The presidential statement clarified that the new presidential leadership council in Yemen would take over the political, military and security powers throughout the transitional period, the official Yemeni news agency (Saba) reported.

The Presidential Command Council will also be in charge of negotiating a ceasefire with the Houthis.
The council is chaired by Rashad Muhammad Al-Alimi, with seven members: Sultan Al-Arada, Tariq Saleh, Abdul Rahman Abu Zara'a, Abdullah Al-Alimi, and Othman Majali, Aidarous Al-Zubaidi and Faraj Al-Bahsani.

Hadi also said, "the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council helps to complete the implementation of the transitional period, and he has authorized the Presidential Leadership Council with full powers in accordance with the constitution and the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanisms."
He added that each member of the Presidential Leadership Council has the rank of Vice President of the Presidential Leadership Council. The President and members of the Presidential Leadership Council are committed to the principle of collective responsibility and their quest to achieve the highest degree of consensus among them.

The President of the Presidential Command Council is the supreme commander of the armed forces and has the power to ratify agreements, declare a state of emergency and general mobilization.
Consultation and Reconciliation Commission will be established to support the Leadership Council, which will consist of 50 members.

The statement noted, "A commission will be established to bring together the various components to support the Presidential Leadership Council and work to unify and gather national forces in a way that enhances the efforts of the Presidential Leadership Council and create the appropriate conditions to stop fighting and conflicts between all forces and reach peace that achieves security and stability in all parts of Yemen."
The presidential decision assigns the President of the council exclusive powers and competencies, which are:

The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces.

Representing the Republic at home and abroad.

Appointing provincial governors, security directors, Supreme Court 
judges, and the governor of the Central Bank.

Ratification of agreements not requiring the ratification from the House of Representatives after the approval of the Council of Ministers.

Establishing diplomatic missions and appointing and recalling ambassadors according to the law.

Inviting the Council of Ministers to a joint meeting with the President of the Presidential Leadership Council whenever needed.

Yemen is destroyed by an almost decade long conflict that has undermined its infrastructure and normal life. A two-month ceasefire might bring new opportunities to end the war. 

Since the collapse of the former Iraqi regime in 2003 at the hands of US forces and their allies, the Kurdistan region of Iraq has witnessed an urban and economic movement whose effects are visible.

High-rise buildings, shops with the names of foreign brands, modern cars, and the absence of signs of armament.

Ari Jalal, head of the Lutka organization concerned with immigrant affairs, says that this year alone has seen the exodus of more than forty thousand from Iraq, the vast majority of whom are from the Kurdistan region.

There seems to be a strong desire to emigrate here.

"I will sell my house to immigrate."

Rebwar, 46, wants to sell his small house, to pay immigration fees to smugglers or intermediaries.

Rebwar failed four times to fulfil his dream of emigrating, but he is still determined to go to Britain and this time wants to take his family of five with him, including his wife, who has cancer.

We asked the wife if the drowning had scared her from the idea of emigrating. She said, "I feel sorry for those who lost their lives at sea, and my heartfelt condolences go to their families, but we are determined to emigrate."

However, why would one want to sell one's home and risk emigrating, especially since the region's conditions are relatively better than other regions in Iraq?

"In 1991 I was 16 years old, and today, after thirty years, I have built nothing for my future, and I do not want my children to live in the same situation," says Rebwar, referring to the start of the era of de facto independence for the Kurdistan region of Iraq after the second Gulf War.

His wife intervenes, saying: "The networks linked to the Barzani and Talabani families, the economic situation, and the lack of educational opportunities are all pushing us to emigrate."

"The vast majority of current immigrants are in the 18-25 age group," says the head of Lutka.

The class-clan nature of Kurdish societies reduces employment and education opportunities for the youth groups who live in villages and peripheral areas.

Migrants face death in the hope of a better life.

Since the Islamic State took control of areas adjacent to the region in 2014, the economic situation in Iraqi Kurdistan has been affected, whether in terms of the absence of investors or the decline in revenues coming from Baghdad.

Since then, the number of immigrants from the region has increased.

Immigrants who dream of reaching Europe spend vast sums of money to achieve their goal, without which they may die.

Rebwar said that his family's immigration trip "would cost me about $90,000 for the whole family".

