Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani received a number of environmental experts and academics in Erbil to listen to their viewpoints about the environment of the Kurdistan region.

Nowadays, no governance is good if environmental protection is not a strategic priority, and no society is a responsible conscious living society that is not sensitive to its environment, the DPM said in the meeting.

He added that the meeting discussed plans on how to combat environmental degradation and in the future their cabinet hold wider meetings at the level of experts in the region and Iraq.

They will hold a meeting on Monday with the participation of the relevant ministries and parties of the KRG that is aimed at prioritizing the issue of the environment, Talabani noted.

To better protect the region’s environment all consuls and diplomatic envoys in the Kurdistan Region are to prepare a comprehensive plan with international assistance and friendly countries to combat the issue, Qubad Talabani said.

Mustafa Sanad, a member of the Iraqi parliament, said in a press conference that A member of the House of Representatives revealed that and arrest warrant will be issued for former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.

Three complaints have been filed against former the MP over the abnormal increase in his income.

He has been charged with corruption at Abu Raghif School, theft of the century and a number of other charges, but none of the charges have been proved against him.

He added that although Al-Kadhimi is currently outside Iraq, He will be convicted in the near future; an arrest warrant will be issued and he will be tried on all charges.

The Iraqi judiciary has also launched an investigation into Mustafa Al-Kadhimi assets.

More than 70 people have been killed and injured in the past six months in Rojava due to the continuous bombings of the Turkish army.

According to KurdSat reporter in Rojava, in the past six months, the Turkish army has bombed areas of Rojava over 30 times, killing 44 people and wounding 27 others.

According to the reports, the Turkish army bombed Aleppo 13 times, al-Hasakah four times, Raqqa once and Qamishli six times.

It also bombed Kobanê four times, Manbij four times and the cities of Derik and Ain Issa.

Kawa Ali Deputy Governor of Halabja, said the works to open the Tewella border to tourists are nearing completion and the first official traffic of tourists will begin before Eid al-Adha.

According to a post on Facebook of Deputy Governor of Halabja signed by Iranian Vice President Ishaq Jahangiri, the Islamic Republic of Iran has approved the movement of tourists at the Tewella, Pshta and Keli border crossings since August 10, 2023.

On November 18, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani visited the border and said, the border will be officially opened to tourists in the near future, which will affect the economic recovery of Halabja and Hawraman.

The DPM added that in the near future tourists can officially travel between the Kurdistan Region and Iran, which will help to further economic recovery and development of the tourism sector in Halabja.

A source in the Peshmerga Ministry said they have requested the system several times in meetings.

The United States Congress has approved providing the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan region air defense systems, Middle East Eye reported.

House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment by Republican Congressman Don Bacon that would support the transfer of air defense systems to the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga, Middle East Eye added in an article.

They also direct the US administration to prepare and implement a training plan for the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army to use to the system, however the senate needs to approve the decision before the white house can transfer the weapons to the Kurdistan region.

A source in the Peshmerga Ministry told Kurdsat that they have repeatedly called for the system in meetings with US delegations, especially after several attacks on its airports and other parts of the region in the past.

Jonathan Lord head of the Middle East Security Program also told Middle East Eye that the Peshmerga forces receive $20 million monthly from US Department of Defense.

Providing air defense systems to the Peshmerga may be against the rules, especially as US allies are competing for weapons and there is a lot of demand for the system, the source added.

Haider Hanoun, head of the Iraqi Commission of Integrity told a news conference that they have revealed two major cases of corruption, one of which is in a department of Iraqi Ministry of Commerce.

 They have returned 15 billion dinars out of 69 billion dinars to the state treasury, which was deposited in a bank account in a private bank and used for investment, Hanoun added.

He said that in the second case, more than 40 billion dinars have been returned to the state treasury and the accused is an Iraqi army officer and has been sent to court.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Security Agency said in a statement, after gathering intelligence, the security forces of Raperin by order of the security investigation judge, On June 21, 2023 arrest a suspect that was carrying pieces of heroin.

The suspect has been detained under article 25 of the law against drugs and psychotropic substances, the agency added.

Iraqi Airways Director General Manaf Abdulman'am said that one of the Iraqi Airways' development projects is the government's contract with Boeing to buy 26 modern aircraft, 10 of which are dream aircraft.

He added that the planes will arrive in Iraq within five years and new routes will be opened to travel much of the world.

One of their plans is is the opening of Muscat, Jakarta, Malaysia and China travel routes.

On the recommendation of the prime minister, the price of travel tickets for Iraqi citizens, especially for pensioners, patients and wounded Hashdi Shaabi are reduced, and further reductions will be after the opening of new lines, director general of Iraqi Airways noted.

Iraq is fighting terrorism on behalf of the world, so international assistance should be provided to Baghdad, the Iraqi National Security Advisor said.

Press office of the Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji said in a statement that al-Araaji met with UN Security Council Representative for Terrorism Vladimir Vuronkov in New York to discuss several issues.

According to the statement, the Al-Araji had said that Iraq is fighting terrorism on behalf of the world, therefore, international assistance is needed to rebuild the war-torn areas of Iraq.

