UK and Iraq sign security deal to curb people smuggling
Al Jazeera
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says countries must work more closely to tackle people smuggling.
The United Kingdom says it has signed a security pact with Iraq to target people-smuggling gangs and strengthen border cooperation, the latest in its efforts to crack down on irregular migration.
“There are smuggler gangs profiting from dangerous small boat crossings whose operations stretch back through northern France, Germany, across Europe, to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond,” British interior minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement on Thursday.
“The increasingly global nature of organised immigration crime means that even countries that are thousands of miles apart must work more closely together,” she added.
“Organised criminals operate across borders, so law enforcement needs to operate across borders too,” she said during a visit to Iraq and its Kurdistan region.
As part of the agreements, London will provide up to 300,000 pounds ($380,000) for Iraqi law enforcement training in border security.
Residential buildings hit across the enclave as UN accuses Israel of denying 82 bids to deliver aid to Gaza’s north.
Lesotho’s government has banned some Famo music groups, branding them ‘terrorist’ organisations as violence escalates.
Kyiv is not mobilising or training enough new soldiers, a senior US official says, as Russia makes major advances in Ukraine.
The French striker missed a penalty as Madrid’s loss brought them to the brink of elimination from the Champions League.
Game distributor said Operation al-Aqsa Flood removed from Stream at request of UK police, emails show.
As luxury brands expand in India, their fakes are available in big and small markets as well as on social media.
The Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham armed group and allied forces are reported to have captured Syrian army weapons depots and taken armoured vehicles and heavy weapons during attacks.
As a ceasefire is reached in Lebanon, the Israeli military intensifies its attacks across Gaza.
These were the key developments on the 1,008th day of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Musk, a confidante of the president-elect, is set to co-lead Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Israel continues to bombard Gaza as people return to their badly-damaged homes in Lebanon as a fragile truce holds.