ANKARA: On early Tuesday (Oct. 31), Iraq and Turkish army forces gained control of the Habur border gate, also known as the Ibrahim Al-Khalil border gate on the Iraqi side, from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and raised the Iraqi national flag.
State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Iraqi military forces were deployed at the Ibrahim Al-Khalil crossing in Iraqi territories, alongside Turkish forces, after making a joint drill in Turkey’s southeastern town of Silopi.
Iraqi Chief of General Staff Osman Ganimi thanked Turkish military officers and said: “We will be stronger as long as we stand together,” according to Anadolu Agency.
Turkey has a trade volume of $8 billion with Iraq that passes through the Habur border gate, currently the main passage between the two countries.
Speaking to the ruling AK Party politicians at the parliament, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed that Habur border gate had been handed over to the Iraqi central government by the KRG without any problem.
Yildirim also said that from now on the border crossing will be under the control of officials from Turkey and the Iraqi central government, while the transportation will be still carried out on the current route, but he added that Ankara would prevent KRG officials from taking racketeering from the trucks and imposing illegitimate taxes across the border.
After completing the necessary security reinforcements and feasibility studies, Turkey and Iraq are expected to open a second border gate in the near future, as an alternative border crossing that will pass through the Iraqi town of Tal Afar.
Mete Sohtaoglu, an Istanbul-based researcher on the Middle East, said the handover on Tuesday was initially aimed at gaining control of the border region.
“But, at the later phase, the Turkish army may be deployed across the border or on the Iraqi part of the border,” he told Arab News.
Sohtaoglu also expects a new joint operation between Tehran, Baghdad and Ankara in the region.
“A joint operation against those under the umbrella of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and its military wing the People’s Defense Forces is looming on the horizon, particularly in Sinjar in northern Iraq. The unfolding military mobility in the region can be read as the gradual implementation of a bigger plan toward the region,” he added.
“The Iraqi national army is also deployed in a way to ensure the security of the second border gate between Turkey and Iraq. But what is interesting is that Iranian militia under the Iraqi national army are kept out of Turkish borders,” Sohtaoglu underlined.
Baghdad regains Habur border gate from the KRG, with Turkey’s help
Baghdad regains Habur border gate from the KRG, with Turkey’s help
Pakistan sets up 24/7 control room to address Afghan repatriation complaints
- The decision comes a day after Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar met Taliban officials in Kabul
- The government says nearly 85,000 Afghans have returned to their home country so far in April
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has established a 24/7 federal control room to assist Afghan nationals and respond to complaints of harassment during their repatriation, according to a statement issued on Sunday, amid growing criticism of Islamabad’s ongoing deportation campaign.
The decision comes a day after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Kabul and met senior Taliban officials to discuss bilateral cooperation, including issues linked to the mass return of Afghans from Pakistan.
“Pakistan has set up a 24/7 Federal Control Room at the National Crisis Information Management Cell (NCIMC) to assist Afghan nationals and address complaints of harassment during repatriation,” the office of Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Sadiq Khan, said in a statement.
It noted the helpline service was launched in line with Dar’s commitment during his visit to Kabul. Dar had promised that Pakistan’s interior ministry would issue a notification within 48 hours to streamline a complaints mechanism for Afghan returnees.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Dar spoke with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to thank him for the hospitality extended during the visit. Both leaders expressed satisfaction over the outcome of their talks and agreed to “expeditiously implement the decisions taken for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries,” the ministry said
Dar also invited Muttaqi to visit Pakistan, an invitation the Afghan official accepted.
The development comes as Islamabad presses ahead with a second phase of its repatriation plan, targeting more than 800,000 Afghans whose residence permits have been canceled.
Rights groups and Afghan officials have raised concerns about the treatment of deportees, many of whom have reported harassment, arbitrary arrests and family separations.
Pakistan says nearly 85,000 Afghans have returned so far in April, with a large number of them undocumented. The United Nations says more than half of them are children, with many families entering a country where women face restrictions on work and education under Taliban rule.
Islamabad has defended the deportation policy as a national security measure, pointing to rising militant violence and alleging that many Afghan nationals have remained involved attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban government in Kabul, however, denies the charge.
The first phase of the deportation campaign began in late 2023 wherein hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were expelled from Pakistan.
Second Boeing jet starts return from China as trade war with US escalates
- Confusion over changing tariffs could leave many aircraft deliveries in limbo, with some airline CEOs saying they would defer delivery of planes rather than pay duties, analysts say
SEOUL, South Korea: A second Boeing jet intended for use by a Chinese airline was heading back to the US on Monday, flight tracking data showed, in what appears to be another victim of the tit-for-tat bilateral tariffs launched by President Donald Trump in his global trade offensive.
The 737 MAX took off from Boeing’s Zhoushan completion center near Shanghai on Monday morning and was heading toward the US territory of Guam, data from flight tracking website AirNav Radar showed.
