Niqash: briefings from inside and across Iraq
u.s steps up social and cultural outreach
American troops have begun intensifying “humanitarian, cultural and social" activities across Iraq following their recent withdrawal from the country’s cities, marking a shift in strategy from the primarily military task by Haider Najm in Baghdad moredesertification destroys ninawa villages
Whole villages in Ninawa province are being abandoned as a result of drought and increasing desertification which is making life impossible for those who remain on the once arable land.
In particular, Al-Tal di by Adel Kamal in Mosul
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despite hardships, smuggling persists
When night falls, Othman Bayzi, a 35-year-old Iranian smuggler carries his illicit cargo on his shoulder and disappears. Every night Bayzi meets his fellow smugglers heading towards the border separating Kurdistan by Kamal Chomani in Erbil
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najaf's intellectuals and government officials unite
In years gone past the intellectuals of Najaf would hide away in fear of local authorities intent on quashing all forms of free expression. Today however, a dramatic transformation is underway and new ties of c by Faris Harram in Najaf moretwenty four hours of electricity in kirkuk!
The people of Kirkuk are today experiencing a new feeling, unknown across the rest of the country: they are enjoying the blessing of electricity day and night! For the first time since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 an I by Diaa al-Khalidi in Kirkuk morecentral bureau of statistics plans for new census
Twelve years have passed since the last Iraqi population census. Niqash met Mahdi al-Allaq, Undersecretary at the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Chairman of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), and asked him about the by Kholoud Ramzi in Baghdad moretv station stirs sectarian tensions
Over the last few weeks a Sunni satellite television station based out of the Gulf has begun attacking Shiites during its broadcasts raising new fears about sectarian tensions. The channel, named ‘Al- by Faris Harram in Najaf moregovernment launches attack on civil society
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have expressed concern over government attempts to control their activities, monitor their funding and curtail their independence. A proposed new law giving the governmen by Saad Salloum in Baghdad moresyrian kurds look for iraqi shelter
Iraq’s Kurdish Region is becoming a favoured destination for an increasing number of Syrian Kurds deprived of nationality rights by authorities in Damascus.
More than one thousand Syrian Kurds now survive in by Karlos Zurutuza in Dohuk
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