The removal of Misha'an al-Juburi comes after three court hearings on a complaint filed by former Sunni lawmaker Qutayba Juburi, who proved that Mashian Juburi's college degree was counterfeit.

The removal of Misha'an al-Juburi comes after three court hearings on a complaint filed by former Sunni lawmaker Qutayba Juburi, who proved that Mashian Juburi's college degree was counterfeit.

Following the court's decision, Sunni Sovereignty Coalition MPMisha'an al-Juburi  tweeted that his removal was due to political pressure from his rivals.

"After verifying Misha'an al-Juburi's certificate, it was fake, and he was expelled from parliament," the court said.

Jabbari's removal from parliament comes when he has served in the past three sessions of the Iraqi parliament.

Fake college degrees are common in Iraq. Many people buy degrees without ever attending a lecture or writing an assignment. 

More than 5,000 cases of suffocation were recorded due to the dust storm, which is the seventh in just a month.

As for Najaf, it recorded "more than 100 cases of suffocation as a result of the dust storm," announced the Health Department in the governorate located in southern Iraq and 332 cases in Salah al-Din in central Iraq, and 100 cases in Diwaniyah in the south.

The health authorities in Anbar and Kirkuk provinces in the north called on residents not to leave their homes, the Iraqi News Agency reported.

The dust storm is expected to gradually recede on Thursday, according to the director of media for the Iraqi Meteorological Authority, Amer Al-Jabri. In an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, dust storms will likely continue during May.

In the past two months, dust storms have recurred unprecedentedly in Iraq. Experts attribute them to climate change, lack of rain, and desertification. The latest of which led to the closure of Baghdad and Najaf international airports due to lack of visibility.

Iraq is one of the five countries most vulnerable to climate change and desertification globally, especially the increasing drought with high temperatures that exceed 50 degrees Celsius for days in the summer.
The World Bank warned last November of a 20% decrease in Iraq's water resources by 2050 due to climate change.

In an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, the Director-General of the Technical Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Environment warned of the increase in sandstorms, especially after the number of dusty days increased to "272 days per year for a period of two decades." He predicted, "It will reach 300 dusty days a year in 2050."

According to the ministry, increasing vegetation cover and planting forests with dense trees that serve as windbreaks are the most critical solutions needed to reduce the rate of sandstorms.

This region, which is the historical stronghold of the Yazidi minority, a Kurdish-speaking group whose members profess a monotheistic mystical religion, has repeatedly witnessed similar clashes.

The director of the Department of Migration and Displacement and the Crisis Response Office in Dohuk, Dayan Hemo, said that the recent clashes "led to the displacement of families to Dohuk Governorate" in the autonomous Kurdistan region.

According to the latest statistics, he added, "The number of displaced people within three days has reached 1,711 families or 10,261 people."

These displaced persons were distributed among the camps for the displaced or with their relatives who already reside in the governorate, as the official explained, pointing out that the families received food and health aid for a week, with the support of the "Barzani Charitable Foundation" and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

On Sunday, Alli Allawi, the Iraqi finance minister, told the Iraqi news agency, Waa, “Iraqi enjoys a good financial position, and its country is not in need of financial assistance.” 

The minister added, “Soon, they would meet with International monetary fund and world bank in Baghdad, and they have constructive discussion in Washington and have reached several agreements to support reforms programs. In their meeting with IMF and the world bank, they will work to get technical and advisory roles to strengthen Iraqi capabilities.”

The minister noted, “they have strategic economic agreement with the US and both parties have agreed to assist the other in all levels.”

Iraq’s economy is to grow by 9.5 in 2022, according to a Ashraq Business report, as oil prices have skyrocketed after the Ukraine crisis. 

Rabiha Hamad, head of PUK’s office in Baghdad, told Kurdsat News, “working to prepare for the PUK forum, today in Baghdad the forum was held, and several special committees were formed. Baghdad is different from other cities in terms of recruitment, relations and composition of various groups compared to other cities in the Kurdistan region. 

“Baghdadi Faili Kurds have been oppressed numerous times in the past, and they are not compensated. They are not well-treated in state institutions which is why the PUK shall step up for the Failis, and for that purpose the PUK has formed a special committee,” Hamad added. 

PUK’s chief in Baghdad stressed, “the PUK needs to adopt new policies and programs in Baghdad, and place more focus on Baghdad to achieve Kurdish rights.”

The PUK is to hold its annual forum next month. It has held numerous seminars and gatherings across Iraqi cities in preparation for the annual forum, to be held on May 1. 

Faili Kurds are a Kurdish minority primarily residing in Baghdad that number around half a million.

According to the Iraqi News Agency (WAA), "The charge d'affaires of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and informed of the Iraqi government's protest against the burning of the Holy Quran in their country."

Earlier, Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of the Sadr faction in Iraq, tweeted: During the month of the Qur'an, the Qur'an is burned in a European country with a sizeable Muslim population. What is the reason for this arousing the feelings of Muslims? If you do not believe in God and the Shari'a, you are not allowed to burn this book at all. 

"The incident coincided with the attack on Quds Sharif. What is the sin of Quds if the oppressed rebel against the oppressor ?! In my understanding, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs should summon the Swedish representative to find out the truth about this terrorist crime and sedition to create divisions between religions. ISIS extremists do not represent Islam, nor do atheist extremists represent Europe." Sadr added.  

