KUWAIT: Kuwait has submitted a written memo requesting the International Court of Justice to adopt an opinion on the consequences of continued Israeli occupation violations of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

Kuwait’s memo noted that the Israeli occupation of the territories undermined efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state, and affected all aspects of life for the Palestinian people.

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Thursday received the UK’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the Jordan News Agency reported.

Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, and British Ambassador to Jordan Bridget Brind also attended the meeting.

King Abdullah stressed his country’s deep-rooted ties with the UK, expressing a desire to expand cooperation across several sectors and maintain coordination in the service of common interests.

TUNIS: Almost 800 irregular migrants drowned off Tunisia in the first half of this year as they tried to reach Europe by boat, a National Guard spokesman said on Thursday.
“789 bodies of migrants were recovered from the sea, including 102 Tunisians, the others foreigners and unidentified people,” said Houcem Eddine Jebabli, adding that more than 34,000 were rescued.
The North African country has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the perilous sea voyage in often rickety boats in the hope of a better life in Europe.

CAIRO: The Arab League and Egypt on Thursday condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by a group of settlers led by two ministers in the Israeli government, and warned of its dangerous consequences.

The ministers — Itamar Ben-Gvir and Yitzhak Wasserlauf — visited the flashpoint site on Thursday under heavy security from the Israeli occupation police.

The occupation authorities also confiscated the keys to the Dome of the Rock.

The visit occurred amid heightened tension in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

AL-MUKALLA: Power outages in Yemen’s southern city of Aden worsened on Thursday as private electricity generators turned off supplies in protest over unpaid bills.

Amid sweltering summer temperatures, the city’s state-run electricity company reported that many of the private firms that supplied the city with electricity had progressively withdrawn their services in a bid to put pressure on the government to meet outstanding payments.

Aden, Yemen’s interim capital, was among the cities liberated from Iran-backed Houthis occupation in 2015.