in Iraq
Voice of America
Wars, Hunger, Climate Shocks: Is UN Up to the Challenge?
New wars and growing hunger and poverty on a warming planet — and little the United Nations can do to fix it. VOA correspondent Margaret Besheer looks at the U.N.’s future in a world where its impact is shrinking.
Categories: Iraq
Red Sea Shipping Workarounds Add Costs, Delays for Suppliers, Retailers
LOS ANGELES — Toymaker Basic Fun's team that oversees ocean shipments of Tonka trucks and Care Bears for Walmart WMT.N and other retailers is racing to reroute cargo away from the Suez Canal following militant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.
Suppliers for the likes of IKEA, Home Depot HD.N, Amazon AMZN.O and retailers around the world are doing the same as businesses grapple with the biggest shipping upheaval since the COVID-19 pandemic threw global supply chains into disarray,...
Categories: Iraq
Pro-Iran Parties Win Big in Iraq Provincial Vote
Baghdad, Iraq — Pro-Iran Shiite parties won the majority of council seats in most of Iraq's provinces, according to the final results released on Thursday by the electoral commission.
The December 18 vote was the first held in a decade and took place amid widespread political apathy in the oil-rich country, which is recovering from years of conflict and plagued by corruption.
Polling took place in 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces, with the three provinces in the autonomous region of...
Categories: Iraq
France, Germany, UK and US Condemn Iran's Increased Uranium Enrichment
WASHINGTON — France, Germany, Britain and the United States on Thursday condemned Iran’s increase in its production rate of highly enriched uranium of up to 60% purity, close to the level used for nuclear weapons fuel.
In a joint statement, the allies made no mention of any consequences Iran could face for the production hike but called for its reversal and said they remained "committed to a diplomatic solution" to the feud over Tehran's nuclear program.
"The...
Categories: Iraq
Pakistan Bans New Year Celebrations in Solidarity With 'Oppressed' Palestinians
islamabad — Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, on Thursday announced a nationwide ban on New Year celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel continues its military campaign to crush Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The whole Pakistani nation and the Muslim world are in a state of deep grief over the genocide of unarmed Palestinians, especially the massacre of children, in Gaza and the West Bank,” Kakar said in his nationally televised announcement.
“Given...
Categories: Iraq
US Sanctions Money Network Tied to Houthi Blamed for Red Sea Attacks
WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of money exchange services from Yemen and Turkey alleged to be helping provide money to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been attacking commercial ships in the southern Red Sea.
Included in the sanctions are the head of a financial intermediary in Sana'a, Yemen, along with three exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey. The U.S. Treasury alleges that the people and firms helped transfer millions of dollars to the...
Categories: Iraq
Lebanese Analysts Concerned for Future Involving Hezbollah, Hamas
Amman — Analysts see the reappointment of Lebanon's army commander, Joseph Aoun, as a stabilizing influence that is key to keeping Lebanon relatively peaceful at a time of border skirmishes with Israel. It is not clear, though, whether he can keep Lebanon out of a conflict with Israel and avoid a growing Hamas presence in the country.
Lebanon's Parliament voted to extend Joseph Aoun’s tenure as commander of Lebanon’s army by one year on December 15. Observers say the move...
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Qatar Court Reduces Death Sentence Handed to 8 Retired Indian Navy Officers Charged With Spying
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Chain-Reaction Motorway Crash Kills at Least 10, Injures 57 in Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey — A chain-reaction crash Thursday involving seven vehicles on a motorway in northwest Turkey killed at least 10 people and injured 57 others, officials said.
The pileup occurred in dense fog and low visibility on the Northern Marmara Highway in Sakarya province, some 150 kilometers from Istanbul.
An investigation has been launched into the accident but Gov. Yasar Karadeniz of Sakarya said it likely occurred when a vehicle hit a truck in poor visibility, triggering other...
Categories: Iraq
On Foot and by Donkey Cart, Thousands Flee Widening Israeli Assault in Central Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Thousands of Palestinian families fled Wednesday from the brunt of Israel's expanding ground offensive into Gaza's few remaining, overcrowded refuges, as the military launched heavy strikes across the center and south of the territory, killing dozens, Palestinian health officials said.
On foot or riding donkey carts loaded with belongings, a stream of people flowed into Deir al-Balah — a town that normally has a population of around 75,000. It has been...
Categories: Iraq
Iranian Guards Vow Revenge Against Israel Over General's Killing
Tehran, Iran — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Israel on Wednesday that it or its allied groups would take direct action to avenge the killing of senior commander Razi Mousavi.
The general was killed Monday in an Israeli missile strike near the Syrian capital, according to state media, at a time of heightened regional tension around the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza.
The Israeli army, which has launched hundreds of strikes on Iran-linked targets in war-torn Syria in...
Categories: Iraq