Iraq

Amazon triples quarterly profit

The company's cloud, ads, and retail businesses thrive.

McDonald’s profits up 7%

The quarterly profits increased despite weak Middle East sales.

ADQ buys stake in Plenary Group

The deal is aimed at expanding public and social infrastructure.

FPT and Nvidia to build AI factory

Nvidia had invested around $250 million in Vietnam.

Swiss reserve hike hits UBS

The reserve requirement will increase from 2.5% to 4% from July 1.
  • Syria has held ‘meetings’ with US: Assad

    The United States was among the first to cut ties with Assad over the repression of anti-government protests that sparked war in 2011, and many Western and Arab states also severed relations.
  • Iraqi Trade Center to be launched at ACC’s headquarters in Jordan

    AMMAN, JORDAN - Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) and the Iraqi Embassy here agreed to open Iraqi Trade Center at ACC's headquarters ahead the end of 2023. During his meeting with Chargé d'Affairs at Iraqi Embassy, Munif Ali Hussein, ACC Head, Khalil Haj Tawfiq, said Iraq is a "key" trade...
  • Iran pilgrims among 18 dead in Iraq road accident

    Baghdad, Iraq--A road accident killed 18 people, mostly Iranian pilgrims, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad overnight, the state news agency INA reported Saturday. The "horrible accident" between Dujail and Samarra also injured 15 people, INA said, citing the toll from Khaled Burhan, director of health services in Salaheddine province....
  • Estithmar opens new subsidiary in Jordan

    The subsidiary was set up in partnership with a Jordanian company.
  • Iraq jails Iranian, 4 Iraqis for life for killing US citizen

    No Iraqi officials or security sources have been able to tell AFP why the killing of Stephen Troell took place in a city where such attacks on foreigners have been rare in recent years. Troell had lived with his wife and children in the Iraqi capital for at least two years....
  • Iraqi security forces seize 15 tons of illegal drugs and precursor chemicals

    War-scarred Iraq, originally mainly a drug transit country, has faced an explosion in narcotics use in recent years, mainly of captagon and crystal meth.
  • Kyrgyzstan repatriates 95 from Syria rebel camps

    Kyrgyzstan has already twice taken back its citizens from Syria or Iraq. In March 2021, 79 children were repatriated while in February this year another 59 women and children were returned. Thousands of people from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia -- Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan --...
  • Sharjah to host Gulf-Iraq business forum to ramp up economic ties

    Sharjah, UAE--Sharjah will host the first-ever Gulf-Iraq Business Forum on 26th and 27th September to boost economic ties between the GCC and Iraq. The event is an initiative of the Federation of GCC Chambers and is being organized in partnership with the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry...
  • Iran vows to respond if Iraq fails to disarm Kurdish rebels

    Tehran, Iran - Iran on Monday warned Iraq that it would take action if Baghdad does not honor its commitment by mid-September of disarming Iranian Kurdish rebel groups on its territory. "According to a deal reached between the Iranian and Iraqi governments, the Iraqi government has pledged to disarm armed terrorist...
  • Iraq to harness Associated Petroleum Gas to generate electricity

    Baghdad, Iraq - The Iraqi government has launched a project to harness the Associated Petroleum Gas (APG) from the Bin Omar field, an oil reserve located in the Basra Governorate, for generation of electricity.  The project's principal advisor Mounir Bouaziz said that the field's production capacity is scheduled to range...
  • Denmark to ban Quran burnings, national security ‘main motivation’

    Denmark stepped up security earlier this month following the backlash, as did neighboring Sweden which has also seen a spate of Quran burnings in recent months. The Danish government intends to "criminalize the improper treatment of objects of significant religious importance to a religious community," Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told...
  • Iraq and Turkmenistan reach preliminary agreement on gas import

    Baghdad, Iraq - Iraq has signed a preliminary agreement with Turkmenistan to import gas. The agreement signed by the undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil for gas affairs Ezzat Saber, is a big step in Iraq's quest for diversified energy sources. In a statement to Iraqi News Agency, Saber, said: ...
  • Iraq and Turkey foreign ministers hold talks on water supply, oil

    The foreign minister's visit is also intended to pave way for Turkish President's trip to Baghdad for which a date is yet to be finalized. The issue of water and dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, both of which have their sources in Turkey before entering Iraq, is a...
  • Iran exports non-oil products worth $2.9bn to Iraq in four months

    Tehran, Iran -- Iran exported $2.9 billion worth of non-oil products to Iraq in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year, an official with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) said, adding that the country’s export to Iraq will reach $10.5 billion by the yearend. Iran’s...
  • Jordan, Iraq explore ways to enhance cooperation in drug addiction treatment

    Amman -- Jordan's Minister of Health, Firas Hawari, met with the head and members of the Committee on Combating Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in the Iraqi Parliament on Tuesday to discuss prospects for cooperation in training health staff on the treatment of drug addiction. During the meeting at the ministry,...
  • Estithmar opens branches in Iraq

    Two subsidiaries of the Qatari firm open two branches.
  • Baghdad zoo animals suffer 50C heat

