Submit your Article

Hundreds of angry protesters loyal to the powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr broke into Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone on Wednesday, denouncing the nomination of a new prime minister, CNN reported.

Mohammed Shiya al-Sudani was formally nominated to lead the country on Monday by the Coordination Framework, the largest Shiite alliance in the Iraqi parliament. 

His nomination followed the mass resignation of al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc, a group of over 70 lawmakers who withdrew from the governing body last month in an apparent show of force after months of political stalemate.

since parliamentary elections in October; Sadr's own attempts to form a government have previously foundered amid opposition from rival blocs. 

"If the Sadrist bloc remaining [in parliament] is an obstacle to government formation, then all lawmakers of the bloc are honorably ready to resign from parliament," Sadr said in a televised speech in June.

The cleric, who positions himself as against both Iran and the United States, is immensely popular. His bloc's success in the October vote threatened to sideline Iran-aligned Shiite blocs that have long dominated the oil-rich country's politics, according to CNN.

On Wednesday, al-Sadr told protesters at the Parliament building that their "message" had been received and that they should return home.

"A revolution of reform and rejection of injustice and corruption. Your message has been received. You have terrified the corrupt. Pray, and return home safely," he tweeted.

The outgoing government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also issued a statement calling on the Sadrist protesters to "to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone," preserve public and private properties and to abide by the instructions of the security forces. 

"The security forces will be committed to protecting state institutions and international missions, and preventing any disturbance of security and order," al-Kadhimi added, CNN reported.

Gas prices jumped after Russia further cut gas supplies to Germany and other central European countries after threatening to earlier this week, BBC reported.

European gas prices rose almost 2%, trading close to the record high set after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

Critics accuse the Russian government of using gas as a political weapon.

Russia has been cutting flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, with it now operating at less than a fifth of its normal capacity.

Before the Ukraine War, Germany imported over half of its gas from Russia and most of it came through Nord Stream 1 - with the rest coming from land-based pipelines.

By the end of June, that had reduced to just over a quarter.

Russian energy firm Gazprom has sought to justify the latest cut by saying it was needed to allow maintenance work on a turbine.

The German government, however, said there was no technical reason for it to limit the supply.

Ukraine has accused Moscow of waging a "gas war" against Europe and cutting supplies to inflict "terror" on people.

Meanwhile, Poland has said it will be fully independent from Russian gas by the end of the year. 

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: "Even now, Russia is no longer able to blackmail us in the way it blackmails Germany for example."

The UK would not be directly impacted by gas supply disruption, as it imports less than 5% of its gas from Russia. However, it would be affected by prices rising in the global markets as demand in Europe increases, according to BBC.

European wholesale gas prices closed at €204.85 (£172.08) per megawatt hour - the third highest price on record. The all-time high was achieved on 8 March when prices closed at €210.50 (£176.76) per megawatt hour.

However, this time last year the wholesale gas price in Europe was at just above €37 (£31.08) per megawatt hour.

UK gas prices rose 7% on Wednesday so the price is now more than six times higher than a year ago. However, it is still well below the peak seen in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

UK energy bills increased by an unprecedented £700 in April, and are expected to rise again with one management consultancy warning a typical energy bill could hit £3,850 a year by January, much higher than forecasts earlier this month.

BFY said its forecast reflected the increase in wholesale prices over the past few weeks with the ongoing tensions with Russia sparking concerns over winter supplies.

The latest reduction in flows puts pressure on EU countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas even further, and will likely make it more difficult for them to replenish their gas supplies ahead of winter.

Since the invasion of Ukraine European leaders have held talks over how to reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, BBC reported.

The US central bank has announced another unusually large interest rate hike as it battles to rein in soaring prices in the world's largest economy, BBC reported.

The Federal Reserve said it would increase its key rate by 0.75 percentage points, targeting a range of 2.25% to 2.5%.

The bank has been raising borrowing costs since March to try to cool the economy and ease price inflation.

But fears are rising the moves will tip the US into recession. 

Recent reports have shown falling consumer confidence, a slowing housing market, jobless claims rising and the first contraction in business activity since 2020.

Many expect official figures this week will show the US economy shrank for the second quarter in a row.

In many countries, that milestone is considered a recession though it is measured differently in the US.

At a press conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that parts of the economy were slowing, but said the bank was likely to keep raising interest rates in the months ahead despite the risks, pointing to inflation that is running at a 40-year high, according to BBC.

"Nothing works in the economy without price stability," he said. "We need to see inflation coming down...That's not something we can avoid doing."

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu is arriving in Nepal on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he will stay in Nepal only for one day.

His visit to Nepal, at a time when the parties are divided over the issue of implementing the State Partnership Program (SPP), has been taken meaningfully.

The government had directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the United States that Nepal will not be a part of the SPP.

But, the Ministry has not informed the United States about the issue yet.

On Wednesday, the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives had directed the government to make Nepal's position clear on the SPP.

In recent times, the ruling and the opposition parties have been debating on the issues of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and SPP.

Six fringe communist parties have announced protests against the MCC and SPP.

Earlier, Lu, who visited Nepal on November 17, 2021, had held separate meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka among other leaders.