RAJAB 24, 1442 AH MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2021 16 Pages Max 26º Min 10º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18378 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net PACI activates website Debt-laden Tunisia public New Yorkers rediscover city’s United shatter City's winning 4 to obtain curfew permits 9 firms edge toward ruin 13 pandemic-deserted tourist spots 16 run, Liverpool crisis mounts Monster traffic jams amid chaotic start to curfew Health minister under fire • Opposition MPs livid after govt refers gathering to court By B Izzak for 12 hours after a spike in the num- ber of coronavirus cases. Kuwait yes- KUWAIT: As Kuwait entered the terday reported 1,144 COVID-19 cas- first day of a 5 pm to 5 am partial es and seven deaths. Health Minister lockdown yesterday, the country was Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah, who recom- in total paralysis with unprecedented mended the new curfew, was strongly traffic jams that continued way after criticized by MPs, who accused him of the deadline. Motorists posted hun- failing to manage the pandemic. dreds of pictures showing thousands Opposition MPs yesterday vowed to of vehicles motionless on most of file two grillings against the health min- Kuwait’s main roads as people raced ister for his mismanagement of the against time to beat the deadline. coronavirus crisis. A large number of “Nothing new...another govern- MPs immediately backed the grillings. ment failure,” commented MP Osama Two lawsuits were filed yesterday Al-Shaheen on Twitter. “I said against the government challenging the before...the biggest crisis facing legality of the fresh curfew, saying clo- Kuwait today is the continuity of the sures have devastated the economy and prime minister at the helm. He has the lives of people. The Municipality failed to manage the crisis,” said MP said yesterday that markets will remain Abdulkarim Al-Kandari. open from 5 am and close at 4 pm daily, KUWAIT: Fahd Al-Salem St in Kuwait City is deserted yesterday as a nationwide curfew from 5 pm until 5 am is imposed for a The government last week decided an hour before the curfew. month. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat to re-impose a partial nightly curfew Continued on Page 2 AFP correspondents at the scene. The Saudi pounds rebels reported seven air strikes on the city. “The military operation targets Houthi military capabilities in Sanaa Students complain Sanaa after and a number of other provinces,” the coalition was quoted as saying by the after being called Houthi strikes official Saudi Press Agency. The raids come after the coalition RIYADH: A Saudi-led military coali- said it intercepted a total of 12 drones to school for exams tion mounted air strikes on Yemen’s launched by the rebels yesterday, in a By Nawara Fattahova Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa yes- sharp escalation in cross-border terday after it intercepted a string of attacks on the kingdom. The coalition - KUWAIT: Students from several Indian schools drones launched by the Iran-backed fighting in Yemen alongside the inter- in Kuwait have contacted Kuwait Times to com- rebels, state media reported. The nationally recognised government plain that they are being compelled by their developments mark a new escalation in against the insurgents - said the schools to attend on-campus exams in the Yemen’s six-year conflict between the drones were aimed at “civilian” targets upcoming exam period. Some students claim coalition-backed Yemeni government in Saudi Arabia, SPA reported, without that their teachers are telling them to come to and the rebels, despite a renewed US specifying the locations. Targeting push to end the conflict. campus “quietly”, suggesting that they are hold- civilians in the kingdom was a “red The strikes triggered huge explo- ing exams on campus but without the necessary line”, the coalition said after the retal- sions in Sanaa and sent plumes of SANAA: Smoke billows following a reported airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition ministry approval. iatory strikes on Sanaa. smoke rising in the sky, according to Continued on Page 2 in the Yemeni capital yesterday. — AFP All public and private schools (with a few exemptions for special needs schools) have been closed for on-campus learning since March 2020. Islamic State group’s reign of terror. To investigate, Kuwait Times spoke with an offi- The 84-year-old was driven in his cial from the ministry of education’s private edu- Pope visits white, windowless “pope-mobile” into cation department to learn if any schools - the stadium, where jubilant worship- including Indian schools in Kuwait - have been Mosul, holds pers