Shafaq News- Basra

Iraq's High Commission for Human Rights in Basracalled on the provincial government on Wednesday to order a full disinfectioncampaign at Basra Central Prison, where inmates are experiencing rising ratesof skin and respiratory illnesses amid overcrowding at five times thefacility's capacity.

The commission's Basra office said the campaign shouldcover all sections of the prison and inmates' belongings, with the facility tobe provided with sufficient disinfectants and cleaning supplies.

It also urged that the campaign be extended todetention facilities run by the Interior Ministry, particularly those operatedby the anti-narcotics, criminal investigation and intelligence directorates, aswell as facilities run by other security agencies.

Overcrowding at Basra Central Prison reflects abroader problem across Iraq's prison system, which human rights monitors andmembers of parliament have described as severely overcrowded. A 2024 report bythe parliamentary Human Rights Committee estimated that between 60,000 and70,000 inmates were held in fewer than 30 facilities nationwide, conditions itlinked to the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, asthma, and hepatitis.An inmate at Basra Central Prison died of tuberculosis that year while receivinghospital treatment.

Iraq has sought to ease the pressure partly throughits amended General Amnesty Law, under which tens of thousands of prisonershave been released, and by sending some drug users to rehabilitation ratherthan prison.

Read more: Iraqi prisons overcrowded, plagued by diseases

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Hundreds of medical and health graduates rallied outside Iraq's Ministryof Finance in Baghdad on Wednesday, caught in a bind that leaves them unable towork: barred by law from private practice until they complete governmentservice, yet still waiting for the state to hire them.

Iraqi law bars graduates of medical, health, and pharmacy colleges fromworking in the private sector until they finish at least two consecutive yearsof mandatory service and training in public institutions. Under the Law on theCareer Progression of Medical and Health Professionals, No. 6 of 2000, apermanent license to practice depends on completing that supervised period inhospitals and clinics run by the Ministry of Health. With few stateappointments coming through, many graduates can do neither.

Read more: Medics press Baghdad and Erbil for urgent action

The protesters urged the ministry to issue their appointment orders andfund their posts in the national budget, or else let them work privately. Largenumbers remain unhired, they said, even as hospitals and clinics are short ofmedical staff.

The demonstration followed several days of similar protests by earliergraduating classes outside the ministry, some of which turned into scuffles withsecurity forces.

"عيّنونا او اسمحوا لنا بالعمل في القطاع الخاص".. خريجو #المهن_الطبية_والصحية يتظاهرون أمام مبنى #وزارة_المالية في #بغداد#شفق_نيوز #العراق #اخبار pic.twitter.com/8npTamFoJT

— شفق نيوز - shafaq news (@shafaqnewsarb) September 9, 2026

The graduates said they would continue their peaceful campaign until thegovernment responded, calling for fair treatment of previous graduating classesand urgent action to clear the backlog of appointments.

Read more: Iraq: 250K graduates annually amid 20% youth unemployment

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Baghdad on Wednesday opened the first edition ofthe Dijla* International Shopping Festival, held alongside the BaghdadInternational Book Fair.

Noor al-Karam, the festival's media director,said seven countries are taking part alongside local companies, among them Egypt, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

The goods on display range from clothing,furniture, home appliances, and school supplies to food products and Iraqi-madeindustrial goods, al-Karam said, adding that spices, perfumes, and clothing haddrawn the most interest.

*Dijla is the Arabic name for the Tigris River.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

More than 11,000 employees in Iraq's civilianand security institutions cannot read or write, the Education Ministry said,putting the national illiteracy rate at 15.3%, or an estimated 6.5 million to6.9 million people.

These employees span both civilian and securitybodies, according to ministry spokesman Karim al-Sayed. Among civilianinstitutions, he identified the Oil and Electricity ministries as the mostaffected, while citing the Defense and Interior ministries and the PopularMobilization Forces on the security side.

The highest illiteracy rates were recorded inNineveh in northern Iraq and the southern provinces of al-Muthanna and Maysan.Baghdad had the lowest rate at 10%, with Erbil and Saladin also among thelowest.

The figures follow a ministry disclosure inmid-August that around 20,000 staff at the Ministry of Electricity held noeducational certificate, with Baghdad accounting for the largest share at5,768.

