WORLD BRIEFING / KUWAIT

Official results announced on state television show that Kuwaiti women have won parliamentary elections for the first time, garnering four seats.

The victory, in the second parliamentary election in a year, is resounding in this conservative Persian Gulf country where parliaments have been men-only for almost five decades. Women were granted political rights in 2005. They failed to make any gains in two previous elections.

The election was called after years of battles between the country’s lawmakers and Cabinet ministers