Iraq has officially reopened the Qaim border crossing with Syria for trade and passenger traffic, a spokesman for the Iraqi border authority said on Saturday, marking a key step in efforts to normalise relations and revive economic ties between the two countries.

Global airlines on Friday cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and other Middle East destinations, or rerouted planes, as airspaces

Non-essential American embassy staff and their dependents in Baghdad are evacuating from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources said on Wednesday.Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal,

Middle East leaders and their Western allies have been warning that Islamic State could exploit the fall of the Assad regime to stage a comeback in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where the extremist group once imposed a reign of terror over millions.

U.S. missions in Baghdad and Erbil are evacuating most diplomats in response to unspecified security threats, according to one former and two current U.S. officials.

Senator Saud Anwar remains stranded in Najaf, Iraq, following the closure of regional airspace in response to escalating Middle East tensions.

Tensions have escalated between Iraq’s central government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the country’s north in a long-running dispute over the the sharing of oil revenues.

In the mountains of eastern Iraq, a hunter stumbled upon a black-tongued predator. Instead of killing the dangerous animal, the hunter captured it to show to scientists — and for good reason. It turned out to be a first-of-its-kind record.

The order applies to all nonessential personnel in Iraq, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also allowing U.S. military dependents to leave the Middle East voluntarily.