Tando Allahyar At 82 years old, architect Yasmeen Lari is forging the way in fortifying Pakistans rural communities living on the frontline of climate change.

Lari, Pakistans first woman architect, has ditched a lifetime of multi-million dollar projects in the megacity of Karachi to develop pioneering flood-proof bamboo houses.

The few pilot settlements already constructed are credited with saving families from the worst of the catastrophic monsoon flooding that put a third of the country underwater last year.

We continued to live in them, said Khomo Kohli, a 45-year-old resident of Pono Colony village, which is a few hundred kilometres outside of Karachi. 

The rest of the residents had to move onto the road where they lived for two months until the water receded.

Now, Lari is campaigning to scale up the project to one million houses made from affordable local materials, bringing new jobs to the most vulnerable areas.

I call it a kind of co-building and co-creation, because the people have an equal part in embellishing it and making it comfortable for themselves, she said.

The architect, who trained in the United Kingdom, is behind some of Karachis most notable buildings, including brutalist constructions such as the Pakistan State Oil headquarters, as well as a string of luxury homes.

As she was considering retirement, a series of natural disasters including a massive 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods stiffened her resolve to continue working with her Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, which manages her rural projects.

I had to find the solution, or find a way by which I could build up the capacities of people so that they could fend for themselves, rather than waiting for outside help, she told AFP.

My motto is zero carbon, zero waste, zero donor, which I think leads to zero poverty, she said.

Traditional techniques  

Climate change is making monsoon rains heavier and more unpredictable, scientists say, raising the urgency to flood-proof the country particularly as the poorest live in the most vulnerable areas. 

Pakistan, with the worlds fifth-largest population, is responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but is one of the nations most vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather.

Pono Colony, with around 100 houses, was developed just months before catastrophic monsoon rains arrived last summer and displaced eight million people.

The villages elevated homes are protected from rushing water, while their bamboo skeletons pierced deep into the ground can withstand pressure without being uprooted. 

Known locally as chanwara, the mud huts are an improved take on the traditional single-room houses dotted along the landscape of so...

Washington Talks to avoid a US debt default were on a knife edge Saturday as President Joe Biden warned he would not accept extreme Republican demands but suggested there remained a path to success.

With the Treasury Department warning that the US government could run out of money as early as June 1 triggering massive economic disruption in the worlds biggest economy and likely around the globe the political battle in Washington see-sawed without any sign of imminent resolution.

Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, are demanding steep budget cuts as a price for allowing an extension of the governments borrowing authority. The White House is seeking to whittle down Republican demands, while arguing that the traditionally uncontroversial annual debt ceiling increase is being weaponized for political gain. 

Hopes for a settlement took a blow Friday when Republicans walked out of negotiations, declaring a pause.

However, the talks restarted later, leading White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to say we are indeed optimistic.

Biden, on the other side of the world at a G7 summit in Hiroshima, was briefed on the situation early Saturday, which was still Friday night in Washington, the White House said.

Biden communications director Ben LaBolt said Republicans are taking the economy hostage and pushing us to the brink of default, which could cost millions of jobs and tip the country into recession after two years of steady job and wage growth.

While Biden will not accept extreme Republican policies, there remains a path forward to arrive at a reasonable bipartisan agreement if Republicans come back to the table to negotiate in good faith, LaBolt said.

Tax and spending

More borrowing is required by the US government just to meet expenditures already made, meaning that refusal by the Republicans to lift the debt ceiling would leave Washington unable to pay its bills, triggering an array of economic shockwaves.

Republicans argue that the more than $31 trillion in US national debt is too high to accept and that there should be agreement on getting the books more balanced, rather than simply authorizing a still-higher debt allowance.

Democrats say that they are willing to discuss the budget but that first the debt ceiling needs to be raised without condition so that the existing bills can be paid and US financial credibility preserved.

Briefly calling off the talks on Friday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said: Weve got to pause, because we cant be spending any more money next year.

But Bidens team says the raft of spending cuts being demanded by Republicans are fueled by the agenda of the partys increasingly dominant hard-right wing.

In his st...

Jeddah (IraqiNews.com) During the 32nd Arab Summit, held by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Jeddah.

The discussion focused on bilateral ties between Iraq and Ukraine, as well as methods to strengthen collaboration in areas of mutual interest.

To establish a peaceful conclusion in Ukraine, Al-Sudani underlined the necessity of diplomatic measures and offering possibilities for negotiation. This would help to improve security, promote peace, and prevent future escalation.

According to the Prime Ministers office, the Ukrainian President stated his countrys firm commitment to expanding cooperation and developing ties with Iraq in a variety of spheres. He invited the Iraqi Prime Minister to visit Ukraine and praised Iraqs vital position in the region, recognizing its efforts to maintain security and stability.

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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, called on Arab Leaders on Friday to hold the 2025 Arab League Summit in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, during his speech at the 32^nd Arab League Summit held in the Saudi city of Jeddah, according to a statement issued by the Prime Ministers press office.

Many countries built successful economic blocs, where members do not share common elements, Al-Sudani stated.

Therefore, we must review economic interdependence and integration between our countries, Al-Sudani added.

The Iraqi Prime Minister explained that Iraq would host several conferences, including the Baghdad 2023 conference, for economic integration and regional stability, the statement illustrated.

The Prime Minister said that Baghdad is currently preparing to host the Development Route Conference, the promising project that will strengthen the bonds and serve the interests of the people, according to the statement.

On May 2, The Iraqi Ministry of Transport announced it sent official invitations to ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions of Iraqs neighboring countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to attend a conference on the Development Route that will be held in Iraq at the end of May.

The Ministry of Transport did not mention the exact date of the conference, elaborating only that it would be held under the auspices of the Prime Minister.

The Development Route is the name given by the Iraqi government to what was known as the dry canal that connects the Al-Faw Grand Port in the southern Iraqi governorate of Basra with the Turkish territories through railway networks and roads.

In a joint press conference held in March with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Al-Sudani stated that the Development Route represents a global corridor to transport goods and energy.

The Iraqi Prime Minister illustrated that the project includes a railway to transport goods, with a capacity of 3.5 million tons in its first phase, and will reach a capacity of 7.5 million tons in the second phase.

Al-Sudani elaborated that the Development Route will also include a highway for land transport and pipelines to transport energy, in addition to the Al-Faw Grand Port, and the industrial city expected to be one of the largest cities in the Middle East.

