Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi army announced on Sunday that two officers were killed and three soldiers were wounded in an armed attack targeting an army checkpoint in Kirkuk governorate in northern Iraq.

The Iraqi army mentioned in a statement that ISIS terrorists carried out the attack to respond to the painful strikes and qualitative operations carried out by the Iraqi armed forces, which inflicted heavy losses on ISIS terrorists as many leaders of the terrorist group were killed.

The statement elaborated that ISIS terrorists, using light weapons, attacked an army checkpoint in Kirkuk governorate at 10 p.m. on Saturday.

An Iraqi lieutenant colonel and a first lieutenant were killed, and three soldiers were wounded, according to the statement.

The Deputy Commander of the Joint Operations, Qais Al-Muhammadawi, arrived in Kirkuk to check the health conditions of the wounded, and a joint investigation committee arrived in the governorate to investigate how the attack took place, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) mentioned.

Security leaders in Iraq held a meeting to discuss details about the incident and collect information to help them find the terrorists involved in the attack, INA added.

Iraq announced in late 2017 the liberation of all its territories from the grip of ISIS, but the authorities are constantly launching security operations to pursue remnants of the terrorist group that carry out attacks from time to time in the country.

The Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIS) reported last April a decline in attacks in Iraq and Syria during the first quarter of 2023, when terrorists were still active despite their defeat.

The commander of the Combined Joint Task Force, Army Major General Matthew McFarlane, explained last April that ISIS attacks in Iraq declined by 68 percent from the beginning of 2023 until the first week of April compared to the same period last year.

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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A senior official at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Iraq agreed to pay about $2.76 billion in gas and electricity debts to Iran after obtaining an exemption from sanctions from the United States, Reuters reported.

The source added that the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, obtained the exemption during a meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, last Thursday, according to Reuters.

Iraq depends on imports from Iran for much of its gas needs, but the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iranian oil and gas exports impeded Iraqi payment of Iranian imports, causing huge debts to accumulate and leading Iran to repeatedly cut gas flows to Iraq.

The spokesperson of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, said in a brief statement that Hussein made progress in the financial dues between Iraq and Iran during his conversation with his American counterpart in Riyadh.

The head of the Iranian-Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, Yahya Al-e Eshaq, said that part of the released money is allocated to the costs of Iranian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, while the other part is allocated to the purchase of basic commodities, Iranian news agencies mentioned.

The source in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry added that the payments would be sent through the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) and confirmed that these payments would be used for the costs of Iranian pilgrims and Irans food imports.

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Abidjan More than four years ago, African countries gave the ceremonial push to a deal to scrap internal trade barriers a historic scheme that would create a continent-wide single market worth trillions of dollars.

But African business leaders say cross-border trade remains entangled in customs duties, administrative hurdles and varying national regulations.

Costs and delays are hampering African corporations fighting to compete with low-cost rivals, they say.

Each country has its own laws its very complex, Jeremy Awori, head of Ecobank, a bank that operates in 30 countries, said at a business conference in Abidjan this week.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was signed in 2019 by 54 out of the African Union (AU)s 55 states, who together accounted for GDP last year of $3 trillion.

It formally began operations on January 1, 2021 with the goal of achieving 90 percent cuts in tariffs within five to 10 years.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says this would unlock a real increase of 10 percent in per-capita GDP and a 50-percent rise in intra-African commerce.

To give one example of the potential gains, an AU study in 2014 found that sending a vehicle from Japan to Ivory Coast was three times cheaper than sending the same vehicle from Ivory Coast to Ethiopia.

But AfCFTA faces an uphill task.

Its secretary-general, South African trade expert Wamkele Mene, told the Africa CEO Forum that fragmentation in the continents market had worsened in the past decades.

Every African activity has been negatively impacted by this fragmentation, he said. 

He gave the example of a company that had subsidiaries in Rwanda and neighbouring eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The subsidiaries are separated by just 20 kilometres (12 miles) but have to use a bank in New York for transferring money.

Costly barriers

Customs duties, which for many countries account for a huge chunk of government income, can sometimes exceed 50 percent.

Non-tariff barriers such as lengthy waits at borders or filling out forms are other major, but hidden, costs for corporations.

The problems are having an impact on African companies competing with developing-country counterparts facing lower or even zero hurdles.

Around 350 African companies today have turnover of more than a billion dollars, a fall of six percent since 2015, compared to 210 in Latin America and 170 in India, tallies that have risen by almost a third over the same period.

By 2050, 40 percent of the (worlds) population will be African. We have to help our future champions find their place in global value chains, said Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi. 