In April, the Ministry of Planning reported thatilliteracy among Iraqis aged 10 and older had fallen to about 15% in 2024, downfrom more than 20% in earlier years.

Read more: From educational pinnacle to illiteracy crisis: Iraq’s road to recovery

Shafaq News- Semnan/ Baghdad

Repeated attacks and threats against Iraqi students inIran’s Semnan have prompted Semnan University to grant them a month-longemergency break, while Iranian authorities investigate assaults at studentdormitories and in nearby streets.

Ahmed Mahmoud, an Iraqi student at Semnan University, toldShafaq News on Tuesday that the first incident occurred when two Iranian men,reportedly intoxicated, attempted to enter the male dormitory at night.Students prevented them from entering, but the men later returned with a crowdof about 150 people and attacked the dormitory, he recounted.

“Several students were beaten and suffered bruises to theirfaces, backs and other parts of their bodies before Iranian police intervened,”Mahmoud explained.

The following day, a delegation from the Iraqi Embassy andconsular mission visited the students and assessed the situation. Mahmoud saidthe delegation considered conditions under control, but the situationdeteriorated again the next night, when another dormitory came under attack,and Iraqi students were assaulted in nearby streets.

“Any Iraqi student walking in the street became vulnerableto being beaten or attacked,” he said, describing widespread fear among bothmale and female students.

Mahmoud also recalled an earlier incident in which fourIranian men assaulted an Iraqi student and stole his mobile phone two daysbefore the dormitory attacks. He expressed shock at the developments, notingthat Semnan had previously been regarded as one of Iran’s safer areas and that residentshad generally treated Iraqi students well.

The emergency break allowed many students to leave afterhalf of them had completed their midterm examinations, with others traveling toTehran, Iraq, or other provinces.

He urged Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi Embassy in Tehranto intervene to protect the students and ensure their safety.

Another Iraqi student, Ali Abbas, described a separateincident on Tuesday involving an alleged attempt to run over a group of Iraqistudents in Khomeini Square in central Semnan.

The students were preparing to leave the city on a rentedbus bound for Tehran when a taxi driver allegedly followed them through thestreets while shouting, “These are Iraqis, Iraqis.” Abbas said the drivernearly hit them in Khomeini Square.

He also reported that another driver struck one student onthe head with atawthiya, a club-like object, as the student tried toescape the incident.

Abbas urged Iraqi students to leave Semnan immediately andrejected rumors alleging that Iraqi students had been involved in sexualharassment. He also attributed the escalation to two Iranian men who appearedin an Instagram video and later mobilized people against the students.

Semnan University President Masoud Nasiri confirmed thatthree people, including a woman, became involved in an altercation with severalIraqi students before residents gathered at the scene and began chantingslogans unrelated to the original incident.

Police identified and detained those involved, Nasiri noted.Investigators subsequently determined that allegations against the Iraqistudents were false and unfounded.

“The Iraqi students had not committed any acts of harassment,”Nasiri stressed, adding that the allegations circulating against them did notreflect what had occurred at the university dormitories.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq, home to ancient Mesopotamia and some of the world's earliest civilizations, could turn its vast archaeological heritage into a major economic and tourism resource, but inadequate infrastructure, years of instability, and limited services continue to hinder its potential, tourism and archaeology specialists told Shafaq News, calling for a national strategy and stronger coordination among relevant authorities.

Ali Yassin, spokesperson for the Tourism and Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Culture, described Iraq's tourism assets as ranging from ancient archaeological sites and historic cities to traditional markets, handicrafts, music and cuisine.

Among its most prominent sites is Babylon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with remains dating back more than 4,000 years. Yassin highlighted the Ishtar Gate and the city's association with the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Ur, one of history's oldest Sumerian cities and traditionally associated with the Prophet Abraham, is home to its renowned ziggurat. About 30 kilometers west of Baghdad, Aqar Quf was a religious and political center of the Kassite dynasty, which ruled Babylon between the 16th and 11th centuries BC. Its surviving ziggurat stands about 57 meters high.

Read more: Discover Iraq: Baghdad, a city shaped by conflict and enduring hope

Farther north, Nineveh and Nimrud preserve palaces, temples and monumental reliefs from the Assyrian civilization, while Hatra, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Iraq's most prominent ancient, fortified cities.