Illegal immigration processes take place through several stages, starting from here. Tour companies are working to secure visas for neighbouring countries like Turkey, Iran, or Georgia.

One of the smugglers agreed to speak to me, after specifying the place and time, at the last moment, for fear of being followed by the authorities.

Nizar, a nom de guerre, says that smugglers set prices for migration trips according to their type: "The price of land is different from sea, and this varies according to the size of the boat. A large rubber boat may cost $1,000 per person, while large ships cost more."

"The destination also determines the cost. The average cost per person to the European Union is higher than to other regions," he adds.

Nizar explains the path that migration trips usually follow: "The traditional way is for a person to secure his visa, either through us or on his own, to countries of origin such as Turkey, from which he begins the journey by land (via Greece or Bulgaria) or by sea (through Greece), according to different prices to reach the European Union.

He adds that this changed with the entry of Belarus on the line, where the cost of the visa is obtained through "tourist offices, intermediaries, or even workers in international consulates".

Nizar says, "The legal visa fee does not exceed eighty dollars, while the price through intermediaries ranges between 6000-8000 dollars."

Some Kurdish migrants who tried to cross into the European Union via Belarus returned as lifeless bodies.

During the past few months, immigration flights have been arriving in Belarus, after which the migrants continue the way either on foot or in trucks entering the European Union.

Nizar believes that "the closure of the Belarusian border with the European Union may restore the activity of the traditional route through Turkey by sea or land."

During the past few days, Iraq returned many of its citizens stuck on the border between Belarus and Bulgaria, while others returned as lifeless bodies. But in the absence of a significant change in the region's conditions that push many to emigrate - and these circumstances converge with the desire of some to collect money, it seems that the migration convoys from the region will continue.

Three Katyusha rockets fell Wednesday evening near an oil refinery in Iraqi Kurdistan. "The rockets did not cause any human or material damage," said the counter-terrorism council of the region.  

The regional counter-terrorism agency said that the missiles landed near the Korokosk refinery, one of the largest oil-rich regions, about 20 kilometres northwest of Erbil.

The announcement stressed that the missiles "did not cause any human or material damage."

The Iraqi News Agency quoted the authorities saying that the launched missiles were from the Hamdaniya area in Nineveh Governorate.

Sources in the Kurdistan Regional Government told "Reuters" that the refinery near which the missiles fell is owned by businessman Baz Karim Barzanji, CEO of the "Car Group" energy company. Last month Barzanji's house was targeted and demolished by Iranian missiles.

Last March, Iran attacked Erbil with more than a dozen ballistic missiles in an attack, the first of its kind on the capital of the semi-autonomous region.

In the last century, the rank of "Marshal of the Soviet Union" represented the highest military rank in the Soviet Union. In addition, all Soviet military leaders dreamt of attaining this rank, which would give them important prestige and influence in the country and the army.

Thanks to their command of entire fronts and their success in achieving victory over the Germans in World War II, several Soviet generals such as Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Konev, Govorov, and Vasilevsky were awarded the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

In addition to these names that made the Soviet victory over the Germans, Marshal Grigory Ivanovich Kulik stands out as one of the strangest soldiers who received the highest military rank in the Soviet Union. Instead of military successes, the latter caused disasters in the Soviet army and disobeyed orders before being stripped of his rank and executed.

Artillery commander

In the midst of World War I, Grigory Ivanovich Kulik was in the ranks of the Imperial Russian Army, where he received many promotions to become a lieutenant in one of the artillery divisions. In the Russian Civil War, he participated in the operation to defend Tsaritsyn, which later became Stalingrad and commanded one of the artillery divisions. During this battle, Kulik became acquainted with the future Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

With the end of the Russian Civil War, Grigory Ivanovich Kulik became in charge of the Main Artillery Directorate of the Soviet Red Army. Unlike many of his colleagues, Kollek was unwilling to take up important positions in the Soviet army and was often critical of what was going on around him. For example, during the Great Purge, Kollek wrote to Stalin about the decline in the capabilities of the Soviet army due to the executions that reduced the number of experienced people in the army.

