Iraq

Trump imposes up to 30% tariffs on six nations including Iraq, Philippines

Trump said trade talks have been going well with China and the European Union, which is the biggest bilateral trading partner of the US

World Bank approves over $1 bn for infra projects in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon

The World Bank said on Wednesday it approved over USD 1 billion dollars for infrastructure and reconstruction projects in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The biggest amount went to Iraq, where the World Bank approved USD 930 million to help improve the country's railway infrastructure, boost domestic trade, create jobs and diversify the economy. The World Bank said the Iraq Railways Extension and Modernisation Project will improve services and increase freight capacity between the Umm Qasr Port on the Persian gulf in southern Iraq to the northern city of Mosul. As Iraq shifts from reconstruction to development, enhanced trade and connectivity can stimulate growth, create jobs, and reduce oil dependency," said Jean-Christophe Carret, director of the World Bank's Middle East division. The World Bank also approved for war-torn Syria a USD 146 million grant to help restore reliable, affordable electricity and support the country's economic recovery. It said the Syria Electricity Emergency ...

Iran targets US military bases in Qatar; India issues advisory to citizens

Iran fired missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq following American airstrikes. Qatar intercepted the attack, reported no casualties, and condemned the strike as a breach of its sovereignty

US urges citizens to avoid Iraq travel amid rising Iran-Israel conflict

Amid the Iran-Israel conflict, the US warns citizens not to travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, and armed conflict, citing extreme risks and limited embassy support

Prisons at double their capacity as amnesty law takes effect: Iraq minister

As a general amnesty law takes effect in Iraq, the country's prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding, housing more than double their intended capacity, the country's justice minister said in an interview. Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told The Associated Press on Saturday that Iraq's 31 prisons currently hold approximately 65,000 inmates, despite the system being built to accommodate only half that number. He acknowledged that the overcrowding has put a severe strain on prison healthcare and human rights standards. When we took office, overcrowding stood at 300%," he said. "After two years of reform, we've reduced it to 200%. Our goal is to bring that down to 100% by next year in line with international standards. Thousands more detainees remain in the custody of security agencies but have not yet been transferred to the Ministry of Justice due to lack of prison capacity. Four new prisons are under construction, Shwani said, while three have been closed in recent years. Two ..

Before Trump's tariffs, there was Bush's war wagon: How India deflected it

As Donald Trump pressures India to align with his tariff policy, here's recounting how New Delhi navigated a similar situation with another US President over 20 years ago

ISIS chief killed in Iraq, Trump says fugitive leader 'hunted down'

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or "Abu Khadija," was "deputy caliph" of the militant group and "one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," CNN reported

Iraq's displaced Kurds hope to return as Turkiye's militants halt fight

Iraqi Kurdish villagers, displaced by fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants that has played out for years in northern Iraq, are finally allowing themselves to hope they will soon be able to go home. Their hopes were raised after the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, on Saturday declared a ceasefire in the 40-year insurgency against the Turkish government, answering a call to disarm from earlier in the week by the group's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned in Turkiye since 1999. The truce if implemented could not only be a turning point in neighbouring Turkey but could also bring much needed stability to the volatile region spanning the border between the two countries. In northern Iraq, Turkish forces have repeatedly launched blistering offensives over the past years, pummeling PKK fighters who have been hiding out in sanctuaries in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have been completely emptied of

Former Iraqi prime minister returns to Baghdad despite security threats

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, known for promoting the rule of law, returned to Baghdad Tuesday for the first time in more than two years despite ongoing security threats. In 2021, he survived an assassination attempt in which two armed drones targeted his residence in Baghdad's Green Zone area. The attack came at a time of tensions sparked by the refusal of Iran-backed militias to accept parliamentary election results. Al-Kadhimi left Iraq after his term as prime minister ended in 2022 and has been living in London and the United Arab Emirates. The former prime minister did not immediately make any public statements upon his return. Three officials with his office who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly said security threats against the former prime minister were still present. They said he had returned at the invitation of current Iraqi political leaders who hoped he could use his connections to help them confront a

