THULHIJJA 15, 1442 AH SUNDAY, JULY 25, 2021 16 Pages Max 50º Min 34º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18490 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net s chalets, beaches, Spyware for sale: Booming Hair today, green tomorrow: Carapaz wins cycling crown؛Kuwaití 2 islands ideal destinations 9 trade in surveillance tech 11 UK stylists join eco-drive 16 as China claim early golds Kuwait athletes ‘ready’ as Tokyo Games get underway Lara Dashti becomes Kuwait’s first woman Olympic flagbearer TOKYO: Kuwait’s contingent of athletes partici- On Friday, Dashti became Kuwait’s first female pating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games said yes- athlete to have ever lifted her country’s flag at an terday they are fully “ready” to represent their Olympic opening ceremony as she took part in the country as the marquee event overshadowed by the event alongside fellow men’s shooter Talal Al- COVID pandemic opened in a city under a state of Rashidi at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Friday. The emergency because of a resurgence of new cases. illustrious sporting event has allowed two competi- Men’s skeet shooter Abdullah Al-Rashidi, who tors to carry their nation’s flag in unison for the first won bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, prom- time ever, breaking a decades-old tradition requir- ised to do everything in his power to propel his ing a single flagbearer. country to prominence in an event of such magni- Speaking about the milestone, Dashti was quoted tude, simultaneously reaching another highlight of by Kuwait’s Olympic Committee as saying she was what has been a prolific Olympic odyssey, with sev- “overwhelmed with happiness” and that her feelings en appearances. were “indescribable”, having reached the “pinnacle Making his Olympic debut, Mansour Al-Rashidi, of joy and pleasure in a moment that will remain another Kuwaiti men’s skeet shooter, said he looked etched in memory.” Speaking for herself and on forward to delighting Kuwaiti fans and giving them behalf of her female counterparts, Dashti said the a reason to celebrate, pointing out that he was women competitors felt a sense of responsibility ready to prove his mettle with some of the world’s and urgency at the games, where they hoped to do best Olympic shooters. their absolute best. Swimmers Lara Dashti and Abbas Qali said they Rashidi, meanwhile, described the endeavor as were equally prepared for their respective competi- “historic,” adding “every Kuwaiti has the right to tions on July 29-30. The Kuwaiti athletes haven take pride in their country and their feeling of been “well taken care of” ahead of the spectator- belonging to it.” The trap shooter, a 2018 world free Games in a bid to encourage them to put on champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist and career-defining performances, according to the 2012 Olympic Games competitor, felt “enthusiastic,” TOKYO: Kuwait’s flagbearer Lara Dashti leads the Kuwaiti delegation during the opening ceremony of the country’s Olympic committee member Sheikh Jaber saying he looked forward to making an achievement Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on Friday. — AFP Al-Sabah. for his country. — KUNA (See Page 3) “This visit comes in a year where we mark two important areas to News in brief Blinken’s visit to important milestones in the bilateral relationship, the cooperate, particularly 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Shield and the when cooperation is US Embassy guard kills self liberation of Kuwait. as well as the 60th anniversary of needed on the world Kuwait ‘affirmation our diplomatic ties, ties that we hope to build on with stage. Our partnership this trip,” he added. “Our partnership has only grown on Covax and work to KUWAIT: A security guard at the US Embassy of enduring ties’ stronger and deeper over the last 30 years. Kuwaiti increase COVID-19 in Kuwait allegedly committed suicide yester- mediation and statesmanship were vital to the healing vaccine distribution day, according to unconfirmed media reports. WASHINGTON: US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Gulf rift that helped pull US partners in this region worldwide is adding to Antony Blinken Al-Qabas Arabic daily said the security man, a Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim said Friday back together, so we’re grateful for that and look for- the response to stem 44-year-old Indian national whom it named, that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Kuwait ward to discussing a variety of different regional the growth of this international health crisis,” he added. shot himself in the head in a bathroom at the is “an affirmation of the enduring ties between the issues,” he affirmed. Asked by KUNA on the next US-Kuwait Strategic embassy. Al-Rai Arabic daily also said the Asian United States and long-standing partner Kuwait”. In a “On a variety of different issues - Kuwait works to Dialogue, Benaim