Infra-African trade has to develop it only accounts for 20 percent of trade volume to...

Hezreh At a rubbish dump in northwest Syria, Mohammed Behlal rummages for plastic to be sold to recyclers and transformed into floor rugs and other items in the impoverished rebel enclave.

In rebel-held Syria, recycling is rarely an environmental impulse but rather a grim lifeline for needy residents looking for work or items they otherwise could not afford.

Braving the stench, insects and risk of disease, 39-year-old Behlal hacks through the rubbish pile with a scythe and his bare hands.

He and two of his six children earn a living sifting through the refuse in Idlib provinces village of Hezreh, earning $7 to $10 a week each.

Its tiring but what can we do, we have to put up with this hard labour, said Behlal, who was displaced from neighbouring Aleppo province during Syrias civil war.

Thank God, at least we have work with the trash, he added.

Behlal was shot in the leg during fighting and has had trouble finding employment.

Hunched over to collect pieces of plastic or metal, he throws everything into a bag to sell to a nearby scrap facility.

Syrias conflict has killed more than 500,000 people, and around half of the countrys pre-war population has been forced from their homes since fighting broke out in 2011.

More than four million people, most of them dependent on aid, live in areas controlled by jihadists and Turkish-backed groups in Syrias north and northwest.

In a large scrapyard next to agricultural fields, workers sort plastic junk loosely into piles according to colour.

They then cut it up and crush it into small pieces that are washed and melted into plastic pellets.

Plastic thread

Farhan Sleiman, 29, is among those who handle the material brought in from the landfill.

We buy plastic from roaming trash-picker trucks and children, said Sleiman, originally from Homs province.

He expressed fear of the risk of contracting cholera or chronic illnesses from working with the rubbish.

Elsewhere in northern Idlib province, workers at a factory making mats and rugs churn out brightly coloured plastic thread while large weaving machines click and clack.

Factory owner Khaled Rashu, 34, says rug-making is a family tradition.

We have more than 30 employees at the factory, he boasted as a significant feat in a region where many are jobless.

Large mats featuring geometric designs, some made with striking red or purple plastic thread, emerge from the weaving machines and are stacked into piles.

Shop owner Mohammed al-Qassem, 30, is among those selling the mats, which he says are a hit in an area where many people are displaced and live in basic tents or makeshift dwellings.

The mats made from recycled plastic cost between $5 and $15, while traditional Persian-style r...

Cairo Egypt has announced that as of Saturday it requires all citizens of neighbouring Sudan, engulfed in bloody conflict since mid-April, to obtain a visa before they can cross the border.

Since fighting broke out between two rival generals vying for control in Sudan, some 200,000 Sudanese nationals have entered Egypt, most of them through land crossings, Cairo said.

Egyptian authorities had so far exempted Sudanese women of all ages, children under 16 and anyone over 50 from having to obtain a visa prior to arrival at a point of entry.

Cairos foreign ministry issued a statement on Saturday announcing the new regulations, justifying the move as a crackdown on illegal activities including fraud.

The authorities introduced visa procedures aimed at regulating the entry of the brotherly Sudanese (people) into Egypt after more than 50 days of crisis in their country, the statement said.

It said that the new requirements were not designed to prevent or limit the entry of Sudanese nationals, but rather to stop illegal activities by individuals and groups on the Sudanese side of the border, who forged entry visas for profit.

Sudan has been rocked by nearly two months of intense battles between the regular army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Burhans former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Upwards of 1,800 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Aid agencies and international organisations say the actual toll may be much higher.

The United Nations International Organization for Migration said nearly two million Sudanese people have been displaced, including 476,000 who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Egypt has welcomed more than 200,000 Sudanese citizens since the start of the crisis adding to the approximately five million Sudanese citizens who were already present in the country before the war, the foreign ministry statement said.

Sudanese media and some social media users have reported over the past two days orders issued by Egyptian authorities at two border crossings with Sudan, according to which entry into Egypt is allowed only after obtaining a visa, for all age groups and genders.

Egypts foreign ministry stressed in its statement that its consulates in Sudan have been provided with the necessary electronic devices to carry out these regulations in a precise, rapid and safe manner, ensuring the orderly entry of Sudanese citizens.

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Paris Iga Swiatek battled past Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win her third French Open title on Saturday and become the first woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title since 2007.

The 22-year-old Swiatek is just the third woman in the Open era to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals, the Pole adding to her 2020 and 2022 titles in Paris and last years US Open triumph. 

