10 things you may not know about Kuwait Times

By Nebal Snan

KUWAIT: For 62 years, Kuwait Times has been telling stories of Kuwait and beyond. To mark the anniversary, here are 10 facts you may not know about the newspaper.

1. Kuwait Times was established and still stands in Industrial Shuwaikh on Sahafa Street.

2. The first issue of Kuwait Times was printed at Mogahwi press and it consisted of four pages only.

3. The paper witnessed and participated in documenting the most notable events in Kuwait’s modern history, starting with the establishment of democracy, the first parliamentary elections, and ratifying the constitution of the state.

4. At one point, Kuwait Times had 16-20 cats, taken care of by staff. It all started with a street cat named Lucy, which visited Kuwait Times on occasion in the early 2010s. Later, Islam Al-Sharaa kept the cat in his office to ward off a mouse that drove him crazy. Lucy’s family grew and Kuwait Times continued to care for the cats until a few years later, when they were all given away for adoption. Currently, another cat, also called Lucy, is a permanent visitor at the office.

5. Kuwait Times seized publishing during the Iraqi invasion. Few staff remained to protect the premises from Iraqi forces. Using thousands of schoolbooks that were printed at the press but could not be delivered at the onset of the invasion, staff barricaded the printing press and offices to prevent soldiers from raiding equipment. Islam Al-Sharaa, who was among those working at the time, said he foiled an attempt by the Iraqis to obtain the telephone numbers of Kuwait Times editors for the purpose of recruiting them to publish news in service of the invasion. The paper resumed publication in 1991 with 12 pages.

6. Kuwait Times was the first newspaper in Kuwait to launch a website in 1992.

7. George Clooney appeared with an edition of Kuwait Times in an episode of sitcom "The facts of life”, where he played a handyman and appeared from 1985-87. Clooney’s character had the paper delivered to him by mail and said Kuwait Times helped him keep up with the country’s news.

8. Kuwait Times communicated with the country’s growing communities and became Kuwait’s only multilingual newspaper, publishing in English, Urdu, Malayalam, and Tagalog.

9. In 2005, Kuwait Times started the first ever English language tabloid in Kuwait, the Friday Times — a 48-page weekly.

10. Kuwait Times and Kuwait News, founded in 2006, have joined forces in 2020, with a shared vision to provide the latest news and analyses truthfully and accurately.