In the meeting held on May 4, 2023, which was attended by Daban Shadala, Deputy Head of the KRG Foreign Relations Office, Qubad Talabani and Darbaz Kosrat Rasul explained the position of the PUK on elections that needs to be fair and inclusive.

They stressed that the Kurdistan Region has faced criticism in many areas such as violations of human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of the press and we do not want to face criticism from our friends because of the postponement of elections.

Qubad Talabani said they have agreed on most issues in the previous talks and the only point of disagreement left is the issue of minorities. Darbaz Kosrat Rasul explained that the parliamentary seats for the minorities were determined from the beginning at the request of President Mam Jalal and the PUK and even increasing the number of seats to 11 seats was proposed by the PUK. Therefore, the PUK considers itself to be the defender of the rights of Kurdistan's minorities more than any other party.

They said that PUK’s only demand is for the minorities to represent themselves, and not be represented by others. "Our demand is both logical and not so difficult that it cannot be implemented and this should be the demand of all parties," he said.

In the meeting, the EU delegation expressed their concern that the delay in the elections will tarnish the reputation of the region and the institutions will lose their legitimacy, in this context, they called for an agreement as soon as possible.

In response to the demand, Qubad Talabani said that they welcome any initiative and are ready to reach an agreement at any time that our friends and allies designate, because our demands are free and fair elections.

 

The meeting was held in Erbil on May 4, 2023 and was attended by member of PUK politburo executive body Darbaz Kosrat Rasul, deputy director of foreign relations department of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Daban Shadala, Alina Romanosky, US Ambassador to Iraq and Ervin Hicks, US general consul for the Kurdistan region.

Qubad Talabani said that the internal problems have created a threat to the position of the region and we should all try to resolve the internal problems with a sense of responsibility and political and party conflict should not reach the level of crossing national red lines.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that we welcome any initiative to resolve the issues and are ready to form a joint committee to resolve all the points of disagreement, even with the participation of representatives of our allies.

He said that after many years of security, political and economic instability, as well as unnecessary political and party conflict, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region need a long period of stability and peace so that they can work together on economic development and market recovery and Kurdistan cannot tolerate unnecessary party conflict.

They also discussed freedom of expression in Kurdistan and the Deputy Prime Minister said that we have always been proud to provide freedom of expression and freedom of the press, but unfortunately recently we have faced criticism from our friends. He stressed that we must look at ourselves so that the name and reputation of the region at the international level is not tarnished by violations of freedoms.

Netherlands has 125 soldiers assigned to protect the Erbil International Airport since January 2021, all of them will leave the Kurdistan region.

The Dutch Ministry of Defense’s advisory office will remain operational in Erbil to provide military advice to Kurdish and Iraqi forces.

The Dutch troops has worked alongside Kurdish forces and American soldiers to ensure the safety and stability of the region.

Netherlands’s decision signals a significant shift in the country’s involvement in the region, as the mission has been a vital part of maintaining security in the area for more than a year.

Latif Nerwayi, head of the Coordination and Monitoring Board of the PUK Election Agency, told KurdsatNews that the current position of the KDP is completely contrary to the agreement which they had reached earlier.

The KDP has even rejected the UN proposal on the seats of the communities, Nerwayi said.

“The KDP now does not want community seats to be divided into constituencies,” he added.

"Although the Kurdistan Region is rich in natural resources... Unfortunately, we still lack 24-hour electricity, so we must address this issue and satisfy domestic needs before considering exporting gas," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani attended the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece for the second consecutive time. During a speech at the forum on April 27, he said: "Natural resources make the government lazy. We must provide good services to our people."

Regarding the Kurdistan region’s relations, KRG Deputy PM said, "Kurdistan is in a complicated geopolitical situation, and we must deal with our neighbors carefully. We must have good relations with all sides."

Qubad Talabani also talked about the fight against terrorism and said, we still fight against ISIS and that “We are in the same fight with the Syrian Kurds against terrorism.”

"We have never been shy about expressing our solidarity with Syria to fight terrorism that has a tendency to upset some of our neighbors," said KRG Deputy PM Qubad Talabani.

Qubad Talabani said, they have worked on digitizing the government and that if there is transparency, corruption will be difficult because a bureaucratic government will spread corruption.

He also said, women can play a good role in government. "Equality between men and women in Kurdistan is something we believe, women can play a good role in government," he said.

There have been multiple truce efforts since fighting broke out on April 15 between Sudan's army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. All have failed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was "very actively working to extend the ceasefire" between the warring generals.

"We've had a 72-hour ceasefire, which like most ceasefires is imperfect but nonetheless has reduced violence. And that's obviously created somewhat better conditions for people in Sudan," he told reporters.

