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“Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces), the army, the police, and border guards started Mantaqat al-Forat al-Awsat operations in 8 directions on Wednesday morning to establish security in Jazirat al-Najaf and Sahra al-Karbala regions,” General Ali al-Hamdani, a commander of Hashd al-Shaabi participating in the operations, was quoted by the …

President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins in earnest Tuesday with a heated debate over the rules, which Democrats charge are an attempt by Senate Republicans to zoom through the process while covering up evidence and ignoring witnesses. Democrats are furious at the four-page organizing resolution from Senate Majority Leader Mitch …

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri says he does not intend to return to the premiership and head a new government, stating that he has moved on from the post and that he is not obstructing the formation of a new cabinet amid a deep financial crisis. “Analyses that say …

Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have agreed to extend negotiations on a dispute over a French tax on digital giants to the end of the year, postponing Washington’s threat of sanctions against Paris, French officials said Tuesday. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, speaking before a Brussels meeting with …

Mexican forces have fired tear gas at hundreds of Central American refugees as they tried to force their way through the Mexico-Guatemala border after the Mexican government rejected their request to transit toward the United States. The refugees waded across a river into Mexico on Monday in a chaotic scramble …

A winter storm lashing much of Spain has left 200,000 people without electricity, closed down schools and blocked roads A winter storm lashed much of Spain for a third day Tuesday, leaving 200,000 people without electricity, schools closed and roads blocked by snow as it killed four people. Massive waves …

The world’s billionaires have doubled in the past decade and are richer than 60 percent of the global population, the charity Oxfam said Monday. It said poor women and girls were at the bottom of the scale, putting in “12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day,” …

Asian countries on Tuesday ramped up measures to block the spread of a new virus as the death toll in China rose to six and the number of cases jumped to almost 300, raising concerns in the middle of a major holiday travel rush. From Australia to Thailand and as …

“We will witness the end of the US forces’ presence in Iraq in the current year,” Ali al-Qanemi, a senior member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told the Baghdad al-Youm news website on Tuesday. He added that the parliament’s decision to expel the US forces is binding …

Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi on Tuesday denounced an earlier rocket attack in the vicinity of the US Embassy in Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone. In the early hours today, three Katyusha rockets were again fired at the Green Zone. Sirens at the US Embassy reportedly went off …

The move could be designed to assert Brussels’ control over the next phase of the Brexit process Trade talks between Britain and the EU will not start until a month or more after Brexit, the European Commission has said. The announcement puts additional pressure on the tight timetable for a …

The White House-released legal brief about President Trump’s impeachment trial was so irreverent of facts that a legal expert suspected that the President himself has dictated parts of it. The brief, released on Saturday, accused Democrats of violating the Constitution and attempting to reverse the results of the 2016 election. …

There are now 205 people confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV as it is being referred to after Chinese officials confirmed a spike in new cases over the weekend. This included one case in Shenzhen and two cases in Beijing, according to WHO China. South Korea …

According to the high-ranking official, the lawmakers are looking into obtaining weapons in exchange for Iraqi oil shipments Iraq has plans in store to send delegations to Russia, China, and Ukraine to discuss buying modern air defense systems to protect its territory from any possible aggression or violation of its …

UN Iraq Representative urges renewed push for reform, calls for demonstrations to remain peaceful With public demonstrations across many parts of Iraq in their fourth month, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, is urging a renewed push for reform and expressing concern about ongoing …

Oil production is reported to have stopped at the 70,000-BPD Al Ahdab field on Sunday, as security guards seeking permanent employment blocked access to the site. According to Bloomberg, the 50,000-BPD Badra field is also at risk of closure from Monday. Al Ahdab is developed by China’s CNPC, while Badra …

Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live rounds during clashes with anti-government protesters overnight and on Monday morning in Baghdad, wounding at least 13 demonstrators and prompting authorities to close key streets and thoroughfares leading to the city center, officials said. The violence is the latest since protests in …

The British government has announced plans for special events on the night of Jan. 31 when the country officially leaves the European Union but the country’s treasury chief has admitted that some U.K. business sectors will suffer as a result. Sajid Javid told the Financial Times in an interview Saturday …

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Al-Hakim, in a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al Safadi in Baghdad, has said that Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has been the cause of recent tensions in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump quit the nuclear …

Roughly 2,000 members of Turkish-backed Takfiri terrorist groups in Syria have reportedly arrived in Libya to fight on the battlefields in support of the embattled Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). Informed sources, requesting anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that more than 1,700 Turkey’s proxies, who have been …