Kuwait forms new government headed by Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sabah

Female security guard stands by as Kuwaiti lawmakers attend a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City. (File/AFP)
Female security guard stands by as Kuwaiti lawmakers attend a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City. (File/AFP)
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Updated 13 May 2024
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Kuwait forms new government headed by Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sabah

Female security guard stands by as Kuwaiti lawmakers attend a parliament session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City.
  • Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dissolved parliament on Friday in a televised speech

RIYADH: Kuwait formed a new cabinet headed by Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwait News Agency reported on Sunday.

Imad Mohamed Abdulaziz Al-Atiqi, Anwar Ali Abdullah Al-Mudhaf and Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Yahya retained their posts as oil, finance and foreign ministers respectively.

Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah also held onto his deputy prime minister and minister of interior and defense portfolio, as did Minister of Health Dr. Ahmad Abdulwahab Ahmad Al-Awadi.

Abdulrahman Badah Al-Mutairi retained his Minister of Information and Culture role, as did Adel Mohammad Al-Adwani who remains Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Nora Mohammad Al-Mashaan retained her Minister of Public Works and Minister of Municipality Affairs post.

Amthal Hadi Al-Huwailah was appointed Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Minister of Social Affairs, Family and Childhood Affairs.

Omar Saud Abdulaziz Al-Omar was appointed Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Communication Affairs. 

Shereeda Abdullah Al-Moushejri was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.

Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Wasmi was appointed Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

Mahmoud Abdulaziz Bushehri was appointed Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy and Minister of State for Housing Affairs. 

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dissolved parliament on Friday in a televised speech.


Cargo ship crew rescued in Red Sea operation

Cargo ship crew rescued in Red Sea operation
Updated 34 sec ago
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Cargo ship crew rescued in Red Sea operation

Cargo ship crew rescued in Red Sea operation

The crew of Panama-flagged cargo ship MV ISA STAR has been rescued in the Red Sea after sending a distress signal, the EU’s Aspides naval mission said.

“All crew members aboard the MV ISA STAR have been rescued and will be transported to Djibouti, the nearest safe port of call,” Aspides said in a statement on Facebook.

The vessel had reported flooding in the engine room, and the master requested assistance, as its crew of 20 were forced to abandon it.

One maritime security source said that the ship experienced engine problems, and another said it had reported an internal explosion. 

Details on the current condition of the vessel were not immediately available.

The sources said the ship was about 100 nautical miles off the port of Hodeidah, Yemen when it called for assistance.

Houthis have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November 2023.

It was not clear if this incident was linked to Houthi activity.


Flareup of Syria civil war is ‘bitter fruit of collective failure’ of diplomacy: UN chief

Flareup of Syria civil war is ‘bitter fruit of collective failure’ of diplomacy: UN chief
Updated 4 min 14 sec ago
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Flareup of Syria civil war is ‘bitter fruit of collective failure’ of diplomacy: UN chief

Flareup of Syria civil war is ‘bitter fruit of collective failure’ of diplomacy: UN chief
  • Antonio Guterres: ‘Syria is a crossroads of civilization. It’s painful to see its progressive fragmentation’
  • Coalition of opposition forces have launched their largest offensive in years, seizing Aleppo and now Hama

NEW YORK: The current flareup of the Syrian civil war is the “bitter fruit of a chronic collective failure” to agree a nationwide ceasefire and implement Security Council resolutions, the UN secretary-general said on Thursday.

Calling for the restoration of Syria’s “sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity,” Antonio Guterres added that “after 14 years of conflict, it’s high time for all parties to engage seriously with Geir Pedersen, my special envoy for Syria, to finally chart a new, inclusive and comprehensive approach to resolving this crisis, in line with Security Council Resolution 2254. It’s time for serious dialogue.”

Resolution 2254, adopted in 2015, outlines a roadmap for a political resolution to the conflict, calling for a ceasefire, humanitarian access, and a Syrian-led political process involving all parties.

It emphasizes free and fair elections, constitutional reform and a transitional government, with the goal of achieving peace and stability in Syria.

The civil war, which had been at a stalemate for the past few years, was reignited last week when a coalition of opposition forces, including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham — which is sanctioned by the UN Security Council — and an umbrella group of Turkey-backed militias called the Syrian National Army launched their largest offensive against the government in years.

They quickly swept through villages outside Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, much of which they now control. They met little resistance there as the Syrian military quickly withdrew.

On Thursday, they swept into the central city of Hama from which government forces again redeployed.

Rebels now appear to be heading further south, inching ever closer to the capital Damascus, President Bashar Assad’s seat of power.

There have been reports of civilian casualties, displacements of tens of thousands of people, damage to civilian infrastructure, and interruptions in essential services and humanitarian aid. 

