• In Iraq and Lebanon, economic needs push protesters past sectarian divide

    In Iraq and Lebanon, economic needs push protesters past sectarian divide

    Oct 30, 2019 10:30 PM EDT

    ... political elite. Hassan Nasrallah is seen as a political elite. Nick Schifrin: Pesha, some of the fundamental reforms that the experts say are necessary in Iraq, cutting public sector payrolls, nurturing the private sector, liberalizing oil profits, is the government capable and willing to actually institute some of those reforms ...

  • News Wrap: Deadly violence, anti-government protests continue in Iraq

    News Wrap: Deadly violence, anti-government protests continue in Iraq

    Oct 29, 2019 10:50 PM EDT

    In our news wrap Tuesday, masked gunmen killed 18 people and wounded hundreds at a tent encampment in Karbala, Iraq. The bloodbath sparked one of the largest anti-government protests yet in Baghdad, where police fired tear gas. Also, Lebanon’s embattled prime minister resigned after nearly two weeks of mass protests in that country. Saad Hariri...

  • Masked gunman opens fire on Iraqi protesters, killing 18

    Masked gunman opens fire on Iraqi protesters, killing 18

    Oct 29, 2019 01:45 PM EDT

    In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry warned Iranians over traveling to Iraq during the demonstrations and asked them to postpone their trips until further notice, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Karbala is one of the holiest places in Shiite Islam, where Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad ...

  • Anti-government protests rage in Iraq, 7 killed

    Anti-government protests rage in Iraq, 7 killed

    Oct 26, 2019 04:29 PM EDT

    The protests against the Shiite-dominated government have been largely concentrated in Shiite areas. Some have also criticized Iran’s influence over the country. “Iraq is free. Iran out, out!” some protesters chanted in Tahrir Square. In the Shiite holy city of Karbala, a security official said demonstrators in a ...

  • U.S. troops leaving Syria can't stay in Iraq, Iraq's military says

    U.S. troops leaving Syria can't stay in Iraq, Iraq's military says

    Oct 22, 2019 02:06 PM EDT

    ... look like. Esper said he has spoken to his Iraqi counterpart about the plan to shift the estimated 1,000 troops leaving Syria into western Iraq. The statement by the Iraqi military, however, said that all American troops that withdrew from Syria have permission to enter northern Iraq's semi ...

  • Pentagon chief says US troops leaving Syria for western Iraq

    Pentagon chief says US troops leaving Syria for western Iraq

    Oct 20, 2019 01:54 PM EDT

    Esper said the troops going into Iraq will have two missions. "One is to help defend Iraq and two is to perform a counter-ISIS mission as we sort through the next steps," he said. "Things could change between now and whenever we complete the withdrawal, but that's the ...

  • In Iraq, concern that Syria chaos would bring back ISIS

    In Iraq, concern that Syria chaos would bring back ISIS

    Oct 16, 2019 07:41 PM EDT

    ... amid the chaos and cross into Iraq. Speaking to a group of journalists touring the Iraq-Syria border with him, Najah al-Shammari urged the Iraqi government to work quickly on sealing the border. "The Iraqi government should act quickly to close illegal crossings between Iraq and Syria," al-Shammari ...

  • Protesters' rage over 'income and bread' challenges Iraqi government

    Protesters' rage over 'income and bread' challenges Iraqi government

    Oct 08, 2019 10:40 PM EDT

    ... assumed office last year. Last weekend, Iraq's Parliament speaker met with representatives of the protest movement in an attempt to calm the unrest. And Iraqi authorities lifted a days-long curfew and Internet blackout on Saturday. Now Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi said he was willing to respond to ...

  • News Wrap: Iraq's prime minister tries easing protest tensions

    News Wrap: Iraq's prime minister tries easing protest tensions

    Oct 07, 2019 10:50 PM EDT

    In our news wrap Monday, Iraq's prime minister ordered his nation's army to leave a Baghdad neighborhood where dozens of protesters were killed or wounded this weekend. Also, a federal judge rejected President Trump's refusal to release his tax returns to prosecutors in New York. Then the president's lawyers immediately appealed, and a federal appeals...

  • Death toll in Iraq anti-government protests top 100

    Death toll in Iraq anti-government protests top 100

    Oct 07, 2019 01:37 PM EDT

    Some demonstrators arrived in rickshaws, which have been used to carry the wounded from the bloody clashes. The U.N. envoy for Iraq appealed for an end to the violence and called for holding to account those responsible. "This must stop. I call on all parties to pause and reflect ...