    Underfunded and run down by years of unrest, the zoo's dilapidated facilities make matters worse for its 900 animals, including Siberian tigers.
  • Iraq drought claims popular lakeside resort

    Shorelines at Habbaniyah, about 70 kilometres west of Baghdad, have receded by several dozen meters after years of drought ravaged parts of the country.
  • Water flows from Turkey improve after pact: Iraq minister

    Baghdad, Iraq - The water flows from Turkey to Iraq have improved at a rate of 500 m3 per second following the agreement between the two countries, the Minister of Water Resources, Aoun Diab, said on Sunday.  “I met with the Turkish ambassador for an hour and a half, and...
  • Iraq restores Telegram app after week-long ban over data violations

    Baghdad, Iraq--Iraq has restored access to the popular messaging app, Telegram, on Sunday after a week-long ban. The ban, which took effect on August 6, was enforced after concerns arose regarding breaches of national security. The government cited the leaking of state-owned private documents and the protection of citizens' personal...
  • Iraq streamlines imports, focuses on strengthening domestic industries

    In a move to fortify the local market, Iraq's Ministerial Council of Economy has taken decisive steps, including the removal of four items from import lists and a 4% tariff reduction on live animals for slaughter. The council also emphasized strengthening the domestic pharmaceutical industry and boosting Iraq's tourism sector.
  • Iraq’s extreme temperatures a ‘wake-up call’ for world: UN

    It has been experiencing its fourth consecutive summer of drought, and temperatures in the country have been around 50 degrees Celsius. "Rising temperatures plus the drought, and the fact that the loss of diversity is a reality, is a wake-up call for Iraq and for the world," UN human rights...
  • Fish farms reel from climate change in water-stressed Iraq

    Drastic government measures have restricted water use for some purposes, including crop irrigation, and authorities have cracked down on illegal practices they long ignored.
  • Iraq asks US, UK to extradite suspects in massive graft scandal

    Iraq's judiciary issued arrest warrants at the beginning of March for four men, including a former finance minister and staff members of former prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who Baghdad says all live outside the country. Haider Hanoun, the head of the Iraqi Commission for Integrity said that Interpol had issued...
  • Iraq says in touch with US over settling $10bn debt it owes Iran for gas imports

    On July 11, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that Iraq would start paying for Iranian gas with oil, as a way of circumventing the complicated mechanism. "Work is continuing with the American side concerning unpaid bills, which have fallen to 9.2 billion" euros ($10 billion), Sudani told reporters at...
  • Quran set alight at protest outside Sweden parliament

    Two men set the Quran alight outside parliament in Stockholm at a protest similar to previous ones that have sparked tensions between Sweden and Middle Eastern countries. Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem kicked and stomped on the Muslim holy book, then set its pages on fire before slamming it shut.
  • Iraq and Kuwait seek to solve contested border issue

    The de facto land and maritime borders between the neighbouring states were established by the United Nations in 1993, three years after Iraq under Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. While Iraqi officials have previously expressed a readiness to recognise Kuwait's land border, the maritime border remains a point of contention.
  • Fire at substation in Iraq sparks nationwide power outage

    Baghdad, Iraq--A fire at an electricity substation in southern Iraq triggered a nationwide power outage Saturday, authorities said, just as demand peaks amid the searing summer heat. Electricity is a sensitive political issue in Iraq as despite the country's huge oil reserves, its dilapidated power grid is incapable of meeting peak demand...
  • Water loss, river pollution threaten Syrian fishermen’s livelihood

    The battered country, where half a million died in the conflict, has also suffered the impacts of climate change, from searing summer heat to prolonged drought. The flow of the Euphrates -- one of the region's mighty streams, where the world's earliest civilizations flourished -- has been further impacted by...
  • Kuwait records its first fiscal surplus in nine years on oil prices surge

    The Gulf emirate, whose revenues rely heavily on hydrocarbons, closed its fiscal balance with a surplus of $21 billion, the ministry said. More than 92 percent of revenues came from oil after prices surged following last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.
  • Jordan and Iraqi PMs renew pledge to boost economic ties

    Baghdad, Iraq-- Jordan and Iraq have renewed pledge to strengthen economic cooperation in a meeting between the kingdom's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, and his Iraqi counterpart, Muhammad Shia'a Sudani, on Monday. In a joint statement, both PMs reaffirmed the strategic nature of the Jordanian-Iraqi relationship and called for efforts to...
  • Iraqi forces seize million captagon pills as drug trade surges

    Authorities in Iraq -- a key conduit for the amphetamine-type drug -- regularly announce such operations in which large hauls of captagon are seized, often coming from Syria with which it shares 600-kilometre (370 miles) porous border.
  • Iraqi Kurds hold demonstration in support of jailed journalist

    On Sunday, around 300 people demonstrated in the region's second city Sulaimaniyah against the new sentence imposed on Sherwani. NGO Community Peacemaker Teams said Saturday Sherwani did not get a fair trial, but a Kurdistan government body, after reviewing the proceedings, said Sunday that powers of attorney between prisoners were...
  • Thousands of Kurds demonstrate on Lausanne treaty centenary

