Suspect behind Btedaai murder shot dead by Army
One of the suspected perpetrators of the November shooting of a Christian couple in Btedaai, east Lebanon, was shot...
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Wisconsin Governor To Sign Right-To-Work Bill Amid Protests
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald is the lead author of the right-to-work bill, which he says is a step towards modernizing Wisconsin's labor laws. Shawn Johnson/WPR hide caption
itoggle caption Shawn Johnson/WPR
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald is the lead author of the right-to-work bill, which he says is a step towards modernizing Wisconsin's labor laws.
Shawn Johnson/WPR
Union workers are protesting again at the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison today. This time, it's against a fast-tracked right-to-work bill that would ban mandatory union dues at private sector businesses.
The Wisconsin Senate is poised to pass the plan, the State Assembly could pass it next week and Gov. Scott Walker says he'll sign it.
The scene is reminiscent of four years ago when Walker all but eliminated bargaining rights for public employee unions.
These protests are a lot smaller than those four years ago when tens of thousands gathered daily at the Wisconsin Capitol, but they have their fiery moments.
The crowd chants, "What's disgusting? Union busting! What's disgusting? Union busting!"
Philip Gruber of the Machinists Union tells a crowd of a couple thousand gathered on the steps of the Capitol that the only way to stop the right-to-work bill was to stand still.
"That's right, I said stand still. I think it's about time that we stopped the production in this country. Let's stand still!" he says.
But for the most part, the atmosphere here is far more reserved in 2015 than in 2011.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald matter-of-factly announced on Friday that he would introduce a right-to-work bill and he already had the votes to pass it.
At a public hearing yesterday, he said it was time to modernize Wisconsin's labor laws.
"The bottom line is that to move our state forward, Wisconsin needs a modern economy," Fitzgerald says. "The status quo has served us well in the past, but in order to see our economy continue to compete at a global level, we cannot remain mired in the antiquated system."
Greg Mourad of the National Right to Work Committee says Wisconsin's current labor laws that let private sector unions collect dues from all workers are akin to being kidnapped in a taxi cab.
"The other passengers don't let you out, they sit on either side and hold you there. The driver ignores your protest. After a lengthy drive, they pull over in Green Bay, the car stops, they untie you, and before they let you go, they demand $300 for your share of the cab fare," he says.
Unlike four years ago when he made going after public sector unions his signature achievement, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been mostly quiet on right-to-work. That's because he has said again and again that right-to-work would not happen on his watch.
"Private sector unions are my partner in economic development," Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
But once a right-to-work bill surfaced, Walker wasted little time in announcing his support.
"I haven't changed my position on it, it just wasn't a priority for me. But should they pass it within the next two weeks, which is their target, I plan on signing it," Walker says.
While this right-to-work bill would keep collective bargaining intact for private sector unions, it could result in situations where union members who pay their dues are working side by side with workers who don't.
Patrick Veeser is the union president at a Green Bay company that builds machines for the paper industry. He says his union has a great relationship with management, and he worries a Republican-led effort will hurt that.
"They're reaching in and they're getting into private business," he says. "They always say less government? I'm seeing more government here. How can they rule on something they've never experienced?"
But as much as many union members dislike this bill, most don't think they can stop it. Steamfitter James Piper worries that it will starve his union to death.
"I'm here today as kind of like a funeral for a friend. I'm not the least bit positive or hopeful that this is going to have any impact on the decisions made inside the building," he says.
Piper says he's worked long enough to see the good that unions do for workers, but he concedes that many younger workers don't want to join.
"Hell, we won't even be able to get a newsletter out and say let's all get together down at the state Capitol and have a rally," he says.
If it passes, Wisconsin will become the 25th state with a right-to-work law. It's a type of law that used to be more common in the South, but Republican governors in Michigan and Indiana recently signed right-to-work laws.
And, despite objections that unions no longer carry much sway with their state government, Wisconsin appears to be following the same pattern.
Putting the Power of Data to Work for America
There’s lots of talk these days in the tech community about organizations being data-driven.
If you look across all organizations out there, which one has made the biggest change in being data driven? My answer is the U.S. Government. As a data scientist, one thing I can guarantee is that this is the most data-driven President we’ve ever had. Need proof?
