With 1,597 new infections, Kurdistan Region surpasses 71,000 officially recorded coronavirus cases: ministry
Peshmerga Affairs Minister Shorsh Ismail on Tuesday (October 27) praised positive steps taken towards the formation of coordination centers between the Peshmerga and Iraqi army forces in addition to the ministry’s reform process.
An Istanbul court on Tuesday (October 27) sentenced a local US consulate employee to jail for aiding the network Ankara accuses of attempting a 2016 coup, in a verdict that could further strain ties between Turkey and the United States.
Spokesperson for the federal Joint Operations Command Tahsin al-Khafaji said on Tuesday (October 27) that three Islamic State (ISIS) suspects were arrested in Kirkuk governorate.
US Presidential candidates Joseph Biden and Donald Trump are hitting the campaign trails hard with just a week left until the 2020 US election. The candidates held five events in four states on Tuesday alone; Trump visiting Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska; and Biden holding two rallies in Georgia.
Eighty-one lawmakers in the Kurdistan Parliament issued a vote of confidence on Tuesday (October 27) in favor of a report submitted by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, his Deputy Qubad Talabani, and Economy and Finance Affairs Minister Awat Janab on reforms and economic crises that have gripped the Kurdistan Region, acutely affecting its civil servants.
A Houthi official was killed on Tuesday (October 27) by gunmen in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in a rare assassination of a civilian official in the armed movement that controls the city.
Sulaimani residents awoke on Monday (October 27) to an unexpected sight: a 4.8 km-long patchwork of multicolored fabric strung up on the median lights running along the city’s main thoroughfare, Salim Street.
The Iraqi federal Ministry of Health said on Tuesday (October 27) that it recorded 4,510 new cases of coronavirus infections and 53 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Tuesday (October 27) that it recorded 1,597 new cases of coronavirus infections in the Kurdistan Region over the past 24 hours.
Sulaimani General Education Director Omar Muhammed Amin on Tuesday (October 27) urged teachers, principals and staff at the governorate’s schools to break the strike, open the gates of schools and resume classes.
Armenia acknowledged overnight that Nagorno-Karabakh forces had withdrawn from a strategic town between the enclave and the Iranian border, an apparent military gain for Azerbaijan as a new US-brokered ceasefire failed to end a month of fighting.
The US dollars to the Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rates was up on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Tuesday (October 27).
A few days after he was abducted, the body of a former teacher at the Garmian University was found in Kirkuk on Tuesday (October 27).
Parts of Yemen are seeing their highest levels of acute malnutrition in children, heightening warnings that the country is approaching a dire food security crisis, a UN report said on Tuesday (October 27).
A spokesperson representing the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said on Monday night (October 26) that three out of the Council’s five main members are members of the PUK and that they were not aware of the operations mentioned in the statement published by the council.
The Council of Representatives on Monday night (October 26) voted on the electoral districts of Nineveh governorate and postponed votes on Kirkuk governorate’s electoral districts.
Crude oil prices were down on Tuesday (October 27) compared with the previous day.
Insulting Muslims is an “opportunistic” abuse of free speech, Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday (October 26), in an apparent reference to remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron perceived to be critical of Islam.
More than 60 million Americans have cast ballots in the US presidential election with eight days to go, a record-breaking pace that could lead to the highest voter turnout in over a century, according to data from the US Elections Project on Monday (October 26).
The United States on Monday (October 26) imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s oil sector, including the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, in Washington’s latest action to increase pressure on Tehran.
The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other armed affiliates, issued a response on Monday (October 26) to a statement by the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) earlier in the day regarding the arrest of several PKK members as well as separate allegations that the rebel group was involved in the murder of a senior security official in Duhok governorate.
Kurdish authorities will begin enforcing fines of up to 20,000 Iraqi dinars (IQD), or approximately $16.6 USD, against people who fail to wear protective face masks in public in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the Kurdistan Region, Erbil Mayor Nabaz Abdulhamid said on Monday (October 26).
Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan asked his compatriots to stop buying French goods on Monday (October 26) in the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over images being displayed in France of the Prophet Mohammad, which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
The Iraqi federal Ministry of Health said on Sunday (October 26) that it recorded 3,691 new cases of coronavirus infections and 48 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Monday (October 26) that it recorded 1,283 new cases of coronavirus infections in the Kurdistan Region over the past 24 hours.
Hospitals in many Iranian provinces are running out of capacity to handle COVID-19 cases, health authorities say, with novel coronavirus now killing around 300 people a day or one person every five minutes.
Air strikes on a camp in northwest Syria run by rebel fighters backed by Turkey killed at least 20 people on Monday (October 26), a war monitor and a rebel source said.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Monday (October 26) that its forces have prevented a number of destructive attacks from taking place in the Kurdistan Region and have arrested several suspects linked to “the terrorist groups.”
The US dollars to the Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rates was down on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Monday (October 26).
