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Billions lost in the dark… Iraq shocks General Electric and Siemens with its governance chaos.

Forbes magazine highlighted the broader picture of Iraq’s failure to secure electricity, attributing the cause to instability, bureaucracy, and political fragmentation.

The magazine stated in a report translated by Shafaq News Agency that this issue transcends the borders of Iraq, and is related to the suffering of countries emerging from war and suffering from instability in their efforts to rebuild the simplest infrastructure despite possessing large natural and financial resources.

She added that the electricity crisis in Iraq is not just a story of a technical malfunction, but a story of differing expectations, explaining that the American company General Electric pledged to restore production capacity, while the German company Siemens promised to help build a state, but they both encountered the same obstacles: instability, bureaucracy, and political fragmentation.

Following the American invasion in 2003, there was devastation to the electricity infrastructure, as transmission lines were destroyed, substations were looted, and power plants were blown up, according to the newspaper, which noted that foreign companies stepped in to fill this void, while the government spent about $100 billion on generation, transmission, and distribution projects, yet power outages are a daily reality.

According to the report, peak demand currently exceeds 40 gigawatts, while actual generation rarely exceeds 23 gigawatts, according to the Ministry of Electricity and the Atlantic Council’s 2023 report on Iraq’s energy sector. It added that even when new capacity is added, distribution losses resulting from outdated equipment, theft, and mismanagement consume about one-third of the electricity generated.

He added that General Electric engaged with Iraq through a project-focused technology model, noting that contracts exceeding a total value of $1.2 billion covered modernization and maintenance of gas turbines, substations and transmission lines, including a $400 million contract to rebuild 14 electricity substations in Baghdad, Basra, Karbala and other areas.

As for Siemens, the report said it has taken a more comprehensive approach, combining technical development, workforce development, sustainable energy projects, and financial structuring to help Iraq obtain international loans, in addition to the company adopting small social and economic initiatives, such as health clinics and vocational training programs, in its roadmap.

He explained that Siemens had invested approximately $763 million in gas-fired power plants, turbine development, and new conversion stations, stressing that its vision was so ambitious that it was not limited to securing electricity only, but also included building Iraq’s capacity to manage and maintain it in the long term.

Nevertheless, the report emphasized: “Both approaches faced the same systemic obstacles, with politics, bureaucracy, and weak institutions frequently delaying approvals and redirecting funds mid-project. Even when turbines were installed or substations were commissioned, fuel shortages, transport bottlenecks, and poor operational management prevented tangible improvements in electricity supply.”

He pointed out that “Iraq’s electricity system is still fragmented, underfunded, and vulnerable to political instability,” explaining that rebuilding Iraq’s energy system is not just about bricks, wires, and fuel, but also about governance, how decisions are made and implemented, institutional capacity, technical knowledge, and coordination in order to turn plans on paper into electricity in people’s homes.

The report indicated that there is a gap between the promises of foreign contractors and the living reality of Iraqis, which highlights a simple fact: even the best technical solutions cannot succeed without institutions capable of managing them.

He noted that some might argue that the contractors bear the responsibility, and that if General Electric or Siemens had been more diligent, perhaps the energy crisis in Iraq would have been lessened, but such a perspective greatly simplifies the challenge at hand.

The report explained that weak oversight and political gridlock mean that even the most efficient foreign partners cannot overcome governance failures.

However, he pointed out that the underlying problem is that the electricity system is still almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels, with about 99% of its power coming from oil and natural gas, with a small percentage from older hydroelectric power plants.

Although the report mentioned the government’s announcement of its goal to produce 12 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, mostly from solar power, it confirmed that this plan has been largely hampered by funding gaps, land disputes, and bureaucratic gridlock, despite the start of a number of pilot solar energy projects in Karbala, Babylon, and Basra, which nevertheless meet only a small part of the daily demand.

The report quoted Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch as saying: “Reliable energy supplies are the foundation of a stable society, and therefore supplying large parts of the country with electricity is one of the most important tasks.”

The report concluded by saying that “the power outages in Iraq are not a technological failure, but a breakdown in coordination, governance and trust,” noting that General Electric and Siemens entered Iraq with ambitions to help, but they fell into the trap of a fragile system that prevented them from continuing.

He concluded by saying that “the lesson extends beyond Iraq, as infrastructure cannot outperform the institutions responsible for managing it, and until this gap is narrowed, even the best plans and glittering promises will dissipate.”

Shafaq.com

Central Bank of Iraq: Net currency in circulation exceeds 92 trillion dinars in one month

The Central Bank of Iraq revealed on Tuesday that the net currency in circulation amounted to more than 92 trillion dinars during September 2025.

