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"The coordination framework is close to achieving its goals, the most important of which is the appointment of a prime minister and the formation of a government capable of once again paying attention to the security situation and services for the Iraqi people.
The Iraqi Central Bank (CBI) has said it sees no reason to devalue the dollar and other currencies against the dinar and has no plans to do so in the next three to five years.
In April, the Iraqi Federal Court met for the third time on the issue, rejected a request to appreciate the dinar against the dollar, and dismissed the case.
The complaints against the finance minister and the central bank governor were also dismissed, and the court closed the case.
On December 12, 2020, the Iraqi central bank devalued the Iraqi dinar amidst a financial crisis, and low oil prices gripped the country. The bank devalued the dinar against the dollar to stabilize the currency.
It set the exchange at 1,450 dinars per dollar to the Finance Ministry and 1,460 to public banks. Previously it was exchanged at 1,220 dinars per dollar.
The Pentagon said al-Agal was shot on a motorcycle in the Jandaris area northwest of Aleppo, and one of his close associates was seriously injured.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the ISIL leader was traveling under a fake identity in areas controlled by the Jaish al-Sharqiyah group near Turkey around the city of Afrin.
In a statement on Tuesday on the ministry's website, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Washington and its allies had exacerbated the Ukrainian crisis.
She added that the West had unleashed a fierce hybrid confrontation with Russia, and today they are teetering dangerously on the edge of an open military confrontation with it as well.
It also continued that such confrontation necessarily means a direct armed conflict for the nuclear powers, expressing concern that such a potential clash would be fraught with nuclear escalation.
The Russian official's words coincided with the announcement by the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, a few days ago, about the possibility of a nuclear war.
While the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, considered that Russia is not manipulating the issue of nuclear war.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin had requested months ago, with the start of the Russian operation in Ukraine, that the nuclear deterrent forces be put on alert.
The move sparked international outrage, as the West considered it a clear threat to the possibility of launching a nuclear war.
The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly announced that its nuclear missile forces and fleet in the North and Pacific Ocean have been put on an enhanced combat mission.
In its monthly report, OPEC expects global oil demand to rise by 2.7 million barrels per day in 2023. It left growth forecasts this year unchanged at 3.36 million barrels per day.
Oil consumption has rebounded from the pandemic-induced recession in 2020 and is set to exceed 2019 levels this year even as prices rise to record levels. However, the rise in crude oil prices and the Coronavirus outbreak in China has affected the growth forecast for 2022.
"In 2023, the outlook for healthy global economic growth amid improvements in geopolitical developments, along with expected improvements in the containment of COVID-19 in China, is expected to lead to increased oil consumption," OPEC said in the report.
It stated that its forecasts for the year 2023 assume there is no escalation of the war in Ukraine and that risks such as high inflation will not negatively affect global economic growth.
The organization and its allies, including Russia, within the alliance known as "OPEC +", are working to increase production after the record cuts that were followed by the spread of the pandemic in 2020.
In recent months, OPEC+ has been falling behind on production target increases due to some OPEC members' lack of investment in oil fields and losses in Russian production.
The report shows OPEC production bucked this trend in June, rising by 234,000 barrels per day to 28.72 million barrels per day.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that through the law, foreign workers would be treated in a more organized and better way, and their rights would be protected, while the rights of local workers in providing job opportunities for local workers get.
Qubad Talabani stressed that in the new labor bill, the rights of children and women would be more protected.
The labor force in the Kurdistan region is largely unregulated, with consequences on the region's economy.
Unofficial figures put the number of foreign workers in the Kurdistan region at 22 thousand. They come mostly from Bangladesh, the Philippines and the regions, and most of them work in the service industry.
"The federal government is putting undue and illegitimate pressure to prevent the revenue that the region receives from oil and domestic revenues," the statement added.
He added that they will not give up the constitutional rights of the people of the Kurdistan Region and will defend their rights, and will not submit to any pressure and threats from the federal government that wants to violate the rights of the Kurdish people.