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Los Angeles Jimmy Butler led a fourth-quarter fightback as the Miami Heat stunned the Boston Celtics 111-105 to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference finals series on Friday.

Miami talisman Butler finished with 27 points as the eighth seeds grabbed a second straight victory at Bostons TD Garden to leave the Celtics with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the NBA finals.

Miami had trailed by 11 points early in the fourth quarter and the Celtics led by as much as nine with under seven minutes of the final frame remaining.

But Butler led a sensational 20-9 Miami run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter that turned the game on its head and leaves his team just two wins away from returning to the NBA finals as the best-of-seven series heads to Miami for games three and four.

We got some dogs, and I love it, I love every bit of it, an elated Butler said during an on-court interview after the Miami win.

Guys never quit, guys never give up, we love playing with one another we got so much faith and trust in one another.

Nine of Butlers 27 points came during the fourth-quarter rally, with the Miami star seemingly fired up after an angry nose-to-nose exchange with Bostons Grant Williams midway through the fourth quarter.

At that stage in the game, Boston led 96-89, but Miami launched a devastating late run that turned the contest decisively in favor of the Heat.

Just healthy competition, and I love it, Butler said afterwards of his exchange with Williams. 

Im always here to compete, I like to talk at times, as long as we get the win Im good with it though.

Butler received offensive support from Caleb Martin with 25 points off the bench, while Bam Adebayo delivered another all-round effort with 22 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists.

Duncan Robinson added 15 points from the bench including three three-pointers.

A shellshocked Boston meanwhile were left reflecting on another shattering defeat at home despite 34 points from Jayson Tatum.

Jaylen Brown finished with 16 points but had a wayward shooting night, making only 7-of-23 from the field, while Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon had 13 points apiece.

Game three takes place in Miami on Sunday.

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Hiroshima Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday headed to Hiroshima to join G7 talks, after winning long-sought US support for access to advanced fighter jets and training for Kyivs pilots.

The rare long-haul trip is a chance to confer with allies like US President Joe Biden, but also to woo key unaligned powers at the summit, including India and Brazil.

Zelenskys surprise appearance he had previously been expected to appear by video comes after a stop in Jeddah to address the Arab League and a breakthrough in his long-running campaign to convince Washington of Ukraines need for F-16s.

Momentum had been building for providing the planes, but US support is key because its approval is legally required for the re-export of US equipment purchased by allies.

The United States had previously cited long pilot training times and high costs as a reason not to supply the jets, with officials insisting there were more cost-effective ways to boost Kyivs air defences.

But F-16s now appear likely to join the list of advanced systems, including Western tanks and long-range weaponry, that Ukraines supporters have agreed to provide after initial reluctance.

Biden told G7 leaders in Japan that Washington would now support the request, in a move hailed by Zelensky as a historic decision.

The two leaders will meet in Hiroshima to discuss practical implementation of the plan, Zelensky said, with the White House saying Biden was looking forward to the talks without confirming a date.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan insisted the fighter jet decision did not reflect an about-turn in US policy.

Nothing has changed. Our approach to the provision of weapons, material, training to the Ukrainians has followed the exigencies of the conflict, he told reporters in Hiroshima.

Weve reached a moment where its time to look down the road and to say What is Ukraine going to need to be able to deter and defend against Russian aggression?

F-16s, fourth-generation fighter aircraft, are part of that mix. The obvious first step there is to do the training and then to work with allies, partners and the Ukrainians to determine how to do the actual provision points as we move forward.

Avoid World War III

The timeline for that training remains unclear, with US officials previously estimating it could take up to 18 months.

Still, the decision was welcomed by allies including the United Kingdom.

The UK will work together with the USA and the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to get Ukraine the combat air capability it needs, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted, adding: We stand united.

Sullivan denied providing the planes would further es...

Los Angeles NBA superstar and Ohio kid LeBron James led the tributes to NFL great Jim Brown on Friday, after the legendary Cleveland Browns running back and civil rights campaigner died at the age of 87.

We lost a hero today, James said in an Instagram post that also featured a video of four-time NBA champion James, then playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, bowing to Brown as he sat courtside at a game.

Rest in Paradise to the legend Jim Brown, James wrote. I hope every Black athlete takes the time to educate themselves about this incredible man and what he did to change all of our lives.

We all stand on your shoulders Jim Brown.

Brown played for the Browns for all of an NFL career spanning 1957-65.

He led the NFL in rushing eight of those seasons and retired in July of 1966 with a then-record 12,312 career rushing yards.

Browns excellence on the field was what first made the young LeBron James an admirer, but now the Los Angeles Lakers star known for his work on social justice issues says Browns efforts during the turbulent civil rights movement was his real gift to todays athletes.

If you grew up in Northeast Ohio and were Black, Jim Brown was a God, James wrote. As a kid who loved football, I really just thought of him as the greatest Cleveland Brown to ever play.

Then I started my own journey as a professional athlete and realized what he did socially was his true greatness.

When I choose to speak out, I always think about Jim Brown. I can only speak because Jim broke down those walls for me.

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the African-American athletes who attended the 1967 Cleveland Summit organized by Brown in a show of support for Muhammad Alis refusal to serve in the Vietnam War, also paid tribute to his civil rights legacy.

Jims dedication to the fight for equal rights was a lifelong effort and something that enabled me to maintain our friendship for over 50 years, Abdul-Jabbar wrote on social media. The world and I will miss him greatly.

Former US President Barack Obama also joined the tributes to Browns legacy.

I was too young to remember Jim Browns playing days, but I knew his legacy, Obama tweeted. One of the greatest football players ever, he was also an actor and activist speaking out on civil rights, and pushing other Black athletes to do the same. Our thoughts are with Jims wife Monique, his children, and everyone who knew and admired him.

Browns transformational talent was also recalled by those who followed him in the NFL, including former Dallas Cowboys running backs Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith and Detroit Lions great Barry Sanders.

There isnt a man who played running back in the NFL who didn...

London Frank Lampard has urged his Chelsea plyers to learn from the example set by Manchester Citys treble challenge when the teams meet at the Etihad on Sunday.

City will retain the Premier League title and win the first of the three trophies they are chasing this season if they beat Chelsea, and could already be champions by the time they kick-off depending on Arsenals result on Saturday.

If City take the title, it will be the fifth time in six seasons that Pep Guardiolas team have been crowned champions of England.

They then have a second Champions League final in three years to come against Italys Inter Milan plus the FA Cup final against local rivals Manchester United.