Burhan on Wednesday said he would consider a proposal by the East African IGAD bloc for another three-day ceasefire when the current truce formally expires at midnight (2200 GMT), but no further details have been released and the RSF's response to the proposal is unclear.

On Thursday, warplanes patrolled over the capital's northern suburbs as fighters on the ground exchanged artillery and heavy machinegun fire, witnesses said.

"I hear intense shelling outside my home," a Khartoum resident told AFP on Thursday evening, asking not to be named.

At least 512 people have been killed and 4,193 wounded in the fighting, according to health ministry figures, although the real death toll is likely much higher.

Hospitals have been shelled and more than two thirds are out of service, the doctors' union said Thursday, reporting at least eight civilians killed in Khartoum alone on Wednesday.

“France is the only country in the European Union that has a Consul General in the city of Mosul” said Jean-Christophe Auger, the French Consul to Mosul, who promises “opportunities for investment” in the region.

Prior to the center's opening, residents of Mosul had to travel 500 kilometers to Baghdad to apply for visas.

There is another visa center in the nearby city of Erbil, but that serves only residents of the Kurdistan region.

Mosul hosts a Turkish consulate, UN and international NGO offices, but Niniveh Governor Nejm al-Joubouri noted that France was "the first European country" to have appointed a consul general in the city. French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Augé as French Consul in Mosul on 16 May 2022.

Police said their operation was staged across 21 provinces, including Diyarbakir.

State media said police held people suspected of financing the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or roping new members into the group.

State media said the detained included people suspected of fomenting nearly 60 street protests since 2017.

The Diyarbakir Bar Association said the number of detentions could be as high as 150. These include 20 lawyers and three theatre actors, it said.

Reporters Without Borders said 11 journalists who worked with pro-Kurdish media were also detained.

The raids were believed to be the largest since 108 suspects were arrested in a similar operation in 2020.

"Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms," Biden wrote on Twitter, along with a video.

"I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for re-election as president of the United States. Join us. Let's finish the job."

After a series of big legislative wins and momentous foreign policy struggles in his first two years in office, Biden has no real challenger from within the Democratic Party.

But in a campaign that may result in a rematch of the 2020 election against Donald Trump, he is expected to face constant and fierce scrutiny over his age.

The veteran Democrat would be 86 by the end of a second term. Even if a medical exam in February found him "fit" to execute the duties of the presidency, many including in his own voter base believe he is too old.

An NBC News poll released over the weekend found that 70 percent of Americans, including 51 percent of Democrats, believe he should not run.

Sixty-nine percent of all respondents who said he shouldn't run cited concerns over his age as a major or minor reason.

Biden likes to answer those concerns by saying, "watch me" -- meaning that voters should focus on his policy wins at home and his marshaling of an unprecedented Western alliance to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion.

Over the next year and a half, Biden will have all the advantages of incumbency, backed by a united party, while Republicans are only just starting a messy primary season.

Trump, despite becoming the first former or serving president to be criminally indicted -- and facing probes into his attempt to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 election -- is the overwhelming Republican frontrunner.

On Monday, Trump was quick to pitch in his own criticism of the man who defeated him last time around.

"With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection," he said in a statement.

The most likely Republican challenger to the 76-year-old Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, presents a similarly right-wing figure, though starkly younger at 44.


- 'Rebuilding the middle class' -


Biden will underline his foreign policy credentials Tuesday when he meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is starting a state visit to the White House.

Like in 2020, Biden's video message framed his election bid as a fight to save American democracy from Trump and increasingly far-right Republicans. However, he also stressed his message of restoring an economy with heavy focus on the manufacturing base and jobs for the middle class.

Later Tuesday he was scheduled to deliver an economic address to a union conference being held in Washington.

While not a campaign event, the scheduled theme -- "how his investing in America agenda is bringing manufacturing back, rebuilding the middle class, and creating good-paying union jobs" -- was set to be at the heart of the Democrat's 2024 message.


- Bland but comforting? -


Biden's approval ratings have not topped 50 percent for more than a year and a half. 

However, he has consistently over-delivered when it matters. Supporters say the Democratic Party's surprisingly strong performance in 2022 midterm congressional elections validated the Biden brand.

And while Biden may seem bland in comparison to Trump, he would bank on his moderate, old fashioned image being the secret weapon needed in an increasingly extreme era.

"My dad had an expression," Biden often says. "'Joey, don't compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.'"

After arresting the activist, Ali Mahmoud, also known as Ali Siyasi, Erbil security forces ransacked his house and searched for documents, KurdsatNews reporter said.

The Kurdistan Genocide Writers Union said that Ali Mahmoud is a member of the Supreme Council and a founding member of the Kurdistan Genocide Writers Union.

