Late on Friday night, shortly before the session to elect a new parliament speaker in Iraq, political discourse shifted towards candidates' associations with the former leader, Saddam Hussein. Iraqis on social media shared an old video featuring Mahmoud Mashhadani, a contender from the Azem Alliance. In the video, Mashhadani praises Saddam, saying, “There is no leader for Iraq’s Sunnis after Saddam Hussein.”
Palestinian militias claimed several attacks in the northern Gaza Strip on January 11. The military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the al Quds Brigades, claimed to fire tandem-charge anti-tank rockets at an Israeli tank in Jabalia City. The