Citys brilliant form was there for all to see with a 4-0 humiliation of European champions Real Madrid on Wednesday, a 17th win in their last 19 games.

Chelsea, once a challenger for major trophies, are currently languishing in 11th place despite co-owner Todd Boehly splashing out some 600 million ($747 million) on transfers during the last 12 months, 

Caretaker Chelsea manager Lampard, who may be replaced by Mauricio Pochettino should the former Tottenham supremo be confirmed as the Blues new permanent boss, said his side should take heart from Citys work ethic. 

The only inspiration the young players should need is what its taken Man City to get where theyve got, said Lampard.

Its not the moment of lifting the cup, its Kevin De Bruynes journey, and (Erling) Haalands journey, and (Ilkay) Gundogans journey, and John Stoness journey.

The former Chelsea and England midfielder added: A player has to understand that the cup-lifting moments are because of all the work done over the years against the odds, whatever it is, how hard they work. 

That team clearly works hard and then when one has to stop working hard the next one steps in and works hard. Thats what the players have to understand.

Lampard said he had watched the documentary series The Last Dance, about NBA side Chicago Bulls success in the 1990s, in preparation for Chelseas final games of the season.

The interim manager, who will stand down following the final game of the season against Newcastle on May 28, said the series had some valuable lessons for his squad.

Any group that lifts trophies has to understand what standards are and how you push and what you do, and that the weekend is a culmination of everything you do through the week, from how you prepare, how you train, that you train at a level that then transfers onto the pitch, said Lampard, a multiple medal-winner at Chelsea.

He added: Theres a lot of failure on the way to success. I think thats the thing that a player in the modern day has to liste...

Los Angeles Denver coach Michael Malone thinks the world should wake up to the greatness of two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets teammates who incidentally have a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals.

But if a media spotlight on the Lakers motivates his team, thats OK too.

Whatever we can use for motivation, Malone said after the Nuggets erased an 11-point deficit to beat the Lakers 108-103 in game two at Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday.

That followed a 132-126 victory in game one, in which the Nuggets built a commanding lead only to find themselves fighting off the surging Lakers in the fourth quarter.

You win game one of the (Western Conference Finals) and all everybody talked about was the Lakers, Malone said.

Lets be honest, that was the national narrative, (it) was hey, the Lakers are fine. Theyre down 1-0 but they figured something out. No one talked about Nikola who just had a historic performance.

Malone noted that Jokics 13 career playoff triple-doubles put him third all-time behind Magic Johnson (30) and LeBron James (28).

What hes doing is just incredible, Malone said of the Serbian star. 

But the narrative wasnt about the Nuggets, the narrative wasnt about Nikola. The narrative was about the Lakers and their adjustments.

You put that in your pipe, you smoke it and you come back and you know what were going to go up 2-0.

While Jokic came through with yet another triple-double, it was Jamal Murrays 23-point fourth-quarter explosion that carried the Nuggets past the Lakers on Thursday.

Murray said the top-seeded Nuggets are not concerned about being overlooked against the glamorous Lakers franchise led by the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis and gunning for a record 18th NBA crown.

The outside noise is the outside noise, Murray said. Were the Denver Nuggets, were used to that.

Even when we win, they talk about the other team. Same old, same old. It fuels us a little more and will be sweeter when we win the chip.

Despite his bravado, Malone said the Nuggets were keenly aware as the series shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday that the hardest work remains.

We havent done anything yet, Malone said. Youve got to win a game on the other teams home court if you really want to do something in a series. We know how great that team is, especially on their home court.

Were not celebrating, Malone said. This is not cause for celebration. This is a cause to continue to dig deep and find ways to be better.

The post...

Belgrade Tens of thousands of people gathered in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Friday, amid growing concern at rising levels of violence following two mass shootings that killed 18 people this month.

The rally marked the third major Serbia against violence protest in recent weeks, which has brought thousands to the streets calling for the resignation of top officials.

We are in shock, disbelief and we are angry, protester Jelena Mihajlovic told the crowd gathered in front of the parliament on Friday. And a question echoes with all of us what kind of country are we leaving for our children?

The protests are some of the largest rallies to rock Serbia since mass demonstrations triggered the fall of former strongman Slobodan Milosevic more than two decades ago.

The demonstrators want the government to revoke the broadcasting licences of television channels promoting violent content, and a ban on pro-government newspapers that stir tensions by targeting political dissidents.

They have also called for the resignation of the interior minister and the head of the intelligence service.

On Friday, members of the pro-European opposition stormed out of a special session of parliament, accusing the ruling party and its allies of aiming to silence the rally rather than address the issues raised by the demonstrators.

We dont want to be a part of that we will join the citizens in the protest, Zoran Lutovac, the president of the Democratic Party, told reporters.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has dismissed the protests as a political stunt.

He scheduled a separate demonstration for his own supporters next week that he has billed as the biggest gathering in Serbian history.

Vucics close ally Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has also accused foreign intelligence services of stirring unrest after the shootings to destabilise Serbia.  

Following the shootings, Vucic has vowed to disarm Serbia with an ambitious plan that would crack down on legal and illicit firearms. 

Serbia has the highest level of gun ownership in Europe, with roughly 39 out of 100 people owning firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey research group.

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Cannes Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing got incredible access to the inner workings of his countrys textile industry by spending five years with its employees, but he fears it may be more difficult for him to work there in future.

Wang, who has delivered some of the most important and immersive documentaries about China, made Youth (Spring) from 2,600 hours of footage.

The unflinching but tender portrait of young workers in textile factories premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday a rare documentary to be included in the main competition for the Palme dOr. 

The factory managers are filmed openly as they negotiate dirt-cheap wages and tell workers to leave if they arent happy footage gained thanks to Wangs many years on the ground. 

Bit by bit as I got to know all these managers from the factories, I was really able to get total freedom from them and even very strong support on their part, he told AFP. 

But now Wang worries he may not have such access to film in China again. 

It will be more and more difficult to shoot there because China is entering a phase in its history where denunciation is becoming the heart of society, he said.

China has seen a tightening of its authoritarian rule in recent years under Premier Xi Jinping. 

The concrete changes that are happening, that we can see and are real, are totally unexpected and surprise me. I must say it is totally incomprehensible to me, Wang said. 

Patient observer

Filmed in Zhili, the Chinese garment capital on the Yangtze River, the movie shows the small textile factories in bleak grey concrete high-rises strewn with garbage.

