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Gunshots fired at al-Jadeed TV after Molotov attack

Unknown assailants fired gunshots after midnight toward al-Jadeed TV building in Beirut’s Wata el-Msaitbeh area, around 24 hours after a Molotov bomb was hurled at the station’s premises, the TV network said on Wednesday.

“The shots fired in the vicinity of the building were heard across the area and security forces have launched an investigation,” al-Jadeed said.

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European investigators to visit Lebanon in Salameh probe

European investigators will visit Lebanon next month as part of a probe into the wealth of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, a judicial official said.

The long-serving central bank chief, 72, is among top officials widely blamed for Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis, dubbed one of the worst in modern global history by the World Bank.

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Al-Rahi to Berri: Christmas greeting should've been president election

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has chided Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during a phone call, media reports said on Tuesday.

Berri called al-Rahi on Monday to offer Christmas greetings, which prompted the patriarch to admonish him, saying: “I was waiting for you to greet me through the election of a president.”

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Mikati meets Berri over govt. file, state affairs

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Tuesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

The two leaders discussed the governmental file and how to run the state's affairs, Mikati said after the meeting.

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Lira recovers after Salameh says BDL to sell dollars at 38,000

The black market dollar exchange rate witnessed a dramatic drop around noon Tuesday after Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced that banks will start selling dollars to the public at a Sayrafa platform rate of LBP 38,000.

“Throughout the three-day holidays period, the U.S. dollar exchange rate surged by LBP 2,000 on the parallel market due to speculation operations and the smuggling of dollars to abroad. This hike caused inflation on the markets, which harmed the Lebanese citizen seeing as prices in Lebanon are linked to the dollar exchange rate,” Salameh said in a statement.

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Safa calls Aoun and Bassil, says 'no divorce' with FPM

Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa has wished former president Michel Aoun a merry Christmas on behalf of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Safa told the OTV that there is no divorce between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement.

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Molotov cocktail hurled at al-Jadeed TV in Beirut

Unknown assailants have hurled a Molotov cocktail bomb overnight at al-Jadeed TV building in Wata el-Mousaitbeh, the media outlet said.

Al-Jadeed reported Tuesday that the bomb self-extinguished before reaching the building and that security forces have launched an investigation into the incident.

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Bassil has reportedly met with Franjieh and Mikati

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has recently met with Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and caretaker PM Najib Mikati despite the political campaigns he has waged against them in recent weeks, a media report said on Monday.

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Hezbollah hands over suspected killer of UN peacekeeper

Hezbollah has handed over a man suspected of killing an Irish United Nations peacekeeper earlier this month, a security official told AFP.

Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others injured on December 14 when their U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle was attacked near the village of al-Aqbiyeh in the country's south, a stronghold of Hezbollah.

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Bassil says will launch 'complete' initiative within two weeks

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday said that the FPM will launch a "complete" political initiative within two weeks.

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