by Stephen J. Choi, Mitu Gulati & Ugo Panizza — FT.com (Financial times) Daily Digest — Stephen Choi and Mitu Gulati are on the law faculties at New York University and the University of Virginia, respectively. Ugo Panizza is a professor of economics at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Lebanon’s debt crisis is a slow moving train wreck. For three years it has been unable to implement reforms necessary for an IMF program — including a requirement to make progress in debt negotiations with private creditors. And when it does move ahead with creditor talks, it faces a heightened risk of holdouts.

Lebanon’s holdout risk derives from its confusing choice to not use Aggregated Collective Action Clauses, or CACs. These clauses, created to ameliorate the problem of holdout creditors, were widely adopted by sovereign debtors starting roughly a decade ago. The innovation allows a debtor to conduct a single aggregated vote across all of its bonds that will be binding, even for dissenters. Holdouts would be deterred, it was thought, because the size of the position needed to hold out would be large. But rather than adopting Aggregated CACs, Lebanon stuck with its old non-aggregated clauses.  The end result: Lebanon’s international bonds require the approval of 75 per cent of the holders, in principal amount, for each bond series before key terms can be modified. Those single-series CACs, combined with the fact that Lebanon’s foreign currency bonds are trading at less than ten cents on the dollar, are blood in the water for specialist distressed-debt sharks (see here, here, here and here). But maybe not. Buried in the typical sovereign bond contract is a “manifest error” clause. This section doesn’t get much attention because it covers technical corrections; matters so minor that the debtor and the agents can fix them without approval from the creditors.

To protect against its misuse, the manifest error clause normally comes with two conditions:

1) The changes may not adversely affect the interests of any creditor.

2) The fiscal agent/trustee has to approve the change. Having a trustee who is agent for the bondholders, as opposed to a fiscal agent, is better for the creditors, but that’s not relevant here as we will see.

by Story by hchowdhury@insider.com (Hasan Chowdhury) — Tech firms are pretty obsessed with AI right now. But if their leaders aren’t obsessed enough, they could see invaluable workers walk right out the door to work for those who are. In other words, AI is posing a bit of a brain-drain problem – and tech CEOs will need to act fast or risk losing their very best talent. Here’s the latest example: Elon Musk, who announced his new company xAI on Wednesday – part of his mission to take on OpenAI, DeepMind and Google – managed to poach a bunch of workers from his AI arch-rivals to establish his founding team. Among the 12 men making up the new company are some of the most sought-after AI talent from rival firms: Igor Babuschkin, Manuel Kroiss and Guodong Zhang of Google-owned DeepMind, Yuhuai Wu, Zihang Dai and Christian Szegedy of Google, Kyle Kosic of OpenAI.

What’s notable is just how many of those workers come from Google and DeepMind, which made a drastic move in April to create a combined entity willing to put aside internal schisms in the face of the common threat that is ChatGPT. The search giant has been in a bit of panic since the launch of ChatGPT in November, rushing to release rival chatbot Bard just two months afterwards amid fears OpenAI’s chatbot could pose an existential threat to its core business. But there has been a sense that Google is lagging well behind OpenAI, which has had a boost to its generative AI capabilities thanks to the backing (and billions of dollars) of Microsoft. First impressions count, after all, and the first impressions haven’t been in Google’s favor. It’s part of the reason why several talented workers got up and left the search giant and headed towards Silicon Valley’s land of milk and honey, OpenAI. Even before ChatGPT’s launch, Google workers seemed fed up and decided to jump ship to OpenAI to help launch ChatGPT.

By arabnews.com — LONDON: Judge Rosine Hujaili, counselor at the Court of Appeal in Beirut, issued on Tuesday a ruling sentencing journalist Dima Sadek to one year of imprisonment in a lawsuit filed against her by the Free Patriotic Movement accusing her of libel, inciting sectarian strife and slander. The verdict also requires the Lebanese […]

Al Arabiya — A video showing a worker at a daycare center in Lebanon hitting a toddler and an infant drew anger from Lebanese citizens calling on the state to take action against both the worker and the center. The disturbing video, which was widely circulated on social media platforms on Monday, showed the worker […]

Story by Desire Athow techradar — Pixabay SEMRush, together with Ahrefs and Moz, is one of the most recognized names in the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) with its eponymous SEO tool. I interviewed its president, Eugene Levine, to find out what his thoughts are about the impact of AI on the world of search, how disruptive generative artificial intelligence (GAI) could be for an industry faced with its biggest challenge since Google launched almost 25 years ago. He talks about how he thinks Search will evolve into a multi-dimensional experience and why GAI-based search engines may be the next big thing.

