Domestic Politics

After a long session that lasted eight hours on Monday (20 September), the Lebanese parliament gave a vote of confidence to the new Lebanese cabinet led by prime minister Najib Mikati. The session, in which 100 out of 128 members attended, was long and tiring for many yet nothing dramatic disturbed the proceedings. 

Kuwait will commence the first steps in a government restructuring plan in which some ministries will be merged while others will be abolished. The restructuring plan will stretch over the next four years and is aimed at changing the role of the government "from an operator to an organiser". 

Armenia is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its independence but whilst it has all the attributes of a modern state a lot of its institutions are hollow. There is much that can be done, and if it acts reasonably, Armenia can celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence in twenty years’ time in a much more positive atmosphere, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this anniversary op-ed. 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaking on the 60th anniversary of the day Berlin signed a migration deal with Ankara that allowed tens of thousands of Turkish citizens to find jobs in Germany said that "being German today can mean having grandparents from Cologne or Königsberg as well as from Istanbul and Diyarbakir". He said that German identity now includes "all those who want to live peacefully in this land of law and freedom."

A number of foreign embassies in Libya issued a joint statement calling on all Libyan actors to ensure an “inclusive, free and fair” parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 24 December.  

After more than a year of political mistrust and local instability, Lebanon finally has a government with Najib Mikati, a billionaire telecommunications tycoon, as the prime minister. The cabinet was announced by the Lebanese presidency on Twitter after the Friday prayer local time in Beirut. He added that Mikati agreed to make the government official by signing a decree in the presence of the parliament speaker, Nabih Berri at the Baabda presidential palace.