Iraqi Street, Society
FOREIGN LABOUR IN BASRA: Uncertainty and lack of statistics give rise to local concern
By Saad Nazim in Basra // In mid-August this year, security forces in the Faw district arrested 23 Pakistani nationals after they allegedly arrived aboard an unidentified boat and disembarked near the Grand Faw Port, south of the city of Basra. The incident is part of a bigger problem in the southern part of Iraq:…
Climate, Iraqi Street
INVASIVE WATER HYACINTHS CLOGGING IRAQ’S RIVERS: But could the pest be put to good use?
By Murtada Al-Hudood in Dhi Qar // Dawn on the Euphrates River in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Fisherman Abu Hussein pushes his small wooden boat into the water. For years, he has made this journey, searching for the best place to cast his nets. More recently though, his fishing trips have changed. Large…
Climate, Iraqi Street
MYSTERY OF THE DOLPHINS OF SHATT AL-ARAB: Iraqi researchers call for better monitoring of marine life
By Saad Nazem in Basra // For decades, sailors navigating Iraq's territorial waters have regularly seen dolphins accompanying them on their journeys. Aysar al-Bahar, a sea captain who has spent more than 40 years on the job, recalls how groups of dolphins approach vessels and swim alongside them, sometimes even for longer distances. This still…
Climate, Iraqi Street
THE MARSH BIRD AND THE BUFFALO SKULL: A Maysan environmentalist fights for Iraq’s marshlands
By Mahdi al-Saadi // In the marshes of southern Iraq, local man Ahmed al-Saadi is known for carrying a buffalo skull around. He lifts it high during protests, public gatherings and environmental campaigns in an attempt to remind observers what the lack of water is doing to Iraq's distinctive wetlands and the creatures that live…
Iraqi Street, Society
HOT TEA, HUMOUR, GARDEN HOSE: How Baghdad locals adapt to 50-degree-Celsius summers in the city
This summer, as temperatures in Baghdad approach 50 degrees Celsius yet again, life in the Iraqi capital begins to follow a different rhythm. Streets that are usually crowded grow quieter during the hot afternoons, family visits are postponed until after dark, appointments are rescheduled, and residents search for ways to endure the long, increasingly heated…
Climate, Iraqi Street
WET, WARM AND WANTED: How water buffalo herding became an Iraqi Kurdish success story
By Salam Hanadni in Said Sadiq // On the Shahrizor plains, near the city of Said Sadiq in northern Iraq, four families farm around 500 water buffaloes — no mean feat in a place where summer temperatures regularly hit 47 degrees Celsius. Farming water buffalo is a very specific type of agriculture and requires a…
Climate, Iraqi Street
SWINISH BEHAVIOUR: How to deal with ‘rogue gangs’ of Iraqi marsh pigs terrorizing farmers?
By Alaa Koli // In Iraq's southern marshes, farmers are confronting a growing challenge that is changing daily life and agriculture: Wild pigs. There has been an increase in wild pig populations and, along with that, their potentially destructive behaviour. What was once a manageable animal in the wetlands has become a nightly threat to…
Iraqi Street, Society
HISTORY IN SONG: Visiting the largest private archive of Kurdish music
By Salam Hanadani in Hawraman, Iraqi Kurdistan // The moment the door opens, sound pours out. Melodies drift, notes are carried from a distant era, and shelves are crowded with cassette tapes and aging recorders, a vast musical memory that preserves decades of Kurdish artistic heritage. At the centre of this musical world is Ibrahim…
Climate, Opinion
MOURNING THE SHADOWS: A writer’s lament for the lost trees of a burning city
By Nagham Makki in Basra // I walk along the Shatt al‑Arab corniche to clear my mind and to take a few photos for one of the reports I’m working on. I search for a corner that might shield me from the unbearable summer sun but all I find are scattered palm trees planted along…
Iraqi Street, Society
TROUBLED WATERS: Al Faw’s fishing industry, caught between borders and war
By Saad Nadhim in Basra // Before dawn breaks over Iraq’s southern coastline, fisherman Ahmed al-Janoubi is already preparing for another journey into the Gulf. At 53, the father of five has spent most of his life at sea, in a profession his family has undertaken for generations. But these days, every fishing trip carries…
