BEIRUT, Lebanon — Najib Mikati, a billionaire telecommunications tycoon, became the prime minister of Lebanon on Friday, seizing the reins for a third time in a country that has been without a government for more than a year while its people careened deeper into an economic abyss. The formation of Mr. Mikati’s cabinet was announced from the Presidential Palace after Mr. Mikati and President Michel Aoun signed a decree to make it official in the presence of the speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri. Dispensing with the tradition of reading prepared remarks, Mr. Mikati delivered an emotional speech, summarizing the suffering of the Lebanese and calling for unity to pull the country out of the crisis. Appearing to choke up, he mentioned mothers who couldn’t find basic painkillers or baby formula, fathers who couldn’t explain to their children why so many of their peers had fled the country, and workers who had lost their savings in insolvent banks and whose salaries were now worth a fraction of what they were just two years ago.

Source: International New York Times September 10, 2021 11:36 UTC