JUMADA ALTHANI 24, 1441 AH TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 28 Pages Max 25º Min 11º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18064 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net German far right arrests reveal Unchained melody: Traditional Indian FM defends citizenship Munich hero and Man United 8 ‘shocking’ mosque attack plot 19 music revived as security improves 24 law as he promotes EU ties 28 goalkeeping great Gregg dies UAE issues license for first Arab nuclear power plant Four reactors have the capacity to generate 5,600 megawatts of electricity ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates said yesterday it has issued an operating license for a reactor at its Barakah nuclear power plant, the first in the Arab world, hailing it as a “new chapter”. The UAE has substantial energy reserves, but with a power-hungry population of 10 million it has made huge investments in developing alternative power sources including solar. “Today marks a new chapter in our journey for the development of peaceful nuclear energy with the issuing of the operat- ing license for the first Barakah plant,” Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said in a tweet. “As we prepare for the next 50 years to safe- guard our needs, our biggest strength is national talent.” The Barakah plant, located on the Gulf coast west of the capital, had been due to come online in late 2017 A handout picture obtained on Feb 13, 2020 shows a but faced a number of delays that officials attributed to general view of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the safety and regulatory requirements. The national Gharbiya region of Abu Dhabi on the Gulf coastline nuclear regulator has now given the green light to the about 50 km west of Ruwais. — AFP first of four reactors at the plant, Hamad Al-Kaabi, the UAE representative to the International Atomic Energy prepare for commercial operation”. The plant is a Agency (IAEA), told a press conference. Abu Dhabi regional first - Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil authorities said in January that the plant would start exporter, has said it plans to build up to 16 nuclear operating within a few months. No new date was given reactors, but the project has yet to materialize. It is yesterday but Kaabi indicated it would happen soon. being built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al- “The full operation of Barakah plant in the near Power Corporation at a cost of some $24.4 billion. Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attend the graduation ceremony of the 46th batch of cadets at Ali Al-Sabah Military future will contribute to the UAE’s efforts for develop- When fully operational, the four reactors have the Academy yesterday. — KUNA (See Page 2) ment and sustainability,” he said, adding that the opera- capacity to generate 5,600 megawatts tor would “undertake a period of commissioning to Continued on Page 24 News in brief Snubbed by Gulf, Israeli aircraft CSC: 3-day national holidays Lebanon PM Diab flies over Sudan KUWAIT: February 25 and February 26 will be official holidays on the occasion of Kuwait’s hosts Iran speaker for first time National Day and Liberation Day, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced yesterday. February BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who JERUSALEM: An Israeli aircraft has flown through 27 (Thursday) will also be a holiday because it falls is getting the cold shoulder from Gulf Arab states, yes- Sudanese airspace for the first time, in what Prime between a public holiday and the weekend, the terday met Iran’s parliament speaker, the first senior Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called another example of CSC said in a statement. — KUNA foreign official to visit since Diab’s government took warming ties with formally hostile states. Israel remains office. The heavily armed Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, is a BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab (right) technically at war with Sudan, which supported hardline main backer of Diab’s cabinet, which took office last meets Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani at the Islamists - including, for a period, Al-Qaeda - during the MEA scraps dollar-only plan month after efforts failed to strike a deal with Saad Al- government headquarters yesterday. — AFP rule of president Omar Al-Bashir. Bashir was ousted by Hariri, a traditional Western ally. the army last April following months of mass anti-govern- BEIRUT: Crisis-hit Lebanon’s national carrier on Gulf Arab states had long channeled funds into new cabinet could make it harder to get aid from ment demonstrations. Sunday said it was scrapping plans to only accept Lebanon. But now, alarmed by the rising influence of Western and Gulf states that are worried about “The first Israeli airplane passed yesterday over the payments in US dollars, a decision that had earlier Hezbollah, Lebanon’s rich neighbors appear loathe to Tehran’s clout in the region. Diab has said his first trip skies of Sudan. This is quite a change,” Netanyahu told sparked anger among Lebanese. Earlier Sunday, help it out of an unprecedented economic and financial abroad would be to the Arab region, particularly the American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Sunday evening, the state-run National News Agency reported that crisis. The crisis came to a head last year as slowing Gulf monarchies. But none of them have officially com- saying the route cut some three hours off flights from “from Monday, Middle East (Airlines) and other capital inflows led to a liquidity crunch and protests mented on the government nor extended public invita- Israel to South America. Israeli daily Haaretz quoted an airline companies operating in Lebanon will only erupted against the ruling elite. Banks are curbing tions to Diab. An Arab diplomat in the Gulf said only Israeli government official, speaking on condition of accept payments in US dollars”. Hours later the access to cash, the Lebanese pound has slumped, infla- Qatar had invited Diab to visit so far. “No other gov- anonymity, saying that the plane was “a private Israeli MEA, which is majority-owned by the Lebanese tion has spiked and firms are shedding jobs. Foreign ernment in the Gulf will invite him,” the diplomat said. executive jet”. state and administrated by the country’s central donors say they will only help once Lebanon enacts Qatar did not immediately respond to a request for Netanyahu met Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah Al- bank, reversed the controversial decision. “At the long-delayed reforms. comment on whether it had sent an invitation. Burhan two weeks ago for what the Israeli premier’s request of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the man- Analysts say Hezbollah’s role in forming Lebanon’s Continued on Page 24 office described as talks aimed at normalizing ties. A agement of MEA has decided to cancel its decision Sudanese government spokesman said later that to sell tickets only in dollars tickets,” said a state- Burhan “did not give a promise of normalizing or hav- ment published by local media.In recent months, ing diplomatic relations”. the pound has plunged against the greenback on Height matters in Israel previously considered Sudan a security threat the parallel exchange market. — AFP because it suspected Iran used Sudan as a conduit for overland smuggling of munitions to the Gaza Strip. In US politics, and 2009, regional sources said, Israeli aircraft bombed an Egypt pulls plug on street music arms convoy in Sudan. The corridor described by Trump knows it Netanyahu would also take planes over Egypt, which CAIRO: The union of Egyptian musicians has made peace with Israel in 1979, and Chad, which in 2018 banned performances by singers of mahraganat WASHINGTON: When Donald Trump literally belit- restored long-severed relations with Israel. (Arabic for festivals) after the lyrics of a chart- tles his perceived enemies - by mocking their stature - Since Netanyahu’s meeting with Burhan, the air corri- topping song were deemed too racy for the con- he is weaponizing a long-standing maxim of US presi- dor is the most prominent development that has been servative country. Earlier this month, the song dential politics: Taller guys tend to win the White discussed publicly by both sides. Israeli commentators “Bint al-Giran” (The girl next door) reached over House. Trump - who stands at about 6’3” depending on have speculated that the new contacts with Khartoum 100 million views on YouTube and was the sec- which source you use - has hammered away of late at ST LOUIS, Missouri: In this file photo taken on Oct 9, could allow for the repatriation of illegal Sudanese ond most played hit on SoundCloud. On Mike Bloomberg, the former New York mayor whose 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump migrants in Israel, and that Israel could in turn lobby the listens to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Valentine’s Day, crooner Hassan Shakoosh per- campaign for the Democratic nomination is gathering United States to improve Sudan’s standing in Washington. Clinton during the second presidential debate at formed his hit at a packed Cairo stadium to tens pace. Bloomberg officially is 5’8”, but in recent tweets Sudan has been part of a decades-old Arab boycott of Washington University. — AFP of thousands of fans. But the song’s lyrics - “I and interviews, Trump has lopped four inches off and Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians and its occu- drink alcohol and smoke hashish” - sparked the alleged that Bloomberg asked to stand on a box during pation of Arab lands.