Category: Kuwait

Two days ago I was parked at the traffic light on the Gulf Road before KFC heading to Kuwait City when a cop in a tracksuit walked out onto the road towards a Ford Mustang that was a couple of cars in front of me. I recognized he was a cop because he was wearing a fluorescent orange vest with the words “POLICE” printed on it plus it looked like he was wearing his badge on a necklace.

Last night I was dropping a friend off near Holiday Inn Salmiya when I noticed a checkpoint on the opposite side of the road with cops again dressed in casual civilian clothing with the same fluorescent orange vest and badges hanging around their necks.

Not sure why they’re in civilian clothing but my guess is it’s connected to the recent crackdown. I’ve been hearing a lot of stories recently in regards to the crackdowns and it’s hard to tell what is real and what is just a rumor. Fajer has been trying to find out more in regards to that but she’s been facing difficulty as well.

Al Jazeera is featuring some great black and white photos of the bidoon community in Kuwait with all the photos taken by award winning photographer, Greg Constantine. Check them out [Here]

A friend of mine called me earlier tonight from Bneider telling me that the road was blocked towards Saudi near the Starbucks rest stop because of a new sinkhole in the road. I found the picture above via the almubarkia blog showing the hole. This is the second sinkhole on the 40 this year, the first one was back in February.

Tons of photos taken on Failaka back in 1985. Not sure if any of the archeological finds are still there or in the same state since the last time I was on the island was back in 1989. [Link]

A reader left the comment below under on of the old posts:

I will clear everything at the current moment, this house belongs to my dad’s uncle. In the Late 50′s all four brothers built quite similar houses, 4 of them to be exact, One in Shamiya, Two in Daiya and one in Salmiya (the one posted). Three of them were lived in and the fourth was made a diwaniya (the one in Salmiya). All the houses have been demolished and still are held by the same owners. They were two toned, white and blue. The only one left is in AlDaiya you could visit it, holds the same desgin. The house is not haunted, it was held on a valuable location that at the time it was impossible to forecast how much it was worth. How could people lower the prices of such a land create rumors about it. The family kept away from media and didnt care about any rumors. Since it was a sharp location

So basically the reason the house was vacant for all this time was because it wasn’t being used anymore and the owners were just waiting for the right time to sell it and not because the house was haunted.

The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index is out and Kuwait has dropped down a few places over the previous year. Kuwait is now ranked in 66 place when it was previously ranked in 54. Qatar and UAE are both tied in 27th place as the least corrupt countries in the GCC. You can check out the full list [Here]

Thanks Patrick

A reader sent me the picture above of what looks like a maid sitting in the trunk of the car. #wtf

Thanks Phil via @WaleedAlsubaie

Local blogger Abdulla was on his way home late at night when he found a cat stuck in the sewers. Him and his friends tried to rescue the cat to no avail and as they were about to give up they decided to call 112. They didn’t think they would be willing to help but called just as a last resort and to their surprise (and mine), the 112 emergency service responded professionally and sent a fire department team to help save the cat.

You can read the full story on Abdulla’s blog [Here]

A 3D tour of the new Al Manshar Mall in Fahaheel that will be replacing the old one. Looks pretty big. [YouTube]

Thanks Eddie

A reader (Alex) is starting a series of 360 landscape shots which he’s calling “Landscape in Motion”. The first of the series starts off under a bridge outside Kuwait City and you can interact with it by clicking [Here]

Make sure you click the “Stand Here” icons when you see them to be transported to a different location. And yeah Kuwait does look really beautiful in these shots.

A few days back an Instagram user going by the handle @aymanalruwayeh posted a picture of the beach near Shuwaikh showing how dirty it was. Someone from NBK ended up seeing that picture and decided to gather up some volunteers from the bank and go clean up the beach. Pretty cool initiative.

Tonight I passed by the Al-Maidan Cultural Centre for a showcase of new Kuwaiti writing and directing talent. It was just a one night event and a friend of mine was taking part so I passed by with some friends to watch the performance. It was my first time at Al-Maidan Cultural Centre and I was surprised to find out that the place was located just a 2 minute drive down the street from my apartment in Salmiya. It has a very nice setup on the inside and there seem to be a lot of different events that take place there all year round.

If you want to check out some of the events and performances that take place at the Al-Maidan Cultural Centre then you should download their calendar from their website [Here]

Assistant Under secretary for traffic affairs at the Ministry of interior Major General Abdulfatah Al Ali has warned pedestrians against violating the traffic law.

According to Arab Times report, citing Al Rai news paper, Al Ali said pedestrians must use only the zebra crossing to cross the roads wherever there are such signs. He also stressed the pedestrians should wait for the road crossing pedestrian signal to turn green.

He added violators of this law will be fined KD 25, a maximum of 15 days imprisonment or either one of the two penalties.

Luckily you won’t get deported. [Source]

Thanks Goldy

How much are your body parts worth in Kuwait? From a legal perspective and a legal perspective only, according to the Decree on the Regulation of the Table of Blood Money (DIYAH):

If someone hurts you by mistake with no criminal intent then they pay you the amounts listed below. If someone hurts you with criminal intent, then they pay the amounts listed below in addition to also getting punished for the crime.

Just a small note, the body parts add up. Death is actually cheaper than breaking an arm, a leg and losing an eye. Some animals cost more than KD10,000 so you would think a human life would be worth more.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

ATARI is an Asian influenced tapas restaurant that just opened up a couple of days ago across from Al-Seef Palace next to Slider Station. They’re still in their soft launch phase so they’re only open from 5pm to 11pm daily except for Mondays. For more info and some pictures including their menu, visit their Instagram account [Here]

Update: I was just told they’re not officially open yet but they’re taking reservations