Canada, US Hold Fresh Trade Talks as August 19 Tariff Deadline Nears 
Trump Media Says Truth API Draws 10+ Customers as Conflict Concerns Grow 
Peggy Flanagan Wins Minnesota Democratic Senate Nomination 
Ukraine Accuses Russia of Systematic Torture of POWs and Civilian Detainees 
Iran War Escalates as US, Houthis Target Ships Near Key Oil Routes 
Taiwan Slams ‘Dangerous’ China-Indonesia Naval Drill Near Island 
Wisconsin Democratic Primary Tests Progressive Appeal 
Houthi Attack on Yemen’s Mocha Port Kills 7, Injures 30 
FCC Steps Up China Tech Crackdown as Beijing Pushes Back 
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Hits 265 as President Announces Emergency Fund 
North Korea Slams Japan’s 2026 Defense White Paper 
Trump Secretly Switched Planes in Turkey After Iran Threat, Report Says 
Bashar al-Assad Sentenced to Death by Syrian Court 
Zelenskiy Sends Peace Plan to U.S., Warns of New Russian Mobilisation 
North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile as US-South Korea Drills Near 
Add as a preferred source on Google
This week, Shia leader and leader of the Sadrist Movement in the Iraqi parliament, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced that he would be stepping down from the political process. Al-Sadr cited that he does not intend on getting involved with politicians deemed “corrupt.”
In a report by the Iraqi state news outlet Wednesday, al-Sadr insisted that he does not intend to “participate in the next elections if the corrupt participate” during a closed-door meeting with members of his bloc.
Al-Sadr said that his decision to order his bloc to resign from the Iraqi parliament would not be reversed in an announcement that was made three days after he ordered 73 lawmakers in his party to step down from the assembly. Al-Sadr called the order a sacrifice for the good of the country.
With the al-Sadr bloc stepping down from parliament, it has derailed the negotiations for government formation. To note, al-Sadr is among the most influential politicians in the country and would be outside of the Iraqi parliament for the first time since 2005.
This comes as al-Sadr won the October vote last year, giving him 73 out of the parliament’s 329 seats. The victory for al-Sadr was a blow to the Iran-backed Shia opposition, who lost two-thirds of their seats and rejected the results of the vote.
Both sides have been in a deadlock for power in the midst of a time when Iraq also faces challenges that stem from the Ukraine war and from severe drought.
“We have reluctantly accepted the requests of our brothers and sisters, representatives of the al-Sadr bloc, to resign,” the Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halboussi tweeted Sunday after receiving the resignation letters of the 73 lawmakers at the time.
Al-Sadr called the order for his bloc to resign as a way to break the deadlock in parliament and free up space for establishing a new government.
A veteran Iraqi politician Ali Moussawi who teaches at the University of Baghdad, said the resignations could lead to chaos in the country.
“Sadr reached to the point that he accepted the bitter reality that it’s nearly impossible to form a government away from the Iranian-backed groups,” said Moussawi, who added that al-Sadr still holds significant influence with hundreds of thousands of followers that can protest.
