Category: News

Some readers reported feeling an earthquake yesterday around 5PM. Turns out an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 hit Southern Iran yesterday, around 300km north of Kuwait. [Link]

Three Kuwaiti drug addicts and their massive dog were in their car heading out of their capital when a police patrol waved them to stop after suspecting their behavior.

The three quickly put the narcotics in a plastic bag and hid it under the dog before asking it to lie on the bag and stay there.

When the cops told them to get out to search the car, one of them warned the police not to come near the dog on the grounds it is savage and could be easily irritated.

“But the police insisted on searching the car…they were surprised to find that the dog is very calm and obedient…when they led the dog out of the car, they found the bag which contained hashish and other drugs,” Alanba daily said. [Source]

I thought this was funny to share.

[YouTube]

So the news of Kuwait banning gays from entering Kuwait by “detecting” them has been picked up by news sites all over the world including the Taiwanese company that create the hilarious news animations. They made one on this subject and it cracked me up. Check it out here.

Jimmy Fallon also mentioned Kuwait in his opening act which you can watch below starting at 4:36.

[YouTube]

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Kuwait will conduct medical screening tests to “detect” homosexuals who attempt to get into the Gulf kingdom, according to a senior official.

Yousouf Mindkar, director of public health at the Kuwaiti health ministry, said that the routine clinical screening of expatriates coming into the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) will include tests to identify LGBT people who will then be banned from entering the country. [Source]

Good luck with that!

A falcon was recently sold at an unbelievable price: KD 209,000. This is a record price for a bird of any kind. The unique falcon was sold during an auction held in Jahra.

…

This falcon is a unique Iranian Farsi falcon which was hunted by Kuwaitis in Al- Nuweisib when it was flying over Kuwait from Iranian mountains during the migratory season, seeking warm weather. According to a local daily, these hunters were training their falcons in the area, and when they saw this unique falcon, they immediately sent a hunting pigeon with a net to capture it.

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According to Al-Ruwei, if the falcon was hunted in Kuwait while it was flying over the country, its price would be higher than if it was hunted abroad. “People who love this hobby spread news about this on social media, so they always know where the falcon is hunted and when the auction takes place. When a falcon is imported into Kuwait, its keen followers will immediately know when exactly it entered Kuwait and passed through the customs,”

There’s a whole different world out there… [Link]

Metal detectors may soon be installed at all mall entrances in Kuwait following the fatal stabbing of a man on Thursday.
Minister of Interior Major Raed Buslaib said the ministry had agreed to increase security at malls after residents were shocked by the public killing.
“The ministry is now discussing the security systems in the malls. We agreed that the number of surveillance cameras should be increased and alarms and metal detectors should be installed at mall entrances and maintained regularly,” Buslaib told the Kuwait Times. [Arabian Business]

I hope that’s not going to happen just because based on current security setups around Kuwait at hotels and even at the airport, I don’t think it’s going to be effective since security tends to slack off. Also even if they did stop people bringing knives in from outside the malls they could still buy them once they’re inside.

Kuwait Times also have the full story on this weekends stabbing, turns out it wasn’t over a girl. [Link]

A Kuwaiti Airways passenger plane used blankets and bed sheets to block an air leak discovered through an emergency door while the jet was en route from Thailand to Kuwait, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Passengers began to panic when they saw the pilot and cabin crew hurrying to block the leak caused by erosion of a small part of the door, the Kuwaiti Arabic language daily Alwatan said, citing Kuwaiti Airways sources. [Source]

On the positive side it looks like they might be getting 20 new planes by next year.

According to the second World Happiness Report launched by the United Nations, Kuwait came 32nd in the world behind our GCC neighbors UAE (14), Oman (23) and Qatar (27). Kuwait actually dropped a spot compared to last year but on the bright side at least we came ahead of Saudi Arabia (33) this time around. Bahrain was the least happiest between the GCC countries coming in at 79 while Lebanon came in 97th, India in 111th and Egypt in 130th.

