The European Union on Wednesday condemned the execution of a juvenile offender in Iran.

The EU condemned “in the strongest terms” the execution of Arman Abdolali who committed a crime when he was 17 years old, Peter Stano, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson in charge of foreign affairs, said in a statement.

“The European Union calls on Iran to refrain from any future executions and to pursue a consistent policy towards the abolition of capital punishment,” he added.

“It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to crime and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity,” the statement said.

The bloc also reminded Iran of its international obligations under the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child that prohibit the death penalty for people under the age of 18.

Earlier in the day, Abdolali, now 24 years old, was executed at Rajaei Shahr Prison in the city of Karaj, west of the capital Tehran.

He was sentenced to death in 2015 for murdering his girlfriend.

According to human rights watchdog Amnesty International, he was given the death penalty in a "grossly unfair trial” after “torture-tainted confessions.”

Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Iranian authorities to stop Abdolali’s execution./aa

The European Parliament on Thursday gave the final green light for extending a cash-assistance program for the vulnerable Syrian refugees in Turkey.

With 588 votes in favor, 87 against and 14 abstentions, EU lawmakers approved an amendment to the bloc’s 2021 budget that allocated €149.6 million ($170 million) extra funding for Syrian refugees in Turkey, the European Parliament announced.

The financial support will extend the bloc’s multi-purpose cash assistance scheme which provides monthly transfers for the most vulnerable refugees to cover essential needs of rent, bills, food, and medicine.

The Emergency Social Safety Net is the biggest humanitarian program in the bloc’s history, which has helped 1.8 million people.

Without the decision, the program would have ended through early 2022, but the additional €149.6 million financed from the remaining margin of the 2021 budget will prolong it.

However, the extended scheme will require in total €325 million through early 2023, according to the European Commission’s estimates.

The EU member states already approved the extension of the humanitarian aid in September.

Turkey is the largest host country for Syrian refugees, providing protection to nearly 4 million people who fled the civil war, more than any other country in the world./aa

A global humanitarian organization on Wednesday called for urgent help for Somali people as nearly a quarter of the Horn of Africa nation is “struggling to feed itself due to an ongoing drought."

“Hundreds of water sources have dried up, and countless animals and crops have died as the result of the intensifying drought,” Save the Children said in a statement.

“Many families no longer have access to food and safe drinking water and have lost their life savings in the deaths of their livestock. In some areas, water prices have skyrocketed,” the statement added.

Severe drought is gripping most of Somalia as seasonal rains failed for the third time since late 2020, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

On Tuesday, Somalia’s prime minister declared a state of emergency over the deadly drought in the Horn of Africa nation.

Somalia is on the frontline of climate change and has experienced 30-plus climate-related hazards since 1990, including 12 droughts and 19 floods, the UN said on Tuesday.

According to Save the Children, around 2.6 million people in Somalia, nearly 22 % of the population, are affected by the drought and around 113,000 people are displaced.

“In addition, 1.2 million children under the age of five are projected to be acutely malnourished by the end of the year, with nearly 213,400 of them severely malnourished,” it added.

“Our staff in the field are witnessing dried up water sources, no crops, and no pastures, animals dying and people moving away from their communities after losing their livestock,” Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, said Save the Children’s country director in Somalia.

“Those who cannot afford to pay for water and food face the prospect of dying of hunger and lack of water,” Hassan said.

“This is an unsustainable situation for the people of Somalia. Somalis are resilient, they are adaptive, but no one can adapt quickly to such dramatic changes in the climate.”


Calling on the global community to take responsibility, he said: “Children are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis in Somalia.”

“Resources need to come, now, to this country so that humanitarian actors can respond to the worsening situation quickly and save lives. The time to act is now, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year,” he added./aa

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market opened lower on Wednesday despite US economic growth being revised up for the third quarter and initial jobless claims retreating to their lowest level since 1969.

