JUMADA ALTHANI 18, 1441 AH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020 28 Pages Max 12º Min -01º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18059 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Egypt says its population War rocks Middle East, Palestinian leader warns UN on Kohli seethes as India let 6 passes 100 million mark 19 but love must go on 24 Trump’s ‘Swiss cheese’ peace 26 Black Caps sweep series China virus deaths top 1,000; WHO warns of global threat Amir sends condolences to Xi • Deadly coronavirus named ‘COVID-19’ BEIJING: The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak surged past 1,000 in China yesterday as the World Health Organization Article 18 visa renewal warned that the epidemic poses a “very grave” global threat. The WHO is holding a conference in Geneva on combatting the virus as Beijing online from March 1 struggles to contain a disease that has now infected more than 42,000 and reached some 25 countries. Another 108 deaths were reported KUWAIT: Interior Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for Residency yesterday - the first triple-digit daily rise since the virus emerged in Affairs Maj Gen Talal Maarafi said renewal of article 18 residencies late December. can be done online through the interior ministry’s official website “With 99 percent of cases in China, this remains very much an from March 1. Maarafi said the interior ministry has launched a new emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for system to link companies, allowing them to renew residencies of the rest of the world,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus their workers online without the need to go to residency depart- at the conference, where the virus was officially named “COVID-19”. ments. He said each company will have its own password to enter He said that “co” stands for “corona”, “vi” for “virus” and “d” for “dis- the system and follow the procedure to renew the residency without ease”, while “19” was for the year, as the outbreak was first identified any complication. This step will benefit more than 1.5 million expats. on Dec 31. However, Tedros remained optimistic that there was a “real- The second step, after the success of the first, will be for article 20 istic chance” of stopping the virus. “We have to use the current win- KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives Canadian residencies. He said the third step will allow renewal of family visas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Bayan Palace yesterday. — KUNA (See Page 2) dow of opportunity to hit hard and stand in unison to fight this virus in online. — Al-Qabas Continued on Page 24 Ultra-rare snowfall carpets Baghdad as Kuwait shivers KARBALA: An Iraqi girl plays with her mother in the snow in this holy Shiite city yesterday. — AFP KUWAIT/BAGHDAD: Residents of of 12-40 km/h. Some scattered clouds will Baghdad rushed to have snowball fights or appear with a chance of frost in agricultur- take photographs yesterday as the Iraqi al and desert areas,” the Kuwait capital woke carpeted in white by only its Meteorological Department forecast yes- second snowfall in a century. In neighbor- terday. The same weather conditions are Some scattered ing Kuwait, the temperature is expected to projected for today, while temperatures clouds will appear drop below zero degrees Celsius tonight are set to gradually increase to a maximum as a cold wave continues to sweep through of 17 degrees Celsius and minimum of 4 the country. The weather forecast for degrees tomorrow, then continuing to today predicts the maximum temperature increase through the weekend. to reach only 12 degrees, while the mercu- The last recorded snowfall in Baghdad ry could drop as low as -1 degrees. was in 2008, but it was a quick and most- “[The weather is] very cold with light to ly slushy affair - and prior to that, it had Today’s weather forecast moderate northwesterly wind with a speed Continued on Page 24 for Kuwait. Congress, led by the storied Gandhi-Nehru AAP crushes BJP dynasty and the main opposition at the national level, drew a blank in another low for a party that ruled Delhi for 15 years before AAP took over. Final results in Delhi election from the Election Commission of India late yesterday showed AAP won 62 seats while the BJP won eight. NEW DELHI: Followers of an upstart Indian politi- Hindu-nationalist Modi, whose party swept to cal party danced in the streets yesterday after inflict- power in national elections last year, congratulated ing a crushing defeat on Prime Minister Narendra AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, the incumbent Delhi Modi’s right-wing party in a key election in the capi- chief minister. “Wishing them the very best in fulfill- tal. The poll was the first electoral test for Modi’s ing the aspirations of the people of Delhi,” Modi Bharatiya Janata Party after it passed a controversial tweeted. The BJP had launched an aggressive cam- nationality law which opponents say is anti-Muslim. paign to win the city of nearly 20 million people from Aam Aadmi Party supporters cavorted to bhangra the AAP, using the election to rally support for the music and set off fireworks as the vote count showed law easing citizenship rules for religious minorities they had crossed the 36 seats needed to secure a from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but majority in the 70-seat regional assembly. Continued on Page 24 2 Established 1961 Local Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Amir meets Canadian Prime Minister, new ambassadors, Iraqi Speaker Kuwait, Canada discuss regional, international developments His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. —Amiri Diwan photos meets with US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Bahraini Ambassador to Kuwait Salah Al-Malki. meets with Libyan Ambassador to Kuwait Sulaiman Al-Sahili. meets with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi. KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- regional and international situations. The meeting was Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was killed in a target- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday at Bayan attended by the Adviser in the Cabinet of the Prime ed drone strike by the United States. Palace His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al- Minister Sheikh Dr Salem Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness the Amir also the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense New ambassadors received His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Sheikh Ahmad Mansour Al-Sabah, Minister of Foreign Earlier yesterday, His Highness the Amir attended a Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, who escorted Canadian Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Muhammad Al- reception at Bayan Palace celebrating newly-appointed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his accompanying Sabah and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs ambassadors to Kuwait, including US Ambassador Alina delegation on his official visit to the country. During the Khaled Al-Jarallah. Furthermore, Chairman of the Prime Romanowski, Bahraini Ambassador Salah Al-Malki, and reception, both sides discussed bilateral relations and Minister’s Office Sheikha Etmad Al-Khaled Al-Ahmad Libyan Ambassador Sulaiman Al-Sahili. The ceremony ways to boost cooperation in various fields, in addition Al-Sabah, Chief of the General Staff of the Kuwaiti was also attended by Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr to issues of common interest between the two countries. Army Lieutenant General Mohammad Khaled Al- Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, Minister of Advisor at the Prime Minister’s Diwan Sheikh Dr Salem Khudhr, and a number of senior officials at the Prime Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, Deputy Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah attended the reception. Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Minister of Amiri Diwan Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah His Highness the Prime Minister had received at the Trudeau had visited Canadian troops stationed in Al-Sabah, Amiri Diwan’s Undersecretary and His Highness Bayan Palace his Canadian counterpart upon his arrival Kuwait during his short stay in the country. In a message the Amir’s Office Director Ahmad Fahad Al-Fahad, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Kuwait on Monday. During the meeting, the two sides delivered during a visit to a base where many Canadian Director of Amiri Protocols and Ceremonials Sheikh welcomes Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammad Al-Halbousi at exchanged cordial conversations and tackled the close troops had to relocate about a month ago from Iraq, the Khaled Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah Al-Nasser Al-Sabah. Dar Salwa. bilateral relations between the two friendly countries Canadian Prime Minister said that “Canadian military Furthermore, His Highness the Amir received yester- and means to boost cooperation in various fields. efforts have been essential in the fight to defeat Islamic day National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem, Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah. Later yesterday, His militants in Iraq and elsewhere.” Canada has two ongo- accompanied by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammad Highness the Amir held a lunch banquet at Dar Salwa in Regional situation ing operations in Iraq, totaling about 500 soldiers, but Al-Halbousi during his official visit. The receptions honor of the visiting Iraqi Parliament Speaker and his His Highness and his guest also discussed the overall was forced to suspend them on Jan 7, days after top were attended by Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs accompanying delegation.