Obama told me so: 02/17/15

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Imminent meeting between Hariri, Aoun: report

Local daily Al-Akhbar reported Wednesday that a meeting between former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and head of the Free...

Kahwagi has no intention to extend officers’ terms

Lebanese Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi has no intention to extend the term of Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, head of the...

Hezbollah-Future to hold fifth dialogue session

Hezbollah and the Future Movement are scheduled to hold a fifth round of dialogue Wednesday with reports saying a...

Joe Biden Gets A Bit Too Close To New Secretary Of Defense's Wife

Vice President Joe Biden talks with Stephanie Carter, wife of incoming Defense Secretary Ash Carter, during Carter's swearing in ceremony on Tuesday. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Evan Vucci/AP

Vice President Joe Biden talks with Stephanie Carter, wife of incoming Defense Secretary Ash Carter, during Carter's swearing in ceremony on Tuesday.

Evan Vucci/AP

Vice President Joe Biden is making news for all the wrong reasons today. First, during a White House anti-extremism summit, Biden talked about the "very identifiable" Somali community that lives in his hometown of Wilmington, Del.

The AP reports:

" 'I might add, if you ever come to the train station you may notice that I have great relations with them, because an awful lot of them are driving cabs, and are friends of mine,' Biden said.

"His audience — a group of religious and community leaders, many of them Muslim or of African descent — responded with muted, uncomfortable chuckles as Biden continued without skipping a beat. 'For real. I'm not being solicitous, I'm being serious,' he said.

"To some, the observation smacked of a well-publicized gaffe that then-Sen. Biden made in 2006, when he told an Indian-American supporter that in Delaware, "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent." Amid the resulting dust-up, Biden's aides said he simply meant to highlight the vibrant Indian-American community in his home state."

Then it was time for Biden to swear in Ash Carter, the country's new defense secretary. That went well, until Carter started talking and Biden called Carter's wife, Stephanie, over.

For a few seconds, Biden put both hands on Carter's wife. It was reminiscent of what President George W. Bush did to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But Biden, then took it a step further, getting really close to whisper something in her ear.

The episode, of course, launched much commentary of on Twitter.

There were gifs:

And New York Magazine responded with a collection of pictures titled, "9 Times Joe Biden Creepily Whispered in Women's Ears."

Of course, Biden is known for things such as this. Remember, that's why The Onion has parodied Biden as an administration screw-up and boozy womanizer.

We'll leave you with another iconic Biden photograph from the 2012 campaign trail:

Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio, in 2012. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Carolyn Kaster/AP

Vice President Joe Biden talks to customers during a stop at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio, in 2012.

Carolyn Kaster/AP

Here's the story behind that one.

Bekaa Valley security crackdown expanded

BAALBEK, Lebanon: A man was shot and wounded during an Army raid in a village south of Baalbek Tuesday, as security forces expanded the crackdown on fugitives, detaining 11 for minor offenses.

Separately, a senior Army source said that a woman detained Monday by the Army in the Bekaa Valley did not turn out to be the sister of a Nusra Front commander.

A man from the Younes family was wounded during a shootout between a Lebanese Army unit and outlaws in the village of Douris, south of Baalbek, a security source said.

The man was shot in his stomach, but his wounds were not life-threatening, the source added.

The circumstances of the incident were unclear. The source said the Army came under fire while carrying out the raid. Younes was shot as troops returned fire, the source added, suggesting that Younes may have been mistakenly hit.

A joint force comprised of the Army, Internal Security Forces and General Security entered Baalbek for the first time early Tuesday in the sixth day of raids since the launch of the security plan.

Police fanned out in the Baalbek neighborhoods of Hay al-Sharawneh and Tal al-Abyad, as General Security units erected checkpoints on every major street in the city.

A security source had told The Daily Star that Hay al-Sharawneh was home to wanted criminals from Jaafar and Wehbe clans.

The Army released a statement Tuesday saying it had arrested nine Syrian nationals for illegally crossing the border into Lebanon, and two Lebanese. One of the two citizens was wanted for shooting in the air “on many occasions.”

The Army said its troops made the arrests in Hay al-Sharawneh and Tal al-Abyad.

The Army also said it confiscated 50 kilograms of drugs and five unregistered cars, in addition to some light weapons and ammunition.

The joint force launched its security plan for the northern Bekaa Valley Thursday to pursue thieves and drug lords.

Security forces are also searching for members of the Jaafar clan behind the killing of a Christian couple last year in the Bekaa Valley town of Btedaai.

Tuesday’s arrests bring the number of fugitives and suspected criminals rounded up since the launch of the security plan to 148.

The Bekaa Valley security plan comes around a year after the government of Prime Minister Tammam Salam cracked down on militia leaders in Tripoli who engaged in rounds of fighting between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad over the past years.

Meanwhile, a senior Army source said that the woman arrested with her son at an Army checkpoint in the Wadi Hmayyed area of Arsal was not the sister of Abu Malek al-Talleh, the Nusra Front’s commander for the Qalamoun region.

