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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due Monday in neighbouring Iraq for his first state visit there in years, with water, oil and regional security issues expected to top the agenda.

Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani and President Abdel Latif Rashid in Baghdad before visiting officials in Arbil, the capital of northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region.

“Iraq and Turkey share a history and have similarities, interests and opportunities, but also problems,” Sudani said during an event at the Atlantic Council on the sidelines of a recent visit to Washington.

“Water and security will be at the top of the agenda,” he said of the upcoming meeting with Erdogan, who last visited Iraq in 2011.

The trip comes as regional tensions spiral, fuelled by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and attacks between Israel and Iran.

Farhad Alaaldin, foreign affairs adviser to Sudani, told AFP that the main topics Erdogan will discuss with Iraqi officials include “investments, trade… security aspects of the cooperation between the two countries, water management and water resources”.

Alaaldin expects the signing of several memoranda of understanding during the visit.

The sharing of water resources is a major point of contention, with Baghdad highly critical of upstream dams set up by Turkey on their shared Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have worsened water scarcity in Iraq.

Erdogan said the issue of water would be “one of the most important points” of his visit following “requests” made by the Iraqi side.

“We will make an effort to resolve them, that is also their wish,” he said.

– ‘Strategic agreement’ –

Iraqi oil exports are another point of tension, with a major pipeline shut down for over a year over legal disputes and technical issues.

The exports were previously independently sold by the autonomous Kurdistan region, without the approval or oversight of the central administration in Baghdad, through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The halted oil sales represent more than $14 billion in lost revenue for Iraq, according to an estimate by the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan which represents international oil companies active in the region.

Majid al-Lajmawi, Iraq’s ambassador to Turkey, hopes for “progress on the water and energy issues, and in the process of resuming Iraqi oil exports via Turkey”, according to a statement published by the Iraqi foreign ministry.

The ambassador also expects the signing of a “strategic framework agreement” on security, economy and development.

Also on the agenda is a $17 billion road and rail project known as the “Route of Development” which is expected to consolidate economic ties between the two neighbours.

Stretching 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) across Iraq, it aims to connect by 2030 the northern border with Turkey to the Gulf in the south.

In the first quarter of 2024, Iraq was Turkey’s fifth-largest importer of products, buying food, chemicals, metals and other products.

– ‘Safeguard the borders’ –

Regional security is another topic expected to be thrashed out during Erdogan’s meetings in Iraq.

For decades, Turkey has operated from several dozen military bases in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is considered a “terrorist” group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Both Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government have been accused of tolerating Turkey’s military activities to preserve their close economic ties.

But the operations, which sometimes take place deep into Iraqi territory, have regularly strained bilateral ties while Ankara has sought out increased cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the PKK.

However, in a televised interview in March, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet al-Abbasi ruled out “joint military operations” between Baghdad and Ankara.

He said they would establish a “coordination intelligence centre at the appropriate time and place”.

Alaaldin, the Iraqi prime minister’s adviser, said security issues will be “highly featured in this trip”.

“There will be some sort of agreement… and perhaps arrangements to safeguard the borders between Iraq and Turkey where no attacks and no armed groups infiltrate the border from both sides,” he said.

“It is something that will be discussed but the exact details have to be worked out.”

The main opposition Congress party had demanded a rerun at 47 Manipur polling stations, alleging that booths were captured and elections were rigged.

However, election autho­rities declared the voting void at the 11 locations and ordered fresh poll, the chief electoral officer of Manipur announced.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is forecast to win a rare third term on the back of issues such as Hindu nationalism.

Clashes among armed groups and attempts to take over polling stations under heavy security were reported on the very first day of voting on Friday in the Manipur state.

Despite the threat of armed clashes that have killed at least 220 people in the past year, voters turned out in large numbers.

Manipur has been roiled by fighting between the majority Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo people since May. It remains divided between a valley controlled by Meiteis and Kuki-dominated hills, separated by a stretch of no-man’s land monitored by federal paramilitary forces.

There has been a prolonged stand-off over the bill between the two Houses of Parliament over the past four months.

The Lords have consistently blocked and amended the bill – and the Commons will vote on the amended version later.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will hold a news conference later where he is expected to talk about his plan.

