Author: Arshad Shaheen

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with senior Iraqi leaders here on Wednesday during a visit aimed at showing the UN solidarity with Iraq. “I am here on a visit of solidarity and confirmation of the commitment of the United Nations to support Iraq in consolidating its democratic institutions and promoting peace, development, and human rights for all Iraqis,” Guterres said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani. Earlier in the day, the UN chief held a meeting with al-Sudani to discuss the UN-Iraqi relations, the climate challenges and Iraq’s need for international assistance in…

Photo taken on Feb. 24, 2023 shows an exhibit at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities decided to open the doors of the Iraq Museum to the public for free on Friday every week. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) People visit the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on Feb. 24, 2023. The Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities decided to open the doors of the Iraq Museum to the public for free on Friday every week. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood) People visit the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, on Feb. 24, 2023. The Iraqi Ministry of…

Israel’s new government will abandon the country’s tax on single-use plastic plates and utensils, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday, despite environmental concerns. The decision, in apparent defiance of global efforts to reduce the amount of plastic waste that is polluting oceans, comes after opposition to the tax from religious parties that said it unfairly targeted their communities. Smotrich, who was sworn in on Thursday, said his first decision in the office is to axe the plastic tax as well as a levy on sugary drinks “as quickly as possible.” The country’s Environmental Protection Ministry, which has reported a 50%…

Iraq on Tuesday signed deals with two Chinese companies and a United Arab Emirates (UAE) firm to develop six oil and gas fields as part of its efforts to increase the production of much-needed natural gas for power plants. During the signing ceremony at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani congratulated all parties on signing the contracts for the fifth energy auction held in 2018, the official Iraqia TV reported. “Reform in the oil sector is the optimal investment for oil wealth, and Iraq’s entry into the global gas market is an option…

The Iraqi military said on Tuesday that its forces killed three Islamic State (IS) militants in the northern part of the country. The three IS militants were killed in Wadi al-Shay, a rugged area southwest of the northern city of Kirkuk, the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. It added that the operation was based on intelligence reports and the three militants had been tracked for more than three days before the operation. Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Iraqi intelligence service said that “intelligence personnel tracked down some IS leading figures in more…

Seven Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Sunday in airstrikes in a mountainous area in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, the Iraqi military said. Acting on intelligence reports, Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out two airstrikes on IS hideouts in Himreen mountain range in the northern part of Diyala province, leaving seven IS militants killed, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces Yahia Rasoul said in a statement. Rasoul said that the leader of the extremist IS group in Diyala province was among those killed in the airstrikes. The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the…

Iraq exported about 101.24 million barrels of crude oil in January, generating 7.69 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, the country’s oil ministry announced Wednesday. The average price for Iraqi crude oil in January was 75.96 dollars per barrel, the ministry said in a statement, citing statistics from the State Organization for Marketing of Oil. About 98.46 million barrels were exported from oil fields in central and southern Iraq via the port of Basra, while more than 2 million barrels from the northern province of Kirkuk via the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean, the statement said. Oil prices have…

The parts and explosives used in a recent drone attack on a military plant in the central Iranian province of Isfahan were transferred into the country by “hostile” Kurdish groups based in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, semi-official Nour News agency reported Wednesday. The groups transferred the parts of the micro air vehicles (MAVs) and the explosives used in Saturday night’s attack through the northwestern border at the order of a foreign intelligence service to a workshop in a border city, said Nour News affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, quoting unidentified sources. In August 2022, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry…

As debt repayment absorbs financial resources, the impacts will far outlast the Sisi regime Egypt is going through one of the most dramatic debt crises in its modern history. As a direct consequence of the regime’s model of debt-fuelled, militarised capitalism, the pound has been devalued three times in the past year, losing half of its value by January, as core inflation reached a record high above 40 percent.  This situation has been compounded by speculation about another imminent currency devaluation. As the dollar shortage continues, an import backlog has worsened the crisis, leading to market shortages and squeezing of the private sector – despite Egypt’s assertion in January that the…

TOKYO: The total crude oil Japan imported in January amounted to 84.423 million barrels with 94.4 percent (or 79.721 million barrels oil) of that amount came from the five GCC countries of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, according to data from the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Saudi Arabia retained its position as the largest source, providing 43.9 percent, or 37.095 million barrels, an increase over the previous month of December. It was followed by the UAE with 34.2 percent, or 28.854 million barrels. Next was Kuwait with…