The blue-chip Dow was down 102 points, or 0.29%, to 35,711 at 9.39 a.m. EDT, while the S&P 500 fell 22 points, or 0.47%, to 4,668.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased 154 points, or 0.97%, to 15,621.

The steep decline in indices came although US economic growth was revised up to an annual rate of 2.1% for the third quarter, from its previous estimate of 2%, according to the Commerce Department earlier. However, it came below the market expectation of 2.2%.

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims decreased by 71,000 to 199,000 last week, retreating below its pre-pandemic level, and marking its lowest level since 1969, the Department of Labor said earlier.

Despite positive figures, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was up 6.2% to 20.58 at the time.

The dollar index surged 0.4% to 96.88, and the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose 1.06% to 1.683%.

Oil prices were slightly down with Brent crude falling 0.26% to $82.10 a barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude losing 0.06% to $78.47.

Precious metals were down with gold losing 0.3% to $1,793 an ounce and silver falling 0.54% to $23.53.

A global human rights watchdog on Wednesday called on French authorities to "immediately investigate" allegations on involvement in aerial attacks against civilians in a joint "covert operation" with Egypt at the Libyan border in 2016-2018.

The statement by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) came shortly after the investigative website Disclose leaked a number of classified documents from the French Directorate of Military Intelligence, Ministry of Armed Forces, and armed forces general staff, unveiling information on a secret French intelligence operation in Egypt dubbed Operation Sirli.

The HRW noted that France had previously aided the "appalling human rights record" of Egypt under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a country that is "among France's top arms clients."

"France continues to sign major arms deals with Sisi's government -- also under a pretext of security and fighting terrorism -- despite evidence that some of these weapons had been used to violently suppress protests and commit other human rights violations," it added.

Citing a statement by the French Armed Forces Ministry on launching an investigation "into the information disseminated by Disclose" a day after its release, the watchdog said it remained "unclear whether the investigation would focus on the origins of the leaks themselves or the allegations contained therein."

"France should immediately investigate the allegations made by Disclose into the reconnaissance mission in Egypt's western desert and suspend all sales of security-related assistance to the Egyptian government."

Despite the alleged evidence of French complicity in the killing of civilians, the Disclose said in its report that French forces were "still deployed in the Egyptian desert."

In May, the website also revealed that Egypt signed an agreement to purchase Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth €3.75 billion ($4.52 billion).

It also revealed that a major weapons sale by France to Egypt was "secretly" signed on April 26 at Sisi's request.

Besides the warplanes, the deal also involved two other contracts with the France-based missile manufacturing consortium MBDA and avionics firm Safran Electronics & Defense together worth €200 million.

As a result, the total value of the deal amounted to €3.95 billion.

The Disclose documents also show that the Egyptian state has obtained a loan of which 85% is to be guaranteed by France./agencies

Kuwait warms to some long-term visas; Sponsorship system under review  After years of criticism directed at the sponsorship (kafeel) system, this system is gradually entering the cycle of dissolution. The labor market seems to be on the verge of witnessing fundamental changes, as revealed by a source who requested anonymity, reports Al- Qabas daily. The source explained that these changes are supposed to see the light in the near future, as the concerned authorities are working on them based on a well-studied plan in order to keep pace with the trends aimed at economic diversification and the transformations taking place in the labor market.

Similar to the residency regulations in force in some neighboring countries to promote openness and to support economic diversification, there is a tendency to grant residency periods ranging from 5 to 15 years to expatriate investors, owners of companies and commercial projects, as well as the CEOs in some businesses. The government is moving towards amending the system of residence permits and work visas, and diversifying the forms of residency in the country, without the need for the sponsorship system, for some expatriates who serve the national economy. These steps have finally begun in a practical manner with the concerned authorities identifying some aspects related to the beneficiaries of the new residency system. This new system targets investment owners who wish to implement projects in the country, and owners of existing projects who are under article No. 18 residency. They will be granted residency of up to 15 years on state guarantee. While this step can be regarded as a start to the dissolution of the current sponsorship system, the source indicated that it will enhance the plan to attract investments to the country and grant freedom of movement to company owners.

