Lebanon News: Under Rug Swept

“Road Like Those in Beirut”

Jad Aoun — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:41:43 +0000

I had told Elizabeth Diffin of the BBC Online Service that you don’t here people say “it looks like Baghdad”; apparently I was wrong:

Many roads in Tiverton are so potholed, they are ‘more like those in Baghdad or Beirut’ – a former town Mayor claimed this week.
[...]
Tiverton town and Mid Devon district councillor Kevin Wilson claims[...]“Tiverton’s roads are in a dreadful state as a direct result of budget cuts and the people of the town deserve an explanation of the county council’s policy from an elected member.[...] The town’s roads are more like Baghdad or Beirut than something in Devon.”

Councilor Kevin Wilson, your Looks Like Beirut certificate has been dispatched.

Residents' anger over Tiverton street's 300 potholes

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“Lebanese Prime Minister Emile Lahoud”

Jad Aoun — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:32:10 +0000

You can ignore Israel National News when they called former Lebanese President Emile Lahore but when Abu Dhabi-based The National gets it so wrong, it leaves you with alot of questions.

This was taken from an article published today concerning Mohammed Zuhair al Siddiq who is still in a UAE prison although he has completed his term. Here’s the title The National has given Emile Lahoud (I’ve decided to take a screenshot of it in the event they realize their mistake):

The National bestows on Emile Lahoud the title of Prime Minister

Well if the newspapers say it, then it must be true.

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Speeding Up Lebanon’s Snail-Net

Jad Aoun — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:27:41 +0000

Good news for people in Lebanon hoping to watch YouTube without the constant disruptions by mid-viewing downloads:

The Lebanese government is planning on buying an additional 45 gigabytes of international internet bandwidth for $45 million in the coming few months said an IT expert on Sunday.
[...]
[Riad] Bahsoun, who is the general manager of the Telecommunication Information Technology in Lebanon, explained that the new bandwidth will come from India via Egypt, through a submarine cable that will reach Tripoli.

So what does that mean?

Bahsoun said that Today 1 megabit of internet bandwidth is consumed by 40 users. “If the government receives this additional bandwidth then in 2012, we will be 12 users using 20 megabits of bandwidth and the fee per month will go down from $90 to $30,” he said.

Bahsoun explained that when a user subscribes to a 512kb connection, he is only using a fraction of it. “You only use a fraction which is 1 out of 40 because they sell the same fraction to 39 others since they don’t have enough bandwidth,” he said.

The question is, how long until it happens? Though I don’t think that Bahsoun is taking into consideration the growth in consmers by 2012. Will 45GB be enough?

Lebanon is reported to be receiving 45GB of Bandwidth through IMEWE

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Data’Bank’ Breach at HSBC

Jad Aoun — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:12:57 +0000

The story remains sketchy for the time being (it supposedly occured 3 years ago and is now just being investigated), but apparently a HSBC employee stole data on the bank’s high-value customers and was trying to sell the information to a Lebanese bank:

Banking giant HSBC has said that 15,000 Private Bank customers may have been affected by a data breach that occured approximately three years ago.

A former HSBC employee called Herve Falciani is under investigation in connection with the theft of the data, an HSBC spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Friday. The bank is not sure how the data was stolen, but said that it may have been transferred using a portable computer.

Falciani is alleged to have stolen the data during a project to transfer the information to a more secure system, said HSBC. He was caught at the beginning of 2008 trying to sell the data to different Lebanese banks, said the spokesperson.

Its not clear how he was caught though other media are reporting that he tried to sell it to one Lebanese bank and failing to do so, he fled to France.

More news on this story as it develops.

Stolen HSBC Client Data was Unsuccessful Sold to an unnamed Lebanese Bank

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“Now it’s like Beirut”

Jad Aoun — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:53:33 +0000

A 31-year resident of the Australian town of Altona Meadows has had enough:

Altona Meadows is being ruined by selfish residents with no respect for their neighbours, says Trevor, an emergency services worker who has lived in Shirley St for 31 years.
“Ten years ago this was the most beautiful street in Altona Meadows,” he says.
“Now it’s like Beirut.”

This is what his street currently looks like:

Let me tell you something Trevor, Beirut doesn’t have space for green. Let me rephrase that in a better way, we have no green. So your little insignificant street can never look like Beirut. As for the comment itself, its quite immature, stupid and pathetic like your complaint.