"To assess the condition of our environment, we need all the five factors influencing the environment. not only in Sulaimani but all over Iraq. We lack data regarding the environment. We now have good air quality, but it is deteriorating fast." Dear Gharib, director of Sulaimani environment agency, told Kurdsat News's morning show. 

The primary environmental pollutants are; agriculture, industry, energy, and transportation. 

Climate change has severe effects on Iraq, explained Dear Ghareeb. According to the Iraqi environment minister, climate change has turned Iraq into the hottest part of the world. As a result, four of 10 regions in danger of desertification lie in Iraq.

The Kurdistan region has also suffered from climate change. Two consecutive years of drought in the Garmian region of Kurdistan have had the region's authorities ask for emergency funds. 

After the continuation of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces for the 52nd consecutive day, especially in the east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned, on Saturday, that eliminating the last Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, which is besieged by Russian troops, "will end negotiations" with Moscow.

"The liquidation of our soldiers in Mariupol will end the negotiations for peace," he said in an interview with the news website "Okranska Pravda," warning that the two sides would find themselves in a "stalemate."

"The agreement with Russia may consist of two documents, the first for security guarantees and the second for relations between Kyiv and Moscow," Zelensky also added. 

Zelensky explained that talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson focused on defense agreements between the two countries.

Talks to end the Russian military operation in Ukraine, which began on February 24, continue but have not yielded any tangible results.

The last round of Russian-Ukrainian direct talks was held on March 29 in Istanbul. Ukraine presented details of its main proposals to reach an agreement with Moscow, especially its "neutral status" in exchange for an international agreement that guarantees its security.

It is noteworthy that the war in Ukraine entered its second phase at the beginning of this month, with Russia announcing its focus on the eastern regions with the aim of invading the Donbas region. 

The region includes the unilaterally declared republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in 2014, which were recognized by Moscow days before Russia began its march into Ukraine on February 24.
 
Russia has still insisted on disarming Ukraine, protecting Russian speakers, and preventing it from joining NATO. 

While Kyiv adheres to its independence and the protection of its territory, demanding international security guarantees to prevent any Russian attack in the future.

"On Friday, Turkish troops randomly fired on three Kurdish villagers and killed one of them in the Barmeezah-Kany Bogan region of Bradost of Kurdistan region near the Iraqi-Turkish border. The victim is a 20-year-old named Tahseen Omar," Kurdsat News reporter said. 

According to the locals, the victim is a 20-year-old from Northern Kurdistan, Mawan village of Shamzeenan district, who has married a few days ago. 

Last night, the Turkish army detained 12 villagers in the villages of Dila, Malmalok, and Midan in Sidakan county of Soran district in the Kurdistan region and severely tortured them. 

The Turkish army has established more than 50 military outposts in the Kurdistan region. They stretch from the Syria-Iraq-Turkey tri-border area to the Iran-Iraq border and down south until Sulaymaniyah governorate, more than 180 south of the Turkish-Iraqi border. 

Libyan sources reported that more columns armed with heavy weapons entered Tripoli from the west and south.

According to local media, the moves are aimed at preventing Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha a from entering the capital.

On Friday, large numbers of military vehicles were seen coming from Misurata, Zintan, and Al-Zawiya, carrying medium and heavy weapons heading toward Tripoli.

Those armed groups, which were reported to be affiliated with the unity government headed by Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, later arrived in the capital, chanting slogans, "The day of decisiveness is approaching."

These field moves came a day after a meeting held by Bashagha, with a number of the most prominent militia leaders in Misurata, at his residence in Tunis.

A Possible War

As fears escalate inside and outside Libya, that the prime minister-designate will be forced into the capital in order to seize power from the incumbent prime minister, who refuses to give it up, before elections are held in the country, that might spark fighting between the militias supporting him and those loyal to Bashagha.

The two deputies of Bashagha took over the headquarters of the government in eastern and southern Libya, but international mediation is still underway between the two parties regarding a peaceful transfer of power in Tripoli.

While the international position is focused on supporting the initiative of UN Chancellor Stephanie Williams to form a committee from the House of Representatives and what is known as the State Council to formulate a constitutional rule for the expected elections, which the parties failed to hold on a previously set date.

The CTG is to publish a confession of the IS terrorist who has beheaded the Peshmarga himself tonight at 8 pm.

The TCG usually conducts operations to arrest IS sleeper cells across the Kurdistan region as Is has changed its strategy after its total territorial defeat.  