A dispute between the KRG and Baghdad emerged after the passing of charismatic Kurdish leader and former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani. In late 2013 the then Iraqi premier, Nouri al-Malki, adopted an anti-KRG policy, essentially a financial blockade on the Kurdistan federal region.
The Kurdistan region could not pay its massive payroll, and it cut almost 70 percent of salaries and paid them once each 60 or 70 days. It led to KRG-wide protests and massive suffering for the Iraqi Kurds.
After years of negotiation between Erbil and Baghdad, the federal government not only continued its policies, but the federal supreme court decided to strip the KRG from all its revenues and takeover its energy sector.
He said the projects will be carried out on a budget of more than 91 billion dinars. One hundred twenty-eight of the projects are newly designed, while 34 are those that remained unbuilt for lack of funding in the previous years.
The governor revealed that the projects include roads, paving, water, sewerage, health, education, and several other projects. In addition to these projects, several strategic projects will be constructed.
For the past 8 years building new projects in the Kurdistan region has diminished by less than 90 percent due to the war against ISIS and Baghdad’s holding of the region’s share of the budget.
Participation of all parties in the government serves stability: Bafel Jalal Talabani
Hakim highlighted the position and efforts of President Bafel Jalal Talabani in bringing the parties closer together and forming the government, saying that the PUK is an important and influential force, and history has proved that. The PUK had a significant role in resisting dictatorship [Saddam Hussein's rule] and has always been present in political incidents.
"The late leader, President Mam Jalal, brought everyone together under his wise shadow and took Iraq to a new stage of unity and coexistence, so now we need the same view of politics and we are sure the PUK will continue this path," he said.
Hakim was referring to the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani. He was known for uniting different Iraqi political parties all his life. In the 70s and 80s, he united the Iraqi opposition against Saddam Hussein and gave them refugees in the regions controlled by the PUK in the Kurdistan region. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he worked as a uniting force and kept everyone in line. He came to be known for his efforts as "the peacekeeper."
Negotiations for the next Iraqi government have dragged on for almost a year, yet the prospect of forming a government is unclear. After the Sadrist bloc withdrew from the parliament, other parties replacing Sadrist MPs now command the majority in the Iraqi council of representatives and talks for forming the next cabinet are underway.
According to Northern News Agency, 14 people have been arrested in different cities, including nine in Ankara Security Directorate, four in Batman, and one in Izmir.
The Ankara Prosecutor's Office has opened investigations on charges of propaganda for an illegal organization.
Ahead of the Turkish general elections of 2023, the HDP held its fifth congress as it is faced with a possible eventual shut down of the party by Turkish authorities.
In a statement, Saraya Salam called on its members to be fully alert to deal with any contingency. The statement did not explain the reasons for the request.
Earlier, Sadr Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr had set November 15 for mass prayers in Baghdad's Medina.
He said several personalities would supervise the prayer, including the former deputy speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Hakim Zamli.
On June 12, Iraqi PMs from Sadr's bloc resigned, and the speaker of the Parliament soon accepted their resignation. Sadr said that the move was to break the deadlock on the negotiations for forming the next Iraqi government. After almost a month, Sadr is again mobilizing the streets to his political ends.
Saraya al-Salam, previously known as the al-Mahdi Army, is a Shia faction under the umbrella of the Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization forces founded by Sadr in 2003. They numbered between 10,000 and 50,000, according to independent claims.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that he will remain in office despite the resignations in his government.
He told the weekly questioning session in the British House of Commons that he rejects the abuse of power, and that the government must play its role during crises.
Johnson told lawmakers that the economy was going through a difficult period and that the Russian attack on Ukraine represented Europe's worst war in 80 years.
"This is exactly the moment when you expect the government to continue its work, not to withdraw, and to carry out the tasks entrusted to it," Johnson told the lawmakers.
