Kuwaittimes 14-2-2018.Qxp Layout 1

JAMADA ALAWWAL 28, 1439 AH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018 Max 23º 32 Pages Min 13º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17457 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net MoH not affected by Filipino ban; ANC orders Zuma to step Couples make Valentine’s City finish off Basel in 23 mins; 4 MPA denies ignoring complaints 6 down as S African president 32 Day deposit in ‘Love Bank’ 16 Tottenham battle back at Juve Tillerson hails US-Kuwait ties; urges allies to keep fighting IS US envoy calls for Gulf unity • Iraq ‘open for investors’ • US extends $3bn credit line By Faten Omar and Agencies KUWAIT: US-Kuwait relations are very strong, said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after being received by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday. “We have a shared interest in terms of security for the region. We spoke about the importance of GCC unity, which supports the security of the region as well,” he pointed out. “We also talked about the important opportunities for economic relationships. Tillerson said “the most recent transaction is of Kuwait upgrading its air force with the purchase of F/A- 18 aircraft”. “It’s very important for Kuwait’s defense, but also important for the integrated security of the region. I think there will be other discussions of future economic opportunities as well,” he added. Tillerson later urged allies to stay focused on fighting the Islamic State group at a ministerial meeting in Kuwait of the US-led military coalition that has been fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, being held in parallel with a conference on reconstruction in Iraq. The militant group has lost much of the territory it once controlled when it seized large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014. “The end of major combat operations does not mean we have achieved the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Tillerson said, using another acronym for IS. “ISIS remains a seri- KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, EU Foreign Policy Chief Frederica Mogherini, Qatari Foreign Minister ous threat to the stability of the region, our homelands Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa pose with other officials for a group photo yesterday during a and other parts of the globe,” he said. ministerial meeting of member states of the US-led military coalition that has been battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Continued on Page 11 FM condemns Manila ban as MPs slam govt silence; hundreds of maids abscond By Ben Garcia, B Izzak and Agencies ship between Kuwait and the Philippines,” and recruit manpower from other countries. Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al- Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled KUWAIT: Kuwait’s foreign minister yester- Sabah told reporters. “We condemn the Al-Roudhan said a committee has been day condemned what he called an “escala- statements of the Philippine president, espe- formed to study the problem of the Filipino tion” by Manila after the Philippines expand- cially since we are in contact with the workers and that the Cabinet has decided to ed a ban on its nationals working in Kuwait. Philippines at the highest level to fully explain open the door for the recruitment of workers Manila on Monday announced a “total ban” the state of the Filipino workforce in Kuwait,” from Indonesia and Bangladesh. on employment in Kuwait, including Filipinos he said, adding that Filipinos “live a decent Meanwhile, heeding the call by Duterte, the who already have employment permits. The life in Kuwait ... but separate accidents unfor- numbers of runaway Filipino housemaids have measure came after President Rodrigo tunately happen, and we are providing our begun to swell at the Philippine embassy’s Duterte angrily lashed out at Kuwait over Filipino counterparts with the results of the shelter in Salam, with an unprecedented num- reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse investigations”. ber of domestic workers absconding from their and exploitation. Duterte said last week that Earlier yesterday, MPs strongly con- sponsors. The shelter normally receives 5 to 10 his government would ask private airlines to demned the attacks by the Philippines against runaways a day, but on Sunday, 92 runaways evacuate Filipino nationals from Kuwait with- Kuwait and lashed out at the government for were recorded, and on Monday, 111 domestic MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte poses for a selfie through a glass in 72 hours, after the discovery of the dead remaining silent. The lawmakers called on the helpers went to the Philippines Embassy body of a Filipina maid in a freezer. government to respond against the Filipino demanding to be repatriated back home. wall for Filipina workers who arrived from Kuwait at Manila International Airport “This escalation will not serve the relation- allegations with strong-worded statements Continued on Page 11 yesterday. — AFP Can North Probe launched after Africa unite schoolboy dies in ‘beating’ over couscous? KUWAIT: Education Minister Hamed PARIS: Could a plate of couscous warm up Al-Azmi announced yesterday the relations between wary North African formation of an investigative commit- nations? A drive to win coveted UNESCO sta- tee consisting of three bodies from tus for the dish could at least get them talking outside the education ministry to around the same table. The hearty meal itself probe the death of student Issa Al- however is a bone of contention between Bloushi. The minister was commenting countries that haven’t always got along. Who on MPs’ statements during a session makes it the best? And given that the fluffy of the National Assembly yesterday semolina can be topped with everything from regarding the incident, with one law- fish in Tunisia to camel meat in Libya, what maker charging that Bloushi died after truly makes a couscous a couscous? he was beaten by an expatriate As with the “hummus wars” that have long female teacher at Amr Ibn Al-Aas roiled the Middle East, and West Africa’s furi- School in Rawda. ous debate over who makes the best jollof “The investigation committee RABAT: In this photo taken on Feb 9, 2018, a Moroccan chef prepares a traditional couscous formed today consists of representa- rice, couscous is a source of pride as well as tives from the health ministry, the fat- regional divisions. But the countries of North dish in a restaurant in the capital. — AFP wa and legislation department and Africa’s Maghreb region may be about to put another body,” Azmi said. The min- their differences aside with a joint bid to have UNESCO status has been mooted for cous- spread across the region, were likely the first the dish added to UNESCO’s Intangible cous, but this time working together could to rustle up a couscous - “long before the istry will take all required legal meas- Issa Al-Bloushi ures regarding this incident, he said, Cultural Heritage list. The list showcases the prove the secret ingredient. In 2016 Algeria countries of the Maghreb that we know adding the teacher has been barred According to news reports, the world’s most precious cultural treasures, with announced a solo bid to win protected status today existed”, he told AFP. from working until the investigation is child was hit several times in the the UN cultural body sometimes offering for the dish - sparking outrage in Morocco Another food historian, Lucie Bolens, has completed. Azmi affirmed students’ chest and was not allowed to leave funding to countries struggling to protect where many feel they hold an equal claim to it. described primitive couscous pots found in safety is at the top of the ministry’s the classroom to call his parents. their traditions. Even the question of who introduced the Algeria dating back to the reign of King priorities, offering his deepest condo- After sobbing profusely for several There are as yet few details on the North basic ingredients to the region is hotly Massinissa 2,200 years ago. Considered a lences to the deceased’s family, hours, Bloushi’s mother took him to African bid, but Slimane Hachi, director of debated, with some crediting the Romans Berber forefather, Massinissa united what is adding that all necessary legal meas- hospital, where he died later that Algeria’s prehistoric research center, said that and others saying Arabs brought it in from now northern Algeria with parts of Tunisia and ures would be taken. day. — Agencies it would unite Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, the east. French food historian Patrick Libya into the ancient kingdom of Numidia. Mauritania and Mali. It will not be the first time Rambourg said the Berbers, an ethnic group Continued on Page 11 2 Established 1961 Local Wednesday, February 14, 2018 French Foreign Minister Le Drian reiterates ‘firm support’ to Iraq Conference beginning of security, stability in region: KCCI chief KUWAIT: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah give a press conference on the sidelines French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attends a ministerial meeting of a ministerial meeting in Kuwait City yesterday, gathering representatives of the US-led military coalition that has been battling the Islamic State of member states of the US-led military coalition that has been battling the Iraqi Foreign Minister Haidar Al-Abadi looks on during the Kuwait interna- jihadist group in Iraq and neighboring Syria, yesterday in Kuwait City. Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and neighboring Syria. tional conference for the reconstruction of Iraq in Kuwait City yesterday.

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