Guam is one of the stops such flights make on the 5,000-mile (8,000-km) journey across the Pacific between Boeing’s US production hub in Seattle and the Zhoushan completion center, where planes are ferried by Boeing for final work and delivery to a Chinese carrier.
On Sunday a 737 MAX painted with the livery for China’s Xiamen Airlines made the return journey from Zhoushan and landed at Seattle’s Boeing Field.
It is not clear which party made the decision for the two aircraft to return to the US.
Trump this month raised baseline tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent. In retaliation, China has imposed a 125 percent tariff on US goods. A Chinese airline taking delivery of a Boeing jet could be crippled by the tariffs, given that a new 737 MAX has a market value of around $55 million, according to IBA, an aviation consultancy.
The plane flew from Seattle to Zhoushan just under a month ago.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The return of the 737 MAX jets, Boeing’s best-selling model, is the latest sign of disruption to new aircraft deliveries from a breakdown in the aerospace industry’s decades-old duty-free status.
The tariff war and apparent U-turn over deliveries comes as Boeing has been recovering from an almost five-year import freeze on 737 MAX jets and a previous round of trade tensions.
Confusion over changing tariffs could leave many aircraft deliveries in limbo, with some airline CEOs saying they would defer delivery of planes rather than pay duties, analysts say.
‘Just more powerful’: Trump pushes presidential limits in first 100 days
WASHINGTON: With Donald Trump back in the White House you never know what you’re going to get. Will he berate a foreign leader? Rock the global markets? Take vengeance against his foes?
But there has been one constant behind the chaos of his first 100 days — Trump is pushing US presidential power to almost imperial limits.
“I think the second term is just more powerful,” the 78-year-old Republican said during a recent event. “They do it — when I say do it, they do it, right?“
Trump has been driven by a sense of grievance left over from an undisciplined first term that ended in the shame of the 2021 US Capitol riots after his election defeat to Joe Biden.
And while Trump freed hundreds of those attackers from jail on his first day back in office, he is taking no prisoners when it comes to consolidating the power of the White House.
“Trump 2.0 is far more authoritarian-minded and authoritarian in its actions than Trump 1.0,” political historian Matt Dallek of George Washington University told AFP.
Trump has also stepped up the sense of an endless reality show in which he is the star, as he signs executive orders and takes questions from reporters in the Oval Office almost daily.
That slew of orders has unleashed an unprecedented assault on the cornerstones of American democracy — and on the world order.
“We have seen certainly not in modern times such a sustained attack to unwind constitutional safeguards,” added Dallek.
Controversially aided by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, Trump has launched a drive to gut a federal government he regards as part of a liberal “deep state.”
He has invoked a centuries-old wartime act to deport migrants to a mega prison in El Salvador — while warning that US citizens could be next.
He has dug in for a confrontation with judges, and forced a string of punishing deals on law firms involved in previous criminal or civil cases against him.
He has cracked down on the media — which he still dubs the “enemy of the people” — and limited access to news outlets covering him at the White House.
And he has launched an ideological purge, cutting diversity programs, targeting universities and even installing himself as head of a prestigious arts center.
The US Congress, which is meant to have ultimate control over the government’s purse strings, has been sidelined. Republicans have abetted his power grab while crushed Democrats have struggled to muster a response.
“We are all afraid,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said recently.
“The president appears indifferent to formal — even constitutional — checks on his power,” added Barbara Trish, professor of political science at Grinnell College.
On the foreign stage Trump has made territorial claims over Greenland, Panama and Canada — asserting a sphere of influence that echoes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist bent.
Trump is meanwhile backed by a court of true believers. Aides with often fringe views, like vaccine-skeptic health secretary Robert Kennedy, take turns to praise him at cabinet meetings.
“Compared to the first term, the president has completely surrounded himself with aides who not only facilitate, but in some cases catalyze, his brazen power moves,” added Trish.
But Trump’s comeback has highlighted some familiar themes.
Trump is closing out his first three months with approval ratings well below all other post-World War II presidents — except for himself, in his first term, according to Gallup.
And there are signs of the same volatile leader the world saw from 2017 to 2021.
Trump’s wild televised meltdown in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — abetted by hawkish Vice President JD Vance — deeply alarmed allies who were already unnerved by his pivot to Russia.
Then there was his introduction of sweeping global tariffs — only to reverse many of them after tanking global markets proved to be the only real check on his power.
When asked how he had reached one of his tariff decisions Trump replied: “Just instinctively.”
The question now is whether Trump — who at one point referred to himself as “THE KING” on his Truth Social platform — will be willing to give up power.
Trump recently said that when he repeatedly mentioned a Constitution-defying third term he was “not joking.”
