Biden calls for unity on 'day of history and hope'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (January 20) urged new US President Joe Biden to "strengthen" a long-standing alliance between the two countries, partly to confront the "threat" posed by Iran.
Tehran on Wednesday (January 20) accused Washington "hostage-taking" after the United States arrested an Iranian academic on charges of acting as an agent of the Islamic republic, ISNA news agency reported.
Egypt and Qatar agreed Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations, Egypt's foreign ministry said, after a three-year-long Saudi led freeze on ties with Doha ended this month.
Joe Biden on Wednesday became the 46th president of the United States, vowing a "new day" for the United States after four years of tumult under Donald Trump who in an extraordinary final act snubbed the inauguration.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Wednesday (January 20) asserted that the KRG has always worked to have excellent relations with the federal government and that he wanted to solve disagreements between Erbil and Baghdad in accordance with the constitution.
Representative of the Communications Department of the Erbil/Koya East Asayish Directorate Darbaz Sabr said on Wednesday (January 20) that a gunman shot up a barbershop at around 03:00 a.m. that morning, spraying it with at least seventeen bullets.
Residents protested in Chamchamal’s Mamostayan neighborhood on Wednesday (January 20) about poor public services, in particular unpaved roads and lack of reliable access to piped water.
Responding to criticism from a human rights group, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official on Tuesday (January 19) claimed that protesters are allowed to express their views and demands and justified violence against demonstrators on the part of the security forces as necessary to protect the public interest.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday (January 20) hailed the departure of "tyrant" US counterpart Donald Trump, who is due to leave office later in the day making way for President-elect Joe Biden.
Activist Hawre Kurdi was attacked on Tuesday night (January 19) by armed men in Twaraq village near the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil.
Plastic bottles, aluminum cans, clothes, sometimes spaghetti. When a tractor tows in fresh rubbish at a dump in northeast Syria, men, women and children rush to find the best pickings.
Crude oil prices were up on Wednesday (January 20) compared with the previous day.
Qoratu/Khanaqin Court of First Instance on Tuesday (January 19) issued arrest warrants for four men in connection with alleged crimes at the Parwezkhan border crossing with Iran as part of an effort to crack down on smuggling and corruption.
New Generation Movement lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament Kawa Abdulqadr warned on Tuesday (January 19) that proposed changes to the Kurdistan Region’s counterterrorism legislation could have a political dimension and be used to stifle free expression.
Qatar has called for Gulf Arab countries to hold talks with Iran, the foreign minister said in an interview aired Tuesday (January 19), after Doha reconciled with its neighbors following a rift.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Tuesday (January 19) and discussed implementation of the Sinjar agreement signed last autumn by Erbil and Baghdad.
An oil pipeline caught fire near Gwer on Tuesday afternoon (January 19) after it was punctured by oil smugglers.
Iraq increased its oil exports to 88.21 million barrels during December, which brought in $4.235 billion, the country’s oil ministry said on Tuesday (January 19) citing final statistics released by the state exporter SOMO.
Iraq’s Council of Ministers voted unanimously on Tuesday (January 19) to delay the country’s early parliamentary elections until October 10.
Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden's choice to be secretary of state, will vow Tuesday (January 19) that the United States will "outcompete" a rising China while reviving frayed alliances, in a sea change from Donald Trump's go-it-alone "America First" approach.
The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said on Tuesday (January 19) that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has authorized it to extend the deadline for political alliances and candidates by two months in an effort to address readiness concerns about early parliamentary elections.
The US dollars to the Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rates was up on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Tuesday (January 19).
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Electricity Kamal Muhammed said on Tuesday (January 19) that a nearly $8 million electricity infrastructure project has been completed in Erbil governorate, adding that the new equipment will increase the number of hours of electricity available on the national grid.
Syrian mother Dahouk Idriss says she can't wait for US President-elect Joe Biden to be inaugurated Wednesday, so she can finally visit her son for the first time in four years.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on Monday (January 18) characterized a call from Iraq’s oil minister to hand over control of the Region’s oil industry to the federal government as an “unconstitutional request.”
Member of the Energy Committee in the Council of Representatives Amjad al-Oqabi said on Monday (January 18) that Iraq has sufficient natural gas capacity to operate all of its electricity generation plants without needing to import supplies.
Delband Rawanduzi spoke softly to her oak seedlings, as if willing them to grow fast and repopulate forests in the Kurdistan Region depleted by war, illegal logging, and fires.
Iranian Kurdish refugees living in the Kurdistan Region protested outside of the UN office in Erbil on Monday (January 18) about their inability to obtain identity and residency cards issued by host governments Erbil and Baghdad, which are necessary to accomplish basic tasks like receiving medical care, getting a job, or registering property in their names.
Crude oil prices were up on Tuesday (January 19) compared with the previous day.
