SUBSCRIPTION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 RABI AL-AWWAL 16, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Demonstrators rally to Min 10º Max 18º High Tide protest Aleppo carnage 13:35 Low Tide Assembly to debate Aleppo on Dec 28 07:01 & 18:53 40 PAGES NO: 17081 150 FILS By B Izzak and Nawara Fattahova Rights group KUWAIT: Around 2,400 Kuwaitis protested outside the Russian embassy yesterday to condemn Moscow’s sup- calls to end port for the Syrian regime besieging rebel-held Aleppo. Carrying banners saying “Stop crimes” and “Save kafala system Aleppo”, the demonstrators marched on the diplomatic compound in Daiya housing the embassy. The crowds KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti rights group yesterday called on gathered yesterday were drawn from various back- the government to abolish its “kafala” system for grounds, and included both liberals and Islamists. foreign workers, which has long been criticized as a MP Jamaan Al-Harbash demanded to sever ties with form of bonded labor or even slavery. In its 2016 Russia because of its support for Syrian President Bashar annual report, the Kuwait Association for the Al-Assad. He also called for Kuwait to allow more Syrians Fundamentals of Human Rights called for “abolish- into the country, saying “we have to support our fellow ing the current kafala system and replacing it with Arab brothers and sisters against the attacks and crimes rules according to international standards”. The sys- by the Syrian regime and its allies”. tem prevents workers from moving to a new job Kuwait is home to more than 130,000 Syrian nation- before their contracts end without their boss’ con- als, according to government statistics released in 2014. sent, resulting in a wide range of abuses. Kuwait was one of the first Gulf countries to sever ties The rights group also expressed concern over the with Syria and pledge support to the rebels seeking to so-called administrative deportation of thousands of topple Assad. “Today, the Syrian people are at war with foreign workers every year by the interior ministry. Russia... dead bodies are in the streets of Aleppo,” “The association demands that no foreigner is Harbash told the crowd. “We call on Turkey and the Gulf deported out of Kuwait without a final court order,” it states to expel Russian envoys and sever diplomatic ties said. The report criticized the segregation of Kuwaitis with Moscow,” he added. and expatriates at public health centers, saying it was “Our Assembly was the first Arab and Islamic parlia- discrimination on the basis of nationality. ment to hold a special session to discuss the situation in The association warned of the growing “lan- Syria. The Arab nations should unify to bring about guage of hatred” against foreigners and expressed practical solutions. Residents of Aleppo have sent their concern over racial discrimination in Kuwait. KUWAIT: Protesters hold placards during a demonstration yesterday outside the Russian Embassy to condemn last messages from there, but we say the messages Continued on Page 13 Moscow’s support for the Syrian regime besieging rebel-held Aleppo. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2) Continued on Page 13 Aleppo hit by strikes, shelling ALEPPO: Shelling and air strikes sent ter- before dawn to evacuate were instead Deal signed with rified residents running through the plunged back into a familiar nightmare. streets of Aleppo yesterday as a deal to “Bombing is ongoing, no one can China to build 2 evacuate rebel districts of the city was in move. Everyone is hiding and terrified,” danger of falling apart. The agreement activist Mohammad Al-Khatib told AFP reached yesterday was meant to pave from inside the city. “The wounded and expat hospitals the way for thousands of civilians and dead are lying in the street. No one dares rebel fighters to evacuate Syria’s second to try and retrieve the bodies.” The evacu- KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Health Insurance Company (Daman) city, scene of some of the worst fighting ation, agreed under a deal brokered by has signed a contract worth KD 162 million ($530.85 in more than five years of war. But cold Russia and Turkey, had been due to million) with China Metallurgical Group Corporation and hungry civilians who had gathered Continued on Page 13 (MCC) to build two hospitals in Jahra and Ahmadi gov- ernorates with capacity of 600 beds each. The hospi- tals will serve insurance-paying expatriates, who account for some 70 percent of Kuwait’s 4.4 million population. The hospitals are to be ready to operate by the end of 2019, Dr Ahmad Al-Saleh, Daman’s board-member MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures while delivering a speech and chief executive, said in his speech during the sign- before local and foreign businessmen at Malacanang Palace on Dec 12, 2016. — AFP ing ceremony, adding that the MCC would carry out design, construction, equipping and maintenance works. Signing the deal is part of the first phase of Duterte