said “our governments are in con- guard shot himself. teleconference briefing with reporters, Benaim said end conflicts, bridge gaps, de-escalate tensions and stant cooperation and contact about the next dialogue, that during the visit on Wednesday, Blinken will meet provide humanitarian aid and we welcome the chance which we hope will be soon”. The governments of the the senior Kuwaiti leadership and “consult on a wide to consult closely - on other regional issues of con- US and Kuwait held the fourth US-Kuwait Strategic Iraq, Lebanon sign deal range of issues befitting two close partners”. cern,” Benaim noted. “Today, we are finding new and Dialogue in Nov 2020. —KUNA BAGHDAD: Iraq will provide Lebanon with one in decades in the resort state of Goa. million tons of fuel oil for its power plants in India monsoon A landslide in the hillside village of exchange for medical services, under a deal Taliye, south of Mumbai, left just two signed yesterday in Baghdad. A statement from concrete structures standing, flatten- the Iraqi authorities said that under the deal, death toll ing dozens of homes in a matter of Lebanon would receive one million tons of fuel minutes, witnesses told AFP. “It hap- oil in exchange for “goods and services”. The jumps to 115 pened so quickly,” said Dilip Pandey, Iraqi oil cannot be used directly by Lebanon’s who saw the disaster unfold on power stations, so Beirut will continue to buy MUMBAI: The death toll from mon- Thursday evening. “There was a huge compatible fuel from other providers which will soon-triggered landslides and build- whooshing sound and the village just receive the Iraqi oil in exchange. — AFP ing collapses jumped to 115 yesterday, collapsed,” he told AFP. Indian authorities said, with more than Emergency workers spent hours 135,000 people evacuated and trying to find survivors, but only dozens still missing. Torrential down- pulled out bodies, to the dismay of Hima makes heritage list pours have lashed India’s western weeping relatives, with the landslide coast in recent days, sparking land- accounting for nearly half the 76 NAJRAN: A sixth site in Saudi Arabia has been slides near the financial capital monsoon-related deaths recorded in TALIYE, India: Rescue workers search for victims at the site of a landslide added to UNESCO’s world heritage list, the UN Mumbai and causing the worst floods Continued on Page 2 around 22 km from Mahad city yesterday. — AFP organisation announced yesterday. Hima, in the Gulf state’s southwest, is home to one of the largest rock art complexes in the world. Hima features more than 34 separate sites including are now also having to contend with rock inscriptions and wells along the route of Lebanon ‘can’t almost round-the-clock power cuts. the ancient Arabian caravans. — AFP “All hospitals... are now less pre- pared than they were during the wave handle next at the start of the year,” said Firass Algerian judoka gets chop Abiad, the manager of the largest COVID wave’ public hospital in the country battling TOKYO: Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine and his COVID. “Medical and nursing staff coach Amar Benikhlef yesterday had their BEIRUT: Lebanon’s deepening eco- have left, medicine that was once Olympic accreditation withdrawn and will be nomic crisis has piled pressure on available has run out,” and ever sent home after refusing to fight a Zionist ath- hospitals, leaving them ill-equipped to lengthening cuts to the mains power lete. Yesterday, the International Judo face any new wave of the coronavirus, supply have left hospitals under con- Federation’s (IJF) executive committee a top hospital director has warned. stant threat. Even the Rafik Hariri announced they had temporarily suspended Already struggling with shortages of University Hospital he runs has been BEIRUT: A patient receives treatment at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital on Nourine and Benikhlef. — AFP (See Page 15) medicine and an exodus of staff struggling to cope. abroad, the country’s health facilities Continued on Page 2 Friday. — AFP 2 Established 1961 Sunday, July 25, 2021 Local Kuwait’s Amir, Crown Prince, Premier condole with India on deadly floods Embassy distributes meat in several Indian states KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al- to several poor families across several Indian states Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has addressed a cable of during the Eid Al-Adha holiday. The Embassy in condolences to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind India said in a press statement that the meat distri- expressing deep condolences and sincere solace on bution was in the framework of the annual sacrifice death of people in the floods that ravaged the project under the supervision of the General Indian State of Maharashtra. His Highness the Amir Secretariat of Endowments, with a generous dona- expressed solidarity with the friendly nation, hoping tion from benevolent people of Kuwait.