Author: Fener Las

The number of tourists significantly decreases during the winter season in Duhok province which is a popular destination when scorching temperatures hit Iraq.  According to Duhok’s tourism board, about 80 percent of tourists are registered in the summer season, with the majority traveling from federal Iraq. Restaurant and hotel owners are most affected by the decline in tourism brought about by the drop in temperatures, with most having to send their workers home due to financial constraints. “No one comes here in winter, tourists come here in summer, and they are mostly Arabs,” Osman Munir, a kiosk owner, told Rudaw’s…

The UK government said it would meet with officials in Turkey to discuss regulations around medical and cosmetic tourism, following several deaths. Melissa Kerr, 31, died at the private Medicana Haznedar Hospital in Istanbul in 2019 during buttock enlargement (Brazilian butt-lift) surgery. A coroner raised concerns she and others were not given enough information before travelling abroad. Health minister Maria Caulfield said government took the issue “seriously”. In her response to a prevention of future deaths report written by Norfolk senior coroner Jacqueline Lake, Ms Caufield said officials from the Department of Health and Social Care would be “visiting Turkey shortly to…

A police officer who lied about being sick so he could go on holiday has been sacked. Nottinghamshire PC Joseph Jennings had twice requested leave including 29 April, but it was refused due to insufficient staffing. On that morning, a few hours before his shift was due to start, he texted his sergeant saying he had norovirus. But this was found to be a lie, with PC Jennings flying to Turkey with his partner the day before. Nottinghamshire Police said leave for PC Jennings had been granted from 30 April to 3 May, but not 29 April. The force held…

The Turkish defense ministry on Friday said its air forces targeted 17 alleged positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the northern Kurdistan Region where local officials confirmed the strikes.  Turkish air forces hit 17 caves, shelters and ammunition depots allegedly used by the PKK in the Gara, Khakurk and Qandil regions, the ministry said in a statement late on Friday. It also claimed that “numerous’ members of the PKK were “neutralized” in the airstrikes. Turkey uses the term neutralized to denote adversaries captured, wounded, or killed. Nahro Abdullah, mayor of Sangasar subdistrict near Mount Qandil, told Rudaw that…

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Monday announced that coalition forces had carried out 79 operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria during the months of September and October, killing 13 and detaining several prominent leaders of the militant group. A total of 31 ant-ISIS operations were conducted by the US-led coalition forces and other partners in September, resulting in the killing of eight ISIS operatives and the detention of an additional 19, according to a statement from CENTCOM. At least five ISIS operatives were killed and 59 were detained in 48 anti-ISIS operations in October.…

Experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) analyzed what consequences Ukraine’s ability to use long-range ATACMS missiles would have for the Russians – it would pose a threat to Russian aviation and enemy ammunition depots in the rear. Details : The report states that Ukraine first used US-provided ATACMS long-range missiles to strike Russian targets in its occupied territories on October 17. The Wall Street Journal and other Western media confirmed on October 17 that the US had “secretly” provided Ukraine with ATACMS missiles with a range of 165 km in recent days, and reported that Ukrainian troops had already used ATACMS…

A representative of non-contract teachers in Erbil was released on bail on Sunday, a day after he was detained following a call for protests as teachers across Halabja and Sulaimani provinces continue to strike. Ali Rauf, representative of Erbil’s non-contract teachers, told Rudaw on Saturday that they planned to stage a “peaceful protest” in front of the building of the council of ministers in the Kurdish capital. He was detained on Saturday evening and spent the night at Erbil’s police directorate. Rauf’s lawyer Bashdar Hasan told Rudaw on Sunday that his client was released on one million dinars (around $640)…

Erbil held an ultimate frisbee tournament on Friday, with eight teams competing against each other on the courts of Akkad and Brusk stadiums in Ainkawa.  Ultimate frisbee is a non-contact team sport played with a hand-flung disc. The game was first played in the United States in 1968. Jamie Watt, a US citizen and organizer of the tournament, has been living in the Kurdistan region for almost 10 years, and every weekend he plays ultimate frisbee with his friends at Akkad stadium in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Ainkawa. “Ultimate frisbee is a team game, for example, when we play…

At least 25 houses in Erbil province were flooded after a rain storm swept the Kurdistan Region on Friday. Several areas of Erbil were flooded and traffic was severely affected in the capital’s Bahirka subdistrict, Karwan Mirawdali, spokesperson for Erbil civil defense, told Rudaw on Friday. “There were no casualties. Water entered around 25 houses in Bahirka, but the level of the water was low and did not cause much damage,” Mirawdali added. According to Rudaw reporters on the ground, flooding hit several neighbourhoods in Erbil city. Floods are a common natural disaster in Erbil and some years they are…

Thousands of teachers took to the streets in Sulaimani and Halabja provinces on Sunday to protest months of unpaid salaries, threatening to not return to classrooms if the government does not pay their wages.On the same day the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) education ministry announced the issuing of a ministerial order for permanent and non-contract teachers to return to classrooms.Protesters had two main demands; non-contract teachers called for permanent employment while permanent teachers urged the government to pay their salaries for the months of August, September, and October.Protests were held in Sulaimani city center, Halabja city, Garmiyan, and Raparin independent…