Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah said Friday the consultative meeting of the Arab foreign ministers, due in Beirut tomorrow, coincides with delicate conditions and mounting challenges in the Arab region and the world at large.

“Those conditions require that we act in unison to reach a coordinated approach to addressing the current challenges,” he told reporters upon his arrival at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.

“Tomorrow’s meeting provides a chance for debating all affairs completely at ease without being restricted to a specific agenda, unlike the routine consultations being held at the Arab League on a quarterly basis.

“It is such a proper atmosphere that could help produce a united vision for Arab joint action,” Sheikh Dr. Ahmad pointed out.

Dealing with Kuwait-Lebanon relationship, he said both countries maintained firm integrated relations in all weathers, citing as an example the large numbers of Kuwaiti vacationers in Lebanon.

The political leaders of both countries maintain close contacts to serve the interests of both peoples and promote cooperation in all fields, he added Sheikh Dr. Ahmad was welcomed at the airport by Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou-Habib and Kuwait Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul-Aal Al-Qina’ei./aa

The price of OPEC’s basket of oils went down by USD 2.03 to reach USD 115.61 per barrel on Thursday against USD 117.64 pb the day before, announced the organization.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its bulletin on Friday that the annual average rate of the crudes basket, last year, reached USD 69.89 pb.

The OPEC+ alliance countries agreed on June 2 to increase their production by 648,000 barrels for July and August.

The current additional quantities are exceeding the previously agreed monthly increases of 432,000 barrel per day, a statement issued by OPEC+ alliance countries said./aa

The rutab dates season has arrived in Kuwait with early varieties of the fruit in all shapes and colors hitting the market.

The summer rutab dates have their taste and quality, which push consumers racing to the market to acquire them.

Some clients prefer certain types of rubtab including Al-Munsef, a type of date with a duel yellow and brown colors tasting and looking sweet.

Rutab dates were the main source of nutrition in the past especially for nomadic tribes of the Arabian Desert.

Dates generally could be stored for a longer period using the right conditions./KT

Fitch Ratings said Friday it affirmed the Asian Development Bank's (AsDB) credit rating at 'AAA' with a stable outlook.

The global rating agency said AsDB's business environment is unchanged at low risk, noting the bank's policy response to the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the largest among multilateral development banks.

The agency warned, however, warned that a higher than expected growth in the bank's lending operations, or a large increase in loan impairments, could lead to negative rating action.

A significant deterioration in the bank's risk profile, or a large decline in the bank's liquid assets to short-term debt ratio, could also result in a downgrade, it added.

Established in 1966, AsDB promotes social and economic development in Asia and it has 68 member countries.

The US and Japan have the largest percentage of capital in the bank with 15.5% each, as of the end of 2020./aa

The EU condemned civilians deaths in the conflict in Syria on Friday.

“The EU condemns in the strongest terms these crimes causing the deaths of so many civilians over more than a decade of conflict. These crimes were mostly perpetrated by the Syrian regime and its allies, including through the use of torture and other criminal methods,” the bloc said in a statement.

“Since the beginning of the conflict, the EU calls for accountability of those responsible for violating international humanitarian law,” it said.

It underlined that the EU will continue to stand with Syrians and remains committed to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.

UN report

The Human Rights Office said Tuesday its report followed rigorous assessment and statistical analysis of available data on civilian casualties and estimated that 306,887 civilians were killed in a 10-year period.

The estimate means that, on average, every day, for the past 10 years, 83 civilians suffered violent deaths due to the conflict, said the report.

The report notes that “the extent of civilian casualties in the last 10 years represents a staggering 1.5% of the total population” of Syria at the beginning of the conflict./aa

One of Germany's leading news websites has published a story featuring the inner face of the YPG/PKK terror organization.

The opinions of Turcologist Walter Posch, who is a member of the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management at the Austrian National Defence Academy, was given space in Deutschlandfunk on June 22 under the title, "PKK, Turkey and Kurdish terror."

"The fact that foreign forces focus on the YPG as they do not have their own troops in Syria is a disaster with multiple consequences," said Posch.

Posch accused Western countries of legitimizing the PKK terror group.

Underlining that he examined the so-called charter of the terror group, Posch said Westerners are deceived by the PKK’s rhetoric of a “democratic society.”

