Iraqi forces launched on Thursday an offensive to recapture the last patch of Iraqi territory still in the hands of Daesh, on the border area with Syria, Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said.
“Daesh members have to choose between death and surrender,” he said in a statement announcing the offensive on region of Al-Qaim and Rawa.
The Iraqi airforce dropped thousands of leaflets on the border area calling on the militants to surrender and urging the population to stay away from their positions, according to a statement from the Joint Operations Command in Baghdad.
The militant group also holds parts of the Syrian side of the border, but the area under their control is shrinking as they retreat in the face of two sets of hostile forces — a US-backed, Kurdish-led coalition and Syrian government troops with foreign Shiite militias backed by Iran and Russia.
Daesh’s self-declared cross-border caliphate effectively collapsed in July, when US-backed Iraqi forces captured Mosul, the group’s de facto capital in Iraq, in a gruelling battle which lasted nine months.
The militants’ Syrian stronghold, Raqqa, fell to US-backed forces last week.
Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who declared the caliphate from Mosul in mid-2014, released an audio recording on Sept. 28 that indicated he was alive, after several reports he had been killed. He urged his followers to keep up the fight despite setbacks.
“Tell those among your children and relatives who took up a weapon against the state to throw it aside immediately, and to go to any house on top of which a white flag have been raised when the liberation forces enter Al-Qaim,” said the leaflets dropped by the Iraqi airforce.
Regular army units, Sunni tribal forces and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization are taking part in the offensive toward the Syrian border, the Joint Operations Command said.
Iraq launches military operation to recapture western border region
Iraq launches military operation to recapture western border region
Review: Award-winning ‘Moon’ comes out on top as a tense thriller
JEDDAH: Iraqi Austrian filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub seems to have found her niche telling stories of women in distress. While her debut fiction feature film, “Sonne,” was awarded the Best First Film Award at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, her latest, “Moon,” sees the director wade into similar territory.
After clinching the special jury prize at the 77th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, it played at the recent Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah — and to me it was one of the event's highlights.
“Moon” trails Sarah (Florentina Holzinger, who is quite good as a foreigner bewildered by her surroundings), an unhappy martial arts fighter, who having hit the dead end in her career, takes up an assignment with a wealthy Jordanian family whose shady dealings soon make her uneasy.
Asked to train three sisters after her humiliating defeat in the ring, Sarah grabs the chance, hoping to find a new beginning and earn back her respect. But what awaits her there is beyond her imagination — a household that is run with eerie brutality by the girls' brother in the absence of their parents. Sarah is frightened when things begin to spiral out of her control, and with the sisters' steely defiance toward any sort of regulated life, “Moon” plays out like a thriller and boxes us into a deadly climax.
Ayub specialises in filming the loss of freedom and examines how women struggle circumvent this. The sisters' trips to the mall seem like one way of tasting freedom — despite the watchful eye of a burly bodyguard — and the audience feels every bit as claustrophobic.
Unfortunately, there are pitfalls in the narrative with some of the protagonist’s actions going unexplained but what keeps the work flowing is the beautiful relationship among the sisters and how they ultimately come to trust their trainer.
Mikheil Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president amid political crisis
- Current President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to step down when her term ends and demanded new elections
- Parliament, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, is shortly expected to inaugurate Mikheil Kavelashvili
TBILISI: At least 2,000 pro-EU protesters gathered in Tbilisi on Sunday as Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, took the oath of office as Georgia’s president
Kavelashvili’s inauguration has sparked a political crisis in the South Caucasus country, whose government has frozen European Union application talks, provoking major protests.
Georgia’s pro-EU president Salome Zurabishvili declared she was the country’s “only legitimate president”, refusing to step down as her term ended Sunday with the inauguration of a disputed successor but saying she would vacate the presidential palace.
“I remain the only legitimate president,” she told thousands of pro-EU demonstrators. “I will leave the presidential palace and stand with you, carrying with me the legitimacy, the flag and your trust.”
Months of political crisis are poised to enter an unpredictable phase, and it is unclear what will happen if Zurabishvili does not leave the presidential palace.
Parliament, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, is shortly expected to inaugurate its loyalist Mikheil Kavelashvili, a far-right former footballer.
An AFP reporter in Tbilisi saw a growing crowd of protesters outside the presidential palace, with many bringing EU flags and chanting “Georgia!”
Many held on to the railings of the presidential palace, which was decorated with a large Georgian and EU flag.
Zurabishvili and protesters have accused Georgian Dream of rigging the October parliamentary election, demanding a fresh vote.
They say this makes Kavelashvili’s inauguration illegitimate.
Zurabishvili had said she would spend the night in the palace, calling on protesters to come in the morning.
Her term is due to end with the inauguration of a successor.
Georgia has been gripped by protests throughout 2024, with Georgian Dream’s opponents accusing it of steering Tbilisi toward Moscow rather than toward the Caucasus country’s longstanding goal of joining the EU.
Pakistan ‘deeply saddened’ as South Korea plane crash casualties surge to 120
- Jeju Air flight, carrying 175 passengers from Bangkok, crashed after landing at Muan International Airport on Sunday morning
- Investigators looking into bird strikes and weather conditions as possible reasons for plane crash, says Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed condolences for the loss of lives after at least 120 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed upon landing in South Korea.