That history is also concentrated in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, which Yassin described as a journey through roughly 7,000 years of Iraqi civilization. The museum, the country's official institution for preserving and organizing its archaeological heritage, holds an estimated 170,000 to 200,000 artifacts representing the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hatra and Islamic periods, distributed across 28 exhibition halls and stairway display areas.

Iraq's appeal, however, extends beyond archaeological remains. Old Baghdad, including Al-Mutanabbi Street, Al-Shorja market and Khan Murjan, combines history with a living cultural experience. Other cities, including Kufa, Wasit and old Basra, carry significant historical, Islamic, literary and philosophical legacies.

Yassin also pointed to Iraq's intangible heritage, from popular poetry and Iraqi maqam music to copperwork, carpets and Islamic ornamentation, alongside traditional cuisine shaped by generations of local customs and stories.

These assets, he explained, form part of a proposed national strategy to “develop tourism by capitalizing on Iraq's cultural and civilizational diversity and strengthening its profile as a historical and cultural destination.”

Archaeological researcher Qais Rashid described archaeological tourism as a vital part of the wider tourism sector, saying it could contribute to national revenues, development and investment alongside religious, natural and medical tourism.

He argued that Iraq possesses an exceptional civilizational legacy rarely matched elsewhere. Mesopotamia witnessed some of humanity's earliest civilizations and major developments in writing, law, agriculture, irrigation, temple construction, fortified cities, and the wheel, as well as early contributions to social organization and human rights.

Successive periods of instability, together with recurring political and financial crises, however, disrupted many efforts to build an archaeological tourism sector commensurate with Iraq's history, Rashid noted.

“Reviving the sector requires a secure environment, modern infrastructure and specialized personnel to manage archaeological tourism facilities,” he said, pointing to the need for green spaces, restaurants, hotels and recreational facilities, alongside better roads, airports and museums and easier procedures for obtaining tourist visas.

Read more: 150,000 archaeological sites, 556 tourists: Iraq's oil economy explains the gap

Because those requirements involve numerous state institutions, the researcher stressed that developing archaeological tourism cannot be the responsibility of a single ministry and “requires joint national efforts by ministries and other relevant bodies.” He proposed establishing a Higher Council for Tourism and Antiquities that would bring together all concerned authorities and report directly to the Prime Minister's Office, arguing that such a body could help stimulate tourism in general and archaeological tourism in particular.

The sector has already recorded substantial growth. Iraq's tourism income rose 25% to $5.7 billion in 2024 from $4.6 billion in 2023, while the Interior Ministry reported a sharp increase in Arab and foreign tourist arrivals during 2025 and early 2026, with Baghdad receiving the largest number of visitors. The Arab Tourism Organization also selected Baghdad as the Arab Capital of Tourism for 2025.

Religious travel, however, remains a major driver of visitor numbers. More than 22 million pilgrims took part in the 2026 Arbaeen pilgrimage, including around five million foreign visitors from 172 countries, according to official figures.

“Antiquities are a common bond among Iraqis and one of the strongest symbols of a shared national identity,” Rashid concluded. “Investing in this heritage goes beyond economics and tourism. It can strengthen citizenship and help raise generations that believe in a strong, united Iraq at peace with its history, its identity and others.”

Read more: Iran's collapse drains Iraq's religious tourism

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's Communications and MediaCommission (CMC) warned political analyst Abdullah al-Khuraybit on Tuesday over“unprofessional statements” and extended a media ban on another analyst, Aurasal-Hamad al-Mashhadani.

The warning followed remarksal-Khuraybit made on the talk show "Qabil lil-Jadal" (Debatable),broadcast on Al-Arabiya. On the program, Al-Khuraybit said Iraqis had long seenIran for what it was, while others were only now beginning to do so, anddescribed it as "madness in a bottle." He added that Iran had alliesinside Iraq who posed a danger, and that Iraq had spent eight years fightingthat threat on its own.

The commission also extendedal-Mashhadani's existing media ban by another 15 days.

"Any outlet that hosts himwould bear full legal responsibility," it said, urging broadcasters andtheir guests to keep to professional standards.

Read more: Can Iraq's free press survive its politically-tainted rulers?

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) on Tuesday suspended Sawt Al-Shaab on Iraq Al-Hadath television for 90 days and barred presenter Marwa Hashem from media appearances for the same period over violations of broadcasting rules.