Guterres discussed the current “grave developments” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He told reporters in New York that he emphasized to Erdogan “all” parties’ obligations to protect civilians, “the urgent need for immediate humanitarian access to all civilians in need, and a return to the UN-facilitated political process to end the bloodshed.” 

Erdogan’s office said he told the UN chief that the conflict has reached a new phase that is “being managed calmly.”

Guterres said: “Syria is a crossroads of civilization. It’s painful to see its progressive fragmentation.”

He added that during his tenure as high commissioner for refugees, he witnessed “the immense generosity” of the Syrian people who opened “their hearts and their homes” to countless Iraqi refugees.

“There were no refugee camps in Syria. Refugees lived among the Syrian people,” he said. “It breaks my heart to see their suffering grow, along with the threats to regional and indeed international security.”

Guterres again urged “all those with influence to do their part for the long-suffering people of Syria.”


Lebanon medics flee from border area amid Israeli strikes

Lebanon medics flee from border area amid Israeli strikes
Updated 25 min 34 sec ago
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Lebanon medics flee from border area amid Israeli strikes

Lebanon medics flee from border area amid Israeli strikes
  • US, French representatives of ceasefire monitoring committee meet PM Mikati and Parliament Speaker Berri
  • Hezbollah ‘remains committed to agreement’
  • Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab raps Israeli violations of truce

BEIRUT: The Israeli military on Thursday launched an attack near Lebanese Civil Defense members recovering bodies from clashes between Hezbollah and Israel by the border, forcing paramedics to leave the area.

A few hours before the attack, the paramedics were subject to Israeli artillery shelling while they were looking for bodies under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Chamaa village.

Several villages in Tyre, which were previously invaded by the Israeli military before the ceasefire agreement took effect on Nov. 27, remain subject to Israeli hostilities under the pretext that the Israeli military has 60 days to withdraw from the area under the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli forces prevented the area’s residents from returning until further notice and imposed a curfew on those already residing in the region.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health’s statistics, the expanded war resulted in over 4,047 deaths and 16,638 injuries, most of which were recorded during the last weeks as Israeli hostilities escalated in different Lebanese areas.

The Lebanese Civil Defense headed on Thursday morning to three villages that were subject to previous confrontations, using large machinery to continue searching for bodies, most of which were Hezbollah members.

They found nine bodies in Chamaa, six in Al-Bayadah, and one in Naqoura.

A resident of one of the areas that witnessed the confrontations said dozens of Hezbollah members had been killed, and “we were unable to contact them for weeks to avoid revealing their locations.”

The Israeli military continued on Thursday morning to destroy houses and facilities in the border area.

Its attacks included neighborhoods in Yaroun and Bint Jbeil.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that an Israeli infantry force — backed by a bulldozer and Merkava tanks — advanced on Thursday morning to the western side of Shebaa town, where it erected earthen barriers blocking the road linking the border village to the Naqqar Pond front.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab emphasized that Israel’s attacks “are a flagrant violation of the agreement.”

He added: “These attacks are unjustified. The agreement does not allow Israel to do what it is doing.”

Bou Saab said Israel “tries to justify its actions to the international community under the pretext of self-defense, but in reality, these are hostile acts and a breach of the agreement.”

Bou Saab affirmed that the ceasefire “was designed to remain in place and succeed,” adding that “in the coming days, the situation will change ... the committee tasked with monitoring the implementation process will become effective, and violations and attacks on the Lebanese will stop.”

Representatives of the committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire agreement’s implementation in accordance with UN Resolution 1701 have arrived.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese military redeployed in three locations in Shebaa while consolidating its forces in Tyre over the past two days in preparation for redeployment in the border area following the withdrawal of the Israeli military.

Also on Thursday, the head of the ceasefire monitoring committee, US Gen. Jasper Jeffers, and the accompanying military delegation met with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Berri’s media office said the meeting included “a review of the field conditions since the ceasefire took effect and the committee's tasks.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati received the French representative, Gen. Guillaume Ponchin, who arrived in Beirut at the head of a military delegation.

Mikati’s media office said he emphasized the Lebanese priorities, which include the cessation of fire, halting Israeli violations, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Lebanese territories, and strengthening the deployment of the Lebanese military in the south.

The ceasefire monitoring committee is scheduled to hold its first official and operational meeting next Tuesday in Naqoura, a border town that hosts the UNIFIL headquarters.

Representatives from Lebanon, Israel, and UNIFIL will join.

A preliminary meeting of the committee is expected within the next 24 hours.

Lebanon is closely watching the start of the monitoring committee’s work, which relies on halting the Israeli violations, officially recorded as exceeding 100 breaches.