On Friday the PM said there would be no more delays, adding: “We will sit there and vote until it’s done.”

The government’s planned legislation would drastically limit the grounds for legal challenges to its scheme to fly asylum seekers out to Rwanda, and make it easier to remove refugees who have arrived in the UK by illegal means – and has already been approved by the House of Commons on several occasions.

The most recent was last Wednesday, but the House of Lords blocked its passage into law by demanding changes to the bill, including an amendment that would exempt asylum seekers from Afghanistan, who had previously assisted British troops when the military was stationed there, from being among those forced to fly out to Rwanda.

They also said that flights should not take off until a committee of experts set up to monitor the scheme decides Rwanda has fulfilled certain safeguards.

Peers want their two amendments added to the bill before they will ratify it, which is required before the government can pass it into law. MPs will vote on the bill and its amendments from the Lords on Monday afternoon.

This ping pong between the two Houses of Parliament could go on until either the government concedes and makes concessions, or peers give up on their suggested amendments.islation” and, if implemented, he says would make it easier to keep his pledge to “stop the boats” – because the government says the prospect would be an effective deterrent for people who cross the Channel in small boats.

Effectively, the legislation would drastically limit the grounds for legal challenges to the Rwanda scheme and it gives ministers the power to disregard some human rights law.

The scheme was first introduced on 14 April 2022 by then-prime minister Boris Johnson, but no asylum seeker has yet been sent to Rwanda – a landlocked country central Africa – 4,000 miles (6,500km) from the UK.

Mr Sunak then took on the scheme when he became prime minister, after Liz Truss’ short tenure, in October 2022.

The first flight was scheduled to go in June 2022, but was cancelled after legal challenges.

Further obstruction came in November 2023, when the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Rwanda scheme was unlawful.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the government introduced then this Safety of Rwanda bill, which aims to make clear in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country.

Critics say the scheme will put people at risk, and the legislation undermines the independence of the courts.

The back-and-forth between the House of Lords and the House of Commons over the past four months prompted Mr Sunak’s declaration that he will require the two Houses to keep repeating the process until there is a breakthrough.

Lord Carlile, a member of the House of Lords who opposes the Rwanda plan, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he and his fellow peers would “keep going as long as necessary” and not back down over their amendments.

He said Rwanda had “not yet complied with the treaty” it signed with the UK, referring to the UK-Rwanda treaty signed in December. The treaty is central to the government’s plan, but is separate to the Rwanda Safety Bill. It was drafted in response to the Supreme Court ruling and aims to ensure further protections for asylum seekers.

Lord Carlile added: “When [the treaty] is complied with, we will say: ‘OK, we concede that people should go to Rwanda though it wouldn’t be our first choice.’

“The government has failed to insist on Rwanda complying with the treaty.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly has previously said the treaty would ensure people relocated to Rwanda are not at risk of being returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened.

North Korea has tested a “super-large warhead” designed for a strategic cruise missile, state media said Saturday, the most recent test since UN sanctions monitoring against the nuclear-armed nation was upended last month by Russia.

The announcement comes after Russia in March used its United Nations Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of violations of the raft of sanctions on Kim Jong Un’s government for its nuclear and weapons programme.

Analysts have warned that North Korea could be testing cruise missiles ahead of sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine, with Washington and Seoul claiming Kim has shipped weapons to Moscow, despite UN sanctions banning any such moves.

“The DPRK Missile Administration has conducted a power test of a super-large warhead designed for ‘Hwasal-1 Ra-3’ strategic cruise missile”, KCNA news agency said Saturday, referring to North Korea by an abbreviation for its official name.

North Korea also carried out a test launch of a “‘Pyoljji-1-2’ new-type anti-aircraft missile in the West Sea of Korea”, KCNA said, adding that both tests were carried out on Friday afternoon.

Seoul’s military said Saturday it detected “several cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles” fired toward the same body of water, also known as the Yellow Sea, at around 3:30 pm (0630GMT) Friday.

It added that it was “closely watching” the North’s military activities, and if Pyongyang “commits a provocation, we will punish it overwhelmingly and resolutely”.

This year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its “principal enemy”, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial infringement.

Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions on North Korea.

Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

 

Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP that the test announced Saturday appears to involve “a new type of solid fuel, and it seems to be part of the production of exports in response to Russian demand”.

Pyongyang said Saturday the tests were “part of the regular activities” of the country’s missile administration and had “nothing to do with the surrounding situation”.

A “certain goal was attained” through the tests, it added, without giving further details.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said it appeared that the tests were intended “to determine the type and potency — in terms of weight and destructiveness — of a warhead that can be equipped on a highly maneuverable cruise missile”.

North Korea will continue to “make improvements in the performance of its conventional weapons, as well as its cruise missiles”, on top of its nuclear programme, he told AFP.

Last year, the North conducted a record number of missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions in place since 2006 and despite warnings from Washington and Seoul.

Pyongyang declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state in 2022.

In early April, North Korea said it had tested a new medium-to-long-range solid-fuel hypersonic missile.

The largely isolated country has recently bolstered military ties with Moscow, and this month it thanked Russia for its veto blocking the renewal of a panel of UN experts that monitored international sanctions against it.

Several people were wounded in a “bombing” overnight on an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, two security sources said early Saturday.

The explosion hit the Calso military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, is stationed, according to an interior ministry source and a military official.

The ministry of interior official said the “aerial bombing” had killed one person and wounded eight others, while the military source reported three Iraqi military personnel had been wounded in a strike.

In a statement, Hashed al-Shaabi said an “explosion” had inflicted “material losses” and casualties, without specifying the number of wounded.

The group confirmed that its premises on the military base had been hit and that investigators had been sent to the site.

Responding to questions from AFP, the security sources would not identify who was responsible, or say whether it had been a drone strike.

“The explosion hit equipment, weapons and vehicles,” said the ministry source.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Shortly after the explosion, the US military said its forces were not behind a reported strike in Iraq.

“The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted on social media platform X, adding that reports that American forces had carried out a strike were “not true.”

The Iraqi military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said the overnight explosion had occurred in “warehouses storing equipment”.

“A fire is still raging and the search for the injured is continuing,” the source said.

When reached by AFP, the Israeli army said it “does not comment on information published in foreign media.”

Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance of mainly Shiite armed groups formed to fight the Islamic State group, has been integrated into Iraq’s regular security apparatus.

The explosion on the Iraqi military base comes amid spiralling regional tensions over the war between Israel and Iran-backed Palestinian militants Hamas.

On Friday, strikes blamed on Israel targeted a military base near the city of Isfahan in central Iran.

A senior US Congressional source told AFP there had been retaliatory Israeli strikes but declined to provide any details, saying they were classified.

Israeli officials made no public comment on Friday’s attack and Iranian officials have played down its significance.

The first of the seven-phase polls saw eight seats in the politically crucial western Uttar Pradesh in the contest. The state sends 80 MPs and is regarded as a must-win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid for a third consecutive term.

His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had grabbed 62 of the seats in 2019, mainly riding the military standoff with Pakistan, which he exploited with posters seeking votes in the name of the army.

The 2014 elections were buoyed by the communal polarisation instigated in Muzaffarnagar with false stories of Muslims abducting Hindu girls. This time the key BJP plank of Ram temple in Ayodhya has evidently failed to enthuse the voters. Moreover, this time around the Jat community of farmers that stood with the BJP is standing in solidarity with fellow farmers in Haryana and Punjab fighting for rights promised by the Modi government but never implemented.

 

A discussion in Bijnor by The Wire news portal with a mix of religious and caste representatives revealed a marked absence of a Modi wave. The ‘wave’ delivered him victories in the most populous state, including his own constituency of Varanasi. Now, a Brahmin interlocutor in the discussion described himself as a hardcore supporter of the BJP who would not vote for the party this time.

His young son too will not vote for Mr Modi, citing corruption in the electoral bond scheme and the jailing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The wife would not vote for Mr Modi over price hike, he said.

A triangular contest in western Uttar Pradesh involves the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of former Dalit state chief minister Mayawati, the Samajwadi Party of the INDIA opposition cluster and the BJP. Ms Mayawati’s decision to go it on her own could damage INDIA candidates in western UP, and that rather than a Modi surge could deliver him several of the seats, though not all.