This is the President that established Data.gov -- a one stop shop for the data that is produced by the government. And that list of data sets is growing thanks to the President’s Executive Action that made open and machine-readable data the new default for government information. This Administration also created the first set of dashboards at the Federal level to monitor over $70 billion in IT investments. On top of that the President announced in the State of the Union his ambitious plan to bring together big data, data science, and medicine to make precision medicine a reality.
Ministers to tackle Cabinet mechanism row next week
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam will call for a Cabinet session next week despite the lingering dispute among ministers over the government’s decision-making mechanism, sources close to the premier said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri left for Riyadh Wednesday night following a 12-day stay in Beirut. Hariri arrived here on Feb. 13 to address a Future Movement rally to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He also had talks with several political leaders on the presidential election deadlock.
The Cabinet will meet next Thursday to discuss the agenda of the previous session which was cut short by Salam two weeks ago following a heated debate between a number of ministers over a mechanism to govern the Cabinet’s decisions during the 9-month-old presidential vacuum, the sources told The Daily Star.
The crisis over the decision-making system, which prompted Salam to suspend sessions in the past two weeks until agreement is reached among ministers on a new mechanism, will be discussed from outside the agenda to allow the Cabinet’s main parties to find a more productive formula, the sources said.
With the 24 ministers split over Salam’s bid to change the government’s decision-making formula, each minister will air his views on a new mechanism after the row between supporters and opponents of the change reached the limits of belittling the presidency in favor of the premiership, the sources added.
Salam, backed by most ministers, is demanding a change in the current mechanism, which requires unanimous support from all 24 ministers on the Cabinet decisions. He argued that the mechanism has hindered the government’s productivity due to disagreement among ministers on decisions taken by the Cabinet.
In the face of Salam’s insistence on amending the decision-making system, seven Christian ministers and a Muslim minister, who met at former President Michel Sleiman’s residence in Yarze last week, oppose the change, saying the Cabinet should serve in a caretaker capacity until a new president is elected.The sources did not say what decision Salam might take after hearing the views of all ministers, with one side insisting on a change in the decision-making mechanism on the basis of Article 65 in the Constitution and another stressing the need to maintain the current system.
However, ministerial sources said they did not expect an official announcement of a change in the current mechanism during next week’s session but rather the adoption of consensus on decisions, which falls short of unanimous support from all the 24 ministers as is the case now.
Salam attributed the failure to elect a president to the row over Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism. “A country without a president is a mutilated body. The disruption plaguing the Cabinet’s work and the row over the Cabinet’s mechanism are the byproduct of this big sin, which will not be erased except with the votes of the nation’s lawmakers carrying the name of the new president of the Lebanese Republic,” Salam said in a speech at the Arab Forum for Food Safety, which opened in Beirut.
For his part, Speaker Nabih Berri called on Salam to call for a Cabinet session “as soon as possible to reactivate the state’s work according to the Constitution’s standards.”
Berri, according to MPs who met him at his Ain al-Tineh residence during his weekly meeting with lawmakers, stressed that Article 65 of the Constitution should be the only basis for Cabinet’s decision-making.
Article 65 of the Lebanese Constitution states that the Cabinet can only be activated if two-thirds of the ministers are present and that decisions must be made unanimously. However, in cases where a consensus cannot be reached, the Constitution requires that a simple majority vote is conducted.
Meanwhile, seven ministers – the three Kataeb Party ministers, the three ministers loyal to Sleiman, and Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb, who oppose a change in the Cabinet’s decision-making system, reiterated their call for the government to continue to run the people’s affairs until a new president is elected.
The ministers along with Sleiman met at Kataeb Party leader and former President Amine Gemayel’s residence in Sin al-Fil as part of their consultations on the Cabinet crisis and the presidential deadlock.
“Our aim is to accelerate the election of a president and at the same time continue the government's momentum,” Gemayel said in a statement after the meeting. “The participants stressed their keenness to ensure the continuity of the government’s work without obstructing it,” he added.
“They agreed that [the government] must continue to run the affairs of the people and the state until a new president is elected.”
Arms shipments to begin in April: France
BEIRUT: France says it will begin shipping $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Saudi Arabia to the Lebanese Army in April.
The Defense Ministry Wednesday said the deal, first announced in 2013, would supply French armored vehicles, warships, attack helicopters, munitions and communications gear. The deal also includes training programs for the Lebanese Army run by the French military.
The deal aims to boost Lebanon’s military as it struggles to contain a rising tide of violence linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria.
Lebanese troops engage in almost daily altercations with militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front holed up on the mountainous outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.
