Berri to call session on urgent draft legislation
Speaker Nabih Berri will soon call for a Parliament session to discuss urgent draft laws, his visitors said Tuesday,...
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Dr. Biden at SXSWedu: Let's Ensure Education Is Accessible, Affordable, and Attainable for All Americans
Dr. Biden discusses strategies for student success at Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida. March 9, 2015. (by Aaron Daye)
Yesterday, with Under Secretary of Education Dr. Ted Mitchell, I had the pleasure of visiting Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, and Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. Both schools are making transformative changes on their campuses to adapt to the needs of their students.
After visiting these community colleges, I had the opportunity to share this experience -- how these two schools meet students where they are, and guide them to where they want to go -- with a diverse group of students, educators, entrepreneurs, and administrators from across the country at SXSWedu Conference in Austin, Texas.
To see just how innovative these community colleges truly are, watch the video below:
Behind the Lens: Selma, 50 Years Later
March 7, 1965. It became known as "Bloody Sunday." Six hundred people defied the warnings of authorities and attempted to march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge from Selma, Alabama, to show the desire of black American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
I was a young boy growing up in Massachusetts at the time, and I can’t say that I was aware of what was happening in Selma. I didn’t know the marchers were attacked at the bridge with billy clubs and tear gas. I didn’t know that there was this much hatred in the South between blacks and whites.
In later years, as I became interested in photojournalism, it was the photographs that brought that awful day to life for me.
I came to admire the photographs, especially of Charles Moore — a photojournalist who was documenting civil rights for Life magazine. I probably learned more about what had happened on that day and that period of time by studying his photographs than I did in any history class I ever had in school. For me, the photographs depicted the horror and the hatred in a way that words couldn’t.
Last Saturday, as I accompanied the Obama family to Selma for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I couldn’t help but think of the photographs taken by Charles Moore and other brave photojournalists 50 years ago. Their photographs, taken ostensibly for daily and weekly publications, have now become powerful images for history.
Their frozen moments in time are with us forever.
President Obama Marks the 50th Anniversary of the Marches from Selma to Montgomery
Yesterday, President Obama and the First Family joined thousands of Americans at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to honor the sacrifice and bravery of the men and women who bled there, on that very pavement exactly 50 years ago. Many of those original "foot soldiers" joined him yesterday, including Congressman John Lewis, who helped to organize the first march over this bridge in 1965, who endured a tragic beating on that "Bloody Sunday," and who yesterday strode arm in arm with the President of the United States.
It was a day filled with electricity, inspiration, tales of heartache and courage, and the true story of how a handful of ordinary Americans helped to change the course of history with their grace, their peaceful action, and their bold belief in the true spirit of this country.
Week in Review: Let Girls Learn, a Ceremony for the Attorney General, and New Jobs Numbers
This week, the President joined the First Lady to announce the Let Girls Learn initiative, attended a portrait unveiling ceremony for outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and received the newest employment numbers.
Find out more about the past week in our latest weekly wrap-up.
62 Million
That's the number of girls worldwide that aren't in school. And it's why the President and First Lady announced the "Let Girls Learn" initiative on Tuesday.
Let Girls Learn focuses on supporting women and girls' education around the world. Partnering with the Peace Corps, we're taking action to support hundreds of new community projects -- from building new libraries to providing resources so girls can travel to school free from fear. These initiatives will help keep girls in school, which consistently proves beneficial for all.
"I'm convinced that a world in which girls are educated is a safer, more stable, more prosperous place," said the First Lady.
Watch the President’s and First Lady’s remarks, and learn more about the initiative.
West Wing Week: 03/06/2015 or, “Just a Souvenir!”
This week, the President broke bread with My Brother's Keeper mentees, sat down with the President of Liberia and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, shared the stage with Eric Holder and Aretha Franklin, and welcomed law enforcement officials and Peace Corps volunteers to the White House. While the Vice President was in Guatemala to discuss investing in Central America. That's February 27 to March 5 or, "Just a Souvenir!"
The Employment Situation in February
With another strong employment report, we have now seen twelve straight months of private-sector job gains above 200,000 -- the first time that has happened since 1977. Moreover, 2014 was the best year for job growth since the late 1990s and 2015 has continued at this pace. But additional steps are needed to continue strengthening wages for the middle class. As outlined in the 2015 Economic Report of the President, the optimal environment for sustained middle-class income growth features policies that grow productivity, promote a more equitable distribution of income, and support labor force participation. The President’s focus on middle-class economics is designed with those goals in mind.
FIVE KEY POINTS IN TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
1. The private sector has added 12.0 million jobs over 60 straight months of job growth, extending the longest streak on record. Today we learned that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 295,000 in February, largely due to a 288,000 increase in private-sector employment. Although private-sector job gains in December and January were revised down, the private employment gains over the past twelve months total 3.2 million—the largest 12-month increase since 1998.
#AskDrBiden About Community Colleges at SXSWedu 2015
Dr. Biden meets with students during her Community College to Career bus tour in 2012. Photo by Gary Fabiano, US Department of Labor.
Community colleges have entered a new day in America. They lead the way in preparing graduates in the fields of green technology, health care, teaching, and information technology — some of the fastest-growing fields in America and the rest of the world. Community colleges are able to meet the needs of their community and provide students and workers with the education and skills they need to succeed and to get good-paying jobs to support their families.
That’s why I am excited to attend SXSWedu 2015 to discuss the importance of community colleges to America’s future. I have been an educator for more than 30 years, and I have spent the last 20 years teaching at community colleges. And, as Second Lady, I have traveled across the country to see firsthand the critical role community colleges play in creating the best, most-educated workforce in the world.
Before I get to SXSWedu 2015, I want to hear from you. Starting today, you can tweet your questions about community colleges to me @DrBiden using the hashtag #AskDrBiden. Then, watch here on Tuesday, March 10 at 9 a.m. CST/10 a.m. EST as I respond to some of your questions during a live event moderated by a community college student.
Leveling the Playing Field for Workers
Today, the Senate voted to pass S.J.Res. 8, which would overturn a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule streamlining and simplifying how workers vote on whether or not they want to join or form a union. This congressional resolution of disapproval takes aim at a modest update of rules that increase transparency and remove barriers to workers getting timely union elections.
I joined with other senior advisors to the President in recommending that he veto this resolution if it is passed by Congress. We did so because it would make it harder for Americans to make their voices heard in the workplace. And that’s exactly the opposite of what working families need and deserve.
Utah Lawmakers OK Firing Squad If Lethal Injection Unavailable
Utah's Senate has approved a measure that would allow a firing squad to carry out the death penalty if the drug to carry out lethal injections is unavailable.
The vote was 18-10, and it's unclear if Republican Gov. Gary Herbert will sign the measure, which would make Utah the only state in the nation to allow firing squads, into law. The state abandoned the practice a little more than a decade ago.
