SAFAR 26, 1442 AH TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2020 16 Pages Max 37º Min 22º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18256 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Kuwait reports 6 deaths, US auction theory pioneers Swiping right: Slim pickings Lakers†crush Heat to capture 4 777 new COVID-19 cases 8 win Nobel economics prize 13 for Pakistan’s online daters 16 record-tying 17th NBA title Govt proposes instant fines for not wearing facemasks Appointment needed at cafes, gyms • Ban on camping, pitching tents By B Izzak dirham (KD 250) fine for people not wearing face- the country were alarming. the number of patients in intensive care units. The masks. The Cabinet also decided during its weekly The Cabinet also decided to set up a special Cabinet urged the public to strictly observe all KUWAIT: The Cabinet yesterday approved an meeting that customers must make prior reserva- committee to oversee the implementation of health health guidelines to prevent a new wave of amendment to the law to impose instant fines for tions to dine at restaurants and cafes or to visit guidelines during the forthcoming Assembly elec- COVID-19. people not wearing facemasks and not abiding by sport clubs in order to avoid crowding. tions, expected to be held in late November or Government spokesman Tareq Al-Mazrem said health guidelines as part of new restrictions to con- The Cabinet also decided to ban desert camp- early December. The decisions came after the since the end of June, 6,112 violations were issued tain the spread of the coronavirus. The amendment ing and erecting tents in residential areas and Cabinet was briefed by Health Minister Sheikh against malls, markets and shops, while 484 orders will be sent to HH the Amir and to the National chalets. The new measures come amid a rise in the Basel Al-Sabah about health conditions in the to shut down shops were issued. But the Cabinet Assembly for approval and implementation. number of new coronavirus cases reported in the country and efforts to contain the coronavirus did not decide on any closures or partial curfews The decision did not specify the amount of the country in the past few weeks. HH the Prime pandemic. as has been reported in the local media over the fine or when it will be implemented. The United Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah told The minister informed the Cabinet about the past few days in a bid to prevent the spread of the Arab Emirates, for example, imposes a 3,000 the Assembly on Thursday that health conditions in rise in the number of deaths, hospitalizations and coronavirus. “extremely robust” on smooth sur- Virus can last faces - like mobile phone screens - surviving for 28 days on glass, steel MoCI clamps down and plastic banknotes. At 30 degrees for 28 days Celsius, the survival rate dropped to on smuggling of seven days and plunged to just 24 on surfaces hours at 40 degrees Celsius. The virus subsidized goods survived for shorter periods on BRISBANE/HONG KONG: The porous surfaces such as cotton - up coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can to 14 days at the lowest temperatures KUWAIT: The ministry survive on items such as banknotes and less than 16 hours at the highest - of commerce and indus- and phones for up to 28 days in cool, the researchers said. try has affirmed that dark conditions, according to a study This was “significantly longer” than distribution of subsi- by Australia’s national science agency. previous studies which found the dis- dized monthly food Researchers at CSIRO’s disease pre- ease could survive for up to four days rations is controlled by paredness center tested the longevity on non-porous surfaces, according to an accurate electronic of SARS-CoV-2 in the dark at three the paper published in the peer- system as accountants temperatures, showing survival rates reviewed Virology Journal. By com- from 51 cooperative decreased as conditions became hot- parison, Influenza A virus has been store outlets were referred to the public prose- ter, the agency said yesterday. found to survive on surfaces for 17 MELBOURNE: This photo illustration shows three Australian banknotes yesterday cution after discrepancies were discovered in the The scientists found that at 20 days. as a study shows the coronavirus can survive on items such as banknotes and quantities of subsidized items during inventory. degrees Celsius, SARS-CoV-2 was Continued on Page 2 phones for up to 28 days in cool, dark conditions. — AFP The ministry’s statement also came after Salmi border customs officers foiled an attempt to smuggle out large quantities of subsidized growth of nearly five percent between powdered milk, rice and oil with an estimated Oman brings 2008 and 2016. But growth then value of tens of thousands of dinars in trucks dropped sharply - to 0.3 percent in heading to