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Iraq

UN: Gaza Crisis Reaches Unprecedented Level of Devastation, Despair

Voice of America - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 16:58
Geneva — U.N. aid agencies warn the crisis in Gaza has reached an unprecedented level of despair as Israeli attacks continue and hunger stalks the civilian population after months of inadequate humanitarian assistance.   “Let us be clear: Lifesaving aid is being obstructed. Lives are being lost. Dignity is being denied,” said James Elder, a UNICEF spokesperson. “The deprivation, the forced desperation, means despair pervades the population. And people’s nerves are shattered amid...
Categories: Iraq

US Does Not Support Pakistan Iran Pipeline

Voice of America - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:37
ISLAMABAD — The U.S. State Department has said it does not support Pakistan’s plan to build a pipeline to import gas from Iran. State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller refused to comment on the nature of sanctions Pakistan could face for importing energy from Iran. However, he cautioned Islamabad against going ahead with the plan.   “But we always advise everyone that doing business with Iran runs the risk of touching upon and coming in contact with our sanctions, and would advise...
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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Southern Lebanon

Voice of America - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 12:08
Categories: Iraq

Top US Officials Warn Israeli Defense Minister Against Invading Rafah

Voice of America - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 06:09
Top Biden administration officials urged Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to abandon plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians seek safety, as U.S.- Israel tensions brewed over Israel’s conduct in its 6-month-old war against Hamas. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
Categories: Iraq

Top US Officials Warn Israel's Gallant Against Invading Rafah

Voice of America - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 03:50
WASHINGTON — Top Biden administration officials urged Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to abandon plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians seek safety, as U.S.-Israel tensions brew over Israel's conduct in its six-month-old war against Hamas. In meetings Monday and Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself while reiterating...
Categories: Iraq

Iraqi Christian Returns to Mosul to Celebrate Ramadan, Promote Peace

Voice of America - Wed, 03/27/2024 - 02:37
Every Ramadan, an Iraqi Christian preacher returns from the Netherlands to his hometown of Mosul. He celebrates the holy Islamic month there to promote understanding between Muslims and Christians. VOA’s Kawa Omer has the story, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard.
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Hamas Leader Speaks in Iran of Israel’s 'Political Isolation'

Voice of America - Tue, 03/26/2024 - 23:59
Tehran, Iran — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on a visit to Iran on Tuesday, said Israel is experiencing "unprecedented political isolation," a day after the U.N. Security Council called for a cease-fire in the Gaza war. "Although this resolution came late and there may be some gaps that need to be filled, the resolution itself indicates that the Israeli occupation is experiencing unprecedented political isolation," Haniyeh told a news conference in Tehran after a meeting...
Categories: Iraq

Airstrikes in Syria Kill Iranian Adviser and Member of WHO Team

Voice of America - Tue, 03/26/2024 - 23:50
BEIRUT — A series of airstrikes in eastern Syria on Tuesday killed more than a dozen people, including an Iranian military adviser and a team member working for the World Health Organization, officials and reports said.  It was not immediately clear who was behind the airstrikes in Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.  The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes killed 15 people, including an Iranian adviser...
Categories: Iraq

US Sanctions Assad Supporters Over Drug Trafficking

Voice of America - Tue, 03/26/2024 - 20:53
Washington — The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 11 people and companies on Tuesday it said were involved in illicit financial transfers and drug smuggling in support of the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.  Many of those sanctioned were involved in the trade of the highly addictive amphetamine captagon, which is illegally trafficked throughout the Middle East and Europe, the Treasury Department said in a statement.   Syria has become the world's leading producer of...
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Israel-US Diplomatic Spat Complicates Gaza Situation 

Voice of America - Tue, 03/26/2024 - 03:27
washington — White House officials said Monday that they were "perplexed" and "disappointed" that Israel's leader called off a delegation meant to discuss U.S. concerns about his imminent plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah. But they said Monday they would use a trio of high-level U.S. meetings with Israel's defense minister, including talks with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday, to press their case. "We're kind of perplexed by...
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Calls Grow in Israel to Draft Ultra-Orthodox for Military Service

Voice of America - Tue, 03/26/2024 - 01:06
An Israeli law that grants exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews is due to expire at the end of the month, paving the way for their possible conscription. Most ultra-Orthodox oppose serving in the army and their parties are threatening to topple the government if the status quo is changed. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Videographer: Ricki Rosen
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Iraq Central Bank Says Regulated Dollar Transactions Rising

Voice of America - Tue, 03/26/2024 - 00:54
baghdad — Iraq, fighting a booming currency black market, has considerably increased overseas dollar transactions through the official global SWIFT system, the Central Bank vice governor said Monday. With dollars dominating the country's economy, Baghdad has imposed a series of restrictions on the use of American greenbacks domestically. At the end of 2022 the country's banking sector also adopted the international financial messaging system known as SWIFT as part of the reforms,...
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Turkey Warns of Offensive Against Kurdish Rebels in Iraq

Voice of America - Mon, 03/25/2024 - 20:03
Turkey says it is preparing to launch a major military operation into Iraq against Kurdish rebels operating from there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vows to end what he says is the threat posed by the Kurdish rebel group, PKK, which has been fighting Turkey for decades. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, Ankara is looking to Baghdad and Tehran for support.
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11 Killed in Suspected IS Attack on Syria Truffle Hunters: Monitor

Voice of America - Mon, 03/25/2024 - 06:01
Beirut, Lebanon — An attack by the Islamic State group (IS) killed at least 11 people hunting desert truffles in northern Syria on Sunday, a war monitor said, after the latest such incident.  Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians risk their lives to forage for the delicacy in the vast Syrian desert — a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with mines.  Desert truffles can fetch high prices in a country battered by 13 years of war and a crushing...
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Iran's Currency Hits Record Low

Voice of America - Sun, 03/24/2024 - 15:31
Tehran — Iran's currency fell to a record low on Sunday, plunging to 613,500 to the dollar, as its people celebrated the Persian New Year.  On Sunday, people were trying to exchange rials for foreign currency at Tehran's main hub of exchange shops in Ferdowsi Street, but most were closed due to the Nowruz holidays, which are run from March 20 to April 2.  Mohsen, a 32-year-old employee at one of the exchange shops, said the holiday was contributing to the low prices, "The...
Categories: Iraq

Lebanon's Displaced Celebrate Ramadan And Long For Home

Voice of America - Sun, 03/24/2024 - 08:06
MARWANIEH, Lebanon — Shortly before sunset on a recent evening, Mervat Reslan and a group of other women made french fries in vats of boiling oil to serve with that night's iftar — the meal that breaks the daily fasts Muslims observe during the holy month of Ramadan. They belong to roughly 60 families who have been sheltering at an abandoned hotel in the southern Lebanon town of Marwanieh to escape the shelling and airstrikes that have made it too dangerous to stay in their homes in...
Categories: Iraq