At least 10 rockets slammed into a military base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops on Wednesday, security sources said, leaving one civilian contractor dead. The attack on the sprawling Ain al-Assad base in Iraq’s western desert comes after several weeks of escalating US-Iran tensions on Iraqi soil — and just two days before […]

Pope Francis, on a historic trip to Iraq, will on Saturday hold a hugely symbolic meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, seeking to deepen his cautious dialogue with Muslim leaders. The 84-year-old pope will visit the top Shiite cleric at his home in Najaf, the shrine city where Imam Ali, the fourth Islamic caliph and […]

Benedict XVI, who resigned as pontiff eight years ago, warned in an interview published Monday that Pope Francis’ historic upcoming trip to Iraq was “dangerous”. “I think it’s a very important trip,” the 93-year-old pope emeritus, who lives in a monastery in the Vatican City, told the Corriere della Sera daily. “Unfortunately, it comes at […]

Iraq on Tuesday hanged five people convicted on “terrorism” charges in a notorious southern prison, security sources said, despite an international outcry in recent months over the country’s execution record. The five men, all Iraqi, were executed in the Nasiriyah prison in Dhi Qar province, the only one in Iraq that carries out capital punishment, […]

By Udeme Akpan The price oil has risen to $60 per barrel in the international market as Iraq and Kazakhstan commit to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC oil cut deal. For instance, the price of Brent, usually used to benchmark other oil prices rose from $59 to the current price on February 8, […]