by the dailystar.com.lb — The rift between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces appeared to have widened over the weekend, with officials from both sides engaging in a backhanded Twitter debate. The issue began with an ambiguous Friday tweet from caretaker Information Minister Melhem Riachi that was interpreted by many to have been directed at caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who heads the FPM. “A stubborn [person] thought that he can do whatever he wants, get whatever he wants, monopolize everything to him and doesn’t even share bread with his siblings,” the LF politician wrote. His tweet sparked a backlash from some FPM officials, including Bassil. The FPM head seemed to interpret Riachi’s tweet as a continuation of recent accusations by the LF that there have been attempts to isolate the party from major political posts and obstruct its chances of getting key ministries in the upcoming government. “They have started to resort to [claims of] isolation, in order to call for sympathy and make political gains,” Bassil said in a tweet Saturday. Those LF complaints took a new turn after last week’s Parliament session, held to elect a speaker, deputy speaker and other members of the secretariat.

LF MP Fadi Saad, who was running to be one of two Parliament secretaries, reportedly withdrew after he was made aware of alleged attempts to isolate the LF. Former LF MP Antoine Zahra was a secretary in the previous Parliament. But the FPM’s Alain Aoun and Progressive Socialist Party MP Marwan Hamadeh ended up taking the seats in last week’s election. It has also been reported that the LF is asking to head key ministries given that its parliamentary bloc now consists of 15 MPs, a major gain from its eight-seat presence in the previous Parliament. The LF is in particular seeking to retain its control over the deputy prime ministership. But it seems that the FPM is now vying for the post as well. “There is no isolation, everyone should be satisfied with the size of their representation and they will be represented. Their demands, meetings, complaints and nagging will not benefit them,” Bassil added.

Caretaker Justice Minister Salim Jreissati, affiliated to the FPM, was more direct in his tweet. “To the Information Minister [Riachi], with all honesty, search for a stubborn person and you will find him under the ceiling of your house,” he said. But Riachi expressed surprised over the FPM reactions, writing on Twitter Saturday: “It is weird that a tweet that was unrelated [to domestic politics] was interpreted as an domestic [message]. It is really very weird.” The LF and FPM were once foes, but an understanding between LF leader Samir Geagea and FPM founder Michel Aoun brought Lebanon’s two main Christian parties together. Signed in 2016, the agreement paved the way for Aoun to be elected as president later that year. But the relationship between the two has remained rocky over their different approaches to key issues in government, including how to resolve the country’s electricity crisis. This article has been adapted from its original source. The Daily Star

by Guy Itzchakov and Avraham N. (Avi) Kluger — Giving performance feedback is one of the most common ways managers help their subordinates learn and improve. Yet, research revealed that feedback could actually hurt performance: More than 20 years ago, one of us (Kluger) analyzed 607 experiments on feedback effectiveness and found that feedback caused performance to decline in 38% of cases. This happened with both positive and negative feedback, mostly when the feedback threatened how people saw themselves. One reason that giving feedback (even when it’s positive) often backfires is because it signals that the boss is in charge and the boss is judgmental. This can make employees stressed and defensive, which makes it harder for them to see another person’s perspective. For example, employees can handle negative feedback by downplaying the importance of the person providing the feedback or the feedback itself. People may even reshape their social networks to avoid the feedback source in order to restore their self-esteem. In other words, they defend themselves by bolstering their attitudes against the person giving feedback. We wanted to explore whether a more subtle intervention, namely asking questions and listening, could prevent these consequences. Whereas feedback is about telling employees that they need to change, listening to employees and asking them questions might make them want to change. In a recent paper, we consistently demonstrated that experiencing high quality (attentive, empathic, and non-judgmental) listening can positively shape speakers’ emotions and attitudes.

For example, in one laboratory experiment, we assigned 112 undergraduate students to serve as either a speaker or a listener and paired them up, sitting face-to-face. We asked speakers to talk for 10 minutes about their attitudes toward a proposal for basic-universal income or a possible requirement that all university students must also volunteer. We instructed the listeners to “listen as you listen when you are at your best.” But we randomly distracted half of the listeners by sending them text messages (e.g., “What event irritated you the most recently?”) and instructed them to answer briefly (so the speakers saw that they were distracted). Afterward, we asked the speakers questions about whether they were worried about what their partner thought of them, whether they acquired any insight while talking, and whether they were confident in their beliefs. We found that speakers paired with good listeners (versus those paired with distracted listeners) felt less anxious, more self-aware, and reported higher clarity about their attitudes on the topics. Speakers paired with undistracted listeners also reported wanting to share their attitude with other people more compared with speakers paired with distracted listeners.

