SHAABAN 6, 1440 AH THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 28 Pages Max 28º Min 19º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17804 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Pregnant woman beaten by Coalition air strikes hit How Libya strongman Haftar Magic Johnson steps down 5 husband, locked in a hotel 6 Sanaa as violence flares 10 blindsided the world powers 28 as Los Angeles Lakers chief India on high alert ahead of poll as blast heightens fears India bans Modi film until after mega-election NEW DELHI: India went on high security alert yester- day ahead of the start of its marathon election, after a campaign dominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership that has focused on keeping the country safe from attack. A bomb blast Tuesday blamed on Maoist rebels killed five people, including a lawmaker campaign- ing for Modi, heightened fears of election bloodshed. Some 80,000 troops, police and paramilitaries will be deployed in troubled Chhattisgarh state-where the attack was carried out-when voting starts Thursday, state police chief D M Awasthi said. Maoist rebels are behind many of the long-simmering insurgencies in at least nine Indian states. But the Election Commission, which organizes the world’s biggest democratic election with 900 million eli- gible voters choosing 543 MPs, insisted the attack would not change its schedule. Seats in 20 states will be decided on the first of seven days of voting spread over six weeks. Modi’s right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seek- KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ing a second term, defending a landslide win over the returned to Kuwait yesterday after a private visit to Salzburg, Austria. His opposition Congress party in 2014. The result is predict- Highness the Amir was received at the airport by His Highness the Crown Prince ed to be close however. Chhattisgarh is among sensitive Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq states where polling is staggered over several weeks so GUWAHATI: Indian election officials carry Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and security and administrative staff can be moved around. Ali Al-Ghanem and Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser other election material, followed by paramilitary personnel, along the bank of the The killing of a local leader of a Hindu nationalist group in Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and other senior State officials. —KUNA Brahmaputra river in the northeastern state of Assam yesterday. — AFP Continued on Page 24 News in brief MP: Labor law Ministry to cut unpaid lines needs balance KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications urged By B Izzak all landline subscribers to pay their phone bills and warned that automated service cutting would start KUWAIT: Head of the National Assembly Priorities this month for those who fail to pay overdue bills. Committee MP Ahmad Al-Fadhl said yesterday that the The Ministry said in a statement that it would follow amendments in the labor law in the private sector which the same standard procedures by sending a first calls to raise annual leave to 35 days has some prob- warning message next Sunday, a second one on April lems and is not likely to be debated in the coming 21 and finally cut the service on April 28 for those Assembly session next week. Fadhl said that the pro- who do not comply. It added that the maximum limit posed amendments, which were passed by the after which the service would be cut is KD 50 for Assembly last month in the first reading, needs to cre- house landlines and KD 100 for commercial ones. ate a balance between giving more benefits to Kuwaitis The ministry announced that subscribers could pay employed in the private sector and not adding new bur- their bills online at www.moc.kw and the e-govern- dens on Kuwaiti businessmen. ment gate at www.e.gov.kw and that they could also He said that there is a problem in the retroactive inquire about their bills by calling 123. — KUNA effect attached to the amendment, adding that “we want to expand benefits for Kuwaiti employees by increasing the leave to 35 days but we do not want to add any Iran tied to Al-Qaeda: US A handout photo provided by the European Southern Observatory yesterday shows the first photograph of a burden on Kuwaiti businessmen”. The government had black hole and its fiery halo. — AFP voted in favor of the first reading of the law but later WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike retracted and rejected the amendment saying that rais- Pompeo yesterday accused Iran of ties to Al-Qaeda Einstein more than a century ago. ing the annual leave from 30 days to 35 days adds a lot and declined to say whether the Trump administration ‘Seeing the unseeable’: Black holes are monstrous celestial entities exerting of burden on Kuwaiti businesses. had legal authority to invade the country. Testifying gravitational fields so vicious that no matter or light can The amendments were proposed in a bid to make