Iraq is in a fragile state. Increasing water crises, desertification and climate change could magnify and drive greater instability and even violence in the future.
About 98 per cent of Iraq’s surface water comes from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries. Both rivers have had natural declining flows of water to Iraq and Syria for decades. But the flows have also been slowed down considerably in recent years by the development of dam projects in Turkey.
A large part of the area of Iraq that is on the border with Turkey is Kurdish, and Turkish-Kurdish relations have been fraught with difficulties for an exceptionally long time. Water is part of those tensions. The Kurdish areas plan to dam up more water, and that will cause tensions with the south.
At most, 6 per cent of water flows into Iraq come from rivers in Iran into the Tigris. Flows from the rivers in Iran have also been in decline due to damming and decreased rainfall there.
A weaker Iraq, of course, empowers Iran in its drive for hegemony and malign leverage in the region, particularly in the south of Iraq, where it is already influential. Because of deficits in energy and food, in part due to water stress, Iraq has had to increasingly import both things from Iran.
Water stress in Iraq has also increased unemployment in the countryside. About one quarter of the Iraqi population used to rely on agriculture for employment. As agricultural employment dropped, migration to the cities increased.
Rural-urban migration has increased resource and social stress on many Iraqi cities. As employment in farming and related industries is in decline, for many the temptation to go into illicit industries and criminal enterprises is rising. With enormous levels of youth unemployment, the problem is only made worse.
Ethno-sectarian conflicts, moreover, risk increasing as water becomes scarcer and desertification spreads. As water stresses get worse there could be significant increases in outward migration from Iraq.
Iraq’s bureaucracy is often sectarian and tribal in nature, which makes achieving positive changes more difficult
Increasing water scarcity has destroyed some communities. As one of many examples, the marshlands of the south that have largely dried up. Salt water is moving up the Shatt al Arab River and into the water table relied on for farming and drinking water. Depopulation has started as a result.
The once mighty river systems are no longer mighty. And that massive change affects the entire country’s livelihood, culture and security. The effects of water crises, desertification and climate change are shredding communities.
Climate change is clearly at work. Increased dust storms, lower and less predictable rains, and increasing temperatures made life exceedingly difficult for many. Evaporation of water in reservoirs, rivers, and on farms has increased.
Some of the problems stem from international issues, such as shared water coming into Iraq that other states seem increasingly less willing to share. The government in Baghdad no doubt understands that this is a major part of the country’s water problems, and popular anger towards the country’s neighbours is growing.
How does Iraq ask a water-scarce Iran and Syria for more water? How does it ask Turkey for more water when Turkey has banked the pacification and development of its restive south-east on massive irrigation and dam projects that reduce water flows to Iraq?
There are no effective solid, long-term agreements on water sharing with any of Iraq’s neighbours, even though there have been many attempts at this since the 1920s.
Turkey sees the Tigris and Euphrates as transboundary water originating from the same water basin in its country. Syria and Iraq see the Tigris and Euphrates as shared water systems. Iran sees the water in its tributaries flowing into Iraq as its own.
Among the most pernicious problems, however, is corruption. Iraq’s bureaucracy is often sectarian and even tribal in nature, which makes achieving positive changes on resource issues more difficult.
Better integrated water management could be a solution. However, that integrated system will have to take into consideration national as well as local and tribal issues.
The oil industry uses immense amounts of water, but Iraq is one of the most oil-dependent countries on the planet for its export revenues, government budget and GDP.
Another potential solution would be to look at water efficiency. This may include a move away from water-intensive crops such as wheat and rice. But there is also huge water waste from the way these crops are irrigated. Eighty-five per cent of the water use in Iraq is in agriculture to grow water-inefficient crops using water-inefficient irrigation systems.
There is also waste from ill-maintained municipal water infrastructure. But these amounts are nowhere near the waste in agriculture.
The problem extends into the quality of what little water is available. Diarrhoea, cholera and water-borne sicknesses occur all too often. Water quality and quantity are hygiene and health issues in many parts of the country. Those most affected by these are women and girls, the very young and the old. These groups must often walk long distances in some places to get water.
Better education and training on water issues are vital at all levels of Iraqi society. And better governance of water is required. More efficient and productive ways of using water, meanwhile, are essential, along with more productive ways of solving water disputes. The country is already in dire straits when it comes to its water supply. If nothing changes quickly, it will face an even grimmer and more forbidding water future.
Company%20profile
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
New Zealand squad
Tim Southee (capt), Trent Boult (games 4 and 5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Scoreline:
Cardiff City 0
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum 57', Milner 81' (pen)
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SPECS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