The arrest of Talleh’s relatives could have served as a major bargaining chip for Lebanon in the negotiations to release 25 Lebanese servicemen held by the Nusra Front and ISIS in the outskirts of Arsal.

The two groups captured the security personnel during battles with the Lebanese Army in the northeastern town last August.

Sleiman prepares initiative to break political impasse

BEIRUT: Former President Michel Sleiman has announced his intention to “get back the republic” by forming a new political movement, which he hopes will bridge sectarian divisions and garner support from across the political spectrum.

Beginning in mid-February, Sleiman made a large number of exploratory overtures to political figures, with the intent of developing a new party or political movement, political sources told The Daily Star. A political ‘movement’ is the most probable option at this point, but the final label is still being discussed by Sleiman’s team, sources have revealed.

His team has been seeking out and consulting with potential supporters, contacting political figures and community leaders in Jbeil, Kesrouan, Metn, and other regions. According to sources, all of the leaders met by Sleiman so far have expressed an interest in joining the new movement, believing it could bridge political and sectarian divides and release the country from the grips of its two dominant alliances – the March 8 and March 14 coalitions.

The sources contended that Lebanon possesses a healthy democratic practice but that the current political parties do not adequately represent the priorities of the country’s citizens. The new “Sleimanian” movement hopes to provide them with another option. Women and youth are expected to play a leading role in the initiative.

Sleiman has contacted both domestic and international figures for support, and has expressed an interest in visiting expatriate communities, in an attempt to foster ties with Lebanon’s massive diaspora. He is scheduled to make one such visit Saturday, when he will travel to Dubai and be received as the guest of honor at an expatriate seminar. Sleiman hopes to extend his reach among the Emirates’ Lebanese community during the visit.

The former president has accepted a number of recent speaking invitations as he looks to build political support and elucidate the platform of his new movement. During a recent public appearance at a conference held by the Beirut Bar Association, Sleiman spoke about the characteristics of a weak president, a move viewed as intended to reduce the current number of candidates.

Sleiman’s movement will be officially announced at a launch event sometime before the anniversary of the end of his presidential term on May 25, and is scheduled to be attended by security officials, political leaders, diplomats, media figures and activists, according to sources.

The movement will also receive the blessing and protection of a number of religious authorities, including Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, the sources said. Rai has previously cited a number of beliefs the two hold in common, including an acceleration of the presidential election process, instituting a modern electoral law, and the decentralization of government.

At their most recent meeting, sources alleged Rai encouraged Sleiman to establish a new political movement that would include Lebanon’s political and cultural elites and play a role in strengthening state institutions.

Sleiman served as commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces for a decade before his election to the presidency in 2008. While in office, Sleiman was a champion of the Baabda Declaration, a 2012 agreement by Lebanon’s major political parties affirming the country’s neutrality in regional conflicts.

He stepped down at the end of his six-year term in May last year. Parliament has been unable to agree on a successor and the post has remained vacant amid political infighting and boycotts of electoral sessions.

Panel formed to solve mobile revenues row

BEIRUT: The parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee formed Tuesday a small panel charged with resolving a long-standing row over the distribution of telecom tax revenues to Lebanon’s municipalities, frozen since 2009.

The decision was made during the panel’s meeting in Parliament chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan which discussed the municipalities’ tax revenues from the mobile phone sector.

The committee was briefed by the director general of the Telecommunications Ministry and representatives from the Interior and Justice Ministries on how to allocate the share of the municipalities’ tax revenues from the telecom sector estimated at more than $3 billion since 2009.

“There is a qualitative change in discussions. We have entered legally available options,” Kanaan, the committee’s chairman, told reporters after the meeting. He said the Telecommunications Ministry had made more than one proposal on how to calculate the telecom tax revenues to the municipalities.

Kanaan, who belongs to MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, said a small panel, comprising representatives from the Finance, Telecommunications, Interior and Justice ministries and the chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, had been formed and tasked with solving the issue over the distribution of tax revenues from the mobile phone sector to the municipalities.

The panel’s formation comes a few days after Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb announced that the municipalities would finally get their share of tax revenues for the first time since 2009.

Harb said last week municipalities should receive a 10-percent share of the telecoms revenues, pursuant to Article 55 of the country’s tax law.

He implicitly accused the FPM, which held the Telecommunications Ministry in the past, of blocking the transfer of municipalities’ shares of these revenues back in 2009.

The amount of funds frozen since 2009, according to Harb, has surpassed LL6 billion ($4 million).

After the establishment of the mobile phone telecom industry in 1994, a bill was drafted that required 10 percent of revenues to be transferred to municipal governments.

But Harb and the FPM disagree over who holds the authority to distribute the funds. Harb maintains that the funds should be transferred to the municipalities via the Finance Ministry. But the FPM in 2009 began holding the funds, arguing that the law was clear in that the Telecoms Ministry should directly transfer revenues to the municipalities.

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Harb’s political opponent who held the post of telecoms minister in 2009, met at his office Tuesday with a delegation from the municipalities’ federation to discuss the tax revenues.

