A Corkman who volunteered to fight ISIS on the front line in Iraq has appealed to the people of Ireland to help support efforts to thwart the spiralling crisis, writes Liz Dunphy of the Evening Echo.

A Corkman who volunteered to fight ISIS on the front line in Iraq has appealed to the people of Ireland to help support efforts to thwart the spiralling crisis, writes Liz Dunphy of the Evening Echo.

The costs of failing to defeat Islamic State are rising to intolerable levels, both in lives tragically lost and dollars destroyed. A look at the numbers available suggests that the consequences of not acting outweigh the risks of a full-blown military boots-on-the-ground conflict.

Iraq’s foreign minister has called on Ankara to co-ordinate with Baghdad in its military campaign against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq following accusations that Turkish forces crossed the border into Iraq last week.

Seventy-six people were killed and 212 wounded yesterday in a blast claimed by Islamic State, in Baghdad’s Sadr City, police and medical sources said.

An online image purports to show the beheading of a Croatian hostage held by Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate.

Hersh Tahir is speaking about the women who have been abducted and abused by IS but who have managed to escape.

Activist investor Worldview Capital Management has ignited a fresh war with Irish exploration firm Petroceltic, claiming the latter’s debt-raising plans put control of its chief asset at stake.

Irish exploration firm Petroceltic is set to raise $175m (€157m) in debt financing next month.

Irish exploration firm Petroceltic is expected to directly benefit from an anticipated increase of Europe’s importation of Algerian gas, being sought in a bid to counter Russia’s supply dominance.

T5 Oil and Gas — the Dublin and London-based exploration firm headed up by former Tullow Oil directors — is expected to take control of loss-making UK explorer Gulf Keystone before the summer.

Irish exploration firm Petroceltic has pulled out of Kurdistan, citing disappointing drilling results and the continuing low oil price environment among its reasons.

Cork-based Ali Raza is haunted by a childhood of expulsion and war in Iraq, writes Ellie O’Byrne

Exploration firm Dragon Oil has an official window of three weeks to put up or shut up regarding the prospect of a takeover of the Irish firm Petroceltic.

Dragon Oil has said it remains in "detailed discussions" with its backers over a proposed bid for Irish exploration firm Petroceltic.

Any pending formal takeover offer for Dublin exploration firm, Petroceltic from Middle Eastern player, Dragon Oil is expected by analysts to tempt other parties into a bidding war.

Obama is allowing himself to be drawn back into Iraq mostly because he doesn’t know what else to do, says Andrew J Bacevich

British intelligence agencies are "very close" to identifying the apparently English jihadist who beheaded American journalist James Foley, the UK’s ambassador to the US has said.

Petroceltic International has suspended its Iraqi operations and begun to evacuate "non-essential personnel" from the region on safety grounds.

US air strikes continued in Iraq yesterday as US Central Command said drones and jet aircraft hit Islamic State armed trucks and mortar positions near Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.

Hopes for the quick formation of a new Iraqi government have been dashed after the first session of parliament failed to make progress.

Petroceltic’s contentious $100m-share placing plan is expected to get the green light next week, on the back of the firm agreeing a major restructuring of its board with its largest independent shareholder.

Shares in Irish exploration firm Petroceltic fell by over 7% yesterday on the back of further negative drilling news from its operations in Kurdistan.

The drilling of unsuccessful wells in Egypt, Bulgaria and Romania resulted in Irish oil exploration company Petroceltic reporting a $19m (€13.8m) loss for last year.

Dublin-based exploration company Petroceltic International has forecast total production levels of 20 to 22 million barrels of oil equivalent per day for this year.

The founder and chief executive of Providence Resources, Tony O’Reilly, believes Cork could rival Aberdeen as a European hub for oil and gas exploration — if the county embraces the industry.

Irish exploration firm Petroceltic has begun a multi-well drilling round in the Black Sea region which will include the highly anticipated Shakrok-1 well in Kurdistan, which is targeting an estimated 650 million barrels of oil.

High-level diplomatic eff-orts are under way in a renewed attempt to locate the remains of murdered Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan and bring her killers to justice.

Margaret Hassan’s family refuse to give up their quest to find her killers, writes Caroline O’Doherty

Iraqi insurgents unleashed a new wave of bombings across the country today, targeting security forces and civilians and killing at least 12 people, officials said.

Irish oil and gas exploration company Petroceltic said it is on target to meet full-year production targets and will drill 10 wells as part of its enlarged portfolio over the next year.

Petroceltic has reported a pre-tax loss of $3.25 million (€2.6m) for the first half of 2012; shaving almost $1m off losses generated in the corresponding period last year.

Syria’s woes point to an irreversible weakening of Western supremacy, writes Jaswant Singh

Irish exploration company Petroceltic is set to take control of British oil exploration and production company Melrose Resources in a £165m (€210m) deal which will basically double the size of the Dublin-based firm.

Irish exploration company Petroceltic has been awarded two licences off the coast of Italy.

Dublin-based oil and gas exploration company Petroceltic is expected to achieve formal government approval for the future development of its headline Isarene/Ain Tsila gas field asset in Algeria by the end of July.

Years of conflict and violence have left an indelible mark on Iraqi citizens, their lands and their future. But it is the Iraqis’ resilience, and indeed their black humour, which strikes a chord with Political Reporter, Juno McEnroe

RANDOM bomb attacks and day-to-day violence continue to ruin the lives of Iraqi citizens.

REMOVING landmines and unexploded bombs from Iraqi lands is not the sole responsibility of international NGOs and donor countries.

Pehmerga soldier Chnor Sabir Karim on duty in Sulaymaniyah.

ADDING to the problem of wanton violence on the streets of Iraq are the increasing numbers of displaced families who are either returning home to lands once confiscated from them or from which they left due to terrorism.

THE Dublin-based exploration firm Petroceltic has expanded into Iraq, via a joint venture with US oil and gas company, Hess Corporation.

AN IRANIAN court held closed-door proceedings yesterday in the espionage trial of three Americans — two in custody and one freed on bail — whose 18-month detention has been the subject of impassioned family appeals and backdoor outreach by Washington through an Arab ally in the Gulf.