Iraq COVID-19 death toll tops 5,000: ministry
A spokesperson for the federal Ministry of Electricity Ahmed Moussa al-Abadi said on Tuesday (August 4) that Iraq will buy 650 Megawatt from Turkey, including 200 megawatts for the Kurdistan Region, to increase the level of electricity supplies and the hours of providing power.
A large explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday (August 4), injuring many people as glass shattered and balconies collapsed from the impact, Reuters witnesses said.
The number of people who have died in Yemen after contracting the new coronavirus has reached 500, according to a Reuters tally, although aid organisations say the death toll is probably much higher.
A World Health Organization team in China to probe the origins of COVID-19 had “extensive discussions” and exchanges with scientists in Wuhan where the outbreak was first detected, a spokesman said on Tuesday (August 4).
The federal Ministry of Health said on Tuesday (August 4) that it recorded 2,836 new cases of coronavirus and 83 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
Local officials working in the Garmian administration’s coronavirus operations room said on Tuesday (August 4) that travel between the administration and the disputed areas has been halted for one week due to the continued outbreak.
Greece has seen fewer migrants and refugees arriving from Turkey, numbering in the hundreds in the last four months, mainly due to increased border checks and partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, a government minister said on Tuesday.
Mayor of Mawat district Kamaran Hassan said on Tuesday (August 4) that Turkish warplanes bombed the edges of Kwerakani village in Sulaimani governorate, causing damage to villagers’ property and farms.
The health of the Kuwait’s 91-year old emir has shown “significant improvement”, parliament quoted the prime minister as saying in a tweet on Tuesday.
The US dollar to Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rate was stable for the third consecutive day on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Tuesday (August 4).
A major roadway between Koya and Dukan districts was closed for repairs starting on Tuesday (August 4), shutting down a main artery between Sulaimani and Erbil.
Turkey’s consumer price inflation fell to a lower-than-expected 11.76% year-on-year in July, the Turkish Statistical Institute said on Tuesday (August 4), reversing two months of rising inflation as the economy continued to emerge from lockdown.
A fire broke out at an Iranian industrial area near Tehran on Tuesday, Iran’s state TV reported, the latest in a string of fires and explosions, some of which have hit sensitive sites.
The Garmian Police Directorate said late on Monday (August 3) that two brothers were killed at their house in Kifri district.
Crude oil prices were up on Tuesday (August 4), compared with the previous day.
For much of the Kurdistan Region’s outbreak, Duhok had relatively fewer cases of coronavirus infection than Erbil and Sulaimani, but in light of a significant rise over the past two weeks, the provincial officials have decided to suspend government operations until August 15.
Russian warplanes bombed Syrian rebel-held mountainous areas in the western coastal province of Latakia on Monday (August 3) as Syrian government forces hit the area with artillery and rocket fire, an opposition group and a war monitor said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Monday (August 3) that it has recorded 348 new cases of coronavirus infection in the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Interior said on Monday (August 3) that all the tourism sites, parks, cafeterias and teahouses will be closed.
Six people died in a car accident in the Gavar area of Turkey's Hakkari province on Monday (August 3).
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.
