Kuwait Times
KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah waves to the crowd at the official opening of the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. — KUNA
KUWAIT: The following is part two of a list of major local events that happened in 2015, courtesy of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA):
Defense and security:
March 19: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al-Sabah issued a ministerial decision on the establishment of Environment Police Department.
April 13: Kuwait Ministry of Interior’s Undersecretary Suleiman Al-Fahd and his accompanying delegation participated in the opening of the Interpol world complex and Exhibition of Innovation in Singapore.
May 10: A force from the Kuwaiti Army participated in ‘Al-Saqer Al-Jareh 4’ exercise Qatar.
October 3: Ministry of Interior signed a contract with (Airbus) to purchase four helicopters.
October 6: Kuwait Navy force carried out an exercise with the US Coast Guard.
November 3: Air Force carried out live-fire Shooting exercise.
Interior affairs and security:
January 15: Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) controlled a limited fire that broke out in a unit of heavy oil of the Shuaiba refinery.
April 23: Minister of Interior issued a ministerial decision amending some traffic provisions.
June 15: Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Yaqoub Al-Sanae confirmed the installation of more than 130 surveillance cameras in the mosques to secure the worshipers.
June 26: Twenty five people died and 202 wounded in a terrorist bomb attack targeted Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque at Al-Sawaber area in the center of the capital, Kuwait City.
June 26: Security authorities investigated a number of suspects in the terrorist bomb attack in Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque.
June 27: Minister of Interior Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah headed a security meeting after an explosion Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque.
June 27: Ministry of Interior arrested the owner of the vehicle which carried the terrorist of Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque.
June 28: Ministry of Interior confirmed that the suicide bomber who blew himself up in the Al-Imam Al-Sadeq Mosque is a Saudi citizen named Fahd Al-Qabbae born in 1992.
June 30: Ministry of Interior arrested five persons accused of possession of illegal weapons, in implementation of the law to collect weapons.
July 7: Saudi Ministry of Interior declared arresting 3 suspects on their relation with the terrorist attack on Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque.
July 30: Ministry of Interior arrested an Islamic State (IS) cell in Kuwait.
August 10: National Campaign to collect weapons, ammunition and explosives received 7408 weapon and 20.5 tons of ammunitions.
August 13: Ministry of Interior arrested 3 terrorist cell members and confiscated a huge amount of weapons, ammunitions and explosives hidden in a house and live ammunition in a farm at Al-Abdaly.
September 15: Criminal Chamber of the Court sentences seven suspects in the bombing of Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque to death, in addition to imprisonment of 8 and patent of 14.
October 30: Ministry of Interior prevented vehicles parking in front of mosques, Husainiyas (Shiite mosques), and places of worship for long periods.
November 6: Ministry of Interior arrested 4 expatriates for making offensive statements toward Kuwait.
November 13: KNPC put down a limited fire in Al-Shuaiba refinery.
November 19: Ministry of Interior arrested an extremist network funding IS.
Social Affairs, Public Facilities:
March 5: Up to 600 personalities representatives of institutions took part first “the Woman Enabling Summit,” hosted by Kuwait.
May 14: Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor renovated nine public parks.
August 2: The Minister of Social Affairs proclaimed two public welfare societies, “Al-Manaber Al-Quraniya” (Quranic forums) and “Al-Qawafel Al-Khairiah Lel-eghatha Al-Insaniah (Charitable Convoys for Humanitarian Relief).
August 19: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor launched service for booking wedding halls via smart phones.
August 20: The Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) issued permits to local companies to import sheep.
August 22: PAAAFR’s teams found a perished whale in north of Garo island.
September 22: The Ministry of Social Affairs signed a deal for establishing a blood bank in Al-Addan health zone.
November 19: The agricultural authority distributed 500 plots for raising sheep for sake of boosting food security.
November 21: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor opened the first public café on Failaka Island since liberation.
Municipality:
February 2: The Municipal Council approved forming a special panel for investigating permits of the communication towers for telecom companies.
March 3: The Municipal Council approved allocating a plot of land for building a town south of Sabah Al-Ahmad city.
March 16: The Municipal Council approved allocating Al-Markaziah area, located between Sabah Al-Ahmad and Al-Khairan towns for building a new town.
March 17: The Municipality launched Al-Mubarkiah market project.
