Archive: iraq
16th April 2020
A couple of weeks ago Reuters news agency reported that Iraq probably has several thousand more Covid-19 cases than the official figures show. Its report quoted three doctors closely involved in the testing process, a health ministry official and a senior political official – all speaking… Read more
28th April 2019
A dispute is raging in Iraq over the future of children born to Yazidi women who were abducted and raped by Islamic State fighters.
The Yazidis are a non-Muslim minority centred mainly around Sinjar in northern Iraq who follow their own distinctive religion. To maintain what they see as the "purity… Read more
27th April 2019
The Yazidis are followers of one of the Middle East's minority religions, centred mainly around Sinjar in northern Iraq. They tend to be secretive about their beliefs and keep themselves to themselves: they don't accept converts and they don't marry non-Yazidis. Over the centuries they have often… Read more
17th August 2018
Fifteen years after US-led invasion, Iraq continues to face a multitude of problems. Iraqi citizens are tired of it and, increasingly, they are blaming the country's politicians. Demands are growing for political reform and a serious effort to tackle corruption.
In an… Read more
25th August 2017
Iraq's education ministry has quietly dropped a chapter about evolution from its biology textbooks. The ministry has so far given no explanation but the change has brought complaints and ridicule from Iraqis on social media.
Among the complainers, Dr Mohammed Fawzi, who studied genetic engineering… Read more
6th August 2017
Over the past few weeks, there has been a rash of attacks on medical professionals in Baghdad. It has caused protests, debate, bad memories and more than a few doctors to consider leaving the country. The article below is re-posted from the Niqash website.
by Mustafa Habib
Last… Read more
29th January 2017
Donald Trump ended his first week as president by signing an executive order that means citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will not be allowed to enter the United States.
Although the travel ban is one of a series of measures aimed – according to Trump – at "protecting… Read more
20th January 2017
The volunteer militias formed to fight the Islamic State group are now policing Baghdad’s neighbourhoods. But as they do, they compete with the real police, ignore the real laws and often act more like a mafia.
By Mustafa Habib in Baghdad (reposted from niqash.org)
In Baghdad,… Read more
13th January 2017
The border between Iraq and Syria is 600 km long – and porous. As ISIS is gradually driven back in Iraq, this raises the question of how to prevent militants from returning via Syria. Securing the border is no simple matter and, as Mustafa Habib explains in the article below, it's an area… Read more
9th July 2016
Iraq’s law on how local parties are funded and founded has the potential to change the political landscape for better. But various parts of the new act seem to contradict one another.
It is less than a year before Iraq holds the next round of significant elections; the provincial elections, which… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
