Kuwait seems to have a new Emir, although there is still some debate among the royal family. The 75-year-old crown prince--for those of you who have not been closely following Kuwaiti politics--was too ill to take the oath of office. So a bit of a power struggle ensued between branches of the royal family. There probably wasn't much doubt all along, as the Prime Minister has been running the show here for a long time and he is almost certainly the new Emir.
There's a cabinet and a parliament here, part of the modernization reforms instituted by Sheikh Jaber (the last Emir). It's not quite the British system as the royalty has more political power here than does the Queen of England, but it's the same basic idea. I'm a little uncomfortable with the Prime Minister and the Emir being one-and-the-same, but maybe they will appoint a new Prime Minister now. I'll have to ask the wise Egyptian Editor-in-Chief about this when I get to the office.
Speaking of the office, the other hot news item is that my employer was featured in a story in today's Sunday New York Times. I am one of the "old hands" mentioned. Sigh. Old.
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