Scalise was interviewed by Roll Call about the possibility that Duke would run for a congressional seat.

Future bloc backs Army measures in Arsal

BEIRUT: The Future bloc lent its support Tuesday for new Army measures regulating the entry of individuals into the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.

“The bloc supports the measures taken by the Lebanese Army to protect the border and civil peace in Arsal,” read a statement released by the bloc after their weekly meeting.

The restrictions have angered Arsal residents who now require permits to cross into areas where many of them work.

The Future bloc did not neglect the demands of Arsal’s residents as it called on the Army to “facilitate” their passage. The move would allow residents to carry out their work regularly and also serves to reinforce trust between the military and area residents, the statement added.

In further fears over Lebanon's border, the Future bloc called for the deployment of the Lebanese Army and an international peacekeeping force along the porous border with Syria to protect the country from militant attacks.

With regards to talks between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, the bloc expressed hopes that dialogue would involve “practical steps on the ground” that would end all breaches against the law, state sovereignty and civilian dignity.

The steps should also stress on the need for stability, coexistence, the statement said, adding that the move would allow the state to spread its authority over all Lebanese territory.

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Big Question For 2015: Will The Supreme Court Rule On Abortion?

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Protesters rally outside the Supreme Court during the March for Life on Jan. 25, 2013, in Washington, D.C. Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Protesters rally outside the Supreme Court during the March for Life on Jan. 25, 2013, in Washington, D.C.

Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

The new year is expected to bring yet another round of state laws to restrict abortion — and 2015 could also be the year a challenge to at least one of these laws could reach the Supreme Court.

The ongoing spike in abortion laws started after 2010, when Republicans won big in the midterms. Since then, state lawmakers have passed more than 200 abortion regulations — more than in the entire decade before. And with more statehouse gains in the fall elections, abortion opponents expect another good year.

The Two-Way

Supreme Court Blocks Abortion Rules That Closed Most Texas Clinics

"The two states that stand out is where we are now able to stop bad legislation from happening," says Mary Spaulding Balch, state legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee. "It looks like we have a pro-life majority in the Senate in the state of New York, which could prevent a bill that Gov. Cuomo was pushing that would have expanded abortion in New York, if you can imagine."

The same political calculus goes for Washington state, Balch says.

Then there's Tennessee, where a new constitutional amendment denies any right to abortion. That's expected to clear the way for a string of regulations courts previously had struck down.

The National Right to Life Committee also plans to push for abortion bans after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Nine states already do this, and Balch sees better chances for passage this year in West Virginia, Wisconsin and South Carolina. The legislation is based on the medically contested assertion that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks.

Law

Supreme Court Considers Legality Of Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones

"I think what we're trying to do is keep the baby in the debate. Oftentimes the debate is focused on the woman, and I think that the baby is an equally important factor," Balch says.

Nancy Northup, who heads the Center for Reproductive Rights, says courts in two states have blocked the 20-week ban.

"Fortunately, many of the most extreme laws that have been passed have been found unconstitutional by the courts, and we have been able to block them," Northup says.

Judges have also struck down laws restricting medication that induces abortion, requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals and forcing doctors to show women a sonogram of the fetus.

Supporters of the laws say they are meant to project women's health, even though a recent study finds serious complications occur in far less than 1 percent of abortions.

Shots - Health News

As More Women Tell Abortion Stories, Both Sides Claim Advantage

"Courts have recognized that these by and large are sham laws that are designed to make it difficult for women to have abortions," Northup says. "They don't serve any medical necessity, and the courts have seen through that."

Still, some laws have been allowed to stand, including a number that require stricter building codes for clinics that provide abortion. That's pushed dozens of clinics across the country to close.

"There are great swaths of the state of Texas where there is virtually no access to full reproductive health care," says Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "What we're trying to avoid, though, is getting to a place in this country — which unfortunately we more and more are — where it's very, very different depending on which state you live in."

Different, in part, because appeals courts across the country have disagreed, letting laws stand in some places, striking their counterparts down in others.

That's because the Supreme Court wasn't very clear two decades ago when it loosened the standard for regulating abortion, according to Dan McConchie, vice president of government affairs of Americans United for Life.

"They changed that standard to undue burden, which became this muddled, undefined standard saying, 'OK, you can regulate it, but you can't regulate it too much,' " McConchie says.

This coming year, the Supreme Court will likely get the chance to weigh in again on how much abortion regulation is too much.