Monica Seles and Naomi Osaka are the only other players to accomplish the feat.

Swiatek, the world number one from Poland, is also the youngest woman to claim back-to-back French Open titles since Monica Seles in the early 1990s. 

Justine Henin was the last woman to win successive Roland Garros crowns when she captured her third in a row and fourth in total 16 years ago.

Swiateks latest coronation caps another dominant two weeks on the clay in Paris, where her record stands at 28 wins and two losses in five visits.

Muchova, at 43 in the world, was the fourth lowest ranked woman to reach the French Open final, her first championship match at a major.

Swiatek, then just 19, was ranked 54 when she lifted her first trophy three years after Jelena Ostapenkos shock triumph. Muchovas compatriot Renata Tomanova was runner-up in 1976.

However, the unseeded Czech had won all five matches in her career against players in the top three four of them at Grand Slams having stunned Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.

On guard against an underdog with a habit of taking those down at the top, Swiatek quickly applied pressure on the 26-year-old Muchova.

A miscued forehand from Muchova gave the Pole two break points in the second game which she took with minimal fuss.

The top seed consolidated with a quick hold before Muchova got on the board in game four, drawing loud roars from the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd.

Muchova carved out a break opportunity to get back on serve but Swiatek snuffed it out in a protracted fifth game pumping her fist in relief as she surged 4-1 up.

Swiatek saw another break point come and go the following game, but her disappointment was brief as she easily won the next two games to wrap up the opening set.

Back and forth

Muchova had outfoxed her rivals with her cunning variety throughout the tournament, but Swiatek had clearly done her homework since the Czech won their only other meeting in Prague in 2019.

A loose service game allowed Swiatek to pull 3-0 in front in the second set, but Muchova refused to roll over, displaying the grit and resolve she used to rally from match point down against Sabalenka in the previous round.

A crunching forehand down the line retrieved the break before Muchova levelled at three games each.

Swiatek slowed Muchovas momentum as the pair traded holds before the reigning champion showed her first real sign...

Kyiv Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that counteroffensive action was underway as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and accused Russia over flooding from the breached Kakhovka dam.

Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine: at which stage I will not talk in detail, Zelensky said at a joint press conference in Kyiv with Trudeau.

Zelensky commented after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Kyivs long-expected counteroffensive was already failing.

Russia has reported thwarting Ukrainian attacks in the east and south that some observers have interpreted as the start of a large-scale counteroffensive.

Its interesting what Putin said about our counteroffensive. It is important that Russia always feels this: that they do not have long left, in my opinion, Zelensky said.

He added that he was in daily touch with military commanders including armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny and everyone is positive now tell that to Putin!

Trudeau, 51, and Zelensky, 45, hugged each other and used each others first names as the Canadian leader made his second unannounced visit to Kyiv since full-scale war broke out in February last year.  

Canada, which hosts a large Ukrainian diaspora, has been one of Kyivs key allies since the Russian invasion.

It has provided Ukraine with significant military aid, trained more than 36,000 soldiers and adopted sanctions against Moscow.

Direct consequence

Trudeau denounced Russias role in the destruction of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine on Tuesday.

The flooding from the breached dam has forced thousands to flee their homes and sparked fears of humanitarian and environmental disasters.

Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up the dam, while Moscow says Kyiv fired on it.

Pledging 10 million Canadian dollars (US $7.5 million) in new funding for flood relief, Trudeau said the dams destruction was the direct consequence of Russias invasion.

There is absolutely no doubt in our minds that the destruction of the dam was a direct consequence of Russias decision to invade a peaceful neighbour, Trudeau said.

He added he was certain that Moscow would be held accountable for its actions in Ukraine.

Russias war in Ukraine has devastated infrastructure, has destroyed families and taken lives and is causing economic, food, energy shortages around the world. Russia is responsible and will be held to account.

Pilot training  

The Canadian leader said he would provide 500 million Canadian dollars in new funding for military assistance to Ukraine.

He also pledged Canada would be part of the multinational efforts to train Ukra...

Houston With oil tankers docking from Mexico and Russia in recent days, Cuba could see its severe fuel shortage ease for the near future.

Since the end of March, endless lines of cars queuing for gasoline have been a common site on the Communist Party-ruled island, and service stations have created WhatsApp groups to organize customers.

Cuba, under US embargo, is going through its worst economic crisis in three decades. It only produces a third of the fuel it needs each day, while residents navigate blackouts and food shortages.