As we have previously reported, several states "have struggled to adjust to new combinations of execution drugs after manufacturers, under pressure from critics of capital punishment, ceased providing states with drugs they had long used. States have also refused to reveal the names of their suppliers because they say doing so would jeopardize their relationships with them."
Republican Rep. Paul Ray, the measure's sponsor, says firing squads are a more humane form of execution. Opponents disagree.
The Associated Press adds:
"Utah is one of several states to seek out new forms of capital punishment after a botched Oklahoma lethal injection last year and one in Arizona that took nearly two hours for the condemned man to die. Legislation to allow firing squads has been introduced in Arkansas this year. In Wyoming, a measure to allow firing squads if the lethal drugs aren't available died. In Oklahoma, lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates."
Dr. Biden at SXSWedu: Let's Ensure Education Is Accessible, Affordable, and Attainable for All Americans
Dr. Biden discusses strategies for student success at Santa Fe College, Gainesville, Florida. March 9, 2015. (by Aaron Daye)
Yesterday, with Under Secretary of Education Dr. Ted Mitchell, I had the pleasure of visiting Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, and Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. Both schools are making transformative changes on their campuses to adapt to the needs of their students.
After visiting these community colleges, I had the opportunity to share this experience -- how these two schools meet students where they are, and guide them to where they want to go -- with a diverse group of students, educators, entrepreneurs, and administrators from across the country at SXSWedu Conference in Austin, Texas.
To see just how innovative these community colleges truly are, watch the video below:
Berri to call session on urgent draft legislation
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri will soon call for a Parliament session to discuss urgent draft laws, his visitors said Tuesday, despite opposition expressed by some Christian parties to legislative activity during the presidential vacuum.
Berri said he would call on Parliament’s Secretariat to meet at the start of the legislature’s regular term, which begins March 17, to set the agenda for the session which will carry out “necessary legislating.”
The speaker explained that the agenda would include a food safety draft law, the new salary scale for the public sector if parliamentary committees finalized it and draft laws to combat money laundering along with other urgent and necessary bills.
Berri said he had no hope that Parliament’s 20th session to elect a president, scheduled for Wednesday, would see a better fate than the previous 19.
He expressed regret that Parliament would meet for the 20th time to elect a president with no success.
Earlier, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said that his group opposed holding legislative sessions while there was a presidential void unless it was to pass vital draft laws, which he said were only three.
“I am interested in stressing the stance of the Lebanese Forces party and my stance as a member of Parliament’s Secretariat ... it is impossible that we approve normal legislative activity in the absence of a president,” Zahra told a news conference at Parliament.
“Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Constitution state that Parliament becomes an electoral committee once [presidential] vacuum happens,” Zahra said. “There should not be [a different] interpretation when the text is clear on this point.”
But the Batroun lawmaker said his group supported what he called “exceptional” legislative activities to endorse pressing and vital draft laws.
He said LF MPs would only take part in a Parliament session to endorse a new election law, the 2015 draft budget and the long awaited new salary scale for the public sector.
The LF stance regarding legislative sessions echoes that of the Kataeb Party and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai.
Speaking to The Daily Star, several MPs said that holding a legislative session, which may be boycotted by the LF and the Kataeb Party, would not be in violation of the National Pact of power sharing between Muslims and Christians.
This is because many Christian MPs, including those from Michel Aoun’s bloc, would still attend the session.
Former Minister Salim Jreissati, who is close to Aoun, welcomed Berri’s decision to resume what he called “necessary” legislative activity.
Speaking after attending the weekly meeting of Aoun’s Change and Reform Parliamentary bloc, Jreissati detailed a number of draft laws his group deemed necessary.
Among these drafts is a law to restore the citizenship of people of Lebanese origin, a law to provide the Army with weapons, financial laws, amending the rent law, the salary scale, a law for comprehensive social protection and loan agreements.
“The vacancy in the presidency does not mean that other authorities should refrain from carrying out their duties which serve the necessary and urgent interests of the people,” Jreissati said.
Parliament’s joint committees have already finalized studying other important draft laws which need the endorsement of Parliament, such as a draft law to make contract workers at the public sector full-timers, foreign property ownership draft law and draft agreements with the World Bank and the Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development.
The MPs expect that Parliament’s Secretariat would reach a compromise regarding the agenda of the upcoming session which would include some draft laws viewed as vital by the LF among other draft bills.
As for the dialogue between Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and LF rival, Jreissati said: “Dialogue with the Lebanese Forces is ongoing based on the following [principles]: The republic comes first and then the guarantee. That is, who guarantees [the survival of the republic] and what is the implementation mechanism?”
Jreissati said that both groups were discussing these points right now, adding that the final touches were being put to a declaration of content to be announced by the two political factions.
Meanwhile, the Future parliamentary bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said after its weekly meeting that political efforts should currently focus on the election of a new president, indirectly blaming Hezbollah and other groups boycotting Parliament sessions to elect a president for the vacuum.
“They and only they are responsible for paralysis and the ongoing vacuum in the state’s top post,” a statement by the bloc said, urging the boycotting MPs to attend Wednesday’s Parliament session.
The bloc reiterated its commitment to the ongoing dialogue with Hezbollah, saying the talks paved the way to solve two major problems Lebanon was facing: presidential vacuum and sectarian tension.
Rafik Hariri was planning a peaceful coup, STL hears
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was planning a “peaceful coup” against Syrian influence in Lebanon prior to his assassination, his economic adviser and political ally MP Ghazi Youssef told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Tuesday.
Following his resignation as prime minister in October 2004, Hariri began to mobilize a massive electoral campaign which he hoped would give him and his allies a parliamentary majority after elections in spring 2005.
“He was convinced that he would achieve a major victory, that he would be able to impose a government on President Lahoud himself.
“He felt that he would have a parliamentary majority from all sections, all factions, all confessions, that would express the will of the Lebanese people ... [to achieve] relative liberalization from the Syrian stronghold,” Youssef said.
“He wanted to achieve a great victory, to have a peaceful coup and return to government,” he added.
Peaceful or not, the Syrian authorities considered Hariri’s plan to be an attempted coup, Youssef told the court.
In the winter of 2004, Hariri, Youssef and former Culture Minister Ghassan Salame, who was at the time an adviser to the then Untied Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, were in Paris discussing an attempted assassination of MP Marwan Hamade.
Salame, who Youssef described as having “ a lot of contacts,” warned that if Hariri were to return to Beirut, the Syrians would seek to either end his political career or worse.
“If you are going back to Lebanon to resist [Syrian political pressure] ... they will kill you,’” Youssef recalled Salame telling Hariri.
Hariri, however, would not be swayed. “Mr Hariri said, ‘That’s impossible ... I’m going back to Beirut and I will not compromise,’” Youssef testified.
