Author: Mako Bereven

Moscow/Washington (13/6 – 29) We took a holiday from reality. Immanuel Niven, a mathematician and philosopher, has long been scrutinizing Russia’s economic landscape, and his recent assertions suggest a dire forecast. He contends that the “Putin system” is on the brink of collapse, a scenario he had mathematically foreseen as early as March. Niven points to the pronounced tax hikes announced in Russia, the most substantial in its modern history, as well as Putin’s recent rhetoric urging citizens to work as if they were at the front lines. These developments, Niven argues, are symptomatic of the escalating toxicity within Russia’s…

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Friday instructed local authorities in Soran administration to take necessary measures to avoid future fires following the tragic deaths of at least 14 people. He also offered support for the victims. A building in Erbil province’s Soran administration caught fire late on Friday. At least 14 people were killed and four others were injured, according to the local health directorate. President Barzani spoke on the phone with Halgurd Sheikh Najib, supervisor of the administration, and tasked him to “take all necessary measures so that such incidents do not happen again,” read a statement from…

Mohammed al-Halbousi calls decision ‘strange’, implies it violates constitution and undermines national stability. Iraq‘s top court has terminated the tenure of parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, who called the decision “strange” and suggested it violated the constitution and undermined national stability. The Federal Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday on the country’s most powerful Sunni politician is final and not subject to appeal, according to state media. The court said in a statement that it decided to terminate al-Halbousi’s membership in parliament along with that of lawmaker Laith al-Dulaimi. It did not elaborate on why it issued the decision. In a video…

A Canadian woman has spoken for the first time about her marriage to one of the IS “Beatles” and her time living with him in Syria. Despite global news coverage of savagery by the Islamic State (IS) group, Dure Ahmed claims she was “oblivious to what was going on” while her then-British husband El Shafee Elsheikh was committing atrocities. He was part of a murderous IS cell linked to the abduction, torture and beheading of Western hostages. The mother of two claims she wasn’t radicalised, but was just “a dumb girl in love”. She agreed to answer questions from the…

Syrian state media says Israeli forces have hit the country’s two main international airports with missiles, putting them out of action. State media said runways had been damaged at both Damascus and Aleppo airports and flights would be diverted to Latakia, a city in north-west Syria. Israel has not commented on the strike. It has previously attacked targets in war-torn Syria, linked to Iran. Iran’s foreign minister was planning to fly to Syria on Friday. Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo airports not only handle civil aviation but also host military bases, which are reportedly transit points for Iranian arms sent to…

As hundreds of Kurdistan Region teachers were prevented from travelling to Baghdad on Sunday morning to bring their strike to the federal government, Iraqi teachers expressed solidarity with the protesting educators and pledged their assistance. “Our door is open to teachers,” Abbas al-Sudani, head of the Iraqi Teachers’ Union, told Rudaw’s Arez Khalid. “Whenever they come to us, we will welcome them with the utmost generosity and convey their demands to the Iraqi prime minister and we will work seriously to solve their problems.” Teachers from Sulaimani and Halabja provinces have been on strike for more than two months over…

Families and loved ones of the victims of Tuesday’s massive blaze in Nineveh’s Hamdaniya held a funeral mass at the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception (al-Tahira-al-Kubra) on Thursday.  With broken hearts and eyes filled with tears, the mourners said their final goodbyes to their loved ones, honoring their lives and grieving their loss. Some of those who attended the ceremony were men and women who were injured in the wedding hall inferno. Over a hundred people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured late on Tuesday when a fire erupted inside a banquet hall hosting a packed…

The US military confirmed to Voice of America that 31 Abrams tanks are in Ukraine. All the Abrams tanks promised to Kyiv by the administration of President Joe Biden have arrived in Ukraine.Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa, told Voice of America that all Ukrainian troops who trained with American troops on Abrams tanks in Germany have returned to Ukraine. According to a senior military officer, 31 tanks with ammunition and spare parts are already in the country.“We kept our end of the deal. From now on, they [the Ukrainians] must determine when and where…

The United States will continue to provide defense assistance packages to Ukraine under Presidential Authorization (PDA) in the near future; they will simply become smaller. At the same time, the Pentagon urges Congress to accept additional funding as soon as possible. Source: Deputy Speaker of the US Department of Defense Sabrina Singh, Ukrinform Singh’s direct speech : “We will continue to transfer packages, they are just getting smaller. Therefore, we are asking Congress to accept the request for additional appropriations that the President sent so that we can continue to meet the needs of Ukraine on the battlefield,” the Pentagon spokeswoman said. Details: She clarified the…

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday received the prominent Yazidi activist Nadia Murad, discussing the return of Yazidis, who were displaced in 2014 due to the Islamic State (ISIS) attack on Shingal, to the town, according to a statement from the Kurdish presidency.  “The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Yezidi community’s current situation, particularly the process of repatriating Yezidi IDPs from camps to their homes in Shingal (Sinjar) and the surrounding areas,” read the statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency. “The role of international organizations in providing assistance and support to the Yezidis was also a…