sat socially distanced on white granted the right to hold on-campus exams. chairs spread out on the greens. But according to the education ministry, all Others stood, craning their necks to exams should be conducted online. “We haven’t mass in Arbil catch a glimpse of Francis, in the issued any approvals for on-campus exams till ARBIL, Iraq: Pope Francis vowed stands ringing the Franso Hariri this moment. We are still waiting for approval yesterday to keep Iraq in his heart, as Stadium, named after an Iraqi from the ministry of health to allow schools that he concluded the largest mass and Christian politician who was assassi- want to hold on-campus exams to do so. final public event of a historic trip nated by extremists 20 years ago. Schools should only hold exams online unless meant to encourage the country’s In concluding the mass, the Pope they receive approval from us,” Assistant dwindling Christian community and vowed to keep Iraq in his heart even Undersecretary for Private Education deepen interfaith dialogue. The pontiff when he returns to the Vatican today. Abdulmohsen Al-Huwaila told Kuwait Times celebrated among thousands of smil- “In my time among you, I have heard yesterday. ing worshippers in a sports stadium in voices of sorrow and loss, but also voic- MOSUL: Pope Francis releases a white dove at a square near the ruins of the Kuwait Times then contacted several well- the Kurdistan region’s capital Arbil, es of hope and consolation,” he said. Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception (Al-Tahira-l-Kubra) in known Indian schools in the country to see if after visiting Christian survivors of the Continued on Page 2 the old city of Mosul yesterday. — AFP they were holding or planning to hold on-cam- pus examinations. Two of the schools contacted explained that they had requested approval against, on a 50.8 percent turnout. in public — whether in shops or the open country- from the education ministry to hold exams for Swiss voters The so-called anti-burqa vote comes after years side. But there would be exceptions, including for grade 12 students at the campus, but so far had of debate in Switzerland following similar bans in places of worship, or for health and safety reasons. not received approval for this. Other schools narrowly back other European countries - and in some Muslim- The vote came at a time when face masks are said no exams would be conducted on campus, majority states - despite women in Islamic full-face mandatory in shops and on public transport due to veils being an exceptionally rare sight in Swiss the coronavirus pandemic. even for grade 12. streets. Even though the proposal “Yes to a ban on The Yes vote risks “trivializing the xenophobic Kuwait entered another partial curfew yes- ‘niqab ban’ full facial coverings” did not mention the burqa or and racist atmosphere” towards Muslim women, terday due to rising numbers of COVID-19 pos- GENEVA: Swiss voters yesterday narrowly backed the niqab - which leaves only the eyes uncovered - Meriam Mastour, of the Purple Headscarves femi- itive cases, and this is one of the main factors a ban on full face coverings in public places - a there was no doubt as to what the debate was about. nist group, told broadcaster RTS. Very few women the ministries of health and education point to in decision hailed by supporters as a move against Campaign posters reading “Stop radical Islam!” wear the full veil in Switzerland, she stressed, and providing the rationale for the continued closure radical Islam but branded sexist and racist by oppo- and “Stop extremism!”, featuring a woman in a those that do tend to be converts and tourists. A of on-campus learning. The ministry of educa- nents. Official results showed that 51.21 percent of black niqab, have been plastered around Swiss 2019 Federal Statistical Office survey found that 5.5 tion had already announced that online learning voters, and a majority of federal Switzerland’s can- cities. Rival posters read: “No to an absurd, useless percent of the Swiss population were Muslims, will continue through the second semester. tons, supported the proposal. Some 1,426,992 vot- and Islamophobic ‘anti-burqa’ law”. The ban would mostly with roots in the former Yugoslavia. ers were in favor of the ban, while 1,359,621 were mean that nobody could cover their face completely Continued on Page 2 2 Established 1961 Monday, March 8, 2021 Local Deputy Amir receives state officials at Seif Palace KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets His meets National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem. — KUNA photos Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets Deputy His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah.