Iraq

09 Nov 2022; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said Tuesday that Turkiye can play a key role in Iraq's development, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"We have a high trade volume between the two countries," Al-Sudani told a press conference in Baghdad. "Turkiye is an economically developed country and can play a key role in the development of Iraq," he added.

The Iraqi Premier said that decreased rainfall and the low amount of water coming from Turkiye and Iran create a water problem in Iraq.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Assailants fatally shot an American aid worker Monday in a rare killing of a foreigner in the Iraqi capital in recent years, two police officials said.

The man was shot in his car as he entered the street where he lives in Baghdad’s central Karrada district on the east bank of the Tigris River but the reason for the killing was not immediately clear, they said. They said the man’s wife and child were in the car with him but were not hurt.

08 Nov 2022; MEMO: A US citizen was killed on Monday in central Baghdad, after a failed attempt to kidnap him, Iraqi police sources said, Reuters reports.

The body was taken to a hospital in the capital's Karrada district, and an initial hospital report indicated that the death was caused by a bullet, the sources added.

A police source said the victim was carrying an identity card showing his job was an English teacher.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A tanker truck explosion in northeastern Baghdad on Saturday killed at least eight people and wounded another 18, Iraqi security sources have said.

The moving truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas exploded after a road accident with another car in the al-Binouk neighborhood, damaging several nearby civilian cars and buildings, a source from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's media office told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

28 October 2022; MEMO: Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government on Thursday, ending over a year of deadlock but still faces many challenges, Reuters reports.

Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, 52, who previously served as Iraq's Human Rights Minister as well as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, will head the new government.

Sudani's picks for 21 ministries passed during a Parliament vote on the Cabinet. He named the Head of state-run South Gas Co. (SGC), Hayan Abdul Ghani, as Oil Minister.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Archaeologists in northern Iraq last week unearthed 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees from the Assyrian Empire, an archaeologist said Wednesday.

The carvings on marble slabs were discovered by a team of experts in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, who have been working to restore the site of the ancient Mashki Gate, which was bulldozed by Islamic State group militants in 2016.

17 October 2022; MEMO: New Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, on Monday voiced hope for a quick formation of the country's new government, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"We hope that the new government will be formed quickly to meet the demands of the Iraqis," he said in a swearing-in ceremony attended by government officials and politicians in the capital, Baghdad.

Rashid vowed to work "to protect the Constitution and solve the country's problems."

17 October 2022; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Shayaa Al-Sudani pledged on Sunday to combat rampant corruption in state institutions, following reports that $2.5 billion has been embezzled from the trust account of the General Commission of Taxes held at the Rafidain Bank.

"We will never hesitate to take real measures to curb corruption, which has brazenly spread across state institutions," insisted Al-Sudani. "We have put this file at the top of our priorities. We will not allow the Iraqis' money to be stolen."

BAGHDAD (AP) — Singers, actors, sports stars — the list goes on. Iranian celebrities have been startlingly public in their support for the massive anti-government protests shaking their country. And the ruling establishment is lashing back.

Celebrities have found themselves targeted for arrest, have had passports confiscated and faced other harassment.

14 October 2022; MEMO: Iraq's parliament yesterday elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as president. He then immediately named Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani prime minister-designate, ending a year of deadlock after a national election in October last year, Reuters reports.