before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, escape. The somewhat fuzzy photo of the black hole at working in the private sector more attractive to Pompeo hedged on whether the authorization of Black hole revealed the center of Messier 87, or M87, a massive galaxy Kuwaiti citizens, the overwhelming majority of whom force by the US Congress days after the September WASHINGTON: Using a global network of telescopes residing in the center of the relatively nearby Virgo prefers government jobs which provide much easier 11, 2001 attacks would allow the United States to to see “the unseeable,” an international scientific team galaxy cluster, shows a glowing ring of red, yellow and conditions and higher pay and benefits. The problem strike Iran. “I would prefer just to leave that to yesterday announced a milestone in astrophysics - the white surrounding a dark center. The research was con- also is that only under 100,000 Kuwaitis are employed lawyers,” Pompeo told Senator Rand Paul, a first-ever photo of a black hole - in an achievement that ducted by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in the private sector against over 1.5 million expatriates Republican who is critical of US foreign interventions. validated a pillar of science put forward by Albert Continued on Page 24 Continued on Page 24 “The factual question with respect to Iran’s connec- tions to Al-Qaeda is very real. They have hosted Al- Qaeda, they have permitted Al-Qaeda to transit their country,” he said. “There is no doubt there is a con- Netanyahu wins re-election nection between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Al- JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister next coalition government. Qaeda. Period, full stop,” he said. —AFP Benjamin Netanyahu secured a clear It would be his record fifth term as path to re-election yesterday, with premier. President Reuven Rivlin said religious-rightist parties set to hand on Twitter he would begin meeting Driver’s licenses seized him a parliamentary majority despite a next week with political parties that close contest against his main centrist won parliamentary seats to hear who Well-informed security sources said that KUWAIT: challenger, a vote tally showed. With they support for prime minister. At the thousands of driver’s licenses have been recently more than 97 percent of votes count- sessions, which Rivlin said would be withdrawn from expatriates who had changed their ed, Netanyahu’s conservative Likud broadcast live “to ensure transparen- profession or managed to get them through illegal party looked likely to muster enough cy”, he will then pick a party leader to means. The sources added that more licenses will be support to control 65 of the Knesset’s try to form a coalition, giving withdrawn for the same reasons and that an investi- 120 seats and be named to head the Continued on Page 24 gation showed that some Ministry of Interior’s employees who are involved in the corrupt practices will be referred to Public Prosecution. — By A Saleh AYN ZARAH, Libya: A Libyan fighter loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) fires an assault rifle during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli’s suburb yesterday. — AFP Khashoggi children deny report (LNA) forces of eastern commander RIYADH: The children of murdered Saudi journalist Thousands flee Khalifa Haftar held positions in the sub- Jamal Khashoggi denied yesterday discussing any urbs about 11 km south of the centre. sort of settlement over his killing by Saudi agents Steel containers and pickups with after a report of compensation awards. “Currently Tripoli homes mounted machine-guns blocked their the trial is taking place and no settlement has been way into the city. discussed or is being discussed,” said the statement, as battle rages Residents reported LNA planes published on Twitter by Khashoggi’s elder son buzzing Tripoli as anti-aircraft guns fired Salah. The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a TRIPOLI: Eastern forces and troops at them. On the ground, Haftar’s forces columnist, reported last week his children were giv- loyal to the Tripoli government battled were fighting Prime Minister Fayez Al- en million-dollar houses and monthly five-figure on the outskirts of Libya’s capital yester- Serraj’s soldiers at the former interna- TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks before supporters at payments as compensation. — AFP day as thousands of residents fled from tional airport, witnesses said. his Likud Party headquarters in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv yesterday. — AFP the fighting. The Libyan National Army Continued on Page 24 2 Local Thursday, April 11, 2019 Audiences of Crown Prince KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives acting Prime Minister and Defense HH the Deputy Amir receives Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HH the Deputy Amir receives Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Minister Sheikh Naser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.