boasts he Kuwait’s plan to overhaul the health system nation- wide, Saleh was quoted by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) as saying. Daman aims to provide healthcare killed criminals services to expatriates separate from those provided by the government to Kuwaitis. MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo with a big bike around, and I would just The project is also part of the Kuwait’s development plan to provide top world-class healthcare services, Duterte has said he personally killed sus- patrol the streets, looking for trouble also. I Saleh said, adding that the new hospitals’ interior and pected criminals when he was mayor of a was really looking for a confrontation so I exterior design adhere to the latest international archi- southern city to set an example for could kill.” ALEPPO: A wounded Syrian woman from the Al-Sukari neighborhood is helped onto tectural and medical standards. Saleh did not mention police. Duterte made the comments in a Duterte, 71, also responded to criti- the back of a truck as she flees during the government forces’ military operation to Continued on Page 13 speech late on Monday night to busi- cism from human rights groups and US retake remaining rebel-held areas in this embattled northern city yesterday. —AFP nessmen as he discussed his campaign President Barack Obama about his anti- to eradicate illegal drugs, which has seen crime tactics, vowing he would not be police and unknown assailants kill thou- intimidated by their criticism into stop- Amazon completes first drone delivery sands of people since he became presi- ping. “Sorry, I am not about to do that,” he dent on June 30. said. In a speech to expatriate Filipinos WASHINGTON: Amazon said yesterday it com- drone delivering an Amazon Fire TV box and a “dozens” near its warehouse. After speaking about police killing sus- during a state visit to Cambodia yester- pleted its first delivery by drone, in what the bag of popcorn to a customer identified only as Amazon is not the only group working on pects during the current crime war, Duterte day, Duterte joked that as mayor of global online giant hopes will become a trend in Richard B. drone deliveries. Google parent Alphabet has a said he led similar efforts when he was Davao he would go on missions with automated shipments by air. The delivery to a Amazon, which has been testing drone deliv- similar project known as Wing and some reports mayor of Davao, the major southern city police and shoot blindly at criminal sus- customer near Cambridge, England, was eries in the US and elsewhere, has on several say US retail behemoth Wal-Mart is also studying that he ruled for most of the previous 20 pects. “I (would) sometimes go along with announced in a tweet by Amazon founder and occasions complained that the regulatory envi- drone deliveries. In the US, the first commercial years. “In Davao I used to do it personally. them. If you say I shot someone, maybe I chief executive Jeff Bezos. “First-ever ronment in the United States for these automat- drone delivery was made in July when conven- Just to show to the guys (police) that if I did. I was closing my eyes because I am #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in the ed deliveries is more cumbersome. In its video, ience store 7-Eleven, with drone startup Flirtey, can do it why can’t you,” Duterte said in his scared of firing a gun,” said Duterte, a books. 13 min - click to delivery,” he wrote of the Amazon noted that it is working with two cus- transported a chicken sandwich, hot coffee and speech at the presidential palace. “And I’d lawyer and former state prosecutor. Dec 7 order. A video on Amazon’s web page tomers receiving drone deliveries in the donuts to a customer near Reno, Nevada. go around in Davao with a motorcycle, Continued on Page 13 showed the delivery process - with a quadcopter Cambridge area and soon hoped to expand to Continued on Page 13 LOCAL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 KUWAIT: Kuwaitis hold placards during a demonstration outside the Russian embassy to condemn Moscow’s support for the Syrian regime besieging rebel-held Aleppo yesterday in Kuwait City. Carrying ban- ners saying “Stop crimes” and “Save Aleppo,” around 2,000 demonstrators marched on the diplomatic compound housing the embassy in Kuwait City. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat MP Jamaan Al-Harbash speaks during the rally. Prominent cleric Mohammad Al-Awadhi speaks during the rally. MP Hamdan Al-Azmi speaks during the rally. Kuwait urges Security Council be responsible toward Aleppo State calls for emergency Arab meeting KUWAIT: The State of Kuwait yesterday nity to respond to the exerted efforts by the and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, ditions in shadow of the aggravating tragic Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and called on the United Nations Security Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab counterparts in Arab and Islamic nations, situation in the city of Aleppo.