AMMAN: Jordan’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the US Agency for International Development signed an agreement on Tuesday paving the way for a $20.5 million grant to the Aqaba Water Company, Jordan News Agency reported.

The grant will assist the AWC in improving Jordan’s water infrastructure, including improving the accuracy and efficiency of its billing system meter readings, and replacing old meters.

The AWC will also contribute an additional $2 million during the course of the five-year agreement.

PARIS: Iranian authorities on Tuesday arrested an uncle of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian Kurdish woman who died in custody sparking months of protests, just ahead of the first anniversary of her death, reports said on Tuesday.

Safa Aeli, 30, was arrested by security forces in the family’s hometown of Saqez in western Iran and taken to an unknown location, the Kurdish-focused Hengaw rights group, France-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network and the 1500tasvir protest monitor said in separate statements.

JEDDAH: Kurdish-led forces sent troop reinforcements to Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria on Monday amid days of clashes with fighters loyal to the head of the local provincial military council.
Fighting erupted a week ago after the Syrian Democratic Forces arrested Ahmad Al-Khabil. They accused him of communicating with the Assad regime in Damascus, and of drug trafficking and mismanagement leading to an increase in Daesh activities.

STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Monday urged Iran to free one of its nationals it says has been held in the country arbitrarily since April 2022 in a case exacerbating bilateral tensions.
“A Swedish citizen — a man in his thirties — was detained in Iran in April 2022. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran are working very intensively on the case and are maintaining close contact with the EU,” Sweden’s foreign ministry told AFP in an email.

RABAT: The United Nations envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, arrived in Laayoune on Monday for talks on the disputed territory, the UN said.
A statement said he was “looking forward to conducting visits in the region and meetings, engaging all concerned ahead of the issuance of the report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council in October.”
The conflict dates back to 1975, when colonial occupier Spain withdrew from Western Sahara, sparking a 15-year war between the Algeria-backed Polisario Front and Morocco for control over the territory.