Shikar Mardan, a lawyer for agricultural land in Daquq and a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Legal Center told KurdSat English, "after 2017 resettled Arabs have tried to occupy agricultural lands belonging Kurds in Kirkuk." Kurds demanded the return of their land, and took the case to Kirkuk and Baghdad courts.

The lawyer explained that they had provided enough evidence to the courts and proved that their ownership belonged to the Kurds, leading the Daquq Court of Appeal to rule in favor of the Kurds and return their property.

On November 2, the same court in Daquq passed a decision to resort ownership of over 1300 acres of land back to their owners, with Baghdad’s Rasafa Court of Appeal ruling a return of 837 agricultural lands to Kurds in Kirkuk.

Kurdish, Turkmen, and Arab farmers dispute over 300 hectares of farmlands in Kirkuk’s southern Laylan subdistrict, most of which remain unsettled and are a source of contention between the different minority groups.

Since the 2017 Kurdistan region referendum, Arabs and other minorities have tried to occupy land farmed by Kurds in the disputed territories; however, efforts by the PUK have led to restoring their rights and property. PUK’s efforts in reviving the long-dead High Committee for Implementing article 140 would settle most problems in the disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.

Today, Tuesday, Member of the House of Representatives Defense and Security Committee Karim Shukur told KurdSat English, "I don't understand the word out there saying Federal Government forces would be deployed in the Kurdistan region, it not true and until now in the defense and security committee we have not brought up the issue." Some Iraqi media reported plans to deploy the Iraqi army in the Kurdistan region to prevent repeated Turkish and Iranian bombardments that have left many dead and displaced hundreds of families.

"There are three battalion on the borders of the Kurdistan region, and we have discussed reinforcing and better equipping the battalions or setting up other battalions," Shukur said.

According to the constitution, it is up to the border guards to protect the borders of the Kurdistan region and not any other forces, the lawmaker added.

Iran and Turkey usually cite the presence of groups that "threaten their security" in Iraq as an excuse to carry out operations to remove them. "If we reinforce and increase of the number of current border guards then we take away excuses from Iran and Turkey that use them to attack the Kurdistan region, they claim that armed groups sneak to their countries from our borders, but if our border guards control the whole borders then the problem will gradually disappear," Shukur explained.

The border guards deployed on the borders between the Kurdistan region, Turkey and Iran that report to Baghdad and not Erbil are mostly  Kurds living in the Kurdistan region. 

Iranian and Turkish opposition groups are on the border between the Kurdistan region and Turkey and the region and Iraq, which Ankara and Tehran frequently bomb.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Tourism Board Director Amal Jalal said, they work to increase the proportion of local workforce in the tourism sector by 75 percent, initially they would ask tourism businesses to have 30 percent of their from domestic labor and eventually raise it to 70 percent.

Most businesses in tourist destinations use second languages, and often omit Kurdish language on menus and billboards, leading the government to plan to have Kurdish language besides other languages. Kurdish language will be the main language on the billboards and menus of hotels, restaurants and public places, Jalal added.

"To implement this decision, Kurdish language courses would be provided to tourism employees," the tourism director said.

To implement the policies, the General Board of Tourism has set up special committees to follow up on the policies, and carry them out.

The Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed received Minister of Communications, Hiyam Nasri, at the Salam Presidential Palace in Baghdad, where she expressed her support for her as a capable woman in this post despite all the challenges facing the incumbent Iraqi government. 

She noted that in the short period since her the new cabinet of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani assumed office, the Communications Minister could take “major steps and excellent decisions.” Although better work must be done to serve the people better, the first lady said. 

Iraqi Communications Minister Hiyam Nasri thanked Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmad for her support, especially for women, which will be a good incentive for them to make good decisions and take essential steps in their work. 

The first lady has usually worked for the participation of more women in society, economics and politics, as she has always served as an example for others to follow, according to women's rights activists. 

In the meeting, the leaders discussed the latest political developments and efforts to make the reform project a success and support the political parties to implement the government's work program.

The two sides stressed the need to join efforts to create a national consensus to find a "radical solution" to the Erbil-Baghdad disputes and to protect Kurdistan region people's rights within the framework of the constitution.

President Talabani stressed the PUK's keenness on harmony and unity among all parties and said, "Our goal is joint action and striving to maintain stability and build a prosperous future."

The PUK chief also added that the programs that had been fixed in the new government agenda were to achieve a supreme goal: serving the people, fighting corruption, bringing about equality and protecting the rights of all Iraqis. 

Today, Monday, parents of autistic children gathered in Sulaimani to protest the city's lack of a center for caring for autistic persons. 

"We as the Autism Association and parents of down syndrome children have gather to protest the school behind us,” the head of the Sulaimani branch of the Autism Association said in a press conference, standing in front of the school. “This building was initially built for disabled people, and was named Sheik Saad Qaiwani Center, charities built it for people with disabilities,” he added. 