Deputy Head of Fatah Alliance in the Council of Representatives Hassan Shaker said on Monday (January 18) that his bloc considerers a call by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to delay early parliamentary elections until October as a prelude to further postponements.
An outbreak of bird flu has killed tens of thousands of hens in a rural province north of Iraq's capital, decimating livelihoods overnight as authorities scramble to contain its spread.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Turkish Defense Minister Halusi Akar met on Monday (January 18) and agreed about the importance of addressing “terrorist threats” along their shared border, Kadhimi’s media office said in a statement.
Iranian authorities executed an ethnically Kurdish inmate at Sanandaj Central Prison on Monday (January 18), according to a human rights group.
Head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) caucus in the Council of Representatives Ala Talabani said on Monday (January 18) that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has agreed to transfer 250,000 barrels of oil per day to Iraq's oil marketer SOMO in exchange for financial benefits from the federal budget.
Head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Faleh al-Fayyadh said on Sunday (January 17) that the PMF is not an exclusively Shia force, pointing to the Hashd al-Ashairi (Tribal Forces) as evidence.
Some 150 Yemeni pro-government soldiers and Huthi rebels have been killed in a week of fighting south of the strategic port city of Hodeida, military sources said Monday (January 18).
The US dollars to the Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rates was up on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Monday (January 18).
Three Syrian soldiers were killed Sunday (January 17) when gunmen attacked their outpost close to the demarcation line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Inmates at Garmian Detention and Transfer Prison staged a protest on Sunday morning (January 17) and set fire to a building at the facility over alleged discrimination in the allocation of privileges and delays in their court cases.
Crude oil prices were down on Monday (January 18) compared with the previous day.
Two tents housing displaced families at the Bajd Kandal Camp in Duhok’s Zakho district caught fire on Sunday (January 17).
Spokesperson for the Change Movement (Gorran) Adnan Osman has stepped down from that position and from the party’s Executive Body citing his opposition to Gorran’s lack of ambition or purpose, according to a letter that released on Sunday (January 17).
Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) revealed on Sunday (January 17) that it has proposed to Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that early parliamentary elections be delayed until October 16 because of problems ensuring that parties and voters are registered ahead of the current June 6 date.
Member of the Council of Representatives’ Oil and Energy Committee Amjad al-Uqabi on Sunday (January 17) claimed that the government is leaving nearly 90 billion Iraqi dinars ($61.43 million) on the table in uncollected electricity fees and other problems with the electricity distribution network in Baghdad.
Chamchamal Mayor Ramak Ramazan said on Sunday (January 17) that $7.5 million in proceeds from local gas sales was deposited in the district’s bank account at the International Kurdistan Bank in Erbil between March 2017 and September 2018 and used to improve local infrastructure.
The world is falling short of promises made under the Paris climate deal to help the most vulnerable nations deal with the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations.
Six Iraqi military personnel were killed and three others were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in Nineveh’s Tal Afar district on Sunday (January 17).
As part of an effort to take advantage of the Kurdistan Region’s potential for harnessing the power of the sun, Sulaimani Electricity Directorate said on Sunday (January 17) that a private company will build a 200-kilowatt solar power station in the governorate.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Finance and Economy said on Sunday (January 17) that public sector workers in the Kurdistan Region will be paid on January 24 with a twenty-one percent cut.
Residents in Erbil’s Eight of Hasarok neighborhood protested in front of the city’s municipal building on Sunday (January 17) about their lack of access to public services.
The US dollars to the Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rates was up on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Sunday (January 17).
Change Movement (Gorran) lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament Ali Hama Salih on Saturday (January 16) alleged that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is selling oil to companies at a loss.
European powers on Saturday (January 16) voiced deep concern over Iran's plans to produce uranium metal, warning that Tehran has "no credible civilian use" for the element.
Facing a potentially hostile US administration, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to break his isolation by mending EU relations, torn by what the bloc views as his bellicose foreign policy.
Crude oil prices were stable on Sunday (January 17) compared with the previous day.
Change Movement (Gorran) lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament Daban Muhammad said on Saturday (January 16) that there were serious flaws in how the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has executed a plan to outfit residences with water meters, with both the government and residents paying the price.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said (January 16) Riyadh will reopen its embassy in Qatar as part of a deal to normalize ties with its neighbor and end a three-year rift.
Six Islamic State (ISIS) militants were arrested in raids in Kirkuk, Saladin, Anbar, and Baghdad governorates, Major General Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the federal Armed Forces, said on Saturday (January 16).
Iran's Revolutionary Guards test-fired ballistic missiles against targets in the Indian Ocean as they wrapped up a two-day exercise, their official website reported Saturday (January 16).
Adding to the evidence that the Kurdistan Region experienced a serious erosion of press freedom last year, the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy said on Saturday (January 16) that it recorded 385 violations against 291 journalists and media agencies during 2020.