According to The Indian Express, which filed a spot report from Rajasthan by Neerja Chowdhury, “unlike the last two general elections, when the BJP swept Rajasthan, this time a contest is a possibility in nine to 10 Lok Sabha constituencies”.

An entrepreneur at Mandaava, in Jhunjhunu, told Express: “Had Modi not been there, it would have been difficult for the BJP to win. This time, there is no junoon (enthusiasm).”

A BJP leader articulated the sense on the ground, saying; “It may not change the direction of the wind, but shifts are being felt this time.”

This is how a political observer was quoted as describing it: “When you look at it closely, these fights do not reflect a fight between the BJP and the Congress nationally. It is a heavyweight candidate or a local group rivalry that seems to be overtaking the Modi factor, converting it into a takkar (contest).”

In the last two general elections — which the BJP swept, winning 25 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan — the Modi factor was able to subsume these local issues and may yet do so in many constituencies. “Modi thoda struggle mein aa gaye hain (Modi is struggling a little),” said a shopkeeper, a pro-BJP Brahmin manning a shop near the famous Khatu Shyamji Mandir in Sikar district, where, in the middle of a hot afternoon, hundreds of devotees were trying to catch a glimpse of the highly revered local deity.

Clash, bomb blast

West Bengal has elections in all seven phases, ending with the last on June 1. It recorded a turnout of 66.34pc till 3pm. However, polling was marred by violence in the Cooch Behar seat, The Hindu said. Both the TMC and the BJP clashed and lodged 80 and 39 complaints against each other respectively related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents, sources from both parties said.

In strife-torn Manipur, around 63.03pc of the over 1.544 million voters exercised their franchise till 3pm. In Chhattisgarh, more than 58pc of the electorate cast their votes in the first four hours of polling in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where an assistant commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed when an improvised explosive device planted by Naxalites went off in Bijapur district.

The former minister in the Blair and Brown governments had represented Paisley and Renfrewshire South since Labour swept to power in 1997 and was defending a majority of more than 16,000.

Now nearly a decade later the SNP MP is standing down and Mr Alexander is hoping to return to Westminster – this time for East Lothian, a key Labour target in Scotland.

He’ll be fighting the SNP’s Iain Whyte to try to take the seat held by Alba’s Kenny MacAskill, who defected from the SNP in 2021.

With a general election expected later this year – and January 2025 the latest one can legally be held – parties are already selecting their candidates.

Some 100 MPs have confirmed they will stand down at the next election, and new constituencies have also been created by boundary changes, providing opportunities for prospective candidates old and new.

Mr Alexander is one of at least 19 former MPs seeking a comeback.

 

He says he hadn’t anticipated stepping back into public life, after pursuing a career in academia, but in the autumn of 2022 he was approached by local party members to ask if he would consider standing.

“I don’t miss the game of politics. And I certainly haven’t missed the brutality of social media,” he says.

“But I decided that if I could play a small part in bringing Labour back in Scotland and contributing to Labour returning to government, then that was a worthwhile use of the coming years.”

Only a handful of Labour’s current shadow cabinet have previously served as government ministers so Mr Alexander could provide some valuable experience to Sir Keir Starmer’s top team if Labour win.

However, he insists his “overriding focus” is on getting elected in East Lothian, rather than any ambitions for a government job.

Douglas Alexander served as Scotland and Transport Secretary under Tony Blair

Perhaps unsurprisingly given that Labour are riding high in the polls, fewer former Conservative MPs are standing again at the next election so far.

However, the BBC is aware of two in Scotland, including Luke Graham, who represented Ochil and South Perthshire from 2017 to 2019.

With national polls suggesting the Tories are on course for defeat, more than 60 of the party’s current MPs have already announced they are standing down.

But Mr Graham says in Scotland, where the SNP has been in power for nearly 17 years, it’s a different picture.

He says it was “devastating” to lose his seat to the SNP in 2019, after just two-and-a-half years in the job.

“I’d just figured out how to do it and then they had a snap election,” he says. “So it was very frustrating.”

He’s standing in the new constituency of Perth and Kinross-shire, which replaces his old seat, where he’ll face the SNP’s longest-serving MP, Pete Wishart.

