The US Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate General in Erbil remain “open and operating” despite tensions between arch-rivals Israel and Iran, with hundreds of ballistic missiles being exchanged, an embassy spokesperson told Rudaw English on Friday.
Israel has launched a “preemptive strike” on Iran and has declared a state of emergency, its defense minister said early Friday, after a series of warnings by US President Donald Trump that Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear sites.
The ordered departure of non-essential US personnel from Iraq also applies to staff at the US Consulate General in Erbil, the US Embassy in Baghdad confirmed to Rudaw English on Thursday, as regional tensions continue to boil over.
Residents of Erbil’s Christian-majority district of Ankawa are preparing to protest with renewed anger over “immoral behavior” that has gripped the town, stemming from the “unprecedented” number of brothels and nightclubs that its people say have ruined its tranquility.
The UAE-based Dana Gas announced on Thursday that a mega expansion project at the key Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani province is set to be completed early next year, ahead of schedule.
Two Assyrian Christians were critically injured in an axe attack during celebrations of Akitu, the Assyrian-Babylonian New Year, in central Duhok, well-informed sources told Rudaw English, with the assailant shouting “the Islamic State” while being tackled.
The Islamic State’s (ISIS) second-in-command globally and the group’s top man in Iraq and Syria was killed on Friday in an operation that was the culmination of two years of investigations and raids by Iraqi, Kurdish, and international forces.
The United States has rescinded a waiver allowing Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran as part of President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, the State Department said on Sunday.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani revealed on Wednesday that jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan will soon call on the armed group to disarm as peace talks with Turkey are expected to culminate in ending decades of hostilities between the two sides.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sunday said that it has struck an agreement with Baghdad to restart the Kurdistan Region's long-anticipated oil exports after the Iraqi government confirmed the completion of procedures.
A pro-Kurdish delegation that recently met jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan twice will visit the Kurdistan Region next week for talks on the Kurdish issue in Turkey as a historic call from Ocalan looms.
Erbil security forces on Sunday blocked striking teachers flocking to Erbil from Sulaimani to protest the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) inconsistent salary disbursements in the past decade.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday confirmed that Mazloum Abdi, chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is set to visit the Kurdistan Region, days after receiving the representative of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani.
The next Syrian constitution must guarantee the rights of the Syriac and Assyrian Christian minorities as the communities face an uncertain future with an Islamist group now in power, a party leader said on Saturday.
The United States late Saturday blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s “ongoing refusal” to comply with a UN ceasefire and political settlement as the reason for his army’s collapse in northern Syria, amid a brazen rebel offensive in the north against the regime.
London police on Wednesday arrested six people for “suspected activity” linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) amid an ongoing counterterrorism operation and searches at sites across the city.
Residents of an upscale project in Erbil are angry by the management’s decision to dispose of stray cats by allegedly shoving them into garbage bags, condemning the act as “animal cruelty” and calling for the decision to be annulled.
The Iraqi government on Monday announced it has submitted a letter of protest to the UN Security Council over Israel's "flagrant violation" of Iraq's sovereignty by using its airspace to attack Iran two days prior.
Turkey late Wednesday said it launched strikes against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the Kurdistan Region and Syria after blaming them for an attack that killed five people at a defense company in Ankara.
The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) emerged victorious in the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections and scored over 800,000 votes across all provinces, preliminary results from Iraq’s electoral body showed Monday. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and New Generation Movement followed.
The Kurdistan Region is set to head to the polls on Sunday to vote in its repeatedly-delayed parliamentary election with 1,191 candidates vying for a spot in the 100-seat legislature.
Iraq is at the “forefront” of Arab countries defending against aggression with Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon violating human rights and international law, an advisor to the prime minister said on Monday as Baghdad attempts to steer clear of regional conflict.
The UAE-based Dana Gas on Tuesday announced that its consortium Pearl Petroleum has begun legal proceedings against Enerflex, a gas industry supplier, over performance issues it claimed led to delays at a Khor Mor gas field expansion project in the Kurdistan Region.
The Turkish army has advanced 15 kilometers deep into the Kurdistan Region’s territory and carried out hundreds of strikes as part of its new military operation targeting Kurdish fighters, a conflict monitor said on Sunday.
A survivor of the deadly shipwreck off the coast of Italy decried on Wednesday that their screams for help were ignored by several boats that passed close by, with two capsized ships in the Mediterranean leaving at least 70 dead and missing.
The Kurdistan Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has informed Iraq’s electoral commission of its willingness to participate in the upcoming Kurdistan parliamentary elections, the commission told Rudaw on Sunday, paving the way for the vote to be held after repeated delays.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was confirmed dead in a Sunday helicopter crash in a mountainous region of northwestern Iran, state media said.
Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday doubled down on claims that the deadly Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) strikes on Erbil targeted bases of the Israeli intelligence despite Iraqi and Kurdish authorities’ categorical denial of such claims. His Iraqi counterpart strongly denied the accusations and condemned Tehran’s “aggression”.
