Middle East & North Africa

2 July 2019; DW: Baghdad has ordered militias to join the army and their leaders to choose between paramilitary or political activity. The move comes amid concern that Iraq could become a battleground as US-Iran tensions spike.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has issued a decree seeking to bring mostly Iran-backed militias under the command of the armed forces.

Baghdad, Jul 2 (AFP/PTI) Iraq is establishing a financial "loophole" to continue buying vital gas and electricity from Iran despite US sanctions, AFP has learned, mirroring a European mechanism that came into effect Friday.

The "special purpose vehicle" (SPV) would allow Iraq to pay for imported Iranian energy in Iraqi dinars, which Iran could use to exclusively buy humanitarian goods, three senior Iraqi officials said.

KUWAIT CITY, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait will increase its crude oil production to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), the national oil corporation said Monday.

"A deal with Halliburton will hopefully lead to the production of 100,000 bpd in Kuwait," Emad Al-Sultan, CEO of Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), said during a press conference held for signing contract with the U.S. oil field service company.

HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — When travelers shop at dozens of duty free stores at airports worldwide, they may be paying for more than a bottle of vodka or a box of chocolates.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has broken the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, international inspectors and Tehran said Monday, marking its first major departure from the unraveling agreement a year after the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord.

1 July 2019; DW: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), kicked off her first visit to Israel on Monday by addressing tensions with Iran and urging for more defense spending in Germany.

Speaking at a security conference in the city of Herzliya, she defended the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying that the world has not yet found a more suitable way to curb Iran's nuclear program.

AMMAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Sunday condemned Israel's opening of the so-called "Pilgrim Road" tunnel that was dug from under the village of Silwan to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jordan said such a decision is an irresponsible act that will only increase tension, according to a statement by Sufian Qudah, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The official reaffirmed Jordan's rejection of any attempt to alter the identity of the holy city, especially in Al Haram Al Sharif.

BEIRUT, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Sunday for all Lebanese parties and their supporters to remain calm amid tensions that erupted in Mount Lebanon's Aley district earlier in the day, the Presidency's website reported.

Aoun also called for an emergency meeting on Monday for the Higher Defense Council to discuss the latest security developments in Mount Lebanon.

TASS, July 1: At least four people have been killed and 21 others wounded in an Israeli missile strike in a rural area near Syria’s capital Damascus, the SANA news agency reported on Monday.

It noted that a child was among the victims.

Syria’s air defenses repelled a missile attack targeting the cities of Damascus and Homs overnight to Monday. According to SANA, the missiles were fired by Israeli warplanes from Lebanon’s airspace.

CAIRO (AP) — For hundreds of African migrants, dreams of a new life in Europe have instead ended in a detention center in the remote desert of war-torn Libya, where they say they have been held for months amid raw sewage, piles of garbage, disease, maggots and barely enough food to survive.