The fighters briefly occupied the town last summer and are still holding at least 25 servicemen they kidnapped during the battles.
Last December, Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi signed the final Lebanese-French agreement under which Paris would provide the $3 billion worth of weapons.
The delay in delivering the weapons to the Army was attributed to technical reasons.
Around eight months after announcing the deal, Saudi Arabia declared that it granted Lebanese security services another $1 billion.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in Beirut shortly after to oversee the implementation of the second grant.
Besides the threat from the border, the Army and other security agencies are cracking down on terror cells plotting attacks inside Lebanon.
The country has witnessed a spate of suicide bombings over the past two years most of which targeted areas associated with Hezbollah.
The bombings were claimed by jihadi groups in Syria that said they were in retaliation to Hezbollah’s military involvement alongside the Syrian regime.
Jamaa open to thawing Hezbollah ties
BEIRUT: A senior Lebanese security official has offered to mediate in the dispute between Hezbollah and Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, whose ties have been strained by sharp differences over the 4-year-old war in Syria, sources in Jamaa said Wednesday.
According to the sources, Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, widely viewed as the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, has accepted to enter into dialogue with Hezbollah, though no final date has been set for launching this dialogue.
“A high-ranking Lebanese security official has offered to act as a mediator to open a serious dialogue with Hezbollah in order to break the ice between us. We have agreed to this issue, without giving a deadline for the beginning of the dialogue,” a source in Jamaa told The Daily Star.
Hezbollah officials were not immediately available to comment on the proposed dialogue with Jamaa.
The Jamaa source said the two militant Palestinian groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, had previously tried to mediate in the rift between Hezbollah and Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya which has its roots in the Shiite party’s intervention in Syria to help President Bashar Assad’s forces. Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya supports the Syrian uprising to overthrow the Assad regime.
Jamaa officials have said that the group’s relations with Hezbollah have been frozen as a result of the party’s involvement in the war in Syria.
“Everyone knows that the major bone of contention between us is Hezbollah’s intervention in the ongoing war in Syria,” the source said.
“We have clear ideas in the dialogue [with Hezbollah], including reaching the election of a president and the formation of an effective, rather than crippled Cabinet, in addition to agreeing on a joint political activity,” he added.
The source reiterated Jamaa’s support for Hezbollah’s armed resistance against Israel. “Hezbollah’s recent military operation in the Shebaa Farms was successful, painful and important. We encourage such painful strikes against the Zionist enemy,” the source said.
Hezbollah fighters attacked an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms on Jan. 28, killing two soldiers and wounding eight others. The attack was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah convoy in the Syrian town of Qunaitra on Jan. 18 that killed six party members and an Iranian general.
The source recalled the strong ties between Jamaa and Hezbollah dating back to the 1980s and 1990s when the two parties maintained military cooperation to carry out attacks against Israeli occupation forces in south Lebanon.
At that time, a Jamaa military commander said the group opened its training camps east of Sidon to Hezbollah members to run military training courses.
Noting that his group maintained strong political ties and cooperation with Hezbollah in the 1980s, the Jamaa source expressed regret that relations have almost been broken now, “especially after Hezbollah intervened in the war in Syria and stood on the side of the Syrian regime in killing its people.’
Asked to comment on the ongoing dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, the source said: “Jamaa supports dialogue. This is not a folkloric remark. We hope that this contagion will hit all the Lebanese parties.”
However, the source criticized the Future Movement for unilaterally deciding to enter into dialogue with Hezbollah and for keeping some of its members in the dark about its results.
“Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah briefs his allies on every step in the dialogue with the Future Movement,” the source said.
On Jamaa’s future outlook, the source said: “Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya is seeking now to unify visions in the Islamic arena so that Islamists will not be accused of being takfiris.”
He added that Jamaa upheld civil peace in Lebanon and understanding with all the parties in order to ward off the threat of war in Lebanon.
“The current stage prompts us to be in contact with all Lebanese [Muslim and Christian] parties to convey our viewpoint,” the source said.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya was first licensed in 1964. Jamaa is seen as one of the strongest Sunni organizations in Lebanon.
During the 1992 elections, three Jamaa officials were elected members of Parliament.
Now, Jamaa has only one MP, Imad Hout.
In addition to its strong presence in Beirut, the southern city of Sidon and the Bekaa region, the northern city of Tripoli is considered to be Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya’s main stronghold.