The building is now a primary school with over 400 hundred students. "Unfortunately, after four years of rivalries and discomfort, the build was not turned into a center to for our children but was turned into an ordinary school." Sulaimani lacks a center for caring for children with autism, even though there are thousands of people with autism. 

"If this center was granted to people with autism, a hundred to a hundred fifty families would have been comfortable," the protesters said and asked the Kurdistan Regional Government to return the center to people with autism. 

For the first time in the world, Gona Kamal has conducted biomedical research that will significantly facilitate the testing and diagnosis of coronavirus, the Pandemic that changed the world forever. 

"We invented something which was a way to find the Covid19 biomarkers to easier detect the disease and avoid complex and uncomfortable diagnosis," Gona Kamal told KurdSat English. Several peer-reviewed international scientific journals have confirmed Kamal's discoveries. Gona Kamal holds a master's degree in biomedical research and is a researcher at the University of Sulaimani in the Kurdistan region.  

Her work has been published in three international scientific journals and is considered a scientific revolution in bioanalysis. "She is also working on two other papers to explain the significance of her work, that would be published soon," nanoscience professor and Gona's research supervisor Khalid Mohammed told KurdSat English. 

"We were able to work on a single atom in our research," she told KurdSat. During the coronavirus outbreak in 2019, Science tried identifying and treating this disease. "We were fortunate to come across the finding," Kamal said. 

Professor Khalid Mohammed, an expert in biomedical analysis and nanoscience and the supervisor of the study, told KurdSat English, "currently, these techniques, especially in the field of bioanalysis, are designed to allow you to diagnose your disease at home, just as diabetes can now be tested with a drop of blood." He also noted, "Science is going in two directions here, both in the direction of miniaturization and in the direction of low cost and low material use."

"We have used DNA and RNA to detect biomarkers, because finding a biomarker with DNA and rNA is more accurate and cheaper to acquire," Kamal explained. It can also help find an antibody for the Covid19 sooner and more easily. 

The finding is more ecologically-friendly as it would circumvent testing on animals. "Medical companies need a host cell, a rat to test their findings, but our finding would not need a host cell, the aptamer [they found] would create a DNA through multiple reactions that bind some bonds together," Kamal said of her research. 

Gona Kamal spoke of why she focused on finding an alternative to antibodies, "I work in the health sector, we rely on antibodies in medical tests for their results, we thought of finding an alternative to antibodies to work on to identify diseases, because antibodies are expensive and take about six months to produce, fortunately for the first time we were able to bring this research to Iraq to work with DNA and RNA instead of antibodies, as they are cheaper to produce and take less than two days." The finding would revolutionize testing and help billions of people that do not have access to regular medical testing. 

"This saves us a lot of time, costs less and is more accurate in detection," Kamal and her supervisor said. "Foreign and domestic medical corporations now work on mass producing the findings, according to the researchers. 

Our invention will be published worldwide with our names on it, and we own its patent; Kamal praised her discovery. The finding would be revolutionary if mass-produced and funded by government and scientific organizations. 

Today, Sunday, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) President Bafel Jalal Talabani received Asaib Ahl al-Haq Leader Qais al-Khazali, Babylon Movement Lead Rayan al-Kldani, and Azm Coalition Leader Musana Samarai in Baghdad at late President Jalal Talabani’s residence.

The leaders discussed the latest developments in the country, and the duties and responsibilities of the political parties, and ways to help succeed the new government’s agenda.

They emphasized the continuous coordination between the national parties to carry out their constitutional, and national duties and securing the rights of all Iraqi peoples.

The leaders said that taking into account the political, economic and security situation in Iraq, genuine unity and partnership shall serve as the basis of work to strengthen the pillars of governance in Iraq.

The parties also called the success of the government program and the reform process as an important factor in achieving stability in the country, and agreed that the constitution shall guide any solution to the ongoing disputes between Baghdad the KRG. President Talabani reiterated the desire of the Kurdish people to reach an agreement and resolve the issues. “Our goal is to maintain balance and realize the rights of the Kurdish people within the framework of a federal Iraq,” Talabani said.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Jutyar Adel told the KRG Media and Information department today, Sunday, that “following a KRG council of minister’s decision, a delegation visits Baghdad to guarantee the rights of Kurdistan region citizens, as stipulated in the constitution.” Negotiations between the federal government and the government in Erbil has been ongoing for the last few years without yielding constructive results.

“We are scheduled to meet with the Iraqi Ministry of Finance to talk on the 2023 Iraqi budget bill,” Adel added. Baghdad has not paid the Kurdistan region’s budget share properly since 2014, after a dispute between Baghdad and Erbil, for almost six years it did pay the region anything.

Adel explained that the Kurdistan region aims to influence the budget bill before its moves to the house of representatives.

The spokesperson also said that the delegation also plans to discuss with the Iraqi government officials on the basis of the constitution, the issue of Article 140, the handling of oil and gas, and the “rightful participation” of the Kurdistan Region in federal institutions.