A CMC order seen by Shafaq News said monitoring of episodes broadcast on September 1, 2, and 3 found violations of provisions covering “false and fabricated materials” and accuracy, integrity and transparency in reporting. The regulator also ordered the channel to remedy the violations and submit a formal apology within five days of notification.

Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad said he had filed a complaint against Iraq Al-Hadath and Sawt Al-Shaab a week earlier, accusing the channel of extorting his ministry and its partners. He also said that, in a separate case, an Integrity Court had established extortion involving the channel’s director and his team.

On September 7, Sanad announced the arrest of Iraq Al-Hadath presenter Qusay Shafiq, saying he had been caught “in the act” in an extortion case. Shafiq presents the channel’s talk show Min Al-Dawla.

A security source also told Shafaq News on September 8 that Iranian authorities had detained Iraq Al-Hadath owner Bilal Al-Maliki in Mashhad at Iraq’s request after preliminary statements by Shafiq. Iraqi and Iranian intelligence services were coordinating his return to Iraq for further legal proceedings.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

When Farah finished her degree in media studies in Baghdad, she did whatgraduates everywhere do: she sent her resume to newsrooms, companies andoffices, looking for a first job in editing, content or administration. Whatshe found instead was a shrinking set of openings, and a growing sense that thework itself was changing under her feet.

"I was looking for a way in, even at a modest salary, just to learnand gain experience," she said. "Then I started noticing that a lotof the jobs I was applying for could be done, in large part, with AItools." Tasks she had trained for- rewriting copy, drafting first versions,summarizing and organizing information- are now faster with software, she said,which has raised the bar for what a new graduate is expected to bring. A degreeand some writing experience once felt like a reasonable start. Now she feelsshe has to arrive already fluent in the tools.

Farah's experience captures a shift that specialists say is beginning toreshape Iraq's job market. The work most exposed, they say, is routine andrepetitive: data entry, administrative tasks, some accounting, archiving andcorrespondence, along with basic media content and parts of customer service.The change is gradual, and there is no sign yet of jobs disappearing at scale.The sharper risk falls on new graduates, who have long relied on theseentry-level roles as the gateway to experience.

Ali Karim, a technology specialist, said AI is already affecting thenature of office work in Iraq but that its impact remains incremental. Iraqiinstitutions, he said, may increasingly turn to automation to cut time andcost, trimming the need for some routine tasks even as new roles emerge arounddata, systems management and AI itself. “The decisive factor will be whether aworker can use the technology: those who pair professional skills with AI toolswill be better placed to hold onto their jobs.”

The point most of the specialists returned to is that these professionsare being redefined rather than erased. Nawar al-Saadi, a professor ofinternational economics, cautioned against calling it the end of clerical ormedia work. AI "redefines" such jobs, he said, and an employee whouses the tools well may become more productive than one working the traditionalway, which will change hiring standards themselves.

Where the pressure shows most clearly is in new hiring rather thanlayoffs. Ahmed Eid, an economic researcher, said the greater danger lies inrecruitment: an institution that once needed several employees for a set ofoffice tasks may now manage with fewer once AI tools are in place. That addsstrain to an Iraqi labor market that already struggles to absorb the country'sgraduates.

Eid expects new opportunities to open for those who combine theiroriginal fields with digital skills, and argues that retraining will be centralto who finds work in the coming years.

Al-Saadi pointed to the idea of a "hybrid specialist": theaccountant who also understands AI and data analysis, the administrator fluentin automation, the journalist who uses AI tools while keeping the skills ofinvestigation, analysis and critical thinking. Iraqi universities, he said,have an opportunity to redesign these fields around a mix of academic knowledgeand digital ability, turning the fear of lost jobs into a capacity to createnew ones.

The Iraqi anxiety arrives as international data points to a wider shift.The International Labour Organization reported that global youth unemploymentedged up to 12.4 percent in 2025, about 67 million people aged 15 to 24, andnoted the decline of clerical and administrative roles that have traditionallycarried young people into the workforce. A Stanford University study coveringlate 2022 to mid-2025 found employment falling for workers aged 22 to 25 in theoccupations most exposed to AI, particularly software development and customerservice, even as it held up for older workers in the same fields.

