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of free petrol per month
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7Kuwaitis 21 75 liters 17 9 to get Housing allowance of expat teachers cut
Min 19º Max 37º High Tide 01:55 & 15:23 Low Tide 08:57 & 20:55
By B Izzak
Qatar trimming cultural plans DOHA: A 24-year-old jazz fan from Qatar, Hanan AlKaabi did not lament the closure this summer of the Gulf state’s only jazz club. Acclaimed trumpeters and pianists from New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center band had played at the club in the St Regis Hotel in Doha, a few miles from Kaabi’s house. But a law in Qatar forbidding nationals from entering venues serving alcohol meant she could not attend the club billed as the home of jazz in the Middle East. “I tried to go to an event celebrating the women of jazz,” Kaabi said. “It embarrassed me, the thought that I was barred from enjoying this unique art form in Qatar.” Her experience reflects the delicate balance struck by Qatar, a future soccer World Cup host, as it imports Western art and music to raise its global standing, while also paying heed to local tradition and curbing budgets due to low oil prices. The $20 million jazz club, with burgundy couches and a curved stage modelled on Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in Manhattan, was founded in 2011 by a Qatari real estate developer and sought to cater to both expats and Qataris by holding musical workshops for children and concerts outdoors at alcohol-free venues that Qataris could attend. Continued on Page 13
KUWAIT: Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah (left) and National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem attend a meeting between Cabinet members and MPs to discuss the government’s decision to increase petrol prices. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat
(Left) A large sinkhole is seen off Anjefa beach. (Right) Firemen in hazmat suits tackle a gas leak in Wafra.
Girl ‘strangles’ herself By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A nine-year-old Kuwaiti girl died before reaching Jahra Hospital yesterday, said security sources, noting that the girl’s father claimed that the girl had strangled herself with a rope by mistake while playing at home. A case was filed and investigations are in progress.
Burst pipe creates sinkhole A large sinkhole opened up on the road near Anjefa beach in Salwa yesterday after an under-
Jean-Pierre Sauvage
ground water main burst. The rupture caused a part of the road to cave in, creating a large hole filled with water.
Two hurt in gas leak The Fire Department’s PR and media department announced a leak of chlorine gas was detected at Wafra water plant yesterday. Firemen from Mubarak Al-Kabeer rushed to the scene, where they ventilated the building and evacuated it until the leak was controlled. Two plant workers suffered from suffocation and were rushed to hospital.
James Fraser Stoddart
Bernard Feringa
Trio wins Chemistry Nobel for molecular machines STOCKHOLM: A French, British and Dutch trio of scientists won the Nobel Chemistry Prize yesterday for developing the world’s smallest machines that may one day act as artificial muscles to power tiny robots or even prosthetic limbs. Jean-Pierre Sauvage of France, Fraser Stoddart of Britain and Bernard Feringa of the Netherlands “have developed molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task when energy is added,” the jury said. Inspired by proteins that naturally act as biological machines within cells, these synthetic copies are usually made up of a few molecules fused together. Also called
nanomachines or nanobots, they can be put to work as tiny motors, ratchets, pistons or wheels to produce mechanical motion in response to stimuli such as light or temperature change. Molecular machines can move objects many times their size. “The molecular motor is at the same stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, when scientists displayed various spinning cranks and wheels, unaware that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans and food processors,” the Nobel jury said. Continued on Page 13
KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq AlGhanem yesterday said the government has agreed to compensate Kuwaiti citizens for the hike in petrol prices, but a number of lawmakers immediately rejected the deal. Ghanem told reporters following a three-hour meeting attended by HH the prime minister and six Cabinet members, in addition to 38 lawmakers, that the government will provide citizens holding a driving license with a free quantity of petrol every month to compensate them for the price increase. He said based on calculations, it was found that average consumption is 220-240 liters monthly per driver, and the government will provide around 30 percent of this amount to citizens who drive. At present, it was agreed to provide 75 liters per month to each Kuwaiti driver and this amount will be revised monthly as part of a revision of petrol prices, Ghanem said. The decision does not include expatriates, who will continue to pay the new prices of petrol, which took effect at the start of September. Ghanem said the government agreed to accept the decision of the National Assembly’s financial and economic affairs committee, which had demanded that citizens be compensated if petrol prices are raised. The speaker said the government’s monthly assessment of petrol prices represents a “partial liberalization” of petrol prices, adding that the amount of free petrol given to citizens will vary monthly. This practically means that petrol prices will be changed every month, either raising or reducing them in accordance with international oil Continued on Page 13