Erbil Deputy Governor Hemin Qadir said on Monday (October 24) that residents in Erbil city and its districts and sub-districts will be fined 20,000 Iraqi dinars ($17) if they do not wear masks.
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a senior member of the Baath regime under Saddam Hussein and a former vice president of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council, passed away on Sunday (October 25), according to the Baath Party.
The Saudi-led military coalition engaged in Yemen said on Sunday night (October 25) it intercepted and destroyed a second, explosives-laden drone launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement towards southern Saudi Arabia, Saudi state media reported.
Crude oil prices were down on Monday (October 26) compared with the previous day.
Head of Police Directorate in the Garmian administration Jamal Qaduri said that Muhammad Sheikh Wahab, Change Movement representative in the Sulaimani Provincial Council, handed himself over to police on Sunday (October 25).
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with Special Adviser and Head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability of Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) Karim Assad Ahmad Khan on Sunday (October 25) and discussed cooperation to achieve accountability for Islamic State (ISIS) crimes.
A new coronavirus outbreak at the White House involving Vice President Mike Pence’s staff comes as the United States reported a near-record number of new cases on Saturday (October 25).
Kuwait’s retail co-ops have pulled French products in boycott over the use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a French school class on freedom of expression whose teacher was then beheaded by an Islamist.
The Kurdistan Parliament Presidency summoned lawmakers on Sunday (October 25) to attend a regular parliamentary session on Tuesday to discuss the previous session with and answers of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Deputy PM Qubad Talabani, and KRG Finance Minister.
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Health said on Sunday (October 25) that it has recorded 828 cases of coronavirus infection in the Kurdistan Region over the past 24 hours.
New fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces on Sunday (October 25) over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh as both sides blamed each other for blocking a peaceful settlement to the conflict.
The federal Ministry of Health said on Sunday (October 25) that it recorded 2,554 new cases of coronavirus infection and 55 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
Iraq’s Intelligence and Investigative Agency said on Sunday (October 25) that the security forces arrested two Islamic State (ISIS ) militants in two separate operations in Baghdad’s Mansour and Dora neighborhoods.
Turkey said on Sunday (October 25) that it was extending the seismic survey work of its Oruc Reis ship in a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean until Nov. 4, taking a step which was set to fuel tensions in the region.
The US dollars to the Iraqi dinar (IQD) exchange rates was down on the Kurdistan Region’s currency markets on Sunday (October 25).
Prominent Kurdish author and head of the Kurdish Authors Union General Center Kakamam Fakhri Sami, known as Kakamam Botani, has died in Erbil at the age of 83.
Thousands gathered on Sunday (October 25) in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and in cities across Iraq’s central and southern governorates to mark the anniversary of the start of the second wave of last year’s anti-government protests and to renew their demands for justice for those who were killed during the demonstrations.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday (October 23) called on the Iraqi government not to execute a warrant for reporter Suadad al-Salhy and to drop the defamation charge brought against her.
Federal Health and Environment Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said on Sunday (October 25) that the government will prioritize four categories of people to receive COVID-19 vaccines when one is approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Crude oil prices were stable on Sunday (October 25) compared with the previous day.
Citing corruption and their failure to reign in smuggling, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Finance and Economy Ministry has suspended the salaries of directors of the Bashmakh Border Compound, the director of crossing’s Asayish unit, and a number of other employees.
France recalled its ambassador on Saturday (October 25) after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his counterpart Emmanuel Macron needed mental help over his attitude towards Muslims.
In a speech marking the first anniversary of the second wave of the October demonstrations, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Saturday (October 24) called for protesters to remain peaceful, but stressed the importance of taking their demands seriously.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan launched a fresh attack on his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday (October 24), saying he needed mental treatment over his attitude towards Muslims and Islam.
The Council of Representatives on Saturday (October 24) voted on an electoral reform proposal to divide up each governorate into multiple electoral districts.
Amid a prolonged surge in the number of new coronavirus infections, the Kurdistan Region’s Supreme Committee for Coronavirus Response announced on Saturday (October 24) that it would start fining and temporarily closing restaurants and businesses for not enforcing face mask protocols.
Europe became the second region after Latin America to surpass 250,000 deaths on Saturday (October 24), according to a Reuters tally, with record numbers of daily COVID-19 infections reported in the past two weeks.
Polls opened in Egypt on Saturday (October 24) for parliamentary elections that will stretch over several weeks and are set to be dominated by supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Saturday (October 24) for strict punishments for violators of COVID-19 restrictions as the Middle East’s hardest-hit nation battled a third wave.
The federal Ministry of Health said on Saturday (October 24) that it recorded 3,204 new cases of coronavirus infection and 55 deaths in the country over the past 24 hours.
Head of the Mass Graves Directorate of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs Sirwan Jalal said on Saturday (October 24) that work has started in order to exhume two mass graves near Solagh and Kojo villages in Sinjar district containing the remains of victims of the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group.
