Christine Douglass-Williams — weeklyblitz.net — Turkey, which has been bullying Greece for some time, recently threatened the EU that it shouldn’t “dare” to impose sanctions over Turkish aggression toward Greece and Cyprus. For the past few months, Greece has been bolstering its military, amid Turkey’s ongoing “provocative statements” and “near-daily” threats of war. Particularly worrying with the latest spy news development is Lebanese involvement. Turkey is feared to be expanding its influence in Lebanon and shipping weapons there. Turkey has also been working with Qatar to shape Libyan politics. The two countries were reportedly setting up a military training camp to train Muslim Brotherhood troops in Libya. Both Libya and Lebanon are marked by instability, which Turkey has demonstrated its eagerness to settle. Given its aggressive expansionary ambitions, its opportunism is expected. Days ago, Greek police “detained a Turkish consular official on suspicion of spying… in a case likely to further strain troubled relations between the two NATO allies.”

By Linda Bordoni — vaticannews — In a letter addressed to the head of the Church in Lebanon, Pope Francis makes an urgent appeal to political and religious leaders and to the international community to help the nation surmount the grave crisis in which it finds itself and resume a normal existence. Writing on Christmas Eve to His Beatitude Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites and President of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon, the Pope says his words are for the “Lebanese people, without distinction of community or religion.” They are words, he says, “of comfort and encouragement as we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.”

Sharing his concern and sorrow to see the suffering and anguish that has engulfed Lebanon undermining its resilience and resourcefulness, the Pope says, “It is even more painful to see you deprived of your precious aspirations to live in peace and to continue being, for our time and our world, a message of freedom and a witness to harmonious coexistence.” In particular, Pope Francis expresses his sorrow for the many young people of Lebanon “robbed of any hope for a better future.”

Reuters — caretaker finance minister said it would contact a consulting firm to resume a forensic audit of the central bank, a key condition for foreign aid that has hit a roadblock. Parliament agreed this week to lift banking secrecy for one year, after the restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal pulled out of the audit, saying it had not been given information it needed. “It was decided based on the law from parliament and government decisions to contact the firm A&M to resume the forensic audit,” caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni’s office cited him as saying after meeting with the president. A presidency statement later quoted Wazni as saying the firm had recently sent a letter to the central bank that showed its willingness to resume work with the Lebanese government. Such an audit is on list of reforms donors have demanded before helping Lebanon out of its financial crisis, rooted in decades of state waste and graft. Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said last month that he favoured an audit but that disclosing the accounts of local banks would require a change in legislation. Some Lebanese officials have accused Salameh of using bank secrecy laws to justify withholding information.

by Michael Jansen — jordantimes.com — French President Emmanuel Macron’s COVID-cancelled visit to Beirut this week appears to have torpedoed hopes that he would be able to coax Lebanon’s squabbling politicians to agree on a formula for a fully-fledged government before the end of the year. Macron has consistently called for an independent government of experts capable of launching reforms put forward in the road map presented by him in September. President Michel Aoun has retorted by rejecting the notion of an independent Cabinet of experts and calling for the usual government of party appointees and demanding for his Free Patriotic Movement one-third of posts and veto power over any decisions. After mediation by France, Maronite Catholic Archbishop Beschara Al Rai, and Hizbollah Aoun now insists on interior and justice portfolios. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has rejected this proposition on the ground it is designed to “bypass the French initiative” and would “open the door to the representation of political factions in the government”. This is precisely what the French, foreign donors and the International Fund want to avoid.

Hariri resigned following the eruption in October last year of popular protests against the politicians, whose incompetence and corruption have diven Lebanon into an economic crisis. He expected he would be asked to form the very sort of government the people want and he is meant to establish at this time. Instead, the politicians asked Hassan Diab, an academic with no political clout, to put together a new Cabinet. He, also, dreamed he would enlist independent experts but was soon disabused of this idea. The experts he was permitted to appoint were chosen by the very political factions the Lebanese people are determined to oust. Needless to say, the politicians scuppered every attempt Diab made to initiate the reforms demanded by the donors and the IMF. The Lebanese economy continued to slide downwards while resentment has soared against the politicians who refused to budge from their right to decide who would be in the government. One would have thought the politicians would be prepared to cede to the demand for independent ministers following the August 4th explosion of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored for six years in Beirut port, levelling it and four neighbouring districts, killing 204 people, wounding several thousand and rendering 300,000 homeless. The politicians were accused of causing this disaster through indifference and neglect. It was the largest man-made explosion since US atomic bombs devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

by middleeastmonitor — When Joe Bejjany was shot with a silencer as he got ready to take his two daughters to pre-school, it shocked not only his mountain village but a country already on edge. No clear motive has so far surfaced for the murder of the 36-year-old Lebanese telecoms employee and freelance photographer on Monday. But that did not stop local media and people wondering aloud whether it was linked to an ongoing investigation into August’s devastating blast at Beirut port. Residents of Kahaleh, some 13 km (8 miles) from Beirut, say they want a swift investigation into what they believe was a planned operation of some kind or another. “This is not just about our village. Because today it’s Joe, tomorrow it’s someone else,” said Jean Bejjany, the head of the municipal council and a distant relative. “Are we going to have to protect our own houses and villages?”

A number of recent murky deaths have fuelled similar rumours of links to the explosion, even as security officials say they have no evidence of a connection. Nearly five months since the huge stockpile of chemicals, stored unsafely for years, detonated at the port, that inquiry has yet to yield public results. The blast killed 200 people and ravaged swathes of the capital, compounding a financial meltdown that has also triggered generalised fears over security. Earlier this month, authorities pledged to probe the death of a retired customs officer who was found dead in his home.

by naharnet.com — Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said on Tuesday the crisis of ending subsidies on the import of basic goods can be solved without reducing the foreign reserves if the new government takes the necessary measures. In remarks to the US-based Arabic-language satellite TV channel, al-Hurra, Salameh described as “exaggerated” the reports claiming that deposits of the Lebanese people in local banks have “evaporated.” He stressed that the dollar liquidity crisis in Lebanese banks began a gradual decline, revealing that the depositors’ money was not in the “central” bank. He said a year ago until today, deposits worth 30 billion dollars have been withdrawn from Lebanese banks, 20 billion dollars of which have been used to cover debts. “The debt portfolio decreased significantly in the banking sector from 55 billion to 35 billion dollars today,” he said. “The second part was used to buy real estate, while the third part was taken in cash, and we estimate that approximately 10 billion dollars are with the Lebanese,” he added.

On the problematic issue of lifting subsidies on the import of basic goods, Salameh said we are keen that the Lebanese remain capable of buying medicines, fuel and foodstuff at the official dollar rate of LBP 1500. He said it is up to the government to decide how to rationalize imports, stressing the need to set specific approaches that allow the Lebanese to get their basic needs, while concurrently preserving the bank’s foreign reserves. “The bank still has two billion dollars before touching the foreign reserves,” he said, noting that forming a credible government that inspires confidence in creditors helps restore liquidity back to the country.

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.