Tag: Iraq

    ‘We breathe it in while we sleep’: Iraqi Kirkuk troubled by air pollution

    A nasty smell is spreading through eastern Kirkuk in Iraq, and residents are worried about the effect on their health from nearby industries, including oil facilities, Rudaw reports. “We don’t smell the nasty scent all the time, but sometimes we do. It smells like burnt crude. Our air conditioners pull the smell into our houses. […]

    Water crisis threatens 12 million Iraqis, Syrians: aid agencies

    Aid agencies working in Iraq and Syria on Monday issued a dire warning that more than 12 million people in both countries are losing access to water, food, and electricity because of a severe water crisis, Rudaw states. “The total collapse of water and food production for millions of Syrians and Iraqis is imminent,” said […]

    Party to Paris accord, can Iraq stop climate change turning fields into deserts?
    25 Aug 2021

    Let’s check the Rudaw story about the Garmiyan area in Iraq. It’s on the brink of an environmental disaster, desert eating away at what was once a rich agricultural region. Driving south through Sulaimani province, the snow-capped Zagros Mountains recede in the rear view mirror, and the hills subside into undulating rolls, lush green with […]

    The hunt for Iraqi Kurdistan’s elusive leopards

    Let’s get acquainted with the story about animal protection in Iraqi Kurdistan narrated by Rudaw. Korsh Ararat was sat at a restaurant in Sulaimani (Iraqi Kurdistan) on a February evening with a small group of friends. As at pretty much any casual gathering in Kurdistan, the main topic of conversation was politics. Korsh was a […]

    The life and death of Rebwar Gholizadeh, environmentalist, intellectual, PJAK fighter from Iraq

    Let’s check the story by Rudaw from a war-thorn Iraqi Kurdistan. *** Children and parents alike giggled as they played in a stream lined by weeping willow trees, a vein of life in a remote village otherwise slumbering in the overpowering late June sun. Nearby, a white Toyota pick-up truck carrying four plainclothes militants made […]

    Iraqi Sulaimani protests pollution, lack of drinking water

    Residents in Sulaimani province’s Tanjero area blocked roads on Sunday in protest of the lack of clean drinking water and essential services, Rudaw reports. “We don’t have water, we’re all parched. I have been in Tanjero for five years, it doesn’t have water, we buy water,” Nahida Mohammed, a protester, told Rudaw on Sunday. “Our […]

    Iranian Hawraman region welcomes UNESCO recognition

    Kurds of Hawraman, Iranian Kurdistan Region, welcomed the addition of their region to a list of world heritage sites as a golden opportunity to showcase the nature and culture of the area to the outside world, Rudaw states. Hawraman’s “culture, identity, geography and the beauty of its nature have been ignored throughout history. We never […]

    War, Mismanagement and Climate Change: Iraq’s Environment Pushed to the Brink

    I can almost hear the palm trees drinking the rain, Hear the villages moaning and emigrants With oar and sail fighting the Gulf Winds of storm and thunder, singing ‘Rain… rain… Drip, drop, the rain… A verse from ‘Rain Song’ by Iraqi poet Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (1926-1964) Water has been Iraq’s lifeline since the birth […]

    Landmines, wind, scorpions: Firefighters battle hazards to extinguish the flames
    03 Aug 2021

    The buzz of leaf blowers fills the air as a group of volunteers fights to contain and extinguish a fire burning in the Zagros Mountains. Others use branches to beat back the flames. No one is wearing protective clothing, and they leap back when the wind picks up, sending the flames racing through tinder-dry grasses […]

    Halgurd-Sakran: Iraqi National park and battleground

    Let’s get to know what Halgurd-Sakran National Park in the Iraqi Kurdistan region is, thankfully to Rudaw article. Keep in mind that the journalist describes nature in winter. *** Crystal clear, ice-cold water rushes through a narrow gorge, tumbling over rocks and under a rickety bridge. Cliffs tower overhead, the rock face of one side […]