logo
Iraq asks Chinese firm to start Al-Sadr city project

Iraq asks Chinese firm to start Al-Sadr city project

Zawya05-05-2025
Iraq has asked the Chinese Shandong Construction company to start a project to build the new Al-Sadr City near the capital Baghdad.
Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani, who headed a meeting of the project's committee on Sunday, directed members to contact the Company to launch the project.
'Sudani gave instructions for the Chinese contractor to embark on the project after it completed its design,' the official Iraqi news agency said.
In early 2025, Iraqi officials said Shandong has been awarded Al-Sadr project, which includes the construction of nearly 11,000 houses.
Nearly 49,000 more houses are planned in Phase 2 of the project, one of several residential schemes planned by Iraq to tackle a persistent housing supply crisis.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

India, China agree to resume direct flights, boost business links
India, China agree to resume direct flights, boost business links

Dubai Eye

time3 hours ago

  • Dubai Eye

India, China agree to resume direct flights, boost business links

India and China agreed on Tuesday to resume direct flights and step up trade and investment flows as the neighbours rebuild ties damaged by a 2020 border clash. The Asian giants are cautiously strengthening ties against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's unpredictable foreign policy, staging a series of high-level bilateral visits. The two countries would resume direct flights and boost trade and investment, including reopening border trade at three designated points, and facilitate in visas, the Indian foreign ministry said. Direct flights were suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The latest statements came at the end of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day visit to New Delhi for the 24th round of talks with Indian National Security (NSA) Advisor Ajit Doval to resolve their decades old border dispute. The border talks covered issues related to pulling back troops both countries have amassed on their Himalayan border, delimitation of borders and boundary affairs, the Indian ministry said. Both countries have agreed to set up a working group to consult and coordinate on border affairs to advance demarcation negotiations, a Chinese foreign ministry statement released on Wednesday showed. It said the mechanism will extend talks to cover the eastern and middle sections of the border. Meanwhile, another round of talks on the western section will be held as soon as possible, the ministry said. Beijing also said both countries agreed to meet again in China in 2026. "Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X after meeting Wang. Modi is scheduled to travel to China at the end of this month to take part in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - his first visit to the country in more than seven years. TIBET DAM A readout from the Chinese foreign ministry said Wang told Doval that "the stable and healthy development of China-India relations is in the fundamental interests of the two countries' people". The two sides "should enhance mutual trust through dialogues and expand cooperation," Wang said, and should aim for consensus in areas such as border control and demarcation negotiations. India said Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had underlined in his talks with Wang India's concerns with regard to the mega dam China is building on the Yarlung Zangbo river in Tibet. Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra as it flows into India and Bangladesh, a lifeline for millions. The dam would have implications for lower riparian states and the need for "utmost transparency" was strongly underlined, New Delhi said. To that, China agreed to share with India emergency hydrological information on relevant rivers on humanitarian principles, China's foreign ministry said. Both sides agreed to engage an expert-level mechanism on cross-border rivers, and maintain communication to renew flood reporting arrangements, the ministry said. Chinese officials had previously said hydropower projects in Tibet will not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies, but India and Bangladesh have nevertheless raised concerns. Earlier on Tuesday, an Indian source said Wang had assured Jaishankar that Beijing was addressing three key Indian concerns - the need for fertilisers, rare earths and tunnel boring machines.

US forces conduct raid in northern Syria against IS target
US forces conduct raid in northern Syria against IS target

