Iraq and the United States signed an agreement on Thursday to hand over a US diplomatic support site at Baghdad International Airport to Iraqi authorities, days before a deadline for the US-led coalition to end its military mission in the country.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) owes more than nine billion dollars to gas supplier Dana Gas and local power generation companies, a senior KRG official told Rudaw on Thursday, saying electricity revenues do not cover the sector’s expenses.

Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) announced on Thursday that it had arrested 54 people on terrorism charges as part of a nationwide security campaign that saw more than 1,500 arrest warrants executed.

A Turkish court has imposed a travel ban on renowned Kurdish writer Suzan Samanci after she was detained at Istanbul Airport upon arriving from Switzerland, she told Rudaw English on Thursday.

Iran-aligned Iraqi political and armed factions condemned US sanctions-driven measures halting flights between Baghdad and Tehran, with a lawmaker from the State of Law Coalition telling Rudaw on Wednesday that the Iraqi Parliament will seek to summon key government officials over the shutdown.

The recent reunification of the Peshmerga marks the first phase of a longer process aimed at creating a nonpartisan, “unified Kurdistani force,” Kurdistan Region Vice President Mustafa Sayid Qadir told Rudaw in an interview that aired on Thursday.