Refugees denounce harassment by Sidon landowners
SIDON, Lebanon: A number of Syrian refugee women in Sidon have complained to officials at humanitarian organizations of repeated harassment from landowners.
Most of the incidents reportedly took place in fields in the southern district of Sidon. The women have asked relief organizations for assistance moving to other areas.
The director of one Sidon-based charity, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Daily Star that a Syrian refugee woman said she had been harassed by the owner of the agricultural land on which she and her family live. The woman did not tell her husband about the incident, as he is employed on the property and she was afraid of the possible repercussions. The case was dealt with in secret, according to the director.
Similar cases have also been reported, and refugees have been provided with tents by the organization so they can move away.
Another aid organization has received reports of refugee women being harassed by their Lebanese landlords. Some said they were forced to stay silent to maintain shelter for their impoverished families, while others moved away to avoid disputes.
In response to the reports, a delegation including representatives from the Union of Relief Organizations in Sidon, local non-governmental organizations and other international agencies aiding Syrian refugees, visited Anwar Daou, governor of south Lebanon, and handed him a report on the situation of refugees in Sidon and the surrounding area.
The groups discussed the needs of Syrian refugees and obstacles to relief work in the city, while the governor presented a statistical report on the numbers of Syrian refugees.
“We agreed to hold a workshop in the near future to develop a strategic plan for local needs,” said Kamel Kazbar, head of the Union of Relief Organizations in Sidon.
“Since early 2014, the influx of refugees into Sidon’s camps increased,” said Kazbar, who cited the worsening of the political situation in Syria, and the unstable security situation in the northern Bekaa Valley as contributing factors.
At one point last year, there were more than 9,000 Syrian refugee families in the south, 65 percent of them in Sidon, with the rest residing in the Ain al-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh refugee camps, according to Kazbar.
However, these numbers have recently begun to fall. Only half of the Syrian refugees in the south now live in Sidon, accounting for no more than 4,862 families, according to statistics gathered by the Union of Relief Organizations in Sidon.
Kazbar blamed the falling population on foreign NGOs and UNHCR, who he said are providing insufficient levels of aid to the area, adding that the assistance is inadequate for refugees’ basic needs, including food, rent, and medical care.
Another likely factor contributing to the decrease is the introduction of stricter border controls by the Lebanese government.
According to recent UNHCR statistics, the total number of refugees in Sidon and its suburbs is approximately 20,000.
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Rep. Boehner: House Has 'Done Its Job' On Homeland Security Funding
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters Wednesday, "the House has done its job to fund the Department of Homeland Security and to stop the president's overreach on immigration. We're waiting for the Senate to do their job." Susan Walsh/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Susan Walsh/AP
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters Wednesday, "the House has done its job to fund the Department of Homeland Security and to stop the president's overreach on immigration. We're waiting for the Senate to do their job."
Susan Walsh/AP
House Speaker John Boehner had a message for the Senate today: The ball's in your court.
Speaking after a closed-door Republican conference meeting on Wednesday, Boehner repeatedly insisted that the House had done its job, and that the Senate must now act in order to stave off a shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security. The Department is slated to run out of money in just three days.
"I'm waiting for the Senate to act," Boehner told reporters. "The House has done its job to fund the Department of Homeland Security and to stop the president's overreach on immigration. We're waiting for the Senate to do their job."
Just a short while before Boehner spoke to reporters, he addressed members of his party and told them that he had not spoken to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in two weeks, according to several lawmakers who were in the room.
Asked about his conversations with McConnell, Boehner would not clarify, only saying that the two staffs had been "talking back and forth" but that "in the end, the Senate has got to act."
Boehner's comments come one day after McConnell indicated that he would bring a so-called "clean" DHS funding bill to the floor for a vote, along with a separate bill that would target President Obama's 2014 executive actions on immigration policy. But Boehner himself has not weighed in on the merits of the McConnell plan — only saying that Senate Democrats are impeding progress, and that the plan appeared to be a hard sell in the House.
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks declared that "there's no way on God's green earth" he would vote for a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security unless it included language defunding Obama's executive actions on immigration. He went so far as to say that the so-called "clean" bill McConnell has said he'd agree to a vote on, wasn't actually clean.
"The Senate is not sending over a clean bill. A clean bill is a bill that protects the United States Constitution and stops illegal actions of the executive branch as reflected by two different federal court decisions," he said. "That is a clean bill. A dirty bill is one that protects illegal conduct."
