SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2017 JAMADA ALTHANI 23, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net US lawmakers Brexit: The And the Kuwait Times seek FBI, NSA end of a happiest NBA Rankings: answers on loveless nation is Warriors cruise Trump, 7Russia marriage13 ..Norway28 back16 on top Man ‘armed with knife’ Min 17º Max 24º disrupts Catholic mass High Tide 06:23 & 16:43 Low Tide Suspect detained; security beefed up 11:05 40 PAGES NO: 17174 150 FILS By Aakash Bakaya Kuwaiti lawyer seeks Turkey welcomes Amir KUWAIT: A citizen, carrying a concealed knife, disrupted mass at the Catholic Church in Kuwait City Sunday evening. The man was later arrested by police. No one was hurt in the inci- ban on expat drivers dent. Interior Ministry officials confirmed that a Kuwaiti man was taken by police after causing a disturbance at the Holy By A staff reporter and with the absence of any imminent Family Cathedral Sunday evening. Two eye witnesses at the solution from the government, it is church confirmed to Kuwait Times that the man was carrying KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti lawyer yesterday time that the judiciary ordered urgently a long kitchen knife. filed a lawsuit at Administrative Court the suspension of driving licenses held During the service, the man dressed in a traditional dish- demanding an “urgent suspension” of by expatriates with the exception of dasha walked inside the church and went straight to where all driving licenses for expatriates and certain professions. the priest was speaking. A few parishioners nearby heard halting the issuance of new licenses for The court has not yet set a date for that the man was asking “to see the Pope”. The man then them to make it easier for citizens to considering the case which is the first walked to the podium and tried to seize the microphone drive on roads. Lawyer Mohammad Al- of its kind in the country but comes at a from the priest. Several ushers then came forward and Ansari said he filed the lawsuit on time when millions of expatriates have escorted him from the church premises. After being led from behalf of several Kuwaiti citizens after become an easy target and have been the church, the man was handed over to police. When he the traffic problems have deteriorated blamed for most of the country’s prob- saw officers approaching, the man dropped the knife that had been hidden inside his dishdasha. reaching an “unbearable phase”. lems and shortcomings. There are An Interior Ministry official noted that the citizen, in his The lawyer said that because the about 3.1 million foreigners living and 60s, suffers from mental health issues. According to the ministries of interior and public works working in Kuwait against just under same official, who has that his name not to be published, the have failed to resolve the traffic prob- 1.4 million Kuwaiti citizens. citizen was taken by police to the Psychiatric Hospital for lem in the country resulting to conges- For the past 10 years, the Interior monitoring, where he already has a file and has been receiv- tion which negatively impacted Ministry had imposed highly strict rules ing treatment. The official denied involvement of any terror- ANKARA: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) welcomes Kuwait’s Kuwaiti citizens. He demanded that the for expatriates to be able to apply for ist organization or threat to the church or its parishioners. Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah upon his arrival at Esenboga court should “temporarily suspend the driving licenses. A majority of expatri- Officials from the Holy Family Cathedral confirmed the International Airport in Ankara. — AFP validity of all driver licenses held by ates are required to hold a university incident as well but noted that the church is well protected - expatriates and halt the issuance of degree, earn a monthly salary of KD 600 KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh embassy staff were also present at His police are regularly stationed outside the church during new ones until the Interior Ministry and have lived in the country legally for Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his Highness’s reception. hours of operation. There is a sizable Christian community in issues new decisions to regulate the at least two years to be able to apply accompanying delegation arrived yester- During his visit, His Highness the Amir is Kuwait, approximately 750,000 adherents. There seven offi- traffic matters in Kuwait”. for a driver’s license. The court is day in the Turkish capital Ankara on an offi- scheduled to hold talks with Turkish leaders cially recognized churches and many of the country’s expa- triate residents from India, the Philippines and other coun- The lawyer said that the traffic prob- extremely unlikely to issue the suspen- cial visit. His Highness the Amir was over efforts to boost bilateral relations and received at the airport