Category: News

Kuwait is saying “no” to “Pokemon Go” in certain places. The tiny oil-rich emirate’s Interior Ministry issued a statement Friday warning users of the smash mobile phone application from taking pictures of any vital government, military or security location.

It also warned users not to pounce on Pikachus or chase Charmanders at mosques, shopping centers, malls and oil installations.

Lt. Gen. Sulaiman al-Fahad at the ministry said: “No excuses will be accepted by anyone claiming ignorance of the law.”

Though “Pokemon Go” hasn’t officially come to nations in the Persian Gulf, many have downloaded the app. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates also have warned users to be careful while chasing digital critters in the augmented reality game. [Source]

I can understand why they’re warning users not to play Pokemon in sensitive government and military locations but malls??

via Nibaq

Yesterday the Daily Mail published an article on the dogs that were killed in Kuwait by the American security company and since then it’s been gaining a lot of traction online. Awhile ago it even hit the top of the World News subreddit on Reddit. If you haven’t seen the Daily Mail article yet you can check it out by clicking [Here]

Update: It made it to the New York Post!

Dr. Eman Al-Shammari entered Guinness Book of World Records with the biggest digital photo album, adding another entry of Kuwait in the most famous reference book.

By organizing an anti-bullying campaign under the slogan (Shame on You), Al-Shammari received late on Monday a letter from Guinness Book of World Records after collecting the biggest digital photo album of different people with a sign expressing Kuwait’s keenness on fighting sectarian, ethnic, and school bullying.

The voluntary campaign managed to collect more than 13,000 photos of people carrying a sign that read (Shame on You) to help victims of bullying, especially children, to face such conduct, whether in schools or anywhere else, Al-Shammari told KUNA. [Source]

There must have been something lost in translation cuz I doubt the record is for the biggest digital photo album when most people have more than 13,000 photos on their phone. Unless the record is very specific one, the kind you can submit yourself to Guinness via their website so the record would be “the biggest digital photo album of different people holding a sign up with the message Shame on You”. Thats the only way this makes any sense.

Since we are on the subject, if you’d like to see all the Guinness World Records Kuwait has broken then click [Here]

The most random one is Fastest time to undress a male mannequin..

Starting from today Entertainment City will be closed for renovations. No time estimate was given to when the renovations will be completed but my guess is since they closed it on the first day of Ramadan, then they’ll reopen the park just in time for Eid a month from now. That is unless it’s a major overhaul and the rumors about Six Flags taking over are true then expect it to be closed for awhile. But since nobody goes there anyway, I doubt anyone will notice. I just hope they fix the Australian log ride, that ride has been closed for years and it was the best thing there.

via Frankom

The 2016 edition of the Global Slavery Index was released a couple of days ago and Kuwait came in 108th place. There are an estimated 18,200 slaves in Kuwait at the moment putting Kuwait in 25th place in the “Estimated Proportion of Population in Modern Slavery by Country” list. [Source]

I ain’t surprised.

Kuwait has awarded a KD 1.3bn ($4.3bn) contract to Turkish firm Limak Construction – the lowest bidder – to construct the new passenger terminal at the Kuwait International Airport.

The 708,000 square metre new passenger terminal will have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers per year.

It will also be able to accommodate all aircraft types through 51 gates and stands with the ability to serve 21 A380 jumbo jets simultaneously.

The terminal is scheduled for completion in six years, a statement said. The contract also includes the provision of maintenance for an additional two years. [Source]

Even though I heard there was a bit on controversy since the project was awarded to a firm previously disqualified, at least we’re finally going to get a new airport!

Restaurant group Arby’s is reportedly planning to open 25 locations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia over the next seven years in its first international expansion since 2010.

The Middle East locations will be owned and operated by Johnny Rockets regional franchise owner Kharafi Global, Arby’s chief executive Paul Brown told Bloomberg. The first is expected to open in Kuwait this year. [Source]

A&W
Arby’s
Chick-fil-A
In-N-Out
Wendy’s

My wish list is getting shorter.

On landing in Kuwait, immigration officials confiscated her documents, along with those of all the other women.

The moment the immigration officials saw that I had a domestic work visa, they took away my passport and I was taken to a room where dozens of other girls were locked up.

They spent the night without food, water or blankets amid the wintry temperatures. Though gravely uneasy, she tried to comfort herself with thoughts that things would be better in the morning.

I was released the following morning when a lady by the name Hanan who introduced herself as our employment agent came to pick us up.

A clickbait title and a story is one we’ve heard over and over, but one thing caught my interest in the article and it’s the paragraph above. Why are immigration officials confiscating the passports of domestic workers and then locking them up in rooms overnight without food and water? I find it disturbing because it gives the impressions that the local authorities condone this trade.

Here is a link to the article and full story [Link]

Responding to complaints filed by citizens living in block 12 in Salmiya concerning being surrounded by ‘bachelors,’ the municipality recently launched a campaign in the area, giving bachelors three-day eviction ultimatums before disconnecting electricity as instructed by municipality director Ahmad Al-Manfouhi.

