FIFA Bans Iraq from Hosting Friendlies
By John Lee. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has again barred Iraq from hosting international football friendlies because of the upsurge in violence in the country. Fox News reports that the move comes just three months after the governing body of world football (soccer) gave Baghdad the go-ahead. A spokesman for the Iraqi Football […]
Drug Use Spreads Among Iraqi Youth
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The negative effects of illegal drugs in Iraq are becoming more apparent. Iraq is being transformed from a country that exports drugs to the Arabian Gulf into a consumer of them. […]
Weekly Security Update 26 June - 04 July 2013
By Tom Walker, Director, Assaye Risk COUNTRY OVERVIEW This week saw no huge changes in the security situation other than a marginal increase in the number of high impact bombings and a slight geographical shift south. We continue to see pervading levels of daily violence with significant numbers of fatalities and wounding’s. The number […]
What will Chapter VII Mean for You?
As was widely anticipated, the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed last week to move several outstanding issues between Iraq and Kuwait from Chapter VII to Chapter VI of the UN Charter. This effective normalisation of relations between Iraq and Kuwait has been broadly welcomed, with statements from US Secretary of State John Kerry and […]
Iraq Gets 1,026 US Armored Personnel Carriers
Using 1,026 M113A2 armored personnel carriers from the U.S. Army's Excess Defense Articles obtained through the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command's Foreign Military Sales program, and the refurbishment expertise provided by an Army Materiel Command public-private partnership, provided the means for the Iraqi Army to begin standing-up its planned six-division armored capability. "This was a […]
Interpipe Wins Preferred Supplier Status
Interpipe, the Ukrainian seamless pipe producer, has announced that it is installing a local support team to work in Basra following the company's approval from South Oil Company (SOC) as a preferred supplier. The announcement sees Interpipe appoint a new Iraq country manager, based in Basra, with immediate effect. Following several recent meetings in Iraq with […]
Stock Exchange Upgrades to NASDAQ Technology
The NASDAQ OMX Group has entered an agreement with the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) to upgrade its current trading platform. Under the terms of the agreement, ISX will replace its existing NASDAQ OMX platform (Horizon) with one powered by the renowned X-stream technology. The upgrade is expected to be rolled out by mid-year 2014. "We […]
UN Condemns Continuing Bloodshed across Iraq
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Martin Kobler, condemned in the strongest possible terms the wave of attacks that claimed dozens of lives across Iraq yesterday. “These devastating terrorist attacks once again targeted innocent citizens going about their daily activities, struggling to build a more hopeful future for themselves […]
METKA Signs $1bn Iraqi Power Deal
By John Lee. Greek construction company METKA, a subsidiary of the Mytilineos Group, has announced the signing of a $1.05-billion contract with Iraq's Ministry of Electricity for the construction of a combined cycle power station in Anbar. The deal involves the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a natural gas-powered plant with a capacity of 1,642 […]
China Shares $317m Pipeline Contract
By John Lee. The Wall Street Journal reports that the China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corp. (CPPE) and Iraq's State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) have secured a contract worth up to $317 million to build an oil pipeline from the Missan oil fields to the export terminals in southern Iraq. Over a period of 14 […]
Kurdistan Seeks Cinema Revival
By Abdel Hamid Zebari for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Over the past two decades, the citizens of the Iraqi Kurdistan region have refrained from going to movie theaters. Some of these theaters, which succumbed to neglect, have been demolished […]
Iraq Participates in International Nuclear Conference
Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, headed Iraq's delegation to the international conference on nuclear security (strengthening international efforts) currently being held in Vienna. The Minister gave Iraq's speech at the conference, highlighting Iraq's international obligations, laws and legislation issued on disarmament and non-proliferation, stressing the importance of strengthening the joint international cooperation frameworks to face up […]