By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - After two lackluster decades, Kuwait is experiencing a quiet revival of an arts scene once known as the most avant garde in the Gulf, thanks to a new generation eager to tackle sensitive issues using cutting-edge art forms. The artists have been exhibiting works in the graphic arts, photography, animation and fashion in private galleries but also bypassing traditional venues and arts groups - and possible censorship - by showing their work online to reach an audience beyond the 3.7 million people in Kuwait. ...

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's state-owned Kuwait Airways has picked Airbus to provide new jets because its proposal was the best value for money, the country's transport minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Kuwait Airways would pay around 850 million dinars ($2.98 billion) for 25 new planes, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday, adding that a deal could be closed as early as this month. Such an order would be worth $4.38 billion at list prices, but aircraft are often sold at a discount. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved President Barack Obama's nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Libya.

By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait is studying plans by its airline to buy 25 Airbus jets, a source with knowledge of the matter said, in the most sweeping overhaul since part of its fleet was seized after Iraq invaded the Gulf state in 1990. The proposal calls for state-owned Kuwait Airways to buy 25 new Airbus jets and to lease a further 13 to upgrade its fleet but needs government approval, the source said. It could be signed by the end of this month. ...

By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - On a January afternoon in Kuwait City, a group of bloggers gathered around three men they would not normally expect to see in a downtown coffee shop, clutching lattes and mochas. Education Minister Nayef al-Hajraf, Commerce and Industry Minister Anas al-Saleh and Sheikh Mohammad al-Mubarak al-Sabah, all in their early 40s, had come for an informal meeting with some 30 Kuwaiti bloggers and online journalists to discuss issues that concern young people. ...