Iraq Showbiz Latest News and Updates

EXCLUSIVE: William Baldwin, Xander Berkeley, Ashanti and Beverly D’Angelo are among a raft of stars getting behind the upcoming drama No Address about a community of homeless people fighting eviction from their encampment.

Prince William has made his first visit to the Welsh Guards since becoming Colonel of the Regiment, earlier attending the Guard's St David's Day Parade in Windsor. Addressing the gathered guards and members of the public, the Prince of Wales began: "Regimental Lieutenant Colonel, Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Guardsmen of the Welsh Guards.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The wave of protests sparked across Iran by the death of Mahsa Amini by Iranian morality police in September came amid a banner year for Iranian cinema.  But as 2023 kicks off, more than 500 people who have protested her death and called for justice have been killed while prominent members of the Iranian film industry were either arrested, put on trial or banned from making movies. The result being that the country’s cinematic community has largely ground to a halt.  Which raises the question: unless something changes, how many films actually shot in Iran will be surfacing on the international festival circuit going forward?  

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent   When the Iran-Iraq war broke out in 1980, director Sepideh Farsi was a high school student in Iran. At age 16, she was incarcerated for being an anti-Islamic Republic activist. Farsi stayed in her country until 1984 and then moved to France, where she experienced the second half of the conflict.  In her first animated feature, “The Siren” — which opens Berlin’s Panorama section — the Paris-based director revisits this war through the story of a 14-year-old boy named Omid, who decides to brave the Iraqi siege of Abadan, the capital of the Iranian oil industry. After opting to stay in the city with his grandfather and a bunch of other diehards, Omid and the others take over an abandoned boat he finds in Abadan’s port, which becomes their ark.

EXCLUSIVE: The Killing and Suicide Squad alum Joel Kinnaman is set to star in AR Content’s adaptation of John Nixon’s Debriefing the President. Kinnaman will star as former CIA analyst Nixon who wrote the non-fiction book about his experience of being the first American to identify and interrogate Saddam Hussein following his 2003 capture.

At least 1,300 people have died and 6,000 are injured after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday. Several buildings were destroyed during the 40-second tremor, with thousands of rescue teams working to free people still trapped under rubble.

Starzplay has announced its first Arabic-language original series, created in collaboration with Emirati content powerhouse Image Nation Abu Dhabi.

Kerry Sanders is retiring after 32 years at NBC News.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican party outcast as a member of the January 6th Committee, is joining CNN as senior political commentator.

Scottish ministers were concerned about NHS staff being “victimised as a group” after the Glasgow Airport attack, new papers show.

A formerly homeless Scots army veteran who toured in Northern Ireland and Iraq has hung up Christmas decorations for the first time in 14 years.

A West Lothian man is fronting a new campaign from a national mental health programme to help more veterans open up about their mental health.

Dozens of veterans were left out of pocket after being urged to switch safe pensions to riskier funds by a firm owned by Michelle Mone’s husband.

Barbara Starr, the longtime Pentagon correspondent for CNN, is departing the network.

Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film at the Red Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens.

Eder Flag in Oak Creek, Wisc. makes American flags – a huge number of them. More than five million a year, in fact. 

An Ayrshire Second World War veteran celebrated his 100th birthday with a surprise party and a special flyover from two former RAF planes.

Netflix’s Firefly Lane, starring Sarah Chalke and Katherine Heigl, has returned with the first nine episodes of its second and final season.

Dubai-based Middle Eastern exhibition giant Vox Cinemas has unveiled its first slate of original Arabic films, which it is producing under a commitment first announced in 2021 to make 25 films out of the region in five years.

Former paratrooper sergeant Ricardo Pallisco is set to enter the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest time to walk 100 miles carrying a rucksack weighing an incredible 100 pounds.

Laura Poitras’ Venice Golden Lion-winner  All The Beauty And The Bloodshed opens in three theaters today, testing a crowded specialty market at the IFC Center, Lincoln Center & BAM in NYC. It adds LA and San Francisco (AMC Sunset 5 & AMC Kabuki) Dec. 2.

An NHS Tayside doctor who fled Iraq has spoken of how he now splits his time between working in Iraq and Perth.

Just days after the horrific Colorado shooting, one of its heroes is opening up.

The United Kingdom swept the two marquee categories at the 50th anniversary International Emmy Awards, which here handed out Monday night in New York. Vigil took Best Drama Series, and Sex Education took the Comedy Series prizes.

A Scots dad's Iraq prison 'nightmare' is finally over after he arrived back home in Scotland to his 'buzzing' family today.

A Scots man locked up in Iraq for the past two months will have to wait for his homecoming after his flight home was delayed.

A Scottish construction engineer who has been held in jail in Iraq for the last two months will be reunited with his family tomorrow. Brian Glendinning, 43, will fly into Edinburgh Airport at about 5.25pm and will be greeted by his loved ones, following his lengthy ordeal.

A harrowing event. Denise Richards and husband Aaron Phypers’ vehicle was hit with a bullet after the pair were involved in a road rage incident, multiple outlets report.

The brother of a Scots man jailed in Iraq said he 'cried tears of joy' after finding out his prison 'nightmare' had ended.

A Scots dad who was jailed in Iraq has been released from prison, with his family hopeful that they will be reunited within days.