Despite continuing to campaign locally since he was voted out, Mr Graham says the decision to stand again was still a difficult one.

“I’ve turned down two jobs in the last few months because I’m going for this election and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he says. “So it’s a big risk.”

Tom Arthur

Heidi Alexander was shadow health secretary under Jeremy Corbyn

With Labour riding high in the opinion polls, the bulk of the ex-MPs standing again are from the party.

They include former shadow minister Heidi Alexander (no relation to Douglas Alexander), who quit as the MP for Lewisham East in 2018 to take up a job as deputy mayor of London for transport.

“I did think that I was leaving Westminster politics for good,” she says.

“Having said that, there was this tiny little bit of doubt in the back of my mind about whether there was some unfinished business there.”

Recalling her choice to leave Westminster six years ago, she says she felt the opportunity to work at City Hall was too good to pass up.

But she admits she was also frustrated with the direction of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. Ms Alexander was among a wave of resignations from his cabinet in 2016, after the Brexit referendum.

“I didn’t anticipate missing the job as much as I actually did,” she says. “It’s a hugely varied job and done well you can really make a difference for the community that you represent.”

However, it wasn’t until she left her mayoral role in 2022 and the selection process opened for the constituency of South Swindon, where she grew up, that she seriously considered standing again.

“At that point it was decision time for me because there wasn’t really anywhere else where I would have wanted to put my name forward,” she says.

A classic bellwether seat with a Tory majority of 6,600, South Swindon is exactly the kind of place Labour will need to win to form the next government.

Her opponent will be Conservative MP Sir Robert Buckland, a former minister who has represented the area since 2010.

There’s been growing concern about the threats facing MPs following the murders of Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021.

Ms Alexander says her family do worry about her safety if she returns as an MP and her mum in particular had concerns about her standing again.

“I thought very long and very hard about it because being an MP isn’t just a job, it does actually become your life,” she says. “And it has a big impact upon your family.”

Matthew Green

Since leaving Parliament Matthew Green has set up an architecture consultancy

When the opportunity rose to stand again for Parliament – nearly two decades after he was last an MP – Matthew Green also had doubts.

“I know the effect on other people around you being an MP,” he says. “It’s not something that people should go into lightly.”

He cites the intensity of the job and always being on duty, especially in a rural constituency where “everyone knows who you are”.

Just a month ago he had no intention of making a political comeback.

But when the previous Liberal Democrat candidate for South Shropshire had to step back for health reasons he thought he was the party’s best shot.

“I’m not somebody driven by an ambition to be an MP,” he says. “I’ve been there, I’ve done that.”

Mr Green represented the constituency of Ludlow – South Shropshire’s predecessor before recent boundary changes – from 2001 to 2005.

“Somebody else coming in wouldn’t have the time to build up their profile. And so I knew that at short notice, the only person in the Lib Dems who could put a real challenge in against the Tories would be me.”

It won’t be an easy task. The seat was won by Conservative Philip Dunne, who is standing down at the next election, with a majority of more than 23,600 in 2019.

The Conservatives have selected Stuart Anderson, who is currently the MP for Wolverhampton South West, as their candidate for the seat.

Despite the challenge, Mr Green thinks he has a chance.

NAROWAL: A young motorbike rider was Thursday killed after his bike collided with a vehicle of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s security squad in Chandowal area of Narowal district.

The district police officer (DPO) said the vehicles were going to Kartarpur for CM Maryam’s security.

The elite security squad’s vehicle hit the motorcycle while trying to overtake it, he said.

The chief minister was visiting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur today to address a gathering of pilgrims on the occasion of the Baisakhi Mela.

The youngster’s body was shifted to the Narowal district headquarters hospital, while an FIR was lodged on behalf of the victim’s family, he said.

The DPO said after investigation, an “indiscriminate legal action” would be taken against those responsible.

Police said the case against the incident was filed by the victim’s cousin at the Saddar police station, in which he sought action from the authorities on the “injustice incurred” to them.

In the FIR, he mentioned that he was working at his shop when he came to know that the government vehicle hit his cousin Abu Bakar and ran.

“My cousin succumbed to his injuries and passed away at the DHQ hospital,” said the cousin.