Thousands of students in southern Kuwait have stayed home from school to protest against air pollution from local oil refineries and industrial plants.
Yesterday, the schoolchildren, who live in the Ali Sabah Al Salem residential area 55km south of Kuwait City, began a two-day walk-out called by the area's volunteer environmental protection committee.
"The strike was total today. All 15,000 students stayed at home," Ahmad al Shuraian, the engineer who heads the committee, told Agence France-Presse after addressing 200 people who braved rain to attend a local gathering.
The Ali Sabah Al Salem residential area, named after the chief of Kuwait's national guard who is also the oldest member of emirate's ruling Al Sabah family, is known locally as Umm al Haiman.
It lies just downwind from the country's three refineries, as well as dozens of chemicals plants and factories that have sprung up around the Burgan oilfield, the world's second-largest conventional crude deposit.
Local residents, including children, suffer from unusually high incidences of respiratory diseases such as asthma, and cancer and skin rashes. They are angry Kuwait's government has not honoured election promises to rectify the situation.
"The MPs have betrayed us," Mr al Shuraian said, adding that residents planned to intensify their protests if the unprecedented students' strike failed to spur the government into action.
Kuwait's parliament has debated the issue several times. Last October, three MPs representing Umm al Haiman said unless some of the factories were shut down, they would force the prime minister to answer questions about the area's problems, but did not follow up with a motion to do so.
The government maintains levels of several air pollutants monitored in the region remain within the maximum levels allowed. This year it closed some plants temporarily and ordered others to abide by environmental regulations.
That has not satisfied Umm al Haiman's activists.
Khalid al Hajeri, the chairman of the local environmental group Green Line, has said children were particularly badly affected by the pollution. Mr al Hajeri said the local MPs had made "empty threats" and should stand down if they did not fulfil their promises.
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991, which resulted in the emirate's oilfields being set on fire, damaged the local environment and that of the wider Gulf region, international studies have shown.
But air pollution levels in Kuwait have since increased, according to research published last year in the American Journal of Environmental Sciences.
A Gallup survey of more than 1 billion people in 153 countries, published last month on Earth Day, April 22, found that 57 per cent of Kuwaitis were highly dissatisfied with air quality in the city or area where they lived.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
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PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:
2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
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Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
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Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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