Salame, Youssef recalled, pled with Hariri to be careful and to assume the threat against him was credible. “He was more careful, but not enough,” Youssef lamented.
Youssef’s testimony is part of the “political evidence” being presented before the U.N.-backed tribunal tasked with prosecuting those responsible for killing Hariri and 21 others. Through the testimony of a number of Hariri’s political allies and confidantes, the prosecution has sought to highlight the increasingly strained relations between the former prime minister and the pro-Syrian security apparatus in Lebanon in the months leading up to his assassination.
The court is expected to hear Wednesday a taped recording of a meeting between Charles Ayoub, the editor of the Ad-Diyar newspaper, Rustom Ghazzali, a leading Syrian intelligence official in Lebanon, and Hariri.
Also Tuesday, Walid Jumblatt announced that he would testify before the Special Tribunal in June of this year.
He insisted that he would “avoid a protracted testimony.”
Separately, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon released its sixth annual report.
While highlighting the achievements made by the tribunal over the past year, it noted that “contempt cases remain a challenge.” Contempt cases filed by the court against two Lebanese journalists and their parent companies have drawn sharp criticism from a number of Lebanese politicians and activists. The report touched on the tension.
“On the one hand, the Tribunal must maintain the restraint that is required of a judicial institution, while on the other it faces a sustained media campaign from some quarters against the charges and the court itself,” the report noted.
A third alleged case of contempt “remains under investigation” the report noted.
Tripoli on edge as youths join extremist groups
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The killing of Badr Eid has Tripoli residents on high alert, and many believe that the current period of calm cannot last. A number of high profile security incidents have raised tensions in the city, and local youths continue to join extremist groups amid the ongoing crisis in Syria. Despite the government’s security plan for the northern capital, several security incidents are being viewed as indicators that the city will again slide toward unrest.
Badr Eid, brother of Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid, was killed earlier this month on the highway linking the Akkar towns of Haysa and Kouweikhat.
In impoverished Bab al-Tabbaneh there are rumors that wanted terrorist Bilal Atar has entered the area. Atar is believed to have taken part in the execution of the soldier Ali al-Sayyed, who was among the security personnel taken hostage in August last year, when militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front briefly overran the northeastern town of Arsal.
News of his arrival caused consternation among Bab al-Tabbaneh residents, as the area is still affected by the presence of terrorism suspects Shadi Mawlawi and Ossama Mansour, who are currently at large.
Supporters of Mawlawi used the Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque in Tripoli’s neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh as a basis for their operations last year. Both men are wanted by the authorities for clashes with the Lebanese Army in October last year.
Perhaps most significantly, residents are increasingly concerned about the number of youths who have left to join ISIS and the Nusra Front. Around 400 people from the north have allegedly gone missing and are believed to have joined extremist groups, according to a prominent security source.
Occasionally information is leaked stating that one has been killed in north Syria or Iraq. Their families are informed by a call from ISIS, telling them that their child has been killed, and buried according to Shariah law.
“Official statistics show that around 68 have been killed to date,” the source said. “Their parents go to the department of birth records registration to announce their deaths.”
The would-be fighters travel to Turkey; from there, they can reach northern Syria. Once they cross the border, they are given the choice to fight in Syria or go to Iraq.
Although much uncertainty surrounds the fate of these youth, the security source pointed to the different the approaches taken by ISIS and the Nusra Front.
Whereas ISIS attempts to cut off all means of communication between young recruits and their families, Nusra uses a different strategy and recruits local youth for missions inside Lebanon.
The Jan. 10 suicide bombings near the Omran cafe in Jabal Mohsen are an example of this practice. Carried out by local resident Taha Samir al-Khayal and Bilal Mohammad al-Mariyan, the attack killed nine people and wounded more than 30. Nusra later claimed responsibility.
As more young people become affiliated with extremist groups in Tripoli, suspicion has grown among the city’s residents.
Whenever someone announces that they are heading to Turkey for vacation, they immediately become the object of mistrust, as other residents fear they are leaving to join a terrorist group.
A. al-Youssef, a father of two, left his children with his father before heading to Syria. Hailing from Bab al-Ramel area, Youssef called his family to inform them that he was not coming home and was dreaming of martyrdom.
There are rumors that another Bab al-Ramel resident has joined the same group, and another resident, G. al-Ater, is believed to have joined ISIS three months ago.
Some announce their new affiliation online. M. Bakour disappeared from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood a couple of days ago. A picture of him raising his index in a sign of allegiance to ISIS has been circulated on the social media platform Facebook. His parents have not yet made a statement, but he is believed to have traveled to Turkey.
Ali Ajaya, the mukhtar of Bab al-Tabbaneh, said some youths move toward terrorist organizations seeking an outlet after being persecuted by security forces, judicial authorities and intelligence informants.
Similar sentiments are found in another impoverished area of Tripoli, Mankoubeen, rumored to be a fertile ground for Nusra recruiters.
Pressure from security forces is believed to have pushed Tripoli bomber Taha Samir al-Khayal down the road to extremism.
Khayal, who hailed from Mankoubeen, was described by the neighbors as religiously committed; it wasn’t until Khayal became upset with his treatment by security forces that he decided to join Nusra.
“What connects me to the Lebanese government ... are the insults I receive because I am a Muslim and I am religiously committed,” one neighbor quoted Khayal as saying.
Neighbors recalled his reaction when an uncle suggested he surrender to the authorities as he was under investigation. “I [would] prefer to blow myself [up rather than] go to the investigation,” Khayal reportedly replied.
But there are attempts to contain the situation in the north.
Dar al-Fatwa is trying to raise awareness on the dangers of religious extremism, particularly for young people. Lebanon’s Sunni authority is also trying to control the religious speeches and lessons that can be taught in mosques.
But as youths continue to join these groups, it appears the group’s efforts may be insufficient to stem the flow.
“These youth ... are looking for a cause; they’re suffering from frustration and misery in Tripoli,” said Sheikh Mahmoud Sheikh, a tutor and speaker delegated by Dar al-Fatwa.
“They find that ISIS can fulfill their ambitions so they run away from their harsh realities toward the idea of jihad.”
The notion that conditions in Tripoli itself are driving youth toward extremism is lent some credence by the recruitment of Christians, including Charlie Sleiman Haddad and Elie Tony al-Warraq. Haddad is believed to have joined ISIS. Warraq was arrested in January in connection with the suicide attacks in Jabal Mohsen.
Father Ibrahim Sarouj, a priest in the Christian neighborhood of Zahrieh, stated that youths were joining terrorist groups for monetary reasons, and that the choice had nothing to do with faith.
“What’s needed is to ... protect the cultural components of Tripoli,” Sarouj said.
