The U.S. has accelerated efforts to gather informants in Syria’s north and east. Ahmad Jaber, a former top ranking Syrian intelligence official, spoke exclusively to Yeni Şafak daily, noting that in the past two years, over 3,000 informants were given duties in al-Hasaka, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Manbij, Kobani and Tel Abyad.

Jaber said that the U.S. uses aid organizations and churches to conduct these activities, and that CIA officials who travel"...

US sanctions have made it too expensive for Iranian Shia Muslims to travel to Iraq to mark Ashoura.

Ashoura is a day of remembrance, commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Jazeera's Rob Matheson reports from Baghdad.

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Iraqi and Kurdish officials opened customs checkpoints on the Erbil-Kirkuk and Sulaimani-Kirkuk roads on Saturday (September 22).

The event to inaugurate the checkpoints was attended by Kurdish officials and an envoy of the Iraqi Prime Minister, NRT reporter Nabaz Miqdad said.

The installations are part of an agreement struck between Iraqi and Kurdish officials to open the main"...

The Integrity Commission said on Saturday (September 22) that its Department of Investigation was able to detect violations and excesses of more than $8 million USD in an contract between the management of Najaf International Airport and a security company.

In a statement, the department explained that a team in the Najaf Investigations Office asserts the airport management had entered into a fraudulent contract worth $8,322,000 with a company to provide"...

Crude oil prices were down on Saturday (September 22), compared to the previous close.

The price of Brent oil was at $78.68, down from $78.70 previous close, and US WTI crude was at $70.72, from $70.32.

OPEC agreed on June 22 on an increase in oil production from July after Saudi Arabia convinced Iran to cooperate by about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), or one percent of global"...