Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said the central bank aims to bring the price of the US dollar down, in agreement with the licensed money changers, in order to help stabilize the prices, media reports said on Wednesday.

A new batch of U.S. sanctions “doesn’t” target Lebanon or any of the government institutions, but imposes sanctions on parties involved in money laundering or financing terrorism, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The United States is imposing new sanctions this week against the Syrian government over alleged crimes during the nine-year war, just as Damascus hopes to launch post-conflict reconstruction.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday distanced his party from the rioters who ransacked central Beirut in the weekend and denied seeking a government change, as he described the dollar shortage crisis as a U.S. "conspiracy."

"When protests erupted over the rise in the dollar exchange rate and acts of violence occurred in Beirut and Tripoli, some held the Shiite duo responsible and said the Shiite duo wanted to topple the government. In the past they said this is Hizbullah’s government, so is Hizbullah stupid to topple its government? This is a sign of confusion and absurdity," said Nasrallah in a televised speech.

Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan on Tuesday described his reconciliation meeting with Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat as “positive and frank” and “a continuation of the Baabda reconciliation that was made in August.”

The meeting was held Monday evening at Speaker Nabih Berri’s residence in Ain el-Tineh.

The Lebanese Army announced Tuesday that it has erected sand barricades on parts of the border with Syria.

“As part of the measures that the army is taking to control the border and prevent illegal smuggling operations, an army unity erected sand barriers on the Lebanese-Syrian border, specifically in the Bekaa area of Qanafez,” an army statement said.

The Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Daryl Mundis has designated three counsel to represent the victims participating in the Ayyash case relating to three attacks against Lebanese politicians Marwan Hamadeh on 1 October 2004, Georges Hawi on 21 June 2004 and Elias Murr, on 12 July 2005.

Lebanon on Tuesday confirmed nine more COVID-19 infections, which raises the country’s tally to 1,473.

In its daily statement, the Health Ministry said six of the cases were recorded among residents and three among expats repatriated from Belarus, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh.

A joint statement issued after the 90-minute meeting said the two leaders stress that “there is no priority that comes before the priority of preserving civil peace.”

Lebanon's public prosecutor Tuesday ordered a probe into rumors on social media on the plunge in value of the local currency that sparked three nights of violent protests.

Hundreds took to the streets from last Thursday to Saturday after the dollar exchange rate soared to almost 5,000 Lebanese pounds on the black market, according to money dealers, despite officially remaining pegged at 1,507 pounds.