Kurdistan Region’s political leaders call for reconstruction of Sinjar, promise to work with Baghdad
Pakistan’s US-requested mediation efforts between Gulf rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have been making slow progress, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday (august 3).
In response to reports of an agreement between a US oil company and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SFD), Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Relations on Monday (August 3) expressed its concern and argued that the agreement is unacceptable and has no legal basis.
The federal Ministry of Health said on Monday (August 3) that it recorded 2,735 new cases of coronavirus and 66 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
One person is dying from COVID-19 every seven minutes in Iran, state television said on Monday (August 3), as the Health Ministry reported 215 new deaths from the disease and state media warned of a lack of proper social distancing.
On the sixth anniversary of the Ezidi genocide, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani decried that Sinjar and other places where Ezidis historically live have not been rebuilt and stabilized in order to ensure a dignified existence.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met on Monday (August 3) with Hamid Saeed, a teenager who was attacked and humiliated by members of the security force in Baghdad earlier this year.
The World Health Organization warned on Monday (August 3) that while there were strong hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine, there might never be a “silver bullet” for the coronavirus that has infected millions around the world.
The federal Ministry of Transportation said on Monday (August 3) that Iranian officials will only allow Iraqi travelers to enter the country if they have successfully passed a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test that checks for coronavirus infection.
A local official in Choman has said that Iranian warplanes bombed the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) in Smilan sub-district at approximately10 a.m. on Monday (August 3).
The US dollar to Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rate was stable on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Monday (August 3).
Police in the Garmian administration said on Monday (August 3) that a man was shot and killed by his cousin in Kalar’s Rizgari sub-district overnight.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti resigned on Monday (August 3) over what he described as lack of political will to reform as his nation wrestles with a financial crisis posing the biggest threat to stability since a 1975-1990 civil war.
Crude oil prices were down on Monday (August 3), compared with the previous day.
A man from Iranian Kurdistan has been held in the custody of security forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) without trial for more than two years, his family and a lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament have said.
The Israeli army on Monday (August 3) said it targeted a group of four people who had planted explosives along the border fence with Syria on the Golan Heights.
Advocacy organization Yazda kicked off a two-day conference on Sunday (August 2) to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the Ezidi genocide by hearing from a range of senior officials, humanitarian workers, researchers, and survivors of the attack by Islamic State (ISIS) militants that led to the deaths, forced disappearances, and enslavement of thousands of Ezidis living in Sinjar.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Sunday (August 2) that it has recorded 334 new cases of coronavirus infection in the Kurdistan Region.
Member of the Council of Representatives’ Finance Committee Naji Saidi that a strategic committee has been formed to prepare a draft federal budget law for 2021, saying that he did not think the draft budget law for this year will end up being approved after parliament passed a law authorizing the government to obtain foreign and domestic loans earlier this summer.
A member of the Council of Representatives’ Security and Defense Committee argued on Sunday (August 2) that unofficial border crossings located in the Kurdistan Region pose a significant danger to the security and economy of Iraq.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck back on Sunday at demonstrations calling for his resignation, accusing protesters of trampling democracy and the Israeli media of encouraging them.
Algeria’s president phoned his Turkish counterpart last month to secure the return of a fugitive military official who fled Algeria days after its powerful army chief died in December, a top Algerian security source said.
Syria’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that an American oil company had signed an agreement with Kurdish-led forces who control northeastern oilfields in what it described as an illegal deal aimed at “stealing” Syria’s crude.
After bringing a second unit at the Khabat Steam Power Plant online, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Electricity claimed on Sunday (August 2) that it can now provide 21 hours of electricity per day to residents.
The federal Ministry of Health said on Sunday (August 2) that it recorded 2,447 new cases of coronavirus and 63 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority said on Sunday (August 2) that its Turkish counterpart has suspended passenger flights to and from Iraq until September 1.
The General Authority of Iraqi Customs said on Sunday (August 2) that trade at the country’s border crossings brought in a total of 76 billion Iraqi dinars ($63.7 million) in income for July.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke over the phone on Saturday (August 1), the media office of the prime minister said.
A group of ethnic Kurds protested in Kirkuk governorate’s Haftaghar village on Sunday (August 2) against the return of a number of ethnic Arab families to the area.
The US dollar to Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rate was down on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Sunday (August 2).
