Berri slams critics over presidential election

BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri Saturday slammed his critics highlighting that he was exerting all efforts possible to reach a compromise over the necessity of holding the presidential election without further delay.

“A news agency that has launched 24/7 campaigns against Speaker Berri just claimed that the speaker was obstructing the presidential election in Lebanon,” Berri’s media office said in a statement. “It’s obvious that Speaker Nabih Berri has called for near weekly sessions to elect a new president and has exerted all efforts possible to reach a compromise over the necessity of holding the presidential election without further delay. “

The statement added that the parties standing behind the news agency launching attacks against Berri have missed all the election sessions for no reason. The statement did not name the outlet.

Lawmakers have now botched six attempts since April 23 to elect a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25, with the last five failing due to lack of the two-thirds quorum of the legislature’s 128 members.

Berri scheduled the next session to elect the new president to June 18.

Syrian embassy celebrates Assad’s victory

BEIRUT: The Syrian Embassy in Lebanon organized a ceremony Saturday celebrating the election of Bashar Assad to the role of Syrian president for a third term.

Political parties allied to Assad dominated the visitors; notably representatives of Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Marada Movement, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the Arab Socialist Baath Party and the Independent Nasserites (Mourabitoun) Movement.

Syrian ambassador Ali Abdul-Karim Ali delivered a speech in which he thanked those who attended, stressing the significance of the event in showing “the Syrian people’s trust in their government.”

Lebanese internet users to surpass 3 million in 2017

BEIRUT: The number of internet users in Lebanon is expected to reach 3.2 million in 2017, according to a study by a Dubai-based market research firm, published in the Lebanon This Week report by Byblos Bank.

According to Madar Research & Development center, 69.2 percent of the Lebanese population will be using the internet by the end of 2017, as opposed to just 45.1 percent in 2012.

If Madar’s prediction proves true, this will mark a significant increase from 2012, when the number of users was around 2 million.

The study’s report predicted that in the same year, Lebanon’s share of the Arab world’s internet users will be 1.6 percent.

This is significant given the fact that Lebanon’s population is estimated to be less than 1 percent of the Arab world.

Between 2012 and 2017, the Compound Annual Growth Rate, in other words the increase in the rate of the internet users, is expected to be 10 percent.

Lebanon, according to the report, will have the 5th highest numbers of internet users in the Arab world in 2017, coming behind Bahrain (87.4 percent), Kuwait (73.7 percent), Morocco (72.4 percent) and the United Arab Emirates (72.2 percent).

Syrian army shells Bekaa border village

BAALBEK, Lebanon: The Syrian army and Hezbollah bombarded the Lebanese village Tfeil Saturday, due to battles raging in close proximity to the village in the Qalamoun mountain range in Syria, damaging an old mosque and residents’ houses.

Many people were reported wounded, some of whom are in critical condition, according to a Daily Star correspondent in the region.

The village’s residents called on the Lebanese authorities and Army to intervene as soon as possible to put an end to the shelling, and to transport the wounded victims to hospitals.

Tfeil, the border Bekaa village, is poorly connected to the rest of the Lebanese state. A lack of roads linking it to Baalbek has left the village dealing primarily with the Syrian state and market, despite being inside Lebanese territory. Both former Prime Minister Najib Mikati and current Prime Minister Tammam Salam have pledged to build roads to link the village with the rest of Lebanon but so far no projects have been undertaken.

After the civil war began in Syria the borders were closed, leaving Tfeil essentially under siege conditions.

Similar incidents have occurred in the past two years, and many residents of Tfeil have lost their lives due to bombs and missiles coming from Syria.

Obama Takes A Trip To A Sioux Indian Reservation

Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Saturday will be available at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET.

President Obama visited the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Scott Davis, director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, about his visit.

Cantor's Defeat Was Local, But Reverberations Are National

Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Saturday will be available at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET.

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor suffered a huge primary loss to a Tea Party candidate. NPR's Scott Simon talks to NPR political editor Ron Elving about the week in politics.

Tea Party Firebrand To Challenge McCarthy For Majority Leader

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hide captionRep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is making a long-shot bid to replace Rep. Eric Cantor as House majority leader.

John Miller/AP

Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is making a long-shot bid to replace Rep. Eric Cantor as House majority leader.

John Miller/AP

Two-term Idaho Republican Raul Labrador announced Friday he is throwing his hat into the ring for the chance to replace outgoing Rep. Eric Cantor as House majority leader.

Labrador's candidacy ensures that Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California will not go unchallenged for the chamber's No. 2 leadership spot, which opened up on Tuesday after Cantor's stunning primary loss to Tea Party challenger David Brat.

The fiery, Puerto Rico-born Labrador is closely aligned with the Tea Party. He was first elected in 2010 as part of the Republican wave that flipped control of the lower chamber to the GOP. He's been an outspoken critic of the party's leadership and was one of a handful of rank-and-file members who did not vote for John Boehner to return to the Speaker's post in January 2013.

He says he was "stunned" by Cantor's failed primary bid.

"Eric is a good friend and I have tremendous respect for him," the Idaho Republican said in a statement Friday. "But the message from Tuesday is clear – Americans are looking for a change in the status quo."

With Labrador's entry into the race, it gives the most conservative faction of the Republican caucus an alternative to the GOP establishment represented by McCarthy, the current House majority whip.

Labrador said he wants to see a House leadership team "that reflects the best of our conference ... [and] can help unite and grow our party.

"Americans don't believe their leaders in Washington are listening and now is the time to change that," he said.

By most expectations, Labrador is a long-shot to win the job as majority leader. McCarthy, by most reports, has all but sewn up the support necessary to prevail in the June 19 secret ballot.

Labrador's candidacy though provides another test of how unified the GOP conference is and whether the most conservative wing of the party can be successful in cracking the House leadership ranks.