According to shipping tracker Vessel Finder, Mexican tanker Bicentenario, with an estimated cargo of 265,000 barrels of oil, arrived at the port of Havana on Tuesday. The ship was anchored at the Nico Lopez refinery in the capital, AFP confirmed.

At the end of May, Cameroonian-flagged supertanker Limo, en route from Russia, arrived at the port of Matanzas with some 800,000 barrels.

Vicente de la O Levy, minister of energy and mines, had in recent weeks declared there will be a recovery from fuel shortages, and a decrease in uncomfortable queues.

With a processing capacity of 22,000 barrels per day at the Havana refinery, the capital could be supplied for up to three weeks, said Jorge Pinon, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy and Environmental Program at the University of Texas.

Looking for partners

Tuesdays arrival of the Bicentenario is the third such shipment this year, said Pinon. State-owned Petroleos Mexicanos did not respond to a request for comment.

Mexico, led by leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is pursuing a policy of both pushing for an end to US sanctions on Cuba while also maintaining a dialogue with Washington and cordial hemispheric relations, said Arturo Lopez-Levy, a visiting professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Relations between Moscow and Havana, meanwhile, have intensified in recent months, with an uptick in bilateral projects and visits between senior officials.

But it can be difficult for Cuba to pay for the oil. Sometimes, countries ship the oil on credit, or in exchange for Cuban doctors coming to work in the country shipping the oil.

Cuba does not have money and I doubt that it will pay for that oil, said Pinon. I assume that Mexico, instead of paying in cash for the shipment of Cuban doctors, is doing it with oil, as Venezuela does.

Chevron vs. Cuba

Cuba has faced a multitude of fuel difficulties recently, including a fire at its main fuel storage center in Matanzas, and a drop in shipments from Venezuela, a regional ally.

Even with shipments from allies, the country often runs a deficit of at least 20,000 barrels a day, said Pinon.

The decision by Washington earlier this year to authorize US oil producer Chevron to expand productio...

Paris Japans Tokito Oda defeated top-ranked Alfie Hewett of Britain 6-1, 6-4 in the French Open wheelchair final to become the sports youngest Grand Slam champion on Saturday.

The 17-year-old is also guaranteed to become the youngest ever world number one in the discipline.

I was really happy to get the two dreams on the one day for the youngest player to be No. 1 in world and to win a Grand Slam title; so two dreams come true today. Its happiest day of my life, said Oda.

His win on Saturday avenged his defeat to seven-time major winner Hewett at the Australian Open in January.

It was first time for me on the Philippe Chatrier court. There were so many people in the crowd. Somebody say, Come on, Tokito, and somebody say, Allez, Tokito. I was really happy to hear that word.

The new world rankings will be released on Monday.

Yui Kamiji was unable to make it a Japanese double as she was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by Diede De Groot who collected her fourth womens title in Paris and 18th Grand Slam trophy.

De Groot of the Netherlands also won in Paris in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

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Paris Novak Djokovic on Sunday faces Casper Ruud in his seventh final at Roland Garros.

AFP Sport looks back at his previous six championship matches at the tournament, a run which has yielded two wins and four defeats.

2012: lost to Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

In a final pushed into a third week for only the second time because of rain on the Sunday, Nadal, playing in his 16th Grand Slam final, took his Paris record to a staggering 52 wins against just one loss.

Victory, which was achieved on a Djokovic double fault, allowed him to break the tie for six French Opens he shared with Bjorn Borg.

For five-time major winner Djokovic, the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion, it was the end of his dream of emulating Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) by holding all the Grand Slams at once.

He was left to regret his unforced error count of 53 which undermined his challenge.

2014: lost to Rafael Nadal (ESP) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4

Nadal clinched his ninth French Open and 14th career Grand Slam title, becoming the first man to win five Roland Garros crowns in succession.

Every moment was crucial, all the points were so hard, said Nadal.

Djokovic dominated the early stages of the final, the pairs 42nd meeting, seemingly immune to the sweltering 30-degree heat on Philippe Chatrier court.

But Nadal, playing in his 20th Grand Slam final to Djokovics 13th, grew stronger as the final wore on as he ended a four-match losing streak against his old rival.

The 3hr 31min duel ended on a sour note when Djokovic double-faulted on match point, shaken by a shout from the crowd.

2015: lost to Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

Djokovic saw his dreams of becoming just the eighth man to claim a career Grand Slam shattered again despite being the overwhelming favourite to beat Wawrinka, just as he had done in 17 of 20 previous clashes.

Im proud of the fight that I put into this match. It wasnt to be, said Djokovic whose Grand Slam tally at that stage remained at five Australian Opens, two Wimbledon titles and a single triumph at the US Open.