Khalil Harfoush, head of the municipalities’ federation in the southern town of Jezzine, warned of escalation by the municipalities if they did not get their share of tax revenues from the mobile phone sector.

“We are heading for escalatory steps if our demands for the payment of all municipality dues, estimated at more than LL1.8 billion, about $1 million, are not met,” Harfoush told reporters after the meeting with Bassil. He said the municipalities were in dire need of the money for local development projects given the fact that they are hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.

It was not immediately clear why there was such a massive discrepancy between the figures cited by Harb and those cited by Harfoush.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Public Works and Transportation Committee discussed the new traffic law in the presence of Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk. The law, due to go into effect starting in April, calls for imposing tougher punishment for traffic violations.

MP Mohammad Qabbani, the committee’s chairman, said the panel recommended during its meeting the revival of municipal police in Beirut and renovation of bus stations and establishment of new ones. The committee also discussed the establishment of a traffic unit in the Internal Security Forces, he said.

The parliamentary Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs Committee, headed by MP Atef Majdalani, continued discussion over a program to do away with poverty facing poor families. The committee said indications showed that over 300,000 families lived on less than $2 per day.

“There is a need to help those families within a program set up by the Social Affairs Ministry which calls for providing financial aid equivalent to a third of the minimum wage to the poorest families, on condition that the family principal pledges to send his children to school,” Majdalani said, adding that the money for the program would be included in a special provision in the state budget.

The parliamentary Youth and Sports Committee discussed the payment of the state’s outstanding financial dues to institutions which participated in organizing the 2009 Francophone Games tournament.

Sports and Youth Minister Abdul Muttaleb al-Hinawi said an amount of LL8 billion had been transferred for this purpose.

Poverty reduction efforts brought into law

Shebaa ambush won’t halt Hezbollah-Future talks: MP

The latest bout of violence along the border with Israel will not affect dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future...

Rate of C-sections alarmingly high

BEIRUT: From the beginning of her pregnancy, Abir Mansour knew that she didn’t want a C-section. As the months passed and she grew closer to term, some tried to sway her otherwise with unsolicited advice, such as the woman who told her that a C-section wouldn’t be painful, nor would it upset her sex life like a vaginal delivery would.

Mansour maintained her resolve. “I wanted a normal birth. I didn’t want surgery,” said the mom, who gave birth to her first child, Anthony, last year.

Just three months from her due date, she learned that vaginal delivery would not be possible. Mansour’s doctor told her that a C-section was necessary, because of her baby’s weight and position. She had no choice but to undergo the procedure she had hoped to avoid.

Mansour is one of many women in Lebanon who have given birth through C-section, a surgical procedure of delivery that requires an incision through the abdominal wall and uterus.

In situations where the health of the mother or baby would be jeopardized by vaginal birth, C-sections have saved lives. However, an increasing number of women worldwide are giving birth via C-section for nonmedical reasons, and Lebanon is no exception. This trend has maternal health practitioners concerned.

Like other countries worldwide, Lebanon has seen C-section rates increase as the process of giving birth has become more medicalized, and populations have experienced demographic shifts such as rapid urbanization. In a 2010 study that gathered information on maternal health in Lebanon, data reported from hospitals across the country revealed a C-section rate of 40.8 percent, far above the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended rate of 15 percent.

If a country’s rate falls far below that 15 percent level, it’s a sign that women aren’t getting access to C-sections that may be medically necessary. However, a rate far above the WHO’s recommendation is an indicator that there may be a high number of C-sections performed for nonmedical reasons.

For most of human history, babies have entered the world through the birth canal, or not at all. The majority of births still happen this way, but the advent of C-sections gave doctors an alternative means of delivery where a natural birth would be unsafe. Nonetheless, maternal health researchers have reported that, as a surgical procedure, C-sections carry more risks.

Caroline Osman, an OB-GYN based in Downtown Beirut, said she encourages her patients toward vaginal birth. “While C-sections are improving, with smaller incisions, it is still a surgery,” she said, explaining that there are higher chances of complications and infections, as well as maternal and infant mortality. Moreover, C-sections require longer hospital stays and recovery time.

Tamar Kabakian, an associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Community Health at the American University of Beirut, has studied the rise of C-sections, and the causes of increased prevalence.

She said that the procedure is directly marketed at women as a safe method of painless delivery, and as a way to avoid labor. “It is presented by providers as a way out,” she said, adding, “we are a culture where women are not highly empowered to own the pain that comes with labor. We always try to avoid pain.”

In her 2013 study exploring Lebanese women’s experiences of C-section delivery, Kabakian found that health care providers weren’t giving women enough information on the realities of the procedure and associated recovery pain. Consequently, women weren’t able to make the most knowledgeable delivery choices.

Through her research, Kabakian has also found that misconceptions surround pain relief procedures for vaginal childbirth. For example, some women hold the belief that an epidural injection will cause paralysis. This fear can steer women away from a vaginal delivery.

Kabakian said that the organization of Lebanon’s predominantly private health care system is a key factor shaping the choices of women and doctors.

“We don’t have accountability within the private system,” she said, explaining that there aren’t national policies that regulate practices of all hospitals in birth interventions.

