Three Opposition Mps File to Grill Interior Minister Grade 12 Final Paper Exams Postponed • Moi Launches English Social Media Accounts
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SHAWWAL 15, 1442 AH THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021 16 Pages Max 46º Min 28º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18444 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net WhatsApp launches court US exchanges offer rich Tunisia pins tourism hopes Lakers beat Suns to level 8 action against India curbs 10 potential target for hackers 12 on ‘unafraid’ Russians 15 series, Nets thump Celtics Three opposition MPs file to grill interior minister Grade 12 final paper exams postponed • MoI launches English social media accounts By B Izzak pone grillings against the prime minister until the end bedoons, thus complicating their decades-old plight, of 2022. Opposition MPs insist the decision is illegal prompting a number of bedoons to commit suicide. It KUWAIT: Three opposition lawmakers yesterday and against the constitution. also charged that the minister has failed to tackle the Readers speak out filed to grill Interior Minister Sheikh Thamer Al- Under the constitution, following the debate of a chronic traffic problem in the country. which has result- Sabah over a series of alleged violations including grilling, 10 MPs can file a vote of no-confidence against ed in the death of hundreds and also failed to curb a illegally banning public gatherings, selectivity in the minister. To pass, it needs 25 votes and if accepted, steep rise in the crime rate, which saw some 900 on impact of travel applying the law and failure to resolve the imbalance it means an automatic dismissal of the minister. The assaults on persons in 2020. The grilling also accuses in the population structure. opposition has a sufficient strength to unseat any min- the minister of failing to answer questions sent to him by curbs on expats The three lawmakers, Thamer Al-Suwait, ister and also to declare non-cooperation with the a number of lawmakers. Yesterday, the interior ministry Abdulkarim Al-Kandari and Khaled Al-Otaibi, also prime minister. The government boycotted the previous said it has launched new pages on three social media KUWAIT: Since February 2021, Kuwait has accuse the minister in the grilling of oppressive two sessions of the Assembly after opposition MPs sat platforms to keep non-Arabic speakers informed barred foreigners, including legal residents, from measures against stateless people or bedoons, fail- in seats reserved for the Cabinet. The opposition law- regarding new laws, public announcements and aware- ure to control a spike in crime and not respecting makers said they will continue to do so until the prime ness messages. The account EN_KUW_MOI, which is returning to Kuwait. Foreigners may leave but can- parliamentary questions. Assembly Speaker minister accepts to be grilled. available on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, comes not return until further notice. The second lengthy Marzouq Al-Ghanem said he received the grilling, The new grilling says that the interior minister amid the ministry’s ongoing efforts to boost its media period of the airport’s closure to foreigners has had which will be added to the agenda of the next regu- prevented legal public gatherings from taking place, outreach nationwide, Director of PR and Media a devastating impact on expatriates, many of whom lar session on June 8. which is a violation of the constitution, laws and rul- Tawheed Al-Kandari said. have family abroad or are stuck abroad. Sheikh Thamer is the fourth minister to face a ings by the constitutional court. It also alleges that Meanwhile, the education ministry yesterday post- Kuwait Times invited expatriates who have been grilling by opposition MPs following grillings against the minister referred almost two-thirds of Assembly poned the final paper-based exams for grade 12 stu- affected by the travel restrictions related to COVID- the ministers of health, foreign affairs and finance. members to court for violating health precautions dents from May 30 to June 9. The decision came fol- 19 to share their stories. Kuwait Times received Opposition MPs have also filed three grillings against while he ignored similar violations by others, thus lowing demands from lawmakers as well as parents to more than a 1,000 responses via comments, direct HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al- selectively applying the law. allow more time for students to prepare for their messages and emails. (See Pages 4 & 5) Sabah, but the government says he cannot be grilled The grilling charges that the interior ministry has finals, the ministry explained in a statement on its because the Assembly decided on March 30 to post- adopted oppressive measures against thousands of official Twitter account. salary is around KD 1,500, it will not be enough to Expats should have cover everything including paying their domestic Pacific ‘Blood helpers,” the source explained. “We want to implement this rule to avoid non- salary of KD 2,500 payment of salaries, and the Demafelis case was a Moon’ wows huge lesson for us,” she added. The embassy