Oil exports from Kurdish region by way of Turkey set to resume: Iraq

Iraq's oil ministry has announced the resumption of oil exports from northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The exports had been halted for nearly two years after the International Chamber of Commerce sided with Iraq in an arbitration case as a long-standing dispute over the independent export of oil by the Kurdish regional government. The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had completed the necessary procedures to restart shipments through Turkey's Ceyhan port. It said that exports will resume in accordance with federal budget regulations and Iraq's OPEC production quota, according to the "agreed-upon framework". The ministry urged the Kurdish region's authorities to transfer crude oil extracted from the region's oil fields to the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil, facilitating its exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. "We call on the regional authorities to deliver the produced quantities in line with signed contracts to ensure smooth operations," i

Blinken meets Iraqi PM to discuss Syria's future, threat of 'Islamic State'

The Secretary of State underscored the US' commitment to Iraq's security, stability, and sovereignty

Syria at crossroads after 54 yrs: Four priorities to avoid yet another war

With Assad's departure, the pressing question now is what lies ahead for Syria's immediate future

Iran-backed Iraqi militias enter Syria to help govt fighting rebels

At least 300 fighters, primarily from the Badr and Nujabaa groups, crossed late on Sunday using a dirt road to avoid the official border crossing

Iraq launches its first nationwide census in nearly four decades

The last nationwide census was held in 1987 in Iraq, followed by a census in 1997 which did not include certain Kurdish regions

Child marriage at 9? Iraq's controversial law ignites fiery protests

Iraq's Parliament, largely controlled by a coalition of conservative Shia Muslim parties, is poised to vote on a change that could dismantle the country's 'personal status law'

Iraq to lower marriage age — Girls could marry at just 9 years old

Spy satellite images lead archeologists to site of historic battle in Iraq

Declassified 1970s-era U.S. spy satellite imagery has led a British-Iraqi archeological team to what they believe is the site of a seventh-century battle that became decisive in the spread of Islam throughout the region. The Battle of al-Qadisiyah was fought in Mesopotamia in present-day Iraq in the A.D. 630s between Arab Muslims and the army of the Sassanid Persian dynasty during a period of Muslim expansion. The Arab army prevailed and continued on its march into Persia, now Iran. A joint team of archeologists from the U.K.'s Durham University and the University of Al-Qadisiyah stumbled across the site while undertaking a remote sensing survey to map the Darb Zubaydah, a pilgrimage route from Iraq's Kufa to Mecca in Saudi Arabia built more than 1,000 years ago. The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity. While mapping the route, the team noticed that a site some 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Kufa in Iraq's southern Najaf province a desert area with scatter

Iraq's Parliament elects Mashhadani as new speaker, ends yearlong vacuum

After a nearly yearlong vacuum, Iraq's Parliament elected a new speaker Thursday, selecting a prominent Sunni lawmaker who has a close relationship with Iran. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who served a previous stint as speaker from 2006 to 2009, was elected by a vote of 182 of the 269 legislators who attended the session, a surprise move after months of deadlock between political factions. Former Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was dismissed by a Federal Supreme Court last November against the backdrop of a lawsuit filed by then-lawmaker Laith al-Dulaimi. Dulaimi claimed that the speaker had forged Dulaimi's signature on a resignation letter, an allegation that Halbousi denied. The court ruled to terminate both Halbousi and al-Dulaimi from their parliamentary posts. It did not elaborate on why it was issuing the decision. The position of speaker of Parliament is assigned to a Sunni according to convention in Iraq's power-sharing system, while the prime minister is always Shiite and the ...

Turkey strikes Kurdish militants in Iraq after attack on TUSAS kills 5

Turkey's defense ministry says Turkish jets have struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following an attack on a key defense company. More than 30 targets were destroyed in the aerial offensive, the defense ministry said in a brief statement carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency. The strike comes after suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire Wednesday at Turkey's state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, the interior minister said. Suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire Wednesday at Turkey's state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, the interior minister said. The two attackers a man and a woman also were killed, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Yerlikaya said the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is suspected of being behind the attack but cautioned that the process of identifying the assailan

Turkey blames Kurdish rebels PKK for Ankara terror attack: Who are they?

Turkey targeted over 30 sites of the PKK militant group in Iraq and Syria after suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire at state-run defence company TUSAS in Ankara