Page 7 - Al-Rashed Newsletter March 2022

KUWAIT & IRAQ
KUWAIT NEWS

COVID-19: Kuwait bans iftar in mosques
Kuwait has banned iftar banquets inside mosques during the upcoming
Muslim holy month of Ramadan as a precaution against spread of COVID-
19, a local newspaper has reported.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf (Endowments) and Islamic Affairs, has
stressed the ban in a circular that, however, allows the benevolent
distribution of pre-cooked meals outside mosques for people to eat at the
sunset when daily fasting ends, Al Jarida added.

Hyundai wins contract to expand Kuwait’s Al-Shuwaikh port
Hyundai Engineering & Construction has won a $160m contract to develop
seven berths at the port of Mina Al-Shuwaikh in Kuwait City, Zawya reports.
It is one of 12 projects approved by Kuwait Ports Authority to expand
capacity ahead of an expected upturn in business.
The authority has also awarded contracts for infrastructure and power works
at Shuaiba Port in southern Kuwait with a combined value of about $63m.
Mina Al-Shuwaikh is the main manufacturing and industrial area of Kuwait,
and is also home to its free trade zone. The port has 21 berths with a total
length of a little over 4km.
The contract comes four months after the South Korean company led a
consortium that completed the world’s largest LNG import and regasification
terminal in Kuwait six months ahead of schedule. That $2.9bn project was
located on Kuwait’s Al-Zour coast.

IRAQ NEWS

In a 'dangerous' land: tourists trickle back to Iraq
Most foreigners here since Saddam's ouster in a 2003 US-led invasion have
worn army fatigues and carried guns -- but more recently there has been a
trickle of camera-toting travel pioneers.
"Iraq was in my top three countries," said the visitor to Babylon, 50-year-old
Californian Ileana Ovalle, who was excited to see the millennia-old
Mesopotamian site.
“FORTUNE FAVORS THE
"This is where civilization started," said the passionate globetrotter with
BOLD."- VIRGIL some 40 countries under her belt. "I think too few people understand how

important this region is."
Most Western governments still issue travel warnings for all or parts of Iraq,
pointing to risks from kidnappings to jihadist bombings and unexploded
ordnance from multiple wars.
But for some explorers who are unafraid of the odd military roadblock, Iraq is
a hot new destination with multiple World Heritage sites that is slowly
reopening to the world.
Source: france24.com, Arabtbusiness.com ,Gulfnews.com
Retirees and YouTubers, on package tours or lugging backpacks, are
braving Iraq's still basic tourist infrastructure to visit ancient sites that rival
those of Egypt, Syria and Jordan.