Lebanon's Arabic Press Digest - Oct. 11, 2014

The following are a selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest to Daily Star readers. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

An-Nahar

Negotiations kicked off, things are heating up along Arsal and Labweh

An-Nahar obtained information indicating that the Qatari mediator reached an agreement with the parties to negotiate separately with Nusra Front and ISIS and to begin negotiations first on the basis of retrieving the bodies of martyred soldiers, second on releasing the hostages, and the possibility of a safe passage, which is a demand by the captors.

On the field, however, clashes erupted between the Army and gunmen on the outskirts of Arsal and later extended into the outskirts of Labweh.

The ministerial committee tasked with following up on the Syrian refugee crisis convened Friday and decided, among other things, to task Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk to do whatever he sees appropriate to address the refugee crisis in Arsal so that the town is no longer at the mercy of refugee gatherings. The decision came after Machnouk spoke about the situation of refugees in Arsal

Al-Mustaqbal

Relatives of captives receive reassurances from Ibrahim ... Crisis committee to convene today

Ministerial sources said that the ministerial committee tasked with following up on the refugee crisis drafted a document titled "The Government’s Guide in the Refugee Dossier," which will be discussed in Cabinet's upcoming session.

The document stipulates that the government must put a stop to the refugee influx and inform the UNHCR that it could no longer register any more refugees. It also asks Arab and European countries to help Lebanon address this crisis by hosting some of the refugees and ask Arab and European countries to contribute more to this crisis.

Al-Mustaqbal has learned that the social affairs minister would begin Saturday an Arab tour to discuss the refugee crisis with Arab officials. The tour will include Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Al-Akhbar

Extension is on its way: Berri

Extending Parliament’s mandate is going to happen, according to Speaker Nabih Berri, especially after former Prime Minister Saad Hariri refused to take part in the election amid a presidential paralysis.

With no end in sight to the presidential paralysis, extending the mandate seems the only possible compromise in the long run. Berri says: "The current Parliament has a historic responsibility to prevent the country from collapsing amid such dire circumstances."

"I worry of the insistence of terrorists on the outskirts of Arsal to achieve something in the eastern mountain range or in Tripoli but that does not mean that they can if Lebanese remain united."

Weekly Wrap Up: The Millennial Age and the Minimum Wage

This week, the White House took action in our response to Ebola, explained the need to raise the minimum wage, joined Medium, and was inspired by Millennials. Find out more in this week’s Weekly Wrap Up.

We Took Action in Our Response to Ebola

On Monday, the President met with senior staff to discuss our response to the Ebola outbreak. At the meeting:

• They outlined the United States' broader preparedness plans.


• They spoke about the domestic and international efforts to contain and end the epidemic.


• They discussed enhancing airport security screening in the United States.

The President also reiterated that since Ebola is very difficult to transmit and America has a world-class health care infrastructure, the chances of an Ebola outbreak in the United States are extremely low.

read more

Courts Strike Down Voter ID Laws In Texas, Wisconsin

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

The Supreme Court blocked a measure in Wisconsin requiring voters to show photo identification before casting ballots and a federal judge in Texas ruled that state's ID law was discriminatory.

Labor Secretary Eyed As White House Searches To Replace Attorney General

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Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez is a top candidate to be the next attorney general, according to sources familiar with the process. T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images

Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez is a top candidate to be the next attorney general, according to sources familiar with the process.

T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images

NPR has learned Labor Secretary Thomas Perez is a top candidate to be the next attorney general. Three sources familiar with the process say the issue is on the desk of President Obama, who has yet to decide among a relatively short list of options.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in an email Friday that "we have no personnel announcements at this time."

Perez ran the civil rights unit at the Justice Department earlier in the Obama administration, where, as one of the most aggressive civil rights enforcers in recent history, he investigated record numbers of police departments and helped enforce the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Other possibilities to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, who announced his intention to resign two weeks ago, include current and former U.S. attorneys and justice officials.

The White House doesn't have a great deal of wiggle room if it wants to confirm Holder's successor before the end of the year. With midterm elections approaching, political sensitivities are high. And to get a nominee through during the Senate's lame-duck session, the administration would need to act soon because of paperwork and background check requirements, as well as procedural delays the GOP could deploy.

Oregon First Lady Sorry For 'Marriage Of Convenience' With Green Card Seeker

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Cylvia Hayes, fiancee of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, cries as she speaks at a news conference in Portland, Ore., on Thursday. Hayes admitted she violated the law when in 1997 she married an immigrant seeking to retain residency in the United States. Gosia Wozniacka/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Gosia Wozniacka/AP

Cylvia Hayes, fiancee of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, cries as she speaks at a news conference in Portland, Ore., on Thursday. Hayes admitted she violated the law when in 1997 she married an immigrant seeking to retain residency in the United States.

Gosia Wozniacka/AP

In 1997, Cylvia Hayes, now Oregon's first lady, received about $5,000 to marry an Ethiopian man who wanted a green card. At a tearful news conference in Portland, Ore., Hayes said Thursday that she had made a "serious mistake" in what was a "difficult and unstable period" in her life.

