Tag: Iraq

DFA lowers alert level in Iraq following improvement in security situation

(Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs has lowered the alert level imposed on Iraq following what it said was the improvement in the security situation in the country. With the alert level now down to 3 from 4, upon the recommendation of the DFA, the DFA said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board has issued Governing Board Resolution (GBR) No. 9 series of 2021, exempting returning OFWs from the deployment ban, […]

11 dead in Iraq attack blamed on IS group: security sources

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — At least 11 people were killed late Tuesday in an attack on a village in eastern Iraq blamed on the Islamic State group, security sources said. The attack on Al-Rashad in Diyala province left “11 dead and 13 wounded”, a local security source said. Another said that civilians were among those killed by small arms fire in the village, home to many members of the security services. The area has been […]

Climate change a double blow for oil-rich Mideast: experts

by Frank ZELLER Agence France-Presse PAPHOS, Cyprus (AFP) – The climate crisis threatens a double blow for the Middle East, experts say, by destroying its oil income as the world shifts to renewables and by raising temperatures to unliveable extremes. Little has been done to address the challenge in a region long plagued by civil strife, war and refugee flows, even as global warming looks likely to accelerate these trends, a conference heard last week. […]

Iraq, UAE sign deal on 5 solar electricity plants

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – Power-short Iraq inked an agreement on Wednesday for the UAE to build five solar electricity plants with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi presided over the signing in Baghdad with renewable energy company Masdar, which is based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital. Iraq is rich in oil but its dilapidated grid battles daily blackouts. Iraqi authorities aim to sign several similar accords by 2023 […]

Iraq launches project to reduce flaring at oilfields

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – Iraq has launched a new project that aims to recover gas normally set alight during oil extraction at two oilfields in the country’s south. Flaring, or burning off excess gas during oil extraction, is a highly polluting practice but far less costly than processing it for sale. According to the World Bank, Iraq is the second-biggest user of flaring worldwide after Russia. The new project, signed in 2017 with oil services company […]

Macron to attend Baghdad summit amid fears over IS

by Laurence Benhamou BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is among leaders set to attend a regional summit Saturday in Iraq, with the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and a deadly jihadist attack in Kabul overshadowing the meeting. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are due at the Baghdad summit, while the foreign ministers of arch-foes Iran and Saudi Arabia will also be present. Organizers have been tight-lipped on the […]

Iran’s presidency confirms Raisi invited to Bagdhad summit

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi has been invited to a planned regional summit in Baghdad, his office said Tuesday during a visit by Iraq’s top diplomat. The invitation was delivered to the Iranian capital by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, a day after Baghdad announced the summit set for later this month. French President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed he plans to attend, while Iraq has said Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan […]

Biden to welcome weakened Iraq PM amid Iran hostility

by Aurélia End WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi on Monday in his first meeting with the weakened leader, whose loyalties are precariously split between the US ally and pro-Iran factions at home. At the heart of the meeting will be the presence of US troops in Iraq and more broadly, whether Baghdad has what it takes to stand up to residual Islamic State jihadist group […]

Iraq reels as 36 killed in IS suicide blast on eve of Eid festival

by Salam Faraj BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq was in mourning on Tuesday for at least 36 people killed when a bomb ripped through a crowded Baghdad market in what the Islamic State group’s jihadists claimed as a suicide attack. The bloody carnage Monday evening, one of the deadliest attacks in years in the war-scarred country, killed mostly women and children on the eve of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice. It sparked revulsion […]

Iraq market suicide bombing claimed by IS kills nearly 30 on eve of Eid holiday

by Salam Faraj and Ammar Karim BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility early Tuesday for a suicide bombing that ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital ahead of Eid holiday celebrations, killing nearly 30 people, according to medical sources. In a message posted to its Telegram channel, the militant group said a suicide bomber named Abu Hamza al-Iraqi detonated his explosive belt in the middle of a crowd in […]

Death toll rises to 64 in Iraq Covid unit fire: medic

NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — A fire that enveloped a Covid isolation unit in southern Iraq killed 64 people, a medical source told AFP in an updated toll on Tuesday. “Sixty-four (bodies) were retrieved and 39 identified and handed over to their families,” the source at the Dhi Qar Forensic Science Department said. The deadly Monday evening blaze at Al-Hussein Hospital in the provincial capital Nasiriyah, which medics said was fuelled by the explosion of oxygen […]

At least 41 dead in Iraq Covid ward fire: health official

by Bassem al-Rikabi NASIRIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — At least 41 people died when fire engulfed the coronavirus isolation ward of an Iraqi hospital on Monday, the second such deadly blaze in three months, a health official said. The fire broke out at the Al-Hussein hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah late Monday and was brought under control by local civil defence forces. Another health official, Haydar al-Zamili, told AFP that the “fire… ripped […]