Kuwait appoints new foreign minister

Kuwait on Sunday named Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah as foreign minister to replace Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah who resigned last week reportedly over a graft case. Sheikh Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family and former minister of information and social affairs, was sworn in by the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the official KUNA news agency reported. Sheikh Mohammad resigned last week reportedly over a graft scandal engulfing the oil-rich Gulf state and involving a number of MPs. He became the second senior ruling family member to quit the cabinet since June when deputy premier Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah resigned following an apparent power struggle with Kuwait's prime minister. The latest resignation came as the opposition steps up its campaign for Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a nephew of the emir, to step down.