October 19: The Municipal Council opened the 3rd session and decided to name the first ring road after Sabah I.
November 2: The Municipal Council agreed to specialize 17,000 square meters of His Highness the Amir farm for Al-Jahraa Hospital.
November 17: The Municipality began automated booking of land plots for the spring camps.
Health Services:
January 11: Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital opened an electronic pharmacy.
January 16: Kuwait took part the first time in the meeting of the World Health Organization’s Executive Council.
January 26: The neurological unit at Ibn Sina Hospital conducted a critical surgery in the brain for a number of patients suffering from diseases such as Parkinson’s.
March 1: The Ministry of Health secured new drugs for treating hepatitis.
March 4: The central laboratory got “100” rating by the World Health Organization.
March 18: A Kuwaiti medical team discovered a genetic pattern that causes cysts in the kidneys.
March 24: Kuwait became the first country in the Middle East to promote a new medicine for multiple sclerosis.
April 14: The chest hospital conducted a surgery in heart of a child, the fourth of its kind worldwide.
May 6: A medical team cleansed pancreatic cysts using gastroscopy.
May 20: The Ministry of Health employed a new technology in Al-Sabah health zone to treat stomach acidity.
June 13: Cardiologist conducted heart operation without wires for the first time in the Middle East.
August 16: Ministry of Public Works completed 80 percent of the construction works of the Jaber Hospital.
September 19: Kuwait hosted a Cuban medical team specialized in diabetics’ feet illness (diabetic neuropathy).
October 6: Minister of Health Saad Al-Obaidi got the WHO Middle East Award.
October 6: The WHO regional office selected Minister of Health as chairman of the 62nd session of the regional committee.
October 18: A Kuwaiti team arrived in Hatay, Turkey, to treat Syrian refugees.
November 24: The Ministry of Health trained 1,500 citizens on first aid in emergencies.
Education and Teaching:
January 19: Minister of Education Bader Al-Essa signed a cooperation accord with Microsoft on overhauling the educational sector.
March 29: The Ministry of Education and the World Bank signed a cooperation accord for overhauling the sector.
June 16: The Kuwait University faculty of engineering won the ISO certificate.
July 21: The Ministry of Education began updating the teaching curricula in cooperation with the World Bank.
August 10: Kuwait recorded 10 advance positions in the international arithmetic contest in Thailand.
October 1: The Ministry of education distributed tablets loaded with curricula to schools.
Scientific Research:
March 26: KISR signed a contract for Al-Shagaya initiative for renewable energy for establishing the first solar-powered station by harnessing winds with a capacity of 10 MW.
July 28: KISR designed a new nano-battery for medical usage.
November 30: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and KISR signed contracts for using wind and solar energy at the KPC headquarters.
November 30: The team of the engineer Manar Al-Hashash won the European award for the youth.
Foreign Policy:
January 22: Albania exempted Kuwaiti citizens from entry-visa.
January 27: Kuwait and France signed an agreement on developing lingual cooperation.
February 5: First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah visited the Spanish capital Madrid to celebrate 50 years of bilateral relations between the two countries.
February 7: Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled participated in the GCC foreign ministers meeting with the presence of US Secretary of State.
February 14: Kuwait chaired the Arab-African Coordination Committee’s meeting at the Arab League.
March 1: South Korea exempted Kuwaiti citizens carrying diplomatic passports from entry-visa.
March 9: First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah headed the Kuwaiti delegation to the 143rd session of the Arab League Council, to discuss the implementation of the resolutions of the 25th Arab Summit chaired by Kuwait.
March 11: Kuwait opened its embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Kenya.
April 2: Kuwait donated 25,000 pounds sterling to build a memorial statue in the British city of Sheffield to honor 47 UK soldiers killed during the war to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi Invasion in 1991.
April 14: Kuwait donated $15 million for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support Palestine.
May 29: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud announced Kuwait’s donation of $1.5 million for the UN’s youth program.
June 12: Kuwait elected as board member (executive authority) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
June 19: Montenegro allowed Kuwaitis to enter without visa permit.
June 25: Kuwait delivered donation of one million Canadian Dollars to build an Islamic center in Toronto.
July 6: Serbia allowed the entry of Kuwaitis without visa permit.