“I think the current targeting doesn’t affect Christians as much as it is a hit to the unique co-existence present in the city.”
Lebanese ISIS recruits receiving training in Syria
A group of young men from Akkar were recruited to an ISIS cell recently and traveled to Turkey with the intention of undergoing training in a militant camp in Syria, sources told The Daily Star Tuesday.
The sources said Lebanon’s security services were informed that Syrian national Fayez Kh. A., better known as Hajj Ammar, arrived to Lebanon days ago and met a number of ISIS members in the northern district of Akkar.
Fayez has recruited a number of young men who left for Turkey and plan to cross to Syria to fight alongside ISIS, the sources said.
The cell is set to receive training on how to rig vehicles with explosives and how to wear an explosive belt in one of ISIS’ training camps in the Syrian governorate of Raqqa. Later, the group is expected to carry out operations in Syria and Iraq.
The report said that in Turkey, the cell had joined a group of jihadis headed by Ziad Kh., N.
Lebanese security agencies fear an escalation in terrorist acts this month in light of information indicating that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades is planning on resuming suicide operations.
Meanwhile, the sources said that dispersed groups from the Syrian opposition group Jaysh al-Islam were living in Arsal.
These fighters snuck into the northeastern border town from the Syrian region of Qalamoun and the suburbs of Damascus in an attempt to gain a foothold. Similar efforts by ISIS and the Nusra Front to do the same were rejected by Arsal residents, and the presence of Jaysh al-Islam in the town is still weak, sources said.
Separately, security sources said that the Lebanese Army is expected to receive advanced weapons in the coming two months, including F5 jets from the U.S.
The Army Command is now preparing to send a number of soldiers and officers to Europe to take training sessions on how to use the first batch of French weapons which Lebanon will receive in April as part of a $ 3 billion Saudi grant announced in late 2013.
Coordination between the Lebanese and Jordanian armies has increased recently and should culminate in a visit by Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi to Amman soon, according to information obtained by The Daily Star.
The kingdom has recently provided the military with a number of vehicles to improve its ability to combat terrorism, an indicator of the brotherly relations between the two states.
The sources explained that the cooperation between the Lebanese and Jordanian armies was taking place in coordination with the U.S., to complement efforts made by a number of states which are members of the international anti-ISIS coalition.
Among the vehicles that the Army will receive soon are 4x4 all-terrain Pamhard VBLs. The vehicle was designed to combine agility with adequate protection against small arms fire, artillery fragments, mines and NBC weapons.
The VBL is amphibious and can run in waters at 5.4 km/h; it is also air transportable. Developed during the 1980s, it entered operational service in France in 1990. It has a fuel consumption of 16 liters per 100 km. The exact number of VBLs Lebanon will receive remains unclear.
The VBL has been used in peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, Lebanon, Somalia and Kosovo.
No assurances over Lebanese hostages
BEIRUT: The families of the Lebanese servicemen being held hostage by jihadis said Tuesday that they had not yet received any assurances from authorities in recent days that negotiations with the captors are moving forward.
“There are no final assurances about the quick advancement of negotiations,” a spokesperson for the families said after a meeting with Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, who is tasked with briefing the families on developments in the case.
“We have been suffering for eight months and so far we haven’t been updated or told anything assuring.”
Speaking to The Daily Star over the weekend, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said that while negotiations with the Nusra Front have reached “advanced stages,” talks with ISIS are completely stalled due to internal divisions within the jihadi militant group.
Families called on premier Tammam Salam, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to speed up the progress in the file, “because we are no longer able to stand.”
They also expressed optimism about the current Qatari mediator carrying out the talks, describing him as “stronger that his predecessors.”
At least 25 servicemen have been held captive since last August on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.
The soldiers and policemen were captured by Islamist militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front during the five-day clashes with the Lebanese Army in Arsal.
Last week, the Lebanese Army said it arrested key ISIS militant Hasan Ghorli, nicknamed Abu Hareth al-Ansari who admitted that he would take the place of other guards protecting the kidnapped Lebanese servicemen and moving them from one place to another.
He also witnessed the murder of Lebanese Corp. Ali al-Ali and revealed the identity of the ISIS militant who beheaded soldiers Ali al-Sayyed and Abbas Medlej, an Army statement added.
The Army said Ghorli had been referred to judicial authorities for further interrogation.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on March 11, 2015, on page 3.
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Medical malpractice: more than meets the public eye
BEIRUT: Conditions in Lebanon’s health care system leave the public exposed to the risk of medical malpractice, according to the investigative team of the Order of Physicians.
Members of the team say that a lack of staff and equipment – particularly at hospitals in rural areas – increases the odds that medical errors and complications will occur and go unreported.
The assertion is consistent with findings of a November 2014 report on medical malpractice in the country by the Lebanese Transparency Association. As stated in the report, “most cases of medical errors remain well-kept secrets,” as physicians fear humiliation and potential job loss.The Lebanese Order of Physicians’ Professional Investigation Committee is responsible for investigating malpractice cases.
Committee member Dr. Chawki Danaf said that physicians review complaints brought by the patients themselves or their legal representation. The goal is to discern whether a medical error or medical complication occurred.
Medical errors are violations of professional ethics, where doctor negligence and inappropriate treatment methods have been used. Here, the doctor is at fault. By contrast, complications are not the fault of the doctor. Surgical procedures account for most medical error cases.
Danaf said that each year, 30 percent of cases reviewed are found to have medical errors. Complications account for the remaining 70 percent.
“Sometimes there is a thin line between medical fault and medical complications,” and discerning between the two is “not so easy, ” Danaf said.
If the doctor is at fault, then the Order’s disciplinary board reviews and verifies the ethical violations before determining punishment. The judiciary relies on the expertise of the Investigation Committee and the Disciplinary Board to interpret the scientific knowledge necessary to determine guilt in cases of malpractice.
According to the LTA report, to convict a physician the error must be “the result of neglect, lack of attention or caution, must be unintentional and serious.”
As cited in the same report, Charles Ghafari, the legal adviser of the Order, said that “more than 1,000 complaints were reported at the Order of Physicians from 1996 to 2013.”
Of these, 300 received disciplinary sanctions. For 50 of the 300 issued verdicts, physicians were suspended from work for periods ranging between two and six months. The year 2001 saw the permanent ban of one physician due to malpractice.
On a yearly level, Ghafari told The Daily Star that approximately 100 cases are reviewed by the Professional Investigations Committee. Around 20 of those are classified as medical errors and then referred to the disciplinary board.
Danaf and his investigations colleague Sami Kawas explained that human resources and facility deficiencies increase the risk that malpractice will occur.
Kawas likened the experience of doctors in Lebanon to that of pilots flying planes under precarious conditions and under multiple constraints.
