Key Takeaway: The Iraqi government seems to have successfully responded to an imminent ISIS threat on two important fronts, Ramadi and Baiji, that emerged over the course of last week. Additional ISF assets deployed to Ramadi, recapturing terrain with support from coalition airstrikes and significantly decreasing the threat of the fall of the city. Meanwhile, additional milit
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SEOUL, April 20 (Reuters) – Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi says Saudi Arabia is producing near record levels of crude in April, underscoring the kingdom’s willingness to defend market share at a time when oil markets have staged a fragile recovery. There are worries among some producers that growing output from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exp
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Tomorrow, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi will meet with President Obama for the first time as prime minister of Iraq. For the past 12 years, there has hardly been an occasion when such a meeting between the U.S. president and the Iraqi prime minister did not come at an important time, but this meeting comes at a watershed moment. Iraq could move in many possible directions, mos
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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Carlo Sdralevich visited Amman from March 6–15 to conduct the 2015 Article IV Consultation discussions with the Iraqi authorities. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Sdralevich issued a statement. “The Iraqi authorities are taking proactive steps to address the double shock of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insur
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(Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister called on Thursday for "patience" while the government implements economic reforms that include restructuring of many state-owned companies, saying the plan would deliver growth and development. Haider al-Abadi, who took office in September after Islamic State militants seized control of large parts of north and west Iraq, is under pressure to
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