The Kurdistan region’s rightful share of the budget is 17 percent, though, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning says that the KRG’s share would be 14% and the delegation will agree on these figures, per KRG spokesperson.

State of law coalition lawmaker Baqir Kazim said today that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has set up a committee to investigate and recover looted money abroad.

Earlier, Iraqi media reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani visited Jordan last week to investigate the looted Iraqi money and try to return them.

Billions of Iraqi public funds have been either taken or laundered abroad. Many state officials tend to invest their wealth abroad, most of which is considered illegally made. According to a report, from 2005 to 2016, over a trillion USD worth of Iraqi oil was sold, but a whopping 500 billion has disappeared.

A recent tax fraud involving over $2.5 bn took everyone by surprise; even though some have been charged with laundering public coffers, sources say that the highest offices in the country are involved. 

Today, Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Communications directed all internet service provider companies to reduce internet prices, including firms in the Kurdistan Region.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the Iraqi Ministry of Communications has directed all internet companies to reduce the price of their services by 20%. The decree will come into force early next month, and any company that does not comply will face legal action.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Transportation Diland Rashad told KurdSat English that the directive also covered the Kurdistan region, and service providers must reduce prices by the required amount.

The internet price in Iraq and the Kurdistan region is relatively high, with many connection problems. Many people subscribe to multiple service providers as specific service providers work in particular areas and distinct purposes.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) decided in May 2022, to build 20,000 housing units for tenants. People competed for the housing unites through filling online forms that laid out the units’ specifications and tenant needs.

Over 80,000 people in Sulaimani have applied to get a unit, but according to director of Tenants Association Barham Sardar, through a committee will remove from the list ineligible applicants will, as the units are for tenants and the needy.

The project to build 8,000 housing units for tenants in Sulaimani has been directed to investment and construction will start soon, an official said. Those that benefit from the units would pay for them through long-term installments.

Barham Sardar told Kurdsat English that 8,000 of the 20,000 units will be built in Sulaimani, some of them near Tasluja, and the other units in Tanjaro areas of Sulaimani. On May 2022, the KRG announced a plan to build 20,000 housing units for low-income earners across the Kurdistan region.

Sardar noted that the KRG Investment Board has submitted the project to the investors to construct the residential units, they expected the investors to reply this week. The housing units are planned as apartments.

On November 13, director of KRG Board of Investment Muhammad Shukri announced launching construction of 862 housing units in Duhok.

Housing prices has increased in the past decades in the Kurdistan region, with many people moving to renting flats and homes, as buying houses and apartments have become unaffordable to many, especially the young people.   

Iraqi President Dr. Latif Rashid, received today, Sunday, at the Salam Presidential Palace in Baghdad, the director of Federal Board of Supreme Audit Raffel Yassin Khudair, Iraqi president press office said in a statement.

In the meeting, President Rashid reviewed the work of the Office of Financial Supervision and the mechanisms used in auditing and monitoring financial transactions that ensure the protection of public coffers.

The President noted that the government program needs everyone's cooperation and coordination together in to combat administrative and financial corruption, requiring serious measures that is necessary to achieve the desired goals and ensure meeting the needs of the people.

President Rashid stressed the need to support the monitoring bodies to ensure the progress of their work and avoid the obstacles they face so that these institutions can perform their tasks and achieve their goals.

One of the crisis-hit country’s main challenges is financial embezzlement, in a recent public fraud, $2.5 bn from tax revenues disappeared, the largest in history of the country, gaining the catchphrase, fraud of the century.

Today, Saturday, a PUK delegation led by PUK diplomat Sadi Ahmed Pira met with the newly elected SI chief, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez. Pira congratulated Sanchez on his election as presiding of the Socialist International grouping. The delegation also conveyed PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani's wishes to the SI chief.  

Pira said, "the nomination of Mr. Pedro Sánchez is necessary for the unification of the Social International and the Progressive Alliance and the reunification of all the socialist parties under the umbrella of one public and active organization."

The two sides discussed ways to improve political, economic, and cultural ties between Iraq, Kurdistan, and Spain. 

The new SI chief recalled the late President Jalal Talabani's significant role and efforts in further developing Social International and spoke of president Talabani's charismatic role in bringing the organization together. 

PUK's Sadi Pira asked the SI president to work to reunite the Progressive Alliance and the SI. The Progressive Alliance split from the SI in 2013.  
The PUK also made clear to the Spanish PM that the PUK has always worked to bring different views in Iraq together. 

The 50-year-old Spanish PM takes over from former Greek prime minister George Papandreou as head of the SI, a movement grouping 132 political parties worldwide. The PUK has always been an active member of the organization, with the PUK's former general secretary Jalal Talabani serving as the SI deputy general secretary for over a decade. 

Pedro Sanchez chatting with Sadi Ahmed Pira, PUK top diplomat in Madrid, Spain