By Spencer S. Hsu and Kareem Fahim - Washington Post -- The U.S. government is weighing a request to declare Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman immune from a federal lawsuit accusing him of targeting for assassination a former top intelligence officer who could disclose damaging secrets about the prince’s ascent to power, according to legal documents related to the case. The Saudi government has asked that the prince be shielded from liability in response to a complaint brought by Saad Aljabri, a former Saudi counterterrorism leader and longtime U.S. intelligence ally now living in exile in Canada. A State Department recommendation could also lead to the dismissal of the prince as a defendant in other cases recently filed in the United States, including ones accusing him of directing the death and dismemberment of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018; and of targeting a hack and leak operation to discredit an Al Jazeera news anchor, Ghada Oueiss, in retaliation for her critical reports on Mohammed and the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates

The State Department sent a questionnaire last month to Aljabri’s lawyers, soliciting their legal views on whether it should grant the Saudi request, according to a person close to the family who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the pending litigation and the document, which The Post reviewed. Attorneys for Aljabri and Mohammed and a spokesman for the State Department declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Former Saudi intelligence officer accuses crown prince of ordering his assassination in Canada The request to the Trump administration comes as the State Department, Aljabri’s family and supportive U.S. lawmakers have condemned Riyadh for detaining two of Aljabri’s children in a bid to silence him.

by NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: The Lebanese Ministry of Health’s scientific committee has recommended that flights from London to Beirut be suspended for a few days pending more information on the new strain of COVID-19 found in Britain. The committee recommended that expatriates heading to Lebanon for the holidays change their route if they were traveling through London and commit to mandatory home quarantine for five days, after which they must take a PCR test. The preventive measures were applied during the legislative session of parliament on Monday at the UNESCO palace instead of the parliament headquarters. This is because the palace’s hall is more spacious, allowing for the application of social-distancing measures. In addition, members of parliament and the attendees wore face coverings throughout.

Parliament also passed a law to ratify the proposal to lift banking secrecy for anyone involved in public affairs. Parliament, according to Speaker Nabih Berri, issued a decision that all state bodies, including the Banque du Liban, the ministries, departments and public institutions, are subject to a financial or forensic audit in response to a letter from President Michel Aoun to parliament. Parliament recommended this decision in a previous session. Berri said: “Parliament cannot respond to Aoun’s message with a law.” Parliament referred the bill — aimed at recovering cash and financial portfolios transferred abroad — to the joint committees, provided it was completed within 15 days. The move led to a loss of the impetus on which parliament is counting to recover stolen money transferred abroad. Caretaker Minister of the Displaced Ghada Shreim said: “We had hoped to pass the bill to retrieve the money transferred abroad after Oct. 17 instead of referring it to the committees. Recovering these funds is the first step on a long road.” Parliament also passed a law for the first time punishing sexual harassment, especially in the workplace, and another amending the law to protect women and other family members from domestic violence. Claudine Aoun, president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women, described the move as a positive step to protect women from sexual harassment and domestic violence.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of Lebanon’s airline said on Sunday the carrier would at some point need to demand payment for tickets bought in Lebanon using “fresh dollars”, or recently transferred currency that is not subject to restrictions imposed since a financial crisis. Middle East Airlines (MEA) Chairman Mohamad El-Hout did not say when this rule would be introduced, but the warning will raise concerns for holders of dollars who have been virtually locked out of dollar accounts since late 2019. The authorities have limited dollar withdrawals to about $500 a month, with a few exceptions, and imposed an exchange rate of about 3,900 Lebanese pounds, effectively slashing the value of those deposits as the unofficial street rate is now over 8,000. Before the crisis, 1,500 was the freely-used rate.

Buying airline tickets was one way those dollars held in local banks could be used, in a nation with a large diaspora and where hard currency has grown scarce. Dollars transferred to Lebanon in more recent months, known as “fresh dollars”, are held in new accounts and not subject to withdrawal or other restrictions. “If the company wants to ensure its stability, we will reach a time when we will need to have sales in ‘fresh dollars’,” Hout told Reuters, adding that MEA would need to do this because the carrier’s expenses for fuel and other items were in dollars. He said the alternative was to stop operating the carrier, which is majority owned by the central bank. He also told a Lebanese television channel that prices lowered, by about 40%, once payment was in “fresh dollars”.

by AFP -- Lebanese comedians are bringing relief and defying taboos with jokes about dating, partying during the pandemic -- and how even drug dealers are considering leaving the crisis-hit country. Laughter erupts in a venue wedged between two districts devastated by a deadly August 4 explosion that ravaged the Beirut port and swathes of the Lebanese capital. The blast exacerbated a year-long acute financial crisis and political deadlock, as the country also struggled with a surge in novel coronavirus infections. "The situation is so bad that even the flea market has slashed its prices by 50 percent," joked Nicolas Tawk.

Tawk is one of nearly a dozen comedians who took to the stage on a rainy December evening as part of an event organised by the stand-up comedy club aptly named "awk.word". He was followed by a comedy duo who reworked the lyrics of Gloria Gaynor's hit "I Will Survive" to sing about a multitude of frustrations the Lebanese have been struggling. And then, strumming a guitar, they belted out a popular Lebanese hit from the 1980s -- Ummi Ta Nur'os (Let's get up and dance) -- the words changed to convey the challenges of partying during the pandemic. "Get up and dance, young lady, but wait for me to disinfect my hands. Don't freak out, I'll put on my mask," they sang.