Dubai Eye

time3 hours ago

  • Dubai Eye

US forces conduct raid in northern Syria against IS target

U.S. forces took part in a pre-dawn raid in northwestern Syria early on Wednesday that targeted a member of the Islamic State group, a U.S. official and a Syrian security source said. A second Syrian security source and Syria's state-owned Al-Ikhbariya said the target was killed as he tried to escape. It was the second known raid in northern Syria by U.S. troops since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December. The Islamist-led government that replaced him has pledged to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State and is part of an anti-IS alliance that includes the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group. It was not immediately clear who the Islamic State member targeted on Wednesday was. The U.S. official said he was a suspected high-value target. The first Syrian source said he was an Iraqi national and was married to a French national. It was not immediately clear what happened to his wife. The Pentagon did not immediately have any public comment on the reports. The operation began at around 2 a.m. (1100 GMT), according to the Syrian security sources and neighbours in the town of Atmeh, in Idlib province. Helicopters and drones provided air cover, one Syrian security source and residents said. Local Syrian forces set up a cordon around the neighbourhood but U.S. forces conducted the actual raid, the second security source said. Abdelqader al-Sheikh, a neighbour, said he was up late with his son and heard a noise in the yard next door. "I called out, 'who are you?' and they started speaking to me in English, telling me to put my hands up," Sheikh told Reuters. He said the armed forces stayed on the roofs of surrounding houses for the next two hours and that he could hear someone nearby speaking Arabic in an Iraqi accent. In July, the Pentagon said its forces had conducted a raid in Aleppo province resulting in the death of a senior Islamic State leader and his two adult Islamic State-affiliated sons. Idlib has been a hiding spot for senior Islamic State figures for years. U.S. forces killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the village of Barisha in Idlib province in 2019 and his successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, in Atmeh in 2022.

Markets can't afford to ignore Bessent's warning shot
Markets can't afford to ignore Bessent's warning shot

Arabian Post

time8 hours ago

  • Arabian Post

Markets can't afford to ignore Bessent's warning shot

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week made a comment that should have sent markets into deep reflection. Instead, it was largely shrugged off. He suggested that the White House's unprecedented revenue-sharing deal with Nvidia and AMD could be extended to other industries. This single line carries profound implications — and the muted reaction says more about investor complacency than anything else. The arrangement currently in place compels Nvidia and AMD to hand over 15% of certain Chinese sales to Washington in exchange for export licences. Bessent called it a 'model' and a 'beta test.' President Trump reinforced the idea by comparing modified chip exports to the downgraded fighter jets the US sells abroad. If this experiment were to expand to other sectors, it would fundamentally alter how globally active companies interact with the US government. It would rewrite rules of trade, supply chains, and corporate valuations. I said earlier last week that 'overstretched markets are vulnerable to precisely this kind of policy surprise.' We are in a moment where investors are pricing perfection — and a policy template that could be rolled out across industries is anything but perfect. It is disruptive, unpredictable, and open-ended. That should not be ignored. The danger is that investors are fixated on a single theme: the Federal Reserve cutting rates in September. Soft inflation data has all but convinced markets a cut is coming, with futures pricing a 94% probability. Some are even betting on a 50-basis-point move after Bessent himself called on the Fed to be bold. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow, Russell 2000, and MSCI All Country World Index all hit fresh highs on this expectation. In other words, global positioning has become dangerously one-sided. But markets built entirely around one assumption are fragile. Add a new industrial policy template into the mix, one that Washington could apply beyond semiconductors, and the spectrum of possible outcomes broadens dramatically. What makes the situation even riskier is that the rally is already thin. In a healthy, broad-based uptrend, earnings strength is visible across sectors. Today, it's selective. This leaves indices looking strong on the surface while being hollow underneath. When strength is concentrated and liquidity is light, as it often is in August, markets can turn violently. A handful of good sessions convinces traders a durable uptrend has formed, only for sentiment to collapse when the data flow turns against them. This is a textbook environment for sharp reversals. For investors, the critical point is this: Bessent's remarks are not idle speculation. They hint at a framework that could extend beyond chips. If that happens, global business will have to operate under a new set of rules overnight. Revenues, margins, and capital expenditure plans would all need to be reassessed. Cross-border investment flows would feel the impact immediately. The knock-on effects would not stay confined to semiconductors. I don't believe the market is prepared for that possibility. At record highs, optimism is being priced without much thought for what could go wrong. And it is precisely at these moments — when the headlines are euphoric, when positioning is crowded, and when liquidity is thin — that disruptive variables carry the most risk. This is not a call to panic. It's a call to pay attention. Record highs don't reduce risk; if anything, they amplify it. Investors should be reassessing exposure, rebalancing portfolios, and considering what happens if policy, data, or geopolitics break from the script everyone has chosen to believe. Chasing the last leg of this rally on the assumption that nothing can go wrong is the most dangerous move of all. Bessent has effectively fired a warning shot. Whether markets want to hear it or not, investors should be listening.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store