Polls are open in Kuwait, where citizens are voting for new lawmakers as efforts to rescue an economy reeling from an oil slump have been delayed by disagreements between the government and parliament, Bloomberg reports.

Israelis are heading back to the polls by next summer for the fourth election in under two years, after parliament backed a preliminary vote to dissolve itself after Netanyahu’s fragile coalition with rival Benny Gantz couldn’t agree on the budget, the Times of Israel reports.

ACROSS THE POND- White House officials are under scrutiny for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for brokering presidential pardon, according to Reuters. And don’t expect Biden to be a China dove — the president-elect told New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman he will slowly peel back the tariffs his predecessor imposed on 50% of Chinese exports to the US.

IN DIPLOMACY- President Abdel Fattah El Sisi discussed developments in the Eastern Mediterranean with Greek defense minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos on Thursday, an Ittihadiya statement said. Panagiotopoulos’ three-day visit to Egypt last week coincided with the Medusa 10 military drills between Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, France and the UAE.

El Sisi also talked to outgoing US president Donald Trump on the phone on Thursday. The two discussed “a number of regional issues,” Ittihadiya said, giving little away.