His sight set on a second term in office, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has unveiled a new alliance to compete in the country’s national election later this year.
“We have placed the interest of Iraq and Iraqis first and foremost,” said a statement by the alliance on the parliamentary election due to take place on November 11, adding that it will “build on the significant strides that have been achieved” since Mr Al Sudani took office in October 2022.
The new Reconstruction and Development Coalition includes Mr Al Sudani’s Al Foratain Movement, The National Coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi and The National Contract Coalition led by the chairman of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) Falih Al Fayyadh, according to the statement. The US sanctioned Mr Al Fayyadh for his role in the quelling of pro-democracy protests in 2019 with the support of Iran’s Quds Force.
Other alliances include The Soumar Land alliance, which is led by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al Asadi, The National Alliance of Solutions, led by one of the Prime Minister’s advisers, Mohammed Sahib Al Daraji, Karbala Creativity Alliance, and The Generations Gathering.
This year's election will be the sixth since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The last one, brought forward in response to demands from a pro-reform protest movement that began in 2019 across central and southern Iraq, took place in October 2021.
Mr Al Sudani was the candidate for the Iran-aligned Co-ordination Framework – the largest political group in the Iraqi parliament, with 138 out of 329 seats and consisting of Iran-backed political parties and armed factions.
Since taking office, political and security stability has encouraged his government to launch a series of infrastructure projects and to introduce reforms to improve the country's business environment and public services. Several mega deals have been signed with major international companies as well as countries, mainly in the field of energy.
“Our goals include sustainable reconstruction, economic growth, infrastructure development; and strengthening security, stability and international relations,” the statement added.
Bitter rivalry among political elites, mainly among the country’s majority Shiites, delayed the process of forming a government for a year, after the October 2021 election.
Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr's efforts to form the government failed, despite his Sadrist bloc winning 73 of the 329 seats in parliament. His desire to form a majority government only with Sunni and Kurdish parties upset his rivals in the Co-ordination Framework.
In June 2022, Mr Al Sadr ordered his MPs to resign from parliament and withdraw from the country's political process until it was purged of what he described as “the corrupt”. There have been no indications yet about whether or not Mr Al Sadr will take part in the November election.
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
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More on Quran memorisation:
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Barcelona 5 (Lenglet 2', Vidal 29', Messi 34', 75', Suarez 77')
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THREE
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Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Tomorrow 2021
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Men's football draw
Group A: UAE, Spain, South Africa, Jamaica
Group B: Bangladesh, Serbia, Korea
Group C: Bharat, Denmark, Kenya, USA
Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
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TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
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Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
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Mina Al Oraibi: Air strike casts a long shadow over the decade ahead
Jack Moore: Why the assassination is such a monumental gamble
Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks
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Matthew Levitt: Iran retains its ability to launch terror attacks
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Simon Waldman: Cautious Israel keeping a low profile
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Fanar Haddad: The Iranian response will be gradual
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Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
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