Asharq Al-Awsat — Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil voiced on Saturday his country’s concern over a new Syrian law aimed at redeveloping areas devastated by seven years of war, saying it could impede the return of Syrian refugees to their homes. “Law 10” of the legislation allows people to prove they own property in the […]

by Heather Kelly  @heatherkelly – cnn – Alexa has many talents. Amazon’s voice assistant can play music, set timers, order a pizza, and send recordings of private conversations to random people in its users’ contact list. An Amazon Echo user in Portland, Oregon, says she was shocked to learn her Echo had recorded a conversation with her husband […]

by  Alex Lockie – Business Insider — President Donald Trump told White House pool reporters on Friday that he was talking to North Korea and that the summit between him and Kim Jong Un that he canceled Thursday could still take place. Earlier, Trump tweeted praise of North Korea for what he called a “warm and productive” statement […]

by Naharnet — Saad Hariri was officially tasked Thursday with forming a new government after he garnered 111 votes in the binding parliamentary consultations, the Presidency said. The consultations were held at the Baabda Palace from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Hariri was first to arrive at the Presidential Palace where he met President Michel Aoun […]

by Naharnet — Saad Hariri was officially tasked Thursday with forming a new government after he garnered 111 votes in the binding parliamentary consultations, the Presidency said. The consultations were held at the Baabda Palace from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Hariri was first to arrive at the Presidential Palace where he met President Michel Aoun […]

by businessinsider.com — John Haltiwanger — The White House on Thursday cancelled the highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a letter to Kim, President Donald Trump wrote, “I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting.” Trump said he’d been looking forward to the summit, but the “tremendous […]

by Bryant Harris – Al-Monitor —Mike Pompeo used his first official appearance before Congress as secretary of state to call for a review of US military assistance for Lebanon following Hezbollah’s gains in this month’s elections. Washington has long relied on the Lebanese Armed Forces as a bulwark against the Iran-backed Shiite paramilitary group’s influence in the divided country. But critics of the army’s unwillingness to confront the group, which plays a dominant role in Lebanese politics, are gaining traction as the Donald Trump administration pursues a more aggressive stance against Tehran. “We need a review … to make sure that we’re using American tax dollars right in supporting the groups that can most likely achieve our outcome there,” Pompeo testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today as the Trump administration weighed in on a simmering debate about Lebanon. “That’s the first time the administration openly mentioned some things related to a review of the use of the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces] aid,” Joseph Gebeily, the president of the Lebanese Information Center, a think tank critical of Hezbollah, told Al-Monitor. “The Lebanese Armed Forces have been a very useful partner to the US military. They’ve built a good relationship.”

Some Hezbollah hawks in Congress have long called for curtailing US support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, saying the Hezbollah paramilitary group exerts undue influence on the Lebanese military. “I’ve long been concerned over reports of the LAF-Hezbollah cooperation and US commitment to the LAF,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the House panel on Middle East policy, said earlier this week at a hearing reviewing Hezbollah’s electoral gains. “US law stipulates that no assistance may be made available to the LAF or Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces if they are controlled by a US-designated foreign terrorist organization. Hezbollah certainly [qualifies].” “I hope that this administration, unlike previous administrations from both parties, takes a clear-eyed approach to the LAF [and] reassesses our security assistance to Lebanon,” she added.

naharnet.com — Speaker Nabih Berri has been re-elected for a sixth consecutive term on Wednesday with an overwhelming majority of 98 votes out of the parliament’s 128-seat assembly. Berri, who ran unchallenged, won 98 votes with 29 blank ballots and one that was annulled. The newly elected parliament convened for the first time after the May 6 nationwide balloting. Veteran politician, Elie al-Ferzli was also elected as deputy parliament speaker after winning 80 MP votes. In accordance with the protocol, the Parliament convened under the most senior MP, Michel Murr, who was accompanied to the parliament by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The country’s first parliamentary elections in nine years ended years of political stalemate over a new election law and repeated extension of the parliament’s terms. The re-election of Berri, an ally of Hizbullah who has held the post since 1992, reflects Lebanon’s entrenched sectarian-based political system which has held despite rising discontent. Together, the two parties hold all but one of the 26 Shiite-allocated seats in Lebanon’s parliament. Outgoing PM Hariri called him a “national symbol.” Michel Murr meanwhile commended Berri for successfully managing the country’s sectarian politics over the years, preventing conflict.

After his election, Berri addressed legislators by saying “thank you” six times, in reference to his sixth term. He pledged bills on major legislative issues, notably on potential maritime oil and gas reserves. Lebanon in February signed its first deal to drill in a pair of offshore zones, including one that is disputed between Lebanon and Israel. “Parliament will be a bulwark for the country’s sovereign land and maritime borders — a national response by the state, army, people, and resistance to Israel’s aggressions and violations,” Berri said. Celebratory gunfire and firecrackers erupted across Beirut and its southern suburbs after Berri was approved. Lebanon’s confessional political system divides seats in parliament equally among Muslims and Christians, then further splits them among the various sects. The position of speaker is reserved for a Shiite Muslim, while the other two top positions of prime minister and president go to a Sunni Muslim and a Maronite Christian, respectively. Born in 1938, Berri is a veteran of Lebanon’s complex political scene. He rose to power as AMAL Movement leader in the civil war (1957-1990) before transitioning to politics when it ended. He was simultaneously elected member and speaker of parliament in 1992. In his official role he calls and runs Lebanon’s parliamentary sessions.

The long delay preceding this month’s parliamentary elections was blamed on political divisions, the war in neighboring Syria and an unsatisfactory voting law. President Michel Aoun will on Thursday consult the newly-elected body to name the country’s next prime minister. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader, caretaker PM Hariri, is expected to return for another term in that role, his third time as premier. Source

Binding parliamentary consultations to choose a new premier will kick off on Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri said.