Crude oil prices were mixed on Sunday (August 2), compared with the previous day.
Iran’s main stock index broke through the key 2 million point mark for the first time ever on Sunday (August 2), state media reported, amid warnings that the market is overheating.
Egypt said on Saturday (August 1) that part of a seismic survey planned by Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean potentially encroached on waters where Cairo claims exclusive rights.
A 29-old-year man drowned in Dukan Lake on Saturday evening (August 1), according to a local official.
Turkish warplanes conducted an airstrike on a village close to Duhok city on Saturday (August 1), reportedly targeting a vehicle belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Saturday (August 1) that it has recorded 277 new cases of coronavirus infection in the Kurdistan Region.
Iraq’s total oil exports for July averaged 2.763 million barrels per day (bpd), the oil ministry said in a statement on Saturday (August 1).
The federal Ministry of Health said on Saturday (August 1) that it recorded 2,095 new cases of coronavirus and 64 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
The federal Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said on Saturday (August 1) that it is ready to hold parliamentary elections on June 6, as announced by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, as long as four conditions are met, the electoral regulator said in a statement.
Iran said on Saturday (August 1) that its intelligence forces have detained a US-based leader of a pro-monarchist group whom it accused of being behind a 2008 bombing that killed 14, and of planning more attacks.
Known locally in Sangaw as Sheikh Jamal Krpchna, Jamal Jalal Hussain has worked on farms since the early 1960s, fields that were tilled by his forebears for decades.
The United Arab Emirates has begun start-up operations in the initial unit of its first nuclear power plant, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) said on Saturday (August 1).
Kuwait has banned until further notice commercial flights to 31 countries it said that it regarded as high risk due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Saturday (August 1).
Deputy head of New Generation caucus in the Kurdistan Parliament Kawa Abdulqadir said on Saturday (August 1) that Rizgari Teaching Hospital did not accept a quantity of bottled oxygen donated by the Movement for the treatment of coronavirus patients under treatment at the facility.
Iranian teams have cleaned up an oil slick near field in the northern region of the Gulf that had extended over a six-square-km (2.3 square mile) area, an Iranian maritime official said on Saturday (August 1).
The US dollar to Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rate was down on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Saturday (August 1).
Director of Sulaimani International Airport Tahir Abdullah said that passenger flights will resume on Saturday (August 1) in accordance with public health guidelines and that travelers should take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test within 48 hours of their flight to check for coronavirus infection and to bring the results with them to the airport.
Crude oil prices were mixed on Saturday (August 1), compared with the previous day.
The United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs said on Saturday (August 1) that Turkey should stop interfering in Arab affairs, criticising comments on Libya made by Turkey’s defence minister.
Egypt reported 321 new COVID-19 infections on Friday (July 31), the health ministry said, the lowest figure since May 3.
NRT Digital Media broadcasts another episode of “Kurdistan This Week” on Saturday (August 1).
US coronavirus deaths rose by over 25,000 in July and cases doubled in 19 states during the month, according to a Reuters tally, dealing a crushing blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy.
The UK Supreme Court will examine the case of a British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State, after the government appealed against a court decision to allow her to return to Britain to fight for her citizenship.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Friday (July 31) called an early general election for June 6, 2021, roughly a year ahead of when it would normally be held.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Friday (July 31) that it has recorded 243 new cases of coronavirus infection in the Kurdistan Region.
Masked and socially distanced to fight the coronavirus, Muslims around the world held prayers on Friday (July 31) to mark the festival of Eid al-Adha, with mosques at reduced capacity and some praying in the open air.
OPEC oil output has risen by over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in July as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members ended their voluntary extra supply curbs on top of an OPEC-led deal, and other members made limited progress on compliance.
As its footprint in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region shrinks, the Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State (ISIS) will open a new advising center in Erbil in an effort to centralize and increase coordination between partner forces, a spokesperson told reporters in Sulaimani on Friday (July 31).
The federal Ministry of Health said on Friday (July 31) that it recorded 3,346 new cases of coronavirus and 70 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
Sulaimani International Airport said on Friday (July 31) that passengers must take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, which detects potential coronavirus infection, in the 48 hours before they board their flight.
A shampoo manufacturing plant in the Raparin administration caught fire on Friday (July 31), causing some material damage.
