Plus: *Oil Ministry to explain oil and gas bidding to companies in London next month *Karbala sees 13 power projects *Finance Ministry agrees to worker demands *Recap of weekend violence highlights troubled future *Artists transform the blast walls *Exploring Al-Qaida in Iraq and the Awakening’s fate *Much more A bomb blast on an oil pipeline [...]

Barack Obama’s approach to Iraq is strikingly similar to that of the Bush administration and John McCain. In theory, the addition of Joe Biden to Obama’s ticket could change this, but over the last weeks and months there have been interesting moves by Biden to remove most traces of his "Iraq plans" from the public [...]

Basra’s Changing Hands Iraq’s oil capital, Basra, is now officially under control of Iraqi forces. The British have "controlled" the area since 2003. Control is relative, however, since under British occupation Iraq’s main rivalries have been allowed to foster competing militia violence and, along with other armed groups and gangs, turn the oil and fuels [...]