Djokovic was in tears on the presentation podium as the 15,000-capacity crowd inside Court Philippe Chatrier afforded him a lengthy standing ovation.

It gives me even more motivation to come back and keep on trying.

2016: defeated Andy Murray (GBR) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

Djokovic captured a first French Open and a 12th career major, joining Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver, in 1962 and 1969, as the only players to simultaneously possess the French Open, Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon trophies.

But he did it the hard way as the final reached a tense conclusion, being broken in the eighth game of the fourth set as he served...

Dammam (IraqiNews.com) A special occasion to commemorate the beginning of the electrical connectivity project between Iraq and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council took place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ziad Ali Fadhil, the Iraqi Minister of Electricity, and Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, the Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, attended the ceremony in Dammam. Members of the electrical and Water Cooperation Committee and key energy ministers from GCC nations working in the electrical sector also attended the event.

This interconnection project, which is scheduled to be finished in late 2024, will be the first to be executed outside of the GCC nations electrical grid system and will supply roughly 500 megawatts per hour of electricity to southern Iraq, helping to partially fulfill the regions electricity demand. Both the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Qatar Fund for Development provide funding for it.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) announced in February 2023 that five contracts for a whopping $220 million had been signed. A double circuit 400 kV transmission line will be built as part of the contracts, connecting the stations in Kuwaits Wafra and southern Iraqs Al Faw. This 295-kilometer-long energy transmission line with a transmission capacity of 1,800 MW will change the areas power infrastructure.

On December 14, 2009, the first phase of the GCC electrical interconnection project was officially launched, linking the power networks of the States of Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. The UAE and the Sultanate of Oman came after this in 2011 and 2014. For the GCC nations, this strategic initiative has produced significant technical and financial benefits, including yearly savings of $200$300 million and cumulative savings of almost $3 billion since operations began.

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Kaohsiung Patrol boats circled and officers descended by rope from a helicopter during a staged hostage crisis in the southern city of Kaohsiung, as Taiwans armed forces held drills on Saturday.

The island holds frequent military drills in the face of increasing military and political pressures from China, including near-daily Chinese warplane incursions into its air defence zone.

Beijing claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to retake it one day by force if necessary.

At Kaohsiung port on Saturday, the coastguard, military, police and airborne services simulated a hostage situation, accompanied by action-movie music and an ongoing narration of the attack.

This is (Taiwan) Coast Guard! Stop the engine immediately! shouted the announcer. We are going to board and inspect your ship!

Smaller patrol boats surrounded the ship while a helicopter hovered overhead. The officers managed to covertly board the ship, and they opened fire not live rounds on the yellow-clad hostage takers.

At the end of the rehearsal, officers saluted President Tsai Ing-wen, who waved from the pier.

Everyone who participated in todays drill are our countrys frontline defenders. I want to emphasise again, we have to strengthen ourselves in order to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait, Tsai said in a short speech.

The more we are united, the more secure we are; the more secure Taiwan is, the safer the world will be.

Since Tsai who rejects that Taiwan is a part of China came to power in 2016, the island has seen increased incursions by Beijings boats warplanes.

In April, Beijing conducted three days of military exercises simulating a blockade of the island in response to US Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meeting Tsai in California.

And last August, China held four days of live-fire drills around Taiwans territorial waters with some of the exercises taking place just off the coast of Kaohsiung.

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Basra (IraqiNews.com) Blue Water Shipping is expanding its presence in the Middle East with the launch of its first office in Iraq. The office will be in Basra, enhancing the businesss foothold in the region.

The international logistics firm specializes in providing a wide variety of transport and logistic solutions with an emphasis on renewable energy sources and oil and gas.

We believe local presence is key to develop ourselves and serve the logistics needs of our clients, said Peter Ehrhorn, Regional Director at Blue Water Shipping. Iraq is a new country for us, however, we like challenges and finding new solutions to our clients in the more challenging markets.

Blue Water Shipping has been operating in the Middle East for more than 25 years and has developed a solid reputation for providing the area with effective solutions.

Our presence in Iraq is well-received by valued clients and key players in the region, said Marwa Saad, General Manager at Blue Water Iraq. We are confident to bring the trusted Blue Water quality and services to the country and expand our market reach.

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Zurich UBS is set to finalise the takeover of Credit Suisse on Monday, but the hardest part is yet to come: turning the arranged marriage of Switzerlands biggest banks into a success.

