Is it Isis or the economy that will ruin Iraq? By Patric Cockburn

Islamic State prepares its murderous bombings with chilling care and attention to detail. Several months ago, the Iraqi security forces discovered a plan to bomb al-Khadamiya, an ancient quarter of Baghdad at the centre of which is one of the holiest Shia shrines. Isis operatives first spent a month watching the checkpoints protecting the district, looking for weaknesses. Then

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Iraq signs contract with Italy’s Trevi to maintain Mosul dam

Iraq has signed a contract with Italy's Trevi Group worth 273 million euros ($296 million) to reinforce and maintain the Mosul hydro-electric dam for a period of 18 months, state television reported on Wednesday. Italy has said it plans to send 450 troops to protect the site of dam, which is 3.6 km (2.2 miles) long and close to territory held by Islamic State militants in the c

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OPEC unsure it can ‘live together’ with U.S. shale industry

The head of OPEC said this week his organization doesn’t know how to coexist with the U.S. shale oil industry. “Shale oil in the U.S. — I don’t know how we are going to live together,” Abdalla Salem El-Badri, OPEC secretary-general, told an audience of oil and gas industry executives at the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas. OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Ex

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Iraq Needs Russia’s Advice, Help to Overcome Low Oil Prices’ Outcomes

Member of the Iraqi parliament's foreign relations committee Iqbal Abdul Hussein said that Iraq will need the Russian experience to get out of financial crisis. CAIRO (Sputnik) – Baghdad needs Moscow’s experience and assistance to overcome the economic crisis that has developed in the country amid a sharp drop in oil prices, member of the Iraqi parliament's foreign relations co

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