Contrary to what is believed, what the PKK wants and aims at is a communist society, he said.

Posch drew attention to the fact that the PKK wants to legitimize its power against all Kurdish people rather than wanting cultural coexistence of various Kurdish groups.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot./aa

Ukraine accused Russia on Friday of firing phosphorus bombs on Snake Island, according to media reports.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny said Russia carried out air strikes and dropped phosphorus bombs on the island, according to the Ukrainian national news agency, Ukrinform.

“The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation does not even adhere to its own statements, which declare a ‘gesture of goodwill.’ Today, at around 18:00, from the Belbek airfield, two Su-30 aircraft of the Air Force of the Russian Federation twice launched air strikes using phosphorus bombs on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, where they allegedly ‘completed their tasks,’” Zaluzhny said on Telegram.

He said everyone who talks about agreements with Moscow should know the facts.​​​​​​​/aa

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged regulatory framework for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to be protected from volatility.

"Secretary Yellen highlighted the need to continue to constructively engage in serious legislative efforts to promptly put in place a regulatory framework for stablecoins that would address current and future risks," the Treasury Department said in a statement on Thursday.

Such risks included safety, consumer protection and payment systems in stablecoins and the cryptocurrency market.

Yellen met President Joe Biden's Working Group on Financial Markets, in addition to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"Secretary Yellen emphasized how recent events have underscored the urgent need to ensure that stablecoin arrangements are subject to a federal framework on a consistent and comprehensive basis," the statement added.

Yellen's comments came after two stablecoins in recent months, TerraUSD and USDD, broke their US dollar pegs.

The controversial stable coin TerraUSD, known as UST, was initially designed to be pegged one-to-one to the dollar through an algorithm, but saw its price plummet to almost $0 in a matter of weeks.

USD Coin, or USDD, plummeted to $0.9255 last month, while it was also designed to be pegged to the dollar.

Biden signed an executive order in March to ensure responsible innovation in digital assets and cryptocurrencies, which outlined "the first ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology," according to the White House.

The order laid out a national policy for digital assets in six areas: consumer and investor protection, financial stability, illicit finance, US leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness, financial inclusion and responsible innovation.

It also included exploring a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by placing urgency on research and development./aa

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's gross domestic product (GDP) model showed on Friday that the US economy is already in recession.

"The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth, seasonally adjusted annual rate, in the second quarter of 2022 is -2.1% on July 1, down from -1.0% on June 30," Atlanta Fed said in a statement.

The level is down from the June 27 forecast of 0.3% gain, while the next update will be made on July 7, it added.

The bank said that real personal consumption expenditures growth fell to 0.8%, from 1.7%, while real gross private domestic investment growth declined to -15.2%, from -13.2%.

The steep decline in figures indicate that the world's biggest economy could show a contraction in the April-June period of this year, after it shrank 1.6% in the January-March in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Commerce Department’s third and final reading on Wednesday.

Most economists expected the US economy to be pushed into a recession due to the Fed's aggressive monetary tightening, which made a total of 150 basis points of rate hikes since March, and signaled more in the coming months.

A survey conducted by the Financial Times and Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business showed on June 13 that 38% of respondents estimate the US economy to tip into a recession in the first half of 2023, while 30% anticipate that this could happen during the second half of next year.

S&P Global Ratings also said Thursday that central banks' sharp interest rate hikes and persistently high inflation are expected to push the US and Europe into recessions next year./aa

The US stock market closed with gains on Friday to begin the second half of the year on a higher note after indices posted major losses in the first half. 

The Dow Jones jumped 321 points, or 1.05% to close at 31,097. The blue-chip index lost 15.3% in the January-June period of this year.

The S&P rose almost 40 points, or 1.06%, to end the day at 3,825, after diving 20% in the first six months of the year and posting its worst half since 1970.

The Nasdaq increased 99 points, or 0.9%, to 11,127. The tech-heavy index plummeted 29.5% in the first half.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, dove 7% to 26.70. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 2.8% to 2.889%.

The dollar index, on the other hand, rose 0.42% to 105.13.

Precious metals were mixed with gold adding less than 0.1% to $1,807, but silver falling 2% to $19.87.

Crude prices were up more than 2%. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $111.43 for a 2.2% gain, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $108.40 – up 2.5%./agencies