- Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah issued a decreedissolving the Gulf state parliament, citing a "threat to supreme national interests".
- The decision came one week after the emir accepted the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, following widespread protests led by youth activists.
- Under Kuwaiti law, fresh general elections must be held within a period of 60 days.
