al-monitor | Makram Najmuddine |September 26, 2018

The most recent name to surface as a likely candidate for Iraq's premiership is Adel Abdul Mahdi, a former head of the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Finance and a one-time vice president of the country. Following negotiations said to have involved Hezbollah, Mahdi now appears to have the support of two on-again, off-again rival parliamentary coalitions: the Sairoon Alliance of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fatah Alliance of Hadi al-Amiri.

Rudaw | 23/09/2018 |

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The KDP has nominated Fuad Hussein, former chief of staff to the KRG presidency, for the position of president of Iraq.

A native of Khanaqin, Hussein has lived much of his life in Baghdad and the Netherlands. He has a doctorate in international relations and speaks Kurdish, Arabic, English and Dutch. 

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he was put in charge of revamping the country’s education curriculum. 

Rudaw.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US Vice President Mike Pence has condemned Iran’s missile strikes on the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish parties in Koya which killed and injured several political leaders and refugees on Saturday.

Foreignpolicy.com | By Peter W. Galbraith

Iraq’s Kurdish kingmakers used to side with Washington. Now, Tehran seems like a more attractive partner.

Jpost.com |  By Seth J. Frantzman

Iran has been fighting Kurdish opposition for years and in Iran there have been increasing clashes.

With Turkish-American relations souring, the focus should be on freeing imprisoned American citizens and the Turkish staff of the United States Embassy.

politurco.com | by David L. Phillips * | August 6, 2018

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered reciprocal actions against two US cabinet members, retaliating against a decision by the Trump administration to sanction Turkey’s Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for the imprisonment of Pastor Andrew Brunson. The Brunson case is just one issue polarizing US-Turkey relations. More than 50,000 people, including Brunson, are jailed for supporting terrorism after the botched coup attempt in July 2016. Three US consular officials are wrongly imprisoned for supporting terrorism. Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missiles violates NATO’s core principle of inter-operability. In addition, Erdogan helped Iran evade sanctions imposed to curtail its nuclear activities.

Nytimes.com

A prominent Kurdish politician, Selahattin Demirtas, once helped Turkey’s leader come close to ending the decades-old conflict with Kurdish militants that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Cabinet.gov.krd

Pursuant to the Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers resolution No.73 (3 February 2016) establishing an independent review of the oil and gas industry, today new verified data on oil exports, consumption and revenues have been published covering the period from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017. This is a continuation from the first public report of the first half of 2017 published in January 2018.

Rudaw.net