BAGHDAD( Reuters)-Hundreds of Iraqis who have camped for weeks at Belarus' borders with the EU checked in for a flight back to Iraq on Thursday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said. The migrants, mostly Iraqi Kurds, were to board a flight in Minsk at 1: 45 p.m. bound for Erbil in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdistan region, and then on to Baghdad, the ministry said. Iraqis, especially Kurds, make up a significant number of the estimated 4, 000 migrants now waiting in freezing Belarusian forests and

Open this photo in gallery Conservative Leader Erin O' Toole arrives at TVA for the first French-language debate of the federal election campaign in Montreal on Sept.... 2, 2021. ANDREJ IVANOV/ AFP/ Getty ImagesOn one level, you had to wonder whether Erin O’Toole would want to turn up for the TVA debate.... O’Toole must have feared he was walking into a buzzsaw. This debate is where his predecessor, Andrew Scheer, saw his Quebec campaign blow up in 2019 over his abortion views....

ERBIL, Iraq( Reuters)-Two flights brought hundreds of Iraqis who had sought to enter the European Union back to Iraq from Belarus on Friday, as more migrants begin to lose hope of getting safely into the prosperous bloc. The planes touched down in Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, in the early hours carrying around 600 Iraqis, mostly Kurds, the Kurdistan government and officials at Erbil airport said. Many of the passengers said they were relieved to be home." I don't want to g

His opponents, backed by the West, say the vote was rigged and staged mass street protests that Belarusian security forces then violently quashed.... In October, Minsk restricted the number of travel agencies in Belarus allowed to deliver tourism invitations, and smugglers as well as agencies have reported a rise in prices. WHAT IS LUKASHENKO'S STRATEGY?... Warsaw and Brussels say Lukashenko is deliberately pushing migrants into the EU in retaliation for sanctions against him and other top Bel

CHEBAYESH MARSHES, Iraq( Reuters)-On an island surrounded by the narrow waterways of the Chebayesh Marshes in southern Iraq, Sabah Thamer al-Baher rises with the sun to milk his herd of water buffalo. This summer has been tough for Baher, a father of two.... Iraq's 2020-2021 rainfall season was the second driest in 40 years, according to the United Nations, causing the salinity of the wetlands to rise to dangerous levels.... Once 400, 000 in the 1950s, around 250, 000 people returned when the

ORLA/ BIALYSTOK, Poland( Reuters)-Syrian friends Anas Kanaan, 34, and Mouein al-Hadi, 36, were told by people smugglers that they would easily be able to get to Germany from Belarus.... And at the end they tell you'we are not responsible for you.... They are from countries including Germany, Sweden, Ukraine and Georgia....

ois Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in Montreal during the debate organized by the Quebec television network TVA.... The French and English debates organized by the Leaders’ Debates Commission will take place on Sept.... 21 seeking the go-ahead to proceed with their claims against the company in Canada. Purdue had sought injunctions in the United States and Canada after it filed for bankruptcy protection in September, 2019, which paused all lawsuits against the company....