System
He said it is expected that investors covered under the residency grant system will be separated from the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) and will be granted their own residency based on regulations and legal actions that will be taken soon. The source went on to explain that the amendment will also extend the mechanism of granting the “self-sponsorship” residency by facilitating the procedures for those who prefer such residencies, especially those who have resided in the country for a long period, provided great services or worked in the government sector and have the financial capability to manage their affairs without the need to work. This approach is still under discussion in the relevant authorities, especially the Ministry of Interior and the Public Authority for Manpower.

In another context, an official source in the Public Authority for Manpower revealed that most of the residents who have reached the age of 60 and hold high school diplomas and below have entered the cycle of violations of the residency law, more than ten months after the implementation of the decision to prevent the renewal of work permits for them. He explained that this issue has exacerbated their burdens due to the fines resulting from violating the residency law. Despite the issuance of three court rulings that favor them and cancelation of the decision to not renew their residencies, they are still in a limbo. The hope that was given to this category has been dashed by the existence of amendments and exceptions that led to a waiting game, during which the residencies of hundreds of them have expired, in addition to the legal extension of some others.

Law
The Public Authority for Manpower receives on a daily basis dozens of residency law violators, who are above 60 years of age, and are attempting to renew their work permits. However, as of yesterday, the authority has not received any new instructions to allow the renewal of their work permits or implement any mechanism concerning them. The Central Statistical Bureau has issued its annual statistical report for the year 2019/2020, presenting a summary of the detailed statistical bulletins it issued during the year, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The report included a statistical outline of Kuwait in terms of the geographical, demographic, economic, cultural and environmental aspects. There were also official statistics regarding the number of expatriates in the country according to residency permits. The figures showed a decrease in the number of expatriates under government residency (Article No. 17) from 110,245 in 2017 to 100,189 in 2020, which is a decrease of more than 10,000 residence permits. The rate of decrease of the total number of expatriates in the country under all residence permits was from 3.97 percent to 3.65 percent. The number of expatriates under Article no. 18 (private sector work permit) decreased from 1,442,608 in 2017 to 1,384,336 in 2020. Regarding the domestic labor residency under article No. 20, the number of expatriates decreased from 677,592 in 2017 to 667,350 in 2020. The figures also revealed a decrease in the number of family residence permits from 540,904 in 2017 to 525,659 in 2020./Arab Times

Kuwait is seeking to attract regional and foreign capital to invest in its economic development projects through its ‘Vision 2035’. Part of the vision is the development of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway’s southern and northern banks and two artificial Islands, which will be transformed to hubs of commerce, work, leisure activities, and tourism.

Development of the southern bank of the causeway (Shuwaikh area) will be at an area 635,913 square meters with a construction capacity of 30 percent of the allocated region. The commercial activities will cover 12 percent with the ability to build eight-storey buildings, housing offices, cafes, and restaurants. The southern Island project of the causeway (at an area of 282,355 square meters) would have 20 percent used for four-storey buildings and 10 percent for commercial purposes.

The northern Island project, at 283,358 square meters, will utilize 20 percent of its total area, while the northern bank of the causeway in Subiya area, covering 565,504 square meters will utilize 30 percent of space. The public and private sectors will be welcomed to invest in the development project.

A member of the Municipal Council Dr Hassen Kamal told KUNA that Kuwait is eyeing ventures providing more leisure and commercial services to citizens and residents alike. The Jaber Al-Ahmad Causeway is operational and now is the time to invest more in the project to revitalize the economy and encourage business and commerce, he said.

The development of the two Islands in addition to the southern and northern banks of the causeway was presented to the Municipal Council and Cabinet’s Secretariat for approval. He affirmed that the municipality was in favor of all lucrative government projects, noting that a special session was held last August to discuss the nitty-gritty of the venture. – KUNA