“It’s like asking [the pilot] to land his 300 passenger plane with only one engine out of four, while trying to overcompensate for a strong side wind,” he said.
Danaf added: “We have very large differences between hospitals in Beirut and large cities, and small towns, where hospitals cannot do everything necessary for the patient.” He said that government health insurance schemes are slow to refund hospitals, which can result in shortages in equipment and staff.
Atallah al-Salim, the main researcher for the LTA report, told The Daily Star that malpractice incidences often go undocumented by health care staff due to “the fear of reporting errors.”
The LTA report cited a 2012 study by public health professor Fadi El-Jardali of the American University of Beirut, which found that 81.7 percent of hospital staff feared repercussions if they were to report medical errors.
Danaf confirmed this fear, saying that sometimes doctors are afraid of the consequences. He added that, in some cases, doctors lack awareness of wrongdoing.
Salim cited the need to pass a whistleblower protection law that would encourage health care staff to report medical errors. He also recommended “a mechanized system for tracking, reporting and communicating medical errors, in both government and private hospitals.”
Further, Salim’s recommendations included boosting human and financial resources, particularly within the public health care sector, and empowering patients to recognize when errors have occurred.
Physicians on the Investigative Committee expressed great concern over how media outlets handle malpractice stories.
They cite a pattern of prematurely targeting doctors accused of malpractice, causing unfair damage to their reputations.
“Anyone can go to the media and say whatever he wants, there is no limit. But does that mean everything that has been said in the media is true?” Danaf asked.
He and Kawas pointed to a range of reports where doctors’ names were published in a defamatory way prior to determination of guilt.
One example was last year’s reporting on 4-year-old Celine Rakan. On Oct. 8, 2014, local media outlets reported that she died shortly after receiving a vaccination. The heavy press coverage was quick to cite the vaccine as the cause and point to the administering doctor, M.Z., as responsible. Two news websites both published the full name of the physician responsible, although no fault had been found at the time of reporting. Rakan’s death was subsequently attributed to another cause than the vaccine.
“The media took this announcement and spread it,” said Danaf, who explained that the death had nothing to do with the vaccination from the doctor, though the damage had been done.
Another example is that of S.K., a family medicine physician and forensic medicine expert. The physician refused to comment on specific cases, but research revealed that in January 2014, he was part of a forensic team tasked by the judiciary to investigate the death of Al-Qaeda offshoot leader Majid al-Majid.
The judiciary prohibited the team from performing an autopsy, relying on other documentation to determine the cause of death. Shortly after, on Jan 13, 2014, a local newspaper published an article with the full names of this committee, and suggested that members of the investigatory team were deficient in qualifications to practice forensic medicine.
On Feb 7, 2014, S.K. fired back in a letter to the editor, defending his credentials and explaining the judiciary’s control over the autopsy decision. In a recent interview, he presented The Daily Star with documentation of his education credentials as evidence of his forensic training and experience in the field.
Jad Melki, assistant professor of journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut, lent insight into the media’s treatment of malpractice. He said that while the law allows for those defamed to take responsible media outlets and journalists to court, such cases are treated in an inconsistent manner by the judicial system.
Melki described a trend of sensationalized news coverage in Lebanese media, “mainly aimed at seeking larger audiences and higher ratings in order to attract more advertising revenues.”
With respect to covering medical malpractice, Melki said that such coverage may result in exaggerated accusations and the news being “released prematurely before ascertaining the facts and waiting for a court decision ... the situations are simplistically reduced to a good versus evil tale. The result is that the targeted professional could lose their job and reputation – regardless of the complexities and the stakes of the matter.”
He explained that media outlets are reticent to cover instances where physician is cleared of wrongdoing, as corrections are “embarrassing,” and such a story lacks audience appeal.
Melki advised reporters to solicit information from all sides of a story and to weigh the risks of individual harm against the benefit to the public interest.
“Not all medical errors or deaths in hospitals are the results of malpractice,” he said. “The issue is often much more complex than a tale of an ‘irresponsible doctor.’”
Palestinians risk life and limb to escape Lebanon
SIDON, Lebanon: In an alleyway in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, coffee vendor Abu al-Gadab clicks together his cups. He has just received news that seven residents of the camp were aboard a migrant boat that capsized off the Italian coast Monday.
Emigration is not new to the Palestinian refugees of Lebanon. The practice dates back to the ’80s and various political, social and economic factors have contributed to the outflow.
Following the 1948 Nakba, thousands of Palestinians who had fled or been forced from their homes sought shelter in Lebanon. They and their descendants still reside in camps across the country.
The camps are largely impoverished and have little in the way of infrastructure. Palestinians lack basic human rights in Lebanon, and the Lebanese government has placed rules over which jobs they can occupy. They are allowed to work labor jobs in construction and agriculture.
Escaping this reality is a dream for many Palestinians, and their hope of returning to their own land seems increasingly far-fetched.
Following the terror of the Sabra and Shatila massacre and the withdrawal of the Palestinian Liberation Organization during Israel’s 1982 invasion, refugees increasingly began to look for other options. When the PLO leadership exited Lebanon, the factions that remained were weak. As refugees were unable to be provided with financial and social support, even more camp residents began to consider emigration.
Thousands of Lebanon’s Palestinians sought asylum in Scandinavian countries. In 1983 more than a thousand residents of Ain al-Hilweh sought refuge in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, facilitated by targeted resettlement programs.
As the openness of Western countries to Palestinian immigration has declined, refugees continue to search for ways to leave the country.
The result has been the emergence of a number of fraudulent businesses, who tell hopeful emigrants that they can provide them with visas in return for money. However, refugees soon find out that they’ve been scammed, and that the proposed trip involves an illegal and highly dangerous sea voyage. Some never make it out of the country.
In the Loubieh neighborhood, people are waiting for news of family members who were trying to reach Europe when their boat capsized off the Italian coast. Seven refugees from Ain al-Hilweh who were on the boat have been rescued, one is still missing.
Many from Ain al-Hilweh say they understand the desire to leave, citing the lack of prospects in Lebanon.
Fatima Saleh, mother of Mohammad Saleh, one of the survivors, tells The Daily Star that her son left the camp because there were no job opportunities. “I borrowed $8,000 for him to leave this country,” she said, admitting that she knew that the trip was dangerous.
At a social center that works with Palestinian refugee children, Mona Mohammad sits anxiously. There has been no news of her brother, Mahmoud, one of the camp’s residents on board.
“My brother left through Abu Dhabi, then to Sudan, and to Libya, and from there by sea to Italy,” Mohammad says. By March 3 the boat was on the sea heading to Italy, but then things became complicated.
The traffickers reportedly told them that the men were being held by the Italian coast guard. “All the men that were with my brother [telephoned] their relatives ... they’re talking about a body that will be retrieved from the sea. [But] it hasn’t been identified as belonging to my brother.”
