Amir Accepts Govt Resignation; Assembly Sessions Canceled
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JAMADA ALTHANI 6, 1442 AH TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2021 16 Pages Max 22º Min 08º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18338 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Kremlin critic Navalny decries China GDP grows at slowest Michelin bestows restaurant Messi sees red as Bilbao 6 ‘mockery of justice’ at hearing 10 pace in more than 4 decades 13 stars despite COVID closures 16 stun Barca in Super Cup Amir accepts govt resignation; Assembly sessions canceled Cabinet to continue in caretaker role • MP urges ‘fundamental reforms’ By B Izzak is no time limit for the appointment of with the government. also to protect the “pockets” of the next premier and the formation of MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji expressed Kuwaiti people against the govern- KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf the new Cabinet. hope that the next Cabinet members ment’s austerity measures. He said sav- Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday National Assembly Speaker will be selected from highly-qualified ings of over KD 60 billion made when accepted the resignation of the prime Marzouq Al-Ghanem said the two reg- people. MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf called oil prices were high have been used to minister and the Cabinet which was ular parliamentary sessions scheduled on opposition MPs to unite to achieve finance suspicious arms and other submitted last week, an Amiri decree for today and tomorrow have been can- what he called “fundamental reforms”, deals. The lawmaker accused the prime said. HH the Amir also asked HH the celed because there is no government topped by issuing a general pardon law minister of being weak in confronting Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled and no minister is expected to attend, a for ex-MPs and activists who received forces of corruption and failing to pro- Al-Sabah and ministers to continue in a precondition for Assembly meetings to long jail terms for storming the tect public funds. caretaker role until a new government be legal. The Cabinet resigned after Assembly building in 2011. Around a MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari mean- is formed. three opposition MPs filed to grill the dozen opposition former MPs and while asked the finance minister in a The Amir is expected to soon start prime minister over a number of rea- activists have been living in exile since question if the ministry has received customary consultations with former sons including the government’s alleged the summer of 2018 to avoid serving some $4 billion it had deposited at the speakers of the Assembly and former support for Ghanem to be re-elected as the jail terms. Egyptian central bank to support the prime ministers before reappointing speaker for a third consecutive term. Hajraf also said the opposition must Egyptian economy. The lawmaker said HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- Sheikh Sabah to form the new Cabinet Opposition MPs have vowed to oust push to amend the electoral law which the deposit had matured more than two Jaber Al-Sabah or naming a new prime minister. There Ghanem, whom they accuse of siding has fragmented the Kuwaiti people and years ago. Gulf summit on Jan 5 in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE after a flurry of diplomatic activity by outgoing US President Donald Trump’s Solution to issue of administration. The first commercial flight resume direct from Qatar to Egypt in three and a half 16 stranded Indian years, an EgyptAir service to Cairo, took Qatar flights off from windswept Doha airport. It was followed shortly after by the arrival of an sailors likely soon DOHA: The first direct flights since Air Arabia flight from Sharjah in the UAE. 2017 between Qatar and its former The resumption of flights from Doha to KUWAIT: A solution to the issue of 16 rivals Egypt and the UAE took to the Cairo will simplify travel for the large Indian sailors who have been stranded on a skies yesterday, following the end of a contingent of Egyptians living in Qatar. ship at Kuwait’s Shuaiba Port for the last nine regional crisis. Egypt and the United As many as 300,000 Egyptians call months is likely soon, according to sources Arab Emirates (UAE) joined Saudi Qatar home, according to official statis- close to the matter. The ship named ULA was Arabia and Bahrain in cutting ties with tics, but many were unable to travel detained following a legal dispute between Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of being home during the crisis. In May 2020, the ship’s owner and the owner of its cargo. too close to Iran and of backing Islamic DOHA: Mask-clad travellers walk with their carry-on luggage to board the frustrated Egyptians protested outside