At the system level, she said that OB-GYN practices in Lebanon are typically characterized by direct patient-provider relationships as opposed to group practices that would accommodate the unpredictable nature of natural childbirth.

“It is more convenient to schedule things around with a C-section, because they don’t have anyone else to cover absences if the provider needs to be somewhere else,” Kabakian explained.

As a remedy, she encouraged the growth of more group obstetrician practices. In her 2007 study, Kabakian also recommended the implementation of national-level guidelines for maternal health practice, as well as awareness campaigns to better inform women.

Caroline Osman, a Beirut-based OB-GYN, has seen a rise in demand for medically unnecessary C-sections since she began her practice in 2005. Like Kabakian, she said that many women want to avoid the pain of labor.

They also fear vaginal tearing and the possibility of needing an episiotomy, a small incision in the perineum that eases the baby’s passage.

Other reasons are more cosmetic in nature.

“Some women prefer to maintain their antenatal region. For their sex life,” Osman explained. While many of her clients choose vaginal delivery, she said, “an increasing number of these women want vaginal reconstruction surgery.”

Prenatal yoga teacher, Dunia Abou Jaoude, advocated for a shift in how women experience childbirth. She offers yoga lessons to expectant mothers, as well as sessions on hypnobirthing, a nonmedical method of pain management that she said teaches the mother to mitigate anxiety during labor.

Abou Jaoude suggests that women with no pregnancy complications give birth at home in a calm, comfortable environment, free from strangers and interruptions. While most who attend her sessions want some form of pain relief to ease labor pains, for instance, an epidural, she advises her students to know their options and keep them open. That way, they can make informed decisions about delivery.

“You might find it easier when you know what to do with your body, and how your partner can help you,” Abou Jaoude said.

As labor has become more medicalized, so have unnatural birthing positions that confine women to beds. Abou Jaoude advocated a return to more natural positions.

“The best way to prevent tearing is to be off your back and off your butt,” she said.

As for fears surrounding vaginal elasticity, Abou Jaoude said that pelvic muscle training can help fight loosening. The mother can practice these exercises with a specialist, before and after birth to strengthen pelvic muscles.

Kabakian, the AUB professor, also said that the typical birthing environment presents a major challenge for vaginal delivery. While interventions should be available to the mother should complications arise, they should not immediately reach for, if not necessary.

She said, “in an ideal environment, she would not be treated as a patient because [giving birth] is not a disease.”

Future upholds dialogue with Hezbollah

BEIRUT: The parliamentary Future bloc pledged Tuesday to uphold its dialogue with Hezbollah on the basis of respecting the Lebanese state’s exclusive jurisdiction over decisions of war and peace, while renewing its call for the party to retreat from Syria.

During its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri at his Downtown Beirut residence, the bloc also urged the rival political parties to reach consensus over the election of a new president, warning that the continued presidential vacuum, now in its ninth month, would aggravate dangers threatening Lebanon.

Hariri returned to Beirut last week to address a Future Movement rally at the BIEL complex marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The bloc supported the “frank, firm and clear stances” declared by Hariri at the BIEL rally on key political issues.

“These stances stressed moderation and firmness in confronting terrorism and its causes and adherence to the unity and goals of the March 14 parties,” the bloc said in a statement issued after the meeting.

“They also affirmed the continued dialogue with Hezbollah on the basis of respecting the state’s adherence to its sovereignty and full authority over its territory and institutions, without ceding to anyone its exclusive right regarding its sovereign decisions and also to maintaining its unchallenged full right over the decisions of war and peace,” the statement said.

The bloc also emphasized its firm stance on the need for Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria and halt its military intervention there in order “to spare Lebanon the negative repercussions of the party’s involvement in the fighting alongside the regime which is destroying its country and killing its people.” The bloc also called on Hezbollah to end its involvement in the ongoing conflict in Iraq.

The bloc’s statement comes on the eve of a new round of talks between Future and Hezbollah. The two rival influential parties have so far held five rounds of talks focusing mainly on defusing Sunni-Shiite tensions, fueled by the 4-year-old war in Syria. The two sides earlier this month took some measures aimed at reducing street tensions by removing political banners and pictures in Beirut, Sidon and Tripoli.

The Future Movement and Hezbollah have yet to discuss a mechanism to facilitate the election of a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year mandate ended on May 25.

The statement also comes on the eve of a new Parliament session to elect a president. However, Wednesday’s session is destined to fail like the previous 18 attempts since April due to a lack of quorum.

The Future bloc called for consensus between the March 8 and March 14 parties to break the presidential deadlock.

“The bloc stresses the need for the Lebanese political parties to work for a consensus to elect a new president because the continued presidential vacancy exacerbates the risks and subsequent losses in Lebanon, especially amid the escalation of risks and clashes resulting from the situation prevailing in the region and the world,” the statement said.

Referring to the rift over the Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism that threatens to paralyze the government’s work, the statement said, “The bloc hopes that, until the presidential vacancy ends with the election of a new president, the Lebanese government will be able to return to work in accordance with legal and constitutional rules.”

Following the bloc’s meeting, Hariri met with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt, with whom he discussed the political situation in Lebanon and regional developments, according to a statement released by Hariri’s office. The meeting was attended by Jumblatt’s son, Taymour, and Nader Hariri, chief of Hariri’s staff.

Earlier in the day, Hariri met separately with Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi and the ambassadors of Russia, Britain and Egypt.

After meeting Hariri, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said that a Russian arms deal for the Lebanese Army was on the right track.

Zasypkin said Russia highly appreciated Hariri’s stances to strengthen sectarian coexistence, moderation and Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence and unity. He said he also assured Hariri that a Russian arms deal for Lebanon was on track.

“We are in continuous contact with Mr. Hariri on political dialogue as well as bolstering the capabilities of the Lebanese Army and security agencies,” Zasypkin said.

He added that the meeting focused on the implementation of bilateral contracts for supplying Lebanon with Russian weapons, refuting allegations that Hariri was seeking to disrupt or delay the delivery of the arms.

“Work is underway to complete the arms deal for Lebanon and we expect tangible results that would benefit the Lebanese state,” Zasypkin said.

Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun made the case against extending the retirement ages of senior military and security officials, announcing he no longer placed his confidence in Defense Minister Samir Moqbel.

“In military law there is no such thing as extending [the terms of] officers, and no authority is allowed to disrupt the military hierarchy and impose the heresy of extension,” Aoun told a news conference after chairing a weekly meeting of his parliamentary Reform and Change bloc.

“We withdraw our confidence in Defense Minister Samir Moqbel over his violation of his prerogatives in terms of governance practices.”

The remarks came after Moqbel submitted to the Cabinet a draft law that would raise the retirement age of senior Army and police officers in an attempt to avoid vacancies in the military and security agencies. Media reports said Moqbel signed a unilateral decree to extend the term of Maj. Gen. Mohammad Khair, the secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council.

Separately, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi dismissed as “poisonous” remarks made by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, saying that his speech exposed the party’s “subservience” to Iran.

In a televised speech Monday, Nasrallah rejected calls by his rivals for the party to withdraw its fighters from Syria and invited them instead to join Hezbollah’s battle against extremists in Syria and Iraq.

“The content of Nasrallah’s address has revealed more than ever Hezbollah’s subservience to Iran and its role as a tool in implementing its interests,” Rifi said in a statement.

He reiterated his opposition to the “Iranian project in Lebanon,” which, according to him, has almost led to the total collapse of the Lebanese state.

Judge's Decision Leaves Immigrants In Legal Limbo

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

A federal judge in Texas has blocked the start of President Obama's controversial executive action on immigration. Now some unauthorized immigrants are waiting to see what happens to new programs designed to temporarily protect them from deportation.

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Texas Judge Halts Obama's Executive Action On Immigration

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

Despite a setback in court, the White House insists President Obama's executive action on immigration is on firm legal footing. The legal fight could have political ramifications.

For Congressional Committees, It's All In The Name

The Senate Finance Committee has one of the more straightforward names on Capitol Hill. Others, like the education committee, have seen frequent name changes to reflect party priorities. Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images

The Senate Finance Committee has one of the more straightforward names on Capitol Hill. Others, like the education committee, have seen frequent name changes to reflect party priorities.

Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images

Earlier this year, just a couple of weeks into the new Congress, David Stacy and his coworkers at the Human Rights Campaign found out about something they weren't expecting. Something that most of us wouldn't raise an eyebrow at.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn decided to change the name of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee he now chairs. The Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights dropped the "civil rights" and "human rights." Now it's just the Constitution subcommittee.

The move sparked some controversy but, it turns out, the practice is actually as old as Congress itself.

The subcommittee's change was one that seems so small, so subtle.

But groups like HRC, and others that deeply care about these types of issues, say it speaks volumes.

"Civil and human rights are constitutional rights but they're also rights that extend beyond the constitution," says Stacy. "We have statutes and other protections in law and in regulation that help promote human rights and civil rights and those issues are important."

To someone like Stacy, this name change is an obvious attempt by Republicans to change the political agenda of the subcommittee. But it's far from unprecedented.

Lawmakers on both sides have been changing committee names for years, and it hasn't always been rooted in politics.

Sarah Binder at the Brookings Institution says she doesn't have a great count of how often it's been done, "but we can reach back to the origins of the House and Senate to find instances of new majorities changing committee names and subcommittee names," she says. "Sometimes politically-charged and sometimes just kind of keeping up with the times, I think."

Binder says some of the earliest committee names were simply a reflection of the economy at the time. Like the Merchant Marine Committee or the Railroad Committee.

"But you know, life changes. The world goes on. The economy emerges. It would be weird today if House members today were serving on the Roads and Canals committee rather than the current formulation of the transportation committee," Binder says.

If you're keeping track at home, the Committee on Roads and Canals started back in 1831. Its name changed for the first time in 1869 — to the committee on Railways and Canals.