The bank stated in a statistic seen by Shafaq News Agency that the net currency in circulation amounted to 92.185 trillion dinars in September, down from 93.090 trillion dinars in August.

The bank added that the currency issued by it amounted to 99.681 trillion dinars, while the currency held by banks amounted to 7.496 trillion dinars.

The bank indicated that the issued currency is the money that the state prints through the central bank for the purpose of circulation, and it includes banknotes of paper and metal denominations circulating outside the vaults of the central bank.

Shafaq.com

What has been happening on Iraqi websites in the past two hours?

Thousands of websites in various countries around the world, including Iraq, have been down for about two hours, with their return to service fluctuating, lasting only a few minutes at a time.

The outage also affected the “X” platform, where familiar error messages such as “Something went wrong” or “Internal Server Error 500″ appeared, and the homepage stopped updating.

In the United States alone, more than 18,000 complaints were recorded at the peak, while India saw thousands more complaints, especially from creators who were unable to access the revenue-generating dashboard.

The main reason is a widespread technical failure at the American company Cloudflare, which provides protection and website acceleration services to millions of platforms around the world, and among its major clients are “X” itself, in addition to ChatGPT and others.

Netblocks, an organization specializing in monitoring the internet, confirmed that the problem is purely technical in the Cloudflare global network, and is not related to any blocking or internet shutdowns at the country level.

So far, X or Cloudflare has not issued an official statement, but Cloudflare’s service status page shows that engineering teams are working on a solution with external providers.

Amazon, the world’s largest cloud computing provider, also announced that its cloud service had largely recovered after a widespread outage on Monday that affected a range of customers, including government agencies, artificial intelligence companies, and financial platforms.

The company explained that it had identified the source of the glitch in a regional gateway on the East Coast of the United States, and indicated via its status monitoring panel that “most requests should now be fulfilled successfully,” about two hours after the first update about the outage.

Amazon’s cloud computing service powers a large part of the internet, accounting for about a third of the global cloud computing market, meaning that any disruption to it has widespread effects.

Tottenham Hotspur also informed its fans via email that its online ticketing platform was affected, and a spokesperson for the UK tax authority (HMRC) indicated that the authority’s website was also down due to the problem.

While most technical glitches at large companies are quickly resolved, the interconnectedness of digital systems globally means that a failure at a single company can have catastrophic effects on the global economy. Last year, a faulty software update at the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. crippled air travel and disrupted systems worldwide, resulting in billions of dollars in losses.

Data from DownDetector showed that other sites, including the gaming platforms Roblox and Fortnite and the corporate messaging service Slack, also recorded an increase in user complaints about service disruptions that were potentially related to the outage at Amazon Web Services.

Amazon’s own services also faced problems on Monday, as user complaints about the Alexa voice assistant and the Ring home security system increased.

Shafaq.com

Al-Tamimi: The Federal Court’s decision to dissolve Parliament and transform the government into a caretaker administration is constitutional.

Constitutional law expert Ali Al-Tamimi confirmed on Tuesday that the Federal Court’s decision issued on Monday regarding the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the transformation of the government into a caretaker government is a constitutional decision, explaining that the authority to dissolve does not belong to the parliament itself, as some believe, but is based on Article (56) of the Federal Court’s internal law.

Al-Tamimi told Al-Maalouma News Agency that “the Federal Court’s decision came in response to a request for clarification regarding the expiration date of the current parliament’s term,” explaining that “the decision is based on the provisions of Article (56) of the court’s internal law, which makes it constitutional and effective.”

He added that “the court clarified that election day is the dividing line between the current parliament and the new parliament, and that the term of the current council ends on this date,” noting that “the court’s decision is final and binding on all authorities based on Article (96) of the Constitution.”

It is worth noting that the Federal Court issued a decision yesterday, Monday, to dissolve Parliament and transform the government into a caretaker administration, while affirming that the President of the Republic will continue to perform his duties as one of the two components of the executive branch until after the new parliamentary elections are held.

Almaalomah.me

New contracts for contractors… US forces redeploy at Ain al-Asad base

Security expert Qatari Al-Samarmad revealed on Tuesday that US forces have signed a new contract with Iraqi contractors to equip their forces at Ain Al-Assad Air Base, located in the Al-Baghdadi district, west of Anbar, days after the previous contract was terminated following the redeployment of their forces in the region.

Al-Samarmad told Al-Maalomah News Agency that “the American forces at Ain al-Assad base have signed a new contract with Iraqi contractors to supply them with large quantities of construction materials, building materials and other supplies, in addition to renewing the contract to provide food supplies such as meat and fish.”