The Budget Lab at Yale, which tracks the question closely, has foundthat since ChatGPT's launch in 2022, AI has so far changed jobs more than ithas eliminated them, with no clear economy-wide link between its use andoverall shifts in US employment or unemployment.

For Farah, the shift is already concrete: her degree alone no longeropens the door, and she is now trying to add the digital and AI skills thatwould let her compete.

Read more: Digital leap, analog floor: Iraq traverses the AI divide

Shafaq News- Saladin

A 16-year-old boy who died after alleged torture in Tuz Khurmatu, Saladin province, Iraq, had spent about 107 million dinars ($82,000) on TikTok and PUBG purchases, security sources told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations linked the spending to a family dispute that ended with the boy's alleged torture and death. His father and maternal uncle were arrested pending investigation.

Tuz Khurmatu had recorded five other recent cases of minors under 18 taking more than 50 million dinars ($38,000) from family homes for digital purchases in games and on social platforms, the sources added.

Social researcher Abbas Al-Bayati told Shafaq News that repeated cases reflected weak parental oversight and limited awareness of digital spending risks.

Read more: Iraqi specialists warn of technology’s psychological and physical risks

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity on Tuesday arrested the head of the property department at Tikrit Municipality over an alleged land-allocation scheme, seizing 94 municipal property deeds from his home.

The commission said the official worked with employees and transaction brokers to buy land-allocation receipts from citizens for small sums, insert them into allocation lists, sell the plots, and split the proceeds. Investigators also found cash in Iraqi dinars and US dollars, gold jewelry, small arms, a late-model vehicle, and citizen transaction receipts at his home.

A second property department employee was arrested after investigators found land-allocation files, ownership-transfer records, and other municipal documents at his home.

On September 7, the Integrity Commission announced arrests in Nasiriyah over alleged manipulation involving 104 high-value properties. In August, a separate Saladin investigation uncovered records linked to about 95 properties involving a detained deputy director of the Real Estate Registration Directorate.

Read more: Iraq’s Dawn Crackdown spreads through state institutions

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's Health Ministry needs at least nine trilliondinars ($6.84 billion) to cover debts and contracts and secure medicines andmedical supplies, MP Noor Adel, a member of parliament's Health and EnvironmentCommittee, told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

The requested amount is nearly twice the HealthMinistry’s entire 2025 spending of about 4.8 trillion dinars ($3.7 billion),according to a budget monitoring report. Healthcare accounted for roughly 2.4%of Iraq’s 200-trillion-dinar ($154 billion) federal budget, equivalent to about$78 per person for a population of 47.5 million, based on United Nations data.

Financial pressures were already evident in July, whenHealth Minister Abdul Hussein Al-Musawi warned of a “liquidity catastrophe”that had forced the government to prioritize salaries. Parliamentary healthofficial Adila Hamoud similarly cautioned that prolonged fiscal strain coulddeepen the crisis.

Demand for medical services has also grown with Iraq’spopulation, while damage from the war against ISIS continues to constraincapacity in some areas. Health and Environment Committee member ShahadAl-Hamdani told Shafaq News in July that more hospitals and primary healthcarecenters were needed, particularly in Nineveh, where several major facilitieswere destroyed during the conflict and have yet to be fully replaced.

Plans to expand capacity include 10 new hospitalsscheduled to open in Baghdad and other provinces over the next six months,Al-Musawi said on Sunday. The facilities will range from 100 to 490 beds.

Read more: Iraq’s healthcare system nears collapse: Doctors leave, hospitals overflow

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Security authorities will take firm action againstincitement and sectarian rhetoric regardless of who promotes it, GeneralAbdul-Amir al-Shammari, director of the office of Iraq’s Commander-in-Chief ofthe Armed Forces, stressed Tuesday.

During the first meeting of a committee tasked withmonitoring sectarian, ethnic and racial discourse, Al-Shammari highlighted thecommittee’s role in strengthening security and social stability, promotingcoexistence and preserving national cohesion. “The judiciary would have thefinal say on legal measures and rulings against those promoting sectarianrhetoric under applicable laws.” 

The committee chairman, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, saidthe committee would monitor and follow up on rhetoric containing sectarian,ethnic, or racial incitement in accordance with established legal frameworks.“The work aims to curb hate speech, support social security and reinforcenational unity.”

Earlier this month, the Security Media Cell announced theformation of a specialized committee to monitor hate speech and publicationswith ethnic, racial, and sectarian content in Iraq. 