More recently, the education committee has seen its share of changes. Since 1994, when Newt Gingrich and Republicans took over the House, the one committee has had its name changed four different times:

Economic and Educational Opportunities

Education in the Workforce

Education And Labor

Education and the Workforce

Committee heads have dropped the word labor, added the word workforce, and vice-versa to channel party priorities.

"It had been the Education and Labor Committee and it was renamed and when Democrats took it back it was renamed again, so it feels like a little bit of tit-for-tat, going back and forth across the committees," explains Jeannie Zaino of Iona College.

This is not, Zaino stresses, just a Republican tactic.

"Republicans are certainly doing it. Democrats have done it in the past and would love to be in a position to do it again," she says.

But, how much does any of this 'name game' matter? When you step outside the Capitol, is anyone actually paying attention?

"Absolutely not," says Binder.

"Most people probably don't even know there are congressional committees. I think mostly they would want them to work harder and work better and spend less time worrying about what they're called," she says.

And that could possibly even let them save some time on door plaques and letterhead too.

Hezbollah demands France release Georges Abdallah

BEIRUT: Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem Tuesday condemned France's ongoing imprisonment of leftist militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

“We call on France to release Georges Abdallah as soon as possible, and we consider his continued detention to be a blatant violation of human rights,” Qassem said in a statement released by the Hezbollah media office after meeting with representatives from the International Campaign for the Release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

The remarks were the first by a ranking official in Hezbollah to demand the release of Abdallah, but the party in 2013 released a statement of support.

Abdallah was arrested in Lyon in October 1984 and condemned three years later to life in prison for alleged involvement in the killing of an Israeli diplomat and an American military attache in Paris in 1982.

Abdallah has maintained his innocence.

Abdallah should have been freed in 1999 by virtue of France's penal code, but Paris has rejected nine appeals for his release.

His supporters have accused the United States and Israel of lobbying to keep Abdallah behind bars.

Under the French judicial system, a life sentence means 15 years in prison, after which the prisoner has the right to demand his release.

In 2013, French courts accepted a request to release Abdallah, and within the 24-hour deadline, no appeals were made. His supporters in Lebanon were preparing his reception and the date of his return was set. But then-Interior Minister of France Manuel Valls denied the deportation order.

Hezbollah had maintained a low profile in supporting his release, with party official Ghaleb Abu Zeinab once explaining that the party did not want its support to be negatively exploited.

But on Tuesday Qassem openly denounced French authorities over the delay in releasing Abdallah, accusing the United States of exerting pressure on France to keep him behind bars.

“Is American pressure... more important than France’s dignity?” he asked.

Jumblatt sticks to Nusra stance after Nasrallah call out

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt defended Tuesday his refusal to classify the Nusra Front as a terrorist organization, one day after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah called him out over his stance.

In a televised speech Monday, Nasrallah insisted that no distinction should be made between ISIS and the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.

Without addressing him by name, Nasrallah called on Walid Jumblatt to explain his logic behind distinguishing between the two.

“As long as there is a single Syrian fighting Bashar Assad’s terrorist regime, then I am with this Syrian,” the PSP chief wrote in a post on his Twitter account after several users questioned his logic.

“This is my opinion, I know it won’t change many of the equations being drawn up for the region, but my conscience is clear,” he added.

Jumblatt has in the past noted that Nusra is made up of Syrians, whereas ISIS includes jihadis from all over the world.

But he has never explicitly said that he supports the Nusra Front, which was behind several car bombs and suicide attacks in Lebanon, in addition to the killing of two Lebanese captive servicemen on the outskirts of Arsal.

Ashton Carter Is Sworn In As Obama's 4th Defense Secretary

The cold and snow that walloped Washington overnight didn't stop Ashton Carter from reporting for work Tuesday. Carter was sworn in as the 25th U.S. Secretary of Defense after starting his day with meetings at the Pentagon.

Sworn in by Vice President Biden at the White House Tuesday, Carter formally replaces Chuck Hagel, becoming President Obama's fourth Defense chief in the past six years.

Carter's debut at the Pentagon this morning was briefly interrupted when his wife, Stephanie, "slipped and fell on the icy pavement," the AP reports. "She laughed it off and officials indicated she was not injured."

In taking the Pentagon's top job, Carter rounds out a career that has included several stints with the Department of Defense, from leading the acquisitions unit to being deputy Defense secretary.

NPR's John Burnett gives an overview of Carter's biography:

"Ashton Carter is 60 years old; he's a Yale graduate and was a Rhodes Scholar in theoretical physics at Oxford. He never served in the military; he was a long-time faculty member of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and he's the author or co-author of 11 books."

Carter takes his post with a crowded list of important priorities for the Department of Defense:

The U.S. is seeking to ramp up efforts against extremist group ISIS and continue its work with military coalitions in the Middle East;

NATO and the U.S. are watching developments in Ukraine carefully;

The U.S. hopes to work with Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from taking hard-won territory there;

The Pentagon seeks to recoup budget cuts in recent years that can't easily be retracted in an austere political environment in Washington.

