In response to the Cholera outbreak in Lebanon, the United States Government has made available an additional $1.3 million for UNICEF’s emergency response to contain Cholera and stop transmission in affected areas, UNICEF and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said in a joint statement.

Since the start of the outbreak, UNICEF has been ramping up prevention efforts with partners on the ground to strengthen the health response through the provision of medicine and hygiene kits; the sanitation systems and hygiene practices at the household and community levels, focusing on areas already experiencing an outbreak and those at high risk.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday held a meeting with Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut Elias Aude.

“His Eminence supports the election of a president as soon as possible and within the real democratic system,” Mikati said after the talks.

A batch of a contaminated drug for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases has been identified in Lebanon and Yemen, the World Health Organization has warned.

The WHO said the alert refers to “one batch of substandard (contaminated) METHOTREXTM (methotrexate) 50mg.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.