1. Let’s start with an easy one. What is your personal view about Generative AI as a concept?

I think this is a new technology that many people have been waiting for. For me, in terms of long term impact, this is going to be on par with personal computers, internet and smartphones. I see a lot of similarities between Generative AI and great disruptive technologies of the past. It enables people to do things they couldn’t do before. Personal computers have democratized many areas of the economy. For example, more people could pursue software engineering that previously was an option only for those who had access to very expensive mainframes. Generative AI enables people to do creative tasks even if they lack certain technical skills. You don’t have to be a professional painter to create great concept art using Midjourney, and you don’t need to be a professional copywriter to write great blog posts using our tools. It boosts productivity. Smartphones enabled people to be connected and improved efficiency of business communication. Generative AI can act as a co-pilot to deal with mundane tasks. For human resources professionals, it can write job descriptions and interview questions. For software developers, it can write unit tests and comments. That will free up a lot of time that can be used on more productive tasks. It can disrupt some industries. Computers and the internet eventually displaced bank tellers. But while doing that, those technologies created more jobs. With Generative AI I can see a lot of disruption across the customer support sector. But there will be a lot of new jobs for people to train and fine tune AI.

2. What will SEMrush (and its competitors) do to track what’s going on in an environment where traditional SERP will disappear?

by Reem Abulleil author thenationalnews.com — Chris Dirany is part of the Lebanon team at the Asian Surfing Championships. Lebanese

A graffiti artist, a financial analyst, an investment banker, and a surfing/skateboarding/snowboarding instructor and business owner are currently in the Maldives getting ready to represent Lebanon in the Asian Surfing Championships between July 8 and 17. Together, Alfred Badr, Lena Abdelnour, Lena Allam, and Chris Dirany have formed Lebanon’s first-ever homegrown surfing team and have flown to the Maldives with the clear mission of putting their country on the world surf map. They each got introduced to the sport in their own unique way, and never knew there were surfable waves in Lebanon before they actually hopped on a board and tried for themselves. Lena Allam, a 29-year-old investment banker who has been living in Dubai for the past two years, grew up in Deir El Qamar, south-east of Beirut, and fell in love with surfing when she was a child, watching a Disney movie. “It was thanks to Lilo & Stitch, the Disney cartoon. In Lebanon we don’t have surfers, so I never saw a surfer on the beaches in Lebanon. So I think the idea came to me when I was watching Lilo & Stitch and I was always replaying the same part of the movie where they surf this big wave and I used to get like super excited,” Allam told The National.

Allam’s fascination with surfing grew from there. She would write school projects on Hawaii because of its vibrant surf culture and it was always a dream to get on a surfboard and catch a wave. That dream finally came true when she was 18 years old. An interview with Lena Allam from Lebanon’s surfing teamAn interview with Lena Allam from Lebanon’s surfing team She initially tried windsurfing but didn’t enjoy it before she eventually got in touch with a surfboard shaper and began taking lessons in Batroun in Lebanon. The first surfboard Allam bought was a decorative one hung up in a Quiksilver store that wasn’t intended for sale.

by Maya Gebeily; editing by Tom Perry and Mark Heinrich (Reuters) – Deputy premier Saade Chami said on Friday deputy governors of Lebanon’s central bank should run it if no governor is appointed by the end of the month, calling their threat to collectively resign “dangerous”. Longtime governor Riad Salameh’s term expires at the end of July and one of the deputy governors told Reuters on Thursday they were considering quitting together if no successor is named, raising the possibility of the central bank being left leaderless amid a deep financial crisis. Lebanon’s breakdown in governance and political tensions have hamstrung efforts to find a successor to Salameh, whose 30-year tenure has been stained by charges at home and abroad of embezzlement of public funds in Lebanon. He denies the charges.