From the Military Times:

"Carter is expected to testify on Capitol Hill soon about the Defense Department's annual budget request that was released in early February. He'll be setting the stage for a big budget battle as the Pentagon seeks $534 billion for next year, significantly more than the $499 billion spending cap imposed by the law known as sequestration."

Extension of security officers' terms 'heresy': Aoun

BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun made the case against extending the retirement ages of security officials Tuesday, announcing he no longer placed his confidence in Lebanon’s defense minister.

“In military law there is no such thing as extending [the terms of] officers, and no authority is allowed to disrupt the military hierarchy and impose the heresy of extension,” Aoun, an ex-Army chief, said at a news conference following a Reform and Change bloc meeting.

“We withdraw our confidence in Defense Minister Samir Moqbel over his violation of his prerogatives in terms of governance practices.”

The remarks came after Moqbel submitted to the Cabinet a draft law that would raise the retirement age of senior Army and police officers.

Media reports Monday also said Moqbel signed a unilateral decree to extend the term of Maj. Gen. Mohammad Khair, the secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council.

Under the proposed draft law, the retirement age of the Army commander would be raised from 60 to 63, a major general from 59 to 62, a brigadier from 58 to 61, and a colonel from 56 to 59.

Among senior military and security officers who are scheduled to retire soon are Khair, who retires on Feb. 20, Army Intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel on March 20, gendarmerie chief Brig. Elias Saade on May 22, ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous on June 5, and Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman on Aug. 7.

Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi, whose mandate was extended by two years in 2013, retires on Sept. 23. This is in addition to a number of Army brigadiers holding key posts in the administration and the housing department.

The proponents of extending the mandates argue that the Cabinet, whose consensus-requiring decision making mechanism has caused deadlock, is unable to agree on the names of the next security officials.

However, Aoun said extending the mandates would be in violation of the law and would harm the morale of the military.

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Abu Faour promises to expand food safety campaign

BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour lauded Tuesday the government’s accomplishments over the past year, and revealed that his ministry was working on new projects to expand the food safety campaign.

"This government has achieved many things which previous administrations could not realize, including the security plans in the north and east of Lebanon, the food security campaign, and anti-corruption drives in many ministries, notably finance and agriculture,” Abu Faour said in his annual report, excerpts of which were published by the state-run National News Agency.

Abu Faour expressed satisfaction over “successes achieved” by the Ministry of Health “in almost every endeavor it undertook,” especially the campaign against food corruption and better public medical care.

“The scale of success in the food security campaign is determined by the continuity and sustainability of the campaign, notably by putting in place the institutional framework to ensure that it becomes a permanent policy and not an ad hoc exercise that depends on a minister or a government,” Abu Faour said.

In his report, the Progressive Socialist Party minister said projects in the pipeline included the establishment of a public

health prosecutor office, enactment of mandatory food safety standards to be implemented by all food related industries and services, and introduction of regular food safety training for the ministry’s inspectors and workers in the private health and food sectors.

Abu Faour emphasized what he called the “bewildering” extent of corruption he has discovered in the food business.

“I was completely stunned by the size of the corruption. It seems that corruption is the rule in this country, whereas reform and anti-corruption bids is the exception,” he said, stressing, however, that “when there is a political will, it is possible to break the (vicious) circle of corruption.”

Abu Faour also listed his ministry’s main accomplishments including, the launch of the Lebanese food safety guidelines, the closure of Beirut’s slaughterhouse pending its rehabilitation, the closure of unlicensed food establishments, the escalation of the ministry’s food inspection raids, and the reduction of the price of 261 types of medicines by 17 percent and 629 other drugs by 20 percent.

The list also included upgrading hospital classification criteria to ensure better services, improving automated auditing of hospital bills and introducing the ministry’s coverage on prostheses.

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Federal Judge Blocks Obama's Executive Actions On Immigration

The day before the first of President Obama's executive actions on immigration were to take effect, the new rules have been put on hold by a federal judge's ruling in south Texas. Judge Andrew Hanen said the president overstepped his authority.

The Justice Department will appeal the judge's temporary injunction, the White House says.

"The district court's decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect and the Department of Justice has indicated that it will appeal that decision," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement released Tuesday morning.

The injunction gives 26 states more time to form legal arguments against the actions, which were expected to protect as many as 5 million people who are in the U.S. illegally from being deported. They would also be allowed to apply for work permits.

In the temporary injunction issued Monday, Judge Andrew Hanen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas halted both the new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents as well as the changes and expansions Obama had planned to make to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

If the executive actions providing legal status to millions of people were to take effect, Hanen wrote, "The genie would be impossible to put back into the bottle."

Obama announced his plan weeks after last November's midterm elections, saying that he was taking action because Congress hadn't sent him a bill addressing the problems in America's immigration system. Before Monday's ruling, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency had been preparing to begin accepting applications under the new rules.

As member station KUT in Austin reports, the Texas lawsuit against the president's executive orders was initially filed in December by Gov. Greg Abbot, who was then the state's attorney general.

From the station and its partner, the Texas Tribune:

"He accused the president of violating several provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including one that gives Congress jurisdiction over immigration laws. Abbott also argued that Texas would be irreparably harmed by the action. He cited as proof last summer's surge of undocumented immigrants from Central America who entered Texas illegally through the Rio Grande Valley."

Hanen, a nominee of President George W. Bush; he's been in his post since 2002, also noted that there has been a political and national debate over how to handle both legal and illegal immigration. He added, "To date, however, neither the President nor any member of Congress has proposed legislation capable of resolving these issues in a manner that could garner the necessary support to be passed into law."

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BEIRUT: Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr Tuesday charged pop singer-turned-Salafist Fadl Shaker with inciting sectarian hatred and harming Lebanon’s ties with a friendly state via Facebook.

Saqr did not name the state, but said Shaker was also charged with undermining the reputation of the Lebanese Army.

He referred the case to military judge Riad Abu Ghayda.

Shaker is believed to have been hiding inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon since 2013 after deadly clashes between the Army and Salafist militants in Sidon.

But there have also been conflicting reports on the whereabouts and activities of Shaker, who was renowned for his passionate love songs before becoming a Salafist and joining Sheikh Ahmad Assir.

Assir’s gunmen engaged in deadly clashes with the Lebanese Army in the summer of 2013, leading to the arrest of dozens of militants.

Assir also remains at large.

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Beirut hospital plagued by political bickering: health minister

BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Tuesday hinted that political bickering may be disrupting operations at the state-owned Rafik Hariri University Hospital, which recently witnessed a week-long strike by staff and the resignation of a top official.

“Certain political bickering does exist [at RHUH],” Abu Faour told local daily Al-Akhbar. He did not elaborate.

Al-Akhbar, however, quoted a hospital official as saying the squabbling was over refusal of the Health Ministry and the hospital management to sign contracts with 20 doctors.

The official said a basket of demands put forward by both the Amal Movement and the Future Movement, which Abu Faour rejected, was the primary cause of the crisis.

But in the same article, Abu Faour denied that either group made such demands.

Al-Akhbar said the reason for not holding council meetings goes back to a boycott by council members, who have refused the appointment of pro-Future Movement Mohammad Karaki to head the hospital’s purchasing department.

The Christians claim that the post belongs to them, the report said.

Abu Faour criticized Faysal Shatila, who recently resigned as the chief of the hospital’s board.

“He [Shatila] did not know how to exploit the skills of the outstanding council members,” he said.

Abu Faour also lamented the fact that Shatila refrained from holding necessary council meetings.

Abu Faour announced last week that he accepted Shatila’s resignation, saying it allowed for the implementation of a “rescue plan” to save the hospital.

Shatila told Al-Akhbar he had held 29 council meetings over a period of eight months and that he refrained from holding sessions for one month only over the Christian boycott.

He said a settlement had been reached at the time after Karaki's resignation.

Al-Akhbar said a crisis over delayed payments was expected to be resolved soon as RHUH staff had been promised to receive their January paychecks Tuesday.

It quoted sources close to Abu Faour as describing the relationship between the health minister and Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil as excellent.

RHUH staff quoted Abu Faour as saying Khalil has allocated LL5 billion ($3.3 million) to fund their salaries.

RHUH employees called off their strike over late-salary payments Monday following a meeting with Abu Faour.

Hezbollah intervention in Syria 'legitimate': Russian ambassador to Lebanon

BEIRUT: Hezbollah's intervention in the Syrian conflict where it is fighting alongside government forces is legitimate, as long as foreign fighters are swelling the ranks of the opposition, Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said in comments published Tuesday.

He also stressed that divisions over Syria should not hinder internal Lebanese dialogue which he described as a necessity backed by foreign countries.

“The party (Hezbollah) will remain engaged in the fight to aid the legitimate regime as long as fighters from dozens of countries are streaming into [Syria] to fight against the regime...,” Zasypkin said in an interview with daily newspaper An-Nahar.

“In such emergencies, the need is to focus on combatting terrorism and fundamentalist, not stir strife,” Zasypkin added.

The Russian envoy lauded Lebanese rival factions for their engagement to conduct dialogue which he said “is strongly requested” to deal with “existing challenges and dangers.”

“Foreign countries support this dialogue, especially that it touches on not only Lebanese, but also regional issues, and I mean primarily combating terrorism and extremism,” Zasypkin said.

Hezbollah and the Future Movement launched talks in Decembers aimed at easing sectarian tensions exacerbated by the Syrian conflict, while preparations are underway to have a similar dialogue between Christian rivals, the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement.

Zasypkin said his country is concerned about the political program of the future president and his capacity to achieve the main goals of security and stability, regardless of his affiliations.

“We want the most suitable president for Lebanon,” Zasypkin said, noting that settling the presidential stalemate is linked to all Lebanese factions, not only Christians.

Asked about prospects of a political solution for the Syrian conflict in the near future, Zasypkin argued that chances have dimmed due to existing situations in the region and internationally.

“The U.S. is taking advantage of the Ukrainian crisis to undermine Russia and this has reflected negatively on global issues and disrupted any settlements,” Zasypkin added.