Reassuring the financial markets, customers, employees, the government and the public remains a challenge once the mega-merger is completed.

From Monday onwards, UBS can start being proactive, Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Swiss investment manager Vontobel, told AFP.

Switzerlands largest bank must already have an idea of what bits of Credit Suisse it wants to keep, close or sell, but so far they were limited in what they could do, he said.

On June 5, the two Zurich-based banks announced that the merger should be completed on June 12.

A merger this complex could turn out to be a nightmare, particularly given how little time UBS has had.

UBS expects an exceptional accounting gain of nearly $35 billion due to the difference between the purchase price and the recognised net assets of Credit Suisse.

UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti has warned the coming months will be bumpy for the bank.

Takeover preparations have already brought a first wave of emotions and difficult decisions, but other waves are still to come, he told the Swiss Economic Forum conference in Interlaken on Friday.

He said jobs would be the trickiest part of the merger, adding that cuts were inevitable given the overlap in some activities.

Shotgun wedding

Like UBS, Credit Suisse was among 30 international banks deemed too big to fail due to their importance in the global banking architecture.

But the collapse of three US regional lenders in March left Credit Suisse looking vulnerable, and its share price plunged more than 30 percent during trading on March 15.

The Swiss government, the central bank and financial regulators then stepped in and strongarmed UBS into a $3.25 billion takeover announced on Sunday, March 19, before the markets reopened the following day.

The government feared Credit Suisse would have quickly defaulted and triggered a global banking crisis.

The deal includes guarantees for UBS in case there are any nasty surprises in the Credit Suisse cupboards.

UBS and the Swiss government signed the guarantee contract on Friday, which can reach up to nine billion Swiss francs ($9.85 billion), if the losses exceed five billion francs.

The takeover terms and the size of the resulting megabank are causing serious concern in Switzerland.

The parliament in Bern has set up an extremely rare commission of inquiry, with lawmakers set to investigate how the emergency rescue was stitched together in double-quick time.

Questions remain

Many questions surrounding the merger remain unanswered. Investors want to know more about the integratio...

Miami The Denver Nuggets moved within one win of their first NBA title on Thursday, beating Miami 108-95 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.

Aaron Gordon starred for Denver, putting up 27 points. Nikola Jokic added 23 for the Nuggets, who can secure the championship with a home victory in game five on Monday.

It was a convincing victory for Denver, who were superior in every aspect and had key contributions from across the court, this time by no means reliant on Jokic and Jamaal Murray with Gordon in particular a thorn in Miamis side throughout.

As well as his 11 for 15 shooting, Gordon claimed seven rebounds with six assists and two steals.

I thought Aaron Gordon was huge all night long. He brought his hardhat tonight and was just a warrior on both ends for us, said Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.

Truly a team win. Weve done our job but were not celebrating like weve done anything yet. 

We know were going to have to go home and turn off the TV, the radio, dont read the papers, dont listen to everybody telling you how great you are because we havent done a damn thing yet. 

We have to win another game to be world champions, and were going to do that by simply taking it one quarter at a time.

We stay true to our identity, well give ourselves a great chance to do that, he added.

The eighth-seeded Heat have made a habit of comebacks and upsets during their run to the finals, but they again looked clear second best against Michael Malones outstanding team.

Questions had been asked of the Nuggets after they lost game two on their home court, but they leave Miami with two road victories and need one win from three games to clinch the crown.

Denver were up by four at the half, but as in Wednesdays encounter they took a firm of grip of proceedings during the third quarter where they moved 13 points ahead.

The Nuggets got a scare when Jokic tweaked an ankle in the first quarter and had to cope without the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player for a five minute spell in the fourth when he was benched by Malone after picking up a fifth foul with 9:23 left.

But Miami failed to take advantage, continuing to miss baskets on transition plays and unable to exploit the lack of the Serbians presence in the paint. 

The Heat closed to within 86-81 before Murray drained a huge three and when Jokic came back with 4:09 left, the Nuggets were up nine. 

Bruce Brown delivered down the stretch, with three baskets, ending with 21 points on eight of 11 shooting from the field as the Nuggets raced towards the finish line.

One more to go

Today was a team effort. I cant even name one person, said Denver guard Jamal Murray. Everybody locked in.

Bogot The four Indigenous children who had been missing for more than a month in the Colombian Amazon rainforest after a small plane crash have been found alive, President Gustavo Petro announced Friday.

A joy for the whole country! The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive, Petro wrote on Twitter.

His post included a photograph of several adults, some dressed in military fatigues, attending to the children who were sitting on tarps among the dense forest.

