Iraq’s Parliament swore in dozens of new lawmakers on Thursday, replacing 73 legislators loyal to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, strengthening the power of rival Iran-backed Shiite factions in the assembly. According to Iraqi laws, if any seat in parliament becomes vacant, the candidate who obtains the second highest number…

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was designated on Thursday to form a new government, but faces a politically difficult path to agree a new cabinet as the country’s devastating financial crisis festers. Mikati, who has already served as prime minister three times, continues in a caretaker role until a…

Though Wallk is a Conservative rabbi and Cohn is Reform, they quickly realized they had much in common. Both loved prayer, and each had worked on revamping their movements’ new prayerbooks. In addition to having recently ended decades-long marriages, they were both parents, and each had lost a parent in…

Iraq could raise its oil production capacity to 6 million bpd over the next five years but no more than that because of constraints weighing on the industry’s expansion, the Deputy Prime Minister of the country, Ali Allawi, said, as quoted by Energy Intelligence, this week. Despite political troubles and…

This year, for the first time in its long history, Iraq’s Lake Sawa dried up. A combination of bad ownership by local investors, government neglect and climate change has turned Lake Sawa into a salty, flat area. The loss of Lake Sawa is only the latest addition to Iraq’s water…

The United Nations Security Council has a long-standing international travel ban on Taliban leaders, but that ban has been waived to allow for foreign powers to engage in peace and stability talks with the hard-line regime, which is cementing its grip on power in Afghanistan despite having no international recognition…

Russian forces have conducted a series of operations against the U.S.-led coalition in Syria this month, including one this week at a strategically located base in the southern part of the country, U.S. military officials said. The initial US assessment is the Russian forces were likely ordered to notify the…

Two members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division died as “martyrs” in Iran in separate incidents over the weekend, Iranian media reported on Monday. The deaths of the two men come as tensions remain high over Iran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers, and its uranium enrichment program that…

The Council of Ministers of Kuwait has announced a nine-day holiday for Eid Al-Adha, according to Kuwait news agency. The announcement said all public institutions, ministries and government bodies will remain closed from Sunday, July 10 to Thursday, July 14.