Garmian is an administrative region in Northern Iraq. Garmian transliterates into barren land.

In a press conference Jalal Nouri, governor of the Garmian administration in a press conference stated, after meeting with administrative officials and receiving sufficient precipitation data regarding the current year’s draught. The draught would damage Garmian’s agriculture and environment.

"This is the second year in a row that Garmian experiences drought, and its effects would be worse. According to statistics from the general agriculture directorate of Garmian, more than 83,415 acres of arable land and fish resources will be affected. The draught would contribute to dust storms as water sources run out and help spread various diseases," the governor added.

Governor of Garmian also said, in the near future, they would prepare a report with administrative officials and direct it to the government to demand an emergency fund to help affected civilians both in the cities and villages of Garmian. They would ask international organizations to assist them fight the draught. 

The statement reads: 

Today, we commemorate the 34th anniversary of 20th century's most heinous crime. We honor the innocent lives brutally shot in mass graves, and people who die from hunger and thirst in deserts and prisons. 

On this occasion, we remind everyone that despite searching for the missing and mass graves, identifying the martyrs, and repatriating Anfal remains to the Kurdistan region. Yet, international recognition of the Anfal genocide, further compensation of the survivors, and restoring the villages and places destroyed by the atrocity have not been satisfying in regard to the material and human casualties wrought upon our people and regions of Kurdistan during the Anfal campaign. 

We confirm PUK's constant efforts to realize the aforementioned demands and prevent the recurrence of such a crime against our nation. We do our best in the political and diplomatic centers to protect our enshrined constitutional rights and work to implement ungranted rights. Such affairs require dialogue and discussion, and not empty words that lead to escalation and bringing a new destructive disaster to our nation.

On this appealing occasion, we reaffirm our promises to address the problems and consequences of the Anfal genocide.

Political Bureau
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

Qubad Talabani said on his Facebook page, "Dear Yamur [referring to the officer's newly born infant] when you were born, I made you a promise that next time I visit you, I would inform you and your sister Yaran of arresting the murderers of your father. You are daughters of martyr Muhammed; you are proud to be his daughters." 

Mohammed Latif was a police officer killed on duty when trying to protect a girl from his family who wanted to murder her due to social problems. The criminals tried to kidnap and kill the girl from a governmental women's shelter in the city of Sualimani. The officer was able to save the girl but sacrificed his life. 

Far from any humanist principles, on fabricated charges, the KDP has imprisoned activists and journalists for simply expressing their opinion without judicial arrest warrant. They have been held in prisons for an undetermined period. The security forces usually arrest the journalists without the knowledge of juridical 
authorities and withhold their cases from reaching the courts.

The KDP is conducting mass surveillance of the people of Badinan, the areas of Kurdistan region controlled by the KDP. It severely monitors online platforms, including wildly popular social media. The authorities in Badinan do not tolerate any dissidents or demonstrations and prevent any political gatherings. It uses fear and coercion to suppress dissent and freedom of expression. 

It is normal to be arrested in KDP controlled regions for simply criticizing their way of ruling. 

As of April 2020, more than 100 journalists and civilians have been jailed on various charges that lack evidence. Many have been tortured and forced to confess to things they have not done.

Prisoners of Shiladzeh, a city in the northern Kurdistan region, have abstained from eating and drinking for almost 36 days due to KDP's inaction to process their cases. They have lost hope in the KDP and have written farewell messages to their families.

The KDP uses all methods of fear and torture and has made the region a giant prison for journalists and activists. A journalist who has fled the KDP rule on conditions of anonymity for fear of his life told KurdsatNews. 

The National Interest magazine published a report issued by the Carnegie Endowment for Peace revealing that the Iranian team trained Hezbollah operatives, whose primary goal was to collect intelligence information on Lebanese state institutions and strengthen the cyber defences of the Iranian security apparatus.

According to the magazine, in 2015, the Iranian regime expanded its cybersecurity budget by 1,200 percent in just two years.

According to the American report, Hezbollah cells have launched attacks for more than a year on telecommunications companies and Internet providers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and Arab countries.

Strategic Financial Goals

The Iranian-backed unit also launches cyber-attacks on strategic financial targets, such as gas and oil companies in the Gulf states. Reports indicate that the team is likely to be based in the southern suburb. 

