A specialized government team has prepared a new permanent approach for the new government following the National Assembly elections, expected to take place before the end of the year, following an announcement by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah that the current Assembly will be constitutionally dissolved in the coming months, in the speech that was delivered by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah last week.

High ranking sources said, “the preparation of a new approach by the government team is a new move that makes the government program permanent that does not change with the change of ministers; rather each ministry will be committed to implementing its program to fulfill a major reform plan that fights corruption and achieves transparency, remedies the structural, administrative and financial loopholes in each ministry and integrates official entities to eliminate bureaucracy.”

The sources said the next government program is based on three main targets: Economic and financial reforms, slimming the government administrative system to reduce the number of government employees and send them to the private sector, and decisively remedying the population structure to make Kuwaitis 70 percent of the population and expats 30 percent.

Sources said the economic reforms include an increase in investment spending and reducing consumption. Among the reforms is to increase Kuwaitis’ employment in the private sector and boost the percentage of Kuwaiti labor to more than 59 percent in some current sectors in which Kuwaitis do not make more up than 25 percent. Also, there will be a strong start of the Kuwaitization policy to reach a percentage of up to 70 percent like in some sectors like banks and communications. The first of these sectors is insurance, where Kuwaitis’ presence does not match that of expats.

The sources said a law to appoint leaders and those in supervisory positions will be present in the government program, as there will not be an appointment of a supervisor without the presence of certain conditions and a certain period. They said the current state administrative system of the government is highly inflated and suffers from poor productivity.

They said remedying the population structure is now the worry of both the government and private sectors. The plan is to get rid of thousands of excess marginal laborers, while concentrating on only bringing in academically qualified workers after a joint decision by the Cabinet and Public Authority of Manpower (PAM).

Kuwait has stopped issuing visit visas, including family and tourist visas, starting Monday, June 27, 2022 and until further notice, the interior ministry announced.

The decision, made upon instructions of First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, comes to allow the Residency Affairs Department to prepare a new mechanism with regulations to organize and improve the visa issuing process, the ministry explained in a statement.

An Amtrak train derailed after hitting a dump truck in the US state of Missouri on Monday, leaving multiple passengers injured, according to the company. 

In a statement, the rail service said the collision took place in the afternoon in Mendon.

"On June 27, several cars derailed on train 4 traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago after striking a dump truck at a public crossing in Mendon, Missouri at 1:42 pm," said the statement.

The train was carrying some 243 passengers.

"Local authorities are currently assisting customers and we have deployed Amtrak resources to assist. Additional details will be provided as available," it added./aa

Madrid on Monday continued to blame human trafficking mafias for the deaths of dozens of migrants who tried to cross the land border from Morocco into Spain.

In a press conference, Isabel Rodriguez, spokesperson of the Spanish government, lamented the loss of life but applauded the collaboration of Spanish and Moroccan authorities to protect the Spanish border.

“To avoid these tragedies, this suffering, what we must do is combat the mafias that traffic human beings,” she said, not allowing the far-left Podemos minister Irene Montero to answer questions about what happened on the border fence.

However, several NGOs, activists and politicians say the violent repression at the border on the part of Spanish and Moroccan authorities led to the deaths.

The tragedy occurred on Friday when around 2,000 Sub-Saharan migrants stormed the border of the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

Spanish and Moroccan authorities used tear gas, stones, batons and rubber bullets to stop them from climbing over the militarized border.

Images from the scene show what appear to be bodies and severely injured migrants strewn across the ground without receiving medical attention. Others show the migrants, some with clear injuries, piled up on the floor with their hands tied behind their back.

“These were horrifying deaths, the scenes from Melilla are downright dystopian, exemplifying everything that is unconscionable about Spain and the EU’s approach to migrants and refugees, particularly if they are Black or brown,” Judith Sunderland from Human Rights Watch told the Guardian on Monday.

Hitham, a 22-year-old from Darfur, was one of only 133 migrants who managed to cross the border on Friday. Hadid, his childhood friend, who was crossing with him, was killed.

“Moroccan agents beat him, and that’s why he died. I’ve been crying every day,” he told Spanish daily El Diario.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat also expressed his shock and concern on the “violent and degrading treatment of African migrants.”

Like several NGOs, he called for an “immediate investigation into the matter” and reminded countries of their “obligations under international law to treat all migrants with dignity and to prioritize their safety and human rights, while refraining from the use of excessive force.”

Politicians from Algeria and Colombia have decried what happened on the border as “a massacre.”

An investigation, however, looks increasingly unlikely as Moroccan authorities were photographed digging around 20 graves for the migrants on Sunday.

"Without investigation, without autopsy and without identification, the authorities seek to hide the disaster. A true scandal," said Moroccan human rights group AMDH Nador.

Head of the Spanish refugee agency CEAR has also criticized the “coverup” and “impunity” surrounding the 37 deaths.

“There was an indiscriminate use of force. And this is extremely worrying because there were a lot of young people from Sudan and Chad, who are eligible for international protection. If they had reached Spain, they would have had a good chance, 80%, of obtaining international protection,” Estrella Galán said in an interview with Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser./agencies

Türkiye’s security concerns on Nordic membership bids are legitimate and must be addressed, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, Stoltenberg said “no ally has suffered more at the hands of terrorists ... including grievous attacks by the terrorist group PKK.”

The NATO chief said the alliance should redouble its efforts in the fight against terrorism, and a special session devoted to NATO's counterterrorism efforts will be convened during the summit in the Spanish capital.

“We are now working together on an agreement between Sweden, Finland, and our ally Türkiye to further address security concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism,” said Stoltenberg.

He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have agreed to meet on Tuesday at the summit.

“That will be a further opportunity to address Türkiye's concerns and move forward with NATO accession for Finland and Sweden,” he added.

Sweden, along with Finland, formally applied to join NATO last month, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.

But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting the terrorist groups.

For her part, Andersson said “our stance regarding PKK is crystal clear. It is listed as a terror organization by the European Union, and is regarded as such by Sweden.”

“Sweden condemns terrorism in the strongest possible terms. We are unequivocally committed to the fight against terrorists in all its forms and manifestations,” she added.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people.

Swedish, Finnish, and Turkish officials met in Brussels on Monday, Sweden's premier said, voicing “strong hope that dialogue can be successfully concluded in near future.”

“Sweden will contribute to the security of NATO as a whole, including Türkiye, in the spirit of solidarity,” she said.

Andersson said she spoke to the Turkish president on Saturday and the talk was “good and constructive.”

Continuing on Sweden’s efforts in the fight against terrorism, the prime minister said “constitutional amendments are being prepared, which would pave the way for criminalization of participation in terrorist organizations.”

“There should be no doubt that Sweden will continue to stand firm alongside other like-minded countries in the fight against terrorists,” she added.

Türkiye’s requests for extradition of terrorists are “handled swiftly and carefully” by the Swedish legal system, in accordance with the European convention on extradition, Andersson said.

"Sweden is not and will not be a safe haven for terrorists, the relevant authorities work intensively in order to expel persons who could be a security threat. And there are a substantial number of cases which are currently processed,” the prime minister said./aa