United Arab Emirates, Qatar edge toward reopening embassies
April 18, 2023 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday both acknowledged they are edging closer to reopening embassies in each others' countries after a yearslong boycott of Doha over a political dispute.
Kuwait crown prince says parliament will be dissolved again
April 18, 2023 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's crown prince has said its parliament again will be dissolved and new elections planned for the country after a court decision reinstated lawmakers from 2020.
State news: Kuwait court annuls 2022 parliamentary election
March 19, 2023 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Kuwaiti court on Sunday annulled the results of a parliamentary election held last year, saying it would reinstate the previous slate of lawmakers elected in 2020.
Ericsson to pay $206M for breaking US deal in bribery case
March 3, 2023 GMTSTOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson has agreed to plead guilty to U.S. foreign corruption violations and pay more than $206 million for breaking a deal with the Justice Department over charges of bribery and falsifying records in countries from China to Kuwait.
Kuwait’s government resigns amid struggle with assembly
January 23, 2023 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's government resigned on Monday amid a power struggle with the Arab Gulf country's assembly less than four months after parliamentary elections delivered a mandate for change.
Soccer fans hopeful ahead of Gulf Cup in Iraqi city of Basra
January 5, 2023 GMTBASRA, Iraq (AP) — For many Iraqis, the first international soccer tournament their country is hosting in more than four decades is about to kick off in the southern city of Basra, offering a rare moment of joy and optimism.
US-based Bidoon poet, activist says Kuwait deporting her
January 3, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — A Bidoon poet and activist who holds U.S. citizenship said Tuesday that Kuwait was deporting her against her will after she traveled to the oil-rich nation to visit her family.
Mona Kareem, 35, told The Associated Press that she had been at Kuwait International Airport for hours after facing interrogation following her arrival on a flight from Beirut.
Kuwait puts to death 7 inmates in rare mass execution
November 16, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait on Wednesday put to death seven prisoners in a rare mass execution in the small, oil-rich nation despite facing international criticism over its plans.
The state-run KUNA news agency described those executed as all being convicted of premeditated murder and other charges in the sheikhdom.
US approves sale of advanced missiles to Gulf ally Kuwait
October 6, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has approved a $3 billion sale of advanced medium-range missiles to Kuwait to help the tiny oil-rich Gulf country defend itself.
The State Department notified Congress on Thursday of the planned sale, which comes amid heightened tensions in the region that many blame on Iranian proxies, notably in Iraq, Kuwait’s northern neighbor.
Tennessee’s 208th Medical Company returns from overseas
October 6, 2022 GMTSMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) — More than 50 Tennessee Army National Guard soldiers returned to Tennessee this week from a nearly yearlong deployment in the Middle East.
The soldiers are from the 208th Medical Company, based in Smyrna.
Kuwait vote shakes up assembly amid political gridlock
September 30, 2022 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — Voters in Kuwait chose to shake up their parliament, sending conservative Islamist figures and two women to the assembly in the Gulf Arab nation's second election in less than two years, according to results released Friday.
Kuwait holds second election in two years amid gridlock
September 29, 2022 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — Voters in Kuwait returned to the polls on Thursday for the second parliamentary elections in less than two years, hoping to move the wealthy Gulf Arab nation out of a prolonged period of political gridlock.
US Air Force targeted in ‘propaganda attack’ in Kuwait
August 20, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Air Force said Saturday it was the subject of a “propaganda attack” by a previously unheard-of Iraqi militant group that falsely claimed it had launched a drone attack targeting American troops at an air base in Kuwait.
Today in History: Aug. 2, Iraq invades Kuwait
August 2, 2022 GMTToday in History
Today is Tuesday, Aug. 2, the 214th day of 2022. There are 151 days left in the year.
Kuwait oil veteran takes over as secretary general of OPEC
August 1, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A veteran of Kuwait's national oil company took over Monday as secretary general of the OPEC oil cartel, just three weeks after his Nigerian predecessor died, only hours after giving a speech in defense of the energy industry.
Kuwait announces formation of new Cabinet to defuse crisis
August 1, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait on Monday announced the formation of a new government to defuse a protracted political feud blocking economic reforms in the oil-rich state.
