Kuwait Airways to Avoid Iraq Airspace Amid Raids
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SUBSCRIPTION MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014 SHAWWAL 15, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Cuban A year later, West Africa Vibrant Arsenal kids’ group protest’s feels knock-on down City in to perform bloody end effects of battle Community in Kuwait3 divides14 Egypt against28 Ebola Shield20 Kuwait Airways to avoid Max 46º Min 31º Iraq airspace amid raids High Tide 00:22 & 11:33 US strikes spur Kurd fightback against jihadists Low Tide 05:55 & 18:52 40 PAGES NO: 16251 150 FILS KUWAIT/ARBIL: Kuwait Airways said yes- “The peshmerga have liberated Makhmur terday it will no longer overfly Iraq in the and Gwer,” peshmerga spokesman Halgord wake of US air strikes on jihadist positions Hekmat told AFP, adding that “US aerial there, the latest company to re-route its support helped”. flights. The airline said the decision con- Another official confirmed the Kurdish cerned flights heading to Europe and the troops had recaptured the towns, which United States. “Alternative routes will pass Islamic State (IS) militants had seized days over Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt,” a state- earlier, bringing them within striking dis- ment said. tance of Kurdish capital Arbil. The past The Federal Aviation Administration in week saw jihadist fighters make dramatic Washington banned all US civilian flights gains, seizing Iraq’s largest dam, repeatedly over Iraq just hours after American war- defeating the peshmerga and taking over planes Friday carried out the first air strikes large swathes of land. The air strikes which on positions held by jihadists of the Islamic Obama announced on Thursday stopped State, who have occupied swathes of the rot just as the militants moved close northern Iraq. A slew of airlines have also enough to the autonomous Kurdish region said they will no longer overfly Iraq, includ- to cause panic in Arbil, where some US per- ing British Airways, Lufthansa, Austrian sonnel are stationed. Airlines, Swiss, Air France, Emirates, KLM IS attacks have displaced 200,000 peo- Royal Dutch Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and ple since August 3, including all the resi- Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways. dents of Iraq’s largest Christian town, Meanwhile, Iraq’s Kurdish peshmerga, Qaraqosh. Also affected by IS attacks was a buoyed by US air strikes, reclaimed two large contingent of Iraq’s small Yazidi towns from jihadist fighters yesterday, minority, whose main hub Sinjar was while Western powers ramped up efforts to attacked last weekend. According to lead- save displaced civilians stranded on a ers and witnesses, several dozen men were mountain. The third straight day of strikes executed and groups of women abducted, by American jets and drones brought the although reliable information from IS-held first sign that US President Barack Obama’s areas is scarce. When the militants entered KUWAIT: The “supermoon” is seen rising above the Kuwait skyline yesterday. The phenomenon, which scientists call a perigee moon, decision to return to Iraq could turn the Sinjar, tens of thousands of people fled to occurs when the moon is near the horizon and appears larger and brighter than other full moons. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat tide on two months of jihadist expansion. the nearby mountain to hide. — Agencies Erdogan wins Turkish presidency ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep The result marked a personal triumph Tayyip Erdogan won an outright victory in for Erdogan, 60, who has served as pre- 4 Saudis jailed the first round of presidential elections mier since 2003 and could potentially now yesterday, promising to be a powerful be president for two mandates until 2024. head of state amid fears his country is He has promised to be a powerful presi- for seeking to creeping towards one-man rule. Erdogan dent with a beefed-up mandate, in con- won 51.8 percent of the vote, way ahead trast to the ceremonial role played by his fight in Syria of his main opposition rival Ekmeleddin recent predecessors. The polls are the first Ihsanoglu on 38.6 percent, according to time Turkey - a member of NATO and long- RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court has official results based on a 99 percent vote time hopeful to join the EU - has directly sentenced four men to prison for travelling abroad to count. The third contender, Kurdish candi- elected its president, who was previously fight in Syria’s civil war, local and state media reported date Selahattin Demirtas, won 9.6 percent chosen by parliament, and Erdogan hoped yesterday. King Abdullah decreed in February that citi- of the vote. Erdogan’s inauguration is set for a massive show of popular support. zens involved in fighting overseas faced up to 20 years for Aug 28. Continued on Page 15 in prison in a bid to prevent the radicalisation of young people who might then