Iraqi Environment Minister Jassim Falahi, said, 'fighting climate change is a priority for the government, especially after waves of dust severely restricted movement in the country, and sent thousands to hospital.'

'The lack of greenery, and encroachment on green areas are increasing the impact of climate change,' Falahi added.

The minister announced that tackling climate change was a top priority for the government, and its recent decisions to prevent conversion of agricultural land for residential or investment purposes were to stop the decline of greenery in the country.

Thousands of people have been hospitalized in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of this year with one loosing his life to a dust storm.

The country has been facing consecutive draught since 2020. A United Nations report suggest that the 2020-2021 rainfall season was the second driest in the last 40 years, caused a reduction of water flow in Tigris and Euphrates by 29% and 73% respectively. 

Turkey's controversial Ilisu Dam, has reduced fresh water in Iraq, putting millions of Iraqis living on the proximities of Tigris and Euphrates to lack fresh water.

Iraq is a country that experiences all major economic, security, political and environmental crisis simultaneously.

According to officials, the evacuation of 14 hamlets, most of which lie in the Salahadin Governorate, provides the opportunity for IS terrorists to use them as a refuge and threaten the provinces of Kirkuk, Salahadin, and Diyala. 

Currently, a substantial security gap exists between Diyala and Salahadin, an opportunity that IS terrorists might take at any time. 

The Popular Mobilization Forces announced they had successfully protected an area between Diyala and Salahadin.

IS has benefited the security vacuums in central and western Iraq. The terrorist organization uses villages as bases to attack Iraqi security forces or set up checkpoints in remote regions and kidnap civilians for ransom. 

Saifi Badr, the spokesperson for the Iraqi ministry of health, said, "according to preliminary data, two thousand people have visited the hospitals, but no death is recorded.'
'the elderly and chronic disease patients shall stay home.' He assured that medicines and all health supplies were available.

The Iraqi Ministries of Higher Education and Education suspended exams in schools, universities, and colleges for today. 

A public holiday was declared in Baghdad, Najaf, Babylon, Diyala, Kirkuk, Wasit, and Diwaniya provinces. Flights to Baghdad and Najaf airports have been suspended indefinitely.

‘138 people have been sent to hospitals this morning due to the dust storm. The dust is dangerous, and citizens should protect themselves,' Kirkuk health department announced.

Dust storms have been sweeping the country every two weeks since early 2022, which is unprecedented in the country's history. 

The first signs of desertification are occurring throughout Iraq. Its freshwater supplies are diminishing, complemented by a frequent dust storm that potentially brings Iraq's economic activity to a halt. 

Bashdar Hassan, head of the lawyers of the Badinan detainees, said that they had been detained by the KDP security, Asaysh, for seventeen months.

KurdSat News correspondent in Erbil said, 'the detainees were given conditional discharge sentence and will be released after 37 days as they have served 17 months in the prisons of Asaysh.'

In the past few years, more than 70 activists and journalists have been detained by Erbil Security forces charged with undermining the security of the Kurdistan region. Some were convicted for writing a comment on social media that went against KDP beliefs. 

Some of the detainees were charged with forming relations with consulates in Erbil. In 2021, five of the detainees were sentenced to six years in prison. In addition, the court officially indicted them with espionage in the pay of Erbil's American and German consulates. The respective states asked the Erbil to respect their diplomatic missions in the region and condemned the court's decision. 

MP, activists, journalists, and relatives of the convicted gathered in Front of the Erbil appeal court. Karwan Gaznaee, a law-maker of the Kurdistan region parliament, said, 'if authority [ Erbil] is afraid of a comment from an activist from Shiladzeh, then disaster awaits it.' 

Civil rights activists declared the court ruling baseless and called the convicted innocent and their cases politically motivated. 

The removal of Misha'an al-Juburi comes after three court hearings on a complaint filed by former Sunni lawmaker Qutayba Juburi, who proved that Mashian Juburi's college degree was counterfeit.

The removal of Misha'an al-Juburi comes after three court hearings on a complaint filed by former Sunni lawmaker Qutayba Juburi, who proved that Mashian Juburi's college degree was counterfeit.

Following the court's decision, Sunni Sovereignty Coalition MPMisha'an al-Juburi  tweeted that his removal was due to political pressure from his rivals.

"After verifying Misha'an al-Juburi's certificate, it was fake, and he was expelled from parliament," the court said.

Jabbari's removal from parliament comes when he has served in the past three sessions of the Iraqi parliament.

Fake college degrees are common in Iraq. Many people buy degrees without ever attending a lecture or writing an assignment. 

In a statement, the PUK announced that the forum will be held on May 28. It will coincide with the anniversary of the founding of the PUK, and the resumption of the new revolution of our people.

The forum in Sulaimani follows a series of other meetings in Badinan, Kirkuk, Erbil, Garmian, Khanaqin, Raperin, Halabja, Sulaimani and Baghdad.

"The meeting is a meeting of concern and efforts to renew, reform and strengthen the position of the PUK at all levels," Qubad Talabani, director of the PUK forum said.

"This meeting is a comradery and national call to discuss the current reality of the PUK and its identity, to renew the political and social discourse and development, to be ready to fulfill its duties with a new vision, and without discrimination, provide a prosperous Kurdistan for all.”

After years of fragmentation and disorganization, the PUK is holding a forum to discuss its reorganization and adopting to the new realities facing the party.

The US Treasury Department exempted West Kurdistan or Rojava which constitutes northern and eastern Syria, from sanctions and the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi, said he appreciated the US decision to rebuild their infrastructure and economic support. 