Earlier, two new members of the British government announced their resignations, Wednesday, the day after a similar decision taken by the Ministers of Health and Finance, which increases pressure on Prime Minister Johnson, who is involved in a series of scandals.
The Secretary of State for Children and Families, Will Quince, announced his resignation, saying he had no other "option" after he "in good faith" transmitted information to the media obtained from the Prime Minister's Office, which "turned out to be incorrect."
Laura Trott, in turn, resigned from her position as Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation, because she had lost confidence in the government, she said. Victoria Atkins, Britain's Secretary of State for Prisons at the Ministry of Justice, has also resigned.
Johnson's motorcade arrived in the British House of Commons, on Wednesday, for a heated confrontation with MPs, after the resignation of two key ministers in his government.
The Minister of Health and Finance, Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, announced their resignations by a few minutes on Tuesday evening, after they were tired of a series of scandals that rocked the government a month ago.
The two ministers sat alongside other conservative deputies in the weekly accountability session, to which the prime minister is subject.
The shocking resignations came after the prime minister offered new apologies for an additional scandal, admitting he had made a "mistake" by appointing Chris Pincher to his government last February as assistant in charge of parliamentary discipline for Conservative MPs.
He resigned last week after he was accused of molesting two men.
On Tuesday, the prime minister admitted that the prime minister was informed in 2019 of previous accusations against Pincher, but he "forgot" them when he appointed him. She had previously confirmed the opposite.
The resignation of Rishi Sunak, 42, came in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis in the United Kingdom. In his resignation letter to Johnson, Sunak wrote: "Public opinion rightly expects the government to be led properly, competently and earnestly...I realize this may be my last cabinet position, but I believe these standards are worth striving for and that is why I am resigning."
Javid, 52, who took over the finance ministry before Sunak, said the British had a right to expect "integrity from our government."
He went on to say that the vote of confidence in Johnson in June should have been an opportunity to show "humility" and show "a new direction."
Javid continued, "I regret to say that it is clear to me that the situation will not change under your leadership and therefore I have lost faith in you," referring to Johnson.
Johnson quickly replaced the two resigning ministers, appointing Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi to the Finance Ministry and Steve Barclay to the Health Department, who until now had been responsible for coordinating government affairs. But will Johnson succeed in continuing after this latest crisis, while he has so far refused to consider resigning?
Johnson is mainly suffering from the repercussions of the scandal of parties held at the government headquarters during the total lockdown in the pandemic, and he escaped weeks before a vote of no confidence decided by his Conservative Party deputies.
There are other issues of a sexual nature in Parliament. A deputy suspected of rape was arrested and released on bail in mid-June, and another resigned in April, because he watched a pornographic movie in Parliament on his mobile phone, and a former deputy was sentenced in May to 18 months in prison, after being convicted of sexual assault on a fifteen-year-old.
The exit of the last two deputies led to the organization of legislative by-elections, as a result of which the conservatives suffered a resounding defeat. This came as the party scored very poor results in local elections in May.
After an unprecedented strike of railway workers at the end of June, unions called for protest movements during the summer, while several professions of lawyers, health care workers and teachers announced or did so.
According to the results of an opinion poll conducted by YouGov, published on Tuesday evening, 69% of British voters believe that Johnson should resign. And 54% of Conservative voters say the prime minister should leave office.
YouGov is cofounded by Nadhim Zahawi who Johnson chose as the new UK Chancellor. Zahawi, a Kurd from Iraq is expected to replace Johnson even though he is loyal to the incumbent PM.
In a letter to his Middle Eastern counterparts, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, "While standing ready for bilateral technical cooperation toward containing the dust particles, the Islamic Republic of Iran calls for the signing of a relevant regional convention, with the participation of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, particularly the United Nations Environment Program and the World Health Organization."
According to an IRNA report from Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, the vice president and head of the Environmental Protection Organization arrived in Kuwait at the head of the technical-diplomatic delegation to conclude and operationalize the agreements to deal with dust storms.
