The prices of certain medications may have to rise as the central bank’s ability to subsidize pharmaceuticals diminishes, the head of Parliament’s health committee warned. Assem Araji said following a meeting of the committee that subsidies should be rerouted to focus on essential drugs for conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and nervous system disorders. Araji, who said that Lebanon imports $1.74 billion worth of pharmaceuticals a year, argued for a shift to supporting local production of medicines to reduce imports and save the country’s scarce dollars. The shelves of pharmacies across the country have been left empty in recent weeks as customers stock up, suppliers withhold products and pharmacists struggle to provide cash to buy them.

Caretaker Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm called on the country’s top officials to pressure the central bank to comply with a forensic audit. Najm has repeatedly criticized attempts to block an audit of BDL through legally dubious claims that Lebanon’s banking secrecy law means the central bank cannot hand over all the documents required of it. Meanwhile, the Free Patriotic Movement bloc said that it would support amending the law if it would overcome obstacles to the audit going ahead. George Adwan, the deputy leader of the Lebanese Forces, will hold a press conference on the BDL audit at 12:30 p.m.

Parliamentary committees will convene at 10:30 a.m. for a joint session to discuss amendments to a domestic violence law, among other matters. The law criminalizing domestic violence was first passed in 2014, but women’s rights activists have said it does not offer adequate protection. One of the major amendments up for discussion is giving authorities power to remove children from a father in cases where he has abused their mother. MPs will also discuss ratifying a partnership agreement between Lebanon and the UK, which is set to crash out of the EU and associated trade agreements at the end of this year.

Garbage has started to pile up in Saida as workers at a waste treatment plant continue a strike for fair pay, our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour reported. A spokesperson for the striking workers said that they would not let a single garbage truck into the Sainik plant, just south of the city, until their demands are met for wages paid at an exchange rate of LL3,900 to the dollar. Amid rising living costs and soaring inflation, workers say they are struggling to make ends meet.