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said that "no one wants a shutdown," but that "the plan, as far as I'm concerned is our bill."
"The question you've got to ask Democrats is, how can you insist on language in a bill that a federal judge says is unlawful? That makes absolutely no sense," he said.
Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon went so far as to say that Republicans weren't running the show in the Senate.
"The voters believe that in November Harry Reid was going to be dethroned and the Senate was going to be controlled by Republicans," Salmon told reporters. "Right now, Harry Reid's still running the Senate. That's a sad day."
In the Senate, Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would not support McConnell's plan without Boehner's guarantee that a clean DHS funding bill could pass the House.
"You know we have to make sure that people understand the bicameral nature of this Congress that we serve in," Reid said Tuesday. "So to have Sen. McConnell just pass the ball over to the House isn't going to do the trick. I'm waiting to hear from the Speaker."
If House and Senate lawmakers do not reach an agreement, tens of thousands of employees would be furloughed immediately. The rest, considered essential workers, would be expected to continue working without paychecks.
If the department shuts down, it would be for the second time in 18 months. The entire federal government shut down for 16 days in October 2013.
Police arrests three vehicle theft gang members
BEIRUT: Police have arrested three members of a gang that steals cars and motorcycles for resale in Syria, the Internal Security Forces announced Wednesday.
In a statement, the ISF said three Lebanese men identified as Z.T., R.N. and M.Q., all in their twenties, confessed to stealing many vehicles.
The arrests came after a local TV channel broadcasted a report Sunday about motorcycles stolen in the Nahr Ibrahim area in Metn district and resold in Syria through a Facebook page.
Police located the gang members and arrested them when they were riding two stolen motorcycles.
Earlier this month, motorist Khalil Saqtfoul had notified police that his BMW car was stolen in Tripoli.
Police subsequently arrested a suspect, identified as A. A. but known as “Hamido,” from the northern village of Masoudieh.
He remains incarcerated in Halba’s prison.
During the interrogations, the three gang members confessed to stealing vehicles and selling them to Hamido, who smuggled them into Syria.
The vehicles were stolen from many areas in Tripoli and other parts of north Lebanon, including Shekka and Batroun.
A 26-year-old Lebanese male accomplice, identified as A. H., remains on the run, the ISF added.
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Netanyahu's Talk 'Destructive' To U.S.-Israel Ties, Susan Rice Says
President Obama's national security adviser has said the invitation by House Speaker John Boehner to Israel's prime minister to address Congress – and Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of it – has "injected a degree of partisanship" that is "destructive to the fabric of the relationship" between Israel and the U.S.
Susan Rice's comments on PBS' Charlie Rose on Tuesday are the harshest remarks by a White House official over Netanyahu's March 3 speech to Congress on what he sees as the threat posed by Iran.
Netanyahu's speech is scheduled two weeks before elections in Israel, a reason cited by Obama for why he won't meet with the Israeli leader, who has said he is "determined to speak before Congress."
The speech will coincide with the final stretch of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over the Islamic republic's nuclear program. Israel views Iran as an existential threat. Many members of Congress want to impose further sanctions on Iran, a move that would likely doom the talks that are at a delicate stage.
Rice's comments came the same day Netanyahu declined an invitation to meet with Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., during his visit to Washington.
"Though I greatly appreciate your kind invitation to meet with Democratic Senators, I believe that doing so at this time could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit," Netanyahu said in a letter to the two top Democrats.
Durbin responded, saying, "His refusal to meet is disappointing to those of us who have stood by Israel for decades."
The controversy began last month when Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress. The White House, which was not consulted about the invitation, called it a "departure from ... protocol." Boehner defended the decision, saying , "The Congress can make this decision on its own." (You can read more about how this is done at the House of Representatives' website.)
Obama, citing the proximity of the Israeli election, then said he won't meet with Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's visit to Washington. Earlier this month, during a joint appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he reiterated those comments.
"We have a practice of not meeting with leaders right before their elections, two weeks before their elections," he said. "As much as I love Angela, if she was two weeks away from an election, she probably would not have received an invitation to the White House — and I suspect she wouldn't have asked for one."
