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Iraq

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Iraq. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Baghdad

Head of State

President Abdul Latif Rashid

Head of Government

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani

Donald Trump

Trump suggests Iran, Israel need ‘to fight it out’ to reach a deal

US president also said the United States ‘could get involved’ in the Iran-Israel conflict.

1 hour ago

Israel-Gaza war

Iran tells mediators it will not negotiate ‘while under attack’: official

2 minutes ago

Middle East

US pulling some personnel from Middle East as Iran tensions rise

12 Jun 2025 - 3:11PM

Germany

Man drives into crowd in Germany, injuring own wife, daughter and 3 others

Police suspect the driver, a 48-year-old Iraqi national, may have been involved in a child custody dispute.

8 Jun 2025 - 3:39AM

A damaged car is photographed after a man drove into a group of people in Passau, Germany, on Saturday. Photo: dpa

Middle East

Opec+ agrees on sharp increase in July oil production to deepen price slump

The organisation will raise output by 411,000 barrels a day for the third month in a row, as it doubles down on policy shift.

31 May 2025 - 7:25PM

United States

Bernard Kerik, New York police chief through 9/11, dead at 69

Bernard Kerik led the NYPD before going to prison and a getting a pardon by Donald Trump.

30 May 2025 - 2:24PM

Consumers

China’s Pop Mart conquers Middle East with Labubu plush toys

The popular plush charm is not just trendy in the region, but also expensive, selling for US$109.

27 May 2025 - 11:11AMvideocam

Lisa from Blackpink is a fan of Pop Mart’s Labubu. Photo: Instagram/@labubuofficial

Middle East

Syrian government, Kurdish officials visit notorious prison camp

Kurdish-run camps in Syria’s northeast hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived links to Isis.

25 May 2025 - 3:47PM

Middle East

Syria on the brink? US warns of potential new civil war within weeks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Syria’s transitional government facing potential collapse, more war, and ‘country splitting up’.

21 May 2025 - 2:34PM

Syrian conflict

Syria’s rebel leader Sharaa’s path from global jihad to Trump meeting

The meeting in Saudi Arabia is a milestone for a man who joined al-Qaeda in Iraq around the time of the 2003 US-led invasion.

14 May 2025 - 5:56PMvideocam

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Elysee Palace in Paris on May 7, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Iran

Amnesty says Iran, Iraq and Saudi executed 1,380 people last year

The rights group said that drug-related offences accounted for more than 40 per cent of all executions globally.

8 Apr 2025 - 11:50AMvideocam

Activists protest against Iran’s “wave of executions” outside the European Parliament in Brussels in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Commodities

Will the free-falling oil price reorder the world’s energy landscape?

Brent crude, the global benchmark, tumbled 13 per cent through Thursday and Friday to just over US$66 a barrel.

5 Apr 2025 - 11:54AM

Britain

UK’s Starmer blames lack of joint action for surge in migrants crossing Channel

UK prime minister hosts London summit and urges nations to smash people smuggling gangs.

1 Apr 2025 - 11:15AM

Middle East

Kurds ponder future in Turkey, Syria and Iraq with guarded optimism

The mood among the Kurds has changed after Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan urged the PKK to end its struggle against Turkey.

28 Mar 2025 - 6:05PM

A protester holds a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a rally in Diyarbakir, Turkey, last month. Photo: Reuters

Middle East

Head of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria killed, Iraqi PM says

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai was killed by Iraqi intelligence members and US-led coalition forces, PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani says.

15 Mar 2025 - 12:17PMvideocam

Iraqi Army soldiers hold a flag of Islamic State after regaining control of a village outside Mosul in 2016. Photo: AP

Fame and celebrity

Who is Michael Trotter Jr, the ex-soldier impetus for a John Legend project?

Trotter grew up with music and used it to cope with hard times, but didn’t take it seriously until he rediscovered his passion when posted to Iraq – now The War and Treaty have conquered Nashville.

14 Mar 2025 - 5:02PM

Global South

Opinion | How the Global South can rise above the fray as the West fractures

Countries must seize this moment to promote an open, inclusive world order grounded in common interests and mutual respect.

11 Mar 2025 - 8:30PMvideocam

Middle East

Trump administration ends Iraq’s waiver to buy Iranian electricity

The US aims to isolate Iran from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenues to slow Tehran’s development of a nuclear weapon.

9 Mar 2025 - 4:18PM

A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf. Photo: Reuters

Middle East

Kurdish militants declare ceasefire, heeding jailed leader

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party declared an immediate ceasefire in a step toward ending a 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state.

1 Mar 2025 - 8:24PM

United States

My Take | More shameless interference from the US in Hong Kong affairs

From threatening other nations to bulldozing state power at home, America should take care of its own mess before messing with others.

1 Mar 2025 - 2:10AM

Hong Kong society

North Korea, Iraq holiday? Hongkongers seek unique getaways, insiders say

Industry representatives at four-day holiday expo say there is rising interest in off-the-beaten-path travel.

20 Feb 2025 - 10:49PM

People wear ethnic outfits at the Hong Kong Holiday and Travel Expo. Photo: Dickson Lee

Middle East

Turkish pro-Kurd MPs meet veteran Kurdish leader in Iraq

The Turkish delegation visited Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, near Arbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

16 Feb 2025 - 11:28PM

Members of the left-wing nationalist Turkish Youth Union (TGB) during a protest against the new solution process to be carried out with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in Istanbul on Sunday. Photo: AFp

Middle East

‘New era’: Iraq PM says he will sign security deal with Britain

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani touts Iraq-UK ties in London visit, will sign security and strategic partnership deals.

14 Jan 2025 - 12:39PMvideocam

History

Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, Iraq’s historic treasures become whole again

Archaeologists are painstakingly putting together artefacts at Nimrud shattered by Islamic State jihadists, undaunted by the colossal task.

12 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM

Trending in China

‘Living in paradise’: Iraqi shares love for China after fleeing war-torn homeland

Man takes refuge from war in country, forges careers in acting, modelling before learning Mandarin, attracting huge audience with food reviews.

9 Jan 2025 - 10:41AM

A man who fled war-torn Iraq in the 1990s to forge a new life in China has attracted a massive online following with food reviews from across the nation. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin

Israel-Gaza war

Opinion | The West and the rest: how genocide in Gaza will usher in the end of ‘his-story’

The breach of international laws by the West has led non-Western countries to seek new global historical narratives and tell ‘our-stories’.

4 Jan 2025 - 12:00PM

Houses in the northern Gaza Strip stand badly damaged last month after Israeli military operations. Photo: Reuters

Terrorism

FBI says New Orleans truck attacker acted alone, was ‘100% inspired’ by Isis

Investigators seek clues to Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s path to radicalisation following deadly New Orleans rampage.

3 Jan 2025 - 2:42PMvideocam

Middle East

Turkey’s pro-Kurd party to meet jailed PKK leader on Saturday

Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul.

28 Dec 2024 - 7:30PM

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