In a statement to Reuters, Chami said the deputy governors should “assume their responsibility in case this appointment is not possible…The threat of resignation implied by the statement is quite dangerous at this critical juncture.” Chami said Lebanon’s code of money and credit “very clearly” instructs the first deputy governor to assume the responsibility of the governor in case this position becomes vacant. “One cannot pick and choose from the code of money and credit,” he told Reuters. The central bank leadership is appointed according to the sectarian power-sharing system that governs other top posts. The governor must be a Maronite Catholic, while the four deputies – a Shi’ite Muslim, a Sunni Muslim, a Druze and an Armenian Catholic – must have the approval of the political chiefs representing their respective sects. “The most likely scenario prompting such a statement is a push to extend Salameh’s term,” said Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief of Lebanon’s leading Annahar newspaper. “Otherwise, a full vacuum in the central bank leadership would bring the worst period of Lebanon’s financial crisis yet. The deputy governors are playing Russian roulette,” Boumounsef told Reuters.

by Najia Houssari – arabnews.com — Bechara Al-Rahi criticizes officials who are devastating the country and its people by destroying the constitution Politicians clash over border demarcation after double killing near Qurnat as Sawda BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi reiterated his call for an “international conference for Lebanon after Lebanese politicians fled from dialogue due to being beholden to their own interests” on Wednesday. Al-Rahi was speaking at the launch of a new document titled “A New Vision for Lebanon Tomorrow: A Secular, Decentralized, and Neutral State.” He expressed his doubts about the sincerity of politicians toward the country, saying that “there is no salvation for Lebanon if we remain as we are. Lebanon is sick, and officials do not want to treat its illness or know its cause.” Al-Rahi continued: “It is not the right of officials to devastate a country and its people by destroying the system and the constitution.”

The presidential vacuum in Lebanon has entered its ninth month without MPs being able to elect a head of state due to ongoing political divisions. Meanwhile Al-Rahi was briefed by Lebanon’s caretaker minister of justice, Henri Khoury, on the progress of army investigations into the murder of two people in the Qurnat as Sawda area last Saturday. Haitham Tawk and Malek Tawk were killed in a dispute over water and real estate near the town of Bsharri, an area frequently riven by disputes over land and resources due to a lack of demarcation of some areas, including the Qurnat as Sawda summit itself, which is the highest peak in Lebanon and the Levant. Multiple people from Bsharri and the neighboring town of Dennieh were arrested and weapons seized. “Army Intelligence investigators have formed an initial picture of how the crime took place and how the first bullet was fired, which hit Haitham Touk, 36, and led to his death,” said a security source.

BY BASSEM MROUE BEIRUT (AP) — A French court Tuesday upheld the freezing of the assets of Lebanon’s embattled central bank governor, rejecting his appeal to have them released, an official close to the investigation said. Several European countries are investigating central bank Gov. Riad Salameh and his associates over myriad alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and laundering of $330 million. A French investigative judge on May 16 issued an international arrest warrant, or Interpol red notice, for the 72-year-old Salameh after he failed to show up in Paris for questioning. France, Germany and Luxembourg in March 2022 froze more than $130 million in assets linked to the investigation. The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, or Eurojust, said at the time that the investigation targets five suspects accused of money laundering.

Salameh, who has repeatedly denied charges of corruption had requested that his assets be unfrozen. On Tuesday, a French appeals court rejected his appeal, saying that his assets will remain frozen, according to an official close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The central governor has repeatedly said that he made his wealth from his years working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, inherited properties and investments. He said he would only resign if convicted of a crime. A Lebanese judge representing the Lebanese state earlier this year charged Salameh, his brother Raja and associate Marianne Hoayek with corruption. Last week, Hoayek was questioned in France and she signed a document pledging not to return to work at the central bank and not to have any contacts with the Salameh brothers and paid a 1.5 million-euro ($1.63 million) bail, Lebanese judicial officials said. During her questioning, Hoayek denied charges of corruption saying that most of her money were inherited from her father.

By Najia Houssari – arabnews.com — BEIRUT: The health of Hannibal Qaddafi, the 47-year-old son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, was in decline, his legal representative said on Monday. Lawyer Paul Romanos reported that hunger striker Qaddafi, who was moved from a Lebanese prison to hospital on Sunday night, had been treated for low blood sugar levels before being returned to detention. He started refusing food last month in protest over his incarceration without trial since 2015. A security source said Qaddafi had been periodically monitored by medical professionals since the start of his “open and continuous hunger strike.” His brother, Saif Al-Islam, had earlier warned of the “seriousness of the health situation.”

BACKGROUND

On June 9, the media office of Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati denied rumors circulating on social media that Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah had contacted Mikati regarding the Hannibal Qaddafi case. He described his sibling’s detention in Lebanon as “illegal and inhumane,” adding that he was being held “without trial and without just cause.” Qaddafi had been living with his family in Syria as a political refugee following his father’s overthrow in Libya. In 2015, he was abducted in Lebanon by an unknown armed group after being lured there and has since been kept in solitary confinement.