Lemonde.fr | By Kendal Nezan (President of the Kurdish Institute of Paris.)

The Kurdish Institute of Paris has acted for nearly thirty-two years, in France and in Europe, as the voice of the Kurdish people. This people without a state has throughout the 20th Century been the victim of the cruellest injustices, and the Institute has provided information and documentation to journalists, researchers, students, voluntary associations and members of Parliament about the Kurdish world which seemed condemned to disappear or driven into exile because of the disinterest and neglect shown by the public authorities.

Reuters.com | By Samia Nakhoul, Ned Parker and Isabel Coles

(Reuters) - Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani warned that despite victories in the war against Islamic State, the global coalition against the group was inadequate and predicted a campaign to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul would not happen before the fall.

Krg.org

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, today attended the opening ceremony of the Consulate General of People's Republic of China in Erbil, the last permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to open its Consulate General in Erbil.

Reuters.com | By Michael Georgy

(Reuters) - Iraq's finance minister called for deep-rooted reforms to stamp out corruption in a military that collapsed in the face of an Islamic State advance, as he prepares to spend nearly a quarter of the 2015 budget on defense.

Washingtonpost.com | By Missy Ryan and Erin Cunningham

After learning hard lessons rebuilding foreign militaries over the past dozen years, the U.S. military is shifting its strategy against the Islamic State, choosing to train a smaller number of Iraqi soldiers rather than trying to stand up an entire army anew.

Nytimes.com | By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICKNOV

BAGHDAD — One Iraqi general is known as “chicken guy” because of his reputation for selling his soldiers’ poultry provisions. Another is “arak guy,” for his habit of enjoying that anis-flavored liquor on the job. A third is named after Iraq’s 10,000-dinar bills, “General Deftar,” and is infamous for selling officer commissions.

Dfr.krg.org

Washington DC, USA (dfr.krg.org) - A resolution was introduced to the US Congress that would authorise the US government to supply military equipment, weapons, and training directly to Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga Forces.

Foreignpolicy.com

The Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga, and Sunni tribesmen battling the militants will get some of the weapons they've long asked for.

nytimes.com | By PAUL SALOPEK

KARS, Turkey — “WE have enemies.”

The old Kurdish woman said this by way of running me off. I had trekked into her mountain hamlet at dusk, hoping to camp nearby. She waved a hand at the stone homes around us. Most were empty. There had been a killing between neighbors. The house of the perpetrator had been leveled. Fearing retribution, his relatives had run for their lives. Armed members of the victim’s family were now guarding the place against their return. The watchmen’s lonesome campfire seesawed in the wind high up on a cliff.