Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Friday said Iraq’s parliamentary elections should mark “a new beginning” for implementing the constitution and resolving longstanding disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, stressing that ignoring Kurdish rights threatens Iraq’s political stability.

In this episode of Unfinished Stories, Rudaw’s Hevidar Ahmed examines Iraq’s proposed law to restructure the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi), exploring the debate over its impact on Iraq’s security, democracy, and relations with the United States.

In this episode of Unfinished Stories, Rudaw’s Hevidar Ahmed follows the disarmament of a first group of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Sulaimani province. The historic event took place on July 11.

In this episode of Unfinished Stories, Hevidar Ahmed visits Baghdad to meet with the commanders of the Iran-backed Shiite armed groups and hear their reactions to US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran’s affiliates in the Middle East.

In this episode of Unfinished Stories, Hevidar Ahmed returns to Turkey for a second time to follow up on the ongoing peace talks between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). His first visit took place in February.

In this episode of Unfinished Stories, Hevidar Ahmed visits Damascus just days after the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule and investigates why such a terrifying regime crumbled in such a short time.

Mohammed Jalali, the last prime minister under Bashar al-Assad's regime, told Rudaw last week that he received a monthly salary of just $140. In his 150-square-meter Damascus apartment, he described his country's corruption as "unprecedented worldwide” with Syria's debt to Iran alone reaching $30 billion.

United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said on Sunday that he hopes to see a quick “end of sanctions on Syria,” which is essential for the economic recovery of the country.

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