Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has slammed what he described as an “attempt to impose a president” by the Hezbollah-led camp, as he stressed that the country needs a “real” head of state.

“What is happening today is not due to the might of the Axis of Defiance, but rather due to the weakness of those who should have shouldered their responsibilities and are still refusing to do so,” Geagea said at an LF dinner.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday warned that the country is “in danger.”

“The country is in danger, because the constitution is in one place and we’re heading to another place,” al-Rahi said, during a meeting with a Kataeb Party delegation.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Wednesday said citizens can head to any AMBank branch to carry out Sayrafa currency exchanges at the LBP 38,000 rate should their bank refuse to conduct the transaction.

“The aforementioned bank has agreed to carry out these operations,” Salameh added, in a statement.

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.