Wangs camera patiently observes the daily lives of young people who have come from rural regions to join the sprawling workforce.

In long takes we see their rapid mechanical movements hunched over sewing machines, often against a background of banter and blaring music.

But it also shows its young subjects as they relax, joking with each other, flirting, drinking and talking about everything from abortion to marriage.

The filmmaker knows the 212-minute running time will put off many viewers but he said his priority was staying true to his subject.

Whats essential for the director is to feel that the length corresponds with the true length of the subject being treated, he said.

Nine hours

And he is not done yet. 

Since 2021, Wang has been editing in Paris and plans two more parts of Youth, to create a trilogy of more than nine hours.

The premiere in Cannes on Thursday received a standing ovation, and early reviews were broadly positive.

Deadline hailed an exceptional documentary that paints a grim picture of life for young Chinese w...

Washington The United States added hundreds more companies and individuals to its sanctions blacklist Friday as it broadened efforts to choke of Russias global supply chains and starve its economy over its war on Ukraine.

The new sanctions took particular aim at the firms and research institutes involved in Moscows investments into future energy production including plans for exploiting Artic resources.

They also sought to shut down networks for acquiring restricted technologies that operated surreptitiously out of Liechtenstein, India, Finland, Estonia, and the Netherlands, and Russian financial networks operating out of Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

And they targeted companies supplying components that Russia needs to produce its Orlan reconnaissance drone, including a Chinese firm.

In all about 300 individuals, companies, institutes, ships and aircraft involved in alleged sanctions-violating activities were added to US Treasury and State Department blacklists.

The announcement came in parallel with the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, where leaders vowed to increase global economic pressure on Moscow to end its unprovoked 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

Todays actions will further tighten the vise on (Russia President Vladimir) Putins ability to wage his barbaric invasion, said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Our collective efforts have cut Russia off from key inputs it needs to equip its military and is drastically limiting the revenue the Kremlin receives to fund its war machine, she said in a statement.

The new sanctions included dozens of Russian defense industry firms and technology traders, the countrys leading gold miner and aides to already-blacklisted senior Russian officials.

They include Russias top gold producer Polyus, and companies and individuals allegedly involved in stealing grain from Ukraine.

A particular focus was on institutions involved in Russian energy development, including universities that develop and train people in mining and energy processing technologies, oil and coal industry support firms, and institutions financing future developments.

The Treasury said the effort is taking targeted action to limit Russias future extractive capabilities, coming after Ukraines Western allies instituted a price cap on Russian oil exports to limit its potential foreign exchange earnings.

The sanctions aim at locking those named out of global commercial and financial markets by banning US citizens and entities including banks with US branches from doing business with them and handling transactions involving them.

Todays actions implement new commitments made at the G7 Leaders Summit and demonstrate our shared resolve to hold Russia accountable for its mounting atrocities in Ukraine,...

Azaz Hundreds protested in rebel-held northern Syria on Friday against President Bashar al-Assads participation in the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia after a more than decade-long suspension, AFP correspondents said.

The people want the fall of the regime, chanted demonstrators in Azaz one of the main slogans from the waves of peaceful protests that broke out in Syria in 2011.

Syria cannot be represented by Assad the criminal, read a banner at the protest in the town, which is under the control of pro-Turkish groups.

Anti-Assad protests took part in other rebel-held areas, including in the northern city of Afrin where a crowd held up a large flag opposition flag.

Assad on Friday was attending his first Arab League summit since the body suspended Syria in late 2011 over the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that led to civil war.

More than half a million people have been killed and around half of the countrys pre-war population has been forced from their homes due to the conflict.

We call on the Arab peoples to put pressure on their governments to go back on the decision (to re-admit Syria) and for Bashar al-Assad to leave, said Issam Khatib, a lawyer originally from the northern city of Aleppo.

Assad had been politically isolated in the region since the war began, but a devastating February 6 earthquake that killed thousands in Turkey and Syria sparked Arab outreach.

A flurry of diplomatic activity has been underway in recent weeks as Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and the Syrian governments ally Iran patched up ties, shifting regional relations.

The regional detente with Damascus is a heavy blow to Syrias political and armed opposition, which received Arab support particularly in the conflicts early stages.

Damascus now controls most of Syria, after clawing back much of the ground it had lost with the crucial support of allies Iran and Russia.

The shattered country is at the mercy of foreign powers, with Russian, Iranian, Turkish and American forces all present.

The rebel-held areas of Syrias north and northwest, controlled by Islamist groups and Turkish-backed fighters, are home to more than four million people, at least half of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country.

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Cannes Artificial Intelligence may have been used to make Harrison Ford decades younger in parts of his final film as Indiana Jones, but the 80-year-old actor said Friday he loved being older, and has no plans to slow down.

Ford, whose Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered in Cannes on Thursday night, has vowed this will be his last adventure as the swashbuckling archaeologist after more than four decades in the role.

And Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm, which also produces the Star Wars franchise, gave a resounding no at a press conference when asked if AI technology would be used to keep Ford coming back to the role in the future.

An emotional Ford, who welled up several times reflecting on his long career and co-stars, and also cracked several jokes, said he was real happy with age.

I dont look back and say, I wish I was that guy again, because I dont. I love being older, it was great to be young but, shitfire, I could be dead, I am just older.

And, he has no plan to slow down, confirming he would do another season of Western drama series 1923 as well as the comedy Shrinking.

Mixed reviews

Ford first swung onto screens as the quick-witted and intrepid archaeologist with his trademark fedora and whip in Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, which was followed by two hugely popular sequels. 

Though a fourth film in 2008 made a lot of money, it was widely panned.

An emotional Ford received a surprise honorary Palme dOr ahead of the premiere of the fifth instalment.

He is joined in the new adventure by Phoebe Waller-Bridge as his witty and more sprightly sidekick, with Mads Mikkelsen as a villainous Nazi scientist.

The movie sees him fighting Nazis from Manhattan to Sicily, but he struggled against critics who gave the film mixed reviews. 

For some critics, the logic-defying scenes and rousing theme song provided solid sentimental fun.

The finale is wildly silly and entertaining (but) Indiana Jones still has a certain old-school class, said The Guardian.

Empire also enjoyed the ride, saying it remained true to its fantasy leanings, but that the barmy finale might divide audiences.

The Hollywood Reporter was less impressed with the rinse-and-repeat formula of chases and gunfights and how glaringly fake so much of it looks.