    The demonstrators marched through the Swiss city in opposition to the 1923 treaty, while organisers urged the international community to reconsider the agreement and its consequences for the Kurdish people. The demonstrators, who came from across Europe, gathered by Lake Geneva before marching uphill to the Palais de Rumine where...
  • Quran burning: Iraqis, Iranians rally as Swedish diplomats leave Baghdad

    Baghdad, Iraq -- Demonstrators marched in the Iraqi and Iranian capitals Friday to denounce Sweden's permission for protests that desecrate the Quran, as Stockholm withdrew staff from its Baghdad embassy. Hundreds of people gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City after Friday prayers, chanting "Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Quran",...
  • US, Arab League discuss Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

    The US-Arab Strategic Dialogue discussed Middle East peace and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, among other issues. The dialogue concluded successfully and the US and Arab League issued a joint statement on several issues. They statement said that they will counter terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms.
  • Iraqi protesters torch Swedish embassy in Baghdad

    Iraqi riot police fired water cannon to disperse demonstrators away from the embassy while security forces armed with electric batons chased protesters, an AFP photographer on the scene said. Some protesters had raised copies of the Koran into the air, while others held portraits of Mohamed al-Sadr, an important religious...
  • Iraq’s marshes along with a way of life are dying

    Even at their center in Chibayish, only a few expanses of the ancient waterways - home to a Marsh Arab culture that goes back millennia - survive, linked by channels that snake through the reeds.
  • Sharjah records first half real estate deals worth $3.65 billion

    The city of Sharjah accounted for the largest (3,794) share of the transactions.
  • Iraqis rally in heat against water, electricity crisis

    Designated by the UN as one of the five countries in the world most touched by some effects of climate change, Iraq is experiencing its fourth consecutive summer of drought.
  • Iraq, Syria pledge to enhance cooperation, counter terrorism

    They discussed "reinforcing cooperation between the two countries in various sectors... in addition to joint efforts to fight back against terrorism", a statement from Assad's office said.
  • Iraq detects first captagon producing lab near Saudi border: Ministry

    Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq said Sunday it has found a site in a province bordering Saudi Arabia where captagon is produced, a rare discovery in a country that has become a transit route for the illicit drug. "Today, and maybe for the first time, a laboratory where captagon is produced was...
  • Iraqi Christian leader leaves Baghdad as tensions with president soar

    Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the patriarch of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church and architect of Pope Francis' historic visit to the country in 2021, is a key interlocutor between the Iraqi government and its Christian minority. For several months, Sako has been embroiled in a war of words with a Christian...
  • Iraq honey production at the mercy of heat and drought

    Bees thrive in temperatures of around 30-35 degrees Celsius, not in searing heat, when the thermometer climbs to 50, said Aliawi, the manager of a private honey producer. The country has been plagued by scorching summers, declining rainfall and frequent sand storms, while upstream dams have reduced the flow of...
  • Almost the entire world is experiencing record heatwaves

    Record heat is forecast around the world from the United States, where tens of millions are battling dangerously high temperatures, to Europe and Japan, in the latest example of the threat from global warming. The heatwaves come after EU's climate monitoring service said the world saw its hottest June on...
  • Iraq to pay for Iranian gas imports with oil: Iraqi PM

    The Iraqi prime minister said the decision to pay for Iranian gas imports with oil corresponds with the mechanism agreed with the US in order not to violate the sanctions. Gas is crucial for Iraq's electricity generation, but US sanctions on Iranian oil and gas impose restrictions on how Baghdad...
  • Pro-Iran parties urge Iraq to clear energy dues with Tehran

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ - A powerful alliance of pro-Iran factions in Iraq called on Sunday on Baghdad to pressure the United States to unlock pending payments to Tehran for crucial gas imports. Iraq, ravaged by decades of conflict and international sanctions, relies on gas imported from its eastern neighbor for a third...
  • Iraq, GECF discuss role of oil, gas in country’s development

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ -  Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Mohammed Hamel on Friday stressed the importance of Iraq in the oil and gas sector. Iraqi Ministry of oil said in a statement, “Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani, met GECF Secretary...
  • Iraq join Egmont Group of financial intelligence units

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ -   Iraq joined the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, the Supreme Judicial Council announced. "The efforts made by the competent courts and the Office of Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing resulted in Iraq winning the membership of the Egmont group," said a statement by the Judicial...
  • MSF suspends ‘vital’ medical aid from Iraq’s Mosul

    Mosul, Iraq -- Medical charity Doctors Without Borders announced Wednesday the suspension of "vital" medical activities in two hospitals in the war-scarred city of Mosul, blaming Iraq's bureaucracy of delaying the delivery of supplies. "Essential medical activities have been suspended at two health facilities... after stocks of medicines and supplies ran...
  • Iraqi president presses for closer trade and energy ties with Iran

    Baghdad, Iraq-- Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid has emphasized the need for reinforcing partnership with Iran in the fields of trade and energy. The president made the remarks during a meeting with an Iranian delegation headed by deputy foreign minister Bagheri Kani in Baghdad. Rashid accentuated the imperative of reinforcing...