The committee’s work under the agreement will focus on “monitoring the borders and preventing violations, with each party (Lebanon and Israel) reporting any perceived threats to the committee.”

The Lebanese Cabinet is scheduled to hold an exceptional session on Saturday in a military barracks in the southern city of Tyre.

This symbolic step aims to show solidarity with the areas affected by Israeli attacks, including Tyre, which lies just a few kilometers from the confrontation lines with the Israeli military.

The Lebanese Cabinet will hold a special session on Saturday at a military barracks in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre in a symbolic move aimed at expressing solidarity with the areas affected by Israeli attacks, including Tyre, which is just a few kilometers away from the frontlines with the Israeli military.

The session will be attended by Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun, who will brief ministers on the army’s deployment plan in the south.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah organized a field tour for media professionals in the south, starting in Chehaybiyeh and its commercial market, followed by Khirbet Selm and Souaneh.

Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said: “The operation carried out by Hezbollah last Monday, which targeted the Israeli Ruwaysat Al-Alam site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, was a preliminary defensive reminder in response to the attacks and violations carried out by Israel over the past few days.”

He said Israel had left no act undone in its attack on civilian targets.

In Kfarkela, Israeli forces targeted sports facilities, and in Khiam, they continued to destroy homes and demolish roads. They have also demolished places of worship in other areas.

He added: “These practices cannot be seen as adherence to the ceasefire agreement procedures.

“They exceed the agreement, undermining both the established protocols and the credibility of monitoring bodies.”

Fayyad stressed Lebanon’s right to defend itself and the people’s right to respond to these aggressions.

“The goal of the procedures is Israeli withdrawal, not making way to villages that it did not advance toward during the confrontations with the resistance,” he added.

He said that this puts the US “in a position of direct responsibility and full partnership in these violations, which undermine the implementation of the ceasefire procedures and represent a threat to the agreed-upon mechanism.

“We emphasize our commitment to the declaration of the cessation of hostilities stipulated in the paper and Lebanon's right to defend itself.”

Fayyad reaffirmed “the confidence in the important role of the Lebanese military, which is a pillar in protecting national sovereignty and security.

“Coordination and continuous follow-up with the army are ongoing,” he said.

Hezbollah MP Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan emphasized that Hezbollah “remains committed to the cessation of hostilities with Israel and to the agreement.”

Regarding Hezbollah’s strength, Al-Hajj Hassan said that “the party has not weakened, and its will remains strong.

“It has come out of a major aggression; no one could crush it, and it will only grow stronger.

“It is not an organization isolated from its people; It has allies who stood by it during the aggression and a large parliamentary bloc with many allies.”


Bereaved Gazans clear charred remains after deadly strike on camp

Bereaved Gazans clear charred remains after deadly strike on camp
Updated 33 min 30 sec ago
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Bereaved Gazans clear charred remains after deadly strike on camp

Bereaved Gazans clear charred remains after deadly strike on camp

KHAN YOUNIS: Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip worked on Thursday to clear bent metal sheets and charred personal belongings from tents incinerated by an Israeli airstrike on a displacement camp.

Gaza’s Civil Defense agency said that the strike on the tents in the Al-Mawasi area — designated a humanitarian zone by the Israeli army — killed 21 and injured 40, “most of them children, women and the elderly.”

Agency spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said that at least five children were among the dead, most of whose bodies were left completely burnt by fires caused by the bombing.

“We heard a huge explosion, so we rushed to the place. I saw fire and smoke in the area of the displaced people’s tents. There was chaos everywhere,” said Mahmoud Shurrab, 39, who lives in his home in Al-Mawasi.

“The bodies were burned, limbs were everywhere, and there was a huge fire in dozens of tents,” said Shurrab, who lost four family members in the strike.

AFP could not independently verify Shurrab’s allegations but saw the large fire caused by the bombings Wednesday night.

On Thursday, an AFP journalist saw a large crater several meters deep in the sandy ground caused by the bomb’s impact, as well as piles of bent metal sheets that had been used for makeshift shelters.

Men carried a body away from the rubble wrapped in blankets used as a shroud.

The Israeli army said that the strike targeted “senior Hamas terrorists who were involved in terrorist activities” in Al-Mawasi.

Eyewitnesses told AFP journalists on the ground that about 50 tents for the displaced were burned in fires caused by the strike.

“A missile explosion shook the area, and a mass of flames and fire set the area alight,” Ahmad Al-Siqali, a displaced man in Khan Younis, said as he stood surrounded by the remains of the shelters that previously housed displaced families.

“Seconds later, the remains of the martyrs, women and children, who were safe in their tents, were scattered ... in the streets and on top of the tents,” Siqali added.

