DUBAI  - Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah traveled on Thursday to the United States for "usual" medical checks, state news agency KUNA reported without giving further details.

Sheikh Nawaf, 83, assumed power in the oil-producing Gulf Arab state last September after the death of his brother Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed.

Sheikh Nawaf had on Tuesday approved a new cabinet at a time when the government is trying to tackle a liquidity crunch caused by low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2L025B

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by John Stonestreet and Giles Elgood) ((maher.chmaytelli@thomsonreuters.com;))