JAMADA ALAWWAL 6, 1442 AH MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020 16 Pages Max 19º Min 09º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18314 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net In east Jerusalem, battle COVID makes Greek olive Crisis comedy combats Man Utd thrash Leeds 6-2 5 over ‘every inch’ of land 9 harvest family affair again 12 trauma in Lebanon 16 in first meeting in 16 years Kuwait mourns passing of Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Sheikh Nasser held several senior positions during his illustrious career KUWAIT: Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al- Sheikh Nasser began his career in politics by Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Ahmad Al-Sabah, the eldest son of the being appointed advisor to HH the Crown Chairman of the board of trustees of both late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Prince and HH the Prime Minister on Dec 7, Abdullah Al-Salem and Jaber Al-Ahmad Jaber Al-Sabah, passed away in Kuwait 1999. He then held the Minister of Amiri Cultural Centers, Head of the Committee yesterday. He was 72. A former defense Diwan post from Feb 11, 2006 to Dec 11, for Common Development Enterprises minister and head of the Amiri Diwan, 2017, when he was named Kuwait’s First between Kuwait and Iran, founder and Sheikh Nasser held several senior posi- Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister. member of Kuwait Red Crescent Society, tions during his career, including Chief of He served in that position until Nov 18, 2019. founder and member of the Kuwaiti the General Secretariat of the Supreme Association for the Protection of Public Council for Planning and Development as SEE PAGE 3 Funds, founder and member of the Kuwaiti well as Chief of Development of Silk City Hunting and Equestrian Club, honorary and Boubyan Island. chief of the Kuwaiti Arts Association, hon- He was also known for his passion for Sheikh Nasser led a government com- orary chief of the Kuwait Pharmacists culture and history, as he established Dar mittee responsible to implement the New Association and honorary chief of Kuwait Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah, and for his busi- Kuwait 2035 vision, spearheading various Legal Society. ness acumen that helped him lead a suc- ambitious developmental ventures in During his career, he received high- cessful business career and later use his Kuwait including the Silk City mega proj- ranking medals from the President of vast experience in directing major govern- ect with investments estimated at more Mongolia, an honorary PhD degree from ment projects. Sheikh Nasser will be laid than $100 billion. the University of Mongolia, and the Gloria to rest today morning. Sheikh Nasser was an honorary mem- Artis Medals, the highest ranked cultural Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Born on April 27, 1948 in Kuwait City, ber on the board of trustees of the medals from Poland. Kuwait bans UK flights as Kuwait set to virus strain ‘out of control’ receive first batch KUWAIT/LONDON: Kuwait’s civil strengthen measures against the new aviation authority added the United variant of COVID-19 circulating in Kingdom to its high-risk list of coun- Britain, the Netherlands imposed a of COVID vaccines tries yesterday, meaning all flights ban on UK flights from 6:00 am (0500 from it are banned, the authority GMT) yesterday and Belgium said it KUWAIT: Member of the higher advisory wrote on Twitter. Commercial flights would follow suit from midnight with committee and vaccines committee at the health to 34 other countries remain banned ban on planes and trains from the UK. ministry Prof Khalid Al-Saeed said the first due to the spread of the coronavirus. British Prime Minister Boris batch of coronavirus vaccines will arrive in European countries also banned Johnson said the infectiousness of the Kuwait tomorrow or on Wednesday, adding that flights from the UK yesterday and the new strain had forced his hand into it includes around 150,000 doses enough for WHO called for stronger containment imposing a lockdown across much of 75,000 individuals, as each person will get two measures as the British government England over the Christmas period. shots. He said over 60,000 people have regis- warned that a potent new strain of the “Unfortunately the new strain was out tered on the online vaccine platform. virus was “out of control”. of control. We have got to get it under LIVERPOOL: UK newspapers are photographed yesterday, showing front Saeed said the first stage of inoculation will As the World Health Organization control,” UK Health Secretary page headlines reporting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson introducing be to protect the most vulnerable, including urged its European members to Continued on Page 2 new COVID-19 restrictions and cancelling Christmas gatherings. — AFP frontliners