You can download the full report from [Here]

‘Deport Jet-Ski Show-Offs’
Personnel from the Kuwait Coast Guard, during a surprise campaign off Kubbar Island, are said to have seized a number of jet skis and speed boats for what the authorities called reckless behavior of the youths, reports Al-Rai daily. The campaign was headed by Assistant Undersecretary for Borders Security, Major- General Mohammad Al-Yusuf. Al-Yusuf has reportedly requested for the deportation of expatriates after impounding their jet skis and boats and referring the citizens to the concerned authorities for endangering the lives of others and causing disturbance to families and visitors to the island. [Source]

This is overkill. Kinda like back when they imposed a KD1,000 fine for barbecuing in public locations. I’m not saying annoying jet-skiers shouldn’t be punished, what I’m saying is that the punishment should fit the crime. Are people who are running red lights being deported?

Thanks Naveen

The Interior Ministry in cooperation with the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) is said to be looking for ‘pet’ wild animals which put at risk the lives of citizens and residents, reports Al- Anba daily. The authorities have called on residents and citizens to notify them if they are aware of any wild animals in their vicinity. The daily added, the authorities plan to confiscate wild (pet) animals and punish their keepers.

This is done in the best interests and safety of the people. The sources added the Kuwaiti Penal Code punishes those who neglect animals and the civil law punishes the owner by forcing him to compensate the victim if attacked by the wild animal.

The source pointed the concerned authorities have received several complaints accusing people of breeding wild animals such as tigers, lions and crocodiles. Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti man shot dead a crocodile with a bullet to his head after the reptile crept into his house recently in Salwa, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to reports the man was at work and his maid called him to say she could not enter the house because a big lizard was in the doorway. The man rushed home and found the ‘pet’ crocodile which had reportedly escaped from its keep from a neighboring house. [Source]

It’s about damn time.

via desertgirl

A car that was stolen four months back was found not by the police parked behind a police station. Hilarious. [Link]

Anwar Jawhar took part in an Ironman competition at the beginning of this month and he ended up qualifying for the Ironman World Championships. Anwar took part in Ironman 70.3 Cebu in Philippines and qualified for the world championship by winning in his age group 25-29 years old. He finished 1st place in the group out of 150 triathletes and was ranked 28th overall out of 2500 total participants including professional triathletes and the current world champion.

The Ironman 70.3 race held in Cebu Philippines consisted of a 1.9km swim followed by a 90km bike and finished off with a 21km half marathon run. Anwar Jawhar became the first Kuwaiti and GCC national to ever qualify to the world championships which will be held in Las Vegas on 8th September 2013.

I’ve run with Anwar before and after like 8KM I would be dead on the floor and he would have already run like 15KM as his warmup without breaking a sweat. Super fit is an understatement.

If you’re interested, you can follow Anwar on Instagram @anwarjawhartriathlete to keep up to date with his progress in the world championships and his triathlon career.

Last week the Kuwait Sporting Club revealed their new football kit only turns out it was plagiarized from the popular Paris Saint-Germain team. Not sure what they were thinking since they must have known people would notice. Yesterday the French media picked up on this and it’s now spreading everywhere with side by side shots. Seriously how hard would it have been to come up with a unique design? [Link]

As much as we like to highlight how some things in Dubai are better than Kuwait, they still have their own share of problems.

Norwegian woman: I was raped in Dubai, now I face prison sentence

Dubai police arrest ‘shock video’ uploader (Guy who uploaded video above)

Kinda reminds me how at one point Dubai had Flickr blocked but kept the prostitute hangout Cyclone open. It’s like they’re not sure if they’re an open liberal country or a closed one and they just flip flop between the two.

Update: The Norwegian woman has been freed. [Link]

With the recent crackdown on expats, one of the rumors making its rounds was that if you were caught with any VOIP app on your phone you would get deported. According to the Ministry of Communication, Kuwait has no plans to ban any app be it Whatsapp, Viber or anything else for that matter. [Source]