by President Recep cooperation in various domains. Amir’s visit tries attend regular church services. The Catholic Church has lems in the country have reached a sion because it clearly contradicts sev- an estimated 500,000 followers in Kuwait. dangerous level especially when citi- eral provisions in the Kuwaiti constitu- Tayyip Erdogan, as well as senior govern- to Turkey is the second in less than a year as ment officials and top brass. Ambassador he led Kuwait’s delegation to the World Attacks on churches or the Christian community in zens and expatriates go to their jobs tion which envisages equality among of the Republic of Turkey Ghassan Al- Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May Kuwait are largely unheard of. But after the June 2015 sui- and come back home. This has resulted all regardless of nationality or gender. Zawawi and Consul General in Istanbul 2016. The Turkish President also paid a state cide bombing of the Imam Al-Sadiq mosque in Kuwait City, in uncivilized behavior and practices Continued on Page 13 Mohammad Al-Mohammad, as well as visit to Kuwait in April 2015. — Agencies the Interior Ministry expanded security at local churches with a regular posted police presence. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ pulled from theatres By Athoob Al-Shuaibi, Agencies 16. But yesterday, the Information Ministry called for additional scenes to India traffickers KUWAIT: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was be cut. Duaij Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah, a pulled from theatres in Kuwait yesterday. board member at the National Cinema widen their nets The step comes as the Ministry of Company, which operates 11 of Information asked theatre companies to Kuwait’s 13 movie theaters said a newly MUMBAI: An Indian woman rescued from sex slavery make additional cuts to the film. The edited version of the movie may be in in one of the Gulf nations was brought back to her popular Disney movie was recently theaters later this week. hometown in Gujarat on Sunday amid concerns traf- remade with UK actress Emma Watson as He said concerns center on a scene fickers are widening their net to new parts of India. lead character, Belle. But it has sparked late in the movie involving the character Two agents - one in Gujarat and another in Mumbai - controversy within the first week of LeFou, which director Bill Condon have been arrested and the search is on for more release in some Muslim countries due to describes as an “exclusively gay moment.” agents, officials said. The woman, 35, had flown to alleged ‘gay’ scenes. Malaysia has banned “We were requested to stop the screen- Dubai about a year ago on the promise of a house- the film after Disney refused to remove ing and further censor the movie for maid’s job and a monthly salary of about 40,000 the controversial scenes. things that were deemed offensive by Indian rupees ($600). In Kuwait, the movie has not been the Ministry of Information’s censorship DUBAI: Visitors look at screens displaying images of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al- She was, however, sold to another employer in Maktoum Solar Park yesterday, at the solar plant in Dubai. — AFP officially banned and was in fact shown department,” Al-Sabah said. another Gulf country where she was repeatedly raped in theatres since its release on March Continued on page13 and abused, a state minister said. She is currently recu- perating at a public hospital in the western state of Dubai harvests desert Gujarat. Campaigners said most trafficking cases to the Gulf region have so far been from southern Indian sun at its solar plant states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and rarely from other parts of the country. DUBAI: Dubai yesterday completed a “largest and first solar power project of its “It is presumed that most cases of trafficking to the solar plant big enough to power 50,000 kind in the region”, he said. “The state has Gulf are from southern states. We are finding names of homes as part of a plan to generate three- begun early in preparing to say goodbye more agents in Gujarat from those arrested,” quarters of its energy from renewables by to the last drop of oil, through a clear Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Education Minister in 2050. The 200 megawatt plant sprawls strategy including investments in power Gujarat said. “Police have launched a major investiga- over 4.5 square kilometers of desert and generation plants that use various solar tion. We will alert other states too if we find links to includes some 2.3 million photovoltaic power technologies,” Tayer said. them.” Chudasama had alerted government officials panels. It is the second phase of the The solar park’s first phase came and the police to the case after he read about the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar online in 2013, with 152,000 panels pro- woman’s plight in The Times of India newspaper.