Ezz El-Din Abu Subha, a civil defense agency paramedic who was dispatched to the site, said that after the first Israeli strike, “we were helping the injured and helping the citizens and also retrieving the bodies, and the place was targeted again.”

“The place is full of tents for the displaced, sheltering people from all areas, most of them from different families displaced from Rafah, and each family has a tent,” he added.

Al-Mawasi is a coastal area in Khan Younis that Israeli forces unilaterally declared a humanitarian zone in the early days of the war, urging displaced Palestinians to move there.

As the nearly 14-month-long war has dragged on and almost all of Gaza’s 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced, tents and makeshift shelters have covered the sandy area.

The area has repeatedly been hit by Israeli forces, including in significant deadly strikes in September and July.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack sparked the war in Gaza.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has resulted in at least 44,580 deaths, mostly civilians, according to data from the territory’s Health Ministry, which the UN considers reliable.


Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after weekslong hiatus

Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after weekslong hiatus
Updated 38 min 1 sec ago
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Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after weekslong hiatus

Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after weekslong hiatus
  • There has been a “reactivation” of efforts in recent days to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners, according to Hamas official Bassem Naim
  • Another official familiar with the talks confirmed the return of Qatari mediators

ISTANBUL: A Hamas official said Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach.
Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. But there has been a “reactivation” of efforts in recent days to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel, according to Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas’ political bureau who spoke with AP in Turkiye.
Another official familiar with the talks confirmed the return of Qatari mediators. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.
Since the talks broke down, there have been significant shifts in the global and regional landscape. Donald Trump won the US presidential election, and a ceasefire was declared last week between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel, but Naim said he believes the incoming administration could “affect the situation positively” given that Trump had made halting wars in the region part of his campaign platform. Trump this week called for the release of all hostages held in Gaza by the time he takes office on Jan. 20, saying there would be “hell to pay” if that doesn’t happen.
Previous rounds of negotiations focused on variations of a proposal calling for a multiphased ceasefire — beginning with a preliminary six-week halt in fighting during which female, elderly and sick hostages would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
During that time, Israel would pull back some forces, and displaced Palestinians would be allowed to return home. The sides would also begin talks on the next phase that would include the full withdrawal of Israeli forces, the release of remaining hostages and the terms of a permanent end to the war. A third, final phase would focus on reconstruction.
Naim said that no “solid, well-formed” new ceasefire proposal has yet been presented to Hamas. And even though ceasefire talks have broken down on multiple occasions throughout the war, he added: “I think it is not a big challenge to reach a deal … if there are intentions on the other side.”
Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage. Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
In the negotiations to end the conflict, the two sides have been at odds on some major points, including whether any halt in the fighting would be permanent or temporary and whether Israeli forces would withdraw from all of the enclave, and on what timetable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain a long-term military presence in the territory and vowed to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities and ensure that the militant group never governs again.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met separately in recent weeks with Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss Gaza ceasefire talks, according to a US official who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
In an interview with British broadcaster Sky News on Wednesday, the Qatari prime minister said officials in his country are aiming to reach a ceasefire before president-elect Trump takes office.
Naim said Hamas is sticking to the core demands it has held to during previous rounds of negotiations, including a permanent ceasefire, total withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and the right of internally displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes. But he also said the Palestinian militant group is “ready to show flexibility” on implementation, including on the timeline for withdrawal of Israeli forces from key parts of Gaza.
A previous round of talks in August reached an impasse in part because Israel demanded that it after any ceasefire it should maintain a military presence in the Philadelphi corridor, a strategic strip along the enclave’s border with Egypt, and in the Netzarim corridor that cuts from east to west across the territory’s midsection.
“There can be a discussion about these points, but at the end, Israel has to withdraw totally from the Philadelphi corridor, and the Rafah border (with Egypt) has to be opened immediately,” Naim said.
Naim said Palestinian factions were also making progress in deciding who would rule Gaza politically after the war. He confirmed that Hamas and its rival Fatah — which dominates the Western-backed Palestinian Authority — have reached an agreement in principle on forming a temporary committee of Palestinian technocrats that would govern Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war. Under this arrangement, Hamas would give up its political rule of the enclave, but not lay down its arms.
“Originally we are a Palestinian national liberation movement. We are not a movement to govern,” he said. “When it comes to the military wing ... as long as we are people under occupation, we have all the right to resist this occupation by all means, including armed resistance.
Israel says it will never let Hamas rule Gaza again, and is demanding the group disarm.
Hamas political official Khalil Al-Hayya had previously told AP that if an independent Palestinian state were established along 1967 borders, the group would lay down its arms. Naim said that remains the group’s position.
“Resistance, including armed resistance, is a tool,” he said. “It is not a goal in itself.”