Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah

The United States, reacting to Amnesty International's charges of widespread torture in Kuwait, said the human rights situation in the emirate has improved dramatically in recent weeks. A State Department statement issued late Thursday said, "The situation by most accounts in Kuwait is very much improved over what existed some weeks ago."

Kuwait's crown prince announced a Cabinet shuffle, warning of critics who have been trying to fracture the government. The crown prince, Sheik Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, who also is prime minister, made the announcement on Monday during a 40-minute televised address. But he gave no details of the shuffle, saying he first had to inform the emir, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah.

Despite growing international criticism, Kuwait's judicial system Thursday sentenced eight more people to death for collaborating with Iraq during the emirate's occupation. The death sentences were the most returned in a single day since the martial-law courts began their work May 19. Among those condemned Thursday were Jordanian brothers Mamoun and Mohammed Masoud, of Palestinian origin, convicted of collaborating and carrying unlicensed weapons.

The crown prince and prime minister of Kuwait, Sheik Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, shuffled his Cabinet on Sunday, introducing eight new faces among 15 ministers who will serve under him in a new government. As expected, the Cabinet includes changes in key economic posts, while the foreign, defense and interior portfolios remain in the hands of incumbent ministers.

Parliament ousted Kuwait's ailing emir, Sheik Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, on Tuesday, and the Cabinet named Prime Minister Sheik Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah to take over temporarily. The appointment was widely expected and approval of the move is anticipated in parliament, where the newly named leader has broad support. He needs only a simple majority vote, which is expected early next week. The prime minister is a half brother of longtime ruler Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah, who died Jan. 15.

Kuwait's newly restored government has resigned after growing public anger at the failure to restore electricity, water and other basic services. Planning Minister Suleiman al Mutawa told reporters today that Crown Prince Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, the prime minister and martial law administrator, dissolved the Cabinet late Tuesday because of the "criticism of us." "I think it was quite apparent that all the people talked about the lack of services," Mutawa said.

Kuwait's martial-law court Tuesday sentenced eight people to death, six of them in absentia, for collaborating with Iraqi occupation forces. All eight were charged with aiding the enemy and joining the Iraqi popular army, a civilian militia. Khalil Jumaa Aboudi of Iraq and Salim Hashoush Rashid, a stateless Arab, were the only two in court. The nationalities of the others were not known.

Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, 78, a former Kuwaiti emir who ruled the small oil-rich kingdom for nine days in 2006 before being removed because of ill health, died Tuesday in Kuwait City, state television reported. As crown prince, Saad automatically became ruler when his distant cousin and then emir, Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, died Jan. 15, 2006. But it became increasingly clear that Saad's poor health would not allow him to carry out his new responsibilities. His health started deteriorating after he suffered colon bleeding in 1997.

Diplomatic Front: Kuwait's exiled rulers promised to restore a democratic parliament if their emirate is freed from Iraqi occupation. At a meeting of more than 1,000 Kuwaiti exiles in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, the Kuwaiti crown prince and prime minster, Sheik Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, said the reforms are a reward for Kuwaitis' loyalty in the wake of Iraq's invasion. Embargo Front: Thousands of Iraqi children carrying empty milk bottles marched past the U.S.

The first postwar Parliament convened Tuesday and elected as its Speaker the man who held the post when the last Parliament was dissolved in 1986 for being too critical of the government. Ahmed Saadoun, 58, won 46 votes against 13 for his only opponent, Abdul Aziz Adassani, an independent. Crown Prince Saad al Abdullah al Sabah, who also is prime minister, abstained.