They are weak. Lets let the doctors make their assessment, Petro told the press in Bogota.

Originally from the Uitoto Indigenous group, the children aged 13, nine, four and one had been wandering alone in the jungle since May 1, when the Cessna 206 in which they were traveling crashed.

The bodies of three adults who had been with them their mother, the pilot and a relative were all found at the crash site by the army.

A massive search by 160 soldiers and 70 Indigenous people with intimate knowledge of the jungle had been under way ever since for the youngsters, garnering global attention.

The area is home to jaguars, snakes and other predators, as well as armed drug smuggling groups, but ongoing clues footprints, a diaper, half-eaten fruit led authorities to believe they were on the right track.

Worried that the children would continue wandering and become ever more difficult to locate, the air force dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with instructions in Spanish and the childrens own Indigenous language, telling them to stay put.

The leaflets also included survival tips, and the military dropped food parcels and bottled water.

Rescuers had also been broadcasting a message recorded by the childrens grandmother, urging them not to move.

A magical day

Huitoto children learn hunting, fishing and gathering and the kids grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, had told AFP the children are well acquainted with the jungle.

Today we have had a magical day, Petro told the media upon his return from Cuba, where he signed a six-month truce with Colombias last active guerrilla group, the ELN.

Getting closer and attaining peace in the agreement that is moving forward with the ELN And now I return and the first news is that indeed the Indigenous communities that were in the search and the military forces found the children 40 days later, he said.

They were alone, they made it on their own. An example of absolute survival that will go down in history, he added.

Petro had announced that the children had been found alive 17 days after they disappeared, but retracted the announcement a day later, saying he had been given false information.

Valencia, the children&#...

Washington The latest twist in Donald Trumps attritional war with US law enforcement, as with so much else in the former presidents story, throws the United States into unprecedented territory.

Facing multiple federal charges over his hoarding of government secrets, the mercurial Republican presents the country with the possibility of a winning candidate moving into the White House while under indictment or running the government from a jail cell.

The defiant billionaire has dismissed the notion that he would ever drop out of his partys primary contest, reverting instead to a favored tactic of accusing his corrupt political adversaries of election interference. 

It likely wont sway undecided voters but it will galvanize Trump supporters who might be wavering or looking to a candidate with less baggage, Matt Shoemaker, a national security analyst and former intelligence officer, told AFP.

Prosecutors in both the federal documents case and the state-level financial fraud probe targeting Trump in New York will hope to have him face justice before the country goes to the polls in 17 months.

But there is no guarantee of either case wrapping up that quickly and Trump also faces federal and state-level probes into his efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

He would likely torpedo any outstanding federal prosecutions were he reelected, by attempting to pardon himself an unprecedented scenario that would almost certainly spark a constitutional crisis. 

But he would have little influence over state-level cases and his more immediate worry is the damage his legal woes could do to his campaign to win the Republican nomination in the first place.

Going for the jugular?

The latest indictment allows Trumps primary challengers Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former vice president Mike Pence and others to level the criticism that the runaway frontrunner is unfit for office.

But they run the risk of alienating Trumps loyal base, whose support has only grown more fervent since the Manhattan indictment.

As a result, many rivals have rallied to Trumps side, perhaps hoping to keep their powder dry until he is finally taken out of the running by further indictments expected in the coming months.

Trump is under federal investigation over his role in the January 6, 2021 US Capitol insurrection and media reports suggest racketeering and conspiracy charges are set to drop in Georgia in August over the tycoons campaign to overturn the election there.

They are hoping Trump is eventually knocked out of the race by a series of indictments, including those concerning January 6 and the attempt to overturn the election, said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.

Thats it. Thats their strategy...

Los Angeles The US Open returns to Los Angeles next week for the first time in 75 years, but the biggest uncertainty facing the worlds top golfers isnt the unfamiliar Los Angeles Country Club North Course.

The bombshell announcement that the US PGA Tour and DP World Tour were throwing in with rebel LIV Golfs Saudi backers has spawned at least as many questions as answers.

Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, who lent his voice to the PGA Tour as it navigated two years of turmoil, says he believes the deal will be better for the game of golf but that he cant help feeling somewhat like a sacrificial lamb.

Ive put myself out there and this is what happens, McIlroy said when the deal was sprung on unsuspecting players on Tuesday.

Hes certainly not the only PGA Tour loyalist to feel that way.

They and their LIV Golf counterparts still for now barred from their former tours and the Ryder Cup will come together to play a course many have never seen.