turn against their own govern- ment. While the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom has backed opposition groups battling President WASHINGTON: A man supporting Israel (left) argues with a protestor demon- Bashar Al-Assad, an ally of Riyadh’s main regional rival strating against Israeli action in Gaza during a rally outside the Holocaust Shiite Iran, it also regards militant groups there as a Museum yesterday. — AFP threat to its own security. “The accused were proven to have ... quit their obe- dience to the ruler by travelling abroad to fight,” the Israel, Palestinians agree official Saudi Press Agency reported. The men were sentenced to terms ranging between four months and midnight truce in Gaza two years and 10 months, it said, adding that their crimes included forgery of travel documents and mon- GAZA CITY: Israel and the Palestinians a Palestinian source confirmed accepting ey laundering. The website of the daily Al-Riyadh news- agreed to a fresh 72-hour ceasefire in the initiative. The Egyptian foreign min- paper said two of the men had fought in Syria before Gaza yesterday, accepting an Egyptian istry called for the ceasefire to begin at becoming disillusioned with the conflict and surren- invitation to resume talks to end fighting 00:01 local time (21:01 GMT yesterday) dering to Saudi authorities. The other two had travelled that has killed more than 2,000 people. “given the necessity to protect innocent to Yemen with the intention of then going to Syria, it The ceasefire deal, which was to come blood”. It called on both sides to use the said. The sentences were lenient as the defendants had into effect at one minute past midnight, lull to “reach a comprehensive and perma- shown remorse and cooperated with authorities. clinched days of frantic mediation to stem nent ceasefire.” Israel had bolted truce The kingdom has called on citizens fighting in Syria, a firestorm of violence that resumed after talks in Cairo on Friday when Hamas Iraq and Yemen to return home, often describing them an earlier truce collapsed on Friday. “Israel refused to extend an earlier ceasefire and as “misled” in official statements. Saudi state media usu- has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a begun firing rockets over the border. ally reserves its harshest criticism for militant groups or ISTANBUL: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves to the crowd from the ceasefire,” an official told AFP shortly after Continued on Page 15 clerics who recruit young Saudis as fighters. — Reuters top of a bus in downtown Istanbul yesterday.— AP Now you can wear news 39 killed in Iran plane crash WASHINGTON: Even if you don’t open a newspaper, has expanded to other European markets as well as TEHRAN: A locally built Iranian passenger plane crashed turn on a television, log on to a computer or pull out a North America and China, aggregating news from shortly after takeoff in Tehran yesterday, killing 39 people smartphone, you can get news - from wearable technol- hundreds of outlets, including AFP, Al-Jazeera, Reuters and reviving questions about the safety of a cash- ogy. As wearables gain traction, news purveyors are eye- and Associated Press. Roman Karachinsky, CEO of the strapped aviation sector left hobbled by international ing these devices for their potential to deliver news aggregation app News360, also sees sanctions. President Hassan Rouhani offered his condo- headlines and more to people who want to a future for wearables, but mainly for quick lences to victims’ families and quickly ordered an investi- stay up to date. Some news apps already notifications they might not otherwise see. gation into the crash. Similar planes operated by Iranian have the capacity to deliver news notifica- “We want to change the formula from one carriers will be grounded until the probe is complete, he tions, or full articles, to smartwatches or eye- where you go and seek information out to directed. wear such as Google Glass. a world where information finds you when The plane was based on a relatively obscure Ukrainian “We are going full speed on smartwatch- it’s relevant and useful,” Karachinsky said. design that has been involved in previous Iranian air dis- es,” said Gilles Raymond, the San Francisco- He said the newly introduced Android asters. The Sepahan Air regional airliner, bound for the based chief executive of News Republic, a Wear platform for Google allows for eastern town of Tabas, went down in a residential area mobile app that delivers news to mobile News360 alerts to be sent to some smart- shortly after takeoff at 9:20 am from Tehran’s Mehrabad devices from hundreds of outlets. Raymond watches, and to Google Glass. These alerts airport. State TV said the plane’s tail struck the cables of told AFP he expects people will find it useful fulfill a need of getting information out an electricity tower before it hit the ground and burst to get not only headlines but full articles on quickly - whether it is a sports score, stock into flames.