Mohammad hopes that she hears from her brother soon, and says he may have been hit in the head.
Residents in the camp say they hold the Lebanese government and the Palestinian factions, particularly the joint elite force which controls security in Ain al-Hilweh, responsible for investigating the traffickers.
Fouad Othman, Sidon’s representative of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told The Daily Star that there are two things that should be highlighted after the incident.
“[I call on the government] to summon all those related to trafficking, who uproot our youth from the camp, because it’s clear that [the traffickers’] aim is to collect their money and desert them.”
Othman also called on Palestinian factions to take responsibility for the forces that push young men to take such desperate measures. “Unemployment, lack of stability, and humiliating and degrading economic conditions are what’s pushing our youth to emigrate,” he said.
Palestinian sources familiar with the issue stressed that a number of traffickers are involved. The sources explained that they transport migrants illegally, and charge between $8,000 and $10,000.
Migrants are taken by plane to Sudan and on to Libya. Once there they wait for external networks to smuggle them by sea to Italy and other parts of Europe.
The names of traffickers who transport Palestinians migrants are familiar to residents, and have been circulated on the web. One of them is Palestinian national Mohammad Younes Fares.
Fares denied his offices have been suspected of transferring people illegally. “People come to us for legal visas to Sudan, and we get them there for work. I deny any other [allegations],” he said.
“Our job is to facilitate travel to Sudan through Sharjah, and after that we don’t know anything.”
Fares said that he had visited the state security office in Sidon and asked them to present their evidence against him. He added that he primarily works fixing washing machines, and that it’s his wife who deals with travel issues.
Lebanese security sources have revealed that Hasibah Fares, Mohammad’s wife, has in fact been accused of forging visas to Sudan. Sources said that five months ago, a number of people were detained at Rafik Hariri International Airport with forged visas to the country.
Information obtained through confessions indicated that they had received the forged visas from Fares.
As Climate Wars Heat Up, Some Skeptics Are Targets
Climate skeptic Willie Soon has argued in the past that too much ice is bad for polar bears. An investigation into Soon's funding found he took money from the fossil fuel industry and did not always disclose that source. iStockphoto hide caption
itoggle caption iStockphoto
Climate skeptic Willie Soon has argued in the past that too much ice is bad for polar bears. An investigation into Soon's funding found he took money from the fossil fuel industry and did not always disclose that source.
iStockphoto
Scientists who warn that the earth's climate is changing have been subjected to hacking, hate mail, and even court action in recent years. That ire usually comes from conservative groups and climate skeptics seeking to discredit the research findings.
"If you come and testify before the U.S. Congress, and people don't like what you're saying, they can make your life pretty miserable."
Now it appears that liberals and environmentalists may be using some of the same tactics against the handful of scientists who either deny climate change outright, or think the risks are not as great as stated.
The goal, according to those pursuing the skeptics of climate change, is to expose ties between those scientists and industry. But some mainstream climate scientists are nervous, fearing that investigations by both sides may be more about intimidation than truth.
The first target of the latest attacks was Willie Soon, a solar physicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Soon claims the sun causes climate change. In contrast, almost all scientists believe humans are changing the climate.
Soon's views got the attention of Kert Davies, the executive director of the non-profit Climate Investigations Center. He decided to use the Freedom of Information Act to expose the climate skeptic's funding. "We got the contracts, Soon's proposals to get the money from these various oil companies and power companies and also his year-end reports," says Davies.
In several year-end reports to the utility Southern Company, Soon listed peer-reviewed scientific articles as deliverables. "He is telling them, here's what I did for you, I wrote peer-reviewed science," Davies says.
Publishing those articles without disclosing Southern Company's funding is a big no-no in science. In late February, Soon's ties made the front page of the New York Times . Several journals and his employer have launched investigations. Soon did not respond to an NPR request for an interview. But, in a written statement, he calls the accusation "underhanded and unscientific."
Shortly after Soon's ties to industry were exposed, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., sent letters to the universities of seven climate researchers, asking for details about the scientists' funding.
Roger Pielke Jr., a researcher at the University of Colorado, is one of seven scientists being scrutinized by a congressman because of statements on climate change. International Council for Science/Flickr hide caption
itoggle caption International Council for Science/Flickr
Roger Pielke Jr., a researcher at the University of Colorado, is one of seven scientists being scrutinized by a congressman because of statements on climate change.
International Council for Science/Flickr
Among those named was Roger Pielke Jr., from the University of Colorado. Unlike Soon, Pielke does believe the climate is changing, but he doesn't necessarily believe it will be catastrophic. The two-page letter on Pielke cited testimony he had given to Congress, and it requested detailed information and correspondence regarding his funding sources.
"It's quite simple for me to respond to this, because I have absolutely no corporate connections," Pielke says. "I mean I'm as clean as they come."
Nevertheless, the letter sends a chilling message to scientists, he says. "If you come and testify before the U.S. Congress, and people don't like what you're saying, they can make your life pretty miserable."
Other recipients of the letter agree that it constitutes little more than harassment. "They just assume that if I have the view I have, I must be getting paid for that view," says John Christy of the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Christy adds that all of his funding is from State and Federal sources.
"It's a complete fishing expedition," says Judith Curry, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who has doubts about climate change.
In a strange twist, the climate skeptics are getting support from mainstream climate scientists, who worry that investigations on both sides of the debate tread on the academic freedom of researchers everywhere.
"We do have the right as citizens to try and find out what's going on with the funding of scientists," says Eric Steig, a climate researcher at the University of Washington and a contributor to the blog Real Climate. But Steig worries that some of the new investigations might cross the line into harassment, a tactic that has been used by the political right against mainstream scientists, including himself.
"It was wrong when it was done by Republicans and right-wing think tanks, and it's wrong when it's done by Democrats and left-wing think tanks," he says.
Steig is not alone in his concern over the new attacks. The American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union have also been critical of the letters.
Congressman Grijalva says he wasn't trying to target scientists simply because they disagree with his views on climate change. "But I also want to make sure that if that's the basis for formation of policy, that it's clean and that it's empirical," he says.
Kert Davies, the environmentalist who investigated Soon, says he wants to see more of this kind of work from the left: "I would like to send the same letters to a lot of other scientists, many of whom don't work for public institutions," he says.
There may be more revelations to come: three Democratic senators have sent a separate letter to 100 corporations and think tanks, asking them to disclose corporate ties to scientists they fund.
Few think that either side of the political fight over climate change will abandon tough tactics, however. In the fall, world leaders meet in Paris, to try and reach a deal on climate. Eric Steig says he hopes the run-up to the summit will be civil. But, he adds, "I think it's wishful thinking."
