Here's what's really terrifying about the Twitter employee who temporarily disabled Trump's account on his last day

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by Alexei Oreskovic - Business Insider - For 11 minutes on Thursday night, the world experienced a first: US President Donald Trump was not on Twitter. Trump's account was temporarily kicked offline by a Twitter employee. At first, Twitter said it was an "inadvertent" human error. The company followed up a couple of hours later, however, and said the incident was caused by a "customer support employee who did this on the employee's last day of work," suggesting it may not have been an accident. Trump critics quickly cheered the nameless Twitter support staffer as a hero; others laughed at the incident as one more humorous episode in a year in which politics-as-usual has become the theater of the absurd. But there's really nothing funny or commendable about the momentary unplugging of the @realdonaldtrump account. In fact, it's terrifying. Trump's Twitter account is an unprecedented phenomenon. The most powerful person in the world has a megaphone to say whatever comes across his mind instantly. There's no filter; no time delay; no take-backs. Twitter has refused to provide any details about how this unique and powerful account in its care is operated and safeguarded. Obviously, there are important security reasons for this, and that's why there hasn't been very much public insistence for Twitter to be more transparent. But the fact that the US president was able to be silenced, even just for 11 minutes, by a Twitter support staffer is not a reassuring sign. It suggests that whatever safeguards Twitter has in place for Trump's account suffer from some major deficiencies. We don't really know what level of access various Twitter employees have to user accounts. Hopefully this staffer had only the ability to suspend the account and not to actually access it. But we have no idea. Just think, what if the rogue support staffer on his last day decided to do something different. What if, instead of taking Trump's account offline, the staffer decided to fire off a tweet on Trump's account? Perhaps the staffer might have had Trump say something idiotic or embarrassing. Perhaps the staffer might have had Trump bash a company's stock, in hopes of trading ahead of it and make a quick buck. Or perhaps the departing Twitter employee might have composed a tweet declaring that missiles had been fired at an enemy regime like North Korea. Twitter has control over an internet-age nuclear weapon. We can't afford to trust that Twitter knows how to take care of it.

Lebanon's Prime Minister resigns, plunging nation into new political crisis

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khazen.org greatly regret the resignation of Hariri government We hope strength peace and prosperity for Lebanon. Below article represents only the opinion of the author.

(CNN) by By Chandrika Narayan, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri unexpectedly resigned Saturday during a trip to Saudi Arabia, saying his life was in danger, and creating a leadership vacuum in an already politically fractured country. In a televised address from Riyadh, Hariri said he feared an assassination plot and accused Iran of meddling in the region, causing "devastation and chaos." "Iran controls the region and the decision-making in both Syria and Iraq," he said. "I want to tell Iran and its followers that it will lose in its interventions in the internal affairs of Arab countries." Iran dismissed the reports, accusing the United States and Saudi Arabia of orchestrating the resignation. "Hariri's resignation was coordinated with US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's Mohammad bin Salman," Iranian Foreign Ministry official Hossein Sheikholeslam told the semiofficial Fars News Agency. "The resignation was aimed at creating tension in Lebanon and the region. This resignation was also meant to compensate the US for its failures after the defeat of the Daesh (ISIS)." In his speech, Hariri, a Sunni politician, also pointed to Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed Shiite militant group in Lebanon. "Over the past decades, Hezbollah has unfortunately managed to impose a fait accompli in Lebanon by the force of its weapons, which it alleges is a resistance weapon," Hariri said. "Lebanon and the great Lebanese people became in the eye of the storm and subjected to international condemnations and economic sanctions because of Iran and its arm Hezbollah." While the United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist group, its political wing is the most powerful bloc in Lebanon's deeply divided coalition government, and several of its politicians are ministers.

Climate of fear

In his speech in the Saudi capital, Hariri said the atmosphere in Lebanon was similar to the one that existed 12 years ago right before the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "We live in an atmosphere similar to the atmosphere that prevailed before the assassination of martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and I sensed what is being woven in secret to target my life," he said. Hariri's father was assassinated in February 2005 when a bomb struck his motorcade near the Beirut seafront. A special UN-backed court is trying alleged associates of Hezbollah in absentia in his killing. Hezbollah denies involvement. The assassination was a pivotal event in Lebanon, further fueling the sectarian divisions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The Mediterranean country has a large Christian population as well. The death also led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops, deployed in Lebanon between 1976 and 2005. They first came as peacekeepers to help stop Lebanon's civil war but remained long after the fighting stopped in 1990. Syria has dominated Lebanon's political scene for much of its post-independence history.

