Women in Kuwait are defying conservative norms and a culture of "shame" to speak out against harassment for the first time, in a social media campaign sparked by a popular fashion blogger.

Dozens of testimonies about being stalked, harassed or assaulted have emerged online, focused on the Instagram account "Lan Asket", Arabic for "I will not be silent".

Kuwait began coronavirus vaccinations on Thursday, following several other Gulf states in rolling out a mass inoculation campaign.

Kuwaitis hoping for reform went to the polls on Saturday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by Covid-19, with facilities laid on for citizens infected with the disease to vote in special polling stations.

Kuwait, which has been ruled by the Al-Sabah family for two and a half centuries, will hold parliamentary elections on Saturday. 

Kuwait's new crown prince, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah, took his oath of office before parliament on Thursday, after being nominated by his half-brother, the new emir.

Kuwait's new emir, Sheikh Nawaf, on Wednesday named Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah, a long-serving top security official, as crown prince.

Kuwait's new emir has big shoes to fill and formidable issues to deal with -- balancing relations with regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran, steering the economy through crisis, and selecting a new crown prince.

Kuwait announced Thursday it would donate $20 million towards humanitarian aid for war-ravaged Yemen, two days after UN officials called the country for not honoring its pledges, diplomats said.

After more than 45 years washing cars in Kuwait to make ends meet, Egyptian Marzouq Mohammed will soon be kicked out of the country as economic woes and coronavirus stoke anti-foreigner sentiment.

On August 2, 1990, the army of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein swarmed into neighbouring Gulf emirate Kuwait, annexing the small oil-rich territory.

Seven months later, Iraq was chased out by a US-led international coalition, leaving behind a devastated and pillaged Kuwait, and 750 oil wells ablaze.