Three years after Beirut’s massive port blast, attempts to prosecute those responsible are mired in political intrigue, the final death toll remains disputed and many Lebanese have less faith than ever in their disintegrating state institutions.
Abdel Rahman Shalgham, the former Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, notable politician, and renowned Libyan writer, held significant positions within the Libyan government alongside Muammar Gaddafi. He transitioned from being responsible for media affairs in the Revolutionary Leadership Council to serving as his country’s ambassador to Rome for an extended period. Later, he assumed the role of Foreign Minister, ultimately representing Libya at the UN in the period leading up to the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
In 1998, then Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri turned to his Syrian and French allies to prevent the election of staunch Syria ally Emile Lahoud as president. He found out that the decision to elect him was taken and not up for discussion. He tried coexisting with the new president, but realized that Lahoud had only one agenda: weakening Hariri and ensuring his failure.
The 2020 SolarWinds hack served as an alarming wake-up call about the threat of the software supply chain, spurring rapid shifts in how organizations secure third-party applications. And yet, two years later, open source repositories remain ripe for exploitation.