"I want to be clear today — I was associating with the wrong people," she said in a statement read at the news conference. "I was struggling to put myself through college and was offered money in exchange for marrying a young person who had a chance to get a college degree himself if he were able to remain in the United States."

The hastily called news conference followed a story in the Willamette Weekly. The newspaper reported:

"In 1997, King County, Wash., marriage records show, Hayes married a teenage Ethiopian immigrant 11 years younger than she. It's not clear why Hayes entered into the marriage and why she has kept it secret. However, public records raise questions about whether the marriage was legitimate or whether it was a way to help the young man with his immigration status."

News stories have identified the man as Abraham B. Abraham. He was 18 at the time. Hayes was 29. The story noted that they filed for divorce in 2001. Hayes said that she and Abraham met only a handful of times and never lived together. She said they have not had any contact since the divorce was finalized.

Hayes called the marriage "wrong then and it is wrong now," adding, "I am here today to accept the consequences, some of which will be life changing."

Hayes and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, aren't married, but have been together for 10 years. The governor's office refers to Hayes as first lady.

In her statement Thursday, Hayes said she did not tell Kitzhaber about the marriage until the story broke.

"This is the most painful part for me. John Kitzhaber deserved to know the history of the person he was forming a relationship with. The fact that I did not disclose this to him meant that he has learned about this in the most public and unpleasant way," she said. "This is my greatest sorrow in this difficult situation."

So-called green card marriages are illegal under federal law. But the Oregonian quotes local immigration official Philip Hornik as saying an investigation is more likely when there are "fresh tracks." Here's more:

"The statute of limitation for criminal penalties is five years from the marriage date, meaning Hayes' deadline passed in 2002. There's no limitation on civil penalties, however. Hayes is likely safe from legal repercussions, yet immigration officials have the power to revoke a given status from immigrants who benefit from such deals."

That could affect Abraham, who news reports say later earned a degree in math from Greensboro College in North Carolina and now lives in the Washington, D.C., area.

Political pundits interviewed by the Oregonian said they doubted the story would hurt Kitzhaber, who is seeking a fourth term against state Rep. Dennis Richardson, a Republican.

A Surprise Senate Battleground: South Dakota

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Former South Dakota GOP Gov. Mike Rounds is suddenly in a tough battle for an open Senate seat after Democrats and the Mayday PAC said they will spend $1 million each to defeat him. Nora Hertel/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Nora Hertel/AP

Former South Dakota GOP Gov. Mike Rounds is suddenly in a tough battle for an open Senate seat after Democrats and the Mayday PAC said they will spend $1 million each to defeat him.

Nora Hertel/AP

For South Dakotans who have enjoyed a relatively low-key campaign season so far, your peace and quiet is about to end.

Both the Senate arm of the national Democratic Party and a crowd-sourced, anti-super PAC super PAC are preparing to flood the airwaves with ads backing Democratic candidate Rick Weiland and attacking former Republican Gov. Mike Rounds.

South Dakota was supposed to be one of three easy pickups for Republicans in their bid to take control of the Senate – which means it's just a matter of time before Republicans and their outside group allies respond in kind.

The flurry of activity comes after new polling that shows Rounds' big lead in the race has shrunk, with both Weiland and former Republican Sen. Larry Pressler within striking distance. Democratic party leaders would be happy with either Weiland, a one-time aide to former Majority Leader Tom Daschle, or Pressler, who both in 2008 and 2012 endorsed President Obama.

South Dakota has been a generally reliable Republican state in recent years, but Rounds has been dragged down by investigations into a state agency's use of a visa program that gives green cards to wealthy foreigners who invest in United States businesses. Rounds promoted the plan as governor, but a major beneficiary went bankrupt amid allegations of corruption and self-dealing.

A spokeswoman at the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Rounds is in good shape, and that it's a sign of Democrats' desperation that they are throwing money at a race in a state like South Dakota.

Both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Mayday PAC have said they will spend $1 million in South Dakota, although the Democratic money will also be used for voter turnout.

The state is about as inexpensive a media market as they come. An ad buy designed so that the typical viewer will see it 10 times in a week costs about $250,000 in South Dakota – a fraction of what it costs in states with big TV markets.

And while states like North Carolina and Colorado have seen tens of thousands of television ads so far this election, South Dakota had only seen about 12,000 through this week, at a total cost of $2 million, according to the Center of Public Integrity.

If those hoping to defeat Rounds spend as much as they say, and those hoping to elect him match that, South Dakotans could easily be subjected to twice that number of ads in the final three weeks of the campaign.

U.S. Supreme Court Court Halts Wis. Voter ID Law; Texas Law Overturned

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

The court told Wisconsin it may not implement its law requiring voters to present photo IDs. In Texas, a federal judge struck down that state's ID law, saying it discriminates against minority voters.