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SHAABAN 13, 1440 AH THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019 28 Pages Max 33º Min 21º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17810 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Amir attends Kuwait’s 10th Syria fuel queues grow Scientists revive brain Female Iranian boxer ‘to 3 int’l Holy Quran competition 12 amid Iran credit freeze 24 function in dead pigs 28 stay in France’ after fight Hospital fees hiked in bid to push expats to private clinics MPs debate employment of Kuwaitis, inflated bank accounts case By A Saleh and B Izzak pleted the first stage of its healthcare system, saying it will be a model locally and regionally that will con- KUWAIT: Expatriates will now have to pay a fee of tribute to boosting healthcare indicators. The company Zain KSA revenues soar KD 10 when receiving treatment at public hospitals, the is getting ready to receive nearly two million expats at health ministry said yesterday. The measure aims to its health facilities, as five centers have been equipped 24% to SAR 2.1bn in Q1 2019 ease congestion at public hospitals, while allowing gov- in Hawally, Farwaniya, Dajeej, Jahra and Fahaheel in the ernment-run clinics to take in more patients, the min- first stage, and all approvals have been obtained to get KUWAIT: Zain Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) announced istry said in a statement. But informed sources said the the licenses. The company will launch the second stage impressive financial results for all key indicators for health ministry plans to limit treatment in government according to demographic studies on the concentra- the first quarter ended March 31, 2019. For the first hospitals only to Kuwaitis, and expats should go to pri- tion of expats. quarter of 2019, Zain KSA recorded revenues of SAR vate hospitals or health insurance hospitals. At the National Assembly yesterday, MPs debated the 2.1 billion ($558 million), a 24 percent increase to the The sources said the ministry believes that improv- issue of unemployment of Kuwaitis and urged the govern- same period in 2018. Net income for Q1 2019 reached ing health services and giving the best medicines will ment to create more jobs for nationals, especially by a healthy SAR 129 million ($34 million), a marked not be achieved unless the number of patients is speeding up the replacement of expatriates. The Assembly improvement on the loss of SAR 77 million ($21 mil- reduced, as currently expat patients make up three also warned the government to pay greater attention to a lion) recorded for Q1 2018. times that of Kuwaitis. The sources added the health case under investigation by the public prosecution in Commenting on the results, Bader Al-Kharafi, Zain ministry recommended to the Cabinet earlier to consid- which current and ex-MPs are among some 30 people Vice Chairman and Group CEO and Zain KSA Vice- er imposing health insurance on expats so they can be suspected of money laundering and corruption. Chairman, said: “Despite the fierce competition present sent to the private sector, or increase fees in govern- MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said he will grill HH the in the Saudi telecom market, the operation’s ongoing ment hospitals temporarily until the private sector can Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and transformation has resulted in Zain KSA recording net absorb all expat patients. new MP Bader Al-Mulla said he plans to grill the profit for three consecutive quarters with revenue grow- Bader Al-Kharafi, Zain Vice Chairman and Group CEO; Meanwhile, CEO of Al-Dhaman Health Assurance finance minister in early June. ing quarter-on-quarter.” (See Page 11) & Zain KSA Vice-Chairman Company Ahmad Al-Saleh said the company has com- Continued on Page 24 Revolutionary Alliance (Apra) party. Garcia was Interior Minister Carlos Moran said at a News in brief Peru ex-president resuscitated three times after suffering cardiac news conference shortly before Garcia died arrest while undergoing emergency surgery, that the former president had told police he 19% of students abused drugs before finally succumbing, Peru’s Health needed to call his attorney after they arrived at Garcia kills self Minister Zulema Tomas had said. his home to arrest him. “He entered his room KUWAIT: A senior government official yester- The Casimiro Ulloa Emergency Hospital in and closed the door behind him,” Moran said. day said 18.6 percent of the 22,434 public and to avoid arrest Lima earlier confirmed he had suffered “a bullet “Within a few minutes, a shot from a firearm private school students surveyed recently have wound to his head”. “This morning there was a was heard, and police forcibly entered the abused drugs. Drug-related deaths increased to LIMA: Peru’s former president Alan Garcia regrettable accident: The president took the room and found Mr Garcia sitting with a 116 in 2018 after 68 such cases were recorded in died in hospital yesterday after shooting himself decision to shoot himself,” Erasmo Reyna, wound in his head.” 2017, Director of Drugs Control General in the head at his home as police were about to Garcia’s lawyer, told reporters outside the hos- Police were acting on an arrest warrant for arrest him in a sprawling corruption case, a par- Department Brig Bader Al-Ghadouri said in a pital after Garcia was admitted. The attempted money laundering that would have allowed ty official said. He was 69. “Alan Garcia has died, arrest took place at 6:30 am (1130 GMT) at Garcia to be held for 10 days, giving authorities statement. — Meshaal Al-Enezi long live Apra,” said Omar Quesada, the general Garcia’s home in Lima’s upmarket Miraflores time to gather evidence and prevent him from Alan Garcia secretary of Garcia’s American Popular neighborhood. Continued on Page 24 Iraqi PM meets Saudi King BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi made his first visit to Saudi Arabia since Bashir moved taking office six months ago, meeting King Salman during the stop on a regional tour that has also to prison as seen visits to Cairo and Tehran in recent weeks. The premier went to Riyadh with a large delega- protesters rally tion including officials and businessmen, with trade billed as a prime focus of discussions. Abdul KHARTOUM: Sudan’s military rulers have transferred Mahdi’s office said the leaders had signed 13 ousted president Omar Al-Bashir to prison, a family agreements in areas such as trade, energy and source said yesterday, as an array of protest groups political cooperation. — Reuters marched through Khartoum to join a sit-in at the army complex. Following the dramatic end to Bashir’s rule of three decades last week, he was moved late Tuesday to Iraq bans PUBG over ‘violence’ Kober prison in the capital, the source said without revealing his name for security reasons. Witnesses near BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament yesterday voted the prison in north Khartoum said there was a heavy unanimously to ban the popular but brutal online deployment of soldiers and members of a paramilitary game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for “inciting group outside. violence” in the war-torn country. Specifically The 75-year-old’s whereabouts have been unknown naming PUBG and its rival Fortnite, among others, since a military takeover on Thursday, when the coun- lawmakers said the games “threaten social security, try’s new rulers said he was being held “in a secure morals, civics and education” in Iraq society. Iraqi place”. Amnesty International called for Bashir to be media had, for months, alleged that addiction to “immediately handed over to the International Criminal playing PUBG had caused marital disputes and Court” in The Hague where he faces charges of geno- even divorces. — AFP cide, war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the conflict in Darfur. “His case must not be hurriedly tried in Sudan’s notoriously dysfunctional legal system. KHARTOUM: Sudanese protestors chant slogans and flash victory signs as they continue to protest outside the Two women elected to Qatar council Continued on Page 24 army complex yesterday. — AFP DOHA: Two women won seats on Qatar’s 29- member municipal council, the Gulf emirate’s sole tions in a manner that delivers to the very elected body, the elections committee said yester- Stricken Jet reasonable expectations of its guests, day. Sheikha Al-Jafiri and Fatima Al-Kuwari employees, partners and service retained the seats they had won in 2015. Five suspends all providers,” it added. The airline was once women were among the 85 candidates standing in India’s second-biggest by market share Tuesday’s election for the emirate-wide council. but is on the brink of collapse with debts The other three failed to win seats. Qatar held its operations of more than $1 billion. first municipal election in 1999. — AFP Jet was operating just five planes yes- MUMBAI: India’s debt-stricken Jet terday because it could not pay its bills, Airways halted all of its operations yes- down from a fleet of more than 120 at its France to try Assad’s uncle terday after failing to secure emergency peak. The carrier has cancelled hundreds funding from lenders, leaving it teetering of flights in recent weeks, stranding thou- on the edge of bankruptcy. “Jet Airways is sands of passengers. It has repeatedly PARIS: The uncle of Syrian President Bashar Al- compelled to cancel all its international defaulted on loans and failed to pay staff Assad is to stand trial in France on charges of and domestic flights. The last flight will in recent months. The consortium took building up a big property empire in the country operate today,” it said in statement.