Iraq sent money to pay salaries of state employees in the Kurdish region on Monday for the first time since 2014, the Baghdad government said, although a dispute over how much it will send the Kurds in future remains unresolved.
Monday's agreement represents a step towards normalising relations between the central government and the autonomous Kurdish region, which held a vote for independence last year that the central government swiftly crushed.
Under the constitution, the Kurdish region is entitled to a share of the national budget. But that arrangement collapsed in 2014, when Iraq's army fled the north in the face of an advance by ISIL militants.
The Kurds seized control of Iraq's main northern oilfields at Kirkuk from ISIL and began selling Kirkuk's oil independently; Baghdad stopped sending money to the Kurds.
Last year, after ISIL was driven out of the north, the Kurds held an independence referendum, voting overwhelmingly to secede. But the central government responded by swiftly launching a military offensive and recapturing control of Kirkuk, which quashed the Kurdish independence bid.
The central government and the Kurds have yet to agree on a full plan to resume payments from Baghdad to the Kurdish region.
The 2018 budget, passed in parliament earlier this month despite a boycott by Kurdish lawmakers, calls for the 17 per cent of total revenue allocated to the Kurds to be cut in line with the region's share of Iraq's population, which is disputed.
The Kurdish region still conducts independent oil sales, although it has far less oil to sell now that it no longer controls Kirkuk.
"The federal finance ministry transferred a cash sum of 317 billion Iraqi dinars (Dh982.5 million) to the region's finance ministry," Baghdad government spokesman Saad Al Hadithi said.
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Mr Hadithi said the transfer would cover the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) salaries for a month, for employees of all ministries and for the Peshmerga Kurdish security forces.
In a statement, the KRG said its finance ministry had received the transfer and would distribute it.
Asked about future payments to the KRG to cover salaries, Mr Hadithi said the federal government would agree to pay a portion while the rest should be covered by the KRG from its oil sales.
Other measures imposed by Baghdad to curtail the Kurdish region's autonomy in the wake of last year's referendum are gradually being eased, including a ban on direct international flights which was lifted last week. The first international flight landed at Erbil airport on Monday morning.
However, the issues of the KRG's independent oil sales and share of the budget remain unresolved.
Baghdad has sent teams of auditors to Kurdistan in recent months to assess the number of employees on the region's payroll. A statement from the prime minister's office announcing the agreement on Monday, specified that the audit was ongoing.
Director: Nag Ashwin
Starring: Prabhas, Saswata Chatterjee, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Shobhana
Rating: ★★★★
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The Specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 118hp
Torque: 149Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Price: From Dh61,500
On sale: Now
Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
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Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kinetic 7
Started: 2018
Founder: Rick Parish
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Industry: Clean cooking
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Self-funded
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
RESULTS
6pm: Baniyas – Group 2 (PA) Dh97,500 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
6.35pm: The Pointe – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Awasef, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
7.10pm: Palm West Beach – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Long Kiss, Jose da Silva, Antonio Cintra
7.45pm: The View at the Palm – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ranaan, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar
8.20pm: Nakheel – Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Raaeb, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
8.55pm: The Club – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Qareeb, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
9.30pm: Palm Beach Towers – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Falsehood, Adrie de Vries, Musabah Al Muhairi
Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Co Chocolat
Started: 2017
Founders: Iman and Luchie Suguitan
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Food
Funding: $1 million-plus
Investors: Fahad bin Juma, self-funding, family and friends
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
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Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Company profile
Name: Pyppl
Established: 2017
Founders: Antti Arponen and Phil Reynolds
Based: UAE
Sector: financial services
Investment: $18.5 million
Employees: 150
Funding stage: series A, closed in 2021
Investors: venture capital companies, international funds, family offices, high-net-worth individuals
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone
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THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now