Kuwait’s newly-appointed prime minister, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al Sabah, will lead the 12-member Cabinet until the dissolution of parliament ahead of early elections, the country’s state-run news agency, KUNA, reported.
Delayed Asian Games rescheduled to start in September 2023
July 19, 2022 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — The Asian Games have been rescheduled to start on Sept. 23 next year in Hangzhou, China, more than 12 months after the original date.
The Olympic Council of Asia on Tuesday confirmed the delayed games would be held from Sept.
Planners break ground for new Gulf War memorial in DC
July 14, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Over 30 years after a U.S.-led international military coalition expelled occupying Iraqi troops from Kuwait, planners have broken ground on the long-simmering plans for a Gulf War memorial.
Kuwait’s crown prince dissolves parliament, calls elections
June 22, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's crown prince on Wednesday dissolved Parliament and called for early elections, a move to ease government gridlock that has bred popular opposition and paralyzed the tiny country for months.
Kuwait’s crown prince, 81, resting after ‘minor discomfort’
June 14, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait said Tuesday its 81-year-old crown prince was resting after experiencing what it described as “minor discomfort.”
The two-sentence story from the state-run KUNA news agency did not elaborate on what ailed Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber.
Venezuela’s Maduro visits Kuwait, speaks to crown prince
June 14, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Kuwait on Monday and spoke to the small, oil-rich nation's crown prince, state media reported.
“We are on this necessary tour to reactivate ties of work, cooperation, commonality, solidarity, brotherhood,” Maduro said from Kuwait in a televised conversation with his collaborators in Caracas.
Rainbow Flap: Biden Pride tweet draws objection from Kuwait
June 3, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Embassy tweet of a rainbow-flag-festooned message by President Joe Biden in support of Pride Month has drawn a face-to-face diplomatic protest from Kuwait and sparked a rare Twitter fight between the two close allies.
EU moves to lift visa rules for travelers from Qatar, Kuwait
April 27, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union moved Wednesday to lift visa requirements for people from Qatar and Kuwait to make it easier for them to enter many European countries for stays of up to 90 days.
Kuwait’s government resigns as political crisis intensifies
April 5, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's government resigned on Tuesday, just months after its formation, opening up new uncertainty as the tiny country grapples with a worsening political crisis that has blocked critical economic and social reforms.
Fire strikes terminal under construction at Kuwait airport
March 28, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire broke out Monday at an under-construction new terminal at Kuwait International Airport, authorities said, causing damage but no casualties.
Firefighters struggled to control the flames for hours in Kuwait City, Interior Ministry spokesman Tawheed al-Kandari told The Associated Press.
Kuwait, among world’s hottest places, lags on climate action
March 21, 2022 GMTJAHRA, Kuwait (AP) — It was so hot in Kuwait last summer that birds dropped dead from the sky.
Sea horses boiled to death in the bay. Dead clams coated the rocks, their shells popped open like they’d been steamed.
Kuwait’s ex-premier, officials acquitted in corruption case
March 8, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday acquitted two former ministers and their co-defendants of the corruption charges they faced in an explosive case that tarnished the government and was widely seen as a test of accountability.
Kuwait’s pardoned dissidents return to a country in crisis
March 2, 2022 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — More than a decade after a wave of uprisings swept across the Middle East, countless dissidents have encountered grim fates: exiled, imprisoned, disappeared, dead.
Until mere months ago, Musallam al-Barrak, the icon of opposition in Kuwait, seemed another Arab Spring casualty.
UN ends Iraq’s requirement to pay victims of Kuwait invasion
February 23, 2022 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to end Iraq’s requirement to compensate victims of its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, with Baghdad having paid out more than $50 billion to 1.5 million claimants.
As Kuwait cracks down, a battle erupts over women’s rights
February 21, 2022 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — It all started over yoga.
When an instructor in Kuwait this month advertised a desert wellness yoga retreat, conservatives declared it an assault on Islam. Lawmakers and clerics thundered about the “danger” and depravity of women doing the lotus position and downward dog in public, ultimately persuading authorities to ban the trip.