August 16: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Switzerland Bader Al-Tunaib signed an agreement to allow Kuwaitis with diplomatic passports to enter the country without visa.
October 19: Indian Ambassador provided Kuwaiti citizens with a five-year entry permit including facilitations.
October 28: Kuwait agreed to postpone receiving compensations from Iraq until 2017.
November 10: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed agreements to allow Kuwaitis with diplomatic passports to enter Russia without visa permits.
November 23: Kuwait and Nicaragua signed agreements with the presence of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The agreements included allowing Kuwaitis with diplomatic passports to enter without visa as well as economic and agricultural cooperation.
November 26: Kuwait and the UK signed agreements on criminal extradition and judicial cooperation.
Sports:
January 10: Kuwaiti Paralympian fencer Tareq Al-Qalaf won gold at an international fencing tournament held in the US.
February 4: The fourth International Arabian Horses Festival began with the participation of 565 horses from 14 countries.
March 2: Kuwaiti Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner Mohammad Ali won Bronze at the Munich international Jiu Jitsu tournament.
August 9: Kuwaiti rider Ali Al-Kharafi won the gold medal at an equestrian tournament held in the US.
August 10: Abdullah Al-Fahdel and Rashed Al-Dawas won gold medals at a Jet Ski tournament held in the US.
August 22: The Qatari football federation agreed to host Asian qualification matches for the Kuwaiti national team.
September 8: Kuwait beat Laos by 2-0 goals the football qualifications for the Asian and World Cup tournaments.
October 1: The Kuwaiti team won the gold medal at the 100 butterfly stroke at the Asian tournament in Bangkok.
October 7: Justice Minister issued decision to look into the conflicts within the local sports scene.
October 20: Majority of Kuwait sports clubs contested FIFA’s decision to suspend Kuwaiti football regional and international activities.
October 27: Kuwait’s sports authority contested the International Olympic Committee’s (OIC) decision to suspend Kuwait’s regional and international sports activities.
December 18: The Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium was officially inaugurated under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
Housing:
February 1: Public Authority for Housing Welfare started distributing of government housing in the Sabah Al-Ahmad area.
February 2: Public Authority for Housing Welfare began distributing government housing at the west Abdullah Al-Mubarak area.
March 2: Public Authority for Housing Welfare distributed government housing in Wafra area.
April 1: Ministerial decree issued to tackle problem caused by bachelor housing in family residential areas.
November 12: Ministry of Awqaf announced a housing project for minimum wage citizens.
November 26: Public Authority for Housing Welfare distributed draw cards for the 17th batch of housing units in south Mutla area.
Humanitarian aid:
January 9: Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) headed to Jordan and Lebanon to distribute relief aid to Syrian refugees living under harsh winter conditions.
January 30: KRCS distributed relief aid to South Sudanese refugees in Khartoum.
February 23: Kuwait donated $500,000 to support international efforts in combating Malaria.
April 18: KRCS launched campaign in support of Yemeni people.
April 26: Kuwait launched national campaign to aid the Yemeni people on orders from His Highness the Amir.
April 28: KRCS provided relief aid and assistance to Nepal after earthquake hit country.
June 10: Kuwait donated $300,000 for needy in Iraq and Yemen.
July 2: Five thousands Syrian refugee families benefit from Kuwait’s relief aid program in Jordan.
July 14: KRCS launched project to save children around the world.
September 22: Kuwait donated $15 million to support UNRWA’s efforts to educate one million Palestinian students.
November 5: KRCS sent 10 tons of relief aid to Myanmar.
November 12: Kuwait sent $5 million worth of medical aid to Yemen.
Major obituaries:
April 11: Renowned actor Ahmad Al-Saleh passed away at age 77.
May 21: Former Speaker of the National Assembly Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi passed away at age 75.
June 26: Abdulaziz Yousef Al-Adsani, former State Audit Bureau chief, passed away at age 84.
August 24: Former MP Falah Al-Hajraf passed away at age 93.
November 11: Former chief of staff Sheikh Salah Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah passed away at age 84.
November 16: Former MP Nasser Abdulaziz Sarkoh passed away.
November 16: Former MP Yousef Al-Mukhled passed away.
December 22: MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl passed away during a regular session for the National Assembly.
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