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Iraq

Kurds cautiously optimistic about PKK’s ceasefire with Turkey

Conflict

For more than 40 years, the Turkish government has fought the PKK in eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and Syria. Recent efforts to establish a ceasefire between the Turkish government and the PKK raise new hopes for stability in the Middle East.

The iconic Al-Hadba minaret has been restored in Mosul

Religion

‘Second chance at life’: This rehabilitation center provides mental health care to orphaned children in Iraq

Health & Medicine

‘I have to work to help my family’: Child laborers in Raqqa face dangerous conditions

Shadow of ISIS
The exterior of the Ancient Church of the East in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2023.

A newly launched news channel in Iraq tries to preserve the ancient Syriac language

Language
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Salah Fareeq Al-Feroun's farm sits unattended without the necessary water to cultivate Iraq's signature anbar rice, Al-Meshkhab, Najaf Province, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2023.

Iraq’s signature anbar rice is disappearing amid water shortages

Food

Severe water shortages in Iraq are affecting the cultivation of the country’s signature anbar rice. The lack of water is being caused by a combination of climate change and geopolitics. The World’s Sara Hassan speaks with a farmer who can no longer grow the crop in southern Najaf province.

The shrines of Imam Husayn and his brother Aba Fadl Abbas in Karbala, Iraq, 2022.

‘I can get close to God’: Millions from around the globe participate in religious Arbaeen walk in Iraq

Sacred Nation

The walk culminates in the city of Karbala to remember the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Husayn.

people with boat

Parts of Iraq are drying up, impacting already vulnerable communities

Environment

​​​​​​​Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources has warned that the country is facing its worst water shortage in a century. It said 7 million people are experiencing reduced access to water. Shrinking water levels, rampant salinity and contamination have left communities with no choice but to migrate.

Ayyad Mohmmed Ali works on his farm where he grows date palm trees and vegetables, Iraq.

This startup is fighting to keep Iraq’s palm trees alive

The Big Fix

Decades of war, mismanagement and the impact of climate change have taken a toll on Iraq’s iconic palm trees. One group is trying to help change that.

app

Crowdsourcing morality: How an app allows the Iraqi government to arrest ‘indecent’ influencers

Digital and human rights activists say Ballegh’s very existence flies in the face of free speech provisions enshrined in Iraq’s post-Saddam Hussein constitution 20 years ago.

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