Kuwait court overturns law criminalizing transgender people
February 17, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's constitutional court has struck down a contentious law long used to criminalize transgender people by forbidding the “imitation of the opposite sex."
After weeks of deliberation and years of campaigning by human rights groups, the court ruled that the law policing people who dress and behave like the opposite sex was “inconsistent with the constitution's keenness to ensure and preserve personal freedom" because the law's terms were far too ambiguous.
Kuwaiti Cabinet ministers submit resignations amid tension
February 16, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two senior Cabinet ministers in Kuwait submitted their resignations to the prime minister Wednesday, citing political turbulence and the impossibility of reform in the Gulf Arab state.
Kuwait suspends Iraq flights after Baghdad airport attack
January 30, 2022 GMTBAGHDAD (AP) — Kuwait suspended flights to Iraq for a week starting Sunday citing security fears after a rocket attack targeted Baghdad international airport. Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, announced an attacker had been apprehended.
Lebanon’s FM goes to Kuwait with answers to Gulf suggestions
January 29, 2022 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s foreign minister headed to Kuwait Saturday to deliver answers to a list of policy suggestions made to the country by Persian Gulf nations in an attempt to end an impasse between both sides.
Kuwait death toll raised to 4 in oil refinery fire
January 26, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from a fire at a major oil refinery in Kuwait has been raised to four after two critically injured workers died of their wounds, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said in a statement Wednesday.
Kuwait pursues corruption charges in Eurofighter plane deal
January 24, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's government said Monday that it had referred two senior military officers for prosecution in a major corruption case related to the country's purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon combat planes, after an investigation into the jets' improperly inflated price.
Kuwaiti minister in Lebanon over diplomatic row with gulf
January 22, 2022 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — Kuwait’s foreign minister handed Lebanese officials Saturday a list of suggestions for confidence-building measures with oil-rich Gulf states after relations between the two sides deteriorated dramatically in recent months.
Fire erupts at Kuwait petroleum site, week after fatal blaze
January 21, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire broke out early Friday at a site belonging to the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, forcing a suspension of export operations there, the company said in a statement.
20 Tennessee National Guard members deploy to Kuwait
January 19, 2022 GMTNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Twenty Tennessee National Guard members are on their way to Kuwait for a yearlong deployment.
The soldiers from the 105th Personnel Company will provide administrative services to service members traveling throughout the Middle East, the guard said.
Fire at Kuwait refinery kills 2 and critically injures 5
January 14, 2022 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire erupted in Kuwait during maintenance work at a major oil refinery on Friday, killing two workers and critically injuring five others, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said.
Middle East foreign ministers head to China for meetings
January 10, 2022 GMTBEIJING (AP) — Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern states are visiting China this week for meetings with officials from the world’s second largest economy, a leading consumer of oil and source of foreign investment.
Kuwait names new Cabinet amid political, financial troubles
December 28, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's ruling emir announced the formation of a new Cabinet on Tuesday, breaking a weekslong deadlock with the nomination of 15 new government ministers who will have to address a series of political and financial difficulties.
Kuwait’s exiled opposition returns home after royal pardon
November 30, 2021 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — Several prominent Kuwaiti opposition figures have returned home from a decade of self-exile after getting amnesty from the ruling emir, a long-awaited move celebrated Tuesday that's aimed at ending the political paralysis that has burned a hole in public finances.
UK: BA flight not informed of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait
November 23, 2021 GMTLONDON (AP) — More than 300 passengers and crew on a British Airways flight could have been spared a months-long hostage ordeal in 1990 in Kuwait if Britain’s Foreign Office had informed the airline that Iraq had commenced its invasion of its oil-rich Persian Gulf neighbor, newly disclosed files showed Tuesday.
Emirates says IPO a possibility for famed long-haul carrier
November 17, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of long-haul carrier Emirates said Tuesday that an initial public offering of stock in the Dubai-based airline could happen as the city-state tries to boost its local financial market, while promising that its fleet of iconic double-decker jumbo jets would soon ply the skies again.