Flake: Senate GOP Letter To Iran 'Not Appropriate'
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake is one of seven Senate Republicans who did not sign a letter to Iran warning about a nuclear deal with the Obama administration. He speaks with NPR's Melissa Block.
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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.
Senate's Letter To Iran Complicates Nuclear Negotiations
As they try to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, the White House says it does want Congress to have a role — just not now. So, could Republican interference scuttle the whole thing?
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.
Florida Gov. Scott Denies Banning Phrase 'Climate Change'
University scientists and former state employees say Florida Gov. Rick Scott's administration has directed them to avoid using the phrase "climate change." Scott denies the charge.
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.
Clinton Says She Didn't Think Private Email Would Be 'An Issue'
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton answered questions Tuesday about her use of a private email account. Correspondents Tamara Keith and Mara Liasson join NPR's Melissa Block.
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.
No Big Money Or TV Ads — What's With The U.K.'s Low-Key Election?
Conservative party Chairman Grant Shapps speaks to party supporters after canvassing in London on Saturday. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images hide caption
itoggle caption Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Conservative party Chairman Grant Shapps speaks to party supporters after canvassing in London on Saturday.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
In the U.K., national elections are less than two months away. In the U.S., the presidential election is more than a year away. But you could be forgiven for thinking it's the other way around.
America experiences a long, drawn-out election fever, while the U.K. hardly shows any symptoms at all. That is to say, almost none of the events most strongly associated with an American presidential campaign are part of a typical British national election.
Take political rallies, where the bleachers fill with thousands of flag-waving, screaming supporters.
"I remember being in Denver in 2008," says London-based political consultant Steve Morgan. "The stadium was full, and thousands and thousands of people were outside, and millions more watching on television."
Morgan, who has worked in political campaigns in both countries, recalls the landmark moment when Barack Obama formally accepted his party's nomination to be president of the United States.
"We don't have that," he says.
The last time a British political leader tried to do something similar, says Morgan, "Was Sheffield in 1992, and it was Neil Kinnock."
The speech, three days before the election, was a disaster.
"The British media crucified him for trying to run an American-style campaign," says Morgan.
Kinnock's party lost that year, and no British politician has held a big rally like that since.
Debates are another staple of American campaigns. There were four Presidential debates in 2012, including the Vice Presidential debate. Not so in the UK.
"Last election we had a leaders' debate for the first time," says political scientist Margaret Scammell of the London School of Economics. "We may or may not have another one this time."
This year, Prime Minister David Cameron is threatening not to show up for debates — which points to another big difference between American and British campaigns. In the U.S., voters choose the president. But in the U.K., voters don't cast their ballots for the prime minister. People vote for local members of parliament, who then choose the party leader.
"If you have one party that's just able to amass a load of money and shout louder than the others, that's not healthy for democracy. ... And we wouldn't interpret freedom of speech to mean an unlimited ability to spend, spend, spend."
Without a primary system, there are no polarizing, surprising, wild-card candidates, and everything becomes far more predictable.
"So there isn't a lot of bunting and razzmatazz and hoopla around British elections," says Scammell. "They've become rather dull affairs, if you want my honest opinion."
The current party leaders have been around for years. The parties chose them to be middle-of-the-road consensus-builders. As a result, voters may feel not feel very intensely about them one way or the other.
Beyond rallies, debates, and primaries, political ads practically define election season in America. Especially in swing states, it can be impossible to turn on the television or the radio without being inundated.
But in the U.K., "We have very strict rules where you're not really allowed to advertise via television or radio as a political party," says Katie Ghose. She's chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, a nonpartisan group that focuses on improving the way campaigns operate.
The internet has allowed for a bit of American-style political advertising in the U.K., but British campaigns don't have money for the hyper-saturation that Americans are used to. And political spending by outside organizations is not allowed.
"We just think that there is really a grotesque amount of money spent in the U.S. on politics," says Ghose. That's a pretty widely-held view in Britain, which highlights a big cultural difference between the U.S. and the U.K.: In America, campaign laws value free speech above all else. The Supreme Court has ruled that limits on campaign spending may amount to limits on speech. In the U.K., people talk less about free speech and more about what Ghose calls "a level playing field."
"If you have one party that's just able to amass a load of money and shout louder than the others, that's not healthy for democracy," Ghose says. "And we wouldn't interpret freedom of speech to mean an unlimited ability to spend, spend, spend."
The result is a British political campaign that seems almost eerily quiet.
"If you don't watch the news," says political scientist Scammell, "You could ignore the election altogether."
Future voices commitment to Cedar Revolution
BEIRUT: The principles underlying the 2005 Cedar Revolution still form the core of the Future Movement, the bloc said Tuesday, days before Lebanon marks the tenth anniversary of the historic protests.
“With the arrival of the tenth anniversary of the [Cedar] revolution....the Future bloc confirms its full commitment to the foundations of the revolution,” read a statement issued after the bloc's weekly meeting.
The bloc also expressed loyalty to the martyrs of the March 14, as well as the principles of coexistence they died defending. The bloc conveyed its commitment to the defense of civil liberties and the democratic system of governance, while also stressing respect for human rights.
The bloc voiced its rejection of extremism and violence, emphasizing the importance of moderation and openness.
The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14, 2005 culminated in a massive rally on March 14 of the same year that was dubbed the Cedar Revolution and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005 after a 29-year presence.
The March 14 coalition was named after that rally, which saw hundreds of thousands of Lebanese flock to Downtown Beirut to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops after Damascus was accused of the assassination.
March 14 will commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Cedar Revolution in an event Saturday. During the ceremony, the coalition will announce a set of political principles outlining the coalition’s new agenda and will also declare the formation of a March 14 National Council.
Tuesday’s statement reiterated comments made by Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Cairo Sunday, in which he called for a mutually beneficial relationship with Iran and stressed the importance of resorting to moderation as a means of confronting extremism .
The Future bloc also expressed its support for a proposal delivered by Arab League chief Nabil Elarabi Monday, in which he called for the creation of a unified Arab force to battle Islamist extremist groups.
Hillary Clinton Will Address Her Use Of Private Email While In Office
One week after it was revealed that she exclusively used personal email to handle official business when she was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will discuss the arrangement in New York today. The revelations raised questions both about the practice's legality and its effect on federal archiving.
Instead of using an official account, Clinton routed her email through a server in her house in New York, leading to a flurry of questions and criticism. Clinton is presumed to be planning a 2016 presidential run; she has not officially announced her intentions.
Clinton will speak after an appearance at the U.N. early Tuesday afternoon; NPR's Tamara Keith reports the move follows "a week of bad press and virtual silence from Clinton."
Days after the news of her private email account emerged, Clinton said on Twitter that she had asked the State Department to release her emails to the public. As we noted, "In January, Clinton reportedly provided some 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department, after her advisers reviewed them."