Spokesman of Erbil security forces, Sabah Khadr told KurdsatNews that Ali Siyasi was arrested for harboring a suspect charged with murder under Article 406 of the Criminal Code.

“Since the beginning of this year in Iraq… through the first week of April, we have seen a record of a 68-percent reduction in attacks when compared to the same period last year,” said US Major General Matthew McFarlane, commander of the anti-jihadist coalition.

“In Syria… we recorded a 55-percent decrease during the same time,” McFarlane told an online news conference.

The attacks attributed to ISIS fighters this year have been “relatively small, from one to a few individuals,” he said, adding the group “has failed to organize or coordinate anything more than that over the past year.”

The United Nations estimated in a report published in February that ISIS still has “5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters” across Iraq and neighboring Syria, “roughly half of whom are fighters.”

In Iraq, ISIS cells operate in rural mountain areas, “leveraging the porous Iraqi-Syrian border and retaining manoeuvrability to evade attacks” while trying to “rebuild and recover,” the UN report said.

It has been two months since a number of Kurdish migrants have been arrested by Belarus officials while trying to reach Europe.

Danar Abubakr, the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Russia, told KurdsatNews that the KRG has helped a large number of refugees who were in trouble and later returned.

He said they are concerned about the continued trafficking of migrants by smugglers, while the government is working with Iraq and Russia to ensure that the rights of the Kurdish migrants are not violated.

The KRG representative in Russia said that although they provide humanitarian assistance to the migrants arrested on their way to Europe, but migrants should know that they are treated according to the laws of the country where they were arrested.

Iraqi FM Fuad Hussein on Sunday, held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian and exchanged Ramadan greetings, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Both sides exchanged views on bilateral relations between Tehran and Baghdad, regional developments, maintaining security and stability and fighting terrorism.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister welcomed efforts to normalize of relations between Tehran and Riyadh and said that Iraqi President Dr. Latif Rashid will soon pay an official visit to Tehran.

Last month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sent an official invitation to the Iraq’s President through Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Mohammad al-Sadeq to visit Tehran.

In 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) group swept across swathes of Iraq, carrying out horrific violence against the Kurdish-speaking community whose non-Muslim faith the extremists considered heretical.

ISIS massacred thousands of men and abducted thousands of women and girls as sex slaves.

Tuesday night as the sun set over the Lalish stone shrine in northern Iraq, Yazidis began lighting oil lamps, 365 of them, one for each day of the year.

Hundreds came to mark the Yazidi New Year -- which to the faithful commemorates the creation of the universe by angels and celebrates nature and fertility.

Six years after Iraq declared victory over ISIS, the Yazidis came to Lalish barefoot and dressed in white.

The men wore embroidered vests over their shirts while women donned traditional head coverings, featuring gold coins.

"Before, this was a time for celebration and our joy was immense. But today... we cannot forget what we have been through," said Sinan, attending the celebration with his children.

The Yazidis follow an ancient religion that emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago and is rooted in Zoroastrianism. Over time it incorporated elements of Islam and Christianity.

The community was persecuted for years, including under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

'For eternity'

When IS invaded Iraq in August 2014, one of their targets was Sinjar, the Yazidis' historic home on the Nineveh Plain, in a remote corner of the country's north.

"Ever since the genocide, there is sadness in our hearts. It won't go away," said Sinan, a 37-year-old mathematics teacher.

"This sadness will live in us for eternity."

During the New Year celebration, Yazidis pay their respects at the graves of relatives, and those who can afford it slaughter a sheep and offer some of the meat to the poor.

 

(AFP)

It has been nearly six months since KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and a group of ministers affiliated with the PUK opted not to attend the cabinet meetings.

PUK ministers have informed the cabinet that they will no longer attend the meetings unless certain concerns are addressed.

The KRG delegation is a ministerial team consisted of Dana Abdulkarim Minister of Housing and Reconstruction, Abdula Haji Mahmud Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs and Pshtiwan Sadiq Minister of Endowment and Religious Affairs.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his country’s position that it would not engage in any peace talks unless Russia withdraws from all Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow took over in 2014, and to also recognize September’s annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine has rejected those demands and insists it won’t hold talks with Russia until Moscow’s troops pull back from all occupied territories.

In Iraq, Kuleba met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein. It was the first visit by a Ukrainian official to Baghdad since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the first visit by a Ukrainian foreign minister in 11 years.

Hussein pointed to Iraq’s years of experience with war and conflict, as well as with hosting negotiations between hostile parties — such as the recent Saudi-Iran talks.

Baghdad had hosted several rounds of the talks between Riyadh and Tehran before the negotiations broke down. They later resumed with China as mediator, resulting in last month’s announcement that the two regional rivals would restore diplomatic relations.