Several pro-Iranian parties promise to launch an appeal after early results show losses for parties with PMF links. Pro-Iranian parties and armed groups have denounced early results from Iraq’s elections as “manipulation” and a “scam”. Sunday’s parliamentary election – the fifth in the war-scarred country since the US-led invasion and …

At least four people were killed when a car bomb exploded in the Syrian city of Afrin on Monday, a medical source said, the latest such attack in the northwestern region that is controlled by Turkey and Syrian rebels it supports. The blast wounded another six people, the source said. …

Osman Touré was crying from the pain of repeated beatings and torture as he dialed his brother’s cellphone number. “I’m in prison in Libya,” Touré said in that August 2017 call. “They will kill me if you don’t pay 2,500 dinars in 24 hours.” Within days, Touré’s family transferred the …

The September 11 of 2001 was the beginning of wide developments which were aimed at countering terrorism and religious extremism by the US and its allies. The EU, as an important international player and in line with its normative policies and procedures, played a role in this country, while the …

When Saudi Arabia banned the import of Lebanese produce in April because these shipments were being abused to smuggle narcotics into the Kingdom, Hezbollah found itself with a problem. Following the collapse of the Lebanese and Syrian economies, Assad family mafiosi and Hezbollah set about remodeling their nations as narco …

Eighteen years since the US-led invasion of Iraq toppled the Baathist dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, a whole generation has come of age knowing only the system of parliamentary democracy built in its place. But as election day unfolds today, many young Iraqis still feel alienated from the political process and …

There has been a lot of saber-rattling in recent days on the Iranian side of their border with Azerbaijan. One analysis suggests three reasons: a joint drill by Azerbaijani, Pakistani, and Turkish troops, which occurred 500 kilometers from the Iranian border; Azerbaijani restrictions on Iranian truck drivers’ access to roads, …

President Biden has hit the road in an attempt to peddle the Democrats’ mega spending package—a package that originally carried an eye-popping price tag of $3.5 trillion. It now appears that haggling amongst the Democrats has dialed the advertised price tag down to $2.3 trillion or less. Or, at least, …

In March 2019, when senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farook was summoned by National Investigation Agency [NIA] and a ban was imposed on Jamaat-e-Islami [JeI], Kashmir’s Grand Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam was so disturbed that he gave a call for complete shutdown in Srinagar to register public anger against these decisions. Two …

As what remains of Islamic State crumbles, the would-be victors have started circling. In Mosul, Iraqi forces have begun preparing for peace in the city where the now-encircled marauders took root three years ago. Across the border in Raqqa, with five of its neighbourhoods under their control, Kurdish forces are …