Iraq

CAIRO, Mar 9 (NNN-XINHUA) – A team of Chinese experts arrived in Iraq to help fight the spread of COVID-19. As the epidemic continued raging in the Middle East, Egypt reported the first death from the disease on Sunday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s parliament adjourned again on Sunday a session to approve the cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi because of a lack of quorum, state TV said.

Lawmakers had already on Thursday failed to agree on a new government, prolonging deadlock and delaying attempts to resolve unprecedented mass unrest and has stalled the country’s recovery from years of war.

Political infighting and alleged widespread corruption have crippled Iraq’s efforts to recover from two U.S. invasions, sanctions and the war to defeat Islamic State in 2017.

BAGHDAD, Mar 1 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Foreign Ministry, decided to suspend consular services for one week, over concerns of the COVID-19.

As part of the ministry’s measures against the spread of the disease, which can be transmitted as a result of human gatherings, the ministry will temporarily suspend the consular service, starting from today, Mar 1 to 7, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s parliament on Thursday adjourned a session to approve a new cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designated Mohammed Allawi, state television reported.

It said the parliament had failed to convene a quorum as many lawmakers unhappy with Allawi’s ministerial nominees boycotted the session.

The delay prolongs political deadlock after mass anti-government protests forced the resignation of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in November. He remains in a caretaker capacity.

(Reuters) - Iraq has extended an entry ban for any non-Iraqis coming from Iran, the prime minister said, as authorities in Tehran announced 15 more cases of coronavirus and a death toll of eight.

Baghdad had banned crossings by non-Iraqis from Iran on Thursday for three days and Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Saturday night that the ban would be extended. He did not specify until when.

“The prime minister ordered the ... halting of receiving travelers from the Islamic Republic of Iran except for Iraqis,” his office said in a statement.

19 Feb 2020; MEMO: A UN report stated that 45,000 displaced children in Iraq lack personal identification documents and that many of them do not receive education two years after the defeat of Daesh.

The report issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) indicated that about 45,000 displaced children are living in the camps, who lack personal identification documents, reported the Anadolu Agency.

(Reuters) - The top United Nations envoy to Iraq condemned on Monday the use of hunting rifles firing birdshot against peaceful protesters in Baghdad and urged the government to ensure they are not harmed.

Iraq faces an extraordinary domestic crisis as nearly 500 people have died in months of protests demanding the ouster of what demonstrators see as a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign interference mainly by Iran and the United States.

16 Feb 2020; MEMO: Iraqi foreign minister, Mohammed Alhakim, and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Nasser Al-Sabah, have discussed ending differences between their countries, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

BAGHDAD, Feb 16 (NNN-NINA) – Rockets struck near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, early on Sunday (today), with no immediate word on casualties and the extent of damage, local media reported.

Warning sirens across the diplomatic compound were heard and a huge plume of smoke was seen rising over the area, witnesses were quoted as saying.

It is the latest in a spate of such attacks.

On Thursday, a Katyusha rocket landed on K1 military base, that houses U.S. troops in Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk, without causing casualties.

(Reuters) - Several blasts hit a U.S.-led coalition military base in Baghdad early on Sunday from an apparent rocket attack, a U.S. military official said.

The official did not immediately say if the attack caused any casualties or significant damage.

Rocket attacks which Washington blames on Iran-backed militias have regularly hit near and occasionally on the U.S. embassy which is next to the base.