Head of the inspection team Ritadh Al-Rabee’ said that the team distributed 20 warning notices to house inhabited by bachelors and said that electricity would be disconnected and owners would be fined. He added that once the ultimatum is over, the municipality teams would be escorted by a police force to evict residents. “The law will be equally applied to everyone without any wasta,” he stressed, noting that if any officials intervene, their names and positions would be reported to the municipality director. [Source]

This doesn’t make any sense at all plus is really unfair and then to top it off they’re giving them just 3 days to move out? WTF?

The daily said in less than one week following the suspension of two presenters Ghada Al-Sarraj and Bedour Sadek due to heated argument between them on air in front of guest during the live program Sabah Al-Khair Ya Kuwait (Good Morning Kuwait) on KTV 1, another decision has been issued to suspend two other presenters Masha’al Al-Zinkawi and Ahmed Al-Wasmi following a controversial dialogue between them while on air during the Masa’a Al-Khair Ya Kuwait (Good Evening Kuwait) last Sunday. [Source]

The “heated argument” in question that got Ghada and Bedour suspended is posted above. I can’t believe that got them suspended, I wouldn’t have even given them a slap on the wrist. If anything that was probably the most entertaining thing to happen on KTV since WWE fighter Big Van Vader attacked a KTV anchor live on air.

MP Yousef Al-Zalzalah strongly criticized the passport counter staff at Kuwait International Airport, saying that their behavior with arriving passengers is very ‘reckless’.

Zalzalah also suggested that MoI should send these employees to get training courses at Dubai airport on how to deal with the public and passengers. “The airport is visitors’ first encounter of Kuwait and they should get a first impression that they are in a hospitable country,” he said, noting that contrarily, airport passport clerks seem to insist on giving a very bad impression about Kuwait with the way they deal with passengers.

Zalzalah also suggested that these employees should be banned from using their mobile phones on duty, because according to him, 95 percent of these employees’ time was spent on mobile phones while they only spend five percent of their working hours actually doing their jobs. [Source]

Is there anyone that hasn’t yet complained about the immigration officers? Yet nothing seems to be getting done about it.

Kuwait is taking homeland security to new heights — or, as some see it — new lows.

Later this year, the Persian Gulf nation will require its citizens, temporary residents and tourists to submit DNA samples to a $400 million security database.

Kuwait’s National Assembly passed the law in July, a month after an ISIS suicide bomber killed 27 people and injured 227 in the country’s capital.
“We are prepared to approve anything needed to boost security measures in the country,” Jamal al-Omar, a parliament member, told Agence France-Presse.

The government will collect saliva and blood samples from anyone living there. Tourists will have to submit their own samples before entering the country.

Disobeying the law will cost you. Those who refuse to provide samples can face up to a year in jail and a $33,000 fine; falsifying DNA samples will result in seven years behind bars.

While the Kuwait’s department of criminal evidence insists that the database won’t affect personal freedoms, the law has sparked outrage. Some travelers tweeted that they won’t be returning to the country anytime soon. [Source]

This is going to be great for the local tourism industry.

Update: Newsweek has also posted about this [Here]

Visitors to Kuwait will also have to provide DNA samples to the government. When arriving by plane, visitors will stop at a center at Kuwait International Airport to have their DNA sample taken. Bruce Schneier, a prominent American privacy and cybersecurity specialist, says that the collection will likely be a standard cheek swab.

For citizens, the Kuwaiti government will have mobile centers to collect samples. Anyone faking the DNA samples faces up to a maximum seven years in prison.

A new policy was introduced this month by the Ministry of Commerce stipulating that restaurants can no longer have a minimum order amount for delivery. They’ve also added that delivery charges can also not exceed 250fils if the delivery location is within the restaurants area and 500fils if outside it.

I know from a friend of mine who has a business that they’re not too happy about the change but from a consumer point of view this seems like good news. Talabat has already started contacting all the restaurants letting them know of this change but a lot still have a “Minimum Order Amount” in place. According to Talabat “it will take a considerable amount of time for the remaining restaurants to adhere to this new regulation.”

I rarely order delivery so not sure how bad the charges are or the minimum order amounts but I’m assuming they must have been ridiculous for them to create this new policy. I tried to find an English (or Arabic) source for this news but I couldn’t so if you find one let me know so I can link to it.

I just received an internal Fasstelco memo (which I can’t share) announcing that Ooredoo will be purchasing 100% of their shares. The memo doesn’t go into much detail on what will become of Fasttelco, if they will continue to be run as a separate entity and keep their brand or if they’ll be merged under Ooredoo which is what I think will most likely happen.

Ooredoo customers are probably going to benefit the most out of this since to my understanding all the telecom operators get their internet from the internet providers. By becoming an internet provider themselves, they can reduce their costs or offer more speed and bandwidth for the same price. Ooredoo just became a lot more interesting.

I just found out via Kuwait Times that the Sawaber complexes are being prepared for demolition soon. I think I’m more sad about Sawaber getting demolished than I am about Bayt Lothan. Why demolish the buildings instead of restoring them? They’re beautiful buildings, with huge apartments (295 square meters), lots of outdoor space and most importantly, they’re located right in the heart of the city. I’d love to live there and I’m sure many others would as well.

You can check out the article on Kuwait Times [Here], but if you’re looking for an interesting historical read on Sawaber, check out this research paper called “The Destruction of Modernist Heritage: The Myth of Al-Sawaber” by Asseel Al-Ragam [PDF]