President Barack Obama welcomes the Jackie Robinson West All Stars to the Oval Office, Nov. 6, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Earlier this afternoon, the Jackie Robinson West All Stars -- the U.S. champions in this year's Little League World Series -- stopped by the White House for a visit with the President and the First Lady.
Earlier this afternoon, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing for his heroic acts of bravery while serving as an artillery commander during the Civil War.
On July 3, 1863, Lieutenant Cushing went above and beyond the call of duty when fighting against Confederate forces. Even after being struck twice, he refused to abandon his command. As a result, his gallant efforts helped open wide gaps in the Union’s line of command.
The Medal of Honor is typically awarded within a few years of the action, but as the President noted, “sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the passage of time.” At today's ceremony, the President was joined by more than two dozen of Lieutenant Cushing's family members. Helen Loring Ensign, a cousin twice removed of the Lieutenant, accepted the award on his behalf.
BEIRUT: Eight Christian ministers refused Thursday to sign a draft law extending the Lebanese Parliament’s term, in a symbolic gesture that will not impede the controversial move.
The decision to not endorse the bill means it will pass by default in five days, making the extension of the legislature’s term a fait accompli, ministerial sources told The Daily Star.
“The draft law will go into effect Tuesday, when it is published in the Official Gazette, at the end of the five-day constitutional period which is usually granted to the president to endorse emergency legislation,” one of the sources said.
The Cabinet assumed the powers of the presidency in ratifying legislation after the end of former President Michel Sleiman’s term, with the condition that decrees have to be endorsed unanimously by ministers.
The president normally has five days to reject an emergency bill, otherwise it passes by default.
A total of nine ministers refused to endorse the decree, including those in Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc and the Kataeb Party, along with Minister of the Displaced Alice Shabtini, Sports Minister Abdul-Muttaleb al-Hinawi and Deputy Prime-Minister and Defense Samir Moqbel, who were appointed to the Cabinet as part of Sleiman’s share.
But once the draft bill is passed, it can be challenged, the sources added.
Aoun’s parliamentary bloc, which had boycotted the extension vote, said it would challenge the bill.
The European Union expressed its “regret” at the postponement of the parliamentary elections, calling for the swift passage of a new electoral law and the election of a president.
“The European Union regrets that Lebanese citizens will not be able to exercise their right to vote, and that elections will be postponed once again,” the EU mission in Lebanon said in a joint statement with the bloc’s top diplomats in the country. “The European Union calls on the government of Lebanon and all political parties to make best use of the extension, to speedily advance on a new electoral law as well as on other pressing legislation.”
In meetings Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri revealed fresh details of the new electoral law that would be debated by a committee chaired by him later this month.
Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying the draft law would stipulate that half of all MPs would be elected under a winner-takes-all system, while the other half would be elected using proportional representation.
Berri said the plan had been tabled by him in 2013 and was backed by MP Walid Jumblatt and therefore has broader potential backing.
He added that any new election law must adhere to the Taif Accord by adopting the governorate as an electoral district and should have a fixed female quota.
He also said legislative activity would continue in Parliament following the extension.
Discussions in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting also covered the contracts of mobile phone operators, oil prospecting tenders and progress in government efforts to free the captive Army and police personnel.
The sources said Prime Minister Tammam Salam briefed the Cabinet on progress in the bid to win the release of 27 servicemen who have been held by jihadist groups from Syria for more than three months.
Speaking after the end of the Cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige quoted the prime minister as saying that the hostage case “was difficult and complicated and that there was some progress, which we hope can reach positive results.”
The government also agreed to postpone discussions on the tender to manage and operate the two state-owned cellular networks.
BEIRUT: Eight Christian ministers refused Thursday to sign a draft law extending the Lebanese Parliament’s term, in a symbolic gesture that will not impede the controversial move.
The decision to not endorse the bill means it will pass by default in five days, making the extension of the legislature’s term a fait accompli, ministerial sources told The Daily Star.
“The draft law will go into effect Tuesday, when it is published in the Official Gazette, at the end of the five-day constitutional period which is usually granted to the president to endorse emergency legislation,” one of the sources said.
The Cabinet assumed the powers of the presidency in ratifying legislation after the end of former President Michel Sleiman’s term, with the condition that decrees have to be endorsed unanimously by ministers.
The president normally has five days to reject an emergency bill, otherwise it passes by default.
A total of nine ministers refused to endorse the decree, including those in Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc and the Kataeb Party, along with Minister of the Displaced Alice Shabtini, Sports Minister Abdul-Muttaleb al-Hinawi and Deputy Prime-Minister and Defense Samir Moqbel, who were appointed to the Cabinet as part of Sleiman’s share.
But once the draft bill is passed, it can be challenged, the sources added.
Aoun’s parliamentary bloc, which had boycotted the extension vote, said it would challenge the bill.
The European Union expressed its “regret” at the postponement of the parliamentary elections, calling for the swift passage of a new electoral law and the election of a president.
“The European Union regrets that Lebanese citizens will not be able to exercise their right to vote, and that elections will be postponed once again,” the EU mission in Lebanon said in a joint statement with the bloc’s top diplomats in the country. “The European Union calls on the government of Lebanon and all political parties to make best use of the extension, to speedily advance on a new electoral law as well as on other pressing legislation.”
In meetings Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri revealed fresh details of the new electoral law that would be debated by a committee chaired by him later this month.
Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying the draft law would stipulate that half of all MPs would be elected under a winner-takes-all system, while the other half would be elected using proportional representation.
Berri said the plan had been tabled by him in 2013 and was backed by MP Walid Jumblatt and therefore has broader potential backing.
He added that any new election law must adhere to the Taif Accord by adopting the governorate as an electoral district and should have a fixed female quota.
