Nina-iraq.com, nation building for Iraqi women launches this week
Nina-iraq.com is new magazine and webportal for Iraqi Women everywhere. In a launch that has coincided with the Iraqi elections, Nina is a sign of hope and strength that allows the international 5 million diaspora to connect back to support women’s economic empowerment in country. Free educational links, business building courses and mentoring support are […]
UNSC Commend Iraq on Successful Election
By John Lee. The United Nations Security Council have issued a statement commending Iraq on successfully holding parliamentary elections. The statement urges Iraq's political parties to follow up this success by forming a government as quickly as possible and "strengthen national unity." The statement in full: The members of the Security Council welcome the holding […]
New Dinars Have Improved Anti-Forgery Features
By John Lee. Iraq is introducing new Iraqi Dinar notes with improved security features, such as guarantee ribbons and the internationally used SPARK feature. The Central Bank of Iraq treasury director Ihsan Shamran al-Yasseri announced the move, noting that this was a positive step forward that would help strengthen the currency. The new notes, to […]
Onwards and Upwards for Iraq
Iraqis went to the polls yesterday in what has been variously described as "an important milestone in Iraq’s democratic transition," (Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) and "a powerful rebuke to the violent extremists," (US Secretary of State John Kerry). Preliminary results are not expect for a couple of weeks, and as it is generally […]
Northern Export Pipeline Still Closed
By John Lee. Iraq's northern Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline has been inoperable since March due to sabotage, while attempts to repair it have been curtailed due to ongoing insurgent activity. Deputy prime minister for energy Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured) explained the urgency of the situation, noting that the area was secure enough to repair the pipeline, but […]
Rebuilding Iraq's Universities
By John Lee. Christopher Hill, director of research training and academic development at the University of Nottingham, has written an article based on his experience in university level capacity building in Iraq for academic journal The Conversation. Professor Hill points out the increased expenditure in rebuilding Iraqi universities, but posits that until more academics can be […]
Iranian Influence in the Parliamentary Elections
By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. For the first time since the fall […]
DNO Announce MENA Fellowship Fund
By John Lee. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) today announced the creation of the Middle East-North Africa Graduate Fellowship Fund underwritten by a $1 million gift from the Norwegian oil and gas company DNO International ASA. The fellowship will support qualified applicants who enroll at HKS through the Edward S. Mason Program. The internationally focused Mason […]
Iraqis Brave Violence To Vote
By John Lee. Millions of Iraqis went to cast their votes today as the country went into a state of lockdown for elections. Polling began at 7am and will close at 6pm. Previous elections in Iraq have been marred by considerable violence, while 50 were killed on Monday as Iraq's armed forces cast their votes. […]
Weekly Security Update 22 - 28 April 2014
By Constellis Consulting www.constellis-consulting.com A well-planned and extensive ISIS assault against political rallies and polling stations formed part of a predictable surge in violence as Iraq prepares to vote in the first elections since the US withdrawal. The scale of the challenge facing the ISF, as they prepare to secure the electorate who will cast their votes […]
Maliki Goes on Offence as Elections Approach
By Harith Hasan for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In an interview with the Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel on April 20, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki challenged his adversaries, who have been accusing him of becoming a dictator and monopolizing […]
Baghdad Key in Electoral Battle
This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. As a province, Baghdad has the biggest population and therefore gets the biggest share of representative seats in Iraq’s Parliament. And unlike in other provinces, the population is far from […]