Are you happy in Kuwait? Science says...

YES! According to Adrian White, Analytic Social Psychologist at the University of Leicester, Kuwait ranks 38 out of 178 countries. The study incorporates a number of factors to derive an index number for each country included.

Corruption & Diplomats & Kuwait

Al-Rai Al-Aam published an article about new research reflecting corruption. Two American researchers conducted a study to analyze how closely unpaid parking tickets by diplomats at the United Nations reflected corruption in the country which is represnted by these diplomats. Some findings of the study (.pdf version) include:

• Kuwait came in first in terms of average unpaid annual New York City parking violations per diplomat from 1997 to 2002. Each Kuwaiti diplomat was responsible for 246.2 violations per year, with the mission hosting 9 Kuwaiti diplomats in 1998. Egypt, 24 diplomats in its mission in 1998, came in second (139.6 violations per diplomat per year), followed by Chad, who hosted 2 diplomats in 1998(124.3 violations per diplomat per year).
  
• The list includes 146 countries, with the last 22 countries recording zero violations including Turkey, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
• It seems the researchers forgot to include the American diplomats. It would be interesting to see where the USA ranks on this list.
  

Arizona & Kuwaiti Women Update

In an update of the Arizona case of two Kuwaiti women involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident, Maricopa County Superior Court sentenced one of the women to 18 months of supervised probation. The sentence, reached on 29th June, 2006, will be reconsidered if the defendant leaves the US by August 4th. The woman has already agreed to leave the country voluntarily, rather than go through deportation proceedings. The 20-year-old woman said she felt great, and was planning to move to England to continue her education. As for the other woman, she is still facing trial in absentia after she fled the US earlier.