He also said legislative activity would continue in Parliament following the extension.
Discussions in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting also covered the contracts of mobile phone operators, oil prospecting tenders and progress in government efforts to free the captive Army and police personnel.
The sources said Prime Minister Tammam Salam briefed the Cabinet on progress in the bid to win the release of 27 servicemen who have been held by jihadist groups from Syria for more than three months.
Speaking after the end of the Cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Joreige quoted the prime minister as saying that the hostage case “was difficult and complicated and that there was some progress, which we hope can reach positive results.”
The government also agreed to postpone discussions on the tender to manage and operate the two state-owned cellular networks.
BEIRUT: Israel and Islamist militants seek to ignite civil war in Lebanon, General Security head Abbas Ibrahim wrote in an editorial published Thursday, though he added that Lebanon’s victory was inevitable. “Independence Day arrives while Lebanon battles against the odds ... in an ordeal not destined to end until [Lebanon’s] inevitable victory in the battle for existence and identity in the face of organized terrorism is achieved,” Ibrahim said in the article for the November issue of General Security Magazine. Independence Day falls on Nov. 22.
He added that terrorist groups were seeking to strike at Lebanon through sparking sectarian strife, and set the stage for a civil war by targeting the military institution and other security agencies.
“Zionism is just as dangerous as takfiri terrorism,” he said.
Ibrahim said that takfiri groups – in a clear reference to ISIS and the Nusra Front – in addition to Israel, had similar objectives, and that each party “is trying to strengthen the other’s status.”
“It is no secret to anyone that their [Israelis and takfiris] relationship is overt and implicit,” he wrote.
Ibrahim reiterated that Israel and “takfiri” terrorism still posed the most dangerous threat to Lebanon, and added that confronting them was possible, as long as Lebanon freed itself from the “foreign actors that make some people depend on them directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally.”
Ibrahim highlighted that all Lebanese championed coexistence and moderation, which provided them with immunity against falling again into the trap of civil war.
Lebanon has been on the offensive against militants since ISIS and Nusra Front jihadists briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August. They are still holding 27 Lebanese soldiers and policemen.
The Lebanese Army cracked down on Islamist militants in and around the northern city of Tripoli last month.
The Army has arrested more than 300 militants across Lebanon in recent weeks.
Ibrahim said that the protection of Lebanon was the responsibility of all Lebanese.
“Military and security institutions are on the front lines and are in need of backing and a favorable environment, and here lies the role of the people,” Ibrahim wrote.
“The defenders of the nation are also in need of moral support that helps them to assume their patriotic duties during difficult circumstances with commitment,” Ibrahim said.
He wrote that cooperation between the Army and the people produced dynamism that was needed during difficult times.
BEIRUT: In a new sign of Hezbollah’s attempts at rapprochement, the party’s deputy chief Naim Qassem Thursday called on Lebanese political leaders to stand together to shield Lebanon from regional instability. “There is a great opportunity for Lebanon amid the political and security fire raging in the region, which, if seized by political leaders, will protect the country and serve the interests of all,” Qassem said, according to remarks provided by Hezbollah’s media office.
Qassem underscored the need to improve socio-economic and political conditions in impoverished north Lebanon, saying that the Army’s military operation in Tripoli last month had spared the area from the harassment of jihadists.
“It is the right of north Lebanon and its capital city, Tripoli ... to be relieved from the nuisance of jihadists,” Qassem said.
“Now that the Lebanese Army has succeeded in reinstating security, there must be a comprehensive resolution to all the political and social problems [in the north] in order to deprive opportunists of any possible pretext [to undermine security],” Qassem said.
Hezbollah’s moves toward rapprochement with political rivals, notably the Future Movement, came in the wake of the Army’s clampdown on Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist militants in Tripoli and other parts of north Lebanon in late October.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah earlier this week offered rare praise for the Future Movement for standing with the Lebanese Army against the militants in the north. Nasrallah also called for a new era of dialogue between political rivals and offered to cooperate with the Future Movement to protect Lebanon from regional turmoil.
Future Movement leader Saad Hariri has also expressed his readiness to cooperate with all political factions, including Hezbollah.
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army said it arrested 23 suspects including three Syrians with alleged links to terrorist groups and five gunmen over their involvement in last month’s clashes in Tripoli, as part of the military’s crackdown on terror suspects.
The Army said in a statement that it arrested Lebanese Ahmad Mahmoud Darwish in the village of Bhenin in the Minyeh-Dinnieh district over his involvement in gun attacks against its soldiers.
Soldiers also arrested Thursday in the Mhammara village of Akkar four Lebanese for shooting at Army personnel, according to another military statement. One of the men was in possession of a rifle, a hand grenade, ammunition and military gear.
The men are suspected of involvement in the October clashes between Lebanese troops and militants in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city.
Also Thursday, the Army said in a statement that it arrested three Syrians suspected of belonging to terrorist groups and 13 other Syrians for entering the country illegally. The arrests came during an Army raid on several locations in the Masnaat area, which also includes an official border crossing between Lebanon and Syria.
The Army said it arrested Mohammad Ghazi Ish, who was driving a motorcycle without legal papers, and Chadi Mahmoud Shami, who was accompanying him. It said they were suspected of tossing a stun grenade in Baddawi Thursday at dawn.
In Arsal, a soldier was wounded when two masked men opened fire at him while he was heading to his post.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s military prosecutor charged 17 Syrian militant suspects, including 12 already in custody, with involvement in August’s clashes with the Army and for belonging to ISIS and the Nusra Front, a judicial source said.
Judge Saqr Saqr charged the 17 with engaging in armed clashes with soldiers in the northeastern town of Arsal in August.
