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Iraq News

  • UNWTO: International tourism – strongest half-year results since 2010

    AFGHANISTAN, 2017/09/09 Destinations worldwide welcomed 598 million international tourists in the initial six months of 2017, some 36 million additional than in the same period of 2016. At 6%, increase was well above the trend of recent years, making the current January-June period the strongest half-year since 2010. Visitor numbers reported by destinations around the world reflect strong request for international travel in the initial half of 2017, according to the new UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 6% compared to the same six-month period last year, well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4% or higher increase since 2010. This represents the strongest half-year in seven years.

  • Illicit antiquities trade threatening cultural heritage

    IRAQ, 2017/09/03 Besides the illicit trade of weapons and drugs, smugglers in the Mid­dle East and North Africa have found a lucrative business in trafficking antiquities.Lost treasures. A fragment of an Assyrian-era relief is seen at the ancient site of Nimrud that was destroyed by the Islamic National fighters near Mosul. The smuggling of ancient arte­facts to wealthy clients around the world has spiked in the last decade, with experts warning that the re­gion’s archaeological heritage is in peril.

  • OPEC raises forecasts for global oil demand

    IRAQ, 2017/08/21 OPEC boosted estimates of request for its crude this year and next amid stronger-than-expected fuel consumption and a weaker outlook for rival supply. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations raised forecasts for the all it needs to supply in 2017 and 2018 by about 200,000 barrels a day for each year, according to a statement from its secretariat in Vienna. Still, a rebound in Libyan production pushed the group’s output last month to the highest this year, undermining its plan to rebalance oversupplied world markets.

  • ‘I was sold seven times': the Yazidi women welcomed back into the faith

    IRAQ, 2017/07/02 No one wears shoes in Lalish. The village is so sacred that all visitors must walk its paths barefoot. Perched at the top of a narrow valley, in the parched, scrubby hills of northern Iraq, close to the Kurdish border, its cluster of shrines are a revered site for followers of the Yazidi faith. At the heart of Lalish is a pool of water sheltered by a small cave, its entrance shaded by mulberry trees and watched by a guardian in a red turban. This is the “holy white spring”, where newborns must be brought for baptism, the waters mixed with the Lalish soil for the rites of marriage, birth and death. For generations, the rituals carried out at the spring had been unchanged. But two years ago, groups of women, usually silent, often with young children, began joining the families filtering in and out of the cave.

  • Policy Differences Emerge Among Gulf States Days After Wooing President Trump

    BAHRAIN, 2017/05/29 Cracks have appeared in a Saudi-led, US-backed anti-terrorist political and military alliance days next US President Donald J. Trump ended a historic visit to Saudi Arabia. The cracks stem from Qatar’s long-standing fundamental policy differences with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about Iran and the role of political Islam. The cracks emerged as the result of an anti-Qatar media and cyber campaign involving a spate of anti-Qatar articles in US and Gulf media; the blocking of Qatar-backed media websites and broadcasts in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt; statements by prominent former US government officials; and a recent seminar by the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies that has long asserted that Qatar supports militant groups.

  • Higher earning Why a university degree is worth more in some countries than others

    AFGHANISTAN, 2016/12/11 A university education may expand your mind. It will as well fatten your wallet. Data from the OECD, a club of rich nations, show that graduates can expect far better lifetime earnings than those without a degree. The size of this premium varies. It is greatest in Ireland, which has a high GDP per chief and rising inequality. Since 2000 the unemployment rate for under-35s has swelled to 8% for those with degrees – but to additional than 20% for those without, and nearly 40% for secondary school drop-outs. The country’s wealth presently goes disproportionately to workers with letters next their names.

  • Iraq PM calls for legal measures over oil bribery scandal

    IRAQ, 2016/09/01 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called Saturday for legal action over allegations that senior officials took millions of dollars in bribes to help major firms fasten lucrative oil sector contracts. Abadi instructed the country's anti-corruption commission to take "legal measures" and called for the judiciary to pursue prosecutions connected to the scandal, a statement from his office said. The allegations of corruption came to light in an investigation by The Huffington Post and Fairfax Media, which reviewed thousands of internal documents from Monaco-based firm Unaoil.

  • IMF News: How will the program help protect the poor and internally displaced populations?

    IRAQ, 2016/07/16 Iraqi economy faces double shock of lower oil prices, rising security challenges IMF loan supports Iraqi government’s economic reform program, ensures deficit sustainability Program includes measures to protect the poor, curb corruption The IMF has approved a three-year, $5.34 Billion loan for Iraq focused on implementing economic and financial policies to help the country cope with lower oil prices and ensure deficit sustainability.

  • US Defense Chief Carter Congratulates Iraqi PM On Retaking Ramadi

    IRAQ, 2016/01/03 US Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered his congratulations to Iraq’s prime minister next Iraqi forces succeeded in retaking the government center in Ramadi from the Islamic National of Iraq and the Levant. “‎The expulsion of ISIL by Iraqi security forces, supported by our international coalition, is a significant step forward in the campaign to defeat this barbaric group and replace Iraq’s territorial sovereignty,” Carter said in a statement.‎ The operation to reach the center of Ramadi was a significant milestone on the path to clear ISIL from the historic city and the in general campaign to defeat the terrorist group across Iraq, according to a statement released by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve officials today.

  • Kurds to support oil companies in Iraq with regular payments

    IRAQ, 2015/08/30 A move to issue regular payments to oil companies operating in the Kurdish north of Iraq should help them endure the market downturn, the government said. The Ministry of Natural Resources of the semiautonomous Kurdish government said it would issue the initial batch of regular payments to oil companies by the middle of next month. The decision came next a Kurdish oil council approved the allocation of between $75 million and $100 million of the revenue generated from direct oil sales. The Kurdish government said it recognized that international oil companies are struggling to maintain normal operations because of the lack of payments during a depressed oil economy.
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