Ali Hasan

Baghdad recast 30 September — originally a hard deadline for armed factions to surrender an estimated 6 million weapons — as the start of the regulatory process as Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba refuse to hand over what they call "resistance weapons".

Demonstrators blocked oil tanker routes and roads in six provinces on the second consecutive day of unrest over a 25-40% fuel price rise, as more than 50 MPs signed a demand to question the energy minister.

The appointment came days after Abdi declared the Kurdish-led force dissolved and integrated into the Syrian army, ending a decade of independent existence in a move Washington called "genuine integration".

The developments come as the Trump administration sees a marked rise in the influence of anti-vaccine figures and movements, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, which fuelled a wave of conspiracy theories and misleading health information.