Read more: Hate speech fuels divisions across Middle East

Shafaq News- Wasit

Farmers in Sheikh Saad district of Wasit province protestedTuesday over rising diesel prices and delays in receiving payments owed tothem, a Shafaq News correspondent reported.

The protesters blocked the highway using combine harvestersand agricultural tractors. 

#مزاعون في #ناحية_شيخ_سعد بمحافظة #واسط يتظاهرون احتجاجاً على ارتفاع أسعار "الكاز" وتأخر صرف مستحقاتهم المالية ويغلقون طريقاً رئيسياً بالحاصدات والجرارات الزراعية#شفق_نيوز pic.twitter.com/xFtrlOs8Vi

— شفق نيوز - shafaq news (@shafaqnewsarb) September 8, 2026

On Monday, parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committeemember Falih al-Khazali said farmers who had delivered their crops were owed1.5 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $1.15B), calling on the government toaccelerate payments.

Al-Khazali argued that the government would have movedfaster if the money were owed to foreign companies, for fear they could pursueclaims against Iraq internationally.

Farmers across Wasit have staged protests in recent monthsover delayed crop payments, wheat prices, irrigation water, fertilizer and fuelcosts.

Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Tehran

Iranian authorities detained Bilal Al-Maliki, owner ofIraq Al-Hadath TV channel, in Mashhad at Baghdad’s request followingpreliminary testimony from media figure Qusay Shafiq in an alleged extortioncase, a security source told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

Intelligence agencies in both countries arecoordinating Al-Maliki’s return to Iraq for legal proceedings. No furtherdetails have emerged about the allegations against him or the testimonyattributed to Shafiq.

A day earlier, Communications Minister Mustafa Sanadsaid Shafiq had been taken into custody, without disclosing the reason.

Shafaq News- Najaf

The Najaf Criminal Court sentenced two men to life in prison on Tuesdayafter convicting them of sexually assaulting a minor girl with an intellectualdisability, a judicial source told Shafaq News.

The source said the men forcibly assaulted the girl in an orchard on theoutskirts of Najaf.

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi doctors secured half of the first-place finishes in the Arab Boardof Health Specializations examinations, Health Minister Abdul-Husseinal-Mousawi said on Tuesday.

Al-Mousawi said Iraqi physicians claimed half of the first-place resultsacross 52 medical specialties, with doctors from 22 countries taking part inthe examinations.

Iraq has hosted several Arab Board examinations in recent months,including general surgery exams in Karbala and plastic surgery exams inBaghdad, with doctors assessed by specialized examination committees.

Shafaq News- Saladin

A teenager died after allegedly being tortured in TuzKhurmatu, eastern Saladin province, with his father and maternal uncle arrestedin connection with the case, a security source told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

Preliminary findings indicate that the incident, whichoccurred in the Al-Jumhuriya neighborhood, may have stemmed from a financialdispute involving transactions through the online game PUBG.

The victim, born in 2010, was transferred to forensicmedicine for examination. Security and judicial authorities are investigatingthe death and possible motive, but have yet to provide an official account.

Read more: "Technology addiction": Iraqi specialists warn of psychological and physical risks

Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Paris

Iraq joined a new international film alliance and agreed to deepencinema cooperation with France at the close of the Lumière Summit, a globalgathering on the future of cinema held in southern France on Monday.

On the sidelines, Aref al-Saadi, the prime minister's adviser forcultural affairs, discussed support for Iraq's film industry with FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron and the implementation of a memorandum ofunderstanding signed last October between Baghdad and France's National Centrefor Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC).

The Lumière Summit was the first of its kind devoted to the future ofcinema and the moving image, drawing more than 200 representatives from 55countries. France and South Korea, which co-hosted it, pledged one billioneuros over five years to support the global screen industry, according to AFP.

Shafaq News- Basra

Iran’s new consul general in Basra, Mostafa Tarfi,arrived in the province on Tuesday, outlining economic, security, cultural, andreligious tourism ties as priorities for his posting.

“Our two countries share deep historical and culturalties,” Tarfi told a press conference. He pointed to opportunities for closerIraq-Iran engagement, particularly in supporting development and economicgrowth.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry appointed Tarfi earlier thismonth to succeed Ali Abedi as consul general in Basra.