official to hire Filipino maids was referring to a case in 2018 of housemaid Joanna stargazers Demafelis, whose body was found inside a freezer in By Ben Garcia a Maidan Hawally apartment. The convicted mur- SYDNEY: Stargazers across the Pacific cast their derers of the maid were two expats, a Lebanese eyes skyward yesterday to witness a rare “Super KUWAIT: The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has man and a Syrian woman, who fled to their respec- Blood Moon”, as the heavens aligned to bring a confirmed that expatriate employers who want to tive countries after the brutal killing. spectacular lunar eclipse. The first total lunar hire Filipino domestic helpers should be earning a Demafelis’ body was found more than a year eclipse in two years took place at the same time as minimum monthly salary of KD 2,500. According to after her expat employers abandoned their apart- the Moon was closest to Earth, in what astronomers KUWAIT: The ‘Super Blood Moon’ rises over Kuwait City an embassy source, Kuwaiti employers are not ment in 2016. “This clause seeks to avoid the repeat say is a once-in-a-decade show. during a total lunar eclipse (not visible in Kuwait) yes- included in the new salary requirement clause as of gruesome murders of our compatriots, which Anyone living between Australia and the central terday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat they already earn a minimum salary of more than were unfortunately committed by expats,” the United States was able to see an enormous, bright, KD 1,500, and also receive government subsidies embassy source added. orangey-red Moon if the skies were clear. The main “Super Moon” when the Moon passes a mere for food and allowances for their children. The official was asked if the Philippine Embassy event took place between 1111 and 1125 GMT - late 360,000 km from Earth. At that point, it can appear The embassy source, who wished to remain has started processing new job orders of domestic evening in Sydney and predawn in Los Angeles - 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than at its anonymous, said the requirement will be included in helpers coming from the Philippines. “Yes, the when the Moon was entirely in the Earth’s shadow. farthest point - a difference of around 50,000 km. the new tri-party contract which will be signed Kuwaiti government has already started the pro- The Moon darkened and turned red - a result of In Sydney, where a crisp night gave onlookers a between employers and workers. “This new policy cessing of visas for new domestic helpers, but only sunlight refracting off the Earth’s rim onto the lunar clear view, people gathered on the shoreline of the protects the welfare of Filipino domestic helpers. returning housemaids are currently being allowed to surface - basking our satellite in a sunrise- or sun- city’s harbor to catch a glimpse as the Moon rose The cost of living in Kuwait is very high and expats arrive,” she said. set-tinged glow. Unlike a solar eclipse, the phenom- over the sails of the Opera House. “Last time there are also paying rent and a lot more. Even if their Continued on Page 2 enon was safely visible to the naked eye. This was a Super Moon, last month, we missed it,” Ken eclipse was different because it happened during a Continued on Page 2 Blinken visits Egypt, Jordan to shore up truce AMMAN: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met King Abdullah II in Jordan yesterday on the last leg of a Mideast tour that aims to shore up an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between the Zionist entity and Palestinians in Gaza. After meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi - whom he praised for helping bring an end to the intense vio- lence “relatively quickly” - he flew to Jordan, where half of the 10 million-strong population is of Palestinian origin. Blinken met King Abdullah following two-days of regional talks - including with both Zionist and Palestinian leaders - to throw Washington’s support behind the truce that ended 11 days of heavy Zionist (Left) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi at the Heliopolis Presidential Palace in Cairo and (right) Jordan’s King bombing of Gaza and rocket fire from the enclave Abdullah II at Bayt Al-Urdon in Amman yesterday. — AFP into the Zionist entity. Following talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas at his head- Palestinians in 2019 and slashed aid to the After meeting Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Yesterday, after meeting with Sisi, Blinken later quarters in the Zionist-occupied West Bank, Blinken Palestinian Authority. In the long term, Blinken Netanyahu, he reiterated support for (the Zionist said that both “believe strongly that Palestinians and vowed to rebuild US relations with the Palestinians evoked the “possibility of resuming the effort to entity’s) right to defend itself against rocket attacks (Zionists) deserve equally to live in safety and secu- by reopening a consulate in Jerusalem, as well as achieve a two-state solution, which we continue to by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, adding that they must not rity”, and that “Egypt is vital to these aspirations”.