BAGHDAD, Iraq / BOGOTA, Colombia: Eighteen years since the US-led invasion of Iraq toppled the Baathist dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, a whole generation has come of age knowing only the system of parliamentary democracy built in its place. But as election day unfolds today, many young Iraqis still feel alienated from the political process and skeptical […]
Read moreA Mosul book cafe raises political awareness in the run-up to Iraq elections
MOSUL, Iraq/BOGOTA, Colombia: Taking a seat at the top table in Mosul’s Book Forum cafe one evening in September, political blogger Saad Amer introduced his two guest speakers, both independent candidates running in Iraq’s Oct. 10 parliamentary elections. This was the fifth such event organized by the Khutwa Club, a debating society that meets regularly at […]
Read moreSoaring drug addiction blights lives in Iraq’s war-shattered Ramadi
RAMADI, IRAQ / BOGOTA, COLOMBIA: Ramadi was liberated by Iraqi security forces in the closing days of 2015 after several months under Daesh control. Since then, the people of this war-shattered provincial capital 110km west of Baghdad have struggled to rebuild their lives in the face of severe economic hardship. After decades of war, occupation and […]
Read moreArab region trapped in vicious circle of conflict and hunger: FAO-led report
BOGOTA, Colombia: Conflict has been the primary driver behind a rise in hunger across the Near East and North Africa (NENA) since 2015-17, according to a report published by a coalition of aid agencies on Thursday, which also identified a wide gap between those Arab countries embroiled in hostilities and those at peace. The report, […]
Read moreIraq’s protest leaders forced into hiding by pro-Iran militia death threats
IRBIL/BOGOTA: Mustafa Makki Karim, 24, fled Baghdad for the relative safety of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region last year following a spate of death threats by pro-Iran groups for his role in the protest movement that erupted against government corruption and incompetence in October 2019. During the unrest that followed, the young activist earned the moniker […]
Read moreBurden of Daesh stigma weighs heavily on kin of Iraq’s defeated militants
NINEVEH/IRBIL/BOGOTA: Since the collapse of Daesh’s so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, many Western nations have been reluctant to allow the families of fighters to return for legal, political and security reasons. But the issue is equally complicated in the two war-weary Arab countries that the “caliphate” straddled while it lasted. More than three years […]
Read moreClimate change mitigation: What Saudi Arabia and Japan can learn from one another
DUBAI / BOGOTA: Late last year, Yoshihide Suga, the prime minister of Japan, unveiled a major policy shift, pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero and realize a carbon-neutral society by 2050. As Saudi Arabia launches its own ambitious environmental initiatives, experts say the two countries have much to learn from one another as both the Kingdom […]
Read morePope Francis’ visit provides moral support to Christians of Iraq’s Qaraqosh
QARAQOSH / IRBIL / MEXICO CITY: On a recent afternoon, Salah Hadi applied a coat of cement on a large ceramic tile and carefully pressed it into place. The 51-year-old’s home in the northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh is still blackened with soot after Daesh militants set it ablaze in 2014. But with long ancestral […]
Read morePope Francis’ visit brings Iraqi Kurdistan’s safe-haven status into sharp focus
IRBIL / MEXICO CITY: On a recent morning, as Sahar Ayoub gently turned the pages of her Bible, she contemplated the trauma that her family experienced when Daesh militants seized the northern town of Qaraqosh in the Nineveh governorate almost seven years ago. Originally published by Arab News She and her husband Ameer Bahnam were forced […]
Read morePope Francis’ visit to give hope and comfort to Iraqis of all faiths
ROME / MEXICO CITY: Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, will become the first pontiff ever to set foot in Iraq, where he hopes to encourage the dwindling Christian community to remain in their ancient homeland while also extending a hand of friendship to the Islamic world. Originally published by Arab News […]
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