The decision helps fight ISIS, and it will give hope to all Syrians, Abdi continued. 

The SDF chief invited all companies to invest in Rojava as the region faces shortages and an economic embargo from Turkey. 

Meanwhile, Mevlut Cavusoglu, the top Turkish diplomat, criticized the US decision, saying it was a form of support and legitimacy for the People's Defense Units (YPG), the backbone of SDF.

Ankara views YPG as an offshoot of the PKK, the outlawed Turkish party. PKK has been conducting an armed insurgency in Turkey since 1984. 

On Wednesday, Sanandaj Prosecutor General Hossein Hosseini said, they had seized 94 tons of cooking oil hidden by four companies. They had stored worth 2 billion Iranian Rials, almost 47 thousand USD. 

‘The security forces and market monitor teams of the Ministry of Commerce constantly monitor the market and firmly confront those who try to raise the prices of goods, the prosecutor added.

Storing goods to control supply and later overselling the good is common practice throughout Iran, especially after the sanctions as the country’s currency has hit a downfall. 

The Iraqi Border Guards have set up an outpost in the Barwari Bala area to prevent the advance of the Turkish troops and reduce its bombing of villages on the border.

Kurdsat News correspondent reported that the Iraqi border guards set up another outpost in the village of Hrure, in Barwari Bala today to reduce the shelling of the Turkish army on the village.

He said that the Turkish army had been continuously bombing the area of Barwari Bala for a year, especially the village of Hrure, which has suffered several damages, and the residents cannot live in peace.

Since the last year, the Iraqi army has set up seven bases to prevent the advance of the Turkish military into the Kurdistan Region.

The Turkish army has 51 known military bases, plus an unknown number of intelligence bases scattered across the Kurdistan region Turkish border.

In its most recent military operation, codenamed Claw-Lock, the Turkish military moved deep into Kurdistan region territory. 

KRG Council of minister's chief of staff said that it would respond to Baghdad's decision regarding its energy policy. 

On May 8, Umed Sabah, chief of staff of the Kurdistan regional government's council of ministers, on the official website of the KRG media and information department, said, 'after a visit by the KRG delegation to Baghdad, the Iraqi government had presented the KRG with a proposal and they had begun studying it, and they would reply Baghdad by the end of the week [May 12]'.

Since Sabah's statement, six days have passed, and the KRG has not replied to the proposal.

On March 31, Baghdad asked the KRG to transfer its energy activities to a new company ahead of Baghdad's takeover of the region's oil and gas. The Kurdistan Region has been following an independent energy policy since 2005, and it has not shared its revenue with the central government.

Baghdad asks the KRG to reveal its energy contracts and revenues to send the region's share of the budget, which Baghdad had only sent partially or withheld since 2014 when a dispute between the Iraqi prime minister Nouri Malki and the Kurdistan region president, Masoud Barzani led to a conflict that culminated in the Iraqi army and militia to push Kurdish forces back from Kirkuk and disputed territories. 

The award marks the 22nd year of the passing of Ibraim Ahmed. The prize ceremonies take place annually. Each recipient receives a gold medal and receives wide recognition from the people of the Kurdistan region.

It has been awarded since 2001 with the founding of the Ibrahim Ahmed Foundation, which oversees and nominates the laureates.

The award goes to people that have made significant and influential contributions to the Kurdish language, history, politics, film, music, and culture.

The ceremony for the award is held annually in Sulaimani with the presence of intellectuals and politicians.

Bila is short for Braim. Kurds tend to shorten names for easier utterance and friendship, though it becomes a nickname for some people.

Bila Prize was awarded to Selahettin Demirtas in absentia, the imprisoned Kurdish leader in Turkey who served the Kurdish cause for most of his life. Bila Prize was awarded to Selahettin Demirtas in absentia, the imprisoned Kurdish leader in Turkey who served the Kurdish cause for most of his life. Falaknas Ocer, an HDP member of the parliament of Turkey, received the prize for Demirtas. 

Demirtas told KurdSat, 'I am pleased to express my gratitude to the Ibrahim Ahmed foundation. I am honored to win Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed's prize.'

The winners included four women and four men. Jamila Jaleel, a female Kurdish litterateur, who currently resides in Armenia, won the prize. She was followed by Nasreen Muhammed Abdullah, a military commander diplomat in Rojava or Western Kurdistan.

Nasreen is one of the founders of the Women's Protection Units, an all-female force that operates in Rojava and is one of the main parties forming the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Ibrahim Ahmed Fatahzadeh Mustafa was born on March 6th 1914, in Sulaimani under the Ottoman empire. Ibrahim Ahmed attended madrasa and later school in Suliamani.

He was fond of reading and studying and attained a degree from the law college in Baghdad in 1937.

In the same year, he co-authored ‘Al-Arab wa Al-Akrad’ a book written in Arabic explaining the relations between Kurds and Arabs and their rights in Iraq. Bila mentioned Kurdish self-determination for the first time, which led to his arrest and ban of his book.

Since then, he has authored numerous books, novels, and articles. His seminal works have become a milestone in Kurdish literature and history. Though a litterateur, he was an adept politician that worked most of his life to achieve Kurdish rights in Iraq and beyond.

He joined the newly founded Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Iraq in 1947. The KDP represented Iraqi Kurds, and it was an involved party with a large following.

After four years as a prominent leader of the KDP, he was elected the general secretary of the KDP in the party’s second congress.

He continued his political and intellectual life until 1975 when he retired and moved to London, where he passed away in 2000.