Read more: US pressure cannot halt Iraq-Iran trade

ShafaqNews- Baghdad

Iraq'sPrime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Monday ordered the Ministry of Finance toallocate permanent and contract positions for long-waiting graduates through theFederal General Budget Bill, based on the staffing needs of ministries andpublic institutions.

Thedirective came in response to requests from graduates seeking job opportunitiesthat would allow them to put their skills and qualifications to use during thecurrent government's term, al-Zaidi's media office noted.

Numerousjob-related protests have taken place across Iraq in recent weeks. On Sunday,graduates of Iraq's petroleum institutes protested outside the Oil Ministry inBaghdad, demanding government jobs, while engineers and science graduatescontinued demonstrations outside oil companies in Basra for a secondconsecutive week.

Read more: As protests multiply, Iraqis ask whether the street still moves the state

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s First Deputy Speaker Adnan Fayhan Al-Dulaimi onMonday urged Baghdad Municipality to halt the demolition or removal of homesbuilt on agricultural land, amid disputes over residential propertiesconstructed on areas not designated for housing.

Al-Dulaimi asked local governments to update cities’ masterplans, urban layouts and service networks or provide suitable housingalternatives for Iraqi families. He also called for an end to the clearing oforchards and agricultural land and their illegal subdivision into residentialplots, directing authorities to take legal action against those responsible toprotect farmland and curb unplanned urban expansion.

Iraqi authorities have launched campaigns to removeencroachments on state-owned land and homes built on agricultural property. Themeasures have drawn objections from residents, particularly those living in theaffected homes, who maintain that they purchased the properties from powerfulfigures under contracts between the two sides.

On August 28, Baghdad Municipality teams came under firewhile removing unauthorized housing structures in areas around Al-Dora, Karara,and Hay Al-Dijla in southern Baghdad. Brigadier General Hisham Mohammed Talaa,director of the Baghdad Municipality Police Department on the Karkh side, andsecurity member Khalid Abbas Lafta were killed, while four others, includingsecurity personnel and municipal employees, were wounded.

Read more: Al-Dora clash highlights Iraq’s 3.5 million informal settlement crisis

Shafaq News- Tehran

The Iraqi Embassy in Iran said on Monday that authoritieshad “fully” contained the situation involving attacks on Iraqi students andgranted the students a one-month break.

A joint delegation from the embassy and Iraq’s culturalattaché traveled to Semnan province to examine the circumstances surroundingthe incidents and check on the students. During the visit, the delegation metuniversity and provincial officials to address the aftermath of the incidentsand ensure the safety of Iraqi students.

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‏‎تمت مشاركة منشور بواسطة ‏‎سفارة العراق – طهران | Iraqi Embassy in Tehran‎‏ (@‏‎iraqintehran‎‏)‎‏

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi media figure QusayShafiq was arrested on Monday, Communications Minister Mustafa Sanad said,without disclosing the reason for his detention.

Sanad said Shafiq had been detained about an hour earlier, but provided no details about the alleged offense.”

The announcement followedSanad’s sharing of a post in which Shafiq accused the minister of favoring onecompany over its competitors through preferential treatment.

Read more: Judicial freeze: Iraq's new national 5G carrier on hold

Shafaq News- Semnan

Iranian judicial authorities have identified twopeople involved in a clash outside the dormitory of Iraqi students at SemnanUniversity and summoned them for questioning, Semnan Province’s chief justicesaid, as the investigation continues.

Mohammad-Sadeq Akbari, quoted by Iran's official newsagency IRNA, said the prosecutor of the provincial capital had ordered theinquiry after the fight broke out between residents and several Iraqi studentsnear their residence, and that efforts to identify others involved wereongoing. “Anyone found to have taken part in the clash or in disrupting orderand security would face legal action once the investigation is complete,” hesaid.

Akbari disputed some accounts of the incident, sayingreporting by what he called hostile media did not match the reality of the caseor the initial findings, and that the incident should be judged on officialreports and the authorities' further investigations.

Iraq’s acting cultural attaché in Tehran, HaidarNassar, said the clash began overnight when an intoxicated Iranian man enteredthe students’ residence and argued with several of them before returning with agroup of others, touching off a fight that Iranian security forces moved tocontain.

Iraqi Foreign Ministry also called for legal actionagainst those responsible.