several Arab countries, according to 2017, 1.8 percent in 2018 and 0.5 per- a MoCI source. in 5% VAT in cent in 2019 - amid struggling oil pro- Kuwait Supply Co distributes rations to duction. Oman, which is to cut oil pro- cooperative societies, which in turn deliver the six months duction under Organization of products to beneficiaries at their respective Petroleum Exporting Countries branches, the ministry said in a press release MUSCAT: Oman yesterday (OPEC) agreements, is the fourth late Sunday. In case there is any shortage in the announced the introduction of five- country in the Gulf Cooperation commodities, the officials of the concerned percent VAT on goods and services, Council (GCC), a traditional tax-free cooperatives face legal action without any to offset a slump in oil prices and an haven, to introduce Value Added Tax. financial burden to state funds. economic downturn exacerbated by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Continued on Page 2 coronavirus. The new tax, announced Emirates were the first to introduce in a royal decree by leader Sultan five-percent VAT in 2018, with Bahrain Haitham bin Tariq, begins after 180 following in 2019. Riyadh hiked VAT days in April 2021, state television rates to 15 percent in May 2020, in an Bibi calls MBZ as said. Certain products and services austerity program designed to gener- will be exempt, including rent, basic ate extra revenue and control public foodstuffs, school fees and public spending. Oman has recorded 106,575 cargo from Dubai transport. cases of COVID-19, including 1,046 MUSCAT: Mask-clad Omanis sit in a seafront cafe in the capital yesterday amid the coronavirus pandemic. — AFP arrives in Haifa Oman recorded an average annual deaths. — AFP ABU DHABI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Images capture black Netanyahu and the UAE’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan have spoken by phone to build on their countries’ normalization accord, Sheikh hole devouring star Mohammed said in a tweet yesterday. In the call initiated by Netanyahu, the two leaders agreed PARIS: Astronomers have captured the author of yesterday’s study. “But that’s the deal signed at the White House on Sept 15 moment a supermassive black hole exactly what happens in a tidal disrup- “opens the way to a new era of cooperation”, he shredded a star the size of our Sun, tion event.” releasing images yesterday showing the When a star strays too close to a wrote. They also discussed joint efforts to fight devastating process in unprecedented supermassive black hole, it is subjected the COVID-19 pandemic. detail. Using telescopes from the to the phenomenal strength of the black In an official statement that coincided with an European Southern Observatory (ESO), hole’s gravity. The star can be physically Israeli cabinet vote approving the Sept 15 agree- they were able to monitor light flaring torn apart and its matter pulled into ment with the UAE, Netanyahu said he and from the process - known as a tidal dis- long strings, a process known as Sheikh Mohammed would meet soon, without ruption event - from a black hole just “spaghettification”. specifying a date. Netanyahu told the Israeli cab- over 215 million light years from Earth. “When these forces exceed the star’s inet that he had spoken at the weekend with his They observed the star being physi- cohesive force, the star loses pieces that “friend” Sheikh Mohammed, who is crown prince cally torn apart as it was sucked into the rush into the black hole,” Stephane of Abu Dhabi. “I invited him to visit Israel, he black hole’s giant maw. “The idea of a Basa, a researcher from the Marseille invited me to visit Abu Dhabi, but before that black hole ‘sucking in’ a nearby star Astrophysics Laboratory, told AFP. we’ll see here a delegation from the UAE, and sounds like science fiction,” said Matt “This exceptional influx of matter pro- This handout picture released yesterday shows an illustration depicting a star (in another delegation of ours will go there,” the Nicholl, a lecturer and Royal duces intense electromagnetic emis- the foreground) experiencing spaghettification as it is sucked in by a supermas- prime minister said. Astronomical Society research fellow at sions, which last for several months sive black hole (in the background) during a “tidal disruption event”. — AFP Continued on Page 2 the University of Birmingham, lead while the debris is digested.” — AFP 2 Established 1961 Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Local Kuwait’s Amir keen on strengthening Gulf joint action: GCC Secretary General Sheikh Nawaf, Sheikh Mishal receive GCC chief at Seif Palace KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets GCC Secretary General His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets GCC Secretary General Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf.