Nouri al-Maliki

Meddling by major foreign powers has long played a part in making the Middle East a volatile and dangerous region; Russia in particular has been a malign influence in Syria for decades.

Congressional hearing reviews the crimes against humanity of the Islamic State while also mindful of its adversary’s human rights violations.

Washington has an agreement with Baghdad on privileges and immunities for the growing number of troops based in Iraq who are helping in the fight against the Islamic State group, the new U.S. ambassador said Thursday.

The Republican-controlled House approved a $585 billion defense policy bill that grants President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military campaign against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria despite misgivings about a new American combat role after more than a decade of war.

Islamic State militants invaded Iraq’s west almost a year ago and overran the nation’s second-largest city in June, threatening death and torture to opponents in their way. But the world has been slow to respond, coming together Wednesday for the first high-level meeting of scores of nations now devoted to destroying the rampant insurgency.

Goran Mohammed had just completed his second year of university in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil when he dropped out to help his father run the family grocery store. When that still didn’t earn the family enough money, the 19 year old was forced to take a second job as a taxi driver.

US-led coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State group and other extremists in Syria have killed more than 860 people, including civilians, since they began in mid-September, a monitoring group said Wednesday.

Iraqi lawmakers approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s remaining Cabinet nominees on Saturday, including for the critical defense and interior portfolios, completing the formation of a government that will strive to push the Islamic State extremist group out of the sprawling territory it has seized in recent months.

Iraqi Shiite militias have abducted and killed scores of Sunni civilians with the tacit support of the government in retaliation for Islamic State group attacks, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Maliki and Iran’s paramilitary Qods Force operating in Iraq are the causes of much violence across Iraq. The Obama administration has remained silent about Maliki’s atrocities against Iraqi citizens, particularly the Sunni population and other minorities.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he would send 300 military advisers to Iraq.