The incident took place on Sunday morning as the Jeju Air flight, carrying 175 passengers and six crew from Thailand’s capital Bangkok, caught fire after skidding off a runway and crashing at the Muan International Airport.
South Korea’s National Fire Agency said 120 people have been killed in the plane crash while two people have been rescued, both of them being crew members.
“Deeply saddened to learn about the tragic plane crash at Muan International Airport in Korea resulting in the loss of so many lives,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X.
“In this hour of grief, our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and with the people and the Government of Republic of Korea,” he added.
Muan fire chief Lee Jung-hyun told reporters that the fire was extinguished at 1:00 p.m. local time.
“Only the tail part retains a little bit of shape, and the rest of (the plane) looks almost impossible to recognize,” he said.
Authorities have switched from rescue to recovery operations and because of the force of the impact, are searching nearby areas for bodies possibly thrown from the plane, Lee added.
The two crew were being treated at hospitals with medium to severe injuries, said the head of the local public health center.
Investigators are looking into bird strikes and weather conditions as possible factors, Lee said. Yonhap cited airport authorities as saying a bird strike may have caused the landing gear to malfunction.
With inputs from Reuters
Sit-in protests in solidarity with violence-hit Kurram district enter third day in Karachi
- Demonstrators call protests in Karachi vital to draw attention to ‘overlooked’ crisis in Kurram
- Traffic police urges citizens to avoid traveling unnecessarily in protest areas, exercise patience
KARACHI: Sit-in protests at various locations across Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi continued for a third consecutive day today, Sunday, with demonstrators showing solidarity with the people in Kurram district, where violence and a lack of medical access have claimed over 130 lives in recent weeks.
Kurram, a northwestern district of around 600,000 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has long been a hotspot for tribal and sectarian violence, with authorities struggling to maintain control.
The area’s situation has necessitated travel in convoys escorted by security personnel, yet it failed to prevent an attack on Nov. 21, when gunmen ambushed a convoy, killing 52 people. The attack sparked further violence and road closures, restricting access to medicine, food and fuel in the region.
A grand jirga, or council of political and tribal elders, has attempted to mediate between rival factions, as protests in Parachinar, the main city in Kurram, spread to Karachi on Friday where demonstrators held sit-in protests at 10 different locations in the city.
“Protest demonstrations due to the Parachinar incident in Karachi city are ongoing,” Karachi Traffic Police said in an advisory, urging citizens to avoid traveling unnecessarily in certain locations across the metropolis.
The protests have been called by the Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), a Shia organization, with demonstrators blocking main thoroughfares, including Shahrah-e-Faisal, which connects the airport to the city’s Red Zone, home to sensitive government installations, and major hotels.
Another area that has been choked is Numaish, a vital junction linking the city’s central district to its commercial hubs.
“Passengers are requested to exercise patience and refrain from going to locations where the demonstrations are taking place,” the traffic police said.
MWM’s Karachi spokesperson, Syed Ahmad Naqvi, told Arab News on Saturday that the protests would continue as long as the Parachinar protests persist.
“Large-scale protests in Karachi highlight the situation in Kurram, where many precious lives have been lost in recent weeks but have received no attention,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab criticized demonstrators for disrupting daily life in the city.
“If the aim of a protest is to inconvenience people, disrupt a city’s system, prevent ambulances and fire brigades from operating, or hinder police and administrative vehicles, then I believe this is inappropriate,” Wahab told Arab News on Saturday.
Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons third time in a row
- Yoon Suk Yeol also failed to attend a hearing he was summoned to last Wednesday, giving no explanation for his absence
- The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration
SEOUL: South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol refused a summons to appear for questioning on Sunday, the third time he has defied investigators’ demands in two weeks.
Investigators probing Yoon had ordered him to appear for questioning at 10 am (GMT 0100) on Sunday, a demand he rejected.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, also failed to attend a hearing he was summoned to last Wednesday, giving no explanation for his absence.
The conservative leader was stripped of his duties by parliament on December 14, following a short-lived martial law declaration that plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.
Yoon faces impeachment and criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty, in a drama that has shocked democratic South Korea’s allies around the world.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol did not appear at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) at 10 am today,” said the office in a statement.
“The Joint Investigation Headquarters will review and decide on future measures,” it added.
The CIO is expected to decide in the coming days whether to issue a fourth summons or ask a court to grant an arrest warrant to compel Yoon to appear for questioning.
He is being investigated by prosecutors as well as a joint team comprising police, defense ministry, and anti-corruption officials, while the Constitutional Court deliberates on the impeachment motion passed by parliament.
If upheld by the court, which is required to deliver its ruling within six months of the impeachment, a by-election must be held within 60 days of the court’s decision.
Former president Park Geun-hye was impeached under similar circumstances, but she was investigated only after the Constitutional Court removed her from power.
A 10-page prosecutors’ report seen by AFP stated that Yoon Suk Yeol authorized the military to fire their weapons if needed to enter parliament during his failed bid to impose martial law.