If this does not happen, we will hold a peaceful rally against the attack on our holy places and the Qur'an. In the end, I call on the Swedish government to stand up to such attacks to maintain peace and tranquillity.

On Friday, Rasmussen Paulden, leader of the far-right party in Denmark, burned the Koran in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in Sweden. In 2019, Paulden also burned the Holy Quran.

After insulting the Muslim holy book, protesters staged demonstrations in Sweden, demanding the authorities deal with the perpetrators.

Amid the political deadlock in Baghdad, the two Shiite axes are competing over forming the new government. While the Sadrist movement with 75 members is looking for a majority government in collaboration with the majority of Sunnis and Kurds, the Coordination Framework with 64 members, which includes the Iran-backed parties, are calling for a consensual government.

In an unprecedented development, Sadrists and their Sunni and Kurdish partners announced March 25 the formation of a cross-sectarian coalition as the largest bloc, which is in charge of nominating the prime minister. It includes the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) with 31 members and the Sunni Coalition of Sovereignty with 62 members. The new coalition is being formed under the name of Enqadh Watan (Save the Homeland).

Historically, the Shiites would form the largest bloc and then pushed for government formation. However, this time the division among the Shiites, specifically Sadr and the Coordination Framework, has pushed Sadr to reach out to the Kurds and Sunnis in order to form a cross-sectarian bloc.

The Enqadh Watan coalition nominated Riber Ahmad, interior minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, for the presidency and Jafar al-Sadr, Muqtada al-Sadr’s cousin and ambassador of Iraq to the United Kingdom, for the premiership.

On March 26, the coalition held a parliamentary session to vote for a new candidate for the presidency. However, it was unsuccessful as they did not secure enough votes. The coalition needed a two-third majority (220 votes), but only 202 members attended the session.

The three allies had in total 168 members.

Most of the independent members, particularly Emtedad and New Generation, joined the session after they demanded some conditions in regard to the methods of government administration.

The two groups had formed a coalition under the name of "Coalition for the Sake of the People." They presented 17 conditions for attending the session including selecting an independent prime minister and forming a strong government. The Enqadh Watan coalition agreed on the conditions.

On the other hand, Coordination Framework members and their allies gathered at Nouri al-Maliki's house to unify their resistance against the coalition. Coordination Framework allies include members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and some members of the Sunni Azm party that has split into two groups — 12 members under Muthana al-Samerai’s leadership joined the Coordination Framework while the majority of 22 members remained under the Khamis Khanjar leadership that joined the cross-sectarian coalition.

Ultimately, the Coordination Framework and its allies have secured the blocking third, although the coalition has yet to quit as they scheduled another session for March 30 to vote for their nominated candidate.

The coalition is attempting to secure more members of parliament into their bloc in order to get enough members for the session. However, it seems unlikely that they will gather enough parliamentarians as Iran opposes them strongly.

Recently, Iran has maneuvred among the political divisions and was able to penetrate the Sunnis and Kurds to side with the Coordination Framework in order to create a strong resistance against the cross-sectarian coalition.

The PUK with 29 members has almost half of the Kurdish votes as opposed to the KDP’s 31 members. The PUK is supporting the Coordination Framework and a number of Sunni members of parliament have split from the Halbousi-Khanjar leadership and joined the Coordination Framework as well.

Recently, parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was invited to Iran as well to discuss the process of the formation of the government. However, due to recent developments the visit has been postponed.

The independent members are also facing sharp divisions among themselves as the majority supports the Enqadh Watan coalition, as some teamed up with the Coordination Framework while the rest stood aside.

Under current circumstances, it seems unlikely for the coalition to form a majority government that excludes the Coordination Framework members. However, Sadr will have no choice but to eventually approach the Coordination Framework and include them in the government. This will result in a consensual government like the governments that were formed in the past.

This is due to the fact that Enqadh Watan does not have the required two-third majority to pass the presidency selection, and the Coordination Framework has secured the blocking third that prevents Enqadh Watan from selecting the president. 

According to the constitution, the prime minister should be designated by the president, and then he should present his Cabinet to the parliament. This means the entire process has been blocked and there is no solution but breaking the blocking third, which can be only possible by negotiation and forming a consensual government with participation of all parties based on their credit points acquired from the number of their seats in the parliament.

In the meantime, the current government will continue as a caretaker administration for as long as the political deadlock remains in Baghdad or early elections are conducted.

After the Iraqi supreme court's decree to nationalize KRG's oil, the Iraqi oil ministry officially requested the KRG to provide a copy of all oil and natural gas contracts it has made with oil corporations since 2004. 

The ministry also demanded oil and natural gas revenue records. A proposal is sent to the council of ministers to form a company to manage the KRG oil sector with authority to manage all activities in the fields. According to the proposal, the company will report to Baghdad, but its main office will be in Erbil.

Turkish troops have entered “Lelkan, Khaleefan, and Halggeran” villages of the Bradost area. Kurdsat news correspondent reported.

Kurdsat has learned “ the Turkish Army has advanced 3 kilometers into these villages, scaring the Kurdish villagers in the area. The villages are worried about Iraqi Kurdish governments silence and asked them to stop “this Turkish invasion.”