BAGHDAD -- Iraq's southern Dhi Qar province is "a global museum of antiquities," dotted with hundreds of unexcavated ancient cities whose archeological treasures could rival those of the great Sumerian capital of Ur, experts say.
While much attention is given to Sunni militant groups operating in Iraq on account of the overall revived insurgency, there is little interest in Shi'a groups with armed wings.
Amidst political instability, violence, economic disequilibrium and social chaos, Iraq is gearing up for the general elections on April 30, 2014. This will be the first parliamentary election after the US withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 and the third since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
(CNN) -- High levels of sectarianism, carnage and the overall grinding nature of Syria's civil war continue to make that country a top destination for extremists, a top U.S. official said.
Syrian rebels in the northern city of Aleppo are waging fierce clashes against government forces in an attempt to prevent opposition neighborhoods from falling under siege.
Beirut (AFP) -- Negotiators have lost contact with a group of nuns kidnapped from a Syrian town last year after their captors moved them, a source told AFP on Thursday.