Barcelona take a commanding 4-1 lead over Chelsea in Women’s Champions League semifinals series
- Romeu: There’s huge evidence in soccer that you can’t ever rely on a first-leg lead. We are going to have a beautiful battle over there at Stamford Bridge”
- Chelsea will host the return semifinal leg next Sunday and the winner on aggregate will advance to the final in Lisbon next month
BARCELONA, Spain: Barcelona recovered from a missed penalty by Alexia Putellas to take a commanding 4-1 lead over Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League semifinals on Sunday.
Putellas had her penalty kick saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in the 12th minute but the Catalan club rallied with a pair of goals by substitute Claudia Pina and one each from Ewa Pajor and Irene Paredes.
Sandy Baltimore scored for Chelsea.
“No winning scoreline is enough,” Barcelona coach Pere Romeu said. “There’s huge evidence in soccer that you can’t ever rely on a first-leg lead. We are going to have a beautiful battle over there at Stamford Bridge.”
Chelsea will host the return semifinal leg next Sunday and the winner on aggregate will advance to the final in Lisbon next month.
It was the eighth straight win for defending champion Barcelona in the European women’s competition. It has scored 40 goals across those eight consecutive wins since losing 2-0 to Manchester City.
Barcelona and Chelsea are meeting in the last four for the third consecutive season. Barcelona has advanced each time.
“I still believe in my team and my players, 100 percent,” Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor said. “It’ll be difficult, but the main goal is to score early in the return leg. In football everything is possible, so let’s try to win the game and, if we score early, maybe we can put Barcelona under pressure.”
Pajor opened the scoring in the 35th and Pina added to the lead in the 70th, not long after entering the match.
Baltimore pulled the visitors closer four minutes later, but Paredes gave Barcelona a two-goal lead again in the 82nd.
Pina added a fourth in the 90th at the Johan Cruyff stadium.
“When I’m on the bench, we’ve already spent a whole week analyzing a rival like Chelsea,” Pina said. “You have lots of ideas in your head. When the game goes on, you progress those ideas and look at where your teammates are already creating gaps in the opponents’ defense.”
In the other semifinal series, Lyon weathered a second-half rally by Arsenal to claim a 2-1 away win on Saturday, putting the record eight-time champions on course for another Women’s Champions League title match.
Justin Thomas ends 3-year drought with playoff victory in RBC Heritage
- In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas
- The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped, stooping over and clutching both arms to celebrate a win that felt long overdue
- His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.:Justin Thomas ended nearly three years without a victory Sunday by making a birdie putt from just outside 20 feet in a playoff at Harbor Town to beat Andrew Novak in the RBC Heritage.
Thomas played bogey-free in dry, fast conditions for a 3-under 68, making a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th that looked like it might be the winner until Novak, who grew up in South Carolina, matched him with a big birdie of his own for a 68.
Novak, who has had three good chances to win in his last 14 tournaments, had an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation that was left all the way.
In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas. The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped, stooping over and clutching both arms to celebrate a win that felt long overdue.
His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022. His game slipped and he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left off the Presidents Cup team a year ago.
His game was back in order — he cracked the top 10 again — and needed only a victory to confirm his game was back among the elite.
“I didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” Thomas said on the 18th green as he stood next to wife Jill and 5-month-old daughter Molly.
Thomas and Novak finished at 17-under 267, three shots clear of anyone else.
Novak was a runner-up in Bermuda last fall. He was right there at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. He was in the mix at the Valero Texas Open. And this looked like it might be his moment to break through until Thomas refused to be denied.
“Winning is hard. It’s really, really hard,” Thomas said with a tinge of emotion in his voice. “I’ve worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive.”
He won for the 16th time on the PGA Tour, and to his recollection, he has never had to make a putt of length on the 18th hole to win by a shot.
“That was as fun as I thought it would be,” Thomas said.
They pulled away in the middle of the round from a tight leaderboard — a four-way tie at one point as they were joined by 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy.
Daniel Berger closed with a 65 to tie for third with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman (69).
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler even got in on the act, just briefly. He started four shots behind and was even for the round through eight holes. But he ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn to pull within two.
Scheffler was running out of hole when he took on a high-risk shot needing eagle to have a legitimate chance. That found the water, leading to double bogey. He still shot 70 and tied for eighth, his third straight top 10 while contending into the final hour.
“I think I’m really close,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I did a lot of things well this week, just a few of the important shots I just didn’t pull off. Outside of that it was a pretty solid week.”
Thomas won the tournament with a birdie in a playoff. He saved his chances toward the end of the front nine when he made four straight putts starting on the fifth hole — 7 feet for birdie, 7 feet for par, 8 feet for par and just inside 15 feet for birdie on No. 8, where he took on the trees with a 7-iron to give himself a chance.
Novak had tree trouble and battled away, getting a few good bounces and a remarkable par save from a sandy lie amidst a forest on No. 11.
He moves high enough in the world ranking — inside the top 35 — that he should be a lock for the US Open and now needs to stay in the top 50 the next month for the British Open.
“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be.” Novak said. “I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week.
“I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past. Justin just went out and won it. There’s nothing you can really do about it.”