Elsewhere at the worlds leading film industry shindig, three of the 21 movies in the running for the top prize Palme DOr were premiering Friday on a rain-drenched day on the French Riviera.

Friday evening British director Jonathan Glazer presents his much-awaited film The Zone of Interest about the banalities behin...

Washington The United States on Friday promised $103 million for Sudan and neighboring countries to support displaced people as a month of war between rival generals triggers a humanitarian crisis.

Samantha Power, chief of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), announced the new assistance on a visit to Chad, which before the latest fighting was already the host of some 600,000 refugees, mostly from Sudan.

USAID said it was committing $50 million to address needs inside Sudan as well as $22 million for South Sudan, $17 million for Chad and $6 million for Egypt.

In Chad, the assistance will go through the UNs World Food Programme to provide food and cash assistance to more than 135,000 people, including newly arrived refugees from Sudan.

The United Nations said Wednesday that $3.03 billion would be needed to provide urgent aid for Sudan as well as for the more than one million people expected to flee into neighboring countries this year.

USAID noted that Chad was already stretched thin. South Sudan has been coping with its own internal humanitarian disaster.

The conflict in Sudan forces humanitarian partners across the region to make difficult choices about how to address compounding needs with limited resources, a USAID statement said.

The United States urges other donors to help us address critical funding gaps.

Sudan descended into war on April 15 in a conflict between the army and a powerful paramilitary unit as they rejected a plan to merge under a promised transition to civilian rule.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have been leading mediation in hopes of reaching another at least temporary ceasefire to allow in assistance.

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Jeddah Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused some Arab leaders of ignoring the horrors of Russias invasion of his country during a speech Friday at an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia.

Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here, among you, who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations, Zelensky told summit attendees, urging them to take an honest look at the war.

The post Zelensky says some Arab leaders turn blind eye to Russian invasion appeared first on Iraqi News.

Srinagar Elite Indian commandos patrolled the streets of Srinagar on Friday ahead of a G20 tourism meeting next week, with China and Pakistan condemning holding the event in the disputed territory of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been disputed between New Delhi and Islamabad, both of which claim it in full, since their independence 75 years ago. 

The Indian-controlled portion has been roiled for decades by an insurgency seeking independence or merger with Pakistan, with tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and Kashmiri rebels killed in the conflict.

Police said security had been beefed up at vulnerable locations to avoid any chance of terrorist attack during the G20 meeting, the first diplomatic event in the territory since New Delhi revoked its limited autonomy and took direct control in 2019.

The three-day gathering starts Monday at a sprawling, well-guarded venue on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Roads leading to the location have been freshly black-topped, and electricity poles lit up in the colours of Indias national flag to show what officials say is normalcy and peace returning to the region.

India has been promoting tourism in Kashmir and more than a million of its citizens visited last year.

But no Chinese delegates will be attending the event. India and its northern neighbour are locked in a military standoff along their mostly undemarcated border in the Ladakh region. Beijing also claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in full as part of Tibet, and it considers Kashmir a disputed territory.

China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meeting in disputed territory and will not attend such meetings, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are reportedly also unlikely to join.

India holds the Group of 20 presidency for 2023 and has planned more than 100 meetings across the country Beijing has already stayed away from events in both Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

Non-G20 member Pakistan controls a smaller part of Kashmir and said holding the tourism meeting in the territory violated international law, UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements.

Pakistans foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said India was displaying its arrogance to the world and that it shows their pettiness, triggering a sharp retort from New Delhi.

India accuses Pakistan of training and supporting militants in Kashmir, which Islamabad denies.

Hartosh Singh Bal, executive editor of Indian current affairs magazine The Caravan, said the choice of location was clearly an attempt to try and show that Kashmir is all normal.

But he added that China and some other countries not going to the meet is not surprising. 

If any Wes...

Kyiv Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said he had arrived in Saudi Arabia to address an Arab League summit, ahead of an expected trip to Japan for a G7 meeting.

Arrived in Saudi Arabia. I will speak at the Arab League summit. I will meet with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman al-Saud and hold other bilateral talks, Zelensky said on social media.

The post Zelensky arrives in Saudi Arabia for Arab League summit appeared first on Iraqi News.

Khartoum On a scorching sidewalk, Ibrahim Said hopes to withdraw his savings from a Sudanese bank, but the wait seems as unending as the war that has brought the countrys financial system to a standstill.

Said is one of dozens of depositors who have queued at a branch of the Bank of Khartoum in Madani, a city about 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of the capital, to recover their savings.

I have been here since seven in the morning hoping to withdraw money from my account, he told AFP.

One of half a million people who fled Khartoum for safer cities, Said escaped with what little cash he happened to have in the house when the capital was rocked on April 15 by air strikes and shelling that have not stopped since.

Now, he is locked out of his savings as the fighting between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-foe Mohamed Hamdan Daglos paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shows no signs of abating.

Ishraq al-Rih has been coming to the same bank branch for three days, and on each occasion it has been the same.

At around 3:00 pm, they open the doors, let in a very small number of people, and if youre not one of the lucky ones you have to come back the next day, she said.

Every passing day brings more anxiety, as families ration their cash to make ends meet, terrified of what footage shared online of looted banks and empty safes means for their savings.

 Locked out

We dont know what to do. We have money in the bank but we cant touch it, Ahmed Abdelaziz told AFP, standing outside the closed gate of Omdurman National Bank.

The 45-year-old civil servant thought he was safe in Madani, where tens of thousands of people have settled but cannot escape the impact of the battles that rage in the capital.

The servers that control every banks operations are all in Khartoum, and employees cant get to them because of the fighting, said Mohamed Abdelaziz, who works in the banking sector.

Even in states untouched by the violence, branches have lost contact with the headquarters that used to validate operations, leaving managers unable to replenish reserves and allow withdrawals, he said.

In a move questioned by observers considering the entire sector is at a standstill, army chief Burhan declared a freeze on RSF assets this week and dismissed the central bank governor.

Bank-to-bank payments have been completely cut; we cant transfer any money between accounts, said an employee of Sudanese French Bank who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sudan was brought to its knees by two decades of international sanctions against former dictator Omar al-Bashir, as well as rampant corruption and the 2011 independence of South Sudan which held almost all the countrys oil....

Paris Iran on Friday executed three men convicted of killing security force members during protests triggered by Mahsa Aminis death last year, the judiciary said, drawing condemnation from rights groups.

Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were found guilty of moharebeh or waging war against God for shooting dead three members of the security forces at a demonstration in the central city of Isfahan on November 16, the judiciarys Mizan Online news website said.