In a meeting with high-ranking Kuwaiti officials, Ali Selajgeh emphasized regional cooperation to deal with dust and implement the regional action plan.
A memorandum of understanding on dust storms was signed between the Environmental Protection Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the General Competent Authority of the Environment of the Government of Kuwait.
One of the most critical aspects of this cooperation is holding seminars, conferences, and joint meetings, exchanging visits of experts and scientists in the field of dust storms, forming a special working group and sharing knowledge, exchanging experiences in the field of management, adaptation and dealing with dust storms, as well as using the experiences of existing international centers in the field of early warning and forecasting of dust storms.
Since 2022, frequent dust storms are covering the skies of the Middle East, the acute dust storms stall everyday life and regular economic activity as the Middle Eastern economies are recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In early 2022, NASA initiated a project to document daily satellite images of Middle East skies covered in khaki dust and monitor dust storms' emergence and spread.
On Monday, June 4, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Kwestan Mohammed Abdullah and President of SEED Foundation Sheri Kraham Talabani signed a memorandum of understanding in a ceremony at the Ministry's office, strengthening their joint commitment to serve children, women and men.
Sherry Kraham Talabani said that through this partnership, they will work to address the immediate need for services for vulnerable people in shelters and throughout the Kurdistan region.
"I am pleased that SEED Foundation and the Ministry of Labor share a joint mission to uphold children's rights, women's rights and human rights and we welcome SEED's support for life-saving support services be more available, and spread awareness of important issues affecting Kurdish society," minister of labor and social affairs said.
SEED is a Kurdistan region-based NGO. SEED’s works to protect, empower, and support the recovery of survivors of violence and vulnerable persons. SEED is committed to delivering quality and holistic approaches, combining international expertise and local know-how to achieve results for the people of Iraq and Kurdistan.
Turkish drones have again bombed a refugee camp in Makhmur in the Kurdistan region. The attack targeted a house in the Martyr Rostam Judi refugee camp in Makhmur and caused only material damage.
The refugee camp houses refugees from north Kurdistan or Kurds from Turkey that have fled Turkish rule. Turkey calls the camp a PKK base.
Before the strike, the Iraqi high command visited Makhmour. A high-level military delegation, including the chief of staff of the army, the chief of staff of the Joint Operations Command, the assistant operations commander, the commander of the infantry and several commanders of army operations arrived in Makhmur and met with the Chief of Staff of the Peshmerga Forces and discussed the security situation in areas of mutual interest and intelligence sharing.
On April 15, 2020, Turkish drones bombed the camp and killed two civilians. Turkey’s incursions into the region have caused great concern among the people of the Kurdistan region as its drones only hit mountainous areas but now pound residential areas.
"Despite threats on my life because I am a business, but I was ready to give up my weapon to the authorities, but the government must protect me after I have given up my protection, and I hope that I become an example for others to follow," Amlak told KurdSat.
Amlak is the only citizen in the Kurdistan region to give up his weapon willingly. The spokesperson for the Sulaimani police department told KurdSat that "no one has brought their weapons in, but anyone who does will be given a receipt [of compensation] and his name registered."
"After council of minister's [ of the Kurdistan region] decision to ban weapons we have captured many weapons in our checkpoints," the spokesperson added.
Rekan Majeed, a Peshmerga, told KurdSat, "If there were a weapons depot, we would not have to take our weapons home." The Peshmerga forces do not possess weapons depo, and the Peshmerga troops take their weapons back home when they come back from duty and bring their guns into the cities and civilian areas in the Kurdistan region.
In the past month, 15 people were killed with weapons. In one incident, a former college student killed a college dean and professor with a firearm.
The security forces said they would continue their operations to seize illegal weapons to prevent unwanted incidents while ensuring that anyone who surrenders their gun will be given a receipt of compensation.
After a dramatic increase in crimes in the Kurdistan region, the prime minister of the Kurdistan region said that he had directed related ministries and agencies to seize unlicensed weapons and shut down gun stores.