SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015 JAMADA ALTHANI 30, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net US, GCC Sabah Al-Ahmad Messi’s 400th Chelsea open and Yemen Sea City marina goal boosts up 10-pt lead coordinating ‘source of pride’ Barca title bid with gritty efforts2 for Kuwait3 in18 Valencia win United20 win Riyadh vows to cover Min 19º Max 34º UN aid call for Yemen High Tide 12:00 Saudi soldier killed in border clash Low Tide 06:00 & 18:45 40 PAGES NO: 16495 150 FILS SANAA: Saudi Arabia, which is leading a bombing campaign against Shiite rebels in Yemen, pledged yesterday to cover the entire $274 million in humanitarian aid sought by the UN for conflict-torn Yemen. The United Nations says hundreds of people have died and thousands of families fled their homes since the air war was launched on March 26. And border skir- mishes have now killed seven Saudi security personnel, the most recent a soldier who died on Friday. Fighting and air strikes over the past two days have left 130 people dead in Yemen, according to medics, military and tribal sources. Overnight Friday, 52 people were killed, including at least 27 people who died in the southwestern city of Taez during clashes between loyalist forces and the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels and air strikes. Saudi King Salman ordered the humanitarian pledge following a United Nations appeal on Friday for $274 million in emergency assistance for the mil- lions affected by Yemen’s war. The kingdom “stands with its Yemeni brothers” and hopes for “the restoration of security and stability”, the state Saudi Press Agency said, quoting an official statement. UN Humanitarian Coordinator Johannes Van Der Klaauw said in Friday’s appeal: “Ordinary families are struggling to access healthcare, water, food and fuel - basic requirements for their survival.” Aid has only trickled into Yemen, largely because of restrictions imposed by the coalition on its air- space and ports. The rebels swept into Sanaa last September from their highland stronghold and then advanced south on the port of Aden, forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh. Residents said explosions and gunfire shook Taez overnight during fighting between Hadi loyalists and the insurgents. Nineteen rebels, four soldiers from a mechanised army unit loyal to the president and four other pro-Hadi fight- ers were killed, a medical source told AFP. Rival fighters also clashed Friday night in districts of Aden, the main southern KUWAIT: People collect toys on the last day of an operation titled “I’m Here” organized by youth for the Global Youth Service Day yesterday outside a mall in Kuwait City. city, residents and security sources said. The operation aims to break a Guinness World Record by collecting 21 tons of toys before they are distributed to poor children worldwide. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Continued on Page 13 News Rouhani: Saudis will harvest hatred in brief Kuwaiti woman dies of swine flu US military option ‘old habit that dies hard’ KUWAIT: A female Kuwaiti citizen died at dawn yesterday at Adan Hospital after being infected with swine flu, the TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan has already called the Saudi-led airstrikes hospital director announced. The patient was pregnant Rouhani harshly criticized Saudi Arabia in Yemen “genocide” and a “major crime”. with twins and was in final phase of her pregnancy, Dr yesterday, warning that Riyadh will har- Iran has presented a four-point plan to Bader Al-Otaibi said. A caesarean surgery was conducted vest the hatred it is sowing in Yemen end the conflict that includes humanitari- to save the two infants, he added. The twin babies are through its airstrike campaign. Since an aid, dialogue and the formation of a sound and not infected with the disease, he said. The March 26, the Saudi-led coalition has broad-based Yemeni unity government patient was admitted on March 22 after undergoing treat- been attacking Shiite rebels known as after a proposed ceasefire was already ment at a private hospital. She was in coma when she was Houthis and allied fighters loyal to rejected by Saudi Arabia. Rouhani also brought to Adan Hospital. The staff struggled to keep the Yemen’s ousted President Ali Abdullah accused Saudi Arabia of providing woman alive, using cardiac revival equipment, Dr Otaibi Saleh. Iran supports the rebels but denies weapons and funding to terrorist groups indicated. The hospital admitted seven such cases in the providing any military support. in the Middle East. “What does providing past month - one passed away and the others were treated Addressing an army parade in Tehran, in a financial assistance and weapons to ter- and discharged. speech broadcast live on state TV yester- rorists in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq mean,” day, Rouhani said killing civilians in Yemen he asked. Rouhani added his military will bring neither power nor pride for should not be seen as a threat in the 700 checkpoints set up in Kuwait Saudi Arabia. Middle East. The presence of Iranian naval KUWAIT: Interior Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary “What does bombing the innocent ... ships “in the (Arabian) Gulf and the Gulf of for General Security Maj Gen Abdelfattah Al-Ali said Yemeni people mean? What goals are you Aden is intended to ensure the security of more than 700 checkpoints have been set up all over pursuing? Will killing children bring power neighboring countries and maritime traf- the country as part of security measures, focusing on to you? You planted the seeds of hatred in fic”, he said at the ceremony. the borders and areas of high density population. He this region and you will see the response Iran is supporting both Syrian said that it has been noticed that the number of sooner or later,” Rouhani said. “Don’t President Bashar Al-Assad and the Iraqi thefts, fights, unruliness and shootings have bomb children, elderly men and women government in its fight against Sunni dropped. He said that police are on full alert for any TEHRAN: Wearing ghilli suits, Iranian army troops march in a parade marking in Yemen. Attacking the oppressed will Muslim extremists, including the Islamic criminal or terrorist action. National Army Day in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder bring disgrace ... for the aggressors.” Iran’s State group. Ayatollah Khomeini yesterday. —AP Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Continued on Page 13 Farming lobby turns on Modi Egypt runners defy Cairo mayhem KANJHAWALA, India: Farmer Tarachand Mathur was one CAIRO: Young Egyptians are once of millions of Indians who voted Narendra Modi into pow- again organizing on social media er last year, but the government’s push to make it easier for and taking to the streets of Cairo by big business to forcibly acquire land means he won’t be the hundreds every Friday, not to backing the premier again. Mathur, 64, believes Modi has protest injustice or clash with police, turned his back on the plight of farmers, many of whom but to enjoy long runs through one have seen their crops devastated by unseasonal rains since of the world’s most crowded and chaotic cities. On a recent Friday the start of this year. “I am on the brink of ruin,” he said, morning, around 300 young people close to tears, as he tended the wheat growing on his gathered at a central square, a small smallholding in Kanjhawala village around 25 km north- fraction of the 2,500 that had signed west of New Delhi. “The rain gods don’t hear us and Modi up for the event on Facebook, but a has also turned deaf to our cries.” reasonable showing for an event India’s poor but powerful farming lobby flocked to held at 7 am on a weekend. Modi’s rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the gener- Organizers with bullhorns led al election last May, when the Hindu nationalist premier the crowd of young men and won the biggest mandate in 30 years. But anger in rural women - many wearing head- areas has been mounting over his government’s bid to scarves - in a warmup, and then CAIRO: In this April 10, 2015 photo, runners take advantage of emp- overhaul land purchasing laws, compounding woes over they took off, flooding a four-lane ty streets during an organized run in the Mohandisseen district of extensive damage to winter crops due to unseasonal rain road and occasionally parting the capital. — AP across northern India. The government argues the before honking taxis. Cairo, a city of changes are needed to spur development - from building some 20 million people packed microbuses, manic taxis, speeding gentle mocking, and women must new cities and factories to more roads and industrial corri- onto the banks of the Nile, with few motorbikes and the occasional don- contend with leering, lewdness and dors. green spaces and no jogging paths, key cart. The crumbling sidewalks occasional unwanted touching. KANJHAWALA, India: In this photograph taken on But its attempts to push the Land Acquisition Bill is an unlikely venue for distance are often worse - blocked by parked And yet despite all the obstacles, April 15, 2015, Indian farmer Tarachand Mathur running. cars, mounds of garbage and young Egyptians have launched through parliament have been stonewalled by a united looks at his wheat crop grown on the land acquired opposition, which controls the upper house. The streets are jammed at nearly mangy street dogs. Anyone who several increasingly popular by the government in this village some 25 km north- all hours with smoke-belching runs in Cairo can expect stares and Continued on Page 13 Continued on Page 13 west of New Delhi.