Iran witnessed waves of nationwide protests following the September 16 death of 22-year-old Amini, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the Islamic republics strict dress rules for women.

During the protests, which Tehran generally labelled as foreign-instigated riots, thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds killed including dozens of security forces.

Fridays hangings bring to seven the total number of Iranians executed in connection with the demonstrations.

Kazemi, Mirhashemi and Yaghoubi were arrested in November and sentenced to death in January.

They were also charged with membership of illegal groups with the intention of disrupting national security and collusion leading to crimes against internal security, Mizan said.

It noted evidence and documents in the case and the clear statements made by the accused showed that the shootings carried out by these three people led to the martyrdom of three security forces.

Surge in executions

A video shared on social media on Friday showed Tehran residents chanting Death to the Islamic republic and other anti-regime slogans.

AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage from the capitals Ekbatan district, a middle-income area that saw repeated anti-regime actions in the past months.

The cases of the three men have caused concern abroad, including in Australia where some of Kazemis family live.

His cousin Mohammad Hashemi wrote an open letter to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong asking for her support.

Majid is only 30 years old. He is a compassionate, loving, and strong-willed person. He, like many other Iranians, participated in peaceful demonstrations to raise his voice and demand change, Hashemi wrote in the letter, published on the petition website change.org.

Wong on Friday condemned the execution, which she said exemplifies the regimes brutality against its people.

Australia stands with the people of Iran, Wong tweeted.

Iran executes more people a year than any other nation except China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.

The authorities last year carried out the executions of four protesters, prompting intern...

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Minister of Trade, Atheer Al-Ghurairy, stated on Thursday that the strategic reserve of wheat in Iraq is enough for six months, according to the official Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Al-Ghurairy expected that a years stock of wheat will be secured at the end of the buying season, INA mentioned.

The General Company for Grain Trading, which is the state company responsible for purchasing grain in Iraq, announced Tuesday it bought more than one million tons of locally-produced wheat from farmers in 13 governorates, according to Al-Iraqiya broadcasting television network.

The wheat-buying season in Iraq began in mid-April.

In an interview with Bloomberg last month, the director general of Iraqs grain board, Haider Nouri, said that Iraq is expected to produce 3.5 million tons of wheat this year, compared to about 2.2 million tons produced last year.

The Iraqi government runs a food support program that includes distributing 4.6 million tons of wheat annually.

Last year, Iraq bought one million tons of wheat to compensate for the shortfall in production, which depends largely on rain and the flow of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

In recent years, the Iraqi government has been buying wheat from mainly three sources. These three sources are the United States, Australia, and Canada.

The post Strategic wheat reserve in Iraq sufficient for 6 months appeared first on Iraqi News.

Lahore The tumultuous campaign by Imran Khan, Pakistans most popular politician, to reclaim power has been driven by an economic crisis that ordinary people say has left them unable to feed their families.

Violent clashes erupted last week as supporters protested against Khans arrest on corruption charges, with government buildings set on fire, military installations damaged and at least nine people killed.

Khans ouster in April last year has galvanised support for the former international cricket star as the unsteady coalition that replaced him struggles to pull Pakistan back from the brink of default and control spiralling inflation.

Right now, everyone is so affected by the economic crisis that they feel the need to come out on the streets, said 27-year-old doctor Shahab Afzal.

You cant even afford the basics, he told AFP at a pro-Khan protest in the eastern city of Lahore.

Dollar reserves have dwindled to just $4.4 billion, enough for only three weeks of imports, and crucial bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have stalled since November.

Food inflation soared to nearly 50 percent in April, according to official data.

The sense of economic deprivation is the rocket fuel for Imran Khans anti-government movement, said analyst Mosharraf Zaidi.

It creates room for hyper-growth of his support when you have trouble feeding your children.

Inflating support

Many Pakistanis are feeling the pinch, even when buying essentials such as food or petrol.

There is a desolate calm at Islamabads normally bustling G-9 market.

The whole market is deadly quiet, said Abdul Rehman, 63, who runs a drinks stall. Ive never seen it this bad.

Inflation began to spike in 2021 and was fuelled, analysts say, by a vast $10 billion post-Covid stimulus splurge launched by Khan when he was prime minister.

The broad alliance of parties that joined forces to evict Khan in a no-confidence vote cited his economic mismanagement as a key reason for their intervention.

That seems to have backfired as the government struggled to control the crisis, exacerbated by the global slowdown caused by the war in Ukraine, last years catastrophic monsoon floods, and more than a decade of declining real wages for working-class Pakistanis.

Honestly, if you take inflationary pressures out of the equation, the public aspect of Khans threat will probably diminish as well, said political economist Umair Javed.

There is disaffection at large, which currently finds voice through his agitational politics.

Subsidy slashing  

Islamabad is struggling to unlock the latest tranche of a $6.5 billion bailout from the IMF, which would temporarily ea...

Frankfort A South African town has been left fuming after a legal battle with a state-owned power utility forced its solar plant to dump desperately needed electricity in a country suffering a record energy crisis.

Frankfort, a farming community of around 5,800 people located 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Johannesburg, started using locally produced energy in February to lessen the impact of crippling nationwide power cuts that can last up to 12 hours a day.

But that didnt go down well with beleaguered monopoly Eskom, resulting in a court case, which the firm won on a technicality last month compelling locals to sit in the dark during outages like everybody else. 

They cant produce any electricity and we are not allowed to use the electricity that we produce. It doesnt make sense, Hans Pretorius, a local cereal farmer, told AFP.  

The case reflects some of the frustrations at the countrys energy crunch, with critics saying it is emblematic of the problems faced by private businesses grappling for solutions. 

If they are not going to allow us to use the solar or to use our own electricity, we dont have any choice, we will have to take the law into our own hands, warned Pretorius, who grows cereals and relies on electricity to power the irrigation system.

Its a matter of survival. 

Solar farm

Africas most industrialised country has been battered by record blackouts over the past year due to shortfalls in generation at Eskoms coal-powered plants.

Euphemestically called load-shedding, the outages can last half a day, but could worsen in coming southern hemisphere winter and cost the country over $1 billion a month in lost production, according to the government.

Gary Mbundire, a farm manager, said he lost 5,000 chickens which suffocated because of lack of ventilation in January.

Similarly, Thando Keswa was forced to close his takeaway business in Frankforts township of Namahadi as the cost of running a generator had become too expensive. 

When you are using the gas for hours, you are not going to make any profit, he said. 

That situation prompted local businesses and individuals to invest about 100 million rand ($5.2 million) to build a solar farm, which was completed in December.

The plant, with a total capacity of 4.26 megawatts, is operated by Rural Free State (RFS), a subsidiary of the private firm managing network distribution for the local municipality.

The extra power allowed the distributor to start implementing its own, reduced, blackout schedule. 

Is that fair?

But Eskom barred the plant from doing this a move that prompted RFS to go to court.

In the ensuing case, Eskom argued that RFS had not been granted authorisat...

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) In an important step to keep pace with the developed manufacturing and production mechanisms around the world, the Basra Investment Commission in southern Iraq announced the opening of the first robot-powered factory to produce high-performance adhesives and liquids used in the construction industry.

The factory was built for $12 million, in the Al-Zubair district in Basra governorate.

The project manager, Mohammed Al-Mousawi, explained that the factory relies on robots to increase production, improve quality and reduce errors.

Al-Mousawi indicated that the machines and robots in the factory were imported from Germany.

The project manager added that the factory is considered a major achievement in the adhesives industry in Iraq, and contributes to meeting the needs of the local market and producing high-quality products, according to the Basra Investment Commission.

Economists believe that encouraging such investment initiatives would stimulate various manufacturing and production sectors in Iraq, which would contribute to diversifying production in Iraq and opening prospects for a diversified economy.

The post First robot-powered factory opens in Iraq appeared first on Iraqi News.

Ankara Turkeys opposition leader vowed Thursday to send back millions of migrants in a strident message aimed at winning the backing of an ultra-nationalist who helped push last weekends presidential vote to a runoff.

Secular opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu delivered his first public address since a landmark election Sunday in which he came in almost five points behind President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kilicdaroglus performance was the oppositions best of the Turkish leaders two-decade rule.

But it fell short of expectations set by pre-election polling and left the opposition visibly depressed.

The 74-year-old has since revamped his campaign team and toughened his message to win over Turkeys right-wing voters in the May 28 runoff.

He also plans to meet Sinan Ogan a far-right figure who picked up 5.2 percent of the vote and is still weighing his endorsement.

Kilicdaroglu tried Thursday to toughen his message considerably from the more inclusive tone he set in the first stage of the campaign.

Erdogan, you did not protect the borders and honour of the country, the former civil servant said.

You have deliberately brought more than 10 million refugees to this country As soon as I come to power, I will send all the refugees home.

Ogan has said he will only back a candidate who cracks down on migrants and fights terrorism a code word in Turkey for Kurdish militants.

Syrians are our brothers

Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted party were lionised across swathes of the Muslim world for their more embracing stance towards those fleeing conflicts in countries such as Syria.

Turkeys five-million-strong refugee and migrant population became the worlds largest in the past decade.

A separate 2016 deal between Ankara and the European Union helped stem the continents migrant crisis by allowing those trying to reach Western Europe to settle in Turkey.

Turkey won billions of euros in funding from Brussels for the programme. 

But an economic crisis that gathered pace as the election neared sent anti-migrant sentiment soaring.

Erdogans government has tried to find a middle ground.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday that Turkey had already sent more than half a million Syrians back.

We are not going to make Turkey into a refugee warehouse, and we have not done so to date. But the Syrians are our brothers, Soylu said.

We cannot send them to their deaths. And we have not. Tayyip Erdogan doesnt want to be remembered as a leader who sent Syrians to their deaths.

The post Erdogans rival hardens...

London British telecoms group BT said Thursday it will axe up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade in the latest tech jobs cull in response to rampant inflation.

The layoffs, comprising 42 percent of BTs workforce, come two days after UK mobile phone giant Vodafone unveiled plans to cut 11,000 jobs or one tenth of staff over three years.

Both have been struggling with the pressures of inflation, most notably from energy, said Victoria Scholar, an analyst at Interactive Investor.

BT employs 130,000 staff, including contractors.

The group will lower this to between 75,000 and 90,000 people over the next five to seven years, it said in a results statement.

The grim news follows the axing this year of tens of thousands of jobs across the global tech sector, including by Facebook parent Meta, as soaring inflation also saps the world economy.

BT is implementing further cutbacks, having already slashed costs under a plan launched three years ago.

By the end of the 2020s, BT Group will rely on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base, said chief executive Philip Jansen.

The company was navigating an extraordinary macro-economic backdrop, he added.

The slimmed-down group will be a leaner business with a brighter future and will digitise the way we work and simplify our structure.

BT said that once its full fibre broadband and 5G network was rolled out, it would not need as many staff to build and maintain it.

The firm also revealed Thursday that net profit soared 50 percent to 1.9 billion ($2.4 billion) in its fiscal year to March, but the performance was skewed by a one-off tax credit.

Pre-tax profit sank 12 percent to 1.7 billion from a year earlier, while revenue dipped one percent to 20.7 billion.

Shares slump

Investors took flight following news of heavy cutbacks.

BTs share price sank almost nine percent in early morning deals on the rising London stock market.

It later stood at 138.95 pence, down 6.2 percent from Tuesdays close.

Headlines will no doubt focus on the job cuts, noted Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman.

Its drastic, but its not overly surprising given the mounting costs and slim margins in the wider business.

As part of an ongoing overhaul, the firm announced a tie-up last year for its pay-TV channel BT Sport.

BT and Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to combine televised sport offerings in UK and Ireland.

The new joint venture, combining the assets of BT Sport and Eurosport UK, will launch later this year under the banner TNT Sports.

The move will mark the end of the BT Sport brand, which was launched ten years ago and features costly coverage of Englands Premier League football.

R...

London Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson called French President Emmanuel Macron a four-letter obscenity and Putins lickspittle as tempers frayed over the war in Ukraine, according to a former Johnson aide.

Guto Harri became director of communications in Johnsons 10 Downing Street just over a fortnight before Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Harri recounted his bosss incensed reaction when Macron queried whether the UK was doing enough to help Ukrainian refugees early in the crisis a criticism that was made also by many in Britain.

He just launched into a violent attack on Emmanuel Macron, former BBC political correspondent Harri said on a new podcast series, recalling his time in government up to Johnsons ouster last September.

Basically, saying Hes a four-letter word that begins with C, hes a weirdo, hes Putins lickspittle, the ex-aide added.

We need an orgy of frog (French) bashing. Im going to have to punch his lights out, he quoted Johnson as saying.