Reprimand and promotion

In the late thirties, Kollek returned to participate again in the battles of the Soviet army. Amid the border conflict with Japan, this general came to the support of his colleague Zhukov in late July 1939 with the battle of the Khalkhin-Gol River. During a crucial period of the battle, Kulik attempted to interfere in military decisions among Zhukov's tasks. Because of this, Kulik was scolded by Moscow officials and summoned to return to the capital.

Kulik was sent to the front at the beginning of the Soviet-Finnish war in late November 1939. There, the latter failed for weeks to make tangible progress. Finally, with the Finns running out of ammunition, the artillery divisions, which Kollek had supervised, played an important role in breaching the Mannerheim line.

With his achievements in the Soviet-Finnish war and the execution of senior leaders of the Soviet army, Kulik was awarded the rank of Marshal and was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union on May 7, 1940.

Military failure and execution

In World War II, Kulik caused many disasters in the Soviet Army. With the beginning of the German invasion of Soviet lands on June 22, 1941, this Marshal was sent to the front. Upon his arrival on the spot, his military squad was surrounded by the Germans. Instead of resisting, Kollek ordered his soldiers to lay down their weapons, dispose of their uniforms and military documents, and disguise themselves as peasants in preparation for withdrawal.

By this step, Kollek, who disguised himself as a peasant, believed that he could escape the clutches of the Germans, who allowed the peasants to move freely to leave the battlefield.

In September 1941, Marshal Kollek was sent to participate in the operation to break the siege of Leningrad. However, because of his differences with his colleague Zhukov, Kulik avoided coordination with the rest of the forces, preferring to launch a single military campaign. Because of this decision, Kulik failed against Leningrad, and his forces suffered heavy losses.

By November 1941, Kollek had made the last of the slips that angered Stalin. Having been sent to defend the Kerch region of Crimea, Marshal Kollek preferred to withdraw and hand it over to the Germans.

Also, the latter allowed his forces to leave Rostov in the face of the German advance, angering the military leadership, which demanded that he be brought before a military court. As a result of these military mistakes, Kulik was stripped of his rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union, and many of his medals were taken away. However, this Soviet soldier escaped execution at the time thanks to his knowledge of Stalin.

Despite his military failures, Kollek played a vital role in saving the lives of significant numbers of Poles. With the success of the Soviet invasion of Poland, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Stalin demanded that all Polish prisoners be executed. 

Faced with this situation, Kollek met with Stalin and convinced him to execute only high-ranking officers.

With the end of World War II, Stalin feared the increasing influence of the country's top military officers. Hoping to end his fears, the Soviet commander ordered a campaign against several of the army's leaders. Kollek was among the soldiers whom Stalin ordered removed. After his arrest in 1947, Kollek spent three years in prison before his death sentence was issued, which was carried out on August 24, 1950.

Iraqi council of representatives elected Mam Jalal as the first Iraqi president after collapse of Saddam’s dictatorial rule on 6th April 2005. The day is remembered as a historical milestone in Kurdish history. For the first time in history Kurds were represented in Iraq.

His election was the last nail in the coffin of dictatorship in Iraq. It was welcomed internationally as Mam Jalal was a democrat, working to establish democracy in Iraq since his early teenage years. Former American president, George Bush alongside many prominent world leaders congratulated President Talabani and lent their support to his presidency.

President Talabani was elected to office twice due to his abilities to keep all rival factions in check and help the Iraqi economy to grow by double digits every year until he left political in late 2012 due to health problems.

After president Talabani’s departure from Iraqi politics, Iraq has decended into turmoil and instability.

Climate change is the main reason behind dust storms, declared the Iraqi ministry of environment. According to the general weather committee, the number of dust storms has increased from 243 days per year to 272 days per year. It is estimated to reach 300 days per year by 2050.

The committee stressed that climate change threatens to destroy nearly 70% of arable land in Iraq.

Alexander Grushko said that European countries disrupting the work of Russian diplomats were damaging their interests, Interfax reported. Western sanction on Russia have increased dramatically since Russian began its invasion of Ukraine in late February. 

Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid's remarks, came during his visit to the Greek capital Athens, where he arrived on Tuesday for a tripartite meeting among foreign ministers of Israel, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot administration.

Mentioning the "warming of relations" between Turkey and Israel, Lapid said, "it is a blessed chance whose time has come," according to a statement by Israel's Foreign Ministry.