Kuwaiti emir transfers some duties to crown prince
November 15, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait has temporarily handed its crown prince some of the ruling emir's constitutional duties, the royal family's secretariat announced on Monday, without explaining why the transfer was necessary.
In long-awaited move, Kuwait’s emir pardons dissidents
November 14, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's emir issued a long-awaited amnesty decree, pardoning and reducing the sentences of nearly three dozen Kuwaiti dissidents in a move aimed at defusing a major government standoff.
Diplomats concerned Gulf spat could harm Lebanese in region
November 10, 2021 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s ambassadors who were recently asked to leave Bahrain and Saudi Arabia amid an unprecedented diplomatic spat with Gulf countries expressed fear Wednesday the dispute could harm the interests of Lebanese living in the region.
Kuwait government resigns for the second time this year
November 8, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait's government resigned Monday for the second time this year, underscoring the political problems plaguing the small, oil-rich nation.
The state-run KUNA news agency said Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, received the government's resignation notice.
Kuwait, UAE join Saudi Arabia with measures against Lebanon
October 31, 2021 GMTBEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese politicians scrambled to resolve a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations on Saturday, after comments by a Cabinet minister about the war in Yemen stoked their ire.
Nevada Guard tank unit deploying to Kuwait security force
October 28, 2021 GMTCARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — About 70 soldiers from a Nevada Army Guard cavalry unit will deploy in November for a nine-month assignment supporting the U.S. military security presence in Kuwait, Guard officials said Thursday.
Fire erupts at Kuwait oil refinery; minor injuries reported
October 18, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire erupted on Monday at a major oil refinery in Kuwait, the state-owned oil company said, reporting that some workers suffered from smoke inhalation and other light injuries.
Kuwaiti plane lands in Turkey following bomb threat
October 7, 2021 GMTANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Kuwaiti passenger plane made an emergency landing at Trabzon airport in northern Turkey on Thursday following a bomb threat reported to the airline's headquarters, an official said.
Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad found guilty of forgery
September 11, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait was found guilty on Friday of forgery linked to implicating his political rivals in Kuwait in a coup plot — a verdict that puts his long career in global sports politics at risk.
Pentagon chief: al-Qaida may seek comeback in Afghanistan
September 9, 2021 GMTKUWAIT CITY (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday the al-Qaida extremist group that used Afghanistan as a staging base to attack United States 20 years ago may attempt to regenerate there following an American withdrawal that has left the Taliban in power.
Documents show US investigation of 2 Kuwaitis in FIFA case
September 2, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — Two senior Olympic officials from Kuwait, one reputed to be the “kingmaker” of IOC elections and another who is president of swimming’s international governing body, have been targeted by the U.S.
Olympic official quizzed for 5 hours in Geneva forgery trial
August 31, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah was questioned in court for more than five hours Tuesday about his part in an alleged plot against political rivals in Kuwait.
Sheikh Ahmad and four others are on trial in Geneva on charges of forgery as part of an allegedly fake legal dispute staged to verify possibly manipulated video footage that claimed to reveal two politicians plotting a coup in Kuwait.
Trial of Olympic sheikh on forgery charges opens in Geneva
August 30, 2021 GMTGENEVA (AP) — An influential Olympic official accused of forgery in an alleged plot that implicated political rivals in Kuwait in a coup attempt had his trial open on Monday.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah was publicly sidelined as an IOC member and president of the global group of national Olympic bodies, known as ANOC, after he was indicted in November 2018.
Top US diplomat talks relocation of Afghan allies in Kuwait
July 29, 2021 GMTDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States is negotiating with Kuwait and other countries whether they can host Afghans who supported the American war effort and could face Taliban revenge attacks if they stay in Afghanistan, America’s top diplomat said Thursday.
UN panel pays $600M to Kuwait oil firm for invasion by Iraq
July 27, 2021 GMTBERLIN (AP) — A United Nations panel paid out $600 million to Kuwait's national oil company Tuesday as compensation for Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait three decades ago.
The U.N. Compensation Commission said it has so far paid out $51.3 billion since approving some 1.5 million claims related to the invasion by governments and international organizations in 2005.