first Qatar Airways flight bound for Cairo after the resumption of flights According to reports, the sailors had gone on extremists, charges Doha denies. the compound housing Egypt’s between Qatar and Egypt at Hamad International Airport yesterday. — AFP a hunger strike. The quartet agreed to heal the rift at a Continued on Page 2 Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communications Kholoud Al-Shehab met last week with Indian Ambassador Sibi George to discuss the implications of the detention of Tunisia makes the ship. The ministry confirmed that high- level coordination between several parties has arrests, deploys taken place and the matter is going to be set- tled in the next few days, according to Al- Qabas Arabic daily. troops after riots “We are following with great concern the TUNIS: More than 600 people have been arrested complaint of the crew of the ULA, which has and troops have been deployed after a third con- been detained at Shuaiba Port for the last nine secutive night of riots in several Tunisian cities, offi- months, which led them to go on a hunger cials said yesterday. The unrest came after Tunisia strike,” the daily said, quoting the Kuwaiti imposed a nationwide lockdown to stem a rise in Association of the Basic Evaluators of Human coronavirus infections on Thursday - the same day Rights. “The society has contacted officials at as it marked the 10th anniversary of dictator Zine El government agencies and the National Diwan Abidine Ben Ali’s fall from power. for Human Rights and asked them to resolve Interior ministry spokesman Khaled Hayouni said the issue quickly, in view of the unfortunate a total of 632 people were arrested, notably “groups humanitarian situation and to preserve the of people between the ages of 15, 20 and 25 who TUNIS: Protesters block a street during clashes with security forces in the Ettadhamen suburb on the north- image of the country of humanity,” it added. burned tires and bins in order to block movements western outskirts of the capital on Sunday. — AFP Continued on Page 2 social media - sometimes to disapproval In Iraq, bird Tourists flock back home. Emirates, which restored its network to about three quarters of pre- pandemic levels, is again operating flu decimates to Dubai amid A380 super-jumbos - the world’s largest commercial airliner - ferrying in chicken coops lockdowns visitors from Britain and Russia. But the downside to becoming one SAMARRA, Iraq: An outbreak of bird flu has killed DUBAI: As much of the world tightens of the world’s most open destinations tens of thousands of hens in a rural province north lockdowns to stem coronavirus, Dubai has been a sharp rise in coronavirus of Iraq’s capital, decimating livelihoods overnight as has flung its doors open, branding itself cases. Daily detected cases hover in the authorities scramble to contain its spread. Near the as a sunny, quarantine-free escape - mid-3,000s across the UAE, which has town of Samarra, about 100 km north of Baghdad, despite a sharp rise in cases. While a population of under 10 million, with Haytham Al-Hamash’s coops have become grave- mask-wearing and social distancing are 745 deaths from COVID-19 since the yards. strictly enforced, life in the tourism- pandemic began. With a negative PCR Masked workers step around a few live hens to reliant emirate looks much like normal, test in their home countries - and possi- pick out the dead birds lying on their sides, tossing with its restaurants, hotels and mega- bly another upon arrival, depending on them into the back of a truck with a loud thud. malls open for business. the place of departure - tourists can “Right now, chickens are dying and we can’t do Images of sports stars and television freely enter Dubai, where winter tem- anything for them,” Hamash told AFP. personalities enjoying life at beach peratures average a pleasant 25 DUBAI: A mask-clad Israeli tourist photographs a falconer holding a falcon Continued on Page 2 clubs and cocktail bars have flooded degrees Celsius. — AFP (See Page 13) during a visit to the historic Al-Fahidi neighborhood on Jan 11, 2021. — AFP 2 Established 1961 Tuesday, January 19, 2021 Local KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah separately received His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al- Hamad Al-Sabah at Seif Palace yesterday. — KUNA photos Ministry seeks vaccination drive to resume in-class teaching in Kuwait Education, health ministries coordinate on safe back to school plan KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education hopes to He explained that the meeting discussed a pro- launch a comprehensive vaccination campaign as it posal for a gradual return to schools and the remains optimistic of chances to return students process of taking appropriate measures in this back to school by the beginning of the second regard, including seeking to launch a comprehen- semester in March.