Relations between Obama and Netanyahu are frosty, but both countries have been careful to say that the U.S.-Israeli relationship goes beyond any two individuals or political parties. But as columnist Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in the Atlantic today:
"The Netanyahu camp is worried about the political impact of its preemptive strike on Capitol Hill, I'm told. Netanyahu understands that he will be burning his remaining bridges to the White House by going up to the Hill next week. Israelis close to Netanyahu have been warning him that his decision to openly align with the Republican Party against a Democratic president is both unprecedented and deeply risky."
Goldberg reported that Netanyahu's national security adviser was also against the timing of the speech, but Netanyahu's office denied that part of the story.
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Salam: Lebanon is healthier place after food campaign
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam applauded the government’s success in tightening control over food safety, claiming it has made Lebanon a healthier place for residents and visitors.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Arab Forum for Food Safety, which opened in Beirut Wednesday, Salam pointed out that food safety is an issue of vital importance for the Lebanese government, given its direct impact on health, tourism and the national economy.
“The health sector [in Lebanon], especially [in] matters of food safety, was affected by the laxity of state control, a fact that prompted my government to launch a nationwide campaign to crackdown on food corruption,” Salam said.
Praising Health Minister Wael Abu Faour for his central role in effort, Salam said that after the “powerful launch” of the campaign, the government is in process of institutionalizing food safety regulations.
A new law on food safety is in the pipeline and a proposal to create a new office for a public prosecutor assigned to health and food safety is being studied, Salam said.
“I can say that the citizen's food is in a better state today and is subject to stronger monitoring standards,” he added.
In October, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour kicked off a campaign aimed at improving food standards throughout Lebanon.
A number of restaurants, slaughterhouses, warehouses and other institutions were shut down for failing to meet health requirements, but many have improved their standards and have since reopened.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Faces Runoff In April
Emanuel fell short of the votes he needed to be re-elected during the city's non-partisan municipal election. He will face Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia in a runoff in early April.
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Farmers protest decision to lower milk prices
BEIRUT: Livestock breeders and members of the Milk Producers Cooperative Unions blocked the road Wednesday outside the Department of Agriculture in Zahle to protest a decision to decrease the price of milk.
Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayab announced Tuesday a drop in milk prices, citing a lack of sales due to poor demand and regional turmoil.
“The price of a liter of milk will be set at LL1000 ... [decreasing from] LL1100,” Chehayeb told a news conference Tuesday following a meeting with Jack Kallah, the president of the National Dairy Producers Union, as well as the head of the Akkar Cooperative of Milk Production and member of the National Milk Producers Union Joseph Abdallah.
Chehayeb’s move was linked to Health Minister Wael Abu Faour’s crackdown on food safety violators, which saw the closure of many dairy factories across Lebanon.
Chehayeb also announced a series of measures to protect local milk production. The measures compel farmers to stamp products made from fresh and not powdered milk, as well as institute additional border controls to stop the illegal import of dairy products from Syria.
The agriculture minister also announced the creation of a “control room” to receive complaints.
Farmers blocked the Riyaq-Baalbek highway in the Bekaa Valley Sunday to protest their inability to sell their dairy products and threatened escalation if their demands were not met.
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6 Years Ago At CPAC Meeting, The Tea Party Movement Ignited
The Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC for short, this week is in Washington, D.C., where among other activities it will celebrate the anniversary of the Tea Party.
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Copyright © 2015 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.
GOP Will Try To Override Obama's Keystone XL Pipeline Veto
President Obama issued his first veto of the new Congress. He rejected a measure approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. It's his third veto, but it's likely the start of a trend.
Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2015 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.
Gasoline, diesel prices rise again this week
Gasoline, diesel prices rise again this week
The Water and Energy Ministry announced another rise in fuel prices this week, with the cost of gasoline increasing...
Bassil urges citizenship for Lebanese Mexicans
Jumblatt plays down ISIS expansion into Lebanon
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt criticizes reports warning that Syria-based ISIS and Nusra Front...
France says it will begin arms shipments to Lebanon in April
Jumblatt plays down ISIS expansion into Lebanon
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt criticizes reports warning that Syria-based ISIS and Nusra Front...
Firefighters battle blaze at Beirut depot
BEIRUT: Seven fire trucks managed to contain a massive blaze that broke out Wednesday in the basement of a 16-story uninhabited building in the Beirut neighborhood of Zokak Blat.
A security source told The Daily Star the fire engulfed a construction material depot on Assir Street.
The source said the materials – which include thinner, wood, stucco and plastic products – were extremely combustible.
"We stopped the fire from spreading," one firefighter at the Beirut Fire Department said.
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