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September 7, 2026

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A man walks past a mural depicting oil pumps and the Venezuelan flag, with portraits of Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar (L) and former late President Hugo Chavez (R), in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 3, 2026.

Analysis

Could Trump’s oil push in Venezuela upend OPEC’s energy order?

Washington’s growing role in controlling the Latin American country's crude riches could help reshape an energy order centered on OPEC as the Hormuz crisis pressures Gulf exports.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

After gun found in lake, French police probe link to 2012 Iraqi family murder

A recently discovered Luger pistol may have been used in the mysterious 2012 killing of the al-Hilli family near the Alpine town of Chevaline in eastern France.

AFP via Getty Images

Iraq sentences kidnapper of US journalist Shelly Kittleson to 15 years: What to know

The first sentencing in relation to Shelly Kittleson’s abduction comes as Iraq moves to rein in Iran-backed militias.

Iraqi army troops patrol the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border

Iraq reinforces Saudi border security amid militia tensions: What to know

Iraq is sending the reinforcements in response to Iran-backed militia attacks and as it looks to build security ties with Riyadh.

Latest News

Iraq summons Iran envoy over 'Persian Gulf' post, Baghdad name origins: What to know

Fred TANNEAU / AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Iraq's Zaidi set to make European debut with Macron in France

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi delivers a speech in Baghdad, May 16, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Suadad al-Salhy

In Baghdad, reporting on politics and security

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

Winthrop Rodgers

In Sulaymaniyah, reporting on Kurdish issues

Iraqis clean up outside a bakery after a bomb exploded on a bus nearby in Baghdad?s Shiite Sadr City district on May 28, 2013. Bombings and shootings in Iraq killed 16 people, many of them security forces members, officials said, the latest in a wave of violence that authorities are struggling to contain. AFP PHOTO/ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images)

Shiite Holiday Raises Fears Of More Bombings in Baghdad

With the approach of a Shiite holiday expected to bring observers to the capital, authorities worry that the recent wave of car bombings will grow.

A man smokes a cigarette as he sits at the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, March 29, 2013. Car bombs hit four Shi'ite mosques in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and another in Kirkuk just after prayers on Friday, tearing into crowds of worshippers and killing 17, police and witnesses said. Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda's Iraqi wing have stepped up attacks this year and often target Shi'ite sites in a growing sectarian confrontation a decade after the U.S.-led invasion. R

Al-Qaeda-Iraq Statement A Sign Of Rising Sectarian Violence

In a rare public statement, al-Qaeda in Iraq has announced that it is meeting with Sunni leaders in the west of the country to join forces to fight the “Iranian Safavid gestapo.”

Civilians inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, May 30, 2013. A car bomb and several roadside blasts exploded in Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 10 people in the latest in more than a month-long surge in attacks, police and hospital sources said. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST) - RTX105RO

Is Iraq on Verge of New Civil War?

Months of unrest in Iraq’s Sunni provinces, along with recent car bombings and other forms of sectarian violence, have raised concerns about another civil war.

Kuridish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani (R), Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (C) and Kurdistan Regional Government Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami attend the first International Energy Arena in Arbil, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, May 20, 2012. Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region expects to start exporting oil from its fields along a new pipeline to the Turkish border when the line is complete in August 2013, Hawrami said on Sunday. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags : - Tags:

Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s Lawyers Speak Out Against New Law

Disputes emerge between lawyers in the Iraqi Kurdistan region in reaction to a new law allowing foreign lawyers to practice their profession there.

Iraqis inspect the damage following fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City August 7, 2006. Two people were killed and 18 wounded when U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a suspected death squad in the mostly Shi'ite area of Sadr City in east Baghdad, a police source said. The U.S. military said they were targeting suspected members of a punishment and torture cell. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem (IRAQ) - RTR1G607

Iraqis Fear Return of 'Death Squads' To Baghdad Streets

In light of escalating political crises and sectarian divisions in Iraq, some fear the return of Baghdad’s infamous "death squads," who reigned with terror over the past 10 years.

$BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MARCH 13: A horse and cart make their way through the Bab al Sharji market, March 13, 2013 in Baghdad, Iraq. Ten years after the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled from power, Baghdad continues to show the scars of the war. In vast areas, infrastructure is fractured and basic services are lacking, however, some areas of the capital are showing promising signs of recovery. (Photo by Ali Arkady/Metrography/Getty Images)$

Fears of Civil War Cripple Baghdad Commerce

As sectarian violence and car bombings continue to flare up across Iraq, new limits on mobility have created roadblocks to the flow of commerce in the country.

Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani votes in Iraq's constitutional referendum in the northern city of Arbil October 15, 2005. Iraqis headed to the polls in an historic referendum on Saturday, with up to 15 million eligible voters deciding on a controversial new post-Saddam Hussein constitution that its backers hope will unite the torn country. Amid intense security, including a ban on all traffic, voters flowed on foot to polling stations across Baghdad as they opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT). They are due to close

Iraqi Kurdish Opposition Parties Oppose Referendum

Iraqi Kurdish opposition parties insist that Kurdistan region President Massoud Barzani submit the draft constitution to the parliament.

Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (R) and Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), hold a news conference in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, May 8, 2013. REUTERS/Haider Ala (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZEUT

Sadr Gives Maliki 'Final Warning'

Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr has issued a warning to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to withdraw militants from the streets amid a series of devastating car bombings throughout Iraq.

Workers hang portraits of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (L), President Abdullah Gul (2nd L) and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan before a groundbreaking ceremony for the third Bosphorus bridge linking the European and Asian sides of Istanbul May 29, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION POLITICS) - RTX1051J

Turkey’s Kurdish Policies Complicate Ties With Iran, Iraq

Turkey’s Kurdish policies are developing at the expense of its ties with Iran and Iraq.

Residents gather at the site of bomb attacks in Baghdad May 27, 2013. More than 70 people were killed in a wave of bombings in markets in Shi'ite neighbourhoods across Baghdad on Monday in worsening sectarian violence in Iraq. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10368

Sectarian War a Two-Way Street For Iraq and Syria

What lessons do Syria’s Alawites learn from the experience of the Sunnis in Iraq?

Turkey and Syria’s Kurds Edging Toward an Uneasy Peace?

Fresh fighting between Syrian Kurdish groups and Arab opposition fighters in Syria's Kurdish region is threatening to spread.

Workers adjust a valve of an oil pipe in Tawke oil field near Dahuk, 400 km (249 miles) north of Baghdad, November 24, 2010. In this part of Iraq, the hillsides sweat oil. Without any coaxing, the sticky black treasure oozes from the layered rock and gathers in pools that bubble as dissolved gases surface. Gradually, as the crude slips down the hillsides, it solidifies into a grey mass that resembles a hardened lava flow. It's a good metaphor for the progress of oil from the semi-autonomous Iraqi region of

Turkey Puzzled by US Stance On Exxon-KRG Oil Deal

Ankara questions US concerns over its arrangement with ExxonMobil for energy exploration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.