Latest from Iraqi News
Iraqi News
2 days ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
US Excelerate Energy seeks to equip Iraq with LNG import station
A senior Iraqi official told Bloomberg that US-based Excelerate Energy is one of the bidders in a tender to set up a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import station in southern Iraq. The acting director of Iraq's South Gas Company (SGC), Ali Salman, told Bloomberg that the Iraqi government, which seeks to reduce its reliance on Iranian gas to generate electricity, is in advanced negotiations with the US firm for an LNG import terminal at the Khor Al-Zubair port near Basra. Iraq has always relied on Iran for natural gas and energy supplies. Despite being a large oil producer, Iraq has historically seen high volumes of associated gas flared rather than captured. Iraq frequently experiences frequent outages during the summer months, when electricity consumption is the highest, due to Iran's unpredictable and inadequate gas and power supplies. In February, SGC's director Hamza Abdel-Baqi stated that Iraq will award a contract for the construction of a gas platform and pipelines that connect the facility with onshore pipelines to facilitate the delivery of gas to power plants in southern Iraq. To satisfy the demands of the country's power plants, the Iraqi government is constantly working to get gas supplies from countries other than Iran, in addition to its ongoing efforts to become self-sufficient in gas. Last October, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity and Turkmenistan reached an agreement to provide Iraq with up to 20 million cubic meters of gas each day. As previously stated by Iraq's Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali Fadel, the arrangement will assist in guaranteeing that Iraq's gas-fired power plants receive the necessary fuel.
Iraqi News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Iraq, Qatar urge for a stop to Israel's assault on Gaza
Baghdad ( – The Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, emphasized the need to put an end to Israel's assault in Gaza. During their phone conversation on Thursday, the two leaders discussed the region's political and security situation, as well as approaches to strengthen relations and collaboration between Iraq and Qatar in areas of mutual interest, according to a statement released by the Iraqi Presidency. While discussing the latest developments in the region, the two sides underlined the necessity of reducing tensions and promoting dialogue to resolve regional and international issues, therefore increasing the probabilities of regional peace and stability. Both parties underlined the necessity of putting an end to Israel's aggression and violations in the Gaza Strip, providing humanitarian help to the Palestinian people, and ensuring that the international community fulfills its legal and moral obligations in this respect. Since the start of Israel's war against Gaza in October 2023, the death toll has risen to 56,259, the majority of whom were women and children, with at least 132,458 wounded. According to Palestinian authorities, 5,936 Palestinians have been killed and 20,417 injured since March 18, 2025, when Israeli troops renewed their offensive on the Gaza Strip after violating a previous ceasefire deal.
Iraqi News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Syrian architect uses drone footage to help rebuild hometown
Tal Mardikh – Syrian architect Abdel Aziz al-Mohammed could barely recognise his war-ravaged village when he returned after years away. Now, his meticulous documentation of the damage using a drone helps to rebuild it. 'When I first came back, I was shocked by the extent of the destruction,' said Mohammed, 34. Walking through his devastated village of Tal Mardikh, in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, he said he could not recognise 'anything, I couldn't even find my parents' home'. Nearly half of Tal Mardikh's 1,500 homes have been destroyed and the rest damaged, mainly due to bombardment by the former Syrian army. Mohammed, who in 2019 fled the bombardment to near the Turkish border, first returned days after an Islamist-led offensive toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. The architect, now based in Idlib city, had documented details of Tal Mardikh's houses and streets before fleeing, and afterwards used his drone to document the destruction. When he returned, he spent two weeks carefully surveying the area, going from home to home and creating an interactive map showing the detailed conditions of each house. 'We entered homes in fear, not knowing what was inside, as the regime controlled the area for five years,' he said. Under the blazing sun, Mohammed watched as workers restored a house in Tal Mardikh, which adjoins the archaeological site of Ebla, the seat of one of ancient Syria's earliest kingdoms. His documentation of the village helped gain support from Shafak, a Turkey-based non-governmental organisation which agreed to fund the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 434 out of 800 damaged homes in Tal Mardikh. The work is expected to be completed in August, and includes the restoration of two wells and sanitation networks, at a cost of more than one million dollars. – 'Full of hope' – Syrians have begun returning home after Assad's ouster and following nearly 14 years of civil war that killed over half a million people and displaced millions of others internally and abroad. According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 600,000 Syrians had returned home from abroad, while around 1.5 million internally displaced people have gone back to their regions of origin. The agency estimates that up to 1.5 million Syrians from abroad and two million internally displaced people could return by the end of this year. Around 13.5 million currently remain displaced internally or abroad, according to UNHCR figures for May. In Tal Mardikh, Alaa Gharib, 45, is among only a few dozen residents who have come back. 'I lived in tents for seven years, and when liberation came, I returned to my village,' said Gharib, whose home is among those set for restoration. He is using a blanket as a makeshift door for his house which had 'no doors, no windows, nothing'. After Western sanctions were lifted, Syria's new authorities are hoping for international support for post-war reconstruction, which the UN estimates could cost more than $400 billion. Efforts have so far been limited to individuals or charities, with the government yet to launch a reconstruction campaign. Architect Mohammed said his dream was 'for the village to be rebuilt, for people and life to return'. He expressed hope to 'see the Syria we dream of… the Syria full of hope, built by its youth'.