"It also produces a great opportunity to deepen our ties and strengthen regional stability," he also added.

The meeting between Greece, Israel, and Cypriot Greek administration foreign ministers in Athens focused on the latest developments in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, including energy and security issues. The group discussed further strengthening trilateral ties.

"There is a war in Europe. Once again, a large and powerful country has invaded a smaller neighbor without any justification. Once again, the ground is soaked with the blood of innocent civilians," he said.

Maintaining that the war stands to change European and Middle Eastern energy markets, Lapid said the parties are examining further economic cooperation, emphasizing the energy market.

The trio was part of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum established in 2019 with other states, including Egypt and Jordan – without Turkey.

Laurence Norman and Ann M. Simmons write:

The European Union has proposed sanctioning two daughters of President Vladimir Putin, according to diplomats familiar with the plan, a move that would add the Russian leader’s closest family members to a growing list of individuals sanctioned in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

 Putin doesn’t speak publicly about his family. He has two daughters with his former wife, Lyudmila Putina, according to the Kremlin. It isn’t known if Putin has other children, and it couldn’t be learned if the daughters being targeted in the EU sanctions were those he has publicly acknowledged.

Tunisia has calls Turkey's ambassador after the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized his counterpart for dissolving Parliament.
Tunisia's President Kais Saied, in a statement released on Tuesday evening, told foreign minister Othman Jarandi that he rejected "all interference in any form" in Tunisian affairs, without directly mentioning Erdogan.

Since July, Said has been seizing wide-ranging powers, sacked the assembly last week, eight months after suspending it, in a blow against the democratic system born out of the country's 2011 uprising.

On Monday, Erdogan had criticized Saied's latest move as a "blow to the will of the Tunisian people" and a "smear on democracy."

“A drone belonging to the Turkish occupation targeted a car carrying a member of the General Command of the Syriac Military Council Orom Maroge in the town of Tal Tamr,” SDF media head Farhad Shami said in a tweet.

Maroge’s translator was also on board of the vehicle which was caught in the Turkish airstrike. “[Maroge] was escorting the Russian side heading to the Tal Tamr power station,” he added.

A conflict monitor, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Sunday reported alleged Turkish bombardment hit Tal Tamir and Zirgan district in Hasaka province without causing civilian casualties.

The Kurdish-led SDF forces have partnered with U.S. forces since 2016 to fight Islamic State in northeastern Syria.

They run the semi-autonomous region of the country's northeast that they carved out during Syria's civil war.

Today, 4th April marks the international day for “Mine awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.”

On this occasion, the Kurdistan Region's general directorate for mine action said, “Due to the past conflicts in the Kurdistan Region, we have 255 square kilometers of contaminated land need to be cleared and it needs substantial financial assistance that currently the KRG is unable to provide.” 

The agency added, “so for there have been more than 13,500 civilian casualties.”

The agency advised the public to stay away from land mines and avoid visiting contaminated areas, and not mess with land mines they encounter.  

On the border between Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat) and Kurdistan Region, the number of casualties due to mine explosions in 2021 increased by %32 compared to 2020, a human rights group said on Monday (April 4).

Last year 12 people have died and 38 others wounded due to mine explosions occurred on the border between Rojhelat and Kurdistan Region, Hengaw Human Rights reported.

Rojhelat’s Ilam province was the most affected where four people died and 15 others wounded due to mine explosions.  

The Treasury Department announced the new sanctions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit responsible for the research and development of ballistic missiles, as well as Iran's Parchin Chemical Industries and an Iranian intermediary who worked on procurement of parts for propelling missiles.

Although there were talks of Washington removing the IRGC from the terror list amid a breakthrough in the Vienna nuclear talks, the recent actions might complicate the talks once again. 

Iran's ministry of foreign affairs slammed the decision and called it "another ill will move towards the Iranian people."

A Ukrainian man lay sprawled by the roadside in the Ukrainian city of Bucha on Sunday, his hands tied behind his back and a bullet wound to his head, one of hundreds of local residents that officials say have been found dead in the wake of five weeks of Russian occupation.

Bucha's deputy mayor, Taras Shapravskyi, said 50 of the dead residents, found after Russian forces withdrew from the city late last week, were the victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops, and the officials have accused Moscow of war crimes.