Analyst: Saudi Arabia is 'primary driver'

The longstanding animosity between two regional powerhouses -- Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran -- was a major factor in Saturday's developments, said Randa Slim, director of a conflict resolution program at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "I think the primary driver for this resignation is Saudi Arabia," Slim told CNN. "It indicates the Saudi decision to confront Iran and the Iranian influence in Lebanon by going after Hezbollah." The fact that Hariri's announcement was made in Riyadh was an important clue, she said. She also noted Hariri holds dual citizenship in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. "By going after Hezbollah, by denying Hezbollah a credible Sunni partner in governance, it thus weakens Hezbollah on the home front," Slim said. Hariri's second stint as Prime Minister Lebanese President Aoun asked Hariri to become Prime Minister last year. He headed a national unity Cabinet that included Hezbollah. It marked Hariri's second stint as Prime Minister. Hariri first took office in June 2009. Less than two years later, 11 Hezbollah members of his Cabinet resigned, causing a coalition government to collapse. Under the Lebanese Constitution, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni and the speaker of the Parliament a Shiite Muslim. Trump, Lebanese PM speak at White House Earlier this year, Hariri met President Donald Trump at the White House. They spoke about economic issues and the pressure on Lebanon after an influx of 1.5 million displaced Syrians in the country. Trump also warned about the danger of Hezbollah. "Threats to the Lebanese people come from inside as well. Hezbollah is a menace to the Lebanese state, the Lebanese people and the entire region," he said. "The group continues to increase its military arsenal, which threatens to start yet another conflict with Israel, constantly fighting them back." CNN's Bijan Hosseini, Ammar Albadran, Ghazi Balkiz and Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report.

by bbc - His announcement came a day after a meeting in Beirut with Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kahmenei.

A stunning resignation By Martin Patience, BBC News, Beirut The prime minister's resignation has opened up a chasm of uncertainty in Lebanon. It's still not clear why he announced his decision in Saudi Arabia - an extraordinary move that left even his own MPs bewildered. But the move will be seen through the lens of the great Shia-Sunni divide that's fuelling much of the violence across the Middle East. It's pitted the Sunni power, Saudi Arabia, against the Shia power, Iran - with both sides backing different players to wield influence. In Lebanon, the Saudis support Mr Hariri while Iran backs the Shia movement, Hezbollah. In recent years, Lebanon has largely been spared the violence seen elsewhere in the region. But with this stunning resignation, many Lebanese will now fear that their country is firmly in the crosshairs of the two regional superpowers.

by AP Zena Karam . In a statement, the presidential office said Aoun was informed by Hariri in a phone call of his resignation, adding that the president now awaits Hariri’s return to the country to clarify the circumstances of his resignation and proceed accordingly. Earlier this week, Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan sharply criticized Hezbollah, calling for its “toppling” and promising “astonishing developments” in the coming days during an interview with the Lebanese TV station MTV. Al-Sabhan met with Hariri in Saudi Arabia when the now resigned prime minister was visiting earlier this week. Hariri abruptly returned to the kingdom later Friday before his bombshell announcement Saturday. In tweets after meeting Hariri, al-Sabhan described it as “long and fruitful meeting” that resulted in agreements over many issues that concern the Lebanese. “What’s coming is better, God willing,” al-Sabhan tweeted on Tuesday. In a series of tweets, al-Sabhan criticized the Lebanese government for tolerating Hezbollah’s criticism of the kingdom. He earlier said that those who cooperate with Hezbollah must be “punished.”

Lebanese women entrepreneurs push for success

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by Florence Massena  - Al Monitor - BEIRUT — In Lebanon, women count for 3.1% of the deputies in parliament compared to 22% on average elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, Lebanese parliamentarians refused to pass in June a quota guaranteeing that women must represent 30% of decision-making positions in politics. In this context, succeeding professionally as a Lebanese woman is challenging. But some incentives and business organizations are pushing potential candidates to try and launch their own businesses in this sexist climate. Aline Kamakian, the owner of Mayrig, an Armenian restaurant in Beirut, began selling life insurance policies at age 18, after her father died. “I faced a lot of sexual harassment, because at that time a woman selling stuff was considered selling herself,” Kamakian told Al-Monitor. “But I overcame my frustrations and succeeded. In 2003, I opened my father’s dream restaurant, Mayrig.” But without a father or husband, she couldn’t get a loan and had to ask her cousin to be her business partner. “It is not by law but common practice. It wasn’t until this year that I could buy my cousin’s shares,” she added.