Iraqi News
2 days ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
China hosts Iranian, Russian defence ministers against backdrop of ‘momentous change'
Qingdao – China hosted defence ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao on Thursday against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and a summit of NATO countries in Europe that agreed to boost military spending. Beijing has long sought to present the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed to strengthen collaboration between its member countries in politics, security, trade and science. The Qingdao meeting of the organisation's top defence officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes. It is also being held the day after a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders in The Hague, where members agreed to ramp up their defence spending to satisfy US President Donald Trump. Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun framed Thursday's meeting of officials in Qingdao, home to a major Chinese naval base, as a counterweight to a world in 'chaos and instability'. 'As momentous changes of the century accelerate, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise,' Dong said as he welcomed defence chiefs from Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus and elsewhere on Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua. 'Hegemonic, domineering and bullying acts severely undermine the international order,' he warned. He urged his counterparts to 'take more robust actions to jointly safeguard the environment for peaceful development'. Meeting Dong on the sidelines of the summit, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov hailed ties between the two countries as being 'at an unprecedentedly high level'. 'Friendly relations between our countries maintain upward dynamics of development in all directions,' he said. China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in Russia's war with Ukraine, although Western governments say its close ties have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support.
Iraqi News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Iraqi News
The reluctant fame of Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza
Philadelphia – At a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hundreds of people gathered recently for a weeknight charity fundraiser hosted by a celebrity guest. The venue was not announced in advance due to security concerns, and attendance cost at least $60 a pop — with some spending $1,000 to get a photo with the host. Yet, the event was not a gala hosted by a movie star or famed politician, but by a photojournalist: Gaza native Motaz Azaiza, whose images of the Israeli assault following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas launched him to international recognition. Wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and gold-framed glasses, the 26-year-old boasts nearly 17 million followers on Instagram for his images from the war in Gaza. 'I wish you would have known me without the genocide,' Azaiza told the crowd, his voice faltering. Before the war, Azaiza was a relative unknown, posting photos from his daily life in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to his roughly 25,000 Instagram followers at the time. But as soon as the first strikes from Israel hit Gaza, he became a war photographer by virtue of circumstance, and his wartime posts soon went viral. 'As a photojournalist, I can't watch this like anyone else, I'm from there, this is my home,' Azaiza said. – 'I want to go back' – After surviving 108 days of Israeli bombardment, Azaiza managed to escape Gaza via Egypt, and he has since become an ambassador of sorts for the Palestinian territory, sharing the story of his people as the conflict rages on. 'Every time you feel like you regret leaving, but then you lose a friend, you lose a family, you say, OK, I saved my life,' Azaiza said. Before the war, Azaiza had been hired to manage the online content for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the humanitarian agency accused by Israel of providing cover for Hamas militants. This month, he is touring the United States to raise money for UNRWA USA, a nonprofit which collects funding for the agency. 'I can't handle this much of fame…it's a real big responsibility,' Azaiza told AFP from the fundraiser in Philadelphia. 'This is not me… I'm waiting to the genocide to stop. I want to go back to Gaza, continue my work capturing pictures,' he added. At one point he embedded himself in the crowd, posing for a selfie before shaking hands with donors. At the fundraiser, a UNRWA USA official solicited donations. 'Is there someone who wants to give $20,000? I would like to have $20,000. Nobody? Is there someone who want to give $10,000? I would like to have $10,000,' the official calls out. Once the call lowered to $5,000, five hands raised, and even more went up when asked for donations of $2,000 and $1,000. One of the donors, Nabeel Sarwar, told AFP Azaiza's photographs 'humanize' the people in Gaza. 'When you see a picture, when you see a child, you relate to that child, you relate to the body language, you relate to the dust on their face, the hunger, the sadness on their face,' Sarwar said. 'I think it's those pictures that really brought home towards the real tragedy of what's going on in Gaza.' – 'A million words' – Veronica Murgulescu, a 25-year-old medical student from Philadelphia, concurred. 'I think that people like Motaz and other Gazan journalists have really stuck a chord with us, because you can sense the authenticity,' she said. 'The mainstream media that we have here in the US, at least, and in the West, it lacks authenticity,' she added. Sahar Khamis, a communications professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in Arab and Muslim media in the Middle East, said Gazan journalists like Azaiza who have become social media influencers 'reshape public opinion, especially among youth, not just in the Arab world, not just in the Middle East, but globally and internationally, including in the United States.' 'The visuals are very, very important and very powerful and very compelling…as we know in journalism, that one picture equals a thousand words. 'And in the case of war and conflict, it can equal a million words, because you can tell through these short videos and short images and photos a lot of things that you cannot say in a whole essay.'