Targeting countries in the region

It is now revealed that a Hezbollah electronic unit, known as "Cedar Abu Brians APT," had carried out attacks for more than a year on telecommunication companies and internet providers in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and the United Arab Emirates.

The magazine wrote that agents of Lebanon's Saber Cedar breached 95% of the company's internal networks, such as US-based Frontier Communications, to collect sensitive data.

In 2010, the Obama administration described Hezbollah as "the most technically capable terrorist group in the world."

The magazine also revealed that many of Hezbollah's cyber trainees are from Iraq and support the pro-Iranian group in the country, Kataib Hezbollah.

The report says that "Hezbollah" uses its cyber forces to expand Iran's regional influence by spreading Tehran's strategic messages in unstable countries, such as Iraq.

Today evening, in Anfal Monument in Chamchamal the preparations for Anfal’s April 14^th anniversary was announced were.

171 Anfal remains will be repatriated to Kurdistan region after Ramadan, which ends beginning of May, said Adeeb Latif.

On April 14^th 2022 thirty-four years pass on the Anfal genocide committed against the Kurdish nation where it left more than 182 thousand civilians dead and destroyed more than 4 thousand and 3 hundred villages.

Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist and has been critical of Twitter, disclosed a 9.1 percent stake on April 4 and said he plans to bring about significant improvements at the social media platform.

His appointment to the board was to become effective on Saturday and would have prevented him from being a beneficial owner of more than 14.9 percent of common stock.

But “Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board,” Agrawal said in a note on Twitter.

“I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input,” Agrawal said.

Musk limited his response to a face with hand over mouth emoticon on Twitter. Tesla did not immediately respond to an email sent to the company seeking a comment from Musk.

News of Musk taking a board seat had some Twitter employees panicking over the future of the social media firm’s ability to moderate content, company insiders told Reuters.

Before taking a stake, Musk ran a Twitter poll asking users if they believed Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech.

A day after becoming the largest shareholder, he launched another poll asking users if they want an edit button, a long-awaited feature on which the social media platform has been working.

The Tesla boss also asked users in a poll if Twitter’s headquarters should be converted into a homeless shelter, a plan backed by Amazon.com Inc’s founder Jeff Bezos.

On Saturday, he suggested changes to Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including slashing its price, banning advertising and giving an option to pay in the cryptocurrency dogecoin.

Twitter shares, which soared 27 percent on April 4 after Musk disclosed his stake, has lost 7.5 percent since then to Friday’s close.

“There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged,” Agrawal said in his Sunday note. “Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building.”

In response to a question about whether the 27-nation bloc is ready to ban Russian oil, Borrell stressed that the paper imposing more sanctions on Moscow is always present on the EU table.

"Sanctions are always on the table," he told reporters upon his arrival in Luxembourg to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Reuters reported

He also made it clear that the ministers will discuss in their meeting today other or next steps that can be taken regarding the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

In addition, he emphasized continuing to increase support for the Ukrainian people.

As for the field operations on the ground, he warned that the fighting will intensify in the Donbass region, in the east of the country, in the coming days.

An oil embargo?!

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, in a press statement before the meeting, indicated that the European Commission may ban Russian oil as part of possible sanctions.

German Foreign Minister Annalina Birbock spoke of the need to send more weapons to Kyiv.

She also pointed out that there are indications of war crimes in Ukraine, but conclusive evidence is also needed.

As for the Austrian Foreign Minister, he thought it good to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin face to face that he had lost the war.

The European foreign ministers will discuss today the imposition of a sixth package of sanctions on Moscow, but the bloc is still divided on the issue of banning imports of Russian gas and oil.

Although the sanctions that will harm Russia to the maximum extent. The European Union's boycott of its energy imports, are not officially on the table for discussion. European diplomats confirmed that they are still negotiating these sanctions.

It is noteworthy that the fifth package of European sanctions imposed from Friday, included a ban on imports of Russian coal, which was an important first step towards a broader ban on other energy resources.

But consensus is required among the 27 EU countries to impose any sanctions related to gas or oil, especially since countries that depend on Russian gas, including Germany, Italy, Austria and Hungary, are still reluctant to add it to the embargo list.

Since the start of the Russian military operation on Ukrainian soil on February 24, the Kremlin has generated more than 25 billion euros in gas, oil and coal sales to the union, Borrell previously confirmed.

Therefore, Kyiv adheres to the demand to ban oil and gas, in order to dry up the resources of the Russians, despite the thousands of European and American sanctions imposed on Moscow about two months ago.