As Tamara notes, "many questions remain, including: why she would use a private address while part of the Obama administration; whether there are e-mails she didn't turn over and what they were about; and whether her private account was secure from hacking."
Together with questions about the fundraising practices of the Clinton Foundation, the issue has Democrats "freaking out," NPR's Mara Liasson reports for It's All Politics. Of particular concern for her party, Mara says, is that when it comes to a presidential run, after Clinton, "There's no Plan B."
The story has also put new scrutiny on how and why key U.S. leaders would avoid using official communication systems. As we reported last week, other members of the Obama administration's Cabinet have also had their email habits questioned.
Lebanon court approves bail for former relief committee chief
BEIRUT: Beirut’s Criminal Court approved Tuesday the release on bail of Ibrahim Bashir, the former head of the Higher Relief Committee, almost two years after he was convicted of embezzling public funds, a judicial source said.
His bail was set at LL1 billion ($665,120).
Bashir’s lawyer requested replacing bail with real estate that is valued at approximately the same price, and offered the court the deed to the property. The issue was referred to the Financial Prosecutor’s Office for further consideration.
In November 2013, Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim charged Bashir, his wife Raja, businessman Hussein Fawwaz and his wife, who was not identified, with illegally transferring public money to private accounts abroad.
Media reports said Bashir had transferred an estimated $10 million in public funds to private accounts abroad.
In one transaction, some $3.6 million were allegedly transferred to an account in Belarus, where his two sons reside.
Then in March 2014, Lebanon issued arrest warrants for Bashir’s two sons on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.
Last December, Beirut’s criminal court ordered the release of the wife of the former HRC chief.
Judge Burkan Saad approved the request to release her on bail which was set at LL500 million.
Lebanon to release convicted Israeli spy
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Wild Day In Madison Likely To Be Another Win For Gov. Walker
Protesters filled Wisconsin's state Capitol Monday, demonstrating against last weekend's shooting death of Tony Robinson, an unarmed black man. Andy Manis/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Andy Manis/AP
Protesters filled Wisconsin's state Capitol Monday, demonstrating against last weekend's shooting death of Tony Robinson, an unarmed black man.
Andy Manis/AP
You could scarcely imagine a day that better demonstrated the split personality of Wisconsin politics.
On Monday, the state Capitol building in Madison was flooded once again with an angry crowd of protesters. This time the outrage was sparked by a local police officer who shot and killed an unarmed 19-year-old black man.
The sight of these protesters on the street and in the sumptuous marble rotunda of the state Capitol was featured on cable news all day.
Elsewhere at the Capitol and with little fanfare, Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill Monday making Wisconsin a "right to work" state. Joe Skipper/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Joe Skipper/AP
Elsewhere at the Capitol and with little fanfare, Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill Monday making Wisconsin a "right to work" state.
Joe Skipper/AP
But elsewhere in that building, earlier that day, another event took place that may have even more lasting effect in the state and beyond. With little fanfare, Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill making Wisconsin a "right to work" state. That means workers in private industry will no longer be contractually obliged to pay dues or fees to unions that represent them.
Such laws strike at the heart of organized labor as we know it. They were unthinkable in the union-friendly confines of Madison not long ago, just as they were elsewhere around the Great Lakes industrial belt. But one by one, these states have yielded to the economic and political realities of the post-industrial age. Right-to-work laws, once a way for Southern states to lure factory owners, have spread north as far as Michigan, and now Wisconsin, and are now on the books in 25 states.
Walker's governorship, still only a little over four years in length, has been intimately involved in the changes in Wisconsin that made "right to work" possible.
Just a few months into his tenure in 2011 he produced a budget that disavowed the state's long tradition of collective bargaining for teachers and other public employees. That is why many people watching the news this week may have thought they'd seen this Madison movie before — the Capitol in 2011 was occupied for days by public employees, students and other supporters.
If it all seems contradictory, it is entirely consistent with Wisconsin's history. It is the home of both progressive champion Robert M. LaFollette and anti-Communist firebrand Joseph R. McCarthy, national icons of the left and the right. More recently, Wisconsin has voted Democratic in seven consecutive presidential elections and in eight of its last nine elections for U.S. Senator. Yet it now has five Republicans in its eight U.S. House seats, Republican majorities in both chambers of the legislature and a governor who is a nascent national star of the right.
Walker faced down those noisy protestors and prevailed, not only in the budget fight but in a recall election in 2012 and a bid for a second term in 2014. This has made him a hero in the conservative movement and a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. He has said this show of fortitude on his part is what qualifies him to take on ISIS and Vladimir Putin. In any event, it surely has qualified him to take on the rest of the current Republican field.
In fact, in 13 campaigns over the last quarter century, Walker has become known for combat, albeit political rather than military. His battles are not accidental, they are the product of his own carefully-calculated moves.
He did not campaign against collective bargaining for public employee unions when he won his first term as governor in 2010, but moved to end the practice immediately upon taking office. He did not campaign for a right-to-work law when seeking a second-term in 2014 and publicly said such a fight in the legislature would be "a distraction." But scarcely two months into the new legislative session, that law has been enacted.
Walker has also prospered via careful calculations about racial politics. Wisconsin has a relatively small African-American population (about 6%), far smaller than those in Michigan, Ohio or Illinois. That population did not really arrive until after World War II and is heavily concentrated in the cities of Milwaukee, Madison and Racine. The suburban, exurban and rural counties of the state remain as Anglo as the Dakotas. So for half a century, the issues of welfare, voting rights, housing and crime — all with racial overtones — have been powerful in state politics.
Walker began his career in his early 20s, representing affluent Milwaukee suburbs in conflict with the city. He has climbed the power ladder on the strength of that voting bloc yoked with support from wage-earning white voters throughout the state. Even in his recall election, which was focused on his busting of the public employee unions, he carried nearly half the voters in households with a union member in a private sector job. As Walker had calculated, machinists and autoworkers often felt more affinity with Walker than with the teachers and bureaucrats who were their "brothers and sisters" in union solidarity.
And while Walker has not been an outright polarizing figure on race, he has known his audience. After the latest shooting in Madison this weekend, Walker issued a statement that stressed support for the police and his own plan for transparent investigations of misconduct.
In all likelihood, if the latest protests in Madison continue, they will serve once again to reinforce Walker's law-and-order image, at least with Wisconsinites who voted for him. And that image may be strengthened as well across the state line in Iowa, where Republicans may get a chance to vote for Walker early next year.
Walker may eventually pay a price for his union-busting in Wisconsin if it comes to be seen as anti-labor rather than anti-union. But there now exists the possibility that Walker will not need to seek a third term in Madison in 2018. If he gets on the GOP's national ticket in 2016, he might just have moved on to Washington by then. The events of this week will only make that more plausible, and that may have entered into his calculations too.
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