such as doctors and nurses, the eld- erly and those who suffer from chronic diseases. He said pregnant women and children will be vaccinated later. surprised,” said the resident, declin- Saeed said the vaccine is safe and effective, Rare Christmas ing to be identified. Until barely three noting that around 1.2 million people have been years ago, it was almost impossible to vaccinated around the world so far and no one sales in Saudi sell such items openly in Saudi had any complications that required hospitaliza- Arabia, but authorities have been tion and there have been no deaths. He added RIYADH: Christmas trees and glit- clipping the powers of the clerical there have been allergic reactions in a very few tery ornaments are for sale at a Saudi establishment long notorious for number of cases. gift shop, a once unthinkable sight in enforcing Islamic traditions. Continued on Page 2 the cradle of Islam where all public For decades, Christmas sales were non-Muslim worship is banned. In largely underground, and Christians recent years, festive sales have gradu- from the Philippines, Lebanon and ally crept into the capital Riyadh, a other countries celebrated behind sign of loosening social restrictions closed doors or in expat enclaves. “It Ghanem urges MPs after Crown Prince Mohammed bin was very difficult to find such” Salman pledged to steer the conser- Christmas items in the kingdom, said vative Gulf kingdom towards an Mary, a Lebanese expat based in to stay away from “open, moderate Islam”. Riyadh who preferred to be identified “I didn’t ever imagine I’d see this” by her first name. “Many of my friends personal disputes in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh resident used to buy them from Lebanon or told AFP at the shop selling trees, Syria and sneak them into the coun- RIYADH: Christmas decorations are displayed for sale at a gift shop in Santa Claus outfits as well as tinsel, try,” she said. the Saudi capital on Dec 7, 2020. — AFP By B Izzak baubles and other ornaments. “I am Continued on Page 2 KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem, who last week won a third term as speaker, yesterday called on lawmakers to stay ‘Ice man’ sets away from personal disputes and cooperate to Singapore gets achieve the aspirations of the Kuwaiti people. new record in Ghanem also said that he has invited MPs for a shot in arm from meeting tomorrow to elect members of the Assembly’s permanent and temporary committees. freezing cabin But five MPs opposed to Ghanem yesterday filed drug demand a second request calling for an investigation into WATTRELOS, France: Frenchman Romain SINGAPORE: Scientists in protective clothing incidents that happened during the speaker’s elec- Vandendorpe on Saturday set a world record for sitting immersed in ice cubes for the longest time, work in a high-tech laboratory at a pharmaceu- tion, including allowing a group of Ghanem sup- tical plant in Singapore, whose coronavirus-hit porters to enter the house gallery. MPs Mubarak enduring the extreme challenge to raise money for childhood cancers. The 34-year-old health worker economy has received a shot in the arm from Al-Hajraf, Marzouq Al-Khalifa, Osama Al-Shaheen, robust global drug demand. The city-state is on Abdulkarim Al-Kandari and Thamer Al-Suwait said remained buried up to his neck in ice in a plexiglass cabin for two hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds, course for its worst ever recession this year but that some MPs posted on social media ballot papers factory activity has held up, thanks partly to breaking the previous record by 40 minutes in the for the speaker’s election that looked fake, as they countries rushing to stockpile medicines during northern French town of Wattrelos. did not carry the Assembly’s official stamp. the pandemic. He said he trained to “overcome human limits” by They demanded a comprehensive investigation The nation just half the size of Los Angeles into this matter and the role of the Assembly’s sec- neuro-cognitive techniques based on “imagination WATTRELOS: Frenchman Romain Vandendorpe tries to break the world record for the longest full body has become a center for drug makers and is retariat in this affair. The lawmakers claimed that a and concentration” to put himself in “a state of day- home to more than 50 factories, owned by big contact with ice cubes on Saturday. — AFP group of unauthorized people were allowed into the dreaming”. The feat was performed before some 50 players including Pfizer, Roche, Assembly building and the chamber days before the people and Vandendorpe’s mantra for success was GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda. Singapore’s drug speaker’s election, and they were accompanied by simple. “If we train, if we give our all, we can advance Chamonix. He aims to donate the money raised sector “plays an important role in the global members from the Assembly secretariat.