Iraq now has a new government in place, six months after holding elections against a backdrop of a long period of political instability and social unrest. With the new leadership of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi and President Barham Salih—both widely touted as reformist, progressive, and Western-leaning—there are high hopes that the country will turn a new chapter after three
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Iraq may be on the cusp of a revenue windfall after losing billions of dollars annually due of its insufficient oil production facilities, according to investors. Development goals include capturing gas flares, or the gas burned off during oil production, to convert into usable energy and which Siemens estimates could save Iraq $5.2 billion over the next four years. Work
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Part of what remains of the ceremonial entrance through the walls of the ancient city of Babylon. The site was partly reconstructed in the 1950s and 1990s, but in a way that caused damage. Conservationists now are trying to undo some of that damage. Jane Arraf/NPR Mohaned Ahmed is standing on scaffolding at the ancient site of Babylon, dipping water into a bucket and spongi
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An ‘Economic Development Board’ for Iraq, not a ‘Construction Board’! By Dr. Amer Korkis Hirmis* [‘Majlis al-Tanmiya al-Iqtisadiya’ lil al-‘Iraq, wa laysa ‘Majlis al-I’mār’!] The ‘Ministerial Programme’ presented to the Iraqi Parliament on October 25, 2018 by the new Prime Minister of Iraq, Mr. Adil Abd al-Mahdi, represents a positive qualitative improvement since 2003. Th
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Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurds upgraded their oil export pipeline to accommodate future production growth from their region as well as from the contested Kirkuk area controlled by the central government in Baghdad. The Kurdistan Regional Government completed improvements to the pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Turkey, by installing another pumping station in
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