Kuwait warns strikers as oil exports stalled

Kuwait is warning that it could recruit outside workers to confront a wave of labor unrest that has spread to affect the country's critical oil exports. The official Kuwait News Agency said on Tuesday that a special crisis team was formed and would take "all necessary measures" to keep key industries running, including bringing in workers from outside the Gulf nation. About 3,000 customs officers joined the strikes on Monday that began last month seeking wage hikes and other benefits. The open-ended walkout has frozen all shipping traffic in and out of ports and oil terminals in one of Opec's top exporters. The strike is part of wider labour protests among Kuwait's civil servants after oil industry workers won salary increases last month.