He added that “these measures come as part of the preparations of the American forces to fully restore their position at the base after the recent evacuations,” noting that “the American forces terminated the services of about a thousand daily wage workers inside the base a few days ago, without providing further details about the reasons for these measures.”

He added that “the new contract includes extensive equipment, including construction and logistical materials, and comes after the return of hundreds of American soldiers to the base.”

He noted that “US forces had terminated contracts with a number of Iraqi contractors after reducing their troop presence at Ain al-Asad Air Base, but the new contracts with contractors came after the return of a large number of American soldiers,” stressing that “the contractors who will provide these services are subject to rigorous security vetting to ensure the integrity of the procedures.”

Almaalomah.me

The coordinating framework signs off on its status as the largest parliamentary bloc.

The Coordination Framework announced Monday (November 17, 2025), that it held its regular meeting, with all its leaders present, at the office of former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, stressing that the success of the electoral process represents a fundamental step towards consolidating political stability in the country.

The framework said in a statement that “the meeting opened with congratulations to the Iraqi people and political forces on the success of the elections,” stressing that “national cooperation is the main pillar for getting through the next stage.”

The framework stressed the importance of resolving electoral entitlements within the constitutional deadlines, considering that “adherence to these timelines represents a guarantee for an organized constitutional transition and respect for the will of the voters.”

He added that his political forces had agreed to consider him the largest parliamentary bloc composed of all his entities, and based on that, the framework began the procedures for nominating the prime minister for the next stage in accordance with the constitutional frameworks.

The framework indicated that it decided to form two leadership committees; the first concerned with discussing the upcoming national entitlements and developing a unified vision for managing the state, while the second committee will interview candidates for the premiership according to professional and national standards.

According to the statement, the meeting discussed extensively the criteria required for selecting the Prime Minister, in addition to the features of the expected government program, in line with the political, economic and service challenges, and in a way that meets the aspirations of citizens for reform, stability and development.

Burathanews.com

The Federal Court ends the term of the Iraqi parliament and transforms the government into a caretaker administration.

On Monday, the Federal Court decided to end the work of the House of Representatives and transform the government into a “caretaker government”.

The court stated in a document, which was received by Shafaq News Agency, that “the day of the general election to elect the new House of Representatives means the end of the term of the House of Representatives and the end of its authority to enact laws and oversee the performance of the executive authority in practice, and the transformation of the powers of the Council of Ministers from full authority to limited authority in managing daily affairs, represented by taking decisions and actions that cannot be postponed.”

On the ninth and eleventh of November, Iraq held special and general voting in the parliamentary elections for the sixth parliamentary session, as part of a democratic practice in the political process that emerged after 2003 through the overthrow of the former Baath regime by the forces of the United States of America and its allies.

Shafaq.com

Parliamentary Finance Committee: The 2026 budget may be delayed, and spending will be based on the 1/12 rule.

Jamal Kojar, a member of the parliamentary finance committee, confirmed on Monday that preparing the 2026 budget is possible, but its approval may be delayed until the middle of next year.

Kujer explained in his interview with Al-Furat News Agency that “the disbursement mechanism at the beginning of 2026 will be based on the Financial Management Law according to the 1/12 rule of 2023, as the budget of that year is the basis, while the 2024 budget tables and oil prices therein were built on the 2023 budget.”

He added that “the 2023 budget was the actual financial basis, while the disbursement mechanism in 2024 was merely a set of schedules subordinate to it.”

These statements come amid ongoing discussions of the financial framework for the coming years, and the government’s reliance on the 2023 budget as a primary reference for spending operations, while the public awaits the start date for preparing the 2026 budget and its financing mechanisms.

Alforatnews.iq

The popular movement announces its rejection of renewing al-Sudani’s term as Prime Minister

The popular movement for the Belt and Road Initiative criticized on Monday the actions of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani during his time as Prime Minister, stressing the need to remove him from office and not renew his term again.

The head of the movement’s organizing body, Hussein Al-Karawi, told Al-Maalouma that “Al-Sudani took steps that harmed the Iraqi economy by handing over the Faw port to an Emirati company that is considered the main enemy of this port, in addition to his insistence on establishing the Aqaba oil pipeline, as well as trying to obstruct the Khor Abdullah file and stand against the decision of the Federal Court.”

He added that “the popular movement will not allow any party, even if it is America, to grant a second term to Al-Sudani, as the movement will not stand idly by in the face of such trends at all.”

He indicated that “Sudani will not be prime minister for the next phase, especially after his stances and attempts to get closer to al-Julani and his participation in the normalization conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.”

Almaalomah.me