Category: News

This is a Sheila MacVicar ABC News report produced and edited from inside Kuwait City just after the Iraqi forces fled at the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War. The segment was broadcast on World News Tonight March 7, 1991. It features many of the brave women that took on a major role of resisting the occupying Iraqi forces that had taken over the besieged city.

This short report was uploaded a few hours ago on Vimeo and sheds a bit of light on some of the Kuwaiti women resistance during the 1990 Iraqi invasion. [Vimeo]

Insecam.com recently made the news as a website that displays footage from thousands of unsecured webcams from around the world. According to the website there are 112 unsecured webcams in Kuwait some of which are located inside peoples homes. Right now I’m watching a couple sleeping in bed. Creepy. [Link]

If you have a webcam at home make sure you change the password since all the webcams listed on insecam are there because the owners kept the default password.

via crazyinkuwait

The National have an interesting article which I was made aware of this morning on Ali Al Nusf, a Kuwaiti accountant who helped get a troupe of clowns into Syrian refugee camps to entertain children. A pretty cool initiative and he helped make a difference. Check out the article on The National website [Here]

Thanks Mary

The Global Gender Gap Index seeks to measure one important aspect of gender equality: the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics. This year Kuwait came first among Arab countries coming in 113th place. Although that sounds great, Kuwait came 113th place out of 142 so yes it performed better than Arab countries but is still far behind the rest of the world overall.

On the other hand, UAE ended up coming two places behind at 115 and Saudi Arabia at a lower 130 which is what you would expect. What I didn’t expect though is Lebanon coming in five places lower than Saudi Arabia in 135th place. That’s just messed up. Check out the full report [Here]

According to KUNA, the Ministry of Health quashed reports on social media that Ebola cases were discovered in Kuwait, terming them as “baseless”. The Rumaithiya police station had requested the Health Ministry come and examine some Asian and Ethiopian expat women held there who turned out to only have an upper respiratory tract infection.

On the other hand Al Rai newspaper has reported that the detainees in question will be deported so problem solved.

According to alrayalaam.com, three men of African origin that were being held at the Rumaythia Police station exhibited symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus. The three men are currently being quarantined until the test results come out. Some sources like @aldostor_news have stated the three men actually are infected with Ebola but not sure how reliable those sources are so I wouldn’t panic until the results come out.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry’s director of public relations and moral guidance Brigadier Adel Al Hashash said expats involved in public fights or who incite “chaos” would be deported, because such behaviour was against the Kuwaiti law, despite not allowing a trial first. [Source]

That’s not a very practical solution. What if you’re just defending yourself? And whats the punishment for Kuwaitis?

According to Arabian Business, Kuwait has introduced new legislation that will fine people for various offenses like KD250 for picking flowers, KD500 for littering and KD100 for smoking indoors. Now the part I found interesting was that a new police force division was also being established to specifically monitor these new rules. I’m hoping this means the laws will actually get enforced this time around. Check out the full article [Here]

According to the latest 2014 Expat Insider report by InterNations, Kuwait ranked last ast the worst country to be an expat. The report is based on responses from 14,000 expats in 160 countries and the categories measued quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, family life, personal finance, and overall satisfaction living abroad. According to the report:

Kuwait ranks last in the overall country ranking. This is largely due to its low results for personal happiness and in the Ease of Settling In Index. Expats in Kuwait do not think it is easy to settle down there, make friends, or feel at home. Only 5% of survey participants feel completely at home there, and only 7% find it very easy to make local friends.

That reasons sound right but I’m not sure how Saudi Arabia managed to rank as a better place than Kuwait. Check out the full report [Here]

Update: Due to the lack of maturity by some I’ve decided to close this post for comments.

According to a video on @q8needsyou, untreated sewage is washing up ashore in Abu Al Hasaniya. It’s super gross so I’m not gonna embed the video here or post a screenshot of it which is why I’ve instead embedded a video of Clay Davis from The Wire. If you want to watch a video of untreated sewage covering up the beach, click [Here]

Thanks Khalid

There’s a local instagram user going by the handle @cannibal_q8 (pictured above) who has been posting videos of himself killing animals. In the first video I watched he skins a live rabbit on the street using his teeth while in the second video I watched he shows off a cute little desert mouse before biting it’s head off on camera. No idea how instagram is allowing these videos to remain up but supposedly local authorities are looking for him.

Just a fair warning, the videos I’ve linked to above are pretty graphic.

Does anyone know which twitter user they’re talking about in the article? [Source]

Does anyone know why the towers were lit up pink last night?

Update: Turns out its in celebration for the UN naming the Amir a “Humanitarian Leader”. More information on that [Here]

Thanks Ziad!

Since it’s a slow news day, here is a video and photo from a house thats under construction in Mishref that caught fire awhile ago.

[YouTube]

Thanks Wahab

Looks like ATM skimming has made its way to Kuwait:

More than 400 people have reportedly had their accounts hacked in an automatic teller machine scam in Kuwait City.

…

They said security footage showed a small scanning device had been attached to the ATM, which enabled the hackers to scan the card information and personal identification number (PIN) of the victims.

The information was then sent to the Dominican Republic, where is believed a fellow scammer used the details to create fake cards and withdraw money from ATMs in the Caribbean country. [Source]

What is ATM skimming and how to protect yourself? Check out the video below.

[YouTube]