Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi’s meeting with US President Joe Biden on Monday concluded with a joint statement announcing further energy co-operation, Covid-19 aid for Iraq and the end of US combat missions in Iraq.
Mr Al Kadhimi is presiding over a number of domestic crises and seeking wider international support to rebuild the country’s crumbling public services, which have faltered under years of conflict, corruption and mismanagement.
“Given that we’re all dealing with the Covid-19 crisis, and particularly Iraq has been hard-hit by Covid, we are delivering 500,000 Pfizer vaccines through Covax to Iraq,” a senior White House official said in a call on Monday, referring to the international scheme to provide Covid-19 vaccines to countries in need.
“In addition, $155 million in humanitarian assistance to support over 1 million IDPs in Iraq, announced by the State Department,” the official said.
There are still around 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Iraq following the war against ISIS, which is continuing, but wound down significantly following the defeat of the group in Mosul in 2017.
Since then, US and international Coalition forces have assisted the Iraqi government, in line with prior security co-operation agreements signed before 2011.
A small number of joint Iraqi-US combat missions against ISIS involving special forces from both sides concluded in 2019.
Aid commitments
Compared with previous high-level meetings between Iraqi leaders and US presidents, Washington's commitments following talks were limited, including an already announced delivery of Covid-19 vaccines and a $5.2 million contribution to UN election monitoring in advance of a national vote in October.
In comparison, last year the Export-Import Bank of the US (EXIM) announced that it would commit to fulfilling a $5 billion dollar Memorandum of Understanding with Iraq, following a meeting between Mr Al Kadhimi and Donald Trump in Washington.
Those funds were mainly to support existing US projects — particularly in the energy sector, where companies including General Electric, Exxon, Chevron and Baker Hughes were either implementing or seeking billions of dollars worth of contracts.
The US energy sector's involvement in Iraq was delivered a blow in April when US oil giant Exxon announced it was going to sell its 32.7 per cent stake in the Supergiant West Qurna 1 oilfield –one of Iraq's biggest – which it operated alongside a number of international oil companies, with PetroChina holding a share of the same size.
“Exxon Mobil is considering exiting Iraq for reasons that are to do with its internal management practices, decisions, and not because of the particular situation in Iraq,” Mr Al Kadhimi told reporters following his meeting with Mr Biden.
“When Exxon Mobil departs, we will not accept its replacement to be other than another American company,” he said, speaking through a translator.
Nonetheless, significant US participation in Iraq’s energy sector would continue, the White House said on Monday. Baker Hughes would begin work on a project first announced in 2017 and finalised in January this year, intended to capture and process gas from oil production for use in generating electricity.
Baker Hughes “will be breaking ground later this fall on a really historic project that has been many years under discussion, and we were finally able to get it over the line. And it’ll be a gas capture project … it’ll capture about 5.2 million cubic meters of flared gas every day,” the White House statement said.
The US has in recent years pressured Iraq to accelerate the capture of gas from oil fields, to use in place of gas imported from Iran.
This summer Iran has also suffered an energy crisis and has been unable to supply Iraq with enough gas to keep its power plants fully operational, causing power outages amid blazing summer heat.
Iraq and US company General Electric will also continue projects worth in excess of $2 billion to connect the Iraq and Jordan energy grids, in addition to implementing previously signed contracts to upgrade Iraq's power plants and ageing electricity grid, the White House statement said.
Aside from energy cooperation, the most touted announcement was a joint plan to end the presence of US combat troops in Iraq by the end of this year.
That was seen by analysts as almost entirely symbolic, given that the small presence of US forces is currently confined to training missions on sprawling, joint Iraqi-US bases.
“The two delegations also emphasised that the bases hosting US and other Coalition personnel are Iraqi bases and are operating per existing Iraqi laws; they are not US or Coalition bases, and the presence of international personnel in Iraq is solely in support of the Government of Iraq’s fight against ISIS,” the White House said.
The years Ramadan fell in May
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
CHINESE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2nd row
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
3rd row
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)
4th row
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Sergio Perez (Force India)
5th row
Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Haas)
6th row
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Force India)
7th row
Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
8th row
Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
9th row
Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
Lance Stroll (Williams)
10th row
Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
arcus Ericsson (Sauber)
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The biog
Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer
Marital status: Single
Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran
Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food
Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish
Website: www.liliane-tannoury.com
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
'Joker'
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: Five out of five stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final, first leg:
Liverpool 5
Salah (35', 45 1'), Mane (56'), Firmino (61', 68')
Roma 2
Dzeko (81'), Perotti (85' pen)
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
THREE
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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
more from Janine di Giovanni
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