The UN should work to dismantle Camp Hall because it threatens the stability of Iraq, referring to the refugee camp that houses ISIS former fighters and families in norther eastern Syria.

According to Kurdsat reporter in Baghdad, the federal government has agreed to allocate another 400 bn Iraqi Dinars (IQD) to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to pay the salaries of its employees, and Baghdad's money is expected to reach the Kurdistan Region on Thursday.

The salary for May will be distributed from Saturday to Tuesday, the reporter added. Meanwhile, a source in the Council of Ministers told KurdSat, that the KRG Finance Ministry has twice asked Baghdad to send another 400 bn IQD to cover the May salary.

The Iraqi Independent High Election Commission (IHEC) has announced that the provincial council elections will be held on December.

The IHEC said in a statement that the provincial elections will be held on December 18, 2023, and they expect it to be held on time as earlier dates were rescheduled by the political parties.

The commission added that the general voting date will be on December 18 and the special voting will be on December 16, and 47,655 polling stations will be prepared in 7,008 voting stations.

The commission estimates that 23 million 367 thousand 81 people, of whom 18 million have updated their registration will be eligible to vote.

US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski said on Twitter that the delegation, which includes Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Affairs Dana Stroul, will meet with Iraqi government officials in Baghdad.

"Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Dana Stroul is in Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi Govt. She spoke with Iraqi journalists about the importance of US-Iraqi partnership in ensuring Iraq’s security, stability & sovereignty،" she said.

The Pentagon delegation is also scheduled to visit the Kurdistan Region and meet with senior officials.

On June 11 the Iraqi lawmakers approved budget bill, which is the biggest in the country's history.

President Dr. Latif Rashid said, the signing is a "turning point" as the $158 billion budget will allow the government to implement its programs across every sector.

The president stressed the need to work on reorganizing expenditures, protecting public wealth, developing and diversifying economic resources, while the country is facing economic and environmental challenges.

The budget projects 2023 revenue at about $103.3 billion, based on a projected price of $70 per barrel for oil exports, the main source of income for Iraq, with exports estimated at 3.5 million barrels a day, including 400,000 thousand barrels from the Kurdistan region.

The budget estimates a deficit of about $48 billion.

The vote also approved the same budgets of $152 billion for 2024 and 2025 — apparently to avoid haggling over the issue for the next two years.

The state court in the western city of Koblenz convicted the 37-year-old of crimes against humanity, membership in a foreign terrorist organization and being an accessory to genocide, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have identified her only as Nadine K. in line with German privacy rules.

The court found that the defendant for three years abused a young Ezidi woman “in her own interests as a household slave.” It said that her husband brought the woman to their home and regularly raped her, and that the defendant enabled those assaults and should have intervened.

Prosecutors have said that the defendant traveled to Syria with her husband in 2014 and joined IS. In 2015, the couple moved to the Iraqi town of Mosul, where they allegedly kept the Ezidi woman.

The defendant was arrested in March 2022 after being brought back to Germany from a camp in northeastern Syria where suspected members of IS have been held.

In a statement read out at her trial by a defense lawyer, she denied having coerced the Ezidi woman at any point. She said there had been frequent arguments with her husband over the woman’s presence and she was ashamed of not having done more for her.

In February, the Ezidi woman testified at the trial and said she recognized the defendant.

She traveled to Koblenz again for the verdict. “She hopes that others follow her example” and that all who committed similar crimes face trial, said her lawyer, Sonka Mehner.

The trial is the latest of several in Germany involving women who traveled to regions controlled by the IS group in Syria and Iraq.

In one case, a German convert to Islam was convicted in 2021 on charges that she allowed a 5-year-old Ezidi girl she and her husband kept as a slave to die of thirst in the sun. Her husband was subsequently convicted as well.

Earlier this year, an appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing for the woman, who was given a 10-year sentence. She now risks a longer prison term.

Domestically produced chicken and fish meets the market needs, the mayor of Sulaimani Awat Muhamad said in a statement.

The city supports the sale of domestic products and helps to regulate prices, the mayor added.

To pay support to local production and local farms and determine the market needs of meat, chicken and fish, mayor of Sulaimani met with the directors of agriculture, veterinary, trade supervision and economic security and representatives of poultry farms.

The committees of the governor's office are responsible for regulating price and supply of red meat, chicken, fish, eggs and do not allow prices to become unaffordable, the governor said.

The number of foreign workers in Iraq has exceeded 1 million, and only 71,000 of them have official permits, the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said on Monday.

Th Iraqi Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ahmad al-Asadi has said there are more than 1 million foreign workers in Iraq, many of whom work illegally and pose a threat to the Iraqi labor market.

Najm Aqabi, spokesman for the ministry, said there were no official statistics on the number of foreign workers who are not licensed, and no one can determine the exact number, because they did not come to work but on travel visas. The number of officially licensed workers is 71,146.

Meanwhile, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, the prime minister's financial adviser, said foreign workers who are officially registered take $600 million out of Iraq annually.