The exclusive club in posh Beverly Hills, a stones throw from Hollywood, did host a 2017 Walker Cup amateur match-play tournament where two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler led the United States to victory over Britain and Ireland.

Ill first lay eyes on it when I get to LA, McIlroy noted, although the intelligence he has received makes him think the classic par-70 layout could provide one of the best US Opens there has been for awhile.

High quality

Spains Jon Rahm, the 2021 US Open champion who won his second major title at the Masters in April, said hes surprised the US Golf Association can squeeze all of the requisite hospitality and viewing areas into the refined confines of the venue.

But that, and concerns about notorious LA traffic aside, Rahm said, Golf course-wise, the golf course is very high quality.

High enough to bring the US Open back to Los Angeles for the first time since 1948, when Ben Hogan won at Riviera Country Club.

Riviera and LA Country Club, along with Bel-Air Country Club, are the trio of courses designed by George Thomas in the Southern California city in the 1920s.

But the stage was set for LACC to host this major championship with Gil Hanses restoration of the North Course that was completed in 2010.

It will offer an unfamiliar look for a US Open, long famed for nipped in fairways and dense rough.

Instead, golfers will see wide fairways and perhaps deceptively benign-looking Bermuda grass rough.

The test, however, is real, with demanding elevation changes and challenging slopes reminiscent of Augusta National.

Brooks Koepka, winner of back-to-back US Open titles in 2017 and 2018, arrives in Los Angeles on the heels of a fift...

London Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani has agreed a deal to sell his controlling stake in the club to co-owners 49ers Enterprises, the recently relegated Premier League club said on Friday.

As a result the American investment group, owner of NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers and a minority shareholder in Leeds since 2018, will take full ownership.

Leeds United can confirm an agreement has been reached between Aser Ventures and 49ers Enterprises for the purchase of the club, said a statement.

Both parties continue to work through the details, and further updates will be provided soon.

All of our focus remains on a quick return to the Premier League.

49ers Enterprises increased its stake in Leeds to 44 percent in 2021 with the option of buying Radrizzanis remaining 56 percent before January 2024.

That agreement, which had valued Leeds at around 400 million ($500 million), was contingent on the club remaining in the Premier League.

Leeds relegation last month forced both parties back into negotiations with the deal now reportedly worth a valuation of just 170 million.

Italian businessman Radrizzani bought Leeds in 2017 and helped lead the club back to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years as the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa as manager proved a masterstroke.

However, after just three years back in the top flight, Leeds will find themselves in the Championship next season after finishing 19th in the Premier League.

The post 49ers Enterprises agree deal for Leeds takeover appeared first on Iraqi News.

London Britains former prime minister Boris Johnson on Friday said he was quitting as a member of parliament, claiming he had been forced out in a stitch-up by his political opponents.

The 58-year-old populist politician has been under investigation by a cross-party committee about whether he repeatedly lied to parliament over Covid lockdown-breaking parties when he was in office.

In evidence earlier this year he angrily insisted he had not.

But as the committee prepares to make public its findings, he said they had contacted him making it clear they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament.

The Privileges Committee, which has a majority of MPs from his own Conservative party, has powers to impose sanctions for misleading parliament, including suspension.

Ordinarily, suspension of more than 10 working days leads to a by-election in the MPs constituency.

Johnson, though, pre-empted any finding or having to fight to remain an MP in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in northwest London where he holds a slim majority of just over 7,000 by quitting.

He denounced the committee, chaired by veteran opposition Labour MP Harriet Harman, as a kangaroo court.

It is very sad to be leaving Parliament at least for now but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically with such egregious bias, he said.

Sunak attack

The announcement came just hours after Johnson controversially rewarded his closest Brexit allies and officials implicated in the Partygate saga in his prime ministerial resignation honours list.

At the same time, his former culture secretary Nadine Dorries announced that she was quitting as an MP with immediate effect.

Johnson led the Tories to a thumping 80-seat majority in the December 2019 general election on a promise to get Brexit done, allowing him to railroad through parliament his divorce deal with the European Union.

But he was undone by his handling of the Covid pandemic, Partygate and a succession of other scandals that led to a ministerial rebellion in July last year.

He quit as prime minister and left office in September last year, although rumours persisted that he wanted another shot at the top job.

Rishi Sunak, who was one of Johnsons top team who quit, has been trying to steady the ship since becoming prime minister in October last year.

But Johnsons resignation will likely be seen as his revenge, with Sunak and the Tories well down in the polls to the main opposition Labour party and a general election looming next year.

When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That...