UK officials were critical of Macrons attempts to broker peace in Ukraine, including after a strained meeting with Putin at the Kremlin just before the war.

Johnson found that meeting nauseating, according to Harri.

Johnson was all smiles with Macron whenever they met, although tensions related to Brexit were never far from the surface in their dealings.

After the war broke out, Johnson became a full-throated supporter of Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky and Britain a leading supplier of arms to his government.

Harri recounted a telephone call those two leaders had on the night that Russia invaded.

It was massively sobering. We really could not believe that this was seriously underway, he said, adding: The two of them had this extraordinary bond.

And, dare I mention it, this kind of really dark gallows humour that was obviously a coping mechanism.

A spokesman for Johnsons office declined to comment on the claimed language used against Macron but stressed the former prime minister was not involved in the podcast.

The post Johnson called Macron a 4 letter word starting with C: aide appeared first on Iraqi News.

Riyadh Tributes to Syrian culture are everywhere at Riyadhs Damascu Cafe - from the traditional bean stew on the menu to folk songs that pour from the speakers, name-checking the war-torn countrys cities and towns.

Theres even a staffer who was hired for his resemblance to beloved Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham, and who spends long shifts posing for selfies with homesick customers

But while the crowds that flock to the cafe each day are united in love for their native country, they are sharply divided on whether their adopted home, Saudi Arabia, has done the right thing by welcoming President Bashar al-Assad to this weeks Arab League summit.

Some hope the move, which ends Assads exile of more than a dozen years from the pan-Arab body, signals an easing of Syrias broader isolation and related economic hardship since the start of the war there in 2011.

We were waiting for this moment, said 37-year-old Syrian expat Hiba Sidawi.

Its a pain now to visit our country and see our family. War didnt bring us any added value.

In the other camp are those who cant bear the thought of Assad on Saudi soil - all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid riling both Saudi and Syrian officials. 

I hate him! I hate him! said one woman. Let him come for what, what will he do? Will he fix things? Will he change the country? Hes the one who needs to be changed. I want to say out loud I am against him but I have relatives in Syria, they will drag them all and kill them.

Will he heal our pain?

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Assads government in 2012 in response to the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests that triggered the civil war, which has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions. It was also the reason Syria was suspended from the Arab League.

The steps leading to Syrias reintegration into the Arab fold go back to at least 2018, when the United Arab Emirates re-established ties with Damascus.

But the process picked up speed after a deadly earthquake struck Syria and Turkey in February, prompting an influx of aid from the region.

During the conflict, Saudi officials had openly championed Assads ouster.

But after the quake, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said a consensus was building in the Arab world that a new approach to Syria requiring negotiations with Damascus would be needed to address humanitarian crises.

The two countries foreign ministers have since exchanged visits, and Riyadh lobbied hard for Assads invitation to Fridays summit in Jeddah. 

As waiters at Damascu sang birthday songs for a customer earlier this week, one man said news of Assads impending arrival was nothing to celebrate.

H...

Kyiv Ukraine said Thursday it had downed nearly an entire barrage of Russian missiles overnight, the latest in an unprecedented wave of aerial attacks on the capital Kyiv.

The defence ministry said Russian forces had launched 30 cruise missiles from land, sea and air, targeting several regions and killing one person in Odesa.

The military said its air defence units had destroyed 29 of the cruise missiles and shot down four drones.

A series of air attacks on Kyiv, unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety, is continuing, said Serhii Popko, head of Kyivs civil and military administration.

The attack follows other recent barrages in which Ukraine claimed to have downed several advanced Russian Kinzhal missiles.

The United States also confirmed that one of its Patriot air defence systems supplied to Kyiv had been damaged, following claims by Russia its forces had fully destroyed one of the advanced systems.

In Ukraines southern port city of Odesa, one person was killed and two were wounded after a missile hit industrial infrastructure, the military said.

In Kyiv, officials reported explosions in the Desnyansky district and said a fire had broken out at a business in the Darnytskyi neighbourhood as a result of falling debris.

The military also reported cruise missile attacks in the central Vinnytsia region, while local media reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) further west.

G7 leaders meanwhile arrived in Hiroshima in Japan to weigh tighter sanctions on Russia, surrounded by reminders about the harrowing cost of war.

Train derailment

An EU official said the leaders meeting in Japan would discuss sanctioning Russias billion-dollar trade in diamonds, hoping to further starve Moscow of funds for its war in Ukraine.

We believe we need to limit exports from Russian trade in this sector, the official said.

Separately, a train carrying grain derailed in the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula in what Moscow-installed officials on Thursday called a deliberate act.

Train carriages loaded with grain derailed in the Simferopol region, said Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov. The railway operator said the incident was caused by the intervention of third parties.

Telegram channel Mash, which claims to have sources close to Russian law enforcement, said the disruption was caused an explosive device that left a large crater.

One regional parliament member also said the incident was caused by an explosive device, without giving evidence.

Baza, another Russian Telegram outlet with police sources, distributed images of what it said was the aftermath of the incident, showing several overturned rail cars.

Earlier this month, explosive devices derailed two Russian trains in a regio...

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Parliament voted on Wednesday to adopt the new Social Security Law which introduces far-reaching reforms to the social security system for private-sector workers, according to a statement issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The new law, which will replace Law No. 39 on Pension and Social Security for Private-Sector Workers of 1979, brings the social security system for private sector workers in closer alignment with ILO Social Security Convention, 1952 (No. 102), which was officially ratified by the Iraqi government in March 2023, the statement explained.

The law significantly expands the legal coverage of the social security system, covering all workers including informal workers, the self-employed and contributing family workers, the statement clarified.

It also expands the range of entitlements to include maternity and unemployment benefits for the first time, the statement elaborated.

The law will also provide health insurance obtained from public, cooperative, and private providers, according to the statement.

A statement issued by the Labor and Civil Society Organizations Committee highlighted the law was among the priority draft laws in the government program, in response to the developments of the current situation as well as the future, and in line with the ILOs appeal to expand coverage to the private sector, the statement illustrated.

Under the European Union funded program to reform social protection, the ILO has been working with the government, employer and worker representatives, and the parliamentary committee to review the social security law, the statement mentioned.  

The ILO and partners will also embark on an awareness raising campaign for workers and employers on their rights and responsibilities under the social security law, in efforts to support the expansion of coverage to more workers, the statement added.

The post Iraq builds social security system to protect workers appeared first on Iraqi News.